Just a quick further image from the end of filming on Alien: Covenant. Danny McBride has posted this one, of him in a posh cockpit...

Previously, a further end of filming image was release on the official Alien Anthology Twitter account, showing director Ridley Scott and series newcomer Katherine Waterston looking cheerful on the movie's set.

But note the hairstyle, the vest and the way the gun's slung over Waterston's shoulder. Isn't she looking more and more like Ripley with every passing image? In this instance, she looks very like Aliens-era Ripley, which we're guessing is far from a coincidence.

With Alien: Covenant due out in August 2017, Scott now has just over a year to take the movie through post-production. We'll be sure to keep you updated as more details emerge. (Also, we've got more images on page 3 of this article.)

Alien: Covenant release date

Alien: Covenant will reach British and American cinemas on Friday 4th August 2017. There's no word yet on the running time.

More news on Alien: Covenant as we get it. In the meantime, everything we know is on page 2 of this article...

Alien: Covenant plot - what we know about the story

Here's the official synopsis for Alien: Covenant...

"Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created in ALIEN with ALIEN: COVENANT, the second chapter in a prequel trilogy that began with PROMETHEUS -- and connects directly to Scott’s 1979 seminal work of science fiction. Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world -- whose sole inhabitant is the "synthetic" David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition."

Since that synopsis was released, it's actually been confirmed that Covenant is part two of a prequel quadrilogy. In total, Scott wants four prequels to Alien, not just the 'trilogy' mentioned in the synopsis.

The title itself - Covenant - could provide some clues to the story. We've thought about that in detail in a different article.

The image above also confirms that the Weyland-Yutani corporation will be the employers of the Covenant's crew in the movie. That's not a massive surprise to fans of this franchise, of course, but we thought you'd like to know.

Alien: Covenant cast

With Michael Fassbender's David said to be the only character returning from Prometheus (there will be no sign of Noomi Rapace's Elizabeth Shaw, apparently), a whole new set of actors have signed up for Alien: Covenant.

Katherine Waterston (pictured directly above) of Inherent Vice and Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them has the lead female role, we're told. Her character is called Daniels. Looking at the latest image from the set (see page 1 of this article), Daniels wields a big ol' gun at some stage.

Danny McBride - best known for his comedy, particularly Eastbound & Down and Pineapple Express - will play one of the main blokes in the film. Demian Bichir (last seen as Bob in Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight) has also signed up.

Alien: Covenant Xenomorph - will this dude show up? 

The video above was released on 'Alien Day' 2016, revealing loads of concept art for an Alien King to go with the famously frightening Alien Queen from Aliens. It isn't yet 100% confirmed if this new male Xenomorph overlord will appear in Alien: Covenant, but it certainly seems like a possibility.

After all, Prometheus ended with a big tease of the Xenomorph's evolution, so it makes sense that we might see another new variation in its sequel.

Alien: Covenant spoilers

Look away now if you don't want to know a minor potential spoiler for Alien: Covenant. Still here? Cool. We've heard from several sources that Michael Fassbender will be playing two different versions of his evil android David in the new movie.

Scified shared the news after uncovering two separate reports of this spoilery plot point from Australian news outlets (Covenant is shooting in Australia). According to the Sydey Morning Herald, Ridley Scott had this to day:

"Scott said it would follow on from 2012’s Prometheus and would have Michael Fassbender returning as both android David and a doppelganger."

The website SBS backed that up with the following:

"Scott said Alien: Covenant will pick up from the end of Prometheus, and see Fassbender playing two versions of his android character, David."

That's certainly enough evidence to have us convinced. And who wouldn't want to Fassbenders for the price of one?

Alien: Covenant - not to be confused with Alien 5

And finally, just a word to the wise - Alien: Covenant is not be confused with Alien 5. Covenant is a Ridley Scott-directed movie which will follow on from Prometheus, while Alien 5 is a Neill Blomkamp project that will serve as a new sequel to Aliens. Blomkamp has Sigourney Weaver signed up for his film, but will have to wait until Covenant's production is completed before pressing ahead.

More news on both movies as we hear it. Also, we've got some Alien: Covenant image analysis on page 3 if you're hungry for more info/speculation...

Alien: Covenant images

Like acidic alien drool, the drip feed of imagery and teases from the production of Alien: Covenant continues, and this may be one of the most intriguing so far.

It's a gif showing a special effects artist carefully sculpting a hand, just tweeted from the franchise's offical Twitter account. It's not just any hand, either - a distinctly Giger-esque appendage with long spindly fingers.

Take a look:

While the sculpt is slightly obscured by the modeller's hands, it's worth noting that the hand has six digits - just like the alien originally designed by HR Giger in the original Alien. This effectively rules out the suit being for the Deacon, the blue, odd-looking proto-alien we saw at the end of Prometheus, since that beast had a more mundane five fingers.

While this may still be a form of alien we've never seen before, it's surely intended as a way of getting fans like us speculating that it'll look at least similar to the one that first menaced us all those years ago. Plus, isn't it a relief to note that the xenomorph will be brought to life with practical effects, at least in part? 

This time, the official Alien Anthology Twitter account has tweeted a picture of Ridley Scott himself, calling the shots on set with Michael Fassbender and a handsome-looking space helmet.

Take a look:

There are a couple of things to note here. First, that the helmet in the mid-ground is far more like the ones we saw in 1979's Alien - a stark contrast to the glass bubbles worn by the crew in Prometheus, which had a more 1950s vibe.

Second, check out Fassbender's hair - the blonde do of the previous David is nowhere to be seen. Presumably, this David is less into Lawrence Of Arabia than the one in Prometheus - which is handy, because the different hairstyles will help us distinguish between the two. (Scott said about a year ago that Alien: Covenant will contain two versions of David the android.)

Maybe the new David's obsessed with a completely different movie - like, say, Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach.  

Previously, the image directly above arrived online. Coming from a monitor on the shoot itself, it gives us a first look at Katherine Waterston's character, Daniels - who we're told is the film's protagonist. 

For your viewing pleasure, here's a cropped version of the image which takes out the distracting red bounding box and squares up the image. We did this using incredibly scientific instruments.

With her short hair and grey vest, Daniels certainly looks Ripley-esque. The lighting and set design's as handsome as we'd expect from a Ridley Scott movie, and the composition suggests there's something very nasty lurking down the end of that corridor.

Brightening the image also reveals a few more details:

Daniels is wearing what appear to be combat boots and similarly combat-ready trousers. Is she a soldier of some kind? Perhaps even a Colonial Marine of some type? Thinking about it, Daniels' haircut and outfit reminds us as much of Vasquez from Aliens as Ellen Ripley. 

Note too the serious looking piece of hardware propped up by Daniels' feet. It's just possible it's a kind of flamethrower we haven't seen before - that would explain the fire apparently flickering down the end of the corridor. Besides, an Alien film wouldn't be an Alien film without flamethrowers.

Collider, Twitter

We'll bring you more Alien: Covenant news as it happens.

Contains spoilers for BoJack Horseman season 2.

On some level, relatability is essential to good storytelling. We need to understand what characters feel in order to care about what happens to them, and that is far more potent if we can see ourselves in their plight. But so many of the best shows of television are only relatable in the abstract. We may feel the wounded pride at the heart of Breaking Bad, the masculine insecurity that fuels the characters in True Detective and anybody who has ever been in an emotionally abusive relationship is certain to empathise with a lot of what goes on in Hannibal, but the circumstances of those shows are so far removed from the lives of most of us and the parts we relate to are ultimately minor threads in the grand scheme of things.

A lot of things made Mad Men special, but chief among them was just how uncomfortably familiar the characters always were. Don Draper lived in a constant futile desperation to make his life more like the advertisements he peddled, a hunt for an artificial happiness that he helped convince the world existed. The reason this hit home so hard is because so many of us yearn for something more, something that we can’t even properly define, and maybe that is the simple happy endings that we see in television, film and even advertising. In a movie, Don’s impulsive proposal to Megan would have been the happy ending to a sad story; champagne and smiles all round. In real life, and in a TV show that excelled at emulating the vagaries and frustrations of real life, that was not the case. Don wanted to tie everything up with a neat bow, but unlike the happy ending of a movie he still had to get up the next day and live with the choice he had made, a choice that became more clearly foolish the longer he stayed in a marriage with a woman who was very different to what she seemed to represent to him.

The thing about real life is that even when we get everything we want, those things may not be what we want years down the line. We can strive for perfection but that elusive aim always shifts as we grow and change as people and so on some level the pursuit of happiness is akin to being a greyhound chasing a fake rabbit that’s engineered to always be just ahead of us. And that, more than the smart suits, the booze and the charisma, is what made us take so strongly to Don Draper. He may have seemed like everything we want to be, but the tragedy is that he is actually everything we really are. Melancholic, selfish, perpetually unsatisfied and obsessed with his own past; both escaping it and reliving it. Like the best characters he holds a mirror up to us, but unlike most he holds a mirror to the parts of ourselves that we are not so inclined to share with the rest of the world. That is what made Don so special.

Now imagine that character, that beautifully, elegantly written character, is an anthropomorphic horse.

The early episodes of BoJack Horseman weren’t promising; it seemed like territory that had already been well trod by better shows. An alcoholic man-child with commitment issues as the central character of an absurdist animated comedy? There was nothing BoJack Horseman was doing that Archer hadn’t already done. And it didn’t help that a lot of the jokes kind of fell flat. Sure, there was a stellar voice cast on board, but there wasn’t a whole lot to make the show really stand out. And if it wasn’t for the Netflix model of giving us a whole season at once, I doubt I would have stuck around for episode two. But, on a lazy rainy day it’s easy to just let the next play and the next. BoJack wasn’t bad, just a little unoriginal.

Then came the end of episode four. BoJack spent the half hour at first reluctantly then with slowly growing enthusiasm helping his directionless housemate Todd pen a rock opera. It’s pretty standard sitcom fare. Naturally everything falls apart at the end, as things are wont to do in animated black comedies. But as Diane’s ex-boyfriend gave a heartfelt speech about the fact that people don’t really change, we saw in montage that the failure of Todd’s promising career came about because BoJack had knowingly sabotaged him. And it wasn’t funny. Sure, there was a slight chortle at the fact that ‘Character Actress Margo Martindale’ had been a part of the scheme, but this scene wasn’t a joke; it was the first time we realised just how damaged BoJack really was. Because as much as he abused and belittled Todd, he couldn’t stand to be without his company. It was a dark, sombre, surprising note for the show.

And that moment might have only been an anomaly, but over the course of the first season BoJack Horseman leaned deeper and deeper into real emotional complexity. We saw how disillusioned and unsure of her direction in life BoJack’s seemingly well-adjusted biographer Diane was. We saw a growing sense of worthlessness in otherwise charming slacker Todd and the endless frustrations of BoJack’s acerbic agent Princess Caroline. And in the centre of it all we had BoJack, a man (horse) who got everything he wanted and didn’t know where to go from there. A man who missed what may have been his one chance of happiness because he was so busy chasing the things he believed he wanted when he was young and reckless. A man who constantly sabotages himself and everything around him out of a dangerous combination of cowardice, bitterness and spite.

Any screenwriting class will tell you that one of the most crucial things in storytelling is making the audience care about your characters. On the surface, there is little reason for us to give a crap about a washed up, self-centred sitcom star drinking his life away in his expensive mansion. Likewise the life of an alcoholic, adulterous ad man is unlikely fodder for empathy. But the brilliance of both BoJack and Mad Men was in finding a palatable veneer to draw us in, before taking time to establish how deplorable the respective central characters are. But there will always be something to root for in the story of a bad person who wants to change, and that is what keeps us coming back, no matter how many people BoJack or Don hurt. 

The themes and characters of BoJack would not be out of place in a serious minded, live-action drama, but perhaps the greatest masterstroke of this show was choosing the format of an animated sitcom to tell its story. Certain expectations come with the medium, and so BoJack’s shift into dark, existential, character-driven drama was a thrilling surprise; it used its genre like a Trojan Horse to lull us into a false sense of security before hitting us with what it really wanted to talk about. In the early episodes, BoJack’s fixation on his past seemed like a dark joke; as the series went on it revealed itself as a tragic pathological obsession, an obsession that reached its logical endpoint in the penultimate episode of the second season.

The penultimate season two episode sees BoJack leave his job and friends behind to travel to new Mexico and find Charlotte, the one that got away. It's strongly reminiscent of all the times Don Draper did the exact same thing; abandoning his life when things got too difficult in order to pursue fantasies instead. Even the way the episode played out felt entirely like a Mad Men plot; learning that Charlotte is happily married, BoJack instead fixates on her daughter Penny, who happens to be the spitting image of her. This should be and is repulsive, but it’s made extremely clear that BoJack’s flirtation with a seventeen-year-old is less a sexual thing and more a symptom of his desperation to hold on to his past. He tells Penny as much as they release balloons out over the desert; "you remind me so much of your mother". Right when the whole thing starts to seem creepy, BoJack rejects Penny’s advances and goes to talk to Charlotte. He wants to reminisce but instead he gets a serving of the kind of brutal truth that Don Draper might have benefitted from, "it doesn’t matter where you go, you can’t escape you." BoJack might want to run away with Charlotte, but she is an adult now; too wise and mature to deal with BoJack’s brand of arrested development. So BoJack does the exact thing we feared he would; he returns to Penny, a version of Charlotte who think he is impressive and attractive, a version of Charlotte with whom he can pretend he’s still young and hopeful.

But the real Charlotte catches them and her admonishment is both gutting and completely justified; "If you come near me or my family again, I will fucking kill you."

Nobody ever called Don Draper out on his bullshit so powerfully, or at least, nobody who Don cared enough about to listen to. In his need to reconnect with his past, BoJack has burned that bridge for good and now he has no choice but to move forward. It’s an immensely moving and powerful episode of television, building on what we know about this character and his backstory to go to the kind of territory that few shows would dare to.

Did I mention that this show is still about anthropomorphic animals?

Even the absurdist humour in BoJack Horseman is layered. One of the show’s best recurring gags is Princess Caroline’s boyfriend ‘Vincent Adultman’, a businessman who is quite clearly three kids on top of each other wearing a trenchcoat. It’s the kind of dumb joke that gets funnier and funnier the more oblivious to it the characters are, with BoJack seemingly the only person who realises what is really going on. In a recent interview with Vulture, BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg explained why the character really resonates so much:

“Why am I wearing a tie? It's because I saw an adult wear a tie and I thought, Oh, that's what people do. We're all just trying to be what an adult is. I don't know, I don't know how to do anything. I'm just like, doing impressions of what I've seen other people do, and hoping no one knows that I'm actually just a little monster in a human suit making my arms go up and down. That's why so many people respond to Vincent Adultman, because I think we all sometimes feel like three kids stacked on top of each other under a trench coat. Like, I'm not a real person, and I'm terrified that people are gonna find out.”

And it makes perfect sense. This is the kind of show that can make even an uproariously funny gag into a sly commentary on maturity and how much on some level we are all just kids with no idea what we’re doing, trying and often failing to grow up.

After those uneven early episodes, even the humour really managed to click into place. The sight gags got sharper and funnier and the Hollywood satire went from fairly shallow to quite brilliant. A Diane-centric episode in the second season delivered a cutting commentary on the Bill Cosby case and the way we allow celebrities to get away with things, blaming the victims and those who chose to speak out rather than confront the fact that people we idolise might be capable of reprehensible things. It’s a blackly funny episode that builds to a downbeat conclusion as Diane is driven away and criticised by her loved ones purely for trying to do the right thing.

One thing the second season excelled at was developing the supporting characters outside BoJack in new and unexpected directions. Mr Peanutbutter, established early on as BoJack’s foil and rival was always depicted as a fairly simple, happy-go-lucky character; after all, he is a walking, talking Labrador. And this doesn’t change, but it does take on new depth when he is put up against the other characters in the show. In one episode that focusses on three romantic relationships in the aftermath of a disastrous surprise party, Diane and Mr Peanutbutter’s relationship is put under the microscope. Early on, their relationship seemed like one that was doomed to fail and their marriage in the first season at least for a time just appeared to be another obstacle that BoJack had to overcome to get together with Diane. Instead, the show subverted this, demonstrating that these two really did love each other, but their differences were going to cause huge problems. Mr Peanutbutter explains to Diane that when she’s out working, he just sits at home and waits for her. "I’m an old dog," he admits, and while Diane wants excitement and adventure, Mr Peanutbutter has done all that and just wants to be with her. But where a lesser show might have made this the point of division, BoJack let its characters do the mature thing, to accept their differences and love each other for them. That’s not to say further problems won’t arise (they do) but it’s a somewhat hopeful suggestion that just because things seem doomed, doesn’t always mean they are.

There are large thematic and even some plot similarities between BoJack Horseman and Mad Men, but crucially BoJack is very much its own beast with its own concerns and method of exploring them. Vincent Adultman is perhaps a perfect metaphor for the show at large; on the surface funny and ridiculous, at its heart dark and replete with painful emotional truth. Mad Men’s conclusion this year left an undeniable void. It seems we’ve found the exact show to fill it.

This article originally appeared in July 2015.

The Defenders trailer

As well as new teaser trailers for Luke Cage and Iron Fist, and the confirmation of Daredevil season 3, San Diego Comic-Con has given us another treat from the Marvel/Netflix camp: our first teasing glimpse at the huge team-up series, The Defenders. This one promises to be Netflix's equivalent to The Avengers, albeit on a different scale.

Here's the promo clip, which hints at Charlie Cox's Daredevil, Mike Colter's Luke Cage, Finn Jones' Iron Fist and Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones coming together by mashing up some recognisable paraphernalia...

The Defenders release date

The Defenders is expected to land in 2017, but we don't have an exact date just yet. We know it's a top priority, though, with other shows being moved around to make from it.

More news as it happens.

The first teaser trailer for Marvel's upcoming Iron Fist Netflix series has arrived, debuting at SDCC before spreading around the globe via YouTube, giving us our first decent look at Finn Jones as Danny Rand. Here it is...

Iron Fist images

Thanks to Tumblr user Delevingned, the first images of Finn Jones as Danny Rand - the chap who will become Iron Fist - have now landed online. Here they are...

Iron Fist cast

Finn Jones will play Iron Fist (real name: Danny Rand). Here's what showrunner Scott Buck had to say about the casting...

“Danny Rand is a very complicated character. He’s a billionaire New York Buddhist monk martial arts superhero who’s still trying to figure out what exactly that all means. Finn is able to play all these levels in such an honest, revelatory way that as soon as I saw him I knew he was our Danny.

“Finn wonderfully blends confidence with vulnerability, making him the perfect choice as he struggles to find his place in the world,” said Executive Producer/Head of Marvel TV, Jeph Loeb. “Now that we’ve found our Danny Rand, we’ve completed our principal cast for the upcoming Defenders on Netflix and we are thrilled to continue to show audiences unexplored corners of the Marvel Universe.”

Mr Finn Jones, best known as Game Of Thrones’ Ser Loras Tyrell, will lead the Iron Fist solo series before eventually teaming up with the other Netflix heroes in a big Defenders crossover, which may start filming at the end of this year.

Tom Pelphrey (pictured, in a still from Banshee) and Jessica Stroupe of 90210 have jumped aboard the good ship Iron Fist. The pair will play a brother and sister named Ward and Joy Meachum. 

Variety reports that "Joy and Ward have spent their lives building Rand Enterprises to its current standing in the world, only to have all their work put in jeopardy when Danny returns to claim his birthright."

Australian actor David Wenham (Top Of The Lake, 300, 300: Rise Of An Empire), is playing their father, Harold Meachum, described by Deadline as "a ruthless corporate leader who was partners with Danny Rand’s parents at the time of their deaths."

CBR reports that Jessica Henwick – who played X-Wing pilot Jessika Pava in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and regularly appears as Nymeria Sand in Game Of Thrones – has also signed up for a role in Marvel and Netflix’s upcoming Iron Fist series.

She’ll play a martial arts expert by the name of Colleen Wing, who’s described as "an invaluable ally to Iron Fist, aka Danny Rand, as he returns to his life in New York."

After debuting in Jessica Jones and popping up in Daredevil season 2, Carrie-Anne Moss' Jeri Hogarth character will also appear in the upcoming Iron Fist series.

Marvel's TV chief Jeph Loeb confirmed the news in a statement: "Carrie-Anne has fast become a fan-favorite part of our street level saga, and we share our viewers' excitement in bringing her into Marvel's Iron Fist. As Marvel fans know, Hogarth in the comics plays a critical role in the life of Danny Rand so it seems only fitting that Carrie-Anne join in."

Showrunner Scott Buck added this: "Danny Rand lives in the highest stratosphere of New York's business society and he's going to need a ruthless lawyer to help him navigate this alien world. I'm very happy to have the opportunity to bring Carrie-Ann Moss as Jeri Hogarth into Marvel's Iron Fist."

Iron Fist showrunner

Dexter alum Scott Buck is the showrunner of the series.

“Scott came in with a take on Iron Fist that quite simply knocked us off our feet,” said Marvel TV chief Jeph Loeb. “We always look for the most creative minds in the field to help us bring our heroes to life, and with Scott we’ve found someone that can deliver yet another great series in the ongoing story of The Defenders.”

Buck himself said this: “I’ve always been drawn to writing complex, intriguing characters, and that’s what most excites me about the opportunity to bring Danny Rand and Iron Fist to life with Marvel on Netflix.”

More news as we hear it.

Luc Besson's Valerian - the next big sci-fi film from the director who previously brought us the likes of The Fifth Element and Lucy - is currently cooking up a storm at San Diego Comic-Con, while we're sat at home trying not to eat all the biscuits. 

Thankfully, a new still from the film - which stars Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne and Clive Owen - has just arrived in our inbox. See if you can guess which of those three actors is in it...

As for the plot of Valerian, we'll let Mr Besson himself do the explaining...

Yep, Valerian is in fact a comic book movie. It's based on a French science fiction comics series by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mezieres. It's set for release in the summer of 2017.

We'll keep a close eye on Valerian, and bring you more news as we hear it. In the meantime, you may want to hear what our chums at Den Of Geek US thought of the film's SDCC presentation by clicking here.

Arriving in cinemas in August is a new animated film in part from the pen of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (The Interview). It goes by the name of Sausage Party, and the pair wrote the movie in conjunction with Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir. Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon have directed it.

The film is about one sausage, and his quest to discover why he exists in the first place. And it's an R-rated production, with a voice cast the includes Rogen himself alongside Kristen Wiig, Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill, James Franco, Salma Hayek, Edward Norton, Bill Hader, Danny McBride, Michael Cera and Craig Robinson.

A new Red Band trailer for Sausage Party has just arrived online, and thus if you're young and impressionable, it's best you give this one a miss.

If you're not....? Help yourself...

Before this one, a different Red Band trailer was released back in March...

Sausage Party reaches UK cinemas on Friday 2nd September 2016. In the USA, you'll get it on Wednesday 17th August.

More sausage-based news as it happens.

Star Trek Beyond is in cinemas now, marking the first film in the rebooted ‘Kelvin’ timeline that J.J. Abrams didn’t direct. Justin Lin of Fast & Furious fame took over, working from a script by Doug Jung and Scotty himself, Simon Pegg. 

Our review is online here, but that isn’t nearly as interesting as the opinions of you - our wonderful readers. We’d love to hear what you made of the movie, which is why we’ve opened up this whole new webpage to let you air your thoughts.

Be warned, if you haven’t seen the film yet: this is a place for post-film discussion. You’ll find all sorts of Star Trek Beyond spoilers in the comments below.

If you’ve gone out and seen the movie already, scroll down below these adverts and let us know your take on Star Trek Beyond...

Fear The Walking Dead season 2B trailer

While we wait patiently for Fear The Walking Dead season 2 to resume, a new trailer has been released via San Diego Comic-Con. Here it is...

Previously, along with the 'key art' in the gallery above, this teasing clip was released...

Fear The Walking Dead season 2B return date

Fear The Walking Dead season 2 will resume on AMC, in the States, on Sunday the 21st of August at 9pm. It'll reach the UK version of AMC the following day.

More news as we hear it. In the meantime, we've got loads of extra info about Fear The Walking Dead season 2 on the second page of this article...

Fear The Walking Dead timeline

Fear The Walking Dead showrunner Dave Erickson has been chatting to TV Line about the timeline of the show and where it fits alongside The Walking Dead.

"If you marked off the days [that have passed on air since Fear The Walking Dead debuted], I think right now, by the end of the first half [of Season 2], we’re getting very close to Rick waking up in Georgia," Erickson explained, "[Fear The Walking Dead's survivors have] arrived at a place where they’re up to speed on how one deals with the apocalypse and the dead."

This doesn't make a crossover any more likely, since there's still a lot of catching up to do if the shows ever want to be in sync (which we'd wager they don't). But it's nice for fans to know how things line up.

Fear The Walking Dead cast and crew

Fear The Walking Dead season 2 has brought back all the significant survivors from season 1. Kim Dickens’ Madison Clark, Cliff Curtis’ Travis Manawa, Frank Dillane’s Nicholas Clark, Alycia Debnam-Carey’s Alicia Clark, Mercedes Mason’s Ofelia Salazar, Lorenzo Henrie’s Christopher James Manawa, Rubén Blades’ Daniel Salazar and Colman Domingo’s Victor Strand are all present and correct.

Season 2 will also have its fair share of new characters alongside the returnees. Arturo del Puerto (Ride Along 2, The Bridge) will play a chap named Carlos, Veronica Diaz (Dead Rising 2 videogame, one episode of Torchwood) will recur as Vanessa, and Daniel Zovatto (It Follows, Revenge) has been cast in an as-yet-unnamed role. 

Perhaps most notably, Dougray Scott of Mission: Impossible II, Desperate Housewives, Hitman, Ever After and Taken 3 has also landed a part. It’s unknown what his character name will be, but there’s a chance that he could be a villain given his previous career form.

An as-yet-unconfirmed survivor from the online mini-series Fear The Walking Dead: Flight 462. But, given that Flight 462 hasn’t finished its run yet, it’s impossible to determine who that will be. You can watch Flight 462 online and hedge a guess, in the meantime. 

On the crew side of things, Dave Erickson will return as showrunner for Fear The Walking Dead season 2. Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert remain on board as executive producers. 

Fear The Walking Dead season 2 story

Talking to The Hollywood Reporter about Fear The Walking Dead’s showrunner Dave Errickson teased that there won’t be 'a dramatic time jump' between seasons, and that the cast will stay on that boat for a while. 

"In the wake of what’s going on in Los Angeles, I didn’t want to abandon the city without some residue about what it was like to lose the city", Errickson explained. "I wanted the audience to have an introduction to the boat."

And what does that boat mean for zombie attacks? Well, Errickson confirmed that “They can’t swim. Zombies can wade and that’s something we experimented with in the first couple episodes; it has a lot to do with decomposition and gas buildup in the body."

He added: "Here’s what it’s not going to be: We’re not doing The Love Boat with zombies. Every episode will not be a new port of call; there’s no Juliette McCoy. We are going to go to land and we are going to have a balance between sea and land."

Chatting about the big theme of the season, he said: "One of the big questions thematically is: what is family now? Is it blood or is it bond? We’re going to have a group of people, some of whom don’t know each other very well […] It provides for this interesting balance of paranoia and anxiety, which is not dissimilar from last season but we’re now on a boat in the middle of the ocean and that’s going to give us a lot of drama for first few episodes."

Fear The Walking Dead future: season 3 already ordered

After only two episodes of season 2 have screened, AMC has gone ahead and ordered season 3 of Fear The Walking Dead. The show will return for this third run next year.

More news as we hear it.

The live-action Ghost Rider rights reverted to Marvel a while back, when Sony opted not to continue with the Nicolas Cage-starring film franchise. 

Now it's been revealed, with a short video from San Diego Comic-Con, that the fiery-skulled antihero will be joining Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4...

Gabriel Luna (of True Detective) will be playing the Robby Reyes version of Ghost Rider, a different incarnation than Nic Cage's Johnny Blaze. In the comics, Robby was bonded with the Spirit of Vengeance after a misunderstanding, and tried to murder only truly evil people.

Here's a picture of Luna and Robby...

And here's another video clip from SDCC, where Robby's car was revealed...

Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4 start date

Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4 will reach American television sets on Tuesday the 20th of September at 10pm.

We'll let you know E4's UK date as and when we hear it. In the meantime, we've got some extra S.H.I.E.L.D. news on page 2...

Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4 plot

Clark Gregg has been chatting about the plot and personnel of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4, and how the show will pick up from the surprises at the end of season 3's finale (which we've got a detailed breakdown of right here).

The biggest question mark hangs over the identity of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new director, who currently remains a mystery. Even to the cast of the show, it would seem. Chatting to Entertainment Weekly, Coulson actor Clark Gregg had this to say on the topic of Phil's new boss...

“I was not given a clear answer [about their identity] [...] I don’t know that it’s been determined. I thought I was going to find out when I saw Civil War, but it’s not at all clear. It all depends when the glorious Nick Fury [Samuel L. Jackson] returns from the cold and the shadows. I suspect, in the wake of the Sokovia Accords and the end of Civil War, the people involved in choosing who the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be other than in-house S.H.I.E.L.D. people. If I know my government bureaucracies, I have a feeling it will be someone somewhat less qualified than Coulson to run S.H.I.E.L.D.”

And if Mr Gregg could chose the new S.H.I.E.L.D. head himself? He'd opt for Ming-Na Wen's Agent Melinda May. “I’d love it if it was [her],” Gregg admitted. “That would be magnificent. She has earned that right and she is a commander that Coulson would absolutely follow with absolute loyalty.”

And how did Gregg feel about Phil losing the top job? “I wasn’t pissed about it at all”, he said. “They had an episode very early on after he was made director that said heavy is the head that wears the crown. I think that’s true. It was a job he was given. Maybe in the back of his mind he dreamed of being the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. someday, but it wasn’t his lifelong dream. [...] I think Phil Coulson’s happiest as a field agent”.

More Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. news as we hear it.

Warner Bros' 2013 game Injustice: Gods Among Us proved to be a sizeable hit, which isn't a huge surprise when you consider how it mashed two bastions of pop culture - DC Comics and Mortal Kombat - together, and added an intriguing to the mix as well. (If you're unfamiliar, it saw Superman adopting the position of an evil despot after the Joker killed Lois Lane, with Batman leading the charge against him.)

It's also not a big shock that, in 2017, a sequel to Gods Among Us will hit shop shelves and digital retailers. It's going by the streamlined title Injustice 2, and a new trailer was released at San Diego Comic-Con yesterday.

Here it is, featuring Wonder Woman, Gorilla Grodd and Blue Beetle...

And here's the synopsis for the game...

"Injustice 2 continues the epic cinematic story introduced in Injustice: Gods Among Us as Batman and his allies work towards putting the pieces of society back together while struggling against those who want to restore Superman’s regime. In the midst of the chaos, a new threat appears that will put Earth’s existence at risk."

There's no firm release date yet beyond the entire year of 2017. But we'll bring you more news as we hear it.

Yesterday, a Game Of Thrones panel was held at San Diego Comic Con, with Sophie Turner making some interesting comments about Sansa Stark's working relationship with Jon Snow going forward.

“I’m not sure she thinks Jon is capable of running Winterfell and the North,” Turner is quoted as saying by CBR. “I don’t think she thinks he has the intellect or the experience that she has, and I concur. He has wonderful morals, those Stark morals, so she thinks that inevitably he’ll make a good decision, but whether it’s going to benefit anyone is another story.”

Turner isn't sure if Sansa will attempt to take a leadership role herself, though.“I have no idea if she’s going to become a real leader or if she’s going to become completely sadistic,” she said. “We’ll soon find out.”

Additionally, this video was released, confirming that behind-the-scenes work has begun on Game Of Thrones season 7...

Game Of Thrones season 7 start date

Collider has confirmed that HBO's dragon-stuffed mega hit will not return until summer 2017, instead of coming back in the show's usual April slot. We still don't know the exact premiere date date, but we'll let you know when we do.

We'll bring you more news as we hear it. In the meantime, we've got some extra Game Of Thrones season 7 info on page 2....

Game Of Thrones season 7 directors

Entertainment Weekly has got the skinny on Game Of Thrones season 7's directors. Here's the list of talented chaps that will be calling the shots on the show's penultimate season...

Alan Taylor: the Thrones veteran who helmed the season 1 and season 2 finale episodes before being snapped up by Hollywood for Thor: The Dark World and Terminator: Genisys.

Jeremy Podeswa: the director of season 5's controversial episode Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken. He also directed the first two episodes of season 6.

Mark Mylod: directed The Hound's comeback episode The Broken Man and Arya's chase-stuffed hour No One.

Matt Shakman: a newcomer to Thrones who has previously worked on It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, The Good Wife and Fargo.

You'll notice that Hardhome and Battle Of The Bastards helmsman Miguel Sapochnik is missing from that list. The Red Wedding director David Nutter is also absent. 

Game Of Thrones season 7 episodes

Word on the web has long suggested that the Game Of Thrones showrunners are planning to wrap the story up in thirteen episodes using shortened seventh and eighth seasons.

These rumours have now been confirmed by HBO. Season 7 of Game Of Thrones will definitely consist of 7 episodes instead of the usual 10. 

David Benioff previously told Deadline that "It’s two more seasons we’re talking about. From pretty close to the beginning, we talked about doing this in 70-75 hours, and that’s what we’ll end up with. Call it 73 for now."

Game Of Thrones season 7 story

Benioff went on, in that Deadline interview, to tease the ultimate endgame conclusion of Game Of Thrones...

"We’re trying to tell one cohesive story with a beginning, middle and end. As Dan [Weiss] said, we’ve known the end for quite some time and we’re hurtling towards it. Those last images from the show that aired last night showed that. Daenerys is finally coming back to Westeros; Jon Snow is king of the North and Cersei is sitting on the Iron Throne. And we know the Night King is up there, waiting for all of them. The pieces are on the board now. Some of the pieces have been removed from the board and we are heading toward the end game. The thing that has excited us from the beginning, back to the way we pitched it to HBO is, it’s not supposed to be an ongoing show, where every season it’s trying to figure out new story lines. We wanted it to be one giant story, without padding it out to add an extra 10 hours, or because people are still watching it. We wanted to something where, if people watched it end to end, it would make sense as one continuous story. We’re definitely heading into the end game now."

We'll bring you more news as it happens.