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What You Need to Know Before You Watch ‘Moon Knight’

Oscar Isaac as Moon Knight in Marvel Studios’ ‘Moon Knight.’Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

Of all the Marvel characters that have gotten a live action adaptation, ’Moon Knight’ is one of the more obscure. Hailing from the same dark corner of Marvel comics as The Punisher, Moon Knight is much more supernatural, and his comics often included such beings as vampires.

Yes, ‘Moon Knight’ is totally on the far end of what Marvel has done in the past, but even with how obscure he is as a character, he is one of the most interesting anti-heroes in all of Marvel’s mythology.

Here are the top five things you need to know about ‘Moon Knight’ before it premieres on Disney+ March 30th!

1. Moon Knight is a Hero with DID

As described by the Cleveland clinic, Dissociative Identity Disorder, or multiple personality disorder, is having two or more personalities in a single person. These personalities can take full control of the person and cause missing memories.

In the comics, the character has five personalities. Marc Spector, his main personality. Steven Grant, the millionaire. Jake Lockley, the detective. Mr. Knight, the snappy dresser, and Moon Knight himself.

Everyone of Marc’s personalities help Moon Knight in some way, from detective work to getting the funds for his weapons and gadgets. How the show will touch on this (and handle a major MCU character with mental illness) is yet to be seen, and how they will handle a neurodivergent superhero.

Contrary to what the older comics have suggested, Marc’s DID was most likely a side effect of the powers given to him by Khonshu, the Egyptian god. Which leads into our next important fact to know…

2. The Comics Deals in Ancient Egyptian Myth

Konshu in Marvel Studios’ ‘Moon Knight,’ exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

Not many viewers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe know that Marvel comics love to dip into the idea of ancient myths and lore. Obviously, we have stuff like Thor and all of the Viking mythology, but Marvel also has delved into ancient Egyptian myth as well.

While this God is not based off any existing God in mythology, Khonshu is the Egyptian God of the Moon. But in all actuality, is a God so old, he was worshipped by multiple ancient peoples. Of course, this would go to anyone’s head, and Khonshu is no different.

If he had to be compared to actual, historical Gods, he’d be close to Atum, the self-created God of real myth. How far the show is planning to go with Khonshu will be interesting to see, as he dives into a side of Marvel comics that hasn’t fully been touched on.

We’ve seen the Eternals mention false Gods/androids but not “real” Gods as Khonshu is. It’s a mythical corner in a universe that’s kept grounded as far as Gods and monsters go.

3. Moon Knight Has Always Worked Alone But There Are Times He Hasn’t

Moon Knight is as close as we’re going to see on screen to what you would consider a ‘loner’ when it comes to heroes. In the comics, he’s solo. Working for himself and taking down the seeder supernatural side of Marvel’s universe. But this hasn’t always been the case.

Moon Knight has been a part of every group from the Avengers to the Midnight Sons, the latter being an upcoming video game. Avengers are straight forward, we know them, but the Midnight Sons is incredibly more interesting. Nine heroes that were brought together by Doctor Strange, all having ties to the occult at some point, to take on the villainous Lilith.

Now the chances of Marvel bringing in Doctor Strange is incredibly unlikely, but this would connect ‘Moon Knight’ with the greater MCU and give him a larger place in the Marvel Universe as a whole. With the addition of a darker side of the occult, Marvel can bring in some villains that normally wouldn’t fit in, with Mephisto being a big one that comes to mind (and has been heavily rumored for a while).

4. Let’s Discuss Arthur Harrow

(L to R) Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke in Marvel Studios’ ‘Moon Knight,’ exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Csaba Aknay. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

While this is indeed a guide to understanding Moon Knight, we need to take a look at his villain, Arthur Harrow. Portrayed by Ethan Hawke in the TV show, in the comics Harrow was a brilliant scientist studying pain theory, even winning a Nobel prize for this work, which was taken away due to his questionable ethics.

In the comics he is closer to a one-off villain then a recurring character, which is how the show portrays him. But the possibilities of how they could use him in the series are intriguing. There are huge doubts that Marvel is going to leave his old backstory behind, but it seems they are leaning him more towards the supernatural while keeping his disability from the books.

He suffers from Trigeminal Neuralgia, meaning that basically the left side of his face is paralyzed. We have seen him using a cane on the show, which could be a hint towards a backstory they chose to keep. But we can only guess what other aspects of the characters they kept, as the trailers have hinted at him being some sort of self-help (cult) guru.

5. Moon Knight is Not Your Normal PG-13 Superhero

When it comes to the gallery of superheroes we’ve seen on Marvel’s big screen, they’ve varied in spectrum from the family-friendly ‘Avengers’ to the very adult oriented streaming series such as ‘Daredevil’ and ‘Luke Cage’. So, here is your subtle warning before the show’s release; ‘Moon Knight’ is not going to be a show for children.

The show is going to be violent and push the limits on what Disney+ has shown up to this point. In the comics Moon Knight, while being a hero, is brutal and deadly. Other than fighting a deplorable scientist and some of the scariest supernatural creatures, Marc Spector is a man plagued by his own mind. Which obviously leaves him to (most likely) be an unreliable narrator.

The series may contain some disturbing and scary imagery, which can be scary to young kids. While it’s great Marvel is leaning more towards its adult audience, parents with children should take note of what they might be showing their young kids.

For fans of the Marvel streaming-verse, ‘Moon Knight’ is everything they could have wanted. Another dark, gritty and fascinating hero story. But for those who are not too familiar with the new hero, they’re about to enter a series that strays a lot from Marvel’s mainstream!

‘Moon Knight’ poster courtesy of Disney+.

March 26, 2022
Anne Hathaway Talks ‘WeCrashed’

Anne Hathaway for Apple TV+’s ‘WeCrashed.’

Premiering on Apple TV+ beginning March 18th is the new drama series ‘WeCrashed,’ which was created by Lee Eisenberg (‘Bad Teacher’) and Drew Crevello, and directed by John Requa (‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’) and Glenn Ficarra (‘Focus’).

The series stars Oscar winner Jared Leto (‘Dallas Buyers Club’) as Adam Neumann, co-founder of WeWork, and Oscar winner Anne Hathaway (‘Les Misérables’) as his wife, Rebekah Neumann. The series follows the rise and fall of WeWork, one of the world’s most valuable startups at the time.

In addition to Leto and Hathaway, the series also features America Ferrera (‘End of Watch’), Kyle Marvin (‘The Climb’), O.T. Fagbenie (‘Black Widow’), and Anthony Edwards (‘Top Gun’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Anne Hathaway about her work on ‘WeCrashed.’

You can read our full interview with Anne Hathaway below, or watch a video of our interviews with Hathaway, Jared Leto and Kyle Marvin in the video player above.
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You can read our full interview with Anne Hathaway below, or watch a video of our interviews with Hathaway, Jared Leto and Kyle Marvin in the video player above.

Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your approach to portraying Rebekah Neumann in this series?

Anne Hathaway: Well, thank you very much. It was fun. I did the same amount of work that I always do preparing a character. The fact that I had a voice recording of Rebekah and that she’s a real person definitely helped in terms of giving me an aim for what I wanted the voice to sound like. But I have to say she didn’t drop in until I met Adam Neumann, played by Jared Leto. There was something about the strength of their relationship and the love story that we were trying to tell that she came alive inside of me when her partner was there. That was really cool and felt very right for who they are.

MF: Can you talk about the process of fleshing out the character of Rebekah Neumann’s backstory in order to figure out who she was at the time that this story takes place?

AH: Well, I worked with an amazing researcher who I work with on different projects called Amy Hammond. I worked with Amy for the first time on ‘Les Misérables.’ Every time I get the opportunity to work with her, I find that it just raises everyone’s game on the project. She did at a lot of background information.

Not a lot about Rebekah is known. So, I made sure I really understood her world and the world that she came up in and what would’ve been normal for her, that maybe is not the same as the way I was brought up. To understand that certain things that might seem unusual to most of us, to her, might not have been remarkable, because my goal with playing this woman was not to judge her, but to understand her.

That research really helped me get insight into her. I also took a lot of the interviews that she gave, where she speaks very openly about her spirituality and the books that have had a huge influence on her. I made sure that I read those too.

MF: Finally, the series really focuses on the relationship between Adam and Rebekah Neumann. Can you talk about developing the dynamic of that relationship with Jared Leto?

AH: You would think that we sat down, and we had meetings and we strategized about how to do this love story, but the truth is he’s just a really fantastic actor and it just sort of happened. He came in and I just believed everything that he was, and I was in my character as well. It was just there, there was just this chemistry that I think exists between Adam and Rebekah in real life. So, we just kind of tapped into it. Then Jared and I, we never really talked about it. There was never a strategy to it, but we just kind of kept it going, you know?

Every once in a while, we would check in over text and I was just really grateful. It was a really positive, crazy, fun experience. Whenever we would kind of come up for air and check in with each other, it was just always, “I’m so grateful to be doing this with you. I’m having such a great time.” So, we just kind of supported Adam and Rebekah’s love by keeping it very loving between the two of us.

‘WeCrashed’ premieres March 18th on Apple TV+.

(L to R) Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway in Apple TV+’s ‘WeCrashed.’

March 17, 2022
‘God of War’ TV Adaptation May Happen

Playstation’s ‘God of War.’

As if it didn’t have enough giant fantasy and action adaptations either on the works or up on the service already, Prime Video is considering another. The latest target is PlayStation flagship title ‘God of War’.

According to Deadline, Prime Video is in negotiations to turn the mythology-based action/adventure game series into a TV show.

While neither Amazon Studios nor Sony would comment on the news, the trade site’s sources are saying that ‘The Expanse’ showrunners Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby are involved alongside ‘The Wheel of Time’ overseer Rafe Judkins. Which means the lead teams of two big Prime Video titles – ‘The Expanse’ recently wrapped up its run, while ‘The Wheel of Time’ just started – would be involved in yet another large scale project.

Originally created by David Jaffe and launched by Santa Monica Studio in 2005 for the PlayStation 2, the first ‘God of War’ game was critically lauded and has since spawned 10 titles on different platforms. The concept was rebooted in 2018 with (in true current reboot trend) a game called ‘God of War’, which has a sequel in development.

Based in ancient mythology, the games’ story follows the titular protagonist, Kratos, a Spartan warrior and later the God of War, who was tricked into killing his family by his former master, the original Greek god of war Ares. This sets off a series of events that leads to wars with the mythological pantheons.

Playstation’s ‘God of War.’

The Greek mythology era of the series sees Kratos follow a path of vengeance due to the machinations of the Olympian gods, while the Norse mythology era (as begun with the 2018 title), introduces his son Atreus as a secondary protagonist, and shows an older Kratos on a path of redemption, which inadvertently brings the two into conflict with the Norse gods.

If it does move forward, it would mark just the latest video game title to make the leap to a new medium, as ‘Twisted Metal’ is in early development at streaming service Peacock with Anthony Mackie starring, and HBO is in production on ‘The Last Of Us’, with ‘Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin in charge and Pedro Pascal starring in the post-apocalyptic story. Then there’s ‘Halo’, which found a home at Paramount+ and Netflix’s ‘Resident Evil’.

On the big screen, a ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ sequel runs into theaters on April 8, with ‘Borderlands’, ‘Gears of War’, ‘Rabbids’ and sequels to ‘Tomb Raider’ and ‘Mortal Kombat’ all at different stages. The idea of a “video game curse” for movies certainly seems like a distant memory at this point, even if the hit ratio still isn’t particularly high.

A TV series at a deep-pocketed outlet like Prime Video certainly feels like the best outlet for a sprawling story of gods and monsters like ‘Gods of War’.

Prime Video, meanwhile, already has the fantastical likes of ‘Carnival Row’, the aforementioned ‘Wheel of Time’ and let’s not forget its massive, ambitious, and hugely expensive ‘Lord of the Rings’ adaptation ‘The Rings of Power’, which is kicking off its first season on the service this coming September.

Playstation’s ‘God of War.’

March 8, 2022
‘The Batman’ TV Spinoff Shifts from Cops to Arkham

Robert Pattinson as Batman in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure ‘The Batman,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jonathan Olley/™ & © DC Comics. Copyright: © 2021 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

As ‘The Batman’ continues to do decent numbers at the box office ($134 million domestically, and more than $258 million worldwide) attention is naturally still on this latest live-action incarnation of the Caped Crusader, which stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne.

And that attention includes the planned TV spin-offs that were announced even before the movie itself came out. Now, according to director Matt Reeves, at least one of the shows is evolving into something new.

Originally planned to focus on corruption at the heart of the Gotham Police Department, the show initially had ‘Boardwalk Empire’ boss Terrence Winter as head writer and showrunner. The narrative focus would have been on Batman’s first year as a vigilante (though without really featuring the character in any major fashion) as his presence starts to send waves through the city’s criminal underworld. And the main character was planned as a crooked cop, which made it sound a little like ‘The Shield’.

Yet after some creative differences, Winter left the series, to be replaced by ‘Giri/Haji’ writer Joe Barton in January. Back then it was still described as featuring the police. Now, though there, is a big change afoot, at least according to Reeves.

Talking on the Happy/Sad/Confused podcast, the director/producer explained the change. “One thing that we’re not doing that I was gonna do… So, there’s the Gotham police show, which, that one actually is put on hold. We’re not really doing that,” he told host Josh Horowitz.

(L to R) Robert Pattinson and director Matt Reeves on the set in Warner Bros. Pictures’ ‘The Batman,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jonathan Olley/™ & © DC Comics. Copyright: © 2021 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

So, what form might it take now? Reeves shared that in a separate interview, this one with The Cyber Nerds YouTube channel. “That story has kinda evolved,” explained Reeves. “We’ve actually now [moved] more into the realm of exactly what would happen in the world of Arkham as it relates coming off of our movie, and some of the characters … almost leaning into the idea of … it’s like a horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham.”

“The idea, again the way that Gotham is a character in the movie, I really want Arkham to exist as a character,” he continues. “You go into this environment and encounter these characters in a way that feels really fresh. And so, in our work on Gotham, that story started to evolve, and it started feeling like, ‘Wait, we should really lean into this.’ And then that’s kinda where that’s gone.”

There has also been talk that Reeves and the HBO Max team were also wanting to shift the focus to a recognizable character instead of a completely original one. Who that might be is anyone’s guess, though Arkham is usually full of Batman’s opponents.

The changing series is just one of the spin-offs in the works – the other is focused on The Penguin’s rise to power. The criminal character played Colin Farrell in ‘The Batman’ will be at the center of a series that has been compared to ‘Scarface’ in tone. If you’ve seen the movie, you know the character isn’t quite in as powerful a position as he is in other versions of the Batman story, so there’s plenty of material to mine here.

Farrell is reportedly attached to reprise the character, and will be an executive producer on the show, which comes from Reeves and producing partner Dylan Clark. ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ veteran Lauren LeFranc is in board to run the show itself assuming it makes it out of development.

(L to R) director Matt Reeves and actor Robert Pattinson on the set in Warner Bros. Pictures’ ‘The Batman,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jonathan Olley/™ & © DC Comics. Copyright: © 2021 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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March 8, 2022
New ‘The Walking Dead’ Spin-off Series Announced

Jeffrey Dean Morgan attends the ‘Talking Dead’ at Hollywood Forever on October 23, 2016 in Hollywood, California. Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic.

Just because ‘The Walking Dead’ is set to stumble into TV history this year, that doesn’t mean that network home AMC is ready to give up on the post-apocalyptic world just yet. Far from it, in fact, with a variety of follow-ups at different stages of development and a new one – starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan and Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee called ‘Isle of the Dead’ on the way.

A six-episode limited series, ‘Isle of the Dead’ will follow Maggie and Negan traveling into a post-apocalyptic Manhattan long ago cut off from the mainland. The crumbling city is filled with the dead and denizens who have made New York City their own world full of anarchy, danger, beauty, and terror.

Created by and to be run by ‘Dead’ scripting veteran Eli Jorné, the show will bring together two characters few thought would find common ground, especially since Negan was introduced partly by killing Maggie’s husband, Glenn (Steven Yeun). And yet, in the years since, they’ve come to an understanding, even teaming up in this 11th and final season.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan in AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’

Though there had been talk of a solo spin-off for Cohan’s popular character a few years ago, she went through some tough contract negotiations in recent times, leading to her making sporadic appearances in season 9 and leaving the show before returning for the Season 10 finale onwards.

“This is a very big day for the expanding universe we are building around ‘The Walking Dead’,” says Dan McDermott, President of Entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks. “It not only adds another compelling series to this collection, it extends our storytelling around two unforgettable characters fans have grown to love, hate or hate and then love in Maggie and Negan, brilliantly inhabited by Lauren and Jeffrey. It also lets us explore a corner of this universe located on the island of Manhattan, with an iconic skyline that takes on a very different meaning when viewed through the lens of a zombie apocalypse.”

Says ‘Walking Dead’ chief content officer Scott Gimple: “Eli has created a chaotic, beautiful, grimy madhouse of the dead for Negan, Maggie, and fans of the show eager to discover an unseen and insane world of the ‘TWD’ Universe. Lauren and Jeffrey have always been fantastic collaborators and now, we bring that collaboration to the next level with a series that will take these characters to their limits with the world — and each other. All of us are thrilled to take you on an all new, all different ‘TWD’ epic for the ages.”

This latest spin-off follows the likes of prequel ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ and youth focused ‘The Walking Dead: The World Beyond’ and is part of a sprawling grand plan to keep the stories going.

Anthology series ‘Tales of the Walking Dead’ is scheduled to launch this year, while a show focused on Carol and Daryl, played by Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus, is expected in 2023. ‘Isle of the Dead’ should also be on screens at some point next year and there is still the lingering promise of a movie featuring Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes.

(L to R) Lauren Cohan and Andrew Lincoln in AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead.’
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March 7, 2022
Andrew Garfield’s ‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ Trailer

Andrew Garfield arrives on the red carpet for the 89th Oscars on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California. Photo by Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images.

Back in the news courtesy of a certain Spider-meme recreation, Andrew Garfield remains one of the busiest people working in movies and TV. Case in point? The trailer for new FX series ‘Under the Banner of Heaven’, which will find him digging into a true-crime tale.

The series, created and run by ‘Milk’ Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black, adapts Jon Krakauer’s novel, which itself was the result of an investigation into a reclusive, regressive, and restrictive Mormon community where a dreadful killing had occurred.

Garfield here plays Detective Pyre a Mormon law enforcer whose faith is tested as he investigates a brutal murder that seems to be connected to an esteemed Utah family’s spiral into LDS fundamentalism and their distrust in the government.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qLacLTnifI

Pyre is committed to his Church and family but begins to question some of the Church’s teachings through his contact with a suspected murderer and the family of Brenda (Daisy Edgar-Jones), who was brutally slain.

Sam Worthington, Denise Gough, Wyatt Russell, Billy Howle, Gil Birmingham, Adelaide Clemens, Rory Culkin, Seth Numrich, Chloe Pirrie, Sandra Seacat, and Christopher Heyerdahl are also in the cast for the series, which will stream on Hulu later this year.

It’s far from Garfield’s first encounter with religious extremism – in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Silence’, he plays Father Rodrigues, a priest who goes looking for his mentor in 17th century Japan after the man goes missing. He’s also recently been seen as disgraced evangelist Jim Bakker in ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’, alongside Jessica Chastain.

Kate McKinnon attends the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California. Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images.

On a completely different televisual front, we have ‘Joe Vs. Carol’, which offers a new perspective on the outrageous true story chronicled in Netflix’s pandemic-era sensation ‘Tiger King’.

The documentary series chronicled the deeply interconnected community of big cat conservationists and collectors in America, and the private zoos and animal sanctuaries they have set up for the care and public display of these animals.

Its focus was primarily Joe “Exotic” Schreibvogel, an extravagant big cat collector, gun fan and ardent self-promoter who was in a feud with animal rights crusader Carol Baskin.

Now, spun not so much from the Netflix series as from the podcast 2019 Wondery podcast ‘Joe Exotic: Tiger King;’ (which pre-dated the Netflix show) is ‘Joe Vs. Carol’, which stars John Cameron Mitchell as Exotic and Kate McKinnon as Baskin.

Here, the eye is more on Baskin, a big cat enthusiast, who learns that fellow exotic animal lover Joe “Exotic” Schreibvogel is breeding and using his big cats for profit. She sets out to shut down his venture, inciting a quickly escalating rivalry. But Carole has a checkered past of her own and when the claws come out, Joe will stop at nothing to expose what he sees as her hypocrisy.

It’s a blend of fact and comedy, produced by McKinnon and written by Etan Frankel, with Kyle MacLachlan, Brian Van Holt, Sam Keeley, Nat Wolff, Marlo Kelly, William Fichtner, Dean Winters, and David Wenham rounding out the cast.

‘Joe Vs. Carol’ will launch on Peacock on March 3.
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February 23, 2022
‘Space Force’ Season 2 Interviews

Ben Schwartz from Netflix’s ‘Space Force’ Season Two.

Premiering on Netflix February 18th is the second season of the popular comedy ‘Space Force.’ The series is a workplace comedy that revolves around a group of people tasked with establishing the sixth branch of the United States Armed Forces, the United States Space Force.

The series stars Steve Carell (‘Despicable Me’) as General Mark R. Naird, the Space Force’s first Chief of Space Operations. The ensemble cast also includes John Malkovich (‘Con Air’), Ben Schwartz (‘The Afterparty’), Diana Silvers (‘Booksmart’), Tawny Newsome (‘Vacation Friends’), Noah Emmerich (‘Suspicion’), and Jimmy O. Yang (‘Crazy Rich Asians’).

Moviefone recently had the opportunity to speak with actors Ben Schwartz, Jimmy O. Yang, Diana Silvers and Tawny Newsome about their work on ‘Space Force’ season two.
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You can read the full transcript of our interview below, or watch all the interviews in the video played above.

Moviefone: As season two begins, the US Space Force is really having to prove its worth. Ben, as the social media director and the publicist, what is Tony’s biggest challenge this season?

Ben Schwartz: By the way, you’re exactly correct, that is what is happening. Tony’s biggest challenge is trying to spin this thing into something that looks positive. He has to spin this thing into showing that Space Force is worthwhile and keeping these people who work there is worthwhile.

Somehow, now he is the underdog trying to keep the story of what’s happening as positive as possible, to give people hope that this thing could actually be wonderful for our country and things like that. So, there’s a lot more on his shoulders, but also failure is just a skip away. He is very aware that he may have to start looking for another job.

MF: Jimmy, what is Chan dealing with personally and in the workplace this season?

Jimmy O. Yang: I’m not sure of the Chan and Angela possibilities. Will they, or won’t they? Relationships can cause HR complaints, but you know, it’s happening. So, I think he’s a capable scientist. He approaches everything like science, like a math problem. So, he really has to learn how to grow as a human being with his interpersonal relationships.

But it’s not just with Angela. It’s also his bromance with Tony, Ben Schwartz’s character, him being a mentee to John Malkovich’s character, almost mentoring this new intern, all while under the family umbrella of General Naird. It’s all very, very fun with very relatable human family dynamics and circumstances, even though it’s set in the very high stakes and grand scale of ‘Space Force.’

MF: Tawny, does Captain Ali have a larger role this season than she did in the first season?

Tawny Newsome: Yeah, for sure. You know, I think the writers did a great job of not ignoring the fact that she did this wild thing. She literally went to the moon. She was the first black woman on the moon. Then to just come back and kind of jump into everyday life is a big ask. So, she definitely has some tumult going on. I think we got to play with it in a really fun way.

You know, (producer) Greg Daniels had asked me, do you have like something that you do? We need an outlet for her or whatever. I was like, well, I play the drums. Could she be drumming somewhere? He’s like, yes. So, the writers ran with that. Then when I got the scripts later, I was like, oh wait. So, she’s drumming in the middle of the night in an apartment complex. That’s a serial killer move, who does that? That’s truly insane to drum, even to drum in a house, in a regular neighborhood, or in an apartment. So, that told me a lot about where she’s at and the amount of F’s she was giving at that moment, which is less than zero.

MF: Diana, your character has matured a lot between season one and season two. What happened to her between seasons that helped her to grow so much?

Diana Silvers: I think especially at that age, everything is kind of life or death. Because your emotions are heightened, you’re hormonal and there’s just a lot going on. You truly are the center of everything that revolves around you. You are the center of your universe. I think in season one, Erin felt like she wasn’t. She felt like a side character in someone else’s life. I think when, that big event happened with her mom and General Naird, she actually sees that she does matter.

She means something, and she is kind of like the center of not just her universe, but her family’s universe. I think it allowed for her to get grounded again and reground herself. So, going into Space Force and finding a parental figure in Mallory and having like two parents in a way again. Having a support system and being around other adults that genuinely care about her, she was able to explore her own identity and figure out what she wants for herself and where she wants to go with her life.

‘Space Force’ season two premieres February 18th on Netflix.

(L to R) John Malkovich, Tawny Newsome, Lisa Kudrow, Steve Carell, Jimmy O. Yang, Ben Schwartz, and Diana Silvers in ‘Space Force’ Season Two. Photo Courtesy of Netflix.

February 19, 2022
‘The Suicide Squad’ Spin-Off ‘Peacemaker’ Renewed for Season 2

John Cena in HBO Max’s ‘Peacemaker’

James Gunn’s HBO Max-based spin-off to his ‘The Suicide Squad’ movie from last year has been a big success for the streaming service. And the company has moved quickly to order a second season, as announced by Gunn on twitter.

‘Peacemaker’, which Gunn created shortly after finishing work on the ‘Squad’, was announced even before the movie was released. It stars John Cena as Christopher ‘Peacemaker’ Smith, the lunkheaded man of action who believes he must kill anyone to achieve his aims.

In the series, he’s joined by ‘Squad’ veterans Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and John Economos (Steve Agee) plus new faces Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji) and Vigilante (Freddie Stroma). There are also a variety of cops, alien bug creatures, troublesome civilians and Smith’s father, White Supremacist Auggie Smith (Robert Patrick). And then there’s breakout star Eagly, Peacemaker’s pet eagle/best friend, who has stolen scenes from his human co-stars.

It’s a violent, vulgar, funny, and heartfelt show, which manages to dig deeper into Peacemaker’s character and background without changing what made him work.

Though HBO Max executives were noncommittal during the company’s Television Critics Association panel on Wednesday morning, Gunn’s tweet signaled that the show would return, and official statements quickly followed.

(L to R) David Dastmalchian, John Cena, Idris Elba and Daniela Melchior in ‘The Suicide Squad.’

“The brilliance of James Gunn once again shines with ‘Peacemaker’. He took this character, brought to life by the inimitable John Cena, and created an exceptional series that’s simultaneously thrilling, hilarious and heartfelt, showcasing the humanity beneath this team of misfits living in a superhuman world,” says HBO Max original content head Sarah Aubrey. “As the first original DC show to have its series premiere on HBO Max, we are thrilled that the viewers agreed to give peace a f***ing chance.”

Gunn himself is also happy that people have embraced the series: “Creating ‘Peacemaker’ has been one of the true highlights of my life, both professionally and otherwise, with John Cena and the incredible creative team around me, as well as our partners at HBO Max. To have something we all love so much be loved by the audience in turn has been a wonderful experience. I can’t wait for folks to see where Team Peacemaker goes in Season Two!”

As for Cena? “I am incredibly honored and humbled by the response to Peacemaker and the experience of playing this character,” he says in a statement. “Thank you to James Gunn, [producer] Peter Safran, HBO Max, the crew, and my castmates who worked tirelessly to make this unforgettable series.”

‘Peacemaker’s first season wraps up this week with the finale. Gunn wrote the entire first run and directed five of the eight episodes (Brad Anderson, Jody Hill and Rosemary Rodriguez handled the other three. For Season 2, Gunn will be writing and directing the whole thing.

When he’ll start work will depend on his duties around ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ for Marvel, which he’s shooting now, and the holiday special featuring the ‘Guardians’ characters, which is in progress. There’s also his other planned ‘Suicide Squad’ spin-off show, about which he’s revealed very little other than it won’t be as comedic as ‘Peacemaker’.

‘Peacemaker’s whole first season is – or will be from midnight Thursday – available on HBO Max.
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February 16, 2022
‘Blade Runner 2099’ Live-Action Series in the Works

1982’s ‘Blade Runner’ Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

With the sheer number of movies and TV series that Ridley Scott (through his Scott Free) company has in the works, you wonder when he finds the time to eat, sleep or see his family. And yet, the announcements just keep coming, with confirmation that Scott is one of the executive producers on a new, live-action TV expansion of his original ‘Blade Runner’ called Blade Runner 2099).

Silka Luisa, who has worked on shows including ‘Strange Angel’ (and has Elisabeth Moss-starring mystery thriller series ‘Shining Girls’ on the way) has been hired to run the series.

And, if this new project makes it out of development, Scott may direct at least the first couple of episodes, as he did with fellow sci-fi series ‘Raised by Wolves’ at HBO Max.

For the (very) who might be unfamiliar with the futuristic noir classic, 1982’s ‘Blade Runner’ is set in 2019 (well, it was futuristic in the 1980s) in a world where mankind can create “Replicants”. These bioengineered humanoids are employed for warfare or dangerous tasks but became a problem after an off-world mutiny by recent models who fled back to Earth.

Harrison Ford plays Rick Deckard, a “Blade Runner” law enforcer despatched to track down and eliminate troublesome replicants. But as he digs deeper into the issue, he discovers a much bigger conspiracy.

That first movie adapted Philip K. Dick’s 1968 book ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’, expanding on the concept, and painting a compelling, neon-drenched world that made it become a cult favorite, even if it didn’t set the box office on fire.
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Still, it was followed by 2017’s ‘Blade Runner 2049’, directed by ‘Dune’s Denis Villeneuve, and moved the story on 30 years. Ford returned as an older Deckard, and Ryan Gosling starred as Blade Runner (and replicant) K.

‘Blade Runner 2099’ as the title suggests, sets the clock ahead again, 50 years. No plot details have been revealed yet, though Scott told the BBC last year that that the pilot was already written and that a plan for an initial season of 10 episodes was being shopped around.

Surprisingly, given Scott’s existing connection to HBO and the fact that WarnerMedia has produced both movies, Amazon Studios was able to swoop in and seal the deal, putting it on the fast track through development (according to Deadline, the company’s Prime Video arm is already starting to look at potentially shooting it this year).

And this is not the only TV spin-off for Scott’s original film, either: anime series ‘Blade Runner: Black Lotus’, which is set in 2032 and features the voices of ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ Jessica Yu Li Henwick and ‘Succession’s Brian Cox, arrived last year.

So, while neither ‘Blade Runner’ movie moved the needle in terms of box office, it’s clear there’s still plenty of interest in the idea.
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February 11, 2022
‘Star Wars’ Series ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Debuts in May

‘Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Poster Courtesy of Disney+

Obi-Wan Kenobi. Now that’s a name we’ve not heard in a long, long time. At least not properly on screen in a ‘Star Wars’ movie or show. But we’re about to be hearing it a lot more as the series named for him, Disney+ show ‘Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi’ has an official start date of May 25th.

If that date sparks memories for you, chances are you know that’s the day (in 1977) that ‘Star Wars’ launched in theaters, changing the face of cinema forever.

The series, which stars Ewan McGregor as the venerable Jedi master, will be set nearly a decade after the events of ‘Revenge of the Sith’, and finds Obi-Wan still grappling with the betrayal he suffered from former pupil Anakin Skywalker.

Anakin – or more likely, the part-man, part machine Sith lord he became, Darth Vader – also seems likely to show up here, with Hayden Christensen in the cast. Christensen, of course, played Anakin in all three of the ‘Star Wars’ prequel movies and ended up suited the dark lord. Whether he shows up in full Vader costume or in flashback as Anakin remains to be seen. Why not both?
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This new Lucasfilm/Disney+ show has been in the works for a while now, hitting something of a speed bump in January 2020 when original writer Hossein Amini left the project over creative differences and script issues. ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’s Joby Harold was brought into replace him and, after another delay because of the pandemic, the series started shooting in January last year.

“I think the scripts are great. They’re in really good shape. They want them to be better. I think we keep our same airdate. All good. Everybody is going, ‘Oh, my god!’” McGregor told Variety when asked about the script issues. “But it’s not really as dramatic as it might seem.”

Deborah Chow, who won praise for her work directing fellow ‘Star Wars’ show ‘The Mandalorian’, has made all six episodes of this one.

And besides McGregor and Christensen, the cast includes ‘Eternals’ Kumail Nanjiani, ‘Hitman: Agent 47’s Rupert Friend, ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise veteran Sung Kang, ‘Straight Outta Compton’ star O’Shea Jackson Jr, and Maya Erskine, probably best known for co-creating and co-starring in ‘Pen15’.

Returning to the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy alongside McGregor and Christensen is Joel Edgerton, who played “Uncle” Owen Lars, the ill-fated moisture farmer whom Obi-Wan entrusts to raise an infant Luke Skywalker. He appeared in both ‘Attack of the Clones’ and ‘Revenge of the Sith’. Given all the talk of a de-aged Luke Skywalker in ‘The Mandalorian’ and ‘The Book of Boba Fett’, we can’t help but wonder what a 10-year-old Luke might look like. Perhaps there are things the human brain should not comprehend.

‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ will launch, then, in May. Disney has yet to reveal whether it’ll kick off with more than one episode and of course, what we all want to see now is a trailer.

‘Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Poster Courtesy of Disney+

February 10, 2022