"Johnny Thunder and the Trail of Botnik" Arrives, New Canon, and More News!

By: Andrew Bermudez

(Mustache Maniacs Film Co. Headquarters; June 29, 2020)

    We have lots of news to cover today, including the recent release of Johnny Thunder and the Trail of Botnik! Let's get into it all!

Johnny Thunder and the Trail of Botnik has been Released!

    After just one week of development, our latest Johnny Thunder film, Johnny Thunder and the Trail of Botnik, was released on Saturday to great acclaim! This is our first Johnny Thunder film to explore a short-form adventure, as unlike our first three Johnny Thunder movies, this film is only 9 minutes long. We also wanted to adapt any material from the Adventurers Amazon LEGO Sets that didn't make it into Johnny Thunder and the Wisdom of the Ancients, as well as the LEGO City Jungle Explorers sets. To see what happens on this new adventure, check out the embedded video below.

Our Latest Johnny Thunder film is the Focus of Today's Wiki Mondays: Quarantine Edition!

    To ride on the success of our latest release, we're dedicating today's new wiki article to Johnny Thunder and the Trail of Botnik! Like all of our film-related wiki pages, you'll find information about the film's development, relevant links, tropes used in the film, and more. You can see the page for yourself by clicking here.

Our Commitment to Ethnic Diversity

    In light of the recent events that have occurred, we want to assure you all via this important message that we honestly should have put out sooner rather than later, but we feel is important to say now, especially since Johnny Thunder and the Trail of Botnik upholds this commitment. We are, have always been, and always will be, a place that welcomes all regardless of any differences. We condemn the recent acts of senseless violence against minorities and we want to be better stewards of serving and casting those who feel under-represented in our line of business. Therefore, we will first and foremost tell new stories showing minorities in positive and exemplary roles, as well as double down on casting or re-casting roles with actors who fit the ethnicity of those characters (if that trait is confirmed canonically). The entire world is full of brilliant people with spectacular stories, and we want to bring these new stories to the forefront as we progress forward with Project U and beyond. The reason that we are saying this now is because of what is in the next section.

Time for a New Canon Update!

    With a new film out, we need to canonize it, as well as continue some house-keeping. We also have a surprise for all of you brickulators, so read on!

• Johnny Thunder and the Trail of Botnik is entering the canon as another adventure for Johnny Thunder that takes place between June 21 and June 27, 2020. After the events of the film, the Sun Disc and the Curus Miraculus remain in the Lost Temple and Gertrude Dainman is promoted to a permanent position at the LEGO City Museum of Natural History.
• Regarding specific details from that film, to match her voice actor's ethnicity, Gertrude Dainman is canonically African-American. As discussed in Art Demonstration Show, the minifigure's yellow skin is meant to be race-neutral, allowing for this change to occur. For other details in the film, the curse is more-or-less the jungle protecting itself, as the Sun Disc is a mystic artifact that helps the jungle to thrive, along with the Curus Miraculus. The Sun Disc in particular is an alien artifact, similar to Amset-Ra's treasures.
• Hang ten, brickulators! The entire LEGO Island saga is entering the canon as events that occur between 1997 and 2002! There were concerns about how the details would fit into the canon, but after careful review, we have decided that we can make this move fairly easily, with some stipulations, as outlined below.
• Regarding the LEGO Island games, there are a few things that we want to make clear. First and foremost, this ONLY canonizes the three computer games LEGO Island, LEGO Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge, and Island Xtreme Stunts, as well as the minifigure handbook and the four flash games House on Spooky Hill, Brickster the Space Pirate, The Stolen Painting, and The Crystal Brick. We are very aware of the fan game LEGO Island 3, as well as the comic included with the first run of LEGO Island, and the web games Pepper's Skateboarding Challenge and Xtreme Scavenger Hunt, but these four pieces of media are NOT canon in any way, shape, or form. We also have in-universe explanations for some of the inherit contradictions that exist in the games against the cinematic universe (i.e. the portals to the various islands in LEGO Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge have been retconed into being time portals, al la When Barrels Fly).
• This is going to be a weird one, but LEGO Dimensions is...well, entering the canon, but it takes place somewhere on the other side of the multiverse, so it does not affect the events of the realities that are focused upon in the cinematic universe. However, this move does confirm how the multiverse operates, as well as turns Cromwell Powell's remote in The Pen and Lens Pioneers' A.N.T.I. Device from Antithesis into the start of bigger plans.

We are still looking at ways to expand the cinematic universe, and these changes will bring new diversity to our ever-expanding roster of stories!

Are we Already Thinking About Our Twentieth Anniversary?

    Yes, it may be four years away, but we are already looking towards our twentieth anniversary in 2024 and are drafting preliminary plans of what we might do that year. Most of the information is confidential, but there are a few things that we are allow to share. First and foremost, we're looking towards that year to host the next fan choice awards, though we might hold it sooner if we so wish. In addition, we're also looking towards that year to release either Johnny Thunder and the Secret of Marco Polo: The Adventure Retold or Van Helbrick and the Monster Fighters. Again, this is all preliminary and fluid, so don't be surprised if our announcement for our line-up that year includes none of the above.

Lead Out

    That was a lot of important information to cover, but we feel that our recent moves are for the best. Check back in July for more Adventurers-related fun with the re-release of Johnny Thunder and the Gift of the Nile on July 17!