Official information about Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been hard to come by, leaving every scrap of a rumor to be analyzed and added to an ever growing pile. Andy Serkis, in an interview with EW, clears up a few rumors while still keeping the mystery alive. Serkis is a smart actor and has been really good about not leaking details on previous films.

He'll be playing only one character:

Previous reports that he was playing multiple roles are, according to Serkis, “Not true at all." Adding, "I can say I only play one character."

When asked if he is playing a motion capture character, he says, “I can’t say a single thing about that. I’m sorry! [Massive Grin] These things will all come out in the fullness of time, I promise."

Details on The Voice:

Serkis confirmed quickly after the teaser trailer was released that he is the narrator. Many people, including myself, thought it was Benedict Cumberbatch. When asking if his voice was altered or deliberately masked he responded, “That is the character.” As for the way his voice sounds, “There’s no digital manipulation," he says. "That’s just me.”

When asked about the gravelly and weary nature of the voice, he responded, “I have to be very careful about how I answer these questions. The character …” [Long Pause] “He’s been through some stuff.”

Squashing Rumors:

When asked about the rumors that his characters leads a "group of unbelievably athletic and acrobatic motion capture characters." Serkis laughed out loud and said, "I’m not leading a band of gymnasts or acrobats."

At one point, it was rumored that the subtitle for the next Star Wars film would be "The Ancient Fear." Serkis on the subject said, "No, no, it’s always just been called Episode VII to this point." Later he said, "Then I knew it was called The Force Awakens. It’s very pertinent."

If you're interested in a few other things he said, check out the full EW article.

Last week, Smaug went on the Colbert Report to promote The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, which opens today. During the interview, it was brought up that not all dragons get bad press and that Toothless, from How to Train Your Dragon, is a hero. Smaug proceeded to tear down Toothless, retorting, “Toothless? More like ball less!” In this comic by Tumblr artist Tapestryclouds, Smaug continues his smack talking, only this time Toothless is there to dish it right back. Smaug’s scales are indeed impervious to most weapons, but he is thin-skinned when it comes to insults.

H/T: GeekxGirls

In the first full trailer for Jurassic World, Chris Pratt isn’t just running around looking equal parts Han Solo and Indiana Jones. It also appears that he has those deadly velociraptors trained like a pack of hunting-dogs. In an interview done shortly after the release of the trailer, director Colin Trevorrow clarified that Pratt’s character, Owen, and the raptors “aren’t friends,” adding, “These animals are nasty and dangerous and they’ll bite your head off if you make the wrong move.” So apparently the raptors aren’t quite domesticated, but that raptor looks awfully cozy with Owen in this image Trevorrow tweeted with the following message:

“Happy Holidays from the editing room. Do not try this at home.”

We’ll find out exactly how well-trained these deadly creatures are when Jurassic World hits theaters June 12, 2015.

H/T: ScreenCrush

Professor of history François Dourlen has taken up the hobby of photographing his phone with something from movies, TV, and video games on the screen. What's on the screen in some way ties into the background, making for a kind of alternate reality in which these pop culture icons are part of the real world.

Dourlen (via Bored Panda) on how he was inspired to start taking these photographs:

Like many people, I always imagine weird things when I walk in the street, when I work or when I’m home. But I never found a good way to tell what goes through my head. One day, wanting to make a joke with friends, I replaced a statue of Napoleon in Cherbourg with a picture of my little pony in my phone and took a picture. I had so much fun that I put it on facebook, people immediately liked. I remade another photo in this style, people still loved [it], I made another and another … I had finally found a way to tell all the stupid things that I think [all] the time! And above all a way to show people what I have in the head. My associations of ideas. And above all a means of sharing. It’s not my job, I’m a professor of history. I continue to take these photos as it amuses me. I do not think it will become my job, I love mine and it’s better [that] it’s still a hobby, which allows me to remain free in my creative efforts.

I've only included a small sampling of his work. There are more on his website and Facebook page.

H/T: Geek X Girls

A few days ago we got our first look at some beautiful concept art that was created for Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book. It gave us a solid idea of the visual style and tone that the director is going for, and it looked perfect. It seemed to have that same feel as the animated film we all grew up with. Today we have a behind-the-scenes photo from the set of the film that Favreau posted on Facebook. It features the main human character in the story, Mowgli, who is drenched in shadow. The character is played by newcomer Neel Sethi. 

The story follows Mowgli, a man-cub raised in the jungle by a family of wolves, who "embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery when he’s forced to abandon the only home he’s ever known."

The film features the voices of Ben Kingsley (The Boxtrolls, Iron Man 3), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), and Christopher Walken (Seven Psycopaths), who voice Bagheera, Raksha, and King Louie, respectively. Then there's Idris Elba (The Wire) as Shere Khan, Scarlett Johansson (The Avengers) as Kaa, and Bill Murray (Ghostbusters) as Baloo.

The film is set to be released on October 9th, 2015.

Check out this cool Star Wars-themed Hyundai Veloster car that is covered in a custom Boba Fett-style vehicle wrap. I would love to see what a Millennium Falcon wrap would look like. In all honesty, I would totally do something like this with my car. The photos come from artist Rebekah Stieg Knuth of Knuthart Studios, and she named her car “Ivor Fett.” She did all of the graphic design and layout of the wrap before, and then had it installed. I've included more photos of the bounty hunter makeover below along with a time-lapse video of the application.

Via: LaughingSquid

Ant-Man's leading lady, Evangeline Lilly, did an interview with CNN to talk about her latest film The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, which she was incredible in. During the interview she opens up about working on the Marvel film, reveals what she took from the set of the movie, and gives some additional details regarding her character Hope Van Dyne and the heist aspect of the story. She begins by explaining what it's like working for Marvel, saying, 

"I've been astounded to discover how good to their teams and crew that Marvel are. They're so collaborative, so smart with their stories. They have rich, dynamic characters which are so much fun to play. I expected I'd be a cog in the wheel of a big machine -- I wasn't sure I'd like this experience. But I've been so astounded at how pleasurable the whole experience has been." 

Lilly goes on to explain her character a bit and reveals that her character is one of the masterminds behind the heist in the story.

"She is the daughter of the founders of The Avengers, Ant-Man and the Wasp. She is a very talented, intelligent, capable woman and a force to be reckoned with. [Ant-Man] is very much a heist film. It has all the fun, tension and drama of a good heist film. The heist is being masterminded by myself, my father and Scott Lang." 

In a separate interview with People, she tells them what it is she stole from the set of the film. 

"On Ant-Man, I took a rubber stamp from the office of Hank Pym, who's played by Michael Douglas. If something is small enough to go in my pocket and it will be neat memorabilia, it's gone." 

There's nothing really that cool about that, but whatever. She took what she could get. I personally would have tried to walk away with Ant-Man's costume. In another interview with the Huffington Post, Lilly hinted at the fact that her character could appear in future Marvel films. This info came up when asked about developing a screenplay that she wrote, and she says:

"It’s one I’m set to do in 2015 and hopefully 2016 if Marvel will give me that time. You never know when you sign on with Marvel what they’re going to give to you..."

So she seems to have a multi-deal contract, but doesn't know the specifics of it. Here's the synopsis for the film:

Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

The movie is being directed by Peyton Reed, and it also stars Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll, David Dastmalchian, Michael Pena, Bobby Cannavale, Abby Ryder Fortson, Judy Greer, Wood Harris John Slattery and Gregg Turkington. The movie opens on July 17th, 2015.

Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter was such a fun part of Captain America: The First Avenger. Seeing Agent Carter in her element in the post-World War II "one shot" was equally as fun. The Agent Carter six episode event kicks off on January 6th with a special 2-hour premiere episode. If the event draws and keeps enough viewers, ABC could turn it into a full series.

Source: Marvel

This piece of Spawn cover art was created by comic artist Alex Ross for Spawn #100. Spawn was such a badass comic, and this cover that was done for it is one of my favorites created for the series. It's just a beautiful illustration. Ross posted this image up on his Facebook page recently and I had to share it! It's perfection. 

"Say there was ... a golden ring. And you really, really wanted this golden ring. It was like your precious..."

Sir Ian McKellen appeared on Sesame Street recently. In this segment he teaches Cookie Monster about resistance and self-control. You know that urge we get sometimes when we want something really, really badly? Well, McKellen wants us to resist that crap! 

You shall not pass! Please resist!The word resist means to control yourself and stop yourself from doing something you really want to do, though that's not a word that Cookie Monster really understands. Ian McKellen demonstrates.

So, our homework assignment for the rest of the week will be to put self-control into practice. We can do this! I'm gonna go eat a cookie now. Seriously.

To help get you better acquainted with the characters of Matthew Vaughn’s ultra action-packed movie Kingsman: The Secret Service, we have six featurettes for you to watch. Each focuses on a character from the film and their role in the story. The videos include footage from the film as well as interviews with the actors who play the characters. Some of those actors include Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Taron Egerton, and Samuel L. Jackson.

The film is based on the comic book created by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. It tells the story of "a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency's ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius."

Kingsman: The Secret Service hits theaters on February 13th, 2015.

Do you enjoy Chatroulette and need a wake-up call? You might want to give Wakie App a try. The app has an interesting premise — you set the time you want to wake up, then when it's time you get an anonymized "call" from a stranger. After the wake-up call, you rate your experience and, over time, Wakie will match you with people you might prefer. The call is done over Wi-Fi, so no real contact information is exchanged. Also, the call automatically ends after one minute, so you're not stuck talking to a random person for too long. I've yet to try it, but it seems like it would be fun to wake up and get woken up by random strangers.

Wakie App is available for iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone.

H/T: Oh Gizmo

Today we bring you the first clip from the Monty Python reunion sci-fi comedy Absolutely Anything, which stars Simon Peg. The clip features an amusing scene between Pegg’s character Neil and his dog Dennis, who was voiced by Robin Williams. This is the first footage from the movie that we’ve seen so far, and it looks very funny. The film was directed by Terry Jones, who explained the story,

“It’s about a man called Neil, a teacher in a sink secondary school, who gets given magic powers by aliens. He can make anything happen, [but] he doesn't realise it until his colleague says, ‘What would you do if you could do anything?’ and Neil responds with, ‘I'd make an alien spaceship hit class 4C and vaporise them.’ Then there's an explosion in the school, and they run to 4C’s classroom, open the door and there's a vast hole in the ground.”

The extra-terrestrials who are in this spacecraft are being voiced by Jones, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, and Michael Palin. Apparently Neil comes to a fork in the road and must make a choice between his dog and the woman (Kate Beckinsale) he loves.

The movie will be released in the UK on February 13th, 2015. No U.S. release date has been set yet.

This "Starships Optical Test" poster by Maxime Pecourt tests not only your vision, but also your knowledge of sci-fi spacecrafts. So cover your right eye, look at the row fourth from the bottom, and let’s see if you have 20/20 geek vision. After that I’ll blow in your eye to test if you have geek glaucoma. Then I’ll kick you in the crotch to test if your IQ is high enough to realize these are fake tests.

You can purchase prints of this poster at Society 6 in dimensions ranging from 7”X10” all the way up to  28”X40”.

H/T: XombieDirge

Last week, Lucasfilm revealed the names of the characters in Star Wars: The Force Awakens that were presented to us in the trailer. Disney registered the trademarks of those names, including BB-8, Poe Dameron, Kylo Ren, Rey, and Finn. Apparently, another name has been trademarked, and it's one that hasn't been seen on any official announcement. That name is Captain Phasma.

There's no solid details on who this character actually is, but Badass Digest suggests that the character could be being played by Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), and according to their sources, Captain Phasma is "a stormtrooper commander who wears chrome armor and is hunting down deserter Finn." This seems to go along with details about the film that we've heard in the past. We've even seen concept art for this chrome stormtrooper that you can check out here if you want.

There's no confirmtion of this at the moment, but the pieces of the puzzle do seem to fit together nicely. If it is true, it's the perfect part for Christie, who would make a badass and ruthless  stormtrooper commander. 

Stitch Kingdom is the site who found the name, and they point out that a Phasma character does exist in Star Wars fan fiction. In that aspect, she's a ten year old daughter of an Imperial Admiral, and she appears in a story called "Tarkin's Fist." I'm not sure if this is a coincidence, or a way for J.J. Abrams to pay homage to the story, which is apparently a big deal in fan fiction circles. 

Here's a great video breakdown that takes you through the details of The Lord of the Rings mythology in about four minutes. A lot of the information here seems to come from J. R. R. Tolkien's  The Silmarillion, which is a book that contains details on the Middle Earth universe in which The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place. It's filled with all kinds of interesting information regarding individual characters and the genesis of wizards, elves, orcs, and men. This video reveals some of its crucial elements.

If you don't watch The Goldbergs, you're missing out on an incredibly fun comedy series that is set in the '80s. I really enjoy watching this show, and maybe it's because I grew up in the era in which it takes place. It definitely gives me that wonderful nostalgic feel. 

They have an episode coming up in which Charlie Sheen will reprise his small but memorable role from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off as “Boy in the Police Station.” The episode will pay homage to the John Hughes classic, and thanks to People, we have our first look at Sheen in The Goldbergs' Ferris Bueller episode. Here are the details of the story:

The episode will follow Barry (Troy Gentile) as he fakes being sick in an attempt to create his own epic, Bueller-esque day off.

Predictably, Barry's day ends in disaster. When Pops (George Segal) and Adam (Sean Giambrone) attempt to salvage Barry's day, it only gets worse. 

It's Barry's sister, Erica (Hayley Orrantia), who gets to meet "Boy in the Police Station" – after ratting out her brother, no less.

This is sure to be another great episode, and I'm looking forward to seeing it! The series airs Wednesdays at 8:30 pm on ABC, and it will return with new episodes in early 2015. I included the clip from Ferris Bueller that features Sheen's cameo below.

GeekTyrant VS' Billionaire Beat-Down Tournament continues! In this match-up we have Asami Sato from the Legend of Korra vs The Leader of the Third Street Saints. This episode features geeks Jake Smith, Drew Lawrence, Parker Abegg, Keegan Abegg, and Bryan Dayley. Who will be the victor of this battle? Our teams have made their case, but only you decide who moves on to the next round by voting here (Please restrain yourselves from Vote Spamming).

Once again, there is still time to be the lucky person who will win six months of Loot Crate. To submit, click here.

Thank you for watching!

Some additional information has surfaced regarding Marvel's plan for Spider-Man in their cinematic universe. As you know, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios have been trying to work out a plan to get Spider-Man into the MCU. Marvel initially wanted to introduce the character in Captain America: Civil War, but that fell through. Now they are trying to get the character for Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 and Part 2. There's confirmation of this that has leaked out from twitter user Val Broeksmit, who has been combing through some hacked emails. In them, he found a conversation regarding the matter between Andrew Gumpert, the President of Worldwide Business Affairs and Operations for Columbia Pictures, and Sony Entertainment Chairman Amy Pascal.

Before the Civil War deal fell through, Gumpert said that if the deal did go through, and Marvel gains control of Spider-Man, they don't want Spider-Man's next solo film to be a continuation of the Captain America: Civil War plot. That's because Spidey's appearance would have just been a cameo. He goes on to say that the new Spider-Man timeline would "exist in a world where that story has happened," Tony Stark already recruited Spider-Man and gave him "The Suit." I imagine that suit is the Iron Spider Armor.  He would have also met Black Widow and Captain America.

As for the setting that Marvel may be looking to have for a solo film, it would see Peter Parker "back at home with Aunt May in Queens, and back in high school... it will not necessarily be a story from the Civil War saga but exist in the universe where superheros [sic] are now divided into two groups."

Then there's the fact that Marvel wants Spider-Man to appear in the Avengers: Infinity War films that are set to be released on May 4th, 2018 and May 3rd, 2019. They want him to appear in both movies, and the studio wants Sony to guarantee that a second standalone Spider-Man movie would be made in time for a 2019 release. Marvel doesn't want there to be too long of a delay between the character's solo films.

Gumpert seems to be on board with Marvel's plan, as he says that it would benefit them. Pascal, on the other hand, seems to want to hold off on the solo Spider-Man films until after the Avengers: Infinity Wars film are released. Gumpert says that is not good for Sony. He seems to know what he's talking about. I'm curious to know what the outcome of all of this will be.

Via: CBM

This year Lucasfilm created an animated Star Wars holiday card for employees and fans to enjoy. It features everyone's favorite droid R2-D2, as well as the mischievous new droid Chopper that you know from the animated series Star Wars: Rebels. In the video they are furiously making paper snow flakes. It's always fun to see what Lucasfilm's Christmas card will be, and you can see a collection of them here. This is the first time I've seen an animated one, though, and it turned out great! Thanks to StarWars.com, and Happy Holidays!!!