Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Haley Bennett and Dominic Cooper about their work on ‘The Last Frontier’, Their first reaction to the screenplay for the pilot, their approach to their characters, and working with actor and executive producer Jason Clarke.
(L to R) Dominic Cooper and Haley Bennett star in Apple TV+’s ‘The Last Frontier’.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Cooper, Bennett, Jason Clarke, Simone Kessell, and Jon Bokenkamp.
(L to R) Jason Clarke and Haley Bennett in ‘The Last Frontier,’ premiering October 10, 2025 on Apple TV+.
Moviefone: To begin with, Haley, this is a fantastic series! Can you talk about your first reaction to reading the screenplay for the pilot?
Haley Bennett: Thank you. That just attributes to our incredible writer, Jon Bokenkamp and we were just in such good hands with Jon Bokenkamp, Apple TV and with Jason Clarke producing this show. We feel so grateful and so privileged to be getting the feedback we’ve been getting for the show. What I love about the show is that it has this epic scope and this incredible budget and it’s such elevated television. But at the same time, I’m used to just doing little independent films and getting to explore characters on a much smaller scale, but we were able to explore both with our scenes between us and to be able to create incredibly real and fleshed out characters. Which is what Apple, I think, is so genius and brilliant at creating. It’s like the balance of both of those things.
(L to R) Alfre Woodard, Gray Powell and Haley Bennett in ‘The Last Frontier,’ premiering October 10, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Haley, can you talk about your approach to playing Sydney and what is it like playing a character with so many secrets?
HB: Sydney is a character who’s someone that obviously has a lot of problems, a lot of demons, she’s been condemned by the CIA. She’s sent to Alaska to help with this crisis of this plane crash, and she knows the person that is that the CIA is looking for better than anybody. I loved her shades of gray. I loved her moral ambiguity and how I felt about her at first glance was very different as I read kind of these later episodes. I realized that what she represented was something far different than what I had originally believed about her. So, I just felt that that was a great opportunity to get to play a character who has this incredible arc and isn’t always what you see is what you get, but that has all these secrets that can destroy and that have catastrophic consequences.
‘The Last Frontier,’ premiering October 10, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Dominic, so much is said about Havlock in the first episode before we ever see you on screen. How did that help you to create this character?
Dominic Cooper: There’s such a wealth of information in this script. For the first time ever, I don’t think it’s ever happened before, but we all 10 episodes have been handed to you before you begin. So, you have this wealth of information about the person you’re going to play, which is daunting. Just the character when I when I list the things that were presented in front of me, a Navy SEAL, CIA operative, mathematician, lecturer, I couldn’t come up with things that are further from who I am as a person, but it was a wonderful challenge to be presented with. Then a lot of the time you’re having to sit alone and write your history or decide on things that you have no real idea about. You’re not really that confident because you’ve made it up yourself. But with this, I could go backwards and forwards. I could listen to what people say about him. I could find the future and the flashbacks. It gave such a strong flavor of who this guy was. It’s been interesting to hear what people think of him. They keep mentioning devious and villainous and a bit of a murky moral compass. But I just saw him as someone who was trying to be killed and surviving and loved the people he cared about and was trying to do to reveal some truth and honesty about what was happening in the world. So, I had a lot of help and the showrunner who knew the material inside out because he’d had it for a long time. So, there’s no preparation. You still think you’re terrible in it, you still think that you’ve done a bad job, you still don’t believe in anything you do. But all you can do is have trust and utilize the information that’s presented before you.
Sam Hargrave in ‘The Last Frontier,’ premiering October 10, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Finally, Dominic, can you talk about the cat and mouse game that begins between Havlock and Frank, and why Havlock takes an interest in him?
DC: I realize more now in watching it again, another tough thing about playing him in the cat and mouse relationship, I don’t ever get any scenes with him (Jason Clarke). I have one scene with him, essentially, where we’re face to face. I remember thinking, what a relief and how lovely it was to work with him. I was really happy because you get so much from actors, you look in their eyes and you listen, and you absorb and that completely informs your reaction. Nothing else does. Half of my stuff was into a radio without the person there and that was hard. So, it was very nice. But you don’t have that feeling of the day’s work and we got somewhere together, that you reached somewhere together. It was a bit like, “Oh, that’s done” and you don’t know whether it’s right because you also don’t hear the tone of how that person’s going to play it. So, you’re just doing it into a void. It’s still quite interesting. He’s so he’s so ahead of Frank. I just had to think of the bigger picture and go, “Well, actually, it’s so clever this”, you know, he’s there, he’s not there. I felt like I was in safe hands in terms of the guidance from both director and showrunner, but it was sad to have that wonderful cat and mouse, but not be present with the person.
Jason Clarke in ‘The Last Frontier,’ premiering October 10, 2025 on Apple TV+.
What is the plot of ‘The Last Frontier’?
A U.S. Marshal (Jason Clarke) in the outskirts of Alaska must protect his town while he investigates the plane crash that set free multiple fugitives, now on the loose.
(L to R) Jason Clarke and Haley Bennett in ‘The Last Frontier,’ premiering October 10, 2025 on Apple TV+.
Arriving on Apple TV on October 10 with the first two episodes (eight more follow at the rate of one per week) is ‘The Last Frontier,’ which sees Jason Clarke (‘Zero Dark Thirty’) as a US Marshal whose normally quiet beat is upended by a crashed prisoner transport plane.
‘The Last Frontier,’ premiering October 10, 2025 on Apple TV+.
What do you get when you splice together a procedural that would be at home on, say, NBC or CBS with the sort of hefty-budgeted serialized show that Apple has been making?
The answer might just be ‘The Last Frontier’, which has all the prestige TV trappings but also wants to throw all manner of plot twists at you.
Script and Direction
(L to R) Simone Kessell and Jason Clarke in ‘The Last Frontier,’ premiering October 10, 2025 on Apple TV+.
Creators Bokenkamp and D’Ovidio have worked in both television and features, and the show feels like a mix of the two, but still works well. If you expect the prisoner transport concept to be a remake of ‘The Fugitive’ blended with ‘Con Air’, think again –– there are complications ahoy here.
Sam Hargrave directs the pilot and one other episode and sets the tone for the show, which takes its episode titles from the needle drops that appear and help the mood of the show. This is a stylish, action-packed affair.
Cast and Performances
(L to R) Alfre Woodard, Gray Powell and Haley Bennett in ‘The Last Frontier,’ premiering October 10, 2025 on Apple TV+.
Clarke is suitably gritty and charismatic as the US Marshall with a past of his own, who plays well against Hayley Bennett’s shady, troubled CIA agent.
While Dominic Cooper’s Levi Hartman sometimes verges into being that magical type who can do anything, he anchors the role with real emotion. And keep an eye out for some even bigger names glimpsed briefly in the chaotic opening plane crash who will come into play later in the season.
Final Thoughts
Jason Clarke in ‘The Last Frontier,’ premiering October 10, 2025 on Apple TV+.
Setting itself as the sort of Dad-TV thriller that fans of shows such as ‘Bosch’ will lap up, ‘The Last Frontier’ doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it has enough to keep you guessing.
The beautiful scenery, meanwhile (with Canada subbing in for Alaska), provides an excellent setting for it all to unfold.
‘The Last Frontier’ receives 75 out of 100.
(L to R) Haley Bennett and Jason Clarke in ‘The Last Frontier,’ premiering October 10, 2025 on Apple TV+.
What’s the plot of ‘The Last Frontier’?
‘The Last Frontier’ follows Frank Remnick (Jason Clarke), the lone U.S. marshal in charge of the quiet, rugged barrens of Alaska. Remnick’s jurisdiction is turned upside down when a prison transport plane crashes in the remote wilderness, setting free dozens of violent inmates.
Tasked with protecting the town he’s vowed to keep safe, he begins to suspect the crash wasn’t an accident, but the first step of a well-crafted plan with far-reaching and devastating implications.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Jason Clarke about his work on ‘The Last Frontier’, his first reaction to the screenplay for the pilot episode, his character’s pursuit of escaped convict Havlock, Frank’s reluctant partnership with CIA agent Sidney, and working with actress Haley Bennett.
Jason Clarke stars in Apple TV+’s ‘The Last Frontier’.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Clarke, Dominic Cooper, Haley Bennett, Simone Kessell, and Jon Bokenkamp.
Jason Clarke in ‘The Last Frontier,’ premiering October 10, 2025 on Apple TV+.
Moviefone: To begin with, this is a fantastic series! Can you talk about your first reaction to reading the screenplay for the pilot and did you recognize immediately that Frank Remnick would be a great role for you to play in particular?
Jason Clarke: Thank you, mate. I do too and I love hearing that kind of response, man. We had a great time making it. I watch it when I don’t normally watch a lot of things, and I kept watching it. I’ve loved it, I really did. Dude, when they send you a script and they send you the pilot, you read it, and of course, that’s draft after draft. I’m now smart enough to go, “Well, this is, of course, their best foot forward” and I did love it. The plane crashing, the size and the scope, I thought, this is where Apple should be, and I want to be part of this. You know what I mean? I really did. I’ve been on a lot of sets in my career. So then, you know, it’s set in snow. I thought, “Well, that’s not easy.” I remember ‘The Revenant’ and I’m friends with Tom (Hardy) and Leo (DiCaprio), and I knew what they went through. So, I said, “Guys, how about the rest of them?” They sent me all 10 episodes, which was like, okay, they’ve done their work, because we’re going to have to shoot out of order. Then you read through and you’re just waiting with bated breath of when it’s going to fall down the hole. Because now, your hopes are up, and I read all 10 in like no time at all. Normally I go through with a marker on my iPad, and I’ll just mark that this doesn’t make sense in orange, and red is like that’s just not good. But I didn’t have any. I just read it straight through. I thought, “Man, he took me on a wild ride and brought me up the other side.” Sure, there’s a few things, I think some dialog, but I’m with that ride. That’s what it felt like to me, and then it was like, let’s get this 50 something year old body into shape and get on this roller coaster.
‘The Last Frontier,’ premiering October 10, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Can you talk about the cat and mouse game that takes place between Frank and escaped convict Havlock and how Frank navigates that?
JC: Frank in a way, he’s a very real person. You know, he’s not a superhero. He’s not the best fighter or the fastest gun. He doesn’t have the level of training and abilities that Havlock has, and you find it out when you realize things. But he’s cunning and his dogged, and he’s decent, and he’s going to get up more times and he gets knocked down. You know, you’re going to have to finish Frank off if you want to beat him, and I love those parts. They’re very human and it enables you to bring the audience in closer to the reality of who he is. I mean, when we talked about the fight sequences with (director) Sam (Hargrave), I was like, “I’m not going to be, you know, Chris Hemsworth or Spider-Man or something here”. Frank’s going be beaten more times that he beats, but he’s going to come back and that’s how we leaned into that. So, he’s learning from Havlock, and he doesn’t realize just how far down the rabbit hole and into the dark that Havlock has led him. Then it starts to dawn on him. I love “No Country for Old Men’ that speech that Tommy Lee Jones makes about the dream. Frank starts to realize, he’s seen a lot of bad and dark in Chicago, and he knows what criminals can do, and big organized criminals. So, he starts to realize, “Oh, man, I’m in some dangerous territory.” Then his family’s involved in it, too. That gets to the heart of it.
(L to R) Jason Clarke and Haley Bennett in ‘The Last Frontier,’ premiering October 10, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Finally, can you talk about Frank’s reluctant partnership with CIA agent Sidney and what it was like working on that relationship with actress Haley Bennett?
JC: Well, Hayley bought a great, like a mist in terms of you couldn’t tell where she’s at. You know, I wanted to hold her, but then the next minute I feared her. You feel like with Frank, you’re trying to work out what her involvement is, what she is hiding, and then you’re also aware that she’s super dangerous. Even though she’s an alone operative, an alone agent and a woman in this foreign place, there’s something about the way she operates. She makes you lean into her and frank leans into her, and then he needs her as well. You just you realize he’s on a lake of ice, with her as well, too.
Jason Clarke in ‘The Last Frontier,’ premiering October 10, 2025 on Apple TV+.
What is the plot of ‘The Last Frontier’?
A U.S. Marshal (Jason Clarke) in the outskirts of Alaska must protect his town while he investigates the plane crash that set free multiple fugitives, now on the loose.
It’s fair to say that the Marvel movies, specifically the Marvel Cinematic Universe releases, have reached “cultural event” status. And there’s a strong case to be made that the MCU is a currently a pop culture juggernaut, the likes of which we haven’t since the original ‘Star Wars‘ trilogy hit theaters for the first time.
It is a great time to watch the Marvel movies in order now and you can watch them all on Disney Plus in 4K format. You can even plan virtual Marvel movie nights with your friends using Disney+ GroupWatch feature.
(L to R) Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan in ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’. Photo: Marvel Studios.
During World War II, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a sickly man from Brooklyn who’s transformed into super-soldier Captain America to aid in the war effort. Rogers must stop the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) – Adolf Hitler’s ruthless head of weaponry, and the leader of an organization that intends to use a mysterious device of untold powers for world domination.
The story follows Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) as she becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. Set in the 1990s, Captain Marvel is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
After being held captive in an Afghan cave, billionaire engineer Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) creates a unique weaponized suit of armor to fight evil.
Scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) scours the planet for an antidote to the unbridled force of rage within him: the Hulk. But when the military masterminds who dream of exploiting his powers force him back to civilization, he finds himself coming face to face with a new, deadly foe.
With the world now aware of his dual life as the armored superhero Iron Man, billionaire inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) faces pressure from the government, the press and the public to share his technology with the military. Unwilling to let go of his invention, Stark, with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes (Don Cheadle) at his side, must forge new alliances – and confront powerful enemies.
Against his father Odin’s (Anthony Hopkins) will, The Mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth) – a powerful but arrogant warrior god – recklessly reignites an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.
When an unexpected enemy emerges and threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins!
When Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called the Mandarin, he starts an odyssey of rebuilding and retribution.
Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos… but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.
(L to R) Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson in ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’. Photo: Marvel Studios.
After the cataclysmic events in New York with ‘The Avengers’, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), aka Captain America is living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk. Joining forces with the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off professional assassins sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon (Anthony Mackie). However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy—the Winter Soldier.
Light years from Earth, 26 years after being abducted, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) finds himself the prime target of a manhunt after discovering an orb wanted by Ronan the Accuser.
When Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron (James Spader) emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for an epic and unique global adventure.
Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, master thief Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Doctor Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.
Following the events of ‘Age of Ultron’, the collective governments of the world pass an act designed to regulate all superhuman activity. This polarizes opinion amongst the Avengers, causing two factions to side with Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) or Captain America (Chris Evans), which causes an epic battle between former allies.
Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.
Following the events of ‘Captain America: Civil War’, Peter Parker (Tom Holland), with the help of his mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), tries to balance his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens, New York City, with fighting crime as his superhero alter ego Spider-Man as a new threat, the Vulture (Michael Keaton), emerges.
Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa / Black Panther in 2018’s ‘Black Panther.’
King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country’s new leader. However, T’Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne by factions within his own country as well as without. Using powers reserved to Wakandan kings, T’Challa assumes the Black Panther mantle to join with ex-girlfriend Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), the queen-mother, his princess-kid sister, members of the Dora Milaje (the Wakandan ‘special forces’) and an American secret agent, to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war.
After his career is destroyed, a brilliant but arrogant surgeon (Benedict Cumberbatch) gets a new lease on life when a sorcerer takes him under her wing and trains him to defend the world against evil.
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is imprisoned on the other side of the universe and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok, the destruction of his home-world and the end of Asgardian civilization, at the hands of a powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela (Cate Blanchett).
Just when his time under house arrest is about to end, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) once again puts his freedom at risk to help Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) dive into the quantum realm and try to accomplish, against time and any chance of success, a very dangerous rescue mission.
As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos (Josh Brolin). A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment – the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.
After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War, the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos (Josh Brolin). With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos’ actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what consequences may be in store.
Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization and his father, Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung).
Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and his friends go on a summer trip to Europe. However, they will hardly be able to rest – Peter will have to agree to help Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) uncover the mystery of creatures that cause natural disasters and destruction throughout the continent.
Tom Holland in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’ Photo: Marvel Studios.
Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a super-hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man. Teaming with other Multiverse Spider-Men (Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield), they must now work together to take out the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Electro (Jamie Foxx) and other Spider-Man villains from around the multiverse.
The Eternals are a team of ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years. When an unexpected tragedy forces them out of the shadows, they are forced to reunite against mankind’s most ancient enemy, the Deviants.
Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.
After his retirement is interrupted by Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), a galactic killer who seeks the extinction of the gods, Thor Odinson (Chris Hemsworth) enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg, and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who now wields Mjolnir as the Mighty Thor. Together they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.
On a dark and somber night, a secret cabal of monster hunters emerge from the shadows and gather at the foreboding Bloodstone Temple following the death of their leader. In a strange and macabre memorial to the leader’s life, the attendees are thrust into a mysterious and deadly competition for a powerful relic—a hunt that will ultimately bring them face to face with a dangerous monster.
Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s (Chadwick Boseman) death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.
On a mission to make Christmas unforgettable for Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), the Guardians head to Earth in search of the perfect present. The special follows Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) as they set out to give Quill the best Christmas ever, after discovering that Yondu (Michael Rooker) ruined the holiday for him as a child.
Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), still reeling from the loss of Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), must rally his team around him to defend the universe along with protecting one of their own. A mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.
Super-Hero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), along with with Hope’s parents Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) , and Scott’s daughter Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), find themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought possible and pits them against Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors).
Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), aka Captain Marvel, has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). Together, this unlikely trio must team up and learn to work in concert to save the universe.
After meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford), Sam (Anthony Mackie) finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.
After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap, seven disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts.
Against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel’s First Family is forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, while defending Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner).
Landing on Disney+ daily across eight days from December 22nd, the second season of Marvel’s Disney+ animated series ‘What If…?’ wraps up the show’s run –– at least for now –– with another set of episodes where several build to a grand, multiverse-hopping finale.
Disney’s Marvel arm has seen something of a renewal this year, between the success of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (even if that film poked plenty of fun at how tired the idea of the multiverse seems these days) and ‘Agatha All Along.’ And now here comes the welcome return of ‘What If…?’ which again blends more stand-alone stories with some clever easter eggs (and in one case, an actual egg) that knit together to spin a bigger tale around Jeffrey Wright’s powerful The Watcher. Who, it turns out, will have to answer for meddling in the affairs of different universes.
Does ‘What If…?’ Season 3 still provide multiversal fun?
In keeping with the previous two seasons, the new run of ‘What If…?’ offers a blend of intriguing possibilities and an overarching spine that only starts to reveal itself towards the end of this final eight episodes. Those who have seen the previous seasons won’t be surprised at what it is building to, though it’s mostly satisfying.
But the pleasure in this show is usually more in the individual episodes, which here run the gamut between the hilarious (one focused on Howard the Duck and his unlikely, but somehow perfect relationship) and the heartbreaking (an epic, dystopian story of what happens with a ‘Black Panther’-associated character following the near destruction of Earth by Tiamut the celestial). Indeed, there is better use of several elements of the ‘Eternals’ than in the movie itself.
Another welcome element, near prescient, given the runaway success of her solo show, is the presence of Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness.
And that’s probably about all we can say on that front, given the extensive embargoes in place on this!
The regular writing team of Matthew Chauncey, Ryan Little and A.C. Bradley are back for the season, and the scripts run the usual gamut of superb to solid. While there isn’t perhaps the knockout winner of, say, last year’s festive episode, there remains a good balance of character interaction and fascinating peeks into unusual corners of the MCU while also blending in some more comics-faithful moments for fans of the printed pages.
Bryan Andrews and Stephan Franck return to direct the episodes and the look of the show continues to evolve in subtle ways. Most of the characters will be instantly recognizable, while others, such as Obadiah Stane (voiced here by Kiff VandenHeuvel rather than Jeff Bridges) might take a moment.
There are the occasionally jarring replacements, but on the whole, it’s a satisfying set of voices. Seth Green is great as usual as Howard the Duck, playing perfectly off the energy of Kat Dennings as Darcy. And kudos to Wright who, when given more to do as the Watcher than simply observe and narrate.
Oh, and you won’t tire of hearing Jackson emote the phrase “Mr. and Mrs.… The Duck.”
It’s also fun to hear the likes of Jason Isaacs –– something of a genre titan thanks to ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Star Wars’ and the DC animated appearances he’s put in –– as a powerful cosmic entity whose voice fairly drips with withering sarcasm.
Though it may not quite hit the highs of last year’s festive season run, Season 3 of ‘What If…?’ certainly has enough pleasures to keep fans happy. And though the big finale feels a little predictable at times, it is definitely enough to leave you wishing the company would commission future seasons, especially given how effective the creative team has been in making compelling narratives fit in sub-30-minute episodes.
‘What If…?’ Season 3 receives 8 out of 10 stars.
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What’s the plot of ‘What If…?’ Season 3?
“What If…?” returns in Season 3 for its culminating adventure through the multiverse.
Watch as classic characters make unexpected choices that will mutate their worlds into spectacular alternate versions of the MCU. The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) will guide viewers as the series traverses new genres, bigger spectacles, and incredible new characters.
The movie stars Joey King as The Princess, who after refusing to wed Julius (Dominic Cooper), the sociopath to whom she is betrothed, she is kidnapped and locked in a remote tower of her father’s castle. Now, with Julius planning to take her father’s throne, the princess must protect her family and save her kingdom. In addition to King and Cooper, the cast also includes Olga Kurylenko, and Veronica Ngo.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Joey King about her work on ‘The Princess.’
Joey King in 20th Century Studios’ ‘The Princess,’ exclusively on Disney+/Hulu.
You can read our full interview with Joey King below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with King and director Le-Van Kiet.
Moviefone: To begin with, how far along in the script did you get before you decide that this was a role you had to play?
Joey King: The minute the fights just started to take off at the beginning of the script. Then I just kept reading and I was like, wow, there is so much action. When you read action, it’s very different. It’s like you have to picture it in your head while you’re reading it and it’s a little complicated. So, getting the essence of it while you’re reading a script is something that’s a little bit difficult, but you can see it playing out.
So, taking on this character was something that when I read the script, I was like, this is going to be, just from reading the script, 92 pages of full action. I am going to have to do a lot of work and a lot of training on this, and that’s exactly what I did. I enjoyed every minute of how exhausting that was.
MF: As an actress, what was it like taking on the physical demands of this role?
JK: So actually, it was intended that I would do some of it, but definitely have someone else do most of it. Then when I came in and started training for this, I made it pretty clear that even though I still had no idea what I was doing yet, I had no prior training, that I wanted to get to a place where I was confident enough to do most of the things that I could do. I have to say, I put in so much work and it was so hard, but I had some amazing trainers. Then on top of that, the two girls who were hired as my stunt doubles, were so supportive. They helped train me every day and also, they wanted me to do everything that I could.
They were so supportive, and they were really huge cheerleaders for me in being able to accomplish what I did. I would look to them for advice and help every day, and I’m so grateful for them. I was able to do 90% of what you see in the movie, which was not how it was supposed to be. But I was really stubborn about that and everyone made me feel so uplifted.
MF: Finally, can you talk about the amazing costume you wear in the movie and was it difficult performing the action sequences in that outfit?
JK: What a gorgeous costume. Our costume designer did an amazing job with her team building this dress. It was something that was talked about well before we even started filming. Because when I was training, we had to understand what it was going to be like for me, so that when I walked on set day one, it wasn’t a huge rude awakening. So, I was training and fighting in a corset and a long dress. We had to build replicas of it so that I could start training with it in the gym.
So, it was just such an unreal thing to go from training with leggings and T-shirts to then all of a sudden wearing a ball gown. I really loved that challenge of it. I think our costume department did such an amazing job breaking down this dress, making it this cool battle armor, and also making it accessible for me to be able to do my thing in it and still be able to hide back pads, knee pads and different stuff in it. They did an amazing job of making it something that had more uses than just one.
There is a history of tough princesses in movies – there’s the likes of Princess Fiona (voiced by Cameron Diaz) in the ‘Shrek’ franchise, while on TV we’ve had Bean (Abbi Jacobson) in ‘Disenchantment’.
Now we can add Joey King’s thus-far unnamed royal butt-kicker to the list for new Hulu movie ‘The Princess’.
In the story, she’s a strong-willed princess who refuses to wed the cruel sociopath (Dominic Cooper, giving it his best snarling schmuck) to whom she is betrothed, is kidnapped, and locked in a remote tower of her father’s castle. With her scorned, vindictive suitor intent on taking her father’s throne, the princess must protect her family and save the kingdom.
Instead of singing songs about her predicament, she decides to take matters into her own hands – and feet – laying the smack down on anyone who tries to oppress her. She’ll have help from ‘The Old Guard’s Veronica Ngo, who helps train the princess in the martial arts, which will come in handy when she has to keep battling people. And she mostly has to do it while clad in a lacy dress. That includes falling down huge chambers on top of someone she’s busy beating up and swinging from a tower in a way that would make Rapunzel jealous.
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This one looks like a whole heap of fun – with King’s character taking down leering henchmen and all manner of guards while performing the sort of stunts that would probably make your average princess wish they could get up to this sort of John Wick-style action. We could perhaps picture ‘Frozen’s Anna kicking some ass, but few others.
The new movie comes courtesy of ‘Furie’s Le-Van Kiet, who directs from a script by Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton. And you might not be too surprised to learn that ‘Fast & Furious’ veteran producer Neil H. Moritz and ‘John Wick’ writer/producer Derek Kolstad are involved behind the scenes. King, who has become increasingly involved in guiding her own career, is also a producer.
And clearly tough princesses are on lots of people’s minds right now – also in production is ‘Damsel’, in which ‘Stranger Things’ Millie Bobbie Brown plays a similarly strong princess who realizes that her upcoming marriage is all part of a plan to sacrifice her to a hungry, fire-breathing dragon and decides that she’s going to do something about it. That one, which Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is directing for Netflix, also features Shohreh Aghdashloo, Nick Robinson, Ray Winstone, Angela Bassett, and Robin Wright (who has form as a princess thanks to legendary fantasy satire ‘The Princess Bride’).
Everything goes to hell in the trailer for the fourth and final season of “Preacher.”
AMC debuted the trailer at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend. As the series inches closer to the finale, God’s endgame for the universe begins to click into place.
Jesse (Dominic Cooper) and Tulip (Ruth Negga) set out to rescue Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun), who’s been captured by the Grail.
Trapped between heavenly prophecies, hellish prisons, and all-out nuclear war, the trio must make their bloody way to the Most High. Whether they can reach God in time — or whether all this carnage is part of His divine plan — will be revealed as “Preacher” barrels towards the end of the world.
“Preacher” Season 4 premieres Sunday, August 4 at 9 p.m. on AMC.
