Innholdsfortegnelse for Comic-Con Special 2018 i TV Guide Magazine

1. Even without the Pussycats, her character Josie’s former band, Riverdale’s Ashleigh Murray was ready to rock out. 2. It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Melissa Benoist! The down-to-earth Supergirl star swooped into our HQ to chat about her character’s high-flying heroics on The CW’s hit. 3. After all these years, Comic-Con is still a scream for Gotham villain Robin Lord Taylor. 4. Misha Collins (lower left, with Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles) quipped about not getting to pose with his two Supernatural costars on last year’s Comic-Con Special cover: “I wasn’t available [anyway]!” 5. “There are 219 Wellses and I plan to play all of them…much to the chagrin of the viewing public,” The Flash’s Tom Cavanagh joked of his multiple personae on the show. 6. Black Lightning’s Pierces…

“WE WANT J’ONN J’ONZZ FIGHTING FOR THE UNDERDOG NEXT SEASON, AND HE LEAVES ALEX IN CHARGE OF THE DEO”—ROVNER The Reign is done and those World-killers appear to be gone for good! and while the exploits of Winn and Mon-El will be the stuff of Legion, will national City get Brainier? Supergirl showrunners Robert Rovner and Jessica Queller spill all. Is Reign’s reign really over? “it’s a happy ending” for Sam (Odette Annable), says Queller. “She’s vanquished Reign forever, she’s normal again and she and [her daughter] Ruby move to another town and start over, like at the end of a horror movie.” Have we lost Winn (Jeremy Jordan)? Certainly for now, with Winn joining the Legion and leaving Earth to save the artificial intelligences from Brainiac-5’s (Jesse Rath) evil…

There were murders, there were musicals, there were rumbles and even secret siblings. Riverdale delivered all the goodies (and baddies) this season and left us wanting more. so we grabbed a few minutes with superbusy showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (who is also the chief creative officer at Archie Comics and prepping Netflix’s upcoming series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) to find out what sort of crazy he’s cooking up for season 3. Is the Black Hood story done or are the kids still at risk? “I think the Black hood story is over—for the moment,” Aguirresacasa hedges, adding that even though HAL Cooper (Lochlyn Munro) is in jail for the crimes, there’s “definitely a chance” it was mobster Hiram Lodge (Mark Consuelos) who sent former serpent tall Boy dressed as the hood…

The battle against Team Flash’s craftiest adversary yet is finally over, and the West-Allen family has joyously expanded by two (one baby and one future West-Allen!). Enjoy that happy feeling while you can, though, because showrunner Todd Helbing has some new trouble brewing for the S.T.A.R. Labs all-stars. What do we know about Iris (Candice Patton) and Barry’s (Grant Gustin) daughter (Jessica Parker Kennedy) from the future? In the season finale’s final scene, the mystery girl who popped up at the couple’s wedding (among other places) revealed herself to be Nora West-Allen. And yep, she’s a speedster. “She got her powers from Barry,” explains Helbing, promising to shed light on the “pretty big mistake” Nora admits to making early on in Season 5. “It will lead into what the problem…

Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) is a hero through and through. on the sixth-season finale, he revealed himself to be vigilante Green arrow and surrendered to the FBi in order to keep the rest of his squad from facing criminal charges. But with crime lord Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedo) still on the loose, what does that mean for star City’s finest? Showrunner Beth Schwartz gives us some hints. Ricardo is at large! Uh-oh. For the first time, the show’s big bad wasn’t vanquished in the finale, which means the mobster is sticking around and, per the showrunner, is furious about Oliver’s attack on his gang. “When we see him again, he is not going to be very happy. he’ll definitely be out for blood,” says Schwartz. So maybe it’s a good…

Burlap-swathed Charlie Tahan (far left) and Ben McKenzie map out the moves for one of Gordon’s fierce showdowns with Scarecrow, whose brutality is just as unsettling as his overall look. “The costume is really the whole thing,” raves Tahan. “It’s so good.” They’ve come so far! In Season 3, whip-wielding Tabitha (Jessica Lucas, near left) electrocuted good girl gone bad Barbara (Erin Richards); now the two sirens are as tight as the women who play them. Richards even joked during their New York Comic Con panel, “Barbara has learned the lesson that she can’t just be crazy, because her best friend will kill her.” “This is when people started seeing Jerome [Cameron Monaghan] and Penguin interacting,” says Robin Lord Taylor (above) of his character Oswald’s Arkham Asylum stay, and fans…

Jensen Ackles (Dean, left) and Jared Padalecki (Sam) rest easy with their Baby. Of the nine black Impalas on the Vancouver set, “six run. The rest are prop cars,” reveals Dabb. “We have a great crew that takes care of them. Jensen is very protective and possessive—and Jared knows that the cars are Jensen’s. Whenever Jared gets to drive, it’s an event.” “The three amigos put on their game faces,” jokes Mark Pellegrino (Lucifer, far right) with Christian Keyes (Michael) and Samantha Smith (Mary). Michael and Lucifer often tried to kill the Winchester mom, but the actors are buddies. “Mark is really funny,” executive producer Andrew Dabb says. “Samantha is great, though we put her through the wringer the last two years.” Just a typical father/surrogate son heart-to-heart! Here, Sam…

We’ve always known Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) Winchester would crush it as cartoon characters. With Sam’s height and goofiness and Dean’s square jaw and silly quips, you might say they were born to be animated. And who better for the brothers and buddy Castiel (Misha Collins) to hang with than the icons from Scooby-Doo? After all, the Mystery Machine gang—smart girl Velma, slacker Shaggy, danger-prone Daphne, group leader Fred and wisecracking dog Scooby—also root out bad guys. In the March 29 episode, a haunted TV sucked Sam, Dean and Castiel into a Scooby-Doo episode where they helped stop a malevolent ghost. We got the scoop on “Scoobynatural.” Here’s how the ultimate crossover was born. The idea came from Jeremy Adams, a writer for Warner Bros. Animation who…

From breaking the rules of time travel to vanquishing a winged demon that had taken over the body of übervillain Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough), the Legends earned their name this season. Along the way, they mourned scientist Martin Stein (Victor Garber); bade farewell to the other half of Firestorm, Jax (Franz Drameh); briefly gained a speedster (Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally West); and welcomed a demonologist (Matt Ryan’s John Constantine). executive producer Phil Klemmer fills us in on what’s next. hint: It sounds scary good! Does Constantine joining the gang mean we’re in for more supernatural elements? Hell, yeah! The team’s defeat of demon Mallus “left us hungry for more [horror],” says Klemmer. “Time travel and history are fun, but mashing them up with genres adds an extra layer.” Don’t worry—not…

Seg (Cameron Cuffe) is in space prison, Nyssa (Wallis Day) isn’t who she thought she was and something very big and bad just broke out of captivity. While we hold out for a hero, showrunner and executive producer Cameron Welsh gives us a tease of Krypton’s next Nova Cycle. Who will bring the pain in Season 2? Along with General Zod (Colin Salmon) and Doomsday—the killing machine last seen breaking out of his cryo-chamber—Welsh says Brainiac (Blake Ritson) is still a threat, especially to Seg, now that they’re both trapped in the Phantom Zone prison dimension. “It would be interesting to see them forced to work together to escape,” Welsh says. Nyssa is a clone?! Welsh was surprised fans didn’t suspect the twist that Nyssa was actually a cloned version…

A is for agar and gelatin, the Jell-O-esque substance that the show’s prop master uses to mold the faux brains that Liv devours. B is for Blaine (David Anders), the shady hustler who turned Liv (Rose McIver, below) into a zombie. C is for CGI. When Liv goes into zombie mode, it’s computer graphic imaging that turns her eyes red. D is for Deadboy & the Elephantmen (below), the indie rock band that sings the theme, “Stop, I’m Already Dead.” E is for Easter eggs. Showrunner Rob Thomas includes subtle references to another series he created, Veronica Mars. Kristen Bell has even done a cameo voiceover. F is for Fillmore Graves, the company responsible for infecting Seattle residents and turning them into zombies. G is for guest stars. Matchbox Twenty…

Premieres Sunday, September 9, 10/9c, Lifetime If you thought he was crafty as the all-seeing Gossip Girl, wait until you see Penn Badgley go next-level nosy in the Lifetime drama You. Based on Caroline Kepnes’s nail-biting 2014 novel, this thriller stars Badgley as Joe Goldberg, a Manhattan bookseller whose obsession with a customer named Beck (Elizabeth Lail, right, with Badgley) inspires him to use her social media posts to present himself as the perfect man. As their romance deepens, so does Joe’s stalking. Before long, Beck and her friends—including bestie Peach (Pretty Little Liars’ Shay Mitchell)—are on the receiving end of his darkest impulses. Casting for the series “was extensive,” says The Magicians’ Sera Gamble, who is an executive producer with Arrowverse architect Greg Berlanti. “We were adamant that Joe…

Coming soon, DC Universe Justice is served—Young Justice, that is. five years ago, after Nightwing, Kid flash and the rest of the gang saved earth from an alien invasion, the series ended its run on Cartoon Network, much to the dismay of its fans. Now the team is back to face new mysteries and threats, with more teen heroes, on the upcoming digital service DC universe. Brandon Vietti and Greg Weisman, the show’s tightlipped creators, are keeping most of the details under wraps, but here’s what we know. There’s a big time jump… Because the series focuses on generations of super heroes inspired by those who came before them, Vietti used the passage of time to help with storytelling. “the interplay, the mentor-mentee relationships and the growth of characters—these kinds…

ACROSS Action Comics #5 story “Superman and the ____” 4 H, in the Greek alphabet 7 Classical Italian poet 12 Call ___ day (2 wds.) 13 Green Lantern artist Kane 14 Do You Dare ___ The House of Mystery 15 One of Frank’s kids, on Shameless (2 wds.) 18 Tom who stars on Lucifer 19 Vampire Diaries star Somerhalder 20 Hit with the hand 21 Snake’s sound 22 Supervillain’s emotion 26 New (prefix) 27 Actress Ciara who played Hawkgirl on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow 28 Riggs’s psychiatrist, on Lethal Weapon (2 wds.) 33 The Flash spun off from this show 34 The Walking Dead’s Bernthal 35 Age of 43 Across on his Young show 36 Faucet 37 Nickname for The Spectre? 41 A long time for us, a short time hop for DC’s Legends…

As cool as it was to shoot on the Vancouver streets, Melissa Benoist (Kara/Supergirl) says the season’s biggest blast took place indoors. “The ‘Trinity’ episode, where Lena [Luthor], Supergirl and Alex [Danvers] go into a dreamlike dimension where the Worldkillers lived… was a fun homage to Buffy [the Vampire Slayer] and packed with girl power,” she raves. “We all had too much fun.” How does Mehcad Brooks (left, with Benoist and Katie McGrath) stay loose between takes? “By pontificating about [politics] while eating vegan snacks with hummus!” he says. An extra greenroom for downtime hangs was built on-set last year. “We put them through lots of challenges,” executive producer Robert Rovner says of the cast. “We wanted them to have a special space.” It’s three men and a Saturn Girl!…

Here we have the legend himself, Cody Laudan, as The Flash, battling a caveman come to life,” says Grant Gustin, who has nothing but high praise for his stunt double, whom he’s been working with since the show’s pilot. “I hope this [picture] was selected without realizing this was Cody—he really does make the perfect double.” True story: We did initially think it was Gustin! You have the right to remain super! Jesse L. Martin’s TV past was on display as his Central City Det. Joe West busted a metahuman. “He was reading the Miranda rights and I was like, ‘Wow, this just turned into an episode of Law & Order for a minute!’” jokes showrunner Todd Helbing (who took over as sole showrunner in Season 4 and will continue…

John Diggle (David Ramsey, left, with Echo Kellum, Juliana Harkavy and Rick Gonzalez) subbed in as Green Arrow when the FBI started investigating the original vigilante’s alter ego, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell). “It introduced a new dynamic,” says Kellum, whose Mr. Terrific hunted for Black Siren (Katie Cassidy) with Harkavy’s Black Canary and Gonzalez’s Wild Dog. “I was so excited to reunite with my Arrow family—even if that meant letting some maniac tie me down to a chair and keep me hostage,” jokes former series regular Colton Haynes (seated), who returns full-time in the fall. Haynes, who reprised his role as streetwise Roy Harper in the “Doppelgänger” episode, has been welcomed back. “I just love him!” says Ramsey. Those graphics that fill tech genius Felicity Smoak’s (Emily Bett Rickards) computer…

Horror writer Stephen King really went to town when he created Castle rock, Maine. the shabby New England village is the backdrop for some of the author’s most grisly thrillers, including Cujo (murderous rabid dog!) and Needful Things (stolen souls and deadly feuds!). Now, with King’s blessing, Hulu’s new series Castle Rock expands the hamlet’s census roll—and its police blotter—with new characters. And, oh, do they weave a twisted tale: Most residents, in fact, “have dark histories,” understates Dustin Thomason, an executive producer–creator, along with Sam Shaw. Get acquainted before the next town hall meeting…if you dare. Alan Pangborn (Scott Glenn) The loyal retired sheriff, 75, served in the 1980s and ’90s and saved the town from a massacre. He and Ruth (Sissy Spacek) share true love and a complicated…

Ed Nygma, aka The Riddler, and Oswald Cobblepot, aka Penguin, are Gotham’s mainstay menaces and two of the show’s greatest rogues. But off camera, pals Cory Michael Smith and Robin Lord Taylor are downright delightful. Need proof? Look no further, Bat-fans… Do you remember the first time you met? Smith: Yes! It was at our very first photo shoot for Season 1 promotional artwork. Taylor: I don’t remember the exact time, but I know I was excited because I had recently seen him off-Broadway in The Whale, so I knew what an immense talent he is. What was your take on the other? Smith: He was in his Penguin costume, hair and makeup, which in my opinion is not only one of the most iconic looks on our show, but…

Keiynan Lonsdale (left), who swaps between The Flash and Legends as speedster Wally West (and has previously announced he is ending his series-regular status on both), shoots a green-screen bit with Arthur Darvill as Rip. “There’s so much camaraderie among our cast, no one gets dropped into the deep end alone,” executive producer Phil Klemmer notes. By reusing costumes from prior episodes, the show was able to stretch the battle-filled finale’s budget to include extra FX. “If you could be in those meetings,” marvels Klemmer. “It’s like, ‘You can have 50 centurions.’ So we say, ‘What if they don’t have helmets?’ and then we get 60!” Theater-trained Tala Ashe (Zari, far left) preps a fight scene with Caity Lotz (team leader Sara) on the Waverider set. But Lotz embraces any…

Taking a stand: Chyler Leigh (Alex Danvers), Echo Kellum (Mr. Terrific), Maisie Richardson-Sellers (Vixen), Rick Gonzalez (Wild Dog), Caity Lotz (White Canary), Grant Gustin (The Flash), Nick Zano (Citizen Steel), Stephen Amell (Green Arrow), Brandon Routh (The Atom), Dominic Purcell (Heat Wave), Wentworth Miller (Citizen Cold), Tala Ashe (Zari) and Juliana Harkavy (Black Canary) unite for a fight. Super #squadgoals? For sure! Emily Bett Rickards (Felicity), Candice Patton (Iris), Lotz, Leigh and Melissa Benoist (Supergirl) took a selfie on the set of Legends’ Waverider timeship. “These ladies are all queens; I’m glad they got my back,” wrote Lotz when she posted the girl-power portrait on Instagram. Fans apparently support the royal quintet—the pic has so far racked up more than 300,000 likes! Supergirl and Citizen Steel? We ship it! Unlike…

DUAL STATUE Deep inside one of the two mammoth soundstages at Belfast Harbour Studios in Northern Ireland sits the centerpiece of Krypton’s dazzling sets, the original Fortress of Solitude. Built by Seg’s grandfather, Val-El (Ian McElhinney), the space is dominated by a statue of two Kryptonians balancing the planet on their hands, a clear nod to the sculpture of Superman’s parents, Jor-El and Lara-El, that resides in his version of the Fortress in the future. “S” MARKS THE SPOT From the main platform to the eaves overhead to the pedestal that holds up the cape that time traveler Adam Strange (Shaun Sipos) brought from the future, the Fortress is embedded with the “S” symbol to indicate how much it meant to the House of El even generations before their most…

Premieres Monday, September 24, 10/9c, NBC A plane with 191 passengers. Some severe turbulence. Five and a half missing years. Wait, what? That’s the jumping-off point for NBC’s Manifest, a new fall series following the perplexed survivors of Flight 828, which somehow takes off in 2013 and lands in 2018. Their adjustment back into the world and the government’s investigation into the occurrence are just part of the story, says executive producer Jeff Rake. (Cast Away director Robert Zemeckis is also a producer, and Jack Rapke is an executive producer.) “There’s a procedural component as our survivors find themselves helping others [and law enforcement] with the benefit of some supernatural abilities that have been bestowed upon them.” The passengers include siblings Ben (Josh Dallas) and Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh), who not…

CW Seed John Constantine still has demons, literally and figuratively. Despite the 2015 cancellation of Constantine—NBC’s live-action depiction of DC Comics’ ultimate antihero, John Constantine (Matt Ryan)—the drinking, smoking, trench coat–clad monster-hunter is out for bad guys again on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow as well as his own CW Seed animated series, Constantine: City of Demons. And Ryan is portraying him on both shows. Adapted from the graphic novel All His Engines, written by Mike Carey, City of Demons features Constantine battling supernatural threats while people around the globe mysteriously fall into comas. One of the victims: the daughter of his old pal Chas (voiced by Damian O’Hare). It’s up to the charming Constantine to face off against the dark forces responsible in order to save his friend’s kin…and humanity.…

Reverse-Flash (Season 1) You never forget your first! Unmasked as Eobard Thawne (Matt Letscher), the yellowsuited time criminal from the 22nd century murdered Barry’s mom and framed his dad, Henry (John Wesley Shipp). He also offed the real Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh), assumed his identity and plotted to erase Barry from existence, only to be undone by his own ancestor, Eddie (Rick Cosnett). Zoom (Season 2) Earth-2’s Hunter Zolomon (Teddy Sears) was a jealous speed demon who posed as good guy Jay Garrick to steal Barry’s skills. “Zolomon sees Barry as the guy he could have become,” says Sears, whose ominous alter ego was snatched by Time Wraiths and may still be trapped in the Speed Force. Showrunner Todd Helbing says he “still gets emails” from Sears about bringing Zoom…

Sissy Spacek and André Holland (Moonlight), who play widow Ruth Deaver and her adopted son, Henry, shoot a scene in the dining room of the family home in Castle Rock. “Sissy is an incredible collaborator,” executive producer–creator Dustin Thomason says of the Stephen King vet (1976’s Carrie). “She loves to roll up her sleeves and dig in with the crew and cast.” You saw him in full clown makeup for last year’s It. Here, Bill Skarsgård goes a bit more subtle on the set of Shawshank State Prison, where his nameless mystery character is incarcerated. “I used extreme contouring with highlights and shading to make him pale and gaunt,” says key makeup artist Sandra Linn, who added facial hair and dirt “for his most unkempt looks.” Spooky! Guest star Terry…

Ed Harris, who plays the ruthless Man in Black—responsible for some of the park’s darkest secrets—takes a break with executive producer Lisa Joy. “There were [several] fights in Season 2; I enjoy shooting that kind of thing,” Harris says. “The [show’s android] hosts are [now] capable of hurting people; the Man in Black gets in a few situations where he doesn’t come out on top.” On a blistering day in the desert, where the mercury topped out at 126 degrees, Jeffrey Wright (Bernard Lowe/Arnold Weber), Tessa Thompson (Charlotte Hale) and crew navigate scruffy hillsides to shoot scenes of park guests fleeing violent hosts. Some off-set dangers also abound. “Snake wranglers checked ahead of time to make sure it was safe,” says producer Mark Tobey. Two forms of AI meet: Evan…

Talk about running hot and cold. Wearing an electrified Black Lightning suit can be cool, but it’s definitely no real protection against the winter elements, admits a bundled-up Cress Williams (his non–super hero alter ego: high school principal Jefferson Pierce). And in the summer heat? “Wearing that 30-pound costume is very, very hot!” the actor says with a laugh. “This was the day of my first onscreen fight,” recalls Nafessa Williams, who plays Anissa Pierce, in an early Thunder costume designed with nods to Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj. “I was ready to kick ass,” she recalls, but instead she got a beatdown from Black Lightning—before he realized the masked Thunder was his own daughter. Adds Williams, “I’m also proud to be playing the first black lesbian super hero!” “My fierce…

Amy (Mayim Bialik) and Sheldon (Jim Parsons) have come a long way since meeting in Season 3. “The biggest shift for them was coitus and moving in together and Sheldon navigating all that,” Bialik says. Now that the pair is married, what’s next for them? “I’m hoping that we’ll just see life,” Bialik says. Teases Parsons, “Do you think Amy will be pregnant?” Microsoft founder Bill Gates guest starred as himself this season. In the storyline, his company was considering partnering with the pharmaceutical giant where Penny works. “He has great comic timing—who knew?” marvels Johnny Galecki. (Clockwise from top left: executive producer Chuck Lorre, Rauch, executive producer Bill Prady, Galecki, executive producer Steve Holland, executive producer Steven Molaro, director Mark Cendrowski, Bialik, Parsons, Bill Gates’s daughter Phoebe Gates, Gates,…

Rose McIver, done up as zombie Liv Moore, waves to fans gathered at a location shoot near the Vancouver set. Executive producer Rob Thomas says crowd control is “hardly a problem.” Thanks to the huge number of shows and movies that shoot around British Columbia, he jokes that folks are used to seeing stars on the street: “I feel like they have gotten as blasé as Hollywood!” Adieu, Bonjour! Daniel Bonjour (center, with Malcolm Goodwin and Rahul Kohli, aka cop Clive Babineaux and medical examiner Ravi Chakrabarti) posed for a selfie with cast-mates after filming his final scene. (Bonjour’s character, Levon, was decapitated.) “This was the first pic we’d taken together all season!” says Goodwin. Photobombing: Aly Michalka (Ravi’s love Peyton). Director Jason Bloom (near left) checks in with stars…

Over the last decade or so, the Teen Titans have become some of the most beloved DC super heroes on television. Robin, Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy have populated multiple comics and animated series, but they haven’t entered the realm of live-action drama—until now. Titans is slated to premiere later this year on the comic giant’s soon-to-launch digital service DC Universe (dccomics.com/dcuniverse). And no one is more excited about bringing these characters to life than executive producer Geoff Johns. “I think the reason Teen Titans has been so great is it’s a surrogate family of super-humans,” says Johns, who wrote a popular run of the comic from 2003 to 2007. “There are a lot of super hero television shows and films out there, and we wanted to do something different—something…

Premieres Thursday, October 25, 9/8c, The CW The week before executive producer Julie Plec started filming the Vampire Diaries pilot in 2009, she pitched The CW another show, one about a bunch of supernatural teens at a secluded boarding school. It took nearly a decade, but her vision is finally coming to fruition. Legacies—which Plec calls her “love letter to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Harry Potter”—is a sequel to The Originals, which itself was a spinoff from The Vampire Diaries. The action takes place at Mystic Falls’ Salvatore School for the young and Gifted (located in the former mansion of The Vampire Diaries’ Salvatore brothers), where “all the students have supernatural powers, be they vampires, werewolves, witches or new kinds of monsters,” Plec says, “and where the line between…

In theaters only, Friday, July 27 Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern…heck, even Catwoman got herself a movie. So where’s Robin’s? The Boy Wonder has been Batman’s crime-fighting sidekick for quite a while, and now he wants to conquer another industry: showbiz. Robin’s quest for his big break is the reason behind Teen Titans GO! to the Movies, perhaps this summer’s hottest action flick—according to at least one person, anyway. Jokes Aaron Horvath, who cowrote and codirected the big-screen debut of Cartoon Network’s popular Teen Titans Go! series, which has been running since 2013, “It’s probably the best super hero movie that’s ever been made!” And Horvath may be right. After all, hasn’t the world waited long enough for Nicolas Cage to become the Man of Steel? The Oscar winner,…

CW Seed The good guys don’t always win. Viewers got a glimpse of Earth-X, the hellish alternate universe in which the Nazis won World War II, in last November’s epic “Crisis on Earth-X” crossover on The CW. The event—featuring Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow—introduced The Ray (Russell Tovey), one of the Freedom Fighters battling the Nazi regime. Just a few days after that, CW Seed delivered the pivotal backstory of The Ray in an animated series also starring Tovey. When Freedom Fighters: The Ray debuted in December 2017, it was an immediate smash— the biggest premiere ever for a CW Seed original. The Ray is also the first superpowered gay character in the Arrowverse to headline a series, an important milestone for its creators. “He’s captured…

Digital premiere July 24; Blu-ray/DVD premiere August 7 Even legends can die. For Superman, death memorably came at the hands of the bloodthirsty Kryptonian monster Doomsday in 1993. But, counter to the acting axiom, dying is actually hard when you’re the world’s greatest hero. The creative team behind the Superman comics spent about a year playing out “The Death of Superman,” the unprecedented saga that ended in the epic Superman #75. That tale now comes to life in a two-part adaptation from Warner Bros. animation, the first installment of which debuts this summer. The all-star films feature husband-and-wife Jerry O’Connell (right) and Rebecca Romijn voicing Superman and Lois Lane. rounding out the cast: Rainn Wilson (Lex Luthor), Nathan Fillion (Green Lantern), Christopher Gorham (The Flash), Shemar Moore (Cyborg), Rosario Dawson…