“You have failed this beach!” Okay, there is probably no way
Stephen Amell will say that line in the new
Baywatch reboot, but I can’t be the only one who thought about it. Fox announced yesterday that the former
Arrow,
Heels and
Suits LA star would be the lead in the networks bid to recapture the popularity of their lifeguard themed drama from the 90s. Amell will be playing the role of Hobie Buchannon, a role first introduced in the OG series. Hobie’s world turns upside down when Charlie, the daughter he didn’t know he had, shows up ready to put on the red bathing suit and follow in the family business. The show got a straight-to-series 12-episode order back in September, so the network is moving quickly. An interesting note is that Amell is the right age if the network wanted to bring back
David Hasselhoff to reprise the role of Hobie’s father Mitch for an episode or two.
You may not have known this, but in 2021 a
Zatanna movie was in the works.
J.J. Abrams had given the project to
Emerald Fennell to script as she was coming off 2020 directorial debut,
A Promising Young Woman. So, what happened? According to Fennell, who recently joined the Happy Sad Confused podcast, what she had written was “probably too far away from the genre.” She was very honest about the work, saying: “I think it was demented because I was probably going through it at the time. And the thing is, I think what I can’t help but—and then, I’d just finished
A Promising Young Woman, and there was this huge thing in this world I’d never operated in. And again, it was a kind of superhero movie, and I was like, ‘How do I make the version of a superhero movie that I would connect to emotionally?’ Which is sort of the woman in the middle of a nervous breakdown, so it’s a script reflective of a woman in the middle of a nervous breakdown. And in terms of what that means, I suppose it just meant that it was probably too far away from the genre.” For those of you who are not familiar with Zatanna, she was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson in the pages of November 1964’s Hawkman and has been a consistent magical character in the DC Universe ever since, regularly teaming up with Batman, John Constantine and was a member of the Justice League. Fennell went on to describe the script, “It was really dark. I haven’t read it for a really long time, because I found it really difficult. Because, also the thing is, I love JJ [Abrams] so much, and he took a chance offering me to do it, and I really wanted to deliver something amazing for them. And I always felt like I hadn’t quite maybe delivered the thing that they wanted. So, I haven’t read it since, and I wonder if I read it now, I’d be more generous toward myself. But I felt like, I wished I’d been able to deliver the thing they wanted. They were really lovely about it, it’s even just remembering. You’re making me remember scenes, I’m like, ‘Nobody would have made that.'” I have to admit I totally want to read that script now.
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Don’t expect to see
Vincent D’Onofrio show up in
Spider-Man: Brand New Day. It seems the rights to the character still precludes him from appearing in a film unless Sony wants him to. Which, yes,
Brand New Day is a Sony/Marvel production… but while visiting the
Bingworthy podcast, the Kingpin actor responded to the question about the current mayor of the MCU NYC showing up by saying, “No. I think I’ll just wait until they have the rights to my character and they put me in one of those movies, and then I’ll figure it all out.” This makes sense that Marvel can’t just have the character show up in any random film, like
The Thunderbolts, without Sony saying okay, but he is available for television appearances. Why Sony has chosen to not let the character show up in a Sony film though seems a little odd, unless the actor is using the rights issue as a cover to keep from telling us that Wilson Fisk will not be the mayor after the events of the upcoming
Daredevil: Born Again season two, which is scheduled to release in March and complete well before
Brand New Day hits theaters.
In 1989 writer/artist John Byrne was working on the West Coast Avengers title for Marvel and decided to have some fun. Since there was both an east and west coast version of the team, he decided to make a third one, in the middle of the country, and keeping with the body of water theme to the names… we got the Great Lakes Avengers. The team was made up of five founding members: Mr. Immortal, Flat Man, Big Bertha, Dinah Soar and Doorman and while the team has probably had more cease-and-desist lawsuits filed against them than real battles, they have been around for years now and have popped up a lot. The interesting thing though is that two of these members have now made appearances in the MCU. And not just blink-and-you-missed-it moments. Both Mr. Immortal and Doorman have had at least half, if not a full episode of a series dedicated to them. In
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,
David Pasquesi plays Craig Hollis aka Mr. Immortal who has his immortal ability and uses it to get out a marriages, which he has a lot of. When pressured by his own attorneys, he leapt out of a high-rise window and plummeted to the street below, slamming into the roof of a car, only to pop right back up and walk away. It doesn’t end well for him though as he is forced to pay off all of his exes. Then we get to meet DeMarr Davis aka the Doorman in the new
Wonder Man series.
Byron Bowers plays the man with the ability to use his body as a door in and out of the dark dimension. While he is a mutant in the comics, in the MCU he gets his abilities by touching toxic waste from Roxxon, similar to how Cloak & Dagger got their powers. DeMarr becomes a cautionary tale about chasing fortune and fame in Hollywood that may have cost the life of beloved actor Josh Gad. It also made the industry enact a law banning superpowered people from working in show business. This is a major plot point in the series. With two of the five characters both located in Southern California, could we end up getting the rest of the team at some point and them relocating for a fresh start? Sounds like the perfect idea for one of those Marvel Spotlight one-hour specials.
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Fans are eager to see the upcoming
Lanterns series on HBO and besides a still shot and a few seconds of footage, very little about the series is known at this point. We got our first comments about it from series star
Kyle Chandler who will be playing one of the most well-known Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan. Chandler was being interviewed on the Today Show for his new film
The RIP with
Ben Affleck and
Matt Damon. During the interview he was asked about Lanterns and said, “I’ve never had as much fun shooting something as I did that. The people from the top to the bottom. I can’t say enough about
Chris Mundy, and the producers, the DC folks. It was an excellent experience. I expect the show to be as good as the experience I had.
Aaron Pierre, who I worked with, he and I had a great time.” The series is slated to be released later this year and comes from Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King. Joining Chandler and Pierre in the cast are
Ulrich Thomsen as Sinestro,
Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner and then
Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Jason Ritter, Poorna Jagannathan, and
Paul Ben-Victor. There will be eight episodes and it is said to be mostly an Earth-based mystery set in the heartland of America with a
True Detective vibe.
Netflix’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. has stirred plenty of speculation across Hollywood, but one message from the streamer’s leadership has been unusually clear: the theatrical experience isn’t going anywhere. In fact, if the sale closes, Netflix says it will
strengthen Warner Bros.’ traditional theatrical model rather than shrink it. Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co‑CEO, has repeatedly emphasized that Warner Bros. films will continue to enjoy a
45‑day exclusive theatrical window—a stance that directly counters fears that Netflix would rush major releases to streaming. Sarandos described Warner Bros.’ theatrical distribution as a “phenomenal” engine that generates billions in revenue, insisting Netflix has no intention of putting that at risk. This commitment marks a notable shift in tone for Netflix, which historically prioritized streaming-first strategies. But after reviewing Warner Bros.’ financials, Sarandos acknowledged that the economics of theatrical releases are stronger than Netflix had previously modeled. He framed the 45‑day window not as a compromise but as a competitive strategy: Netflix wants to “win opening weekend” and “win box office,” embracing the same metrics that drive traditional studios. Industry observers have taken notice. While some feared the acquisition would accelerate the decline of theatrical exclusivity, Netflix’s public stance suggests a more balanced future—one where streaming power and box office ambition coexist. For now, at least, moviegoers can expect Warner Bros. films to keep lighting up big screens for a full month and a half before landing on Netflix’s platform.
The DCU is expanding with the casting of one of the universe’s biggest bads… Darkseid. While this seems to go against something co-studio head
James Gunn has said previously about staying away from the cosmic threat, but this casting isn’t for
Man of Tomorrow, but rather the upcoming
Mister. Miracle animated series and you can’t really tell the story of Scott Free with mentioning his adopted daddy. Writer
Tom King was on the
Word Balloon podcast when he talked about the series that he is showrunning and said that they had cast Darkseid and Orion along with Mr. Miracle and Big Barda. If you’re not familiar with these characters, they are all part of the Fourth World Saga created by comic legend Jack Kirby during his short stint with DC Comics. It tells the story of two warring factions, the New Gods and the planet Apokolips and a deal that was made in an attempt for peace. The leaders of the factions, High Father and Darkseid, would exchange children… this sent Scott Free to be raised on the oppressive planet while Orion was sent to the peaceful New Genesis. Scott would become and escape artist, finding a way off of Apokolips with the female warrior, Barda, and eventually come to Earth. Exactly what part of that history the series will focus on is unclear, but we do know that Darkseid and the others will be involved. Gunn also confirmed on social media that the series will be cannon to the DCU that includes the recent Superman movie, the Peacemaker series and the animated Creature Commandos. This means that whoever is voicing these characters in the series would also play them in live action in the future and King has said that the Mister Miracle series will have big ramifications on the DCU as a whole. No word on when the series will debut, but with the casting already made, we can expect an announcement in the near future.
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Takashi Yamazaki’s follow-up to the 2023
Godzilla Minus One is set to hit North American theaters on November 6th, 2026, three days after its premier in Japan. The Academy Award winning film took in $11.4 million in the US on its opening weekend and $57 million total during its domestic box office run.
Godzilla Minus Zero is the second film in the franchise from Gkids since taking Toho acquired the company in 2024. David Jesteadt, president of Gkids, said in a statement: “Gkids is proud to bring
Godzilla Minus Zero to North American audiences, following the incredible global reception of
Godzilla Minus One. This next chapter is sure to become another defining moment for the most colossal monster ever to dominate the screen. It is only fitting that this bold, new Godzilla event be experienced in its fullest theatrical glory, and we’re honored that Toho has entrusted us to carry this legacy forward.”
As we get closer to the start of production on
Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part 2, the cast starts to take shape with the second MCU veteran being added to the cast. We heard of
Scarlet Johansson’s casting earlier in December and now multiple sources are saying
Sebastian Stan has come on board as well, with the
Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision report claiming that the actor who plays Bucky Barnes will now take on the role of District Attorney Harvey Dent aka Two-Face. This lines up with the rumors that Johansson would be playing Gilda Dent and that the story may be following
the Long Halloween, a popular comic arch by
Jeph Loeb and
Tim Sale. While the story does focus on the Dents, many of the other characters in the story have already appeared in
The Batman and
The Penguin and have already been eliminated. Plus, the setting of the sequel is said to be set around a week after
The Penguin series ended, just before Christmas. How ever the characters are used, if Stan is in the film, it then puts the fate of his MCU character in question as
The Batman Part 2 will be filming around the same time as
Avengers: Secret Wars. While the casting of both Stan and Johansson have not been made official, neither have they been denied by Reeves,
James Gunn or DC Studios.
Deadline is reporting that
Mike Flanagan is working on a new adaptation of
Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series. Flanagan said his plan is to adapt the beloved franchise into a five-season series that would then be capped off by two stand-alone movies. The acclaimed horror director recently told
Empire Magazine, “We’ve got a lot of scripts done for it. It’s the first priority.” He also made it clear that he doesn’t want the 2017
Idris Elba/
Matthew McConaughey film to be the final word on the property. That adaptation has a 16% critic rating on
Rotten Tomatoes. Though Flanagan and Intrepid Pictures have a deal with Amazon, the rights to the Dark Tower were specifically carved out of their arrangement and could end up with another studio, but Amazon is also a possibility. Flanagan is known for his work on films like
Gerald’s Game,
Doctor Sleep and
the Life of Chuck as well as series like
The Fall of the House of Ushers,
The Midnight Club and
Midnight Mass. He also came up with the initial story and script for the upcoming
Clayface movie that was so strong that
James Gunn and
Peter Safran has to greenlight a body horror film starring a B-level Batman villain as the third film released in their new DCU.
