Turns out 'Solar Opposites' never needed Justin Roiland
The Dan Stevens Era has begun. PLUS: Godzilla comes to Apple TV+, Gal Gadot's 'Wonder Woman' claims raise eyebrows, and everyone's talking about Bradley Cooper's 'Maestro' nose.
Let’s jump right into this edition of Popculturology.
Hulu dropped the fourth season of Solar Opposites this week, the first run of episodes without series creator Justin Roiland. Dan Stevens was revealed as the new voice of Korvo, the leader of the show’s Shlorpian family unit, a few months ago, but besides a quick clip, it was unclear how the Roiland/Stevens swap would affect the show.
Turns out, Solar Opposites never needed Roiland.
After a few minutes of Season 4’s first episode, I totally forgot that Stevens hadn’t always been the voice of Korvo. In fact, after finishing the season, I even suggested to Caitlin that Solar Episodes was better with Stevens.
Instead of the burpy, sputtering version of Korvo that really wasn’t all that different from how Roiland voiced Rick Sanchez on Rick and Morty, Korvo was now his own, distinct — sexy? — character.
On the topic of Rick and Morty, we still don’t know how that show will handle the recasting of the countless characters — Rick and Morty included — that Roiland voiced. The show’s Twitter account teased a Season 7 release date reveal this week with a series of clips focused on the battle between Rick and Rick Prime. (The end of Season 6 has the show moving in a new direction.) The only dialogue in the teaser was of Roiland voicing Rick.
Will Rick and Morty make a bold recasting like Stevens playing Rick and Morty? (And Mr. Poopybutthole, Mr. Meeseeks, Noob Noob, Ants-In-My-Eyes Johnson …) Decider’s Alex Zalben joked that Rick and Morty should get Stevens to replace Roiland too.
Maybe Solar Opposites had more leeway when it came to picking a new voicer actor for Korvo. The show, while in its fourth season, doesn’t hold the same cult status as Rick and Morty. There’s not an entire YouTube genre of people posting their impressions of the show’s main characters.
With Season 7 getting closer, it’s only a matter of time before Rick and Morty reveals how its title characters now sound.
On a programming note, Popculturology will be off after next Friday’s edition. I’ll be back on Sept. 8. You can still become a paid subscriber to Popculturology for a discounted price, though! From now until the end of August, you can sign up at 50 percent off.
Yes, half the price.
A subscription is normally $5 a month or $50 a year and brings you the two weekly editions of the newsletter plus Deep SNL Thoughts and The Box Office Report.
I love writing this newsletter, and if you’re interested in becoming a supporting subscriber, please consider upgrading your subscription.
And regardless of your subscriber level, I appreciate you reading Popculturology.
The News: Godzilla and Apple TV+, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman claims
Trailer Watch: Maestro
What to Watch: Blue Beetle
Odds and Ends: Making Mutant Mayhem, Hayden Christensen and Ahsoka
Godzilla returns on Apple TV+
Despite what Godzilla vs. Kong led you to believe, Godzilla is the undisputed king of monsters. In addition to his massive size (which Godzilla vs. Kong had to scale up Kong to match), he has atomic breath (which Godzilla vs. Kong had to give Kong a magical ax to combat). Unless you’re Ghidorah, you’re not going to stand a chance against Godzilla. Sorry, Kong.
Anyways, Legendary Studios is bringing its Monsterverse to Apple TV+ in the form of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. The series will pick up after Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla reboot and explore not only the aftermath of the destruction of San Francisco but also jump back in time to the early days of Monarch, the titan-obsessed secret group.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters will star Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell (playing a younger version of Kurt Russell’s character), Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Joe Tippett and Elisa Lasowski.
Matt Shakman, the prolific television director who helmed every episode of WandaVision and will direct Marvel Studios’ upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, will be behind the camera for a few episodes.
The series will run for ten episodes, but we don’t have a release date or trailer yet.
What’s up with Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman claims?
Since James Gunn and Peter Safran took the reins of DC Studios and news broke that director Patty Jenkins was no longer moving forward with a third Wonder Woman movie, it was safe to assume that Gal Gadot — like Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill — was done playing her DCEU role.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Popculturology to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.