When it comes to awards shows in the entertainment world, people say that it’s an honor just to be nominated. I’ve begun to believe that more and more over the years, and now I know it’s even more true than I thought, because it turns out sometimes being nominated can be near impossible. That became clear when I learned about an Emmy rule that has made it so one of Meryl Streep's performances can't be recognized this year.

Every award show needs to have rules regarding what it takes to be nominated for a given award, and those rules will always change over time in an attempt to find the most appropriate balance. However, one recent rule change regarding acting nominations for the Emmys really doesn’t seem right, as it's arguably screwed over a lot of great performances.

The Emmys Made A Change To Its Guest Performer Rules

Variety reveals that at the beginning of 2025, the TV Academy, which runs the Emmys, made a rule change that stated that an actor who previously had been nominated for a Lead or Supporting acting Emmy could not submit their name in the Guest Performance category for the same role. The problem, according to one veteran publicist, is that it keeps dramatic performances from multi-season series out, while still leaving the door open to say, a former Saturday Night Live cast member who returns to host the show. They said…

One major example of this is Meryl Streep. She was nominated for Supporting Comedy Actress for Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building. Then, she returned as the same character in a guest star capacity for the next two seasons. However, the rule made her ineligible to submit for Guest Performance for Season 4 of the show, and she isn’t eligible for Season 5 for the same reason.

The rule also bars James Marsden, who was nominated for Supporting Drama Actor for the first season of Hulu’s Paradise. He only appeared in two episodes of Season 2, which wouldn’t qualify him for the supporting category this year, but he can't be submitted for Guest Performance either because of the rule.

At the same time, somebody like Amy Poehler, who was nominated for Emmys more than once for her years as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, can be submitted as a Guest Performance for hosting a Season 51 episode, because as the “host,” she’s not playing the same role.

It has to be said, this rule does feel like splitting hairs. It’s an odd punishment for success because if Meryl Streep or James Marsden hadn’t had their larger performances deemed worthy of nomination, they would be fully eligible to be nominated in the Guest role. It also doesn’t appear that the rule works in reverse. If somebody is nominated in the Guest Performance role and is then promoted to a larger role in a later season, the double nomination appears to be possible.

Emmy nominations for this year will be announced in July. If your favorite Guest Performance isn’t nominated, it’s worth remembering that it may not be because it wasn’t great, it may have just been against the rules.

After the Disney-Fox merger closed in 2019 and Marvel Studios gained the film rights to the X-Men, James Marsden expressed interest in returning as Cyclops if the opportunity were presented. Well, Marsden got his wish, as he and other X-Men alums are returning for Avengers: Doomsday in their full glory! Still, Marsden was initially “worried” about his reprisal for a key reason, but co-star Ian McKellen humorously alleviated his fear.

The last time that James Marsden played Cyclops was a brief cameo in X-Men: Days of Future Past. 12 years later, the Jury Duty star will be kicking butt as he dons Scott Summer's visor again in the highly anticipated Doomsday. Marsden recently discussed the experience with The New York Post, during which he discussed a concern that's very in line with superhero projects:

As shown in the X-Men-centered Doomsday trailer, Cyclops wears his comic-book-accurate blue-padded suit with the yellow chest straps. The way in which the hero blasts those lasers through his eyes in full force looked so epic! So it's interesting to hear that from a behind-the-scenes standpoint, Marsden was a bit concerned about the physicality involved in playing the role. While the Enchanted star eventually got his bearings, it seems that an A+ on-set moment involving Magneto actor Ian McKellen really changed his perspective first:

That’s the way to do it! Seriously, why am I not surprised that the great Ian McKellen (who is 86) was eager to do some stunt work? Funny enough the actor even previously teased a massive moment in Doomsday involving Magneto. I'm ready to see the Master of Magnetism back in action as well as Marsden's Summers.

I can understand why it may have originally been intimidating for James Marsden to jump back into superhero-centric stunt work and fit into his costume for Doomsday. Still, I'm glad to hear that everything ultimately worked out, and that wasn't just the case for him. X-Men co-star Alan Cumming spoke about his experience after he wrapped his Doomsday scenes and said he was able to do his stunt work flawlessly as well.

All in all, Doomsday has a lot of seasoned veterans of the superhero genre within its cast. Thor actor Chris Hemsworth even admitted to feeling like an “elder” millennial on set. Still, it's incredibly exciting that so many of them, including X-Men alums like Patrick Stewart (Professor X) and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), are returning.

I can't wait for this movie, and James Marsden's recent tease just makes me more excited. With the hard work Marsden put into his role, I’d like to hope Avengers: Doomsday will do right by Cyclops, portraying him as a strong leader and a formidable fighter. See the character return when the MCU's next team-up movie hits theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie schedule. In the meantime, stream classic X-Men films using a Disney+ subscription.

Be aware that spoilers for Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice are in play here.

James Marsden and Ben Schwartz remain synonymous with each other, thanks to their roles in the successful Sonic the Hedgehog films. What’s interesting about those films, though, is that the pair don’t physically appear alongside each other in those films due to the fact that Schwartz voices the eponymous hedgehog. More recently, the pair finally had a chance to work on a different movie, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice and, ironically, they hilariously still didn’t share scenes. And CinemaBlend spoke about that fact with the movie’s director.

Seriously, what are the odds that after years of working together (or apart?) on the Sonic movies, Schwartz and Marsden would land an entirely different film that still wouldn’t require them to be on set together? When CinemaBlend spoke to BenDavid Grabinski, the writer/director of (the well reviewed) Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, we asked if the Sonic connection between his two actors was evident to him. Grabinski said he made the link but as “an accident,” and he explained how one of his past productions tied into Sega’s mascot:

That’s an interesting coincidence as well, though I just can’t get my mind off the fact that Marsden and Schwartz don’t share any scenes together. In the movie, Marsden plays Mike, a mob enforcer looking to leave his violent life behind and start a new one with Alice (the wife of his best friend, Nick). Meanwhile, Schwartz plays Symon, an inventor friend of Alice who’s inadvertently killed at the beginning of the film. While I would’ve liked for the two actors to share the screen, Grabinski revealed that he found that irony a bit amusing:

Something that’s hard to argue with when it comes to Grabinski’s sentiments is the fact that both Ben Schwartz and James Marsden fit their respective roles. Marsden brings a seasoned but somewhat wide-eyed vibe to Mike, who has to wrap his head around the fact that a version of Nick has traveled from the future to save him from getting killed. As for Schwartz, he absolutely crushes the minimal screentime he has as Symon, and he really goes for it in that opening scene in which he sings “Why Should I Worry?” from Oliver & Company. So, all in all, there’s a comfort in knowing that Marsden and Schwartz deliver in their roles.

Of course, M&N&N&A won’t be the final time that Marsden and Schwartz’s names share a marquee. Sonic the Hedgehog 4 was formally announced at the end of 2025, and production in progress. Schwartz – who has been praised for his portrayal of Sonic – recently posted about the film when sharing a sweet photo with Kristen Bell, the voice of Amy Rose in the movie.

In the meantime, though, I’d recommend checking out Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, which I’d argue is one of the most entertaining films to come out of the 2026 movie schedule thus far. While there’s no scene involving both James Marsden and Ben Schwartz, BenDavid Grabinski’s film offers up time travel-based thrills, comedy and some bloody action. Check it out now by streaming it with a Hulu subscription.

James Marsden is having quite the run on both the 2026 TV schedule and the 2026 movie calendar. From the returns of Jury Duty and Paradise to the premieres of Avengers: Doomsday and more, he’s staying very (and I mean very) busy. So, with that in mind, Jon Hamm told me why Your Friends & Neighbors was so lucky to add the Cyclops actor to its cast in Season 2.

Now, to understand why Your Friends & Neighbors needed James Marsden, you need to know about his character, Owen Ashe. He’s a mysterious and very charismatic new addition to the neighborhood, and he’s going to be a problem for Jon Hamm’s character, Coop. I asked the Mad Men actor why his character won’t run away from Ashe, despite his seemingly nefarious vibes, and in response, he said:

This led me to ask Hamm why it was important to have someone like Marsden in the role. It comes down to the fact that while Ashe is a bad guy, he’s also irresistible and very charming. Well, the Paradise actor is undeniably irresistible and charming, as the Your Friends & Neighbors lead told me:

He’s right, James Marsden is very good at what he does. That’s on display in Your Friends & Neighbors (you can now stream Season 2's premiere with an Apple TV subscription).

It’s also on display if you take a look at his IMDb and realize just how much he’s releasing this year.

In the last week alone, Marsden's movie Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice became available to stream with a Hulu subscription, while Paradise Season 2 dropped its finale in the same place, and Your Friends & Neighbors premiered on Apple TV. Plus, he executive-produced Jury Duty: Company Retreat, which premiered for those with an Amazon Prime subscription last month. All this is to say, Marsden is a busy bee, and Jon Hamm knows it, as he told me:

Oh yeah, I didn’t even mention the fact that James Marsden will return as Cyclops in the upcoming Marvel movie, Avengers: Doomsday. However, that won’t be in theaters until December 18. The hype is real for it, though, especially since Marsden is coming back as his iconic X-Men character. So, it does continue to prove Jon Hamm’s point.

Your Friends & Neighbors is lucky to have James Marsden this season, and we’re lucky that he’s gracing our screens so much. Now, to see even more of him, new episodes of the Apple TV series drop every Friday.

I'd heard a bit about the premise of Jury Duty around when the Prime Video series made its debut in 2023; however, it wasn't until recently, when Season 2 was about to arrive on the 2026 TV schedule, that I finally decided to check out the original season. I realize I'm late to the party here, but I didn't anticipate just how laugh-out-loud hilarious this show would be at times. If you have an Amazon Prime subscription but you're on the fence about watching, I'll break down what to expect without major spoilers.

One Guy Is There For Real, Everyone Else Is An Actor

Season 1 of Jury Duty features a guy named Ronald Gladden who shows up at what he thinks is normal jury duty at a Los Angeles courthouse. Sure, James Marsden happens to be there (even X-Men can get called for jury duty, after all), and a documentary about jury duty happens to be filming, but Ronald assumes this is all pretty standard. Of course, we know otherwise. Here are the basic bullet points to understand how this show works:

• Ronald thinks he's really doing jury duty.
• Everything that's happening around him from the moment he shows up is staged.
• The people he interacts with -- fellow jury members, the judge, the defendant, the attorneys, James Marsden, etc. -- are all actors who are in on this season-long prank.
• Scenarios play out in each episode, all arranged around and toward Ronald's reactions.
• The entire season is one long prank on this guy.

When I Tell You, This Show Is Funny

Created by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, Jury Duty is so much funnier than I could have expected. I love a good prank series, but I think I doubted I would remain invested beyond an episode or two of a show where the prank is happening to the same person across an entire season.

Apparently not, and this is as much a credit to production for crafting the entire plot as it is the actors involved – including Marsden, who plays a version of himself – for managing to keep the ruse going and get through some ridiculous moments without breaking. I spent every episode laughing at the absurdity of some of the things that were happening (the cast really is so funny) and wondering how Ronald would react. The more the show let us get to know him and see him deal with these situations, the more invested I got in the season.

Using Jury Duty As The Setting For The Series Is Brilliant

There probably aren't a whole lot of scenarios that would bring this particular group of characters together for a week. Jury duty really is one of the few I can think of to make the situation work so that a person -- in this case, Ronald -- might not question just how random and somewhat mismatched this assortment of people really is. Not only does jury duty bring a fairly random sampling of a local community together, but it's also a scenario that forces them to interact and work together to come to a decision, which makes for some especially interesting and amusing situations on this show.

But I Love That Season 2 Picked A Different Setting

I've only just begun to watch Season 2, but I appreciate that the set-up isn't jury duty this time around (and critics seem to like it so far). As much fun as it would be to see another run-through of a person serving on a jury, the general concept of the series really can be adapted to other situations, which is what Season 2 is doing. In the case of Jury Duty Presents Company Retreat, the season features a new set of characters played by actors (no James Marsden this time around) and a new subject around which the whole thing is based. Anthony is this season's likable mark -- an intern newly hired at a family-run hot sauce business.

Anthony follows the team to a company retreat where things don't go as planned. Like with Season 1, the group is confined to a specific location, and scenarios are staged so that the main character is sort of forced to be involved with what's happening. While some weird things are playing out, everyone involved has to play their role and also make sure Anthony remains in the dark about what’s really going on. It's bizarre and funny and a little bit cringy at times, but in a good way.

I'm hopeful that Season 2 will turn out to be as funny and satisfying as the first season. There are TV comedies, and there are prank shows. Being a bit of both, Jury Duty really isn't like anything I've seen on TV, at least not anytime recently. I'd been wondering about it since I first heard about the series, but after watching all of Season 1 and the start of Season 2, I'm kind of kicking myself for not watching it sooner.

WARNING! There are major spoilers ahead for the first two seasons of Paradise in this story. If you’re not caught up, now’s your chance to use your Hulu subscription before diving into Season 3.

It’s always nice to finish what you start, and for Paradise, that means one more season to conclude the story of what started as a murder mystery but has evolved into a sprawling story about time, physics, and the importance of family. Season 2 ended dramatically with the self-sacrifice of Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson), locking herself in the bunker to prevent nuclear fallout after the power system went into meltdown. Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) and the rest of the people living in the bunker are on the outside now, with Xavier presumably headed to the second bunker, where Alex is, to save the world.

The good news is that Paradise has stuck to a pretty traditional time table, and it probably won’t be an extended wait before Season 3 is upon us. Here’s everything we know about the show's future, including when production is planned to start, and who will likely be back for the conclusion of creator Dan Fogelman’s story.

Paradise Season 3 Release Date

With production scheduled to start this month, we’re still a ways away from Season 3. There is currently no scheduled release date for Paradise Season 3. However, unlike the laborious waits necessary for some streaming shows (ahem, Stranger Things), there’s a good chance this sci-fi show will be back sometime in early 2027. Season 2's episodes hit the 2026 TV schedule on February 23, 13 months after Season 1 debuted, so there's good reason to expect the break will be about the same between Seasons 2 and 3.

In fact, in the last week of March 2026, just as the season finale hit both Hulu and Disney+ (yep, you can watch with a Disney+ subscription, too), Sterling K. Brown took to Instagram to celebrate not only the conclusion of the most recent season, but also to update fans on the filming of Season 3. Brown told his IG followers on March 31st, 2026:

That, of course, is great news. We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for an official premiere date, but it’ll be a few months before anyone knows for sure.

Who Will Be In Season 3?

It’s still too early for an official cast list, but it’s pretty safe to assume that all (or many) of the surviving characters will be back. Here’s who we expect will return, and which characters, though no longer living, could return in flashbacks, or… well, who knows what kind of power the quantum computer Alex has.

Sterling K. Bown As Xavier Collins

We know Brown will be back, as he explained in his IG post. It would be pretty weird if he weren’t returning, as he’s the lead in the show and an executive producer of it, right? Season 2 ended with Sinatra explaining to Collins that it was up to him to get to the second bunker under the Denver airport and save the world using Alex. How he gets there, and what it means, well, who knows, but I can’t wait to find out.

Sarah Shahi As Gabriela Torabi

Dr. Gabriela Torabi (Sarah Shahi) survived the bunker’s destruction and had a pretty awkward moment with Xavier’s wife, Teri, on the outside. Torabi and Collins had been in a pretty steaming relationship prior to Xavier learning Teri was still alive. Where that leaves her on the outside is anyone’s guess, but as one of the smartest people in the bunker, she’ll likely play a big role in wherever the survivors end up.

Enuka Okuma As Teri Rogers-Collins

Season 2’s emotional high-water mark came when Xavier (after coming close to disaster) finally reunited with his wife Teri (Enuka Okuma) in Episodes 6 and 7. Along with Xavier, Teri made it back to the bunker, and the whole family reunited as chaos unfolded just before it all came crashing down. Teri and the kids made it out alive and are on the road with the other refugees.

Thomas Doherty As Link/Dylan

Link (or Dylan, maybe?), played by Thomas Doherty, was a key new character in Season 2, and his story is certain to continue in Season 3 of Paradise. He is the original inventor of the machine who eventually became Alex, so it’s likely he will help Xavier reach the second bunker and use Alex in some way to save the world.

Additionally, most of the kids will probably be back, like Aliyah Mastin as Presley Collins, Percy Daggs IV as James Collins, Charlie Evans as Jeremy Bradford, and Kate Godfrey as Hadley Redmond.

Deceased Characters Who We Could See Again

Of course, in a Dan Fogelman show, no character is really gone forever, even after they die. In Seasons 1 and 2, we saw quite a lot of President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) despite his being murdered in the very first episode. That said, here is a list of deceased characters who I think we’ll see more of, either in flashbacks or possibly in alternate timelines (or both):

• Julianne Nicholson as Samantha "Sinatra" Redmond
• James Marsden as Cal Bradford
• Nicole Brydon Bloom as Jane Driscoll
• Krys Marshall as Nicole Robinson
• Jon Beavers as Billy Pace
• Shailene Woodley as Annie Clay
• Michael McGrady as Geiger

It would be wonderful see all of these characters at least one more time.

Dan Fogelman Will Continue As The Writer And Showrunner

Showrunner Dan Fogelman, who also created the Sterling K. Brown-starring This Is Us, will of course remain with the show to see out its conclusion. Since the beginning, Fogelman has said that he intends the show to have a three-season arc, and it looks like that’s what he’ll get. That is exciting news, as hopefully it means Paradise doesn’t suffer the same fate as Lost or Game of Thrones and ends strongly.

Could There Be A Season 4 After This?

The answer to this question is probably no; however, in that same IG post, Brown, perhaps jokingly, said:

Obviously, that opens up the door for a fourth season, but let’s be real, it’s pretty unlikely, and Brown was probably just joking around. One thing we know for sure is he (and Fogelman) are “gonna give us three,” so let’s celebrate that. I can’t wait to see how it all ends.

In the first season of Jury Duty, James Marsden was a significant highlight. The show was original and risky as it was by design, but the X-Men star added a special extra dimension by playing an exaggerated/super Hollywood version of himself. He earned a lot of acclaim for his work, and it was clear in the finale that he had a lot of fun… but at the same time, there is apparently no part of him that misses not being a part of Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat.

In a bit of scheduling kismet, Marsden has been doing press as of late for his new movie Mike And Nick And Nick And Alice, which just so happens to coincide with the release of Jury Duty Season 2 – and when CinemaBlend spoke with him during the recent press day for the former, we snuck in a question about his reality show experience. Asked if he was jealous not to be a part of the Prime Video series' latest run, Marsden explained,

While the end result of Jury Duty Season 1 is super fun and clever, it's not particularly difficult to respect that production must have been ridiculously stressful. The entire premise hinged on "hero" Richard Gladden not understanding that everything going on around him was fictionalized, and a single slip up could have ruined the entire enterprise. When an actor messes up a take on a normal show, the camera can stop and the director can call for another take. Heck, in a play, a performer can always rebound from a flubbed line. But Jury Duty functions without any safety net of that nature.

James Marsden doesn't miss the stress of making Jury Duty, but he did add that there is one aspect of the experience he'd like to try again in a professional capacity: making fun of himself. He added,

Jury Duty was a once in a lifetime experience, and James Marsden is clearly satisfied with that knowledge.

In the meantime, fans of the show can dig into the critically acclaimed Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat with an Amazon Prime subscription. The first five episodes are currently available to stream, and the final three will be made available on the service starting this Friday, April 3. And if you need a dose of new James Marsden work in your life, Hulu subscribers can now check out Mike And Nick And Nick And Alice, co-starring Vince Vaughn and Eiza González.

Of all the upcoming action movies headed our way in the coming months, I can safely say that Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is the only one that, after first watching the trailer, I said, “Wait, what is this movie about?” It seems Mike and Nick are in love with the same woman — Alice, naturally — which seems pretty straightforward until you throw in the time travel. Critics screened the movie before it hit the 2026 movie calendar, and they’re here to help us sort through it.

The cast is promising, starring James Marsden as Mike, Vince Vaughn as Nick and Eiza González as Alice. Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice’s supporting cast is equally as stellar, according to Kristy Puchko of Mashable, especially Ben Schwartz, but also Keith David, Jimmy Tatro, Emily Hampshire, Stephen Root and more. The critic calls this “defiantly outside the box” adventure a “must-see crowd-pleaser,” writing:

RogerEbert’s Brian Tallerico rates the movie 3 out of 4 stars, loving how BenDavid Grabinski pushes back against the sanding down of streaming originals. Vince Vaughn, meanwhile, does his best work in years in the dual roles of Nick and “Future Nick,” who travels back in time to right a wrong he committed against Mike. The critic writes:

Brian Truitt of USA TODAY also gives Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice 3 stars out of 4, writing that it doesn’t quite make the most of its time-travel premise but can be forgiven because it delivers a unique story, colorful personalities and a sneakily heartwarming message. Truitt continues:

Germain Lussier of Gizmodo says there’s “so much hilarious randomness” in Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice that you can’t help but “bask in that glorious excess and passion.” The movie gives off vibes of, “Let’s do this just because it’s cool and fun,” Lussier writes, and while he says it all probably shouldn’t work, it very, very much does. The critic says:

Jesse Hassenger of AV Club, meanwhile, doesn’t share the above opinions, giving the movie a C- and calling it a “strenuous misfire.” The critic gives Vince Vaughn credit for imparting genuine pathos into his “future” character, but overall, the time travel element of the movie seems to be just for marketing purposes. Hassenger explains:

Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice sounds like a bizarre and fun time, given what the critics are saying (the title alone indicates some silliness is afoot). It’s garnered a 74% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, and if this sounds like a good way to spend 107 minutes, the time-travel gangster flick is available to stream now with a Hulu subscription.

Gentle warning - there are very light spoilers ahead for Paradise. I won’t spoil anything important to the story or the plot, though. If you want to catch up to Episode 7, you can do that with a Hulu subscription or a Disney+ subscription.

Paradise is one of my favorite shows on the 2026 TV schedule, and this week, in Episode 7, I caught what must be an homage to one of my all-time favorite shows, The West Wing. It came along with yet another little Easter egg line, delivered by James Marsden as President Cal Bradford in the same scene. In addition to endless twists and turns, Paradise makes a lot of pop culture references, especially when it comes to the soundtrack. However, this is the first time a TV show reference has stood out to me, and I love it.

President Jeb Barlett Had A Reoccurring Line That Bradford Used

Fans of The West Wing (which you can watch with an HBO Max subscription) will know that one of the most common things President Bartlett (Martin Sheen) would use with his staff was “What’s next?” It meant he had all the information he needed on a topic and was ready to move on to the next important bit of business. It goes all the way back to the very first episode; in fact, it was the final line of The West Wing’s pilot. Bartlett explained what it meant best in one of the best episodes of the whole series, “In The Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part I” in Season 2.

This is the exact phrase President Bradford used as he was getting a tour of the bunker in Episode 7 of Season 2 of Paradise, called “The Final Countdown” (another pop culture reference). While on the tour, the chief architect of the bunker, Anders (Erik Svedberg-Zelman), tries to explain how everything works. Bradford asks him to dumb the explanations down to “caveman” levels, but once Bradford does get it, he simply says, “What’s next?” and is ready to move on. Like another fictional president, once Bradford understands something, he’s ready for the next thing. It’s a lovely homage, right?

It’s Not The Only Fun Line During The Tour

The second quick pop culture reference comes a little later in the tour. As Bradford is proving he’s not quite the idiot Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) thought he was by explaining how empires fall, he drops a reference to CBS’s coverage of March Madness. Bradford, a huge University of Kentucky basketball fan, explains that every dynasty and every empire falls, but before they fall, they have a “shining moment” when they believe they are unstoppable.

This wouldn’t have stood out had Bradford not referenced Kentucky, once a dynasty in college hoops, before saying the line. The line, as NCAA ball fans will know, is from the song “One Shining Moment,” written by David Barrett and usually performed by the late Luther Vandross (other versions have been used on occasion). That song is played at the end of every NCAA Basketball tournament, after the champion has been crowned. It has been a part of every tournament since 1987.

With one episode left to go and quite a few questions to be answered, the Paradise Season 2 finale is sure to be a doozy. I can’t wait to tune in, and hopefully we’ll get to have a little fun on the way, as I did with these two lines.

The comic book genre continues to be wildly popular, and the MCU has been releasing titles in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. For many fans the most exciting upcoming Marvel movie is Avengers: Doomsday, which looks like it's going to be a wild crossover event. A number of OG stars from the X-Men movies are returning to their roles, including James Marsden. And while he's careful not to reveal too much about Cyclops' role, his latest tease about the project is still thrilling.

What we know about Avengers: Doomsday is super limited, leading to a number of theories and rumors online. The Doomsday cast announcement confirmed that the X-Men are joining the fun, and fan are eager to see how they interact with other teams like the Avengers, New Avengers, and Fantastic Four. During a conversation with ET, Marsden teased what's coming in The Russo Brothers' blockbuster, offering:

Honestly, sign me up. While James Marsden didn't share any actual details about Avengers: Doomsday, he seems to think that fans are going to get everything they want. This is likely going to be music to the ears of folks who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order, and waiting for the X-Men to finally make their entrance. Although no I really need to see a full trailer.

The Notebook actor appeared briefly in Doomsday's X-Men teaser, with Scott Summers shown unleashing a massive optic blast at an unseen enemy. It was definitely epic to see Cyclops seemingly at his full power, and fans also think that they spotted Sentinels in the background.

Personally, I'm hoping Doomsday finally does right by Cyclops, who never really got his time to shine in the original X-Men trilogy. His role was mostly about his love triangle with Jean and Logan, and he wasn't portrayed as the tactical mastermind and badass that he is in comics and animated projects. Instead he was captured early in X-2, and was unceremoniously killed off in X-Men: The Last Stand without ever even suiting up.

When X-Men '97 premiered it showed Cyclops as the powerful mutant he truly is, and and want that type of energy brought to the character in the next Avengers movie. I'm hoping that's when James Marsden's cryptic comments are talking about; justice for Scott Summers!

All will be revealed when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe keep fans on their toes by consistently releasing new content in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Arguably the most anticipated upcoming Marvel movie is Avengers: Doomsday, which will feature a huge ensemble of characters. That includes a number of OG stars from the X-Men movies, including James Marsden, and I really need The Russo Brothers' blockbuster to finally do right by his Cyclops.

What we know about Avengers: Doomsday is limited, so fans are filling in the blanks with rumors and theories about what comes next. The Doomsday cast announcement confirmed that a number of beloved mutants are returning, and I'm crossing my fingers that Cyclops gets better treatment this time around.

Cyclops Didn't Get To Be Badass Enough In The Original X-Men Trilogy

The X-Men Doomsday teaser featured a big moment for Marsden, with Cyclops firing a massive optic beam at an unseen enemy while wearing a comic-accurate costume. This definitely made me hopeful, because I was never quite satisfied with how the character was handled throughout the original X-Men trilogy. Seriously, fans of the character missed out on seeing the fan favorite mutant adapted properly.

Despite how much of a badass Cyclops is in the comics, it felt like James Marsden never really got his moment in the first three movies. Instead, his role was largely about the love triangle between him, Jean, and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. For instance, Scott Summers was captured early on in the runtime of X2, and was unceremoniously killed off without ever even suiting up for action in The Last Stand. Add how little action he got in Bryan Singer's original movie, and it felt like we never really got to see the full power of the beloved team leader.

The discrepancy between Cyclops in live-action and the comics was made all the more obvious with the premiere of X-Men '97. The animated series opened with an epic battle against the Sentinels, and it gave probably the best portrayal of Scott's abilities we've ever seen. He uses his optic blasts to break his fall when flying through the air, and also uses them to push himself around the battlefield when rescuing Roberto da Costa. He's also shown as a great hand-to-hand combatant in a way that unfortunately James Marsden didn't get to show off much through his starring appearances in the X-Men movies.

To be clear, I don't blame Marsden for any of this. He's an excellent actor, and he can really pull of wearing Cyclops' visor. Instead I think it was the storytelling choices and visual effects limitations that resulted in him not getting a chance to show off the character's true badass nature. But the Doomsday teaser showed him unleashing an epic optic blast, and I hope that's an indiction that the character will finally get his day in the sun.

All will be revealed when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is always expanding, thanks to new projects in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Without a doubt, one of the most highly anticipated upcoming Marvel movies is Avengers: Doomsday, which will feature a huge ensemble cast and multiple teams of heroes. That includes some OG stars of the X-Men movies, and James Marsden recently broke his silence about finally returning to the role of Cyclops.

What we know about Avengers: Doomsday is limited, but comic book fans are hyped to see the return of so many X-Men stars. James Marsden debuted as Cyclops back in 2000, and fans have wanted to see him return for years now. During an interview with Vanity Fair, he spoke about reprising that character years later. He said:

Cyclops is a beloved X-Men character, one who fans usually want to see more of. While James Marsden heard from fans wanting him to appear in the MCU for years, Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox finally opened those doors. Sure, the character was killed in X-Men: The Last Stand, but with the multiverse anything is possible. And technically, Days of Future Past's ending already revived him.

Fans like me were shocked when the Avengers: Doomsday cast announcement included a number of OG X-Men stars. In addition to Marsden, we'll also see the return of Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier, Ian McKellen's Magneto, Alan Cumming's Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn's Mystique, and Kelsey Grammer's Beast. Later in the same interview, the star of Paradise (which is streaming with a Hulu subscription) spoke more about filming the next Avengers flick, offering:

I don't know about you, but I am seriously hyped. Marsden is the first actor to play Cyclops in live-action, with that role eventually going to Tye Sheridan in X-Men Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix, none of those actors are expected to pop up in Doomsday.

Exactly how the OG X-Men are going to join the story of that blockbuster is a total mystery at this point, but fans have some ideas. The Marvels' credits scene brought back Grammer's Beast, so that would be a logical way for the team of mutants to appear. Then again, Brie Larson and Teyonah Parris haven't been listed as part of the Doomsday cast.

All will be revealed when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18th of next year as part of the 2026 movie release list. Hopefully, we get more information about the movie as filming continues.

The love story of Noah and Allie from The Notebook is the stuff legends are made of. Whether or not you’ve seen the 2004 book-to-screen adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ novel, you’ve definitely heard of these characters. You’ve seen them kiss in the rain. Maybe it’s because I thought I understood the inevitability of Noah and Allie’s attraction that I never really felt the need to revisit the movie, but now that I have, I’m shocked at how my opinion has changed on Allie’s love triangle with Noah and Lon.

The Notebook became available to stream with a Netflix subscription this month, so I decided since it had been 20 years since my first viewing, it was time to revisit one of the best non-rom-com couples — Allie (Rachel McAdams) and Noah (Ryan Gosling). I had actually forgotten all about James Marsden’s Lon, remembering only that there was some poor schmuck of a Noah placeholder in Allie’s life for a short time. Now that the rewatch has happened, I cannot believe I was ever Team Noah.

In The Noah Vs. Lon Debate, I Always Thought Noah Was The Better Man, Until Now

I was quick to learn there’s a whole debate about whether Allie ended up with the better man. Some have complained for years that Allie chose Noah, while apparently James Marsden still gets accused of being the “asshole” of the movie. Having rewatched it, it is astonishing to me now that there would be anybody in that latter group, and I might not believe it if I hadn’t been there myself.

I think the reason I was able to discard Lon from Allie’s story and then ultimately from my memory so easily is because there was no question that Noah and Allie were meant to be together. They were so passionate!

Allie didn’t want this boring life with the rich man her parents approved of. She wanted this Ken doll who threatened to throw himself from Ferris wheels if she didn’t agree to go out with him and who built Mojo Dojo Casa Houses with his bare hands just hoping she’d come back around.

Also, Noah knew she loved to paint.

That was a big sticking point for me two decades ago and the one Lon-related memory I have from my original viewing of The Notebook. When she told her fiancé she used to love to paint and Lon said he didn’t know that, I was inconsolable. At the time, I was a young adult with a semi-permanent “It’s Complicated” relationship status and an incomplete prefrontal cortex, so I simply couldn’t fathom how Allie could marry this man who did not know her love of painting.

While my opinion has since changed, I give my former self and other Noah sympathizers some grace, because seeing who Noah and Allie came to be — and the way Noah dedicated his final days (weeks? months?) to helping Allie remember, even for 5 minutes at a time — is ridiculously sweet and heartbreaking, and it makes it clear who we’re supposed to be rooting for in this story.

Noah And Allie’s Relationship Just Seemed So Toxic

There’s something to be said for persistence, and I know it’s supposed to be romantic that Noah pretty much fell in love at first sight with Allie and then went after what he wanted. However, I personally didn’t think all of his carnival shenanigans were very endearing. She repeatedly told him she wasn’t interested, and he just kept pushing himself on her, ultimately hanging from the top of a Ferris wheel until she promised to go out with him.

I know this was a different era, but now we know that threatening death or dismemberment in the name of romantic passion is straight-up toxic. It left a bad taste in my mouth, but I was willing to give it a pass in the name of it being set in the 1940s and, you know, fictional. But once they got together, I didn’t find their relationship any healthier.

They were always screaming at each other, and Allie seemed to regularly push Noah or slap him during arguments. Is that a passionate relationship or an abusive one? If I have to ask myself that, maybe I’m not enjoying this couple as much as I should be.

We don’t get to see any of the years they spent together after Allie leaves Lon, when she and Noah were secure in each other and building a family, so it’s anyone’s guess if they dropped some of their unhealthier habits with age. Still, those issues just never seemed present with Lon.

I Kept Waiting For Lon’s Ugly Side To Come Out

Before rewatching The Notebook, I couldn’t remember how Lon and Allie’s relationship ended, but I figured he had to have given us a reason to dislike him. We needed to be firmly back on Noah’s side, right? Wrong.

When Allie surprised Lon at the office in the middle of a meeting, he assured her she was always welcome to stop by unannounced, even clearing the room to prioritize whatever it was she was there for. Then when she said she needed to leave town to clear her head, he asked if she was all right, and when she assured him she was, he said:

What? Not a sign of jealousy or insecurity? He just wanted her to figure out what she needed so she’d be ready to marry him. Even when he learned she’d been staying with Noah, he didn’t fly off the handle or blast her for being unfaithful. He said he could shoot Noah, kick his ass or just leave Allie, but all three of those options meant losing her.

His only “demand” really was that she choose one or the other, because he didn’t want to share her. (What a bastard!) It broke my heart when he said:

To speak again to the painting of it all, did Allie like to paint because it was her passion, or did she turn to painting when her life felt out of control? She had stability with Lon and didn’t think about painting again until she saw Noah in the newspaper. She didn’t pick up a brush again until she had full-on cheated on Lon.

Also, I was wrong back then about Lon not knowing Allie. He may have been joking, but he hit the nail on the head right before he proposed, telling her she’d never marry him because her parents liked him:

In the end, Allie and Noah were together, and that’s the way it was supposed to be. Was Lon better for Allie? Maybe. But he deserved better anyway. Hopefully he took that emotional maturity and shared it with someone who loved him just as much as he loved her.

If you want to take a trip back to one of the best movies of the 2000s and relive Allie and Noah’s (and Lon’s) story, The Notebook is streaming on Netflix. Who knows, maybe time has changed your opinion on the romance as well.

Avengers: Doomsday has to be the most highly-anticipated upcoming Marvel movies in a while, if not purely for the huge cast of heroes we can’t wait to see interact. Right now, the movie is filming in London, and a new photo of James Marsden and Simu Liu working out together shows off how heroic they are looking to go up against Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom.

James Marsden is set to reprise his role as Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops, in Doomsday alongside a number of original X-Men actors for the first time since his cameo appearance in 2014’s X-Men: Days Of Future Past. As filming continues to take place in London, he linked up with Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu for a game of padel. Check out the picture of the pair of Avengers: Doomsday stars:

Oh, the guns are out for sure! Marsden and Liu definitely look like a couple of swole Marvel actors as they posed with physical therapist Dr. Ethan-Ira Mamuric, PT, DPT and padel player Eloise Tait while playing the sport in an indoor court. Perhaps padel was the Doomsday stars’ cardio for the day in between saving the multiverse?

Doomsday has been filming at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England since April 28. We even heard Marvel is spending millions to film at Windsor Great Park near Surrey as well. It was perfect timing for the cast to take a field trip to watch Thunderbolts* as an early bonding activity. Liu and Marsden are just a small portion of the cast that also includes the new Fantastic Four, the Thunderbolts team and established Avengers characters like Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Letitia Wright’s Black Panther and Tom Hiddleston’s Loki.

Also, for the first time in the MCU (aside from Hugh Jackman being in Deadpool vs. Wolverine and a few cameo moments), the X-Men will be very much back. Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, Ian McKellen’s Magneto, Alan Cumming’s Nightcrawler, Kelsey Grammer’s Beast and Rebecca Romijn’s Mystique are also slated to be part of the team, as well as Channing Tatum's Gambit. Fans have already been making art imagining their entrance in the movie!

While the original Avengers: Doomsday release date was going to be next summer, last month, Marvel changed it to December 2026 right next to the third Dune movie. The Russo Brothers have said they will shoot Doomsday and Secret Wars pretty much back-to-back, but there will be much larger break between movies for the actors than there was for Infinity War and Endgame (which was four weeks). Secret Wars is set to hit theaters in December 2027.

Anyways, seeing James Marsden and Simu Liu together and looking swole has me wondering if Cyclops and Shang-Chi will link up and become friendly during the upcoming Avengers movies.

You seriously can’t forget about The Notebook. It’s one of the best movies of the 2000s due to Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams’ undeniable chemistry, and for showing audiences that you can never forget your first love. Fans of The Notebook may have complained for years about Allie choosing Noah instead of Lon. But when James Marsden gives his own perspective on who Allie should have ended up with, I have to agree with him.

If you remember in one of James Marsden’s best movies, The Notebook, Allie is torn between her wealthy fiancé Lon, and her first love Noah, after reconnecting with her ex-boyfriend seven years later. Ultimately, she chooses Noah. While fans still question after over twenty years if Allie made the right choice, Marsden, who played Lon, gave his take to People. And I second it. As he shared:

I know where fans are coming from in that if you look at The Notebook from a practical stance, Lon was who Allie should be with. Even she admitted it. He was from a wealthy family like hers, the Army vet repaid Allie a kindness after she nursed him at the hospital, and was still willing to be with Allie despite her affair with Noah. But like Noah asked Allie constantly, “What do you want?” Her heart clearly wanted Noah.

With all of the passion that Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams had playing Noah and Allie, I would be way too disappointed if they didn’t become endgame. They had one of the most memorable movie liplocks in the rain. In Noah and Allie’s unforgettable movie breakup, I had to have faith like Noah that it still wasn’t over between the two. Plus, Noah also set the standards high for men when, as an old married couple, he dedicated himself to telling Allie their love story as she grapples with dementia. James Marsden continued to give his own reasons why he felt Nicholas Sparks’ main characters belonged together:

Lon definitely isn’t a bad guy! He was determined to go on a date with Allie after they met at the hospital, and was always kind to her. Lon even made sure to get her parents’ blessing before proposing like a gentleman. Funny enough, back in 2015 the X-Men actor said that people got mad at him for getting “involved with [Noah and Allie's] love.” It wasn’t his fault that he pursued Allie by the time she was a single adult! But as Allie’s mother drove Noah away when he attempted to reconnect with her, there was no way I wanted her mother to have a final say in her daughter’s future again.

There may be people who think Allie should have chosen Lon instead of Noah, but I agree with James Marsden that Noah was the right choice. She followed her heart instead of fulfilling her parents’ expectations. And considering what a total catch Lon is, Marsden is right that I’m sure he found a lucky lady down the line.

It truly is a small, small world, and James Marsden and Olivia Munn are just another set of celebrities that prove it. It was announced that the Paradise actor will be joining Season 2 of Munn’s Apple TV+ show, Your Friends And Neighbors, which is currently releasing its first season on the 2025 TV schedule. However, the upcoming production of Season 2 won’t be the first introduction for the seasoned actors, and the story of how they reconnected later in life is so cute.

One might assume these two Hollywood vets first met on a shared film set, but they actually are from the same hometown in Oklahoma. Marsden revealed to People that he actually met the Predator actress before she was booking gigs, and only shortly after he had found some success himself:

Every time a celebrity reveals they knew another celebrity before they got famous, an angel gets its wings. Never forget high school sweethearts Jack Antonoff and Scarlett Johansson, who took it one step further and were each other’s prom dates in high school.

I mean, what are the chances that Munn happened to be besties with Marsden’s sister? They attended the same high school, but were not there at the same time, as the Enchanted actor is seven years older than his future co-star. Even growing up in the same town, they might still have never met. The story could have ended there. Marsden’s success could have fizzled after Party of Five, and Munn could have never made it to Hollywood.

Clearly, that didn’t happen, and thank goodness for that. They both are way too talented and attractive not to be famous actors, in my opinion. After both individually finding fame in Hollywood, the Best of Me actor says the two reconnected, and I can’t get over the New Girl actress’ sweet reaction to seeing him again:

I’m sure when they had dinner at Applebee's all those years ago, neither one of them could have predicted the X-Men: Apocalypse actress would be one half of a celebrity couple, married with two kids to comic John Mulaney. Or that Marsden would be Golden Globe-nominated for a reality sitcom about jury duty. Yet that’s where these two stand as they head into filming their first official project together.

Even though Apple TV+ subscription holders are still awaiting new episodes of Your Friends And Neighbors Season 1, Season 2 has already been renewed, with pre-production in full swing. Hopefully, this means we will meet Marsden’s character later this year on the popular streaming service. It’s rare for a TV show to be picked up for a second season this quickly. In addition to the A-list cast, it’s only further evidence to show this Jon Hamm-led crime dramedy is set to become one of the best shows on Apple TV+.

So, I couldn't be happier that these two actors from the same hometown are reuniting on such a successful project! Season 2 can't come fast enough.

Today ended up being a big day for Avengers: Doomsday, one of the most highly-anticipated upcoming Marvel movies. Marvel Studios slowly unveiled the cast of Doomsday through showing the names of its actors on chairs, and it turns out that this movie will be a major platform for the X-Men to shine. Following the reveal of Kelsey Grammer reprising Beast, which follows his return to the role in The Marvels, more actors from the Fox-era of X-Men movies have been announced for Doomsday, including Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen.

I was already pretty excited for Avengers: Doomsday, much of which is because I’m intrigued to see what’s done with Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom. However, hearing so many actors who’ve played mutant heroes and villains in the past will also show up has me even pumped about the 2026 flick. Here’s who we can expect to see in Doomsday X-Men-wise:

• Kelsey Grammer - Beast
• Patrick Stewart - Professor X
• Ian McKellan - Magneto
• Alan Cumming - Nightcrawler
• Rebecca Romijn - Mystique
• James Marsden - Cyclops
• Channing Tatum - Gambit

Some of these people already have MCY experience, like Patrick Stewart appearing in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Channing Tatum finally getting to portray Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine after the character’s solo movie was scrapped. Others, like Ian McKellen and James Marsden, haven’t played their characters in well over a decade, if not longer. Alan Cumming takes the prize for the longest gap in reprising his role, as he only ever played Nightcrawler, a.k.a. Kurt Wagner, in 2003’s X2: X-Men United.

Avengers: Doomsday may technically be spotlighting Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, but with the amount of X-Men actors confirmed to appear, this might as well count partly as an X-Men movie, right? Still, it’s not surprising that so many of these heroes and villains will appear. The opening up of the Marvel multiverse has allowed for mutants from other realities to appear. Not only that, but mutants have also been introduced into the main MCU reality through Iman Vellani’s Ms. Marvel and Tenoch Huerta’s Namor, the latter of whom is also confirmed to appear in Doomsday.

Keep in mind that just because these actors are all returning for Avengers: Doomsday doesn’t mean they’ll be playing the same versions of their characters from the older X-Men movies. Just like how the Beast we saw in The Marvels was clearly not the same one from X-Men: The Last Stand, the Professor X, Magneto, Nightcrawler, Mystique and Cyclops appearing could be from other corners of the Marvel multiverse. Maybe they even all live in the same universe as the new Beast. I think it’s probably safe to say, though that the Gambit appearing in Doomsday will be the same one who debuted in Deadpool & Wolverine.

I’m looking forward to seeing how these X-Men characters fit into Avengers; Doomsday when it opens in theaters on May 1, 2026. Meanwhile, remember that you can use your Disney+ subscription to stream the X-Men movies and nearly the entirety of the MCU.

There are spoilers in this article, so beware!

I love Paradise. The Dan Fogelman (This Is Us) creation has more twists and turns than a mountain road and for the most part, they work. Right up until the end, that is. The show’s premiere sets things up to be a murder mystery after President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) is found dead by the head of his security detail, Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown). Unfortunately, the payoff in the final episode, which you can watch with a Hulu subscription, left me disappointed and frustrated.

Making A Murder Mystery

Great mysteries leave breadcrumbs for the audience to follow. Paradise dropped red herrings and hints to the potential murderer. There are the two Secret Service agents who turn off the cameras to play video games (or so they say), and a sociopathic villain and leader of the hidden, underground town. Then there's the head of the Secret Service who was secretly having an affair with the president. Even Xavier himself is a potential killer.

All of it setting up a showdown between the villain, Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) and Xavier. In the end, we get the showdown, but the murderer turns out to be a side character no one paid attention to who has nothing to do with the bigger picture.

It would take until the final episode until we started getting any clues at all as to who the real murderer was, instead of endless fake outs and deceptions. It turns out, it was someone no one expected, because literally no roads led to him until about 45 minutes before the reveal.

It Was The Librarian? What?

Finally, in the last episode, we learn more about the man who attempted to assassinate President Bradford before the disaster occurred, a call back to a flashback in the premiere. Trent (Ian Merrigan), the town librarian, walked out of prison in the chaos of the impending disaster, and faked his way into the bunker after murdering two people stuck in traffic to get in.

It also turns out, we learn in a flashback, that he was a construction foreman who helped build the bunker and he was upset that the powers that be were exposing his workers to dangerous arsenopyrite, and so he took action by attempting to kill the president and landed in prison.

We then learn that it was Trent who killed Bradford, finally getting his revenge for the deaths of his crew. That’s honestly all well and good. Who the murderer is isn’t what frustrated me, it was that nothing at all pointed to Trent throughout the show. That plotline was sidelined and the final reveal felt like a twist for twists' sake. One last “OMG” moment that, for me, fell completely flat.

It Doesn’t Ruin The Future Of The Show

Paradise is clearly much bigger than the murder mystery. The intrigue that the finale sets up for Season 2, which will also be available with a Disney+/Hulu bundle. Xavier is off to find his wife, the villain Sinatra is laid up in the hospital, and Agent Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom) is a potential new villain. It leaves a ton to be explored and I’m very excited by that. It’s just too bad the mystery wasn’t more fun to watch play out.

Spoiler alert! This story contains major spoilers for the entire first season of Paradise, which is available to stream with a Hulu subscription.

Lots of great shows have premiered this year already, but for me, Paradise Season 1 was not only one of the best series to stream on Hulu, but one of the best so far on the 2025 TV schedule overall. From the characters to the performances to the twisty plot, Sterling K. Brown and his co-stars had me locked into this political thriller. After the finale dropped on March 4, I found that I couldn’t stop thinking about the tragedy of James Marsden as President Cal Bradford.

The penultimate episode of Paradise’s first season absolutely broke my heart as we finally got to see the disaster that (supposedly) rendered the Earth’s surface unlivable. That phone call between Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) and his wife Teri (Enuka Okuma) was a lot to handle, but after the final episode, “The Man Who Kept the Secrets,” I can’t help but be devastated for Cal and the loneliness of his final days.

Cal’s Last Conversations With Everyone Were Straight-Up Brutal

First I will say it’s not lost on me that nepo-President Cal Bradford was not a perfect man. He was an entitled white man who got handed the keys (and the nuclear codes) to the country simply because the patriarchy is alive and well. He was not a good husband, probably not a great dad, and he left a loooot of people to die as he and his family fled to the safety of Sinatra’s underground Paradise. But was he evil enough to deserve what his final hours held?

Early on we learned that Cal was somehow responsible for Xavier’s wife getting left behind on that fateful day, and while Xavier has continued to do his job as a Secret Service agent, he makes no secret about how he feels for the president, with his final words to Cal being:

Then there’s the president’s teen son Jeremy (Charlie Evans), who got into an argument with his dad over his role in what happened on “The Day,” delivering the parting words:

Just because it’s true doesn’t make it not cruel. So that’s two of the people closest to him savoring the thought of his demise. Surely his dear old dad will be a source of comfort, right? Maybe in a different show, but not Paradise. Here, when Cal tells Kane Bradford (Gerald McRaney) that he's in danger and asks if — after a life spent as his dad’s chess piece — he ever made him proud, Kane replies:

That one really took the wind out of Cal’s sails. I can imagine he was rarely, if ever, as vulnerable with his father than in that moment, and he did not get any validation for the life he knew was likely ending soon.

Think about these conversations in comparison to the heart-wrenching phone call between Xavier and Teri before the bomb hit, where he says to imagine he’s holding her, and they cry and shower each other in “I love you”s in what they think are her final moments. And she didn’t even die!

Xavier, Jeremy And Kane Change Their Views, But Not Until After Cal Is Dead

In Paradise’s final episodes, we find out Cal is taking steps to right his many wrongs, putting his life in danger by standing up to Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson). This leads to Xavier learning that on that terrible day when he thought he’d watched a nuclear missile hit Atlanta, where Teri was, Cal had actually flipped a switch that deactivated all of the world’s nukes, thus saving his wife’s life. We see Kane — in his dementia mistaking Jeremy for Cal — tell the man he thinks is his son:

We also see Jeremy embracing not just his dad’s music, but the advice Cal gave him — if you don’t like this world, change it — and begin doing what his father hadn’t done by being open and honest with his fellow citizens about what he knew.

However, Cal Bradford will never know that the three people who so brutally told him his life was a waste — who said they wished he was dead and would not rest until it was so — had changed their minds. Paradise may be able to bring Teri back from what we thought was certain death and nuclear winter, but Cal is dead dead.

Even with Paradise renewed for Season 2, there’s simply no way to reverse the final interactions that Cal had with his friend, dad and son.

Will James Marsden Return For Paradise Season 2?

President Cal Bradford was murdered in the premiere of Paradise but still managed to play a main role throughout, thanks to flashbacks. Now that we know who the killer is and the national security secrets have been spilled, will that continue to be the case? Or — with Season 2 presumably going to focus on recovering survivors and the rebuilding efforts on Earth — did we learn all we could from Cal in the first eight episodes?

It’s likely far too early for that kind of question, but even if Cal does show back up when Season 2 hits the Hulu schedule, it won’t change the terrible things he heard from his loved ones before he died, and to me, that makes his story (the ending of it, at least) the most tragic.

If you want to relive all the political thrills and A+ performances of Paradise, the entire first season is available to stream now on Hulu.

Spoiler alert! This story contains major spoilers for the Paradise episode “The Day,” which dropped February 25. If you’re not caught up, stream it with your Hulu subscription before reading further!

For the first six episodes of Sterling K. Brown’s new thriller Paradise, we've largely been kept in the dark regarding the tragedy that forced a fraction of society to descend to Sinatra’s man-made utopia. We knew only that people died, the planet was destroyed and its underground survivors deeply traumatized. In “The Day,” we finally learned what happened to the world, and while my jaw was on the ground for pretty much the entire episode, my heart may not recover from the final conversation between Brown’s character and his wife.

This Disaster Episode Felt Like Something That Could Really Happen

Paradise has easily become one of my favorite shows on the 2025 TV schedule, and “The Day” really leveled up in terms of both story and character development. Much of the episode played out like a Roland Emmerich film, after an Antarctic volcano erupted, causing part of the ice shelf to melt and triggering tsunamis that quickly took out cities around the world. War broke out immediately, and a crowd outside the Oval Office watched a TV reporter in Jakarta get taken out by a wave while standing at the top of a 20-story building.

As for Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown), his focus was on getting the president to safety and getting his wife Teri out of Atlanta. We’ve known from the start that Teri never made it that day, but that sure didn’t keep me from feeling Xavier’s desperation with every dropped phone call and failed text.

On top of that, of course, was the absolute pandemonium happening around President Cal Bradford (James Marsden). As people realized they were being left to die, panic took over. A staffer reached for a gun and was shot. The aide carrying the nuclear football was killed trying to board Marine One. A Secret Service agent pulled a gun on Xavier, only to be taken out himself.

To see this all go down in and around even a fictional White House was beyond disturbing, because even though the weather events were straight out of a disaster movie, there didn’t seem to be anything too exaggerated about people’s reactions to what was happening.

I felt a momentary sense of relief when Xavier was reunited with his and Teri’s children on their flight to Colorado, but my heart broke when Presley and James started asking, “Where’s mommy?” and Xavier was too overcome with sorrow to even respond. Then came that final phone call.

Xavier And Teri’s Phone Call Broke Me

I wasn’t expecting Xavier to get to talk to his wife one last time, and I certainly wasn’t prepared for how heart-wrenching that scene would be. Xavier tried to comfort Teri, who was understandably distraught. As he watched a real-time map of nuclear missiles approaching their targets — with Atlanta being one of them — they cried and said they loved each other, and then Teri uttered her final words, a message to their children:

Jesus, I can’t even transcribe that without tearing up again. It honestly doesn’t matter to me that Teri didn’t actually die (I predicted that twist early on). In that moment, she thought she was gone, Xavier thought it, and he and their kids have — in the show’s current timeline — been dealing with that grief for years.

We’ve got just one episode left for Xavier to identify the outsider who killed the president, find his kids, reunite with Teri and take down Sinatra. I’m not sure it’s possible to fit all that into one episode (or how my emotions would handle it), so thank goodness Paradise has already been renewed for Season 2. The Season 1 finale will be available to stream on Hulu on March 4.

Watch Paradise Online

Watch Paradise: Preview

Acclaimed screenwriter Dan Fogelman reunites with Emmy-winning actor Sterling K. Brown for this unpredictable new 8-part thriller, in which top secret White House conspiracies come bubbling up after the US president is found dead. Boasting an A-list ensemble and guaranteed to keep you guessing, we explain below how to watch Paradise online where you are.

This nail-biting thriller is something of a departure for Fogelman. He’s best known as the man behind NBC’s hugely successful family drama This is Us (2016-2022), which was heaped with praise and even more glittering awards, particularly Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction), who took home Emmy, NAACP, and Golden Globe awards for the role (clearly, he’s called Sterling for a reason).

Paradise is a different beast: a high-concept political thriller with Shyamalanian ambitions that plays into Fogelman’s love for gleefully wrongfooting his audience. Brown is secret security agent Xavier Collins, a widowed father bestowed with top secret information by incumbent President Cal Bradford (a charismatic James Marsden). He soon finds himself a prime suspect after discovering the president dead. Who killed Cal? And why are they trying to frame Xavier?

Fogelman takes a big swing with this series, packed with political machinations, timeline-jumping flashbacks, and mind-blowing “didn’t see that coming” twists. And it’s all grounded by a compelling cast rounded off by Julianne Nicholson (Mare of Easttown) as billionaire Samantha Redmond and Krys Marshall (For All Mankind) as Agent Robinson, who was carrying on an affair with Cal behind the scenes.

Ready for some heart-stopping drama? Read on for our detailed guide explaining how to watch Paradise online exclusively on Hulu in the US.

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How to watch Paradise online in the US

US viewers can watch Paradise online exclusively on Hulu. The show premiered on January 28 with the first three episodes, with a new episode going out weekly every Wednesday thereafter at 12am PT / 3am ET, with the series concluding on March 4.

Subscribers can choose from a variety of Hulu plans. Firstly, you can opt for one of its on-demand only plans, which comes with a 30-day free trial to new members. Thereafter, you’ll pay $9.99 a month for its ad-supported plan, or $18.99 a month to go commercial free.

If you want to benefit from its 90+ live channels, the Hulu + Live TV plan is currently $82.99 per month (pay just $59.99 for the first three months before November 19). That comes with ad-supported Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, and Hulu included too. For more bundle options, keep reading...

How to watch Paradise with the Disney Plus bundle

If you're in the US and want even more from your streaming services, then going for the Disney Plus bundle could be a great plan. One of the best streaming deals available, it adds Hulu and ESPN Plus to Disney Plus, meaning that you also get loads more original TV shows as well as a whole host of live sports.

How to watch Paradise online in Canada

Located in Canada? You’ll want a Disney Plus subscription to watch Paradise online. The first three episodes of Dan Fogelson’s latest series premiered on Tuesday, January 28, with new episodes uploaded weekly thereafter.

In the Great North, Disney Plus starts from CA$8.99 a month for the platform’s ad-supported plan . Otherwise, choose between its Standard (CA$12.99 a month/CA$129.99 annually) or Premium ad-free options (CA$15.99 a month/CA$159.99 a year).

How to watch Paradise online in the UK

Luckily for UK viewers, brand-new thriller Paradise arrives every week at the same time as the US on Tuesdays following its premiere January 28. Simply sign-up for a Disney Plus membership to stream every episode.

Across the pond, Disney Plus plans start from £4.99 a month . Of course, subscribers have the option of upgrading to the ad-free Standard plan at £8.99, or the £12.99 Premium option, which supports 4K and HDR streaming.

How to watch Paradise online in Australia

Just like the UK, Australian audiences can watch Paradise when they sign up for Disney Plus. The show debuted an initial trio of episodes on January 28 before falling into a one-episode-a-week release pattern.

In Australia, there are only a couple of Disney Plus price options to choose from. Go monthly for AU$13.99, or get a great saving – effectively 12 months for the price of 10 – by getting an annual plan for AU$139.99. There’s also a Disney Plus Premium plan available at AU$17.99 a month if you’re looking to boost your audio and video quality.

Paradise Trailer

Paradise Episode Release Schedule

• Paradise – Episode 1: "Wildcat is Down" Tuesday, January 28
• Paradise – Episode 2: "Sinatra" Tuesday, January 28
• Paradise – Episode 3: "The Architect of Social Well-Being" Tuesday, January 28
• Paradise – Episode 4: "Agent Billy Pace" Tuesday, February 4
• Paradise – Episode 5: "In the Palaces of Crowned Kings" Tuesday, February 11
• Paradise – Episode 6: "You Asked for Miracles" Tuesday, February 18
• Paradise – Episode 7: "The Day" Tuesday, February 25
• Paradise – Episode 8: "The Man Who Kept the Secrets" Tuesday, March 4

Who is in the cast of Paradise?

• Sterling K. Brown as Xavier Collins
• James Marsden as President Cal Bradford
• Julianne Nicholson as Samantha Redmond
• Sarah Shahi as Dr. Gabriel Torabi
• Nicole Brydon Bloom as Jane Driscoll
• Jon Beavers as Billy Robinson
• Percy Daggs IV as James
• Aliyah Mastin as Presley
• Krys Marshall as Agent Robinson
• Cassidy Freeman as the First Lady

My wife and I don’t watch a ton of television. Usually, we’ll wait to hear if a show is any good before we dive in, because we’ve wasted time on shows that are slow to develop, or end up going nowhere before being canceled. This is why we haven’t started Severance yet (though reactions to Season 2 have moved the show up our Must Watch list), and were late to hit programs such as Only Murders in the Building, Hacks, Shogun, and the brilliant The Bear, which we binged in a weekend ahead of The Bear Season 3. That show’s incredible. But for work-related responsibilities, I had to check out Dan Fogelman’s upcoming series Paradise, available on Hulu, and friends? This has become my new obsession… and it can be yours starting right now!

Paradise reunites Dan Fogelman with his award-winning This is Us star Sterling K. Brown for a completely different experiment that’s equally tense, emotional, and character-driven at its core. Brown plays Xavier Collins, lead Secret Service security agent for the U.S. President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) during a cataclysmic event. But in the opening moments of Paradise Episode 1, titled “Wildcat Is Down,” Collins discovers that the President has been murdered in the Oval Office, and is tasked with figuring out who might have been able to pull off such a feat.

Now, the good news. Paradise was meant to drop its first three episodes on Tuesday, January 28. But based on the overwhelmingly positive early reviews, the first episode was posted to both Hulu and Disney+, meaning you can start watching it now as long as you have a subscription. I would advise you to press play as soon as physically possible, because Paradise is the best show on streaming at the moment, and the season only gets better and better as it unfolds.

I rewatched Paradise Episode 1 before writing this, so as not to reveal anything too delicious in this reaction piece. Similar to This Is Us, Paradise skips around the timeline to tell stories of its characters at different points of their lives. Especially President Cal Bradford, who is killed in the opener, though Marsden gets plenty of material in which to sink his teeth as Paradise explains who killed Bradford, and why. And again, like This Is Us, you stay with the story because you quickly grow to love the characters. Dan Fogelman wrote Paradise Episode 1, and co-wrote Episode 2. There is a lot of world-building happening in these early stories, with a lot of it focused on Collins and Bradford’s relationship. But when I tell you that Episode 1 is merely the tip of this iceberg, you are going to have to trust me until Episodes 2 and 3 arrive on January 28.

It’s hard to tell you why I love Paradise without giving away specific details. So I’ll leave you with this. The eight-episode season never loses steam on its magnificent writing, keeping a tight grip on a very taut premise. It features career-best work by Sterling K. Brown and James Marsden – who evolves in ways you can not expect as the season goes on. And while this is a terrible thing to tease, because you will have to wait to see what I mean, remember this when I tell you that Paradise Episode 7, “The Day,” is one of the greatest episodes of television I have ever seen.

It’s that good.

If you have Hulu or Disney+, watch Paradise Episode 1 as soon as you can. Get on board with this show early, because it’s all people will be talking about in a few weeks, when the mesmerizing plot starts to unfold.

For some time now, we knew that Jerry Seinfeld’s Pop-Tarts movie Unfrosted was heading to our screens on the 2024 movie schedule. And up until, some of us might have been under the impression that this was actually going to be a serious historical drama with some comedy undertones. That notion is officially out the window after Netflix released the first trailer for the picture, and now I really want a movie just about James Marsden’s Jack LaLanne.

That’s right, the famed fitness guru of yesteryear is apparently part of the team that helped Kellogg’s beat Post to the invention of the Pop-Tart. At least, that’s what Seinfeld’s version of history suggests, which can be summed by up by the following synopsis: 

If you thought that description was crazy, you should take a closer look at Unfrosted's cast. Seriously, James Marsden is just the tip of the iceberg, as comedy talent like Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer, Fred Armisen, Jack McBrayer, and so many others have been assembled. Which is fitting, as this film’s approach of making the creation of the Pop-Tart look like the space race is something that needs a team that has The Right Stuff. 

But seriously, if Marsden was rocking those muscles when he made the X-Men movies, one could have definitely seen the competition he'd have given Hugh Jackman's Wolverine for the affections of Jean Grey. Let's take another look, for science, shall we? 

You have to wonder if the Sonic the Hedgehog vet's exaggerated depiction of this real life health nut is going to lead to some industrial espionage of some sort? Maybe Jack LaLanne goes behind enemy lines at the Post headquarters to try and lure some details out of unsuspecting employees? 

And if that doesn't happen here, there's always a chance that Jerry Seinfeld could build the Pop Culture Culinary Universe for Netflix, exploring this idea in a sequel or spin-off. There's certainly enough potential for that sort of thing, thanks to the severely stacked cast involved in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story. 

Seriously, chances are that if you thought you saw a familiar face or two during this sizzle reel, you absolutely did. Check out the full roster to see who you spotted, and who you didn’t: 

I don’t know what’s potentially more exciting: Christian Slater and James Marsden potentially facing off in a test of who’s hunkier, or the fact that John Slattery and Jon Hamm’s presence could mean the return of their Mad Men characters in a cameo/subplot for the ages. What I do know is that Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story seems to be promising a lot of ridiculous fun, and James Marsden being dreamy is part of that process. What more could you ask for, folks? 

Perhaps a release date, so as to set your expectations properly? That's fair, which is why it pleases me to say that Unfrosted will make you believe a balanced breakfast is worth fighting for, as it debuts on Netflix starting May 3rd. Just make sure your Netflix subscription is current before digging in!

Out of all the upcoming video game tv shows and movies, it's fair to say Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is one of the most anticipated. Audiences are ready to see the Blue Blur in action once again, especially after the way the second movie ended. It's looking like the third installment will finally introduce Shadow The Hedgehog and open up the world of Sonic drastically.

The following are all the actors and actresses we know that are involved with Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Right now, there is still some mystery as to who some of these actors are playing, so be sure to check back in for updates should we learn more about some of these actors' roles before the premiere date in December.

Ben Schwartz

At three movies in, there's only one man who can voice the "Blue Blur," and his name is Ben Schwartz. We know that Schwartz is back in Sonic 3 to play the title character, but could he be voicing someone else as well? Schwartz told CinemaBlend he's ready for his "villainous era" when we speculated he could also voice Shadow The Hedgehog. We'll have to wait and see if that. actually happens, but I'd be down to see him pull double duty.

James Marsden

James Marsden has been the perfect sidekick to his CGI co-star, and that's thanks in part to the various Sonics used on set to make it look accurate. Marsden's Tom Wachowski is the vehicle that keeps this franchise quickly moving along, and it wouldn't feel the same without seeing him in the mix.

Tika Sumpter

Tika Sumpter is back in Sonic 3, though for fans, it may not seem like she's been away that long. She'll be one of the main cast set to return as part of the Knuckles cast, but what would this movie be without Maddie Wachowski around to help out their furry friends?

Jim Carrey

I'm not sure if playing Dr. Eggman was ever a long-term goal for Jim Carrey, but it certainly feels that way, given how well he understands and plays the role. The main villain of the Sonic franchise disappeared at the end of the second movie, but with G.U.N. unable to find a body, it was assumed that Robotnik had slipped away.

Colleen O'Shaughnessey

Colleen O'Shaughnessey is back and voicing the role of Sonic's best sidekick, Tails. I don't think there's any denying that Tails is Sonic's best friend in the franchise, but with Knuckles now allied with the heroes, there's going to be some proving that he's not the weak link in the chain in this adventure.

Idris Elba

After appearing as the antagonist in the second movie and starring in his own self-titled series, Idris Elba's Knuckles is back and ready to use his super strength to fight for the good guys and, hopefully, stop whatever the latest threat from Dr. Eggman may be. We'll get to see how this group works together in the series, assuming readers have a Paramount+ subscription.

Lee Majdoub

Dr. Robotnik is skilled, but it's Agent Stone, played by Lee Majdoub, who helps him pull off half of his wild schemes. Readers might remember that Stone narrowly escaped capture by posing as an operative for G.U.N. No doubt he'll play a key part in plotting Eggman's return and may even be in a position of power hiding in the shadows of Green Hills. Either that, or he's putting plans in place for the next big scheme for the villain.

Tom Butler

Tom Butler's Commander Walters was disappointed he couldn't find Robotnik at the end of Sonic The Hedgehog 2, and concerned about what he learned next. It was uncovered that a secret location to a lab was exposed, and it was revealed Project Shadow was worked on there. It's a problem we expect to see resolved in the upcoming movie, and Walters will undoubtedly have more to share on the project.

Krysten Ritter

Krysten Ritter will make her debut in Sonic The Hedgehog 3, according to IGN, but we're still in the dark on how she'll be involved. With that said, Ritter is a star of repute, having been in Breaking Bad and Jessica Jones before joining the cast, so it's possible she'll be voicing one of the notable Sonic characters who hasn't been introduced. On the other hand, she could be playing a new character in live-action as well.

James Wolk

James Wolk is another actor with a big question mark next to the character he'll be playing, as we don't know anything beyond the fact he was cast to be in the movie. Wolk is an actor who has had roles on prominent shows like The Crazy Ones and Mad Men, and he's a great addition to the Sonic 3 cast.

Sofia Pernas

Actress Sofia Pernas, who has starred in The Young and the Restless and Justin Hartley's hit CBS series Tracker, will also be a part of the Sonic 3 cast. Unfortunately, we're in the dark once again about what her character will do or if they're appearing in live-action or via CGI, but it's always exciting to see a fresh face join an established franchise!

Cristo Fernández

While Ted Lasso fans brainstorm ways the series can return, star Cristo Fernández is branching out into the Sonic franchise. We have no idea what character he'll play in the upcoming movie, but if his character has the same peppy energy as Dani Rojas, I'm beyond excited to see who he'll play.

Jorma Taccone

Jorma Taccone, one of the masterminds behind The Lonely Island group, will also be in Sonic 3 in an unknown role. Considering he's a force behind a scene considered so wtf it had to be cut from Hot Rod, I'm assuming he's coming into the movie to play a comedic role. We'll have to wait for confirmation to find out for certain, though he could surprise us with something a little more serious for this latest romp in cinema.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is currently slated to be released on December 20th, 2024. Hopefully, we'll learn more details about what roles all the actors are playing before its arrival, or at the very least, who will be voicing the villainous Shadow The Hedgehog.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to release content in quick succession, including movies as well as projects available with a Disney+ subscription. The next highly anticipated upcoming Marvel movie heading to theaters is Deadpool & Wolverine, and there are countless rumors about which actors might cameo throughout its runtime. James Marsden has heard those Cyclops rumors, and he didn't do a great job at denying them. 

What we know about Deadpool & Wolverine is limited, given the tight security of the MCU. But there are countless rumors about the Deadpool 3's cast list, with fans expecting a number of surprise cameos. The chatter has included various X-Men alum, including Halle Berry and James Marsden. While speaking with The Playlist, the Westworld actor revealed he's heard the talks, both online and in person. In his words:

The mystery of Ryan Reynolds' upcoming threequel is part of why anticipation is so high for the blockbuster. The first teaser for Deadpool & Wolverine showed that it was going to a multiversal story, including Loki's TVA. So it seems like just about anyone could pop up, including James Marsden's Cyclops. 

Marsden starred as Scott Summers in the original X-Men trilogy, and also appeared in a cameo during Days of Future Past's ending. Fans are hoping he once again puts on the visor for Deadpool 3, but only time will tell if he actually appears. While not confirming a role in the same interview with Playlist, he revealed how easy it would have been for him to appear on set, thanks to filming Sonic 3 nearby. In his words:

While he seems to have put his foot in his mouth, it sounds like Marsden appearing in Deadpool 3 could have happened fairly easily. We'll have to wait until this summer to see if the rumors are true, but his comments are likely only going to encourage fan theories about Cyclops popping up during the blockbuster. Hopefully we get some more concrete information about what to expect from Deadpool & Wolverine sooner rather than later. 

As previously mentioned, there are a ton of theories and rumors swirling around Ryan Reynolds' highly anticipated sequel. Some characters that fans think might appear include Jennifer Garner's Elektra, Taylor Swift's Dazzler, Halle Berry's Storm, and Tyler Mane's Sabretooth. Only time will tell if this chatter comes to fruition, and what type of multiversal madness ensues.

Deadpool & Wolverine is currently set to hit theaters on July 26th. While we wait, check out the 2024 movie release dates. 

Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Edward Norton, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kate Hudson, LaKeith Stanfield, Madelyn Cline, Ana de Armas, Dave Bautista – all those folks have appeared in a Knives Out mystery by Rian Johnson, and that’s not even scratching the surface of the A+ Knives Out cast and Glass Onion ensemble. Well, now that we know a third installment in Benoit Blanc’s whodunnit series will go into production soon, fans are throwing all their casting ideas on social media. And I sure hope the writer/director is taking notes, because these are brilliant. 

Knives Out 3 is set to go into production later this year, meaning we’ll likely find out who will make up its cast soon-ish. Between Rian Johnson’s first two films starring Daniel Craig’s detective Benoit Blanc and his Natasha Lyonne-led series Poker Face, he’s proven over and over again that he knows how to assemble an epic cast. Therefore, fans are expecting a list of greats to make up the ensemble of the third Knives Out mystery, and they have some brilliant ideas, like @tedsbecca who is campaigning for James Marsden:

James Marsden – who received an Emmy nomination for Jury Duty – is such a fabulous actor who is genuinely hilarious, and I think he’d fit in perfectly to this wacky world of mystery.

Sticking to the world of comedy, @ZoeRoseBryant called out an actress that I think many would love to see in a Rian Johnson whodunnit, posting:

The Knives Out movies always feature extremely talented up-and-coming actors – like Ana de Armas and Madelyn Cline. Considering Edebiri’s background in comedy as well as her recent rise because of her work on The Bear, audiences would be thrilled to see her in one of these movies, myself included. 

Meanwhile, @CoyJandreau was looking back at other iconic mystery movies for his dream cast. Considering we sadly might never get a Nice Guys sequel, I’m 100% on board with him fan-casting Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe in Knives Out 3:

When it comes to @heyitsjennalynn’s take, she noted that she’s willing to die on the hill of getting 2023 Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan into the threequel, and I would die on that hill too:

There were also some fun unconventional picks for Knives Out 3 ensemble members. However, considering Stephen Sondheim and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made cameos at the same time in Glass Onion, nothing is impossible. So, @hpeeryhorton, I hope your dream comes true:

People really have some brilliant and unique ideas for the Knives Out 3 cast, and I’m so here for them. Along with the fun ones highlighted above, here are a few more fun requests for the Oscar-nominated writer:

• Zendaya , Sarah Drew, Sofia Vergara ans Viola Davis. i mean....The power!! -@BellamyKeppner 
• Funny Adam Driver would be top tier -@eva_kirby21 
• here’s how I get Pedro [Pascal] and Kieran [Culkin] in a movie together, walk with me here -@sottgoods 
• Aubrey Plaza and Jenna Ortega! They would be amazing together. 🤣 -@imtiffanyblair 
• Jennifer Lawrence would be PERFECT in a film like this -@_Syncopy_ 
• I'm here to spread the Sam Rockwell for Knives Out 3 agenda again -@NeonTravesty 

Really, the possibilities are endless, and I can’t wait to see the cast Rian Johnson assembles for his next Knives Out mystery.

It seems highly unlikely that the third Benoit Blanc whodunnit will premiere on the 2024 movie schedule since reports say it will go into production toward the end of this year. However, I suspect that we’ll learn about who ends up in the film as it starts to shoot, and hopefully, some of the names mentioned above will be part of it. 

What do actors and models have in common? Well, for the most part, having “the look” will get you in the door in either profession rather quickly. However, for the purposes of the list you’re about to peruse, it just so happens that these Hollywood stars managed to work both sides of that scenario. And as expected, these models-turned-actors have done so with style. 

Mark Wahlberg

Before starring in movies ranging from Boogie Nights to The Family Plan, Mark Wahlberg was known as a rapper and a Calvin Klein model. Showing off his buff body in underwear ads helped give the aspiring star his start in the entertainment industry, with Mark shifting into acting just as his boy-band brother Donnie eventually did. 

Rebecca Romijn

In a career that saw her on Vogue magazine covers and in Victoria’s Secret campaigns, Rebecca Romijn put the “super” in “supermodel.” And then, in a move that only further strengthened that statement, she took her first acting gig as Mystique in X-Men, kickstarting a career that’s led to such fantastic parts as that of Number One on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. 

Tyrese Gibson

Ads for Coca-Cola, Guess, and Tommy Hilfiger had Tyrese Gibson primed for stardom, and gigs on TV shows like Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper and Martin soon followed. But depending on who you ask, it was either Baby Boy or 2 Fast 2 Furious that caused Gibson’s star to rise to the heights it’s at today. 

Halle Berry

It’s no surprise that Halle Berry did some modeling in her entertainment career, as her beauty has always been well renowned. But rather than going for traditional ad campaign work, the future star of X-Men and James Bond movies was a contestant in both the Miss USA and Miss World pageants. 

Jamie Dornan

Prepare for a rollercoaster ride, folks. Jamie Dornan, actor known for everything from Fifty Shades of Grey to A Haunting in Venice, was not only a model…he was part of a reality show that helped get him the gig. Channel 4’s Model Behaviour led to some gigs with Abercrombie & Fitch and Tommy Hilfiger, which eventually made way for Dornan to be discovered by Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. 

Cara Delevingne

We’ve seen Cara Delevingne do everything from John Green adaptations like Paper Towns to DCEU juggernauts such as Suicide Squad. And with a foundation of modeling for Vogue Italia, Tory Burch, and Donna Karan under her belt, the American Horror Story: Delicate star never really gave up her day job, as her modeling continued along with her acting efforts.

Channing Tatum

There was probably a time when people staring at random Armani ads featuring Channing Tatum thought, “I wonder if he can act?” With a resume that has titles like Magic Mike, 21 Jump Street, and Foxcatcher  to boast about, it’s probably safe to say that the answer is a confident “Yes!”

Jaime King

As a young model, Jaime King saw herself making a splash with Vogue, Seventeen, and pretty much any other fashion publication of note you could think of. 2001’s Happy Campers was all it took to help her jump into the acting world, which saw her play some impressive parts in Sin City’s screen adaptation, Fox’s The O.C., and even the voice of Solus Prime in the series Transformers: Power of the Primes.

Shemar Moore

S.W.A.T. star and all around heartthrob Shemar Moore actually had his own moment in the spotlight of modeling. Through catalog jobs with Macy’s and magazine shoots for GQ, among other opportunities, this man of action continues to engage in some modeling here and there; which only brings his fans that much more joy. 

Devon Aoki

Movie fans might recognize Devon Aoki from her standout roles in both Sin City and 2 Fast 2 Furious, but believe it or not her modeling career is the stronger of the two streams she’s dipped her toes into. Brands and magazines alike have showcased her talents in the industry, with Balenciaga and Harper’s Bazaar calling themselves a part of her storied body of work.

James Marsden

Jury Duty and Sonic the Hedgehog star James Marsden feels like the type of guy that’d be a model, right? How couldn’t he, with a smile like that? Well, if the world didn’t know it before his 2011 interview on Ellen, Ms. DeGeneres helped bring that aspect of his career to light; along with the pictures to prove it.

Gal Gadot

Jaguar, Maxim, and Gucci are only some of the brands and publications that Fast Saga star Gal Gadot has modeled for. This Heart of Stone lead eventually saw herself courted by Hollywood in the early-Aughts, thanks to auditions for Quantum of Solace that saw Gal compete with Olga Kurylenko for the role of Bond woman Camille. 

Antonio Sabàto Jr.

Calvin Klein was the name of the brand that gave actor Antonio Sabàto Jr. his start in the public eye, as underwear modeling was his first claim to fame. Eventually, projects like General Hospital, Earth 2, and even a Janet Jackson music video would see Antonio becoming an acting talent that continued to capitalize on their dreamy good looks. 

Charlize Theron

Even after winning her first Academy Award for Monster, and landing big ticket franchise like the Fast Saga, Charlize Theron still managed to fit in some modeling for Dior into her busy schedule. Which is absolutely fitting, considering that Theron got a jump start on her entertainment resume as a teen model throughout Europe in the ‘90s.

Mehcad Brooks

Fans of Law & Order and Supergirl’s Mehcad Brooks may want to brace themselves for what we’re about to tell them. Before Mr. Brooks was a part of worlds where superheroes and top cops reign supreme, he made a killing as a Calvin Klein underwear model; much like Mark Wahlberg, Antonio Sabàto Jr, and Djimon Hounsou.

Milla Jovovich

Before becoming an ace action star/zombie destroyer in the Resident Evil movies, Milla Jovovich found herself in another profession: muse. As an inspiration to designer Miuccia Prada, in addition to the star of shoots with acclaimed photographers such as Herb Ritts, Jovovich built a prolific career as a model; long before she would eventually be deemed a “Supreme Being” once again in 1995’s The Fifth Element.

Tyson Beckford

Before movies such as Biker Boyz and appearances on The Celebrity Dating Game and Match Game saw Tyson Beckford become an actor and personality, he saw himself engaged in another profession cut from similar cloth. Namely, Beckford was a model for magazines like The Source, as well as designer Ralph Lauren’s Polo brand.

Brooklyn Decker

The career of Brooklyn Decker started off with a huge splash, as both Sports Illustrated and Victoria’s Secret employed the future actor as a star model. Eventually, playing a lead in the Adam Sandler film Just Go with It put Decker on the map; which led to a pretty sweet long term gig as one of the stars of Netflix’s Grace and Frankie. 

Ian Somerhalder

Lost star and vampire extraordinaire Ian Somerhalder practiced looking ridiculously good looking in the modeling world, before parlaying it into roles that headed up projects like The CW’s The Vampire Diaries. Among the various brands that saw Somerhalder posing for greatness high end names like Nautica and Versace. 

Iman

In the modeling world, brands and magazines like Vogue, Calvin Klein, and Halston all called upon the mythic talents of the great Iman. Yves Saint-Laurent’s “dream woman” would eventually find the acting profession calling, and would heed its siren song through opportunities like the Kevin Costner thriller No Way Out, as well as a memorable spot in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Tom Welling

Even handsome men from Smallville manage to find themselves gracing campaigns for the usual glizy subjects. Former Clark Kent Tom Welling knows that first hand, as working with Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein would put him on the map to become a Superman for another generation. 

Tyra Banks

Long before Tyra Banks was trying to help find America’s Next Top Model, she was practically living her life under that very title. Through Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues, Victoria’s Secret campaigns, and cover shoots for Elle and Vogue, Banks’ reputation as an in demand beauty eventually saw her jumping into acting gigs like a recurring role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. 

Kellan Lutz

Vampires seem to make for good fashion models. Or should we reverse that statement? In either case, Kellan Lutz would be covered big time. Known as one of the Cullen family in The Twilight Saga, Lutz had also done some modeling before becoming one of the sparkling undead.

Kate Upton

Roles in The Three Stooges, The Disaster Artist and Robot Chicken have seen model Kate Upton active in the sphere of acting entertainment. However, her big start came from popularity stemming from cover shoots for Vanity fair, as well as modeling for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. 

Djimon Hounsou

Actor Djimon Hounsou has been known to battle it out heroically throughout various universes and time periods, making huge appearances in Gladiator, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Rebel Moon. But in addition to racking up such heavy hitting acts on his resume, the Academy Award nominee has also done some modeling for Calvin Klein underwear in the midst of his busy run.

Famke Janssen

Both the world of the X-Men movies, as well the James Bond legacy have called upon Famke Janssen’s skills as a performer. That run of good fortune actually came after she retired from modeling, which saw her lending her talents to campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent and Victoria’s Secret throughout the ‘80s.

Kofi Siriboe

Girls Trip and Queen Sugar star Kofi Siriboe is known as both an actor and an all around smokeshow in entertainment. And part of the reason the young actor has come so far so fast is thanks to childhood experience in the world of modeling campaigns!

Elle Macpherson

Everything from brands like Tab to magazines such as Elle and ads for Christian Dior have seen model Elle Macpherson gracing their campaigns for glory. And that was a perfect launching pad for Elle’s acting ambitions, which saw her hosting Saturday Night Live as well as appearing in movies such as Batman & Robin and The Edge throughout the ‘90s.

Robert Pattinson

While the world mostly knows Robert Pattinson for his acting gigs in the Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Batman franchises, you may be surprised to know that he actually did some modeling in his youth. Though he left that world behind a while back, that hasn’t stopped Pattinson from picking up some campaigns for brands like Dior Men from the Batcave.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Levi’s, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Teen Vogue were crucial starts to the career of model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and those pillars suited her well when continuing to be a world class icon. However, Rosie dipped her toes in the world of acting, through roles in both Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Mad Max: Fury Road.

Ashton Kutcher

How’s this for a start to a promising career? The late ‘90s saw Ashton Kutcher landing key gigs in both modeling and acting, with the former getting him started through Calvin Klein campaigns. It’s not hard to see how acting won out, as That ‘70s Show was the acting job that happened to land in his lap around the same time.

Elizabeth Hurley

The world has come to know and love Elizabeth Hurley in her capacity as an actor, throughout a career that’s seen her star in the Austin Powers franchise, as well as the remake of Bedazzled. But before she was selling Brendan Fraser’s soul, or fighting for peace with Mike Myers, Hurley was a model for the Estée Lauder brand. 

There you have it, lovers of modeling and acting talent! Keep these people in mind the next time you see a hot new star in either realm burning bright, for they could be the next exciting example of playing both sides, and looking exceptionally good in the process.

While only two years passed between the release of Deadpool and Deadpool 2, the public is still waiting for Deadpool 3’s arrival. To be fair, there was initially uncertainty if the threeqeul would even move forward following Disney acquiring 20th Century Fox, but by late 2020, it was clear that it would indeed be included on the upcoming Marvel movies slate. Cut to the present day, we know quite a but more about what Deadpool 3 holds in store, but there’s also much about this movie that’s being kept officially secret. Unofficially, however, it’s a different story.

Rumors surrounding superhero movies are nothing new, but there’s been an especially high number of wild claims about Deadpool 3, specifically on the casting front. That’s because like Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Loki, Deadpool 3 looks like it will delve into the Marvel multiverse, which will supposedly open the door to not only reunite with other familiar faces from past Marvel movies, but also include some big-name actors playing notable roles. 

To be clear, none of the names mentioned are remotely close to being a sure thing, and some are less plausible than others. Still, as we wait for Deadpool 3 to resume production, it’s worth going over the wildest casting rumors surrounding the Merc with the Mouth’s third theatrical adventure. Also, we aren’t covering alleged character identities for confirmed members of the Deadpool 3 cast, like who Emma Corrin and Matthew Macfayden are supposedly playing.

Karl Urban And Taron Egerton As Other Versions Of Wolverine

A year ago, it was announced that Hugh Jackman will reprise Wolverine in Deadpool 3, a 180 turn from when he’d once said Logan would be his last outing in the role. It’s since been reported that Jackman will play multiple versions of Wolverine, and a more recent rumor claimed that Ryan Reynolds’ Wade will be traveling through the multiverse to find the “perfect Wolverine.” However, as established by No Way Home and Loki, not all variants look the same, which can range from slightly different facial features to being a member of a different species.

With that in mind, Karl Urban and Taron Egerton are both rumored to be playing alternate versions of Wolverine, with Giant Freakin’ Robot sharing the former’s supposed inclusion and the latter casting coming from The DisInsider. Both actors have been suggested by fans to take over as Wolverine in the MCU, and considering that John Krasinski, a popular fan choice for Mister Fantastic, was selected to play the stretchy superhero in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it wouldn’t be completely out of left field for Deadpool 3 to do something similar with Urban and Egerton.

Lots Of Other Established Fox-Era X-Men Characters

Deadpool 3 won’t be lacking in X-Men characters, because along with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine reprisal, we’ll also reunite with Stefan Kapičić's Colossus, Brianna Hildebrand's Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Shioli Kutsuna's Yukio. But that may just be the tip of the proverbial iceberg. In May 2023, Twitter user @CanWeGetSomeToast claimed that James Marsden, Famke Janssen and Halle Berry were on deck to respectively reprise Cyclops, Jean Grey and Storm, making this threequel sound like it would be the mutant version of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Then the following August, the aforementioned DisInsider video shared a bunch of other surprising Marvel cameos in Deadpool 3. As far as the established X-Men and Deadpool characters went, along with Janssen and Berry being mentioned again, the list included Brian Cox as William Striker, Lewis Tan as Shatterstar, Dafne Keen as X-23, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Patrick Stewart as Professor X and Ian McKellen as Magneto. It was clarified that all these appearances remain “unconfirmed,” and frankly, it would be bonkers if all these people showed up. And we’re only on Entry #2 of this list!

Various Fox-Era Fantastic Four Characters

The Fantastic Four didn’t have as much luck under the 20th Century Fox umbrella, but there are fans of 2005’s Fantastic Four and 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer out there (2015’s Fantastic Four, not nearly as much). So between that and all the other Fox-era Marvel movie coverage Deadpool 3 is rumored to have, it’s not terribly surprising to hear that this version of Marvel’s First Family might be getting some attention, per scooper DanielRPK (via Deadpool Updates). 

Assuming this is true, it’s unclear if the entire quartet would appear, or if we’d only see a few of the members, such as Chris Evans’ Human Torch and Michael Chiklis’ Thing. Additionally, one of the other characters mentioned in that DisInsider video was Julian McMahon’s Doctor Doom. Whether we would actually see him actually fighting the Fantastic Four again or if Wade Wilson would visit him separately is also unclear.

Ben Affleck As Daredevil

More than a decade before he was selected as the DC Extended Universe’s Batman, Ben Affleck first jumped into the superhero genre by playing the title protagonist of 2003’s Daredevil, a.k.a. Matt Murdock. Well, in June 2023, Twitter user KC Walsh shared that Affleck was seen on the Deadpool 3 set, which understandably kicked off speculation that he’d be reprising Marvel’s Man Without Fear, which Walsh said in a separate tweet was “likely,” though it couldn’t be verified at the time.

Now it’s looking like this particular casting rumor won’t pan out. In September, Walsh tweeted that Affleck was actually on the set to visit his kids and ex-wife Jennifer Garner, not suit back up as Daredevil. Why would he be seeing them there? Well, that brings us to the next person on this list.

Jennifer Garner As Elektra

Shortly after the rumor of Ben Affleck’s Daredevil reprisal started making the rounds, THR shared that Jennifer Garner will reprise Elektra, who first appeared in Daredevil, then led her own spinoff movie in 2005. Garner previously worked with Deadpool 3 director Shawn Levy on The Adam Project, but when Levy was asked about if he would indeed re-team with the actress, he simply said that he’d “rather not weigh in on that.”

Of all the casting rumors on this list, this one seems the most likely to be accurate given that it originated from a major Hollywood trade publication. That’s not to say all scoops from such sources end up being true, but more often than not, if a place like THR is reporting it, then it’s likely to be the real deal. Also, one could argue Levy’s reluctance to comment on whether or not Garner is involved rather than just debunk the claim adds authenticity. 

Elizabeth Olsen As Scarlet Witch

When we last saw Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, specifically the Earth-616 version of Wanda Maximoff, she was being buried by the collapsing Mount Wundagore, seemingly sacrificing her life to destroy all the copies of the Darkhold in the multiverse. However, it still hasn’t been officially clarified if Scarlet Witch is dead, and many fans believe we’ll see her again someday. However, evidently a different version of Wanda will appear in Deadpool 3.

That DisInsider video mentioned Wanda as one of the cameos, but a later report from Cosmic Circus alleged that we’ll see the Earth-838 version of the character instead. Deadpool 3 will supposedly return to Earth-838 to explore how that reality has become a dystopian landscape following the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This report also mentioned that Ian McKellen will be playing the 838-Magneto, who is Wanda’s father like in the comics, and together they are members of the new Illuminati. This feels like a storyline that should be saved for another Marvel project rather than crammed into Deadpool 3, so it’d probably be worth taking this rumors with a bigger grain of salt.

Various Loki Characters

Loki Season 1 ended with the multiverse being unleashed once Sylvie killed He Who Remains, and while Season 2 will explore the direct consequences of that action, apparently some of its leading characters will find themselves meeting the Merc with the Mouth sometime afterwards. The DisInsider video mentioned that both Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson will respectively reprise Loki and Mobius, with the latter having been previously reported to appear by The Hot Mic in March 2023.

Additionally, it was reported that the Time Variance Authority mascot Miss Minutes will be in Deadpool 3, although the character’s voice actress, Tara Strong, later told Agents of Fandom she hadn’t heard about this. Whether or not Loki and/or Mobius will pop up remains to be seen, but it’s not like it would be entirely unprecedented for them to somehow be drawn into the multiversal shenanigans unfolding in the movie.

Channing Tatum As Gambit

For many years, Channing Tatum was in deck to play Gambit in Fox’s X-Men franchise, taking over the role from X-Men Origins: Wolverine’s Taylor Kitsch. Unfortunately, the Gambit movie was kept getting hit with setbacks and delays, and once Disney acquired Fox in 2019, the project was shelved. And yet, Tatum may get the opportunity to play the card-throwing mutant after all.

The aforementioned @CanWeGetSomeToast claimed the actor will appear in Deadpool 3 wearing a “comic accurate” Gambit suit. If this rumor ends up being accurate, this cameo will be similar to how Nicolas Cage appeared in The Flash as Superman, a reference to the un-produced Superman Lives. In Tatum’s case though, he obviously won’t need to be digitally de-aged.

Taylor Swift As Dazzler

Following speculation that Dazzler would appear in Dark Phoenix, the character did indeed show up, albeit as a minor player brought to life by Halston Sage. But if the word on the proverbial street is true, then Dazzler is about to get some much bigger exposure, as the DisInsider video from earlier mentioned that Taylor Swift will play her in Deadpool 3.

Now to be fair, Swift does have a few acting credits, including The Lorax, Cats and Amsterdam, and obviously casting her to play a popular mutant singer would be a no-brainer. But for now, it’s hard to say if this rumor has any merit, and even if it does end up being true, like most of the other people on this list, she’ll presumably only briefly appear rather than have a major supporting role.

Daniel Radcliffe In A “Secret” Role

Following the conclusion of the main Harry Potter film series in 2011, Daniel Radcliffe has steered clear from big franchise movies, but perhaps Deadpool 3 will end that streak. Daniel Richtman (via ComicBookMovie) alleged that the actor has snagged a “secret” role in the threequel. There’s been no shortage of thoughts on who this mysterious character might be, but one theory seems to be getting more traction.

Like Karl Urban and Taron Egerton, may fans believe Radcliffe is playing a Wolverine variant since he’s another actor who’s been frequently fancast in the role. And just like those two, along with John Krasinski as Mister Fantastic, this would give the Harry Potter actor an opportunity to bring Wolverine to life for a short spell, rather than commit to playing the character for multiple movies. It’s the best of both worlds, but for now, we simply don’t know if Radcliffe will indeed be in Deadpool 3, let alone who he’s playing.

Rest assured that if any of these casting rumors are verified, we’ll let you know. Deadpool 3 is still officially set for May 3, 2024, though that will likely change given how principal photography remains paused.

At long last, Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, one of the biggest animated movies on the 2023 release schedule, is finally here with the next chapter in the popular franchise’s cinematic journey. The movie, which is already setting Guinness World Records, will surely be a hit with audiences of all ages (and species) thanks to its exciting story, colorful animation, and all those fan-favorite characters and despicable villains.

Speaking of the Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie cast… there’s a good chance you’re wondering where you’ve seen and heard the actors who bring those iconic pooches (and all the other characters who grace the screen) in the latest Adventure City-centric story. Well, you’ve come to the right place because we’ve got you more than covered…

Mckenna Grace (Skye)

This time around, Skye, the pup that gains the ability to fly after coming in contact with a meteor, is voiced by Mckenna Grace in Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie.

Grace, who is set to reprise her role as Phoebe Spengler in the upcoming Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel in March 2024, has been on the rise the past few years thanks to memorable roles in movies like Gifted, Captain Marvel, and Troop Zero, as well as shows like Young Sheldon, The Handmaid’s Tale, and A Friend of the Family. 

Taraji P. Henson (Victoria Vance)

Taraji P. Henson shows up in the Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie cast as Victoria Vance, the not-quite-mad scientist whose invention brings the meteor that gives the pups and herself super powers crashing into Adventure City.

Henson has a long and notable career. She won a Golden Globe for her role on Empire. She was nominated for an Oscar for her work in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and she received a number of other accolades for everything from Hustle & Flow to Hidden Figures and Four Brothers to Ralph Breaks The Internet. She’s also in the running for a Primetime Emmy thanks to her guest appearance in Abbott Elementary. 

Marsai Martin (Liberty)

Marsai Martin is one of the returning members of the Paw Patrol: The Movie cast, once again playing Liberty, the newest member of the Paw Patrol and leader of the Junior Patrollers in the new film.

Martin, who got her big break as Diane Johnson on the popular TV show, Black-ish, has been on a roll the past decade, landing roles in movies like Little, Spirit Untamed, and Fantasy Football. She’s still busy on the small screen as well with appearances on DreamWorks Dragons: Rescue Riders, Wild ‘n Out, and The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.

Finn Lee-Epp (Ryder)

Finn Lee-Epp is a new addition to the franchise with his portrayal of Ryder, the group’s human leader in Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie. This is Lee-Epp’s second film appearance, with the first being as the young version of Diane Lane and Kevin Costner’s characters’ son in the 2020 neo-Western thriller, Let Him Go.

Christian Convery (Chase)

Chase, the police pup with special ability of super speed, is voiced by Christian Convery in Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie.

Convery, who takes over the character voiced by Iain Armitage from the first movie, is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Gus on the Netflix original series, Sweet Tooth. However, fans of the streamer’s live-action One Piece cast may recognize him from his appearance as a young Sanji in the 2023 TV show.

Christian Corrao (Marshall)

Christian Corrao voices Marshall, the fire pup with the power to throw flames, in Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie. Corrao has played the clumsy Marshall on the Paw Patrol TV series since 2022, which came after popping up on shows like Odd Squad, Esme & Roy, and several others in recent years.

Callum Shoniker (Rocky)

Callum Shoniker, who previously voiced Rocky in Paw Patrol: The Movie, returns to play the magnetic handyman pup in the new adventure. The past couple of years have been a busy stretch for Shoniker, as he appeared in various animated series like PJ Masks, Go, Dog, Go, and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood to name a few.

Nylan Parthipan (Zuma)

Nylan Parthipan appears in Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie as Zuma, the aquatic rescue pup with the power to transform into water. The young actor, who previously voiced a different character on the Paw Patrol TV series, has also voiced characters on shows like Firebuds, PJ Masks: Power Heroes, and Superkitties.

Luxton Handspiker (Rubble)

Rounding out the core pups in Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie is Luxton Handspiker, who takes on the role of the wrecking ball that is Rubble. Handspiker previously voiced the character on the spinoff series, Rubble & Crew.

Lil Rel Howery (Sam Stringer)

Sam Stringer, the TV reporter who shows up throughout Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, is voiced by Lil Rel Howery.

Howery has been all over the place in 2023 with key roles in the Vacation Friends 2 cast and The Out-Laws ensemble. He's also set to appear in movies like Dashing Through the Snow and the highly anticipated Good Burger 2. This comes after years of being in everything from Get Out to The Carmichael Show and Judas and the Black Messiah to Craig of the Creek. 

Kristen Bell (Janet)

Kristen Bell shows up in Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie as Janet, the owner of the junkyard saved by the pups in the film’s opening scene. From Veronica Mars to Frozen and countless other movies and TV shows in between, Bell is a very recognizable actress in Hollywood with and incredibly well-known voice.

James Marsden (Hank)

James Marsden portrays Hank, the other owner of the junkyard saved at the beginning of Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie. Marsden has appeared in everything from the X-Men movies to the video game adaptation, Sonic the Hedgehog, and dozens of other movies and TV shows throughout his career, including The Boss Baby: Family Business, and most recently Jury Duty.

Chris Rock (Kitty)

Chris Rock briefly appears in Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie as Kitty, after one of Mayor Humdinger’s evil cats gains the ability to speak, as seen in the movie's official trailer. The incredibly successful SNL alum is best known for his various stand-up comedy specials and movies like Down to Earth, The Longest Yard, and the Madagascar film franchise.

Kim Kardashian (Delores)

Kim Kardashian briefly appears in Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, reprising her role as Delores the poodle from the first movie. Kardashian, who is also a member of the American Horror Story: Delicate cast, is also well known for the reality series, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, which was followed by The Kardashians on Hulu.

Serena Williams (Yoga Yvette)

Serena Williams is another celebrity to make a short yet noticeable appearance in Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, in which she portrays Yoga Yvette, a fitness instructor. In addition to her historic tennis career, the younger Williams sister has appeared in movies like Pixels, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and Ocean’s 8.

Ron Pardo (Mayor Humdinger)

Ron Pardo shows up in Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, once again portraying the evildoer Mayor Humdinger. Pardo is best known for his portrayal of the Paw Patrol’s nemesis, though he has lent his voice to shows like Totally Spies, Braceface, and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

The Junior Patrollers (North West, Alan Kim, Brice Gonzalez)

And then there are the Junior Patrollers Mini, Nano, and Tot, three Pomeranian pups voiced by North West, Alan Kim, Brice Gonzalez, respectively. This is West’s first film appearance, while Kim has appeared in titles like Theater Camp and Minari, and Gonzalez has been in Flamin’ Hot.

You can check out Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie in theaters now. If you want even more from Adventure City’s finest, you can watch 2021’s Paw Patrol: The Movie and all the TV shows based on the pups with a Paramount+ subscription.

Disney live-action remakes have become so commonplace that playing a Disney prince as a physical performance rather than an animated one has become commonplace. But that wasn’t always the way it worked. For a long time, James Marden was in something of a unique place in Disney history playing a prince in a Disney fairytale musical as himself in Enchanted. Although apparently Ryan Gosling once wanted a chance to do the same, and now I’m wondering how in the world this has never happened. 

In a TikTok video recently shared by EW, Marsden tells the story of running into his Notebook co-stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams while he was filming his role in Enchanted. Apparently Gosling had seen the movie filming in Times Square, where Marsden was dressed in his princely outfit. But rather than poking fun at the scene, he admitted that playing a role like that was something he’d love to do.

Hang on, if Ryan Gosling wants to play a live-action Disney prince, then how in the world has this not happened yet? They even made a sequel to Enchanted, giving them a perfect opportunity to get Ryan Gosling and James Marsden playing live-action Disney princes together, and yet somehow we have been deprived of this. The world is not fair.

Come to think of it, there is a surprising lack of Disney in Ryan Gosling’s filmography, which is honestly quite impressive considering he essentially got his start as a member of the '90s-era Mickey Mouse Club. Gosling appeared in Remember the Titans and was expected to be part of the Guillermo del Toro Haunted Mansion movie that never happened. Other than that he hasn’t been part of Disney projects as an adult.

Having said that, his willingness and even interest in playing a role like a live-action Disney prince likely helps explain his decision to go all-in playing Ken in Barbie. Both Enchanted and Barbie were movies where characters from other worlds traveled to our real world, leading to hilarity as they learned to navigate the new world. Also Gosling got to sing as Ken, so really the only thing Gosling missed out on was the tights.

It feels like Disney needs to take note of this. Somewhere in some live-action Disney adaptation or a movie based on a Disney theme ride there is a role that Ryan Gosling would be perfect for, and he’d clearly consider the idea, there’s no fear he’d find the role too weird or silly. So let’s make this happen.

It’s probably fair to say that Freevee’s Jury Duty is the most bonkers project of James Marsden’s career. Throughout the staged trial, he improvised an exaggerated version of himself as an over-the-top, pretentious Hollywood actor for hours at a time. As a comedic feat and social experiment it is impressive, especially because the version of James Marsden we see in the show is quite the opposite of who he really is. That is, of course, according to Ronald Gladden, the man he was fooling.

I recently caught up with Gladden to celebrate the release of Jury Duty’s new commentary track on Freevee. Since the show wrapped, he and Marsden have gotten to know each other quite well, so when I mentioned the caricature of an actor James Marsden portrayed on screen, Gladden told me this:

Well, it’s refreshing to hear firsthand that James Marsden is a pretty good dude, as he’s been in the industry for decades. If you can believe it, it’s been 20 years since The X-Men franchise began, and he’s even rumored to return to the role of Cyclops for Deadpool 3. More recently, he’s leading the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, which is about to finish its wildly successful trilogy. He even once passed on Magic Mike, but that’s neither here nor there. The point is, even taking on something as nuts as Jury Duty is a pretty brave move for the veteran actor, and it’s a true testament to the fact that, despite the caricature of himself he’s playing, the fame has not gone to his head. 

Ronald has become something of a celebrity in his own right, and even has folks thirsting over him online. He’s been rubbing elbows with the biggest stars in the world, having recently done a Mint Mobile commercial with Ryan Reynolds, a company the Deadpool actor sold for over a billion dollars back in March. You can see Ronald and Ryan in the ad below:

With all of this newfound celebrity, Ronald Gladden has been crediting James Marsden for helping him to navigate the nonsense. Speaking of whom, as 2024’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 comes closer to release, we’ll certainly keep you updated. As for Gladden, his latest creative endeavor was recording the commentary track for Jury Duty, which you can watch right now on Amazon’s Freevee! The app. is free, but if you’re a Prime member, all of their titles are already available through Amazon. If you’re not a Prime member, we have the lowdown on the prices and what’s included with a subscription.

Anticipation for Deadpool 3 kicked up a few notches last September when it was announced that Hugh Jackman will reprise Wolverine in it. More recently, it’s been confirmed that Deadpool movie alums Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio will also be back, but that may just be the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to the Ryan Reynolds-led threequel and the X-Men. There’s a rumor claiming that Deadpool 3 will bring in even more of these superheroes we’ve seen before on the big screen, and if true, then the upcoming Marvel movie is sounding like it will be the mutant version of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Take this information with a grain of salt, but according to Twitter user @CanWeGetToast, who posts various Marvel-related “scoops” and rumors, Deadpool 3 will also feature the return of James Marsden’s Cyclops, Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey and Halle Berry’s Storm. It wasn’t specified whether these three would have important roles in the movie like Wolverine or simply cameo, but either way, this would be the first time these actors have reprised their respective superhero characters since 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. Marsden, Janssen, Berry and Jackman, along with Anna Paquin as Rogue, formed the main lineup of protagonists under the command of Patrick Stewart’s Professor X in the first X-Men movie.

I’ll reiterate, Cyclops, Jean Grey and Storm appearing in Deadpool 3 is in no way official, and we may not even learn whether or not they’re involved with the story until the movie actually comes out. But assuming this information is accurate, then it sounds pretty similar to how Spider-Man: No Way Home brought in the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s versions of Peter Parker to team up with Tom Holland’s Peter against villains from the previous two Web-Slinger-centric film series. In this case though, since there aren’t multiple cinematic Deadpools to utilize, we’re instead getting some of the heaviest hitters from the Fox-era X-Men movies to share screen time with Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with the Mouth.

The prospect of the humorous Deadpool annoying the hell out of the gruff Wolverine (in fact, probably multiple versions of him) was already a big draw for Deadpool 3, but now imagining him doing the same to Cyclops, Jean Grey and Storm adds an extra layer of hype. Although there was a gag involving the “First Class” lineup of X-Men in Deadpool 2, the aforementioned Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio have been his only ties to the superhero team in the film series so far. Sure, we also got Cable and Domino in Deadpool 2, but Josh Brolin and Zazie Beetz’s characters aren’t on the roster in this continuity.

While Deadpool should obviously be the focus of a movie called Deadpool 3, if this project ends up serving as the final hurrah for the Fox-era X-Men movies, that would be a big deal. The last official entries in the franchise made before Disney acquired Fox, Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants, critically and commercially underperformed, so ending things on a more positive note would certainly be welcome. The Deadpool 3 cast will also include more familiar like Morena Baccarat’s Vanessa, Leslie Uggams’ Blind Al, Karan Song’s Dopinder and Rob Delaney’s Peter, as well as newcomers Emma Corrin and Matthew Macfayden.

Deadpool 3 is currently shooting and is still slated to come out on November 8, 2024. As with most of the other Marvel movies in order, you can view the first two Deadpool movies with a Disney+ subscription.

Amazon Freevee’s Jury Duty may have slid slightly under the radar at first, given that the platform is brand new, but the word is out, and James Marsden’s new show is a breakout hit. This fan-favorite feel-good TV show features a staged trial where everyone involved, from the judge to the security to the jurors, are all improv actors, with the exception of one man: Ronald. Ronald is under the impression that every wacky event happening around him is a real-life occurrence, with the only actor he recognizes, James Marsden, playing himself. However, the cast and crew found out that one of the other actors ran the risk of of giving away the whole bit when Ronald revealed that he’s a huge fan of Parks and Recreation. 

I recently spoke with Marsden about the show, and asked about the difficulties of keeping Ronald in the dark during the whole staged trial. It turns out I didn’t know the half of it, as he was a comedy fan surrounded by comedic actors:

For you Parks and Recreation fans who are unsure of who Kirk Fox is by name, you may remember his character Joe from the show, affectionately referred to as “Sewage Joe.” Maybe the below screenshot will jog your memory. 

It makes sense that the producers of Jury Duty would be cautious once Ronald brought up Parks and Recreation, as the show is still very relevant in pop culture. Not only is it still finding a new audience a full eight years after it ended as one of the best shows currently streaming on Peacock, but just this year Amy Poehler appeared as her iconic character Leslie Knope on Saturday Night Live. The point is that suggesting Kirk Fox take a backseat during the proceedings was probably a good bet, despite how hilarious the actor is. 

This kind of overlap was bound to happen, given that Ronald is fairly in touch with what’s going on in pop-culture. He even recognized James Marsden, hilariously telling him that he heard Sonic The Hedgehog was “really bad,” despite the film’s rather positive critical response. We know that being a celebrity can be a decent excuse to get out of jury duty in real life, but in the show, the judge refuses to give Marsden special treatment. It’s a good thing he played himself, otherwise Ronald would have recognized him and the whole bit would be blown. 

You can watch Jury Duty via Amazon Freevee right now! Take it from me: the show is delightful and a truly impressive accomplishment. If you’re now inspired to re-watch Parks and Recreation to determine whether or not you’d have recognized Kirk Fox yourself, you can do so with a Peacock subscription. 

Since the early '60s, Pop-Tarts have been the go-to breakfast dish for anybody needing a quick meal before heading out the door. I guess it was only a matter of time before a movie was made, though who would've thought it would come decades later from Jerry Seinfeld? The iconic comedian directed Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, which will eventually become available to anyone with a Netflix subscription, and in addition to being a part of it, he's also brought on some famous stars. 

The cast list for Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story is unbelievably stacked. A look down this list will show a who's who in comedy and get readers excited for this upcoming movie. Let's dive in and talk about some of the big names who will take part in this comedy movie. Full disclosure, we don't know the roles any of these actors and actresses are playing, but seeing them all together has me very excited about this project. 

Jerry Seinfeld

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld will star in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, which highlights the competition between Post and Kellogg's to produce a breakfast pastry in the early 1960s. Seinfeld is most known for his self-titled hit series, as well as his successful stand-up career. 

Melissa McCarthy

Melissa McCarthy is, without a doubt, one of the funniest women working in film. Whether it's Spy, Bridesmaids or any of her other notable movies, McCarthy is always on point with her ability to seamlessly meld quick wit with physical comedy. Hopefully all of that is happening in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, but we can only wait and see. 

Jim Gaffigan

Stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan might be primarily known for his stage work, but he's had a pretty healthy career in both film and television. Readers might remember his TV Land series The Jim Gaffigan Show or some of the various other movies and shows he's played a small role in, one maybe you've heard some of his voice work over the years, like as Thunderbolt in Stargirl Season 2.

Amy Schumer

Amy Schumer turned down doing the Barbie movie, but she'll be in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story in an undisclosed role. In addition to a highly-successful career in stand-up comedy, Schumer has found in just about every aspect of entertainment from film and television. 

Hugh Grant

Hugh Grant is an acting icon, and while he may not be the first person that comes to mind in a traditional comedy, he's had roles in quite a few entertaining ones over the years. One of my favorites had to be his recent cameo in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, but there are many other examples worth checking out. 

James Marsden

With Westworld officially in the rearview, James Marsden is in the cast of Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story. Marsden's career in film and television spans everywhere from X-Men to Enchanted. Having him aboard is a gift, and I expect his role will be a good one. 

Jack McBrayer

Jack McBrayer has come a long way from his days on 30 Rock, though a lot of the things folks love about his role on that comedy show are still present in some of his more recent works. I don't know officially what to expect from McBrayer, but I wouldn't be surprised if his positive-leaning Southern charm he's known for is on full display in whatever role he's been given. 

Thomas Lennon

It's hard to see Thomas Lennon and not see anything other than Lieutenant Jim Dangle of Reno 911. It's a credit to Lennon that his character has had the sort of longevity to still be relevant in 2023, though I'm sure we'll see him play someone entirely different in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story. 

Adrian Martinez

Actor Adrian Martinez has popped around Hollywood on the film and television side in various roles since the early '90s. 2023 will be a big year for him with an appearance in Renfield, and it's possible we'll see Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story arrive then as well. 

Bobby Moynihan

Saturday Night Live veteran Bobby Moynihan has been added to cast of Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story. This is just another notch in the belt for Moynihan's growing film career and his already-impressive string of television roles. Given the amount of voice-acting the actor's done in recent years, I almost wonder if he might be a spokesperson for Pop-Tarts or something along those lines in this upcoming movie. 

Max Greenfield

Between his roles on New Girl and The Neighborhood, it's easy to see why any comedy would want to bring on Max Greenfield. He's a natural talent who also proved he has some dramatic acting skills, as well with projects like The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. Hopefully he'll get a solid role in this film to further open up his career to other big roles. 

Christian Slater

Christian Slater's film and acting credits can't be summarized in a brief blurb, but luckily, he's enough of a household name we shouldn't have to run down the list. Suffice it to say that everyone should be thrilled he's in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, regardless of what he's doing. 

Sarah Cooper

Stand-up comedian Sarah Cooper will join the cast of Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, and she's definitely one of the up-and-coming talents on this cast list. Anyone unfamiliar with her work should certainly check out her Netflix special Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine to get ready for her upcoming performance in this movie. 

Rachael Harris

Lucifer fans should know actress Rachael Harris quite well, as she spent years on the main cast as Dr. Linda Martin. She's also had roles on numerous acclaimed comedies like Frasier and Ghosts, so she can bring a lot to this comedy film. 

Cedric Yarbrough

Cedric Yarbrough has done quite a bit in Hollywood throughout his career, though I daresay he's held any roles quite as prolific as his role as Deputy Jones on Reno 911. Now he's a part of Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, and hopefully ready to wow the world with whatever he'll be doing in this comedy. 

Maria Bakalova

Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova really burst out into Hollywood following Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and has slowly worked her way to larger roles in Hollywood. Her role in this movie is on the heels of her role as Cosmo the Spacedog on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, so 2023 could be a big year for the actress. 

Kyle Dunnigan

Stand-up comedian Kyle Dunnigan will appear Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, and he'll join a lot of former co-stars in the process. Dunnigan was known for his role as "Craig" on Reno 911 and was a writer on Inside Amy Schumer. Suffice it to say he probably had a lot of friends on set. 

Peter Dinklage

Actor Peter Dinklage has jumped through a lot of genres in his career and proven he can do anything from fantasy projects like Game of Thrones to comedy outings like Elf. There's no telling what he'll be up to in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, but knowing Dinklage's talents, I'm sure it'll be good. 

Jon Hamm

Jon Hamm is rolling right on from his role in Top Gun: Maverick into Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story. It's quite a genre jump for Hamm, but no doubt the Emmy-winning actor is game for whatever the comedy brings his way.  

John Slattery

John Slattery will join his former Mad Men co-star in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story. Though we know little about his role, Slattery is electric in almost any role he's taken on, and I wouldn't expect this comedy to be any different for him. 

Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story will stream on Netflix, but we're still waiting for an official release date. Hopefully, the movie will be as satisfying as a warm Pop-Tart, and it's hard to believe it won't be with this talented cast. 

After a break of more than a decade, Party Down is finally back with a new season full of new adventures for the struggling actors and career caterers on the cult classic Starz comedy series. The new season, which picks up with the beloved Party Down Catering Company employees (and their pink bow-ties) for a hilarious reunion, brings with it some new characters to share the screen with Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Jane Lynch, and the rest of the gang.

If you have watched the show’s return, or at least plan on doing so in the near future, you are probably wondering where you’ve seen the new additions to the Party Down Season 3 cast. Because it’s been so long since Party Down first aired, we’ve also included a little rundown of all those familiar faces who returned for the show’s third season.

Jennifer Garner (Evie)

Leading things off when it comes to Party Down newcomers is Jennifer Garner, who shows up in the show’s third season as Evie, a successful film producer who starts a new journey in life, one that includes dating Adam Scott’s Henry Pollard.

Garner, who was one of the first additions to the Party Down Season 3 cast reported on by Deadline in January 2022, is mostly known for roles in movies like 13 Going on 30, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Dallas Buyers Club, and most recently The Adam Project. However, Garner has long appeared on the small screen as well, including memorable performances on shows like Alias, Camping, and Upload.  

James Marsden (Jack Botty)

Next up for the Party Down Season 3 new additions is James Marsden, who shows up on the Starz original comedy series as Jack Botty, a big-time actor at the center of a massive superhero franchise.

Marsden joining the cast is the latest in a line of TV appearances for the actor who has popped up on The Stand, Mrs. America, Dead to Me, and Westworld in recent years, all while keeping up his film career. Over the years, Marsden has done everything from lead the X-Men movies to help make Sonic the Hedgehog one of the best video game adaptations of all time. He’s also shown up in movies like The Notebook, Superman Returns, Straw Dogs, and most recently, in the Disenchanted cast. 

Tyrel Jackson Williams (Sackson)

The first of two new additions to Party Down Catering Company is Tyrel Jackson Williams, who takes on the role of struggling internet personality Sackson on the revival.

If you were a fan of Disney Channel original shows from the past decade, then there’s a good chance you’ll recognize Williams from his portrayal of Leo Dooley on the Disney XD comedy series, Lab Rats. Williams also appeared in the 2014 Disney XD original movie, Pants on Fire.

Over the years, he has also had small roles on shows like Everybody Hates Chris, Modern Family, Community, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. His film roles to date include Failure to Launch, Thunder Force, and Hollywood Stargirl.

 Zoë Chao (Lucy) 

Also joining the Season 3 cast is Zoë Chao, who joins the catering team as aspiring celebrity chef, Lucy, who has to settle for the party circuit and a pink bow-tie for the time being.

This is the latest in a long line of TV shows for Chao, who continues to be one of the hardest working actresses around today. In the past half-decade, Chao has popped up on shows like Strangers, The OA, Living with Yourself, Love Life, and Modern Love. That also includes The Afterparty, the 2022 Apple TV+ original murder mystery comedy that will once again feature Chao when the show returns, according to Deadline.

Chao is also no stranger to the silver screen, as she has appeared in movies like Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Downhill, The High Note, Senior Year, and most recently, the 2023 Netflix original movie, Your Place or Mine. 

Quinta Brunson (Jaff) 

Last, but not least, when it comes to the cast newcomers is Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress and writer Quinta Brunson, who has become a household name in recent years thanks to her work on Abbott Elementary. Brunson shows up in a guest role as Jaff, Kyle Bradway’s (Ryan Hansen) agent, according to Variety.

Prior to finding success with Abbott Elementary in 2021, Brunson appeared on shows like A Black Lady Sketch Show, Big Mouth, Lazor Wulf, Miracle Workers, and multiple others. Her film appearances include An American Pickle, As of Yet, and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, in which she portrayed Oprah Winfrey. 

Party Down Returning Actors

Though Lizzy Caplan won’t be returning for Party Down Season 3, the rest of the major players from the show’s first two seasons will all be back. Here’s a quick refresher on who’s coming back and where you’ve seen them before.

Adam Scott (Henry Pollard)

As seen in the Party Down Season 3 trailer, Adam Scott will be returning as actor-turned-caterer Henry Pollard, who crosses paths with his old coworkers after more than a decade away.

Outside of saying “Are we having fun yet?” on the cult classic Starz comedy series, Scott is known for appearances on shows like Parks and Recreation, The Good Place, and most recently, Severance. 

Ken Marino (Ronald Wayne ‘Ron’ Donald)

Ken Marino also returns for the revival, once again playing Party Down Catering Company manager Ronald Wayne “Ron” Donald.

A comedy mainstay for more than 30 years, Marino has made a career out of playing over-the-top characters on The State, Childrens Hospital, and The Other Two, to name a few. His notable film work includes Wet Hot American Summer, Reno 911!: Miami, and Role Models. 

Jane Lynch (Constance Carmell)

Jane Lynch is another Party Down alum returning for the revival season, once again playing Constance Carmell.

Outside of her work on this comedy, Lynch is known for iconic performances on shows like Glee, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Hollywood Game Night, all three of which have earned her a Primetime Emmy Award. 

Martin Starr (Roman DeBeers)

Martin Starr, who played the condescending screenwriter Roman DeBeers on the show’s first two seasons, is back once again for Season 3.

In the years since appearing in the Freaks and Geeks cast, Starr has continued to find success on the small screen (as well as in movies), especially as of late with great performances on Tulsa King and Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. 

Megan Mullally (Lydia Dunfree)

Megan Mullally also shows up in the new season, once again playing the chronically optimistic Lydia Dunfree.

Mostly remembered for her award-winning portrayal of Karen Walker on Will & Grace, Mullally has also worked on shows like Childrens Hospital, Bob’s Burgers, and Parks and Recreation over the years, the last of which was alongside her husband, Nick Offerman. 

Ryan Hansen (Kyle Bradway)

And then there is Ryan Hansen, who is back once again as actor, model, and musician Kyle Bradway on Party Down.

Outside of slinging hors d'oeuvres on the Starz comedy series, Hansen has also appeared on 2 Broke Girls, Teachers, and A Million Little Things. 

You can see these faces (as well as some major guest stars) on Party Down, which airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on Starz. If you want to know what other new and returning shows are coming to the airwaves this spring, check out our 2023 TV schedule.

HBO has long been a hub of cutting edge, thrilling television programming. While Game of Thrones was still at the height of its popularity, the network debuted the ambitious sci-fi drama Westworld back in 2016. Following its fourth season, the show was surprisingly cancelled in the midst of yet another cliffhanger ending. And Westworld actor James Marsden recently opened up about HBO’s cancellation, and remaining hopeful about plans to “finish it.”

Each season of Westworld is wildly different, with the sci-fi series including concepts like a global apocalypse and mind-controlled humans. James Marsden has appeared as Teddy Flood throughout the show’s four seasons in the air, often sharing scenes with series star Evan Rachel Wood in the process. He was recently asked by Rolling Stone about the show’s shocking cancellation, and he opened up by sharing:

Points were made. Given the surprising nature of Westworld’s cancellation, the dystopian series wasn’t able to craft a truly satisfying ending. While Season 4 came to a close, we left off with a huge cliffhanger. Evan Rachel Wood’s Dolores created a new test for the hosts, in hopes of avoiding another apocalyptic event. But now we’ll never know whether or not she was ultimately successful.

Throughout Season 4 of Westworld we followed two different stories. They finally collided in the finale, when Dolores was able to once again become sentient and regain her memories and consciousness. With humanity on the edge of extinction, she re–creates the Westworld park in The Sublime, hoping to offer hosts one last “test” for hosts and humans alike. And as such, fans are left wondering how it all shook out.

Later in that same interview, James Marsden spoke about how much he loved his years playing Teddy in Westworld. What’s more, he expressed hope that the show’s fifth and final season might be completed someday in the future. As he put it,

There you have it. It remains to be seen if this will ever actually happen, but crazier things have happened. Then again, HBO typically hasn’t been involved in the various scrapped shows that have been saved from cancellation in recent years by moving networks. Hopefully we’ll get to find out the show’s ending in one way or another.

In addition to Westworld, James Marsden recently wrapped up his tenure on Netflix’s Dead to Me, which ended after Season 3. He’s also been keeping busy with film projects like Disenchanted and his ongoing role in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Be sure to check out the TV premiere list to plan your next binge watch.

Many people who have tuned in to catch the highly anticipated sequel to the early aughts Disney classic Enchanted seem to be having a magical and hilariously fun time watching it. As more viewers continue to watch Disenchanted they are sharing their thoughts about the nostalgic sequel, and we’ve compiled a few of the very best ones. 

Even though the film has received mixed reviews from critics, it’s clear that fans have been having an absolute blast as they stream Disenchanted with their Disney+ subscriptions. Take this user as an example, they, like me, grew up with Enchanted and used a both hilarious and accurate iCarly meme to tweet about their affection for Disenchanted. 

I feel like this meme in particular really captures what it felt like to sit down and watch Disenchanted all these years after Enchanted. I was 8 years old when the first film came out, and I truly was enchanted by it, so watching the sequel as a 23-year-old brought back all my warm, magical feelings and love for the original. 

Another person on Twitter also tapped into all the nostalgic feels with a hilarious meme from The Office, as they posted: 

Others were psyched to see the return of James Marsden’s over-the-top and lovable Prince Edward. While it felt like there wasn’t enough of Edward in the trailers, and he wasn't in too much of the movie, he did provide some of the most memorable moments, in my opinion. One fan was also incredibly enthusiastic about Marsden’s return as the prince, tweeting: 

While there were lots of fans commenting on the movie as a whole, others were hyper-focused on the music, especially because we actually got to hear the queen herself, Idina Menzel belt her heart out. I mean hearing the Wicked star sing “The Magic of Andalasia” and absolutely slay the power ballad “Love Power” was so fun. 

One person on Twitter captured their excitement while watching the Frozen star’s shining moment in Disenchanted, posting: 

As for the other songs in the film, this user posted a funny meme about Giselle’s tendency to break out into song anytime something went slightly wrong, tweeting: 

I feel like this tweet also encapsulates the general energy of evil Giselle in the movie, and watching Amy Adams switch from good to evil was wicked fun. 

If you re-watch the movie, I’m sure all these silly thoughts from fans will add an extra layer of fun and nostalgia to your viewing. Also, if you go back and watch Disenchanted make sure to look out for all the fun Easter eggs that are peppered all over the sequel. All these fun callbacks and nostalgic memories tied to Disenchanted really do make it a fun and magical addition to the 2022 movie schedule, especially if you grew up loving Enchanted. 

It’s been 15 years since Amy Adams brought her fairytale charm to New York City through princess-to-be Giselle, and fans of the live action Disney film have been looking forward to its sequel Disenchanted for quite a while. The time is finally here, as the movie is currently available for streaming with a Disney+ subscription. The Disenchanted cast sees the return of our old favorites — Patrick Dempsey as Robert, Idina Menzel as Nancy and James Marsden’s Prince Edward (though the trailers don’t show nearly enough of him). There are also quite a few new names to the universe, including comedy greats Maya Rudolph, Yvette Nicole Brown and Oscar Nuñez.

Disenchanted will see Giselle and Robert moving their family out of Manhattan and into the suburbs. With Adam Shankman directing and Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz behind the music, we’ve been promised some major musical moments, including Idina Menzel finally getting to sing. The reviews are in to tell us what we need to know about this Disney+ sequel before deciding whether or not to settle in for a movie night with the fam. Let’s see what the critics have to say, starting with CinemaBlend’s review of Disenchanted. Our own Mike Reyes rates the movie 4.5 stars out of 5, saying it one-ups the original and is one of Disney’s best of the year: 

Amelia Emberwing of IGN agrees that this is a “mostly successful” effort, rating the movie a “Good” 7 out of 10. She warns that people hoping for simply more of the original movie might be disappointed, as Disenchanted takes the story in a different direction. The critic says:  

For Moira Macdonald of The Seattle Times, this movie was well worth the wait, Amy Adams is still a dream, and the sequel is filled with lavish musical numbers. The critic rates it 3 out of 4 stars, saying: 

Not all of the critics enjoy Giselle’s turn as a villain, however. Owen Gleiberman of Variety opines that Amy Adams’ goody-two-shoes character was the highlight of Enchanted, and her transformation into a wicked stepmother leads to a “scattershot” sequel. He says: 

Lovia Gyarkye of THR is also underwhelmed with the follow-up to Enchanted, saying it lacks charisma and curiosity, despite the best efforts of its talented cast. According to the review: 

Giselle's sweet naivety was unquestionably part of what made Enchanted such a classic 15 years ago, and it seems like the critics aren’t all in agreement about the arc her character takes in the long-awaited sequel. Others, however, give it their full endorsement. If you’d like to check Disenchanted out for yourself, the movie is available now for streaming on Disney+. If you’d like to start planning your next trip to the theater, be sure to check out our 2022 Movie Release Schedule, and see what’s coming to the big screen in 2023.

Fans of HBO’s Westworld were delivered a shock late last week, when the award-winning dystopian sci-fi drama was canceled ahead of its fifth season. Despite its twisty plots and exciting commentary on humanity vs. artificial intelligence, Westworld was apparently the victim of an aggressive cost-cutting mandate enacted by the network. The series’ big budget, combined with declining ratings over the past two seasons, proved to be its downfall, but it turns out the A+ cast members are still going to get paid.

Deadline reports that Westworld’s actors had “pay-or-play deals” for Season 5, ensuring that the cast — which includes Aaron Paul, Evan Rachel Wood, Thandiwe Newton, Ed Harris, James Marsden, Tessa Thompson and Jeffrey Wright — will still be paid, despite the cancellation. The site reports that contracts may have been renegotiated ahead of Season 4, and that networks making such guarantees to its actors is not unusual, particularly for ensemble casts that might be difficult to reassemble otherwise.

HBO is expected to pay out between $10 million and $15 million to the actors, which is still considerably more financially feasible than paying for another season, as THR reports that Season 4 cost “at least $160 million” to make what turned out to be its final eight episodes.

Despite ratings for Westworld dropping for 2020’s Season 3, and falling further two years later when it returned from pandemic-related delays, co-creator Jonathan Nolan said he’d always planned for a fifth and final season. It’s terribly frustrating for fans, including myself, to know there was a plan that would bring the often-confusing storylines to a conclusion, and now we will likely never get to see that play out.

Over its four seasons, the series accumulated 54 Primetime Emmy nominations, taking home nine trophies. There’s no question the HBO drama has made its mark on the TV world, with another good benchmark of that being the fact that it was brilliantly parodied in The Simpsons’ annual Halloween “Treehouse of Horror” episode this year.

As the actors will still collect a check from HBO, we can keep up with them through their other projects. Evan Rachel Wood can currently be seen with a spot-on portrayal of Madonna on The Roku Channel’s Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. And following Teddy’s surprising return to Westworld Season 4, you can take a look at any of James Marsden’s best movies and TV shows.

There may not be any more stories from the Divine on their way, but the first four seasons of Westworld are still available to stream for fans with an HBO Max subscription. You can also check out some of HBO Max’s best original series, and see what’s coming to cable and streaming for the rest of the year with our 2022 TV schedule. 

Since Disney+’s inception, the House of Mouse has been steadily releasing TV and movie content. One of the most hotly anticipated upcoming original movies coming to the streaming service is Adam Shankman’s Disenchanted, which serves as the sequel to 2007’s classic Enchanted. But the first two trailers for the new movie are missing one major piece to the original’s success.

When Enchanted hit theaters back in 2007, it was a critical and box office hit. As such, fans have been waiting for the sequel Disenchanted for quite some time. And while the trailers have revealed the plot and even a brief clip of Idina Menzel singing, what they’re missing is adequate screen time for James Marsden’s Edward. After all, he was the biggest screen stealer from the first movie.

The fun of Enchanted’s comedy came from Disney cartoon characters suddenly being dropped in New York City. Both Amy Adams and James Marsden were hilariously bonkers in their performances as Giselle and Edward respectively, although the X-Men actor was really chewing the scenery. While I’m eager to see him and Idina Menzel’s Nancy return in Disenchanted, the fact that Marsden has so little screen time so far gives me pause.

That’s not to say that James Marsden is totally absent from the first Disenchanted trailers. He and Nancy magically appear at the home of Giselle and Robert (Patrick Dempsey), bringing with them a song and gift for the family. But as the footage has focused on the main story about Giselle turning into a villain, pushing Edward to the background. Indeed, it was Idina Menzel’s Nancy who got more focus rather than everyone’s favorite cartoon Prince. As a reminder, you can check out the latest full trailer for Enchanted’s sequel below.

Of course, the total amount of footage released from Disenchanted is still very limited, at least until its release for those with a Disney+ subscription. So it’s more than possible that Disney’s marketing wants to save James Marsden’s most comedic beats as Edward in the streaming sequel. After all, trailers have been known to spoil movies before, to the dismay of moviegoers. 

Given how many years it’s been since Enchanted was released in theaters, this movie is a very long time coming. Fans have asked the cast about a potential sequel for years now, and it was thrilling to learn that it finally came together. Of course, the pressure will be on to deliver on expectations, given how beloved the OG movie is.

It certainly looks like Disenchanted will be quite different from its predecessor, moving the action out of New York City entirely. We’re also being introduced to a number of new characters, joining the quartet of returning actors. We’ll just have to see how much screen time James Marsden ultimately gets as Edward.

Disenchanted will release exclusively on Disney+ on November 18th. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

Spoilers below for the Season 4 premiere of Westworld, so be warned if you haven’t yet tapped into the madness. 

After a hiatus lasting just over two years — and I’m sure the specific number of days it was gone is itself a clue about the future — Westworld finally returned to HBO for the start of what will assuredly be an enjoyable head-scratcher of a fourth season. The highly anticipated premiere, titled “The Auguries,” picked up in the story seven years after the chaotic rebellion that capped off Season 3, and almost seemed like it was part of a normal, traditional series at times, from Evan Rachel Wood’s new and seemingly human character Christina to the all-around lack of Delos and the parks (outside of flashbacks).

Of course, co-creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy had plenty of rampant weirdness and mysteriousness and low-key hilarity on display throughout, giving audiences plenty to think about during the wait for Episode 2. So let’s take a look at the four biggest takeaways from Westworld’s Season 4 opener, followed by some more random musings. 

Evan Rachel Wood’s Christina May Be Partly Responsible For Gamers’ Suicides

While the details are a bit smudgy, Evan Rachel Wood’s non-Dolores — whom we’ll refer to as Christina for clarity and because it’s her actual name — works for some kind of a gaming company as a writer who seems to work mostly with realistic, situational experiences. Though she’d prefer to craft tales more in line with Dolores’ farmgirl origins, her boss (played by The Vampire Diaries’ vet Michael Malarkey) wants more sexed-up and violent fare. So for the most part, that side of Christina’s life felt pretty tame and non-controversial. But then there were the phone calls that Christina was getting, seemingly all from one ranting and raving dude named Peter (played by 12 Monkeys vet Aaron Stanford), who claimed that her games have ruined his and others’ lives. 

Westworld easily could have kept that loose thread dangling for another episode or two, but instead hastened things by having Peter accost Christina outside her home. This guy, with his talk of The Tower and other non-sequiturs, doesn’t know how to rationally stand still and explain himself, however, and the confusion reached the point where Peter jumped off of a building in front of Christina, questioning whether or not her game was causing it to happen. Not exactly normal shit to deal with, and the fact that Christina is seeing the Maze symbol…well it doesn’t bode normal either.

But Christina didn’t act like she had any idea what Peter was talking about, even in private moments away from her roommate. And she certainly didn’t appear to be programming any mind-controlling games when she was seen at work. So while the whole “technology dictating people’s actions” idea is obviously right in line with Westworld’s mission statement, it’s not yet clear what the hell is up with The Tower and how Christina factors into it. And let’s face it, it may never be. 

The Man In Black Is On A Mission Involving A Crapload Of Flies

By the time Westworld’s premiere ended, it was almost easy to forget that the episode started off so extremely bizarrely, with Ed Harris’ Man-Bot in Black attempting to literally buy the Hoover Dam. Understandably, no one jumped at his immediate offer, but then no one else seemed to understand just how dead-set he was on taking possession of said dam. His actions, which are presumably being guided in some way by Charlotte Hale, seem to be focused on regaining access to data that was stolen eight years prior. 

Jonathan Nolan did confirm the Man in Black’s quest ties back to something we saw in Season 2, so it can be gathered the information he’s seeking used to be housed within Delos’ property, presumably within the many mega-servers that were in the Forge. (And could technically be once more, given the seven-year time jump.) But since this is Westworld, the data probably isn’t what we’re expecting it to be, so there’s no point in speculating too hard about it at the moment.

But we might as well speculate on what the hell is up with those flies, because that was a truly horrific moment. And it wasn’t completely clear whether it was real and tangible, or just something being hallucinated by this character that Big Sky’s Arturo Del Puerto portrayed. Whatever the case may be, the flies were surely sent somehow by Man in Black or his higher-ups, and they’re somehow capable of making people bend to others’ will. To the point where someone slicing their own throat is on the list of commands. As if just the visuals of huge swaths of flies weren’t already bothersome enough.  

I Will Follow Maeve Into Any Rebellion, Caleb Not So Much

While we didn’t spend as much time with Thandiwe Newton’s Maeve as I would have liked — roughly the whole episode, give or take 30 seconds — it appears as if her narrative push early on this season will revolve around her trying to take out everyone that the Man in Black seems to be sending out to kill her. Even though I’m not entirely convinced that’s even the case, considering it was hard to gauge anyone’s full intentions from just the few memories that Maeve viewed from her attacker.

Whoever it is that’s been trying to track her down over the years, they should get ready for a mound of bodies to start piling up, both of the human and host variety, because Maeve is not one to back down when put up against a threat. And my money is on that character “winning” out in the end, even if there’s no true victory in Westworld. 

But do I feel great about Caleb jumping into the mission alongside Maeve? Not exactly. Especially after seeing how his home life is going. As mildly heartwarming as it is that he’s a doting husband and father who loves target practice, he’s apparently been overtaken by PTSD and paranoia more than ever in the last seven years. And while there’s nothing necessarily wrong with those traits in and of themselves, they almost definitely foreshadow troublesome times ahead for ol’ Caleb. Which probably means Maeve will suffer by extension, which would not be great.

More Major Characters Should Have Appeared

I can fully understand why a show with plots as dense as Westworld may need to start a new season off without all of its parts and mechanisms in motion. Especially when dealing with actors playing new roles, time jumps, and other new characters to introduce. So I don’t fault the Season 4 premiere for keeping other favorite characters at bay while setting up all the dominos yet to fall. 

However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t remark on how the episode was impacted by the lack of its ensemble sharing the screen together, at least ahead of Maeve showing up in the nick of time to save Caleb and his daughter from being capped. And considering that was a badass moment, it helps to prove my point. 

Even if we didn’t get more genuine ensemble moments, I would have also been happy to spend two or three scenes with Jeffrey Wright’s Bernard, who was last seen shaking off dust after a presumed trip to the Sublime. Why we gotta wait at least another week to find out what’s up with that? WHYYY?!? Also, let’s see some non-flashback Clementine!

Other Delos-Approved Thoughts About "The Auguries"

• Who’d have guessed that Ariana DeBose was exactly what Westworld needed? Clearly the casting director, who deserves a bunch of “Way to go!” balloons. 
• Totally understood that those were all CGI flies, but someone should have told Arturo Del Puerto to react a little bit more “freaked the fuck out”-ishly in that moment, considering how WTF things were. He was beyond startlingly calm, considering I would have shattered porcelain with my screams after seeing that horde of flies.
• I like that the fly form was incorporated into the Season 4 opening title sequence. Nothing goes together in nightmares quite like flies and skulls. 
• When Christina passed a seemingly homeless man while walking through the city, he definitely mentioned The Tower looming over everyone, which definitely wasn’t a coincidence. But was he one of the people that was “ruined” by the game like Peter?
• Christina’s boss kinda sucks, and both her conversations with him and her dinner date felt like they were themselves written by A.I., which I feel is worth noting in the folder marked “Possible Evidence For Why Season 4’s Real World Is Actually A Park.”
• How did returning star James Marsden show up right on time there in the end, and what does his character have to do with any of this? 
• Nothing has more inherent chill than Maeve meditating inside a snowy cabin as Jimi Hendrix plays. 
• “Now be a dear and close your eyes, would you?” Cold. As. Ice. 
• It’s kind of weird to watch Evan Rachel Wood as a Westworld character other than the deceased (or whatever) Dolores, even after Season 3’s body-swapping. I already know I won’t be able to break away from the feeling that there are identity-related twists to come for Christina.
• “Tabs” are the Season 4 equivalent of Season 3’s “Drip,” I’m guessing. At least as far as fad drugs go, if not for being similar in its effects and purpose of usage. 
• I don’t really understand what Maeve’s power outage was about, in that I don’t see why she was going so hard on her memories at that point in time, seven years after going on the lam. Does A.I. get the seven-year itch, as it were?
• Prediction: Frankie’s Bear Bear doll is no doubt going to get destroyed, and it will be a Top 3 tragedy for the season. 
• Do we think Maeve’s scabbard is a smelly gross mess that she doesn’t care about, since she’s not human, or do we think she cleans it when necessary? Because she most definitely did not wipe that blade off before sticking it back in there, and it was doused in blood or whatever life fluid.
• As happy as I was to see Ariana DeBose on screen, that’s how happy and surprised I was to see Good Girls vet Manny Montana popping up as Carver near the end of the episode. He brought a lot to Mayans M.C. Season 4 in recent months, so here’s hoping he gets showcased on Westworld as well.

Be sure to watch new episodes of Westworld on HBO every Sunday night at 10:00 p.m. ET, with episodes also available with HBO Max subscriptions, and then check out all of my random thoughts on a similar weekly basis. While waiting, head to our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see what other new and returning shows are on the way.

Fans can finally look forward to the highly-anticipated fourth season of Westworld premiering later this month on HBO, over two years since Season 3 of the western-dystopian series ended. Following the Season 3 finale, fans were unsure about the fate of Evan Rachel Wood’s Dolores. Now we finally have confirmation that the death is permanent courtesy of co-creator Lisa Joy, but Wood will return as another character along with James Marsden.

While appearing at ATX Festival along with the cast over the weekend, co-creator Lisa Joy dropped plenty of hints for the upcoming season of Westworld. Via Deadline, she discussed the new stories and the aftermath of the Season 3 finale, as well as just how Evan Rachel Wood and James Marsden will play into Season 4.

Evan Rachel Wood Is Back, But Not How You Expect

The Season 3 finale saw Dolores sacrifice herself in order to give the humans their free will back, and in turn, her memory and data were wiped clean from her circuits, basically killing her. It was unknown then whether someone, like Caleb, would reboot her system and bring her back, but Lisa Joy confirmed that she is dead.

Joy explicitly settled the character's fate by saying "Dolores is dead," but said that they decided to bring Evan Rachel Wood back and "write a whole new character for her." Wood discussed how it all happened and that it was in the works for a while:

This new character is named Christina, who lives in a New York-like city with her roommate, played by West Side Story’s Ariana DeBose. Said roommate might have a thing for Christina. Wood’s new character will also be going on a lot of dates, including one that looks a lot like fan-favorite James Marsden.

James Marsden Is Also Returning

During Season 2 of Westworld, fans already knew that James Marsden’s Teddy was going to be a goner before the season ended. During a climactic scene in the season’s penultimate episode, Teddy shot himself in front of Dolores, and it was heartbreaking to watch. However, in Season 4, Christina will be going on a date with someone that is the spitting image of Marsden, bringing back memories of Dolores and Teddy’s whirlwind romance.

The actor, who reportedly surprised fans halfway through the panel, spoke out about returning after so long, sharing his excitement in being part of something that started for him nearly a decade ago:

Considering how Teddy went out, it’s unlikely that James Marsden will be bringing that character back. Just like with Evan Rachel Wood, it looks like he will be playing an entirely different character. But at least their two characters will have another chance at love... if something doesn’t go wrong, anyway. With Westworld, you never know.

It will be interesting to see just what will happen in Season 4 of Westworld and just how exactly Evan Rachel Wood and James Marsden will be brought back. Fingers crossed that they have more luck than the characters that preceded them, but it will just be good to see them again no matter what happens!

Don’t miss Westworld premiering on Sunday, June 26 on HBO and HBO Max! Check out CinemaBlend’s 2022 TV schedule to see what else to look out for this summer.

Quicker than you can say Disney live-action remake, in 2007, Amy Adams’ Giselle went from 2D to 3D and in the flesh during Enchanted. The modern musical fairytale served as a fun love letter to the Mouse House's classic princesses and was a charming comedy for the whole family. After a 15-year break and numerous questions regarding the sequel’s future, Disenchanted has finally arrived, bringing with it those beloved characters as well as some new faces to the Disney+ exclusive.  

So, before or after you watch the Adam Shankman-directed musical comedy (with new music from Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz), you will probably want to know where you’ve seen and heard the Disenchanted cast before. Well, worry no more, for we have put together a quick yet comprehensive rundown of the actors in the long-awaited sequel.  

Amy Adams (Giselle)

An Enchanted movie just couldn’t happen without Amy Adams, and the actress is indeed returning to the role of Giselle from Disenchanted. The movie will take place 15 years after Giselle’s happily-ever-after with Robert and follow the couple as they move to a new house in a town called Monroeville. When speaking about reprising the role last year, Adams said it was “humbling” to do even more singing and dancing “not in my 20s.”

Since last taking on the leading role in Enchanted, Adams has become one of the most prolific and decorated names in Hollywood, earning two Golden Globes (American Hustle and Big Eyes), multiple Oscar nominations for movies like The Fighter and Vice, and praise for roles in the likes of Arrival, Sharp Objects, and Nocturnal Animals.

Patrick Dempsey (Robert Philip)

Giselle’s true love Robert is also back, with Patrick Dempsey returning to complete Enchanted’s sweet romantic pairing. In the 2007 flick, Giselle and Robert were complete opposites and from completely different worlds, with her being from a literal fairytale and him being a widowed divorce lawyer. But as the events of the film take place, Robert and Giselle fall for one another and form a cute family with Robert’s young daughter, Morgan.

Dempsey, who was in the early days of his run on Grey’s Anatomy when Enchanted was released, has remained just as busy since then, despite leaving the medical drama in 2015 (he did briefly return for the show’s 17th season). Movies like Made of Honor, Bridget Jones’s Baby, and The Art of Racing in the Rain have all featured the versatile actor in the past decade-and-a-half.

James Marsden (Prince Edward)

The jolly singing Prince Edward of Andalasia also returns in Disenchanted. James Marsden plays the role once again after he provided some particularly memorable and hilarious moments in the original. While he and Giselle originally fell in love in the fairytale world, once Giselle met Robert, Edward also found a new partner in Robert’s girlfriend Nancy, and at the end of the film, they got married in Andalasia.

Already a massive star prior to his appearance in Enchanted thanks in part to the X-Men movies, Marsden has continued to be a major force in Hollywood. Roles in movies like Sonic the Hedgehog and its 2022 sequel, as well as appearances on the shows like 30 Rock, Westworld, Dead to Me, and The Stand have all kept Marsden in the spotlight the past decade-plus. 

Idina Menzel (Nancy Tremaine)

Nancy Tremaine is also back for Disenchanted, once again being played by the talented Idina Menzel, who has since become a Disney princess herself as the voice of Elsa in Frozen. Funny enough, in the first movie, Menzel did not get to sing a single song, despite her incredible voice. This time around, it looks like the actress will get a music number or two. Which makes sense, because as you can imagine, spending time in Andalasia inspires the song in people. 

In addition to portraying Elsa in the incredibly successful Frozen franchise, Menzel has also appeared in the 2021 Prime Video adaptation of Cinderella as well as the A24 movie Uncut Gems alongside Adam Sandler in 2019.

Gabriella Baldacchino (Morgan Philip)

Robert’s daughter Morgan has grown up since Enchanted, and in Disenchanted, she will return. However, the original actress has been replaced with newcomer Gabriella Baldacchino. Morgan was originally played by Rachel Covey, who is not currently working in acting (Covey has gone on to write and score her own musical called, Painting Faye Salvez though). 

Baldacchino is 21, has a musical theatre background and will make her feature film debut with Disenchanted. 

Maya Rudolph (Malvina Monroe)

Disenchanted's villain will be played by Maya Rudolph, as the actress herself shared in 2021. In the 2007 movie, Giselle was haunted by Susan Sarandon’s Queen Narissa, who was Prince Edward’s evil stepmother, a sorceress who felt threatened by Giselle becoming the new queen. Rudolph’s character, Malvina Monroe, oversees the new neighborhood Giselle and Robert move into, leading to some major conflicts.

Rudolph, who is probably best known for her time on Saturday Night Live and role in the 2011 raunchy comedy Bridesmaids, has done a little bit of everything throughout her career. Comedies and dramas, animated movies and live-action adventures, she’s done it all. She currently leads the Apple TV+ original series Loot.

Oscar Nuñez (Edgar)

Also among the new cast joining Disenchanted is Oscar Nuñez, who provides the face and voice of Malvina’s magical mirror, Edgar.

Nuñez is well known for playing Oscar Martinez on The Office alongside Steve Carell, John Krasinski and the rest of its hilarious cast throughout the show’s run The funny actor has also been seen in movies like 2009’s The Proposal and 2017’s Baywatch. He also showed up in the 2022 action romance film The Lost City earlier in 2022.

Yvette Nicole Brown (Rosaleen)

Disenchanted is packed full of great comedy actors. Yvette Nicole Brown is also part of the Disenchanted cast as Rosaleen, one of Malvina’s evil neighborhood minions. 

The actress is best known for playing Shirley in Community, Dani in CBS’ The Odd Couple and as Dina in ABC’s The Mayor. She has also held numerous movie roles in films, including Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Avengers: Endgame, and Repo Men, to name a few. 

Jayma Mays (Ruby)

Also in the cast of Disenchanted is Jayma Mays, who takes on the role of Ruby, another one of Malvina’s neighborhood cronies. 

Mays is most recognizable as Emma Pillsbury in FOX’s musical series Glee. The actress has also previously held roles in 2011’s The Smurfs movie, Paul Blart: Mall Cop and in a recurring role in The Millers. 

Kolton Stewart (Tyson Monroe)

Locke & Key’s Kolton Stewart, appears in Disenchanted as Tyson Monroe, the son of Maya Rudolph’s villain. 

Like much of the cast of the Disenchanted sequel, Stewart has a song and dance background. His previous work includes roles on shows like The Expanse, Timeline, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, to name only a few.

Ann Harada

Another Broadway talent joining the musical is Ann Harada, who shows up in Disenchanted as one of Robert’s fellow commuters 

Harada was notably part of the original cast of award-winning Broadway musical comedy Avenue Q as the character of Christmas Eve, along with taking the stage for Les Misérables, 9 to 5 and Cinderella. Harada recently appeared  in the Schmigadoon! cast on Apple TV+ and guest starred in Blue Bloods.

Michael McCorry Rose 

A newcomer to Hollywood, Michael McCorry Rose is part of the Disenchanted cast as one of the commuters on the train into New York City, as seen in the movie’s magical trailer.. 

The actor has been part of Broadway musicals, including the Tony Award winning musical A Gentleman’s Guide To Love and Murder, along with being part of the casts of Wicked and the first National Tour of Anastasia. He has long collaborated with one of the Disenchanted songwriters, Stephen Schwartz, and has also performed with orchestras and symphonies.

James Monroe Iglehart

Broadway’s Genie James Monroe Iglehart appears in Disenchanted as another one of the commuters on Robert’s train into the city. 

The actor won a 2014 Tony for bringing Genie to life in the Aladdin stage musical, but he also took the mantle of Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton from 2017 to 2021. He also voiced the role of Lance Strongbow in Disney Channel’s Tangled series among many other TV credits.

That’s quite the exciting group of actors leading the Disenchanted cast, which can currently be watched with a Disney+ subscription. If you want to know what other movies are set to come out in the final weeks of the year, check out all the upcoming 2022 release dates here on CinemaBlend. 

Stream Disenchanted on Disney+.

After waiting over a decade, the Enchanted sequel titled Disenchanted is finally coming. Audiences can expect to see the magical cast from the previous film as well as some new characters to keep us excited. One returning cast member is Idina Menzel who played the potential stepmother role, but not in a wicked way. Now James Marsden, who played Prince Edward in the previous film, has a sequel update is sure to excite Menzel fans.   

When Screen Rant attended the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 premiere, he shared that Idina Menzel will actually sing in this sequel. This is an exciting change, as the Tony winning Broadway actress didn't sing a note throughout the first movie. What's more, he said that fans of the Frozen star will be pleased to know that composers Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz have written new musical numbers for the sequel. In the actor's words,

While this revelation may come off as confusing to this X-Men star, Idina Menzel told Movies Online that she actually wasn’t disappointed in not singing in Enchanted as she found it a compliment that her acting talents alone were enough to grab the role. The last time we saw her character Nancy in Enchanted, she chose to live in the Andalasian kingdom with Prince Edward while the main character, Giselle, chose to live in New York City with Patrick Dempsey’s Robert. After living like a Disney princess for 15 years and being reunited with Amy Adams for the Disney sequel, let’s hope for some songs about her life in Andalasia and a possible duet with Adams. 

Other thrilling new updates for Disenchanted follow Giselle, Robert, and his daughter Morgan moving to a new house in the suburbs overseen by Malvina Monroe, with the villainous role played by newcomer Maya Rudolph. After problems occur in their new home, Giselle works her magic to transform their new life into a fairytale only for the spell to backfire. No need to fret as we may have some classic Disney characters come along to help Giselle save the day. Since the last film was known for sneaking in plenty of Disney references, it should come as no surprise to see some more fun and nostalgic crossovers coming our way. 

Disenchanted is expected to arrive on your Disney+ subscription in late 2022. Make sure to look at our 2022 movie releases to find out when this long-awaited sequel will hit theaters. 

Sonic is back, and just like in the video game, the movie Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will introduce the sidekick Tails (voiced by Colleen O'Shaughnessey), as a number of familiar faces return for more Dr. Eggman-fighting fun. Ben Schwartz once again provides his vocal skills for the fast-footed titular mammal, joined once more by James Marsden as Tom, for a face-off against Jim Carrey’s Eggman and his newest accomplice Knuckles (Idris Elba) as they search for the Master Emerald. The critics’ reviews are in to help us decide if this sequel is one we’ll be hitting the theaters for. 

Along with James Marsden as Tom, Tika Sumpter returns as Maddie and Natasha Rothwell as Rachel. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will see Knuckles and Eggman (with right-hand man Agent Stone, played again by Lee Majdoub) team up to exact revenge on Sonic, while he and Tails try to keep the Master Emerald from falling into the wrong hands. Early reactions to the film — premiering in theaters Friday, April 8 — were positive, so let’s look at what the critics liked (or didn’t) about Sonic the Hedgehog 2. 

We'll start with Carlos Aguilar of The Wrap, who finds the sequel surprisingly satisfying, saying that Jim Carrey is allowed to be unfettered in his performance, and the film benefits from more animated characters and Carrey, and less James Marsden:

Peter Debruge of Variety says the cast has already proven a good match for the material, and director Jeff Fowler is able to successfully combine CG characters with their human co-stars. However, the runtime pushes such luck a bit too far:

Justin Lowe of THR calls Sonic the Hedgehog 2 "frantic fun," saying it will appeal to family audiences seeking spring break distractions even if it doesn’t break new ground in the franchise:

Some critics have noted the film’s run time, which is 122 minutes, should have been closer to 90. Leslie Felperin of The Guardian rates the movie 3 out of 5 stars: 

John Nugent of Empire rates the movie 2 stars out of 5. He says the Sonic sequel is really more of the same, which doesn't mean it's great, but it's also worth remembering how successful its predecessor was:

Sean Keane of CNET, however, finds Sonic the Hedgehog 2 a delightful sequel that captures a childlike sense of adventure. However, he also notes the movie feels about 20 minutes too long, and it feels like the writers didn't really know what to do with James Marsden and Tika Sumpter:

It seems like critics enjoy some parts of this video game-inspired sequel, especially the addition of the other animated characters, and praise for Jim Carrey's performance makes that seem like as much of a live-action highlight as anything. 

If you want to check out Sonic the Hedgehog 2, you can catch it in theaters starting Friday, April 8. Be sure to check out our 2022 Movie Release Schedule to find more upcoming movies to spend some of those hard-earned rings on.

The first Sonic the Hedgehog movie was a surprise hit back in 2020 before the pandemic wreaked havoc on everything, and its sequel has been highly anticipated. Ben Schwartz returns as the titular hedgehog in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and James Marsden is back as Tom — one of several actors reprising their roles from the original. Headed for theaters April 8, the movie was screened for critics, so let’s check out their first reactions.

In Sonic the Hedgehog 2, with Tom and Maddie (Tika Sumpter) in Hawaii to see Rachel (Natasha Rothwell) get married, Dr. Eggman (Jim Carrey) returns to search for the Master Emerald. Along with right-hand man Agent Stone (Lee Majdoub) and Knuckles the Echidna (Idris Elba), Dr. Eggman tries to exact revenge on Sonic. The hedgehog joins forces with Tails (Colleen O'Shaughnessey) to make sure the emerald doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. 

So what did the critics think after screening Sonic the Hedgehog 2? CinemaBlend’s Mike Reyes says he really enjoyed it, and that its themes of friendship, heroism and honor were fun to watch. He also says the cast is perfect, especially Natasha Rothwell.

Chris Killian of ComicBook.com likes the addition of Tails and Knuckles, and while Jim Carrey is amazing as Robotnik, this sequel allows its other stars to shine as well. He also advises audiences to stay past the credits:

Erik Davis of Fandango agrees that Robotnik shines with his new powers, and says fans of the franchise will feast on the easter eggs. If the first movie is about discovering new family, the sequel looks at the power of friendship, and the relationship between Sonic and Tails is this critic’s favorite part:

Ash Crossen of ScreenRant said Sonic the Hedgehog 2 had the younger audience members in her screening howling, which sounds pretty promising:

Plenty of critics seemed to think this sequel has stronger ties to the classic video game, helped by the addition of Tails and Knuckles. Nikki Novak of Fandango was one, saying this sequel is like a love letter to video game fans. 

Dana Abercrombie of The Koalition says this sequel outshines the original, and she can’t wait to see more of this franchise in the future.

Dorian Parks of Geeks of Color says the cinematography of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 didn’t have to go as hard as it does, and she commends Ben Schwartz, Idris Elba and Colleen O'Shaughnessey for the way they bring their animated characters to life.

The first reactions to Sonic the Hedgehog 2 are overwhelmingly positive! Many of the critics are praising Jim Carrey for his role, and it sounds like the addition of Tails and Knuckles add to the video game feel of the experience. We’ll be able to read the critics’ full reviews on March 28 — be sure to check back with CinemaBlend for those — but these first reactions might give you an idea about what to expect. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will premiere in theaters on Friday, April 8. In the meantime, check out our 2022 Movie Release Schedule to see what else is coming soon!

In my years of watching many big-time movies and TV shows, from horror series to fantasy movies to superhero films, I never quite noticed how often this actor seemed to pop up in some of my favorite projects. However, I’ve come to the conclusion that James Marsden is one of the most versatile actors that is in the business right now, and his resume of excellent films and TV shows proves that. 

But I know that my word won’t be enough for you, so that’s where this list comes in handy. Here are the best James Marsden movies and TV shows, and how you can watch them streaming right now, from his musical hits to miniseries’. 

The X-Men Series (2000-2014)

The X-Men film series has spanned so many movies that it’s hard to put down just one premise, so I’ll say this simply - the X-Men are a Marvel team  full of mutants with different powers that are tasked with saving the world on several occasions, often led by one of their strongest characters, Wolverine, or Charles Xavier (Professor X). 

For several years, James Marsden portrayed Scott Summers, otherwise known as Cyclops, a mutant who has the ability to emit beams of energy from his eyes that could kill anything and anyone, but due to this, he has to wear protective eyewear at all times, even when sleeping. Out of everyone that could have played this role, I do think Marsden did it the best. No one else could bring that same amount of swag and coolness to the character that he did, and honestly I wish he had played the role even longer, but everyone has to move on from superheroes at some point. 

Stream The X-Men Series on Disney+. 
Rent The X-Men Series on Amazon.

The Notebook (2004)

Probably one of the most famous romantic dramas of all time, The Notebook -- based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks -- tells the story of two souls and their undying love for each other back in the 1940s, and how somehow, love can conquer all. 

James Marsden plays Lon Hammond, Jr., one of the love interests in the film, and while this was one of Marsden’s earlier big movie roles, I do think it’s one of his best. His chemistry with Rachel McAdams was great for the time that they were together, and he shows off his acting skills in a way he hadn’t done before this. I also personally really enjoy the main love story. As talked about as it is, it does deserve a lot of the praise it receives.

Stream The Notebook on HBO Max. 
Rent The Notebook on Amazon.

Enchanted (2007)

If you’re looking for a fun fantasy film with Disney charm, check out Enchanted. This movie, starring the wonderful Amy Adams, tells the story of an animated princess who suddenly has her world thrown upside down when she is transported to the real world by the stepmother of the prince she was due to marry. Now, she has to somehow find her way back - while surviving New York City. 

If I can recall correctly, this was the first time I had ever seen James Marsden, who plays Prince Edward, and what a movie to be introduced to him on because Marsden seemed to just be having the time of his life in this role, at least from what I could see. I think of him more as a dramatic actor but seeing him as Prince Edward, this handsome man who has no idea how the normal world works, makes me laugh every time. With the sequel, Disenchanted, coming out soon, I think it might be time to do a re-watch. 

Stream Enchanted on Disney+. 
Rent Enchanted on Amazon.

Westworld (2016-2018)

As the first of a few television shows on here, let’s start out with a banger with Westworld. In this fun sci-fi series from HBO, Westworld takes place in a dystopian future where there is a theme park of the old wild west built with humanistic looking androids that will do whatever you want. However, when some of these androids begin to develop a consciousness and feelings, all hell breaks loose. 

For the first two seasons, James Marsden played Teddy Flood, one of the main characters, and honestly he knocks it out of the park. The Westworld cast is filled with talent regardless, but I really liked Marsden’s character and his interactions with Dolores, played by Evan Rachel Wood. While it’s a shame he isn’t on the show anymore, it’s still such a great series to watch, and with Season 4 hopefully coming out soon, this moment might be great to binge-watch it. 

Stream Westworld on HBO Max. 

Hairspray (2007)

This movie is hands down one of my favorite musical movies yet. In Hairspray, get transported back to the 1960s in Baltimore, where young teenager Tracy Turnblad is hoping to try out for her favorite show, Corny Collins, as a dancer. Life out there is tough for a girl like her - but as long as she has the power of dance and love on her side, nothing can stop her. 

James Marsden portrays Corny Collins in Hairspray, and while this movie had some perfect casting, nothing quite fit as much as Marsden playing the host of the show. He just has this perfect charisma and charm that only he could pull off, and he also has an excellent singing voice and the moves as well. Hairspray in general is a musical that everyone would love, with some amazing music like “You Can’t Stop The Beat” and “Without Love,” to speaking about important messages such as racial segregation and body love. If you haven’t watched it yet, be sure to check it out now. 

Stream Hairspray on Netflix.
Rent Hairspray on Apple TV.

Dead To Me (2019-Present)

If you’re looking for an amazing dark comedy to binge next, check out Dead to Me. In this Netflix original series, two women are both in a grief group following the deaths of their husbands, one of which was hit by a car and the other a supposed cardiac arrest. However, it’s revealed that not everything is as it seems, and sooner or later, secrets begin to unfold. 

James Marsden plays Steve Wood, one of the main characters of this show. I would tell you more about his character but this is a series that I really think you should go into blind. Marsden is fantastic in his role and really rocks it in every scene that he is in, but the Dead to Me cast, overall, is so talented and creates an engrossing story that will have your eyes glued to the TV from start to finish, and Marsden is a huge part of that. Definitely one of the best shows on Netflix to watch.

Stream Dead to Me on Netflix.

30 Rock (2012-2013)

Next up, we have the classic comedy, 30 Rock. In this sitcom that went on for several seasons, 30 Rock follows a head writer at a sketch comedy show, showing her daily life as she has to deal with not only her co-workers but the the stars of her show, and the constant struggles she has to face. 

No, Marsden was not a main member of the 30 Rock cast, but he was a major recurring character for a couple of seasons from 2012-2013, playing Criss Chros, Liz Lemon’s boyfriend and later husband, and while he wasn’t in the show for super long, I’ll always remember his character for being a genuinely good guy who sells organic hot dogs. Marsden was the perfect choice for this role, and his interactions with Tina Fey’s character are some of the best in the series. 

Stream 30 Rock on Hulu.

27 Dresses (2007)

I feel like when it comes to romantic comedies, this is what everyone knows James Marsden from. 27 Dresses is a romantic comedy about a young woman who has been a bridesmaid all her life - no, seriously, twenty-seven times. Now, when her sister is getting married, she’s serving as a bridesmaid again - only this time, watching her sister marry the man that she actually loves. 

What makes James Marsden so good in this role is not only his charisma but his natural charm that he has for roles like this. I love his relationship with Katherine Heigl’s Jane in the movie, even in their rocky moments. One of my favorite rom-com scenes ever are those two getting drunk as heck and dancing on the bar together because it just feels so real and something that a couple would do in the real world, and it makes me smile every time. 

Stream 27 Dresses on HBO Max.
Rent 27 Dresses on Amazon. 

Sonic The Hedgehog (2020)

Next up, we have a video game movie that ended up doing a lot better than I ever thought it would. Sonic the Hedgehog, one of the few movies that was released in theaters in 2020, tells the story of the titular character, who somehow ends up in a small town out of nowhere. When a police officer stumbles across him, the two of them decide to team up when an evil genius plans to perform experiments on the hedgehog.

James Marsden plays Tom Wachowski, the police officer that Sonic works with, and I have to say, this film impressed me. As a gamer myself who grew up playing Sonic, this movie felt like a breath of fresh air in the film industry that so often has trouble trying to adapt video games to screen, as they told a genuinely fun buddy story between a famous character and someone new. Marsden did a great job playing Tom and I loved the friendship that blossomed between him and Sonic. Definitely a winner here. 

Stream Sonic the Hedgehog on Hulu. 
Rent Sonic the Hedgehog on Amazon.

The Stand (2020-2021)

Last but not least, we have the miniseries, The Stand, based on the novel from Stephen King. In this post-apocalyptic show, a pandemic has wiped out almost all of the population of the world, and the few survivors have turned to a dark figure or a light figure. Now, it’s a battle between good vs. evil in a world where everything is grey. 

As someone who enjoys the heck out of horror franchises and Stephen King adaptations, The Stand is one of my favorites from the modern era. James Marsden as Stu was, again, such perfect casting, and his character feels like someone we could all relate to, someone that genuinely just wants to do good, which Marsden acts to perfection. The Stand itself is a great miniseries with plenty of awesome characters to love, so you should check it out soon. 

Stream The Stand on Paramount Plus.

With so many amazing roles, one can only wonder what he’s going to do next. Whatever the case, I’m sure I’m going to love it regardless if Marsden is in it. Now if only Disenchanted could come out sooner, I’d really love that. 

When The Boss Baby released back in 2017, the animated comedy ended up becoming a hit for DreamWorks, even spawning an original Netflix TV show, The Boss Baby: Back in Business. Afterward, it was only a matter of time before a sequel inevitably came along. Now, nearly four years after the first movie arrived, The Boss Baby: Family Business, has made its official release into theaters, and streaming on Peacock.

With a star-studded cast featuring amazing actors such as Alec Baldwin and Lisa Kudrow, there’s no doubt in my mind that you have heard or seen them before. If you’re curious, here is where you’ve seen Boss Baby 2’s actors and actresses before – because trust me, you have.

Alec Baldwin (Ted Templeton Jr.)

I believe all of us fell in love with Ted Templeton Jr. in the original The Boss Baby film, so it was only a matter of time that he would be brought back to being a baby in its sequel. Alec Baldwin returns to the role in The Boss Baby: Family Business.

Alec Baldwin has done plenty in the film industry – including several voice roles prior to The Boss Baby: Family Business. These include such hits as The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, Madagascar 2, Rise of the Guardians, and more. If you’ve seen him in live-action, you might recognize him from his award-winning guest appearances on Saturday Night Live as former President Donald Trump. Or, you might have seen him in some amazing movies, such as The Aviator, The Departed, BlacKkKlansman, and so many others. His earlier movie roles include Beetlejuice, Working Girl and Glengarry Glen Ross

Or, if you’re thinking TV is where you’ve seen him, Alec Baldwin has done plenty besides Saturday Night Live. Back in the 1980s, he had a main role on the soap opera, Knots Landing. However, one of his major roles on television was starring as Jack Donaghy on the classic comedy 30 Rock. Truly, a staple of this generation, and someone everyone needs to see at least once on TV or film.

James Marsden (Tim Templeton)

While The Boss Baby had Tobey Maguire voicing adult Tim Templeton, James Marsden stepped up to the plate for its sequel, The Boss Baby: Family Business.

James Marsden is yet another big star on this list, having appeared in so many films from your past and beyond. Marsden has shown off his singing chops in films like the musical Hairspray, and the Disney film, Enchanted – for which he will be appearing in its sequel soon, Disenchanted. However, music is not the only talent Marsden succeeds in. From his role as Cyclops in the X-Men movies to comedic roles in films like Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and Zoolander, Marsden has been all over the board.

James Marsden has also done a couple of romantic comedies/drama’s as well, like the classic The Notebook, and the comedy 27 Dresses. Honestly, adding voice-acting to this already long list of talents doesn’t surprise me.

Amy Sedaris (Tina Templeton)

A new addition in The Boss Baby: Family Business is Tina Templeton, the undercover executive at BabyCorp just like her uncle was, and the youngest daughter of the now-adult Tim. Portrayed by Amy Sedaris, Tina is just as serious about business as her uncle.

Amy Sedaris has done her fair share of voice work, including performances in Chicken Little and Shrek the Third. In Disney’s live-action remake of The Lion King, Amy Sedaris did the voice-work for Guinea Fowl. However, she’s also had a lot of live-action appearances as well, including the cult horror film, Jennifer’s Body, the comedy Old Dogs, and an appearance in the Jon Favreau film, Chef.

Sedaris has appeared in several television shows – almost too many guest roles to mention. However, some of her highlights include a main role in The Heart, She Holler as Hurshe Heartshe, a minor recurring role in The Mandalorian, and in the Netflix series, BoJack Horseman as Princess Carolyn. And many are likely to know her best from her starring role in Strangers With Candy.

Ariana Greenblatt (Tabitha Templeton)

Ariana Greenblatt is the youngest out of everyone on this cast list, but this young actress has done a lot of work that you might recognize her from. Tabitha Templeton in The Boss Baby: Family Business is the eldest of Tim’s daughters, portrayed by Greenblatt.

Ariana Greenblatt, again, may be young, but she has done so much. Recently, she had a small role in the Lin-Manual Miranda musical In The Heights as young Nina, as well as portraying Minnow in Love and Monsters, and Julia in the Disney+ original, The One and Only Ivan. Prior to that, Ariana Greenblatt was actually young Gamora in Avengers: Infinity War, the little girl that held the hand of Thanos.

Greenblatt’s biggest role so far was playing Daphne Diaz in the comedy series, Stuck in the Middle. However, with how far this actress has come at such a young age, I wouldn’t be surprised if we started to see her a lot more often soon.

Eva Longoria (Carol Templeton)

Back to the bigger stars of this cast list, we look at Eva Longoria’s Carol Templeton in The Boss Baby: Family Business, the wife of Tim and the mother to Tina and Tabitha.

Eva Longoria has been around in the business for a long time, appearing in several television shows and films. Her biggest roles where you might have seen her was portraying Gabrielle Solis on the hit drama series, Desperate Housewives, as well as portraying Isabella Brana on the long-running soap opera, The Young and the Restless. Besides that, she also starred in her own comedy television series, titled Telenovela, based on the TV genre of the same name. If you’re thinking you’ve seen her in films, you wouldn’t be far off, because Longoria has done plenty of film work.

From the political action film Sentinel to the comedy Over Her Dead Body, to drama film Frontera, Eva Longoria has truly been all over the map. While she’s done voice-work before in guest roles on TV, like in BoJack Horseman and The Simpsons, The Boss Baby: Family Business is her first major voice role in film since Arthur Christmas, and she rocked it as usual.

Jimmy Kimmel (Ted Templeton Sr.)

I feel like if you don’t know who Jimmy Kimmel is, you’re living under a rock. Returning from The Boss Baby is Ted Templeton Sr., popping up in The Boss Baby: Family Business. Jimmy Kimmel himself has been seen everywhere, but we can start off with some of his biggest hits.

Besides having several cameos in films (honestly, way too many to put down here), Jimmy Kimmel has hosted his own late-night talk show for several years now, simply titled Jimmy Kimmel! Live! Prior to that, however, Jimmy Kimmel co-hosted the Comedy Central series, The Man Show, did many voices in Crank Yankers, and appeared on the MTV show, The Andy Milonakis Show, showing off his comedy skills. If you haven’t seen any of his sketches yet, you should definitely check it out.

Lisa Kudrow (Janice Templeton)

Janice Templeton returned in The Boss Baby: Family Business, alongside its original voice actress, Lisa Kudrow. This comedic actress starred in one of the most iconic comedies of all time in my opinion, Friends, playing Phoebe Buffay – and, prior to that role, she played Phoebe's twin-sister, Ursula, in Mad About You, a character that was brought over to Friends later on. However, even before and after Friends ended, Lisa Kudrow has been extremely busy in the film world.

Kudrow starred in the cult comedy Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, and in the romantic comedy, The Opposite of Sex. Later on down her life, she had appearances in such big comedy hits like Easy A, led by Emma Stone, P.S. I Love You, both Neighbors films, the coming-of-age film Booksmart, and so many others.

Lisa Kudrow has also been active in the television world after Friends ended, producing, writing and starring in her own HBO comedy series titled The Comeback, as well as the Showtime series, Web Therapy. She reunited with her castmates of Friends in Friends: The Reunion in 2021, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw her in plenty of other projects soon. There’s no stopping this iconic actress.

Jeff Goldblum (Dr. Erwin Armstrong)

The last on our list, but certainly not the least. Jeff Goldblum plays Dr. Erwin Armstrong, a rival of BabyCorp, and I can’t think of a better actor to do it than the man himself. Jeff Goldblum, in my opinion, was a 1990s legend. While Jeff Goldblum did plenty of amazing work prior to that, such as his breakout roles in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Big Chill, and The Fly, I always remember him for his roles as Dr. Ian Malcolm in the Jurassic Park movies and as David Levinson in Independence Day, two iconic roles he would go on to play again in both series’ sequels.

However, Jeff Goldblum has done plenty more besides that. He’s done voice roles before, including the Wes Anderson movie Isle of Dogs and the animated film The Prince of Egypt. Besides that, he’s been in plenty of other films, like The Grand Budapest Hotel, Cats & Dogs, and as the Grandmaster in Thor: Ragnarök, and will be in its upcoming sequel, Thor: Love and Thunder.

Jeff Goldblum has also had some experience in the television world as well. He portrayed Detective Zack Nichols for two seasons in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and even had his own show recently on Disney+, titled The World According to Jeff Goldblum, which already has a second season on the way, according to Deadline. To me, he’s always been one of the most iconic actors ever, so a film like The Boss Baby: Family Business is just another great addition to his already amazing resume. And if you haven’t seen some of his most iconic films, please do so now.

With all these 2021 movies, it’s no surprise that there are some truly star-studded casts out there just like The Boss Baby: Family Business. There’s no doubt that this film is full of talent – and now, you have an idea of where you might have seen them before. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go watch Friends for the millionth time.

Between video games movies often being hit or miss with audiences and the outcry over the titular character’s original design, 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog faced an uphill battle with its theatrical run. Fortunately for all those involved in its production, the popular SEGA character’s cinematic debut proved to be a hit, scoring a lot of positive reception and making over $319 million worldwide. By May 2020, it was announced that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 had been greenlit, and it was later announced that it would release in spring 2022.

Now that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is filming, this is a great time to go over who’s making up the sequel’s cast. But before discussing the voice behind the rapid mammal, let’s first talk about the biggest on-camera actor from the first movie who’s back for another round of Sonic action, Jim Carrey.

Jim Carrey

For decades, Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik has been Sonic the Hedgehog’s arch-nemesis in the video game franchise, so it was only appropriate to select him as the main villain for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie. When we last left off with Jim Carrey’s iteration of the antagonist, he’d been stranded on the mushroom planet, looked much more like his video game counterpart and become insane. But Carrey’s Robotnik is still as smart as ever and vowed to escape the alien world to exact revenge on Sonic, and he’ll finally succeed with that goal in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. But he won’t be alone: Robotnik will be accompanied by Knuckles the Echidna, with the two of them teaming up to find a magical emerald that will give them the power to build and destroy civilizations.

Ben Schwartz

While many of you are likely most familiar with Ben Schwartz from his role as Jean Ralphio in Parks & Recreation, he also has an extensive voice acting resume, from Ducktales to M.O.D.O.K. As far as film work goes though, it’s safe to say that Sonic the Hedgehog marked Schwartz’s biggest vocal gig, and he’s back to voice the hedgehog in the sequel. Having been adapted by Tom and Maddie Wachowski at the end of the first movie, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 sees its eponymous protagonist longing for more freedom, and he finally gets it when the couple let Sonic stay at home alone when they go on vacation. Unfortunately, Sonic’s chill session is interrupted by Robotik’s return, so he’ll need to team up with Tails (who cameoed in Sonic the Hedgehog’s mid-credits scene) to stop the mad scientist and Knuckles from obtaining that emerald.

James Marsden

Sonic the Hedgehog is super fast, but even he needs help. Luckily, as already mentioned, he has a family in his corner, starting off with X-Men and Enchanted actor James Marsden playing Tom Wachowski, the sheriff of Green Hills, Montana. Although Tom started off in Sonic the Hedgehog looking to get out of Green Hills, resulting in him almost taking a job with the San Francisco Police Department, his adventure with Sonic made him realize that Green Hills is truly his home. But as already noted, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will have Tom and Madde traveling out of town, though don’t be surprised if their vacation is cut short and they’re drawn into the sequel’s action.

Tika Sumpter

Veterinarian Maddie Wachowski, played by Get on Up and Mixed-ish actress Tika Sumpter, didn’t learn about Sonic the Hedgehog’s existence at the same time time as Tom, but once her husband and Sonic met up with her San Francisco while they were fleeing Dr. Robotnik, it didn’t take her long to get up to speed and join the adventure. We’ll have to wait and see how involved Maddie is involved in Sonic’s shenanigans in the sequel, though I suspect that she’ll have more screen time compared to the first movie. It’s also worth mentioning that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will reportedly feature a character named Randall who will only interact with Tom and Maddie.

Adam Pally

Green Hills, Montana may be a small town, but it takes more than one law enforcement officer to look after its citizens. As such, Tom Wachowski is aided by his chief deputy, Wade Whipple, played by Happy Endings and Crossing Swords actor Adam Pally. Wade was present in Sonic the Hedgehog’s final battle to try and stop Dr. Robtnik from hurting Tom, and he got to see Sonic battle the mad scientist. Aside from presumably still working with Tom as his chief deputy, it’s unclear how Wade will fit into Sonic the Hedgehog 2, though it’s reasonable to expect him to provide more comedic relief.

Natasha Rothwell

Natasha Rothwell of Insecure and Wonder Woman 1984 fame starred in Sonic the Hedgehog as Rachel, Maddie’s older sister who disapproved of Tom and kept urging Madde to leave him. Unless Rachel and her daughter Jojo (played by Melody Niemann) have moved to Green Hills, I’m guessing that Tom and Maddie will go visit her in San Francisco. Though that then begs the question of if Rachel and Jojo will get to see Sonic, let alone be involved in any of Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s action. I’m also curious to see if Rachel’s opinion of Tom has improved at all.

Shemar Moore

So far, the only new actor who’s been announced for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is Shermar Moore, who is best known for playing Derek Morgan on Criminal Minds and Hondo on S.W.A.T., both CBS shows. There’s no word yet on who Moore is playing, although the fact that he was photographed on set with James Marsden, Tika Sumpter and Natasha Rothwell indicates he’ll be a human character rather than voicing one of Sonic’s animated costars. This is Moore’s first time appearing in a theatrically-released movie since 2016’s The Bounce Back.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 races into theaters on April 8, 2022. While we wait for more casting news and other updates about the sequel’s progress, keep track of the movie still set to arrive this year with our 2021 release schedule.

The sequel to last year’s box office success Sonic The Hedgehog is currently in production and we’ve been starting to get some hints here and there about what’s to come in 2022. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will once again star Ben Schwartz as the blue video game icon, James Marsden, Jim Carrey and some new faces, which have just been welcomed by the production.

The movie reportedly wrapped principal photography in Vancouver, Canada last month, but as it gears up for release next year, we’ve learned of a new cast member who has joined the cast. Check out Shemar Moore’s welcome to the cast:

Shemar Moore is an illustrious TV actor, who has memorable roles in Criminal Minds, The Young and the Restless and most recently S.W.A.T. on CBS. He’s now joined Sonic the Hedgehog 2 cast as he announced on Twitter. The official account for the movie reposted the photo to welcome the actor in a set photo where he stands next to James Marsden, Tika Sumpter and Natasha Rothwell, who are reprising their roles from the first film.

At this point, we do not know who Shemar Moore is playing in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but it’s great to see a fresh face on the set of the action comedy. It looks like it was all smiles on the video game-inspired sequel and we’ll be excited to see what Moore brings to the movie.

The production has had a speedy turnaround following the commercial success of Sonic the Hedgehog in February 2020, just ahead of theater closures a month later. The Paramount movie made $319 million worldwide against a $85 million budget, and received overall positive reviews from audiences.

Along with giving the nostalgic character the big-screen treatment, it made for Jim Carrey’s comeback into the comedy genre with his role as Dr. Robotnik. On the set of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Carrey gave one crew member a brand new $40,000 Chevy Blazer as a lottery prize to thank them for their hard work.

At the end of the first film, Dr. Robotnik found himself hanging out in another dimension and Sonic’s best friend Miles “Tails” Prower was introduced during the mid-credits sequence. We’ll have to wait and see how things shake out, but the production is set for a release next spring on April 8, 2022. It will have some major competition during its opening weekend in the form of the Brad Pitt-led action film Bullet Train.

Until then, Sonic the Hedgehog is available to stream on Paramount+ and you can check out what movies are coming this summer (video game adaptations included) with CinemaBlend’s 2021 release schedule.