It appears HBO’s The Last of Us series may have cast a few integral characters without anyone noticing. A new set photo making its way around Twitter is seemingly giving fans their first look at brothers Sam and Henry in all their live-action glory. The image shows a pair of actors, whose ages and appearance match the aforementioned duo, standing alongside Pedro Pascal‘s Joel and Bella Ramsey‘s Ellie. It’s not clear enough to determine who the actors potentially playing Sam and Henry are, but the image could very well be the first confirmation that the characters will be in the adaptation.
In the original video game, Sam and Henry are a pair of brothers who Joel and Ellie meet while they traverse their way through a dystopian Pittsburgh. The boys temporarily team with the protagonists to get past the malicious Hunters, a violent group of survivors who have taken over the city and leave behind no prisoners. The four leads hit it off at first, with the younger brother Sam even forming a blossoming friendship with Ellie.
Unfortunately, like most things in The Last of Us, the partnership ends in tragedy. Franchise creator Neil Druckmann has gone on record to say some major events from the game will play out differently on the show, so perhaps there’s still hope for Sam and Henry when the series begins to air.
Netflix has been quite busy with their live-action adaptations of classic animated and Anime projects. Most notably, they are currently in production on an adaptation of One Piece and Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender. Especially the latter has been in production since last year, as it’ll tackle one of the most populated Western animated series. Luckily, we can offer an update on the project which is currently starting to cast some key members of the Northern Water Tribe.
The series, which is currently in production under the working title Blue Dawn, is looking to cast recurring guest performers of Indigenous descent to appear in approximately two episodes. While the characters are being cast with code names, their descriptions give us hints on who exactly they are playing and confirm that they are key roles for the adaptation of the Sieg of the North storyline from Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s first season.
Let’s start off with a character by the name of “Chief Red Crow.” They are actively looking for an Indigenous actor in his 40s up to his 50s. As his name implies, he’s the leader of his tribe, and the description highlights that he’ll lead his people into a battle. He also has a daughter named “Grace” that is the most important thing to him, as he wants to make sure she is happy. The description matches the Northern Water Tribe’s Chief Arnook, especially with the mention of his daughter who is likely Princess Yue.
Yue’s code name is also once again mentioned with the character of “Henry.” Not only is the battle mentioned again, but he is highlighted as in love with Grace, while she has eyes for someone else. Henry isn’t too far away from the character of Hahn. He was a strong warrior that was arranged to marry Yue. The only difference is that the character was quite self-centered and egotistical in the original series, who was interested in Yue due to her being the chief’s daughter. He was constantly fighting Sokka, who is played by Ian Ousley, who is the “other” mentioned in the description.
The next major casting is for the role of “Brother Rain.” The character is the village’s “martial arts master” and the teacher of the village’s warriors. This description matches Pakku, who was the one to teach Aang (Gordon Cormier) how to master their waterbending techniques. There’s also a line that highlights he loves “adhering to tradition over progress” which would hint that Pakku’s storyline of only teaching male waterbenders will also have a role in the upcoming adaptation.
He’s not the only teacher in this village, as there’s also the character of “Ayana.” The description highlights her as a healer that teaches women of their tribe. The description perfectly matches Yugoda, who thought Katara (Kiawentiio) some healing techniques while she also continued to pursue Pakku to break his tradition to teach her. The castings are currently hinting that the Avatar Team’s visit to the Northern Water tribe will take place over approximately two of its eight-episode run, which is quite substantial and highlights we’ll get to see quite a bit of this cast.
In the age of competing intellectual properties and streaming services, the Microsoft video gaming brand Xbox is gearing up to bring one of its most iconic properties to live-action with Halo on Paramount+. American Gods actor Pablo Schreiber is set to star as Master Chief in the series. Like any leading role in an action project, Schreiber has been fancast in plenty of Marvel roles.
Perhaps some good news for fans of the actor, apparently a Marvel role for Schreiber is not too far-fetched to dream about. During an interview with the Bingeworthy podcast, the Halo actor has has “a bunch of discussions” with Marvel over the years:
Yeah. You know I’ve seen things pop up a lot. I’ve had a bunch of discussions with Marvel at different points in my career. We’ve never been able to find the right thing at the right time, but I’d certainly be open to that. But yeah it’s just staying open to the right path and I don’t know exactly what that is, but I’ll know it when I see it.
Pablo Schreiber
Schreiber, who is Canadian, even expressed interest in playing the MCU’s Wolverine. Notably, the actor mentions that he and Marvel “flirted” with the idea of that casting:
Oh goodness yeah, well we flirted with that one for a while. That’d be fantastic, that would certainly be a dream casting. He’s actually my favorite hero, from a child he was always my favorite comic book. So I’ve had a long flirtation with that guy, so you know obviously that’d be a dream
Pablo Schreiber
Whether Schreiber is speaking about talks with Marvel for Wolverine purely in the past tense or not is not entirely clear, but it definitely notable that he speaks so highly of the potential role and implies he and Marvel have had somewhat of an ongoing relationship with Marvel throughout his career.
While Wolverine is still very much viewed as Hugh Jackman’s character, X-Men characters are expected to make their way into the MCU now that Disney owns the film rights to the characters. Who exactly will take on the iconic role is unknown at this time, but Marvel clearly has been working on casting for some time. Schreiber will make his debut as Master Chief in Halo on March 24 on Paramount+.
Voltron will make its way to live-action as a bidding war has sparked over who has the distribution rights to a new live-action feature. Red Notice director Rawson Marshall Thurber is set to tackle the project as multiple streamers are in talks to get their hands on the project. The series has picked up in popularity since the release of the animated series Voltron: Legendary Defender. Surprisingly though, Netflix is currently not in the running, which is surprising given they distributed the animated series and have been on a hot streak with Anime adaptations.
It seems that around two weeks ago, the film was pitched with a teaser reel by Thurber. He also co-wrote the script with Ellen Shanman. Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman are currently attached to produce alongside World Events Productions’ Bob Koplan, who currently hold the rights to the property. If the current rumors are to be believed, it may find a home by the end of the week.
The popular animated series started back in 1984 with a simple concept. What happens if multiple lion bots fused together to become a giant robot. It originally was created by Toi Animation and has gone through many different iterations throughout the years including Lion Force Voltron, Vehicle Team Voltron, Voltron Force, and many more.
Marvel Studios’ upcoming sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, is rumored to have just about every former Marvel actor making a cameo appearance. However, it sounds like fan-favorite star Nicolas Cage will not be among them. The eccentric performer famously portrayed Johnny Blaze, a stunt driver who makes a deal with the devil and transforms into the demonic Ghost Rider, through two films in the pre-MCU era. Ghost Rider and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance were disliked by both audiences and critics upon release, but have grown a cult following since they dropped in 2007 and 2011, respectively.
During a recent interview with the magazine GQ, Cage was asked if there were any plans for him to reprise the role for Marvel’s Doctor Strange follow-up. While expressing his desire to come back for another round alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, the actor did confirm that he won’t be in the film:
Oh, I don’t think so. I don’t think they’re casting me. I mean, I would do it. It would be fun. I’d love to work with Cumberbatch, but I don’t think that’s happening.
Nicolas Cage
Multiverse of Madness is currently on the back end of filming reshoots. It seems likely that, should Marvel want Cage to appear, they would have already contacted him about it. The film will see most of its main cast return from the first installment, with new addition Xochitl Gomez playing the multiverse busting America Chavez. With a plot taking place across multiple universes, it’s possible that any character could make a surprise resurfacing. One name that’s been making the rounds is Patrick Stewart‘s Professor Charles Xavier, who has the potential to finally bridge the gap between the MCU and Fox’s long-running X-Men franchise.
Fans can find out for sure when the next Doctor Strange lands in theaters on May 6th.
The Egyptian director Mohamed Diab has been quite vocal in his thoughts about how other productions have depicted his home country. While he’s about to make his Hollywood premiere with the Disney+ series Moon Knight, he has been openly discussing his thoughts on other projects during the press tour. He first shared his thoughts on Black Adam‘s and now has gone on to share his thoughts on the sequence in another DC project, Wonder Woman 1984. The director had the following to say on how his country is portrayed in the film:
I remember seeing Wonder Woman 1984 and there was a big sequence in Egypt and it was a disgrace for us. You had a sheik – that doesn’t make any sense to us. Egypt looked like a country from the Middle Ages. It looked like the desert.
Mohamed Diab
When the film was released, there was already quite a stir regarding the racist depiction of Egypt. Not only did it seem to mostly focus on stereotypical takes on the people from that nation, but even went as far as to portray the 80s version of Egypt in a questionable way. It makes sense for the director to share that sentiment, which has sparked quite the controversy quite some time ago.
Nicolas Cage is speaking out on Marvel’s behalf, even if he doesn’t really need to. The enigmatic actor was recently interviewed by GQ and took the time to voice his support for the recent upward trend of comic book adaptations. Superhero projects, and Marvel films especially, have been the subject of much debate over the last few years. Acclaimed director Martin Scorsese started a movement against the popularity of such movies in 2019 when he claimed the genre wasn’t “true cinema.” Since then, multiple other industry titans, such as Cage‘s uncle Francis Ford Coppola, have also come forward to state their opinion that the MCU is doing damage to the moviegoing experience.
Cage openly disagrees, explaining to GQ when the topic was brought up that he doesn’t think the event-style films are responsible for killing audience interest in smaller productions:
Yeah, why do they do that? I don’t understand the conflict. I don’t agree with them on that perception or opinion. I think that the movies that I make, like ‘Pig’ or ‘Joe,’ are not in any kind of conflict with Marvel movies. I mean, I don’t think the Marvel movie had anything to do with the end of the tweener. By tweener, I mean the $30 to $50 million budget movie. I think movies are in good shape. If you look at ‘Power of the Dog,’ or if you look at ‘Spencer,’ or any of Megan Ellison’s movies. I think that there’s still Paul Thomas Anderson.
Nicolas Cage
Cage is known for a variety of oddball roles throughout his career, which include comic book adaptations like the Ghost Rider films and an attempted Superman movie. He is also a known advocate for nerdy lifestyles, having lifted his stage name from Marvel character Luke Cage and naming his son, Kal-El, after the Man of Steel. In the middle of a bit of a comeback, it’s possible fans see Cage in another comic book project someday, especially with the positive things he has to say about Marvel Studios:
Marvel has done a really excellent job of entertaining the whole family. They put a lot of thought into it. I mean, it’s definitely had a big progression from when I was doing the first two ‘Ghost Rider’ movies. Kevin Feige, or whoever is behind that machine, has found a masterful way of weaving the stories together and interconnecting all the characters. What could be wrong with wholesome entertainment that is appealing to the parents and the children, and gives people something to look forward to? I just, I don’t see what the issue is.
Nicolas Cage
Cage‘s next film, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, releases on April 22nd.
All the way back in 1997, Tim Burton almost ditched Gotham City to catch some sun over in Metropolis, as he’d begun development on a Superman film titled Superman Lives. The film would’ve featured Nicolas Cage in the titular role of the last son of Krypton but the project was eventually scrapped.
During a recent segment on GQ’s Actually Me, the actor took some time to answer some burning questions from his fans. One, in particular, focused on Cage‘s role as Superman and asked if they could just make it happen now. The actor’s answer was a bit surprising, as he seemed to hint at a potential return to that role after all.
“Would it matter how much time I appeared as the character? There might still be a chance.”
Nicholas Cage
If Cage was to hypothetically make a cameo as the Man of Steel in any upcoming project, The Flash would seem like the most likely outcome. The multiverse angle of the plot could see Flash traveling through many versions of Earth. One could just so happen to be the one Superman Lives would’ve taken place.
Superman Lives would’ve been quite the movie as it was set to pit Kal-El up against the likes of Lex Luthor, Brainiac, and Doomsday with a script from Wesley Strick and Dan Gilroy. The project was eventually scrapped due to WB suffering many box office bombs and the film just didn’t make the cut. Maybe one day we could see the story told in some shape or form, or even Cage suiting up just one time.
Suki and Joe have a special guest, as @FezzsNerdyLife joins them during break week to not only discuss what in the world is happening to Luffy, but also what the current tease for the live-action series might be hinting at.
Today is the day for set photo leaks, as right after a first look dropped for the live-action One Piece series, we now also got our first look at the upcoming Universal Monsters reimagination of Dracula titled Renfield. The story will focus on Dracula’s long-time assistant as he has a bit of a falling out with his former lord. Nicholas Cage was cast as Dracula, and People magazine got its hands on a first look at the film take on the iconic vampire.
His design looks great, especially the whitened skin and you can clearly see he has some sharp nails. The red felt suit is a nice touch, as it feels like a modernized take of his outfit from Gary Oldman‘s taken the character. We know the series takes place in the modern-day, and it’s uncertain how big his role might be in the film. The blue lips are a fun addition to his design to highlight that he’s definitely a walking corpse.
The casting of Nic Cage is still a perfect choice for a comedic take on classic vampire stories. He always brings energy to his projects that make him stand out no matter what. With the right director, he’ll definitely give a great performance, and the look is definitely promising a great role in Cage‘s future.
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