Matthew Monagle
James Mangold Shows Off a Few New ‘Logan’ Character Photos
While we’ve known for a while that Logan would probably be the last appearance of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, we sometimes undersell how much of a landmark that truly is. Jackman was one of the first actors to make a long-term commitment to playing a superhero; furthermore, he’s one of the few actors who actually retired from the character rather than being replaced or rebooted by the studio. What Jackman has gone through in the past few years should help set the stage for the current generation of Marvel actors, people like Robert Downey, Jr. and Samuel L. Jackson who will likely step down from a role rather than have it taken from them.
Bryan Cranston Explains Why ‘Power Rangers’ Is a ‘Nice Bookend’ to His Career
After starring in arguably the greatest television series of all time, Bryan Cranston has certainly earned the right to pick any movie or television projects that he darn well pleases. That didn’t prevent a few people from raising their eyebrows when it was announced that Cranston would be joining the cast of the new Power Rangers reboot as their leader and mentor Zordon. Sure, we all know that Cranston got his start as a Power Rangers voice actor back in the day, but is he really so loyal as to work on a new live-action movie when he could be out there, winning Oscars or lighting up Broadway
‘Rogue One’ Featured Unused ‘Star Wars’ Footage Found by the Director
Even if you’re not the biggest fan of CGI actors returned from the dead, you probably had to appreciate the ways that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards tried to bring the events of Star Wars: A New Hope more directly into his film. In several key sequences, Edwards was even able to feature unseen footage from the original 1977 film, causing fans to wonder where that new footage came from (and why they hadn’t seen it before). Are there entire archives of unseen footage that Lucasfilm has been hiding from fans for all these decades?
Ben Affleck Says He Won’t Make ‘The Batman’ if the Script Is Bad
We all know that Ben Affleck’s performance as Batman was one of the few things both critics and fans of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice could completely agree on. From his shallow playboy persona as Bruce Wayne to his thinly veiled rage as the Dark Knight, Affleck’s take on the character got everyone very excited to see what the actor-writer-director could do with a free hand for his standalone The Batman movie. Unfortunately, things have slowed considerably since, with rumors of mediocre scripts and a shifting release date taking some of the buzz off the upcoming release.
Samuel L. Jackson Weighs in on Award Season ‘Oscar Bait’ Movies
This past weekend, Samuel L. Jackson received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Dubai International Film Festival and opened up a bit about award season and the types of films that so often receive awards. While Jackson is no stranger to working in Academy Award-nominated movies — his frequent collaborations with Quentin Tarantino have often led to Oscar consideration, and Jackson himself was nominated for Pulp Fiction — the actor was not shy about sharing his thoughts (via The Wrap) on the increasing politicization of award season and the films we are seeing as a result.
Dwayne Johnson Doesn’t Regret Calling ‘Fast 8’ Co-Star Vin Diesel a ‘Candy Ass’
Dwayne Johnson is a big man in every sense of the word. Physically, he’s a small planet, giving the moon a run for its money as the most important celestial body to be caught in Earth’s orbit. His personality and spirit, though, are even bigger. You rarely if ever hear stories about Johnson losing his cool or brushing off a fan, choosing instead to spend every waking minute of every waking day reminding us that movie stars do still exist in 2016.
‘John Wick’ Director David Leitch Officially Gon’ Give It to You in ‘Deadpool 2’
A few weeks ago, Deadpool director Tim Miller shocked the world — or a nerdier and more profane subsection of the world, anyways — by walking away from Deadpool 2. As reporters scrambled to make sense of why Miller would leave one of the breakout franchises of 2016, reports emerged that Miller and star Ryan Reynolds had very conflicting ideas for the upcoming sequel and that 20th Century Fox had thrown their support behind Reynolds’ vision for the franchise. Deadpool 2 was officially in the hands of Ryan Reynolds now, but the film still needed a director, and the hunt was on.
There Are Whole Seconds of New Joker Footage in This ‘Suicide Squad’ TV Spot
Look, all things being equal, I really didn’t mind Jared Leto’s take on the Joker in Suicide Squad. Yes, the constant news items about what latest “crazy” thing he did to get in character were pretty annoying, and yes, the number of people who seem to think that Joker and Harley Quinn’s relationship is something to emulate is downright disturbing, but Leto seemed like a perfect fit for the gloomy and angst-ridden universe that Warner Bros. has created for its DC Comics characters. At another studio, he’d be woefully out of place. In this one? He’s fine.
‘Deadpool 2’ Is Rumored to Begin Production in January
This hasn’t been a great month for Ryan Reynolds and Deadpool 2. Between the departure of director Tim Miller and the loss of composer Junkie XL, the sequel to the breakout superhero hit has been losing momentum at a time where it should be locking in the moving parts for the next iteration of the film. That still hasn’t stopped 20th Century Fox from pushing forward with the sequel, which apparently will begin shooting as early as January 2017, production problems be darned.
A Whole Bunch of ‘Batman’ Is Coming to HBO in November
Between the epic run of Game of Thrones and the impressive first season of Westworld, odds are good that you’re currently rocking an annual subscription to HBO or HBOGo. Few networks are still in the business of appointment television, but with social media sites like Twitter exploding into a flurry of spoilers after each new episode of both shows, fans are finding that their only real options are to watch on time or to not watch at all. In fact, we can sometimes get so caught up in the flurry of long-form television that we forget that HBO has some pretty darn good movies, too.
Marvel Will Release a ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Prequel Comic
While Tom Holland’s introduction as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War has to be considered a rousing success, perhaps our favorite part of the character was what we didn’t see: namely, yet-another origin story that puts him through the familiar paces of spiders, wrestling, and that old yarn about great power and great responsibility. Any self-professed Spider-Man fan knows Peter Parker’s history like the back of his hand; the fact that Captain America: Civil War was content to pick up the character’s life midstream bodes well for Marvel’s approach to the character in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
‘Deadpool’ Director Tim Miller Leaves ‘Deadpool 2’
One of the biggest Hollywood success stories of the past few years was Deadpool, the R-rated superhero movie from 20th Century Fox. From dead in the water to surprise box office smash, Deadpool became a perfect parable for young filmmakers who have a story to tell and won’t let failure stand in the way of getting their movie made. Unfortunately, though, life doesn’t always adhere to clean narratives. Despite all the setbacks that Deadpool director Tim Miller faced along the way, it turns out there was only one thing that could cause him to throw in the towel: success.