Without Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, would the Marvel Cinematic Universe have become such a global phenomenon? As the charismatic actor played a big part (perhaps the biggest) in the success of Iron Man, it’s easy to imagine the film crashing the entire franchise before it even began had another actor starred in it. While Downey Jr. bid farewell to the Marvel franchise with Avengers: Endgame, could he ever be persuaded to return as Iron Man?

“Happily. It’s too integral a part of my DNA,” Robert Downey Jr. told Esquire. “That role chose me. And look, I always say, Never, ever bet against Kevin Feige. It is a losing bet. He’s the house. He will always win.“

As the MCU isn’t in tip-top shape at the moment, the idea of bringing Downey Jr. back must be appealing, but Kevin Feige has said that they wouldn’t undo Tony Stark’s death in Avengers: Endgame. “We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again,” Feige said. “We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way.” Of course, there would still be plenty of ways for Iron Man to return, either in a flashback or as a Multiverse variant.

After taking home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Oppenheimer, Downey Jr. is setting out on yet another stage of his career. While he doesn’t seem opposed to the idea of returning to the MCU, part of me feels like the franchise shouldn’t turn to Tony Stark to save it, but hey, I’m not the one in charge of a multi-billion-dollar franchise. There have been rumblings that Downey Jr. could return as a villainous Iron Man variant in Avengers: Secret Wars, and while you should take that with a huge grain of salt at the moment, that type of switch might be enticing for the actor.

Would you like to see Robert Downey Jr. return to the MCU as Iron Man?

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Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio have been locked in to reprise the roles of hero Matt Murdock / Daredevil and villain Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, characters they originally played on the Marvel-inspired Netflix series Daredevil, on the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again ever since Marvel and Disney+ started pushing the show forward. When their supporting cast was being assembled at the end of 2022, it was announced that Sandrine Holt (American Gigolo) had signed on to appear on the show as a love interest to the Fisk – with the word being that she was taking over the role of his wife Vanessa Marianna Fisk, who had previously been played by Ayelet Zurer on the Netflix show. Apparently there had been scheduling issues with Zurer, who said she was “sad to not take part” in the new series… which, at the time, wasn’t meant to line up with the Netflix show perfectly. Filming started in early 2023, then when the strikes hit, it was decided that it needed to undergo a creative overhaul. This overhaul has ensured that this new series is now directly connected to the Daredevil series that ran for three seasons on Netflix. As of the recent Daredevil-related series Echo, all of the Netflix shows (which also included Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, The Punisher, and The Defenders) have been made canon to the Marvel Cinematic Universe… and due to the delays caused by the strikes and creative overhaul, it looks like Ayelet Zurer was able to take part after all.

A Daredevil: Born Again set picture shared by New York Newswire’s Steve Sands on Instagram showed Zurer filming a scene with D’Onofrio.

So it appears that Zurer is back as Vanessa. There’s no word on whether or not Sandrine Holt will still be appearing on the show in a different role.

Dario Scardapane, who worked on Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan and the Netflix series The Punisher, was brought in to serve as showrunner on Daredevil: Born Again during the creative overhaul. The behind-the-scenes shake-up also led to Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, the directing team who were at the helm of multiple episodes of Moon Knight and Loki season 2, being hired as directors on the show. Matt Corman and Chris Ord were previously the head writers on the show, but they were let go.

In addition to Cox, D’Onofrio, and Zurer (and possibly Holt), the cast of Daredevil: Born Again includes Elden Henson, Deborah Ann Woll, Jon Bernthal, and Wilson Bethel, reprising the roles of Murdock’s associates Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, Frank Castle / The Punisher, and Benjamin “Dex” Pointdexter / Bullseye. Also in the cast are Margarita Levieva as Matt Murdock’s love interest Heather Glenn, Michael Gandolfini as a character named Daniel Blade, Genneya Walton as BB Urich, Jeremy Earl as Anti-Vigilante Task Force member Cole North, and Lou Taylor Pucci, taking on an unspecified role.

Are you looking forward to Daredevil: Born Again, and are you glad to hear that Ayelet Zurer is back as Vanessa after all? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Machete may not text but he do sequel. Director Robert Rodriguez has addressed claims by Machete himself, Danny Trejo, who said that he doubts Rodriguez even has the rights to make the threequel Machete Kills in Space.

First, some context. Trejo recently told Rob Zombie in Interview that he was under the impression that Rodriguez had sold the rights to Machete “to Russians or something,” thus halting the project permanently. (Trejo and Zombie have direct ties to 2007’s Grindhouse, with the former being featured in the faux trailer for, of course, Machete, while Zombie helmed Werewolf Women of the SS, which has tragically yet to be made into a feature.)

But Rodriguez quickly rebuked this, telling IndieWire that his old pal isn’t exactly up to date on his info. “I retain all the rights…We do plan to make another one, we just stopped saying that we are until we’re actually making it because of all the stories that come out saying, ‘They’re making it right now, they’re making it right now!’” With that, Rodriguez noted the connection he has to Machete, something no doubt shared by fans. “Machete is one of my favorite characters and Danny and I are always dreaming up the best sequel approach. So yes, the sequel is still very possible. We are just not making it right at this moment.”

Machete Kills in Space was teased perfectly in 2013’s Machete Kills (as Machete Kills Again in Space), which both paid homage to all of those movies that would dangle the next installment in front of audience members and legit gave fans a trilogy-sealer that would be looking forward to. And indeed we still are, with Trejo previously saying he still gets asked about the yet-to-be-greenlit project. Trejo even once expressed his dissatisfaction with Rodriguez dragging his feet on the movie, saying he would take over directing duties if he had to. No disrespect to Trejo wanting to get the project in gear but we would much rather have Rodriguez behind the lens…at least compared to another Spy Kids movie.

Now that Robert Rodriguez has confirmed that he still has the rights to the Machete character, do you hope a third movie gets made? Or has too much time passed for it to stick? Give us your thoughts below!

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Deadline reports that principal photography has kicked off on Levon’s Trade, an action thriller starring Jason Statham. The project has also added a few new members to the cast, with David Harbour (Stranger Things), Michael Peña (Narcos: Mexico), Jason Flemyng (Boiling Point) and Arianna Rivas (The Harvest) signing on to appear in Levon’s Trade.

David Ayer is directing Levon’s Trade from a screenplay by none other than Sylvester Stallone, with revisions by Ayer. The project is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Chuck Dixon. The book is the first installment of the Levon Cade series, which consists of eleven novels. With so much material, this could easily be another franchise starter for Statham.

“Levon Cade (Statham) left his ‘profession’ behind him to go straight and work in construction,” reads the official synopsis. “He wants to live a simple life and be a good father to his daughter. But when his boss’s teenage daughter Jenny vanishes, he’s called upon to re-employ the skills that made him a legendary figure in the shadowy world of black ops. His hunt for the missing college student takes him deep into the heart of a sinister criminal conspiracy creating a chain reaction that will threaten his new way of life.“

In addition to Jason Statham, David Harbour, Michael Peña, Jason Flemyng, and Arianna Rivas, the cast of Levon’s Trade also includes Noemi Gonzalez, Emmett Scanlan, Eve Mauro, Maximilian Osinski, Kristina Poli, Andrej Kaminsky, and Isla Gie. The project secured a distribution deal with Amazon MGM earlier this year. It will receive a wide theatrical release in the U.S., with a streaming release on Prime Video in major international territories.

Levon’s Trade marks a quick reunion for David Ayer and Jason Statham, as Ayer directed Statham in The Beekeeper. The old-school action flick was released earlier this year and received a surprisingly positive response. Statham and Ayer clearly work well together, so hopes are high that Levon’s Trade will be another success.

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Kevin Costner has stepped behind the camera for the first time in over twenty years for Horizon: An American Saga, a Western epic that looks… well, epic. It was announced today that Horizon will debut at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19th, with Costner and the cast in attendance.

“I’d like to thank the Festival de Cannes for including my film Horizon, An American Saga in this year’s selection,” Costner said in a statement. “It’s been 20 years since I’ve had the pleasure of being on the Croisette. I’ve been waiting for the right time to return and I’m proud to say that this time has come. Horizon, An American Saga is a story that began 35 years ago, and I can’t think of a better place than Cannes to reveal to the world the result of such a wonderful adventure. The French have always supported films and believed deeply in filmmaking. Just as I believe deeply in my film.“

In addition to directing and starring in the two-film saga, Kevin Costner also produced the project and co-wrote the script alongside Jon Baird. “In the great tradition of Warner Bros. Pictures’ iconic Westerns, Horizon: An American Saga explores the lure of the Old West and how it was won—and lost—through the blood, sweat, and tears of many,” reads the official synopsis. “Spanning the four years of the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, Kevin Costner’s ambitious cinematic adventure will take audiences on an emotional journey across a country at war with itself, experienced through the lens of families, friends, and foes all attempting to discover what it truly means to be the United States of America.” Despite the project playing a role in his departure from Yellowstone, I think a lot of fans are very excited about this one.

Horizon also boasts quite the epic ensemble cast, which includes (take a deep breath here) Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Giovanni Ribisi, Jena Malone, Danny Huston, Michael Rooker, Will Patton, Owen Crow Shoe, Tatanka Means, Ella Hunt, Tim Guinee, Colin Cunningham, Scott Haze, Tom Payne, Abbey Lee, Georgia MacPhail, Douglas Smith, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jamie Campbell Bower, Alejandro Edda, Wasé Winyan Chief, Michael Anganaro, Angus Macfadyen, Jon Beavers, Alex Nibley, Kathleen Quinlan, Etienne Kellici, Amos Jason Charging Cloud, Bodhi Okuma Linton, Gregory Cruz, James Russo, Jeff Fahey, David O’Hara, Chris Conner, Leroy M. Silva, Bernardo Velasco, Tom Everett, Glynn Turman, and more. Phew.

The first part of Horizon: An America Saga will be released in theaters on June 28th, followed by the second part on August 16th.

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What if Superman had turned out to be evil? That was the idea explored by director David Yarovesky’s super-powered horror film Brightburn, which was released back in 2019. Even though the movie made under $33 million at the global box office, the budget was low enough (somewhere in the range of 6 to 12 million) that producer James Gunn said they were talking about a sequel just a couple months after the film reached screens. Then we went a long time with no mentions of Brightburn 2 – until production company The H Collective, which was also behind Brightburn, confirmed that a sequel was in development last September. Things got confusing last month when Gunn took to Threads to say there are “no plans at all” for a Brightburn 2 right now… but Gunn has cleared up some of the confusion by revealing that a sequel is unlikely due to a complicated rights situation.

Gunn wrote (again on Threads), “We talked about it early on. But the rights are all f*cked up (I only own half) so it’s unlikely that it will ever happen.” Gunn didn’t say who owns the other half of the rights. We could assume that The H Collective owns the other half… but if that’s the case, why wouldn’t Gunn want to work with them to get a sequel off the ground? We know a bit more now, but there’s still plenty of confusion surrounding this situation.

Scripted by Gunn’s brother Brian Gunn and cousin Mark Gunn, Brightburn has the following synopsis: A couple’s prayers are seemingly answered when an object crash-lands on Earth, carrying a life-form that looks like a baby boy. As the years pass and the alien grows older, it starts to use its mysterious powers in sinister and destructive ways.

James Gunn’s Slither star Elizabeth Banks was also the star of this one, and was joined in the cast by David Denman, Jackson A. Dunn, Matt Jones, Steve Agee, Becky Wahlstrom, Stephen Blackehart, and Meredith Hagner.

The H Collective’s Brightburn 2 plans were revealed in announcement that they’re launching a new label called H3 Entertainment, which “intends to incorporate new technology into the production process of projects it has in development, including a sequel to horror movie Brightburn.” The new technology in question being AI, Metaverse, and Web3.

Are you hoping the rights issues will be worked out so Brightburn 2 can make it into production? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

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Warner Bros. has dropped a brand-new poster for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which features Chris Hemsworth looming large over the wasteland. Anya Taylor-Joy’s Furiosa is front and center, flanked by war boys, various vehicles, and other denizens of the post-apocalyptic world.

Check out the Furiosa poster below!

Mad Max: Fury Road was such an exhilarating surprise that it’s hard not to expect the same for Furiosa. And while anticipation is obviously sky-high, I have faith that master director George Miller will be able to pull it off. With CinemaCon officially kicking off in Las Vegas today (with our own Chris Bumbray in attendance), we might see more from Furiosa during the Warner Bros. presentation tomorrow. Stay tuned.

In addition to Taylor-Joy as Furiosa, Hemsworth also stars as biker warlord Dementus, and it was a role that he’s called the best experience of his career. “I came into that film exhausted. I thought, ‘How am I going to get through this?’” Hemsworth said. “Week one of rehearsals with [Miller], all of a sudden it was this reigniting of my creative energy.” The actor said the production of Furiosa was “by far the best experience of my career, and something I feel the most proud of. It made me think, the work isn’t what’s exhausting it’s what kind of work it is, and how invested I am in it and if it is challenging in the right way.”

The official synopsis for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga: “As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland they come across the Citadel presided over by the Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.“

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will hit theaters on May 24th.

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After spending years in development hell, during which time it passed through the hands of popular genre filmmakers like George A. Romero, Mick Garris, Clive Barker, and Joe Dante, a reboot of the 1932 Universal Monsters classic The Mummy made its way out into the world in 1999 with Deep Rising writer/director Stephen Sommers at the helm. Made on a budget of $80 million, the new take on The Mummy was a box office success, earning over $416 million worldwide. Mixing horror, adventure, and comedy, it was a film that could be enjoyed by adults while also serving as gateway horror for a new generation of genre fans. Many see The Mummy (1999) as a beloved classic these days – so it makes sense that Universal has decided to give the film a theatrical re-release for its 25th anniversary. It will be back on the big screen in theatres nationwide starting April 26th, and tickets are available for purchase through Fandango.

Jim Orr, president of domestic theatrical distribution for Universal Pictures, provided the following statement: “Over the past twenty-five years, The Mummy has become a cornerstone of adventure cinema and has set the bar high for blockbuster entertainment. As we celebrate its 25th anniversary, we couldn’t be more thrilled to bring it back to the big screen. It’s a fantastic opportunity for both devoted fans and newcomers to immerse themselves in the exhilarating adventure and timeless story that made The Mummy an unforgettable cinematic experience.“

The film has the following synopsis: The Mummy is a rousing, suspenseful and horrifying epic about an expedition of treasure-seeking explorers in the Sahara Desert in 1925. Stumbling upon an ancient tomb, the hunters unwittingly set loose a 3,000-year-old legacy of terror, which is embodied in the vengeful reincarnation of an Egyptian priest who had been sentenced to an eternity as one of the living dead.

Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Kevin J. O’Connor, Jonathan Hyde, Oded Fehr, and Patricia Velásquez star.

I was disappointed by The Mummy and its goofy tone when it was first released (chances are I would have gotten more enjoyment out of whatever Garris, Barker, Dante, or especially Romero had in mind), but I have come to appreciate the movie for what it is as the years have gone by. I’m glad its fans will have the chance to see it in theatres again for its 25th anniversary.

Are you a fan of The Mummy (1999) and will you be attending a theatrical re-release screening? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Following in the footsteps of The Office, CBS’ Ghosts takes a BBC show and gives it an American makeover. And like the Steve Carrell hit, Ghosts has managed to break out of the shadow of its UK counterpart and created a world all its own. And as a fan of the strange and unusual, I absolutely clung to it. Ghosts is quirky and much more inappropriate than you’d think for a Network comedy. It features a fantastic cast that includes Rose McIver, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and the person I was lucky enough to talk with: Asher Grodman.

If there’s one thing you’ll immediately notice about Grodman’s character of Trevor, it’s his lack of pants. As someone who can’t help but think about the logistics of filming, I was dying to ask Asher about what it’s like to be the only person without pants on every day. So we went over that (probably to Asher’s annoyance) and what people can expect from this upcoming season. While the season may be short (there was this little thing called the Actors and Writers Strikes, which threw a wrench into a traditional season) it sounds like it packs a punch. Here’s hoping no other Ghosts get sucked off.

Ghosts synopsis:

A young couple, Sam and Jay, inherit a haunted mansion and, unaware of their invisible housemates, plan to turn it into a B&B. Their lives become much more complicated after a fall causes Sam to see the ghosts. Based on the UK series.

CBS’ GHOSTS PREMIERES NEW EPISODES ON THURSDAYS 8:30 EST AND THE NEXT DAY ON PARAMOUNT PLUS.

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After being convicted of assaulting and harassing his ex-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, Jonathan Majors will avoid jail time by completing a 52-week in-person batterer’s intervention program. Additionally, Majors must continue with mental health therapy. The new order comes as Majors faced a one-year jail sentence for his actions against Jabbari.

Last week, Majors’ legal team tried to have his conviction thrown out, saying there was “a reasonable view of the evidence to support that Defendant acted recklessly.” Majors’ arrest happened at the height of his career after the back-to-back releases of Creed III and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The latter positions Majors as Marvel’s next Thanos-level villain, Kang the Conqueror.

While Jonathan Majors would say he was “shocked” at the verdict, many were not, particularly the numerous women who have come forward declaring that the actor had a history of violent behavior. In a recent piece in The New York Times, the women who spoke up – some of whom chose to remain anonymous – said that Jonathan Majors would make them feel “loved” at one moment and “erased” not long after. In one instance, one of the women – former girlfriend Emma Duncan – said that Majors had “threatened to strangle and kill her” during an argument. According to statements obtained by the newspaper, Duncan approached him about his communications with another woman, resulting in Majors assaulting her and telling her, “I’m going to make sure you can’t have children.” Regarding some of his actions, Majors’ attorney said, “Looking back, he is embarrassed by some of his jealous behavior.”

But Jonathan Majors’ alleged tormenting wasn’t exclusive to hotels and taxis. Nine people have since come forward about the actor’s inappropriate and unprofessional behavior on the set of HBO’s Lovecraft Country, saying he treated women differently than men. According to accounts, he once cornered an AD to tell her she didn’t belong on the team while he made derogatory remarks about another’s looks.

What do you think about Jonathan Majors’ punishment? Do you think he’ll come back from this mess? Hollywood doesn’t exactly have a long memory. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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