Suicide Squad 2 May Be Adding John Cena In Fun Turn Of Events

Suicide Squad 2 May Be Adding John Cena In Fun Turn Of Events

Although he’s still on the professional wrestling circuit, John Cena has also built quite the acting career over the last decade, most recently starring in movies like Blockers and Bumblebee. Now there’s word that he may finally make the jump to the superhero genre with the upcoming Suicide Squad 2, a.k.a. The Suicide Squad.

Word’s come in that John Cena is currently in talks to join Suicide Squad 2, although no details were provided in Variety’s report about who he would be playing. Assuming a deal is finalized, Cena would be the second new actor to join the sequel, following Idris Elba, who was originally going to take over as Deadshot from Will Smith, but will now play a new character instead.

If John Cena does end up joining Suicide Squad 2, he won’t be the only WWE superstar lending his acting talents to this franchise. Since 2014, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been attached to play Shazam adversary Black Adam, and Johnson recently said that he expects the Black Adam movie to begin filming in a year. However, given that Suicide Squad 2 already has a release date and is reportedly scheduled to begin principal photography in the fall, one would imagine Cena will make his DCEU debut before Johnson.

Although John Cena was among the many actors that were rumored to being looked at to play Shazam before Zachary Levi scored the role, this Suicide Squad 2 news definitely sounds like more of a sure thing, though we’ll have to wait and see if he actually signs on. In any case, Cena showed he has blockbuster chops last winter playing Agent Jack Burns in Bumblebee, so Suicide Squad 2 would be an appropriate step up.

It’s also worth noting that if Suicide Squad 2 is tonally similar to its predecessor, and that’ll likely be the case given that James Gunn is writing and directing, then it’ll also be infused with comedy, and John Cena has shown he can be funny through Trainwreck, Sisters, Blockers and more. As for who Cena could play in Suicide Squad 2, I originally suspected characters like Blockbuster and King Shark might be candidates. However, Variety's Justin Kroll added that while not confirmed, he's heard Cena would play Peacemaker, a role originally intended for Dave Bautista.

In addition to Idris Elba and the potential inclusion of John Cena, Suicide Squad 2 also has Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney and Viola Davis lined up to reprise Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang and Amanda Waller, respectively. Still, it’s been repeatedly said that this movie is envisioned as more of a relaunch than a direct sequel to Suicide Squad and will feature a mostly new cast, so expect more fresh faces to be announced in the coming weeks/months.

Suicide Squad 2 opens in theaters August 6, 2021, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. In the meantime, you can learn what else is coming down the DCEU pipeline by browsing through our handy guide.

Glass’ Poor Reviews Made M. Night Shyamalan Cry

Glass’ Poor Reviews Made M. Night Shyamalan Cry

It’s never easy to learn that something you’ve made isn’t liked by others. Director and writer M. Night Shyamalan has experienced this several times in his career, most recently with Glass, the final chapter of his Eastrail 177 trilogy that began with Unbreakable and continued with Split. In fact, Shyamalan cried upon learning that Glass was taking a critical beating back in January. As he recalled:

I was in London when I heard the U.S. reviews for Glass were poor. I was in a makeup chair for a TV show, and I cried… We’d just come back from the London screenings, which were through the roof. We had only great screenings of the movie around the world. So essentially I wasn’t prepared. I had this false sense of being a part of the group in a safe way. But boy, did I feel distraught that day.

For nearly two decades Unbreakable was a standalone feature in M. Night Shyamalan’s filmography, but the filmmaker finally revisited that world with Split, which, in typical Shaymalan twist fashion, had Bruce Willis’ David Dunn appear at the end. Like Unbreakable, Split was met with positive reception, so shortly after its release, Shyamalan announced he’d be making Glass next. The hype surrounding Glass only grew over the next two years (give or take), especially after the first trailer dropped last summer.

Unfortunately for M. Night Shyamalan, Glass didn’t receive anywhere near the same level of approval as its predecessors, ranking at 37% among critics on Rotten Tomatoes. In other words, it wasn’t a flop across the board (as The Last Airbender and After Earth basically were), but it wasn’t a critical triumph either.

Hearing that Glass wasn’t being well-received was enough to make M. Night Shyamalan shed some tears while he was promoting the movie across the pond, but he felt better once he accounted for how commercially successful it was. Elaborating on how he felt at the time during a recent lecture at NYU’s Stern School of Business (via Indiewire), Shyamalan said:

Honestly, I was feeling like, ‘Will they never let me be different without throwing me on the garbage pile?’ The feeling of worthlessness rushed me, and to be honest, it doesn’t ever really leave. But anyway, the film went on, right? It became number one in every country in the world, and it represents my beliefs.

Glass ended up making nearly $247 million worldwide off a $20 million budget, so on the money side of things, it definitely performed splendidly, although it still ended up falling short of Unbreakable and Split’s hauls. In any case, M. Night Shyamalan appears to have made peace with how things turned out on Glass, though he still acknowledged that he still gets “tired” dealing with this kind of critical reaction to his work.

M. Night Shyamalan is now working on his upcoming Apple series Servant and also has a movie called Labor of Love in development. When more details become available on either of those projects, we here at CinemaBlend will let you know about them. Glass can be purchased Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD, and you can look through our 2019 release schedule to learn what movies are coming out later this year.

Captain America: Civil War Almost Focused A Lot More On Bucky

Captain America: Civil War Almost Focused A Lot More On Bucky

One of the biggest blockbusters of 2016, Captain America: Civil War took inspiration from Mark Millar’s 2006-2007 Marvel Comics crossover series that gave it its title, telling the story of a superhero community torn apart by philosophical differences. But it wasn’t always so. There was once an alternate version of the MCU’s third Captain America movie that originally 3 focused much more on Bucky Barnes and his journey coming out of the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Screenwriter Christopher Markus recently explained,

There were outlines where we had the Zemo plotline based around Bucky. We had that whole structure. But it wasn't so much about pitting Steve and Tony together. When Civil War rose to the surface, it fit in really nicely into that.

Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier certainly plays a significant part in Captain America: Civil War, but according to a recent Hollywood Reporter interview with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely he originally had an even bigger role in the narrative. Because Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark wasn’t always a guaranteed part of the film, there was initially no conflict between him and Steve Rogers to set up, so in the absence of that storyline Bucky took center stage.

According to Markus, the plotline that existed in older outlines with Bucky still had Daniel Brühl’s Zemo has a key player, so it doesn’t sound like his story was drastically different in the development of Captain America 3. That being said, there probably were some key alterations made, such as the significance of the brainwashed super soldier killing Tony Stark's parents.

Ultimately the option of creating a big screen version of Civil War came along. The writers were able to work that iconic comics storyline in and make everything in the established Marvel Cinematic Universe fit and function as a cohesive story. Being able to do Civil War also apparently proved fortuitous for the writers, because apparently the Bucky and Zemo material wasn’t strong enough to carry the film, as screenwriter Stephen McFeely explained:

It wasn't a great enough A-plot. It became an excellent B-plot.

According to Stephen McFeely, having the focus of the film be Bucky Barnes and the story of Zemo controlling him wasn’t all that great. By shifting that story from the main focus to the B-plot was much more effective. It actually complemented the story of the conflict between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark too, by having their disagreement about the Sokovia Accords give way to a more personal dispute over what Bucky’s fate should be.

It’s hard to disagree with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely given how well Captain America: Civil War turned out. It now stands as one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most beloved films, and one of the most important given how the ramifications of it reverberate throughout many of the movies that followed it. The conflict between Tony and Steve ultimately carries throughout the rest of the Phase 3 films all the way until Avengers: Endgame, proving to make Zemo one of the franchise's most successful villains.

For those who might lament not getting even more of Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes in Captain America: Civil War, fear not. Bucky will star alongside Anthony Mackie’s Falcon in a new series coming to Disney+, one of many MCU series on the way.

Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of all the biggest movies headed your way this summer and for the latest superhero movie news, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

How Spider-Man: Far From Home Can Wrap Up Marvel's Phase Three

How Spider-Man: Far From Home Can Wrap Up Marvel's Phase Three

The conclusion of Avengers: Endgame really did feel like the end of an era. The Marvel epic provided fitting closure for two of its core characters, it featured a massive battle sequence with just about every MCU character yet (hell, even Howard the Duck showed up) and could quite possibly become the highest grossing movie of all time. But Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has stood his ground on the fact that Spider-Man: Far From Home is the last film in MCU Phase 3, not Avengers: Endgame.

It doesn’t make sense, does it? What’s our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man doing – coming in, swinging past the small ocean of nerd tears Avengers: Endgame poetically manifested in us with its ending and closing this chapter of MCU history with his own movie? But after a look at the new spoiler-y trailer for Far From Home that came out this week, it’s starting to become more clear. There are some loose ends that Endgame didn’t tie up that the next Spider-Man movie will address, thus closing out Phase 3 and the Infinity Saga. Here’s why it makes sense for the summer release to end this chapter:

The Impact of Endgame

Avengers: Endgame was so focused on Earth's Mightiest Heroes undoing Thanos’ snap and bringing closure to the stories of Tony Stark and Captain America that it glazed over one important impact of the whole situation: what’s next after the giant upheaval that killed off half the population of the universe and then brought them back? While part of living creatures will be dealing with a world back at maximum population after mourning and picking up the pieces for five years, others will be coping with the time they’ve lost and the changes to the world since they were snapped out of existence.

Spider-Man: Far From Home will need to address the situation a bit before Phase 4 can begin and framing the last MCU film through the hero’s world is a clever way for the studio to do this. As Jon Watts recently explained to Fandango, Peter Parker has the “ground-level perspective” into daily life that other heroes such as Thor or Hawkeye would have. He may be rolling with the Avengers now, but under the suit he’s just a normal kid. He still needs to go to high school… which means his movie needs to deal with the shift in dynamic of that post-Endgame.

Spider-Man: Far From Home makes sense as a Phase 3 movie because it should answer a bit of our curiosities about a changed world after the Avengers’ fiercest battle yet. Although it seems like most of Peter’s immediate friends (Ned, MJ, Flash, Betty) and Aunt May are dealing with the side of being snapped and coming back, they will come in from that unique perspective of what it’s like to come back to a world you were dusted from, whereas Endgame dealt with the people who were left alive. As audiences, we need both of those sides for the storyline to find balance about the events.

The Death of Iron Man

Since the MCU started with Iron Man, the franchise has always been rooted in Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark. Avengers: Endgame didn’t answer the question about how the franchise will move on sans Iron Man. Spider-Man: Far From Home is the perfect opportunity for the MCU to explore this, especially since Tony was established in Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming as Peter’s mentor and Avengers father-figure. While as an audience we feel a bit lost about what’s next for the franchise without our favorite playboy, billionaire, philanthropist, so will Spidey.

In fact, it looks like the theme of the movie will revolve around Peter coming to terms with Tony’s great sacrifice and finding his place in the world without him being there to call up, bail him out or give him a pep talk. The trailer threw around “the new Iron Man” a couple times and will explore the hero as he tries to ignore his “great responsibility” to be a normal teenager. He can send him to voicemail, but he can’t run from Nick Fury’s call to a big mission involving the Elementals and the Multiverse.

Spider-Man: Far From Home will answer one question that Avengers: Endgame just didn’t have the time for: what’s next for the Avengers Initiative? How does it look like now? Nick Fury is calling on Spider-Man this time around, so does that mean he will be a prominent figure in the MCU now? Will he be the new Iron Man? Maybe a new dynamic all together will form within the confines of Far From Home that will wrap up and bring closure to what started with Iron Man in 2008 and give us a hint about how we move forward.

The Next MCU Saga

Another aspect of Avengers: Endgame that doesn’t make it feel like the definitive end to Phase 3 is there’s still a lot up in the air where exactly the MCU is going next. The team may have assembled and taken down their ultimate enemy when they stopped Thanos from using the Infinity Gauntlet the second time, but we don’t know enough about how that’s changed things enough to know how it will mold into the next saga. Spider-Man: Far From Home for example seems to already be giving us a hint about just why we need it to clue us in.

The latest trailer sets up the Multiverse when Nick Fury explains that the snap (although it’s unclear which one) tore a hole in our dimension and Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio is from one of the alternative worlds. This new detail made it especially clear to me why Spider-Man: Far From Home is an MCU bookend. The movie is building off the events of the MCU thus far, so it can be placed in the Infinity Saga category, but it’s also opening up a portal (quite literally) into the potential of what could be to come. Will the next phase revolve around the Multiverse? The set-up for Far From Home certainly seems to hint at it.

From here, Spider-Man: Far From Home looks to be a fitting last film in Phase 3. It does seem like a lot to cover in a Spider-Man sequel, but the new trailer seems to deliver on just about every front of touching on these unanswered questions that I didn’t think it was capable of doing before, so I’m confident it will fittingly be the end of the Infinity Saga and mark the impending beginning of a new one.

Spider-Man: Far From Home will spin its web in theaters on July 2, so be sure to keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more coverage.

New Chucky Will Make A Major Change From The Original Child's Play Chucky

New Chucky Will Make A Major Change From The Original Child's Play Chucky

Sure, Game of Thrones coined the phrase, “What is dead may never die.” But that concept can also apply to just about every major horror franchise, as classic killers from Freddy to Jason appear to die, but always figure out how to return to create chaos. This is fine. Audiences WANT to spend more time with these terrifying threats. But it means that storytellers have to find fresh ways to bring the beloved horror threats back, and Child’s Play thinks it figured something out.

We are getting a new Child’s Play movie on June 21, from producers Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg. The new movie will serve as both a remake and a reboot of the classic Child’s Play franchise, which followed a doll named Chucky who was possessed by the spirit of deranged serial killer Charles Lee Ray. In the new movie, the team found a new way to revive Chucky, and detoured away from the serial-killer spirit inside of the doll.

It’s a major switch to the doll’s origin, and at a recent press event for the film, producer Grahame-Smith told CinemaBlend:

We sort of lean into more of the AI/Kaslan story and hint at a Chucky that is driven by something different than he is in the original series, when he's Charles Lee Ray and he's just a truly psychopathic killer in the body of a doll. [Also, there is] the mother/son story, the emotional component of the movie, which I feel like the movie really delivers. And then above all that, just the intensity, the gore, the fact that the movie is rated R, that it really does go there when it goes there. I think the movie looks big, is much bigger than a lot of movies that are our size - very affordable movie, we are. But we had big ambitions. Those are, I'd say, the primary things we're going for.

As the conversation continued – and also, as is made evident in the recent Child’s Play trailer that we are including below – the new Chucky is driven more by demonic Artificial Intelligence, and not by the spirit of a serial killer. This appears to give Chucky the ability to control more technology, as the new trailer appears to show him taking over drones, controlling power tools, and more.

Child’s Play producer Seth Grahame-Smith elaborated to CinemaBlend on the origin angle of Chucky in the new movie, explaining:

You're getting at the heart of, I think, what a lot of people are inherently skeeved out about AI. Does it have its own agency, or is it just a series of processes and commands and executions? The truthful answer is by the time the movie's over, I don't know. I think at the beginning of the movie, you'll see sort of briefly why this particular doll is the way that he is, and it's not every one of these dolls, right? So why is our Chucky special. And then it's going at that inherent need to make his child happy no matter what, right? To bond with him, to be with him. It starts out like you saw in the clip, very sweet. It's two characters in Chucky and in Andy that both in their own ways at that point in the movie been rejected. Andy is certainly in need of a friend, and finds one in Chucky. So that's the reason we showed you that clip, because we wanted to sort of lean into that this is a relationship that is genuine that goes off the rails in a big way. It's not just brooding, and it's not sinister from the jump. It gets there, for sure, but that I think just gets to the heart of what we're trying to do here, and why we felt like there was a why and a cultural relevance to doing a different version of this classic series.

As the conversation played out, CinemaBlend learned that Child’s Play isn’t just changing Chucky, at his core. It’s also making changes to the boy who befriends Chucky, thereby changing their relationship. Andy in this new movie is older than he was in the 1988 Child’s Play, which kind of means that he’s past the point of playing with dolls. Seth Grahame-Smith assures fans that the movie will address that immediately, and goes on to say:

He's not necessarily like super excited about this gift when he gets it. But once he realizes that this thing has his interest in his heart and mind, they grow on each other. We knew that one of the differences we wanted to do here was to ultimately put more pressure on kids having to do this than in the original movie where it's Karen and Detective Mike, primarily Detective Mike, hunting this [doll] down. And now Detective Mike is a big part of the movie. Brian Tyree [Henry] is amazing in the movie, and obviously Karen - Aubrey [Plaza] - is amazing in the movie. But that really helped us give Andy sort of a life away from mom that we could exploit for different things.

All in all, it’s sounding like the team behind the new Child’s Play went above and beyond to make their story stand apart from previous versions of the Chucky story, hoping to make improvements while also luring a fresh audience into this world. Remakes and reboots aren’t always guaranteed successes, but it sure is looking like the new Child’s Play has updated the look and feel of Chucky, as evidenced by this most recent trailer.

Child’s Play will hack and slash its way into a competitive summer blockbuster frame, arriving on June 21 where it will go toe-to-AI-toe with Toy Story 4 (a totally different story about toys with emotions), and the pending Annabelle Comes Home. The competition for the horror dollar will be intense, but because of the major changes introduced into this new Child’s Play take, we think it looks interesting enough to lure both fans of the original franchise, and newcomers looking for creative, never before seen thrills.

What do you think of the changes made to the new Child’s Play? Does it make you excited to see it? Weigh in down below in the comments section. Maybe you’ll make a new best friend while you are down there.

Jumanji's Karen Gillan Says She's Been In 'Actual Pain' From Laughing On Set

Jumanji's Karen Gillan Says She's Been In 'Actual Pain' From Laughing On Set

Anecdotally, I don’t think expectations were that high for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, a reboot-quel of the nostalgic 1995 Robin Williams film. The 2017 movie went on to become a major critical and commercial success, surprising everyone and ensuring that no one will be sleeping on Jumanji 3. Expectations will be high this time around. Fortunately, if Karen Gillan’s experience on set is any indication, we’re in for another hilarious adventure. Check it out:

If laughter-induced pain isn’t the perfect endorsement for the comedic adventure of Jumanji 3 (or is it Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle 2?), I don’t know what is. We’ve all been there, where you laugh to the point you can barely breathe, your stomach hurts and you have tears in your eyes, and it’s completely worth it. I have no doubt that working with The Rock, Kevin Hart and Jack Black on a daily basis could have that effect.

The actress clearly had a great time filming this movie, which involved shooting in lots of different environments and watching the performances of her very funny co-stars. Just hearing about her experience makes us want to be in on the joke and know what had the actress who plays the Killer of Men, Ruby Roundhouse, and the stoic Nebula in Avengers: Endgame, in such hysterics.

In the past, we’ve seen behind-the-scenes looks at the ridiculous back and forth between Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart on the set of the Jumanji movies and I’m sure there was more of that here. The blooper reel on the eventual home video release is bound to be a must-see.

But beyond the pranks, Karen Gillan is talking about the performances and that is part of the novelty of the Jumanji conceit. Because the actors are playing video game avatars, they can both play to their strengths and against type in delightful fashion.

As she commemorated wrapping filming on Jumanji 3, Karen Gillan also proved what a savvy saleswoman she is, perhaps taking some social media mastery classes from co-star Dwayne Johnson. She makes sure to let everyone know that the next Jumanji movie is out this Christmas and delivers a quote in her Instagram post that should be blurbed on every poster and in every trailer for the movie “A pain you’ll want to pay for.”

That is simply brilliant, and if this movie is even half as funny as her set experience made it out to be, we’re in for a great, gut-busting theatrical experience this December.

Jumanji 3, for which we’re still waiting for the official title and first trailer, opens in theaters on December 13. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see everything coming to the big screen this year and for all the latest movie news, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

New Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Video Unleashes Rodan Onto The World

New Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Video Unleashes Rodan Onto The World

One of the new Titans being introduced in this month’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters is Rodan, and judging by the previews for the next MonsterVerse entry, like King Ghidorah and possibly Mothra, he’s aiming to knock Godzilla down as the #1 Titan. In case you haven’t seen as much of Rodan in the King of the Monsters marketing as you’d like, a new video has come out showing the winged beast emerging from his volcano lair and setting forth to wreak havoc on the world.

Rodan is almost as old as Godzilla, as he was introduced in his own 1956 movie and has been a recurring Toho monster in the decades since. Godzilla: King of the Monsters, however, marks his first appearance in an American blockbuster, and since he’s sharing screen time two other “new” Titans, it’s important this movie effectively show off why he’s a threat.

The main connective thread through the MonsterVerse is Monarch, the scientific organization that’s been studying the Titans since the end of World War II. The general public might not be aware of Monarch’s existence, but its resources are vast, and the above video shows that the organization has been keeping tabs on the island of Isla de Mara off the coast of Mexico, where Rodan has laid dormant.

While we don’t know the specific circumstances in which Rodan will awaken in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, once he does break free from his volcanic confinement, humanity will be in trouble. Along with the general perks of being a gigantic, flying monster, Rodan is also capable of generating sonic thunderclaps with his wings that can level cities. The King of the Monsters trailers make it clear that Rodan is responsible for a lot of the destruction that will unfold.

What isn’t quite clear about Godzilla: King of the Monsters yet is what Rodan and Godzilla’s ultimate dynamic will be like. Obviously there’s a strong chance those two will duke it out once or twice, but the movie’s main villain is King Ghidorah. So will Rodan keep troubling Godzilla even as the giant reptile is fighting his three-headed arch-enemy, or will Rodan end up teaming up with Godzilla and perhaps even Mothra to bring King Ghidorah down? We have a few more weeks until that question is answered.

Obviously the main appeal of monster movies is… well, the monsters, but just like the previous MonsterVerse movies, there will be plenty of human characters to follow along with in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The main cast includes Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, Kyle Chandler, Bradley Whitford, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch and O’Shea Jackson Jr. There’s no word yet on which of those individuals have direct contact with Rodan during the movie.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters hits theaters on May 31, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates. In the meantime, you can browse through our 2019 release schedule to learn what other movies are opening later this year.