Jason Momoa in ‘Once Upon a Time in Venice.’ Photo: RLJ Entertainment.
Steve Ford (Bruce Willis) is a private detective in Venice Beach, Calif., who’s good with the ladies, bad with the punches and wild about his dog Buddy. When local thugs steal Buddy, Ford turns to Spyder (Momoa), their devious leader, and forges an unlikely alliance. With help from his best friend (John Goodman), Steve pulls out the big guns to retrieve Spyder’s stolen cash and cocaine and save Buddy.
Nate Johnson (Cedric the Entertainer), a Los Angeles man estranged from his wife (Vanessa Williams) and three children, decides to reconnect with his family by taking them with him on a road trip to Missouri for a big family reunion.
Arlen (Suki Waterhouse) is sent to a fenced-off wasteland where undesirables are exiled to when she is kidnapped by a group of cannibals. She escapes and ends up on a journey to reunite a missing girl with her father.
Fuelled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s (Henry Cavill) selfless act, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) and Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) assemble a team of metahumans consisting of Barry Allen (Ezra Miller), Arthur Curry (Momoa) and Victor Stone (Ray Fisher) to face the catastrophic threat of Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds) and the Parademons who are on the hunt for three Mother Boxes on Earth.
(L to R) Isabela Merced and Jason Momoa in ‘Sweet Girl.’ Photo: Netflix.
A man (Momoa) vows to bring justice to those responsible for his wife’s (Adria Arjona) death while protecting the only family he has left, his daughter (Isabela Merced).
While Native American Robert Wolf (Momoa) is being pursued by the FBI for having taken the law into his own hands, when his mother was raped and killed on their reservation he crosses paths with Cash (Robert Homer Mollohan), a down and out musician who is coping with the end of his marriage. An unlikely friendship develops, as they ride together towards the Teton mountain range, where Wolf will spread his mothers ashes.
Six young computer hackers sent to work on a derelict space freighter, are forced to match wits with a vengeful artificial intelligence that would kill to be human.
The coming-of-age story of Cayden Richards (Lucas Till). Forced to hit the road after the murder of his parents, Cayden wanders lost without purpose… Until he meets a certifiable lunatic named Wild Joe (John Piper-Ferguson) who sets him on a path to the ominous town of Lupine Ridge to hunt down the truths of his history. But in the end| who’s really hunting whom?
When his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod (Michael Shannon) has returned and there are no Super Heroes to turn to. In order to save the world that he is in and return to the future that he knows, Barry’s only hope is to race for his life. But will making the ultimate sacrifice be enough to reset the universe?
Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), still driven by the need to avenge his father’s death and wielding the power of the mythic Black Trident, will stop at nothing to take Aquaman (Momoa) down once and for all. To defeat him, Aquaman must turn to his imprisoned brother Orm (Patrick Wilson), the former King of Atlantis, to forge an unlikely alliance in order to save the world from irreversible destruction.
(L to R) Marlow Barkley and Jason Momoa in ‘Slumberland.’ Photo: Netflix.
Slumberland takes audiences to a magical new place, a dreamworld where precocious Nemo (Marlow Barkley) and her eccentric companion Flip (Momoa) embark on the adventure of a lifetime. After her father Peter (Kyle Chandler) is unexpectedly lost at sea, young Nemo’s idyllic Pacific Northwest existence is completely upended when she is sent to live in the city with her well-meaning but deeply awkward uncle Phillip (Chris O’Dowd). Her new school and new routine are challenging by day but at night, a secret map to the fantastical world of Slumberland connects Nemo to Flip, a rough-around-the-edges but lovable outlaw who quickly becomes her partner and guide. She and Flip soon find themselves on an incredible journey traversing dreams and fleeing nightmares, where Nemo begins to hope that she will be reunited with her father once again.
Sylvester Stallone in ‘Bullet to the Head.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
After watching their respective partners die, a cop (Sung Kang) and a hitman (Sylvester Stallone) form an alliance in order to bring down their common enemy (Momoa).
2019’s ‘The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
It’s been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: LEGO DUPLO® invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild.
Jason Momoa in ‘Conan the Barbarian.’ Photo: Lionsgate.
A quest that begins as a personal vendetta for the fierce Cimmerian warrior soon turns into an epic battle against hulking rivals, horrific monsters, and impossible odds, as Conan (Momoa) realizes he is the only hope of saving the great nations of Hyboria from an encroaching reign of supernatural evil.
(L to R) Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill in ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill) at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.
Jason Momoa as Dante in ‘Fast X’, directed by Louis Leterrier.
Over many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family have outsmarted, out-nerved and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they confront the most lethal opponent they’ve ever faced: A terrifying threat emerging from the shadows of the past who’s fueled by blood revenge, and who is determined to shatter this family and destroy everything—and everyone—that Dom loves, forever.
Jason Momoa in ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
Determined to ensure Superman’s (Henry Cavill) ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) aligns forces with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions. The task proves more difficult than Bruce imagined, as each of the recruits must face the demons of their own pasts to transcend that which has held them back, allowing them to come together, finally forming an unprecedented league of heroes. Now united, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman (Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), and The Flash (Ezra Miller) may be too late to save the planet from Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds), DeSaad (Peter Guinness), and Darkseid (Ray Porter) and their dreadful intentions.
Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho in ‘Dune.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence-a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential-only those who can conquer their fear will survive.
(L to R) Jason Momoa and Amber Heard in ‘Aquaman.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
Once home to the most advanced civilization on Earth, Atlantis is now an underwater kingdom ruled by the power-hungry King Orm (Patrick Wilson). With a vast army at his disposal, Orm plans to conquer the remaining oceanic people and then the surface world. Standing in his way is Arthur Curry (Momoa), Orm’s half-human, half-Atlantean brother and true heir to the throne.
Directed once again by James Wan (who made the billion-plus success that was the first ‘Aquaman’), it arrives following a wave of delays and changes. So, does the sequel live up to the silly-but-fun original?
Regrettably, we must answer a solid no to the question. ‘The Lost Kingdom’ feels more like a senior handing in a sloppy work project, little concerned with how it’ll be received.
This is superhero storytelling on autopilot, another world-threatening situation, another rote test for the hero, another villain with even less shading than he had in the first movie. And fairly shocking given the people involved and how they managed last time.
Written once again by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, based on a story by not just director Wan but also Momoa and his producing partner Thomas Pa’a Sibbett, this is the sort of film that makes you wonder just why it took so many people to come up with a movie screenplay this basic.
Mired in some very obvious tropes and storylines, ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ is really just the 7500th telling of the “hero tested by returning villain who has found some dark ancient power to help his cause, forcing the protagonist to team up with another former antagonist to save the world”. And if you felt me falling asleep as I wrote that, imagine what I went through during the movie.
This is a film that borrows so heavily from other, better movies –– a dab of ‘The Matrix’ (in Black Manta’s squid-like attack craft), a splash of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ (the backstory for the ancient power at the heart of the story) and just a sprinkling of ‘Black Panther’ (both in Arthur’s clash with someone who feels they should have his job and in a way we won’t explore here).
Aside from a callback to the drumming octopus known as Topo (an element from the comics that served as a one-off joke in the first movie but is here revealed to be an intelligence agent and a source of more occasional humor in this one) there is very little that feels at all fresh or truly interesting here.
The whole affair is tired and repetitive, the treatment of the story beyond rudimentary and the drama only really serving to stitch together set pieces that themselves come across as several different variations on the idea of Aquaman and Patrick Wilson’s Orm running from things or punching them.
Wan, meanwhile, gets to inject some of his usual horror overtones into the movie –– one or two sequences work (such as Black Manta showing up at Aquaman’s father’s house in darkness after he has conspired to shut off the power). But in general, let down by varied quality of the visual effects (for a film that took this long to finish, you have to worry about some sequences that look like they’re from the theme park version of the movie), this is certainly among his lesser movies.
The re-shoots and changes that happened along the way clearly had an effect, and most of what still works about the movie is by sheer luck rather than design.
If there is any real saving grace in the movie, it’s Momoa’s committed performance as the leading man, full of wisecracks (even if he does start to sound like Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man at times) and finding fun chemistry with Wilson’s Orm.
For his part, Wilson gives good snark, fully embracing the idea of the frustrated ruler who can’t stand the doofus who is on what he sees as his rightful throne.
Elsewhere? Poor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is reduced to an afterthought as a villain, who has his vengeful mission but very little else to do. At his side is Randall Park as scientist Dr. Stephen Shin, making the most of a nebbishy stock character and scoring one or two laughs.
And the rest of the heroic characters are barely there –– Temuera Morrison as Aquaman’s father Tom has a couple of solid scenes with his son and grandson, but you have to wonder why Nicole Kidman bothered showing up again as Momoa’s character’s mother beyond a contract and a payday.
Coming out even worse, though, is Amber Heard, who occasionally appears to be added in through visual effects and beyond one helpful moment, has so little to do you can understand Heard’s concerns that her character has been reduced to nearly nothing.
As an ending to the DC universe in its pre-Gunn era, this is like the mess of sticky drinks left on the floor after a party –– there’s no real wrap-up for anything and the usual teasing hint for future stories is pretty much absent.
Given how Wan, Momoa and the rest brought some knowing fun to a character who has been a joke in the past, it’s all the more disappointing that their follow-up is a bombastic but hollow enterprise, a less-than-satisfying end to a movie universe.
‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ receives 6 out of 10 stars.
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What’s the story of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’?
Having failed to defeat Aquaman (Jason Momoa) the first time, Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), still driven by the need to avenge his father’s death, will stop at nothing to take Aquaman down once and for all.
This time Black Manta is more formidable than ever before, wielding the power of the mythic Black Trident, which unleashes an ancient and malevolent force. To defeat him, Aquaman will turn to his imprisoned brother Orm (Patrick Wilson), the former King of Atlantis, to forge an unlikely alliance. Together, they must set aside their differences in order to protect their kingdom and save Aquaman’s family, and the world, from irreversible destruction.
Who else is in ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’?
The cast for the new superhero outing also includes Amber Heard as Mera, Nicole Kidman as Atlanna, Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus and Randall Park as Dr. Stephen Shin.
(Left) Oscar Isaac in ‘Big Gold Brick.’ (Center) Jason Momoa as Dante in ‘Fast X’, directed by Louis Leterrier. (Right) Gerard Butler as Brodie Torrance in ‘Plane.’ Photo Credit: Kenneth Rexach.
Preview
‘In The Hand Of Dante’ secures an Interim Agreement from SAG-AFTRA, allowing the production to begin in Italy
The crime thriller will be led by Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, and Gerard Butler
The movie is an adaptation of the novel by Nick Tosche, with actor Johnny Depp purchasing the rights through his production company Infinitum Nihil in 2008.
The book tells two separate tales, with Dante Alighieri in 14th Century Italy and a fictional version of Nick Tosches in 2001. The two stories alternate between Dante and Tosche. One is trying to finish his magnum opus, while the other is called to authenticate a manuscript of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri but ends up stealing it.
The book also touches on modern publishing, including Tosches’ own writing, the 9/11 attacks, and the Rolling Stones.
The star-studded cast for the crime thriller includes Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, and Gerard Butler. All names associated with mega franchises such as ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Aquaman,’ and ‘Olympus Has Fallen.’ While the actors have been on strike since July 14, the production has landed an interim agreement with SAG-AFTRA, allowing the actors to film in Italy.
Actor Johnny Depp purchased the rights to Nick Tosches’ book in 2008 through his production company, Infinitum Nihil. Originally, Oscar-nominated director Julian Schnabel planned to work with Depp on the film, with the actor playing the role of Tosches. However, the director revealed last month that Oscar Isaac has been cast in the leading role.
Visionary Director Martin Scorsese To Executive Produce
Director Martin Scorsese at the Academy Awards.
The crime thriller will be executive produced by none other than Martin Scorsese (‘Killers of the Flower Moon’), along with DreamCrew, Screen Capital/Screen One, and Tribune Pictures. Jon Killik, Francesco Melzi d’eril for MeMo Films, and Olmo Schnabel for TWIN Productions will also produce.
Jason Momoa in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
Movies Starring Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa or Gerard Butler:
(Left) ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ director James Wan at CinemaCon 2022. Photos by Eric Charbonneau. (Right) Jason Momoa on the set of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.’ Photo courtesy of Jason Momoa’s Instagram account.
Following the huge, $1 billion-plus success of the first ‘Aquaman’ movie, a sequel was pretty much a given. ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ originally shot in 2021, but since then has been through all manner of changes, both in terms of release date and footage.
Yet despite several stories about issues behind the scenes, director James Wan has now opened up about the process, clearing up rumors and debunking some, while admitting it has been a challenge getting the movie to this point?
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What’s the story of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’?
Jason Momoa on the set of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.’ Photo courtesy of Jason Momoa’s Instagram account.
In the previous movie, Aquaman, AKA Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) embraced his destiny as a leader of Atlantis and thwarted the devious schemes of half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson).
For ‘Lost Kingdom’, the feuding siblings form an uneasy partnership to take on another of the first film’s big bads, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Black Manta, a vengeance-seeking and now hugely powerful supervillain in possession of the Black Trident, which gives him the ability to command an ancient evil.
James Wan on whether Batman is in ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’
(L to R) Ben Affleck and Jason Momoa on the set of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.’ Photo courtesy of Jason Momoa’s Instagram account.
Originally planned to surface in theaters last December, the ‘Aquaman’ sequel has seen several different release dates and is also caught up in the end of the DC Extended Universe (and the shift to James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new plans).
The change in arrival dates also meant Wan and co. had to work to figure out cameos and more so as to fit into the storyline following ‘The Flash’.
A big part of that is which version of Batman would appear in the film (if at all), with scenes shot featuring either Michael Keaton’s take (as returned to screens in ‘The Flash’) or Ben Affleck.
“The tricky thing early on was not knowing whether ‘Aquaman’ would come out first or come out after ‘The Flash’. So, we just had to be prepared. At the end of the day, the best thing I would say about this movie is that it is not connected in any way to any of those films.”
He won’t be drawn on whether Batman actually shows up, preferring to go no comment on that front.
The chatter about additional photography has also been a big part of the rumor sphere, but Wan is quick to explain…
“We have big actors in this movie, and everyone’s schedule is really hard. So, we had to break up our shooting schedule into sections. We’ll shoot a bit here now, because this actor’s available, and then we’ll do another shoot now, because this guy’s available. People are like, ‘Oh, they’re doing a whole bunch of different shoots!’ No. If we actually combined them all together, it’s actually not that many number of days at all.”
Wan on Amber Heard’s claims that her role as Mera was “pared down”
Amber Heard in 2010’s ‘The Ward.’
Amber Heard, who plays Atlantean warrior Mera in the first movie and returns for the second, made comments in 2022 that she felt her role in the new movie felt “pared down”.
But for Wan, it was simply a case of David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick’s script focusing on a different dynamic this time:
“I always pitched this to everyone from the get-go. The first Aquaman was Arthur and Mera’s journey. The second movie was always going to be Arthur and Orm. So, the first was a romance action-adventure movie, the second one is a bromance action-adventure movie. We’ll leave it at that.”
You’ll get your chance to see more of the movie when the first trailer arrives online tomorrow. For now, check out the teaser below:
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‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ will be in theaters –– hopefully –– on December 20th.
‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ is produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, Atomic Monster, The Safran Company, and DC Films. The movie is scheduled to release in theaters on December 20th, 2023.
Director Ángel Manuel Soto at a ‘Blue Beetle’ Fan Screening in London.
Having seen his most recent movie –– DC superhero origin story ‘Blue Beetle’ –– open top of the box office this weekend (with the proviso that it was a relatively soft $25.4 million, less than Warner Bros. was hoping for), director Ángel Manuel Soto has another potential job on the horizon.
According to The Wrap, he’s adding to his To Do list: Soto is now attached to direct buddy action comedy ‘The Wrecking Crew’ for MGM.
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What is ‘The Wrecking Crew’?
Dave Bautista in ‘Knock at the Cabin,’ directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
While the title has been used before –– cinematically for a Dean Martin-starring Matt Helm movie and a documentary about the legendary group of 1960s session musicians, while there is a Marvel comic with the name –– this is, in fact, the movie that Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa set up back in 2021.
The two actors, who are friends in real life, decided to figure out a movie to work together on.
Bautista put the idea out into the world as a tweet in August of 2021.
The concept has snowballed since then; MGM snapped up the chance to make the movie after a bidding war and it has since been handed to ‘Warrior’ and ‘Banshee’ TV series creator Jonathan Tropper (who wrote ‘The Adam Project’ for Ryan Reynolds and director Shawn Levy) to turn into a script. Jeffrey Fierson, who worked with Momoa on the Netflix series ‘Frontier,’ will produce.
Jason Momoa as Dante in ‘Fast X’, directed by Louis Leterrier.
So far, neither MGM nor the potential stars have revealed anything about the plot for this one –– Momoa and Bautista had hoped for something along the lines of ‘Lethal Weapon’.
Perhaps (and this is only our speculation) it’ll focus on a pair of cops who are notoriously destructive in their missions, hence the name. That’s something we can see the pair doing well.
Soto, of course, isn’t David Leitch as the original tweet suggested, but he’s certainly proved he can bring fun and style to the movies he makes, including ‘Beetle’ and his previous effort, ‘Charm City Kings’.
And while no one can work on the movie just yet because of the writers and actors’ strike (Tropper’s script was completed before the Writers Guild of America started its industrial action back in May), Soto has proved to be a director in demand.
In addition to this new potential assignment, he is also attached to work on a new ‘Transformers’ spin-off for Paramount. Soto has been developing that alongside ‘Daredevil’ (Netflix era) writer Marco Ramirez.
Few details are available on that movie, aside from the fact that it won’t be a main franchise entry for ‘Transformers’ but will instead serve as a spin-off focusing on a different story and characters within the robots-in-disguise universe.
We’ll have to wait and see whether either of these movies actually ends up hitting screens, but ‘The Wrecking Crew’ (which had been previously untitled) certainly appears to have taken a positive step forward.
Director Ángel Manuel Soto at a ‘Blue Beetle’ Fan Screening in Mexico.
The three-part original documentary series ‘Superpowered: The DC Story’ premieres July 20th on Max.
Premiering on Max July 20th is the three-part original documentary series ‘Superpowered: The DC Story,’ which examines the history and impact of DC Comics. The series was co-directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Leslie Iwerks (‘100 Years of Warner Bros.’) and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Mark Catalena (‘Johnny Carson: King of Late Night‘), and was narrated by Rosario Dawson (‘Ahsoka’).
What is ‘Superpowered: The DC Story’ about?
‘Superpowered: The DC Story’ takes an unprecedented look at the enduring and influential legacy of DC, allowing fans to rediscover the universe of characters, as well as the iconic comic book company’s origins, its evolution and its nearly nine-decade cultural impact across every artistic medium. The series features a wealth of interviews with the industry’s most prolific creators and the actors who bring their iconic characters from the page to the screen.
Gal Gadot in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with co-directors Leslie Iwerks and Mark Catalena about their work on ‘Superpowered: The DC Story,’ making it different from past documentaries about DC, focusing on the good and the bad, what they learned that surprised them, the unique structure of the series, fitting the 90-year history into three episodes, assembling the interview and archival footage, and the importance of diversity in comics.
(Left) Co-directors Leslie Iwerks and (Right) co-director Mark Catalena of the three-part original documentary series ‘Superpowered: The DC Story’ which premieres July 20th on Max.
Moviefone: To begin with, there have been several documentaries about the history of DC Comics in the past, how did you approach making this series different from previous DC documentaries?
Leslie Iwerks: So I think when Warner Bros. came to me to do the DC series and also the ‘100 Years of Warner Brothers,’ they were really inspired by ‘The Imagineering Story’ at Disney for Disney+, and said, “We’d love to have you do an approach for DC that’s very similar to what you did for Disney, in that it was warts and all. Tell the story as is. Be honest. Come at it with your own take on DC through time and where the pitfalls were and where the highs were.” We basically had various layers that we weaved in, which was the artist’s story and the personal stories of the artists, but then also the business story, the competition story, the character story, and then the culture story of what’s going on out in the culture that’s influencing these comics and vice versa. So we had to weave those layers like an onion together. Then early on we talked with HBO, and it was important to them and us to basically not tell this in a totally straight chronological way, but be able to flash forward and flashback so that we could remind the audience that this is present, that these characters still live and breathe today in a different form, but this is the beginning of it. So Mark worked with our graphic designer who I thought did a really great take of this time scroller through the years to sort of remind us of, hey, we’re going back. It wasn’t always like this, or here it is today. So it was challenging to always know which one do we flash forward to and why? What’s the theme there and what’s the point of it? It was like a big puzzle.
Mark Catalena: I just wanted to add one thing to what you were saying earlier, Leslie. I think the other organizing principle for us, is that we wanted to come at it from an inspiration point of view. These are people, these are creators, from their point of view, that at some point during their life, they had a revelation, looking at a DC comic, or watching a cartoon. Something hit them hard to make them want to dedicate their lives to working in this industry and then filter that back out through their experience to inspire the next generation. So I think we wanted to really come at it from, why are these people passionate? How are they passionate? Trying to find the emotion that hit them and then dedicated their lives moving forward. We wanted to make it accessible to people. There are a lot of casual fans out there who know this more through maybe cartoons or movies, but it was important to us to say, look, that might be the entry point, but we want to show you where this all came from. We wanted to have them appreciate the source material, like 90 years of comic books. So I think that was one of our main goals, to approach it that way.
Jim Lee in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
MF: It seems like Warner Bros. gave you a lot of freedom to tell the story that you wanted and to be able to include the bad with the good. Was there anything that you discovered that you decided not to include for any reason?
LI: That’s a good question. I think, for the most part, we felt like what we included was the most relevant to the overall story we were trying to tell. Whatever subject we do, whether it be Disney and Imagineering or Warner Brothers and DC, you look at the scope of these histories and you go, there’s so many little dramas and infighting that can happen within an artist or a studio or anything. But you have to pick and choose what are the ones that really are going to matter in the scheme of the entire scope of the storytelling, the years, the span of the years? What are the things that are the big turning points versus just little infighting. Those are the things that the media might like to cover. But for something that’s a real timestamp of history and a piece that’s going to sit on a server on a streaming service for a long time, we want to make sure that we’re really hitting the most important things.
MC: I think the other thing is we wanted to not have story points feel repetitive. A creator and a corporate entity, their relationship and the creative tension, that’s a never ending battle, through any creative industry. So I feel like we’re like, let’s pick the one that’s emblematic of that. Let’s focus on it but we don’t have to hit it every single time it happens because it still happens. I don’t think that’s anything new, and I don’t think that’s necessarily something the audience wants to just keep seeing. It would get boring after a while. So I think we approached every story beat in that way of like, when did it really matter? Let’s focus on that one specific, and that’s emblematic of all of the circumstances, all the occurrences.
Dwayne Johnson in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
MF: The series includes low points in DC history like the poor treatment of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, lack of diversity and representation, and the financial failures of movies like ‘Justice League’ and ‘Black Adam.’ Was there anything that the studio asked you to not include?
MC: Look, I think there are always sensitivities around companies’ histories. I think we just wanted to approach it in a very matter of fact way and not editorialize, and basically just tell the truth, tell it neutrally and move on. I think the larger point that we kept going back to was, look, each one of these story points could have been its own documentary. It’s huge, it’s deep, it’s rabbit holes that you can fall into. We wanted to stay on the level of the scope. I think when you look at it as a whole, there’s only so much time you can really bring things up. So we’re constantly trying to think, okay, what does that add to the larger story? We would’ve liked to include a lot of stuff, but things just naturally fall away when you keep your eye on that big picture.
MF: With over 90-years of comics, movies and TV shows, there’s a lot of history to fit in and it seemed like almost everything DC has ever produced was represented in the series. Can you talk about the challenges of trying to fit everything in?
LI: I think it’s hard to acknowledge everything, and I don’t think you ever can. I think what we try to do is put things in there that are quick, perhaps, if we can’t go into coverage on them. We at least acknowledge them briefly, or they’re in the background or they’re in a montage or something, so that we can at least say we’ve acknowledged it, but we don’t necessarily have to stop, otherwise it would just become a long, rambling story. So again, it is just choosing your battles.
Mark Waid in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
MF: As a comic book fan, I know legendary names like Alex Ross, Mark Waid, and Keith Giffen, but a lot of people watching the series may not. Can you talk about the importance of highlighting the comic book creators with this series?
MC: I agree. They’re not household names. I think a large part of it though was, it’s more about what do they represent, and it’s more of their emotion and passion towards this subject that we wanted to come through. We didn’t necessarily plan to say, you need to know Mark Waid‘s entire resume. That doesn’t matter. We want to know, how does he emotionally feel about Superman, how did it affect him, and then how did he then want to affect others? It was more thematic, I think. I mean, look, talking to some of these folks, it was amazing for me. I’m a lifelong DC fan. But just hearing, I think their passion and their approach, like John Ridley and the Gene Luen Yang, there’s such depth there that was really eye-opening for us. That’s what we wanted to come through. Of course, Jenette Kahn and Karen Berger were huge gets for us. We are really happy to have them. Again, they might not be household names, but what they’ve done, if you look at what the comic industry is today, they started it. I mean, they really steered this entire industry in a direction of, we’re going to take something that was considered disposable kids’ stuff, and we’re going to turn it into legit literature and art that can be appreciated by anybody.
LI: (Jennette Kahn and Karen Berger) created graphic novels. Just the way in which people read and consume this art, the storytelling became more sophisticated, the artwork became more sophisticated. The worlds became different. They sometimes became darker, they became more marginalized characters, you name it. I felt like in that era, they were really pushing the envelope to bring new audiences in, but also relate to people that could relate to this very specific sort of world, if that makes sense.
MF: Can you talk about going through the Warner Bros. and DC Comics archives and finding the interviews and footage that you needed for this series?
LI: I think that a big shout-out goes to the archive team and Warner Bros. who would help us to put together material or find material that hadn’t been seen before. But it was Mark and the producers working in tandem every single day to find these gems that hadn’t been seen before. A lot of stuff were old interviews that had to get transcribed and then we would go through and say, what’s the most unique bite that no one’s ever heard before? That’s what we do in the beginning, is just really going through the transcripts and these old archival things and trying to find the gems. Again, the gift of working with Warner Brothers and DC was, they were all equally excited as we were to get as much new cool stuff that no one’s ever seen before.
Robert Pattinson in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
MF: The series even includes footage of Bob Kane admitting that he co-created Batman with Bill Finger, something that Kane had long denied and took sole credit for. Where did you find that?
MC: Yeah, I agree. When we saw it, we were like, wait, what? Oh my gosh, this is amazing, and kind of refutes the common knowledge in the world that he never acknowledged Bill. This is amazing. So yeah, there were things like that. Even just the old Joe Kubert, Julius Schwartz and Carmine Infantino interviews that we found. Apparently some guy at a Comic-Con just took them in a room and started filming them. It was amazing because we don’t really hear their voices anymore. So finding that stuff was really cool. I would just say also, with all the photos of the old DC offices and how they worked, that was really fun.
LI: I think also for us, we really want to bring you into that world as tangibly as we can. We want you to see the space. We want you to feel what it was like in that office. We want you to know that it was hot and it was tough, and they were struggling, and it was a man’s world, and there was one woman in there. You know what I mean? It’s like, we want you to feel that. So the more we can find those photos and bring that world to you, the better. The other thing too is, a lot of those old archival interviews obviously don’t look good, so that’s always a struggle. You don’t want to have a really low res, blurry image. So we worked with the graphic team to put them into kind of a comic book frame so that it looked more interesting. So I think that’s something Mark and I, and everyone are always trying to innovate documentaries, are always trying to say, how can we innovate graphically? How can we take the documentary form and push the boundaries and tell every new story differently with pacing, with graphics, with music, with shape, and with structure? We’re excited about always trying to be innovative.
MC: Humor as well, and look, this is a colorful subject. We want it to be fun. We want it to be fast and fun and humorous at times. But that’s kind of our approach.
James Gunn in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
MF: There have been a lot of changes recently at DC Studios with James Gunn and Peter Safran taking over. Gunn appears in the series but there is no mention of future projects like ‘Superman: Legacy.’ At what point did you have to lock the series and were unable to include any new announcements?
MC: I think it was August or September of last year. So it was before the big news of James Gunn taking over and everything. But Jim Lee loved that. He was like, look, we’ve done this. It’s a nice chapter break. Now, there’s going to be a new regime. It’s going to be a new path going forward. That’s a story that’s yet to be told. So yeah, he didn’t mind. I think it is exciting, though, that it’s not a stagnant thing. They’re always trying to innovate. They’re always trying to push, and yeah, it’s a moving target.
MF: DC Comics is more than just Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, it has also included Vertigo, WildStorm, and Milestone comics. Can you talk about highlighting all of those companies in this series, in particular Milestone?
LI: I think that it was very important and timely for Milestone to have a resurgence when it did. When you look back at the original Milestone, that was the biggest comic book sales by Black creators ever. There’s obviously an opportunity to reinvent that, to bring that back, and especially at a time when Black people’s stories needed to be told, and needed to be heard. I think that the more we bring these stories out and make them honest, truthful and relevant to our own lives, then that’s how these comic books formed from the beginning. It’s in the DNA of DC Comics. So I think that it’s exciting to see these different variations, so to speak, of storylines and characters continue to be successful.
Denis Cowan in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
MF: Leslie, were you a comic book fan before making this series and what did you learn about DC Comics that surprised you?
LI: I didn’t necessarily grow up as a DC aficionado. But I think that to me, I grew up around artists. My family, my grandfather and father are both artists. And myself, I’m an artist. So to me, reading these was inspiring, just from the artistic and story standpoint. But I never really followed the story arcs of these characters necessarily. I did grow up on the ‘Wonder Woman’ Show, though, as silly as that sounds and dates me a bit. But I love the ‘Wonder Woman’ TV show, and I watched the ‘Batman’ show. Those are sort of the campy era when I was a kid watching those. I think it was just, to me, again, the stories that I love to tell are stories about innovators, bold business people and creators who want to push the envelope in the genre that they’re working in. In this case, DC was pushing the envelope and completely reinventing itself time and time again, and finding new ways to keep their characters relevant and fresh. To me, that’s a great business story. It’s a great creative story, and those are the kinds of stories that I like to tell.
Lynda Carter in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
MF: Finally, Mark, as a comic book fan what did you learn about DC Comics that surprised you, and who is your favorite DC character?
MC: Well, I guess what I didn’t know is that it was surprising to me that, for so long, that the creators weren’t respected. There was a stigma against it. There was a shame associated with it. Then on the fan side, of course, there’s a stigma of having liked these characters. I mean, there’s growing up with, you’re a nerd if you like this stuff and whatever. Because I don’t think people understand now what that was like. It was very much in the shadows. It was very much a secret, and now it’s mainstream. It’s out in the open. So that was a big eyeopener for me, just to hear it from the creators themselves. My favorite character? There’s so many. I don’t want to be boring and say Batman, but I would think that’s probably the one. It’s just something about the fact that this is a real person. We always were like, why do these things endure, right? Why have there been thousands of stories about this one character over 85 years? It’s like, well, he doesn’t necessarily have a superpower. He’s a human. I feel like it’s the humanity that people connect with. So I think, above all else, that’s why these things touch so many people. But man, I have tons of favorites.
Margot Robbie in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
Jason Momoa on the set of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.’ Photo courtesy of Jason Momoa’s Instagram account.
‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ already had some pressure attached to it. As the sequel to 2018’s ‘Aquaman’ it had to live up to an original movie that earned more than $1.1 billion.
Which for someone like director James Wan, who is also responsible for giant horror franchises such as the ‘Saw’ films and particularly the ‘Conjuring’ franchise, might not be quite as daunting as for others.
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But there were lots of other factors in play around the new movie –– it was greenlit by a former Warner Bros./DC regime (to be specific, Toby Emmerich and Walter Hamada) back when the DC Extended Universe originated by movies such as ‘Man of Steel’ and ‘Justice League’ was still a going concern and Aquaman, played by Jason Momoa was one of its big breakout stars.
But with principal photography completed in January 2022, the rough waters for the movie were just beginning to swirl.
What happened with ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’?
Jason Momoa on the set of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.’ Photo courtesy of Jason Momoa’s Instagram account.
According to a new story in The Hollywood Reporter, the movie started to face issues almost immediately. The initial test screenings for the movie indicated that audiences weren’t reacting well to the movie.
The studio authorized two rounds of reshoots, but it appears that nothing produced was helping the test scores. Incoming Warner Bros. bosses Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy got involved, and Abdy led a new cut, but that tested even less successfully.
Yet with a lot invested in the movie, Warners kept moving on, authorizing an unprecedented third round of reshoots –– which reportedly went very well, Wan able to complete what was needed in less time than planned.
A big issue for the film’s process were several delays, including work traffic jams at VFX companies requiring that ‘The Lost Kingdom’ jump around the schedules.
Not helping matters was a killer combo of changing fortunes for DC movies –– Hamada would be gone before the movie ever saw screens and DC Studios changed hands to James Gunn and Peter Safran.
But both were committed to helping Aquaman keep swimming; Safran in particular because he’s a producer on the film.
(L to R) Ben Affleck and Jason Momoa on the set of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.’ Photo courtesy of Jason Momoa’s Instagram account.
While the movie largely sees Momoa’s Arthur Curry struggling with a new threat to his underwater kingdom (one that will force him to team up with half-brother and former rival Orm, played by Patrick Wilson), there was supposed to be a cameo from Batman.
But which Bruce Wayne? When ‘The Flash’ looked to be kickstarting a universe where Michael Keaton’s Bruce is sort of a Nick Fury-style connective character between other heroes, a cameo for his Batman was filmed. When those plans changed, Ben Affleck’s Wayne was subbed in (that reshoot was “accidentally” revealed by Momoa to a studio tour group).
And now? ‘The Flash’ is a flop and other Keaton-featuring projects such as ‘Batgirl’ have been shelved. Gunn and Safran are reportedly nervous about connecting the film to a movie universe that is effectively over or making promises about crossovers that may never come to pass now that Gunn has his own big plans for the future.
The mood is still positive around ‘The Lost Kingdom’, though, but we’ll see how it performs when it lands in theaters on December 20th.
Jason Momoa in 2018’s ‘Aquaman.’
Other Movies Similar to ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’:
‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ is produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, Atomic Monster, The Safran Company, and DC Films. The movie is scheduled to release in theaters on December 20th, 2023.
Vin Diesel as Dom in ‘Fast X,’ directed by Louis Leterrier.
The past always has a way of catching up with Dominic Toretto and his gang. This time, someone from Dom’s past shows up in the most unexpected way, putting everyone in danger, including Dom’s son – Little B.
“Over many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto and his family have outsmarted and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they must confront the most lethal opponent they’ve ever faced. Fueled by revenge, a terrifying threat emerges from the shadows of the past to shatter Dom’s world and destroy everything — and everyone — he loves.”
‘Fast X’ premiered in Rome on May 12, 2023. It opened in theaters domestically on May 19th. The film opened to $67 million and has grossed over $676.9 million worldwide since its release.
The Past Continues To Haunt Dominic Toretto
(L to R) Vin Diesel and Daniela Melchior in ‘Fast X,’ directed by Louis Leterrier.
Trouble always seems to find its way to Dominic Toretto’s doorstep, much like when ‘Fate of the Furious’ villain Cypher (Charlize Theron) shows up at Dom’s home badly injured. She tells Dom of a new threat named Dante, who turns out to be the son of drug lord Herman Reyes. Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) appeared in ‘Fast Five’ and met his end after chasing Dom’s team for the vault.
Played by Jason Momoa, Dante seeks revenge for his father’s death and will stop at nothing to hurt Dom – including kidnapping his son Brian. Dante may be the franchise’s most interesting and formidable villain so far – outsmarting Dom in ways we’ve never seen before. Fashionable, unhinged, and outright entertaining to watch, Dante steals every scene he is in.
New Players Entering ‘The Fast & Furious’ Franchise
(Right) Brie Larson is Tess in ‘Fast X,’ directed by Louis Leterrier.
Joining the Fast family are Brie Larson (‘Captain Marvel’), Alan Ritchson (‘Dark Web: Cicada 3301’), and Daniela Melchior (‘The Suicide Squad’). Brie Larson portrays Tess, who is revealed to be the daughter of Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell). She is helping Dom and his team in their fight against Dante Reyes. Alan Ritchson plays Aimes, the new head of The Agency. Daniela Melchior plays Isabel, a Brazilian street racer who is connected to someone from Dom’s past.
There is more than meets the eye with these new characters, so you should check out the movie to find out exactly who they are and if they’re on Team Dom or plotting against them.
Where Can I Watch ‘Fast X’?
Jason Momoa as Dante in ‘Fast X’, directed by Louis Leterrier.
The film was released theatrically in the United States on May 19th, 2023, and its follow-up is already announced to be released on April 4th, 2025. While the movie is already available on VOD, you can still catch the high-octane action in theaters. ‘Fast X’ is available in IMAX, Dolby Atmos, 3D, and 4DX format, so be sure to check with Moviefone below for showtimes in your area. ‘Fast X’ has a total runtime of 2 hours and 21 minutes, making it the second-longest movie in the franchise.
You now have the option to rent or purchase ‘Fast X’ on VOD for $19.99 or $24.99, respectively. The movie is available on platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Direct TV, Google Play, Vudu, Microsoft, YouTube, AppleTV, and Redbox.
As the movie is distributed by Universal Pictures, Peacock subscribers (in both Premium and Premium Plus tiers) will be able to stream ‘Fast X’ once available – likely to be in late August or early September though no official date has been announced by the studio.
No official date has been announced for the DVD/Blu-Ray release of the film, though pre-orders are already available from stores such as Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Best Buy.
(Clockwise, from left) Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Han (Sung Kang), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), Dom (Vin Diesel), Little Brian (Leo Abelo Perry), Abuelita (Rita Moreno), Mia (Jordana Brewster), Tej (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, back to camera) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson, back to camera) in ‘Fast X,’ directed by Louis Leterrier.
(L to R) Vin Diesel and Daniela Melchior in ‘Fast X,’ directed by Louis Leterrier.
With ‘Fast X’ now on its way past $600 million worldwide at top speed after a little less than a month on release, ‘Fast’ star/producer/PR maven Vin Diesel has taken to Instagram to thank fans and remind us all that this is just the first of what is planned as at least two, and as recently rumored by Vin himself, three movies. He announced that Part 2 will drive into theaters on April 4th, 2025.
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That’s a big statement right now, since the ongoing writers’ strike means that films such as this are being delayed all over the place as scripts can’t be finished –– not that ‘Fast’ films’ strength is usually in the written word, but those stunt sequences don’t (usually) create themselves.
Louis Leterrier, who stepped into take over ‘Fast X’ after Justin Lin departed the project early in shooting is back to direct the next one.
With that script at an early stage (we’re fairly sure the team would have worked out a few elements before committing to two, and possibly three-film structure), it’s tough to say exactly what will happen.
What we do know –– spoiler alert for anyone who has not watched ‘Fast X’ –– is that the new movie will need to resolve the various cliffhangers of the most recent film, including the fate of Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Ludacris) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), last seen on a plane that crashed to the ground and Diesel’s Dom Toretto, trying to escape the watery nightmare unleashed by Dante (Jason Momoa).
Yet perhaps more interesting in Diesel’s latest social media pronouncement is his praise for Momoa, who plays the flamboyant, vengeful villain in the latest film.
Jason Momoa as Dante in ‘Fast X’, directed by Louis Leterrier.
Following chatter that Diesel had been unhappy with how over the top Momoa took the character, worried it had hurt reactions (even though many reviews praised it), it now appears he’s more quickly looking to put out cyber-fires. “I love how expressive and collaborative all of the actors in our franchise feel coming into the World’s Saga,” he says. “Jason wanted to try something totally unique and special and ended up creating a scene stealing character that the world won’t forget.”
Note the use of the phrase “the world’s saga” –– never one for understatement, our Vin.
This brings to mind his beef with Dwayne Johnson, which both actors are now trying to say has been squashed, with The Rock taking to his own social media channels to announce a new solo movie for Luke Hobbs to tie in with the next ‘Fast’ film. The spin-off could arrive next year, but given the ongoing strike, we’ll wait and see.
Vin Diesel as Dom in ‘Fast X,’ directed by Louis Leterrier.
‘Fast X’ is produced by Neal H. Moritz, Vin Diesel, Justin Lin, Jeff Kirschenbaum and Samantha Vincent. The executive producers are Joseph M. Caracciolo, Jr., David Cain, Chris Morgan, Amanda Lewis and Mark Bomback.
‘Black Adam’s Dwayne Johnson at CinemaCon 2022. Photos by Eric Charbonneau.
Looks like Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel have officially buried the hatchet –– and not in each other’s backs, as some worried they might at the height of their presumed beef.
The Wrap is reporting, since backed up by a video from Johnson himself, that Luke Hobbs, the burly lawman character from several of the ‘Fast & Furious’ entries, and spin-off ‘Hobbs & Shaw’, will be back for another solo entry.
Hope you’ve got your funderwear on…
HOBBS IS BACK. And he just got lei’d 🌺😈
Luke Hobbs will be returning to the Fast & Furious franchise.
Your reactions around the world to Hobbs’ return in Fast X have blown us away 🤯🙏🏾🌍
This isn’t the biggest revelation, since –– spoiler alert for anyone who has not seen ‘Fast X’ –– the character was featured in an end-credit coda scene for that film, which saw Hobbs lured into a trap by the villainous Dante, played by Jason Momoa.
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And while the scene led most to speculate that it meant Hobbs would be back for the next entry (three are rumored as a finale trilogy), it appears he’ll be pulling double duty and doing both the new spin-off and that next movie. We’ll wait and see quite how well the Rock/Vin dynamic has been repaired before guaranteeing he’ll rejoin the team fully.
(L to R) Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson in ‘Fast Five,’ directed by Justin Lin.
What happened between The Rock and Vin Diesel?
Debates still rage as to whether the falling out between Johnson and Diesel was a legitimate argument or a manufactured rivalry designed (successfully) to generate press on the matter.
The two actors clashed while working together on previous ‘Fast & Furious’ movies, with Johnson taking issue with Diesel’s work ethic. The feud between the two stars escalated in 2021 when Diesel used his personal social media channels to publicly ask Johnson to reconsider his decision to leave.
Johnson, annoyed by the tactic, made his own public statement that he would not be returning to the franchise, an announcement since belied (again, spoiler alert) by his brief moment at the end of ‘Fast X’ and now this new film.
(L to R) Vin Diesel, Charlize Theron, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, and Jason Statham in ‘The Fate of the Furious.’
Very little is known about the new movie right now, besides the presence of Johnson in the lead and regular ‘Fast’ veteran writer Chris Morgan on script duty (we can picture him already hard at work on ridiculously macho dialogue and the number of ways that cars/buildings/giraffes can explode. Okay, probably not giraffes).
There’s no sign of Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw (the other half of ‘Hobbs & Shaw’) in the announcement, so for now we presume he won’t appear beyond a potential cameo.
There certainly seems to be more momentum around the franchise after the ninth seemed to suffer a combination of franchise fatigue and pandemic-influence nerves about going to the cinema.
‘Fast X’ opened No. 1 around the world earlier this month with $320 million and became the second biggest global opening of 2023. The film opened No. 1 in all markets where it was released, including China, and crossed $500 million in its second weekend.
Whether it ends up called ‘Fast X Part II’, the next main entry is gearing up with returning director Louis Leterrier for a potential 2025 release date.
(L to R) Vin Diesel and Director Louis Leterrier on the set of ‘Fast X.’
