Marvel Sets Early 2027 Premiere For ‘Ahsoka’ Season Two, ‘VisionQuest’ Arrives On October 14th

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May 13, 2026

The season one finale of Ahsoka aired in October 2023, and for Star Wars fans it’s been a long time coming to see the payoff of that cliffhanger. Well, they’ve got a bit longer to wait. Yesterday, at the Disney Upfronts (via Deadline), news was dropped on the upcoming seasons of Disney+ shows Ahsoka and WandaVision spinoff, VisionQuest.

First up, star Rosario Dawson revealed that Ahsoka season two will arrive in early 2027. While that doesn’t give us a concrete date, it’s at least an update that gives fans something to look forward to. This season will once again be overseen by Dave Filoni, newly into his gig as Lucasfilm chief, and promises the return of some familiar faces.

Filoni teases the return of Admiral Ackbar, saying that he’ll be going “head-to-head” with Grand Admiral Thrawn, played by Lars Mikkelsen.

Dawson added, “This season, the battles are bigger, and the stakes are higher.”

They better be. The first season set a very high bar to be surpassed. The first season saw Thrawn returning from limbo along with aspiring Jedi, Ezra Bridger, played by Eman Esfandi. Ezra reconnected with some of his Ghost family, including Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), to warn them about Thrawn’s evil plans. We also saw Ahsoka stranded on Peridea while disgraced fallen Jedi Baylan Skoll (now played by Rory McCann, replacing the late Ray Stevenson) did some weird mystical shit with the Force.

We also learned that VisionQuest will hit Disney+ on October 14th. Paul Bettany returns as Vision, who began as the voice of JARVIS in Iron Man’s suit of armor, only to be transformed into Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and finally became Wanda Maximoff’s sitcom husband in WandaVision. Bettany was joined on stage by Tom Hiddleston and Robert Downey Jr.

Bettany won’t be the only one coming back for more. James Spader will reprise his role as Vision’s creator, the evil android Ultron, and James D’Arcy, who played Edwin Jarvis in Agent Carter, will play the original JARVIS. Also in the cast are Henry Lewis, T’Nia Miller, Todd Stashwick, Jonathan Sayer, Orla Brady, Emily Hampshire, and Ruaridh Mollica. Terry Matalas (Star Trek: Picard) will serve as showrunner.

Marvel Television's #VisionQuest starring Paul Bettany will debut October 14 on Disney+. pic.twitter.com/CwzDPFsVKf

— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) May 13, 2026

‘Wildwood’ Teaser: Laika Returns With Another Ambitious Stop-Motion Adventure Arriving In October

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Travis Hopson

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May 13, 2026

Don’t think because Laika founder Travis Knight moved over to live-action with Bumblebee and Masters of the Universe that he’s somehow lost a love for stop-motion animation. Knight will direct his first animated movie since 2016’s incredible Kubo and the Two Strings with the long-awaited dark fantasy film, Wildwood, and an astonishing new teaser has been revealed for it.

Described as Laika’s most ambitious film yet, Wildwood features a stellar voice cast of Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Jacob Tremblay will lead the cast, joined by Angela Bassett, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Amandla Stenberg, Jermaine Clement, Maya Erskine, Tantoo Cardinal, Tom Waits, and Richard E. Grant.

The film is based on the first book in a trilogy of YA fantasy novels by The Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy, about a young girl named Prue who ventures into the wilds of Portland, Oregon (Laika’s home turf) to find her missing brother who has been kidnapped by a murder of crows.

The footage we’ve got is gorgeous and spooky, showing off Laika’s incredible skill with stop-motion animation. They truly are the best at it, and have been working hard on this one since 2011.

Wildwood is expected to hit theaters on October 23rd, after facing some delays. It took quite a while to find a distributor, likely due to Laika’s poor box office track record. But it has partnered up with Fathom Entertainment on the release, and my hope is that Laika has a hit on its hands.

‘Please’: David Jonsson And Connor Storrie Join Cast Of Halina Reijn’s Latest Film With A24

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Travis Hopson

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May 13, 2026

A24 is reteaming with Bodies Bodies Bodies and Babygirl director Halina Reijn for her third film, titled Please, and it continues a trend of star-studded ensembles. Already set to feature Tom Burke (Black Bag) and Grammy nominated singer-turned-actress Gracie Abrams, the film has added rising stars David Jonsson and Connor Storrie.

Variety reported the news of Jonsson joining the pic, while Deadline revealed the addition of Storrie. Plot details are being kept a mystery, but we know Reijn will write and direct.

It’s probably unfair to call Jonsson a “rising star” because the British actor has already arrived. Since his breakout in the film Rye Lane and HBO series Industry, Jonsson has starred in Alien: Romulus, Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk, and most recently prison thriller Wasteman.

Storrie had a tiny role in Joker: Folie à Deux, but he found massive success as part of the steamy queer romance hockey series Heated Rivalry. He has a role in Molly Gordon’s upcoming reunion comedy, Peaked.

Please seems like a project that is only going to get bigger before filming actually starts, so look out for more casting news. Hopefully, by then we’ll have some info on the story and the characters everyone will be portraying.

Review: ‘Is God Is’
Bold, Brazen Grindhouse Revenge Epic Is Driven With Fiery Purpose

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Travis Hopson
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The preternatural connection between twin siblings is something most of us will never understand. We’ve heard the stories; being able to feel one another’s physical pain, almost a psychic link that bonds them across distances. But what if those twins are together forged by fire, tragedy, and abandonment? What does that connection then look like? In Aleshea Harris’ bold, brazen grindhouse revenge flick Is God Is, it translates into a need to lash out with extreme prejudice against the world. Or in this case, one man who has poisoned that world for them.

That man is simply referred to as “the Monster”, and played by Sterling K. Brown at his most sociopathic, toothy-grinned worst. He’s the target of this Kill Bill-esque quest for vengeance, but the film isn’t abot him. The story actually centers on twin sisters Anaia (Mallori Johnson) and Racine (Kara Young). Scarred inside and out by a raging inferno set by their father as he tried to burn their mother, Ruby the God, played by Vivica A. Fox (herself a Kill Bill alum). Thinking their mother dead as they passed from one foster home to the next, the women are shocked to receive a letter from her as she lay dying, being attended by caretakers casually braiding her hair like it’s just another day. God only wants one thing before she dies; for the girls to make their daddy dead. One of them is eager to get some payback.

Driven with fiery purpose from the start, Is God Is creates two fascinating, fully lived-in avenging angels in Racine and Anaia. The film begins with one of its many sepia-toned flashbacks that sets the tone; the aggressively protective Racine taking a baseball bat to kids making fun of the scarred and shy Anaia. The dynamic doesn’t change as they grow older. Anaia’s face was badly burned by the fire, but it can’t fully hide her natural beauty. Racine, whose arm was singed, attracts the most unwanted attention from men, all of whom are awful to varying degrees, but she’s also the one most likely to beat you over the head with a rock-filled sock. Together, Young and Johnson are the epitome of balance; one performance always like a bomb primed to detonate, the other as quiet and still as the grave.

Vivid stylistic flourishes punctuate this sinful fairy tale, which finds the sisters’ conflicting ideologies causing the most drama. When the reluctant Anaia suggests that neither of the are killers, Racing curtly responds with an undeniable fact: “We come from a man who wanted to kill our mama, and a mama who wants to kill that man.” Violence is in their blood, whether they want to accept it or not.

The journey finds the twins crossing paths with colorful characters of differing degrees of corruption, all of whom connect the dots of their father’s life post-blaze. The Cosby Show vet Erika Alexander is tragic and hilarious as Divine the Healer, a bogus evangelical faith healer who exploits her flock and keeps a shrine dedicated to Monster in hopes that he will someday return to her. There’s also Mykelti Williamson as the ambulance-chasing lawyer Chuck Hall, who helped keep Monster out of prison. The most effective supporting role belongs to Janelle Monae as the New Wife, who has suffered the abuses of Monster in their posh, California home. While she has decided to act out against him, she still feels entitled and superior to the sisters when they confront her with the brutal reality. Harris captures the complex class warfare that exists within Black culture with dialog that’s equal parts scathing and funny, often told through long monologues, in keeping with the film’s stage origins.

While Is God Is occasionally struggles to maintain the single-minded drive of its fearsome protagonists, the payoff is well worth the wait. With gallons of blood splashed on Izod shirts, boat shoes, and jean shorts alike, there’s a visceral thrill to the final confrontation and Monster’s matter-of-fact response to the death and destruction around him. Ultimately, the evil he has brought into Racine and Anaia’s lives can only be cured through love, understanding, and forgiveness. Revenge is an inferno that, if allowed to burn, will consume everyone and everything.

Is God Is opens in theaters on May 15th.

‘Bitter Christmas’ Trailer: Pedro Almodóvar’s Cannes-Bound Autofiction Tragicomedy Opens Later This Year

By

Travis Hopson

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May 12, 2026

Following his English-language debut The Room Next Door, Pedro Almodovar returns to many of his pet themes with Bitter Christmas. Sony Pictures Classics has released the trailer for Bitter Christmas, a female-focused tragicomedy that tells dual stories on guilt, memory, identity, creative control, and autofiction.

Bitter Christmas tells parallel stories, one set in 2004 as Elsa, an advertising director, takes a long weekend to a Spanish island to spark her creative writing. The second tale is set in 2026 and centers on Raúl, a filmmaker working on a script that happens to be about Elsa, her stripper boyfriend Bonifacio, and her friends Patricia and Natalia.

The cast is filled with a mix of Almodovar’s past collaborators and some new faces. Bárbara Lennie, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Victoria Luengo, Patrick Criado, Milena Smit, Quim Gutiérrez, and Rossy de Palma star.

SYNOPSIS: Bitter Christmas tells two alternating stories, one starring Elsa, an advertising director, in 2004, during a long weekend in December. The second takes place in 2026 and stars Raúl, a screenwriter and director who is writing a script that we soon discover is the story of Elsa, her boyfriend Bonifacio, and her friends Patricia and Natalia. Mixed with fiction, Elsa is, in a way, Raúl’s alter ego, who, like him, resorts to autofiction as a solution to a long period of creative drought. He looks inside himself, and he can’t help but also look at the people who make up his most intimate universe: his partner and his assistant.

Bitter Christmas hits theaters later this year.

Review: ‘Obsession’
Wish Fulfillment Goes Nightmarishly Wrong In Curry Barker's Instant Horror Classic

By
Travis Hopson
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This almost always happens with the horror genre, but every now and then, you catch one that you know instantly that it’s going to be a film everyone is talking about. Last year, we all felt that way about Weapons the moment we saw it. And this year, I believe that movie is Obsession. Focus Features should have a hit on its hands with Curry Barker’s feature debut, as it’s a film that everyone on some level can relate to. We all know the ominous phrase “Be careful what you wish for”, and have felt its stinging effects one way or another. But also, we all know what it’s like to have feelings for someone and not have those feelings returned. As much as we might wish things were different, they aren’t likely to change. But what if that wish does come true, only for it to turn into a nightmare?

Obsession reminded me of those old Wishmaster horror movies, where someone’s wish is granted but in a twisted, evil way. Michael Johnston plays Bear, a shy, soft-spoken worker at a music store who is crushing hard on his friend Nikki, played by Inde Navarrette. Bear seems like a good guy, but the kind who almost always ends up in the Friend Zone. He might even suspect this himself, which is why he can’t bring himself to confess his feelings. His charismatic pal Ian, played by Cooper Tomlinson, warns Bear against saying anything. And then there’s Sarah, played by Megan Lawless, who might hold feelings for Bear if he’d open up his eyes and notice it. All of them work in the same music store (run by Andy Richter!!), and hang out together, so there’s no escaping the awkwardness.

Things take a turn towards the dark side when Bear buys Nikki a gift, a novelty trinket called a One Wish Willow. Too shy to admit his feelings for her, Bear decides to use the item for himself, wishing that Nikki loved him more than anyone else in the world. The charm works…too well. Her affection quickly turns to obsession on a Hellish scale. We’re talking not even being able to go to the bathroom alone, much less a night out with the guys.

What’s going to make Obsession the topic of some interesting conversation on the ride home is the way Barker’s script forces you to reevaluate your feelings for these characters. As guys, we can sympathize with Bear on some level. He’s just a timid dude with a crush, who made a stupid wish that he had no idea would come true. When Nikki’s possessive nature, spurred on by the wish, begins to destroy his life, we see him as the unintended victim of this wish gone wrong.

At the same time, Nikki is utterly robbed of any agency to make choices for herself. Her friends notice it. Once a woman with a fiery, rebellious spirit, her identity only becomes about pleasing Bear and being near him. We’ve seen people in our lives enter relationships and lose part of themselves in the arrangement, but nothing quite like this. We feel bad for both Nikki and Bear…up until the point when he starts to just roll with it. He likes the attention. And when opportunities arise to do something about it, he always proves what a weak, pathetic loser he really is.

Obsession is more tense than gory, ratcheting up the nervous energy in an effectively slow burn. But don’t be fooled; this movie goes to some horrific places, and as the wish spins wildly out of control, so does the violence explode in extreme ways. Barker doesn’t screw around, and gives you no warning when the nastiest stuff is going to happen. Don’t even bother trying to shield your eyes because it will always catch you off guard.

With complex performances from all of the young cast (none of which I was really aware of), Obsession is going to be the launching pad for a lot of careers. That includes Barker, an internet comedian whose Milk & Serial short became a viral sensation. Obsession has the potential to have exactly the same impact. It’s the kind of horror that you want to see with as many friends as possible, then spend the rest of the night talking about how crazy that shit was.

Obsession opens in theaters on May 15th.

Tom Cruise Eyes Original Spy Thriller ‘Doppelgänger’ From ‘Searching Director Aneesh Chaganty

By

Travis Hopson

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May 12, 2026

Tom Cruise may have found his next big project. And no, it’s not a new Mission: Impossible, or even Top Gun 3. And certainly not Edge of Tomorrow 2; honestly, people should stop asking about that one. According to Jeff Sneider, Cruise is in early talks for Doppelgänger, an original spy thriller from Searching director Aneesh Chaganty.

Paramount Pictures acquired Doppelgänger last summer, and see it as a film with franchise potential. Cruise certainly would’ve liked to hear that. Ryan Coogler is aboard as a producer, as well. Chaganty and Dan Frey co-wrote the script, which centers on Veer, a CIA agent who discovers he has a Brazilian doppelganger out there in the hands of Russian intelligence, which intends to replace him within the CIA.

Cruise isn’t formally attached yet, and will make a decision only after he sees a completed script. Chaganty and Cruise have reportedly met multiple times, and the script is being crafted to suit the actor’s liking.

Coming up next for Cruise is Alejandro G. Inarritu’s Digger, which hits theaters and IMAX this October.

‘Finding Emily’ Trailer: Angourie Rice Helps Spike Fearn Track Down His Dream Girl In New Summer Rom-Com

By

Travis Hopson

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May 12, 2026

It’s comforting to know that even in this digital age, a wrong number for a dream crush can still spark an epic romantic quest. Focus Features has released the trailer for Finding Emily, a romcom starring Angourie Rice and Spike Fearn that hits theaters this summer.

Directed by Alicia MacDonald, Finding Emily stars Fearn as a lovesick musician who is given the wrong number for his dream girl. Rice plays the driven psychology student who aids him on a mission of the heart to track the girl down. Turns out, Rice’s character is studying how romantic attachments cause madness, and this guy makes the perfect subject.

Also in the cast is Minnie Driver, herself no stranger to this genre.

Fearn, who was recently seen in Alien: Romulus, is also a musician who provided music for Finding Emily. Focus Features is making the soundtrack available for pre-order, with more music by Blossoms, W. H. Lung, Morgan Kibby, and more.

Rice showed some of her musical abilities recently in Mean Girls. So it makes sense that Focus is leaning hard into the movie’s musical qualities, given the talents of its cast.

Finding Emily opens in theaters on August 28th.

‘The Odyssey’: Christopher Nolan Confirms Lupita Nyong’o As Sisters Helen Of Troy And Clytemnestra

By

Travis Hopson

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May 12, 2026

Lupita Nyong'o will play Helen of Troy in THE ODYSSEY, a role played by Diane Kruger in TROY

Well, this should drive the MAGA douchebags into a frenzy.

Christopher Nolan has confirmed to Time Magazine what has been speculated for a year, that Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o will play Helen of Troy in The Odyssey. Not only that, she’ll have a dual role, playing Helen’s sister, Clytemnestra.

Helen of Troy is an iconic figure in Greek mythology, known for her staggering beauty that led to war. She fled her husband, Menelaus, played by Benny Safdie in Nolan’s film, to be with Prince Paris of Troy, sparking the Trojan War at the heart of Homer’s epic poem. Clytemnestra is Helen’s half-sister and married to Menelaus’ brother, Agamemnon. She despises him and, in Homer’s epic, gets lethal revenge on her husband when he returns from war.

This gives the talented Nyong’o the chance to play two very different women trapped by the war-making ways of men. Nyong’o has done the dual-performance thing before, in Jordan Peele’s 2012 horror, Us. So we know she’s more than capable.

Not that certain people will care. They’re much more upset that a Black woman is playing Helen, the “most beautiful woman in the world”, a character traditionally depicted as blonde-haired and white. Well, those folks can stay mad. They’ll still show up to see the movie, anyway. Helen was portrayed by Diane Kruger in Wolfgang Petersen’s epic Troy in 2004.

The controversy, if you can even call it that, was refueled by Elon Musk’s recent comments. But he was probably on ketamine at the time, so who gives a shit.

The Odyssey hits theaters on July 17th.

‘Ally’: Bradley Cooper, Ayo Edibiri, Dave Bautista, & More Join Bong Joon Ho’s Animated Film

By

Travis Hopson

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May 12, 2026

Bong Joon Ho, the director behind Parasite, Snowpiercer, and Mickey 17, is making the family-friendly animated movie Ally his next project. We got a first look at it last month, as NEON came aboard to acquire it. And now we’re learning of the star-studded voice cast that will be helping to bring it to life.

According to Variety, Ayo Edebiri, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Finn Wolfhard, Alex Jayne Go, and Rachel House have joined the Ally voice cast. Filmmaker Werner Herzog has also been confirmed after he was rumored for a role. Go will apparently voice the title character.

Directed by Bong and co-written with Jason Yu, Ally centers on a piglet squid from the uncharted depths of the South Pacific, who dreams of reaching the surface and starring in a wildlife documentary. Her world changes when a plane crashes into the ocean, sparking an unlikely journey upward with a quirky band of companions.

Bong has recruited cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, who he knows well after working together on Mother, Snowpiercer, and Parasite. Marco Beltrami will compose the score.

This is such an unexpected detour for Bong that I’m curious to see how it plays out. He’s recruited quite a line-up for it. Cooper and Bautista reunite after a trilogy of Guardians of the Galaxy movies, in which Cooper voiced Rocket.