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Omni-Man has descended into Mortal Kombat 1, with early access now available to those who own the MK1 Kombat Pass. We’ve seen some of his moves via the recent Kombat Kast and other updates, but now we get to take this evil Superman for a spin ourselves.

While his moves in the heat of battle are cool, let’s be honest: This is Mortal Kombat, which means we’re here for Omni-Man’s bloodiest finishing moves. We’ve assembled the Viltrumite’s Fatalities, his Fatal Blow, and a few of his Brutalities into one video, so you can see how ruthless he can be.

Now Playing: Mortal Kombat 1 Omni-Man’s Fatal Blow, Fatalities, and Brutalities So Far | Max Level CPU Gameplay

Here’s a rundown of each move in the video, along with a quick explainer on the moments from Invincible it pulls from:

  • Fatality 1: Trained Killer
    • Omni-Man grabs his opponent by the neck and flies off, with the scene changing to the subway from Mortal Kombat 3. The two burst through the ceiling, and Omni-Man holds his foe in front of him as the train arrives, smashing both the opponent and the subway passengers into bloody bits.
    • This references one of the most iconic scenes in all of Invincible, where Omni-Man does the same to his son Invincible in a Chicago subway tunnel.
  • Fatality 2: Like Putty
    • Omni-Man grabs his opponent’s head and squeezes, first popping out an eyeball before ripping the head off. He then pushes the head through the rest of the body before stomping on it.
    • This is an extended cut of the first kill we see from Omni-Man in his battle with the Guardians Of The Globe in the first episode of Invincible, as he smashes Red Rush’s head in a similar fashion, popped eye and all. However, Red Rush does not have his body split in half.
  • Fatal Blow: The Thinker
    • Omni-Man flies at his opponent and knocks them into the ground, where he then brutally beats them with his fists before delivering a double fist pound to the head, which shatters their skull.
    • This also references Omni-Man’s battle with his son, only this move calls back to the final moments before Omni-Man unexpectedly leaves.
  • Brutality 1: Behind You!
    • Omni-Man turns his opponent’s head backwards, after which they fall to their knees, cough up some blood, and fall over.
    • This is another reference to Omni-Man’s battle with the Guardians Of The Globe in the first episode of Invincible, in which he kills War Woman in the same fashion.
  • Brutality 2: Coming Through
    • Omni-Man flies through his opponent, which causes their body to explode.
    • This move likely references the scene in Invincible’s seventh episode, where Omni-Man dispatches an entire unit of special forces in cloaking devices. One of the soldiers is killed when Omni-Man flies at him with such force that his body bursts on impact.
  • Brutality 3: You Got Boned!
    • Omni-Man grabs his opponent by the foot and smashes them on the ground repeatedly, with the final smash making the opponent’s head explode before Omni-Man tosses them away.
    • This is also a reference to Omni-Man’s battle with the Guardians Of The Globe, specifically when he kills Darkwing in the same fashion.
  • Brutality 4: The Klassic
    • The classic “uppercut an opponent’s head off” move that every character on the roster can use.

Mortal Kombat 1 is available now on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Omni-Man is available to download now for those who own the Kombat Pass DLC or a premium version of the game.

The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors.
GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.

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Festivals

The great irony of Halloween is that in subjecting ourselves to scares of the kitschy seasonal-grocery-aisle variety, we somehow inoculate ourselves, for a moment, the IRL horrors that so consistently plague us each day online in the news each day. But horror movies and other October-end entertainments aren’t necessarily always simply a distraction. Just as often they’re an honest expression of universal human anxieties, dressed up in a foul-smelling rubber mask from the ad-hoc aisles of your local Spirit Halloween retail outlet. (Seriously, what’s up with the inside of those masks? Gross.

Point is: scary movies are both fun and—in some weird way—necessary. Particularly as the evenings begin to dim and pumpkin spice flavonoids start to invade any and all commercially available foodstuffs. But! There are nearly as many different shades of Halloween comfort-viewing as there are of autumn leaves.

Whether you’re a unabashed gorehound with a taste for ultra-intense indie horror or a comedy nerd with a soft spot for trick-or-treat silliness, you no doubt have some sort of perennial Halloween viewing ritual. What are some of ours? GLAD YOU ASKED. Let’s take a look at this month’s Must-List to find out:

 

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (Episode: “Fear, Itself”)

Why we love it: October is the ideal and most obvious time to revisit Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Though each Halloween episode of the series is wonderful in its own way (shout-out to sexy-ghost Willow), it’s “Fear, Itself” (Season 4, Episode 4) that I still watch every year. The Scooby Gang finds themselves trapped inside a fraternity house of horrors, as fear demon “Gachnar” exploits their deepest anxieties (It fans will enjoy meditating on this theme again, sans clowns.) I appreciate the too-real exploration of how the things that scare us most are intrinsically tied to the things most important to us. Sure, the episode has zombies, witchcraft and werewolves—it is Buffy after all—but “Fear, Itself” (first aired in 1999) marks a major turning point in the series, where it moved beyond monsters-of-the-week in favor of bigger existential questions about good, evil and everything in-between. It’s also one of the funniest episodes of the series. What are you waiting for? Watch it on Hulu! Look: Giles wears this hat in the episode. COME ON.

 

IT’S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN (1966)

Why we love it: A Charlie Brown Christmas usually sucks up all the love, but my preferred Charles M. Schulz-brand holiday export is 1966’s Halloween-themed It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Directed by Bill Melendez (who directed several Peanuts programs throughout the decade) the CBS special finds the iconic cartoonist’s coterie of melancholic tots—zigzag enthusiast Charlie Brown, football-based tormentor Lucy, kid sister Sally, chair-hating pianist Schroeder, disconcertingly filthy Pigpen, “Peppermint” Patty, et al.—engaged in various angst-riddled Halloween shenanigans. But the two plot threads that really stand out are “flying ace” Snoopy’s totally imagined battles with WWI-era aviator villain “The Red Baron” and poor, mixed-up Linus’s quixotic dedication in waiting for an appearance by the titular Great Pumpkin—a Santa-esque seasonal figure of his own creation. The results are heartbreaking, wistful and adorable in equal measure, in that nostalgic bitter-taste-of-childhood way that the great Mr. Schulz was always so deft at creating. I dare you not to love it.

 

AUDITION (1999)

Why we love it: When I was in college, I signed up to take an Asian-horror cinema class. But nothing could have prepared me—or my eyes—for Audition, Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike’s gruesome, startling, even nauseating thriller. If you’re looking for a cutesy Halloween-themed movie to watch with friends over candy corn and hot tea, you’re in the wrong place. Audition starts out slow, but methodically builds to a moment of utter monstrosity. No spoilers here, but if you’ve seen the film you definitely know exactly what I’m talking about. This film explores themes of revenge, trauma, repression and shifting power roles—at first quietly and subtly, eventually leading to the big payoff moment towards the end of the film. To say there’s “memorable imagery” is an understatement. Check it out—or don’t!

 

THE WORST WITCH (1986)

Why we love it: I probably haven’t seen this since the first George Bush was President, but for several years during my brain’s most formative stage of memory-making the go-to VHS tape in our house around Halloween was The Worst Witch—HBO’s 70-minute 1986 adaptation of Jill Murphy’s supernatural YA novel of the same name. Though my memories of the program are pleasantly foggy in that fuzzy-childhood way, the thing that mostly jumps out in my mind is that The Worst Witch was TOTALLY Harry Potter before Harry Potter. A young Fairuza Balk plays Mildred Hubble, an underachieving and unpopular student at something called “Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches.” Eventually (spoilers!) poor Mildred is redeemed, singled out for her extraordinary qualities—what they are, I don’t quite recall—by visiting “Grand Wizard” Tim Curry. Shot on dicey ‘80s-era video and featuring charmingly corny visual effects, The Worst Witch is indeed as delightful as it sounds. You won’t regret checking it out.

 

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999)

Why we love it: I grew up in a woodsy town in southern New Jersey. And when I first watched 1999’s cult classic The Blair Witch Project, directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. I never saw the place the same way again. What was truly terrifying for me was the film’s minimalism; the lo-fi found footage aesthetic that just made everything seem so real. The majority of the film is just darkness. A single flash, a woman face—that’s all you needed to completely freak me out. The sound of the footsteps creeping around the tent and the screams Heather makes when she’s looking for her friends? To this day it gives me chills.

 

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Film

Gordon Cormier
Photo: Netflix

Oh, so this is the last airbender? We’ve heard that before.

Regardless of whether or not there will be more airbenders, Netflix has another last one on the way. The long-awaited live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender is making its way to the streamer next year, and they’ve got a teaser trailer to prove it. Filled with the same impressive and expensive special effects that helped make its previous animation adaptation, One Piece, a reality, the teaser is our first glimpse of the latest, if not the last, Airbender.

Avatar: The Last Airbender | Official Teaser | Netflix

Fans of the TV series will find a lot of recognizable characters here, including Aang (Gordon Cormier), an Avatar who is training his telekinetic powers so that he can manipulate the four elements: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. (Oh, god, we hope we’re right about that description). Those powers are on display in the trailer, which uses Netflix’s considerable budget to make the animated magic a live-action and computer-generated reality.

The A.V. Club’s weekly film round up

Based on the Nickelodeon animated series of the same name, Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender is a long time coming. M. Night Shyamalan directed an adaptation of the series in 2010 that fans and critics hated in equal measure. The experience changed the course of Shyamalan’s career and the director seems much happier not directing $150 million fantasy movies. Nearly a decade later, in 2018, Netflix announced its series, which retained the help of series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who left the show over creative differences.

To its credit, Netflix has certainly not given up on turning animated properties into live-action epics. The overwhelmingly positive response to One Piece must give fans some hope for The Last Airbender. Will this truly be the last Airbender? Only time will tell.

Avatar: The Last Airbender streams on February 22.

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Gordon CormierPhoto: NetflixOh, so this is the

TV

Samuel Haskell Jr. was arrested on Wednesday after the dismembered torso of a woman was found in a dumpster in Encino, California, roughly four miles from the home in Tarzana he shared with his wife, Mei Haskell, her parents, and the pair’s three children. He is the son of TV producer Samuel Haskell Sr., founder and president of Magnolia Hill Productions.

Haskell Jr. is currently being held on $2 million bail.

Authorities report that Mei and her parents, Yanxiang Wang and Gaoshen Li, are missing. The pair’s three children were taken into state custody before being placed with family.

A homeless man found the torso while searching for recyclables in a dumpster near Ventura Boulevard and Rubio Avenue early Wednesday morning. The LAPD’s Det. Efren Gutierrez said, “A dismembered female wrapped in a plastic bag. It was just outside the dumpster.”


Haskell Jr. was arrested after authorities reviewed security footage from the area where the dumpster is located. They also found evidence of a crime in his home.

Tuesday night police received a report that someone had spotted a body in a black bag outside Haskell’s home, but they were unable to back up the claim.

Before founding Magnolia Hill Productions, Haskell Sr. was the Worldwide Head of Television at William Morris. He worked on a number of productions, including “Mad About You,” “Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” “Lost,” and “Kings and Queens.”

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November 9, 2023 @ 7:43 PM Samuel Haskell

What to Watch

Being that it’s “Big Brother” finale night, gotta have a former winner on the show this week so it’s great to bring back Rachel Reilly to the podcast. She was on when “Traitors” season 1 first dropped to talk about her time on that. There are spoilers in today’s episode in case you don’t know who won HOH 1 and HOH 2 that have already taken place. The winners of those two HOH’s face off tonight for the right to win the final HOH of the season and determine who sits next to them in the final 2. I’ve got some thoughts on it as well as Rachel and we break down all the scenarios for tonight, Cirie, AFP, her time on both BB and “Amazing Race,” and much, much more. Before all that, I briefly talk about what’s on the “Daily Roundup” earlier today where a former Bachelor producer is spilling tea on her podcast regarding her ex along with some juicy stories regarding contestants from the show.

You can listen to today’s podcast on a number of platforms, but you can also tune in by clicking the player below:


Subscribe: Apple Podcasts,RSS, Stitcher, Spotify
Music written by Jimmer Podrasky
(B’Jingo Songs/Machia Music/Bug Music BMI)

(SPOILERS) I begin by giving an update on the former Bachelor producer who spilled tea on her podcast yesterday & more coming today. Then Rachel joins me (11:46) to discuss tonight’s Big Brother finale, the possible scenarios, is there even any suspense left, AFP, her time on the show, Amazing Race, and much, much more.

Instagram – @rachelereillyvillegas

(SPOILERS) Today’s Daily Roundup covers a former Bachelor producer calls out an ex and spills tea on her podcast, Big Brother finale night is finally here, Survivor last night, DWTS from Tuesday night, and the Challenge was like watching a movie.

You can listen to that podcast on a number of platforms, but you can also tune in here:


Subscribe: Apple Podcasts,RSS, Stitcher, Spotify
Music written by Jimmer Podrasky
(B’Jingo Songs/Machia Music/Bug Music BMI)

Send all links and emails to: steve@realitysteve.com. To follow me on Twitter, it’s: www.twitter.com/RealitySteve. Instagram name is RealitySteve, or join my Reality Steve Facebook Fan Page. Talk to you tomorrow.






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Awards

Cord Jefferson didn’t always know he wanted to be a director. While working on Netflix’s comedy series “Master of None,” actor/writer/creator Aziz Ansari asked Jefferson out of the blue if he ever wanted to direct. Jefferson recalls, “I said, ‘No, I’ve never been to film school, I don’t know anything about cameras or lighting. I don’t think that’s for me.”

But Jefferson says Ansari’s response “planted the seed” for what would be a catalyst for him to tackle his directorial debut, “American Fiction,” based on the novel “Erasure.” “He said, ‘Dude, I went to NYU for business. I never went to film school. I’ve just been on sets and paid attention. All you need to do is hire people who understand the technical stuff and then be able to articulate what’s in your head.”

On this episode of the award-winning Variety Awards Circuit Podcast, we speak with the debut feature writer and director about his MGM film “American Fiction” and what it was like to win the TIFF Audience Award. Also, the roundtable discusses the SAG-AFTRA strike, including what it means for the Oscars and next year’s Emmy season. Listen below:

American Fiction

Based on the novel “Erasure” by Percival Everett, the film follows Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright), a frustrated novelist who becomes fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk writes an outlandish “Black” book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and madness. It is quite a timely topic as Black content continues to face challenges in the entertainment world. The film also stars Sterling K. Brown, Erika Alexander, Issa Rae, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz and Leslie Uggams.

Jefferson has worked on multiple shows throughout the last decade. In addition to “Master of None,” he’s been a writer for the HBO drama series “Succession” and the limited series “Watchmen.” He won two WGA Awards for both shows in 2020 and an Emmy for co-writing the “Watchmen” episode “This Extraordinary Being” with Damon Lindelof. However, Jefferson had never been convinced he could write or direct anything.

Then, in 2020, Jefferson, like many, was feeling depressed during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was reading a book review for “Interior Chinatown” by Charles Yu, which received a 10-episode order for Hulu in Oct. 2022. He paraphrases the review: “It said, ‘this novel has a satire reminiscent of Percival Everett’s “Erasure.”‘ So, I bought it and devoured it over a week during Christmas break, and within 20 pages, I knew I wanted to write the script. Within 50 pages, I was reading the character of Monk in Jeffrey Wright’s voice.”

It’s dangerous to be fixated on an actor before you’ve written a page or pitched it to a company. Still, the filmmaker was both determined and “terrified” to pitch it to the Emmy and Tony-winning actor. They met in the most unlikely of places: a beach in Malibu.

That may sound surprising, but Wright is an avid surfer, and at the first meeting, the two spoke for hours, breaking down character motivations and sharing Jefferson’s vision for what the movie could be. About a month later, Wright signed on. “Many people talk about wanting to help underrepresented, marginalized voices, but I think Jeffrey lives that,” Jefferson says. He didn’t have to do this movie. He’s the guy who works with Wes Anderson; he’s in Batman. Once he signed on, everything got easier.”

Jefferson still had to pitch the movie to find financiers. After an exhaustive search of having meetings with multiple producers and production companies who shared they “wish they could make a movie like this,” it was Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman’s T Street Productions that was willing to take a chance. When they said yes, the debut filmmaker cried.  

“I’ve never gotten something on the air,” he shares. “I’ve had things in development and had things very close to getting greenlit, but I had convinced myself this will never happen for me.”

It finally did. 

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Cord Jefferson didn’t always know he wanted

Music

Promise that we’ll keep on coming back for more… of the K-Pop concert movie starring beloved South Korean boy band BTS, premiering today.

Now streaming on Prime Video, BTS: Yet to Come brings the boy band’s iconic performance in Busan, South Korea in October of 2022 to the masses. RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook performing in front of 50,000 adoring fans was a moment in K-Pop history, and now the ARMY and new fans alike can watch the concert event at home again and again.

BTS: Yet to Come is jam-packed with 19 performances of hit songs, meaningful speeches from band members, stunning visuals, a fireworks display and more. 

“We are thrilled to partner with HYBE in welcoming BTS: Yet to Come to Prime Video,” said David Simonsen, director of Prime Video Southeast Asia. “We know the popularity of high-quality Korean content worldwide and we look forward to delighting consumers around the globe with BTS: Yet to Come. We are excited to see the concert movie and this genre find new audiences from different countries on Prime Video.”

How to watch BTS: Yet to Come online

BTS: Yet to Come is streaming exclusively on Prime Video starting today, November 9. Prime Video is available with an Amazon Prime membership, which is $15 per month or $139 per year. Amazon also allows customers to sign up for a Prime Video membership without being an Amazon Prime member, for just $9 per month. 

Sign Up for Prime Video

Is there a trailer for BTS: Yet to Come?

ARMY, assemble. Prime Video released the official trailer for BTS: Yet To Come, titled after their song of the same name, and you can watch it below.

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Promise that we'll keep on coming back

Docs

CBS has set the holiday-themed special “Big Brother Reindeer Games,” with returning houseguests from the original series.

The news was announced live during the season 25 finale of “Big Brother” on Nov. 9. According to the lore of the reality show, houseguests Frankie Grande, Britney Haynes and Danielle Reyes attempted to close the multiverse that they’d opened by breaking into the “Big Brother” house. However, they ended up opening the BB Holiday Universe instead, thus kicking off this new holiday series.

“Big Brother Reindeer Games” will premiere on the CBS Television Network Dec. 11. The special will also be available to stream on Paramount+.

The players will arrive ready to compete in the “Reindeer Games,” a series of holiday-oriented competitions. This six-episode special will include nine previous houseguests but differ from the original “Big Brother” series. Some of these differences include the fact that players do not live in the house; players do not vote each other out; there is no regular host, but instead a slew of “Elves” who guide the players; and there will be no live shows or live feeds.

Each episode will feature three competitions. At the end of each competition will be a “Santa’s Showdown,” which will decide which player is ousted. There will be four finalists who will compete for the $100,000 grand prize.

Former “Big Brother” houseguests will star as the “Elves:” Season 23’s Derek Xiao, Season 23’s Tiffany Mitchell and Season 11’s Jordan Lloyd. As for the participants, the full list of featured players has not yet been announced, but one player will be from the most recent season.

The series is produced by Fly on the Wall Entertainment with Endemol Shine North America. Allison Grodner, Rich Meehan and Chris Roach executive produce.

“Fly on the Wall is excited to bring a new competition series to the ‘Big Brother’ universe and get a chance to ring in the holidays with some of our most memorable houseguests,” said Grodner and Meehan.

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CBS has set the holiday-themed special “Big

Global

A dark and rainy night didn’t stop hundreds of people from rallying in downtown Vancouver Thursday night to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The event was one of nearly 100 across Canada and the U.S., under the banner of “shut it down for Palestine.”

Following speeches on the stairs of the Vancouver Art Gallery, protesters took to the streets, marching to a fundraiser for federal Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly in Yaletown.


Click to play video: 'Thousands in Gaza flee south as supplies dwindle'


Thousands in Gaza flee south as supplies dwindle


“We are calling for a ceasefire,” protester Janine Solanki told Global News.

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“Israel has been bombing daily,” she added, pointing to the destruction of hospitals, mosques and churches in the Gaza strip.

Demonstrators want to pressure the minister to halt what she alleged was Canada’s unequivocal support of the Israeli government, which she accused of “indiscriminate bombing of the Gaza strip and also attacking Palestinians in the West Bank.”

“What we are demanding is peace for all in Palestine,” she said.

Demonstrator Flora Cholac said her husband was Palestinian, and that she had friends in Gaza and the West Bank who were being forced from their homes.

“This is not about being against Jewish people. This is about being against this genocide,” she said.

“It is really sad to see our leaders to not represent the people of the world.”

Earlier Thursday, Israel agreed to begin daily four-hour pauses in the northern Gaza Strip to allow civilians to flee the hostilities, following pressure from the U.S.


Click to play video: 'Concerns mounting after 2 Jewish schools hit by gunfire in Montreal'


Concerns mounting after 2 Jewish schools hit by gunfire in Montreal


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Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant said on Thursday that the military was undertaking “localized, pinpoint measures” in Gaza to enable Palestinian refugees to flee the fighting with Hamas, in an apparent reference to the four-hour pauses announced by Washington.

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The war would continue until Hamas is toppled and hostages held in Gaza are freed, he said.

The demonstration comes more than a month after Hamas gunmen stormed into Israel, slaughtering an estimated 1,400 people, most of them civilians, and taking 240 hostages.

Israel responded with heavy bombardment and a ground invasion that the Gaza health ministry estimates has killed more than 10,000 people, including more than 4,000 children.

Earlier Thursday, 32 more Canadians were able to leave the Gaza strip for Egypt after a key border crossing opened, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Israel to ensure that the newly agreed-upon humanitarian pauses in the fighting would last long enough for people to leave the area and for aid to arrive.

“We’ve been calling for weeks now for humanitarian pauses,” Trudeau said at a Thursday press conference.

“They need to be significant; they need to last long enough to get people out (and) to get supplies in. And we have to start using them to start thinking about what the medium term and long term is.”

— With files from the Canadian Press and the Associated Press

&copy 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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A dark and rainy night didn’t stop

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SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the Loki Season 2 finale. Click away now if you do not want to know how the episode unfolds.

Strap in, because the Loki Season 2 finale is quite the doozy.

Episode 5 left many questions still to be answered. It ends with Tom Hiddleston’s titular character, who has just learned how to control his time slipping, returning to the moment right before Victor Timely (Jonathan Majors) is ripped to shreds while trying to amplify the temporal loom.

Well, as Episode 6 opens, Loki stands back and watches it happen again before asking O.B. (Ke Huy Quan) what they did wrong. O.B. says they weren’t fast enough. So, Loki thinks he just needs to get everyone to hustle.

He proceeds to return to that moment over and over again, rushing through the instructions for putting the multiplier into the loom, trying to get Victor to have some pep in his step. But no matter how fast they go, Victor gets turned to spaghetti every single time. Finally, Loki realizes they don’t need to move faster in that moment. He needs to go back to an earlier moment.

Loki then time slips back to the moment that Victor and O.B. first meet. He speeds through their introduction and tries to get O.B. working on the multiplier using Victor’s prototype, but O.B. is a bit cautious, because he still doesn’t fully understand how to solve the problem since he and Victor haven’t brainstormed. As much as Loki would like to help in this moment, he’s not the expert in theoretical physics. Or, is he?

Loki asks O.B. how long it would take for him to learn everything O.B. can teach him about the subject. He says decades, and Victor thinks it would take centuries. Good thing Loki can come back to this exact moment at any time.

So, Loki does spend a few centuries learning the ins and outs of theoretical physics. Finally, he returns to that moment with a plan, as well as the knowledge to execute it — and what do you know? For the first time, Victor is able to make it down the gangway and launch the multiplier into the temporal loom. Just for a moment, the team revels in their success.

But before long, the readings are off again and the loom is overloading. Victor realizes that the branches are expanding at an infinite rate and, because there is no way to scale for infinite, there is actually no way to solve this problem. The loom will always fail. That’s when Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) realizes this was doomed to happen as soon as the timelines started branching.

Ding! That’s the light going off in Loki’s head realizing that he needs to return all the way to his and Sylvie’s encounter with He Who Remains at the end of time, just as Sylvie is about to kill him. Loki tries everything he can to convince Sylvie she can’t kill him, but she doesn’t listen. She kills He Who Remains, or Loki kills her. Loki refuses to kill Sylvie, even after countless rewinds and attempts to convince her.

After who knows how many tries, He Who Remains pauses time. “How many times have you been at this?” he asks Loki.

It turns out, his “see you soon” in the Loki Season 1 finale was a bit more literal than one might have anticipated. He reveals that he never would have sat by and let Sylvie kill him, except he knew it would always come back to this moment anyways. He unpauses Sylvie, only for Loki to pause her again. A new trick up his sleeve, presumably as he has learned to control time.

“And what makes you think this is the first time we’ve had this conversation?” Loki ponders. Looks like Loki knows what needs to be done, and He Who Remains has even confirmed it, but he’s so far unwilling to face it.

He Who Remains tells Loki that the loom is a failsafe and, when it is overloaded, it deletes the branches that aren’t supposed to be there — which is everything but the Sacred Timeline. So when it explodes, the Sacred Timeline still exists…but the TVA is collateral damage. Easy enough to fix, he says. But no matter what, Loki is destined to lose.

That is not an answer the God of Mischief is willing to accept, though. He decides he’s going to destroy the loom, even though He Who Remains warns that it will start a war that no one survives…not even the Sacred Timeline. But Loki is determined.

He time slips again, this time going to the very, very beginning. We’re back at Season 1, Episode 1 and Loki is being interrogated by Agent Mobius. Loki cuts him off, anticipating the question he’s going to ask, and redirects the conversation. He asks how Mobius finds comfort despite having to choose who lives and who dies, but Mobius insists there is no comfort to be found at the TVA.

Mobius tells a story of a time when he was tasked with pruning someone who would be responsible for 5,000 deaths that were not part of the Sacred Timeline. When he arrived at the point where he needed to prune the culprit, he realized the target was an 8-year-old boy. He hesitated, and another hunter stepped in. That hunter was Ravonna Renslayer. Ultimately, Mobius tells Loki, he needs to choose his burden.

Suddenly, that timeline is being shred apart and Loki is back in A.G. Doug’s (aka O.B.) workshop right as that timeline is turning to spaghetti. He pauses time to have a moment with Sylvie and, as he starts to explain all that he’s been through, she guesses where this is all leading. She knows Loki will need to kill her if he plans to keep He Who Remains alive, but she also warns him that doing so will strip free will away from everyone who would ever set off a nexus event on the Sacred Timeline. But, Loki wonders, what is the point of free will if everyone dies?

Sylvie reminds Loki that sometimes he might have to die fighting, and it’s okay to destroy something as long as there’s something to replace it with. Now, Loki has a plan.

He once again time slips back to the moment right before the temporal loom explodes. Before anyone can stop him, he opens the bay doors and runs out onto the gangway toward the loom. As he walks, he transforms into God Loki, horns and all, and uses his powers to destroy the loom.

As he stands among all the dying branches, he begins to grab hold of them and walk toward a rip in space, bringing all the branches into the end of time. As he gathers the branches, he walks toward the throne at the citadel, once occupied by He Who Remains, and takes a seat. The branches glow back to life and…it appears Loki is the new keeper of time.

A black title card appears, letting viewers know this is “after,” though there’s no timeline for when, exactly. But time works differently in the TVA, so who knows.

TVA is up and running as usual, though all the branches are running up and down (through Loki) as opposed to sideways like before. The new timelines weave together and branch off, resembling a tree, implying that they all can finally co-exist. Could is be the World Tree (aka Yggdrasill) that connects the Nine Realms?

Mobius is tracking new He Who Remains variants, making sure they’re kept at bay and they don’t learn of the TVA. As he and B-15 are headed to the war room, he reveals he’s leaving. He wants to return to his timeline and see what he’s been working so hard to save.

As he stands across the street from his (well, Don’s) home in Ohio, Sylvie appears. They both agree it’s weird to have Loki gone, and Sylvie says she doesn’t know where she’s off to just yet. Mobius decides to stay there and take it all in, at least for the moment.

Meanwhile, O.B. has developed a new edition of the TVA handbook and, in a flash to 19th century Chicago, no one is dropping one through young Victor Timely’s window. The last interesting bit includes Renslayer, who was sent to the Void. She wakes up in Alioth’s presences and takes in her surroundings, but the eyebrow raising part is when the wind brushes aside the grass to reveal a bronze insignia that says “for all time always” — much like the one in the TVA.

The episode ends with the camera panning through the millions of timeline branches to reveal Loki’s face. While he’s not quite smiling, he seems to be satisfied with his solution.

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SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from

Tech

It’s time for your daily dose of Quordle hints, plus the answers for both the main game and the Daily Sequence spin off. 

Quordle is the only one of the many Wordle clones that I’m still playing now, around 18 months after the daily-word-game craze hit the internet, and with good reason: it’s fun, but also difficult.

What’s more, its makers (now the online dictionary Merriam-Webster) are also keeping it fresh in the form of a variant called the Daily Sequence, which sees you complete four puzzles consecutively, rather than concurrently. 

But Quordle is tough, so if you already find yourself searching for Wordle hints, you’ll probably need some for this game too. 

I’m a Quordle and Wordle fanatic who’s been playing since December 2021, so I can definitely help you solve Quordle today and improve your game for tomorrow. Read on for my Quordle hints to game #655 and the answers to the main game and Daily Sequence. 

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.

Your Quordle expert

Your Quordle expert

Marc McLaren

Marc is TechRadar’s UK Editor in Chief and has been playing Wordle and Quordle for more than a year. He’s authored dozens of articles on the game for TechRadar and its sister site Tom’s Guide, including a detailed analysis of the most common letters in every position. His Wordle streak recently reached the 500 mark and he’ll be inconsolable if he loses it. Yes, he takes it all too seriously. 

Quordle today (game #655) – hint #1 – Vowels

How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 5*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too). 

Quordle today (game #655) – hint #2 – total vowels

What is the total number of vowels in Quordle today?

• The total number of vowels across today’s Quordle answers is 9.

Quordle today (game #655) – hint #3 – repeated letters

Do any of today’s Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #655) – hint #4 – total letters

How many different letters are used in Quordle today?

• The total number of different letters used in Quordle today is 14.

Quordle today (game #655) – hint #5 – uncommon letters

Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today’s Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #655) – hint #6 – starting letters (1)

Do any of today’s Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today’s Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you’re not ready yet then here’s one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #655) – hint #7 – starting letters (2)

What letters do today’s Quordle answers start with?

• F

• A

• S

• P

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #655) – the answers

Quordle answers for game 655 on a yellow background

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today’s Quordle, game #655, are…

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Daily Sequence today (game #655) – the answers

Quordle daily sequence answers for game 655 on a yellow background

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today’s Quordle Daily Sequence, game #655, are…

Quordle answers: The past 20

  • Quordle #654, Thursday 9 November: CLINK, BEACH, BEVEL, ELFIN
  • Quordle #653, Wednesday 8 November: MAYBE, NOMAD, IMPEL, VERGE
  • Quordle #652, Tuesday 7 November: PESTO, SMOKY, QUASI, UTILE
  • Quordle #651, Monday 6 November: PERKY, MONTH, DRESS, OVERT
  • Quordle #650, Sunday 5 November: GRAPH, DIRGE, POLAR, SPECK
  • Quordle #649, Saturday 4 November: GUSTO, SWIFT, STAKE, RANGE
  • Quordle #648, Friday 3 November: BUGGY, RIPER, BLUFF, SNAIL
  • Quordle #647, Thursday 2 November: SLIME, FANCY, PULSE, ADMIT
  • Quordle #646, Wednesday 1 November: ANGST, SUITE, HIPPO, CLAMP
  • Quordle #645, Tuesday 31 October: SHIRE, SHORN, BONGO, LADEN
  • Quordle #644, Monday 30 October: CHESS, EASEL, GLOOM, GLEAN
  • Quordle #643, Sunday 29 October: AGATE, FELON, HATER, THREW
  • Quordle #642, Saturday 28 October: PITCH, SCALE, UNDID, THIGH
  • Quordle #641, Friday 27 October: UNDER, QUOTE, GROVE, JOUST
  • Quordle #640, Thursday 26 October: CRUMP, EATEN, SWOON, BARON
  • Quordle #639, Wednesday 25 October: WEEDY, BLUSH, GUILE, THING
  • Quordle #638, Tuesday 24 October: DREAD, RARER, STAIR, CRONY
  • Quordle #637, Monday 23 October: BAYOU, STUDY, QUILT, GUMMY
  • Quordle #636, Sunday 22 October: DOZEN, POLAR, FROST, COBRA
  • Quordle #635, Saturday 21 October: SNARL, RAYON, FETID, STAVE

Quordle FAQs: Everything you need to know

What is Quordle?

Where Wordle challenges you to guess a new five-letter word each day, Quordle presents you with four puzzles to solve. And rather than complete them in turn, you do so simultaneously. You get nine guesses, rather than the six for Wordle, but the rules are otherwise very similar. 

It’s played online via the Quordle website and you can also get to it via the Merriam-Webster site, after the dictionary purchased Quordle last year. 

As with Wordle, the answers are the same for every player each day, meaning that you’re competing against the rest of the world. And also as with Wordle, the puzzle resets at midnight so you have a fresh challenge each day.

The website also includes a practice mode – which I definitely recommend using before attempting the game proper! – and there are daily stats including a streak count. You also get Quordle Achievements – specific badges for winning a game in a certain number of turns, playing lots of times, or guessing particularly hard words.

Oh, and it’s difficult. Really difficult.

What are the Quordle rules?

The rules of Quordle are almost identical to those of Wordle.

1. Letters that are in the answer and in the right place turn green.

2. Letters that are in the answer but in the wrong place turn yellow. 

3. Letters that are not in the answer turn gray…

4. …BUT the word you guess appears in all quadrants of the puzzle at the same time, so an A could turn green in one square, yellow in another and gray in the final two. 

5. Answers are never plural.

6. Letters can appear more than once. So if your guess includes two of one letter, they may both turn yellow, both turn green, or one could be yellow and the other green.

7. Each guess must be a valid word in Quordle’s dictionary. You can’t guess ABCDE, for instance.

8. You do not have to include correct letters in subsequent guesses and there is no equivalent of Wordle’s Hard mode.

9. You have nine guesses to find the Quordle answers.

10. You must complete the daily Quordle before midnight in your timezone.

What is a good Quordle strategy?

Quordle needs to be approached in a different way to Wordle. With four puzzles to solve in nine guesses, you can’t blindly throw letters at it and expect to win – you’ll stand a far better chance if you think strategically.

That’s the case in Wordle too, of course, but it’s even more important in Quordle.

There are two key things to remember. 

1. Use several starting words

Firstly, you won’t want just a single starting word, but almost certainly two or three starting words. 

The first of these should probably be one of the best Wordle starting words, because the same things that make them work well will apply here too. But after that, you should select another word or possibly two that use up lots more of the most common consonants and that include any remaining vowels.

For instance, I currently use STARE > DOILY > PUNCH. Between them, these three words use 15 of the 26 letters in the alphabet including all five vowels, Y, and nine of the most common consonants (S, T, R, D, L, P, N, C and H). There are plenty of other options – you might want to get an M, B, F or G in there instead of the H, maybe – but something like that should do the trick.

If all goes well, that will give you a good lead on what one or sometimes two of the answers might be. If not, well good luck!

2. Narrow things down

Secondly, if you’re faced with a word where the answer might easily be one of several options – for instance -ATCH, where it could be MATCH, BATCH, LATCH, CATCH, WATCH, HATCH or PATCH – you’ll definitely want to guess a word that would narrow down those options. 

In Wordle, you can instead try several of those in succession and hope one is right, assuming you have enough guesses left. It’s risky, but will sometimes work. Plus, it’s the only option in Hard mode. But in Quordle, this will almost certainly result in a failure – you simply don’t have enough guesses.

In the scenario above, CLAMP would be a great guess, as it could point the way to four of the seven words in one go.

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It's time for your daily dose of

Video

As YouTube tightens its restrictions on ad blockers, privacy advocates in the European Union are betting that government regulations can put a stop to the crackdown. 

One privacy expert, Alexander Hanff, filed a complaint in October with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC). Hanff argues that YouTube’s ad blocker detection system is a violation of privacy — a charge Google denies — and illegal under EU law. “AdBlock detection scripts are spyware — there is no other way to describe them and as such it is not acceptable to deploy them without consent,” Hanff tells The Verge. “I consider any deployment of technology which can be used to spy on my devices is both unethical and illegal in most situations.”

The fight against ad blocker detection isn’t anything new, but YouTube’s “global effort” to stop ad blockers has renewed interest in the topic. Sites like YouTube can detect ad blockers by either downloading JavaScript code that checks whether anything on the page has changed or by detecting when the elements required to load an ad are blocked, according to The New York Times. 

Here’s what YouTube displays for users who have ad blockers enabled.

While YouTube started blocking ad blockers as a “small experiment” in June, YouTube later confirmed to The Verge that the company has ramped up its efforts. That means more users with ad blockers enabled are finding themselves unable to watch videos on the platform. Instead of showing the video, YouTube displays a prompt that encourages users to either allow ads on YouTube or subscribe to YouTube Premium.

This move hasn’t gone over well with users and privacy advocates alike. A report from Wired reveals that people are installing and uninstalling ad blockers at a record pace as users search for an ad blocker that isn’t affected by YouTube’s restrictions. Meanwhile, YouTube maintains that ad blockers violate the platform’s terms of service and prevent creators from earning revenue from ads.

Hanff first reached out to the European Commission about the use of ad blocker detection tools in 2016. In response to his concerns, the commission confirmed that scripts used to detect ad blockers also fall under Article 5.3 of the ePrivacy Directive, a rule that requires websites to ask for user consent before storing or accessing information on a user’s device, such as cookies. “Article 5.3 does not limit itself to any particular type of information or technology, such as cookies,” the commission wrote at the time. “Article 5(3) would also apply to the storage by websites of scripts in users’ terminal equipment to detect if users have installed or are using ad blockers.”

It doesn’t seem like this had any meaningful impact on how websites detect ad blockers, though. The European Commission seemed to reverse its stance in a proposed reform of its privacy law in 2017, stating that website providers should be able to check whether a user is using an ad blocker without their approval.

“If YouTube continues to think they can get away with deploying spyware to our devices, I will bring them down too.”

Hanff’s most recent complaint to the commission references his earlier letter. It calls upon the DPC to take action against YouTube and stop it from using ad blocker detection tools. Hanff tells The Verge that in addition to violating Article 5.3 of the ePrivacy Directive, he believes it’s also a breach of the fundamental right to privacy under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other conventions. Since submitting his complaint, Hanff says the Irish DPC has already acknowledged it and that he has had a call and “a number of emails” exchanged with them. The Verge reached out to the DPC with a request for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.

Hanff isn’t the only advocate who opposes YouTube’s ad blocker clampdown, either. Patrick Breyer, a German digital rights advocate and member of the European Parliament, writes on Mastodon that “YouTube wants to force us into surveillance advertising and tracking with an anti-adblock wall.” Breyer says he is also asking the European Commission about the legality of ad blocker detection systems under the ePrivacy Directive.

YouTube spokesperson Christopher Lawton responded to Hanff and Breyer’s challenge by reiterating the same statement provided to The Verge last month, noting that YouTube has launched a “global effort” to crack down on ad blockers. Lawton adds that the company will “of course cooperate fully with any questions or queries from the DPC.”

If the European Commission finds that YouTube’s ad blocker detection system violates the EU’s ePrivacy Directive, the commission might hit the platform with a fine and force it to change the feature. It’s a bit too early to tell how the commission will respond to Hanff’s challenge, but the outcome likely won’t result in any changes to the existing system for those of us in the US.

For now, Hanff isn’t backing down. “I have been fighting for stronger protection of privacy and data protection rights for almost 2 decades,” he says. “If YouTube continues to think they can get away with deploying spyware to our devices, I will bring them down too.”

Additional reporting by Jon Porter.

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As YouTube tightens its restrictions on ad

Entertaintment

It’s the most wonderful time of the year—except for your bank account. Even the most tactful shoppers can attest: It takes a lot of digging to find the best gifts under $100. You know the unicorns we’re talking about… those great gifts that look and feel luxe but still fit your budget.

For the skeptics out there, it really is possible to score the title of Christmas-gift giver of the year and manage to keep your balance in the black. The trick is to scout out unique presents, and luckily for you, we’ve already done all the legwork to help you find the best gifts for women and men (and everyone in between). Yep, even the people who have everything.

A few hints? If you’re searching for gifts for husbands or boyfriends that aren’t just another set of whiskey stones or more joggers, start with multitools and tech gifts. If a holiday gift for Mom is top of your list, there are plenty of personalized gifts and dainty jewelry to show her how much you care. And if gifts for teens have you stumped (we feel you!), there are plenty of TikTok-approved tumblers, viral Amazon bestsellers, and stylish fanny packs to be had. Best of all? Many of our faves are affordable gifts that clock in under $25.

Our top picks

Best Overall: Lululemon Everywhere Fleece Belt Bag, $58
Best Wellness Gift: J Jimoo 100% Silk Pillowcase, $20
Best Under-$100 Gift for Teens: Fujifilm Instax Mini 11, $77
Best Under-$100 Gift for Her: Kate Spade Heart of Gold Bangle, $24
Best Under-$100 Gift for Him: JBL Flip 5 Speaker, $90
Best Under-$100 Gift on Amazon: Storm Cloud, $25

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It’s the most wonderful time of the

MCU


Loki

As Loki gets set to wrap up its second season tomorrow, fans have increasingly wondered how the story of the God of Mischief and the TVA will connect to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) story.

When Loki introduced the Kang He Who Remains in the series’ first season, the show unveiled the next Thanos-level Marvel villain. Additionally, the actions of Loki and Slyvie unleashed the multiverse, which has played a prominent role in most of Marvel’s Phase 4 films.

Kang the ConquerorKang the Conqueror

Photo: Marvel

Still, the story of Loki, Mobius, and the TVA has largely played out, unencumbered by the rest of the MCU.

No Explicit Connection Between ‘Loki’ and ‘The Marvels’

Interestingly, the second season finale of Loki will be released just as the Captain Marvel sequel The Marvels will hit theaters. According to Loki head writer, Eric Martin, however, the show’s season finale won’t necessarily be connected to the latest Marvel Studios blockbuster.

The MarvelsThe Marvels

Photo: Entertainment Weekly

“There were never really conversations about having to sync up in a certain way,” Martin says. “I think we just kind of told our story in the right way that things kind of sync up naturally. We’ve set something up that unfolds and will be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe going forward.”

Sylvie Loki McDonald's PartnershipSylvie Loki McDonald's Partnership

Photo: Marvel

Loki Season 2 has further delved into the story of Jonathan Majors’ Kang, who is being primed as the next Marvel big bad. Despite the larger MCU implications, however, the show has managed to feel like its own world.

Living in Their Own Sandbox

Because the Loki team has been able to “live in our own sandbox,” Martin doesn’t believe that a potential third season of the show would need to exist under the newly created Marvel Spotlight banner.

Marvel SpotlightMarvel Spotlight

Photo: The Direct

“I think we’ve been able to pull the MCU towards us. And also honored where the MCU has been going,” Martin notes. “So we’ve had a fair amount of freedom. I haven’t really given thought to the Spotlight series. I have no idea what Marvel’s planning on doing with that. But I think it’s a cool idea!”

A Bright Spot in Marvel Streaming

While other Marvel Studios streaming series have struggled during production, Martin says that the production of Loki has always been positive.

LokiLoki

Source: syfy.com

When asked about the reports that Marvel will change how it makes television series, Martin pleaded ignorance.

“We’ve had a good experience on Loki, and worked really hard to make something lasting. I’m not sure how everything else [at the studio] works, but whatever needs to be done to make great stuff is what I hope happens.”

LokiLoki

Photo: Marvel

While Loki‘s characters have yet to appear in other Marvel properties (outside of the God of Mischief), Martin insists he would be thrilled to see the characters pop up in other properties.

“I hope everybody steals our characters! That’s a really special thing in being a part of the MCU, seeing other creators go, ‘Oh wow, I love that character and want to use them in this story.’ It’s a great validation of the work we did to create our own world.”

LokiLoki

Image: Marvel Studios

“But I also don’t want to let any of them go,” Martin adds with a grin. “I want to keep writing them forever.”

Loki is currently streaming on Disney+.

Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond-Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon! Also, thanks for reading!

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DCU

For UK comics fans this is, without doubt, the best time of the year. The Thought Bubble 2023 Comic Art Festival begins on Monday November 6th, culminating with an incredible convention the weekend of November 11th and 12th.

Here’s the whole story, direct from Thought Bubble / Hanglands:

THOUGHT BUBBLE FESTIVAL
LEEDS & ACROSS YORKSHIRE
6th – 12th NOVEMBER 2023

THOUGHT BUBBLE COMIC CONVENTION
HARROGATE CONVENTION CENTRE
11th – 12th NOVEMBER 2023

 https://www.thoughtbubblefestival.com

Acclaimed comic art festival Thought Bubble are all set for their week-long festival & convention championing comic art and culture, taking place across Leeds & Yorkshire between 6th – 12th of November. Teaming up once again with partners LeedsBID, Thought Bubble Festival 2023 has a programme packed full of talks, workshops, exhibitions, public art installations, film screenings, venue takeovers and much more.

Getting Leeds in the comic book spirit ahead of the festival is the city-wide Art Trail installation, which opens today. A large-format exhibition celebrating all of the images commissioned by the festival each year by renowned and ground-breaking artists including Becky Cloonan, Tula Lotay, Choo, Natalie Andrewson and many more; the 2023 Art Trail will be hosted across sixteen independent and much loved venues throughout the city centre.

The Art Trail aims to introduce the city to comic art whilst encouraging visitors to explore and experience the best that Leeds has to offer, with large-scale, high-quality prints installed at Miles and Co., OK Comics, The Belgrave Music Hall & Canteen, Kapow Coffee, Crash Records, Northern Guitars, Water Lane Boathouse, The Bookish Type, Nation of Shopkeepers, Jumbo Records, Travelling Man, Fred Aldous, North Taproom, Eat Your Greens, The Social Bar, and Outlaws Yacht Club.

Kicking off officially on Monday 6th November, the week-long Thought Bubble Festival includes exclusive events such as Vice Press presents: Batman (1989) in partnership with Everyman, which sees the renowned printmakers bringing an exclusive selection of limited edition art posters and prints alongside a special screening of the film; the official UK Launch Party of radical new comic publishing house DSTLRY who aim to create a more sustainable and equitable future for creators, and an informative and empowering talk in collaboration with Leeds Arts University’s Creative Networks series featuring the multiple Eisner Award-winning ND Stevenson and Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Molly Knox Ostertag.

Thought Bubble will also be taking over the newly renovated Hyde Park Picture House for an animation inspired all-dayer in partnership with Leeds International Film Festival, The British Book Awards Illustrator of the Year Dapo Adeola will be hosting a family-friendly comic book character draw-along and Free Comic Day makes a welcome return on November 10th when, thanks to Diamond Comics, libraries across Yorkshire will have a wide selection of all-ages graphic novels to give away.

Thought Bubble Festival leads up to their internationally acclaimed Comic Convention. Now in its sixteenth year, Thought Bubble is taking over Harrogate Convention Centre over 11th – 12th of November to gather together some of the most influential writers, artists and creators in the world, whilst also celebrating Britain’s own grassroots comics community.

Alongside iconic guests including Jeff Lemire, Jock, Zoe Thorogood, Jason Aaron, Becky Cloonan, and Michael W. Conrad, Thought Bubble Convention 2023 will be packed with panels on everything from classic comics to contemporary offerings as well as invaluable Q&As for budding creators and seasoned aficionados alike and, of course, more artwork and memorabilia than you can imagine.

Tickets for Thought Bubble Comic Convention are on sale now with under 12s, carers and over 65s tickets totally free. Tickets give access to all events within the comic convention weekend; panels, workshops, guest signings, as well as the three huge halls of over 400 exhibitors, publishers and much more.

For full programme, guests and events please visit:
https://www.thoughtbubblefestival.com

Three writers from the DC Comics News/Dark Knight News/Fantastic Universes team will be there, so please come and say hello!

Images and Press release Courtesy of Hanglands / Thought Bubble. Photos by Simon Godsave.

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514 For UK comics fans this is, without

Comics

It looks like Mario isn’t the only Nintendo superstar to have their time in the limelight. Confirmed by Nintendo of Japan, alongside Miyamoto himself, a live-action film based on the Legend of Zelda series is officially in the works.

Tweet via Nintendo on X (formerly known as Twitter)

While details are still fairly sparse, there is plenty to be excited about from the start. Knowing that Nintendo mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto has been working side by side with film industry veteran Avi Arad to create and bring the world of Hyrule to life in a new experience for fans is music to my ears. Alongside these details, it has also been confirmed that the film is co-financed by both Nintendo and Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., with Nintendo financing more than 50% of the film’s production cycle.

The Legend of Zelda live-action film will be brought to life by director Wes Ball, whose work can be seen in the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. No other information has been shared regarding actors that will be reprising the roles of Link, Zelda, or any other member of the typical LoZ template. Which version of Hyrule will be present is also currently unknown, alongside details on where this will fall in the Zelda timeline.

Tweet via Wario64 on X (formerly known as Twitter)

As more details continue to come down the pipeline and production is just beginning, it may be a few years before we finally see Link and company make their way to the big screen, but this Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. distributed film will likely bring a tear to many Nintendo fans’ eyes once it finally releases. While it may be shocking to see the decision to go the Live Action route compared to animated, we can only start putting together our dream casts and speculate who is going to be the first person to don the iconic green garb of this hero on the screen.

About the Author

Shaun Cichacki

As a fan of RPGs, Action & Retro titles, Shaun has been gaming since he was a young boy. With an overwhelming obsession involving Metal Gear Solid and Pizza Tower, you know you’re in for a wild ride when it comes to things he’s writing about.

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It looks like Mario isn’t the only

Festivals

When my sophomore directorial feature TRAGEDY GIRLS hit SXSW in 2017, slasher movies were on the outs. However, the screenings were rowdy, the critics dug it, and you could tell people were hungry for a return.

Happy Death Day broke out that fall, and before you know it they came rushing back into fashion. Now here we are, three Halloween movies later, and slashers are riding high again! This is why I was excited to team with FREAKY scribe Michael Kennedy to see if we could create a new classic villain for the holiday horror comedy, IT’S A WONDERFUL KNIFE.

IT’S A WONDERFUL KNIFE Official Trailer (2023)www.youtube.com

Finding Inspiration

Based on the stunt sequences in the script we knew we wanted a lean-and-agile slasher. Similar to something like Ghostface from Scream, rather than a large-and-hulking slasher like Michael Myers or Jason Voorhes.

The description in the script is that he’s dressed head-to-toe in white—so I pulled a lot of references, from vintage angel tree-toppers to video game characters, to get across my thoughts on what The Angel could be.

Working closely with production designer Tiana P. Gordon and costume designer Matea Pasarić, we narrowed down the elements we liked, discovering quickly that a costume with literal wings was completely impractical. Instead, we settled on having built-up shoulders that could give his body a similar shape to wings, but not impede the performer’s movement overall.

‘It’s a Wonderful Knife’Credit: Shudder

The Mask is Key

Francis Lafleche did concept artwork to explore our references and provided us with different combinations. We liked the idea of a hood, but didn’t want it to be too “medieval,” and concluded that we’d try gold accents. It was a little hard to commit without seeing the material. Once we saw the mask directions, we all responded most to a blank white face with no eyes.

This felt unique to us, as there aren’t many other examples of this in horror. An all-white killer, with an all-white mask with no eyes, reminiscent of the featureless porcelain faces of the tree-toppers we’d looked at—an eerie look! However we quickly discovered that making a mask with no eyes is difficult, and there’s a reason that it isn’t done much.

We knew we wanted the mask to have the texture of a frosted lightbulb so we could see the reflection of Christmas lights in the killer’s face. Tiana brought in the fabrication team at Artiphax Props led by Paxton Downard, who is a veteran of the Cruel Summer.

Mask concepts for 'It's a Wonderful Knife'Mask concepts Credit: Shudder

A Wonderful Knife Indeed

Taking the lead on the design of the titular knife, Tiana ran with the idea of making an ornate silver-and-gold dagger. She managed to find a way to incorporate the “wings” concept into a unique hilt design on a classic fighting dagger.

Working further with the team at Artiphax to build the knife, they utilized a blade from an existing dagger and then augmented it with a sculpted custom handle and hilt, with metallic gold paint for the wings.

We could then mold the hero knife, and create doubles out of resin for safe use in the stunt scenes, which look almost interchangeable on-camera.

A knife on a black table‘It’s a Wonderful Knife’ behind the scenes. Credit: Shudder

Testing is Caring

I’m a big fan of testing as many elements as I can on-camera before shooting, mostly because I don’t like too many surprises. Matea pulled several possible fabrics, and we worked with our cinematographer Nicholas Piatnik to figure out what worked best for the angel cloak. We settled on a stretch satin because it has a nice glow when back-lit, is lightweight and is cost-effective for how many duplicates of the costume we had to make.

We received a test version of our mask from the Artiphax team and with a mocked-up version of the costume from Matea’s team on our stunt performer Cody Laudan, we were finally able to see the ensemble together.

The overall impression was right, and it was flexible in the range of motion we needed. The face was most compelling when it was staring at you, the blankness having the off-putting effect we’d hoped. It was also apparent to us that shiny gold accents inside the hood looked too much like a boxer’s robe, and the shoulders needed to be built up to keep him intimidating, but we were well on our way.

Matea and her team figured out how to add some extra fabric creases around the waistline so that it didn’t look too simple, and the next time I’d see it was on set!

roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms

Finally Camera Ready

Once we had the final hero versions of the mask, knife, and costume we dove head-long into the horror, with the first kill scene up on the fourth day of the shoot.

I worked closely with Cody and our stunt coordinator Yusuf Ahmed, to develop the movement of The Angel. We kept the movements smooth and precise but quick when they needed to be, which gave him an almost graceful quality. We knew we were on the right track when the dailies started to come in, and people were raving about the whole look of the character.

Having our world premiere at BeyondFest in Los Angeles in October, we got to see our film for the first time with an audience and it got a rapturous reception. Afterward, a lot of people cited the look of The Angel as their favorite part of the design. The mask and the knife have become the central image of the marketing and are featured in both domestic and international posters, so I’m hoping people continue to connect with it.

As a lifelong horror fan, I’m proud of the work we did, and I would encourage other filmmakers who are creating slasher villains in their own projects to lean on their team. Take the extra time in pre-production and make it a group effort. A lot of the best ideas come from the journey and my films are all better for it.

Please check out IT’S A WONDERFUL KNIFE in theaters everywhere on November 10th, 2023.

This post was written by Tyler MacIntyre.

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When my sophomore directorial feature TRAGEDY GIRLS

Film

SUBMARINE AND CONCORD ORIGINALS BOARD ILYA CHAIKEN’S NEW MUSIC DOC “Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks” FROM RbG’s JULIE COHEN AND BETSY WEST

 

 Submarine has landed worldwide distribution rights to the documentary feature Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks with Concord Originals on board to finance and produce, it was announced today by Josh Braun and Dan Braun, co-founders of Submarine, and Sophia Dilley, SVP Concord Originals. Chronicling the Lunachicks, the seminal, feminist NYC punk band, the rollicking music documentary will have its world premiere at DOC NYC on November 10. The film is directed and produced by Brooklyn-based filmmaker Ilya Chaiken, whose directing credits include the Sundance and TIFF title Margarita Happy Hour and Liberty Kid, which was theatrically distributed by Kino Lorber and now streaming on Max.

 

Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks is executive produced by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, who directed and produced the Academy Award-nominated RBG and Amazon’s Peabody Award-winning film My Name is Pauli Murray; and Concord Originals’ Sophia Dilley, Charles Hopkins and Bob Valentine; with Concord Originals’ Wesley Adams and Quíle Gomez serving as associate producers. Concord Originals is financing the film.

 

Submarine is co-repping worldwide rights with CAA Media Finance and will introduce the music documentary ahead of its world premiere later this week at DOC NYC.

 

“We thought we knew a lot of bad-ass feminists, but when Ilya introduced us to the Lunachicks, we were blown away. Come to think of it, the word bad-ass might have been invented to describe the Lunachicks, as well as the director of this riotous, illuminating, inspiring documentary,” said Julie Cohen and Betsy West.

“I’ve been a devoted Lunachicks fangirl since I lucked into their very first show in 1988 when we were all teenagers. In making Pretty Ugly, I wanted not only to revive the Lunachicks experience, but to tap into their saga of enduring friendship, survival, and triumph – a universal story that I believe will resonate with audiences of all generations,” noted director Ilya Chaiken.

 

“We fell in love with this fantastic story about the trailblazing Lunachicks, who were not afraid to speak their minds! Ilya has captured the humor, energy and grit of the 80s and 90s punk scene as we follow the queens of punk rock on their journey full of high-octane performances and triumphant moments as the band navigates personal and professional obstacles – it’s an entertaining ride that will make you, if you aren’t already, a punk rock fan,” said Sophia Dilley, SVP Concord Originals.

 

“We are unbelievably excited to be working on this amazing film about an amazing incendiary band with the dream team of Ilya Chaiken, Betsy West and Julie Cohen. Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks is quite simply a music doc that rocks hard in every way and we can’t wait for the world to see it,” added Submarine’s Dan Braun.

 

Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks follows the Lunachicks, the influential punk band renowned for their unabashed humor and unwavering pro-women ethos. The band made their mark on NYC’s underground music scene in the ‘90s with songs like “Fallopian Rhapsody” and “Bitterness Barbie,” and performed with No Doubt, Green Day, The Offspring, The Go-Go’s, NOFX, Rancid, The Ramones, Rev Horton Heat, Warped Tour (main stage), L7, The Buzzcocks and Joan Jett. Facing casual sexism and outright misogyny at every turn, the Lunachicks never took their rightful place in the punk pantheon but they’ve maintained a rabid fanbase. A rollercoaster of drugs, romantic entanglements and creative conflicts led to their breakup decades ago – now, can they reunite for one last show?

 

The deal was brokered by David Markman from DLA Piper LLP (on behalf of Concord Originals).

 

# # #

 

ABOUT SUBMARINE

Submarine is a hybrid sales, production and distribution company run by twin brothers and co-founders Dan Braun and Josh Braun. The company has been involved with the sale of six Academy Award winning documentaries: AMERICAN FACTORY, CITIZENFOUR, 20 FEET FROM STARDOM, MAN ON WIRE, THE COVE and SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN.

 

Submarine recently produced the 2023 Sundance competition documentary AUM: THE CULT AT THE END OF THE WORLD and the Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary series THE ANDY WARHOL DIARIES, the Netflix documentary PAMELA: A LOVE STORY, the Showtime docuseries THE 12TH VICTIM, the 2022 Sundance feature competition documentary FIRE OF LOVE and the feature documentaries CIRCUS OF BOOKS, CRIP CAMP and APOLLO 11. Other docuseries executive produced by Submarine include LENOX HILL, SONS OF SAM, EVIL GENIUS, THE KEEPERS, THE DEVIL NEXT DOOR and WILD WILD COUNTRY for which Submarine won the Emmy for best documentary series in 2018.

 

Other films in Submarine’s portfolio include: ALL THAT BREATHES, ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED, MOONAGE DAYDREAM, BILLIE EILISH: THE WORLD’S A LITTLE BLURRY, GOODNIGHT OPPY, THE RETURN OF TANYA TUCKER, NOTHING COMPARES AND THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, HONEYLAND, ONE CHILD NATION, ECHO IN THE CANYON, TELL ME WHO I AM, WATSON, THE AMAZING JOHNATHAN DOCUMENTARY, EDGE OF DEMOCRACY, THE KINGMAKER, MIDNIGHT FAMILY, SEA OF SHADOWS, CIRCUS OF BOOKS, XY CHELSEA, ERNIE AND JOE, THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS, THE OSLO DIARIES, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, JOAN JETT: BAD REPUTATION, THE LEGEND OF COCAINE ISLAND, SHIRKERS, THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING, PICK OF THE LITTER, I CALLED HIM MORGAN, LIFE ANIMATED, WHOSE STREETS, WEINER, IRIS, BLACKFISH, THE WOLFPACK, FOOD INC, BATKID BEGINS, THE OVERNIGHT, FINDING VIVIAN MAIER, BEST OF ENEMIES, TINY FURNITURE, JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK among others.

 

About Concord Originals

Concord Originals is Concord’s narrative content creation division. The team develops and produces stories anchored by Concord’s artists, music and theatrical works, taking a proactive, narrative-driven approach to each project, and partnering with A-list storytellers to produce premium content for screen and beyond. The division’s slate is comprised of feature films, series, documentaries, and podcasts and its partners include HBO, Paramount, Netflix, Skydance, Telemundo Streaming Studios, Audible, Nuyorican Productions, White Horse Pictures, 3AD, and many others. 

 

Upcoming projects include a multi-part docuseries about the legendary Stax Records for HBO from executive producer Ezra Edelman (O.J.: Made in America) and director Jamila Wignot (Ailey); two documentary features with White Horse Pictures that Concord Originals has co-financed including Shari & Lamb Chop and an untitled biopic about celebrated musician Billy Preston; and Alison Ellwood’s documentary feature Let The Canary Sing, chronicling musical icon Cyndi Lauper, which had its world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival 2023. Concord Originals also has an active scripted slate, including a remake of The King and I with Temple Hill for Paramount Pictures, a limited series adaptation of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella with Skydance TV and Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions and a bi-lingual (English/Spanish) TV adaptation of Alberto Ferreras’ award-winning novel “B as in Beauty” with Marsh Entertainment and Telemundo Streaming Studios.

 

ABOUT STORYVILLE FILMS

Storyville Films was founded by Academy Award®-nominee Oren Jacoby to produce documentaries and series driven by strong personal narratives of conscience, courage and innovation. Jacoby and fellow Academy Award®-nominees Julie Cohen and Betsy West serve as Storyville’s directors. Among our production and distribution partners are Amazon, CNN Films, HBO, Imagine Entertainment, Kino Lorber, Magnolia Pictures, Netflix, Participant Media, PBS, Sony Pictures Classics and Time Studios. 

 

Films by the Storyville partners include West and Cohen’s Oscar®-nominated RBG, Julia, and My Name is Pauli Murray; Jacoby’s On Broadway, Shadowman, My Italian Secret, Constantine’s Sword and Sister Rose’s Passion, which was nominated for an Oscar® for Best Documentary (Short Subject); Cohen’s Every Body, released theatrically by Focus Features; and  Jacoby and West’s upcoming feature documentary, produced with Patagonia Films, about people successfully taking on Big Oil. 

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SUBMARINE AND CONCORD ORIGINALS BOARD ILYA

TV

Tom Ford is ready to return to the director’s chair, and this time, he’s focusing on original screenplays.

The “Nocturnal Animals” helmer told GQ that he in part stepped away from his iconic fashion career as a designer to instead focus on filmmaking.

“There are several reasons I sold my company,” Ford said. “I felt, after 35 years, I had said everything I could say with fashion. It’s important to know when to get off the stage. I loved making the two films that I made. That was the most fun I’ve ever had in my entire life.”

Ford directed “A Single Man” in 2009 and “Nocturnal Animals” in 2016, with both films being adaptations.

“I’m 62. Hopefully, I’ll remain somewhat together until 82. So I want to spend the next 20 years of my life making films,” Ford said. “And the clock is ticking. And so it was time to say goodbye to fashion. Fashion is a younger man’s game.”

The former Gucci creative director added, “As a director, it takes three years to make a movie. I have maybe time for five more movies in my life. So they have to be meaningful.”

Ford revealed that he has various projects in the works, including one original screenplay, which he teased to be an “extremely personal thing, completely from scratch.”

Ford continued, “Then another is a book from Anne Rice. We started the process in 2004, while she was alive, obviously. […] You know, Anne Rice, in one of her vampire books, wrote that every 150 years, vampires had to dig themselves down into the ground in order to come back up eventually and appreciate life again. That it was all just too much. And that’s what I feel this is — this is like a reset. I needed that to figure out act three.”

Ford called directing “absolutely expository,” saying that his routine keeps him grounded.

“I start every morning at nine o’clock. I sit down and I work from nine until one. Even if I don’t think I have anything to say, I type. The beauty really for me of filmmaking is the writing,” he said, “because when you’re writing it, it’s perfect. Nobody fucks up. The clothes are perfect. Everyone’s saying it exactly the way you want. It’s absolutely clear. The hard part for me is shooting — because this didn’t work, that didn’t work. You’ve got to keep moving. You’ve got a schedule.”

Ford’s sobriety journey inspired penning “A Single Man,” which he felt “compelled” to complete “because Christopher Isherwood was very spiritual, in an Eastern way. I was reading the Tao Te Ching every night before I’d go to bed. I’d read one of those very potent sentences, and I was able to have it.”

Ford’s own life has also been immortalized onscreen, namely with Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci.” Ford said of the controversial film set in the world of Italian luxury fashion, “Those scenes in the Ridley Scott movie where I come in and meet with Maurizio and say, ‘I see men in thongs,’ none of that ever happened. I didn’t see men in thongs at first. That came later.” Ford previously called “House of Gucci” a “‘Saturday Night Live’ version” of reality.

Former late-night host James Corden revealed in 2022 that Ford was formerly attached to adapt stage play “The Whale” with Corden cast in the lead role; Darren Aronofsky’s film starring Brendan Fraser landed the Best Actor Oscar.

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Tom Ford is ready to return to

Awards

The strike may be over and actors are rapidly aiming to return to production, but Disney has still delayed the releases of its MCU titles intended for next year. As it stands, “Deadpool 3” is currently the only Marvel movie slated to open in 2024.

“Captain America: Brave New World,” and “Thunderbolts,” both intended for a release in 2024, will now open in 2025. “Blade,” meant to open early in 2025, now won’t hit theaters until November of that year. Barry Jenkins’ “Mufasa: The Lion King” has also been delayed on Disney’s theatrical release slate.

While “Deadpool 3’s” release date was widely assumed to have already moved, Disney has now made it official, currently leaving the first weekend of the summer wide open on the theatrical calendar. It now opens July 26, 2024.

“Captain America: Brave New World” will now move to February 14, 2025, “Thunderbolts” takes the July 25, 2025 slot, and “Blade” will release November 7, 2025.

“The Marvels,” the latest title in the MCU, opens in previews tonight.

The date changes come not long after Disney previously pushed “Snow White” and Pixar’s “Elio” — and pulled “Magazine Dreams” off its release slate altogether. Save for an unannounced placeholder in April, the next Disney movie to open in 2024 is “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” on May 24, 2024.

Bob Iger in Disney’s earnings call on Nov. 8 said that the company wants to focus on quality over quantity, and the company is even planning on slashing the content spend by $2 billion next year. But Marvel especially has come under scrutiny for superhero fatigue, and it doesn’t hurt to space out content to avoid overload.

But save for 2020, it’s almost unthinkable to not have several MCU titles in a single year, and movie theaters will surely be feeling the pinch without several guaranteed blockbusters on the release calendar.

Iger had also said that if the SAG-AFTRA strike didn’t end soon, all studios would be forced to reassess their content slates for 2024, notably in the summer. “Deadpool 3,” which brings Ryan Reynolds’ profane, R-rated superhero and Hugh Jackman returning as Wolverine into the MCU, was roughly halfway through production when the actors strike began, and it will be the first in line to restart.

The strikes have already wreaked havoc on the theatrical slate. “Dune Part 2” was meant to open this month, then got delayed until March 15, 2024. Paramount pushed the eighth “Mission: Impossible” movie by a full year to summer 2025. And if you were looking to Sony for a Marvel fix, “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse” is still without a release date, but with the strike now over, it could get a date very soon once actors are able to get back into the studio to record ADR. Sony also pushed the R-rated “Kraven the Hunter” until Labor Day weekend 2024.

Disney did release a trailer for “Inside Out 2” this morning, and it is sticking to its release date on June 14, 2024.

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The strike may be over and actors

Music

There’s no better way to spread Christmas cheer than singing loud for all to hear and the Jonas Brothers are taking that literally.

The band has been on tour for months and with November rolling around, they’re looking to try something new. As shared via the band’s Instagram account, they’re going to be bringing Christmas cheer early this year.

At the upcoming The Tour shows, they’ll be playing some of the band’s beloved Christmas hits and honestly, what a time to be alive. As someone who attended their show in September, I couldn’t get enough of their performance and wish one was coming close enough for me to attend.

Heading into November, the brothers are making sure we’re all ready to say screw Thanksgiving and start celebrating Christmas early.

The Jonas Brothers are celebrating Christmas early this year!

Whether you’re waiting for Thanksgiving or not, it’s clear the Jonas Brothers aren’t. With that being said, let’s get into some of the band’s Christmas songs. As shared in the video, there’s “Like It’s Christmas” which is an upbeat Christmas song about being in love. The Jo Bros followed it up with “I Need You Christmas” which is a slower and more melancholy song about wanting a peaceful Christmas.

While those are the band’s most recent Christmas hits, the OG Jonas fans will remember the release of “Girl Of My Dreams” in 2007 and honestly, what a time to be alive. They followed it up with 2008’s “Joyful Kings” and then 2009’s “Summertime Anthem.” As you can see, the band has a lot more Christmas songs than you might imagine. Considering that the three also teased the possibility of snow, there’s a lot to be excited about.

The Jonas Brothers are about to wrap up the first leg of The Tour in December so what better time than now to celebrate Christmas a little early?

Will you be seeing the Jonas Brothers this November or December? If so, which Christmas song are you hoping to hear? 

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There’s no better way to spread

Docs

On a dreary night last September I was wondering what to do with myself. Raindance’s Live!Ammunition! pitching competition was an obvious choice – I’m a Director; I’d never seen other people live pitch before; and I was working on a short that needed funding to get it off the ground. I didn’t have a prepared pitch per se, rather I thought it would be the ideal opportunity to see how it’s done. …little did I know how fruitful the evening would be.

I set off in a rush as usual, forgetting my business cards: call me old fashioned but I prefer these to Instagram – I’m in the minority I know! Thinking of it as a research trip to see what others were up to and what I could learn from them, I imagined it would be a room full of ‘film types’ – noisy, loud, arrogant, intimidating people, hustling bullshit. But no, within 10 minutes it was obvious that this was a room full of supportive people trying just as hard as the next person to get their story told in any way possible. As with so many last-minute decisions that night would have a domino effect on so many other things. I immediately relaxed and was looking forward to the action. 

After some brief chit-chat the call came for pitches and, as I didn’t have anything to lose, I chucked my tenner in the bucket and prayed I wouldn’t be first up…We were presented with two-minute pitches for features and shorts, some confusing, some amusing, all interesting, each different. Variety is the spice of life as they say!

My name was finally called and I pitched my pitch: a 15 minute short called Happiness Batteries written by Cressida Peever and produced by Evelyn Sharples – we’d all met via WFTV – with Sandra Potoczanin as our DoP. Happiness Batteries is a surrealist, joyful exploration of a mother-daughter bond. It’s set over a day, with animation, an underwater sequence, four locations and Jane Horrocks (of Little Voice, Chicken Run, Ab Fab fame) attached. Happiness Batteries reframes the carer-patient relationship from the dour, sad depictions we usually see on screen, shifting the focus to the love, hope, and strength our two protagonists (Hazel and Jen) share. Importantly, it has a happy ending, which supposedly festivals like!

The four industry judges diligently deliberated once everyone had pitched and gave their feedback on each presentation. And of course, the evening was topped and tailed by the remarkable Elliot Grove who hosted the competition with all the panache and acerbic wit you would expect. 

The judges were kind that day: I won, promising Cressida and Evelyn, in a text on the way home, that the prize money would go on a bottle of champagne (or three) for us when Happiness Batteries was in the can. But the evening wasn’t over and some funny things happened… I met serial (and brilliant) networker Tajona Karhu, who told me to email her with regards to a young art director called Angus MacDonald. Because of this, he became a runner on a micro-budget short I wrote and directed in Battersea Park some 8 weeks later. We couldn’t have done it without him. And because of this Angus was my first choice when I needed an illustrator for a music video I directed for a band called Kanoo.

Additionally, in the time it’s taken to get funding for Happiness Batteries (sadly we weren’t successful at this year’s BFI round), Cressida, Evelyn, and I embarked on another, smaller project: New Shoes, a quirky little love story. As a proof of concept – or rather a proof of ‘we work well together’, it was a great experience and a fantastic team pulled together to get it over the line – plus Cressida and Evelyn were able to see how DoP Sandra worked for the first time. We’re really proud of what we achieved on such a low budget and everyone from the editor (Emily Bussell) to the composer (Mera Royle) really went the extra mile. Why am I telling you this? Because I met our leading man – the delightful Joshua Bennett-Moore that night at the Live!Ammunition! pitching competition!! Horses for courses; swings and roundabouts and all that. 

And that’s not all!… Winning the Live!Ammunition! pitching competition meant that the Happiness Batteries project had a little more gravitas and we could approach a co-producer who would hopefully get us the funding we needed: enter Aletha Shepherd, her company Shot of Tea, and Aletha’s brilliant wing-woman Phoebe-Kate Somper who helped out with the BFI application amongst others. 

ALL these connections were made because of the pitching competition – a few brief moments of conversation in one evening. My advice to you aspiring filmmaker? GO AND PITCH – even if you don’t win the evening is worth it in so many ways. 

Will Happiness Batteries ever be made?…well maybe, on a wing and prayer and with a lot of hard work, just maybe. And then we can all have a glass of champagne. 

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On a dreary night last September I

Trending

Image Credit: Broadimage/Shutterstock

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner continued their friendly co-parenting routine on Thursday, as the exes were again spotted chatting and smiling together in Santa Monica on November 9. In photos you can SEE HERE via Page Six, the Good Will Hunting actor, 51, rocked a blue puffer jacket and tan pants, and carried a black backpack while talking to the Alias star. Jennifer, 51, wore a navy-blue jacket with jeans, finishing the casual look with a pair of sunglasses and sneakers. The mom of three carried what appeared to be a hot beverage and a cell phone as she conversed with her ex-husband in the early morning hours. Additional photos of the encounter obtained by the Daily Mail showed Jennifer laughing during the friendly discussion.

The former couple were married from 2005-2018, though they initially split years earlier. They share daughters Seraphina and Violet, and son Samuel. And though they’ve been co-parenting for years now, it’s not always quite as lighthearted as Thursday’s photos would indicate. In March of 2022, they were spotted in a similar setting having what appeared to be a much more intense discussion.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are seen on a previous outing in 2021. (Broadimage/Shutterstock)

Still, of late they’ve been repeatedly seen looking much more friendly, even hugging on occasion. And as they’ve both moved on — Ben with wife Jennifer Lopez, and Jennifer with boyfriend John Miller, they still prioritize their co-parenting relationship.

In fact, it’s gone so well that a source said it extends to a good working relationship between J. Lo and Jennifer Garner. “Now that Jen and Jen have been coparenting, they’ve been getting to know each other better and have formed a very new friendship,” an insider told Us Weekly in 2022. “They really enjoy each other.”

As for Ben, he’s admitted that he takes care in his relationship with his ex-wife. “She’s wonderful,” he told Hoda Kotb during a 2019 interview. “Somebody’s the mother of your kids, they’re going to be the most important, central person in your life, and that’s good.”

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Image Credit: Broadimage/Shutterstock Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner

Tech

“Big Brother” is getting a holiday spinoff, “Big Brother Reindeer Games,” CBS announced during the Season 24 live finale on Thursday.

The spinoff, which will feature “icons” of the game returning for Christmas-themed competitions, launches Dec. 11 on CBS with a two-hour premiere.

The announcement came thanks to past contestants Frankie Grande, Britney Haynen and Danielle Reyes, who “break in” to the Big Brother House to close the BB Holiday Universe they’d inadvertently launched earlier in the season.


Houseguests will be announced at a later date, but CBS promises that one player from Season 24 will take part.

Derek Xiao and Tiffany Mitchell of Season 23 and Jordan Lloyd of Season 11 and 13 will serve as “Santa’s Elves,” guiding the “Reindeer Games” players through holiday-themed challenges.

Each episode features three competitions culminating in “Santa’s Showdown,” which determines which player goes home at the end of that episode. Only four contestants will make it to the finale — the winner will walk away with the $100,000 grand prize.


big-brother--25-men-cast

“Fly on The Wall is excited to bring a new competition series to the ‘Big Brother’ Universe and get a chance to ring in the holidays with some of our most memorable houseguests,” executive producers Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan said in a statement shared with TheWrap.

“Big Brother Reindeer Games” is produced by Fly On The Wall Entertainment in association with Endemol Shine North America. Allison Grodner, Rich Meehan and Chris Roach serve as executive producers.

Based on the Dutch reality series of the same name, “Big Brother” first premiered in the U.S. in 2000 and stands as the longest-running adaptation of the franchise to date. The American iteration of the series has spawned two previous spinoffs: the short-lived CBS All Access original “Big Brother: Over the Top” and “Celebrity Big Brother.”

“Big Brother Reindeer Games” will also stream live and on-demand for Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers.


Big-Brother-The-Challenge-CBS

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November 9, 2023 @ 7:00 PM “Big Brother”

Video

Keke Palmer has filed a restraining order against her partner of two years, Darius Jackson. She alleged there were “many instances of physical violence” during their relationship, including him hitting her in front of their infant son, Leo.

Palmer said in paperwork filed on Thursday that she ended her relationship with Jackson in early October “primarily due to the physical and emotional abuse [he] inflicted.”

The “Hustlers” and “Nope” actress and singer is seeking the protective order after an alleged Nov. 5 incident in which Jackson “trespassed into my home without my knowledge or consent” and “threatened” her before “lunging for my neck, striking me, throwing me over the couch and stealing my phone.”

Palmer said she has security footage of the incident. She has asked for sole custody of their son, who is eight months old, Us Weekly reported onThursday.

She listed violent behavior Jackson allegedly engaged in, including “destroying my personal property, including diaries and prescription eyeglasses, throwing my belongings into the street, throwing my car keys to prevent me from driving away, hitting [me] in front of our son, spewing profanities about me to our son, threatening to kill himself with a gun if I left him, harassment and other physical and emotional abuse.”


In July, Jackson was shouted down on social media for criticizing Palmer for hthe partially sheer jumpsuit she wore to an Usher concert. “It’s the outfit tho,” he tweeted at the time, “you a mom.”

Jackson initially defended his public chastisement of Palmer, tweeting, “We live in a generation where a man of the family doesn’t want the wife and mother to his kids to showcase booty cheeks to please others and he gets told how much of a hater he is. This is my family and my representation. I have standards & morals to what I believe. I rest my case.”

He later deleted his social media accounts.


Ezra Miller at The Flash Premiere

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November 9, 2023 @ 7:02 PM Keke Palmer

Entertaintment

When Moses Asch founded Folkways Records in 1948, he set out to create a repository of all the sounds of the world—folk music and protest music and indigenous music and jazz, but also sounds of the office, of the junkyard, of the bottle-nose dolphin. “I decided that I would become like an encyclopedia,” he declared. “You don’t eliminate ‘A’ because nobody buys ‘A,’ but keep ‘B’ because ‘B’ is popular.” Asch promised that not a single title would go out of print, an offer that attracted educators, scientists, and activists who prized longevity above mass appeal. The result is one of the most remarkable audio archives ever created: Across 40 years, Asch released nearly 2,200 albums, an average of one per week. After his death in 1986, the Smithsonian Institution acquired the Folkways archive and stored it in a climate-controlled fireproof vault. Any title can now be replicated on demand by a CD-producing “Moe-bot,” an ultra-modern solution that realizes Asch’s promise beyond his wildest imaginings.

To celebrate Folkways’ 75th anniversary, the Smithsonian invited Baltimore sound-wranglers Matmos to record an original album that would sample this vast catalog. Drew Daniel and M.C. Schmidt, a duo as likely to find inspiration in a Whirlpool washing machine as in the work of Polish composer Bogusław Schaeffer, were especially drawn to records from the 1950s and ’60s, the era when portable equipment first made it easy to record everything from toads to time clocks. Matmos came back with a counteroffer: The album would feature no original music, only samples; and those samples would come exclusively from these early nature and science recordings. Return to Archive is the motley, riotous result, a suitably retrofuturistic collage incorporating over two dozen records ranging from Sounds of Animals to Sounds of Medicine, International Morse Code to End the Cigarette Habit Through Self Hypnosis.

Daniel and Schmidt let the archive guide them. Some sounds play nicely together, as in the dozens of snippets on opener “Good Morning Electronics,” finely diced and snapped to an eighth-note grid to create a whirlwind tour of jungles, laboratories, and sci-fi worlds. Others, like the mud-dauber wasp in its eponymous track, demand space to themselves. Matmos work up an entire band from the buzz of the insect’s flight, sculpting bass, percussion, and distorted electronics through careful sampling, processing, and sequencing. It’s an impressive performance even if it lacks the novelty of the group’s previous tracks crafted from crayfish synapses and cow uteri.

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When Moses Asch founded Folkways Records in

Movies

Curated By: Shrishti Negi

Last Updated: November 10, 2023, 08:26 IST

Manoj Muntashir faced severe backlash for his dialogues in Adipurush.

Adipurush fame Manoj Muntashir says that he did ‘the biggest mistake’ by defending the Prabhas and Kriti Sanon starrer.

Adipurush dialogue writer and lyricist Manoj Muntashir Shukla has reacted to the criticism he had received after the release of Prabhas and Kriti Sanon starrer earlier this year. Adipurush garnered a major backlash for its “distorted” depiction of Ramayana, particularly the dialogues of Hanuman’s character, which many dubbed as “overly colloquial”.

Now in an interview with Aaj Tak, Manoj admitted that he went “100 percent wrong” during Adipurush. “I am not such an insecure person that I would defend my writing skills by saying that I have written well. It’s a 100 percent mistake. But, there was no bad intention behind that mistake. I had absolutely no intention of hurting the religion and causing trouble to Sanatan or to defame Lord Ram or to say something about Hanuman ji which is not there.”

He continued, “I would never even think of doing that. Yes, I made a big mistake… I have learned a lot from this accident and it was a great learning process. Will be very careful from now on. But it does not mean that we will stop talking about ourselves.”

Manoj further said that he should have simply admitted his mistake and not given any justification when people were expressing their anger against the movie.

“I feel that when people were furious, I should not have clarified at that time. This was my biggest mistake. I should not have spoken at that time. If people are angry with my clarification, then their anger is justified. Because that was not the time to clarify and today I understand that mistake,” he added.

At the time of the film’s release, Manoj Muntashir Shukla also faced severe criticism for saying “Lord Hanuman is not a God.” While defending the “oversimplified” dialogues of Lord Hanuman in Adipurush, he told Aaj Tak, “Bajrangbali bhagwaan nahi hai, bhakt hai. Humne unko bhagwaan banaya hai kyuki unki bhakti mein wo power tha (Lord Hanuman is not God but a mere devotee. We made him God because his devotion had that power).”

Shrishti Negi

Shrishti Negi is a journalist with nearly eight years of experience in the media industry. She is currently heading the Entertainment team at News18.c…Read More

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Curated By: Shrishti NegiLast Updated: November

Latest News

Six months after picket lines first formed outside iconic studio gates, Hollywood can finally return to work.

Wednesday’s hard-fought tentative agreement on a new contract between SAG-AFTRA and studios sparked jubilation, with performers flocking to local watering holes, including a brewery near the guild’s Wilshire Boulevard headquarters. Sound stages mothballed since last spring are poised to reopen, welcoming back thousands of actors and film crew members.

There was palpable relief among studio executives who were desperate to salvage the current television season, awards shows, film festival appearances and their 2024 movie releases. Union leaders hailed the proposed three-year accord, saying it would make acting a more sustainable career.

But the industry isn’t expecting to quickly bounce back. Nor will it be the same as it was before the town shut down.

Interviews with more than a dozen industry veterans — including executives, talent agents and producers — revealed deep anxiety about the turmoil in the business as consumers switch to streaming, abandoning lucrative pay-TV bundles that have long buoyed the industry.

Some said 2023 might be remembered as a lost year of production and an industry tipping point.

“We are definitely past the high-water mark of crazy money chasing content to feed streaming platforms,” entertainment lawyer Robert Schwartz said. “There won’t be the same volume of content created or ordered — and that means fewer jobs for talent and for everybody.”

Even before Writers Guild of America members walked out in early May, there were signs of a major contraction. Walt Disney Co. early this year began cutting thousands of jobs and trimming spending by billions of dollars — a harbinger that television’s nearly decade-long production boom to launch new streaming services, a period known in the industry as “peak TV,” had reached its end.

Producers last spring began slowing orders for TV show and film projects as Wall Street demanded streaming profits.

The twin strikes accelerated the trend. When members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists joined the writers’ walkout in mid-July, scripted productions almost entirely shut down. An estimated 45,000 jobs vanished from the entertainment and sound recording industry payrolls since May, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

It’s not yet clear what shape and size the recovery will ultimately take. Some productions will quickly ramp up, studio executives said, while others might not return for weeks — if at all.

“It’s not going to be the flip of a switch,” said David Kramer, president of United Talent Agency. “There are a lot of different forces at work that are going to have an impact on the volume of the business.”

SAG-AFTRA’s television and theatrical negotiating committee placed the value of the new contract at more than $1 billion, which includes higher wages, increased contributions to the guild’s pension and health fund, bonuses for successful streaming shows and protections from the threat of artificial intelligence, issues that many members considered to be existential.

The proposed contract will go a long way in “addressing the impact that the streaming business model has had on members,” SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said Wednesday.

“Just a very basic middle class career as performers has been almost out of reach,” he said. “When we look back … we will say this [labor negotiation] was a moment that really changed a number of things about the industry in a positive direction.”

SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America members walk picket lines outside Netflix in Hollywood.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of Disney, Netflix, Amazon Studios, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal and others, said the deal represented “the biggest contract-on-contract gains in the history of the union, including the largest increase in minimum wages in the last forty years [and] a brand new residual for streaming programs.”

But higher labor costs — concessions won by writers and actors through months of bargaining with the studio alliance — could weigh on spending decisions and prompt a further pullback in projects and production budgets, the insiders said.

Companies had already promised Wall Street they will be more disciplined in their spending after years of pouring billions of dollars into programming for streaming services to compete with Netflix. Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global and others have tried to rein in spending and pare down debt from acquisitions.

Executives say they must reassess their slates and priorities. Some are waiting to see if next year brings a stronger TV advertising market with more revenue.

“Did the strike just add more cost pressure to a business that was already challenged?” Rich Greenfield, a partner and media analyst with research firm LightShed Partners, asked in an interview.

“The harsh reality for actors, writers and all of these guilds is there’s just too much content and it’s not driving enough value for these media companies,” Greenfield said. “With the cost of production, studios are going to be cutting back on their projects.”

The industry’s output of TV shows likely peaked last year when TV networks and streamers collectively produced a record 599 shows, according to FX Networks’ annual analysis. Sources said the number of shows made during the first half of this year— before the full impact of the strikes — already was down about 10%, compared with the first six months of 2022.

Industry insiders said the number of series will decrease by about 20% next year compared with pre-strike levels, bringing the total to about 480.

“There needs to be a massive round of belt-tightening because the [previous] level of production was never sustainable,” Schwartz said.

A person carries a poster in support of SAG-AFTRA

SAG-AFTRA and WGA join forces with the AFL-CIO and its affiliates from across the nation and across industries for a national day of solidarity rally Aug. 22 outside of Disney Studios in Burbank.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Rich producer deals, such as director-producer J.J. Abrams’ company’s estimated $250 million arrangement with Warner Bros., could fall out of favor. Since cable programmer Discovery took over WarnerMedia from AT&T last year, the studio has slashed spending.

There will also be pressure on budgets for individual shows and movies. Sources knowledgeable of TV financials said that certain studios want to spend about $5 million to $7 million per episode for a scripted streaming show, in contrast to a few years ago when budgets were typically about 20% higher — and some costs soared above $20 million an episode.

Film executives are expected to greenlight fewer projects, largely steering clear of mid-tier budgets of $30 million to $60 million.

Executives are looking for shows less like HBO’s fire-breathing dragons epic “Game of Thrones,” showrunner Marc Guggenheim said. Instead they are embracing less-expensive procedurals, such as Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer,” which appeal to mass audiences.

“When we say we’re entering a new era of fiscal responsibility, all the streamers are going to be far more picky in terms of what they decide to pick up,” Guggenheim said. “That decision-making process will probably take longer.”

This week, Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger told Wall Street his company would achieve $7.5 billion in cost savings — significantly more than initially forecast — which included 8,000 job eliminations. The savings are due, in part, to the dual strikes because the company saved hundreds of millions of dollars that would have been spent on productions and marketing.

Disney expects to spend $25 billion on programming during the current fiscal year — a gargantuan sum but one that represents a $2 billion decline in the Burbank giant’s content expenditures during the fiscal year that ended in September.

Despite gains made through the proposed contract, the industry contraction could make it more difficult to find work.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland

SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, left, and President Fran Drescher, center, with picketers in front of Netflix in July.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

However, actor, comedian and strike captain Elyssa Phillips said she was confident the sacrifices Hollywood workers made over the last six months would not be in vain. Long before SAG-AFTRA’s walkout ended, the “Silicon Valley” and “Fresh Off the Boat” actor felt like the guild had “already won.”

“A lot has been sacrificed, but for the better of the future of our industry — both for the people who come after us and for us, who are going back to better working conditions, better working environments, better work in general because it will be work that will be treated like a career and not like freelance work,” Phillips said.

She noted that the return to work would look different for various types of performers, many of whom already work other gigs to get by.

“There’s only a handful of actors that get to go back to work when all of this is over,” Phillips said during a break this week between a stint on the picket lines and her next shift waiting tables. “Everyone just goes back to auditioning and back to their normal lives. The people who wait tables will still be waiting tables.”

But, she added, “I’ve never been so excited to audition in my entire life.”

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Six months after picket lines first

MCU


Carol Danvers pilots a spaceship in The Marvels



Variety has just published a bombshell report regarding the current state of Marvel.

This story should not shock anyone who has been reading MarvelBlog for a while, but it’s generated headlines across social media.

Is Marvel in turmoil? Let’s discuss everything we just learned.

The Box Office Problem

Ms. Marvel is NOT a fan of Goose in The MarvelsMs. Marvel is NOT a fan of Goose in The Marvels

Image: Marvel

As I’ve previously reported, the next MCU movie, The Marvels, isn’t tracking well at all, at least not by Marvel standards.

I can add any number of asterisks and caveats to that assertion, though.

Box office still hasn’t recovered from the pandemic, as demonstrated by the fact that eight different films with Disney connections grossed $1 billion in 2019.

Goose reunites with Nick Fury in The MarvelsGoose reunites with Nick Fury in The Marvels

Image: Marvel

With eight weeks remaining in 2023, only two films – Barbie and The Super Mario Bros. Movie – have grossed $1 billion.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 currently resides in fourth place with $846 million.

Yes, an amount that wouldn’t have made the top ten before the pandemic now earns top four placement. It’s brutal at the local cineplex.

Source: Marvel Studios

However, since Disney and Marvel, in particular, were riding the highest before then, they face the largest criticism today.

Whenever an MCU title fails to captivate the audience as much as Marvel managed before 2020, analysts point to superhero fatigue.

That explanation will come up again if/when The Marvels struggles, but it’s not the real reason why.

Monica Rambeau prepares to cross the final frontier in The MarvelsMonica Rambeau prepares to cross the final frontier in The Marvels

Image: Marvel

The Post-Production Problem

Marvel hired director Nia DeCosta to direct this project, which would unite three superpowered heroines.

The Variety article notes that DeCosta left The Marvels during post-production to work on her next film.

Yes, that’s rather unusual in Hollywood. As I’ve mentioned recently, Marvel adopts this approach as a method of allowing someone with fresh eyes take over.

Captain Marvel prepares to attack in The MarvelsCaptain Marvel prepares to attack in The Marvels

Image: Marvel

Now, Marvel has stated it’ll drop this strategy, at least with its Disney+ projects, from now on, but it’s been a tactic for a while.

This incident will gain more headlines since it hints at behind-the-scenes turmoil and numerous reshoots.

Source: Marvel

Marvel executives simply haven’t cracked the story of The Marvels, just as they’ve struggled with another title I’ve mentioned, Echo.

Marvel is stuck with these two projects.

The Content Problem

Source: Marvel Studios

As often happens with Marvel today, this article includes a bit of revisionist history.

Here’s the applicable quote:

“That’s when the COVID pandemic ushered in a mandate to help boost Disney’s stock price with an endless torrent of interconnected Marvel content for the studio’s fledgling streaming platform, Disney+.

Source: Marvel Studios

“According to the plan, there would never be a lapse in superhero fare, with either a film in theaters or a new television series streaming at any given moment.”

While then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek definitely did encourage an increased content output during the pandemic to expand Disney+, the timing here is incorrect.

Disney+ had already committed to a robust amount of Marvel and Star Wars content.

Image: MarvelImage: Marvel

Image: Marvel

To wit, here’s a D23 recap of Disney Investor Day announcements from 2019.

That article mentions Marvel’s first three television series on Disney+: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, and What If…?

Disney’s plan always called for a blend of MCU titles in theaters and on its upcoming streaming service.

Source: Marvel Studios

Chapek might have put his thumb on the scale a bit, but that’s a splitting of hairs. Overall, Marvel always intended to increase its content output.

What nobody considered carefully enough was the demand such changes would place on Marvel’s existing infrastructure.

Specifically, the writing and production teams found themselves overwhelmed by the new demands.

Image: Marvel

However, that was a drop in the bucket compared to what the special effects teams faced.

Their deadline crunch led to some unforgivably bad workplace demands and the unionization of the entire industry.

Sam Wilson in LASam Wilson in LA

Image: Marvel

Marvel will face the fallout from its pandemic-era content problems for many years to come.

In this regard, The Marvels and Echo signify merely the latest missteps from an ongoing saga.

The Jonathan Majors Problem

So many Kangs, so little time.So many Kangs, so little time.

Image: Marvel

Again, anyone reading MarvelBlog remains acutely aware of this situation. In fact, I discussed it again this past Sunday.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe comes with a predictable weakness.

Since Kevin Feige plans stories so far ahead – and we’re often talking three or four years down the line – current news can prove problematic.

Meet Victor Timely in Loki season two episode three.Meet Victor Timely in Loki season two episode three.

Image: Marvel

In the case of Jonathan Majors, Marvel bet heavily on the unmistakable talent of the performer.

Where Marvel struggled was during the vetting process, although the company was far from alone on this topic.

As I discussed in April, Majors currently faces accusations that he’s a serial abuser.

Kang wonders whether he'll be recastKang wonders whether he'll be recast

Source: Marvel Studios

Recent allegations suggest that a former Marvel employee on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania suffered an attack by Majors.

Even worse, this incident occurred while Majors was in London filming Loki season two.

The Kang Problem

Marvel had already committed to Majors portraying the time-traveling, multiversal villain Kang in a series of MCU stories.

Kang holds the Ant Family in the palm of his handsKang holds the Ant Family in the palm of his hands

Image: Marvel

We’ve already witnessed Majors in two seasons of Loki and Quantumania, where he portrayed the antagonist.

The current plan calls for Majors to square off against the greatest Avengers ever in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

Since all people in this country remain innocent until convicted by their peers, Marvel finds itself in an unfortunate predicament.

The Kang Dynasty posterThe Kang Dynasty poster

Virtually everyone connected to Majors cut ties with the actor in the wake of the initial allegations.

Typically, that occurs when everyone researches the events as well as the performer’s history.

When someone identifies a red flag, corporations end all contractual ties to a performer.

Kang statueKang statue

Photo: Marvel Studios

Marvel hasn’t done that yet.

The article suggests that Marvel couldn’t settle on a plan due to the recent Writers Guild of America strike.

An unnamed Hollywood executive adds, “I don’t see a path to how they move forward with him.”

The Actionable Solutions

(Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)

The article hints at the real problem at Marvel right now.

Feige has earned a spot in the discussion for greatest producer of all-time, at least as far as box office goes.

However, Marvel’s leader refused to alter his hands-on approach as the studio scaled up its content.

Amy Pascal and Kevin FeigeAmy Pascal and Kevin Feige

Source: @MCU_Direct

Feige faced new demands on his time, and he wasn’t quite up to the task. Nobody would have been.

Having the final say on this many yearly movies and television episodes is too much for anybody in the industry, even Feige.

The reporter notes that Disney felt that former Vice-President Victoria Alonso didn’t help enough in overseeing her special effects team.

Victoria Alonso in her officieVictoria Alonso in her officie

Photo: LatinHeat

However, the story also (accurately) indicates that Marvel threw her under the bus as a scapegoat for more pervasive issues.

In short, Marvel faces a handful of existential concerns at the moment.

The films and television series must plan better before they begin, thereby saving post-production special effects struggles.

Source: Marvel

Also, Feige must delegate more than he has chosen to do in the past.

Finally, Marvel must decide how to proceed with incidents that arise with talents like Majors.

The studio must develop a bit more flexibility so that it can adjust on the fly when problems inevitably arise.

Marvel has been in turmoil, but the solutions are actionable if everyone’s willing.

Source: Marvel Studios

If not, a joke I make from time to time is that Marvel has an “in case of emergency, break glass” option with the original Avengers team.

Marvel famously wanted to cast cheaper options and tell new stories in the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame.

Another few high-profile misfires could force the breaking of said glass and the return of Robert Downey, Jr.

 

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Featured image: Marvel




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DCU

Summary

  • The action figures from Batman & Robin by McFarlane Toys represent a re-evaluation of past works through modern lenses, showing the enduring allure of these characters.
  • The film’s stars, like Uma Thurman, have fondly reflected on their experience working with the elaborate rubber suits that became a hallmark of the film’s aesthetic.
  • The resurgence of Batman & Robin through these action figures is a testament to the enduring fascination with superheroes and the evolving appreciation for the film’s distinctive niche in the superhero genre.


The 1997 feature Batman & Robin stands as a peculiar milestone. Despite being critically panned upon release, its cultural footprint has experienced a surprising resurgence. This revival has manifested in an unexpected form: a series of action figures by McFarlane Toys, that immortalizes the film’s unique take on the iconic DC characters.

McFarlane Toys‘ recent unveiling of the DC Multiverse figures from Batman & Robin underscores an intriguing trend: the re-evaluation of past works through modern lenses, especially in merchandising. The lineup includes the titular characters of Batman and Robin, along with Batgirl and Poison Ivy, each accompanied by collectible items like art cards and display bases. The standout piece is undoubtedly the Mr. Freeze figure, brought to life by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film, which can be assembled from parts included with the other figures.

The enduring allure of these characters is also highlighted by the inclusion of George Clooney‘s portrayal of Batman in the DC Multiverse WB100 Batman The Ultimate Movie Collection set, which pays homage to the various actors who have donned the cape and cowl over the years, from Michael Keaton to Robert Pattinson.

The film’s stars have reflected on their experience with a sense of fondness, as evidenced by Uma Thurman’s recent recollections. Thurman, who portrayed Poison Ivy, reminisced about the joys and challenges of working with the elaborate rubber suits that became a hallmark of the film’s aesthetic. The suits themselves, and particularly the infamous “Bat-nipples,” have sparked discussions and debates over the years. Jose Fernandez, the costume designer for Batman Forever, discussed the concept’s origins, linking them to Roman armor and comic book anatomy, rather than any supposed fetishistic impulse.

RELATED: George Clooney’s Batman & Robin ‘Hero’ Suit from 1997 Goes Up for Auction


Batman & Robin almost derailed the DC franchise, and indeed comic book movies as a whole, thanks to a number of criticisms. The design of the Batsuit, especially the controversial addition of the nipples, was championed by the late director Joel Schumacher, who sought to amplify these features in George Clooney’s suit for the movie. While initially a subtle element, Schumacher’s vision led to a more pronounced and stylized portrayal of the Batsuit, which has since been both mocked and celebrated for its boldness.

This embrace of the film’s idiosyncrasies speaks to a broader cultural phenomenon where yesterday’s flops can become today’s cult classics. The action figures serve not only as toys but also as artifacts, capturing a moment in cinematic history where the grandeur of superhero tales met with a campy, theatrical presentation. They are a testament to the film’s journey from critical infamy to a distinctive niche in the superhero genre.

The resurgence of Batman & Robin through these figures is a testament to the enduring fascination with the world of superheroes. It’s a reminder that the resonance of a film can evolve over time, finding appreciation in the most unexpected of ways. The figures have secured a singular status in the superhero saga, akin to the film, representing a memorable epoch in screen history and the characters’ unending appeal.

Batman & Robin and its recent tribute through McFarlane Toys encapsulate the evergreen nature of comic book adaptations. They highlight an industry and audience willing to revisit and recontextualize the past, not with disdain but with a newfound sense of value.

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Summary The action figures from

Comics

Twinfinite writes:

It’s not very often that a game leaves me frustrated and genuinely entertained in equal measure, but that’s exactly what Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name achieves.

For every spat of gameplay segments that left me feeling exhausted and irritated, there was something to bring me back into the narrative. Each repetitive fight was followed by a fantastic boss battle, and lackluster side stories were matched by ones which did justice by the series’ reputation.

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Twinfinite writes: It’s not very often that

Festivals

The son of a prominent Hollywood television producer has been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with a dismembered female torso discovered several miles from his Los Angeles home, authorities said.

Samuel Haskell Jr. is the son of Sam Haskell Sr., founder and president of Magnolia Hill Productions. Haskell Sr. spent time at William Morris, where he rose to Worldwide Head of Television.

At William Morris, Haskell oversaw the “packaging” of all agency-represented network projects, including “Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” “Mad About You,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Lost,” “Murphy Brown,” “Sisters,” “Suddenly Susan,” “Live with Regis & Kathie Lee,” “Diagnosis Murder,” “King of Queens,” “Las Vegas” and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” among many others.

The elder Haskell resigned as CEO of the Miss America organization after a 2017 email scandal.

His Magnolia Hill Productions has produced various Dolly Parton specials and two revived specials featuring The Waltons.

The junior Haskell’s wife and in-laws are missing. A dismembered female torso was discovered several miles from his Los Angeles home, authorities said. The unidentified human remains were found near a dumpster in Encino on Wednesday morning.

Video evidence from the scene and vehicle information led police to Haskell Jr.s house in Tarzana. There, officers allegedly discovered evidence of a crime, including blood evidence, police said.

Haskell Jr. was booked on one count of suspicion of murder, police said. He had been tracked to and arrested at the Topanga Mall, Gutierrez said.

The identification of the human remains is ongoing, police said today.

Samuel Haskell Jr. and his missing wife, Mei Haskell, have three elementary-aged children. The children are now with family, police said.

Haskell is currently being held on $2 million bail. He is due in court on Nov. 13.

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The son of a prominent Hollywood television

TV

Glamour: Do you feel you got the answers you were looking for from Gerry after tonight’s episode?

Faith Martin: I do. I got really good closure. It just felt so good to hug him and to be able to tell each other we still love each other, and that’s okay. And that moving forward we’ll be okay individually. I could understand where he was coming from and the decisions that he made. The thing that hurt the most was seeing that disconnect [after hometowns at the rose ceremony]. And so for him to reconnect with me tonight and give me those answers gave me hope. It was wonderful. I feel so grateful that I got this opportunity to see him again.

He said some really moving things to you. Was there anything that provided some comfort for you moving forward?

What he said that was offstage is what meant the most to me. When I was leaving, he brought me back to hug me one more time. Those are private things but they are just so meaningful. He’s just really a true, soulful guy. And it’s what I loved about him from day one. He gave me so many gifts and treasures that I will always cherish, so I really feel like I’m going away with so much more than I came in with.

It felt like the way Gerry was looking at you tonight and hearing what you were saying to him, that he maybe regretted sending you home. If he’s still single at the end of this, or if things don’t work out with the woman he chose, would you be interested in revisiting your relationship, should that be something he wants as well?

I don’t think that’s going to happen…but that’s one I’d have to think about. I don’t know, it’s so easy to love him. You can’t be in his presence and not want to stay there. So that’d be a hard one.

During your hometown visit, had you talked with Gerry about him moving to your home? Or going to Indiana?

We talked about how it would work out and those logistics. I think that might be part of what he thought couldn’t work because I’m not a person that could see my kids twice a year. I need to be present there a lot. And I think honestly, he really does have different feelings for the other women that maybe are more with alignment to what he’s looking for in life. Even though we can love each other and we have this great connection, I think he’s a very logistical guy. He’s very smart about what he needs in his life to make it work on a logistics level. And maybe we weren’t aligned in that way.

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Glamour: Do you feel you got the

What to Watch

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Receive news and updates about #TheFallOfTheHouseOfUsher, #Suits, #Grey’sAnatomy and #Bluey are This Weeks Nielsen Top 20 Streaming Chart *Updated 9th November 2023* whenever something new comes out.

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Subscribe for show updates Receive news and updates

Awards

Note: The following story contains spoilers from “The Golden Bachelor” “Women Tell All” episode.

Joan Vassos said she crafted a plan to return to “The Golden Bachelor,” shortly after she exited the ABC reality series to tend to a family matter. An early favorite among Gerry Turner’s suitors, Vassos left production of the show early to help her daughter, who was suffering from postpartum depression.

“I got home, and my plan was to give [my daughter] some care — I needed to get her some mental health care,” Vassos told TheWrap during the taping of the “Women Tell All” episode. “I was in the process of doing that, and I was approached and they said, ‘Do you want to come back?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I’d love to come back, let me see how I’m doing with my daughter.’”

Vassos thought she was in the clear to return to the show, and production booked her a flight to return to the “Bachelor” mansion and continue dating Turner.

“I was going to come back, maybe four or five days after I left,” Vassos said. “And then my daughter wasn’t good again. We just hadn’t made it far enough — I hadn’t gotten her a doctor yet; I had calls in but it just couldn’t unfold quick enough.”


After eventually finding mental health care and a good doctor, Vassos said her daughter is doing better now, though her recovery took longer than the family anticipated.

“It wasn’t in the cards,” Vassos said of her potential return to the show.

Vassos’ exit was a particularly emotional one, as it followed a romantic one-on-one date with Turner after Vassos wooed the leading man with her down-to-earth poetry during a group date talent show.

Dating Turner wasn’t the only experience Vassos regretting missing out on, as she longed to share the “Bachelor” mansion with the vibrant group of senior women.

“I felt like I found my tribe,” she said. “I found these people that were just like me, and I haven’t had that since my husband had passed away, and leaving them was as hard as it was leaving Gerry, honestly.”

“The Golden Bachelor” airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.


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November 9, 2023 @ 6:16 PM Note: The

Music

Poor Faith. After Gerry’s full-fledged meltdown last week, horse-owner and first-impression rose receiver Faith is the one to get the chop. We can’t say we’re all that surprised—apropos of nothing, our money is on Theresa—but Faith sure was. As she should be! Lest we forget, Gerry told her he loved her in front of her children and grandchildren. Faith just made the fatal mistake of assuming the man we’ve all been sold as “good” and “kind” actually was. How was she supposed to know he made two other women the exact same promises within the exact same week? Even host Jesse Palmer was visibly shocked before last week’s rose ceremony.

Charisma Carpenter on reprising Cordelia Chase in Slayers: A Buffyverse Story

As is tradition in OG Bachelor, Faith’s post-hometown elimination was announced during the season’s “Women Tell All” episode to maximize on those sweet tears ABC so dearly craves. Why have a devastated and jilted Faith disappear into the sunset in a black jeep, when she could instead confront Gerry about her heartbreak for the very first time live and on camera?

And oh boy, did ABC get those tears. Full body sobs to be more accurate. Gerry and Faith embrace and weep for a few miserably silent seconds, while the camera zooms as close as possible to their blubbering faces. It’s all pretty awful to watch and reinforces—yet again—that The Bachelor is a whole lot less fun when its contestants are losing out on a whole lot more than a Revolve sponsorship.

The ensuing conversation is equally as gut-wrenching as the shot before. In her car ride away from the mansion, Faith laments, “I saw hope in both my son’s eyes… I wanted so much more for me. I wanted to much more for my kids. Maybe it’s just not in the cards for me.” She continues: “For the past 20 years, I didn’t really open myself to love, so I thought, ‘Okay, if I feel anything at all, I’m gonna go all in.’ It just shattered me.” To reiterate, this man knowingly broke down “30 years of walls” Faith had put up to protect herself (and her family!) from this exact kind of heartbreak and Gerry bulldozed them right down so he could figure out what was best for him.

Faith should be screaming at him. One of the younger women might have. But instead, she not only thanks him for making her feel “so safe,” but apologizes for being selfish for… some reason. This is the real headline of the Women Tell All. To a person, these women are so unduly gracious and so unbelievably forgiving when the person they were being gracious to more than deserves to be knocked down a peg.

There’s an icky power dynamic being played out here, where Gerry almost needs these women’s forgiveness to go on with the fantasy that he’s a good and righteous person who couldn’t hurt a fly. “I think the saddest part… is that I wasn’t able to try and talk to you so that you understood a little bit [why I eliminated you],” he tells Faith in their conversation, a sentiment to which Faith extends her full pardon even though Gerry doesn’t really explain it very well here, either. This is obviously the fault of years of societal conditioning, but it still leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Across the episode, multiple women talked about how the experience of being on this show made them feel more confident, sexy, and seen than they had been in years. Hopefully, the next step on that journey involves a little more righteous anger.

You can stream The Golden Bachelor now on Hulu.

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Poor Faith. After Gerry’s full-fledged meltdown last

Docs

Film Threat’s Award This! has become a unique voice for indie film and an annual industry staple. An event with a mission — to champion independent films across a multitude of categories to bring awareness to the growing number of exceptional indies available on DVD, VOD, and streaming services. Film Threat recognizes these films each year with a ceremony hosted by actors, comedians and critics, and the celebration continues at a huge afterparty. And yes, there will be an Award This! gift bag and it’s even bigger in 2023.

The Award This! nominees were selected from over 2,000 films reviewed by Film Threat in 2022 (this year we extended our deadline into the first half of 2023 to fairly represent all the films since the last Award This!). Award This!  returns for its fifth year and will take place at the Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, California on Sunday, December 10th and a limited number of tickets are available to the public now at AwardThis.com and on the Frida Cinema website. Film Threat’s Award This! is the only award show where the general public may attend by simply buying a ticket. (Try getting tickets to the Oscars or the Independent Spirit Awaards!)

This years’ vastly differing nominees have offered unique views with a horror icon, a startling true crime, Watergate from a different angle, uplifting female Taiko drummers, political prisoners drawn by acclaimed animation artists, racing from within the driver’s seat, unsung WWII heroes and more. And the utterly unique Award This! bold and diverse categories include Indie Sci-Fi, Documentary, Indie Horror, Indie Comedy, Indie LGBTQ+ Film, Unreal Outsiders Documentary Indie Action/Thriller, Indie Drama, Indie Romance, Music Documentary, Indie Animation, Films About Filmmaking, WTF Indie, Pop Culture Documentary, Socially Relevant Documentary, Short Film, Best Director, Best Directress, Indie Made for Less Than the Contents of an Oscar Gift Bag (Under $100K), and Indie Movie of the Year.

“…indie filmmakers continue to show us that there are no limits in cinema.”

“Hollywood often shows us that they can re-make anything, but indie filmmakers continue to show us that there are no limits in cinema. Award This! and Film Threat are here to champion voices that color outside the lines. Independent cinema rises like a phoenix away from the studio cutting room floor. Join us as we cheer on the rebel artists on December 10th,” states Film Threat publisher and Award This!  producer Chris Gore.” And it’s always fun to party with a group of amazing and eclectic filmmakers. They really know how to party! Many of them drink like fish. No disrespect to fish.”

The nominating board of Award This! is comprised of the staff of Film Threat’s editors and critics which number 30+ worldwide along with an advisory board of media figures and independent film luminaries.

And now, may we present the Award This! 2023 Nominees…

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Alberta’s Opposition leader is calling on Premier Danielle Smith to dump the province’s multimillion-dollar ad campaign touting the benefits of quitting the Canada Pension Plan.

NDP Leader Rachel Notley says the $7.5-million advertising and engagement campaign is rife with false facts and coupled to a delusional demand that the province is owed half the assets of the CPP on its way out the door.

“Both the premier and the finance minister have admitted that the (report’s) pension estimates are unconfirmed and not yet final,” Notley said during question period Thursday.

“Nonetheless, this (United Conservative Party) government continues spending millions and millions of public dollars on ads full of misinformation.

“Why won’t the premier pull these misleading ads off the airwaves, stop wasting Albertans’ money and apologize to them for this abuse of their taxpayers’ dollars?”

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Smith’s government, citing a third-party report from the analyst Lifeworks, said it’s entitled to $334 billion from the CPP, a number that represents 53 per cent of the CPP’s total assets.


Click to play video: 'Chief Actuary to calculate ‘reasonable’ Alberta CPP exit cost: Freeland'


Chief Actuary to calculate ‘reasonable’ Alberta CPP exit cost: Freeland


Economists and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board peg the number at about 15 per cent, closer to Alberta’s share of people in the CPP.

Smith said they’ll stick by the $334-billion figure, but she welcomes a federal government number. Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said last week Ottawa will have its chief actuary come up with a calculation of how much Alberta should get.

And Smith said the ad campaign will continue.

“It’s because the members opposite spread fake news that we’ve had to correct the record with an advertising campaign,” Smith told the house.

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“They were telling poor seniors, vulnerable people, that their pension would be stolen. Shame on them.”

The exchange came hours before a pension engagement panel headed by former provincial treasurer Jim Dinning was to host its third telephone town-hall session to hear from Albertans about whether to start an Alberta pension plan.


Click to play video: 'Some Alberta retirees fear ‘ridiculous’ new pension plan, as province previews CPP exit strategy'


Some Alberta retirees fear ‘ridiculous’ new pension plan, as province previews CPP exit strategy


The panel is part of an engagement campaign that has been criticized as a lopsided push-poll designed not to seek Albertans’ opinions but to sway them to accept an Alberta pension plan.

Critics say a government online survey doesn’t ask Albertans if they want to leave the CPP but how they would like an Alberta plan structured.

The advertising also highlights potential benefits, not the drawbacks, listed in the Lifeworks report.

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The town-hall sessions mandate the discussion revolve around the report and its numbers.

The campaign was launched Sept. 21 and has reverberated across the country, prompting a national virtual meeting of finance ministers last week amid concerns over what an Alberta pullout would do to the CPP.

Dinning is to gather feedback and tell Smith in the spring whether there is interest in an Alberta plan.

Based on that advice, Smith would decide whether to hold a referendum on leaving the CPP.

Should a referendum be held, the government said it would be in 2025.


Click to play video: 'Alberta proposes law on pension exit referendum'


Alberta proposes law on pension exit referendum


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That date was thrown into doubt two weeks ago, when Smith announced her government would wait for a final asset-transfer number to be hashed out with the federal government or settled in court.

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On Monday, Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner said the base number is up for debate.

“The information may change,” Horner told the house.

References to the issue have disappeared in recent speeches by Smith and her government.

It was absent from the throne speech and not part of Smith’s keynote speech at her UCP’s annual general meeting.

Smith also didn’t mention it Thursday in a keynote speech to delegates at the Rural Municipalities of Alberta’s convention.


Click to play video: 'Rural leaders optimistic about Alberta health-care system changes'


Rural leaders optimistic about Alberta health-care system changes


Smith recently broadened the criteria for holding a referendum.

She had previously stressed the decision would turn on what Albertans think of going it alone. Last week, she said her government would also consider the impact on the rest of Canada.

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“We don’t want to do anything that is going to put at risk the viability of the Canada Pension Plan,” Smith said Saturday on her Corus radio call-in show.

“We just want to be able to see what the numbers are.

“If it’s sufficient for Albertans to have a comfort level that not only are we going to be taken care of, but it’s not going to put the rest of the plan at risk, then we’ll see if they are interested in going to a referendum.”

The government has been discussing the viability of an Alberta plan for years, despite consistent public opinion polls suggesting a majority of residents are happy with the CPP.


Click to play video: 'Federal and provincial finance ministers to meet over Alberta’s CPP exit campaign'


Federal and provincial finance ministers to meet over Alberta’s CPP exit campaign




&copy 2023 The Canadian Press

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Harry Styles knows hair isn’t what makes you beautiful — but that doesn’t mean all his fans are OK with his new ‘do.

The singer, 29, was recently spotted sporting a new hairstyle while attending U2’s Sphere concert in Las Vegas with rumored girlfriend Taylor Russell. According to photos obtained by TMZ, Styles, who is known for his luscious brown curls, opted for a new short buzzcut-look while dancing with Russell, 29, to some of the band’s biggest hits.

The hair transformation seems to be a recent decision, as Styles was seen rocking a full coif while spending time with Russell in London earlier this fall.

When images of Styles’ shorter style surfaced earlier this week, fans of the musician immediately took to social media to react to the change. “How tf are you gonna be named Harry Styles with no hair to style,” one person joked via X (formerly Twitter). Another added: “This day will be remembered in history for the day the world collectively mourning [sic] over Harry Styles’ beautiful hair.”

Some speculated that the chop was in response to Taylor Swift’s new song off her 1989 (Taylor’s Version) rerelease “Now That We Don’t Talk.” The track describes an ex-flame — rumored to be Styles – who grew out their locks after the breakup.

“You grew your hair long / And you’ve got new icons / And from the outside, it looks like you’re trying lives on,” she sings. “I miss the old ways / You didn’t have to change / But I guess I don’t get a say. / Now that we don’t talk.”

Swift, 33, and Styles were first romantically linked in December 2012 before breaking up months later while on a trip to the Virgin Islands. While their whirlwind romance appeared brief, her fifth studio album, 1989 — which initially was released in October 2014 — is believed by fans to be largely inspired by the pair’s relationship with songs like “Out of the Woods,” “Style” and more.

When Swift dropped her 1989 rerelease last month — along with five new bonus tracks “from The Vault” — eagle-eyed fans noticed various references between the new songs and the original tracklist.

Swift has never officially confirmed any of her music is about Styles — she famously doesn’t “name names” when it comes to her songwriting — but she has teased the idea of revealing her muses. After 1989 hit shelves, she told Rolling Stone that “Style” should have been titled, “I’m Not Even Sorry.’”

After their 2013 split, Swift moved on with other high-profile relationships with stars like Calvin Harris, Tom Hiddleston and Joe Alwyn. In September, she sparked a romance with Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce and the duo have been spotted out together several times since. Styles, meanwhile, dated Kendall Jenner and Olivia Wilde before being romantically linked to Russell in June.

Lily James Brad Pitt and More Celebrity Hair Transformations of 2023 368 Lady Gaga

Related: Lily James, Brad Pitt and More Celebrity Hair Transformations of 2023

New year, new ‘dos. Time and time again, celebrities have provided Us with major hair inspiration with their bold color changes, drastic chops and Rapunzel-like hair extensions — and 2023 is no different. Lily James proved a lob is always a good idea when she arrived at the 80th Golden Globe Awards on January 10 […]

While they have mostly stayed under the radar, an insider exclusively told Us Weekly in October that “things are very serious” between Styles and Russell. “Harry definitely sees a future with Taylor,” the source noted, adding that the Grammy winner “loves spending as much time with her as he can.”

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Joseph Okpako/WireImage Harry Styles knows hair isn’t what

Tech

Salman Khan stars alongside Katrina Kaif in Yash Raj Films’ “Tiger 3,” the latest film in producer Aditya Chopra’s spy universe.

The spy universe kicked off with the Tiger franchise, starring Khan and Katrina Kaif, beginning with “Ek Tha Tiger” (2012) and “Tiger Zinda Hai” (2017) and continued with “War” (2019), starring Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff and “Pathaan” (2023), starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone. In the Tiger franchise, Salman Khan plays Avinash Singh Rathore, AKA Tiger, who belongs to Indian intelligence agency RAW and Kaif plays Zoya Humaini Rathore, an ex-agent from Pakistan’s ISI.

Variety spoke with Salman Khan on his role.

What was the most challenging aspect of the ‘Tiger 3’ shoot and what was the most fun?

The bike chasing scene was the toughest – I think! It was a massive block of shoot and it had to be impactful so Maneesh [director Maneesh Sharma] and I discussed this at length and then collectively we all have all worked towards achieving this.

I quite enjoyed shooting for “Leke Prabhu Ka Naam” in Cappadocia. It is a dance track that I personally love. Katrina and I have been fortunate to have chartbusters that have entertained people across the world and now, “Leke Prabhu Ka Naam” is another track added to that list.

Without any spoilers, what should the audience expect from “Tiger 3”?
Audiences have a connection with Tiger, they have followed his journey, they feel a connection with the characters and this time around the film is more personal, more emotional. Plus it is releasing on Diwali day, so we are hoping the audiences enjoy the fireworks on the big screen and enjoy this entertainer with their family in theaters.

What’s the timeline on “Tiger vs Pathaan” – when do you start filming and when is it due?
Tiger is always ready – so whenever things are locked – I will be there!

In a post-pandemic world when audiences are used to watching content from around the world on streaming platforms, what is the best way to keep them coming back to cinemas?
“Tiger 3” is an action spectacle and is a big screen experience. The last couple of months have been fantastic for Indian cinema and we are now really excited that “Tiger 3” is releasing. Audiences have a connection with Tiger.

What are you working on next?
My fans will soon come to know.

“Tiger 3” releases in India on Nov. 12, on the Diwali holiday. It releases in North America on Nov. 11.

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Salman Khan stars alongside Katrina Kaif in Yash Raj

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EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has a new trailer for Matt Rife: Natural Selection, Rife’s first Netflix stand-up special, in which he discusses everything from cancel culture to goat yoga classes and his love of old people.

RELATED:Comedian Matt Rife Sets His First World Tour With Live Nation; Ashton Kutcher Grants A Wish In Promo

One of the hottest comics on the planet right now, Rife’s new hour was filmed at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. In it, he promises to leave no topic untouched – from crystals to social media trolls – and no audience member spared. Rife exec produced alongside longtime manager Christina Shams, with Erik Griffin directing. Irony Point was the production company.

RELATED: How Comedian Matt Rife Pulled Off Stratospheric Rise From Pandemic-Era Pickup Truck Stand-Up To A Sold-Out Global Tour With Live Nation

While Rife has seen his career hit the stratosphere just recently, after amassing a huge, unexpected following on TikTok and other platforms, he has in truth been honing his craft for more than a decade. The 27-year-old native of North Lewisburg, Ohio self-financed and released his first two specials, Only Fans and Matthew Steven Rife, on YouTube, more recently taking to the platform with the crowd work-focused Walking Red Flag. Among his other most pivotal projects to date is Lowkey Outside, a series of socially distanced comedy shows put on during the pandemic. Co-hosted with longtime friend Paul Elia, the Lowkey shows kept people laughing at a time when traditional comedy venues were inaccessible, offering a platform to other comics starved for stage time and financial opportunity.

While as recently as last summer, Rife struggled to sell a hundred tickets a show, he moved over 600,000 tickets over the span of just 48 hours when he announced his ProbleMATTic World Tour with Live Nation earlier this year. The comic’s new special debuts exclusively on Netflix November 15th. Check the trailer out above.

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Entertaintment

Scream Queens had a short-lived time on screen, but the star-studded cast has continued to find success following the show’s cancelation.

The satirical slasher, which ran from 2015 to 2016, featured an ensemble cast including Emma Roberts, Jamie Lee Curtis, Billie Lourd, Lea Michele, Abigail Breslin and Keke Palmer. The first season of the Fox series introduced viewers to members of a sorority that were targeted by a serial killer due to their school’s dark past.

After the show’s end, creator Ryan Murphy said he wasn’t opposed to making a reboot due to Scream Queens’ cult success. “I would have to say that the answer to that lies in the studio who made it,” he told Deadline in November 2019 of whether the series would return to the small screen. “Obviously I work for Netflix now, but if I could do anything to bring it back. Emma said she would do it, Lea Michelle said she would do it, Jamie Lee Curtis, Abigail Breslin, Billie Lourd are all in. So it would depend if Fox wants to do it.”

Scroll on to see what the Scream Queens cast has been up to since the show ended:

Emma Roberts
Since bringing Chanel Oberlin to life in the horror-comedy series, Roberts continued to collaborate with Murphy on multiple seasons of American Horror Story. On the big screen, the actress has appeared in Billionaire Boys Club, Little Italy, Paradise Hills, The Hunt and Holidate.
After dating Evan Peters on and off, the pair officially called off their engagement in March 2019. Roberts moved on with Garrett Hedlund and the pair welcomed their son, Rhodes, in December 2020.
Us Weekly confirmed one year later that Roberts and Hedlund’s split. Following their breakup, Roberts began dating Cody John in August 2022. 
In September 2023, Roberts’ former AHS costar Angelica Ross claimed in an Instagram Live that Roberts misgendered her between takes on set. 
“[She said], ‘John, Angelica’s being mean,’ to which he replied, ‘OK ladies, that’s enough. Let’s get back to work,’” Ross recalled about the alleged interaction, which seemingly included director John J. Gray. “And she then looks at me and goes, ‘Don’t you mean lady?’”
Following the allegations, Ross confirmed she received an apology from Roberts, writing via X, “Thank you @RobertsEmma for calling and apologizing, recognizing your behavior was not that of an ally. I will leave the line open to follow up on your desire to do better and support social justice causes with your platform.”
FOX; Shutterstock
Lea Michele
After playing Hester Ulrich, Michele was cast as the lead of the short-lived ABC series The Mayor and was involved in the Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known documentary. She will replace Beanie Feldstein as Fanny Brice in Broadway’s Funny Girl.
The New Jersey native announced her engagement to Zandy Reich in 2018. The pair exchanged vows one year later and welcomed their first child, son Ever, in August 2020.
FOX; Shutterstock
Glen Powell
Following his time as Chad Radwell, the Texas native scored roles in Hidden Figures, Set It Up and Top Gun: Maverick alongside Tom Cruise and Miles Teller.
Powell was previously linked to Nina Dobrev and Renee Bargh. In 2021, the actor made his romance with Gigi Paris Instagram official, but the twosome called it quits in August 2023. (At the time, fans wondered whether Powell’s noticeable chemistry with Anyone But You costar Sydney Sweeney meant the pair were more than friends, but the twosome shut down the speculation while promoting the rom-com.)
FOX; Shutterstock
Skyler Samuels
The California native did not reprise her role as Grace Gardner in season 2, instead returning to Stanford University to finish her degree in marketing and intellectual property.
Samuels came back to the industry with roles in The Gifted, The Rookie and Showmance. She has also appeared in The Duff, Spare Room, Masquerade and the upcoming film Meg 2: The Trench. She began playing Aurora Teagarden in the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries franchise in 2023 after Candace Cameron Bure left the network and the series.
FOX; Shutterstock
Abigail Breslin
The child star has appeared in Freak Show, Zombieland: Double Tap and Stillwater still Scream Queens ended.
In February 2022, Breslin confirmed that she was engaged to longtime boyfriend Ira Kunyansky. They tied the knot in January 2023. 
FOX; Shutterstock
Keke Palmer
The Nickelodeon alum has appeared in projects including Big Mouth, Insecure, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder and Human Resources.
In 2020, the Illinois native became the first woman of color to host the MTV Video Music Awards. Palmer has also appeared in Alice, Lightyear and will star in Jordan Peele’s upcoming horror movie Nope alongside Daniel Kaluuya and Steven Yeun.
Palmer announced in December 2022 that she is expecting her first child with ex-boyfriend Darius Jackson. The twosome welcoemd son Leodis in February 2023. 
In August 2023, Palmer shaded Jackson in her new music video with Usher. During the video, Palmer is getting ready to enjoy Las Vegas with her friends. She meets up with Usher as they dance in a casino together before she wakes up the next morning.“What time is it? Dammit, I missed the show. I’m so tired. I’m a mother after all,” she teases in the clip, which seems to poke fun at Jackson’s controversial comments about her outfit at an Usher concert.
Us confirmed in November 2023 that Palmer filed for a restraining order against Jackson, claiming there have been “many instances of physical violence” with her ex. She explained that they split one month prior. The docs also revealed that Palmer is requesting full custody of their son.
FOX; Shutterstock
Ariana Grande
Following her memorable cameo as Chanel #2, Grande continued to focus on her music career. The Nickelodeon alum released albums Dangerous Woman, Sweetener, Thank U, Next and Positions since her time on Scream Queens.
Grande started dating Mac Miller in 2016 after they previously worked together on the song “The Way” four years prior. Following two years together, Grande and Miller called it quits in 2018. Later that year, the rapper died of an overdose.
After her split from Miller, the “Problem” performer moved on with Pete Davidson. The twosome announced their engagement in June 2018 — which they called off that same year. Grande sparked romance rumors with Dalton Gomez in 2020. After less than one year of dating, Grande and Gomez got engaged and tied the knot in May 2021.  In July 2023, Us Weekly confirmed that the duo had called it quits. News broke that same month of Grande’s relationship with Wicked costar Ethan Slater. 
FOX; Shutterstock
Billie Lourd
After wrapping up her time on Scream Queens, Lourd has starred in various AHS installments and appeared in American Horror Stories. She followed in her late mother Carrie Fisher’s footsteps with a role in the Star Wars sequel trilogy as Lieutenant Connix from 2015 to 2019.
Lourd started dating Austen Rydell in 2016. During a brief split, the California native was linked to her Scream Queens costar Taylor Lautner. She later rekindled her romance with Rydell and they got engaged in June 2020. That same year, the pair welcomed their first child, son Kingston. Lourd and Rydell tied the knot in March 2022.
In September 2022, Lourd announced that she and Rydell were expecting their second child when she showed off her baby bump at a film premiere. Three months later, Lourd welcomed baby No. 2 with her husband.
FOX; Shutterstock
Oliver Hudson
Since playing Wes Gardner, Hudson moved on to Splitting Up Together alongside Jenna Fischer and is currently the lead in Fox’s The Cleaning Lady.
Hudson shares three children — sons Wilder and Bodhi and daughter Rio — with wife Erinn Bartlett, whom he married in 2006.
Shutterstock (2)
Lucien Laviscount
The England native has scored roles in Still Star-Crossed, Snatch and Katy Keene. Laviscount rose to stardom after playing Alfie in season 2 of Emily in Paris alongside Lily Collins.
FOX; Shutterstock
Jamie Lee Curtis
The OG scream queen reprised her role as Halloween character Laurie Strode in several sequels in the franchise — including Halloween, Halloween Kills and the upcoming Halloween Ends.
Curtis, who shares daughters Annie and Ruby with husband Christopher Guest, also starred in An Acceptable Loss, Knives Out and Everything Everywhere All at Once.
FOX; Shutterstock
Taylor Lautner
After the Twilight star brought the role of Dr. Cassidy Cascade to life, he explored film projects including Run the Tide and Home Team.
Lautner started dating nurse Taylor Dome in 2018. After three years together, the actor announced that they were engaged. The couple tied the knot in November 2022. 
Shutterstock (2)
Diego Boneta
The Mexico native left Pete Martinez behind for roles in Jane the Virgin and Luis Miguel: The Series. Boneta also appeared in Before I Fall, The Titan, Monster Party, Die in a Gunfight and Father of the Bride.
FOX; Shutterstock
John Stamos
Since his time on Scream Queens, Stamos has continued to take on TV projects including Grandfathered, You and Big Shot. The musician reprised his iconic role as Jesse Katsopolis for the Netflix revival of Full House, which ran from 2016 to 2020.
In 2017, Stamos announced his engagement to Caitlin McHugh. The couple welcomed their son, Billy, just two months after tying the knot in February 2018.
Shutterstock (2)
Nasim Pedrad
Pedrad has scored roles in People of Earth, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and starred in the TBS comedy Chad (which she created, wrote and directed). On the big screen, the California native appeared in Corporate Animals, Aladdin and Desperados. 
FOX; Shutterstock
Kirstie Alley
After playing Nurse Ingrid Hoffel in the sophomore season, Alley competed in Celebrity Big Brother 22 and was the Baby Mammoth in season 7 of The Masking Singer. The actress also appeared in The Goldbergs and You Can’t Take My Daughter before her death in December 2022 at age 71 from colon cancer.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock; Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock

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Our yearning for answers and the limits of knowing are at the heart of the intricately crafted, unsettling documentary “This Much We Know.” The director L. Frances Henderson based this very personal debut on John D’Agata’s lauded book “About a Mountain,” which deftly yoked the suicide of a teenager in Las Vegas to the Department of Energy’s since-scuttled plans to use Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of that city, as a repository for nuclear waste.

Henderson says in her poetic and philosophical narration that she discovered the book while searching for answers to a friend’s suicide. It drew her to Las Vegas, where in 2002 16-year-old Levi Presley leaped to his death from a tower. That same year, Congress was pushing forward plans to bury waste beneath Yucca Mountain. Like many of the words, data sets and facts here, Presley’s final act gets probed.

Certainty and doubt are juxtaposed repeatedly. In one scene, Vegas’s longtime coroner upends Henderson’s somewhat hopeful theory of an accidental suicide. In another, a confident engineer of the Yucca project is rattled by a quote Henderson reads to him stating that scientific truths can change.

“This Much We Know” opens with a frenetic re-enactment of Presley’s final hours leading up to when a security guard approaches him. This kind of flashy filmmaking sets an ethically disquieting tone the film never completely shakes, even after Henderson gently interviews Presley’s parents and his friends. As eloquent as it is, “This Much We Know” may also be exploitative.

This Much We Know
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes. In theaters.

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After months of speculation amid the work stoppage caused by the recently ended SAG-AFTRA strike, “Deadpool 3” is being delayed by the Walt Disney Company. The comic book threequel has vacated its May 3, 2024 release date and is now set to hit theaters on July 26, 2024.

It’s one of several moves that Disney announced on Thursday evening, as the studio rejiggers its theatrical release slate. “Deadpool 3” is now claiming the slot previously occupied by “Captain America: Brave New World,” which has been pushed to Feb. 14, 2025. Additionally, Marvel’s “Thunderbolts” has moved from Dec. 20, 2024 to July 25, 2025 and its upcoming “Blade” reboot has shifted from Feb. 15, 2025 to Nov. 7, 2025.

Beyond Marvel, Disney has also delayed its upcoming prequel to its 2019 CGI remake of “The Lion King.” “Mufasa: The Lion King,” directed by Barry Jenkins, has moved from a July 5, 2024 date to Dec. 20, 2024. Additionally, the studio has vacated two other dates — July 25, 2025 and Nov. 7, 2025 — which it had planted flags on for unspecified features.

When the SAG-AFTRA strike first began in July, “Deadpool 3” was forced to suspend production. Now after nearly four months in limbo, Marvel Studios is planning to kick back into high gear, with filming set to get up and running before Thanksgiving break. However, chatter of a potential delay had been in the air for weeks as the actors strike stretched into the fall. Now, “Deadpool 3” represents the only Marvel Studios film scheduled to hit theaters in 2024 — a big swerve as the banner regularly unleashes three or four features a year.

While “Deadpool 3” still has a fair amount of production to complete, it’s notable that “Captain America: Brave New World,” which will see Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson take on the Marvel mantle, had already completed principal photography prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, though it is commonplace for Marvel productions to require additional photography. Nonetheless, it is now facing a seven-month delay. Meanwhile, “Thunderbolts” and “Blade” have yet to mount production at all.

The decision for “Deadpool” to leave its May release date now leaves a sizable crater in next year’s summer blockbuster line-up. The first weekend of May is prime real estate for studios, usually representing a big kick-off for the season. Marvel has laid claim to the frame in recent years with titles like “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”

Curiously, Disney still has another tentpole set for May, with 20th Century Studios’ “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” slated for the 24th of the month, opening against Warner Bros.’ “Mad Max” spin-off “Furiosa.” But with “Kingdom” still sticking to its original date as opposed to moving up three weeks, it seems likely that some studio other than Disney will swoop in to claim the first days of May — that is, if any film can be completed in time to make that date as productions begin again post-strike.

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After months of speculation amid the work

MCU

After initially planning on releasing four movies during the 2024 calendar year, Marvel Studios is now planning to drop one MCU movie and delay the rest to 2025.

Due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes in Hollywood, many upcoming MCU movies were already delayed to later dates.

However, since job action on both fronts is now officially over, production can resume on certain films such as Deadpool 3 and Captain America: Brave New World, and other upcoming projects can begin filming.

Even though the strikes ended, all of the titles that will be released in coming years will be affected in some way, whether it is further delays, or possibly even a complete reassessment of the Phase 5 and 6 slate.

Deadpool 3 To Be the Only 2024 MCU Movie

Marvel

Disney and Marvel Studios announced multiple upcoming MCU films have been delayed from 2024 to 2025.

As of right now, Deadpool 3 will be the one and only MCU movie to be released in 2024.

Initially set to be released on May 3, 2024, Deadpool 3 was delayed to July 26, 2024, which is the date that Captain America: Brave New World was supposed to come out in theaters.

As a result, Brave New World was officially moved to February 14, 2025, Blade was delayed until November 7, 2025, and Thunderbolts was pushed back to July 25, 2025.

The main reason behind these delays was the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) strike that just recently ended.

How Will the Delays Affect the Rest of the MCU?

Only four upcoming movies had their release dates moved around with this most recent delay. But it will still affect the other titles that weren’t mentioned.

For example, Fantastic Four, which could begin production in spring, is currently slated to come out in theaters on May 2, 2025.

However, now that Thunderbolts and Blade were moved back to July 25, 2025, and November 7, 2025, respectively, that could mean that Fantastic Four will eventually be moved as well, especially if Thunderbolts and Blade can’t narratively be released after it.

Many fans predicted that Fantastic Four will directly set up and lead into Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and if that is true, then it is possible that the Fantastic Four title could be moved to a February 2026 release window. 

That would give Marvel Studios a big enough buffer after Blade and before The Kang Dynasty for fans to not feel bogged down.

It is important to note, however, that these recent delays will likely not force either Avengers film to be pushed back at all. 

The Kang Dynasty, which is expected to be released on May 1, 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars (May 7, 2027) are both still placed in positions where they will not be affected by any of these recent moves that Marvel Studios made. 

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DCU

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom‘s new villain, Karshon, has an unexpected update from director James Wan. 

While marketing for the Jason Momoa-led sequel established that Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Black Manta will serve as the main villain, the King of Atlantis is also expected to deal with other foes from the sea. 

In September 2021, a report revealed that two more DC villains will torment Arthur Curry in Aquaman 2, namely Stingray and a Green Lantern foe called Karshon. 

Aquaman 2 Director Spills Details About New Villain

DC Comica

In an interview with Empire Magazine, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom director James Wan confirmed that the sequel’s version of Karshon is “not a shark character,” pointing out that “it’s different [from] the comic books:”

“This Karshon is not a shark character. It’s different [from] the comic books in that sense. One of the things we wanted to do, now that Arthur is king of Atlantis, is to give him barriers within the political world. Karshon comes from the High Council, and is like a political roadblock for Arthur.”

In DC Comics, Karshon, aka The Shark, was first introduced in 1963’s Green Lantern #24. Before becoming a DC villain, Karshon was hit by radiation, becoming a telepathic and anthropomorphic shark. 

Aside from Green Lantern, Karshon fought several members of the Justice League, such as the Flash and Aquaman. The villain even joined the Suicide Squad at one point. 

Indya Moore
Indya Moore

Indya Moore (Pose, Escape Room) portrays Karshon in Aquaman 2. 

This new update from Wan is surprising since many expected that Karshon would still be a shark in the sequel. Some even began drawing comparisons between Karshon and King Shark.

Meanwhile, Empire’s report shed some light on Black Manta and his unfinished business with Aquaman. It was revealed that Manta managed to get ahold of the Black Trident, giving hium god-like powers. 

Aside from the Black Trident, Wan teased that Black Manta “stumbles onto” another mysterious location: 

“In his quest to find ways to destroy Arthur, Black Manta… stumbles onto something.”

In DC Comics lore, when Atlantis sank into the ocean, it broke off into seven separate kingdoms, and one of them is the sequel’s titular Lost Kingdom. In 2018’s Aquaman, it was referred to as a colony that disappeared below the Sahar Desert.

Wan said, “This particular story allows us to explore that lost nation.” 

The DC filmmaker also teased that Aquaman 2 “definitely has more” horror elements: 

“There was an element of horror in the first film. But this second movie definitely has more of that.” 

As for the kingdom’s design, Wan said that it has “a very retro, ’60s horror look,” confirming that its design foundation is akin to the 1965 film, Planet of The Vampires.

How Karshon Fits in Aquaman 2 

Although it is surprising, it makes sense that Aquaman 2 director James Wan is moving away from Karshon’s shark design. 

Doing this would avoid comparisons and confusion with The Suicide Squad‘s King Shark. It would’ve also allowed Wan and the sequel’s concept artists to create a much more memorable design for Karshon that would make the villain stand out. 

Wan’s confirmation that Karshon is from the High Council suggests that the villain’s design will be more elegant yet menacing. 

Given that Karshon has superhuman strength and is an expert in combat from the comics, it’s safe to assume that the DC villain will duke it out with Arthur Curry. 

It’s even possible that Black Manta will persuade Karshon to join his quest for revenge against Aquaman. 

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom splashes into theaters on December 22.

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