We have even more confirmation that an actor from the original Star Wars trilogy will not be in The Last Jedi. Arrow has an unlikely guest star this week. There’s forking good news for The Good Place. Plus, new footage from the big CW/DC crossover, and Terry Gilliam talks The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. To me, my spoilers!
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Despite the fact we’ve known it for over half a year at this point, here it is officially: Billy Dee Williams will not be reprising his role as Lando Calrissian in the movie. [EW]
In related news, Rian Johnson spoke to Entertainment Weekly about Luke’s self-isolation and refusal to answer Leia’s calls during The Force Awakens.
Luke longs to have that extended family that he established in the original trilogy, but now he’s at a place in his life and in his history where he’s shunned all of that. The big question is why didn’t he respond to Leia during [The Force Awakens]? There’s a lot of things you can’t answer until you see this movie… It’s very important for Luke to feel grounded and feel like he has a family. I think he loves her dearly.
Nightwing
Chris McKay has once again confirmed there will be an open casting call for the role of Dick Grayson on Twitter.
There will be an open casting call but that is like Vegas odds for sure. Don’t leave your career up to chance. Believe in yourself. Bet on yourself. Get an agent or a manager.
— Chris McKay (@buddboetticher) November 21, 2017
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
In an interview with the New York Times, Terry Gilliam revealed he’s close to finishing a final cut of his long-delayed passion project, and that the results are “surprisingly wonderful”.
Well, we’ve almost finished the cut. We’re just fiddling now, figuring out a few things here and there so it’s pretty much what it is. We’ve got still months of work to do on visual effects, sound, music. But as far as the tale, it’s pretty tight now and it’s surprisingly wonderful.
I always hesitate to get too optimistic or too excited about the work I’m doing. I’d rather try to stay cynical and slightly distant from it. When you fall in love with something, it’s painful when it doesn’t work for everybody else. But all the people who’ve seen it so far – they used the words, “We’re in love with this.” So let’s see if they’re right.
Game of Thrones
Watchers on the Wall reports sets being constructed for Winterfell in Ireland have seen filming featuring Daenerys’ Unsullied arriving in the North – now armed with spears tipped with Dragonglass, after Jon got permission to mine Dragonstone’s reserves of the White-Walker-killing material.
Although battle scenes have yet to be filmed for a siege of Winterfell by the oncoming Walker horde, the site further speculates that it’s inevitable, given that exterior sets for the castle are being built instead of being saved for CG, indicating scenes set immediately around Winterfell are being planned.
Arrow
Billy Joel is set to make an unexpected appearance in this week’s episode as himself when Michael Emerson’s character, Cayden James, plans to blow up one of his concerts. According to Marc Guggenheim:
For the Thanksgiving episode of Arrow, we wanted Cayden James to threaten a major event at Star City. A variety of ideas were discussed, but when we settled on a rock concert, I knew it had to be Billy Joel.
Blue Book
Both Micheal Harney (Orange Is the New Black) and Ksenia Solo (Lost Girl, Turn) have joined The History Channel’s Blue Book, a miniseries about Roswell’s Project Blue Book, from writer David O’Leary. Harney is set to play a currently unnamed USAF General described by as “a sage of a man with a long, decorated military career. The powerful and also morally concerned general works closely with his partner overseeing Project Blue Book, hiding the truth about UFOs from the public for reasons of national security.”
Solo will play Susie, “a stylish, eye-catching young woman with an alluring confidence to envy. Susie is new in town when she becomes fast friends with Dr Hynek’s wife, Mimi (Laura Mennell). But, as the two bond over similar interests, empowering one another, we’ll soon learn Susie is far more than she initially appears.” [Deadline]
The Good Place
Good news! NBC has renewed The Good Place for a third season. [THR]
The Gifted
Spoiler TV has photos from episode 10, “eXploited”. More at the link.
The 100
Meanwhile, creator Jason Rotherberg has posted a still from The 100‘s forthcoming season five trailer on Twitter.
— Jason Rothenberg (@JRothenbergTV) November 21, 2017
Crisis on Earth-X
Finally, the CW (via Coming Soon) has released a new poster and trailer for their massive, dimension-hopping Arrowverse crossover, featuring Earth-X versions of Red Tornado and Metallo.
Banner art by Jim Cooke.