Spaceballs Returns, Dungeon Crawls, And An Animorphs Revival

I run through a packed set of sci-fi and pop culture headlines, from major franchise follow-ups to streaming adaptations that could define the next wave of geek TV. I also pause for the human stories behind the news, including a serious accident, a public apology, and a farewell to a beloved character actor. 
• Spaceballs follow-up details, including cast and release timing 
• Peacock greenlighting a live-action Dungeon Crawler Carl adaptation 
• Eugene Mirman recovering after a fiery toll plaza crash and rescue 
• Project Hail Mary box office success and Andy Weir’s Star Trek apology 
• Warner Bros shifting the release date for Animal Friends 
• Disney Plus developing an Animorphs television series and what the books set up 
• James Tolkan remembered for Back to the Future, Top Gun, and a long career 
Please be sure to check us out on social media. We're on blue sky at multiverse dom, threads, Facebook, and Instagram at multiverse tonight. And if you've gotten some value out of the show and would like to pay it back, head on over to multiverstonight.com and there you can find our Patreon and Kofi links. Check our show notes and uh our Tea Public store, leave some feedback and so much more. Uh go on, hit that subscribe button, share it with others. 

Transcript

Geek News Kickoff

Spaceballs Follow-Up Film Details

Dungeon Crawler Carl Goes Live-Action

Eugene Mirman Rescued After Crash

Project Hail Mary And Weir Apology

Animal Friends Gets New Release Date

Disney Plus Developing Animorphs

Remembering James Tolkan

Wrap-Up And Where To Follow

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Tonight, space bottles, oh babe, there goes the intro. Plus, remember James Token, all then more on this edition of Multiverse Tonight. Welcome to Multiverse Tonight, your source for Geek News. We dissect films, games, comics, and much more, bringing you insightful commentary on topology. This is Multiverse Tonight. Now here's your host, Thomas Townley. Well, hello and welcome to episode 262 of Multiverse Tonight. I'm of course your host, Thomas Townley. And well, I've gotten into the exciting world of 3D printing. Well, exciting is a long long term. It's uh more like just something the something that amuses me. Um spring is sprung here, of course. And you know, the weather's warming up storm season's upon us. And right now, around the moon, or at almost to the moon, the Artemis 2 space mission is in approach to swing around to the back side of the moon. They've already uh passed surpassed uh Apollo 13's record or farthest distance from the Earth by man's manned spaceflight. So uh good luck to the Artemis II crew, and we'll go back and land on the moon in two years on Artemis IV. Artemis III will be an unmanned mission that will basically just test the test the equipment. But uh we don't have very much news today, but we do have news, but it's all geek news. So let's go on to the geek news. The film's late April debut places it in a historically lucrative box office window. This specific weekend has previously hosted blockbuster launches for major titles such as Fast Five, Avengers Infinity War, and Endgame, as well as the current year's release of Michael from Lionsgates. Directed by Josh Greenbaum, the new production serves as a follow-up to the 1987 Cult Favorite, originally helmed by and starring Mel Brooks. Although the specific storyline is being kept confidential, the screenplay was developed by Josh Gadd, Dan Hernandez, and Vinji Samit. The project features a blend of franchise veterans and new cast members, including Mel Brooks, Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman, George Winder, and Daphne Zaniga, with uh who are joined by Josh Gadd, Kiki Palmer, Lewis Pullman, and Anthony Kerrigan. Anyway, Peacock has officially greenlit the development of a live-action television adaptation of Dungeon Crawler Carl, according to variety.com. Uh, based on Matt Deniman's popular ill-lit RPG novels, the series was first picked up by Universal International Studios in early 2025 before finding its home at the Streamer. The creative team involves writer and exec producer Chris Yost, alongside Seth McFarlane, who will exec produce through his Fuzzy Brand Production Company. Fuzzy Door production company, it is. Joining them as exec producers are Dinneman and Fuzzy Door's Erica Huggins, with uh Rachel Hargreaves held overseeing the production. Now the series follows Coast Guard veteran Carl and his ex-girlfriend's highly sophisticated cat, Princess Donut, the Queen and Chunk, after an alien invasion, Dustmates Humanity, forced to compete in the brutal intergalactic game show known as Dungeon Crawler World, Earth, the pair must battle extraterrestrial threats and a rogue AI for the entertainment of a galactic audience. Comedian and Bob's burger's voice actor Eugene Merman is recovering from severe injuries following a fiery car crash at a New Hampshire toll plaza. Merman was rescued from the burning vehicle by a state trooper from the governor's security detail and two bystanders. The accident occurred just before noon on Tuesday when Merman's northbound electric vehicle collided with the Bedford Toll Plaza and ignited. New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark Hall reported that Republican Governor Kelly Ayott and her security team arrived at the scene shortly after the impact. A trooper and two individuals pulled Merman through a car window to safety. Although Governor Ayott exited her vehicle to retrieve a fire extinguisher, Colonel Hall confirmed she was never in danger. Colonel Hall described the rescue efforts as heroic, knowing that the responders risked their own safety without hesitation to save someone in need. In a statement released Wednesday, Merman's agent Jay Glasner confirmed the very scary accident and stated that the actor is currently on the mend. Quote, he wants to thank the bystanders, state police, first responders, and hospital staff who saved him, Glasner said, while requesting privacy for Merman and his family during the recovery process. The driver was identified by state police as 51-year-old Yevnee Meerman of Massachusetts, born in Moscow. Merman is a prolific performer, best known for voicing Jean Belcher in the animated series Pop's Burger and the feature film, along with appearing in Flight of the Concords, Archer, and Delocated. Governor Ayod expressed her gratitude for the brave lifestanding efforts of her security detail, and the bystanders adding that she and her family are praying for Merman's full recovery. The investigation of the crash is ongoing, and no charges have been filed at this time. Amazon MGM Studios is currently seeing massive returns from Project Hail Murray, which has grossed 300 million at the Global Box Office in less than two weeks, starring Ryan Gosling and based on the best-selling novel by Andy Weir, who also serves as exec producer, the sci-fi feature follows the success of Weir's 2015 hit The Martian. Despite his self-proclaimed status as a Star Trek enthusiast, Weir recently addressed a wave of controversy regarding his critiques of the modern franchise, issuing a formal apology on April 5th. The friction originated during Weir's appearance on the Crackle Drinker podcast, hosted by Will Jordan. While discussing his history with the original series, Weir offered a pointed critique of the brand's current landscape, paraphrasing a sentiment regarding the franchise's influence. Quote, all modern science fiction TV shows and movies have been heavily influenced by the original Star Trek except for the current batch of Star Trek shows, unquote. Later in the episode, Weir and Jordan discussed the reported conclusion of Starfleet Academy. While Jordan advocated for removing all post-enterprise entries from the canon, Weir expressed a preference for Star Trek Strange New Worlds and Lure Decks while discussing our contemporary series. All the others, they can go, Weir remarked. The conversation took a personal turn and Weir revealed he had personally pitched a series to franchise head Alex Kurtzman. While Weir praised Kurtzman's character, describing him as a quote, a really nice guy, unquote. His assessment was blunt. I don't like a lot of the new track. These shows are bleep, he jokingly added, they didn't accept my pitch, so bleep. No, I don't know. Now, these comments gained significant traction following a report from the Hollywood reporter. In response, Weir issued an open letter to Kurtzman via Facebook clarifying that his salacious sound bites were intended as humor, but acknowledged they appeared disrespectful and mean in retrospect. Reflecting on the creative process, Weir attributed the success of Project Hail Mary to the autonomy granted to directors like Phil Lord and Chris Miller by Amazon Studios. He noted that unlike legacy projects such as Star Wars, the studio avoided the typical interference that often plagues long-running franchises. Quote, the studio just let the artistic people do their job, unquote. Weir noted that the project was not encumbered by 50 years of legacy expectations. While Weir did not disclose the specifics of his Star Trek pitch, the revelation underscores the diverse array of creative voices that have engaged with the franchise over the last decade. Warner Brothers has announced another schedule adjustment for the live-action hybrid film Animal Friends. Directed by Peter Atencio from a screenplay by Kevin Burroughs and Matt Mitter, the Road Trip Adventure is now slated for a theatrical premiere on January 22nd, 2027. This marks the third date for the project, which was previously moved from October 10th, 2025 to May 1st, 2026. The production features an ensemble cast including Ryan Reynolds, Jason Momoa, Aubrey Plaza, Addison Ray, Dan Levy, Lil Ray Howard, and Ellie Bamber. A collaboration between Legendary Maxim Effort and Premium Focus Studios, the film moved to Warner Brothers in 2024, following an initial setup at 70 Pictures. Disney Plus is exclusively reporting that to be in the early stages of developing an Anamorph television series. The adaptation features Bay and Walcott as writer and executive producer, joining the executive production team of Ryan Kugler, Sev Ohan, and Zinzi Kugler for Proximity Media, alongside Illy Lechis and Caitlin Friedman, representing the book's publisher Scholastic. The project will be produced by Tony Television with Proximity Media's Simone Harris and Desi Galegos providing oversight. The original book series was created by Michael Grant and Catherine Applegate. The story centers on five teenagers, Tobias, Rachel, Cassie, Marco, and Jake, who learn that Earth is being targeted by the Yerkes, a parasitic race of aliens operating in secret. The group encounters the dying warrior of the Andelite race, a species currently at war with the Yerkes across the galaxy. The Andelite grants the teens the power to absorb animal DNA through touch and morph into those creatures. Utilizing these abilities, the group forms a covert resistance to protect the planet from the Yerk invasion. They are eventually joined in their efforts by Axe and Andelite youth who have become stranded on Earth. Spanning from 1996, the invasion, to 2001 as the beginning, the Animores franchise consisted of 54 primary novels, each narrated in the first person by one of the lead characters. The series, which includes companion works like Visser and the Andelite Chronicles, has achieved global sales exceeding 35 million copies. Olcott's recent credits include writing for FX's Class of 09 and serving as the supervising producer of Hulu's The Testament. His previous work includes Impeachment, American Crime Story, and The Samurai Turned Pretty. He and Proximity Media and Ryan Kugler are currently bound by a television overall agreement with Disney. Under this partnership, Kugler is also developing an X-Files reboot pilot, double-star Himish Patel and Danielle Deadweiler. Kugler regained uh recently garnered acclaim for his move for his film Sinners, which earned four Oscars, including a best screenplay win for Kugler. Should go forward. This would be the second An Morse TV series to make it air. A live action series aired on Nickelodeon for two seasons between 1998 and 2000. Finally, tonight, James Tolkien, who played the slacker-hating Mr. Strickland in the Back to the Future films, the carrier air group command officer Stinger Jardin in Top Gun, and who was part of the original Broadway cast of Glen Gary, Glenn Ross, during a 55-year film, tele TV, and stage career, died this past Thursday in Sarnak Lake, New York, at the age of 94. The news was announced on the official Back to the Future website, which note that Tolkien passed away peacefully but did not provide a cause. Born on January 20th, 1931, in Calumet, Michigan, Tolkien did a short stint in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War before going to acting school in New York City. He started out in local theater and eventually would appear in nine Broadway shows, notably playing salesman David Dave Moss in the original cast of Glengarry Glenn Ross in 1985, 1944, 1985. Tolkien's first screen credits were guest turns in such 1960 TV series as The Naked City and NYPD, along with films including The Three Sisters and Stiletto. He also worked regularly in the 70s, pairing with Al Pacino and Sidney Lemmett's 1973 cop drama Serpico, and then played a dual role as Napoleon and a Look Like opposite Diane Keaton and Alan in the filmmaker's 1975 Russian lit satire Love and Death. He was also a crooner in 1979's The Amityville Horror. Tolgan also had roles in such 1980s films as Wolfman, Prince of the City, author-author again with Pacino, and War Games, before laying his signature mid-80s roles. He was cast in Robertson X's wildly popular 1985 action comedy Back to the Future as Mr. Strickland, the high school principal, a vice principal who had a node spite for slackers, as he called George McFly and later Marty McFly. He reprised the role in 1989's Back to the Future 2 and Strickland's Wild West Ancestor in Back to the Future 3 the following year. Then came another role for which Tolkien would be widely recognized, playing Tom Stinger Jardian, commander of the USS Enterprise carrier air group, who barks at Maverick and Goose early in the 1986 Tony Scott directed Blockbuster. Stinger Lair briefs the recently graduated Top Gun pilots on their first mission. Late in the movie, he gives Maverick his choice of duty and feigns honor with the pilot when the pilot tells him he wants to be a Top Gun instructor. God help us, he replied. Around that time, Tolkien landed his first series regular TV role, playing the possibly mobbed-up fiance of star Mary Tyler Moore's neighbor in the CBS sitcom Mary, which lasted only one season in 1985-1986. His next regular role was as Captain Mike Ragland in CBS cop drama The Hat Squad. He was a career cop who raised three foster children, who eventually also became police officers, and Ragland was their captain. Edger aired for just one season in 1992. Dol Kindler had two more TV roles, playing a number of characters as part of a repertory cast in 2001-2002's AE period drama Nero Wolf, also directing two episodes and as a series regular on the Syndicate Adventure series Cobra. In the latter, he played Dallas Cassell, boss of the ex-Navy SEAL Scandal Jackson in the Ultra Secret Cobra, which aided crime victims who were wronged by the system. The series ran 22 episodes in 1993, 1994. Along the way, Tolkien also continued to guest on TV in such popular series as Hill Street Blues, American Playhouse, Miami Vice, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Tales from the Crypt, The Wonder Years, Early Edition, and The Equalizer. He also had big screen roles in dozens of films, ranging from Prince of the City, Masters of the Universe, and Iceman to Family Business. Operating Knox and playing numbers in Warren Beatty's 1990 Dick Tracy. Tolkien's final screen roles came in the 2013 TV movie Phil Spectre, playing the judge in the disgraced Wall of Sound Producer's Murder Trial, and a pianist in the 2015 Kurt Russell Warren Bone Warren Bone Tacum, Tomahawk. Tolkien is survived by his wife, a 54 years Parmella, and three nieces. His families asked for donations to the uh memorial be made to a local animal shelter, animal rescue organization, or a humane society chapter. Again, James Tolkien was 94 years old. And with that, uh we come to the end of the uh show for today. Please be sure to check us out on social media. We're on blue sky at multiverse dom, threads, Facebook, and Instagram at multiverse tonight. And if you've gotten some value out of the show and would like to pay it back, head on over to multiverstonight.com and there you can find our Patreon and Kofi links. Check our show notes and uh our Tea Public store, leave some feedback and so much more. Now, if this is your first time listening, thank you very much. Uh go on, hit that subscribe button, share it with others. Special thanks to Shane Ivers for the intro music and Lobo Loco for the outro theme music. Thanks for watching this edition of Multiverse Tonight. We'll be back in two weeks with more sci-fi and comic book news. Now, please exit the universe in an orderly fashion. Good night. Multiverse Tonight is production of Half Baked Media Productions. Copyright 2026. Alright, reserve.