10 Questions We Still Have About Avengers: Endgame

10 Questions We Still Have About Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame is special for a lot of reasons. It's the culmination of 11 years of storytelling, the curtain call for several favorite characters and the finale of one the grandest movie experiments of all time. It's a straight-up cinema event, and yet we can probably summarize everything that we know about this movie in one sentence. The marketing for Endgame has been incredibly secretive, and with about one week left to go, we have a ton of questions still left unanswered.

Footage may have leaked, but Thanos still demands your silence. Spoilers for Endgame are being kept to an absolute minimum and only small pieces of the puzzle have been revealed by footage. However, even new footage reveals more questions than answers. We still have about a week to go before everything is finally answered, but until then, these are the last big spoiler-free questions that remain for Endgame.

What's The Deal With The Matching Suits?

The various members of the Avengers usually like to rock their own costumes, but Endgame will feature the characters wearing their first team uniform. The matching white outfits have been popping up on all sorts of marketing and promotional material for a while now, but we don't actually know the purpose for the new costumes. Is it just a visual metaphor to show that the Avengers are truly united as one? Do the suits serve a specific purpose? There are plenty of theories on the latter, but if one thing is clear: the Avengers look damn good in them.

How Do Tony Stark And Nebula Return To Earth?

The very first trailer for Endgame opened with Tony Stark stranded in outer space with little hope of rescue or survival. Later trailers revealed that Tony and Nebula do indeed find their way back to Earth. The question is how. Fans have theorized that Pepper Potts or Captain Marvel could mount a rescue mission, but right now it's unclear how Tony and Nebula get from point A to B. I subscribe to the theory that Tony tinkers their way out of the situation as a homage to escaping that cave way back in Iron Man, but we'll know soon enough.

Does Thanos Have A New Infinity Gauntlet?

At the end of Avengers: Infinity War, unleashing the full power of all six Infinity Stones left the Infinity Gauntlet charred and withered. Though Thanos' escape proves the Gauntlet still works, it's clearly seen better days. However, the Gauntlet appears good as new on Thanos' arm in a number of marketing materials. This begs the question of if Thanos has found a way to fix the Gauntlet or he gets a new one. Either way, why does he need to have the Gauntlet in the first place? The new Gauntlet could be a trick of the marketing and not actually be in the movie, but I'd be really surprised if the Stones didn't have a big role to play.

Who's Going To Die?

During the promotion for Infinity War, Marvel teased that no one was safe. That turned out to be true, and we have even more reason to think that lives will be lost by the time the credits roll in Endgame. This movie has been teased as a conclusion, so it's natural that some characters won't make it out alive. Captain America and Iron Man are the two most popular bets to not survive, but really almost anyone could bite the big one in this movie. Pack you tissues because this movie is probably going to be emotional.

Will There Be Time Travel?

There are no less than one million theories about Endgame, but perhaps the most popular one involves time travel. Thanks to some set photo leaks, people think that the Avengers will be traveling through time as a means to stop Thanos and the Decimation from ever happening. Based on comic book logic, this is one of the only foreseeable ways to reverse the ending of Infinity War, and one brief line from Ant-Man and the Wasp may have teed this theory up. Marvel isn't about to drop a spoiler like that before the premiere, but it's the strongest theory out there right now. (Sorry, Thanus fans).

Is There Another Villain?

Thanos is the main villain of the entire Infinity Saga, but even the biggest bad guys need some help. Thanos had the Black Order helping him out in Infinity War, and rumors suggest he might not be alone in Endgame. Promotional material may have spilled the beans that there's an even greater enemy in Endgame, but that obviously hasn't been confirmed. The trailers have been really light on Thanos, which might suggest that there is someone else sharing the spotlight. One popular theory was this individual is the inter-dimensional conqueror Annihilus, but that lost a lot of steam when Avengers: Annihilation wasn't the title.

Are The Snapped Really Dead?

The ending of Infinity War is one of the most shocking moments in recent movie history, but a number of people online wondered if it mattered since all the characters were more than likely coming back. While most fans seem to be in agreement that popular characters like Black Panther and Spider-Man are definitely not dead, there's debate on what actually happened to them. Did they actually die or were they transported into the Soul Stone? It's tough to say at this point, but their resurrection is a huge focus of Endgame.

What's Going On With Hulk?

The Hulk is one of the most powerful characters in the MCU, but he called it quits after getting his ass kicked by Thanos in the opening minutes of Infinity War. After that, Hulk refused to come out no matter how much danger Bruce Banner was in. Hulk has been MIA in almost all the marketing for Endgame and hasn't appeared on any major posters for the film. However, he has appeared in action figure form and in some concept art, making us wonder why the movie is being gun shy about showing off the Hulk. The big hint is that he doesn't look quite the same as he usually does, and this is a good indicator for how the three-part Hulk/Banner storyline will conclude.

Is There A Time Jump?

Traveling to the past is a popular Endgame theory, but the movie may also have a few jumps into the future. There have been rumors that Endgame will feature a time jump in some capacity. Five years seems to be the favored number, wherein it takes the Avengers half of a decade to figure out how to defeat Thanos. The only indication that there is a jump is Black Widow's hairstyle. Widow rocks three different looks in the movie with her hair progressively changing back to read. This tells us that at least some amount of time will pass during the events of Endgame -- at least enough for someone to change their hairstyle two times.

What Will It Set Up?

Endgame is in a unique position because while it is an ending, it also has to serve as a beginning. While some characters are saying goodbye, the landscape of the MCU will supposedly be very different from here on out. Marvel already has some projects like The Eternals and Shang-Chi in development, but will Endgame set any of that up? Could Endgame tease the new big bad of Phase 4 in anyway or will fans just get a small indication of what to expect for the next five years? I'd wager that by the end of it we will get a new Avengers team, but I can also see Marvel ending big with a shocking post-credits scene.

Avengers: Endgame has been an interesting movie to follow. It has so much hype that it's breaking records weeks before it's in theaters, and yet people know so little about it. The marketing arguably doesn't have to do much because no matter what, this movie feels destined to make billions of dollars. We know almost nothing about the plot or character arcs, but that will just make the experience of watching the movie that much more memorable. Overall, it's great to see a major studio holding back to keep people as surprised as possible. The endgame is fast approaching and soon all of our questions will be answered.

The Fate Of The Furious’ F. Gary Gray Is Tackling A Wild Video Game Movie

The Fate Of The Furious’ F. Gary Gray Is Tackling A Wild Video Game Movie

Video games have become the next big source of material for big screen adaptation, something which is somewhat surprising considering the difficulty that filmmakers have had transforming said games into movies so far. We recently saw the first trailer for the forthcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie, and on the heels of that comes news that director F. Gary Gray is now in development on a movie based on the Saints Row franchise.

The Saints Row games have covered four installments with the first game being released in 2006 and the fourth coming out in 2013. The storyline follows a street gang called the Third Street Saints as they battle rival gangs for control of terf, become a multimedia conglomerate, and eventually battle space aliens who have invaded the planet earth.

As you can tell by that description, the Saints Row games get a little... weird. Originally, the games were little more than Grand Theft Auto clones. You moved throughout an open world city completing missions, that usually involved committing crimes, in order to progress the story.

However, as the series progressed, it found a way to stand out from its competition by completely shifting its tone. While the basic game structure remained the same, missions and plots became more over the top and wild. The addition of, frequently mature, humor not found in Grand Theft Auto helped the series find a fan base all its own which has made Saints Row one of the more popular recent game franchises of the last few years.

If you require an example of the exact nature of Saints Row, let me direct you to part of the opening sequence of Saints Row IV, in which your character successfully disarms a nuclear weapon while riding the missile and Aerosmith's "Don't Want to Miss a Thing" plays in the background. No, this doesn't make any more sense if you've played the game.

According to Deadline, Greg Russo, who is also handling the script for the planned Mortal Kombat movie reboot is also writing the Saints Row movie.

While the Fast and Furious franchise may not have quite reached the level of camp that the Saints Row games embrace quite yet, those films have certainly become a little more insane themselves in recent years.

In The Fate of the Furious our heroes drive on ice while being chased by a submarine and The Rock diverts a torpedo with his bare hands. That's just the sort of thing you might expect to see in a Saints Row game.

And so, it's perfect to know that the director of The Fate of the Furious, F. Gary Gray, is looking at directing a Saints Row movie. The franchise basically requires over the top, slightly bonkers stunts and action, so Gray might be the perfect man to pull off such a film.

The joke has been that the only thing left for the Fast and Furious franchise to do is go to space. Considering the most recent Saints Row game did exactly that, we could essentially get a Fast and Furious in space movie without the actual film franchise having to get quite that extreme.

F. Gary Gray's most recent film Men in Black International is getting ready to debut in June. It sounds like Saints Row could be his next project.

Annabelle Comes Home Is Definitely Not A Horror Comedy, But It Will Have Funny Moments

Annabelle Comes Home Is Definitely Not A Horror Comedy, But It Will Have Funny Moments

The horror movies of The Conjuring Universe definitely take themselves seriously. Sure, there are the occasional laughs featured in the six features we’ve seen thus far, but they are pretty few and far between, as the focus has clearly always been primarily on scares. This is a tradition that fans can expect to see continue soon in the upcoming Annabelle Comes Home, but according to writer/director Gary Dauberman, you may find yourself chuckling while watching the movie a bit more than you did with previous chapters in this franchise.

The tone of Annabelle Comes Homes was a subject that came up during an interview with Dauberman on the set of the film when it was in production late last year, and in discussing his approach the filmmaker revealed that the new release will be a bit different than the previous two Annabelle features (both of which he wrote). While he stressed that there will never be a point in the movie where a comedic beat is given preference over a scare, there are going to be some laughs mixed in with the screams during the experience:

I'm not a huge fan of horror comedies, but I love comedy in my horror – if that makes sense. I like moments of levity, so I'm leaning into that a little bit more on certain moments, because I find if we hit the moments where people laugh, and then they get scared right away… I like trying to land that. I've been playing around with that a little bit more.

It’s an interesting direction to take, and arguably a smart one. While it’s definitely true that too much comedy can undercut the more frightening aspects of a horror film, striking a proper balance can work wonders. After all, making an audience smile with a joke or silly situation can lure them into a false sense of security, and when their guard is down a proper scare can result in shrieks, spilled soda, and flung popcorn.

Furthermore, a proper application of laughs interspersed with shocks does wonders for the ride-like experience that a great horror movie can offer. Those are two emotions on opposite ends of the spectrum, and it can be a blast for crowds to constantly bounce back and forth between those extremes. A recent example of a film that did that brilliantly was Andres Muschietti’s IT – which Gary Dauberman also wrote.

Part of what allows Gary Dauberman to take this approach with Annabelle Comes Home is that the plot offers circumstances that make the laughs natural – something that he didn’t really have in the making of Annabelle or Annabelle: Creation. Specifically, there is a classic horror set up here, with the story centering on young Judy Warren (McKenna Grace) as she spends the night with a babysitter (Madison Iseman) and her babysitter’s best friend (Katie Sarife) in a house that starts to go a bit nuts thanks to the presence of Annabelle. As Dauberman explained, the personalities of the girls allowed him to try some lighter tones with the plot, while never breaking too far from the larger tone of The Conjuring Universe movies. Said the writer/director,

That just fits the girls too because they're just so upbeat. It’s that sort of the teenagers alone in the house thing we're trying to capture too. It's been a lot of... We're not going ‘outside the box’ on this one, but I think we're trying to get a couple more moments of levity that maybe weren't there in the first and second one. I mean, there were moments of levity, but a little bit more of that sprinkled in.

Annabelle Comes Home, which features the return of Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Loraine Warren, will be hitting theaters everywhere as a big summer release this year – scheduled to go nationwide on June 28th. It’s one of our most anticipated releases of the season, so you can be sure that we’ll have a lot more for you to read about it here on CinemaBlend between now and when it comes out.

Chris Hemsworth Almost Quit Ghostbusters The Day Before Filming

Chris Hemsworth Almost Quit Ghostbusters The Day Before Filming

The remake of Ghostbusters from 2016 was a movie with issues. Regardless of what you thought of the final product, the movie was fighting a losing battle years before it ever made it to the screen. However, it turns out there was even more going on behind-the-scenes than we realized, as Chris Hemsworth recently revealed that he considered quitting the production the day before filming was set to begin.

It seems that Chris Hemsworth had some issues with the way his character, the Ghostbusters' receptionist named Kevin, was originally written, or, possibly, not written, as it seems the character may have been left quite vague in the original script. Director Paul Feig had assured Hemsworth everything would be taken care of in time for shooting, but that wasn't the case. According to Hemsworth...

The night before I was shooting, I almost pulled out. Three or four weeks prior, Paul said to me, ‘I’m going to write up the character. Don’t worry.’ And then I got the script and nothing had changed.

This led to an emergency meeting between Chris Hemsworth and Paul Feig, in which the director tried to quell the fears of Hemsworth by promising there would be plenty for him to do on set thanks to improvisation.

It seems that this didn't necessarily make Hemsworth feel much better. He says he was literally scared walking on to the set since he didn't really know what he was doing, but, in the end, that's what led him to the character that he found. Hemsworth continues...

I was really scared walking onto that set. I had no real plan, so I was just feeding off of them, and I just felt ridiculous. So I used that.

In the end, it seems that it all worked out for the best, as Variety calls the role in Ghostbusters one of Chris Hemsworth's favorite rolls he's had to date. It's hard not to see that. Because Ghostbusters gender flipped the main characters, the decision was made to do the same thing with the role of the receptionist. Hemsworth takes the trope of the attractive but idiotic secretary character, almost exclusively played by women, and runs with it.

It sounds, based on the way Hemsworth describes it, that this character was mostly his creation if it came about via improvisation. We'd been told previously that much of Hemsworth's performance came from improvisation, but at the time one assumed that this was a decision made by the actor, rather than something he was apparently forced into.

Hemsworth also says that the role had a larger impact on his career as he believes the fact that he could show he was capable of screwball style comedy made Thor's evolution in the MCU into a funnier character easier to accept.

Either way it all worked out for the best. Hemsworth's performance is one of the highlights of the Ghsotbusters remake.

At this point it seems unlikely we'll see Kevin again, though we will see the Ghostbusters at least one more time, but in a film that takes us back to the original continuity.

John Cena's 5 Best Movie Roles, Ranked

John Cena's 5 Best Movie Roles, Ranked

Both physically and professionally, John Cena has been a big man for a very long time. But these past few years have been huge for the professional WWE wrestler-turned-Hollywood actor. In less than five years, John Cena went from being a popular athlete on television to one of the most bankable actors in Hollywood at the moment. Not everyone can say they've done that before — or, at least, that they've done it well as Cena has these past couple years.

Indeed, John Cena's fame is ballooning just like his biceps, and it doesn't look like things will be slowing down anytime soon. Particularly with hot roles coming up soon in major studio properties, including his forthcoming part in The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle and his rumored role in The Suicide Squad. With that, we're taking a moment to celebrate the five roles that prove John Cena has become a fun, versatile, committed and commendable rising actor.

Now, before we get ahead of ourselves, it should be noted that I'm ranking these performances according to personal preference from least to greatest, with the first one being my least favorite of the favorites, while the last one here is my favorite of the favorites from the John Cena movies lineup. Hopefully that makes sense. In any case, each of these roles showcase a wealth of promise for the veteran professional WWE wrestler to make his way into the world of film acting.

John Cena has already amassed more credits than muscles at this point, and that's certainly no small feat. There's a good chance that we'll be seeing more of John Cena, the big-time actor, in the years to come. For now, however, here's my ranking of John Cena's best performances to date.

Bumblebee

In the Transformers series, the larger-than-life characters are often the giant anamorphic alien robots who turn into assorted trucks and vehicles. But John Cena give those Autobots and Decepticons a run for their money in the role of Agent Jack Burns, a grizzled, vengeance-focused colonel who sees Bumblebee has a threat that must be eliminated as soon as humanly possible. But while he is one of the main antagonist of the film, that doesn't mean that he puts his movie star charms aside and reside too deeply into the internal anguish of the character.

Often, John Cena's Agent Burns provides the film's funniest lines, particularly through his dry delivery. And yet, his wholehearted commitment to the film's goofy premise helps to sell the film's earnest '80s-esque sense of wonder, giving it the right sense of charm and captivation that was typically lost in the other Transformers sequels. While Cena doesn't quite match the size of his title co-star, his larger-than-life demeanor makes a good impression.

The Wall

As you'll see in this list, John Cena has collected a variety of comedic roles. However, as an actor hoping to prove himself throughout a variety of different roles and films, Cena has also expanded into some serious-minded territory as well. The results have ultimately been more mixed, but he did find a win with The Wall, Doug Liman's intense, visceral war thriller which finds an Iraq War sniper (Cena) and a spotter (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) fighting for their lives when a mission does dramatically (and deathly) wrong.

As U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Shane Matthews, John Cena showcases his comedy chops briefly in the movie's opening moments. But it doesn't take long before shots are fired and violence ensues, and Cena's role in the film becomes a whole lot more dramatic. As a rare opportunity to prove himself beyond his action and comedy skills, Cena proves that he has the potential to expand himself as an actor and elevate himself beyond the short-sighted aspirations of a few casting directors out there in Hollywood. As a result, John Cena's work in The Wall should hopefully allow him to expand as a dramatic actor, much in the same way that Trainwreck allowed John Cena to become the comedy mainstay he has been these past several years.

Sisters

In 2015, John Cena was best known for his memorable work in Trainwreck (more on that soon). But there was another R-rated comedy where his large-and-in-charge comedy stylings proved to be very beneficial. Specifically, that film was Sisters, the Tina Fey-Amy Poehler studio comedy which imagined two party-loving siblings throwing a hell of a rager when their parents suggest they sell their childhood home. In the midst of the party festivities seen on-screen is Pazuzu, a heavily tattooed drug dealer who is invited to bring some weed to the partying.

In the film, John Cena is expected to play it straight more than he normally does in studio comedies, often portraying a silent, menacing type who lets his imposing physicality speak for him. As a drug dealer with an inconceivably high amount of drugs (no pun intended) as his disposal, his presence in the film definitely heightens things, though not in the way it does in the other R-rated comedies mentioned in this article. Nevertheless, through another solid and often-funny role in a major studio comedy, John Cena continued to prove himself as a flexible, yet dependable, big-time comedic presence.

Blockers

Only a few years after the success of Trainwreck, John Cena was once again able to stretch his comedy capabilities in a major studio comedy. It also helped that the actor was given a bigger, more prominent role in the film as well. That movie in question is Blockers, a charming, heartfelt R-rated comedy that is centered around a trio of helicopter parents (Ike Barinholtz, Leslie Mann and Cena, of course), who dedicate to sabotage their teenage daughters' prom night in order to prevent them from losing their virginities. It's a pretty bonkers premise, and one that was definitely heightened by Cena.

As Mitchell Mannes, the beefy softie of the group, John Cena played into the tropes of your typical sports-loving overprotective parent who is so caught up in keeping his daughter's child-like innocence that he is ignoring the realities of your children growing up and becoming functioning adults. By having John Cena in the film in one of the lead roles, there's inherently something outright silly about the film. Because really, how many suburban dads look like him? But to the actor's credit, he really leans into that silliness, playing the film's premise up to the full extent while never making it too goofy or ludicrous for its own good. The result, particularly towards the emotional third act, is a film with a big heart as well as some hearty gaffs.

Trainwreck

While John Cena had already proven himself to be a muscle-bound, charismatic television personality with almost two whole decades of professional wrestling experience under his WWE heavyweight championship belt back in 2015, his acting skills were still left into question a mere few years ago. The actor had tried — and failed — to expand himself into action superstar status with misfire efforts like The Marine and 12 Rounds, and it wasn't crystal clear if audiences would be seeing more of John Cena on the big screen. Well, that certainly changed when Cena proved his big comedy chops in Trainwreck.

In Judd Apatow's sharp, appealing romantic comedy, Trainwreck, John Cena only appeared in a supporting role as Steven, Amy Schumer's muscular, high-strung casual boyfriend. But in his limited screen-time, much like fellow scene-stealer LeBron James, Cena proved to be surprisingly dedicated to the film's raunchy comedy, while also showcasing a surprise knack for improvisation. The result was an impressive and winsome performance which helped paved the way for more roles in future comedies.

While John Cena is in his 40s by now, his acting career remains relatively young. His future roles suggest that his aspirations will be pushed into more blockbusters in the vein of Bumblebee than the smaller-scale comedies and dramas that he has been accustomed to thus far. Hopefully, that transition into bigger and better things proves to be beneficial. If not, there are always comedies out there that could use his skills, his talents and his dedication.

It should also be noted that in addition to the upcoming roles mentioned earlier, we can also look forward to seeing John Cena in Project X-Traction, which is an action-adventure-thriller, also starring Jackie Chan, that's expected to come out later this year. Furthermore, Cena won't be too far from the small-screen either, as he will become the new host of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, which begin its revamped run on Nickelodeon in June.

As for what else is in store for his career, there are some murmurs that he might be involved with the new Fast & Furious movie. That's not confirmed, but it's not hard to see Cena lending his larger-than-life muscle-bound talents to those already-ludicrous action flicks. It would probably be one of the best showcases in Hollywood, truth be told, assuming that John Cena would be given a chance to play up the silliness well-established in the series.

But no matter what is in store for John Cena, we'll be sure to keep you posted on all the latest news, updates and more right here at CinemaBlend.

Why Making Little Woods Was A Huge Step For Tessa Thompson

Why Making Little Woods Was A Huge Step For Tessa Thompson

In the years since she made her professional acting debut in a 2005 episode of Cold Case, Tessa Thompson has seen her star rise to incredible heights. Recurring roles on television shows like Veronica Mars, Heroes, and Detroit 1-8-7 eventually led to leading parts in impressive features, and now she's at a point where she is concurrently starring in three different major franchises. Thanks to years of dedicated and outstanding work, her name now carries a significant amount of clout in the industry – and it’s something of which she’s not only aware, but using responsibly.

This brings us to her new film, Little Woods: the feature debut from writer/director Nia DaCosta. It’s an example of a smaller production that’s garnered more attention because of the cast involved – the ensemble also including Lily James, Lance Reddick, and James Badge Dale – but it should also be noted that Tessa Thompson’s involvement goes beyond just her part as the story’s protagonist. The movie also sees her credited as an executive producer for the first time, and as I recently learned during an interview, it’s a reflection of her desire to become more hands on with the projects that she chooses. Thompson explained,

[Nia DaCosta and I] got on and had a familiarity really quickly, and she was very generous because I was sort of at a point where I wanted to be more than just a cog in something moving. If I was going attach myself to projects and I was passionate about them, I'm someone that sort of looks at the whole picture and thinks really macro. So it became clear to me that I wanted to start producing, and really be integral to the project.

Following its world premiere last year at the Tribeca Film Festival, Little Woods will be getting a limited theatrical release this week, and in advance of the screenings I recently had the immense pleasure of sitting down with Tessa Thompson and Nia DaCosta together to talk about the film. Through our conversation I learned that Thompson was actually one of the first people to sign on to be a part of the movie, and what started as a simple leading role opportunity eventually expanded and led to her debut as an executive producer.

Continuing, Tessa Thompson acknowledged that she is currently at a place in her career where she can help support projects that might otherwise not have the opportunity to be made – and that very much includes movies like Little Woods, which is a dark, original indie drama with a female lead that tackles many prescient issues and themes (I can guarantee there aren’t too many of those currently playing at your local cineplex). At the same time, though, she also noted how important it was to let Nia DaCosta make the movie she wanted to make and not invade the creative process too much:

Particularly when you get to a place where you can help finance a thing, then you want to be able to talk about what the thing is in real robust ways. So [Nia DaCosta] and the producers were really generous letting me come on as an EP, so we continued to work through that. It was really cool through the cut, and at a certain point I was like, 'It's yours.' I can't give notes. It's not my movie, and I see myself and I'm like, 'I don't know - just do another take where I don't have a double chin.' Like, ‘I can't talk about this movie in an intelligible way, so it's yours now.’ (laughs)

Obviously that’s dripping with humorous self-deprecation, but Nia DaCosta followed up by stressing the reality of Tessa Thompson’s impact as a collaborator on the movie – particularly when it came to her specific role. The filmmaker noted that she puts a lot of stock in the perspectives of her actors, and through the production relied on Thompson to make the character as authentic and consistent as possible. Said DaCosta, talking directly to her star,

You also asked lots of questions, and there's always a moment for me personally where you kind of hand the character over because it's like someone checking your work, you know what I mean? It's asking questions like 'What's this?' and tracking the character - who this person is, who this person was before, and who they might be afterwards.

Based on an original screenplay by Nia DaCosta, Little Woods tells the story of two sisters, Ollie (Tessa Thompson) and Deb (Lily James), living in North Dakota trying to make ends meet and take care of the people they love. Unfortunately, things start to snowball in a bad way when they learn not only that their mother’s house is facing foreclosure, but that Deb is pregnant. While Ollie is still on probation following a past arrest, she finds herself forced back into the business of illegally running pills across the Canadian border in order to make the money that she needs, and in doing so risks everything that she has and wants in life.

Distributed by Neon, Little Woods will be playing in limited theaters starting this Friday, April 19th – and you can be sure that we’ll be hearing a lot more about Tessa Thompson productions and new Nia DaCosta movies in the years to come.

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Cast Can't Stop Debating The Monster's Sex

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Cast Can't Stop Debating The Monster's Sex

For those with less free time on their hands, it may come as a surprise to hear that Godzilla’s sex is actually the source of much speculation and fierce debate. Is the monster that has been gracing cinema screens for 65 years male, female, or perhaps something else entirely? With Godzilla: King of the Monsters now in theaters, it is only natural that the cast of the latest film weighs in on this important topic and you’ll see that Vera Farmiga and Kyle Chandler had differing views.

Farmiga: Hands down it’s a male. I know the ‘A’ at the end of the name throws it. But he’s King. He’s not Queen of the Monsters. Mothra’s Queen.

Chandler: I’m saying those are semantics. I have a different view on it. I think it’s possible it’s a woman. I don’t know, I’m just not sure yet. Where did Baby Godzilla come from? This is something my wife and I had a full conversation on this morning. It’s a possibility, but it’s not a certainty.

Farmiga: But you know what? He’s sort of a hybrid himself. He’s amphibian and reptile.

I love that these two have such strong opinions on the topic of Godzilla’s sex and have actually given it some thought. Like Jason Lee’s Brodie Bruce discussing superhero sex organs in Mallrats, people want to know what parts this fictional monster has and how they work. Kyle Chandler and Vera Farmiga both make valid points too.

Vera Farmiga applies Occam’s Razor, opting for the simplest answer, which is that king is usually a title given to a male monarch or sovereign and because Godzilla is the King of the Monsters he is therefore male. If he was a female he would be Queen of the Monsters. But since that position is taken by Mothra, and there aren’t two queens, the logical assumption is that Godzilla is a dude-monster.

Kyle Chandler, however, views this argument as dealing only in semantics. And he isn’t allowing labels like ‘king’ and ‘queen’ to narrow his understanding of Godzilla’s sex. Instead he thinks there’s a solid chance that Godzilla is a girl, but he isn’t willing to deal in absolutes and is still puzzling out the question in his head.

The ever-relatable Kyle Chandler even told Yahoo Entertainment that he had a whole conversation with his wife about the subject. Which is quite hilarious to think about Emmy award-winning actor Kyle Chandler having a conversation with his wife over breakfast about the sex of a fictional giant lizard. Celebrities folks, they’re just like us.

He makes an interesting point about where baby Godzilla came from. Now if he’s talking about 1967’s Son of Godzilla, the creature Minilla was adopted by Godzilla and was not his actual progeny.

But the question can be viewed another way, as in where did the Godzilla in the film come from? If Godzilla had a mother it is possible that Godzilla too is female. These are titans and their evolution and biology are not fully understood, so it isn’t necessarily as simple as, to paraphrase Jurassic Park’s Dr. Ian Malcolm, just pulling up Godzilla’s skirt to check.

There’s also the possibility that Godzilla isn’t strictly male or female. Maybe he’s asexual like dragons in Game of Thrones are suspected to be, and he can be whatever he needs to be. Vera Farmiga raises this possibility by mentioning his amphibian traits.

So maybe Godzilla uses asexual reproduction like the parthenogenesis seen in some frogs and salamanders. Or maybe he can spontaneously change his sex like some frogs. There are also slugs with both sex organs, and some rare instances of birds and butterflies born half male and half female. Basically there are lots of possibilities if you want to apply real world biology to a fictional creature.

King of the Monsters actor Ken Watanabe refers to Godzilla as a ‘he’ and director Michael Dougherty also says that the monster is a boy-- so Vera Farmiga seems to be in the majority. For what it’s worth, the original Japanese films referred to him as an ‘it’ and the original actor who played him, Haruo Nakajima, said he had no idea of the creature’s sex.

Male or female, Godzilla makes the case for his kingship in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, now playing. Check out what ticket to buy and our 2019 Release Schedule for all of this year’s biggest movies. For the latest movie news and further deep dives into the sexuality of fictitious creatures, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.