WIRE Buzz: Will Smith flamethrows Gemini Men; Jim Henson Co. goes Greek; more

Well, there are definitely less interesting ways to promote that new high-concept sci-fi movie about fighting with your younger doppelgänger. On the circuit to promote his double-duty role in Ang Lee’s Gemini Man, Will Smith stopped by the set of YouTube wizards The Slo Mo Guys to deliver a little hi-def destruction — and the results are typically hilarious.

Riffing on the movie’s theme, which pits the present-day version of Smith against his 23-year-old CGI-de-aged self, Smith set out with a flamethrower to rain fire on cardboard cutouts of his two Gemini Man likenesses. Needless to say, Smith successfully managed to melt his own face off (skip ahead to the 5-minute mark for the glorious pyrotechnics).

There’re tons of other fun, gleefully destructive moments in the 15-minute clip, giving Smith the chance to get fresh with a whole arsenal of improvised primitive weapons. He goes full-on samurai on a watermelon, takes on a car with a potato cannon, and — as Smith himself isn’t above saying — he somehow makes all this look good.

Beyond being a fun way for Smith to get the word out about his high-tech collaboration with one of cinema’s visionary filmmakers, what does it all have to do with Gemini Man? Well, before you jump to conclusions, you’ll have to see the movie first — and you’ll get your first chance to do just that when Gemini Man debuts in theaters everywhere on Friday, Oct. 11. 

Get a lightning-bolt load of this: A new animated series from The Jim Henson Company, aimed at young adults, that tackles Greek mythology without sacrificing much of the scintillating drama that comes with all the infighting that eternally rages from the heights of Mount Olympus.

Via Deadline, webcomic publisher Webtoon is partnering with The Jim Henson Company to develop a new spinoff show from its super-popular Lore Olympus online series, which is based on author Rachel Smythe’s retelling of classic Greek myths. The production may be for younger viewers, but it reportedly will follow “what the gods do … after dark.”

By Zeus, it wouldn’t be a proper mythology tale without all “the friendships and the lies, the gossip and the wild parties, and of course, forbidden love” — and they’ll all get their moment to shine in Lore Olympus. “[I]t turns out, the gods aren’t so different from us after all, especially when it comes to their problems,” Webtoon teases, via the report.

The Webtoon version of Lore Olympus reimagines Greek tales in a contemporary and hyper-stylized art style, and the Henson spinoff, reportedly titled The Taking of Persephone, will follow a female-focused story that, at its core, should be familiar to any classics major (or anyone else who devoured a copy of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes as a child). There’s no early word on a release platform or a premiere date, so keep the fires lit while we wait for a sign.

How to Train Your Dragon may have wrapped a complete movie trilogy with this year’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, but apparently there’s still a spark of a story left to be told for the small screen — and it’s coming to NBC just in time for the holidays. 

Original voice cast members of the film trilogy are lending their talents to How to Train Your Dragon Homecoming, a half-hour animated special heading to the peacock network this December.

The show — which returns Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Gerard Butler, and Craig Ferguson to their original movie roles — fast-forwards 10 years beyond the end of the film trilogy to tell a canonical story that takes place “just before the emotional epilogue in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” according to NBC.

Here’s the network’s official synopsis:

When it becomes clear that the new generation of Vikings doesn’t remember the bond between dragon and human, Hiccup makes a plan to celebrate dragons with a grand holiday pageant. This heartwarming idea leads to a series of hilarious and exciting events, but no matter the circumstance, everyone in New Berk – young and old alike – is reminded that dragons and humans are forever bonded.

The holiday special will arrive just as a new line of HTTYD-themed toys goes on sale for Christmas, featuring a lineup of DreamWorks creations brought to life as plushes, action figures with articulating parts, and — need we say it? — dragons.

How to Train Your Dragon Homecoming fires up at NBC this Dec. 3, premiering at 8:30 p.m. ET., while also flying to DVD for a bonus features-packed home video release set to arrive the same day. A digital version, complete with the bonus features, also hits on-demand platforms on Dec. 4, before coming home to roost at Hulu on Dec. 5.