Fans were shocked when the first trailer for Netflix’s upcoming fantasy series Sweet Tooth was released, if only because it’s a DC Comics adaptation being produced by Robert Downey Jr. Having played the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Tony Stark for over a decade, there was a lot of surprise in some circles that the star had pitched up to work for the competition, but it’s not as if he’s bound to the MCU for life.

The project’s been in development since November 2018 when it was initially set up at Hulu, and Downey Jr. has been involved from the start as an executive producer alongside his wife Susan through their Team Downey banner, so it’s hardly breaking news. Netflix acquired the rights in April of last year, and if the footage is anything to go by, it could be next in a long line of hit fantasy shows for the streaming service.

Sweet Tooth premieres in just over three weeks on June 4th, and a new featurette featuring Robert Downey Jr. seen above now gives us some insight into how the series came together. The premise focuses on a fantasy world where human-animal hybrids emerge as the result of an event known as The Great Crumble. 10 year-old Gus is part-deer, and during his travels he partners up with a mysterious wanderer before they embark on an adventure across America to search for answers.

It’s a solid concept, with the trailer promising plenty of lavish visuals and interesting worldbuilding for good measure. A glance at the Top 10 most-watched rankings on any given day makes it perfectly clear that Netflix subscribers are hugely keen on the fantasy genre, so Sweet Tooth stands an excellent chance of finding success on the platform.

The Coronavirus pandemic has had a severe effect on the theatrical industry, and we’re still waiting to find out if the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters is going to go boom or bust. Once upon a time, Jared Leto’s Morbius was set to hit the big screen in July 2020 before Venom: Let There Be Carnage arrived just a couple of months later, but it would be an understatement to say that things have changed since then.

Morbius is going to be sitting on the shelf until next January now, but we’ll at least get to see Tom Hardy return as Eddie Brock on September 24th. The first Venom was a surprisingly massive success at the box office after hauling in over $850 million, but reviews were less than enthusiastic and at times it felt as though director Ruben Fleischer deliberately set out to make a superhero blockbuster from the 1990s.

First Venom: Let There Be Carnage Poster Debuts

• 

• MORE FROM THE WEB

Click to zoom 

Andy Serkis is behind the camera for the sequel, and it’s already looking as if he’s adopted a much different visual and tonal aesthetic. Meanwhile, the promise of some scenery-devouring exchanges between Hardy’s nervously sweating Eddie Brock and Woody Harrelson’s broad Cletus Kasady should be more than enough to let you know if you’re on board with the follow-up, which seems like it’s going to be a whole lot of intentionally ridiculous fun based on this first trailer.

It’s unlikely that it’ll come close to reaching $850 million during its theatrical run given the lingering effects of the pandemic, but it should at least put the SPUMC in good stead for the release of both Morbius and the slew of in-development projects to have been announced during the long wait for Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

Deepfake videos have taken fan casting to a whole new level, allowing editors to swap out the faces of performers with whatever actor they chose. A recent effort sees Jean-Claude Van Damme as Johnny Cage in the original Mortal Kombat movie, after the reboot renewed interest in the less-regarded ‘90s efforts.

The video features a trio of scenes with the original and edit shown in side-by side comparison, first where Cage is introduced to the titular tournament, then the beginning of his battle with Scorpion (with the film’s ropey CGI painfully apparent) and finally the conclusion of his bout against Goro.

The character was played by Linden Ashby, who’s probably best known to modern audiences from drama/horror series Teen Wolf as Stiles Stilinski’s father Sheriff Noah, and to be honest, he was about as distinctive as much of the rest of the pic. It’s slightly jarring to see JCVD’s face but not hear him speak in his Belgian accent, which may well have been why he wasn’t approached to play the part in spite of the character being based on him, since Cage is intended to be quintessentially American. Interestingly, Van Damme did previously get the chance to portray an all-American hero of a video game adaptation, but unfortunately that was 1994’s Street Fighter.

Here’s How Chris Pratt Could’ve Looked As Johnny Cage In Mortal Kombat Movie

• 

• MORE FROM THE WEB

Click to zoom 

Of course, Cage wasn’t featured in the recent reboot despite a popular fan theory that franchise newcomer Cole Young would adopt the moniker as a stage name, and while he was the only one of the original game’s lineup of warriors to not be included directly, the allusion to his future presence formed a prominent sequel hook.

Despite many fans calling for Van Damme to play Cage in Mortal Kombat 2, this is highly unlikely to come to pass as he’s now far too old unless some de-aging techniques are implemented. However, we at least have this video to imagine what might have been.

Some actors are limited in the range of their performances, but can be relied upon when well within them. Jason Statham is one such person, consistently embodying gruff and taciturn roles in mid-level action movies. The latest such outing of his is Guy Ritchie’s Wrath of Man, for which a new clip has now been released.

The story sees a mysterious man known as H hired as a driver for armored trucks, only for his talents as a marksman and killer to be quickly revealed when he puts down an attempted hold-up, massacring the would-be thieves with callous efficiently and revealing that there is more to his presence than first appeared.

The clip shows Holt McCallany’s Bullet and Josh Harnett’s Boy Sweat Dave (and if you think they’re odd names, take a look at the character rundowns of some of Ritchie’s other movies) discussing the aftermath of the robbery that H foiled with seemingly effortless ease and addressing that something wasn’t right about both the situation and the man who dealt with it.

Jason Statham’s Wrath Of Man Gets New Release Date And First Poster

• 

• MORE FROM THE WEB

Click to zoom 

The rest of the video consists of the trailer for the pic, but adds greater context to their words if you’ve yet to encounter it. The video highlights that the film is likely to be as much about the mystery of H’s past as it is about him slaughtering his way through an army of anonymous mooks, and although his motivation is already revealed in the released material, exactly where he acquired his very specific set of skills will only come up in the movie itself.

Wrath of Man marks the fourth collaboration between Statham and Ritchie, after London-set gangster flicks Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, and pretentious crime thriller Revolver. It looks to take itself far more seriously than much of the director’s previous work, though, even if the star’s granite expressions will be perfect for maintaining the mystery of the man he portrays.

Less than 24 hours remain until the latest entry in Capcom’s illustrious survival horror series arrives.

Come May 7th, the gates to Resident Evil Village‘s titular setting will swing open, welcoming players to explore its snow-touched streets and the dark secret it hides in plain view as Ethan Winters. Believing his encounter with the Baker family to be a freak occurrence, the hapless protagonist finds himself embroiled in yet another nightmare scenario several years after RE7, with the catalyst for his actions this time being the abduction of his daughter, Rose.

In light of Chris Redfield’s apparent turn toward villainy, Ethan is left to infiltrate a bizarre cult infatuated with the enigmatic Mother Miranda and her four servants. One of these, of course, is the abnormally tall Lady Dimitrescu, who swiftly became the face of the marketing campaign following her debut in initial trailers. Speaking of which, a brand new promo has been released today featuring previously unseen content, and you can check it out up above.

Resident Evil Village Review

Click to zoom 

Of course, Dimitrescu is just one lord of four that you’ll be forced to confront in order to retrieve Rose, all of whom lay claim to their respective territory. Heisenberg, Moreau and Beneviento each represent a creature from folklore but we won’t spoil the specifics – that’s for you to discover on your own. Anyone who pre-orders the title will be granted access to some helpful bonus items for use in the campaign as well as RE: Verse, a multiplayer accompaniment intended to celebrate the franchise’s 25th anniversary. Following confirmation of the latter’s delay, however, this feature is now scheduled to arrive sometime during the summer.

Resident Evil Village is available tomorrow for Xbox One, Series X|S, PS4, PS5 and PC and you can find WGTC’s review over here.

Fans have been waiting patiently on season 4 of Stranger Things to arrive for a long time now, and we’ve reached a point where it’s been fifteen months since the first teaser trailer was released, and yet set photos are still making their way online as shooting continues. Indeed, Netflix’s cultural phenomenon was hit hard by the Coronavirus pandemic, and star Finn Wolfhard even hinted that we might not be seeing the gang back on our screens until next year.

However, that hasn’t stopped Netflix from releasing another promo for what’s arguably the streaming service’s marquee TV show, and one that’ll surely be in with a genuine shot at toppling Bridgerton as the platform’s most-watched run of episodes whenever we finally get the chance to reacquaint ourselves with Eleven, Hopper, the Byers family and the rest of the ensemble for the new season. Unfortunately, this latest trailer doesn’t give us much, but it does welcome us into the Rainbow Room, as you can see above.

New BTS Images Revealed From Stranger Things Season 4

Of course, Hawkins, Indiana will no doubt remain the unluckiest small town on Earth as it continues to be attacked on all sides by shady government forces, interdimensional monsters bent on wreaking havoc and perhaps most dangerous of all, the drama of high school life. Season 4 is throwing a Cold War element into the mix as well based on Hopper’s whereabouts, and you can bet the Duffer brothers will be pulling out all of the stops to make sure the lengthy wait has been more than worth it.

Each season has gotten progressively more expansive in terms of scope and scale, too, so we can also expect that to continue, and it’ll all be tied together by Hopper’s mysterious reappearance in a Russian gulag having apparently met his death during the finale of the last run, even though nobody really bought into the idea of Stranger Things killing off one of its most popular and important figures.

This Monday has been very kind to Marvel fans. Not only did the House of Ideas unveil a sizzle reel for the whole of the MCU’s Phase 4, which revealed new releases dates, movie titles and our first look at Eternals, but today has also delivered a fresh trailer for Loki, which dropped tonight during ESPN’s Arena of Heroes event.

We haven’t seen Tom Hiddleston’s Asgardian trickster since his resurrection in Avengers: Endgame, and his incoming Disney Plus series promises to be everything you’d hope a show starring the God of Mischief would be and more. While WandaVision explored magic and sitcom surrealness, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was more grounded and set in contemporary times, Loki looks set to lean into the sci-fi side of the MCU.

Taking a page from the likes of Doctor Who and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Thor’s wayward brother is forced to work as an agent of the Time Variance Authority, headed by Owen Wilson’s Mobius M. Mobius, to fix any dangerous variations in the timeline. Like him, for instance. In fact, a previously released synopsis has revealed that Loki’s facing being deleted from reality if he rebels.

New Loki Photos Tease The God Of Mischief’s Next Adventure

Click to zoom 

Gugu Mbatha-Raw also features as Ravonna Renslayer, another member of the TVA. And as the lover of Kang the Conqueror in the comics, she could prove key to the future of the MCU and, in particular, suggest a link to Kang’s debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Sophia Di Martino and Richard E. Grant are likewise in the cast, with it rumored that they’re playing Lady Loki and Old Man Loki, respectively.

The good news is that it’s looking like Loki will last for multiple seasons, unlike the previous two Marvel shows, so expect these six episodes to be just the beginning of the story. In any case, there are only five weeks to go until the MCU’s next chapter comes our way, as the series premiere hits Disney Plus on Friday, June 11th.

Nobody could have predicted when Rob Cohen’s The Fast and the Furious was released in the summer of 2001 that the franchise would still be going strong 20 years later. The first installment was a $38 million action thriller with a plot that’s pretty much exactly the same as Point Break, and there was absolutely no indication that it would eventually evolve into a series of $200 million globetrotting epics that cornered the market on the most insane vehicular carnage possible.

It’s been a wild ride to get to this point, and the brand has only gone from strength to strength in the decade since Fast Five saw the mythology pivot away from any semblance of grounded reality and into high-octane and preposterously entertaining blockbuster territory. Now, fourteen months later than intended, Fast & Furious 9 is finally coming to theaters on June 25th, and the marketing campaign is starting to kick into high gear.

Fast & Furious 9 Gallery

Click to zoom 

As well as the previous eight movies returning to cinemas every week free of charge on Fast Fridays, Vin Diesel recently fronted a new promo reinforcing how important the theatrical experience has been for over a century. The latest trailer for F9, though, is essentially a Greatest Hits package, recapping the property’s main selling points of cars, guns, explosions, banter and of course, family.

The box office is still in a fairly precarious position due to the lasting effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, but the success of Godzilla vs. Kong and Mortal Kombat has shown that there are definitely signs of life. Besides, if any big budget series can ride to the rescue and resuscitate a stagnant industry, it’s the universally popular Fast & Furious, and all the footage we’ve seen so far points to the craziest outing yet for the gang.

On paper, Eternals is the biggest risk the Marvel Cinematic Universe has taken since James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, and there are more than a couple of superficial similarities between the projects. Both are intergalactic epics based on popular comic book characters that are far from household names, but there are a couple of reasons why the November release faces an altogether different set of circumstances.

For one thing, the MCU has become so popular that it’s too big to fail, and anything slapped with the studio’s logo is guaranteed to be a smash hit regardless of how much of a gamble it initially appears to be. Then there’s the presence of director and co-writer Chloe Zhao, and you can bet that Marvel deliberately held off on releasing the first trailer for Eternals until after the filmmaker was crowned Best Director at the recent Academy Awards, as well as picking up Best Picture for producing Nomadland.

That makes Zhao the first Oscar-winning director to tackle an MCU blockbuster, and just the third recipient of any prize from the Academy to take the reins on one of Kevin Feige’s big budget epics after Joe Johnston and Taika Waititi, who previously picked up trophies for Best Visual Effects and Best Adapted Screenplay respectively. And while it’s still unclear when we’ll get the first full-length preview for the movie, we do now have some footage from it thanks to the Phase 4 promo above, teasing many of Marvel’s upcoming heavy hitters.

Eternals is nothing if not ambitious, telling a sprawling saga that spans thousands of years and establishes that the titular team have always been keeping a close eye on what’s been unfolding on Earth. Take the biggest franchise in the business, add an award-winning director, a star-studded ensemble cast and a massive sprinkling of science fiction, and it looks like the end result is going to be yet another unqualified success.