This past Friday’s episode of The Boys featured the somewhat shocking (not so much if you’ve read the comics) death of Lamplighter (Shawn Ashmore), who committed suicide by self-immolation after first helping Hughie break into the Vought building in an attempt to rescue Starlight.

Even though we were only properly introduced to the former Seven member in the previous episode, his death came as a surprise because fans assumed he’d stick around until at least the end of the season, possibly getting something approaching a redemption arc before buying the farm.

During an interview with TV Line, Ashmore revealed that he was told that his character was going to be killed off from “the get-go,” and was happy with how Lamplighter chose to check out.

“The way that I look at death scenes is if you’re gonna go out on a show or in a film, it better be good,” said the X-Men star. “And it better be impactful. Otherwise, I feel like it’s a waste. I feel like it was a perfect ending to Lamplighter, and it puts Hughie in such a crazy situation.”

“He walks into his home, the [Vought] tower, where he thinks he belongs or wants to belong, and the last remnants of who he was or what made him important or what his identity was as a supe is gone, and he’s been replaced. It was a bummer to be gone because I love the character, and I would have loved to continue playing him, but I thought it was a very, very important scene, and it was the right way for Lamplighter to go. It was an intense scene, but I was really happy with it.”

Lamplighter’s death was certainly impactful… but meaningful? You could argue that his flaming corpse setting off the fire alarms caused a distraction which allowed Hughie to get past the guards, but something tells us that wasn’t exactly his intention.

In the comics, Lamplighter actually survives what appears to be a certain death at the hands of Butcher and the others and is kept in a near zombified state in a cell beneath Vought, so there’s always a chance his small screen counterpart will suffer the same fate. For his sake, let’s hope he really is brown bread!

What did you guys make of Lamplighter’s death? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to tune in for the Season 2 finale of The Boys this Friday.

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There’s more bad news for theaters thanks to COVID-19, as Cineworld, one of the UK’s biggest theater chains and owner of U.S. chain Regal Cinemas, has announced plans to close its venues in both countries. This comes almost immediately after the news that No Time to Die has been pushed back from this November to next April. 

According to Variety, the company’s theaters in The UK, Ireland and The U.S. will close as soon as this week, though staff in the UK – over 5500 of them – only learned of the news via stories like this one. 

Cineworld is reportedly writing to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden to explain that the exhibition sector is now “unviable” due to a lack of new releases and the fact that customers are avoiding cinemas due to safety concerns caused by on the ongoing pandemic. 

A reopening date hasn’t been set yet, but it’s likely these theaters will remain closed until next year, and that’s not good news for upcoming December releases like Dune and Wonder Woman 1984. Many believe they will also be delayed, especially with cases on the rise across the U.S. and Europe. 

Whether Cineworld will be able to survive these closures remains to be seen, and it’s likely other chains will soon follow; after all, there’s only so many times people will be willing to pay to see Tenet and The New Mutants! It will also be interesting to see how these closures affect the way studios release tentpoles in future, as it’s clear something might have to change.

For now, though, our thoughts go out to those who find themselves jobless ahead of Christmas. 

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In “Rumor Mill,” we share the hard to buy rumours that don’t come from reliable sources like the trades, but are still more believable (just) than what you might find on Reddit. 

Fans are desperate to know what the future holds in store for Deadpool in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and even though Ryan Reynolds has visited Marvel Studios, the actor maintains that he knows nothing of what comes next for the Merc with the Mouth on the silver screen. 

The casting of J.K. Simmons and Jamie Foxx in the Spider-Man franchise as new versions of characters they played in different, non-Marvel Studios properties has given fans hope, however, and it’s possible Reynolds could return as a new take on Deadpool minus the baggage that comes with his Fox counterpart. That would likely lead to a lot of funny, fourth-wall breaking jokes about his time in the X-Men Universe, too.

Today, The Direct is reporting that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is interested in signing Reynolds to the “biggest” deal in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

It’s assumed that means the actor will be signed up to star in more Marvel Studios films than any other actor, a sign, perhaps, that there are indeed huge plans for Deadpool in future despite the notable radio silence from Feige on the matter. 

Click HERE for more Deadpool 3 news from CBM!

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IGN has shared an exclusive teaser trailer for Paul W.S. Anderson’s upcoming sci-fi action blockbuster Monster Hunter. An adaptation of Capcom’s video game franchise about slaying massive monsters, the teaser gives us our first look at Diablos, one of the game’s signature enemies.

Although the trailer cuts away right as Lt. Artemis (Milla Jovovich) and her unit (TI Harris, Meagan Good, Diego Boneta) begin to open fire on Diablos, we already know their weapons will be no match for the monster. Luckily for Artemis and her squad, they’ll receive the help of a mysterious man known as The Hunter (Tony Jaa). Presumably, he will supply them with more effective weapons, like the Giant Jawblade great sword and the Great Hunter’s Bow, which we’ve seen previously in one of the movie’s posters.

Adaptations of popular video games are often hit or miss, and it’s clear, based on the synopsis for the film, that Anderson has taken some creative liberties with the source material. He did the same with the Resident Evil franchise. But while the story of Monster Hunter will clearly depart from that of the game, Anderson’s adaptation at least seems to feature a faithful recreation of the large, bipedal wyvern.

Behind our world, there is another: a world of dangerous and powerful monsters that rule their domain with deadly ferocity. When an unexpected sandstorm transports Lt. Artemis (Milla Jovovich) and her unit (TI Harris, Meagan Good, Diego Boneta) to a new world, the soldiers are shocked to discover that this hostile and unknown environment is home to enormous and terrifying monsters immune to their firepower. In their desperate battle for survival, the unit encounters the mysterious Hunter (Tony Jaa), whose unique skills allow him to stay one step ahead of the powerful creatures. As Artemis and Hunter slowly build trust, she discovers that he is part of a team led by the Admiral (Ron Perlman). Facing a danger so great it could threaten to destroy their world, the brave warriors combine their unique abilities to band together for the ultimate showdown. Monster Hunter, directed by Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil’s Paul W.S. Anderson, is based on the global video game series phenomenon.

The teaser promises Monster Hunter will be in theaters this December but with no end in sight with the coronavirus pandemic, and film’s getting pushed back left and right because of it, a 2020 release seems unlikely. The date is also in contrast with what Anderson previously told Syfy Wire that the movie was pushed to April 2021.

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Entertainment Weekly is reporting that DC’s Legends of Tomorrow has finally promoted Adam Tsekhman to series regular for the upcoming sixth season, which is expected to premiere in early 2021.

Tsekhman has recurred as the mild-mannered Gary Green since the third season premiere, always doing his best to help the Legends (well, not so much the year he was evil) even though they weren’t actually keen on him joining their ranks. However, with the team down a few key members – and temporarily without a captain – it looks like season six will finally see Gary get his wish, as EW has confirmed that he will indeed become a full-fledged member of the team.

Fans will also get a chance to further delve into Green’s past, as the season promises to tell his origin story. The official character description from The CW reads, “He’s also not the mild-mannered goofball that our team of superheroes have taken him for all these years. Season 6 will explore Gary’s origin story. It’s even more bizarre than you would imagine…“

We know that aliens will be next season’s big bads, so it’s probably fair to wonder whether Gary will be revealed as an E.T., especially considering his many eccentricities.  

Having spent last season trying to track down the Loom of Fate in order to bring back their slain comrades, the Legends must now save history from a foe like none they’ve encountered in the past or future. Co-captains of the time-ship Waverider Sara Lance and Ava Sharpe have dealt with monsters, time anomalies, and most recently, villains from Hell, but this season they will face something even more challenging and bizarre … space aliens! After one of their own is abducted by a ruthless alien, this new mission becomes personal. It will take more than the combined powers of a dark magician, John Constantine; a semi-reformed arsonist, Mick Rory; historian who transforms into steel, Nate Heywood; and a brother-sister wind-totem-wielding duo, Zara Tarazi and Behrad Tarazi to save the world for a sixth time. They must recruit a new Legend, a woman who was abducted by aliens when she was a child and supposedly imbued with powers that will help the team defeat their intergalactic foes. Either that or she’s just crazy…

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The trades have been bringing us news of quite few new additions to the upcoming second season of The Mandalorian over the past few months, but aside from Sasha Banks (whose mysterious character was spotted in the recent trailer), we’ve yet to get official word on their involvement.

Now, though, an Instagram story from Disney Plus Denmark would appear to confirm that Rosario Dawson and Timothy Olyphant will appear.

Dawson (Sin City, Daredevil) is expected to play fan-favorite force-wielder Ahsoka Tano, while Olyphant (Deadwood, Justified) has reportedly signed on for the smaller role of Cobb Vanth, who was introduced in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath series of novels.

This isn’t exactly surprising given the previous trade reports, but it’s nice to have official word on Dawson and Olyphant’s casting – especially since there was no sign of either of ’em in the first trailer. Still no updates on Temuera Morrison’s Boba Fett, but a second trailer should give us at least a little more to go on.

The Mandalorian will return to Disney+ on October 30th.

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The New Mutants cut Warlock from the screenplay when Fox decided to slash the movie’s budget, but planned reshoots were supposed to add him to the movie. That didn’t happen thanks to the Disney/Fox merger, of course, but we do now have some idea of what he might have looked like! 

Concept artist Deryl Braun has shared some of his early designs for Warlock and, as you can see, it definitely appears as if the plan was for him to look almost exactly like his comic book counterpart. 

Sacha Baron Cohen was director Josh Boone’s top choice to take on the role of Warlock in The New Mutants, and leaks from earlier versions of the screenplay revealed that the plan was for him to be a sentient computer programme Professor X had discovered (that likely would have changed once it became clear Mister Sinister was pulling the strings from the shadows). 

It’s probably going to be a long time before we get to see the New Mutants characters return to the big screen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but these designs being taken into account when/if Warlock does eventually make his live-action debut would no doubt be welcomed by many fans. 

Check out the concept art below:
 

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While Spider-Man actor Tom Holland is no Mark Ruffalo when it comes to spoiling anything major, he isn’t exactly known for being good at keeping secrets either, often sharing spoiler-y tidbits for fans on his personal Instagram as well as during convention appearances and his media interviews. 

With the bombshell news from yesterday that Academy Award-winner Jamie Foxx would be joining the cast of Marvel’s still-untitled Spider-Man threequel as Electro, there’s been much buzz around the internet that Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige and Sony Pictures may be setting the stage for a live-action Spider-Verse movie, something Foxx himself alluded to earlier this afternoon.  

Following the report, an old interview from the Spider-Man: Far From Home press junket resurfaced with Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon answering a question about a potential Spider-Verse movie and in light of yesterday’s news, their reactions – or lack thereof – are very telling as Holland basically freezes before sharing knowing looks with Zendaya and Batalon while attempting to deflect. 

He does eventually recover and, without tipping his hand too much, expresses that he’d absolutely love to make a movie with both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, but it’s Marvel and Sony’s call whether it actually happens or not, which is an answer both studios were likely happy with.

However, you should probably still watch the clip below and judge for yourself…

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As expected, in the wake of MGM and EON’s No Time to Die moving to April, Universal Pictures has vacated the date and shifted its upcoming Fast & Furious sequel F9 to May 28, 2021.

Earlier this year, Universal proved to be the most proactive of all the studios with its prompt virus response, which saw them move back their two biggest 2020 releases, F9 and Minions: The Rise of Gru, a whole year back in March.

At the time, many saw this as an overreaction to the then burgeoning coronavirus pandemic, but their foresight has proven increasingly valuable in the months since as Universal was able to secure key dates early and were also able to save a considerable amount of money on unnecessary marketing for release dates they were never going to meet.

This was very much unlike the strategy deployed by practically every other major studio, including Disney, Paramount, and Warner Bros, who have been forced to repeatedly delay films before finally deciding to punt on the rest of the calendar year and moving the majority of their biggest films to 2021.

However, while Disney and Paramount are more or less out, Warner Bros. does still have Dune and Wonder Woman 1984 on the calendar for December, so it looks like they’ll have some very big decisions to make in the coming weeks as theaters continue to struggle in their efforts to bring back audiences.  

The film will see the whole family – Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Jordana Brewster and Nathalie Emmanuel – reunite, as well as someone fans never thought they’d see again: Sung Kang, who returns to serve some justice in this adrenaline-fueled world, but, this time, the Fast gang will have their work cut out for them when they square off against a pair of extremely formidable foes in Charlize Theron’s Cipher and John Cena, who is playing Dom’s long-lost brother Jakob. 

Summer 2020 is the time for F9, the ninth chapter in The Fast Saga that has endured for almost two decades and has earned more than $5 billion around the world. Directed by Justin Lin, who helmed the third, fourth, fifth and sixth chapters of the series when it transformed into a global blockbuster, the film stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Oscar®winner Charlize Theron and Oscar® winner Helen Mirren. F9 is produced by Neal H. Moritz, Vin Diesel, Jeff Kirschenbaum, Joe Roth, Justin Lin, Clayton Townsend and Samantha Vincent

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In “Rumor Mill,” we share the hard to buy rumours that don’t come from reliable sources like the trades, but are still more believable (just) than what you might find on Reddit. 

This is definitely a rumor you should take with a pinch of salt, but according to MCU Cosmic (via The Direct), Jamie Foxx returning as Electro in Spider-Man 3 could be a direct result of WandaVision. 

The Oscar-winner first played the villain in 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in a world completely unrelated to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fans have since theorized that the Multiverse could be involved, though many are convinced Foxx will just play a new version of the same character.

The site claims, “there’s some multiverse madness involved to have that version of Electro cross over from one cinematic universe to another. Wanda really messed things up with her little ‘vision.'”

It’s unclear why this information was shared only after THR broke the news that Foxx is returning to the world of Spider-Man, but as noted, this isn’t the most reliable source and is likely an educated guess.

The prospect that the Scarlet Witch has somehow torn apart the Marvel Cinematic Universe with her powers is an interesting one, however, and Tom Holland’s Spidey battling foes from other worlds is an unexpected, albeit cool direction to take the franchise in. Now, we just have to hope the likes of Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus and Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin follow. 

Click HERE for more Spider-Man 3 news from CBM!

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