Idris Elba Has A Flamethrower In New Hobbs And Shaw Image

Idris Elba Has A Flamethrower In New Hobbs And Shaw Image

The life of the Fast and the Furious franchise has been fascinating. What started as car racing movies has become one of the biggest action franchises in the world, consistently making a ton of money at the box office. And it's showing no signs of slowing down, with a variety of different projects coming down the line. The franchise is breaking new ground with Hobbs & Shaw, the property's first spinoff starring The Rock and Jason Statham.

The many Fast and the Furious fans are eager to see the franchise branch out, especially as Hobbs & Shaw will focus on a pair of fan favorite badasses. There's some serious talent attached to join the duo of actors, with the most notable being Idris Elba as the superpowered villain Brixton Lore. Brixton has been genetically engineered to have superpowers, and that's not going to be the end of his badassery. Because a new image just dropped featuring Elba with a massive flamethrower. Check it out.

What. A. Badass. This image reiterates that Hobbs & Shaw is leaning into the over the top action that the larger franchise has become known for. And the title characters have one seriously tough enemy to unite against when the spinoff arrives in theaters.

This new image comes to us from producer Hiram Garcia's personally Twitter page. While the Fast and the Furious franchise is known for being larger than life, Idris Elba is taking things to another level as Brixton Lore in Hobbs & Shaw. The villain's superpowers is a game changer, and arguably taking the franchise farther from reality than ever before. Rather than trying to ground the character in other ways, he's going to be even bigger. Like giant flamethrower big.

Idris Elba's latest photo as Brixton is undeniably badass, and will likely add more fuel to the rumors about his possible involvement in the James Bond franchise. With Daniel Craig leaving the role of 007 after Bond 25, the franchise will soon have to find a replacement to take on the mantle. Fan lists have been happening for years, and Elba is usually toward the top. While the actor has shut down these reports, seeing him with a flamethrower is sure to cause endless more rumors.

Idris Elba's starpower has been steadily building over the past few years, so it's a great time to play the central villain in a Fast and the Furious movie. The franchise is insanely popular, and there will be a mass of moviegoers who shell out cash to see all the action on the big screen. Aside from fans of the franchise, Elba was also recently named the Sexiest Man Alive, which should excite more casual moviegoers.

Aside from Hobbs & Shaw, Idris Elba has another big blockbuster coming in the form of James Gunn's The Suicide Squad. Elba will be playing the role of Deadshot, the character played by Will Smith in the original film. He also recently wrapped up his tenure as Heimdall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, playing the Asgardian in all three Thor movies and two Avengers appearances.

Hobbs & Shaw will arrive in theaters on August 2nd, complete with Idris Elba's flamethrower-toting villain. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Mark Hamill’s Chucky Laugh For Child’s Play Might Give You Joker Vibes

Mark Hamill’s Chucky Laugh For Child’s Play Might Give You Joker Vibes

Some people just have those laughs so distinct that you could point them out even in a crowded room. Mark Hamill is one such person, particularly after decades of portraying various versions of the classic Batman villain, The Joker. With a new icon waiting to be reborn in his image, Hamill’s recent announcement as the voice of Chucky in the Child’s Play reboot is about to get his iconic vocal stamp imprinted on it as well, and judging by the result below, it sounds like the joke is on us yet again:

If you’re getting a serious feeling that The Joker has somehow found himself in a brand new smart device, you’re not the only one. Listening to that small clip of Child’s Play’s new Chucky laughing maniacally as he wishes Andy a pleasant good night has triggered some serious flashbacks to many a night in the Gotham City of Batman: The Animated Series.

Of course, it isn’t all greasepaint and squirting flowers here, as the new trailers for Child’s Play have shown a reinvention of the original killer doll; one that sees Chucky going digital and having the ability to hack into various devices linked to a Wi-Fi connection. So just when you thought it was safe to link your thermostat, or even your workbench, to some sort of smart apparatus, you might want to think twice once this special doll enters the equation.

There are definitely some challenges facing the new Child’s Play film, especially with its place as a reboot not sanctioned by the series’ creator, Don Mancini. As this is a project that competes with his TV series continuation of the original continuity, there’s been a bit of friction between those on that side of the fence and this new MGM/Orion reboot.

But one factor that seems to drive home the fact that, at the very least, this new Child’s Play redo will be its own thing is the hiring of Mark Hamill to do the voice of Chucky. Having a talent as singular as Hamill on board differentiates the approach between the old and the new.

So rather than just try to find a Brad Dourif soundalike, this new production went and found itself an equally formidable talent that will give a new generation nightmares. And that’s something we should all be grateful for.

Before we leave the matter, we’d like to present a clip reel of Mr. Hamill’s best moments involving that classic Joker laugh. Not only does it make for a great comparison with the recent efforts shared on the film’s Twitter, it’s also a fantastic reminder of the gleeful panic we’ll be in store for with the new Child’s Play.

Child’s Play cuts into the box office competition on June 21. But if you’re looking to get spooked out a little sooner, head over to our 2019 release schedule and see what sort of adventures you can scare up.

That Time Mark Ruffalo Totally Spoiled Avengers: Endgame

That Time Mark Ruffalo Totally Spoiled Avengers: Endgame

MASSIVE spoiler ahead, don't read on if you haven't seen Avengers: Endgame!

After 21 movies and over a decade of movies, the time has finally come. Avengers: Endgame is officially in theaters, with the Russo Brothers bringing an end to the narrative that began back with 2007's Iron Man, and made major steps forward in Infinity War. All eyes are on how Phase Three will conclude, with both the hardcore fandom and casual moviegoers actively avoiding spoilers heading into opening weekend.

And if there's one guy that knows about spoilers, it's Mark Ruffalo. The 51 year-old actor shares the title of "worst secret keeper" with Tom Holland, as both Marvel heroes are known for spilling the beans prematurely. In fact, Ruffalo even spoiled the snap ahead of Infinity War, although we didn't realize until after the fact. Now that same turn of events has happened for Endgame, specifically related to Captain America's ending. When publicizing the movie, he said:

I didn’t even get a whole script of this movie. I don’t know why. The script I did get had dummy scenes in it. He gets married in this!

And just like that, Mark Ruffalo proves exactly why he can't be trusted with an Avengers script. Because while defending himself, he accidentally revealed a bit about Captain America's presumed ending in the MCU.

While promoting Avengers: Endgame to E! alongside co-stars Chris Evans and Karen Gillan, he totally blew part of Steve Rogers' ending in the massive blockbuster. Because despite Peggy Carter's death in Captain America: Civil War, he did manage to marry the love of his life. All it took was some misplaces Infinity Stones and Tony Stark's new time travel device.

After the good guys won the final (INSANE) battle against Thanos, the surviving heroes had to make sure they returned the Infinity Stones and Mjolnir back to their rightful timelines. This task goes to none other than Captain America himself, especially because he deemed himself worthy of wielding Thor's signature weapon. But there's just one problem: he doesn't return as expected. And after a few moments, it becomes clear why.

Related: Mark Ruffalo Thought He Would Get Fired After Accidentally Live Streaming Thor: Ragnarok

Cap ultimately got the happy ending he deserved, as he travelled back in time to live out his days with Peggy. The pair of heroes got to live the life they were robbed of when Steve Rogers sacrificed himself in The First Avenger, one of a few epic conclusions for the OG Avengers.

Check out Mark Ruffalo spoiling Captain America's ending, and watch as Chris Evans attempts to talk over him and save the moment.

Mark Ruffalo did something similar ahead of Avengers: Infinity War, accidentally revealing yet another important plot twist. Although his mistake is arguably worse for that film, as he let slip about Thanos killing half of the characters. He also left his phone live streaming during the premiere of Thor: Ragnarok, so his track record is dismal no matter how you slice it.

You can catch Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner in Avengers: Endgame now, although it's unclear if he'll be returning to the role in a future installment. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Why Avengers: Endgame Made Tilda Swinton Reshoot Everything A Year Later

Why Avengers: Endgame Made Tilda Swinton Reshoot Everything A Year Later

Time travel is of massive importance to Avengers: Endgame, but it's not always an easy thing to explain. To help lay down the rules of the MCU's version of time travel, Tilda Swinton reprises her role as the Ancient One. She explains the damaging effects of messing with time to Bruce Banner, but apparently, this scene changed a bit over the course of filmmaking. Swinton recently revealed that she was called in to reshoot the scene a year after she originally filmed it.

In their journey to collect the Infinity Stones from across space and time, the Avengers travel to New York City during the events of The Avengers in 2012. Smart Hulk goes to the Sanctum Sanctorum and confronts the Ancient One to get the Time Stone.

This scene provided some vital exposition on the rules of time travel in the film, but apparently the filmmakers didn't quite nail it on the first try. Speaking about her surprise cameo, Swinton told IndieWire that she had to film the scene twice with a one year in between.

It was a surprise to me, too! And it was a pleasure. But what was a real surprise was, we shot it one summer day, and then over a year later, I went back to reshoot it because a couple of lines had been changed, a couple of plot points had been changed. And there was a tweaking of my costume.

Specifically, the changes were a "plot thing" revolving around some key information that the Ancient One delivers to Bruce Banner, Tilda Swinton said. The Ancient One needed to explain what happens to the timeline when an Infinity Stone is removed, and how it creates a dark branched reality, while utilizing some nice visual representation with her magic.

The scene helps to set the stakes for the Avengers, who are not only risking their own lives, but the lives of an infinite amount of people across multiple realities. If they don't bring the stones back to precisely the point that they were taken, then that timeline will splinter off with some nasty consequences.

The time travel elements of the film have been a subject of debate amongst fans, as no one can really quite agree on how it all works. I would argue that the rules of time travel aren't necessarily important in this film as they are just a gateway to have some fun, but it's tough to picture how much more confusing everything would have been had they not reshot that Ancient One scene.

Are you still interested in seeing Avengers: Endgame? Well, it's still in theaters, so go check it out if you aren't super interested in seeing Aladdin instead. For all other movies in theaters, here's our 2019 movie release guide.

There’s One More DC Character The Suicide Squad Needs To Bring Back

There’s One More DC Character The Suicide Squad Needs To Bring Back

Although Warner Bros isn’t as focused on interconnectivity between all its DC movies as it once was, the DC Extended Universe continuity isn’t going anywhere. As such, the claims that The Suicide Squad will be a total reboot have been greatly exaggerated, and it will indeed serve as a sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad. That said, it’s been made abundantly clear over the last couple of months that under writer/director James Gunn’s supervision, The Suicide Squad is more of a relaunch than a direct follow-up, and will feature a lot of new characters. It makes sense to have a mostly new cast if you’re wanting to distance an adventure from its predecessor, though The Suicide Squad would still be wise to bring back Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller to round out its collection of familiar faces.

Thus far, only three characters from the last Suicide Squad movie are confirmed to be returning from the sequel, and one of them isn’t even being reprised by the same actor. Idris Elba is taking over Deadshot duties from Will Smith due to the Aladdin star having scheduling issues, and Margot Robbie and Jai Courtney will reprise Harley Quinn and Captain Boomerang, respectively. It makes sense why these three are being brought back for The Suicide Squad, as Deadshot and Captain Boomerang have on the team since it was revitalized in the late 1980s by writer John Ostrander, and Harley Quinn has been one of the most prominent members ever since The New 52 reboot in 2011.

From there, it’s easy enough to look at the various Suicide Squad iterations over the decades and find other members to fill out the ranks, from villains like Count Vertigo and Blockbuster to heroes like Vixen and Oracle. You can even find a solider to fill in for Rick Flag and make sure the Squad doesn’t get out of hand during field missions. But when it comes to actually putting the officially-named Task Force X together and supervising them from off-site as they carry out their objective, there’s no one better for the job than Amanda Waller.

Just like Deadshot and Captain Boomerang, Amanda Waller has been a part of the modern Suicide Squad mythos (not to be confused with the Silver Age Suicide Squad, which was a team of adventurers that only appeared in six issues of The Brave and the Bold) since the beginning. She may not have superpowers or a colorful costume, but make no mistake, Amanda is one of the most formidable and dangerous individuals in the DC universe. She’ll use intimidation, manipulation, blackmail and whatever other tools are at her disposal to ensure that her goals are carried out, which are usually on behalf of national security. The ends always justify the means in her book, even if it results in casualties. It’s no wonder then why she’s the person who’s putting a group of criminals together to carry out covert black ops missions for the U.S. government. She doesn’t care how many of them die in order to complete the mission and she won’t hesitate to detonate the nano-bombs in their necks.

Although Angela Basset first brought Amanda Waller to life on the big screen in Green Lantern, it wasn’t until Viola Davis played the character five years later that we saw her connected to the Suicide Squad. The Suicide Squad movie certainly wasn’t a critical hit, but Davis was one of its few highlights, nailing her blunt and sinister personality excellently, arguably demonstrated best when she shot those FBI agents without batting an eye (as seen below). The DC Comics universe vast, and looking at just the Suicide Squad corner of it, it’d be easy enough to find someone to replace fill Amanda’s role as the government figure feeding the team orders. But if The Suicide Squad is willing to bring back three lead characters from the last movie who are figureheads for the property as a whole, then Amanda needs to be included in that small group.

I understand James Gunn wanting to fill out these this new Suicide Squad team with mostly new faces. It helps with wiping the slate clean and mostly separating this Suicide Squad movie from its predecessor, not to mention that possibility all of these new characters could be killed off during the course of the story. After all, while there are various characters who have repeatedly served on [Task Force X](https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/TaskForceX(NewEarth) in the comics, there’s been no shortage of recruits who have died after just one or a couple missions. Behind the scenes, though, Amanda Waller has almost always been the woman in charge, and narratively speaking, there’s no reason to change that. Even if this were a total reboot filled with all new actors, I’d still advocate for Amanda to appear. A Suicide Squad without her would be like a Batman movie without Alfred or a Superman movie without Lois Lane.

Since Suicide Squad’s release, Viola Davis’ filmography has grown with Fences and Widows, both of which received positive critical reception. She’s also still leading the ABC series How to Get Away with Murder. It’s possible that her shooting schedule for the TV show might prevent her from appearing in The Suicide Squad, as production is reportedly beginning this fall. If that’s the case, while it’d be disappointing not to have Davis around, the backup plan would be to recast the character, as has been done with Deadshot. That’s how important Amanda is to the Suicide Squad. It’s not absolutely crucial for Rick Flag, Katana, Killer Croc or even a resurrected Diablo to return for The Suicide Squad, but without Amanda alongside Deadshot, Harley Quinn and Captain Boomerang, it feels like there’s a piece of the puzzle missing. Davis getting to play the character once more would be the icing on the cake, so hopefully an arrangement can be worked out.

The Suicide Squad charges into theaters on August 6, 2021, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on how it’s coming along. Don’t forget to look through our DC movies guide to learn what else is in development for the DCEU.

Ron Howard Responds To Solo Sequel Campaigns

Ron Howard Responds To Solo Sequel Campaigns

You may have noticed yesterday that #MakeSolo2Happen was trending on Twitter and wondered what exactly was going on. Well, it all has to do with a fan campaign to get a sequel made to last year’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. Fans of the film took to social media to express their love for Solo, how deserving it is of a sequel and desire to see that happen. This outpouring of support was so prominent that even director Ron Howard noticed and took the time to respond:

Short and sweet. Ron Howard’s response on Twitter shows that the campaign to make Solo 2 happen spearheaded by Star Wars News Net’s Resistance Broadcast podcast has caught his attention And he can’t help but smile over this show of love for his movie. He doesn’t address whether or not he actually wants to make a sequel himself, but his smiley face response indicates that he supports the campaign and the idea of a sequel overall.

Following Solo: A Star Wars Story’s disappointing box office, Ron Howard said things that made it seem like he was disappointed that more people didn’t see the film in theaters that his cast and crew worked so hard on. He expressed a belief that if more people gave it a chance, they would find that they liked it. It was the kind of thing that made you feel bad for him, whether you liked Solo or not.

It can’t feel good to have audiences not respond to your work, especially if it's not even give it a chance. So this has to make the director proud, seeing that despite what the box office returns might tell you, people did see Solo and many that did really loved it. Solo connected with people in such a way that many are actively supporting the idea of it getting a sequel.

Unfortunately, while this is a cool thing and it’s nice for Ron Howard to get to see how much people loved his movie, the campaign’s hopes for success seem slim.

Ron Howard made the best of a bad situation, taking a production with many behind-the-scenes woes and made a watchable, entertaining movie out of it. Many of the things working against Solo, like marketing, release date and fan discontent over Star Wars: The Last Jedi, were not Solo’s fault, nor Ron Howard’s. It probably deserved a fairer shake. Nevertheless, Disney is a business and Solo underperformed.

A sequel to Solo: A Star Wars Story would presumably be way cheaper and have far fewer troubles, but Lucasfilm seems to be moving away from these kind of solo character stories. The future seems to be in fewer films, spread further apart and separate trilogies, versus the Marvel approach of character solo movies.

You can never say never though. Alden Ehrenreich was signed on for more than one movie and the upcoming Disney+ platform would theoretically open up another avenue for this story to continue. Although I still cringe over how Han got his last name, there are still dangling plot threads, like Qi’ra and Darth Maul from Solo: A Star Wars Story that I would be onboard to see explored in a sequel. There is clearly some fan interest, but is it enough?

The next film in a galaxy far, far away is Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, in theaters on December 20. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see all of this year’s biggest movies and let us know in the poll below if you want a sequel to Solo.

Marvel Asked For Loki To Be 'A Villain As Good As Magneto,' Thor Writer Reveals

Marvel Asked For Loki To Be 'A Villain As Good As Magneto,' Thor Writer Reveals

One of the strongest criticisms of the MCU for a long time was that it had a villain problem. Despite producing iconic heroes left and right, Marvel Studios could never quite create a memorable villain. During the early phases of the MCU, the notable exception was Loki, who would be labeled as Marvel's best villain before he finally got some competition. Apparently, Marvel knew early on that it had to nail Loki, and executives told Thor screenwriter Zack Stentz that his top priority was making Loki as good a villain as Magneto.

Way back in the early days of of the MCU, Marvel Studios knew that it was building up to The Avengers. As such, studio execs had the idea that Loki would the villain of that film, but they were also aware that they weren't super great with making good villains. Iron Monger, Whiplash, and the Abomination were forgotten as soon as people left the theater.

So, if Loki had to be their Big Bad of Phase One, they needed to get it right. Here's what the studio told Zack Stentz when he was writing the screenplay for Thor.

It's a complicated issue because we had a very clear mandate when we were writing Thor. They already knew that they were building towards The Avengers and they already had the notion that Loki was going to be the villain. They knew that their villains thus far in the MCU had been a bit underwhelming, and they said -- one of the executives literally said, 'Look, if you fail at everything else, give us a villain as good as Magneto in Loki.' We need someone at that level because that’s going to be our villain for The Avengers.

Back in 2011, The Dark Knight's Joker was the villain to beat, but before that film came along, Magneto was probably the best modern day comic book movie villain. He appeared in every X-Men movie, he had cool powers, and the audience could sympathize with his rationale because of his sad backstory.

Loki certainly has the audience's sympathy. Zack Stentz told The Fanboy Podcast that while writing the character, he knew that one of the most important things for making Loki a great villain is that he had to be relatable.

We always put a lot of effort into our villains, but in this case we really worked hard giving Loki an interesting story and making him sympathetic at the same time as he's doing these terrible things.

I would say that Zack Stentz and his fellow Thor writers certainly gave Marvel what they wanted. Loki went on to become a huge hit with fans, and even after all these years he's still in the Top Five of MCU villains. Of course, a lot of the credit also goes to Tom Hiddleston for his performance as the character.

Loki's movie future was made unclear by Avengers: Endgame, but the character will be the star of his very own mini-series on Disney+, which doesn't have a release date yet. Magneto, currently played by Michael Fassbender, will be seen on screen again soon in Dark Phoenix, which opens in theaters July 7.