Julian Cannon
Julian Cannon
Julian Cannon is a seasoned entertainment editor with a keen eye for capturing the pulse of the industry. With a career spanning over a decade, he has become a trusted voice in the realm of TV, movies, events, conventions, and red carpets. Julian's expertise lies in delivering insightful commentary on the latest trends, exclusive interviews with industry luminaries, and comprehensive coverage of high-profile events. Twitter: @Julianexcalibur Instagram: @Julianexcalibur Contact: Julian.theknockturnal@gmail.com
New York City was lit up in style at the rooftop party hosted by STARZ in conjunction with Power Book III: Raising Kanan.
The party had a red carpet arrival for the stars that were in attendance such as Patina Miller, MeKai Curtis, Joey Bada$$, Antonio Ortiz, Malcom Mays, Omar Epps, London Brown, and Shanley Caswell.
Also in attendance, were Wu-Tang: An American Saga stars Johnell Xavier Young and TJ Atoms, The Wire star Wendell Pierce, Hip Hop legend The Roxanne Shante, and much more that came out to celebrate the second season of Raising Kanan.
There was more to the event than just the stars. It also served as a mini-activation site in which you can have a photo opp at a location of late 80’s-early 90’s televisions with the Raising Kanan branding on the screens. There were also cocktails themed from the show, a billiards table where you can actually play against your friends or a cast member, and a good reception area. All to make the evening as engaging as possible. To top it all off, there was a DJ there that played and spin a large number of 90’s hip-hop music.
Power Book III: Raising Kanan returns for its second season on August 14 on STARZ.
Exclusive: Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power stars Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, and Cynthia Robinson at EW’s Comic Con Bash
The annual Entertainment Weekly Comic-Con closing-night bash that takes place at Float at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego is a tradition where everyone gathers together to celebrate the end of Comic-Con. Seeing as this was the first EW Comic-Con party since 2019, the stars – including Simu Liu and Aisha Tyler – were ready to have a good time! However, the stars of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power were also there.
In September 20, 2022, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will be launched globally on Prime Video as an epic and ambitious retelling of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fabled Second Age of Middle-earth, based on Tolkien’s fabled novels.
It is the first time that the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history are being brought to the screen for the very first time in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set thousands of years before the events of this epic drama.
Hours after the cast took the stage at Hall H during Comic Con week to promote the series, we got a chance to catch up with Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, and Cynthia Robinson. It was their first Comic Con and they were thrilled to be there and to see the awesome cosplay. Check out our exclusive interview with the three stars!
The second season of Power Book III: Raising Kanan premieres on August 14 and it is going to a dark territory.
That is because Kanan is starting to learn more of the drug game that his mother Raquel Thomas introduced him too. Raquel now controls every aspect of the product distribution due to Unique getting framed for murdering Officer Howard on the previous season. I must say, Patina Miller brings a fearsome presence whenever she is on the screen portraying Raquel.
Everything from her acting, delivery of lines, and mannerisms, makes me suspend my disbelief to see how strong and intimidating of a character Raquel is as she is the boss in town.
There are also more stories that are going to be fleshed out during this season of Power Book III: Raising Kanan. Jukebox might be moving forward with her singing career, Lou and Marvin doing whatever they can to prove their loyalty to the family (even on the dinner table as they all talked about it), and Officer Howard being alive. Howard survived the gunshot wound that was inflicted by Kanan. But that came with a price as he does not remember anything from that night. Could Howard be doing this to protect Kanan since he is his father? We will have to see.
There is something about Unique that the viewers will be looking forward to by the end of the episode. I cannot spoil what transpired, but Unique might be looking for revenge soon. Joey Bada$$ joined Power Book III: Raising Kanan on the previous season and I had no clue that he had it in him to play as a villain. Unique is one of the best villains in the Power universe and I am curious to see where his story is going.
Overall, this is a strong opener for the second season of Power Book III: Raising Kanan. The dark and suspenseful period of the 1990’s in Queens, NY is all on display for this episode as Kanan is starting to evolve to the Kanan that we first seen on the original Power. Vacation time is over for the family as it is time to get back to the streets because Power Book III: Raising Kanan is back with a vengeance!
I Watched Three Episodes of Tales of The Walking Dead. Here are my Thoughts
AMC announced two years ago that a new spinoff of The Walking Dead franchise would be in development. That spinoff later became Tales of The Walking Dead.
Tales of The Walking Dead will have six episodes for their first season. Each episode will tell a different story with different characters as it will be an anthology series. Outside of Alpha, who was on the main show, the other characters are completely new. I had the chance to watch episodes one, two, and four over the last few weeks. Here is my review of those episodes.
Episode one titled “Evie/Joe” is a story about Joe (Terry Crews), who used to be a college football player in Ohio State, leaving his house to meet with a woman named Sandra that he has been emailing back and forth since before the apocalypse hit. On the way, he meets Evie (Olivia Munn) and they both bonded and told each other who they were both looking for. What I like about this episode, is that Terry Crews was comedic when it mattered and serious without making any jokes or puns. There is a sad moment early on in the episode that involves his dog, but I will leave it there. Within a few days, Joe meets Sandra. You know what they say about talking with people over the internet? Do not trust them at the first meet. Both Joe and Evie found this out the hard way which lead to a deadly situation. Overall, a good episode and a good road trip!
Episode two titled “Blair/Gina” starts in the year 2010 where Blair, who runs an insurance company and Gina works for her. Blair is oblivious about the early start of the end of the world. Also to note, this episode takes place in Atlanta. You will find out right away that Blair is a horrible boss and more so, a horrible person. What I like the most about this episode, is that you see the line of cars on the highway that you saw on the first episode of the main show begin to form. That was the best detail about the episode.
What I did not like about this episode, is how it was structured. If you watch Netflix’s Russian Doll, then this is the episode for you. Unlike that Netflix show, the writing is messy on this episode of Tales along with the amateurish hour of horrendous dialogue that plagued the episode. To put it short, there is a continued time lapse every time Gina and Blair “died.” But the positive that came from that, is you see the two main characters come to the realization that the end of the world that they knew it, is here. I wish I could like this one, but I could not.
Episode four titled “Amy/Dr. Everett” takes place years after the apocalypse as Dr.Everett (Anthony Edwards) has been studying nature and walkers for the last decade. It makes me wonder why the CRM did not find Everett. But then again, he has been isolating himself the entire time. I love the narration that he did at the opening as you would think that you are watching a National Geographic show except that he is describing the walkers. Everett thought that Amy (Poppy Liu) was part of a group that was taking down walkers. The situation escalated when one particular walker that Everett marked is off his radar. At the end, one of the characters die and the other lives on.
Tales of The Walking Dead is acquired taste. My gripe is that I cannot get invested with any of the new characters when we know that we will not see them again. It is not a negative opinion, but I think that there needs to be more of a connection between either the main show, Fear, or World Beyond to justify these short story outside of Alpha and the Atlanta highway. The episodes that I saw are digestible and I think there could be room for improvement if Tales gets picked up for a second season. My gripes aside, I do recommend watching as I believe everyone in The Walking Dead family will have their own thoughts on which episode they liked and disliked.
Xavier Woods is an American professional wrestler and television personality. He is known under his ring name Xavier Woods, and is a former victor of the King of the Ring tournament. In addition to wrestling, Austin Creed has also made public appearances outside of the sport under the name of Austin Creed. In the past, he worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as Consequences Creed, and as a member of the Lethal Consequences tag team with Jay Lethal, he was a TNA World Tag Team Champion.
After signing a contract with WWE several years ago, Xavier Woods was assigned to one of the most advanced developmental territories in the world, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). In 2013, Woods was called up to the main roster by the WWE and is now part of their NXT roster, which was rebranded from FCW in 2013. The New Day, comprised of Woods and Big E, was formed in 2014 alongside Kofi Kingston and Big E, and has since then achieved many accomplishments as a WWE tag team champion.
A record was broken by New Day in February 2021 when the second reign of the Raw Tag Team Championship was broken. King Woods became Xavier Woods’ ring name in October 2021 after becoming the 22nd winner of King of the Ring.
He has hosted a gaming YouTube channel, UpUpDownDown, as Austin Creed, since 2015, where he invites fellow WWE performers, gamers, friends, and guests to play games. Additionally, he hosts the G4 television network, which covers video games, following its revival in 2020.
At San Diego Comic Con, The Knockturnal had the opportunity to speak with Xavier Woods about WWE, gaming, and the speedrunning community!
On The Scene: The Walking Dead Universe Panels and Press Conferences at San Diego Comic Con
During the final TWD panel, Chris Hardwick moderated each of the panelists who participated in the event for the last time. Scott M. Gimple, Angela Kang, Greg Nicotero, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Josh McDermitt, Ross Marquand, Seth Gilliam, Lauren Ridloff, Cailey Fleming, and Michael James Shaw participated in the discussion.
In general, there was an overall feeling of gratitude amongst the members of the cast, especially those who were fans. Throughout its history, the show has been made possible by the fans. There is no doubt in Reedus’ mind that the show belongs not only to the cast and crew, but also to the fans of the show. During the SDCC panel, many reminiscences were shared about previous SDCC panels. This includes the time when Andrew Lincoln tried to play a prank on Reedus by blowing glitter into his face in order to make him laugh. As a result, Lincoln’s beard ended up covered in glitter as the prank backfired.
It has been stated by Kang in the upcoming finale that our people, the Team Family, are engaged in a heavy conflict with the Commonwealth during the third part of the finale. This series of eight episodes is about bringing the gang back together with the goal of finishing this series with their goal in mind. Be prepared for some surprises along the way.
Director Nicotero certainly felt the weight of the fans’ expectations during the finale. He knew that it was his responsibility to do everything in his power to make the show as good as it could be for the fans.
This was Shaw’s first time participating in a panel in person. The first day he had on set was really cold, according to him. On the other hand, on his last day, hey wrapped up around six in the morning and just watched the sun come up. Moreover, he said that the walkers were some of the most delicious people to work with on the set.
The original panel schedule included Christian Serratos and Khary Peyton, but they were unable to attend. Payton announced on his social media that he has COVID so he could not make it.
A few questions were asked by Hall H fans. There were a lot of people who cried during the wrap party, according to Gimple. An episode-by-episode video with one second of each episode was put together by the post production team and shown at the wrap party. Kang explains that they are hoping to show that to the fandom at some point, but they don’t want to spoil any surprises by showing it now.
Rick’s movies were the subject of Hardwick’s question. He couldn’t get an answer from Gimple, of course. However, two people backstage were able to help. In that moment, Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira emerged from the crowd. Richonne’s story had to be wrapped up because they felt they owed it to the fans to do so. It was decided by Lincoln and Gurira, after meeting with Gimple, that a six episode series would be the most effective way to tell this story. A date was set for Lincoln and Gurira to return to SDCC in 2023, and they are looking forward to it.
The first season of Tales of the Walking Dead is more like an anthology series than a regular TV show, with each episode telling a standalone story set within the Walking Dead universe, as opposed to the previous TWD shows. Tales of the Walking Dead features a number of new characters, including several played by Parker Posey, Jillian Bell, and Anthony Edwards, but some familiar faces are also returning, including Samantha Morton as Alpha, who is set to play a major role in the series.
In addition to Morton, Terry Crews and Danny Ramirez were all on hand during Friday’s SDCC panel to discuss the series. Scott M. Gimple, the showrunner of Tales of the Walking Dead Charnning Powell, and the executive producer of Tales of the Walking Dead Michael Satrazemis were all on stage with the actors.
Over to the press conferences that took place after the panel, not too much new information was shared other than Greg Nicotero talking about the finale.
“It’s definitely a challenge. Other shows if you’re talking about…you know, Game of Thrones had five seasons. Breaking Bad had six seasons. 11 seasons! Our story continued to evolve. The story really did change. The exciting thing for me after season one is, okay, finally everybody else catches up to me and realizes how cool zombies are. I grew up in the George Romero world where Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, that was sort of like my gossip. Frank Darabont used to say to me that the show was always about survival. He had always wanted to do a zombie apocalypse story. We talked about something years before The Walking Dead comic book even came out, so it was sort of like a match made in heaven when Frank put the ensemble cast together with Sarah, Jon, Steven, Melissa, and Norman. You know, the show certainly has evolved since then,” said Nicotero.
Exclusive: CM Punk, Jade Cargill, Britt Baker, and Orange Cassidy Talk AEW at San Diego Comic Con
It has been almost three years since All Elite Wrestling made an appearance at San Diego Comic Con. But the upstart promotion is back. Before the stars of AEW meet their fans at the Jazwares booth along with the panel, they took their time to speak with the media.
I had the chance to speak with AEW stars CM Punk, Britt Baker, Orange Cassidy, and Jade Cargill. This was Punk’s first public appearance since he was injured over a month and a half ago. The topics of discussion were about Punk and Cargill’s workout regimen, Britt Baker balancing her career as a dentist while also being a professional wrestler, the agents that help them on their matches, and Punk providing an update on the second season of STARZ’s Heels.
Also to note, I attended the All Elite Wrestling panel that took place at San Diego Comic Con. The stars listed above including Chris Jericho, and Bryan Danielson took the center stage to talk about the promotion. The biggest piece of news to come out the panel, is that Bryan Danielson is cleared to wrestle. This comes after about a month from his injury. CM Punk also stated that he did not know when he will be able to return to the ring again. Chris Jericho also teased that AEW Dynamite could soon make their AEW debut sometime this year.
On The Scene: Dwayne Johnson and Cast Debut Black Adam at San Diego Comic Con
San Diego Comic-Con was a great experience for Black Adam fans courtesy of Dwayne Johnson.
As he ascended from the stage floor of Hall H to make his entrance at San Diego Comic-Con, Johnson in full Black Adam costume made a grand entrance into the event. On the screen behind him, lightning bolts appeared behind him as he emerged, and smoke poured out of his nostrils as he emerged from the building. In the darkened hall, the lightning bolt lanyards that had been given out before the panel were flashing brightly as everyone in the audience received them, making a spectacular display during the panel.
As part of the Warner Bros. presentation, the movie star also unveiled the newest trailer for his upcoming superhero adventure. Like Shazam, Black Adam is also given powerful magical abilities as a result of his relationship with the wizard Shazam. The only difference between Black Adam and Shazam is that instead of calling upon the Greek gods for his power, Black Adam calls upon the Egyptian gods.
As part of the new film, the antihero will be followed almost 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the powers of the Egyptian gods, and about how he came to gain these powers. In the wake of being released from his tomb, Black Adam is now ready to unleash his form of justice on the modern community.
As the Justice Society of America makes its debut in the DC Universe, “Black Adam” features Johnson as its title character and a host of new characters. As one of the first superhero teams ever to appear in the DC comics, the Justice Society was co-founded by Asdis Hodge as Hawkman, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, and Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate.
In addition to Johnson, a few cast members and director Jaume Colllet-Serra were on stage with him to tease that the DC Universe will forever be changed by “Black Adam.” Members of the audience also had the opportunity to ask the panelists their questions, including which of the two characters would win in a fight between Black Adam and Superman.
In addition, every fan that attended the Hall H panel, received a ticket to see the film later this year. “Black Adam” hits theaters on Oct. 21.
On The Scene: AMC Network Celebrates The Final Season of The Walking Dead With a Fan Celebration at San Diego Comic Con
AMC’s The Walking Dead is wrapping up their final season with their fan celebration. The event took place at San Diego Comic Con across the street of the convention center.
In addition to several exclusive experiences, designed specifically for San Diego Comic-Con, the series’ art and craft were on display, showcasing a variety of its set pieces, props and artifacts from all seasons, which offered fans an opportunity to capture photos and videos surrounded by their favorite aspects from the series, and were the perfect setting to share their favorite moments from the series. Additionally, custom video content has been created to highlight memorable moments from TWD, and to include special messages from the cast, crew, and special guests, to celebrate this groundbreaking television series.
Having been on the scene, I was able to witness all of this. As seen in the main show, the celebration had a lot of references to The Commonwealth’s location. That was from the banners, the walls, and even the propaganda flags. I felt like I was really there.
A large selection of custom-designed screen-printed t-shirts honoring the Walking Dead series were available exclusively that evening, and attendees had the opportunity to choose one of four types of shirt that would be featured in that evening’s event, as well as to transform themselves into the undead at a make-up station inspired by the Walking Dead, enjoy Commonwealth treats including the “Taste of Tradition” ice cream varieties along with themed beverages and food, and participate in a Commonwealth-inspired lottery for additional prizes.
With the help of The Walking Dead fan celebration in particular, AMC distributed TWD enamel pins designed specifically to commemorate the show’s eleven seasons, plus one bonus pin commemorating the fan celebration. The area was also inhabited by walkers!
There were also members of the cast in attendance. A number of stars were on hand to celebrate the show, including Norman Reedus, Seth Gilliam, Michael James Shaw, Cailey Flenning, and key executives Angela Kang and Greg Nicotero. The fan celebration was a great way for fans to meet the stars of the show and to truly celebrate the fandom!