Captain America and Iron Man would be feigning progressivism in public while secretly voting Republicans down the ballot, according to stand-up comedian Chris D'Elia.
D'Elia was discussing political influence in television shows with fellow comedians Erik Griffin and Brendan Schaub when he presented his theory.
'Wolverine! Cyclops! Professor X, hello?!'
The trio said that while some TV shows simply have entertaining characters that happen to be gay, the "gay agenda" becomes evident when certain storylines are forced.
"What I do think they do do, though, is with their big shows, they try to figure out how to put gay characters in it, or trans characters," D'Elia said on "The Golden Hour" podcast.
This led D'Elia to theorize that even though superheroes are "all woke in the movies," they are definitely voting Republican at the ballot box.
"What superhero would be left-wing?! They wouldn't. They have so much power," D'Elia said, launching into a signature screaming tirade.
"Jarvis, what's up with this f**kin' trans s**t?!" he joked, mimicking actor Robert Downey Jr. in "Iron Man."
"You know the real Captain America would be f**king Republican, secretly voting for Trump. And you know Iron Man would be talking to Jarvis about f**king woke bitches, dude!" he continued.
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Griffin prompted D'Elia to explain which members of the X-Men he feels are Republicans, which had the New Jersey native yelling into the microphone.
"Who's Republican, dude? Wolverine! Cyclops! Professor X, hello?! You think he's out there — in his mind, he's like, 'But secretly, f**k these woke, white liberal women.' Killing them left and right, dude, with his brain."
Griffin — known for his work on shows like "Workaholics" — calmly delivered his thoughts about when shows go too far with their political agenda. The 53-year-old explained that shows have jumped the shark when they become "an after-school special" that has a political lesson to teach.
"To me, that's the agenda thing, is when you're trying to control how people think about stuff," he said.
RELATED: Trump fatigue: Golden Globes host on why she kept jokes politics-free
This inspired Griffin and Schaub to develop an idea for a new filter on platforms like Netflix, where users can opt out of seeing transgender or overly gay content.
"They just need a filter," Griffin explained. "Like, more than just age filter, right? What if they had a 'gay agenda' filter?"
Schaub put a stamp on the topic and said that while he certainly enjoys a lot of new shows, "with the gay narrative, just leave it all out of the kids' stuff. But for the grown-ups, dude, you're a grown-ass person."
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And now ... your Oscars host ... Mr. Beast!
The Academy Awards, facing diminished ratings and cultural clout, is moving to YouTube starting in 2029. Yes, ABC didn’t fight hard enough to keep the once-mighty telecast on its airwaves, paving the door for the Google giant to take over.
If Marvel really wants to bring back disenchanted fans, just say Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel got lost in a black hole and can’t make the sequel.
And as one internet wag cheekily put it, calls to “smash that ‘like’ button” may blend with the boilerplate political speeches sooner than later.
It’s a sign of the times, of course, on two fronts. YouTube is a major part of the digital landscape, and ABC understands the Oscars’ cache isn’t what it used to be.
The funniest part? A Variety scribe cheered the news, hoping for an even longer Oscars telecast.
“The Oscars on YouTube could bring an unlimited runtime, unfiltered hosts, and the show we’ve always wanted” reads the hysterical headline.
Imagine enduring a three-and-a-half-hour celebrity lovefest and thinking, “More, please!”
Hollywood could really use some good news at this point. Enter a spanking new study that shares a surprising take on Gen Z. Turns out the youthful demographic’s movie theater attendance climbed by 25% over the past year.
Video game-inspired films like “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” and “A Minecraft Movie” certainly helped, but the image of phone-obsessed teens eschewing theaters for their comfy couches may come with a caveat.
Speak to us directly, and we’ll line up to see what you have to offer. Imagine the lines around the block to see “6-7: The Movie” ...
Coming soon: a reimagined take on the Red Baron where he’s the hero and that dastardly Snoopy is the heel.
Sound crazy? Well we just saw a movie greenlit based on the villainous Gaston character from “Beauty and the Beast.”
“Wicked: For Good,” which makes the Wicked Witch of the West our unfairly maligned heroine, is crushing the box office.
And another reimagined classic spun from “Cinderella” will make those nasty stepsisters the heroes. It’s called “Steps.” Really.
So why wouldn’t Snoopy’s archnemesis ever get a cinematic closeup? It feels inevitable, especially after Sony purchased the rights to the “Peanuts” franchise for a cool $457 million.
Rats.
Who will stop team Sony from following this corrosive trend? And should it draw a crowd, expect more re-imaginings, like Brad Pitt playing a spiffed-up Pig Pen and Lucy joining the NFL ...
RELATED: ‘The Case for Miracles’: A stirring road trip into the heart of faith
The MCU is in full course-correction mode. But is it too late?
The mega franchise has stumbled in recent years following the two-part “Avengers” saga against Thanos. That coaxed Disney suits to call in reinforcements — AKA Robert Downey Jr.
But wait? The charismatic star’s alter ego, Iron Man, died in “Avengers: Endgame.” Disney craved his sweet, sweet name recognition so badly it brought him back for next year’s “Avengers: Doomsday.”
Except this time, he’ll play the villainous Victor von Doom.
If that decision didn’t reek of flop sweat, the latest MCU news sure does. Chris Evans, who memorably played Captain America in nine MCU films, was given a poetic send-off in “Endgame.” The actor hung up his shield, eager to tackle roles where he doesn’t squeeze into unforgiving leotards.
Except he didn’t really go away. He’s back, according to the just-released “Avengers: Doomsday” teaser trailer. (Imagine the zeroes on the paycheck written to Mr. Evans.)
If Marvel really wants to bring back disenchanted fans, just say Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel got lost in a black hole and can’t make the sequel ...
Kamala Harris may have been the most qualified person ever to run for the White House. Just ask her.
Yet the former vice president is still struggling to answer softball questions. During the campaign, she famously bungled a layup from Sunny Hostin of “The View.”
“How will you be different than President Biden?” Swiiiiiing and a miss.
This week, far-left “comedian” Jimmy Kimmel teed up another question for the ex-veep to swat out of the studio. Why didn’t the Biden-Harris administration release the Epstein files?
“To give you an answer that will not satisfy your curiosity, I will tell you, we, perhaps to our damage, but we strongly and rightly believed that there should be an absolute separation between what we wanted as an administration and what the Department of Justice did. We absolutely adhered to that, and it was right to do that,” Harris told Kimmel.
“The Justice Department would make its decisions independent of any political or personal vendetta or concern that we may have, and that’s the way it worked.”
Harris is rested and ready for the 2028 presidential campaign, no doubt.
Progressive journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates knows how to create a villain — a useful talent for his side gig as a prolific Marvel comics writer.
But real life ain't Wakanda — and when it comes to Charlie Kirk's legacy, not everyone is sticking to Coates' simplistic good guys/bad guys script.
In Coates' world, that can only mean they're "sanitizing" who the slain Turning Point USA leader really was.
'But if you ask me what the truth of his life was ... I would've had to tell you it's hate.'
Coates, who's scripted acclaimed runs of "Black Panther" and "Captain America," slammed Kirk in Vanity Fair just six days after his murder, calling the 31-year-old conservative activist a purveyor of "transphobia" who "reveled in open bigotry" and was "unconcerned with" the "humanity of Palestinians."
His proof? Out-of-context quotes from Kirk, all from infamous left-wing political machine Media Matters.
Having assembled this rap sheet of word crimes, Coates took it upon himself to call out those he felt were being too kind to Kirk after he was assassinated.
These included California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) for saying Kirk loved to debate, the Atlantic's Sally Jenkins for stating that Kirk "argued with civility," and NYT's columnist Ezra Klein for opining that Kirk "was practicing politics in exactly the right way."
Coates had a chance to confront Klein face-to-face as a guest on the September 28 episode of his NYT podcast, "The Ezra Klein Show."
Just 10 minutes in, Klein asked Coates, "Why do you think [Charlie Kirk] was winning?"
"That's not really hard for me to understand," Coates began, performing a roundabout before delivering some incredibly off-color remarks.
RELATED: Hollywood goes full antifa with 'One Battle After Another'
"I published a book 10 years ago, 'Between the World and Me.' And one of the constant, constant reactions to that was that it was overly pessimistic about this country. It was overly pessimistic about the future. ‘Why are you so dark, Ta-Nehisi? Why can’t you give us any sense of hope?’" the writer prefaced.
"And the reason I would always say is because any sort of sober examination of the history of this country says that those of us who believe in equality, those of us who believe in respecting the humanity of our neighbors and of everyone, that we're up against some really, really powerful forces of history and powerful, powerful narratives."
Coates went on to reminisce about identity politics in reference to President Obama and said that while it is nice to bask in the race-based joy of "seeing a black family in the White House mirroring what some of us felt the best of us was," the public sometimes "soothe ourselves" by pointing out instances of love and acceptance. Stating that he feels those are indeed powerful forces, Coates juxtaposed them with hate, which he believed Kirk was a purveyor of.
"I also believe hate is a powerful force. I believe it's a powerful, powerful unifying force. And I think Charlie Kirk was a hate-monger."
"I really need to say this over and over again," Coates continued. "I have a politic that rejects violence, that rejects political violence. I take no joy in the killing of anyone, no matter what they said. But if you ask me what the truth of his life was, and the truth of his public life, I would've had to tell you it's hate. I'd had to tell you it is the usage of hate and the harnessing of hate towards political ends," Coates added.
The writer condemned Kirk's killing as "horrifying," before trying to convince Klein that "political violence is the norm for the black experience" in America.
"I don't even mean, like, the Malcolm X, Martin Luther King variety of it, right? Which is the norm too. You would be hard-pressed to have a conversation with a black person in this country that is a descendant of slavery and not have them be able to reach maybe right here, or to tell you themselves, 'Look, my uncle, my grandfather, my great-grandfather, they lived in a small town in Mississippi, in Tennessee, in Alabama. They got into some sort of dispute with a white man, and either they were lynched or we had to run.' Political violence runs through us."
According to Britannica, between 1882 and 1951, 4,730 people were lynched in the United States: 1,293 whites and 3,437 blacks.
The encyclopedia also states that after 1935, "the number of lynchings drastically declined. During the 1950s and early '60s, the average stood at less than one per year. Some years saw no lynchings at all."
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Disney still prints money, but creatively it feels like a company on borrowed time. Marvel and Star Wars once powered revenues, yet a collapse in quality and a relentless release schedule have dulled both brands. The animation studio that set the global standard now leans on sequels and live-action remakes.
Worse, Disney struck a devil’s bargain by cultivating the “Disney adult.” By chasing the childless consumer, the company bought short-term profits while starving its future. At this rate, the company will have no next generation to buy into its nostalgia-based market.
Disney once sold childhood to children and, by doing so, sold a future to parents. By pivoting to the childless super-consumer, it sold out both.
Walt Disney’s dominance came from talent and timing. He had a gift for stories that delighted children and amused their parents. He also built in an era when mass media suddenly reached every living room, the postwar baby boom swelled the audience, and families had disposable income for the first time. Walt converted that moment into a network of theme parks that became rites of passage. In America, childhood meant Disney, and Disney meant childhood.
The empire grew after Walt’s death. Parks multiplied. The company expanded into television, music, sports, and games. Disney stretched its reach to older kids and teens, building an ecosystem where a child could live almost entirely inside one brand. That was the genius: Every formative memory wore a set of mouse ears, and nostalgia was guaranteed on the back end.
But invention is hard. Replicating Walt’s spark isn’t a system you can scale. Disney wanted every demographic and every dollar. Children had been the untapped market, but kids don’t control income; parents do. Marketing directly to adults looked unrealistic — until executives realized nostalgia could do the work.
Nostalgia feels like striking gold. You don’t need to create; you need to repackage. Decades of artistry built so much goodwill that the faintest echo could trigger warm feelings: a musical cue, a costume redesign, a cameo. For young adults who discovered the world is harsher than childhood promised, revisiting Disney’s stories and parks delivered comfort on demand.
That same generation had fewer children, often none. The old route — enchant the kids to unlock the parents’ wallets — narrowed. Disney pivoted. Sequels, reboots, and remakes pushed out originality. Marvel briefly rescued the strategy, but social justice sermons plus a firehose of content burned out the audience. Lucasfilm looked like another bottomless mine, yet once the initial excitement faded, fans saw the studio couldn’t craft new myths. The product kept coming; the magic didn’t.
The parks followed the money. Regular attendance became a status symbol among young adults eager to flaunt luxury consumption online. Disney obliged, hiking prices and layering on exclusive experiences squarely aimed at childless visitors with cash to burn. Elite dining clubs, after-hours parties, and “premium” line-skipping converted nostalgia into a subscription lifestyle. Even Walt’s no-alcohol rule vanished. Spaces designed for families became curated playgrounds for nostalgic adults.
Nothing exposed this shift like the Star Wars hotel. The Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser promised full immersion — actors in character, missions, staged set pieces, and themed cabins — at an eye-watering starting price of $5,500 for two nights for two people, but often much more. Families had no chance. The corridors filled with adults paying thousands for a few days of role-play and an Instagram dump. When the novelty faded and the numbers stopped working, Disney shuttered it.
RELATED: Disney's woke 'Snow White' on life support
For a while, the nostalgia economy worked. Remakes still posted strong weekends. Parks extracted more revenue per guest. But the company stopped enchanting children. Re-skinning "Beauty and the Beast" or "Aladdin" keeps cash flowing for a season; it plants nothing for the future. You can only harvest memories if children are making new ones now. Disney has been eating seed corn instead of planting for tomorrow.
That creative retreat shows up in the audience. The company trains adults to consume experiences rather than build households. Disney adults don’t just buy tickets and merch; many postpone or abandon the basics of civilization — marriage, kids, a home — so they can keep chasing the next “exclusive.” Some even treat continuing their bloodline as evil. Disney is not solely to blame for this wider phenomenon, but it reinforces it and profits from it.
None of this means Disney’s executives are uniquely foolish. They followed the incentives. The audience that most reliably spends money was the one you made last generation: the kid who grew up inside Disney’s ecosystem and never left it. Social media turned that audience into free marketing. Wall Street demanded predictable growth, and nostalgia delivered on time. The trap is that nostalgia always cannibalizes tomorrow to feed today.
The moral is bigger than one company. A civilization that feeds on recycled memory while sneering at renewal is a civilization drifting toward hospice. Disney once sold childhood to children and, by doing so, sold a future to parents. By pivoting to the childless super-consumer, it sold out both.
Actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach could not help himself when answering a fan question at a recent press junket.
The cast of yet another movie rendition of "The Fantastic Four" sat down for an interview with IMDB, where he was asked a series of fan questions ranging from silly to thought-provoking.
While fans are likely familiar with wildly progressive public comments from star Pedro Pascal, who plays Mister Fantastic, Moss-Bachrach, who plays The Thing, may have surprised fans with the way he chose to answer one of their questions.
'There's a handful of fascists that I would just throw into outer space.'
The cast were prompted with the question: "If you could borrow your character's powers for one day, what's the first thing you would do?"
First, Pascal said that he would love to borrow the Invisible Woman's powers so that he could go swimming and not have sharks attack him. Joseph Quinn, who plays the Human Torch, said he would go on holiday and cook his co-stars a barbecued meal "with my own fire."
Moss-Bachrach, meanwhile, did not hesitate to give a political answer when it was his turn to respond.
"I would — there's a handful of fascists that I would just throw into outer space. That's what I would do."
Pascal chuckled, then reached out his hand, and the two high-fived.
"F**king A," Pascal immediately replied.
RELATED: All in the family: Hollywood golden boy Pedro Pascal's loony leftist pedigree
Before "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," Moss-Bachrach starred alongside Jon Bernthal in the obviously right-wing series "The Punisher," so the actor's remark may come as a surprise given he rarely makes public political comments. However, he was part of a group that called for a ceasefire between Palestine and Israel in 2024, specifically stating that it stands with Palestinians.
Pascal, on the other hand, has consistently gone above and beyond to include political messaging in public interviews, and he has also provided unprovoked public commentary on cultural issues.
For example, Pascal slammed President Donald Trump over his immigration policy while in Cannes, France, in May.
The Chilean actor also lashed out at author J.K. Rowling when she celebrated the U.K. Supreme Court's decision that the definition of a woman should only include actual women.
Pascal called her celebration "awful disgusting s**t" indicative of "heinous loser behavior."
RELATED: What Pedro Pascal’s stardom reveals about Hollywood — and its war on real men
Pascal, whose brother who began presenting himself as a woman at age 29 in 2021, comes from a family of devout communists who were forced to flee Chile in the 1970s after harboring the leader of the Revolutionary Left Movement, a Marxist-Leninist group.
His real name is José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal. The Balmaceda family is deeply rooted in Chilean political history, with about a dozen politicians in the family, including former Chilean President José Manuel Balmaceda (1886-1891).
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The director of the new "Superman" movie has found himself under attack from online critics after he talked about what it feels like to be attacked by online critics.
For director James Gunn, it may feel like he is living in an alternate timeline (much like his superhero movies), but unlike the Avengers, he cannot be snapped into a different reality.
Gunn was doing a press junket interview with popular outlet the Reel Rejects (1.37 million subscribers on YouTube) when he was asked how he deals with online hate. Gunn's response was seemingly innocuous, but as usual, nothing could prepare him for the offense that was taken.
'It may not be directly racist, but it does contribute.'
"I do tune out most of social media, but every once in a while someone will say something, it's always the weirdest stuff," Gunn told reporter Greg Alba.
The director, touching on how the Superman character is faced with criticism in the new movie, explained that he typically comes to terms with online remarks after thinking about the insignificance of them.
"It's never what you expect, some weird thing ... and then I go, I think I might be getting upset about something a 12-year-old in India is saying, you know what I mean? I'm like, let it go."
Sadly, the backlash for simply saying "India" was immediate.
RELATED: New 'Superman' and 'Fantastic Four' face fearsome foe: Audience fatigue
The Financial Express noted immediate calls for a boycott by those reacting to a clip of the exchange on X. Viewers called Gunn's remarks "casual racism" and labeled him "racist to the core."
"He could've just avoided mentioning the location knowing the fact India already faces so much racism online," another viewer wrote on X. "These guys very well know what they speak. It may not be directly racist but it does contribute," the person claimed.
The Reel Rejects published the interview on July 1, with another interview with Gunn and Rachel Brosnahan (who plays Lois Lane) published by the Hindustan Times out of India the very next day.
The dates of the interview are significant because in the latter, Gunn appeared absolutely head-over-heels in love with India.
RELATED: Donald Trump wants to save Hollywood. Can he count on 'Superman'?
"Bollywood films are important to me when I'm telling stories," Gunn told the Indian outlet. "What those films give to me is that they aren't afraid of making a movie that has heart, that has drama, but that's also funny, there's music, and all of those things are beautiful."
From there, Gunn continued to shower praise on India and Indians:
"I would love to see an Indian actor be a part of the global superhero universe, but I would also love to have Indian filmmaking collaborators. ... Who's our Indian superhero, and who are the Indian filmmakers that want to be a part of this universe, that's important to us. We've already got things started in Korea, Japan, and Brazil. So it would be great to collaborate with some Indians."
The 58-year-old went on to say how "grateful" he is for Indian fans and that he thought about how much Superman means to the people of India while he was making the movie.
While it is difficult to tell the original recording date of each interview, Gunn's worldwide press tour started on June 19, which indicates both were likely filmed in late June.
However, the only two stops in June were in Manila and Rio de Janeiro, nowhere in India.
Movie critic and "Hollywood in Toto" podcast host Christian Toto told Blaze News that he thinks Gunn will "pander to any and every group (except conservatives) to ensure" the success of his latest film.
"[Gunn] famously got canceled for inappropriate jokes prior to 'Guardians of the Galaxy 3.' Now, he needs his 'Superman' to be an unmitigated success."
Toto added, "He doesn't realize it's 2025, and this kind of hostage-style apology no longer goes over like it used to."
The film critic was referring to Gunn getting dropped as the director for the "Guardians of the Galaxy" series in 2018, after old social media posts of his resurfaced that showed him making jokes that were deemed inappropriate by the powers that be. The jokes reportedly were about "pedophilia and rape."
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This July, Earth's greatest heroes meet their most formidable foe yet ... an indifferent audience.
At least, that's the worry as DC and Marvel go head-to-head for summer blockbuster season's main event: Disney's "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" vs. Warner Bros.' "Superman."
To be fair, Garner's character is canonical — she plays Shalla-Bal, the female successor to OG Silver Surfer Norrin Rad. It still feels like Marvel is up to its old tricks.
Does the fate of the world hang in the balance? No, but the fate of Hollywood might.
After years of alienating moviegoers by prioritizing leftist virtue-signaling over entertainment, the industry hopes to put people back in the seats next month with some good, old-fashioned tentpole crowd-pleasers. And what better to lure them in than two big-budget exemplars of the genre that has dominated the multiplex for the better part of two decades?
Except that audiences have been showing signs of superhero fatigue in the last few years, raising worries that this much-ballyhooed showdown may turn out to be box office Kryptonite.
When Warner Bros. hired James Gunn as co-head of DC Studios, the announcement was met with mixed feelings.
While many were excited for the "Guardians of the Galaxy" director to dip his toes in the world of DC after the successes of "The Suicide Squad" and "Peacemaker," some feared his signature humor and style would be a turnoff to mainstream audiences. Emotions on both sides intensified when Gunn announced he would be writing and directing the first movie of the post-Zack Snyder DCEU, "Superman."
Newcomer David Corenswet takes the reins from Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel, with Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, and Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, a leading member of the Green Lantern Corps.
RELATED: The fast track to collapse: How AI and wokeness are speeding up Hollywood’s downfall
Multiple trailers have led to plenty of speculation — and with it, sparring. Detractors cite poorly received test screenings, as well as unconfirmed rumors that the plot revolves around Lex Luthor using social media to garner hate for Superman with the hashtag “#Supers**t."
One thing seems certain: Whatever some fans find to criticize about the new "Superman," it won't be political pandering. Having himself felt the wrath of cancel culture, Gunn seems dead set on appealing to as wide an audience as possible.
Commenting on the film's first teaser trailer, which features shots of a bruised and battle-weary hero, Gunn said,
We do have a battered Superman in the beginning. That is our country. ... I believe in the goodness of human beings, and I believe that most people in this country, despite their ideological beliefs, their politics, are doing their best to get by and be good people — despite what it may seem like to the other side, no matter what that other side might be.
This movie is about that. It’s about the basic kindness of human beings and that it can be seen as uncool and under siege [by] some of the darker voices [and] some of the louder voices.”
Considering how vocal Gunn has been about his disdain for Donald Trump in the past, it’s refreshing to see the director offer signs that his movie will let viewers leave their differences at the door.
Fans of this new take have praised the performances, bright color palette, and a tone that feels more in line with the iconic 1978 Christopher Reeve-led "Superman." Will "Superman" save the industry? Strong pre-ticket sales suggest it has enough wind under its cape to soar well above Hollywood’s expectations.
"The Fantastic Four: First Steps" looks to continue the goodwill earned by this spring's "Thunderbolts*," which opened to high praise from audiences and critics alike despite disappointing box office.
After underwhelming iterations of Marvel's first family in 2005 and 2015 (the less said about the unreleased 1994 version, the better), the studio is hoping the third time's the charm.
Starring Pedro Pascal as Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Invisible Woman/Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Human Torch/Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing/Ben Grimm, "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" features the team going up against one of Marvel’s most feared villains: Galactus, the devourer of worlds.
If that will appease traditionalists, the gender-swapping of beloved Marvel mainstay the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) is bound to raise eyebrows — and attract more sniping at the "M-SHE-U."
To be fair, Garner's character is canonical — she plays Shalla-Bal, the female successor to OG Silver Surfer Norrin Rad. Point taken, but it still feels like Marvel is up to its old tricks.
Comments by producer Grant Curtis earlier this month certainly don't help matters.
“If you do go back through the comics," said Curtis, "you realize that Sue Storm is arguably the leader of the Fantastic Four, because without Sue Storm, everything falls apart.”
Many fans will be quick to point out the obvious: Mr. Fantastic has always been portrayed as the leader, with Invisible Woman taking on a more motherly role. For his part, however, Pedro Pascal doesn’t seem to mind being sidelined. In fact, he seems to welcome it.
I love being led in a way. What you may identify as generosity for me, it just isn't. I'm only inspired by … I guess just powerful women have been the thing that has gotten me through being alive. So to have the opportunity to stand by one, to learn from one — just a partner, it's partnership; it’s male and female, but it's also just a kind of transcendent sort of partnership in the work and in the characters. And so I don't really know what the f**k I'm gonna do without you [Vanessa] honestly,".
In addition to flaunting his "male feminist" bona fides (and giving fans the "ick" with his awkward shows of affection toward Kirby), Pascal has also drawn negative attention with his outspokenness on immigration policy. None of this has won over those for whom Pascal is simply and profoundly miscast as Reed Richards.
Worse, rumors that stars including Adam Driver, Jake Gyllenhaal, Christopher Abbott, and Jamie Dornan passed on the role before it went to Pascal suggest that it's the script's revisionist portrayal of Mr. Fantastic that is the problem — despite director Matt Shakman's insistence that he has looked to the original comics for inspiration.
That inspiration is certainly evident in the film's setting, a futuristic 1960s alternate reality that nicely pays homage to the original vision of "Fantastic Four" creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Pascal aside, the casting of "Fantastic Four" promises a satisfying adaptation, as does the comic-book-accurate appearance of Galactus (Ralph Ineson) — a far cry from the cloud-like space cluster depicted in 2007 sequel "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer."
While "First Steps’" pre-sales trail behind those of "Superman," they're impressive enough for Marvel to be optimistic.
Of course, no amount of hype, armchair producing, or post-credits "Avengers: Doomsday" teases can turn either of these movies into a hit. That power remains squarely with us: the audience.
In that spirit, which of these two movies are you looking forward to seeing? Or will you be forgoing superheroics altogether in favor of the seventh "Jurassic Park" movie? Let us know in the comments below.
If you've already spread one massive hoax across a cable news network for years, you'd think you'd think twice about spreading another.
Not Rachel “Russia Collusion” Maddow.
The Corn Pop Chronicles? Shaking hands with the air? Trailing off into gobbledygook? Please, let us know the legacy of which you speak.
The MSNBC superstar joined Stephen Colbert this week to push another Trump-related conspiracy theory. “The Late Show” host and Maddow teamed up to predict President Donald Trump and his minions won’t allow elections in 2026, let alone 2028.
Their proof? They don’t have it. Just wild speculation, a dash of TDS, and corporate overlords who don’t seem to care what their star players shriek. Remember, this is a comedy show at the end of the day.
Either Maddow wants to trash what remains of her credibility, or she’s auditioning for “The View …”
Dum-dummmm!
They say the only constants are death and taxes. Add “Law & Order” TV shows to that short list. The long-running NBC procedural just got greenlit for another season. That’ll make 25 years of the cop drama, going all the way back to 1990. The show took a knee in 2010 but returned in 2021.
Need more? “Law & Order: SVU” also got extended for another year, making it 27 straight years of that crime drama.
Good thing George Soros prosecutors have spread across the fruited plain. A show known for its “ripped from the headlines” plots needs all fodder it can get …
Here we go again.
The MCU’s “Captain America: Brave New World” endured highly publicized reshoots before its February release date. And boy, did it show. Those reshoots also added to the project’s bad buzz prior to its debut, one reason it made far less than the most successful franchise films in the saga.
Now, we’re learning “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is similarly getting the reshoot treatment. This time, the news arrives mere weeks before the film’s July 25 release date.
This comes after three of the "Fantastic Four" cast members made all the wrong kind of buzz for the film. First, co-stars Vanessa Kirby (Invisible Woman) and Joseph Quinn (the Human Torch) mocked the source material in a viral interview. Did they learn nothing from Rachel Zegler, the princess of foot-in-mouth disease?
Later, Pedro Pascal (Mr. Fantastic) attacked J.K. Rowling for daring to support women playing women’s sports. Pascal also donned a combative “Protect the Dolls” T-shirt to show his support for the trans movement.
We’ve already endured two not-so-successful attempts to bring the Marvel Comics group to the big screen. Three strikes and you’re out, and the cast members are playing like the Colorado Rockies …
Nate Bargatze wouldn’t hurt a fly … with his comedy.
The squeaky-clean stand-up made his fortune by telling jokes suitable for all ages. No politics. No R-rated gags. Just wry observations on modern life. And he’s selling out arenas for his trouble.
He still felt compelled to throw some shade at the Mouse House for its corporate tomfoolery. The comic, asked by Esquire magazine about his creative influences, name-checked several stars, including Walt Disney. He meant the company’s founder, not the current iteration.
“Now Disney is run by a guy that’s just a businessman … well, that guy doesn’t care about the audience.”
You kiss your mother with that mouth, Nate?
When you’ve lost Variety …
President Joe Biden continued his, “no, really, I’m fine” tour on “The View” this week. Said tour comes as new books promise to unveil just how cognitively compromised Biden was during his presidency.
Awkward! And even “The View’s” softball-lobbers couldn’t protect Biden from himself. Enter Variety, which bemoaned that Biden’s “View” appearance did little to restore his legacy.
The Corn Pop Chronicles? Shaking hands with the air? Trailing off into gobbledygook? Please, let us know the legacy of which you speak.
While Biden was sharper than he was at, say, the cataclysmic June 2024 debate that led to his dropping out, he did himself no favors by allowing Jill Biden to jump in and finish the answer to a question about his cognitive abilities. As she spoke, Biden cast his gaze downward and allowed his expression to go blank.
It’s enough to make a journalist wonder if Biden is suffering from some sort of cognitive decline. But that’s just the cheap fakes talking, right?
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the most pro-life Hollywood blockbuster in a long time, and maybe ever.
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