Patrick Day

“Star Wars” fans let out a collective howl of anguish earlier this year when it was announced that one of the casualties of Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm was the animated series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” But though that fan favorite series was canceled without a satisfactory conclusion, there’s still a chance to get an animation fix. Lucasfilm is now working on a new animated series, “Star Wars Rebels,” set to premiere in fall 2014 on the Disney Channel with a one-hour episode and then move to Disney XD. Set in the two decades between “Episode III” and “Episode IV,” the series will follow the adventures of the Rebel Alliance as they attempt to evade the growing might of the Empire. Simon Kinberg, writer of one of the upcoming “Star Wars” spinoff films, will serve as an executive producer of […]

In 1952, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren founded the New England Society for Psychic Research. Ed was a demonologist, Lorraine, a trance medium, and together, they worked on a number of cases, including the legendary Amityville haunting. But it’s a different supernatural situation that’s explored in the new film from director James Wan, “The Conjuring,” set for release July 19. The real Lorraine Warren appeared alongside Wan on stage at WonderCon in Anaheim this past weekend, where she praised the accuracy of the new movie, based on the investigation of a haunting at a Rhode Island farmhouse occupied by the Perron family. (Ed Warren died in 2006.) The Perron case was made public in the 2011 memoir “House of Darkness, House of Light: The True Story” written by Andrea Perron, one of the young girls whose family occupied the […]

“World War Z,” author Max Brooks’ best-selling novel about the aftermath of a worldwide zombie epidemic, has an almost supernatural ability to attract performers you wouldn’t normally associate with zombies. Brad Pitt is starring in the big-screen version, directed by Oscar nominee Marc Forster. And now an expanded version of the book on audio has added another high-brow performer: Oscar-winner Martin Scorsese. Scorsese will perform the role of Breck Scott, a corrupt pharmaceutical developer who sells the American public on a placebo he claims will cure the zombie disease. It’s a slickster role the fast-talking Scorsese surely knocks out of the park. He appears on the upcoming “World War Z: The Complete Edition” audiobook, which features five more hours of stories from the book that were previously unavailable in audiobook form. Other performers appearing in the newly recorded segments include […]

For all the talk of 2013 being the 50th anniversary celebration of “Doctor Who,” the Doctor himself has been conspicuously absent from screens for the first two months of the year. But that’s about to change on March 30, when the second half of the relaunched show’s seventh season returns with Matt Smith as the Doctor and a brand-new companion, Clara Oswin Oswald, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman. Eagle-eyed viewers will recognize the Doctor’s fez from the fifth-season finale, “The Big Bang,” and that year’s Christmas special, “A Christmas Carol.” Actually, dedicated Whovians will remember that the fez originally belonged to Albert Einstein and that the Doctor has been wearing fezzes since his seventh incarnation back in the 1980s. The first new episode, titled “The Bells of St. Johns,” was written by show runner Steven Moffat and will introduce new villains […]

“Arrow” gets a visit from a comic book legend this week, although the character doesn’t appear on screen. Geoff Johns, DC Comics’ chief creative officer and one of the highest profile comic book writers working today, drops in on Starling City to write this week’s episode, “Dead to Rights.” Often when a guest writer comes on to a show, the episode tends to be a little more self-contained. But not this one, which is filled with plot developments, the return of old villains and ends with quite a cliffhanger. (Wouldn’t you know it, the series takes a couple of weeks off after this week.) Johns recently announced that he was stepping down from his writing duties on “Green Lantern,” the DC Comic he helped reinvent nine years ago. He talked with Hero Complex briefly about his episode of “Arrow” and […]

The population of Starling City continues to grow on the CW’s “Arrow.” This week’s episode adds “Teen Wolf” vet Colton Haynes as Roy Harper, a tough kid who appears to be up to no good. Of course, longtime fans of Green Arrow will recognize Roy’s name as Oliver Queen’s ward and eventual sidekick, Speedy (or Red Arrow, depending on which part of the character’s lengthy history producers choose to work with). Haynes spoke to Hero Complex via phone about his new role, which debuts in tonight’s episode, “Dodger.” HC: Roy Harper has quite a history, at least as far as the comic books go. Did you educate yourself or did you come in fresh? CH: Oh no, I definitely learned a lot before I came into it. And I asked a lot of questions, trying to get spoilers. They tried […]

This weekend, the Grand Slam Convention: Star Trek and Sci-Fi Summit in Burbank will feature a who’s who of science fiction TV personalities, including the stars of “Grimm” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” but the real draw will be a public reunion of the cast of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” There are few casts in science fiction (or even all of entertainment) who seem to enjoy each other’s company as much as the “Next Gen” crew. Though the seven main cast members have always remained in touch, they’ve rarely all been gathered together in one place publicly since filming the final “Next Generation” film, “Star Trek: Nemesis,” in 2002. “We really are a family,” says Jonathan Frakes, who played Commander William Riker on the series. “We’ve stood up for each other at each other’s weddings, are godparents to each […]

Edward “The Comedian” Blake didn’t get much face time in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ landmark graphic novel “Watchmen” — he takes a header off a balcony before the story even opens. The character failed to get much more exposure in Zack Snyder’s 2009 film adaptation of “Watchmen,” but writer Brian Azzarello and artist J.G. Jones have been more than making up for his absence with their six-part “Before Watchmen: Comedian” limited series, tracing the checkered past of the not-so-funny tough guy. Cover | Digital Combo Cover | Variant Cover | Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 As the series reaches its penultimate chapter, we find Blake continuing his Forrest Gump-like journey through mid-20th century history. He’s rubbed shoulders (and even rubbed out) some very notable names, and now he’s in Vietnam, traveling further and […]

If there’s a place for Yoda in the upcoming “Star Wars” movies, Frank Oz is game to return to give voice to the character. Oz, the former puppeteer and film director who has voiced the ancient Jedi Master in five of the six live-action “Star Wars” films, told Hero Complex in an interview this week that although he hadn’t heard a thing about the new feature projects being planned by Lucasfilm and Disney, he’s game to return to the diminutive character with whom he’s been associated for more than 30 years. “He’s in my heart,” Oz said. “I know Yoda very deeply.” Following last month’s news that J.J. Abrams is set to direct “Episode VII,” one of the biggest developments in the future of the “Star Wars” universe was the confirmation this week from Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger […]

Jedi Master Yoda is one of the most famous and iconic of the hundreds of characters in the “Star Wars” universe and one of the men most responsible for creating that character was makeup artist Stuart Freeborn, who died in London on Wednesday at age 98. Freeborn worked closely with Lucas and Frank Oz, the puppeteer and director who was known for controlling the Muppet Miss Piggy before he joined “The Empire Strikes Back” to perform the ancient Jedi Master. Reached by phone, Oz recalled the series of meetings that took place with Freeborn at Elstree Studios. MORE: Remembering Stuart Freeborn “He was a legend already. He was brilliant and he was a sweet man,” Oz said. “I remember going into that first meeting in this small workshop. I remember looking up and seeing masks of Chewbacca and everything else.” […]