From Mickey Mouse horror movies to streaming shenanigans to the Minecraft live-action movie casting news, here are some of our favorite odds and ends from pop-culture news that bubbled up in the last little while.
Odds & Ends in Entertainment News
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Adam Driver Is Done with Star Wars, His Kylo Ren Will Not Return
Daisy Ridley’s Rey will soon be back in a new Star Wars movie. But those hoping to see Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren strike back may end up disappointed. In a recent interview with the SmartLess podcast, which we saw via GameSpot, Driver revealed that more Star Wars content may be happening “but not with me.” Driver also noted, “I’m not doing any more.” Alas, we would say, never say never… But Driver seems pretty set in his thoughts for now.
It also turns out that Kylo Ren’s redemption arc wasn’t planned.
Jack Black Will Reportedly Play Steve in a Live-Action Minecraft Movie
Who doesn’t love a good live-action adaptation of a beloved game? According to Deadline, Jack Black, who recently had a well-received turn in the animated adaptation of Super Mario Bros., will take on the character of Steve in a live-action Minecraft movie. Steve, of course, is one of Minecraft‘s original player characters. He is made of blocks and has no official backstory. Thus, we’ll be extra interested to see how he, and the game, get adapted. Jason Momoa is also set to star in the Warner Bros. movie.
Check out Jack Black performing the hit song “Peaches” from The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Oppenheimer and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse are Heading Back to IMAX Theaters
‘Tis the season for movies that are in contention for awards to head back to theaters. Two such movies, Oppenheimer and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will be doing exactly this in a big way. Both of these incredible movies will return to IMAX for a limited run. Oppenheimer will be back on IMAX theater screens beginning on January 12.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will hit IMAX on January 19. Both these movies are well worth watching on a huge screen, so don’t delay in getting your tickets.
Here’s what we thought of Oppenheimer and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse:
What If…? Season 3 Is Coming Soon, Meanwhile Season 2 Almost Had a Truly Dark Spider-Man Story
What If…? season two only just released, but Marvel Studios has revealed that season three will be “streaming soon.” Although we don’t know exactly when soon is, we do already have a full clip from the next season of the animated show. In it, Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, voiced by Sebastian Stan, teams up with Red Guardian, voiced by David Harbour, and the pair go on an odd-couple road trip. Per Empire, Bill Foster/Giant Man, voiced by Laurence Fishburne, and a character named Ranger Morales also feature. We’ll take it.
Meanwhile, when it comes to season two of the show, What If…?‘s writer A.C. Bradley revealed there was almost an incredibly dark episode revolving around Spider-Man. Bradley noted, “I did write an episode, which is forever going in a drawer, that was very, very dark. I was calling it ‘Children of Men with Spider-Man.’” We can only imagine what on earth that might have entailed.
If you haven’t seen What If…? season two yet, you can check out its trailer below.
John Wick Director Would Make a Star Wars Movie “If Disney Could Survive Me,” Wants a Swing at the MCU’s Blade
Chad Stahelski, director of the John Wick franchise, recently discussed whether he’d make a Star Wars or MCU movie. Speaking with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Stahelski had quite a few thoughts. When it comes to Star Wars, the director had mixed feelings. He noted, “I’m a Star Wars guy. The first Star Wars changed my life path. Maybe someday out there, Disney if you’re listening, hit me in a couple of years. I have a couple of takes for Star Wars. I’d take a swing at that, see if Disney could survive me.” Of course, he also discussed the difficulties of not having creative control in franchise situations, but ultimately, he’d want to take a swing.
Meanwhile, when it comes to the MCU, the John Wick director shared, “Of all the things out there, I would take a swing at Blade in a second. Like that’s one that gets under my skin, like ‘Ah! I’d take a swing at that one.’” And further offered, “We’ve talked about it, but look they’ve got a good formula… they have their thing going and I think they’ve got the right people involved in Blade now… I’m not in the Inner Circle but we’ve had talks… Just for whatever reason things come together, and there’s a good fit for everything out there. But for what they’re doing they’ve got a great thing going, but if that thing doesn’t work out, in five years from now… maybe on the fourth reboot of Blade or the fifth reboot of Blade… Maybe I can pull back Wesley and jump in.”
Hey, you never know.
For now, though, it seems like John Wick 5 is slowly becoming a reality.
A Second Steamboat Willie Horror Movie Is on the Way
To no one’s surprise, a second Steamboat Willie horror movie is on the way. This one doesn’t have a trailer yet, but it does have some creepy art. And bonus, it actually takes place on a boat. That feels right. According to Variety, this public domain Mickey Mouse movie comes from director Steven LaMorte, who also directed The Mean One, a horror take on the Grinch. This Mickey movie, meanwhile, is an “untitled horror-comedy based on Mickey’s cartoon debut. In it, a sadistic mouse will torment a group of unsuspecting ferry passengers. Production is set to begin in the spring.” We’re sure this will not be the last Steamboat Willie/Mickey Mouse movie we’ll see whistling to life in the coming months.
The first announced Steamboat Willie horror movie, Mickey Mouse’s Trap, already has a trailer.
The MCU’s Echo Series Will Be Dubbed in the Choctaw Language
The MCU’s upcoming Echo series features a main character who is Native American. Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) a.k.a. Echo is a member of the Choctaw Nation. And so we are incredibly happy to hear that Marvel Studios will honor this aspect of the show by dubbing it in the Choctaw language. Director and executive producer Sydney Freeland shared the following with Entertainment Weekly:
In the process of working and collaborating with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, in working with the Choctaw language experts and consultants, it became very apparent that we needed to do a dub in Choctaw as well. And we’re incredibly proud of it.
Placing the story of Echo in the actual Choctaw language helps make our character more authentic to her heritage, because we get to delve into the specifics of Choctaw culture and traditions. I’m indigenous, I’m American, but I’m Navajo. And the Choctaw language and the Navajo language are completely different from each other; they’re as different as Portuguese and Polish. And so one of the things that was important for us was making sure that we had people who were experts in Choctaw language. But a lot of really great things came out of that collaboration — specifically, in the second episode of our series, we actually get to see a portion of pre-European contact America that I can genuinely say has never been seen on film before. That came as a direct result of our collaboration with the Choctaw Nation in trying to tell a more authentic story.
We can’t wait to see and hear the results of this incredible collaboration in full.
Before Echo arrives, you can get to know Maya Lopez with our character explainer.
The First 10 Star Trek Movies Have Moved to Max
What is life in the streaming age except constantly working to keep track of where your favorite movies can be watched? For a little while, all of Star Trek‘s films were on Paramount+. But now, as we saw via Comicbook.com, the first 10 Star Trek movies have moved to Max. Only the three Chris Pine-era movies remain on Paramount+. All we can say to those just trying to keep up is: live long and prosper.
More streaming shenanigans happen every day. The latest includes ads coming to Prime Video this January.