After keeping it secret for quite some time, Dwayne Johnson slowly let the cat out of the bag over the past couple of weeks during the lead-up to the premiere of Black Adam: Henry Cavill is back as Superman. With the Man of Steel’s return to the DC Universe coinciding with the arrival of superpowered anti-hero Black Adam, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the two might run into one another down the road. According to producer Hiram Garcia, when the two do meet, it won’t be only for a brief chat.
If those guys cross paths, it’s really not just about a showdown…there’s much more we would want to do. We like to really think about the long game. And we like to think about some really interesting long-form storytelling with two characters that are so polar opposite but kind of from the same place in terms of power and approach. So if we are able to pull that off, some way, someday those guys cross paths, it’s not gonna be a quick thing. We have some big ambitions for that.
Hiram Garcia
Garcia and Johnson certainly seem to have the fans in mind as they look for a way to move forward the story of Teth-Adam and the shared DC Universe. Fans have been eager for Cavill to return to the role of Kal-El that he first inhabited in 2013 and, over the last few years following his appearance in Justice League, the hopes for that return seemed to dwindle. With Cavill back on board and firmly in the mix to mix it up with Black Adam in a sequel to one or another of their solo projects, it seems Johnson’s Seven Bucks production company is taking the lead in keeping the DC Universe on track for the time being.
As Dwayne Johnson’s career trajectory continued upward over the last decade and a half, one thing remained constant: his passion for Black Adam. First announced in 2007, the project has survived stops and starts in DC Universe, changes in leadership and changes in which characters and stories have been prioritized. Now as it’s finally about to be released, Black Adam seems set to serve as a jumping-off point for a new version of a connected DC Universe, but there’s one character that Johnson, and fans, have been eager to see back on screen.
Henry Cavill made his debut as Superman in 2013’s Man of Steel, which once upon a time seemed to be the jumping-off point for a DC Universe shaped by Zack Snyder. However, following appearances in Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, Cavill was absent from other projects and with no development on a Man of Steel sequel, fans had all but given up hope on his return as Kal-El. Johnson, however, never did. In an interview with ET at Black Adam’s premiere, Johnson seemingly confirmed the return of Cavill as Superman and discussed why it’s so important to have him back.
The whole goal and initiative of Black Adam was to build out the DC Universe by introducing not only Black Adam but the entire JSA. 5 new superhero characters in one movie and also, as I have been saying all along, there’s an ethos we at Seven Bucks have…Seven Bucks Productions…myself, my co-founder, Dany Garcia, and Hiram Garcia and that is we’ll always put the fans first. Audience comes first. So, for years, audiences have been so passionate and vocal about…we’ve established Black Adam as the most powerful and unstoppable on our planet…but the fans have been so passionate about, as we have been, where is the most unstoppable force in the universe? Where is he? Well, just like I fought hard for Black Adam for fifteen years, Dany has been fighting for six years, Hiram has been fighting for six years, fifteen years. We’ve all been fighting for this moment, so I will say this: welcome home.
Dwayne Johnson
Rumors have swirled for months that Black Adam would see Cavill return to the role of Superman and Johnson’s all-but-confirmation here has to be exciting for fans, not only for this film but for the future, which Johnson has also spoken about recently. Let’s hope it doesn’t take 15 more years before we see the two titans share the screen again!
Dwayne Johnson just has *this* to say to Henry Cavill after getting Superman to return to the DCEU in #BlackAdam: "Welcome home." 🙌 pic.twitter.com/QT0e0iYEOW
DC has set its cast for its animated Legion of Super-Heroes movie. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Meg Donnelly (The Winchesters), Harry Shum Jr. (Shadowhunters), Darren Criss (Glee), Matt Bomer (White Collar), and Jensen Ackles (Supernatural) have joined the cast.
Donnelly will voice Supergirl/Kara, Shum Jr. will voice Brainiac 5, and Criss will lend his voice to the Man of Steel, Superman. Bomer, who currently stars in DC’s Doom Patrol series, is on hand to voice The Flash, while Ackles has been set as Batman. Also cast in the film are Cynthia Hamidi as Dawnstar, Gideon Adlan as Phantom Girl, Ely Henry as Bouncing Boy, Robbie Daymond as TimberWolf & Brainiac 4, Yuri Lowenthal as Mon-El, Eric Lopez as Cosmic Boy & Chemical King, Darin De Paul as Brainiac & Solomon Grundy, Ben Diskin as Arms Fall off Boy & Brainiac 2, Victoria Grace as Shadow Lass, Jennifer Hale as Alura, Daisy Lightfoot as Triplicate Girl and Zeno Robinson as Invisible Kid & Brainiac 3.
The synopsis for the film hints at Kara struggling to adjust to her new life on Earth after the loss of Krypton, and her life at Legion Academy.
The story picks up as Kara, devastated by the loss of Krypton, struggles to adjust to her new life on Earth. Her cousin, Superman, mentors her and suggests she leave their space-time to attend the Legion Academy in the 31st century, where she makes new friends and a new enemy: Braniac 5. Meanwhile, she must contend with a mysterious group called the Dark Circle as it searches for a powerful weapon held in the Academy’s vault.
Jeff Wamester (Green Lantern: Beware My Power) directs the film from a script by Josie Campbell (Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous). The animated film, which hails from Warner Bros. Animation, DC and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, is slated to be released next year.
Marvel Studios made sweeping changes to their upcoming theatrical slate recently, shuffling the release dates of several projects in what looks to have been a game of dominoes. Upon closer look, however, it seems possible that the last domino hasn’t fallen yet.
2023
Phase 5 begins! Outside of Blade being removed from the 2023 slate, the slate remains unchanged. Two projects (Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Loki Season 2) look to connect directly with the overarching plot of the Multiverse Saga, but The Marvels might connect to it a bit more than one might think at first glance.
2024
The changes to the 2024 slate are where things really start to fall apart and where one has to question whether or not there will be another round of changes ahead. It seems like a big factor in whether or not there are more changes will depend on how connected the Disney Plus series/special projects are to the order of things.
Originally, Phase 5 was supposed to end with Thunderbolts in July of 2024, now it looks like it will likely end with Deadpool 3 in November of 2024. Blade and Deadpool 3 (even though it wasn’t officially given a date until recently) were always a part of Phase 5, so where they land within it doesn’t seem to matter. However, as of SDCC, the first Phase 6 project was intended to be a Disney Plus series/special presentation scheduled for Fall 2024, before Fantastic Four. Then, another two Phase 6 Disney Plus projects were set to stream before the end of 2024.
With all the changes, the end date for Phase 5 has now been extended by 4 months, meaning two streaming projects that were meant to be a part of Phase 6 are now TENTATIVELY set to stream before Phase 5 concludes. Can these projects just be moved into Phase 5? It’s hard to determine without knowing the identity of the projects. Do audiences need to see the content delivered in Blade or Deadpool 3 before they can view these series? Again, hard to determine without knowing what the projects are. If they need to be included in Phase 6, Marvel Studios would have to push them into November of 2024 or later, potentially creating a content void that they seem to be trying to avoid. A lot of questions that can’t be answered, but 2024 and Phase 5 are clearly being impacted the most by the changes and potentially impacting everything else the most as a result.
Summary: Phase 5 ends later and with a different project and would currently experience an increase in the number of projects with some Phase 6 projects set to stream before Phase 6 begins.
2025
While the update on Monday revealed two pretty major changes, it also implies that more might be coming. With Fantastic Four being bumped into 2025, Avengers: Secret Wars was bumped out. However, it also means the February slot before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is now occupied by Fantastic Four when it was clearly meant for another film up until these changes took place. The best bet as to what was intended to be there is the sequel to Shang-Chi. Both films are set to be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and there’s been enough said to me to indicate that Shang-Chi 2 was meant to lead up to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. With all that in mind, the slate is what it is at this point, but don’t be surprised to see further changes. One possibility is for one Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to move to the vacated November slot, opening up one of two summer spots for Shang-Chi 2. And while Disney doesn’t date Spidey films, that 4th movie is looming out there, so perhaps one of these 2025 films might come off the schedule entirely to make room for Spidey 4.
Summary: Phase 6 starts later than expected, but with the same project (Fantastic Four). It also ends later, but with the same project (Avengers: Secret Wars).
2026
As announced at SDCC ’22, Avengers: Secret Wars was intended to close out Phase 6 and the Multiverse Saga in November of 2025. The next day, Disney slated 4 Untitled Marvel Studios films for 2026, all meant to kick off Phase 7. But as the delay of Blade led to the delay of another project and another project and so on, Avengers: Secret Wars found itself bumped 5 months to May of 2026. But being the capstone project of the entire Multiverse Saga, moving Secret Wars ultimately means delaying the end of Phase 6 and the start of Phase 7.
Additionally, in shifting from November 7, 2025 to May 1, 2026, Avengers: Secret Wars actually jumped 2 dates. On the surface and without further changes, this adds a 6th film to the Phase 6 slate. We don’t know what the untitled films are, but when the slate for Phase 6 was revealed, it was comprised of 5 films. With things the way they are now, it’s 6 and this seems like a pretty major change to a slate that one would assume is pretty well planned out and only holds the requisite number of projects to tell the story. The scenario described in the 2025 section above provides some relief to that by removing one of those films to make way for Spidey 4. The best guess here is that Marvel Studios is NOT done shuffling and that these dates should be viewed as placeholders and nothing more.
Summary: Phase 6 not only ends later but with Avengers: Secret Wars jumping 2 release dates, it currently includes one additional film that was previously slated for Phase 7.
Realistically, any analysis is probably a waste of time because the only constant with Marvel Studios’ slate of projects is change. So for now, tracking the changes and thinking about how they might lead to more is both the best we can do and the worst thing we can do because it sends us down a path with no clarity just past the horizon.
Bang Bang is only getting bigger. The upcoming sports drama, which is set to star Tim Blake Nelson in the title role, has added five more performers to it’s roster. Daniella Pineda, perhaps best known for playing Faye Valentine in Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop, joins Tony Award winner Nina Arianda, Kevin Corrigan, Andrew Liner, and Will Janowitz as new additions to the film’s cast. The group will appear alongside Nelson and Glenn Plummer, who were exclusively revealed as being attached to the project by Murphy’s Multiverse in September.
Bang Bang centers on former featherweight boxer Bernard ‘Bang Bang’ Rozyski, played by Nelson, as he attempts to settle a score with his old rival Darnell Washington, played by Plummer. When his grandson, Justin, comes to stay with him, Rozyski sees the boy as an opportunity to relive his glory days, complicating his family life and leading him down a path toward the ultimate rematch. Liner will play Justin, while Arianda portrays his mother, Jen. Pineda is set to bring Officer Flores to life, while Corrigan and Janowtiz portray men named John and Dylan, respectively. Janowitz, who once held a recurring role in HBO’s The Sopranos, also wrote the movie’s script.
There is currently no release date for Bang Bang, which will be directed by Vincent Grashaw. However, it’s likely the project is aiming for a 2023 release. Production is scheduled to begin at the end of the month in Covington, Kentucky with Jesse Ozeri and Dane Eckerle on board as executive producers.
Game Of Thrones and Obi-Wan actress Indira Varma has joined the cast of Dune: The Sisterhood. The news was first revealed by Deadline with the outlet noting she’s set to portray Empress Natalya, who is described as “a formidable royal who united thousands of worlds in her marriage to Emperor Corrino.” The actress will join the previously announced Emily Watson and Shirley Henderson.
The Sisterhood takes place 10,000 years before the ascension of Paul Atreides and focuses on the Harkonnen sisters as they “combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit.”
Varma can next be seen in the Apple TV+ anthology series Extrapolations. She’s also set to star in next year’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One. She recently starred as Tala Durith in the Disney+ series, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Other credits to Varma’s name include the animated series The Legend of Vox Machina and the Prime Video series Carnival Row.
Diane Ademu-John (The Haunting of Bly Manor) serves as the creator, writer, co-showrunner and executive producer for Dune: The Sisterhood. She’ll work with Alison Schapker (Lost) who also serves as co-showrunner and executive producer. Johan Renck (Chernobyl) is set to direct the pilot episode and will also serve as an executive producer. Denis Villeneuve (Dune) is also executive producing with Jon Spaihts, Scott Z. Burns, Matthew King, John Cameron, Cait Collins and author Brian Herbert.
This Friday, Hulu is set to debut a new take on the Romeo and Juliet tale with Rosaline. Focusing on Juliet’s cousin – and Romeo’s ex – Rosaline tells the story of Rosaline Capulet and her rocky relationship with Romeo Montague. While she knows the two could never truly be together due to their warring families, Rosaline can’t help but fall in love with Romeo. Unfortunately, though, she soon learns her love has since fallen for another – more specifically, her cousin, Juliet. While Rosaline goes on a journey to try and destroy the relationship between Romeo and Juliet, in hopes of winning him back, she finds what she originally wanted isn’t what she wants in the end. Instead, she learns the one she should be with has been under her nose the entire time. It’s a cute romance filled with plenty of chaotic moments, which proved to be enjoyable for some of the cast members.
Last week, Disney hosted a virtual press conference for the film, and actor Sean Teale was asked why he believes Rosaline and Dario were the superior couple in the film. The actor noted that, while the character of Rosaline is charming, leading lady Kaitlyn Dever helps to sell her charm. “Like, she’s incredibly charming, Kaitlyn and Rosaline. And also, sort of, there’s so much to her, you would not want to do anything other than find out more,” he explained. “But I think Dario, the thing that drew me to Dario is that something that I didn’t have, which is that he just doesn’t mind what anyone thinks of him or how he appears. He is a certain way. And I do not possess that trait at all. I’m scared about everyone’s opinion. But Dario sort of manages to be a lot more progressive than a man would be in that time.”
The differences between the two characters are great, but it’s these differences between them that help to pull them together. As Teale further explains, while Dario is a Renaissance man, he’s also incredibly progressive for his time. “And so of course he’s completely drawn to this, like, brilliant, funny, charismatic-driven, diligent, independent woman at a time where, you know, where that was not as easy to be or do,” he said. “So, it sort of becomes very obvious to him. They also wind each other up to no end. Which is super-fun.”
Viewers can watch the relationship between Rosaline and Dario grow when Rosaline debuts on Hulu this Friday, Oct. 14th.
In 2007, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was announced as Black Adam for Warner Bros. and DC Comics. At the time, it was expected that he would first pop up in Shazam! but the plan eventually changed with Johnson and his team opting instead to give the anti-hero a solo film first. Now, after what feels like forever, Black Adam is finally set to hit the big screen later this month.
While at the film’s premiere, producer Dany Garcia briefly talked about the film’s long journey to the big screen and Johnson’s commitment to the character. “A decade and a half ago, we knew that character was a character that Dwayne should play… it’s been pushing a boulder every day forward, but believing in the vision.”
Producer Dany Garcia on sticking with #BlackAdam for so long: "A decade and a half ago, we knew that character was a character that Dwayne should play…it's been pushing a boulder every day forward, but believing in the vision." https://t.co/9D9RAa7qOCpic.twitter.com/DnwCs7Denl
Starring alongside Johnson in Black Adam are Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher and Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate. Black Adam is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra from a script by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani.
Black Adam is set to hit theaters on Oct. 21st. It is currently on track to earn between $70 million and $75 million.
Back in June 2009, the Slender Man seemed to be everywhere. Social media. The local news. Schools. It was the big thing for parents to focus on, and it unfortunately gained life outside of the internet when some students took it too far. Hollywood being Hollywood sought to turn the internet meme into a film almost nine years later, and it wasn’t the hit Screen Gems had hoped it to be earning just $51.7 million at the worldwide box office. Fast forward to 2022. While Slender Man seems to be a thing of the past, Grimcutty seems eager to take its place – for better or worse. The latest horror offering from Hulu is what happens when social media memes and YouTube fads are tossed into a blender in the hopes of making something halfway decent only to leave behind a horrible tasting mess.
Grimcutty, like Slender Man, centers on an online story that quickly becomes a meme. There’s no real explanation as to what caused the Grimcutty, but it’s clear that the parents are terrified of it and willing to do whatever is necessary to protect their kids – even if it (up until that point) hadn’t been an actual issue. Like in real life, the story is driven by hysteria. Parents are terrified of what their kids might do themselves as part of the Grimcutty challenge, something even the kids seem to be unaware of, and quickly begin circulating the story amongst themselves and coming up with a plan to make use of a detox box thanks to a mommy blogger. Because if there’s one way to stop an internet monster, it is to stash all electronics in the detox box… but only if they belong to the kids. As ridiculous as it is, Grimcutty does a pretty bang-up job at capturing the way stories spread online can result in mass hysteria. Nonsensical? Absolutely. But believable? Oh, very much so.
The problem is, though, is that Grimcutty fails on pretty much every other aspect. It tries to be smart; it tries to be witty, and it tries to make its monster terrifying. But Grimcutty is a CGI mess that isn’t any more terrifying than Jack Skellington. It’s hard not to laugh when there’s a computer-generated mess zombie walking toward its victims with a knife in tow. If the script is weak, at least ensure the monster is terrifying enough to make it worthwhile. At least then Grimcutty might’ve been a halfway decent horror movie about social media consumption and learning not to believe in everything posted online. The internet is where kids spend a lot of time these days thanks to school, YouTube, video games, etc. so it makes sense to use the internet as the springboard for the lore. It really does. But then it goes off course, really fast.
Because this is a movie meant to tackle social media and the internet… it was apparently determined it wouldn’t be complete without incorporating ASMR videos into it because, well, internet. Perhaps the most frustrating part of Grimcutty is that it tries to tackle too much regarding trends instead of attempting to build a solid lore concerning its big bad. That’s one thing the film fails miserably at. Grimcutty doesn’t have a solid story foundation. It simply becomes a picture spread around online and, only after hysteria and internet searches regarding it, does the character appear with a knife. What caused it? Who created it? Why is it only visible to some? Is it only impacting a local area or is it worldwide? These are all basic questions that, had they been addressed properly on screen, would’ve made Grimcutty a far more enjoyable film. As it stands, though, Grimcutty is an utter mess that fails to scare or thrill.
Some of the worst horror films often go on to have a cult following. Grimcutty will not be one of those films. There’s bad, but enjoyable, and then bad and unwatchable. Grimcutty falls into the latter category. Those looking for something mindless to keep on in the background might be willing to give it a shot. Otherwise, turn away. Go watch the excellent Hellraiser reboot instead.
We have come to an end of yet another Marvel Cinematic Universe series, but this finale stands on its own. Since WandaVision, MCU series have been rather well known for either botching or just not following through with outstanding finales. How anyone feels about the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law finale is less straightforward than usual. While the word “unique” has been thrown around a lot in Phase Four, there is no other way to start the discussion.
Even though it did not take up the entire runtime, the massive fourth wall break in the finale has to be an instantly iconic moment in the MCU. To not only take the audience out of “the show” but to spend time with the titular character in Marvel Studios’ headquarters is beyond bonkers. Of course, the jarring transition from the regular program to She-Hulk breaking out of the Disney+ screen is incredible, and it lives up to the comic book version of her doing the same decades ago. The core potential of the character is released in the finale, and there are very few moments in the MCU that can genuinely say the same.
The humor stemming from the fourth wall break is not only laugh-out-loud funny, but it is peak She-Hulk. Throughout the season, the show makes jabs at tropes and the incessant presence of the internet’s yelling in every single moment of the contemporary MCU. Anyone on Twitter is familiar with this, and anyone with a brain knew that She-Hulk would provoke perhaps the most attention in that regard. Instead of winking at the audience about it, the artificial intelligence replacement for Kevin Feige (a joke worthy of its own review maybe) addresses it head-on. The MCU has an internet relations struggle. She-Hulk is a strong, confident woman. The two combined were meant to be together, but the way the finale actually embraces it is almost too good to be true.
The fourth wall break, without a doubt, is the finale. It may even beShe-Hulk. Still, that does not mean the finale as a whole deserves top marks. It is somewhat hard to separate the fourth wall break from anything else, both because of the inherent difficulty of that and because they addressed very different things. The break speaks to the essence and the heart of She-Hulk, and what better place to do that than in the finale? But the rest of the story is quite limited because of it.
Yes, it brings home the point that this is She-Hulk’s show, but it also made it clear that She-Hulk’s story—at least in Season One—did not do much more than what we already saw before this episode. That is not inherently bad, especially considering the show really wants to call itself a legal comedy. Plus, fans should have learned their lesson after WandaVision to not expect series finales to become the crossover, universe-shattering moments of their dreams. To that, She-Hulk said: here is Skaar. But plenty of plotlines arguably deserved more time and attention, and a longer version of how Jen cleared her name would have been very welcome. That in particular is the biggest loss of the finale’s choice, but at the end of the day, the fourth wall break is always the preferred option.
She-Hulk made waves as an MCU series. As one of the few MCU projects to feature a woman in the title role, it went beyond just basic representational work on that front. Women’s real experiences were either mentioned or actually discussed, and the first project the MCU felt comfortable throwing sex in was a project where a woman led that concept on-screen. But the series will also go down as the funniest Marvel Studios project to date and in many ways one of the most grounded in reality (which is ironic in plenty of ways). Jen was an actual, believable human, and the series made that the basis of everything, even the crazier elements. She-Hulk, arguably, was what many internet fans wanted Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Cameos to be, and yet this was just the first season of a solo series. At the end of the day, there is not much else to say except: She-Hulk smashed.
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