Steven Moffat tells how much of Doctor Who will revolve around the Doctor's new quest, Francis Lawrence says some controversial moments from Mockingjay are in the movies, and someone's in mortal peril in Teen Wolf. Plus, casting news from the Doctor Who Christmas special and The Walking Dead. Spoilers now!
Top image: The Walking Dead
Star Wars
The casting process has revealed a little bit more about the script for Episode VII. So far, the central characters seem to be "a tough-cookie girl in the 17- to 18-year-old range and a charismatic, funny guy from 19 to 23." These are apparently the characters that the producers and casting agents are searching everywhere for, which indicates that it's really important that the casting is perfect.
We also now have a hint that the script has changed pretty significantly from Michael Arndt's. According to sources, rewrites have casting agents looking for a "a 40-something military man a la Matt Damon in Elysium." This could be a new character, born between trilogies, or maybe a minor character from the original trilogy. Slashfilm posits that we could be looking at a description of Wedge Antilles, which would match Abrams' statements about paying tribute to the original films. [The Hollywood Reporter]
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay
Now that Catching Fire's out, director Francis Lawrence is already answering questions about the next film in The Hunger Games franchise. And one of those answers involves how much more psychological scarring we'll see:
To me Catching Fire is the beginning of it, where you start to see that damage and it only gets worse. Obviously if you know Mockingjay, you know stuff is done to Peeta and so there's a lot more exploration of that.
The other hint he gives is that the ending of the films will likely closely follow the ending of the books, which means that the epilogue will probably make it onto the big screen:
The ending of the book and the book itself is just really important to me. I will just say that we're making the book. But because we are splitting it into two there's room for world growth. I don't want to give anything away or anything, but we're being very true to the book.
More at the link. [Wired]
Avengers: Age of Ultron
This isn't surprising, since Elizabeth Olson herself confirmed it a while ago, but Marvel's officially announced that she'll be playing the Scarlet Witch and Aaron Taylor-Johnson will be playing Quicksilver. [Coming Soon]
Green Lantern
After being sent a link to fan art of him as Green Lantern, Idris Elba responded on Twitter that he's into it:
Thank you baby love..i like this idea..."@HeyTaz: @idriselba you should set this up ������������ pic.twitter.com/htnwDK5OjD"
Honestly, he'd be a great John Stewart. [Comic Book Movie]
Day of the Dead
Mark Tonderai, director of House at the End of the Street, has been hired by Millennium Films to remake George Romero's Day of the Dead. Yeah. [First Showing]
The Walking Dead
David Morrisey says that everything we've seen the Governor do so far is a battle between his desire to abdicate responsibility and his fear of weakness. He says that this is what drove the killing of Martinez and his subsequent actions:
I think Martinez makes the mistake of admitting weakness. He says to the Governor, "I'm not sure I can keep this place safe." Had he turned around to the Governor on that day where he was playing golf and said, "There is no way this camp is not going to be safe. I'm going to make it safe. I'm going to do everything I can to make it safe," then the Governor is going to say, "Great, I'll follow you." But as soon as the man admits weakness, then the Governor is going to take control. And the Governor is killing him and screaming, "I don't want it!" What he doesn't want is the responsibility. He doesn't want the responsibility he is forced to take because of this man's weakness. That's very important. He's putting a crown on his head that he doesn't want. But nobody else but him is worthy of wearing it.
And then he kills the one brother, Pete, and takes over the camp because he feels it's the best way to protect this new family he's come across. But once gets back in that seat of power, does he start to become comfortable again in that role?
The reason he kills the brother is because he doesn't want weakness. He's learned form the past that weakness and doubt is a very infectious disease. So he gets rid of the weakness and goes for the strength and the strength is the other brother. For a minute the audience thinks what the Governor is about to do is go kill the bad guy. He's gonna go kill the tank driver. But he kills the good brother because he knows that he's got to take that mantle and he's got to rid of that weakness — the weakness of doubt. His leadership qualities come, I think. He's a man that's not afraid to make tough decisions and that's why he's a force to be reckoned with.
More at the link. [Entertainment Weekly]
The series has cast Andrew J. West (Greek) as "Gareth," a new character not from the comic. The interesting thing is that Gareth's being described as being a "remix" of a comic character. Which character he's based on hasn't been revealed, though. He'll show up in the second half of the season, and might end up as a recurring character. [TV Line]
Here are promo photos from episode 4.08, "Too Far Gone." [SpoilerTV]
And here's a promo for that episode, which is the midseason finale. [via SpoilerTV]
Doctor Who
Following "The Day of the Doctor," the biggest question seemed to be whether the next season would follow the Doctor's hunt for Gallifrey. Steven Moffat says that, while it will be present, it's not going to be the function of any episode:
He has the possibility of going home - he can find Gallifrey - but it might take him a while, who knows? And who knows what he'll do when he gets there? Get bored and run away again, I would think! But he has a mission statement.
It was fascinating when Doctor Who first came back that he was this war survivor dealing with guilt and rage - that was his story. Of course, he slowly gets over that and then there's a danger that he just becomes about... farting about a bit, which starts to take some of the baseline out of the show somehow. So we've given him something to pitch for.
It's not like we'll spend every episode saying, 'I nearly found it!' - we absolutely will not do that - but it gives him somewhere to go. The Doctor doesn't know he's a character in a television show - he doesn't know he's having adventures for our entertainment - he's got to have something to do and that will be the thing he does.
More at the link. [Digital Spy]
The Christmas special will guest star Orla Brady, who will play "someone from the Doctor's past, with the plot of the episode revolving around her." Whatever that means, whether it's someone we've heard of before or not, it'll drive the plot. [Den of Geek]
Arrow
In what seems to be a response to the rumor that Warner Bros. was looking to cross the TV universe over to the Man of Steel sequel, producer Greg Berlanti has this to say about the relationship between the show and DC movieverse:
We haven't had any of those conversations other than to say, what characters are we allowed to use this year and advocate or request certain ones that are of interest to us. And every now and then, they'll say, 'You can't have that guy.' They don't say why, and we figure out why later on…When it comes out naturally, that's when it's best. And that's been the fate of Arrow, and I guess that's the path we'll follow.
Teen Wolf
When season 3 comes back for its second half, someone's going to be on the brink of death the entire time. However, Holland Roden, whose character is a banshee who can sense impending death, says that Lydia has barely screamed so far. So, it seems that "brink of death" and "impeding death" are not the same thing on this show. [E! Online]
The Originals
Tonight's episode will see either Klaus or Elijah kiss someone, which may or not be related to a moment shared between Elijah and Hayley. [E! Online]
Thee bond beyond Elijah and Hayley is the result of Elijah's desire for family, and will cause a lot of tension between Elijah and Klaus, the father of Hayley's child. According to Joseph Morgan:
There's the idea that Elijah is usurping his role as father. Having this family is what Elijah wants most – family above all. He's taking on that role, and that is addressed in the show. We're not beating around that bush. We'll absolutely make reference to the fact that you might think that he's the father with the way that he's acting.
Daniel Gilles also explained the what's being drawing Elijah and Hayley together:
It seems like the more that they try and resist it, the more that it snowballs. It will be interesting to see where that develops to, because I sense him — at the moment, in the scripts — pulling away really hard, which can signify one of two things: That he's either really going to jump in with both feet or he's gonna wrench himself away from it.
[TV Line]
Once Upon a Time
After the announcement that Christopher Gorham will be showing up as a character important to Emma Swan came the speculation that he's going to be playing her child, Henry, all grown up. Maybe it's a result of what's happening at Neverland or a future time travel spell. With this show, anything's possible. [TV Line]
Episode 3.13 will be called "Witch Hunt." [SpoilerTV]
Almost Human
Michael Ealy says that we'll be seeing Dorian change and see flashbacks to his past. He also has an interesting take on Dorian's biggest flaw:
Dorian starts out really awesome. But what he evolves to or how he changes over time is going to be one of the more interesting turns that's out there. And why he does it. He has issues. There was a reason why his model was decommissioned in the first place.
What would you say is his greatest flaw?
As of right now I'd say it's his desire to be human. It's one of his more charming qualities, but it's also one of his biggest flaws because he's not happy with who he is. Anyone who's not happy with who they are, obviously that can create problems.
Are we ever going to see flashbacks to his time before being decommissioned?
Absolutely. You'll see Dorian in his past. The thing about Dorian is this is his second shot. So I've waivered with whether he plays his cards differently the second time around. Was he different in the flashbacks? Was he more confident in what he was doing and saying? What is there for him to do differently to avoid going back to that place of being decommissioned? Usually when you get a second chance, you turn over a new leaf. Does Dorian need to turn over a new leaf? That's what we're going to find out.
More at the link. [TV Guide]
Extant
The Steven Spielberg-produced show about an astronaut (Halle Barry) trying to reconnect with her family (including her android son) after spending a year in space is casting for the rest of the regulars. Already cast are Barry as Molly and Pierce Gagnon as her son, Ethan. [Examiner]
Sleepy Hollow
Here's the synopsis for December 9th's episode, "The Golem":
A MONSTER ESCAPES FROM PURGATORY ON AN ALL-NEW "SLEEPY HOLLOW" MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, ON FOX
John Noble ("Fringe"), Amandla Stenberg ("The Hunger Games") and Jill Marie Jones ("Girlfriends") Guest-Star
Ichabod enlists Henry Parrish (guest star Noble) to help him communicate with Katrina, but in the process, a menacing danger is unleashed from purgatory in the all-new "The Golem" episode of SLEEPY HOLLOW airing Monday, Dec. 9 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (SLH-110) (TV-14 V)
Go here for a complete set of promo photos for the same photo. [Sleepy Hollow]
Additional reporting by Charlie Jane Anders and Emily Stamm