Does Blue Milk come from Blue Cows?

Ever felt like you were on the brink of uncovering the next big thing in geek culture? That's exactly where this episode takes you, straight into the heart of the action with a first look at Pocket Marvel's "Werewolf by Night" reboot and a salute to the iconic "Trek savior" John G. Tremble. We're not just talking about the latest and greatest in gaming and comics – though the "Star Wars Outlaws" controversy and Marvel Entertainment's shakeups are on the table – we're tackling the tough stuff too. Disney and Gina Carano's legal tangle gets unpacked, and I'll even share a slice of my life with a tale about seeking an allergy test that's as much about self-discovery as it is about sniffles.

Strap in for a roundup that soars from the tempest of social media debates to the nostalgia of Star Wars' blue milk, without forgetting the real-time drama unfolding in the pop culture landscape. Join me as we explore what it means when personal expression collides with corporate ideals, and savor the excitement of fresh faces entering the DC universe. Plus, get the lowdown on what's happening with our beloved "Star Trek" series, Hollywood's latest offensive on digital piracy, and those casting bombshells that are lighting up the entertainment sky. It's not just a podcast episode – it's a journey through the multiverse of fandom, and you've got the best seat in the house.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

tonight, job ain't cheap. Pocket marvel relaunches werewolf by night. Lord x calls five done. And remember trek savior john g tremble. All then more on this edition of multiverse tonight comic books, sci-fi, fantasy and more.

Speaker 2: 0:23

if you're looking for a roundup of geeky news, you're in the right place. This is Multiverse Tonight, and here's our host, thomas Townley.

Speaker 1: 0:54

Well, hello everyone, and welcome to episode 213 of Multiverse Tonight. I'm, of course, your host, thomas Townley, and well, if you can't get done the first time, try, try again. If you weren't watching this show live on Twitch and now Kikcom, we're now streaming on Kik you would have seen me mess this up one time already.

Speaker 1: 1:18

So, this is my second time, and so we'll start. It's been a lovely day, very, you know. It's 70 degrees outside, breezy, real breezy, and so the only thing I had today other than recording this podcast was a medical appointment in Wichita. I'm trying to get an allergy test done. I'm 48 years old and I don't really have a complete list of what I'm allergic to and what I'm not allergic to, and so this will give me a reasonable idea. I have this.

Speaker 1: 2:01

I know I'm allergic to milk, or at least I'm a lactose intolerant, know I'm allergic to milk, or at least you know I'm a lactose intolerant, if not entirely allergic to milk. I know, you know there are certain. You know I might be allergic to bread, because that sometimes causes increased phlegm. I mean, I might be allergic to something in Long John Silver's batter, because that also, you know, did something to me on the way home. So this will give a definite list of things that bother me as a whole. You know, if you don't know what your self-user manual says, then you won't know what's happening. You know, know thyself if you will. Anyway, let's get on with the Star Wars news. Roger roger.

Speaker 1: 2:52

And Star Wars news begins with Jabba, who wants your gold. Of course, when Star Wars Outlaws releases this summer, the game will feature several iconic characters such as Jabba the Hutt. Now we've known from almost a year now that players will be able to take on jobs for the New Galactic Gangster, but according to the game's official website, that option won't be available to all players. It seems that Jabba's Gambit, as it's being called, will be an exclusive mission available at launch for those that buy the game's Gold Edition or the Ultimate Edition. Now, those versions cost $109 to $129 respectively, versus the standard edition of $69.99. Now, star Wars Outlaws is slated to release August 30th on PC, playstation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, but those who purchase the Gold and Ultimate editions will get the access three days early. So you just got to ask yourself is working for Jabba the Hutt worth the extra 50 or 60 bucks you're going to pay, is it? I guess that's something we all just have to ask ourselves. Anyway, on to some legal news. Disney has finally responded to Gina Carano's lawsuit, and it's best to say that. Quote Disney has enough, has had enough unquote In a filing to dismiss Gina Carano's wrongful discharge and sex discrimination lawsuit over being fired from the Mandalorian, disney stated that the former MMA fighter lost her Star Wars series job in 2021 because her decision to quote publicly trivialize the Holocaust by comparing criticism of political conservatives to the annihilation of millions of Jewish people notably, not thousands was the final straw for Disney. Unquote. Now Daniel Porticelli, disney's lawyer, is seeking a June 12th hearing in the federal court in downtown Los Angeles before Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett. Disney is asking that the lawsuit should be tossed out on. Quote Now. Along with fellow defendants Lucasfilm and Huckleberry Industries, disney made it clear this week that you don't need to be a Jedi Master to know what's going to happen. The company detailed the way it all went down fast with Carano in their April 9th filing. Quote Carano's social media usage sunk to its nadir on February 10th 2021.

Speaker 1: 5:33

On that day, she reposted an Instagram post from user WarriorPriestJimPodcast. The podcast read. The post read Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers, but by their neighbors, even by children. Because history says most people today don't realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views. Now quote Disney had enough. The same day, corona grotesquely trivialized the Holocaust as comparable to sharp political disagreements.

Speaker 1: 6:09

Lucasfilm announced that Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future. Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable. A month later, disney's former CEO explained that Carana's values didn't align with the company values including its values of respect, decency, integrity and inclusion Unquote. Now, multiverse Tonight will, of course, keep their eyes out on a prospective court date or dismissal, and maybe we'll get our good lawyer friend back to Andrew to discuss the ins and outs of such a case. But that's in the future and we have other fish to fry.

Speaker 1: 7:04

You don't have to travel to a galaxy far, far away to get a glass of blue milk. Kemp's has teamed with Lucasfilm to give Americans a chance to bring the iconic blue drink from Star Wars New Hope to their kitchen tables. Senior Vice President of Innovation and Marketing for Dairy Farmers of America, d Brands, rachel Kylo, said in a press release quote Kemp's is all about fun and flavor, so we're always looking for a new and innovative way to bring the joys of flavored milk from our family farms to families across the country. With the mass cross-generational appeal that the Star Wars franchise offers, we're excited to see fans of all ages indulging in this delicious beverage. That's also a good source of protein for strong muscles. Unquote.

Speaker 1: 7:49

So want to make yourself a blue milk smoothie? Maybe pour it into an ice cream maker. Make some chocolate blue milk ice cream? What say you? Write to me with your suggestions for what to use blue milk on. That might be interesting. Of course, we're over at Multiverse Tonight or Multiverse Tom on most of your social medias, or just leave a comment on our website, multiversenightcom.

Speaker 1: 8:27

Anyway, let's head on over to the DC Comics News, and we begin DC Comics News with the Wrap, which has learned exclusively that James Gunn's Superman has cast veteran character actor Pruitt Taylor-Vince as Jonathan Kent, aka Pa Kent. Now, jonathan Kent is Superman's adopted father, who finds the superhero when he first arrived on Earth as an infant in a Kryptonian spaceship in one of his fields in Kansas. The role was previously played by Kevin Costner in the 2013 man of Steel and by Glenn Ford in 1978's Superman, glenn Ford being the better portrayal. By the way, the Superman cast features Nicholas Holt as Lex Luthor and newcomers like David Cornsweet as the new man of Steel. Other cast members include Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, isabelle Merced as Hot Girl and many, many more.

Speaker 1: 9:45

Now let's go on to the Marvel news. Marvel News begins with after receiving a live action special nearly two years ago. Has it been that long already? Action special nearly two years ago. Has it been that long already? Werewolf by Night will soon be getting its own comic book series back, but this narration will be the live-action version. Jack Russell will be getting his first ongoing comic series in quite some time, spitting out the events of Marvel's upcoming Blood Hunt make-up event this summer. The new Werewolf by Night series will follow Russell as he tracks down villains that have managed to extract a pound of his flesh. Writer Jason Liu shared of the series quote I give Jack Russell a taste of the life he wants before the Blood Hunt event rips it away and leaves blood on his hands.

Speaker 1: 10:46

His new journey is to find redemption while figuring out his new life for Campic Transformation. No one is safe when the full moon is out, but luckily Elsa Bloodstone is around to keep him in check. Our team is delivering a very metal monster comic and we're not holding back. I'm both shocked and impressed at myself for conjuring up these gruesome scenes from the dark recesses of my mind, then seeing them come to life with every gory detail, thanks to penciler Sergei Davila and inker JP Meyer. As our editors keep giving us the thumbs up approval, this is literally our smash room in a red band comic. Now Lou is writing the ongoing series which will be part of Marvel's new adult oriented red band comics line and, as he said, sergio Davila will be drawing the series. Marvel entertainment is the latest, is in the latest corner of the the series. Marvel Entertainment is in the latest corner of the entertainment industry to reportedly be hit with layoffs. It's been reported that the company has laid off 15 employees both at Marvel Entertainment's New York offices and the studios in Burbank. According to reports, the layoffs include a number of junior employees at Marvel Studios Production and Development Arms.

Speaker 1: 11:55

The future of Marvel's 2099 line of comics will be decided in a new Annihilation event. Marvel has revisited the year 2099 in a new number of recent series written by Steve Orlando and headlined by Spider-Man 2099. The trend looks to continue with Annihilation 2099, a weekly event that heads to the cosmos to introduce a new cast of 2099 characters, also setting up what the future holds for 2099 storytelling. Later this year, steve Orlando is coming back to write Annihilation 2099 and is joined by a lineup of superstar artists. Annihilation 2099 is a five-issue event series that will be released weekly in July.

Speaker 1: 12:34

The artists illustrating Annihilation 29.9 is a five-issue event series that will be released weekly in July. The artists illustrating Annihilation 29.9 include Nick Bradshaw, abraham Robertson, jose Luis, pete Woods, ario Anandito and Dale Eaglesham. It takes place after the events of last year's Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Man 29.9 and features the debut of Nova 29.9. O'hara's Spider-Man 2099 and features the debut of Nova 2099, star-lord 2099, red Hulk 2099 and Silver Surfer 2099, as well as Return of Dracula 2099. Marvel promises Annihilation 2099 Will be welcomed to newcomers of the 2099 landscape as well as longtime fans. You know, folks, I don't think I've said the word 2099 so many times in so few minutes. I think I'll skip reading you the quotes because I'm getting tired of saying 2099. 2099. Other than that, the event kicks off in July 2099.

Speaker 1: 13:50

Anyway, let's go on to the Star Trek news. Star Trek news begins with Paramount Plus having renewed Star Trek Strange New Worlds for a fourth season, but confirmed that Star Trek Lower Decks, season 5, will be the last season of the animated comedy Star Trek Strange New Worlds. The live-action Star Trek Discovery spin-off that serves as a prequel to the original series is now filming its third season in Toronto to debut later in 2025. In a statement, co-showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Harriet Alonzo Myers and executive producer Alex Kurtzman said On behalf of the cast and crew of Strange New Worlds we're thrilled and grateful to continue our voyages together. We can't wait for you to join us and the crew of the Air Prize on another season of exploration and adventure. Lower Decks' fifth and final season will debut on Paramount Plus this fall.

Speaker 1: 14:41

Kurtzman, the executive producer on the series and creator Mike McMahon, released the following statement we want to let you know that this fall will be the fifth and final season of Star Trek Lower Decks. While five seasons of any series these days seems like a miracle, it's no exaggeration to say that every second we've spent making the show has been a dream come true. Our incredible cast, crew and artists have given you everything they have because they love the characters they play, they love the world we've built and, more than anything, we all love, love, love Star Trek. We're excited for the world to see our hilarious fifth season, and we're working on it right now, and the good news is that all previous episodes will remain on Paramount+, so there's still so much to look forward to as we celebrate the Cerritos crew with a big send-off. Finally, thank you for always being so creative and joyful, for filling convention halls and channeling lower decks.

Speaker 1: 15:34

We remain hopeful that even beyond Season 5, mariner, boimler, tendi, rutherford and the whole Cerritos crew will live on with new adventures. Yeah, I'm really kind of bummed at that. And of course that probably also means that Strange New Worlds will also be five seasons. That just seems to be their modus operandi. Anymore is five seasons is enough. Because if you don't know anything about Hollywood, most contracts are for five seasons of anything. After five seasons they would have to renegotiate contracts for the actors and and other people. So most studios nowadays are just deciding you know, let's not bother with that. Let you know it's. It's a losing proposition to make more than five seasons of anything. We'll just stick with five seasons unless the show is super popular and makes tons of money. Yeah, which you'd think Lower Decks, being an animated show, it would be making tons of money, but it's now on commercial TV. So there you go. Anyway, some surprising news.

Speaker 1: 16:47

The first model of the USS Enterprise used in the opening credits of the original Star Trek series has finally pulled into dry dock, returning to creator Gene Roddenberry's son, rod, decades after it went missing. The model's disappearance sometime in the 1970s had been the subject of lore, so it caused a stir when it popped up on eBay last fall. The sellers quickly took it down and then contacted Dallas-based Heritage Auctions to authenticate it, and they did, and last weekend the auction house facilitated the model's return. Eugene Rod Roddenberry, ceo of Roddenberry Entertainment, said he's thrilled to have the model that had graced the desk of his father, who died in 1991 at age 70. Quote this is not going home to adorn my shelves. This is going to get restored and we're working on ways to get it out so the public can see it, and my hope is that it will land in a museum somewhere.

Speaker 1: 17:40

Geordi, called the Fleet Museum has first dibs and if there's any museum I'd like to see it go. The Kansas Cosmosphere is right up the road from me. They have a lot of space stuff. I think the model of the USS Enterprise would not be out of place there. And hey, it's right up the road for me, so why not? Anyway, let's go on with the geek news. We'll be seeing a new face in Season 2 of Netflix's Wednesday. A new face in season two of Netflix's Wednesday. Steve Buscemi has joined the cast of the Jenna Ortega-led series in an undisclosed role.

Speaker 1: 18:42

According to Deadlinecom, the coming-of-age comedy is from Smallville creators Al Goh and Miles Miller and directed and EP'd by Tim Burton. Season two details are currently being kept under wraps. Pamela Anderson will be joining Liam Neeson in Paramount Pictures' untitled Naked Gun reboot, which Akiva Schaefer is directing and producing, with a July 18, 2025 theatrical release. The Baywatch actress of 110 episodes has had comedy chops. She starred in such big screen titles as Scary Movie 3 and Superhero Movie had comedy chops. She starred in such big screen titles as Scary Movie 3 and Superhero Movie, and she's also reprised her TV role of CJ Parker in Paramount's big screen redux of Baywatch that starred Dwayne Johnson, zac Efron and Alexandra Diadero.

Speaker 1: 19:32

And now a little bit of legislative news. In 2011, at the tail end of the golden age of digital piracy, hollywood tried to crack down on copyright infringement through a pair of bills that would have restricted access to sites to host pirated content. The legislation was met with fierce opposition from Silicon Valley and online free speech advocates, who argued that would effectively promote censorship, link to a series of coordinated protests that include Wikipedia going dark and Google blacking out its logo. The proposed laws died soon after. Now the empires are preparing to strike back. The studios are again ramping up their war on piracy, this time attempting to avoid the pitfalls in similar efforts more than a decade ago.

Speaker 1: 20:17

Motion Picture Association Chief Executive Charles Ravkin on Tuesday announced at CinemaCon that the trade group representing the major studios will work with members of Congress to enact legislation allowing companies across the media and entertainment industries to move for the blocking of access to websites that facilitate the sharing of pirated movies and TV shows. Ravkin said quote piracy is clearly not a victimless crime Across the globe. It undermines everyone who works in production actors, directors, writers, carpenters, craftspeople and more. Unquote. The announcement is part of a renewed bid to block websites accused of hosting copyright-infringing content that enable piracy. However, depending on how the legislation is constructed, it could also allow bad actors to weaponize copyright law in a way that would stifle free speech across the internet.

Speaker 1: 21:04

The Electric Frontier Foundation intellectual property litigation director, mike Stolz, said in his statement quote measures like this are inevitably used to censor lawful speech because they afford an easy way to make something disappear from the internet their magnet for abuse. Unquote. The legislation has yet to be proposed, but under mpa's vision, whoever, it would probably work something like this a federal judge would oversee the process with the which would be created, in which a copyright holder can move for an order to block a certain site. If they disagree, the ISPs and members of the public will have a chance to respond. The burden will be the copyright owner to prove that the site is dedicated to infringement and enabling piracy, with the entire process taking place in a matter of months, opposed to years, if a studio were to initiate a lawsuit. If an order is granted, it will be left up to the ISP or other intermediaries on how to deny consumers access to the content.

Speaker 1: 22:01

In a typical copyright litigation, a court first determines whether the defendant has violated any of the plaintiff's rights. If there is liability, a judge then orders that the infringement cease. A case would then go under a no-fault regime would proceed differently, with the copyright holder not suing or seeking damages in the traditional sense, but rather solely seeking an order for intermediaries that connect the pirate site and users to halt the infringement. Ravkin said let's be clear this approach focuses only on sites featuring stolen materials. There are no gray areas here. Only on sites featuring stolen materials. There are no gray areas here. Unquote. Ask how the proposed law would be different from SOPA. Scheffner said quote that will be a much narrower piece of legislation. So will the studios prevail? Should we all get out our lists of Congress people and start writing and calling now? It? Might not hurt.

Speaker 1: 23:04

Start making your voice heard today before they get started. Don't be reactionary, be pro-actionary. There you go anyway. On to some more news. Sega's arcade hack-and-slash beat-em-up Golden Axe is being adapted for television. In something of an unexpected twist, that TV series will be an animated comedy. Mike McMahon and Joe Chandler will co-write the first episode and exec produce the 10-episode series for Comedy Central. The announcement came two days after Paramount revealed that Lower Dex will be the series' final installment.

Speaker 1: 23:42

Golden Age Heroes, axe Battler Tyrus Flair and Gilius Thunderhead will face down the evil Death Adder in the animated comedy, and they'll be joined by all-new characters inexperienced adventurer Hampton Squibb, voiced by Community's Danny Putty. Joining Putty in the voice cast are Matthew Rees as lightning-powered dwarf, gilius, lisa Gilroy as fierce swordsman, tyrus and Liam McEntree as the earth-shaking axe who does not fight with an axe and is described as a barbarian warrior with a strict code of honor and sweet golden retriever demeanor. Comedy Central's Golden Axe will feature deep cut characters from the franchise, such as Kronos, evil Laiot and Damned Hellstrike. This is a game series with real good character names, folks, so we all have that to look forward to.

Speaker 1: 24:36

Now on to some sad news John G Trimble passed away on the morning of April 19th 2024, as confirmed by his daughter, laura Boehm, in a post Star Trek and fandom. As we all know, it all stems from the efforts and passion of John and his wife, bijou Trimble, the couple who launched the grassroots Laird-Ryan campaign to save Star Trek following NBC's cancellation of the original series after the second season, which resulted in their getting a third and final season. With enough episodes.

Speaker 1: 25:13

With the third season giving them enough episodes, the show was able to enter syndication, propelling it into a phenomenon that warranted an animated series in 1973 and a big-budget feature in 1979. And many shows after that. The rest is history. Jean and Bijou Trimble in 2016 were brought on stage at Star Trek Las Vegas in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek and they were honored with a painted portrait of them by artist JK Woodard Recalling their efforts.

Speaker 1: 25:43

After a visit to the original series set following the 50th anniversary of honor, john Trimble told StarTrekcom when we saw the change in the cast and crew during the filming of the Deadly Years from what it had been before, we knew something was going on. It had been a very upcast crew. We knew something was going on. It had been a very upcast crew and now it was very down the mood. We found out by going to craft services, the underground gossip source, that they were probably going to cancel the show after the second season. We had to leave and go back to Oakland, where we lived at the time, and on the way we were talking about what change had been in the cast, I turned to Bijou and said there ought to be something we can do about that. Knowing full well that was throwing down the challenge, the couple immediately sprang into action. Trimble added. We spent the rest of the trip going up the Central Valley before Interstate 5 back to Oakland, discussing how to do it and putting together the Save Star. Trek campaign.

Speaker 1: 26:39

Unquote. Bijou Trimble credited John for building up the framework for the grassroots campaign Quote. We knew of course we were going to have to both mail letters. John went down to the post office, learned all about mail rules and brand new was the zip code system. They told us flat out that if material wasn't zip codedoded it wouldn't go out as bulk mail. That would just sit in the post office. John got all the books in those days and learned about the zip-code rules and we came home and put those into effect. When we mailed out letters, John was down with a hand-cranked mimeograph machine turning out the letters which we still have a copy or two. We folded them, labeled them and stamped them and put them in bulk mail.

Speaker 1: 27:19

He was doing a whole bunch of the physical work, the grunt work. I was morguing people over to help us. It was actually wonderful. We'd work the volunteers hard all weekend. John was everywhere. He was the one who ran the errands, he's the one who lifted Toad and basically it simply was not possible for me to do it alone. This is why we're a pair. Unquote. Decades following their legendary Ryan campaign, john and Bijou Trimble remained ambassadors for the science fiction program and the space program at large, as well as the Society for Creative Acronism or SCA. The pair continued to attend Star Trek premieres and events, meeting fellow fans and sharing enthusiasm for each new iteration of Star Trek and generation of fandom, including last year's Star Trek Picard Season 3 Red Carpet Premiere in Hollywood, california. And you know us and every Star Trek fan out there, whether you're a Trekkie, a Trekker or any other kind of fan owe the Trimbles just so much.

Speaker 1: 28:23

Without them, you know, star Trek would be what it is today. Science fiction might not be what it is today. So let's lift a glass in honor of them. Let's lift a glass in honor of them and with that, that takes us to the end of our show for today. Please be sure to check us out on social media. We're at blue sky and twitter, at multiverse, tom threads, facebook, instagram at multiverse tonight.

Speaker 1: 28:52

And if you've gotten some value out of the show and would like to pay it back, please, please, head on over to multiversecom, where you can find our Patreon and Ko-fi links, check out our show notes, visit our TeePublic store, leave some feedback and so much more. And if this is your first time, thank you, you're welcome. Go ahead and hit that subscribe button and share us with others. Special thanks to Shane Arvers for the intro music and Lobo Loco for the outro theme music. Thanks for watching this edition of Multiverse Tonight. We'll be back in just two weeks with more sci-fi and comic book news. Now please exit the universe in an orderly fashion. Good night, thank you.