After Netflix ended its line of shows centered on The Defenders, many never thought they'd see the characters return. Then Matt Murdock found his way back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and now, he’s joined by a few old friends. However, the anticipated reunion is going to be short-lived, as Daredevil: Born Again is ending with its upcoming third season. This hasn’t stopped one actor from dreaming about the future, though. In fact, Finn Jones already knows what awesome MCU project he wants for Iron Fist (next).

Sure, I'm excited about the upcoming reunion that sees Jones' Danny Rand joining Mike Colter's Luke Cage and Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones reuniting while Charlie Cox’s Murdock remains behind bars. Yet what I need to talk about now is the idea Jones pitched while speaking to Collider about his potential MCU future:

That should be Marvel’s mantra, “We’ll see what happens” as we never truly know what to expect (or what will get leaked). A theoretical Heroes for Hire project has long been hoped for by fans. Said production would be based on the comic book series of the same name, which sees Cage and Rand form a superhero partnership. Together, the pair get into some action-packed scuffles that would be fun to see on screen.

Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker addressed the possibility of Heroes for Hire in 2018 and mentioned that it was "in the air" at Marvel Television. Coker even gave fans of taste of that duo's dynamic via a Season 2 episode of LC. Alas, following the cancellations of Cage and Iron Fist, the chances of HFH happening seemed slim. However, the landscape has changed a bit since these characters are now under Disney's purview and firmly in the MCU proper. So Jones is optimistic about the possibilities:

The man has a point. I mean, how many times has Loki been back due to popularity? So it seems hasty to rule out a round two for The Defenders being in the MCU’s future. While Marvel mostly seems to be focusing on theatrical releases moving forward, these characters could provide the company with more prime TV options separate from the movies. In any case, as Charlie Cox mentioned, I imagine the #SaveDaredevil campaign is about to start back up again.

Born Again Season 2 hit the 2026 TV schedule back in March. It and the OG Netflix shows can all be streamed with a Disney+ subscription. We likely won’t know what’s in store after Season 3 until it lands in March 2027. However, a Zodiac series was announced as being in the works, though that seems to be disconnected from the street-level heroes.

That aside, though, I’m fully on board with Finn Jones’ awesome Heroes for Hire pitch. So fingers crossed that Kevin Feige is listening and that we'll see Iron Fist return (again).

The superhero genre continues to be wildly popular, with a number of shared universes competing at the box office. Fans who have spent years watching the Marvel movies in order have seen three different Peter Parker actors play Spider-Man, and were thrilled when they united on the big screen in No Way Home (which is streaming with a Disney+ subscription). Andrew Garfield was recently asked to rank the three actors (including himself), and his answer was so endearing.

Garfield is an Oscar-nominated actor who played Peter in the Amazing Spider-Man movies before reprising his role in No Way Home. He'll likely always remain synonymous with his superhero role, and during an interview from Capital's Instagram, he was asked to rank the three live-action Spider-Men. He started by praising the OG Tobey Maguire, saying:

Given how much he loved Maguire's Spider-Man trilogy growing up, I can only imagine how much he wanted to pinch himself while working with him on Brand New Day. The three Peters had excellent chemistry once that crossover began, helping to raise the stakes and make the final battle all the more satisfying.

Of course, Tom Holland is the current reigning Spider-Man, whose popularity was so strong that Brand New Day beat Avengers: Endgame at the box office. In the same interview, Garfield spoke about playing Peter, and what his successor brings to the table. In his words:

He's not wrong. Tom Holland has brought a youthful naivety to the role that immediately endeared him to the fandom. At the time of writing this story, the 30 year-old actor has starred in a whopping seven movies as Peter Parker. What's more, Brand New Day's credit scene seemed to hint a possible role in Avengers: Secret Wars.

When pressed to rank the three Spider-Man stars, Garfield showed how humble he was by declaring:

What a class act. Garfield kept it humble and ranked himself last, despite how much he enjoyed playing Peter Parker over the years. Luckily for fans of his two movies, the Social Network actor got to suit back up in Brand New Day. Unfortunately Garfield had to lie about returning for months prior to its release.

You can see the Tony-winning actor's comments about the ranking below:

Whether he's talking about the Spider-Man legacy or breaking the internet by wearing glasses, Andrew Garfield has an undeniable charm about him. So it shouldn't be surprising that he put himself in last place behind Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland.

Garfield has been keeping busy lately, with titles like The Magic Faraway Tree and The Uprising arriving on the 2026 movie release list. It's unclear if we'll ever see him as Spider-Man again, but I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.

Like so many Marvel Cinematic Universe fans, I’ve watched Tom Hiddleston expertly play the role of Loki for a while. It’s honestly wild to think he’s been playing the Asgardian trickster-turned-God of Stories for over 15 years now. Of course, his tenure in the MCU began with 2011’s Thor (which is streamable with a Disney+ subscription). Hiddleston’s work in the movie is excellent and, before a major scene, he apparently received a key note, which I’d say is a major reason why the moment is so great.

Before Loki ever died multiple deaths across various timelines or became a member of the Time Variance Authority, he was a prince who was jealous of his brother, Thor. Hiddleston’s character eventually stepped into villain territory after learning he was the son of Frost Giant king Laufey. That discovery culminated in a tense confrontation between Loki and his adopted father, Odin. Hiddleston recently watched and reflected on the filming the scene and remembered what director Kenneth Branagh told him before filming the big moment:

That guttural scream was definitely effective for me when I first saw Thor years ago, and it still strikes a chord today. It’s perfectly executed by Hiddleston and, ahead of that, Branagh seemed more than aware of how such a delivery would be crucial while portraying Loki’s frustration and desperation. Good on the Belfast helmer for giving that note to his actor. Of course, given the Oscar winner’s storytelling prowess, the notion of him delivering such an insight isn’t surprising. Hiddleston also said this when discussing the scene with BAFTA:

I understand exactly what the Life of Chuck means in regard to not having been able to draw that emotion from other sources. For a scene like that, such an emotion is quite specific, and I’m glad he and Branagh hit the right note. While the God of Thunder’s first solo film may not be super high on the list of best MCU films, it’s still a solid and fun entry in the canon due to moments like the scene between Loki and Odin. Check out Hiddleston watching it in the Instagram post below:

Having initially auditioned for Thor, Hiddleston credits Tim Burton’s Batman for his desire to play a villain in a superhero movie. The character, of course, ended up becoming much more than a bad guy and is now arguably as beloved as any MCU hero. With that, it was quite emotional when Loki’s journey seemed to end with the conclusion of his eponymous TV show’s second season. However, we’ve since learned that the antihero will return in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.

Tom Hiddleston has promised that the forthcoming superhero flick won’t undo Loki’s new status, which gives me comfort. I’m also hopeful that Hiddleston will get a scene or two filled with some genuine catharsis not unlike that confrontation scene he got a note on all those years ago. Fans can see how Loki’s journey continues when Avengers: Doomsday opens in theaters on December 18 amid the 2026 movie schedule.

I’ve been (not so) patiently waiting for VisionQuest since we last left Westview, and I’m so glad it’s finally come to the 2026 TV schedule. One thing I can’t stop thinking about whenever I see Vision in his White Vision appearance is the work that goes into making him look like that. Yes, the Vision makeup is “a pain in the ass,” but Paul Bettany has a great (and sassy) take on it.

The 55 year-old actor has been promoting the new Marvel series, and the topic of makeup came up when he spoke with ComicBook about his BTS experiences. Bettany keeps being drawn back to the MCU, and deaths have not been able to keep his character from returning. In fact, the biggest change for the actor is the makeup. When asked if the maroon or white makeup was easier to remove, his response was classic Bettany:

There may be some debate about if Vision is the weakest Avenger, but his makeup is certainly the strongest. Personally, his return has been one of the things I’ve been most excited about with Marvel, and Bettany has already wowed critics with his performance in VisionQuest. In just two episodes, we’ve seen the actor pull back new layers to the character, and that includes his time in Westview (even if he doesn’t want to talk about that). By the looks of the trailer, Bettany certainly had a time going between the white and maroon makeup.

We don’t know who Vision will choose to embrace at the end of the series, and the actor certainly hasn’t helped make that clearer, but we do know we’ll get to see him as different versions. It’s an interesting visual approach to the metaphoric journey of finding oneself as Vision struggles with the age-old question of, “Who am I?” Though for Bettany part of that comes with sitting through extensive makeup, though when the hope of him staying around came up, Bettany doubled down with a classic response:

While I feel for any of the actors who have to strap into a harness to fly, I do love seeing Bettany in his full Vision aesthetic. Besides, we know the star is willing to go all in (or take it all off) for a role. I think we can all agree that we want to see Vision around the MCU for years to come, especially since we have yet to see a full Maximoff family reunion. (At least we’ve gotten an amazing reunion between Ultron and Vision.)

I have wonder if Bettany’s a little jealous of his on-screen family’s lack of makeup. Both Elizabeth Olsen and Joe Locke got to don epic costumes as the Scarlet Witch and Wiccan without the hours in the makeup chair. However, nothing is quite as iconic as Bettany’s cheeky approach, and honestly it makes the character even better.

If a full reunion is in the cards for VisionQuest is anyone’s guess. For now, you can check out Bettany’s different makeup looks with a Disney+ subscription and hopefully get that visual the actor supplied out of your mind.

James Gunn definitely has no problem setting the record straight when it comes to DC-related rumors. The filmmaker/exec – who runs DC Studios alongside Peter Safran – has consistently taken to social media to field questions from fans regarding the rumor mill. More recently, Gunn and co. have been contending with chatter surrounding upcoming DC movies like Man of Tomorrow and The Batman: Part II. A user recently took to the web to lay out some gossip they’d heard, and Gunn didn’t mince words about “BS” chatter.

DC Fan Asks James Gunn About Three Rumors

One user reached out to Gunn on Threads, where they mentioned three items of speculation. The first is in regard to the status of the recently stalled The Batman: Part II, which alleges that Matt Reeves is stepping away from the film entirely. Another rumor mentioned was an allegation about actress Milly Alcock not playing the DCU’s Supergirl in the long run. And, finally, the third rumor the fan brought up alleged that Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow had a poor test screening, because it allegedly killed off a major character.

The Guardians of the Galaxy helmer took notice of the claims, and shared some honest thoughts. In the process, he not only provided some advice to the user but to other fans as well:

I’ve found it interesting (and entertaining) to see how Gunn responds to the constant influx of rumors that surround the work he and his colleagues are doing. The filmmaker’s tone can vary, based on the subject. For example, earlier this year, he had no problem dubbing MoT casting rumors “crazy” and, a few months ago, he also debunked rumors about the long-gestating The Brave and the Bold and the Waller TV show. On the other hand, Gunn had a jokier response when discussing the prospect of a Superman director’s cut.

As part of his response, James Gunn clearly poured water on the notion of that MoT test screening, since Safran has only just seen a director’s cut. That aside, there’s also public knowledge regarding the statuses of the Batman sequel and Milly Alcock.

We Have Details About The Batman And Supergirl

It’s true that Matt Reeves’ latest Batman film has seen its share of starts and stops and, most recently, it was confirmed that filming had been paused due to Reeves dealing with a family matter. This week, it was reported that Steven Soderbergh would oversee principal photography on the remainder of the shoot and would remain in close communication with Reeves throughout. On top of that, Reeves is stressing that he’s “not leaving” the movie and that he would be hands-on again during post-production.

As for Milly Alcock, that aforementioned rumor comes months after Supergirl’s underperformance at the box office. However, it’s already known that Alcock will reprise her role as Zara Zor-El in Man of Tomorrow. The character’s future hasn’t been confirmed beyond the move, but Gunn’s response seems to suggest the notion of Alcock not being the one to play the character is far-fetched.

Chances are that as time goes on, DC rumors will continue to make the rounds and, if history is anything to go off, James Gunn will work to differentiate fact from fiction. I can’t imagine constantly taking to the web to address speculation but, in all honesty, a part of me does appreciate Gunn’s efforts.

The Batman: Part II has been hit with a number of delays over the years, and the most recent one is definitely turning heads. Earlier this month, production paused while Matt Reeves dealt with a family issue, and it was recently revealed that director Steven Soderbergh is stepping in to complete principal photography. Reeves issued a statement claiming he wasn't "leaving" the movie altogether, but folks online are already making comparisons to Zack Snyder's Justice League departure.

The Batman's sequel has been a long time coming, and there's a ton of hype surrounding the upcoming DC movie. So news of Matt Reeves departing the set quickly went viral, as did the reports of Soderbergh's involvement. Reeves took to Twitter to speak directly to the fans, with a statement that reads:

This helped to offer some much-needed context. While the director of The Batman (which is streaming with an HBO Max subscription) has indeed left the sequel's set, it sounds like he'll remain involved in the movie, especially during the post-production period. Still, there are plenty of folks online who are comparing it to what happened when Zack Snyder left Justice League.

The Batman: Part II started shooting back in May, so it's seemingly nearing the end of its principal photography. Clearly, Reeves is happy to have Soderbergh step in, but some fans who spent years watching the DC movies in order are seeing a connection to Justice League's drama back in 2017. They are debating this comparison on Twitter, with some popular responses being:

• "we can actually wait for Matt Reeves to come back from whatever he’s got going on. Let’s not have another Zack Snyder Joss Whedon situation on our hands"
• "I know the immediate thing to look at is the JL situation, but Matt is more involved with POST production means a great ton that he can still retain his vision."
• "WB wanted Zack Snyder out of Justice League in the first place because Batman v Superman was bad and underperformed. His personal tragedy wasn't the catalyst. Matt Reeves is clearly on no such thin ice. He's not losing The Batman 2. Stop pretending these are similar"
• "Unlike Zack Snyder, whose Batman v Superman received such a very bad reception that WB became more cautious about his direction for Justice League, Matt Reeves delivered a highly acclaimed Batman film that earned the studio's confidence to let him continue developing his vision"
• "We’ve been down this road before"

Obviously, there are a ton of thoughts online, with some moviegoers comparing The Batman: Part II to Justice League. Meanwhile, others are pointing out just how different these two situations are. We'll just have to wait for Matt Reeves' sequel to be completed and released to see if there's actually a connection between these two projects other than their directors facing unexpected family matters.

When Justice League was being filmed, Zack Snyder suffered a family tragedy and departed the set. Joss Whedon was brought in to complete photography, but major changes were made during reshoots, and ultimately the film was a bit of a Frankenstein project that had two very different visions competing. This started the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement, which lasted years before Zack Snyder's Justice League was released on HBO Max.

Recently Ben Affleck spoke to THR about how filming these reshoots was a "low point" in his career, and how much the cast hated seeing Snyder's vision abandoned. This is likely why there are so many concerns about The Batman: Part II, although Reeves' statement paints a much more copacetic picture. Who can blame him for putting his family first?

The Batman: Part II is currently expected to arrive in theaters on February 18, 2028. It's not on the 2026 movie release list or set for the next year, so fans will have to continue being patient while waiting for its release.

DC Studio's co-CEO James Gunn has been methodically crafting the new shared universe, which includes movie projects and TV shows that are streaming with a HBO Max subscription. Lanterns is in the latter category, with the show recently ending its eight-episode season. Gunn's fellow co-CEO Peter Safran recently spoke about what it would take for Season 2 to happen.

Lanterns' season finale finally wrapped up its mysteries, including who killed Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan. While there has been some backlash surrounding Lanterns, I'd personally love to see the show expanded with a sophomore outing on HBO. In an interview with Collider, Safran addressed a possible Season 2, offering:

Honestly, I'm not mad at this answer. Rather than looking at Lanterns as merely a moneymaking venture, it sounds like the folks at the DCU are prioritizing story over business. We'll just have to see if the show's writers and producers manage to find a way to expand Lanterns story in a way that's both satisfying and exciting.

There is no guarantee for Season 2, but there have already been some rumbling about what it might contain. For instance, writer Venessa Baden Kelly wants to bring Green Lantern Kilowog into the fold. This would be a big change to the otherwise grounded and Earth-focused show.

Later in the same interview, Peter Safran spoke more about how the Green Lantern Corps. and their history in live-action media. As he put it:

He's not wrong. Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern movie is infamous, and adapting the Corps. in live-action is a difficult task. They've continued to be used in comics, animated shows, and video games, but Lanterns helped give the property new life on the small screen.

We'll have to wait to see if Lanterns gets renewed, but Green Lanterns are going to pop up in upcoming DC movies. Specifically Man of Tomorrow, which will feature both Aaron Pierre's John Stewart and Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner. Given how the season finale left these two characters, I can't wait to see how tense it is when they reunite.

Lanterns is streaming in its entirety as part of the 2026 TV schedule. As for Man of Tomorrow, that's expected to arrive in theaters on July 9th, 2027.

It's an exciting time for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While fans were recently treated to the debut on VisionQuest for those with a Disney+ subscription, all eyes are on the upcoming Marvel movie Avengers: Doomsday. The Russo Brothers will follow that up with its sequel Secret Wars, although Sebastian Stan's recent comments about the latter have me a bit confused.

What we know about Avengers: Doomsday is super limited, but all will be revealed when it hits theaters in just a few months. Stan's Bucky Barn is part of the Doomsday cast list, and fans can't wait to see how the New Avengers interact with the other three team of heroes. I assumed that whoever survived the fight with Robert Downey Jr.'s villain would automatically be brought into Secret Wars, but that might not be the case. During an interview with IndieWire the 44 year-old actor spoke about that mysterious project, offering:

Wait, what? Not only is Stan not confirmed to appear in Secret Wars, but he doesn't even know if he's going to have a role in Doomsday's sequel. The movie is expected to start shooting in January, so he should presumably be locked down if Bucky is going to have a role. I'm so confused.

Of course, Stan might not be telling the truth here, as Marvel's tight security often requires actors to guard its secrets. For example, Andrew Garfield lied for months about his Spider-Man: No Way Home role. Still, the Fresh actor's comments have me asking questions.

I have to wonder just how bloody Avengers: Doomsday is going to be. There are four teams of heroes in the cast, and I assume that not everyone makes it out alive. I've been nervous that Chris Hemsworth's Thor might die during its mysterious runtime, and now Stan has me equally worried about Bucky.

It's unclear what The Russo Brothers have up their sleeves for Secret Wars, but if it follows the comics then we should expect to see Doctor Doom create Battleworld and pit Marvel's heroes against each other. Although if the filmmaker haven't nailed down their cast yet, seemingly anything could happen in the developing blockbuster.

The pressure is on for The Russos to deliver with the next two Avengers movies, especially after how wildly successful their MCU credits are. There have been some disappoints in the years since Endgame hit theaters, so crushing it with Doomsday and Secret Wars might help bring fans back into the fold. Hopefully Bucky is along for the fun either way.

Avengers: Doomsday will hit theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list.

When the Iron Fist TV series debuted on Netflix, the show and character definitely had their haters. For a variety of reasons, including issues with the project's story and pacing, Marvel fans were critical. However, it sounds like Danny Rand actor Finn Jones has taken that criticism in as he worked out the backstory for what the character has been up to since we last saw him in preparation for his return in Season 3 of Daredevil: Born Again.

Jessica Jones and Luke Cage already made appearances in the series that you can watch with a Disney+ subscription, and all four street-level heroes are reuniting in the third season. Fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order have loved seeing characters from the Netflix MCU shows return, and I’m particularly excited to know that Finn Jones is finally joining the party since we haven’t seen his character in Hell’s Kitchen in nearly a decade. And Jones has clearly thought about what Danny Rand has been up to in that time. He told IGN:

To hear the British actor talk about what’s been going on in his character's life since we last saw him not only makes me very curious about what we’ll see of him in the final season of Daredevil: Born Again, but it makes me wonder if we’ll get to hear about any of it during the season. Even if we don’t, it definitely sounds like we’ll see a Danny Rand who’s experienced some things that weigh on him.

Anyone who knows anything about Marvel knows that the casts of their movies and TV shows have to remain tight-lipped about anything and everything related to the projects they’re involved with. As a result, even though it doesn’t reveal anything specific about the upcoming storyline for the new season, I appreciate the insight that Jones provided into his own process. It sounds a bit like revisiting an old friend you haven’t caught up with for a while when hearing him talk about finding his character again:

Hopefully, this “new version of Danny Rand” will win over the haters. I know that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed how Daredevil: Born Again has managed to bring over the continuity and tone from the original Netflix series while telling new stories. Plus, I can’t imagine a version of the show that didn’t incorporate The Defenders before all was said and done. And you can’t bring in The Defenders without including Iron Fist.

Getting to see Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Danny Rand again in Matt Murdock’s world makes me wish that we could continue to get new seasons for the other characters as well. I know I’d love to get a deeper peek into Luke and Jessica’s complicated relationship, as well as Danny and Luke’s playful friendship. But hearing how excited the actors were to get the band back together makes me excited to see how it all plays out before the series finale closes the book on this chapter of the street-level heroes’ story.

Marvel's VisionQuest has officially hit the 2026 TV schedule, and if you were a fan of NBC's The Blacklist, consider it appointment television. Those with a Disney+ subscription and a love for the espionage series will find themselves in love with the latest offering from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially since James Spader plays a major role.

Readers may be aware that Spader reprises his role as Ultron, first seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron. What they might not have thought about was how similar Ultron was to The Blacklist's lead character, Raymond Reddington. I hadn't clocked it until these first two episodes, which make it feel as though I'm watching a spiritual successor to NBC's beloved spy series.

Ultron In Human Form Is Just Raymond Reddington With A Beard

It's easy to see the similarities between Raymond Reddington and Ultron once the latter no longer looks like a robot and is without powers. Both are infinitely clever, and much like Red use to keep great secrets, Ultron always seems to be one step ahead. He's as conniving as ever in this latest series, in a way I feel we didn't see in Age of Ultron.

Of course, the second Avengers movie was more intent on showing Ultron's power, and not his inherent cunning nature. Showcasing his intellect and wit plays to VisionQuest's advantage, as it likely doesn't have the budget of the average Marvel movie.

The good news is fans of The Blacklist will feel as though they're back with Reddington, but this time, he has an obscenely long beard. I should also note that the portrayal is in no way a retcon to Ultron, as I know some Avengers 2 fans may fear that's the case. It just turns out these two characters are very similar, and it took removing the CGI and voice modulation for me to see it.

VisionQuest Mixes High-Minded Drama With Lots Of Intrigue and Mystery

I can't say that VisionQuest is a spy drama, but it certainly has the same sort of beats two episodes in. There's a lot of tense debate between Vision and Ultron, who have a quasi father-son dynamic, mysterious forces using hacking to manipulate others, and an air of mystery leading the viewer to wonder who is really pulling the strings in all this.

The series won't, unfortunately, answer any lingering questions tied to The Blacklist finale, but it may presumably provide a major piece to the puzzle for what's on the way in Avengers: Doomsday or Secret Wars. I know there have been widespread rumors that Ultron will return in the blockbuster movie, so I'm assuming VisionQuest will set the stage and make sense of how that happens. It does feel as though he's plotting something. I'm just not sure what yet.

New episodes of VisionQuest will drop on Disney+ on Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET. The first two episodes have me officially on board and wanting more, and wondering if The Blacklist will ever get a revival.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to grow, thanks to exciting new projects hitting theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Arguably the most highly anticipated upcoming Marvel movie is Avengers: Doomsday, which features multiple teams of superheroes. Jeremy Renner recently made a funny prediction about the film, although I have to admit I'd prefer to see him in that movie over Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop.

What we know about Avengers: Doomsday is super limited, leading to countless theories and rumors about what The Russo Brothers have up their sleeves. A number of major names were left out of the Doomsday cast list, including Renner's Hawkeye. During a recent interview that's circulating on Twitter, the 55 year-old actor was asked if he's going to have a role in that mysterious blockbuster, and he responded with:

Shots fired. Renner joked that he's on the side of Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom for the next Avengers flick. Namely because he seemingly wasn't brought in for the fun of Doomsday, despite being an OG member of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. We'll just have to see if the heroes end up losing as a result of missing Hawkeye in the lineup, as well as if Kate Bishop ends up showing up.

Fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order watched Jeremy Renner's Clint Barton go to the small screen with the Hawkeye series. He formed a strong bond with Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop throughout the six-episode season, but it's unclear if they're still working together. There are rumors that Steinfeld has a role in Doomsday, but I think it would be a misstep to see her pop up instead of her mentor. They could at least include them both if we're going to get an archer in the blockbuster!

Kate Bishop was briefly seen at the end of The Marvels, but she and Clint haven't had any significant roles in the shared universe since Hawkeye's finale. I'm eager to see her return, but not at the expese of Renner's hero. Sorry not sorry.

Doomsday isn't the first time that Jeremy Renner has been noticeably missing from a major Marvel crossover. Hawkeye was noticeably missing during Infinity War, although he had a significant arc in Endgame. The actor's joke about the good guys losing in the next Avengers movie might make sense given this history; Hawkeye wasn't there to help fight Thanos and half of the universe ended up being snapped out of existence.

All will be revealed when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Who knows? Maybe Renner will have a role after all and he's just lying about it. Stranger things have happened in the top-secret franchise.

I’m excited for Clayface, which hits the 2026 movie schedule on Oct 23rd. I haven’t always been a big fan of horror movies, but 2025 changed that for me with movies like Sinners, Weapons, and 28 Years Later. I am also a superhero movie fan, so combining the two genres has me pretty fired up. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but some critics have, and their early reactions to this Mike Flanagan-penned body horror/comic book movie starring Tom Rhys Harries have me even more excited.

I love that the Peter Safran/James Gunn-led DCU has been dipping into multiple genres in its first couple of years, and making a superhero movie (or, in this case, a supervillain movie) a horror movie is a big swing. It sounds like it’s paid off. Critics are calling it a great body horror movie, sure, but they also agree that it’s a lot more. It’s romantic and funny, too. I honestly didn’t expect that. DCU Brief (which may not exactly be the most neutral account, to be fair) says in a post on X:

Still, these reviews of Clayface have me wondering if this is going to be the best of the bunch so far. I’m especially intrigued by critics who are calling it funny and romantic, as I mentioned. It sounds like it's much more than just body horror. Chalice Williams at Reel Movie Junky wrote:

Critic Jenna Anderson agrees with DCU Brief about the humor, writing on X:

I’ll admit that I was nervous that the movie was going to be nothing but body horror, and as much as I’ve grown to love horror movies lately, body horror is still not my jam, so I need more than just painful and gross gore. It looks like Clayface is going to deliver that, as Chris Killian wrote in his tweet:

But have no fear, body horror enthusiasts, as it’s still very much in that genre, as Killian wrote in a second tweet:

And Movie Zine compared the movie to one of the best body horror movies of the last decade, The Substance, when it tweeted:

So there you have it. The first reactions have been overwhelmingly positive, and while that sometimes can be taken with a grain of salt, the full reviews are still a week away from being released. Clayface seems to be exciting fans of the DCU in a bigger way than its other entry in the theaters this year, Supergirl.

“I’m Batman!” Well, not really, but that’s a piece of dialogue that’s been a beloved part of pop culture for decades now. Various actors have played Batman in live-action projects and gotten to deliver dialogue as Gotham’s protector via specific voices they craft for the character. Ben Affleck – like his predecessors and successors – had his own distinct Batman voice, which was quite low. So you can imagine that I was humorously thrown for a loop when hearing him deliver the aforementioned line in a very different tone of voice.

Affleck’s Batman appears in a few DC Extended Universe films, and it’s hard for me to get his cadence out of my head. Yet what would it sound like if the Oscar-winning multihyphenate were to declare himself the Dark Knight while using his somewhat regular voice. Well, that’s what Affleck did when he appeared on a recent episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast. During a discussion about his approach to Batman’s voice, Affleck used a different tone to say a few lines, and it’s the stuff Knightmares are made of:

OK, maybe it’s not totally a Knightmare, which is the DCEU’s post-apocalyptic reality in which Darkseid ravages the Earth. However, I’d be lying if I said it weren’t jarring to hear Affleck say the lines like that. On the other hand, though, once a person gets past the wild nature of the vocals, it’s actually quite funny in some respects. I think of it as having a somewhat Steve Urkel-esque quality. Ultimately, Affleck was trying to make a point about the importance of forming a good Batman voice. On his approach, Affleck said:

Personally, I think the actor made the right call with his choice of vocal style for the famous DC Comics character. I mean, imagine Bats talking to Joker during the Knightmare sequence in the tone of voice Affleck uses in his recent interview. The responses fans would share online would likely be wild and pretty laughworthy. I’d argue that any kind of scene like that would have the internet staying power of the “Sadfleck” meme (which still makes the rounds today).

Affleck is pretty far-removed from his Batman days (and the backlash his casting sparked) these days and has been working on a host of other projects, including his newest directorial debut on the 2026 movie schedule, Animals. Still, the filmmaker does discuss his Dark Knight days on occasion and, more recently, he got real about his highs and lows in the DCEU. At the same time, he also shared his praise for Marvel Studios producer Kevin Feige, who he called a “genius.”

Feige does indeed understand comics and, with that, I think he’d agree with Affleck in that a "farcical" take on Batman’s voice just wouldn’t work. The cat (or I guess, the Bat?) is out of the bag now, as we now have a taste of what a higher pitched Batman would sound like, thanks to Ben Affleck. I’m not sure I’ll ever get his “I’m Batman” line out of my head and, if the internet does its thing, this could end up becoming a new viral video clip that adds to Batfleck’s social media lore.

Check out Affleck’s performances as Batman – sans the voice he used in the interview – by streaming the DCEU films with an HBO Max subscription.

VisionQuest is the latest entry on the list of upcoming Marvel shows that will eminently hit the small screen, and there’s been some solid buzz around the show. Created by Terry Matalas, the Paul Bettany-led series is set to close out the “WandaVision Trilogy” and in many ways, signify the end of an era for Marvel Studios’ TV branch. I’ve been eager to get people’s thoughts on the show and, now, reviews have finally been published. With that, I’m now particularly excited over one detail critics keep mentioning.

While Bettany returns to play his beloved Marvel Cinematic Universe character on the show, he’s technically playing a different iteration. The thoughtful and occasionally witty Vision who factored heavily into the Infinity Saga, as he’s been rebuilt into the aggressive and more cynical White Vision from WandaVision. I wondered how critics would feel about this new iteration of the character and hoped he’d still be endearing in some sense. Well, thankfully, critics seem to be all in on the character, with TheWrap’s Hunter Ingram saying this:

For those who need a refresher, this White Vision gained the memories of his predecessor near the end of WandaVision. However, the powerful machine does not possess the core qualities that made the Avengers’ resident android so unique. When the white antihero speaks about his precursor in the trailer for this 2026 TV schedule entry, he says, “I have his memories, but not his virtue.” Jake Kleinman of Polygon seems to have been entertained by that distinction:

When Bettany first got involved with the MCU years ago via Iron Man, he voiced the A.I. system J.A.R.V.I.S., who would eventually become Vision. The Amadeus star has gotten to try some different things while playing this character, and it sounds like VisionQuest gives him the opportunity to stretch his acting chops even more. Kourtnee Jackson of CNET seems to fuel that notion:

Not everyone is completely sold on this new version of Bettany’s beloved character off the top. In his mostly positive review for IGN, Jesse Schedeen notes that this iteration of one of the MCU’s most powerful characters isn’t so easy to latch onto:

Despite that, most pundits seem pleased with this take on Wanda Maximoff’s robotic lover and the way in which Bettany is portraying him. Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence puts it like this:

I was already looking forward to checking out this latest Marvel show (which currently holds an 85% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes), but these takes on White Vision’s characterization and Paul Bettany’s performance make me even more optimistic about what’s to come. And that’s not even everything fans have to look forward to, as there’s also the twisted father-son dynamic between Vision and Ultron and the emergence of Thomas Shepherd, Viz’s son. I look forward to seeing how this eight-episode show plays out and how it positions Vision for the future.

Disney+ subscription holders can check out VisionQuest when it makes its two-episode debut tonight, October 13, at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is always expanding, thanks to new projects arriving in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Despite this pace of releases, Marvel is also known for its tight security, especially when it comes to crossover events like the Avengers movies. Case in point: actors are not even given full scripts for those projects. It's pretty mind-blowing to think about, and Bucky actor Sebastian Stan got real about how difficult that can make the job.

Fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order have heard stories about the great lengths the studio goes to in order guard spoilers. This is especially important for Avengers films, and during a video for GQ, Stan spoke about the experience of playing his signature character in this top-secret setting. In his words:

Honestly, this makes a great deal of sense. Most actors require access to a movie's full script in order to properly track their characters' story, and how it fits into the movie's overall message. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen for the Avengers movies. While Stan is part of the Avengers: Doomsday cast list, he might have just gotten the pages where Bucky appears.

Luckily for Sebastian Stan, he's been playing his Marvel role since Captain America: The First Avenger shot back in 2010. As such, he's able to slip back into character for upcoming Marvel movies even if he doesn't have the context of a full script. The 44 year-old actor spoke about this dynamic by offering:

This is an interesting perspective. Not having a script might be challenging, it sounds like it can open up the Avengers sets to more play. Actors are able to rely on their instincts and understand of their characters, rather than being able to rely on what's on the page.

The stars of these blockbusters sometimes don't even know their character's fate in the shared universe. Stan opened up about this dynamic, saying:

That's one way to keep fans in the dark about each new movie until its release. Because if not even the actors know if their actors know if they survive, how can the information leak?

Indeed, there are a number of beloved characters whose fate is still unclear. Fans have been debating whether or not Wanda is alive since she seemingly died at the end of Doctor Strange 2. One can only imagine how many characters might perish during the next Avengers flick.

All will be revealed when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Fingers crossed that Sebastian Stan's Bucky survives the fight again Doctor Doom.

Spoilers ahead for Lanterns.

DC's co-CEO James Gunn has been making bold swings with the first slate of DCU projects, titled Gods and Monsters. Each title so far has had a unique tone, and Lanterns was a grounded crime drama that happened to have a few superheroes in it. The season premiere shocked fans by revealing Hal Jordan was dead, with his killer being a mystery that loomed over the season until the finale confirmed who shot him. I've been wondering if they might bring back the beloved Green Lantern if a second season arrives on HBO (and streaming with a HBO Max subscription). Luckily someone asked co-creator/EP Damon Lindelof that very question.

Lindelof created shows like Lost and The Leftovers, so he's used to bringing ambitious and narratively complicated projects to life. Lanterns is no exception, with the show getting backlash as soon as the trailer arrived online. During a recent interview with Collider, he was asked if John Stewart might be able to bring Hal Jordan back, either IRL or through his Hologram. The TV icon responded by saying:

Honestly, I like this perspective. As much as I'd love to see more of Chandler's Hal Jordan in upcoming DC movies and TV shows, I don't want the emotional punch of Lanterns to be cheapened by miraculously reviving the DC hero. Although I can't blame folks for wondering; the hologram version of Hal was present after the actual character perished.

There are definitely narrative threads to pull from if Lanterns gets green lit for Season 2, including the ramifications of Hal's death. We know Kerry shot him to protect her Manhunter son, and I'd love to see how she's grappling with that guilt. Lindelof spoke more about the show's potential future by saying:

At the time of writing this story, Lanterns has not been renewed for a second season on HBO. Still, the discourse surrounding the series might indicate that there is more story to tell. Although if another season ends up happening, we shouldn't expect Hal Jordan to miraculously rise from the dead. As the TV icon went on to say:

Points were made. As much as DC fans love Hal Jordan, it just wouldn't make sense for Kyle Chandler's character to be brought back to life... even if that's happened a number of times in the comics. Instead, Lanterns is going to stick to its guns if/when a second season gets ordered by HBO.

Lanterns is streaming in its entirety on HBO Max as part of the 2026 TV schedule. Fingers crossed that we'll get Season 2. Either way, Aaron Pierre's John Stewart is set to reprise his role in Man of Tomorrow next year.

The latest upcoming Marvel flick, Avengers: Doomsday, will draw millions of superhero fans to cinemas later this year and pick up some of Endgame's plot threads. Returning to the directors' chairs for the superhero team-up movie are Joe and Anthony Russo, who have plenty of experience working within this franchise. Still, as one can imagine, making these movies isn't easy, and Anthony revealed one particularly challenging aspect of crafting this fifth installment that fans may not believe.

What's known about Avengers: Doomsday is that it'll see heroes from multiple universes to face off against the villainous Doctor Doom. But, with so many fan-favorite heroes in one movie, that, of course, can create story-building challenges. In a Q&A held after an Avengers: Endgame Encore screening, Anthony Russo (via GamesRadar+) explained how hard it was to bring returning characters into a new story while still respecting other key players fans love:

This obstacle is definitely understandable, considering just how much fans love these characters and how much real estate the Russos have to cover in a given film. There are plenty of massive expectations for Doomsday as well, especially considering Avengers: Endgame killed it at the box office, surpassing Avatar as the top-grossing movie of all time.

As Marvel fans still flock to theaters to see their favorite characters' journeys of their favorite heroes, it’s natural that the Russo Brothers want to make sure they do them all justice for Doomsday. While it appears the sibling directors want to make sure that audiences have an enjoyable experience, they’re also realistic about not being able to please all fans if certain characters go in a different direction than fans expect. Anthony also said:

The Cherry co-director makes a great point, as some people may like a specific take on a character, while others may not be as receptive. For example, fans seem to love the Russo's handling of Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, but many are divided (including Hemsworth's own kids and their friends) on the comical way the character is depicted in Ragnarok and Love and Thunder. But, based on the trailer for Doomsday, it looks like Hemsworth will return as a more “serious” Thor as he motivates his superhero cohorts on the importance of taking down Doom as a team.

Character growth is very important to the actors as well. Tom Hiddleston, for instance, promised that Loki’s hard-earned development from his eponymous Disney+ series will not be discarded in the upcoming Avengers movie. All in all, I'm hopeful that the Russo Brothers will make continuity efforts to ensure that our favorite Marvel characters will be honored as they come together for the 2026 movie release.

Joe and Anthony Russo deserve some serious credit for the way in which they've handled ensemble casts in the MCU thus far, and this latest film may be their greatest undertaking. Doomsday has such a stacked cast with actors portraying Avengers, the Fantastic Four, X-Men, the Thunderbolts/New Avengers and more. It remains to be seen if everyone' stories will be serviced accordingly but, if anyone can accomplish that, it's the Russos.

See Earth's Mightiest Heroes and their allies assemble to face Doom in Avengers: Doomsday, which opens in theaters on December 18th. In the meantime, prepare by streaming other MCU films with a Disney+ subscription.

One of my favorite things about walking around Disney Parks is catching all the small details from the various Disney movies. And in recent years, as Marvel Studios has earned more of a presence there, we’ve been noticing more Marvel easter eggs in sneaky places. I was just made aware of one at Walt Disney World’s Epcot, and it makes me want to go back to the Florida theme park to spot myself.

It’s pretty well known that Avengers Campus at Disneyland’s California Adventure is full of fun references to the MCU, but since there’s not one in Orlando, I wasn’t expecting this little nod to exist in Epcot. Check it out:

How cool is this? If you walk into Epcot’s The Crown & Crest gift shop in the United Kingdom Pavilion, you can check out these super awesome coats of arms of the original Avengers. (And, Loki’s there too with an alligator on his, it's just not pictured here.) I love that Steve Rogers and Tony Stark’s crests are posted together with the release date of the original Avengers movie (May 4, 2012). It truly was a day unlike any other.

Then, Clint Barton/Hawkeye has his own with a bow and arrow crest and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow has one that signifies her Russian roots. Bruce Banner doesn’t have his own crest but rather a picture up in the gift shop with his “family name history.” I can’t quite read it well enough on the Instagram video, but that gives me further incentive to swing over to Epcot and see it in person. I don't see Thor’s, but I assume and hope it’s there as well. Right? He’s gotta be. Someone check for me.

If you’re doing a double take over that not being there before, according to my research the Marvel easter eggs have only been there since September. With Avengers: Doomsday’s release hitting the 2026 movie schedule in a few months, it’s the perfect time for this nod to the main Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes who graced the big screen together over 14 years ago.

Sadly, in the current timeline, we’re two Avengers down since both Iron Man and Black Widow died in Endgame. Steve Rogers also retired, but somehow he’ll return in Doomsday. Banner and Barton aren’t expected to be in the new Avengers movie, but who knows at this point! Nothing seems to be off the table anymore.

This week, Avengers: Endgame also became the highest-grossing movie of all time, beating out the original Avatar. Said accomplishment happened after the Encore version of Endgame hit theaters. That’s certainly reason enough for the Avengers to be thought of as legendary characters as posted up in Epcot’s United Kingdom Pavilion.

I love seeing Earth’s Mightiest Heroes get their own honorable place in Walt Disney World. Now, I want to spend an entire day at Disney Parks looking out for more awesome easter eggs like this.

Hugh Jackman has been busy this past year, as he’s been promoting his 2026 movie schedule entries and teasing what he’s working on. Simultaneously, fans have been eager to know whether the Australian actor might reprise his role as Logan/Wolverine in an upcoming Marvel movie. Jackman – who’s more than media-trained at this point – has remained coy in regard to whether he’ll be donning those adamantium claws again. Still, I wasn’t expecting him to give such a screwball answer when he was recently asked about a reprisal.

To put it mildly at this point, the Death of Robin Hood star is definitely no stranger to fielding questions about his beloved Marvel role, which he’s played for over 25 years now. To be honest, it’s actually gotten to the point where it’s become funny to see Jackman try to dodge questions about Ol’ Wolvie. During an interview with Variety, Jackman was asked about whether he’d return for the highly anticipated Avengers: Secret Wars. Not only did the actor not give a concrete answer, but he also spoke about his “internal chip:

Jackman is, of course, cheekily referring to the heavy level of caution he needs to exercise when fielding queries about Marvel Cinematic Universe-related projects. It would be an understatement to say that Disney – like other major studios – aren’t exactly keen on details being leaked by scoopers or actors and crew members. So, while there isn’t anyone actually controlling a physical chip in Jackman’s head, I’m definitely sure he wouldn’t want to get an earful from his team or any execs at the House of Mouse.

The upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars are expected to bring back various characters, with some of them being from continuities that lie outside the MCU proper. It’s known, for instance, that Doomsday will feature the OG actors from the X-Men movie franchise. That’s a major reason why there’s been a lot of speculation regarding a possible role for Jackman’s Logan. And that’s not the only detail that has some fans convinced that the cigar-smoking mutant will return sometime soon.

Even though Hugh Jackman has been swatting down Avengers rumors in recent months, he also posted some workout videos over the summer, prompting further speculation that he was working out to play Wolverine again. And, in August, Jackman appeared as part of a “hostage video” shared by Deadpool, er…. Ryan Reynolds, in which Jackman asked that Logan and Wade Wilson be included in Doomsday. That piece of marketing also came after it was rumored that Logan and Wade would appear in the film.

It’s honestly hard to say what’s really going on right now, but I would be very surprised if Jackman didn’t reprise his role in either of the MCU’s upcoming team-up movies. Secret Wars, in particular, has been teased as a massive culmination film that will feature plenty of pinch-me moments for fans. So, between that and the fact that Marvel is saying goodbye to the OG X-Men ahead of its reboot, it’d be weird if Jackman didn’t appear. In the meantime, though, I’d expect Jackman’s “internal chip” to keep him from spilling details.

Check out Avengers: Doomsday, which opens in theaters on December 18, and Secret Wars will be released on December 17, 2027. In the meantime, grab a Disney+ subscription to stream MCU movies and shows.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a behemoth franchise, one that's constantly expanding on the big screen and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. The next upcoming MCU show will be VisionQuest, with Paul Bettany once again reprising his signature role in the process. Moviegoers love to debate which Avenger is the weakest, and it turns out that Bettany's kids love throwing shade at their father's signature hero.

Fans who have spent years watching the Marvel movies in order watched as Bettany went from the voice of of J.A.R.V.I.S. to the live-action Vision actor. It's quite an awesome story, but apparently the actor's children aren't big fans of his signature hero. During a recent appearance on The View, Bettany recalled how his children bully him at home over Vision, as he put it:

Shots fired. Unfortunately it looks like Bettany's kids are echoing some fan theories that Vision is actually the weakest member of The Avengers. Hearing this type of criticism online is one thing, but getting that feedback from your own children in your own home is another thing entirely. Luckily it seems like the 55 year-old actor has a good senes of humor about it all.

Vision's tenure in the MCU has been an interesting one, and there's been some debate about his power levels. When he was introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron, he seemed super strong, and even able to wield Mjolnir. But after that he started getting beat up quite a bit. Wanda famously buried him in Civil War, and he was weakened with an injury shortly after his entrance in Infinity War. There was test footage of Vision brutally killing Corvus Glaive in the latter movie, but that was scrapped. There are entire Reddit threads about Bettany's character not being strong enough in the MCU, and that debate will likely pick back up when VisionQuests arrives on Disney+.

Vision's power level is just one of many questions surrounding the upcoming TV series, along with how Ultron survived his death in Avengers 2. It should be fascinating to see those two characters' dynamic, especially given their history from Age of Ultron. Luckily the wait for that new series is nearly over.

VisionQuest is set to be the final chapter in the trilogy that began with WandaVision, and the pressure is on for it deliver the same way its predecessors did. What's more, it has the potential to greatly influence upcoming Marvel movies.

VisionQuest will debut on October 14th as part of the 2026 TV release list. We'll see if Paul Bettany's kids put more respect on his hero's name after the season concludes.

Throughout the last few years the Marvel Cinematic Universe has continued to expand both in theaters and with live-action shows that are streaming with a Disney+ subscription. One of the most popular has been Daredevil: Born Again, which continued the story of the character who was introduced as part of Netflix's Marvel shows. Star Charlie Cox recently spoke about the show's cancellation, and it's what we've already been thinking.

Back in September it was revealed that Born Again will end after Season 3, with showrunner Dario Scardapane departing ahead of the post-production process. Charlie Cox recently took to the stage at New York Comic Con to promote the final chapter in this series, and a clip from EW's Instagram shows the A+ way he addressed its premature ending. In his words:

Honestly, he's not wrong. For years fans campaigned for Daredevil to come back, after Netflix's Marvel shows were all cancelled ahead of Disney+'s debut. Folks who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order were thrilled when Charlie Cox returned with a Spider-Man: No Way Home cameo, before popping up in She-Hulk, Echo, and finally getting a new series with Daredevil: Born Again. It seems likely that those same fans might campaign for Marvel to do an about-face and keep Born Again going despite current plans for it to end after Season 3.

Matthew Lillard hyped up Daredevil: Born Again's final season, but that hasn't stopped fans from voicing their disappointment that the show is ending so early into its tenure. While most of the Disney+ Marvel shows are limited series that only have one season, Born Again tells a more complex narrative, incorporating events from the original Netflix series. Unfortunately that story will seemingly come to an end in the show's third season.

Luckily for even the most disappointed fans, Born Again Season 3 is going to deliver something fans have been waiting for. Namely reuniting The Defenders aka Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist. It's been almost ten years since that quartet of street-level heroes were united on the small screen, so the stakes are high for the next Daredevil season. Still, I have to assume that fans are going to be calling for Marvel to keep the acclaimed series going.

The pressure is on for the series to stick the landing, and deliver a satisfying ending fit for such a beloved superhero. Additionally, fans are hoping to see Charlie Cox's hero return to the big screen sometime in the future. More specifically, they want to see Spider-Man and Daredevil finally team up.

Daredevil: Born Again's first two season are now steaming in their entirety on Disney+ as part of the 2026 TV schedule. The third and final season is currently expected to hit the streaming service in March of 2027.

It's an exciting time to be a MCU fan. Because on top of the forthcoming release of the upcoming Marvel movie Avengers: Doomsday, a bunch of exciting announcements are coming out New York Comic Con. One such reveal is that a spy thriller series called Zodiac is coming for those with a Disney+ subscription. Surprisingly, politician Ted Cruz had a perfect joke in response.

Fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order were hyped about the various reveals that have come out NYCC, although no one was expecting the news about the developing Zodiac series. The studio's official social media put out the following logo, which you can see below:

Not much is known about what's coming with this project, but it's expected to start filming in the spring of 2027. While fans tried to examine the logo for clues (which include the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo), the show's announcement got an unexpected to response from Ted Cruz. He took to his Twitter account to post the following:

For a politician who is typically known for being dry and quite serious, this is a definite departure. Clearly Cruz has seen the discourse and memes over the last decade or so, which claimed that he was actually the infamous Zodiac killer. He got ahead of the joke regarding the new Marvel series, showing his ability to have a sense of humor about his public image.

For those who might need a little context, the internet's connection with Ted Cruz and the Zodiac Killer go back over a decade. After the allegations were made by a Twitter account in 2013, memes started rolling in about the politician being the still-unidentified serial killer. The discourse got so popular online that by 2016 if you typed "is Ted Cruz" into Google, one of the most popular autofill choices would be "“Is Ted Cruz the Zodiac killer?". Obviously this is not an ideal association for any public figure, let alone one that's in politics.

Of course, this is just the case of the internet taking a joke and rolling with it. Logistically, Cruz wasn't born until 1970, while the Zodiac Killer's rampage was famously in 1968-1969. So while the Zodiac movie's ending continues to be the fodder for chatter, the same is true for the bananas rumor that the GOP figurehead was actually the killer.

Not much is known about what Marvel has up their sleeve for the Zodiac series, but I have to assume this won't be the last Ted Cruz-related meme that'll arrive online. But hey, at least he's found a way to laugh about it.

It's currently unclear when Zodiac will hit theaters, but the next upcoming Marvel show will be VisionQuest on October 14th as part of the 2026 TV schedule. Fingers crossed we get more information about the developing spy series sooner rather than later.

Remember when Sadie Sink was first spotted on the Spider-Man: Brand New Day set? We had no idea who she was playing, and the theories were all over the place. Now that the film has become the highest-grossing project on the 2026 movie schedule worldwide, it’s common knowledge that she’s our new Jean Grey. Now, it's been revealed that deciding how to show the mutant’s powers in this iteration came with a lot of trial and error.

We’ve seen Jean Grey in live-action two other times – as played by Famke Janssen in the original X-Men movies and Sophie Turner in Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix. In Brand New Day, the filmmakers were tasked with bringing audiences a whole new version of the character that we expect to see in many upcoming Marvel movies. When CinemaBlend spoke to Brand New Day's Visual Effects Supervisor at Sony Pictures Imageworks, Chris Waegner, he shared with us the process of bringing Jean’s powers to life. In his words:

If you’re not familiar with the filmmaking lingo, “previs” is the process of mapping out how shots in a movie are going to look before shooting even starts. So, prior to Sadie Sink stepping on set, the Brand New Day team had to think deeply about what Jean Grey’s powers were going to look like. And rather than relying on some sort of new visual effect, they decided to lean into Jean’s powers being shown mainly through choreography like this:

In a landscape where it feels like we’ve seen every VFX trick in the book, you've got to love Brand New Day’s approach to Jean Grey’s powers. Waegner suggested there were many different iterations of them during pre-production, but ultimately, leaning heavily on the choreography accomplished by over a hundred dancers won out. As he added:

Now, Brand New Day is absolutely filled with visual effects. For example, the movie was actually filmed in Scotland, so a lot of work was put into making Glasgow look like New York City. It’s pretty cool that, in the case of the movie’s complex villain, they went for a unique and unexpected approach. Seeing the choreography come together as Jean jumps from one host to the other is absolutely memorable, and such an impressive feat by the stunt team.

The latest Spider-Man movie is now available to rent and buy on digital platforms, and will come out on physical platforms on December 15. You can pre-order it on Amazon right now. I know I'll be rewatching it just to see Jean's powers come to life again!

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a well-oiled machine at this point, consistently putting out new content in theater and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Fans who have spent years watching the Marvel movies in order have watched as longtime characters changed and grew, including Sebastian Stan's Bucky. Although I can't get over the wild way he found out he'd be becoming The Winter Soldier.

Fans are always looking forward to upcoming Marvel movies, but the anticipation for Avengers: Doomsday is on another level. Stan's Bucky will seemingly have a major role, and during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the 44 year-old actor revealed the unorthodox way that he found out he'd be transforming into The Winter Soldier for the first Captain America sequel. In his words:

Well, my mind is blown. Marvel's security is notoriously tight, so it's shocking that the public knew about Captain America: The Winter Soldier before Sebastian Stan did. After all, he was the one who had to bring that title character to life. I guess since he was locked into a nine-picture deal with the studio, Marvel didn't think he needed to get the news first.

Plenty of thrilling MCU announcements have come out of San Diego Comic-Con over the years. Case in point: just this year the X-Men cast was revealed. In the same interview, Stan shared more about his reaction to Bucky becoming The Winter Soldier, saying:

Bucky has had one of the biggest arcs in the entire MCU. He went from Steve's friend in The First Avenger to a brainwashed Super Soldier in The Winter Soldier and Civil War. Luckily he was eventually deprogrammed in Wakanda, and was able to have full control over his mind and body. Most recently Bucky became became a congressman Thunderbolts*, as well as a member of the New Avengers.

Stan is part of the Avengers: Doomsday cast, and fans are curious to see what's next for Bucky. Specifically his interactions with Sam Wilson's Avengers team, as well as his unexpected reunion with Steve Rogers. Hopefully the studio gave him all the information about his character this time around.

Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list. While we wait, Stan's entire tenure in the MCU (so far) Is currently streaming over on Disney+.

Spoilers ahead for the season finale of Lanterns.

We're getting deeper into the newly formed DCU, and the latest title to arrive from the first slate of projects (called Gods and Monsters) is Chris Mundy's Lanterns. Ever since the Lanterns trailer was released, there have been naysayers, and its Season 1 finale kept that tradition alive. While some folks are mad about the reveal of Hal Jordan's killer, I think those haters are totally wrong.

Arguably the biggest mystery in Lanterns was who killed Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan. Now that the season is finished (and streaming with an HBO Max subscription), we know the truth. Namely that Kelly Macdonald's Kerry was the one who got him, despite their bond. After appreciating Chris Mundy's superhero crime drama, I think this was ultimately the right move.

Lanterns Finale Was On Brand And Still Surprised Me

The season premiere of Lanterns showed Hal Jordan with a bullet in his head, and fans waited over the next seven episodes to figure out who killed the beloved DC character. Folks assumed it would be one of the Manhunters, or perhaps Shea Pritchard's teenage Noah. In the end, it did have to do with the latter, with Kerry fatally shooting Hal after the truth of her son's robotic identity came out.

I loved how surprising this ending was, especially when we saw just how intimate Kerry and Hal had become. They had a genuine bond, so one can only imagine how much guilt the Rushville Sheriff must be feeling. She was probably at the bottom of most people's suspect list, which is why I think it was ultimately a successful plot twist.

I've seen some criticism of this choice online, with hardcore DC fans upset that such a legendary superhero was killed so unceremoniously. It wasn't a villain or even John Stewart who killed Hal. Instead, it was a normal human who had a very human moment. Although given how much Lanterns subverted expectations for superhero shows, why wouldn't it be that way?

Lanterns has been the subject of backlash since before it was released, with the biggest argument being about its lack of big, green, superhero action. Instead, we got a grounded crime drama, one that happened to have a superhero or two. So it would make sense that Hal's killer would be similarly human, rather than a comic book villain, to be responsible for taking the cosmic peacemaker out. Not everyone shares my opinion, but they're wrong IMO.

Only time will tell if Lanterns get a second season, but the folks behind the show seem to be interested. What's more, writer Venessa Baden Kelly apparently wants to bring Green Lantern Kilowog into the story. We'll just have to wait for an announcement from HBO, but regardless, we'll see Aaron Pierre's John Stewart and Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner in Man of Tomorrow next year.

Lanterns is streaming in its entirety over on HBO Max as part of the 2026 TV schedule. If you ask me, the season ended in a wildly satisfying way.

David Corenswet put on a lot of muscle to play Superman, which makes sense when your job description includes lifting buildings and looking believable in a pretty tight blue supersuit. After watching him fill out the cape in James Gunn’s take on the character, I assumed there probably wasn’t much physically the guy couldn’t handle. Turns out I was giving Superman way too much credit in one department: running.

While discussing training for his upcoming football movie Mr. Irrelevant, Corenswet admitted that all the work he did to become the Man of Steel didn't prepare him for the sprinting required to play an NFL running back. The actor broke down the difference during a red carpet interview with People, which the outlet shared in an Instagram Reel. He had a head start after recently bulking up for Big Blue, so the strict diet and heavy training were familiar territory. Football-specific conditioning, however, was a whole different beast. As he explained:

Superman may be faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but don't you dare ask him to run wind sprints. We may have discovered Kryptonite No. 2.

According to the Twisters actor, the training had a considerable toll on his body. He continued:

Honestly, I can't blame the guy for not being up on his running, as the whole thing sounds miserable. Shin splints? No, thank you. But it also makes sense, given how different the physical demands were. His preparation for a new DC movie centered heavily on gaining size and strength. For Mr. Irrelevant, he needed to move like an NFL running back.

That meant considerably more time actually running instead of pretending to fly. Mr. Irrelevant, which has already seen some strong test screenings, tells the true story of John Tuggle, who earned the slightly brutal nickname after becoming the final player selected in the 1983 NFL Draft. The New York Giants picked him at No. 335, and Tuggle made the roster and became an important special teams player before cancer cut his career short. He died in 1986 at just 25 years old.

The movie stars Corenswet opposite Isabel May, with Michael Shannon playing Giants coach Bill Parcells and David Krumholtz portraying Julius “Whitey” Horai. Jonathan Levine directs from a screenplay by Nick Santora. The actor's Superman physique didn't go to waste. The first images from Mr. Irrelevant showed him looking very much like someone who could survive an NFL training camp. But playing Tuggle required a different kind of athleticism than filling out the red trunks, and I kind of love that running was what humbled him.

It is also funny to realize the Pearl actor spent all that time making Superman look superhuman without necessarily needing elite endurance. Why would Clark run five miles when he can simply float there?

Fans can see whether all those sprints and shin splints paid off when Mr. Irrelevant hits the 2026 movie calendar on Dec. 25. Corenswet will then trade the football pads back for the cape when he returns as Clark Kent in Man of Tomorrow, currently scheduled for July 9, 2027.

Many fans haven’t been happy that Marvel decided to shelve certain projects, from Wonder Man Season 2 to the Mahershala Ali-led Blade. Since the news broke, Ali has been candid about his disappointment in the decision to scrap the movie. Now the director of his Blade film just got honest about Marvel (and Kevin Feige).

Bassam Tariq discussed the silver lining to Blade getting cancelled druing an interview with ComingSoon about his new movie Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother. When asked if the Marvel experience allowed him to create “such a personal film,” the director was open about the positives that he got out of it:

It’s nice to see the director taking the cancellation in stride. While he may have been disappointed, he did get a chance to work with Ali on a different major and personal project, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother. The actor plays Latif, who, according to the official description, is a “devoutly religious hitman who struggles to balance work, faith and fatherhood.” That certainly sounds like a complex enough role for Ali to really sink his teeth into. Plus, judging by the rave reviews Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother has been getting, I think it’s easy to find some positives in the Blade situation.

One critic has even noted that Ali was “perfectly cast in the role of Latif,” and if you’ve already seen it, you’ll understand what has people talking and this entry on the 2026 movie schedule. Plus, it has proven what Tariq means when he said he figured out “how to think big.” It was one of this year’s most anticipated action movies for a reason.

Now, the director is crediting another positive to the Blade cancellation and explains how this helped Your Mother:

Given that some critics are calling the movie “a leading role suitable for an Oscar-winning actor of [Ali’s] stature,” I think it’s safe to say that Tariq found the secret ingredient.

However, this doesn’t mean the director doesn’t think about what could have been with Blade, and he has previously shared some details of the scrapped project. The movie would have taken place (at least partly) in the 1920s, and even had Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth Carter attached.

It’s unclear how it would have connected to the MCU, but we do know that a major train set had been built and they had already cast some impressive names, such as Lanterns star Aaron Pierre. It’s sad to see this concept get swept under the rug, because I for one would have loved to see flapper vampires.

Maybe one day Kevin Feige will take another stab at the idea, but for now we can check out Ali in Your Mother and appreciate Tariq’s honest perspective on Blade's cancellation.

Ben Affleck’s time as Batman in the now-defunct DCEU was tumultuous. Not because of anything the star did, but because the franchise itself was chaotic. I don’t have to remind fans about all that went down behind the scenes of Justice League between the Joss Whedon version and the later Snyder Cut version of the film from director Zack Snyder. Now that the DCEU has evolved into the DCU with James Gunn and Peter Safran at the top, Affleck is reflecting on his time as Batman and the broader landscape for superhero movies.

It Wasn’t All Bad Within The DCEU

Affleck spoke to Variety this week in anticipation of his latest movie, Animals, which hits the 2026 movie schedule on October 9 and will be available to stream with a Netflix account. In the conversation, Affleck touched on his time as the Caped Crusader and what he thought worked, and what he thought wasn’t as great. Affleck told Variety:

Affleck added that the overall dark nature of the Justice League hurt the movie with younger audiences, and I agree with that. He added that it’s a struggle to find a balance between broad appeal and darker stories that have been so popular in comics over the last 30 years. He added:

He then took some time to compliment the head of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, Kevin Feige, and his ability to seemingly always know what needs to be done in the MCU. Affleck said:

In the wide-ranging interview, Affleck touched on a lot of issues surrounding Hollywood, from the dearth of true movie stars to the consolidation of movie studios. That obviously includes superhero movies, though he doesn’t get into the debate over whether audiences have superhero fatigue or not.

As of now, there isn’t a Batman in the proper DCU, as Gunn and Safran seem content to let the Matt Reeves version of the character shine for now, before putting the focus on him in the flagship franchise. Who knows, maybe we’ll see Affleck again in the franchise, perhaps as an older, wiser version of the iconic superhero. He certainly seems wise about the state of Hollywood today.

Spoilers ahead for the Lanterns finale. Don't say I didn't warn ya.

The newly formed DCU has brought fans a variety of projects, both on the big screen and streaming with a HBO Max subscription. Lanterns was in the latter category, and is the most recent release for the first slate of titles called Gods and Monsters. The season just ended with a big Lanterns finale, and fans are already curious if we'll get another round. It turns out the show's writer wants to bring my favorite member of the Green Lantern Corps., and I honestly think including him would please the show's haters.

Ever since Lanterns' first teaser was dropped, folks have been complaining about there not being enough green and powers in the show. Rather than an epic cosmic story, we were treated to a gritty detective drama that just happens to have a superhero or two.

Yet, if writer Venessa Baden Kelly gets her way, that might change if/when Season 2 happens. During an appearance on the Midnight Boys podcast, creator Chris Mundy was asked if any beloved Lanterns might be included if the show gets renewed. He responded with:

Yup, I'm into this, sign me up. Hardcore DC fans know Kilowog is one of the most iconic Green Lanterns ever. He's also a giant alien that would likely required visual effects to bring to life, which would be a huge change to the grounded way Lanterns' first season went down. If we actually get to see the hulking cosmic superhero, it might please Lantern haters who weren't satisfied with the story that was told in its first eight episodes.

Kilowog debuted in DC comics, and has been adapted in a variety of animated projects, video games, and even the infamous Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern movie. He's a beloved part of the Corps., and my personal favorite Lantern. It would be a game changer if he got to show up in the HBO series for its sophomore outing. Fingers crossed it actually gets renewed.

In most media, Kilowog is an experienced Green Lantern who helps to train its new members. He's a gifted scientist from the planet Bolovax Vik, and has an intimidating physicality in addition to his skill with a Power Ring. Having him show up Lantern Season 2 would bring the new series closer to the source material, as most members of the Green Lantern Corps. are aliens. I have to assume that it would also please haters of the show who didn't appreciate its grounded, human story.

Season 1 of Lanterns might have had Hal and John dealing with Manhunters, but they looked decidedly human. The same can also be said for Laura Linney's Guardian Lianna; we only saw her alien form briefly from behind in Episode 3. So Kilowog being part of Season 2 would be a departure, one that brings the HBO show closer to the comics.

Narratively, there is a logical way for Kilowog to show up. The finale saw John wield a new ring that wasn't issued by the Green Lantern Corps., and told Guy Gardner that he'd be taking over as Earth's protector. This is sure to get a response from the powers that be at Oa, and it would make sense of Kilowog was sent to suss him out or train him on how to use the Power Ring. Fingers crossed we actually get to see this happen.

Lanterns is streaming in its entirety on HBO Max as part of the 2026 TV schedule. There hasn't been any news about it being renewed, but I'm going to keep hope alive... especially if my boy Kilowog might show up.

Blatantly picking your favorite kid is one of those ultimate parenting taboos, right? And yet, Chris Hemsworth hasn't been shy about how he handles the topic with his three kids. Funny enough, when Hemsworth brought up his thoughts on playing faves with family members, it led to a bunch of fans who are pointing out something similar about what Thor does in the ordered Marvel movies. At least he's consistent, right?

Let's talk out this fun connection.

Yes, Chris Hemsworth Plays Favorites With His Kids

Chris is one of three kids himself, and since all the Hemsworth brothers have paved their own path in show business, there’s been a lot of talk over the years about who “the best” is. While one might think that means Chris might treat all his kids equally given that experience, that’s not necessarily the case. As he revealed:

Well, he's being honest with them, and honesty is the best policy. Sounds like Chris Hemsworth makes a bit of a game of it. As he added in the rundown on LadBible it sounds like he can't help himself.

Chris Hemsworth shares a trio of children with wife, Elsa Pataky. Their eldest India Rose is 14 (and played Thor’s daughter after some bribing), and they have 12-year-old twin sons named Sasha and Tristan. Obviously, it sounds like he loves them all greatly, but sometimes he’s more in awe of one and has to watch what he says as to not rack up the therapy bills.

I love that he’s talking about this, truly. Parents can have favorites, and it doesn’t mean the other one isn’t loved any less.

Fans Point Out How Thor Plays Favorites, Too

When Hemsworth broached the topic, fans couldn’t help but compare it to how his Thor treats Hulk. As you may remember, Thor basically seems to think of Bruce Banner and the Hulk as two people, and is constantly hoping that Bruce is Hulk when he’s in human form. Check out the fan reactions:

• "He does the same think to Bruce and Hulk, 'no Hulk is the best' 'what, nooo Bruce is the best 😂'"
• "Same thing you did with banner and hulk ahahahaha"
• "'Are you kidding, I don't even like Banner!'"
• "Like he did with Hulk and Banner!"

Yeah… everyone remembers this. It was such a fun bit. Famously, in Thor: Ragnarok, which had Hulk being worked into the plot, Thor plays favorites with Hulk when he’s in his big green form, but once the hero gets too stubborn and out of control, he switches his “favorite,” saying he’d rather see Bruce Banner.

After hearing this story about Hemsworth and his kids, I wonder if that scene with Thor and Bruce/Hulk was improvised at all by the actor after his own personal experience? He is known to really bring himself to his iconic superhero role, so I wouldn't be surprised if so.

Anyways, Thor is definitely back in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday release. For now, it sounds like Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Hulk won’t be in the movie, but surely there are some secrets left to uncover after Chris Evans’ return was confirmed. There are tons of rumors about what could happen in the movie that Marvel is keeping under lock and key – including one revolving around Thor and Doctor Strange. So, maybe Thor's favorite Hulk could show up too.

While we wait for Chris Hemsworth’s return as the God of Thunder on December 18, I know I’m thinking about who my parents’ favorite might be. Chris's kids are so lucky to be parented by the actor and seem to be growing up to be cool people just like their parents.

If you really want to feel the joy of the Christmas season, there’s really nothing like going to Walt Disney World during the holidays. The theme parks are decorated to the nines with twinkly lights and garland. And the sound of a Christmas tune is always in the air as one sips or chomps on a yummy treat that encompasses the holiday. However, I just found out about one change to the Guardians of the Galaxy ride that sweetens the deal.

How Guardians Of The Galaxy Is Getting In On The Holiday Cheer

Walt Disney World’s annual Christmas celebrations like Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, Jollywood Nights and Festival Of The Holidays have been staples to look forward to among upcoming WDW attractions. This time, though, guests are getting an upgrade on one fan-favorite ride. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at Epcot is going to have an overlay with Christmas tunes this year! Check out the list of songs you might hear on the ride during the seasonal change:

• “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” – Andy Williams
• “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24” – Trans-Siberian Orchestra
• “Christmas Wrapping” – The Waitresses

How fun is this? Part of what I love about the indoor rollercoaster is waiting to see what song will soundtrack your thrills, and having alternate options during the holidays is a nice surprise. In case you're curious, only “Christmas Wrapping” was on The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special soundtrack (now streaming with a Disney+ subscription), but these are all great picks.

Now, I’m so curious how each song will make the ride different, and what will become favorites among guests. On the original soundtrack, “September” became such a big hit that on the 21st the song was played on the ride all day. You'll be able to listen to one of these holiday songs on Cosmic Rewind (or perhaps try your luck on hearing them all) from November 25 through January 6 of next year, per Disney Parks Blog.

And, Cosmic Rewind Isn’t The Only Ride Getting A Festive Overlay

If you’re as excited as I am for Cosmic Rewind’s holiday overlay, there’s even more good news. At Hollywood Studios, there’s a festive update coming for Alien Swirling Saucers. Starting November 4, you can ride the Toy Story Land ride with remixes of even more holiday classics. The cheery twist is that Toy Story 5’s Lilypad will be the DJ behind these songs. Toy Story 5 was one of my favorite 2026 movies (so far), and it's great to see the sequel joining in on the holiday festivities in an unexpected way.

Additionally, the new Rock 'N' Rollercoaster ride that reopened at Hollywood Studios early this summer with The Muppets is going all in on the holidays, too. Electric Mayhem is going to play some festive favorites with the help of special guests like Kermit and Fozzie Bear, Jennifer Hudson and Cyndi Lauper.

Spending the holidays this year at Walt Disney World is going to be one for the books! Right now it’s still very much spooky season at Disney Parks, but once November hits, it’s going to be a winter wonderland in Florida – and the many other parks around the world, of course! It can't come soon enough.

Spoilers ahead for the Season 1 finale of Lanterns.

The DCEU is in the rearview, and it's been fascinating to see the variety of DCU projects that co-CEO James Gunn has brought to theaters and streaming with a HBO Max subscription. Lanterns is in the latter category, and is the latest installment in the first slate of projects, titled Gods and Monsters. There were some lingering questions about Manhunters in the wake of the final episode, and showrunner/creator Chris Mundy has clarified things.

The mystery of who killed Hal Jordan was solved in the finale, revealed to be Kerry in a desperate attempt to save her Manhunter son Noah. It turns out that she had an immaculate conception when Zoe used the Manhunter machine to regrow her finger. This leaves the question: can the violent robots actually produce? Mundy was asked this by EW, responding with:

There you have it. Zoe's machine was capable of creating another Manhunter, but it was more of a fluke than a sure thing. As Chris Mundy put it, this was a set of "crazy circumstances" that happened to result in Kerry getting pregnant with her son Noah, who ended up being born as a Manhunter. So they can't reproduce in a regular way; Noah's birth was an exception rather than a rule.

Zoe's reveal as a Manhunter was a great twist, but Noah's was even more surprising. Some folks thought that he was the one who killed Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan, but it turns out that Kerry did it while protecting her son. In the same interview, the Lanterns creator spoke more about Noah's origin story, offering:

There you have it. While Zoe accidentally created a new Manhunter when using the machine on Kerry, it's not something they could depend on consistently. We didn't see it on screen, but the showrunner confirmed that Zoe tried to recreate this success to repopulate the Manhunter. Unfortunately it never worked, which is why the stakes were so high for the robotic race of androids.

Lanterns is streaming now in its entirety on HBO Max as part of the 2026 TV schedule. Fingers crossed we get a second season to continue John Stewart's tenure in the shared universe. Luckily he'll be back when Man of Tomorrow arrives in theaters next year.

Kat Dennings has been digging through some wonderfully strange stories from her career lately, and I’m starting to think somebody should just hand her a microphone and let her work through the entire résumé. Her latest takes us back to the original Thor, where Darcy Lewis famously introduced herself to the God of Thunder by electrocuting him. Apparently, Chris Hemsworth wasn’t the only person getting zapped.

In a TikTok shared by Dennings, the actress recalled discovering that the Taser used while filming the 2011 Marvel movie was police-grade. For reasons that probably made perfect sense for about three seconds, she volunteered to fire it herself. You can hear her recount the story in the video below.

If it's been a while since you watched Kenneth Branagh’s Thor, you’re in luck: it’s streaming with a Disney+ subscription. But if you need a refresher, don’t worry, I'll feed you, baby bird. Darcy is Jane Foster’s sarcastic intern, and she responds to an increasingly agitated, newly mortal Thor by tasing him.

For an insert shot of Darcy firing the weapon, production planned to use a hand double. The House Bunny veteran actress had other ideas. She decided that on her last day of shooting, she'd step in and do the job herself. She explained:

The crew surrounded the camera with heavy felt curtains to catch the Taser’s barbs and positioned Dennings behind a metal C-stand. A neon X on the camera’s matte box gave her something to aim at. Then somebody apparently made the mistake of telling her she probably couldn’t hit it. She continued:

That is an incredible reward for accuracy. Thor wakes up confused and starts demanding answers, and Darcy responds to the increasingly agitated stranger with a Taser. It is one of those early-MCU jokes that tells you almost everything you need to know about Darcy in about 10 seconds. What I did not know was that the weapon itself apparently had considerably more bite than your average movie prop.

The finished gag already works because Darcy barely hesitates before dropping a guy claiming to be The God of Thunder in the New Mexico desert. Now I’ll be watching it knowing Dennings accidentally conducted her own very hands-on test of the prop.

As memorable as her time in the first film was, Darcy only returned briefly in Thor: The Dark World, but the character eventually came back years later for WandaVision. By then, Darcy had gone from a political science student hanging around astrophysicists to Dr. Darcy Lewis, helping unravel what Wanda Maximoff was doing to Westview. Thankfully, there doesn't seem to have been any shocking on-set mishaps while making that MCU show.

Dennings hasn't only been using TikTok to dig up Marvel stories; she's also using the platform to share some other tidbits from her other projects, including some very candid memories from 2 Broke Girls. It has become a strange little career archaeology project, and I hope she keeps excavating.

The actress's Thor anecdote has permanently changed the way I’ll watch Darcy drop Odinson in the desert. Chris Hemsworth may have been acting, but behind the scenes, Kat Dennings was actually getting tased.

The MCU is known for its tight security, with its cast and crew tasked with guarding the secrets of each upcoming Marvel movie and TV show. All eyes are on what The Russo Brothers have up their sleeves for Avengers: Doomsday, and Sebastian Stan is shocked that Chris Evans was confirmed to return as Captain America. As a fan who has spent years watching the Marvel movies in order I have to agree.

What we know about Avengers: Doomsday is extremely limited, and the return of Steve Rogers is one reason why anticipation is so high. Chris Evans wasn't originally included in the Doomsday cast list, but we've already seen footage of his return as Captain America. In a clip from Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz's Instagram, Stan got real about his reaction to this reveal, offering:

Ouch. Chris Evans might be making Marvel fans' days by returning as Steve Rogers, but the reality of filming Doomsday sounds super isolating. His role was top-secret, which meant he had to be housed away from the movie's announced cast. News of his role broke the internet, so maybe it was worth it. Still, Sebastian Stan is shook that the studio revealed his role so long before it actually arrives in theaters this December.

Avengers: Doomsday's trailer showed some brief footage of Steve Rogers, who is wearing casual clothes rather than a Captain America suit. Luckily he'll be wielding Mjolnir, which he famously did in Endgame's final battle. Later in the same interview, Stan revealed a conversation he had with Evans about his surprise role, saying:

I don't know about you, but I'm dying to hear Evans' recollection of shooting Doomsday. It would have absolutely gone viral if his role was revealed, but the studio was able to control that narrative. Although Sebastian Stan is still shocked that his inclusion was revealed so long before the next Avengers movie was released.

Fans are eager to see how the MCU's heroes will react to Steve Rogers' return, especially Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson and Sebastian Stan's Bucky. The latter actor didn't reveal what's going to happen when they reunite in Doomsday, but he did speak about the unique challenge of bringing his signature character to life in the crossover event. In his words:

This sounds like a funny dynamic, and I'm suddenly even more excited to see how Bucky interacts with the entire teams of heroes that will be part of Doomsday. Namely The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and the New Avengers aka Thunderbolts. He's currently part of the lineup for the latter, but Bucky's got history with plenty of other characters as well.

All will be revealed when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Hopefully Sebastian Stan's character doesn't get killed off so we can see more of his dynamics with the rest of the shared universe's heroes.

By this point, it’s no secret that The Batman: Part II has seen its fair share of starts and stops since it was announced way back in 2022. The film made some serious progress this year, as filming kicked off in the United Kingdom under the leadership of writer-director Matt Reeves this past summer. Principal photography has been in motion for months now but, unfortunately, production has officially been halted for the time being. DC Studios has since released a statement to explain the situation.

DC announced this latest setback for The Batman's sequel on Monday afternoon. Both studios confirmed the news in a joint statement shared with Deadline and, per the comments, production has been paused to allow Reeves to deal with a “family matter.” The statement reads as follows:

Much of the filming on Reeves’ highly anticipated superhero sequel has taken place in areas like London and Liverpool, and scenes have also been shot on soundstages at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden. What’s not specified in the statement is just how long it’ll be before the cameras start rolling again. Regardless, as mentioned in the statement, Reeves has the support of DC Studios, which is co-led by James Gunn and Peter Safran.

The Batman: Part II’s release window has changed multiple times over the past several years. Originally, the film was scheduled to open in theaters on October 3, 2025, though it was pushed to October 2, 2026 as a result of the Hollywood strikes in 2023. A third date change for the Bat-flick came in late 2024, at which point it was reported that it had been bumped to October 1, 2027. And, shortly after filming began this past summer, it was revealed that the film had been delayed again to February 2028.

For several years, fans questioned the film’s status even after it was initially announced. However, studio executives – including Gunn – soothed concerns about Reeves’ progress on the film. In June 2025, Part II took a major step forward when Reeves confirmed that the screenplay had been completed. He signified the occasion by sharing a photo of himself along with co-writer Mattson Tomlin and the script.

Caped Crusader devotees have been itching for additional details about Reeves' movie, especially since filming began. Reeves and co. have, of course, remained coy on specific details, but the Planet of the Apes alum has been getting fans hyped for the movie. Back in May, Reeves teased his work on Part II by showing off a Batmobile-related test. And, just weeks ago, Reeves celebrated Batman Day by sharing another behind-the-scenes look at his upcoming superhero movie.

It’s obviously disappointing that production on this latest Batman movie has stalled yet again. But, hopefully, Matt Reeves is allowed the time by DC Studios to sort out his familial situation as necessary.

As of this writing, The Batman: Part II is still set to be released on February 18, 2028. Fans can pass the time by streaming the original movie along with the spinoff series, The Penguin, with an HBO Max subscription now.

Major spoilers for Lanterns’ Season 1 finale, “Dirt and Stars” lie ahead, so read on at your own discretion.

HBO and DC’s Lanterns has come to a close on the 2026 TV schedule and, with that, the show wrapped up the vast majority of the plot threads viewers have been following for weeks now. To put it simply, the series ends with John Stewart forging a firm path for himself within the DCU moving forward. There are a few developments in this episode that could have major ramifications on the shared universe as a whole down the road. However, there’s one specific detail I can’t help but keep thinking about, and it’s related to a single comment.

John Stewart’s Conversation With Sinestro Includes A Massive Claim I’m Still Pondering

After the finale’s prologue (which chronicles Hal Jordan and Kerry Kane’s romance) the show flashes back to where the previous installment left off – John confronting Sinestro on that decimated planet. It’s during their conversation that viewers learn Kerry’s son, Noah Macon, is a manhunter (which partially aligned with fans’ theories about Hal’s death). What’s more, Noah broke Sinestro out of prison and ordered him to forge a fear-tinged Lantern for him, which he’d use to get revenge on the GL Corps for his grandmother, Zoe.

That information is incredibly important, but what really strikes me is a comment Sinestro makes. He claims to John and the “Halogram” (Hal’s archived consciousness) that he can use the power of the Lantern to bring the real Hal back from the dead. Naturally, both John and Hal are skeptical, but Sinestro asserts that he’s telling the truth. Ultimately, Stewart and Jordan leave the ex-Green Lantern restrained on the planet, which is populated with toxic, fear-inducing water.

What I’m still wondering is whether or not Sinestro was really telling the truth at that moment. I mean, on the one hand, he could’ve simply said that as a way to try to persuade his captors to let him go. But, on the other hand, he could’ve very well been honest when making that claim about the lantern’s power. The show has already shown machines that can revive people, so I don’t think it’s totally out of the question for a ring with extraterrestrial origins to do it as well. And, if that’s the case, it could be big for the DCU moving forward.

What Could That Lantern’s Power Mean For The DCU?

Those who finished Lanterns’ finale surely know that it ends with John Stewart choosing to wield the late Hal Jordan’s ring and use Sinestro’s fear-forged lantern as its source. Not only that, but Stewart also tells (the returning) Guy Gardner that he intends to operate independently of the GL Corps. What I’m wondering is with John now operating the Lantern, will he discover any kind of resurrection powers and use them himself?

It’s known that the newly minted Green Lantern is returning in Man of Tomorrow (which is part of the 2027 movie schedule). That film will see Superman, Lex Luthor and more take on the threat of Brainiac and, if the battle gets too tense, might John use his ring to revive a fallen hero, if he’s discovered any kind of power by that point?

There’s also the notion of what this could mean for a future season of Lanterns. Despite John’s rocky relationship with Hal, he eventually gained a considerable amount of respect for his unconventional mentor, especially after finding out why he died. A scene in the finale also shows John reaching out to the now-deleted Halogram for advice but to no avail. Stewart surely has more challenges ahead of him, and it’s hard not to consider whether he’d revive Jordan to assist him.

Of course, these are all just massive theories on my part but, regardless of whether John’s lantern can revive the dead, the power paradigm in the DCU could shift a bit. Sinestro’s lantern could prove to be a very powerful tool, and the notion of a Green lantern wielding something like that in this universe is intriguing to say the least. I’m curious as to how he’ll wield that power moving forward – and whether he’ll end up raising the dead at some point.

Lanterns’ first season is available to stream in its entirety with an HBO Max subscription. Fans should also read up on upcoming DC shows that are in various stages of development.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a behemoth franchise, one that continues to be wildly popular both in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. While fans are looking forward to the Avengers: Doomsday, those who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order were recently treated to Endgame returning to theaters. The studio posted a video thanking fans for it beating Avatar and becoming the highest grossing movie of all time (again), and some fan responses were excellent.

Avengers: Endgame's re-release crushed at the box office, allowing The Russo Brothers' blockbuster to once again overtake Avatar's record. This is partly thanks to Endgame: Encore's new scenes, which got folks re-watching on the big screen. You can see how the studio celebrated this accomplishment below:

Endgame has once again beaten the first Avatar movie, and is the highest-grossing movie of all time. This is understandably something for the studio to celebrate, especially given recent box office bombs like The Marvels. And it might be an indication as to how well Avengers: Doomsday is ultimately going to do when it's released in December.

Fans are sounding off in the comments section of this post, but there's one in particular that really cracked me up. It's a joke about how James Cameron might react to Endgame winning, which you can read below:

I'm sorry, but this really had me LOLing. Cameron and the Russos seem to have a good attitude about their movies' competition, but it's funny to imagine the Titanic visionary suddenly getting to work on the Avatar franchise in order to retake the top spot. If Endgame can add a few scenes for the Encore addition, why can't James Cameron do the same for the first Avatar film?

The above comment isn't the only funny one that was posted in response to Marvel's announcement. There were a number of other memorable ones in the comments section, some of which include:

• Bro went from "I love you 3000" to "I've destroyed 3000 universes" 😭🥀
• Give it two months, see what happens
• "We won, Mr. Stark."
• You’re welcome🥱❤️ jus show why Thor was crying tho

The last comment was a reference to Deadpool & Wolverine, which also performed well at the box office. In one scene at the TVA we see Thor crying over Deadpool, with both Ryan Reynolds' character and the audience begging for more context. We'll just have to see if that ends up happening in Avengers: Doomsday or another one of the other upcoming Marvel movies.

Avengers Endgame: Encore is in theaters now as part of the 2026 movie release list, and Doomsday will follow suit on December 18th. We'll just have to see if it ends up having the same wild success as the last Avengers flick.

It’s been well over a decade since Christian Bale last donned the cape and cowl to play Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, but many still discuss his performance. As far as live-action Batman actors go, Bale is still praised for his portrayal of Gotham City’s defender and his alter ego, Bruce Wayne. Bale is a smart performer and he seemed to truly commit himself playing the iconic DC character. And, now, I need to rewatch one particular installment after hearing about one funny method he used to get through a scene.

2012’s The Dark Knight Rises sees the Bat going up against the imposing Bane, who’s played by Tom Hardy. The two characters share some tense scenes in the film, which are exciting to watch. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the first time I saw Hardy’s muscle-bound antagonist beat down the Caped Crusader and break his back. However, not all of that material was easy for both of the seasoned actors to film, as they weren’t always able to hear each other. Bale recalled:

First off, this behind-the-scenes detail reframes the way I look at some of those epic moments but, when I really think about it, it makes sense that the two stars wouldn’t be able to hear each other’s dialogue. During their confrontation scenes, there’s a lot going on, especially during that final battle for Gotham at the end of Dark Knight Rises. Nolan is obviously a clever filmmaker, but it was his actors who managed to find a solution to this little issue, as Bale explained to Heart:

I’m trying my best to imagine Hardy and Bale – all decked out in their costumes – and raising their fingers in order to cue each other. Considering Nolan works with some sharp editors, I’m not completely sure I’d be able to find a moment in which either of the actors actually use the signal. However, I’m more than eager to throw on the film again in the slight hope that I might find something. That aside, though, I’m just glad the two co-stars were able to work through that dialogue-related snafu.

While some viewers may have their nitpicks with Christian Bale’s version of The World’s Greatest Detective (like his Batman voice), he does an excellent job of portraying the duality between Bruce and the Bat. Believe it or not, Bale has actually taken issue with his performance, opining that he “didn’t quite nail it.” Of course, I’m not surprised by such a comment, considering how seriously the Oscar winner takes his work.

Bale has, of course, played a plethora of other roles since playing the famed superhero, though he is willing to play the character again. However, the one condition he has for a Bat reprisal is that Christopher Nolan be involved and, given the filmmaker has moved on, I’d say it’s likely that Bale has hung up the costume for good. Still, if he were to come back, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d use that same trick in order to be cued to deliver dialogue.

If you’re like me and now have a desire to rewatch The Dark Knight Rises, grab an HBO Max subscription to stream it alongside the other films in the Dark Knight Trilogy. And anyone looking for new fare should read up on upcoming superhero movies.

I have seen Avengers: Endgame enough times that Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton fighting over who gets to throw themselves off Vormir seems obvious, and it doesn’t quite have the emotional weight it once did. Black Widow wins the terrible argument, Hawkeye gets the Soul Stone, and I spend the next hour wondering why Natasha never got the same kind of extended farewell Tony Stark received. Apparently, that outcome wasn't always locked in, and Hawkeye nearly was the one killed off.

During an Avengers: Endgame Encore Q&A (via Forbes), contributor Tim Lammers and screenwriter Stephen McFeely revealed that they actually tried a version where Hawkeye died instead, but some women at Marvel reacted immediately, and it changed the writers’ thinking. The writers were understandably nervous about killing one of the MCU’s most prominent women, so they tested the opposite outcome, but it didn’t land with the women in the office. McFeely explained:

I love that somebody apparently intercepted McFeely in a hallway over this, and I get their argument. Killing Hawkeye could have spared Natasha, sure. Still, it also would have handed Clint the huge redemptive sacrifice after Endgame spent much of its opening turning him into the murderous Ronin. Natasha had spent years trying to balance her own ledger. Letting her choose the Avengers over herself gives her agency in how that story ends, even if I still wish Marvel had given everyone more time to deal with losing her.

That remains my biggest frustration with the Vormir sequence. Ultimately, Natasha’s Endgame story culminates in her death; the surviving Avengers mourn her briefly, but Endgame has roughly a thousand other things to accomplish before the credits roll, so the film moves on quickly. McFeely knows it. He continued:

The writers did try to keep Natasha present after Vormir, but Avengers: Endgame ultimately builds toward Tony Stark’s sacrifice, with his death becoming the emotional centerpiece of the finale. By that point, there's simply not much room left to give Natasha a bigger farewell.

She eventually got a solo movie that works, in many ways, as a belated swan song. Still, I would have preferred a more substantial goodbye in the final major Marvel movie she appeared in chronologically by release.

Now, seven years later, I still think Natasha deserved more space. But knowing Marvel seriously considered killing Hawkeye instead makes the Vormir sequence even more interesting. Somewhere along the way, people at Marvel watched Clint fall from that cliff and basically told the writers, “Absolutely not.” And Natasha still got her sacrificial moment.

For better or worse, Clint kept his appointment with television, starring in his own series titled Hawkeye, which is streamable for everyone with a Disney+ subscription. Also, check out Avengers: Endgame using that same subscription to prepare for the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, which opens in theaters on December 18 amid the 2026 movie schedule.

Mike Colter has played quite a few roles over the course of his career, but his turn as Luke Cage in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is arguably what he’s best known for. Plenty of fans were disappointed when the character’s eponymous show was canceled in 2018 after two seasons at Netflix. Colter’s Cage has since returned, though, having done so in the Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 finale and will return in Season 3. Now, Colter is opening up to CinemaBlend about why his reprisal feels as weird as one might expect.

Ahead of Cage’s return amid the 2026 TV schedule, it’d been some time since he’d shown up in the MCU, with his last notable appearance coming in Jessica Jones’ series finale in 2019. Now, Colter is in a position to not only play Power Man again but to reunite with co-stars Krysten Ritter (Jones), Finn Jones (Danny Rand/Iron Fist) and of course, Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/Daredevil). While promoting his new show, Cupertino, Colter spoke out his DD Season 3 experience and what it was like being back with his castmates:

Talk about experiencing déjà vu. However, Colter also said this about his long-hoped-for MCU reunion:

Personally, I can understand why it would be a bit jarring for Colter to be back in Cage’s shoes so many years after getting out of them. I mean, playing the character again after being away from him for several years is one thing, but also joining his fellow Defenders for DD Season 3 is a whole other surreal layer. So I think a “time warp” – not one caused by the time travel established in Avengers: Endgame – is a fitting way to sum up the feeling. In spite of that, it seems like the Evil alum had a good time.

Before Cage’s return was confirmed, Colter spoke quite frequently about the prospect of it happening (even whilst keeping his reprisal a secret). Colter gave fans hope this past January when he teased that he’d had “conversations” with Marvel about returning. Not long after, the actor also said that if he returned as Cage, he’d want to explore his position as the “Sheriff of Harlem” even more. Now that he is officially back, Colter is grateful, though it’s also made for an interesting work schedule for him:

It’s my hope that Cage won’t be doing next to nothing in Daredevil Season 3, which will be the show’s last. Fans probably shouldn’t worry on that front, though, as everything that’s been teased about the season thus far suggests it’s going to close out the show on a high note. I’m still bummed up about it getting canceled, but I’m feeling better after hearing Matthew Lillard (who plays Mr. Charles) call the final season “explosive.”

Needless to say, I’m pumped to see how Mike Colter and the other Defenders alums figure into the narrative. Also, once the season drops, I’m eager to hear some other BTS tidbits about what it was like for Colter to shoot specific scenes with his castmates. We’ll see what happens with the bulletproof do-gooder when Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 premieres in March 2027 and, in the meantime, stream the first two seasons as well as Luke Cage with a Disney+ subscription.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day has webbed up a considerable amount of success since its release on the 2026 movie schedule this past July. The Destin Daniel Cretton-directed superhero flick has not only broken box office records but also earned acclaim from critics. What’s also notable about this particular flick is that lead actor Tom Holland contributed a significant amount of ideas compared to his previous Spidey flicks. Still, I wasn’t expecting him to cite The Lego Batman Movie when explaining one of his pitches.

Much of Brand New Day centers on Holland’s web-slinger being heralded by the people of New York due to his success in combating crime in the city. However, as Peter Parker, he lives a relatively isolated life following the ending of 2021’s No Way Home, in which the world forgets who he is. That ultimately causes Peter to become depressed, especially when he sees the full lives his former friends – MJ and Ned – are living. As Holland explained, this was something that was greatly informed by Lego Batman:

Chris McKay’s Lego Movie spinoff sees the Dark Knight earning serious praise from the citizens of Gotham City, who assume he’s living it up with celebrities in super models in his spare time. In reality, the Bat goes home to an empty cave and has a deep sense of loneliness that he initially tries to deny. While the film makes fun of Batman at times, it’s also quite sentimental. While I’ll admit that I wouldn’t have immediately pegged the funny flick as an inspiration for Brand New Day, it makes sense. Holland also said this about his pitch:

The Lego Batman Movie was very well reviewed and, quite frankly, it’s just a fun film. I love that it now has a small creative link to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man franchise. Also, kudos to Holland for finding varied sources of inspiration for his new movie. I’d say it all paid off, given the position responses to Brand New Day. Of course, there’s also now talk regarding what the future may hold. While a fifth film is far from confirmed at this point, Sony head honcho Tom Rothman suggests the future could be bright.

Now, a high bar has been set by Brand New Day, since it deftly balances the superhero thrills with the grounded character elements. And I love that we can thank Lego Batman for (inadvertently) contributing to that approach. McKay’s movie deserves its flowers, and this new revelation from Tom Holland serves as a small, but neat, addition to its legacy.

Check out Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is currently playing in theaters nationwide. Also, grab an HBO Max subscription and stream The Lego Batman Movie now.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is always expanding, thanks to exciting titles arriving in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. The latter brought us Daredevil: Born Again, which will be ending with its upcoming third season. I'm super bummed that the series is ending so soon, but Matthew Lillard's comments about Season 3 are making me feel a little better.

Season 2 of Born Again introduced Lillard's Mr. Charles, who was revealed to be working for Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. He'll be back for the third and final chapter of the show, and during an interview with ComicBook the Scream icon hyped up what's to come. In his words:

Lillard dropped the name of showrunner/creator/producer Dario Scardapane, who has been at the head of Daredevil: Born Again since it debuted on Disney+. When it was revealed that the show was ending in Season 3, it came with the news that Scardapane was not going to be involved in the post-production process. It's still unclear how that might affect the show's final season on the air.

Despite the questions surrounding the showrunner's involvement, Matthew Lillard's comments may help to quell the concerns of critics who are worried about how Born Again's third season will go down. Specifically calling it "explosive" and hyping up how it'll shatter fan expectations. Bring on all the Marvel goodness!

Despite the show's ending being in sight, there's been a ton of hype surrounding the third season of Daredevil: Born Again. Namely because the show will include the reunion of The Defenders, aka the heroes from the Marvel Netflix shows. Fans were thrilled when Krysten Ritter returned as Jessica Jones last season, and then Mike Colter got a cameo as Luke Cage. They'll both be back for Season 3, alongside Finn Jones' Iron Fist. So it certainly seems like the new Daredevil show will be going out on a high note.

As much as I'd like to see Born Again continue for a long run on Disney+, Matthew Lillard's above comments about the third season are giving me hope that it'll end with a bang. It was already tough when Netflix cancelled all of its Marvel shows back in the day, and I'd hate to see The Man Without Fear's story end unceremoniously once again.

It's currently unclear when Daredevil: Born Again will return for its third and final season, but it would make sense if it happened sometime in 2027. For now, fans can re-watch the first two season over on Disney+.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is still going strong nearly two decades in, with new projects arriving in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Right now fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order are counting down the days until Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters this December. As we wait for the upcoming Marvel movie's arrival, Chris Evans picked his ultimate lineup for Earth's Mightiest Heroes. I've got to say he made some solid points.

What we know about Avengers: Doomsday is limited, but the Captain America teaser confirmed that Evans is returning to his signature role. In a clip from Fan Expo Boston's Instagram, the 45-year-old actor revealed the Avengers team he'd personally put together, offering:

Honestly, he made some excellent choices. Evans wasn't fooling around when choosing his own Avengers lineup, and he went for some of the biggest names in the entire shared universe. Honestly, this is a group I'd love to see team up and kick some villain butt in the MCU.

Chris Evans started with my favorite hero: Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff. During WandaVision she became The Scarlet Witch, with her chaos magic capable of altering reality. She's been missing since Doctor Strange 2's ending, but fans are hoping she ends up popping up in Doomsday or Secret Wars.

Looking to assemble the biggest hitters in the MCU, Evans also named Chris Hemsworth's God of Thunder in his dream Avengers lineup. Thor is expected to be a major presence in Doomsday, although some fans are worried he might end up being killed off in the battle against Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom. Either way, he's a big hitter who belongs in most Avengers lineups.

The Materialists actor rounded out this picks with the original Marvel hero: Iron Man. Although rather than wanting Tony Stark for his abilities in battle, Evans joked that it was mostly because he'd know where to go on vacation after their mission was completed. That and his A+ taste in shawarma.

It should be fascinating to see what Chris Evans' Steve Rogers is up to when he appears in Avengers: Doomsday. Fans are wondering how he'll be brought into the story after finally getting his dance with Peggy in Endgame, as well as how he might react when discovering Doctor Doom resembles his old friend Tony Stark.

All will be revealed when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list. We'll just have to see if he gets any scenes with Thor and Wanda throughout its mysterious runtime.

Of all the upcoming Marvel movies on the way, the one I’m most anticipating is absolutely the new X-Men film. When the cast was announced at D23, I realized right away that a group of talented actors had been chosen to play the iconic roles. But I’ll be honest, I’ve felt kind of neutral about the casting of Christopher Abbott as Professor X. But now that I’ve seen him lead his new Netflix show, my excitement has only grown.

I Hadn't Really Seen The New X-Men Actor In Anything Until Now

I’ve known of Chris Abbott for a while. I remember he was on Girls way back when, but otherwise I’ve mostly seen him in a few supporting roles over the years here and there. And, I mean, if you look at his work, he’s primarily known for independent films. The higher-profile movies he’s done are The Wolfman and Kraven the Hunter, which both flopped.

I had a sense he was a good actor who takes chances and cares about the work more than the notoriety. Now I’ve seen him really lead something thanks to my binge of East of Eden with a Netflix subscription, and I have a lot more to say.

Why I'm Sold On Chris Abbott's Professor X After East Of Eden

In East of Eden, Abbott plays the role of Adam Trask, who’s at the center of this book-to-screen adaptation based on John Steinbeck’s magnum opus of a novel. We track the life of Adam from a child to the days after he serves in the U.S. Army in the Indian Wars. Abbott takes over once Adam is a war veteran who wanders back home to reunite with his estranged brother Charles (Mike Faist).

It’s not long after the brothers reunite when something new tears them apart. The arrival of a woman named Cathy (Florence Pugh) who’s been almost beaten to death. Adam instantly falls in love with her, while Charles is (rightly) untrusting of the mysterious woman. I won’t tell the story of East of Eden much further than that, but it’s a multi-generational spanning epic that has Abbott’s character in the middle of things the whole time.

After seeing the likes of Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy play Professor X, I think there are a few qualities that made them perfect for the role. Both of them have a very distinguished quality to them; they are discerning, idealistic, and have a certain sex appeal, too. Professor X is also a wheelchair user, but you never really feel like he isn’t capable or is allowing his disability to rule over him.

Chris Abbott’s East of Eden role isn’t the same as Professor X, and Adam Trask’s story takes place from the late 19th century to 1918. Though there are some shared qualities between the characters that made me excited to see what he does with Professor X. While watching the very bingeable drama, I found myself saying to myself, “Yeah, I see it! He’s our Professor X.” And I just have a good feeling now that he’ll both bring something new to the role and do the character justice.

You can watch East of Eden now on Netflix, and get ready for the latest in the X-Men movies, set to hit theaters on May 8, 2028.

It's an exciting time in the MCU, as we're only a few months away from the release of the upcoming Marvel movie Avengers: Doomsday. Fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order are psyched about seeing the Doomsday cast united against Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom, but they're also curious about what surprise actors might appear. There are rumors about Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop appearing, and apparently even her husband Josh Allen doesn't know the truth.

Steinfeld and Allen are a hot celebrity couple who recently welcomed their daughter into the world. Obviously they're a dynamic pair, but apparently not even marriage and parenthood can get in the way of Marvel's tight security. The Sinners actress recently appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where the host tried to get her to reveal if she's going to appear in the next Avengers movie. Fallon said he didn't see her chair in the cast announcement, and she responded with:

I guess the "Love Myself" singer takes her NDA seriously. Because apparently not even her famous husband gets all the information about her future in the MCU. Josh Allen is apparently so in the dark about what's next for Kate Bishop that he had to call Steinfeld and ask.

While I'm not buying that the Hawkeye actress herself doesn't know if she's in Doomsday, I love that she's kept her husband in the dark about it. Marvel actors are expected to guard the shared universe's secrets, and she's clearly doing a good job. You can see Hailee Steinfeld's conversation with Fallon below, where she refuses to give away anything.

What we know about Avengers: Doomsday is super limited, which is why there are so many rumors and theories about what The Russo Brothers have up their sleeves for the blockbuster. Kevin Feige confirmed that the cast list didn't include every actor, a sentiment that was confirmed when the Doomsday Captain America trailer confirmed that Chris Evans was returning. Anything can happen in the multiverse, so why not bring Kate Bishop along for the fun?

Hailee Steinfeld debuted as Kate in the Hawkeye series, where she was trained as the title character's protégée. Fans really responded to her performance, as well as her chemistry with Florence Pugh's Yelena. After a few years away Kate returned to the shared universe during The Marvels' ending, which saw Kamala Khan starting to assemble the Young Avengers. It's currently unclear if/when we'll see that team; Iman Vellani was also included in the Doomsday cast announcement.

All will be revealed when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Fingers crossed that we get to see Kate Bishop appear on the big screen sooner rather than later.

I think I’ve seen every Marvel movie in the order they came out, and I’ve kept up with most of the Disney+ shows. (OK, I didn’t watch Moon Knight.) I like to think of myself as a casual-but-invested MCU fan. I’m not someone who is skipping movies or (usually) complaining about the franchise. I honestly even really liked the critically panned The Marvels! However, I just can’t deal with this Avengers Endgame: Encore situation.

The Russo brothers, in my opinion, have done a great job drumming up interest in Doomsday after Marvel kicked things off with that big, live chair announcement. They’ve been doing the rounds. They’ve had a lot of fun and emotional posts about their history with the franchise. Plus, they’ve made some comments heavily teasing the upcoming movie, particularly when it comes to Encore additions. It’s this latter part where they are losing me.

For example, they were asked by Empire about one of the additional sequences that was added to Encore specifically for the release. It’s a post credits scene set in the TVA where we learn Earth-10005 (Fox’s X-Men’s Universe) and Earth-1127 collide, leading to a chain reaction and Ke Huy Quan stating “the multiverse is collapsing.” Per Joe Russo, this is going to have a “great level of importance” moving forward.

It’s been clear given all of the casting the multi-verse was going to collide for a while. I just really hate that this scene is coming out months before the release of the actual movie I want to see. It's supposed to be super important, but if I want to see it in person I have to go pay to see another version of a movie I’ve already seen in theaters. If it was of such “great” “importance” to the upcoming Marvel movie, why has it been dumped into the lore like this?

Look, I know there’s a rundown of all of the scenes all over the Internet already. I have read them, obviously, and these scenes have been confirmed to have been shot during the production of Doomsday. So, I can go in with the info without having seen the four minutes, and I probably will.

I also get why Marvel wanted to bring back Endgame; it’s a great movie. I understand why they wanted to add some new stuff to entice people to come to theaters and for the superfans to get jazzed. I get even with only four minutes of extra footage the re-release did big dollars and has been good business for theaters overall.

I just have no interest in re-seeing a slightly different version of this movie, and I also don’t want to have to consume even more Marvel content before I go to the theater this December. It's already been a lot to take in, and it bums me out there's stuff that could be THAT important that feels like it is being inserted into an old movie. If it's not so important I need to see it ahead of time, then it feels like we're really overselling everything, and if it that important it kind of feels weird and inappropriate to make people go see an old movie to see it inserted in there. It's bumming me out.

Folks who have spent years watching the DC movies in order know that we're currently in the early stages of a new shared universe, one designed by co-CEO James Gunn. The first big screen adventure was Superman, which is streaming now with a HBO Max subscription. The Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker was recently asked if he'll be releasing a director's cut of the DC flick, and his response is truly cracking me up.

The first slate of DCU projects is called Gods and Monsters, with Gunn methodically expanding the shared universe with both TV and film titles. While there are plenty of upcoming DC movies to look forward to, a fan asked Gunn on Threads if we should expect a director's cut of Superman sometime in the future. He responded with:

I love this response. As the head of the studio as well as the movie's director and writer, it makes sense that James Gunn wouldn't have to make another version of Superman. Instead, he made the movie he wanted, which was the theatrical cut that was released back in July of 2025. Of course, it's hard not to imagine this is as a subtle dig to Zack Snyder.

Snyder is known for releasing director's cuts of his movies. That includes Watchmen, Dawn of the Dead, Man of Steel and Batman v Superman. Then there's Zack Snyder's Justice League, which was completed and released after fans campaigned to see it for years. James Gunn won't be following suit, as the version of Superman that arrived in theaters was the movie he set out to make.

Snyder is synonymous with his director's cuts, which are often longer but provide more context for the narratives he's telling. Batman v Superman's directors cut was superior to the one that hit theaters, and Zack Snyder's Justice League was also better... although it was much longer than the theatrical cut. Fans loved it, especially the ways that the new Knightmare scene teased his vision for the two scrapped Justice League films. There are still some fans who are hoping that Warner Bros. will #RestoreTheSnyderVerse some day. Although there's been no indication that the studio is actually interested.

James Gunn might not have been throwing shade at Zack Snyder, but I have to assume that fans out there will make that connection about his Director's Cut comments. Unfortunately for Snyder, he seemingly hasn't had the same freedom that Gunn has as co-CEO of DC Studios. Hey, it's good to be the boss.

The next DC movie hitting theaters is Clayface on October 23rd as part of the 2026 movie release list. James Gunn is once again going to be behind the camera for Man of Tomorrow, which is currently expected on July 9th, 2027. I have to assume we won't get a director's cut of that movie either.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is known for constantly expanding, both in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. While all eyes are on the upcoming Marvel movie Avengers: Doomsday, more information about about previous installments are still trickling out. Case in point: fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order are mad that one Chris Evans-led project never actually came to fruition. Let's break it all down.

Folks are hyped to see Chris Evans back as Steve Rogers as part of the Avengers: Doomsday cast, especially with The Russo Brothers back behind the camera. During an interview with CBR about Endgame, Joe Russo confirmed that they floated around the idea of seeing Cap return the Infinity Stones at the end of Endgame. As the filmmaker put it:

Exactly what happened to Captain America as he returned the Infinity Stones to the MCU timeline is one of the biggest remaining questions about the last Avengers movie. He seemingly succeeded in this before getting his dance with Peggy, but what were those adventures like?

Steve Rogers had to return the Infinity Stones that the Avengers procured during the Time Heist in order to avoid causing alternate realities. Unfortunately we didn't get that montage in Avengers: Endgame. During the same interview, the journalist told Joe Russo that fans would still love to see it. The director responded by saying:

Honestly, sign me up. There are a ton of unique adventures that Captain America could go on when returning the Infinity Stones, and characters from throughout the MCU timeline he would have to interact with. What's more, fans seem to be agree.

The Russo Brothers' comments about this scrapped idea for Cap quickly went viral, and fans started sounding off online. The comments section of IGN's Instagram post about these quotes are filled with responses, some of which read:

• How this was never turned into a series is an epic fail. A stone per episode? SMH lights out
• I honestly thought we would see him return the soul stone and see the red skull again during the new endgame encore
• I think everyone would like to see Steve returning the stones, especially the soul stone to Red Skull.
• This should've been a full movie. "Captain America: Lost in Time"
• I mean, they still can. What's stopping them?

Did they lie? Whether its a movie or a limited series, clearly fans would love to see what adventures Captain America went on before showing up as an old man in Endgame. After all, who doesn't want to see him bring all the Infinity Stones back to their place in the timeline, especially if he gets to interact with certain characters?

As you can see in the comments, fans' FOMO is real. They particularly would love to see what happened when Steve reunited with Red Skull on Vormir to return the Soul Stone. After all, Red Skull was the villain in Captain America: The First Avenger, so they have history. Add in the fact that he watched Natasha sacrifice herself in order to bring the Soul Stone home, and there's another fascinating layer that could be explored.

As one fan pointed out, its not too late for a movie or series to make this happen. Chris Evans is returning as Cap in Doomsday, so he's already out of retirement. Why not give the people what they want?

Avengers: Doomsday will hit theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Folks can see Avengers Endgame: Encore in theaters now, or stream the original cut on Disney+.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is showing no signs of slowing down, to the joy of fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order. The latest release is Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which broke records upon arriving in theaters. That movie featured plenty of familiar faces, including Jon Bernthal's Punisher, Mark Ruffalo's Hulk, and Florence Pugh's Yelena. It turns out that the latter actress was included thanks to Tom Holland himself. Let's break it all down.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day's trailer included Bruce Banner and The Punisher, but Yelena was more of a surprise. In a clip from The Tonight Show's Instagram, Pugh explained how her role in that blockbuster actually came about thanks to Holland. She started by offering:

Talk about a fun origin story. While Yelena has become a fan favorite character over the years, she was relatively unknown when debuting in Black Widow (which ish streaming with a Disney+ subscription). So when Tom Holland was asked about what heroes he'd like to see join his Spider-Man franchise, one might have assumed he'd name drop some of the big OG Avengers. Of course, that wasn't the case.

Later in the same interview, the Oscar-nominated actress spoke more about how Tom Holland brought her into the Spider-Man family. In her words:

Tom Holland might be known for accidentally revealing Marvel spoilers, but I've got to give him his flowers here. Despite limited screen time, Yelena was a delightful part of Brand New Day. I loved her calling Spidey's problems "small potatoes" and making him uncomfortable by meeting her in a spa aka her "office." Marvel fans often wonder why The Avengers aren't called in for solo movies, and Destin Daniel Cretton's movie addressed this by Peter going to Yelena for help. Add in the other heroes in the movie, and the latest Spider-Man movie felt like it was ripped straight from the comics.

Pugh will once again reprise her role as Yelena in Avengers: Doomsday as part of the 2026 movie release list. Fans are hoping that Spider-Man: Brand New Day's credits scene means that Holland pop up in that movie or Secret Wars, but it's currently unclear if that'll happen. Fingers crossed we get to see Peter and Yelana back onscreen together soon.

While Spider-Man has had a major presence on the big screen for years now, the franchise has permeated the small screen, thanks to Amazon’s Prime Video. The streamer has been seeking to produce spinoffs not centered on Peter Parker, with the most recent being the 2026 TV schedule offering Nicolas Cage-led Spider-Noir. Cage’s show was canceled after one season this past summer, but the streamer is already working on another Spidey show. And I’m very surprised by the storyline that’s apparently inspiring it.

Prime Video is reportedly working on a show based on the “Clone Saga” from the Spider-Man comics, specifically the second one. That premise of that particular story focuses on two clones of Peter Parker – Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker. According to Deadline, though, fans likely shouldn’t expect this to be a by-the-book adaptation, as the series could make some notable changes to the source material. It’s been alleged that the creative team – headed up by Kelvin Yu – could make some key alterations to Kaine and Ben.

In the comics, Kaine Parker is the first clone made by the Jackal, and he’s eventually found to be genetically flawed. That leads Jackal to create an improved clone, Ben Reilly. Ben (whose name utilizes Uncle Ben Parker’s first name and Aunty May’s maiden name) is a well-meaning clone who becomes a hero in his own right, the Scarlet Spider. Per the trade, the show may see Ben and Kane take on new identities, therefore changing their clone origins. Yet a different account suggests the pair will remain clones and take on other clones.

Regardless of which way the producers go here, I’m just surprised that the “Clone Saga” could actually end up being the basis of a TV show. Yes, it’s a popular storyline, but it’s quite massive and would feel more like something fit for the big screen. Tackling this plot with a TV show does make sense, as there would be an ample amount of time to flesh out the main characters. However, there’s still the matter of whether there would be any kind of reference to Peter Parker (and, if so, which Peter would that be).

Sony’s overall Spider-Man franchise has become quite vast, as Tom Holland’s Spider-Man franchise is still going, with the latest installment – Brand New Day – crushing at the box office. As for the future of Holland’s franchise, it’s been suggested that a fifth film may happen at some point. There’s also the animated Spider-Verse franchise, which is set to conclude amid the 2027 movie schedule with Beyond the Spider-Verse.

We’ll ultimately have to wait and see just what ends up happening with this Clone Saga show, including whether it ultimately gets picked up. It’d certainly be an interesting addition to the Spidey TV canon and, depending on what way creator Kelvin Yu and co. would go with it, it could become Prime’s most ambitious Spidey-based project to date. Still, I need to hear more before I’m truly sold on this project.

In the meantime, stream all of Spider-Noir now using a Prime Video subscription.