Whoops! Thanks to a new Amazon mail advert, Anthony Mackie’s brand-new Captain America suit for Captain America: Brave New World is on display. American Bald Eagle-eyed fans posted the promo featuring Sam Wilson’s stylish Captain America suit, revealing the star-spangled hero’s upcoming look for the forthcoming Marvel film. In the promo, Sam Wilson sports a royal blue suit with red and white stripes across his torso. With Cap’s classic shield in hand, it appears as if Sam’s wings have a new blue and white paint job to match the theme. Oh, and remember Sam’s red-tinted glasses. He needs to protect his eyes from splattered insects when he’s flying through the sky. No one wants to pick severed wings out of their eye ducts when they’re trying to save the planet.
Production for Captain America: Brave New World is complete, with the film moved to 2025 because of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. The fourth installment of Marvel’s Captain America film series features new and returning characters, including Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres, Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, Live Tyler as Betty Ross, Shira Haas as the Israeli superhero Sabra, Tim Blake Nelson as The Leader, and Harrison Ford as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, replacing the late William Hurt.
After taking on the mantle of Captain America in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie is finally leading his own Marvel movie with Captain America: Brave New World. Stepping into the shoes of Captain America is no small feat, and Mackie is all too aware of the pressure. “There’s a huge amount of pressure,” Mackie told Inverse last year. “You throw my dumb ass in the water, and you’re like, ‘Swim.’ I’m like, ‘Sh*t.’ But at the same time, it’s all in the state of mind. I’ve been given a great cast. I’ve been given a great group of people who I’ve worked with before.”
What do you think about Sam Wilson’s new costume for Captain America: Brave New World? Is Marvel grinding its teeth at the thought of Amazon revealing the look early? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Marvel Comics has been publishing issues of their anthology series What If…? – which takes familiar scenarios from their comics and explores what might have happened if things had played out differently or if characters had taken different paths in life – since 1977. Now the series, which has included such titles as “What If Spider-Man Had Joined the Fantastic Four?”, “What If Thor of Asgard Had Met Conan the Barbarian?”, and “What If The Punisher’s Family Had Not Been Killed?”, is being infiltrated by the Alien franchise. Marvel gained the comic book rights to the Alien franchise when Disney acquired 20th Century Fox a few years back, and now they’re set to publish the five-issue limited series Aliens: What If…? that asks the question, “What if Carter Burke had lived?”
Paul Reiser played the slimy Carter Burke in writer/director James Cameron’s 1986 classic Aliens. Burke was a junior executive for the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, and he was hoping to get Xenomorphs back to his higher-ups on Earth… even if that meant causing heroine Ripley and little girl Newt to get aliens planted in their bodies by facehuggers. Burke paid for his sins. But in this What If…? series, he didn’t.
The saga will further explore the nature of the man who infamously betrayed Ripley and the lengths he’s willing to go to get his hands on the deadliest species in the galaxy… For years, fans of James Cameron’s legendary Aliens questioned whether Carter Burke, a company man more hateable than the Xenos themselves, had actually survived the traumatic events on the terraforming colony Hadley’s Hope. Thirty-five years later, Burke is eeking out a cursed existence on a backwater asteroid. With his once-promising career in the toilet, Burke’s only remaining purpose in life is to care for his daughter, Brie. She hates him, probably for being a horrible person. And when she finds out what he’s up to now? It’s not going to be a friendly reunion. Has Burke learned his lesson, or is he about to get all of his companions killed again?
Paul Reiser, his son Leon, Adam F. Goldberg (The Goldbergs), Brian Volk-Weiss (The Toys That Made Us), and Hans Rodionoff (Damage Control) have teamed up to craft the scripts for “What if Carter Burke had lived?”, with Guiu Vilanova of Cosmic Ghost Rider and Eternals providing the artwork. Paul Reiser had this to say about the series: “For years, people have asked me about Burke, what it was like to play such a ‘bad guy,’ to which my response was always ‘You say ‘bad,’ I say ‘misunderstood.’ Now the world will find out!“
Will you be reading the Aliens: What If…? comic book series? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
The first issue of Aliens: What If…? will reach store shelves on March 6th, with the second issue following on April 11th.
PLOT: In 18th century Denmark, Captain Ludvig Kahlen – a proud, ambitious, but impoverished war hero — sets out to tame a vast, uninhabitable land on which seemingly nothing can grow. He seeks to start farming crops, build a colony in the name of the King, and gain a noble title for himself. This beautiful but forbidding area also happens to be under the rule of the merciless Frederik De Schinkel, a preening nobleman who realizes the threat Kahlen represents to his power.
REVIEW: You have heard the cliche “they don’t make them like they used to” countless times, but it fits perfectly when reviewing The Promised Land. An epic melodrama that combines elements of survival thrillers, westerns, period melodramas, and historical drama, The Promised Land is a stunning and stark look at one man’s quest to tame the harsh wilderness of the barren northern territory of Denmark while also facing off against a ruthless tyrant who has claimed the land for himself. This brutal film is hard to watch while anchored by Mads Mikkelsen’s and Amanda Collin’s performances, which elevate it to amongst some of the best survival dramas since The Revenant. The Promised Land is a triumph from director Nikolaj Arcel that recalls his work on 2012’s A Royal Affair and allows you to forget 2017’s The Dark Tower. Those dissuaded by subtitled films should do themselves a favor and give this stunning film a chance.
Set in 1755, The Promised Land (titled The Bastard in Denmark) opens with Captain Ludwig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen) requesting permission from the Royal Court of Denmark to cultivate the Jutland. While the King has long desired the barren wilderness to be turned into habitable land, everyone has failed. Kahlen offers to use his own money and wants a noble title should he succeed. Assuming failure, the Court agrees. Kahlen, a man of few words and even fewer emotional reactions travels north to find the Jutland populated by bands of wild thieves. The rest is under the control of Frederik de Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg), a ruthless magistrate who is also the judge and master of all the tenant farmers (aka slaves) in the region. When Kahlen arrives under the auspices of the King, de Schinkel is enraged and will do anything to stop him. The early parts of The Promised Land focus on Kahlen working the fields silently, a Clint Eastwood-esque farmer, and finding little success. Kahlen continues to push de Schinkel the wrong way as he employs Johannes Eriksen (Morten Hee Andersen) and his wife, Ann Barbara (Amanda Collin), escaped tenant farmers in hiding.
As Kahlen struggles to till the unfriendly soil and brave the elements in the far north of Europe, he befriends Ann Babara and a Romani child thief named Anmai Mus (Melina Hagberg). With each success he finds in converting the heath, Kahlen angers de Schinkel, who finds any method to stop the newcomer, ranging from hiring murderers to striking fear into the Romani workforce to undermining Kahlen’s reputation. All the while, Kahlen is looked upon favorably by de Schinkel’s cousin and fiance, Edel Helene (Kristine Kuhatg Thorp). As the film progresses, every conceivable roadblock falls in Kahlen’s path, including freezing weather, murdered settlers, and suspicion and fear that the dark-skinned Anmai Mus is a bad luck omen. Through it all, Mads Mikkelsen plays Ludwig Kahlen as an even-keeled soldier who rarely shows emotion, but even he has a breaking point when presented with torture and humiliation. There are shocking moments in this story that had precedence in the historical record, but that does not make them any less hard to watch.
Mads Mikkelsen is often cast as the villain in Hollywood projects, but The Promised Land is the latest in a career of stellar performances from the actor. Mikkelsen, speaking in his native tongue, rarely raises his voice above a whisper. Kahlen is a formidable character, but even he has a breaking point. Simon Bennebjerg is excellent as the smarmy de Schinkel, who cares more about his wealth and power than how he is perceived and becomes one of cinema’s most vile antagonists. I hated de Schinkel throughout the movie and rooted for his inevitable comeuppance. Amanda Collin, who was recently fantastic in Ridley Scott’s Max series Raised By Wolves, is equally good as Ann Barbara, the tenant farmer who endures as much as Kahlen but seeks her revenge more directly. This movie has a simultaneously happy and bittersweet ending and carries a heavy toll with all that happens in the two hours that preceded it.
Written by Nikolaj Arcel alongside Anders Thomas Jensen, The Promised Land is based on the novel The Captain and Ann Barbara by Ida Jessen. A fictionalized tale rooted in Danish history, this film chronicles a very specific historical era that I knew nothing about until I saw this movie. Thanks to cinematographer Rasmus Vidabaek, it is filmed in a natural style that captures the stark beauty and harsh terrain of the Danish Jutland. The score by Dan Romer (Beasts of the Southern Wild) accentuates the lush period elements of the story in contrast to the less-than-ideal living conditions. Arcel takes a story told during a period of powdered wigs and thrusts it into a survivalist narrative that has no use for make-up or expensive clothing. Arcel, who helmed the vastly different A Royal Affair, has a keen eye for seeing the ugliness of this story alongside the beauty of it. Make no mistake, The Promised Land is a tough watch but a very rewarding one.
Nikolaj Arcel’s first film in six years after the box office bomb that was The Dark Tower is a masterful return to form for the filmmaker. Telling a story that few outside of Denmark may be familiar with, The Promised Land is a beautiful and terrifying story that showcases Mads Mikkelsen’s latest exceptional performance. This is a film that has the scope of a big-budget film with the sensibility of an independent movie. Blending melodrama with the horrors of the cold and wild northern terrain of Europe, The Promised Land is a fantastic film that will require patience and a strong stomach. If you are willing to invest in this tale, you will be rewarded with a solid throwback to the type of movie we rarely see anymore.
Christopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer is making headlines for a lot of things. One of the talked-about aspects of the film is a sex scene between two of the film’s stars, Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh. While just a small part of the three-hour epic, there have been international edits of the film that have censored the nudity, while others have complained of its gratuitousness. Pugh, whose filmography has already included a number of risqué scenes, was very supportive about the feeling of professionalism on Christopher Nolan’s set. This is especially given the fact that filming for such scenes can be immensely uncomfortable, and a new practice of intimacy coordination has been instituted in the making of movies.
However, Pugh would relay a humorous situation that ended up making the filming of the scene more troublesome when she revealed that a camera had broken during the scene. According to Variety, Pugh told the anecdote at a panel for Oppenheimer with Murphy and Blunt in attendance. Pugh stated, “In the middle of our sex scene, the camera broke. No one knows this, but it did. Our camera broke when we were both naked, and it was not ideal timing.” Furthermore, she added that not many cameras were available with one being in the shop (perhaps it was an IMAX camera?), so they had to figure out how to fix it.
Pugh continued, “Cillian and I are in this room together. It’s a closed set, so we’re both holding our bodies like this. (wrapping her arms around her).” A person would then attempt to fix the camera. “I’m like, well, this is my moment to learn. ‘So tell me, what’s wrong with this camera?’” she said as the person examined the problem. “You just make your moments. I’m like, ‘What’s going on with the shutter here, buddy?’”
Nolan had told her that there was an issue with the way the camera was receiving light, to which she continued, “It was just crazy that every person on this set was so knowledgeable and was so ready to make this kind of a movie that there was no dull moment. It was all amazing. It felt like we were lucky to be there every second of the day.”
Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg’s collaboration on Saving Private Ryan spawned the critically acclaimed HBO series Band of Brothers, which chronicled the infantry troops on the ground in Europe during World War II. It was a massive hit, followed by The Pacific, an equally great series focused on the Pacific Theater during the war. Now, the producers are back with a third installment in their chronicle of WWII, Masters of the Air. Focused on the United States air forces during the 1940s, this series is bound to be another substantial win for Spielberg, Hanks, and all involved. Read our rave review here!
Masters of the Air stars Elvis’ Austin Butler and The Boys in the Boat‘s Callum Turner as best friends and pilots during the heaviest warfare of the campaign. Part of the 100th, known as the Bloody Hundredth, the two pilots, both nicknamed Buck, form a bond with their fellow airmen as they fight against the German forces through France and beyond. The series features an ensemble of up-and-coming talent and direction from Cary Fukunaga, best known for True Detective and No Time To Die. Masters of the Air is a sweeping epic that features combat unlike anything else we have seen on screen before.
I got to talk to some of the talent involved with Masters of the Air about the new series. Anthony Boyle, who plays Major Harry Crosby, talked about portraying a navigator and what he learned that role entailed during WWII. Nate Mann, who plays Major Robert “Rosie” Rosenthal, discussed the challenge of not only the aerial sequences but the drama involved in characters discovering the atrocities the Nazis committed. I also spoke with producer Gary Goetzman, a long-time collaborator with Tom Hanks as well as the real-life inspiration for the film Licorice Pizza, about the potential for a fourth entry in this ongoing war saga as well as Tom Hanks’ next film, Greyhound 2, and appreciating vinyl records. Check out the full interview in the embed above.
It’s been a rough time to be a Scooby-Doo fan lately. When David Zaslav became CEO of Warner Bros., he swooped in and cancelled not just Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme, but also three separate Scooby-Doo projects: SCOOB! Holiday Haunt, Scooby-Doo! and the Haunted High Rise, and Scooby-Doo! and the Mystery Pups. But now there’s a RUMOR going around that there’s a new Scooby-Doo project in the works… and it appears that this one would be a crossover between characters from the Scooby-Doo franchise and characters from the Gremlins franchise. The title page of a script called Scooby-Doo! Gremlins Getaway recently appeared online, with the title written in a mixture of Scooby-Doo and Gremlins fonts.
We can’t say for sure that Scooby-Doo! Gremlins Getaway is happening, but it would make sense. Scooby-Doo has had crossovers with a lot of other franchises and characters throughout the years – Batman, WWE, KISS, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Krypto – and, like Scooby-Doo, Gremlins is a Warner Bros. property. 2024 also happens to be the 40th anniversary of the release of the original Gremlins movie, so this would be the perfect time for Warner Bros. to put some kind of special Gremlins project (other than the animated prequel series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, which started airing on Max last year) into production.
According to this mysterious title page, Scooby-Doo! Gremlins Getaway has been written by Jane Becker, whose previous credits include episodes of Rick and Morty, The Simpsons, Harley Quinn, and Ted Lasso.
The picture of the script was originally posted by the Behind the Scoobs Instagram account, which, as the name of the page implies, has posted a lot of material from behind the scenes of various Scooby-Doo projects.
So, while we wait to find out whether or not this is actually happening, let us know: what do you think of the idea of Scooby-Doo! Gremlins Getaway? Would you like to see Scooby-Doo and his friends sharing the screen with Gizmo and the gremlins? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
If Scooby-Doo! Gremlins Getaway does get made, here’s hoping it’s not just another Scooby-Doo project that Warner Bros. is going to toss into the trash.
When a new console comes out, it’s often a hellish endeavor trying to get one in the first year. So, with the Switch 2 rumored to drop later this year, prospective buyers will be happy to know that Nintendo is reportedly looking to ensure that if you want a Switch successor, you can get one. Most new video game…
When a new console comes out, it’s often a hellish endeavor trying to get one in the first year. So, with the Switch 2 rumored to drop later this year, prospective buyers will be happy to know that Nintendo is reportedly looking to ensure that if you want a Switch successor, you can get one. Most new video game…
Fans of Nathan Fielder know how a little bit too good he is at making you feel uncomfortable. The comedic actor has an incredibly dry delivery with the bravery and commitment of someone like Sasha Baron Cohen, whom Fielder has actually worked with on Who is America? Fielder’s Comedy Central show, Nathan For You, brought his illustrious brand of cringe comedy to a grand audience, and HBO’s The Rehearsal took it to a new level. Recently, Fielder has partnered with Benny Safdie to try his hand at more scripted narrative comedy with the abstract Showtime series The Curse, which paired Fielder up with Emma Stone.
The response to The Curse has been naturally divisive. However, one vocal supporter of the show, whom people may not have seen coming is Christopher Nolan. According to Variety, the Academy Award-nominated director of Oppenheimer recently moderated a Q&A for the show with a screening of its first episode. Nolan would glow about how The Curse was “unlike anything I’ve ever seen on television before.” He continued, “There are so few shows that come along that genuinely have no precedents. I mean, you’re going back to things like Twin Peaks or The Prisoner or Dennis Potter’s Singing Detective — things like that. So you’re in an amazing space, and I can’t wait for audiences to catch up with the climax.”
Nolan would also praise Fielder’s work on HBO’s The Rehearsal as well as state his love for Benny Safdie’s films with his director brother, Josh.
In the review for the show from our own Alex Maidy, he says, “I still cannot quite describe what this show is but I know that it is without any comparison on the small screen. The Curse is an uncomfortable watch, and I mean that in the best way possible. You will find yourself laughing, cringing, and at times, covering your eyes but never looking away from the screen. Thanks to a weekly release schedule, viewers will get to debate what will happen well into January, and I cannot wait to see how everyone reacts as this story builds toward its shocking conclusion.”
You can stream all episodes of The Curse on Paramount+ with Showtime.
Amidst the recent flurry of information about Obsidian’s forthcoming RPG Avowed, one crucial morsel of information went under the radar. We learned that the first-person role-player would have lively combat, a classless main character exploring large, sprawling levels set in the same universe as Pillars of Eternity,…
