Nerd Alert! Lego duo to helm Solo flick; new comic goes Back to the Future

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      Welcome once again to your weekly round-up of news from the world of science fiction, fantasy, comic books, animation, and all things nerdy.

      EVERYTHING IS ABOUT to get awesome in a galaxy far, far away. Or, you know, even more awesome. The official word from the Star Wars camp is that Christopher Miller and Phil Lord have signed on to direct a standalone "Anthology" feature about the early years of everyone's favourite wise-cracking space smuggler. The directing duo behind The Lego Movie will helm a Han Solo flick, to be written by Star Wars veteran Lawrence Kasdan and his son Jon. This is great news, because the elder Kasdan cowrote two of the finest chapters of the whole saga. I'm talking, of course, about The Empire Strikes Back and The Force Awakens. (I may be guilty of getting my hopes up just a tad too high.)

      In an official joint statement, Miller and Lord had this to say about their new gig: “This is the first film we’ve worked on that seems like a good idea to begin with. We promise to take risks, to give the audience a fresh experience, and we pledge ourselves to be faithful stewards of these characters who mean so much to us. This is a dream come true for us. And not the kind of dream where you’re late for work and all your clothes are made of pudding, but the kind of dream where you get to make a film with some of the greatest characters ever, in a film franchise you’ve loved since before you can remember having dreams at all.”

      The Han Solo standalone feature is slated for release on May 25, 2018.

      All together now:

      IF YOU'RE GOING TO make a movie about a young Han Solo, of course, you need an actor to play the guy. Or you could digitally de-age-ify Harrison Ford and hope it looks convincing. The Hollywood Reporter has tossed out a few suggestions, including Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Chris Pratt, and Garrett Hedlund. Who do you think would make a good Solo? Let everyone know in the comments below!

      THE CREATORS OF Back to the Future have made it very clear that the '80s film franchise will not be revived—at least not while they're still alive—but Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale are evidently just fine with Doc Brown and Marty McFly continuing their adventures in comic-book form. In fact, Gale himself will contribute to the writing of IDW's new Back to the Future title. The four-issue series (which will also be written by John Barber and Erik Burnham and drawn by Brent Schoonover and Dan Schoening) is set contemporaneously with the movies, meaning that it is not really a sequel, but will fill in gaps and address unanswered questions. Back to the Future hits comic shops in October. Thanks to the official Nerd Alert! Delorean time machine, I've already zoomed ahead and read all four issues, but I'll spare you the spoilers.

      YOU'VE GOT TO ADMIT, Negasonic Teenage Warhead is a pretty outrageous moniker, but that's the chosen nom de guerre of Deadpool sidekick Ellie Phimister. Thanks to Empire, we recently got a look at the movie version of the character (played by newcomer Brianna Hildebrand, about whom I know next to nothing), alongside ol' Deadpool himself.

      There are local connections here: Deadpool, aka Wade Wilson, is played by Vancouver-born Ryan Reynolds, and the film was lensed here, shutting down the Georgia viaduct back in April. The Tim Miller–directed Deadpool (which carries an R rating; rare for a comic-book-based flick) is slated to open in February.

      In case you were wondering, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, who first appeared in New X-Men in 2001, is named after a Monster Magnet song.

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