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  • Steelers Preseason Preview: Better Without Ben

    Steelers Preseason Preview: Better Without Ben

    For the first time in 18 seasons the Pittsburgh Steelers have a QB not named Ben, under center. For fans this is a bittersweet moment and a changing of the guard. A constant of the franchise, and for at least 16 of those 18 seasons, a dependable top half-of-the-league QB is gone. There is uncertainty in Pittsburgh; however, in spite of this change Pittsburgh has a chance to be a better team this season.

    How? How are they going to be better when we know the division got better? First, Cincy retooled their O-line and are coming off a Super Bowl birth. Second, Baltimore can expect to have a bounce back year after adding to an already solid defense and Lamar is still the most electric QB in the league. Third, the Browns, while morally bankrupt, added a former top 5 QB (if he returns to form of two years ago and isn’t suspended). I hear all of that. However, let’s look at what Pittsburgh did the last two years of Ben’s career.

    In Roethlisberger’s final two seasons the Steelers finished at 12-4 and 9-7-1. Those Steeler teams accomplished this with a 40-year old statue with a limited arm at QB. 31 other starting QBs in the league could have one of their feet cemented in concrete and they would still have moved at a faster pace than Big Ben did from 2020-2021. In his final two seasons, Ben’s yards per attempt hovered around Sam Darnold’s with the Jets numbers (averaging around 6.25). That isn’t good. Especially when Pitt has an exciting and diverse receiving core and now one of the most exciting and versatile running backs in the league.

    I say all this not to trash Ben, but to point out that whether it’s new first round pick Kenny Pickett or Mitch Trubisky, the Steelers are going to have a more mobile and MUCH MORE athletic QB for this upcoming season. On top of that, even if they put together an average season this team should be able to compete for a Wild Card spot. Look what they did with a walking corpse under center? 12 wins!? HOW!? T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick is how. Guess what? They’re still there and so is Najee Harris. There is an argument to be had that Ben held Pittsburgh back in 2021.

    All this to say, it’s an exciting time for Steeler fans, no matter who takes the majority of the snaps this year. As long as Pickett or Trubisky don’t become turnover machines, they will be taking control of a team that is very well rounded. This Steelers team isn’t going to be easy to beat, and isn’t that all you want with a rookie QB or a reclamation project QB?


  • ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Actor Teases SDCC Attendance

    ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Actor Teases SDCC Attendance

    There have been many theories on what exactly we might expect from Marvel Studios’ upcoming panel. Theories have gone wild with ideas of exploring current productions or teasing what’s to come in the future. While we won’t know until Saturday, it seems that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 star, Will Pulter is teasing his attendance.

    The actor is set to take on the role of Adam Warlock, who was briefly teased back in 2017 when the second entry hit theaters. While we don’t know exactly what role he’ll have in the film. In a recent interview, he teased his attendance at San Diego Comic-Con hinting at a reveal.

    We finished filming a couple of months ago, and then I’m heading out to Comic-Con pretty soon.

    Will Poulter

    The actor got to talk a bit about Guardians and how its unique humor, spearheaded by visionary James Gunn, was something that caught his eye. Gunn definitely has given the ragtag team of intergalactic adventures something that made them stand out from the rest of Marvel’s quirky characters. There’s something exciting about the third entry that stands out due to the circumstances that almost kept its director from finishing up the project.

    Adam Warlock is a big character to introduce into the MCU, and it will be interesting to see if he may potentially tie into some overarching storyline that many have been hoping to finally uncover. While this saga has mostly been rebuilding the MCU for a new trilogy, people are still struggling with Post-Endgame blues. Perhaps SDCC has the piece of the puzzle we’ve been looking forward to.

    Source: YouTube

  • Bradley Cooper Will Return to Voice Rocket in “I Am Groot”

    Bradley Cooper Will Return to Voice Rocket in “I Am Groot”

    The Guardians of the Galaxy are making their mark on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 4 already, despite the franchise’s third installment, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, is not slated to hit theaters until 2023. Recently, the team showed up in the opening minutes of Thor: Love and Thunder, and a Guardians holiday special are set to land on Disney+ later this year.

    Another, smaller, project based on the characters of the franchise is also set to debut soon. I Am Groot, a series of shorts based on the popular age-confused tree-like alien Groot will hit Disney+ on August 10, 2022. A new report has revealed that Marvel Studios released early footage of the Disney+ series, and it includes the return of another Guardians favorite.

    According to The Direct, an early theatrical screening of the first episode of I Am Groot, Bradley Cooper is confirmed to return as Rocket Raccoon in the Disney+ shorts. Cooper’s name appeared in the credits as Rocket Raccoon, suggesting his appearance in at least one episode of I Am Groot and marking his sixth appearance in the MCU to date.

    While it is fun that Cooper and Rocket will be involved, director James Gunn has hinted that the short series may not be canon to the greater MCU. I Am Groot, will consist of five shorts but there are no exact details on how long each individual episode will be, but as they are titled “shorts” we shouldn’t expect an overarching storyline or long episodes. This isn’t a new thing for the service and isn’t a sign that they are changing the model, as it’s rather common for the service in how they tackle their shorts, such as Olaf Presents.

    I Am Groot is scheduled to release on Disney+ on August 10, 2022.

    Source: The Direct

  • ‘Resident Alien’ Renewed for Season 3

    ‘Resident Alien’ Renewed for Season 3

    Syfy has given an early Season 3 renewal to Resident Alien. The news comes courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter with the outlet noting the renewal comes three weeks ahead of the premiere of the show’s second half of Season 2.

    Resident Alien stars Alan Tudyk as Harry, an extraterrestrial sent to Earth on a mission to destroy all humans. As it turns out, though, following a crash landing, he assumes the identity of a doctor and finds himself struggling to follow through on his mission. The series also stars Corey Reynolds, Elizabeth Bowen, Levi Fiehler, Meredith Garrettson, Alice Wetterlund, and Judah Prehn.

    The Syfy series has proven to be a success for the network, averaging 2.3 million viewers per episode – that includes delayed viewing. Across all platforms, Syfy has revealed that Resident Alien manages to grow to nearly 11 million viewers.

    The back half of Season 2 will hit Syfy on Aug. 10th. Audiences can stream new episodes of Resident Alien through the Syfy app or on Peacock the day after they air. As of now, the complete first season and the first eight episodes of Season 2 are now streaming on both platforms for those that need to catch up.

    Source: THR

  • ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Blows Past ‘The Avengers’ At the Box Office

    ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Blows Past ‘The Avengers’ At the Box Office

    One day after becoming the tenth highest-grossing film of all time, Top Gun: Maverick has officially surpassed The Avengers to move up the list. The Tom Cruise-led sequel is now the ninth highest-grossing film of all time. As of yesterday, the movie is currently at $623.8 million at the domestic box office. That’s enough to push it past The Avenger’s domestic haul of $623.3 million.

    After two months in release, Top Gun: Maverick seems to show no signs of stopping. The film is still within the top five at the box office, and word of mouth seems to be keeping the film afloat despite the growing competition. It remains to be seen just how high Maverick can fly. The top six films of all time might be hard to beat – Avengers: Infinity War sits in sixth place with $678 million – but it does seem likely Maverick will overtake Titanic’s $659 million and Jurassic World’s $653 million. Should that happen, Maverick would go on to become the seventh highest-grossing film of all time.

    Maverick is Cruise’s best-performing film at the box office and the actor is certainly being rewarded for its success. Per Variety, Cruise is looking to earn a minimum of $100 million from ticket sales, his salary and his cut from rentals and streaming revenue down the line. 

    Top Gun: Maverick was directed by Joseph Kosinski and follow’s Cruise’s Maverick as he returns to the prestigious aviation academy for a special assignment. The film is currently set to hit home video on August 23rd.

    Source: Variety

  • Jeff Bridges: ‘Iron Man’ “Drove Me Absolutely Crazy”

    Jeff Bridges: ‘Iron Man’ “Drove Me Absolutely Crazy”

    While the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a well-oiled machine these days, in the beginning, that was far from the case. It’s no secret that Iron Man was a very loose production. Although a script had been written, most of it had been thrown out during production resulting in improve from the cast and crew. For Jeff Bridges, who starred in the film as the villain Obadiah Stane, the process was frustrating, and yet enjoyable.

    In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Bridges discussed what it was like making the first Iron Man movie. “It was Marvel’s first adventure into making movies,” the actor explained. “It was so lucky to have Jon on there and [Robert] Downey, because both of them are terrific improvisers, and we spent a couple of weeks working on the script and rehearsing together, because we didn’t like the original script and we thought, ‘Oh yeah, we fixed this, fixed that.’”

    For Bridges, throwing out the script was frustrating because the actors had spent time going over their lines, only to find themselves confused with what they were doing. “There was a lot of confusion about what our script was, what we were gonna say. We’d spend hours in one of our trailers going over lines and exploring how we were going to do it,” Bridges said. ““It drove me absolutely crazy until I made a slight adjustment in my brain that was, ‘Jeff, just relax. You’re making a $200 million student film. Just relax and have fun.”’

    Production might not have been smooth, but there’s no denying the legacy Iron Man leaves behind. Iron Man, which was directed by Jon Favreau, earned an astounding $585 million at the worldwide box office upon its release in 2008, including $318.6 million from the domestic box office. The film went on to not only reignite Robert Downey Jr.’s career, but also launch a billion-dollar franchise that continues to dominate at the box office twenty-something films in. 

    Source: Vanity Fair

  • 3 Major R-Rated Fox Films Headed to Disney Plus

    3 Major R-Rated Fox Films Headed to Disney Plus

    With Marvel Studios’ San Diego Comic-Con Hall H presentation just over 2 days away, Disney has made a move that might hint at one potential announcement from Kevin Feige on Saturday. Disney has revealed that 3 R-rated Marvel films from Fox will become available on Disney Plus beginning July 22nd. Deadpool, Deadpool 2 and Logan all hit the platform just one day ahead of Marvel Studios big panel.

    While Marvel Studios’ plans for Hall H are being held pretty tightly, as usual, this move could indicate the studio’s plan to update its plans for a third Deadpool film, potentially giving it a release date on its 2024 slate. Ryan Reynolds has stayed passionate about seeing a third Deadpool film through following Disney’s acquisition of Fox which saw the X-Men and related properties move under the Marvel Studios umbrella.

    Access to the films will be restricted via parental controls, meaning they’ll join Netflix’s Marvel properties such as Daredevil, Jessica Jones, The Punisher, Luke Cage and Iron Fist as R-rated/TV-MA properties available in the Marvel section of the streaming service.

  • The Hypothetical 2024 Marvel Studios Release Calendar, V2

    The Hypothetical 2024 Marvel Studios Release Calendar, V2

    Tentatively set to go into production next Spring, Deadpool 3 could kick off Marvel Studios’ theatrical slate in 2024.

    Originally the WandaVision spinoff looked like it might be ready in time for a late-2023 release, maybe even as early as Halloween. But production delays on other projects seem to have shoved the start of production on Agatha: House of Harkness to the first quarter of 2023, making it likely we won’t see the Kathryn Hahn-led streamer until 2024.

    With director Jake Schreier on board and a script by Black Widow scribe Eric Pearson ready to go, Thunderbolts is expected to go into production next summer, making it a very likely candidate for the May release. While details on the project are currently non-existent, Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ Val will have her team complete by then so expect to see Florence Pugh and Wyatt Russell back.

    Even though Marvel Studios is still pretending that Charlie Cox isn’t going to be in She-Hulk, trade reports did confirm that he will show up in Echo and that a solo Daredevil project will follow. It was only a matter of time before the Man Without Fear got his own Marvel Studios streaming series and it looks like he’ll be joined by another one of Netflix’s Defenders, with Krysten Ritter rumored to be on board as well. Expect the events of Echo to dovetail right into this series, allowing Marvel Studios to start building out that corner of the MCU.

    Unfortunately, there are very few surprises left about Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. One of them, however, is how the events of the film will lead to this spinoff series…and we’re happy to keep it that way. Ryan Coogler has created an expansive world within the MCU and Midnight Angels is just one example of that. Reports indicate it’ll go into production next summer, so a Summer 2024 debut on D+ sounds right.

    After a bit of wheel-spinning, a director was found for this project in Julius Onah. Onah is working with the writing crew of Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Musson, who will continue their work on Sam Wilson’s story as Cap that began in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, so the continuity should be fantastic. Maybe fans will get a subtitle for this film soon and get some idea of what direction Captain America will be headed in.

    The most pleasant surprise on this list, the Wonder Man streaming series, co-created by Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest, who will also serve as the series’ head writer, should go into production next year, giving it as good of an opportunity as any other series to make the 2024 slate. All eyes will be on who Marvel Studios casts as Simon Williams, with a potential announcement coming at SDCC or D23.

    With Jon Watts now off the project, Marvel Studios is working hard to find a director for their Fantastic Four. Word is that they have been chasing some big names, though several reports have surfaced that indicate Steven Spielberg, arguably the biggest name on their list, won’t be the man behind the camera. Spielberg or no Spielberg, Marvel Studios hopes to have a director on board before long so they can get this one into production in the Fall of 2023, allowing it to make the November 8th date.

    Marvel Studios has several animated projects at different points of production and any one of them could fill this end-of-the-year spot. Of them all, it seems like Spider-Man: Freshman Year should be the furthest along and would fit nicely in 2024 since fans would otherwise be looking at a potential 4-year gap between MCU Spidey projects. A canonical animated series that’ll give fans a little more of Peter’s MCU origin seems like a great way to wrap up a PACKED 2024.

  • SDCC Promotion Offers First Look at ‘Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’

    SDCC Promotion Offers First Look at ‘Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’

    Dungeons and Dragons, one of the most popular table-top games of all time, is finally returning to the big screen. Ahead of the first day of San Diego Comic-Con, we now have our first look at the Chris Pine-led film, which is slated to hit theaters early next year.

    Those lucky enough to be in attendance for SDCC’s preview night on Wednesday spotted the first promotional material for the film at the Tavern experience. Fans can get their first look at the entire band of characters that we’ll be following on this journey, along with the very first poster for the film.

    While unconfirmed it looks as if Regé-Jean Page will be playing a paladin, Chris Pine a Bard, Sophia Lillis a Satyr rogue, Michelle Rodriguez a barbarian, Justice Smith an elf sorcerer, and Hugh Grant possibly a cleric. 

    The very first poster is littered with quite a few notable creatures from the game including the classic Mimic, an Intellect Devourer, an Owlbear, and even a displacer.

    Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is set to have quite the presence at San Diego Comic Con this year, with a Hall H panel currently scheduled for Thursday, July 21st at 12pm PT where those in attendance can expect a special look at the film.

    SOURCE: Twitter

  • The Morning After Huddle: July 21, 2022

    The Morning After Huddle: July 21, 2022

    Welcome to your Thursday edition of The Morning After Huddle, bringing you all things NFL. In the words of Logic, “I’ve been gone for a minute, but I’m back now!”. A huge thanks goes to my partner-in-print, D. A., for stepping in while I was on vacation. There is news to be reported. Let’s get right to it. 

    Here’s what you need to know:

    • Of course, as we all suspected, the Niners have finally given Jimmy Garoppolo the permission to seek a trade. If you’ve been paying attention to off-season storylines, this was absolutely coming down the pipeline. Now the question remains: where will he end up? We’ll keep tabs on this one. Seattle could be a potential option, but the Browns are also in the mix.
    • Sadly, we have some unfortunate news picking up in NFL circles. Former Steelers first-round pick, Charles Johnson, has passed away. Johnson played nine NFL seasons — five with Pittsburgh, two with the Philadelphia Eagles, one with the Patriots (where he won a SB) and his last with the Buffalo Bills. He was 50 years old.
    • Finally, your Key Signings Roundup:
      • Kyle Rudolph is signing with the Bucs to be Tom Brady’s new TE. Rudolph is signing a one-year deal.
      • The Raiders are signing CB Isaiah “Ike” Brown to the roster. The UDFA  previously played for the USFL, totally 16 tackles and two interceptions for 98 yards, including one returned for a touchdown.

    Thanks for breaking down the huddle with us today! I know you missed me. So, we’ll be back for Football Friday with more news you want to know ahead of your weekend.