Bette Davis was one of the most famous and talented actresses of Hollywood’s golden age. Born in 1908, she had a long and illustrious career that spanned over 50 years.

She burst onto the silver screen in the 1930s, quickly making a name for herself with her strong personality, piercing eyes, and undeniable talent. Some of Bette’s most iconic films include Jezebel, All About Eve, and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?. In these movies, she delivered some of the most memorable performances in cinema history, earning herself two Academy Awards for Best Actress. 

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, directed by Robert Aldrich, is a vintage piece of horror that went on to become a critical and commercial hit. Davis earned her tenth and final Academy Award nomination for her role in the movie.

The film capitalized on the grotesque and the glamorous. Playing opposite her longtime rival, Joan Crawford, Davis embraced the role of Baby Jane Hudson, an unhinged former child star whose descent into madness and jealousy towards her sister leads to a tragic confrontation. As the film unfolds, we see Jane clinging desperately to her faded glory.

Bette Davis reinvents herself

At 54, Davis was playing a character who was supposed to be much older. Baby Jane was a washed-up, delusional old woman, complete with caked-on makeup, frilly dresses, and a face that looked like it had seen better days. But that’s the magic of Bette Davis – she completely embodied the character, bringing a sense of pathos and desperation to the role that made it impossible to look away.

The film was a bit of a gamble for Davis. At the time, she and Crawford were considered “old Hollywood” and their careers were on the decline. However, the film’s success proved that Bette could now establish herself in the horror genre. In fact, she did exactly that by taking on some other intense roles in movies like Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) and The Nanny (1965). 

Bette continued acting in films, television, and theater until the late 1980s. She had a few flops, and a few projects that didn’t quite live up to expectations. But that never stopped her from giving it her all. One of her last, really memorable roles was in the 1987 movie The Whales of August, where she starred opposite another Hollywood legend, Lillian Gish. Bette was in her late 70s at the time.

She kept working right up until the very end. Her last film appearance was in the 1989 movie Wicked Stepmother (comedy/horror), where she played – you guessed it – a wicked stepmother. Sadly, Bette passed away later that year at the age of 81. 

Her legacy still lives on as she has not only challenged Hollywood’s norms but also set a new standard for character portrayal that actors of all ages could aspire to.

By now any self-respecting Marvel fan has squealed over the 2^nd full-length Deadpool & Wolverine trailer at least once. The highly anticipated team-up has been at the top of fans’ must-see list since the first abysmal edition of the Merc with a Mouth appeared in X-Men Origins all the way back in 2009.  

So far the trailer hasn’t disappointed. Packed with one-liners and cheeky nods, it takes multiple watches to see all of the glorious easter eggs director Shawn Levy has added to every exceptional second. Which one is the best? The kind of comic book deep cut only the most dedicated Marvel fans will recognize.

Rob Liefeld: Lover of muscles, hater of feet

There are few comic book artists as prominent as Stan Lee, but Rob Liefeld has secured his own place in the Marvel Hall of Fame. Since he burst onto the scene in the late 80s, he’s done everything from rescuing the floundering New Mutants to masterminding Deadpool and his favorite frenemy, Cable. He even co-founded Image Comics to help comic artist maintain control of their darling creations.

Despite his many award-winning comics and his tenure as an artist – he got his start at Marvel before he had even reached 20 – Liefeld’s skills with a pen are contentious in the comic book world. Fans and critics alike can’t seem to agree on whether or not he’s actually good at drawing. And most arguments, as well as this deep-cut Marvel joke, hinge on his Achilles heel – or maybe we should call it an Achilles foot.

“Liefeld’s Just Feet,” a destroyed store that only appears briefly on screen, is a nod to Liefeld’s controversial problem in drawing, well, feet. Since the late 80s, Liefeld has been singularly untalented when it comes to drawing feet. For years, he’s found clever ways to hide the pesky appendage behind supporting characters, rocks, fire hydrants, weird angles, the edge of the frame, and basically any other appropriately (and inappropriately) placed objects he can fit in a scene.

Whenever a tootsie does happen to make it into a frame, it tends to have more than a few issues. His foot sizes are hilariously inconsistent with character size, the left feet turn right, and women appear to walk through life like a ballerina with a perfect point. It’s almost a signature at this point, and clearly, Liefeld is already in on the joke.

He took to Twitter to laugh about the jab and fully embraced it by cropping out Wolverine and Deadpool’s tosie-wosies for the post. After decades of being lambasted for his peculiar art style, Liefeld is just as impervious to the criticisms as Wolvie and Wade are to mortal wounds. After all, what damage can a playful dig about feet do when industry veterans like Barry Windsor-Smith – the man behind Red Sonia and Conan – have absolutely dragged him? Windsor-Smith once said of Liefeld’s art:

“He has nothing to offer. He cannot draw. He can’t write. He is a young boy almost, I would expect, whose culture is bubble gum wrappers, Saturday morning cartoons, Marvel Comics; that’s his culture.”

It must sting to have someone like Windsor-Smith bash your hard work, but Liefeld is certainly laughing all the way to the bank. At the end of the day, the Deadpool movies have a massive fan following and sit comfortably in the 80% range on Rotten Tomatoes, while 2011’s Conan the Barbarian bottoms out with a measly 25.

Remember the days when a single post from an Avenger could break the internet? Well, Chris Pratt just took us on a nostalgia-fueled trip down MCU memory lane with his latest “illegal” behind-the-scenes video.

From the looks of it, the BTS clip is from the final battle scene in Avengers: Endgame. Judging from Chris Evans’ fake shock at noticing Pratt making the video and the fact that the studio kept the film’s production under tight wraps to protect it from those sniffing around for leaks, it is easy to deduce why it used to be “illegal.”

The video is a who’s who of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’ve got Dave Bautista (Drax), Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda), Chris Hemsworth (who seems to be battling an invisible swarm of flies), and even a rare sighting of Chris Evans (Captain America) channeling his inner SpongeBob SquarePants. Meanwhile, Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) appears deep in thought, script in hand, while Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther), and other casts make brief but impactful appearances. The presence of Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark), seemingly bored and chewing on something, adds a touch of humor to the scene.

But amidst the laughter and camaraderie, there’s a sense of bittersweetness that permeates the comments section. 

Fans have spotted Chadwick Boseman, forever our Black Panther, trying to hide his face from the camera. It strikes a chord, knowing now what we didn’t know then – that Boseman was silently battling cancer even as he suited up to save the universe.

Furthermore, if Pratt’s video is a reminder of Marvel’s glory days, it’s also a stark contrast to the company’s current state which is a mess of mediocre movies and Disney Plus shows. Fans are mourning the glory days of the MCU when every film was a must-see event and the Avengers were still assembling. 

One user laments:

“When Marvel was actually worth a damn.”

While another adds:

It’s no secret that the MCU has been struggling to recapture the magic of its early phases, with a string of lackluster releases and a growing sense of superhero fatigue among audiences. Sure, there have been bright spots – Pratt’s own Guardians of the Galaxy films continue to be a blast, and Spider-Man: No Way Home proved that the MCU still has some tricks up its sleeve.

Tom Hiddleston’s performance in Loki TV series as the God of Stories was an interesting revelation, and the show’s exploration of free will and determinism was surprisingly thoughtful for a series about a guy with magic horns. Now we have Deadpool & Wolverine hanging tight to the expectation that it will revive the currently comatose MCU with the aid of Wade Wilson’s proper Marvel initiation and Wolverine’s return.

But for every hit, there seems to be a massive miss (we’re looking at you, Eternals). When your big climactic battle scene involves a bunch of CGI monsters that look like they escaped from a PlayStation 2 game, you know you’ve got problems.

Perhaps the most telling moment in the video comes from Sean Gunn’s Rocket stand-in, who quips, “I’m pretty sure I’m the most famous person here.” It’s a joke, of course, but it also says a lot about the star power the franchise is steadily losing. These were the biggest names in Hollywood, all gathered together for a common purpose. And now? Well, let’s just say the fandom would trade their souls to erase Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and M.O.D.O.K.’s minion buttocks from existence.

The MCU has become so focused on expanding its universe that it’s forgotten what made it special in the first place– the characters, the heart, and the well-written plots that left us wanting more.

That’s what makes Pratt’s video so special. It reminds us of a time when the MCU was more than just a franchise — it was a family. A dysfunctional, quippy, occasionally problematic family, sure, but a family nonetheless. And in a world where every new release feels like a calculated attempt to set up the next big thing, it’s refreshing to see these actors just being themselves.

So thank you, Chris Pratt, for this blast from the past. Maybe this video will be the wake-up call that Kevin Feige and co. need to get back to basics and remember what made us fall in love with these characters in the first place.

Princess Leia was hot. I mean, literally. That was her problem while filming one particular scene in The Empire Strikes Back, as she briefly explained, in a resurfaced interview, that the heat in the room on-set was a bit too much.

Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill appeared on the BBC show Blue Peter after Empire was released. For those unaware outside of the U.K., Blue Peter is still on the air and, in fact, is the longest- running children’s show in the world, having begun its run in 1958 when Star Wars wasn’t even a thought in the mind of George Lucas.

While Mark Hamill was busy petting a cat, Fisher was answering questions while playing with a turtle, and a dog sat between them. Personally, I thought it would’ve been more fun to see Fisher play with Salacious Crumb, but who am I to question the strange happenings on Blue Peter?

With turtle in-hand, Fisher was asked what scene what was the hardest part of Empire for her to shoot. She didn’t hesitate to answer.

”I think probably the carbon-freezing chamber,” she replied. “It says freezing but it was actually very hot. It was about a hundred degrees.”

Han Solo must’ve been secretly happy to be frozen in carbonite as Leia froze her buns off. Meanwhile, what was Peter Mayhew going through inside that already hot Chewbacca outfit?

Well, Fisher did bring up Chewbacca, as she explained that in the noted scene she embraces Chewbacca, and after numerous takes of doing that over and over again, things got hot between the two of them. Not romantically, that would be weird, rather the temperature was too much.

“After about two hours in a lot of heat like that,” Fisher said of being hugged by Chewbacca, “He doesn’t smell so nice.”

Perhaps they should’ve borrowed a line from the previous film when, in the garbage compactor scene, Han Solo tells Chewie, “What an incredible smell you’ve discovered!”

This might be the only scene in which Fisher wishes she actually was in her outfit from Jabba’s Palace in the Return of the Jedi. Instead, she was stuck in a sauna with Chewbacca while explaining her predicament to a turtle.

Before the Fisher and Hamill segment on Blue Peter ended, they present the movie stars with something called “Star Wars Stew.” It’s a kid’s recipe, and is a mix of a lot of things, including sausages, baked beans, onions, tomatoes, sweet corn, chips, potatoes, and — because it’s not enough stuff — cheese. Fisher and Hamill happily engage in the feast, though Hamill can be seen feeding it to the dog. The segment is quite a chuckle-jerker.

Chewbacca can be seen at the end but misses a golden opportunity to embrace Fisher. He walks in with Darth Vader and the droids, making kids wonder why the villain is hanging out with the heroes.

Noticeably missing is Han Solo, though it’s likely because he was stuck in Jabba’s Palace.

From Top Gun: Maverick to Oppenheimer and recently Dune: Part Two, we’ve had a lot of amazing theater experiences recently, but I think we can all agree that none of them came even close to the high we experienced in 2019 thanks to Avengers: Endgame.

A lot of things came together to make Endgame such a special occasion for the industry. Eliminate any of those elements and the movie wouldn’t have become the global sensation that shook the box office. I mean, even barring the 10-year build-up of all those other MCU movies, Endgame could not have succeeded if it weren’t for Infinity War hyping it up with its cliffhanger ending.

We all spent an entire year waiting, wondering, and speculating about the fate of our favorite characters. How was Endgame possibly going to give us a satisfying resolution to the Infinity Saga? Could the Avengers somehow find a way to reverse the Snap? What was going to happen to the MCU after Endgame? And yet, when the moment came and Endgame opened in theaters, all I could think about was finding the nearest theater playing the movie in my neighborhood and securing a ticket.

And what an incredible moment it was to be alive. At times during the movie, it felt like my entire life spent as a geek was finally paying off, and there would never be another experience to top this one. And going by their reactions, the people in that room with me must have felt much the same way.

We may never be able to relive the day we watched Avengers: Endgame with our fellow MCU enthusiasts from all walks of life, but thanks to social media, we may come close to the experience of those sensations. So, let’s take a trip down memory lane, to a time before all of these political upheavals, before COVID-19, and before Marvel Studios lost its touch, to review some of the best audience reactions to iconic Endgame moments.

Captain America picking up Mjolnir and giving Thanos an embarrassing and severe backside beating!

I think we can all agree that this was the single greatest moment in Avengers: Endgame, and quite possibly the entire MCU. Well, either this or the scene in Infinity War where Thor makes his entrance and turns the tide. We’d all known it for years, but it was very cathartic to finally have it confirmed that Captain America was worthy of the power of Thor. I can’t imagine a theater that didn’t explode when Mjolnir returned to Cap’s hand instead of Thor’s. Though, in fairness, my personal experience didn’t come close to this clip. The excitement in this one is almost primal.

The OG team’s signature credits still gives us chills!

Avengers: Endgame certainly marked the end of an era, and Marvel Studios understood the assignment well. While the MCU has been graced by many performers and characters over the years, it was always going to come down to those six original Avengers who rocked the world of cinema in 2012. Superhero movies had always been profitable even before Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, but that film made certain that everyone got the message loud and clear. Watching the signature of the six actors who portrayed the original team of Avengers at the end of Endgame will haunt our thoughts for many years to come.

Thor gets his hammer back, leaving the audience completely dumbfounded!

There’s no doubt that Stormbreaker is a weapon worthy of a god, but it could never be as iconic as Mjolnir. So imagine my surprise when it made a return in Endgame, especially after Thor went through all of that trouble in Infinity War to forge a more powerful weapon. Well, Taika Waititi may have broken the God of Thunder’s favorite toy in Ragnarok, but some things are just inevitable (unlike Thanos) and the writers had to find a way to make that Captain America Mjolnir scene work, one way or another.

The Scarlet Witch stands up to Thanos and almost beats him senseless!

Build-up is key when you’re dealing with a host of powerful beings each possessing unique abilities. The moment Wanda went toe-to-toe with Thanos and managed to overpower him lives rent-free in my mind after all these years, and I can’t help but wonder if she could’ve ended it there and then had Thanos not bombarded the entire battlefield with his ship’s firepower. In a movie so filled to the brim with exciting moments, this particular confrontation definitely came out of the blue.

“And I… am… Iron Man!” The scene that perfectly encapsulated 10 years of superhero cinema

Everyone was holding their breaths in those last moments of the fight against Thanos, where the Mad Titan beat back almost everyone and reclaimed the gauntlet. “I am inevitable!” He exclaims and brings up his hand to snap once again. The cinema is utterly quiet, except for the occasional sigh of surprise. Thanos snaps his fingers. Nothing happens. A few people laugh. The camera turns to Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, and he has the Infinity Stones! Everyone cheers. The room quiets down again, anticipating Tony Stark’s perfect clapback. “And I… am… Iron Man!” He says and sends Thanos to meet his maker. I’m sorry, MCU, but you can never catch this lightning in a bottle again.

Captain America makes his last stand, the portals open, and the Avengers finally assemble!

When all seemed lost, and the Big Three had failed to defeat Thanos, Doctor Strange opened portals summoning every hero in the MCU, and they all came together to oppose the Mad Titan’s will. I can imagine Kevin Feige and co. sitting down years before 2019 and envisioning the scene where all of their characters would come together. Captain America finally says the line everyone had been waiting for him to say as early as the 2012 film, and the execution is just perfect. I used to think no scene in cinema would come close to being as epic as “The Ride of the Rohirrim” from The Return of the King, but Avengers: Endgame proved me wrong.

Even more audience reactions from Avengers: Endgame

While the scenes we already listed were the highlights of Avengers: Endgame, the almost 3-hour movie had much more to offer, especially during the second act where the Avengers revisit set pieces from across the MCU. The video above includes the highlights from both movies, namely Black Widow sacrifcing himself, Tony hugging Peter, and last but not least, Steve Rogers fighting Steve Rogers and commenting on America’s ass!

Russell Crowe will star in Miramax’s upcoming horror film The Exorcism, and his popularity is building some buzz among audiences, despite the well-worn genre. The Exorcism also features a notable crew and other major actors, including Sam Worthington and David Hyde Pierce.

Viewers might be a little hesitant for similar material following the divisive The Exorcist: Believer. But Miramax’s The Exorcism has a decent twist. That isn’t surprising, since Scream creator Kevin Williamson also served as a producer on the film. Williamson’s involvement suggests that The Exorcism has similar potential to subvert audience expectations.

The story will center on an actor who becomes troubled while filming a horror movie. It also alludes to strangely “cursed” film productions, a surprisingly untapped premise. So, even casual moviegoers might be curious about the release date.

Is there a release date for Russell Crowe’s The Exorcism?

In a recent report by Deadline, The Exorcism will have an exclusive theatrical release beginning on June 7, 2024. It’s unclear how long the movie will remain in theaters. The report adds that Vertical acquired North American rights to the film.

The latest trailer from Vertical reiterates that the movie will arrive this summer, only in theaters. However, the trailer’s opening also features the Shudder logo.

Deadline’s report confirms that Shudder picked up pay one rights. This means that The Exorcism will stream on Shudder first for a predetermined window. Vertical did not announce a release date for the streaming platform.

Since the theatrical run begins in June, that should leave enough room for The Exorcism to release on Shudder around Halloween. Like any horror film, it would surely benefit from the season. Then again, Late Night with the Devil premiered in March 2024 and released on Shudder just a month later.

Miramax and Vertical will likely announce a concrete Shudder release date for The Exorcism after the exclusive theatrical run is complete.

Is The Exorcism a sequel to The Pope’s Exorcist?

There may be some confusion among fans of The Pope’s Exorcist, which released in 2023 and also featured Russell Crowe in a leading role.

The Pope’s Exorcist earned a solid review here and there, but The Exorcism won’t be a sequel to that film. There isn’t any noticeable connective tissue between the projects besides Crowe’s involvement. The cast and crew are completely different, with The Final Girls writer Joshua John Miller attached to direct.

Adding to the confusion, The Exorcism was previously titled The Georgetown Project. The film was in the works under that title for years. So, the timing of its release date is unrelated to The Pope’s Exorcist and amounts to an amusing circumstance.

Picture this: it’s the evening of April 26, 2019, and even the most remote theaters across North America are packed to the brim with Marvel devotees of all prestige. You and your momentary brethren have taken breath after shaky breath as the current situation (namely, Thanos’ attack on the Avengers compound) seems to escalate in favor of the Mad Titan with every passing moment. Then, the staticky voice of Sam Wilson reverberates around the theater, and indeed, the world; “on your left.”

It’s now every patron’s heartbeat that’s escalating as the Guardians of the Galaxy, the warriors of Wakanda, and just about every Infinity Saga mainstay leaps into the fray behind Captain America. With everyone—not least of whom Sam—now back at his side, all it took was one, herculean whisper of “Avengers, Assemble” to fan the flames sparked by Sam into one of the most sensational blazes of a cinematic battlefield the world has ever seen.

And now, five years after the theatrical release of Avengers: Endgame, “on your left” has cemented itself as one of the most kinetically definitive quotes in the history of the MCU, and it’s not at all difficult to see why.

“On your left” belongs to the MCU

It is, of course, easy to mark “Avengers, Assemble” as the major tentpole of a soundbyte prior to that final confrontation with Thanos (and by golly, did Chris Evans ever sell the moment to perfection). The thing is, though, Captain America has been rhyming off that call to action since before the majority of the MCU faithful had been conceived (the Avengers first appeared in comics in the fall of 1963). In no way does this diminish the quality of the line, but the weight of the moment effectively wrote itself, given the historic, pre-MCU reputation of the declaration.

“On your left” didn’t have that same foundation; the quote was a beast of Marvel Studios’ own making, and it has no one but itself to thank for nailing this callback so succinctly, subtly, and evocatively. “On your left” was, of course, the first words that Sam and Steve ever shared with one another on-screen after encountering one another on a public running track in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. While they were both using the track to exercise, the profoundly-roided Steve lapped Sam several times over, marking each instance by calling out “on your left” whenever he was about to pass Sam; a friendly jest that was just the tip of the iceberg of a much deeper trust between the two men.

With friends like Sam…

While no one can quite replace Bucky in Steve’s heart, the friendship he shares with Sam is of equal—if not greater—importance to Steve’s character arc, and subsequently the wider themes that the Avengers encapsulate as a team. When the world quite literally turned against Steve during the events of The Winter Soldier, Sam was a crucial lifeline for him to turn to, later aiding Steve, Natasha, and Nick Fury against a then-brainwashed Bucky and a largely compromised S.H.I.E.L.D. agency.

From then on, Sam remained one of Steve’s most readily steadfast allies, sticking with him through Ultron, the Avengers’ in-fighting, right up until the last breath he would breathe for five years in Infinity War. And while everyone needs a great friend, Steve—the perennial man out of time who left everything he knew back in the 40s and therefore certainly dealt with a unique breed of loneliness—was perhaps in need of someone like Sam more than anyone.

How appropriate, then, that it’s Sam who’s the first to greet Steve when he and the rest of Earth’s newly-revived champions begin to portal themselves to ground zero of Thanos’ attack, the fire in each of their eyes screaming that they’re all but ready to stand behind Steve’s leadership once more, united together—bonds of all shapes and intensities between them—against the most impossible odds yet. And at the heart of this maze of allies sat Sam, whose bond with Steve knew very few equals; a bond that began with “on your left.”

If Marvel Studios is smart, they’ll have worked overtime to ensure that “on your left” didn’t make its way into the script of Captain America: Brave New World, where Sam is set to carry the legacy of the star-spangled shield in the biggest way yet. It’s one thing to wink at the audience with a callback, but it’s quite another to make that callback mean something so deeply important to the characters as well; that was the homegrown strength of “on your left,” and was but one piece of the masterfully-crafted conclusion that Avengers: Endgame was to the undisputed golden era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It’s a good thing that Marvel has Deadpool & Wolverine, perhaps its most hyped release since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, to get fans distracted, because behind the scenes there’s a lot of major restructuring happening when it comes to future plans for the MCU.

Deadpool 3 will no doubt make a killing at the box office this summer, but the last Marvel movie to release was The Marvels, which infamously went down as the worst-performing MCU film of them all. And it’s just possible that its failure was so embarrassing it immediately killed plans for a spinoff.

Monica Rambeau series was reportedly cancelled in the wake of The Marvels bombing

The Marvels‘ post-credits scene was perhaps the most memorable thing about it, as it brought back Kelsey Grammer as Beast. It was also interesting that it was Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau who ended up in the X-Men’s universe not Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel. According to new rumors, that’s because this was supposed to lead into a Photon series set for Disney Plus… However, this is 100% canned now due to the film falling flat. We’ve been assured that Monica’s story will now continue elsewhere, although it’s anyone’s guess where that could be.

Scarlett Johansson’s first MCU project since Black Widow could be a Disney Plus show

Don’t forget, while Marvel no doubt scrambles to tempt Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans into returning to the fold for Avengers: Secret Wars, Scarlett Johansson is already back in bed with the MCU for an upcoming project. The only thing is she’ll be serving as a producer rather than appearing on screen. For the longest time we’ve had literally zero information about the form of this mystery project, but the latest intel indicates that it will be a Disney Plus series. Given Johansson’s name behind it, presumably this show will be set in the Black Widow universe. Maybe it could be some kind of follow-up to Thunderbolts, which features Yelena, Red Guardian, and Taskmaster.

Mahershala Ali needs to get his ice skates on as Wesley Snipes’ Blade could be coming soon

Here’s your periodic reminder that Mahershala Ali was announced to be playing Blade in summer 2019… and we still haven’t seen him on screen?! Currently the Blade reboot is scheduled for November 2025 but it’s all but confirmed it’ll get pushed into 2026. Ali might want to hurry up and show his face, though, otherwise he might just be beaten to the punch by Wesley Snipes, who — rumor has it — is in talks to reprise his iconic ’90s role somewhere in the Multiverse Saga. For context, this is like if Tom Holland was cast as Spider-Man in 2016… and then never showed up before Tobey Maguire came back in 2021. What is going on, Kevin?!

Deadpool & Wolverine may be the only two heroes with their names in the title, but the upcoming third movie outing for the Merc with the Mouth is expected to be a-flush with fan-favorites from both the X-Men and the MCU making mind-blowing cameos.

The trailers so far have already given away that a litany of Fox legacy stars will put in an appearance, which has left fans thinking “Well, if they’re showing us these guys then who have they still got up their sleeves?” Some Avengers cameos wouldn’t go amiss, for one, and the door is certainly opening for a Captain Marvel role, seeing how The Marvels ended with an X-Men tie-in.

Given how tough and no-nonsense Carol Danvers tends to be, you’d expect her not to be a huge fan of a walking gag machine like Wade Wilson. Yet the duo’s unlikely comic book history tells us that sparks might just fly across the multiverse if Brie Larson actually did pop up in Deadpool 3…

Wade Wilson and Carol Danvers’ comic book romance, explained

While Wade and Carol have never had a full-on relationship storyline in the source material, there have been two very notable times when they were romantically connected. Basically, it’s all or nothing with these two.

In 2008’s Deadpool #17, Deadpool and Carol Danvers — back when she was still going by Ms. Marvel — go on a bender together in Vegas… and almost get married! In fact, they would’ve gone through with it too, if it wasn’t for Captain America crashing the ceremony to reveal that Carol’s uncharacteristic behavior was due to her being under the influence of a mind-controlling alien.

While that inebriated, alien-influenced tryst didn’t go anywhere, things turned out differently in 2020’s Deadpool: The End. In this special comic which imagined various future timelines for DP, one of Wade’s dreams predicting his future sees Wade having settled down, got his life together, and become a member of the Avengers. And it’s all thanks to his superhero girlfriend who is initially kept in shadow. In the comics’ final page, we see that it’s none other than Captain Marvel herself. Somehow this isn’t the least likely future depicted in this comic, with that honor going to the one where Deadpool and Wolverine have a son together.

Obviously, Movie Wade is very much committed to Vanessa and fans still want Carol to get with Valkyrie at some point, but maybe we should expect a brief flirtation, at the very least, should Captain Marvel and Deadpool ever cross paths, either in D&W or Avengers: Secret Wars.

Hollywood has adapted renowned author Cormac McCarthy’s work multiple times, so many readers hope to see Blood Meridian get the same treatment. After all, most fans consider Blood Meridian to be McCarthy’s defining novel, with plenty of cinematic potential.

True, Blood Meridian takes an unusually candid look at violence. It is also a sprawling epic, longer than McCarthy’s other popular novels. However, there is no denying the remarkable impact and lasting goodwill of No Country For Old Men.

That adaptation released in 2007 to widespread acclaim, earning multiple wins at the Oscars. It’s still considered one of the best thrillers of its time. Blood Meridian is an equally thoughtful western, though translating it into a movie could be challenging.

Is Blood Meridian getting adapted into a movie?

According to a report by Variety, seasoned writer John Logan is attached to adapt Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian into a feature film. Logan is credited with writing the screenplay for many hit movies, dating back to the ’90s.

This includes a wide range of genres from Ridley Scott’s Gladiator to the 007 franchise standout Skyfall. Logan’s flexibility and previous character-driven thrills suggest they could adapt Blood Meridian without losing its essence or altering too much.

Variety also confirmed that John Hillcoat will direct and produce the new Blood Meridian movie, alongside producer Keith Redmon for New Regency. Hillcoat previously directed The Road, which was also based on a Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name.

The Road released in 2009, just a couple of years after No Country For Old Men. But it still struggled at the box office despite decent reviews from critics and audiences. The post-apocalyptic story may have been too bleak for casual moviegoers compared to the cat-and-mouse thrills of No Country For Old Men.

Blood Meridian might prove equally tricky to adapt to film, almost akin to something like Dune. But Hillcoat is already familiar with translating McCarthy’s work to film, which should prove useful.

Actor, producer, and director James Franco also previously planned to adapt Blood Meridian into a movie over a decade ago in 2011. Instead, Franco directed an adaptation of Child of God, a different Cormac McCarthy novel.

Is there a release date for John Logan’s Blood Meridian?

At this time, New Regency did not confirm a release date or window for the Blood Meridian film adaptation from John Logan and John Hillcoat. Since the company only just announced a writer and director, fans will have to wait a while for anything concrete.

Blood Meridian is also hefty and sophisticated, so production could potentially take longer than usual. Both No Country For Old Men and The Road released during November, so Blood Meridian might follow suit.

Luca Guadagnino’s new tennis romance Challengers with Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor is the year’s hottest movie.

Not only are its three leads impossibly charismatic in their own right, but the Italian director also frames and shoots this court-side love triangle in ways that are a little racier than your usual sports drama. The film is about tennis, alright, but it transforms into an inherently sensual and even sexual practice. What’s interesting, however, is that there isn’t a single sex scene in the film — but more on that later.

In Challengers, Zendaya plays Tashi, a tennis prodigy whose career is cut short by a devastating injury, forcing her to pivot towards training one of her college boyfriends, Faist’s Art Donaldson. When the couple decides to play a Challenger tour tournament to increase the man’s competitive confidence, they’re surprised to learn he’ll be facing off against his former best friend and Tashi’s former ex-boyfriend, O’Connor’s Patrick Zweig.

The movie is a fiery, competitive, and at times psychological romance-coded drama, that has delighted critics and will most likely delight audiences too as it takes over theater rooms across the world.

Challengers‘ R rating, explained

Films rated R are Restricted, meaning those under 17 should be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian. Challengers is rated R for “language throughout, some sexual content and graphic nudity.”

Although there are no sex scenes in the film, it does show genitalia and butts in non-sexual contexts, like in a locker room and a sauna. The characters use expletives recurrently, and there are quite a few steamy make-out sessions.

Although some are calling Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers the sexiest movie of the year, it’s relatively tame compared to other, more explicit productions. Most of the sexual tension is displayed in a tennis court, where characters stand many feet away from each other.

Challengers is now showing in theaters everywhere.

The dawn of The Sandman TV universe on Netflix — which now includes spinoff Dead Boy Detectives — almost brings the illustrious career of its creator, Neil Gaiman, full circle.

It was the release of The Sandman comics in 1989 that first made the British-born wordsmith someone to watch. It might have taken over 30 years for Lord Morpheus to awaken in live-action, however, but many other adaptations of Gaiman’s works have made it to the big and small screens in the meantime.

Starting as early as the 1990s, the movie and TV industries realized Gaiman’s writing was a rich well to draw from, so a bevy of the author’s novels, comics, and more have been brought to life over the years. Thanks to the high quality that Gaiman’s name guarantees, most of these have been satisfying adaptations. Although, inevitably, some of them were less successful, for various reasons.

As we wait for even more to drop, like Prime’s Anansi Boys, let’s take a look at every Neil Gaiman adaptation released to date — some of which he’s been involved in, some of which he hasn’t —ranked from worst to best based on their IMDb ratings.

How to Talk to Girls at Parties (5.7)

John Cameron Mitchell, the creator of acclaimed hit, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, doing a movie based on a Neil Gaiman short story seemed like a match made in heaven, but unfortunately How to Talk to Girls at Parties disappointed when it arrived in 2017. Nevertheless, the film is as quirky and imaginative as you would expect. Alex Sharp stars as a punk rock-loving teen living in 1970s London who happens to meet a rebellious alien (Elle Fanning) at a party. Nicole Kidman also features.

Neil Gaiman’s Likely Stories (6.3)

Alongside every other pie he has a finger in, Gaiman is also a successful short story writer. In 2016, Sky One and Shudder teamed up to create an anthology series based on his shorter works titled Neil Gaiman’s Likely Stories. Sadly, the show only lasted for four episodes and the tales utilized seem to have been selected based on how easy they would be to recreate on a limited small-screen budget. A nice touch, though, is how Gaiman appears in each episode, as a god-like voice heard on the radio.

Neverwhere (7.2)

Gaiman’s first foray into the TV world came way back in 1996 with Neverwhere. While fans may be familiar with his novel of the same name, the concept also spawned a TV series. Neverwhere is an adult urban fantasy about the magical world of London Below. Gaiman’s scriptwriting holds up, but the show itself is let down by dated production values. However, it does star a cast full of future familiar faces like Laura Fraser, Paterson Joseph, and Peter Capaldi.

Dead Boy Detectives (7.4)

Props to Dead Boy Detectives for turning its rough start in life into a strength. Originally developed as a Doom Patrol spinoff for Max, the series was ultimately picked up by Netflix and retrofitted into a Sandman off-shoot. The result is a fast, funny YA supernatural mystery show that’s perfect for those missing the short-lived Lockwood & Co and those patiently awaiting more Sandman. Fingers crossed Netflix won’t send this one to the afterlife too soon, like it’s done to so many of its ilk before it.

Stardust (7.6)

Arguably the first mainstream Gaiman adaptation, 2007’s Stardust — from future Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn — sailed under the radar upon its release, but it’s since become a firm fan favorite. Comparable to The Princess Bride, this romantic fantasy adventure sees Tristan (a pre-Daredevil Charlie Cox) journey across the land of Stormhold with fallen star Yvaine (Claire Danes) as they face a sky pirate (Robert De Niro), an evil witch (Michelle Pfeiffer), and a power-hungry prince (Mark Strong).

American Gods (7.7)

Starz’s American Gods initially opened to considerable acclaim back in 2017, but various behind-the-scenes upheavals and problems — including the controversial firing of Orlando Jones — caused the positive buzz to dim somewhat over the years, until it was ultimately cancelled after three seasons in 2021. Still, there’s plenty to love about the show, which follows Shadow (Ricky Whittle) as he works for Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane) and finds himself in the middle of a conflict between old and new gods.

Coraline (7.7)

The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick helmed this wonderfully creepy stop-motion animated adaptation of Gaiman’s best-selling children’s book, delivering one of the best horror movies for kids in the process. Dakota Fanning voices Coraline Jones, the eponymous brave young girl who must rescue her parents from the clutches of the Other Mother (Teri Hatcher), a spider-like being from another realm who wants to sew buttons into her eyes.

The Sandman (7.7)

After 30 years, there were high expectations for this Netflix series to live up to its seminal source material. With Gaiman on board as co-showrunner, the first season is a close retelling of the first two comic book volumes — and all the better for it. Starring Tom Sturridge as Dream of the Endless, the series is just as epic, dark, and grandiose as fans could have asked for, although its popularity does seem to be waning slightly with time. Hurry up and give us season 2, Netflix!

DC Showcase: Death (7.8)

Before The Sandman got here, there was this 2019 animated short all about Dream’s big sister, Death. Available as an extra on the home release of Wonder Woman: Bloodlines, the 20-minute short details the life of Gotham City resident Vincent Omata (Leonardo Nam) in flashbacks, with the role of Death played by Sucker Punch star Jamie Chung. Although an original story, this short is notable for being the first screen adaptation of the Endless — but it wasn’t the last.

Good Omens (8.0)

After the death of Good Omens co-author Sir Terry Pratchett, Gaiman decided to take the bull by the horns and spearhead the long-gestating TV series himself. Sporting Gaiman as showrunner, the series is a peerless translation and update of the fantasy-comedy story, which follows unlikely friends Aziraphale the angel (Michael Sheen) and Crowley the demon (David Tennant) as they attempt to avert Armageddon. We just need season 3 to give the Ineffable Husbands a happy ending for this to be a truly perfect show.

Lucifer (8.1)

Interestingly, perhaps the loosest adaptation of Gaiman’s work is the highest rated out of them all. While fans usually prefer close adaptations, they had to make an exception with Lucifer, which still stands as one of the most popular Netflix series of all time. That’s for good reason as Tom Ellis’ Lucifer Morningstar is a devilishly charismatic lead, even if he is nothing like the version Gaiman wrote in the pages of The Sandman. Not that there was any — Gaiman himself turned up as narrator for an episode of season 3.