This is your Morning Funk! Every weekday morning, this will be your place to find the top geek stories from around the internet. Today we have news from The Jungle Book, Doctor Strange, Project Morpheus and more!

The first trailer for Walt Disney Studios’ live-action reimagining of The Jungle Book has dropped, and it is a feast for the eyes. The CGI on display is truly something to behold, bringing the beasts of the jungle–and the jungle itself–to vibrant life around Mowgli, played by newcomer Neel Sethi. The cast is quite impressive as well, featuring the inspired choice of Bill Murray as Baloo, Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, Christopher Walken as King Louie, and as featured in the trailer, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa. While the cast and this first trailer give me a lot to look forward to, I’m still quite hesitant about the film since it is based on the 1967 animated film and not the books by Rudyard Kipling. I would have no problem with Disney basing a movie on one of their cartoons if this were any other adaptation, but the racist undertones in the original are worryingly prevalent, despite the books being interpreted being Kipling’s attempt to write a specifically non-racist love later to India, where he was raised. The choices for voice-acting in the original betrayed the racist stereotypes of the sixties, and if they aren’t careful, they may fall into the same trap here. Already we have the deep-voiced black man as the villain and the knighted Englishman as the proper and wise teacher of the Indian boy. The previously very problematic King Louie’s voice being Walken is hopefully a step in the right direction, depending on the portrayal of the monkeys as whole. I will reserve judgement until I see–and hear–more from the film, but I’m hopeful that director Jon Favreau will be intelligent about these choices. The Jungle Book will be released on April 15, 2016.

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Staying in the Disney movie family for a moment, we have confirmation via The Wrap that Rachel McAdams will be joining the cast of Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange. There’s no word yet on who she’ll be playing in the film, but I’m pulling for the obvious choice of Clea, longtime lover/apprentice/partner of Doctor Strange in the comics. She joins Benedict Cumberbatch who will play the titular role, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo and Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One. This is shaping up to be a pretty incredible cast–though that’s nothing new for Marvel–and I’m excited to see what Marvel does with a movie that is grounded in magic rather than science fiction like the rest of their films. Doctor Strange opens November 4, 2016.

Nickelodeon began teasing a new Nicktoons-centric channel called The Splat. While details are scarce and an official announcement is expected this weekend, it seems clear that the focus of the programming will be on classic nineties cartoons from the company’s extensive back-catalogue. This comes following the news of a live-action-animation-hybrid-crossover movie featuring many of the series is in the works, collectively indicating a renewed interest in utilizing their older animated IP. Can reboots or continuations of some these series be far behind?

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Coming out of this week’s Tokyo Game Show, IGN reports that Sony has announced that its virtual reality headset, known until now as Project Morpheus, has been renamed PlayStation VR. Obviously, the new name is way more boring and uninspired, but Sony’s desire to brand it specifically as part of the PS line indicates their desire to push the new technology as an integral to the gaming experience going forward. This is good news for proponents of VR technology, even if the branding is uninspired. During the same presentation, it was announced that Square Enix’s upcoming game Final Fantasy XIV will receive some sort of support for VR, but again, details are scarce. PlayStation VR is expected some time in 2016.

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Finally, I have an update on my report on DC Comics cancellations from yesterday, adding Sensation Comics and Batman ’66 to the titles being given the axe in December. In addition, another DC You title, Green Lantern: The Lost Army will be ending with November’s issue six. DC has told sites such as Newsarama that both Lost Army and Doomed were always six-issue series, but they were never solicited as such, and statements from creators indicate that they were not told that either. I covered most of my thoughts on this yesterday, but DC’s disgraceful attempt to sweep some of these cancellations under the rug really just cements my opinion even further: DC needs to make some serious changes in their leadership or get left in the dust by the companies who are willing to offer and support books that appeal to a wider audience.