Nerd News: A Capella Disney parody, Despicable Me 2, Neverwhere and more

Vol. 4, Issue 10

Good Thursday to you, friends. Read on for the latest and nerdiest.

In TV news:

• Here are some new details and promo images for Doctor Who's upcoming episodes.
• Matt Smith has recently been talking about the series' 50th anniversary celebrations.
• Sherlock's series three has started filming and the first episode has a title.
• Once Upon a Time's Wonderland spinoff might star Alice herself.
• George R. R. Martin will have a cameo during Game of Thrones' third season.
• Pushing Daisies might be the next show to get a new life from Kickstarter.
• Joss Whedon says he's not considering it for Firefly (or Serenity), however. (He's waaaaay too busy.)
• John Cho (Star Trek, Go On) will have a recurring guest role on the new Sleepy Hollow series.
• Stephen Fry will play Rupert Grint's butler in Super Clyde.
• Colton Haynes (Speedy?) has been upgraded to Arrow series regular for the show's second season.
• Teen Titans Go! goes from DC Nation shorts to half-hour series April 27.
• American Horror Story's third season will be subtitled "Coven."

Here are a few promos:

Doctor Who

(via)

Game of Thrones

(via)

Hannibal

(via)

And the first six minutes of Orphan Black:

(via)

Mondo is releasing another set of Game of Thrones posters today.

(via)

In movie news:

• Tom Hiddleston has been talking lately about Thor 2, particularly Christopher Eccleston's role.
• Here are some spoilers about Pepper Potts' role in Iron Man 3.
• And the new IMAX poster.
• Jean-Claude Van Damme hopes to join the Avengers 2. (As much as I love his ridiculousness, I'm not sure he's the right fit for the Marvel universe.)
• A new The Amazing Spider-Man 2 set hints at a battle in Times Square. Here's a new shot from inside Oscorp Industries.
• A photo of the headshots of the cast of X-Men: Days of Future Past has been leaked.
• The first trailer for The Wolverine will be released March 27. Here are a few new photos.
• Jason Momoa is not going to play Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy; WWE wrestler Dave Bautista is.
• Still nothing is official, but it's likely only a matter of time before Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher sign on to Star Wars VII.
• Michael Shannon says Man of Steel's General Zod isn't a typical villain.
• Here are some new stills from the movie.
• Check out these spoilers for the Veronica Mars movie.
• I didn't think Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters did very well, but there's a sequel in the works.
• Jai Courtney (A Good Day to Die Hard) and Theo James (Downton Abbey) have joined the film adaptation of Divergent.
• The 24th Bond movie will be released three years from now.
• Jurassic Park 4 will be directed by indie director Colin Treverrow (Safety Not Guaranteed).
• Here's a first look at Tiny Fey in her costume from The Muppets ... Again.
• James Cameron is still working on Avatars 2 and 3.
• Jay Z is producing the soundtrack to The Great Gatsby.
• Les Misérables director Tom Hooper is interested in directing Sasha Baron Cohen's Freddie Mercury biopic.
• Tom Cruise is considering a role in the Guy Ritchie-directed reboot of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
• Also being talked about for remakes: Escape from New York and Pete's Dragon.
• Sarah Silverman might be joining Seth MacFarlane's A Million Ways to Die in the West.
• A new Goosebumps movie has been greenlit.

Here are a few trailers:

Despicable Me 2

(via)

Planes

(via)

Star Trek Into Darkness

(via)

I've seen/posted some characters sketches from this artist before, but these Star-Wars-characters-in-the-80s illustrations are even cooler for the added background scenes. (I also still totally want to cosplay as this Leia.)

(via)

Don't forget to cast your daily votes in the Star Wars March Madness brackets.

Get to know your adjectives in this second Star Wars Rock video:

(via)

In SCIENCE! and tech news from The Mister:

• Scientists are discussing bringing certain species back from extinction. 
• Male lions are better hunters than anyone previously thought.
• The origins of teamwork have been discovered in chimpanzees.
• Researchers have discovered a way to grow new teeth with tooth-inducing cells from mouse embryos.
• A new study has found that "remarkable" changes occur in the brains of teenagers as they sleep.
• This new "digital talking head" can elicit human emotions on demand.
• A supernova first discovered in 1604 has led to clues about the universe's growth rate.

I found a few items as well:

• CERN has found a god particle.
• 14 adults have been "functionally cured" of HIV.
• This berry is the shiniest thing in nature.
• This newly discovered wasp species has been named after Kill Bill's Beatrix Kiddo.
• Scientists have already brought one animal back from the dead: a frog that gives birth through its mouth.
• Katrina-like hurricanes could be becoming more likely.
• Google recently announced the end of Reader, but has, this week, announced Keep and might be unifying the company's many chat programs under one name—Babble—in the near future.

Tard's dislike of pretty much everything is totally logical.

(via)

The Mary Sue says it best: "As Jill pointed out, the cat version of Bilbo looks an awful lot like Crookshanks from Harry Potter. Anyway, everyone knows Martin Freeman is actually a hedgehog."

(via)

In comics/books news:

• The first few episodes of the radio play adaptation of Neverwhere are available to stream online. I could listen to James McAvoy's accent all day. (If you do listen to them, the story doesn't start right at the beginning of each recording. I got totally confused when I listened to it the first time.)
• This is a fun set of reading lists, one for each Harry Potter house.
• Once Upon a Time is expanding into the world of books.
• President Obama is now a canon president in the DC universe.
• She-Ra will be He-Man's enemy in the new Masters of the Universe comic series.

I love these!

(via)

Of course Hawkeye would be the Pink Ranger.

(via)

In gaming news, from TGG:

• Here's a video of some gameplay (+ commentary) from the new TMNT game.
• Raven has been added to the Injustice: Gods Among Us roster. Black Adam, too.
• Star Wars: First Assault, which is currently in a state of stasis, might have been a downloadable predecessor to a possible Star Wars: Battlefront III.
• Resident Evil 6 and Left 4 Dead 2 will be crossing over on PCs this spring.
• First-person shooter The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is out this week.
• Academy of Art University students are using assets from Borderlands to create animated Borderland shorts. 
• This video describes the process through which BioShock Infinite character Elizabeth was created.
• Bungie's next project, Destiny, will require an always-on internet connection, but the company's not worried.
• Soon to be released memory-theft game Remember Me was initially rejected by several studios for having a female lead.
• A Star Trek:The Next Generation pinball "table" is now available.
• American Mcgee is considering another foray into his mad Alice world.
• New game studio Grimm Bros. is working on their first game, which will be a Grimm's Fairy Tales-based RPG with the "humor of Monty Python and the darkness of Evil Dead."
• Monster Hunter 3 is a new action adventure game. Check out this Home Shopping Network-style video featuring some of the in-game items and weapons.
• Gone Home is a new exploration game centered around the experience of being a teenage girl in the Pacific Northwest in the 90s and features music by Riot Grrrl acts Bratmobile and Heavens to Betsy.
• Fans of the TimeSplitters franchise are now allowed to make a new game using official assets from previous games as reference.
• The series reboot of Thief was officially announced last week, and the developers say that you can play through the entire game without killing anyone.
• Have a couple thousand dollars just sitting around? You can order a custom wood Neo Geo.

And finally, this is a seriously impressive (and witty) Disney parody. (Thanks Colt!)

(via)