The transition from the DCEU to James Gunn’s upcoming DCU have not gone well. It’s been a bumpy road, to say the least, with multiple flops in a row leading up to December’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which might also underwhelm. But even more than that, fans are rightfully confused at what DC Studios is going to be. It’s not a full reboot, but new films won’t have any connection to anything that came before. Some actors are returning and some aren’t. So what is this hybrid monster gonna be, anyway?
Gunn hasn’t done a very good job of clearing things up. However, he’s at least confirmed in a Threads post the three actors from the DCEU who will continue on in their roles, and you won’t be surprised by any of them.
John Cena will return as Peacemaker, having played the character in the Gunn-directed film The Suicide Squad and spinoff Peacemaker series. Viola Davis will also return as Amanda Waller. She’s been around since 2016s Suicide Squad, and starred with Cena in the aforementioned projects. There’s also a Waller series reportedly in the works.
Finally, Xolo Maridueña will suit up as Blue Beetle, even though the superhero movie did not do well at the box office. The reviews were positive, though, in particular for Maridueña, and Gunn has been touting the actor’s role in the DCU for quite a while. Don’t be surprised if he pops up in the Booster Gold series.
That still leaves some pretty big unanswered questions. What happens with Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, and Jason Momoa as Aquaman? Whose going to the next Batman? When can we expect Ray Fisher’s Cyborg to return? Just kidding about that last one. Definitely not happening!
Gunn’s DCU kicks off with Superman: Legacy on July 11th, 2025
While the incredible first season of HBO’s True Detective set an impossibly high bar, I think it’s overstated the dropoff in subsequent seasons. While audiences have generally been down on the show, every new season brings optimism that it’ll reclaim prior creative heights. And that is definitely the case for the fourth season, True Detective: Night Country, which debuts early next year.
With Nic Pizzolatto gone, the series is in the more-than-capable hands of Issa López, known for the crime thriller Tigers are Not Afraid. The Alaska-set drama is led by Jodie Foster, which is pretty great all by itself, and Catch the Fair One breakout Kali Reis, who also happens to be a former boxing champion.
Here’s the synopsis: When the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska, the eight men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanish without a trace. To solve the case, Detectives Liz Danvers (Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Reis) will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice.
Also in the cast are John Hawkes, Finn Bennett, Fiona Shaw, Christopher Eccleston, and Isabella Star LaBlanc.
Barry Jenkins is aboard as an exec-producer, along with López who serves as writer, director, and showrunner. This is totally her show.
True Detective: Night Country hits HBO and Max on January 14th 2024.
Of all of the weird shows coming around this fall, I think the weirdest, and possibly the best, might be The Curse. Showtime and A24’s HGTV-esque riff comes from comes from producers/writers/stars Emma Stone, comedian Nathan Fielder, and filmmaker Benny Safdie.
The series stars Stone and Fielder as a new couple who are trying to have a child while also starring in their own house-flipping TV series. Oh, and they’ve been hit by an alleged curse that might cause some disruption to their marriage. So that’s a problem.
Also in the cast are Oscar-nominated Captain Phillips actor Barkhad Abdi, Corbin Bernsen, and Constance Shulman.
Here’s the synopsis: THE CURSE is a genre-bending SHOWTIME® series that explores how an alleged curse disturbs the relationship of a newly married couple as they try to conceive a child while co-starring in their new home-improvement show. The series stars Oscar® winner Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder, and Benny Safdie. Guest stars include Oscar nominee Barkhad Abdi, Emmy® nominee Corbin Bernsen, and Constance Shulman. Produced by A24, THE CURSE is co-created and executive-produced by Benny Safdie and Nathan Fielder, who also serves as a director. Emma Stone executive produces alongside Dave McCary and Ali Herting through their Fruit Tree banner. Josh Safdie also serves as executive producer.
The Curse will have its world premiere at NYFF, followed by Paramount+ on November 10th.
Just days after the first kitty-centric teaser for Matthew Vaughn’s action spy-comedy Argylle, Apple has dropped the full trailer. The film stars Bryce Dallas Howard as introverted spy novelist Elly Conway, whose stories are hitting a little too close to home for some in the espionage community. Former Superman Henry Cavill plays the titular super-spy from her books, while Sam Rockwell is Aiden, a cat-allergic agent who comes to her rescue.
Vaughn continues to dabble in the spy genre with his signature blend of action and humor, just as he’s done for three Kingsman films before this. Clearly, part of his sick of sense must be that unfortunate haircut Cavill is sporting. Did he go to the barber and ask for the “Viggo Mortensen Eastern Promises Special”?
The star-studded cast includes Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, pop star Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, Rob Delaney, Sofia Boutella, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Argylle opens in theaters on February 2nd 2024 with an Apple TV+ streaming date to follow.
*NOTE: This is a reprint of my review from the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.*
If you’ve been dying for a twist on the old Michael Douglas-led thrillers, then look no further than Chloe Domont’s Fair Play. This story of fraught office politics and workplace gender dynamics feels inspired by a film like Disclosure, except while that sexual harassment film was seen from his perspective, this one places a woman, played by Bridgerton actress Phoebe Dynevor, inside a dangerous power dynamic. While she is incredible and often sympathetic in the role, it’s Alden Ehrenreich and his oh-so-punchable face that is perfectly cast as the model of mediocre white male fragility.
The opening scenes of Fair Play are delicious fun, especially if you’re in the right headspace for its influences and where it’s likely headed. Ehrenreich and Dynevor play Luke and Emily, and in the opening scenes, he is happily showing her off at an engagement party for his brother. These two are so hot for one another, and who wouldn’t be with the way they look longingly into one another’s eyes, they rush off to the bathroom so he can go down on her. Only…well, it turns into a bloody affair because she’s on her period. But this potentially gross situation turns into something happy when she spots the engagement ring he is holding. Suddenly, they’re also engaged. A blood-soaked engagement? That can’t be good, can it?
This ominous beginning only worsens when we see the nature of their relationship. They also work together as analysts at one of those high-pressure financial institutions straight out of Boiler Room. Luke is on the rise, and he walks around with the swagger to prove it. She hears that he might be next to get a big promotion, which pumps up his confidence, and sexual energy to the max. But when the tables are turned and it’s her who gets the new job, well…suddenly it’s not such a happy home between these two.
Domont crafts a complicated, but wildly entertaining knockout of a film exploring how fragile a relationship built on money and power can be. When Emily returns from getting the good news, Luke says the right things, but the look on his face says it all. The smile is a mask, and underneath his male ego is in ribbons. Soon, the office rumors begin to spread about Emily and how she got the job, with all of the juvenile, grotesque accusations that Luke says nothing to deflect.
The screenplay expertly balances a number of spinning plates that are threatening to topple over. First and foremost is the big secret of Emily and Luke’s relationship, which goes against office policy and would almost certainly destroy any credibility she has. This only gets worse when she effectively becomes Luke’s boss. But there are so many directions this film could have gone and any one of them would’ve been interesting. Fair Play never limits itself to being just one thing. It’s not just a relationship film, and packs in some choice thrills that leave you wondering where this treacherous situation will go next.
Domont’s screenplay is surprisingly sharp, and while the film ticks along for a scene or two longer than it needs to, it’s tough to find a scene that doesn’t enhance the narrative. You wouldn’t dare cut out a single moment with Eddie Marsan as the Alec Baldwin-esque boss, gritting his teeth as he rips into his analysts, reducing them to quivering babies. He shreds Emily with three choice words and the look on her face is a mix of shock, revulsion, and desperation to get back into his good graces. In the world of high-stakes trading and big money deals, a person’s dignity has a price tag and everyone is up for sale.
In another filmmaker’s hands, Fair Play might’ve leaned too far into serious discussion, but Domont never shies away from making it as compelling to watch as it is richly complex. To that end, the final scene is a real crowd-pleaser, a bloody bookend with a come-to-Jesus moment that the audience had been dying to see, and Fair Play eagerly delivers.
Fair Play hits theaters on September 29th, followed by Netflix on October 6th.
Parenthood is difficult enough, especially for a relatively new couple holding onto a lot of emotional baggage. But how much more difficult would that be if…oh, say, one of them was a werewolf? That’s the question looming over the second season of Peacock’s dark comedy series, Wolf Like Me, which stars Josh Gad and Isla Fisher.
The series was created by Abe Forsythe, who directed the hilarious Sundance comedy-horror Little Monsters. For those unfamiliar with Wolf Like Me, the series centers on Gary, a single father struggling to get over the death of his wife, while continuing to provide support to their grieving daughter. It’s pure fate when Gary meets the mysterious Mary, and they form an unexpected romantic bond, only for it to be complicated by the very large secret she is keeping buried.
Also in the cast are Edgar Ramirez, a new addition for season two, plus Ariel Donoghue, Emma Lung, Anthony Taufa, and Honour Latukefu.
Here’s the synopsis for season two: In the second season of Wolf Like Me, Mary (Isla Fisher) and Gary (Josh Gad) leap into the next phase of their relationship, facing their biggest challenge yet: pregnancy. As much as the two try to have a “normal” pregnancy, it seems impossible, with so many questions looming over them. Will their child be a human or a wolf? Just how long can they keep things secret from the rest of their family? Will what happened in the outback come back to haunt them? And, with Mary’s former professor, Anton (Edgar Ramirez), suddenly in the picture, new secrets from Mary’s past are revealed, can their relationship withstand newly unearthed secrets from Mary’s past?
Wolf Like Me hits Peacock on October 19th with all episodes ready to be binged.
Lil Rel Howery has established himself as one of the funniest actors around with loads of comedies under his belt. And yet he’ll probably always be known for his breakout first role in Jordan Peele’s Get Out. He also had a role in the Netflix hit, Bird Box. So Howery knows his way around horror, but for the first time he gets the genre spotlight all to himself in The Mill, the latest entry in Hulu’s series of Huluween specials for spooky season.
Set in a future hyper-capitalist AI-enhanced version of America, Howery stars as Joe, an ambitious rising star at Mallard, a mega-corporation that has engulfed Amazon and Apple in market share. A devoted family man with a pregnant wife about to pop, Joe suddenly wakes up alone in a nightmarish prison cell with no memory of how he got there. His only hope of seeing his wife again centers on an archaic grist mill that he must work to meet a daily quota that beats the other unseen captives. Whoever scores the lowest amount will be terminated.
Call it “advanced career training”, but Mallard sees Joe and the others as underperformers. Joe is pushed to the breaking point in a form of modern day slavery, highlighting the discussion surrounding the labor movement and the advancement of AI on our workforce.
“Today’s American discourse is centered on labor and artificial intelligence,” says director Sean King O’Grady. “Eight months ago, when we filmed The Mill, these discussions were hypothetical. Our film unexpectedly became relevant. But it’s not just about AI or labor. Joe’s tale isn’t merely topical — it’s universal. It’s about feeling trapped in a system that takes more than it gives, feeling like a replaceable cog in a lifeless machine. Have you ever felt powerless or exploited in this way? Do you right now?”
O’Grady previously directed the Sierra McCormick/Vinessa Shaw thriller, We Need to Do Somethingwhich I thought showed a ton of promise.
Also starring Pat Healy, Karen Obilom, Patrick Fischler, The Mill hits Hulu on October 9th.
The pairing of Franck Khalfoun and Alexandre Aja has produced some tremendous genre films over the years. In various capacities, they have teamed up on High Tension, Piranha 3D, P2, and Khalfoun’s remake of Maniac. Now the duo are together again for Night of the Hunted, a remake of the 2015 Spanish film La Noche del Ratón.
Starring French model/actress Camille Rowe, Night of the Hunted centers on an unsuspecting woman trapped inside of a remote gas station, dodging the bullets of a sociopathic sniper.
The film was directed by Khalfoun who also co-wrote the screenplay with Glen Freyer. Aja is aboard as a producer.
Also in the cast are Aleksandar Popovic, J. John Bieler, Brian Breiter, and Monaia Abdelrahim.
Here’s the synopsis: When an unsuspecting woman stops at a remote gas station in the dead of night, she’s made the plaything of a sociopathic sniper with a secret vendetta. To survive she must not only dodge his bullets and fight for her life, but also figure out who wants her dead and why…
Shudder will begin streaming Night of the Hunted on October 20th.
What better way for Walt Disney Animation to celebrate its 100th anniversary than with a film that honors the early Disney era classics while utilizing modern techniques and concepts? That film would be Wish, an animated musical fairy tale that tells the origin story of the wishing star seen by so many Disney characters over the years.
Reuniting Frozen director Chris Buck with writer Jennifer Lee, Wish follows “Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force—a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe—the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico—to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.”
The lead voice cast is tremendous with Academy Award-winning actor Ariana DeBose as Asha, Chris Pine as Magnifico, and Alan Tudyk as Asha’s pet talking goat, Valentino. DeBose’s powerful singing voice can be heard in the new track, “This Wish”.
Also in the voice cast are Angelique Cabral as Queen Amaya, the wife and sounding board of King Magnifico; Victor Garber as Asha’s grandfather, Sabino, who—at 100 years old—is patiently waiting for his wish to be granted; and Natasha Rothwell as Asha’s loving and supportive mom, Sakina. Jennifer Kumiyama plays Asha’s dearest friend, Dahlia, who’s an accomplished baker and unofficial leader of their group; Evan Peters as the strong guy with a big heart and bigger yawn, Simon;Harvey Guillén as Gabo, who may be cynical, but he has a heart of gold; Ramy Youseff as Safi, who’s plagued by allergies;Niko Vargas as Asha’s joyful, always smiling buddy, Hal; Della Saba as the seemingly shy teenager, Bazeema, who’s full of surprises; and Jon Rudnitsky as Asha’s rosy-cheeked, wiggly-eared pal, Dario.
Joining Buck as co-director is Fawn Veerasunthorn, who worked on Raya and the Last Dragon and is making her directorial debut.
As you can see from the new trailer, a merging of the classic hand-drawn animation with new technology has created a gorgeous, painted art syle that could become the new Disney standard.
We’re happy to offer our DC readers the chance to attend a free early screening of The Exorcist: Believer! The film is directed by David Gordon Green (Halloween trilogy). The film is a direct sequel to William Friedkin’s groundbreaking 1973 horror, and features the return of Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil, joined by Leslie Odom Jr., Lidya Jewett, Olivia O’Neill, Ann Dowd, Jennifer Nettles, and Norbert Leo Butz.
SYNOPSIS: Exactly 50 years ago this fall, the most terrifying horror film in history landed on screens, shocking audiences around the world. Now, a new chapter begins. From Blumhouse and director David Gordon Green, who shattered the status quo with their resurrection of the Halloween franchise, comes The Exorcist: Believer. Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 13 years ago, Victor Fielding (Tony winner and Oscar® nominee Leslie Odom, Jr.; One Night in Miami, Hamilton) has raised their daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett, Good Girls) on his own. But when Angela and her friend Katherine (newcomer Olivia O’Neill), disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil.
The screening takes place on Tuesday, October 3rd at 7:00pm at Regal Majestic. If you’d like to attend, RSVP at the Gofobo site here. Please remember all screenings are first come first served and you’ll want to arrive early to ensure seating. Enjoy the show!
The Exorcist: Believer opens in theaters on October 6th.
