Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 248

THE RINGS OF POWER’s Markella Kavenagh on Nori’s Response to Season 2’s Growing Evil

Hobbits have been at the very heart of Middle-earth’s greatest stories since Gandalf recruited Bilbo for a grand adventure. But while J.R.R. Tolkien’s Second Age didn’t call any race by that iconic name, the Harfoots are one of the tribes who become Hobbits. That puts star Markella Kavenagh at the heart of Prime Video’s The Rings of Power. What’s it like filling such an important role? How will the lovable, positive Nori respond to the evil shadow spreading across the world? And what’s it like going on a journey with a wizard? We asked her about all of that and more when ahead of The Rings of Power‘s second season.

Prime Video

Nerdist: After two seasons of lengthy productions, how sick are you of wandering around outside in rags without shoes?

Kavenagh: I love it. Love it. Could do it all day. I mean, obviously it still feels like you’re wearing shoes because the silicon is so thick. I think it’s silicon that they use. But the feet that you wear are so thick the underneath still feels like a shoe. But I love it. I love the feet, they’re great.

The relationship between Hobbits and a powerful Istar is the very heart of The Lord of the Rings. Now that we know for sure the Stranger is a wizard, do you feel any added pressure playing his Hobbit friend?

Kavenagh: :laughs: The pressure I feel is to betray Nori’s truth. As truthfully as possible and in the most believable way. I don’t really think it’s helpful to think too much about the kind of Wizard/Harfoot dynamic. Just because it’s so specific to our story and to The Rings of Power. It exists in its own kind of narrative. In that sense, I just would get too in my head and I wouldn’t be able to focus on the story we’re telling, which is what’s important for Nori and what’s important for me and portraying Nori. So that’s what I focus on the most.

Prime Video

How does Nori knowing the Stranger’s real identity and just how powerful he is change their relationship in season two?

Kavenagh: She’s more prepared for it now. She had season one, where obviously there was so much experimentation and so much uncertainty and unpredictability, because it was so out of his control. And then in this season, it’s really his responsibility to try and harness it and really work on why it’s so uncontrollable. So for Nori, instead of it being as fearful as she was in season one, for her it’s more curious. It’s more trying to understand where it comes from and how she can also help him navigate it. And realizing it might take something else, some time, in order for him for it to fully come to fruition in a way that works for him and that is not taken out on everyone else around him or the environment.

Does the growing darkness that is spreading over Middle-earth change Nori this year? Or does her kind of purity of heart help her stay the same Harfoot that we met in season one?

Kavenagh: I would definitely say she’s still playful and has that really joyful energy. And, hopefully, a lot of heart. The things that she’s been through towards the end of season one have definitely impacted her in season two. And she just has a little bit more maturity around it and she’s less naïve. She’s just growing. She’s evolving. So there are going to be things, or the way she approaches things, might not always be the same, but she definitely has that underlying sense of that lightness and that purity and wanting everyone and everything to be okay.

Prime Video

What did you learn about Nori during season two that you didn’t know, or maybe didn’t even fully appreciate, before the season?

Kavenagh: How much she underestimates herself. Sometimes she can come across as this Harfoot that’s super forthcoming and super strong-willed and loves adventure and loves being curious and loves all these new experiences and connections. But I think she also really struggles with her own self-confidence and trusting herself. So you really see, I think in this season in a way that you didn’t in the last, is thats she’s on her own a lot more now. She actually has to be with herself and figure out what she wants and what her purpose is in a larger sense. She does have Poppy, so there’s that familiarity there, but ultimately she’s also navigating a lot on her own. It does require a self-awareness that she didn’t really have to confront in the same way in season one.

Harfoots are one of the three tribes of Hobbits, a group that holds a really sacred place in pop culture at large. How do people treat you now that you’re a very important part of a beloved group?

Kavenagh: I don’t obviously look very similar to Nori in my day-to-day. So I’m fine, walk around and no one really says anything. But for people who do like it, yeah, it’s really lovely when it resonates with people, to be able to see the joy on their faces, watching the show as a whole and the series as a whole. And then I’m so glad that in some ways Nori has resonated with people.

I feel so grateful to be a part of it and a part of Tolkien’s world. In that sense, it’s been really lovely hearing that Nori has resonated with some people or that they can feel they can relate to her or have connected to her in some way. But also, I don’t really read a lot online about how it’s been received, so it is always lovely and surprising when someone voices how it’s affected them in a positive way.

Prime Video

I talked to your very tall screen partner and I was asking him about how much, if at all, he draws on the other famous relationships between wizards and Hobbits, and he said that he thinks that your onscreen relationship is actually rooted in your offscreen bonding. Could you talk a little bit about how you and Daniel have evolved together and built this bond?

Kavenagh: We have spent so much time together. Season one, we were there together pretty much the whole time. We were hanging out all the time. And I feel like in many instances with friendships, or people who have to portray friendships on screen, you try and meet up and create a friendship of some sort off screen. At least in my experience, it’s what I’ve attempted to do. But in this instance with Dan, it was so natural and so easy that we really did become really close friends.

I am so fortunate to be able to work with him and to be able to act opposite him and have that friendship. And we just really spent so much time together. We spent so much time together. And even in the UK as much as possible, we would talk about scenes and hang out. But creating a friendship really did. And the same with Megan Richards. It really helped us. Hopefully it reads on screen, because we really do have a lot of love for each other and a lot of respect for each other as humans. I think it always helps when you are taking from your real life into a dynamic on screen. And in this instance, I think it definitely helped us that we just happened to get along.

Prime Video

I’m really fascinated by the craft and how different performers create their characters. And I know you kind of touched on this a little bit, but I do want to just ask because I asked Daniel, too. Is your performance at all, either with the relationship with him, or even just in general, influenced by Peter Jackson’s movies? And I only ask because they’re so big and so iconic and so well-known, and there are onscreen parallels to what you’re doing on this show, even if Nori is completely new. Is there anything you take from them?

Kavenagh: I really love those films. And I love those actors so much and respect their performances and just think they’re really, really incredible. But in terms of whether I look to them for this, I didn’t because the story is so specific and it’s just so way before that time that the Harfoots are just in a completely different space. Headspace wise, their experiences are different, their circumstances are so different. These are people who have had to survive. They don’t even have a base. They’re moving constantly. So their personalities and their makeup internally, and the way they view the world and their perspectives are just so, so different that we really had to start from scratch in a way.

Even though Harfoots exists, Nori is not in the lore. So to be able to create a fully-fledged Harfoot that exists in her own right and with the other Harfoot, that was more focusing on what the showrunners had provided us. And obviously being so inspired and making sure that there’s respect for the lore and making sure that it’s as truthful to that as well. Then also my own backstory, and fusing all of those together. So more focusing on that and what was relevant to Nori, which was her past experiences and her present rather than everything else. They’re just so different. Their circumstances are so different.

Prime Video

You’re already such an important part of the show. But as we talked about, Sauron is rising, things are getting worse in Middle-earth. And they’re only going to get worse and worse as the show goes on until it ends. What do you expect for Nori in terms of how much more important she becomes in this story?

Kavenagh: That’s an interesting question. I hope for her she fulfills her purpose. I know I’ve said that a lot this interview. But in this season particularly, you find out why and what she has to do, essentially for herself and for the bigger picture. I just hope we see her fulfill that. I mean, I personally want her to meet all these other storylines, which I know…technically, who knows? But yes, I think you’ll see her fulfill that purpose. And I hope you see that happen and how Sauron rising and all of that actually affects her and the Harfoots.

Prime Video

I’m not asking you to spoil anything. Your showrunners told me, yes, definitively this season we will get an answer as to who the Stranger really is. So my question to you is, how do you think fans are going to respond to that revelation?

Kavenagh: Whooo knows? Like, who knows? Honestly, I couldn’t even tell you because I think it’s… people have such strong opinions, of course, about Tolkien and Tolkien’s lore. And obviously there are going to be character reveals. It’s just so difficult to say how it’s going to be received. I just…who knows.

How did you react when you found out?

Kavenagh: (laughs) This is so ambitious? I really respect this ambition, for you to try.

I’m not asking you to spoil it, just how did you respond to it?

Kavenagh: How did I react to it? I mean, I love Daniel Weyman. So I was glad he was able to know who and what he was playing.

The post THE RINGS OF POWER’s Markella Kavenagh on Nori’s Response to Season 2’s Growing Evil appeared first on Nerdist.

THE RINGS OF POWER’s Charles Edwards on Celebrimbor’s Pride, Season 2, and Annatar

Celebrimbor is one of the most notorious elves in the history of Middle-earth, but you wouldn’t know that from The Rings of Power‘s first season. The ruler of Eregion and master smith was only a minor character during the show’s inaugural year. But that’s all about to change during its second. Celebrimbor is about to etch his name in infamy by making some powerful rings. What’s it like going from a bit player to one of the show’s most important? And what elements of J.R.R. Tolkien’s lore explain why this noble elf will fall prey to Sauron’s deceptions? We asked the great Charles Edwards about all of that in more when we spoke to him after seeing the first three episodes of the new season.

Prime Video

Nerdist: Your showrunners told me they convinced you to join the series in season one by saying you’d be really important in season two. What exactly did they tell you about your role initially and how it would grow?

Edwards: Pretty much that. They said, “Okay, here’s the deal. You are in a little bit of season one. Then season two everything kicks off,” or something like that. “Then beyond that, who knows?” So they’re quite right. That’s exactly how they sold it to me.

In season one, you’re really just there to serve the story and make some rings. There’s not a lot going on with your character. Was that frustrating or did you have faith in what was going to happen and you’d really be that important?

Edwards: No, I knew it was coming, so I was perfectly happy with that setup. I enjoyed very much the scenes with Rob Aramayo and I enjoyed establishing this character that no one had seen before. But that was all it was, an establisher. The first scene I felt his season two story kind of creep into season one was when he meets Halbrand in the forge and they’re both alone. That’s essentially what season two is for us. And that’s where the spark of season two, the flavor of season two, started to creep in for me when the two of them met.

Prime Video

What did you do differently to prep for season two considering it’s not only it’s a bigger role, all of a sudden it’s a much more dynamic character?

Edwards: You just go where the story takes you and react accordingly. The joy of this for us was that, amazingly, we got to shoot all our scenes in season two in order. It was Charlie Vickers and I in the forge for weeks, every day, telling the story in order chronologically, which is unheard of. It was really, hugely satisfying work for us both. We both really had a great summer doing it.

You want to set (Celebrimbor) up so that he’s ready to receive what Annatar brings, as in he’s got to be at a particular stage of vulnerability or uncertainty to be a juicy bit of prey for the predator. And he’s happy to see (Halbrand) again because he thinks he’s forged some kind of a relationship with this guy. But I believe that in season one, when they first meet, that’s when Sauron first casts whatever spell it is that he casts on Celebrimbor, in that brief scene when he suggests using the mithral. Celebrimbor is very susceptible to flattery. Then, as you’ll see as the season progresses, it becomes more and more aggressively psychological and violent. The relationship is not a healthy one.

Prime Video

I want to get into that a little bit more, but I want to take a step back because I’m curious how much of Tolkien’s lore did you rely on to develop the character versus how much is coming from the scripts themselves?

Edwards: Celebrimbor is obviously a very vital part of Tolkien’s world, in terms of the rings and the ring making. But very little is written about him. What there is is either contradictory, or fascinatingly elusive and juicy, saying that he was an ambitious, vain person. He was desperate to emulate the success of his grandfather. All of those are just little diamonds.

That’s all we had. Two versions said he was from a different place. And one version says he’s in love with Galadriel, which we’re not following with this show. So there was a real concoction of possibilities.

The answer to your question is that it came from, obviously, (showrunners) J.D. and Patrick, their vision of him and my version of him. They kind of combined to take Celebrimbor down this path. His vulnerability is what’s interesting to me, brought on by the vanity and feeling he’s never quite made it, even though everyone else would say he had. There’s something in him. He’s kind of having an Elvish midlife crisis. Then the storyline for season two was presented to me by J.D. and I went, “Wow, that sounds great. That’s really good.”

Prime Video

Like you said, there are different parts of the lore that say different things, and there’s some that says he’s not a prideful figure. He’s almost dwarf-likein his devotion to just making stuff.

Edwards: Tolkien says that too. That’s what’s so great about it. A bit of everything.

But when you see how Annatar persuades him, how much of Celebrimbor’s own downfall, and the horrors that are going to come for the next two ages of this world, come because he has pride? And how much of his story is the bad kind of pride versus the good kind of pride in his work?

Edwards: It’s all of those things. Tolkien gives us that too, in these contradictory versions. He says that about the dwarf-like obsession with craft. That’s great. I love that. And when I first got the role, I looked online because I didn’t know Celebrimbor and all the fan art images of this guy with a leather apron and a huge hammer with huge pecs. And I went, “Oooh, okay. Alright. That’s kind of Celebrimbor, is it?” But the dwarf-like obsession with craft suggests to me someone much more cerebral, much more bookish in a way. And the work he does is so detailed. It is all about filigree and delicacy. That’s the kind of direction I went with him.

Then you have a comment in one of the books which I searched for, this comment about his relationship with pride. I was jubilant when I found it. It’s just a sentence, but it’s there. I seized on that because that’s a wonderful combination. Someone who never felt like he quite achieved, someone with a chip on his shoulder. There are many, many versions that are possible within what we’ve been given. I hope I’ve done some of it justice.

Prime Video

You might’ve already kind of answered this, but what do you think is the biggest reason he lets Halbrand back in the first place after Galadriel already warned him not trust this guy.

Edwards: She has told him not to let him in, but he doesn’t know why. And at the point we find him at the beginning of season two, he feels ignored. He feels let down that he hasn’t heard any news how the three rings have done. He feels slightly abandoned because all the missives and letters coming from the king have been intercepted. So he’s going, “What the hell’s going on here?”

Then Halbrand turns up, and as I mentioned, there is something about Halbrand that already has his hook in Celebrimbor in season one. And when Halbrand turns up, there’s something maybe quite titillating about disobeying Galadriel because he’s pissed off with everyone. Then later in the season, he says, “No, no, it’s my kingdom. I’m going to do what the hell I want.” There’s a bit of petulance there, going, “No, I’m going to do this.” There’s a bit of that. He feels like he’s being forgotten.

Prime Video

Season one really establishes just how conniving and manipulative Sauron is and how easily he can get someone to trust him. But is there any part of Celebrimbor that doubts Annatar’s story? Or is he really that convincing?

Edwards: When Annatar presents himself to Celebrimbor as the messenger of the Valar at that moment, he goes, “Wow, this is extraterrestrial. This is extraordinary.” As anyone would in that situation. Later, as you’ll see, he will start to question it.

But right now what’s so interesting about it is that he does present himself in that way to Celebrimbor. Then they start to work together and they bicker like workmates do. It becomes this almost domestic relationship. They’re spending all the time in the forge, and the psychological battle that starts to occur between them is a very domestic setup, the games that start to get played between them. It’s so satisfying to play against the backdrop of this big fantasy show. It’s suddenly very insular and interesting and gripping, in a very psychological way. Later he will start to question, he will start to doubt.

Prime Video

We’re only discussing the first three episodes, but you’ve hinted at this a little bit. What can you tell us, without spoiling anything, that you’re really excited for fans to see with you and Sauron this year?

Edwards: The way that Celebrimbor fights back is great. There’s an episode towards the end, the way Celebrimbor starts to see what has been done to him.

You’ve clearly looked at Tolkien’s writing closely and saw how there’s both depth and freedom to craft this character. Considering we know Celebrimbor’s ultimate fate, and we know how important he is to what’s going to be two very destructive periods, is there any part of you that sort of tries to reverse engineer how he will get there? Or do you just try to stay in the present moment of his life?

Edwards: The latter. For those who aren’t aware of what might become of him, I wouldn’t want to hint at anything.

And because all this happens so fast and so intensely in our version, he’s caught at every moment. He’s just kept on the hook by Annatar, so he just has to live in the moment. But in terms of his tragedy, that is sort of self-evident later. I haven’t tried to preempt him as a tragic hero or anything like that. Hopefully he might be that anyway.

Prime Video

My last question is not mine. I spoke to Charlie Vickers yesterday. It’s clear he reveres you.

Edwards: Likewise.

I asked him what question should I ask you? He said I wasn’t allowed to ask him this, but he wants to know if you had a ring and it could give you some kind of power, what power would you want?

Edwards: :laughs: What would my answer to that be…

…Probably to live forever.

Really?

Edwards: Probably.

Oh, so you really are an elf. You don’t want The Gift.

Edwards: No, but with a little sub clause saying you could be reborn every, I dunno, 80 years. Not turn into a child again, but be reborn in your current form. And you don’t age, of course, you stay at about forty five. Forty maybe. But you get reborn not knowing everything that you knew when you last died, if you see what I mean?

That is such an elf answer. Thank you so much. This was really great.

Edwards: You’re very welcome.

The post THE RINGS OF POWER’s Charles Edwards on Celebrimbor’s Pride, Season 2, and Annatar appeared first on Nerdist.

Cate Blanchett Stars Opposite a Giant Brain in RUMOURS’ Strange Teaser Trailer

Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Alicia Vikander are a pretty great foundation for a movie about world leaders responding to a global crisis. Throw in Charles Dance and you’re pretty much guaranteed to have a film we’ll want to see. But those three are far from the only reason we’re excited about Bleeker Street’s upcoming apocalyptic horror-comedy Rumours. It has another big selling point. Something big and cerebral. Literally big and cerebral, actually. And also strange. The movie also stars a gigantic brain.

Bleeker Street’s first Rumours trailer is a brief sneak peek at what looks to be a very weird movie. While this promo is short on specifics, it’s gigantic brain speaks volumes about what we can expect. As does the film’s official synopsis:

Ricocheting between comedy, apocalyptic horror, and swooning soap opera, Rumours follows the seven leaders of the world’s wealthiest democracies at the annual G7 summit, where they attempt to draft a provisional statement regarding a global crisis. With unexpected, uproarious performances from a brilliant ensemble cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Alicia Vikander, and Charles Dance, these so-called leaders become spectacles of incompetence, contending with increasingly surreal obstacles in the misty woods as night falls and they realize they are suddenly alone.

What about that big free-floating brain? Will those politicians find themselves under attack by the brain? Calling on the brain for help? Combining to form one single brain? And why are the world’s G7 leaders digging up a grave together?!? No idea, can’t wait to find out.

Bleeker Street

Rumours comes from director Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson. Evan Johnson also wrote the script. The movie also stars Roy Dupuis, Zlatko Buric, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Takehiro Hira, Denis Ménochet, and Rolando Ravello. It had its world premiere earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival, but it won’t debut in theaters until October 18.

Whose big idea was it to make the rest of us wait for something so intriguing? We have a theory…

.youtube-embed{padding-bottom:56.25%!important;position:relative;overflow:hidden}.youtube-embed a,.youtube-embed iframe{display:block;width:100%;height:100%;position:absolute}.youtube-embed iframe{border:0}.youtube-embed img.youtube-cover{-o-object-fit:cover;object-fit:cover;height:100%;width:100%;cursor:pointer}.youtube-embed img.play-button{width:66px;position:absolute;left:46%;top:0;bottom:0;margin:auto;cursor:pointer}@media only screen and (max-width:499px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:45%;width:60px}}@media only screen and (max-width:425px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:44%;width:60px}}@media only screen and (max-width:375px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:43%;width:56px}}@media only screen and (max-width:345px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:42%;width:50px}}.youtube-embed .progressive-img{-webkit-filter:blur(10px);filter:blur(10px)}.youtube-embed .progressive-img.loaded{-webkit-filter:none;filter:none;-webkit-transition:-webkit-filter 1s ease-out;transition:-webkit-filter 1s ease-out;-o-transition:filter 1s ease-out;-moz-transition:filter 1s ease-out;transition:filter 1s ease-out;transition:filter 1s ease-out,-webkit-filter 1s ease-out}.youtube-embed .kskdDiv{display:none!important}

The post Cate Blanchett Stars Opposite a Giant Brain in RUMOURS’ Strange Teaser Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

APARTMENT 7A’s Trailer Sets Up a Creepy Prequel to ROSEMARY’S BABY

Although not advertised as such, the iconic horror classic Rosemary’s Baby is getting a prequel film this fall. Apartment 7A is heading straight to streamer Paramount+ just in time for Halloween. This time, there’s no Rosemary Woodhouse staying at the infamous Dakota apartments in New York, with the story instead centering on a minor character from the original film, Terry Gionoffrio, now played by Julia Garner. Oscar-winner Diane Wiest and Kevin McNally now portray the creepy old couple from Rosemary’s Baby, the Castevets. You can check out the unsettling new trailer for Apartment 7A right here.

The film takes place in 1965, presumable at least a few months before the events of Rosemary’s Baby. Judging from the trailer, both Diane Wiest and Kevin McNally do an eerily spot-on impression of Minnie and Roman Castavet, the elderly couple from Roman Polanski’s original 1968 film. Dianne Weist especially does a perfect imitation of actress Ruth Gordon, who won an Oscar for the role of the nosey neighbor who (surprise!) actually worshipped the Devil and was trying to bring about the Antichrist. It’s great to see Diane Wiest in a horror film again, some 35 years after her role as the lovable mom in The Lost Boys.

Paramount+

Natalie Erika James is the director for Apartment 7A, from a screenplay she co-wrote with Christian White and Skylar James. Hopefully, this will be as good as some other recent prequels to iconic horror films we’ve seen recently. Films we first assumed were nothing more than just cash grabs. Among them is The First Omen, released earlier this year, which was actually quite good. Who saw that coming? Everyone was surprised at how good that ended up. Apartment 7A is premiering first at Fantastic Fest later this fall, before its debut on Paramount+ on September 27 and, if the trailer is any indication, it will be scarily good.

.youtube-embed{padding-bottom:56.25%!important;position:relative;overflow:hidden}.youtube-embed a,.youtube-embed iframe{display:block;width:100%;height:100%;position:absolute}.youtube-embed iframe{border:0}.youtube-embed img.youtube-cover{-o-object-fit:cover;object-fit:cover;height:100%;width:100%;cursor:pointer}.youtube-embed img.play-button{width:66px;position:absolute;left:46%;top:0;bottom:0;margin:auto;cursor:pointer}@media only screen and (max-width:499px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:45%;width:60px}}@media only screen and (max-width:425px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:44%;width:60px}}@media only screen and (max-width:375px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:43%;width:56px}}@media only screen and (max-width:345px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:42%;width:50px}}.youtube-embed .progressive-img{-webkit-filter:blur(10px);filter:blur(10px)}.youtube-embed .progressive-img.loaded{-webkit-filter:none;filter:none;-webkit-transition:-webkit-filter 1s ease-out;transition:-webkit-filter 1s ease-out;-o-transition:filter 1s ease-out;-moz-transition:filter 1s ease-out;transition:filter 1s ease-out;transition:filter 1s ease-out,-webkit-filter 1s ease-out}.youtube-embed .kskdDiv{display:none!important}

The post APARTMENT 7A’s Trailer Sets Up a Creepy Prequel to ROSEMARY’S BABY appeared first on Nerdist.

THE RINGS OF POWER’s Daniel Weyman on The Stranger’s Season 2 Journey and Nerding out Over Tom Bombadil

The Rings of Power‘s first season brought an Istar to Middle-earth. We just didn’t know for certain the Stranger was a wizard until the season finale. What’s it been like for star Daniel Weyman since that revelation? That was just one of the many questions we asked him ahead of the show’s second year on Prime Video. We also wanted to know about being part of a wizard/Hobbit partnership. What it’s like for his character now that he knows what he is (sort of). And whether or not we’ll find out his true identity this year.

Prime Video

Nerdist: We spoke just a couple of days after season one’s finale when the world learned for certain the Stranger was a wizard. I’m curious, in almost two years since that revelation, how do people treat you knowing you’re a member of that very important Middle-earth group?

Daniel Weyman: I would love to say they gave me a lot of respect, but pretty much the same as always. Mainly the people I speak to have found the story of the Stranger has resonated for them because of the way that they are present for these big learning moments. As he understands friendship, as he begins to trust, as he sees in the Harfoot community love, and their sort of communal humanity. And then in the way he has his own personal journey with understanding his own power. Danger versus good, there to help or to do selfish deeds, that sort of thing is resonating a lot with people.

When I come back to it, that idea of the seduction around power, the fact that when we, in the real world are at our most powerful, or when we can be powerful, they can also be our most seduced moments. We’re seduced into thinking we should use that power. Or that, in fact, if I throw my weight around, that in fact makes me a better person or a stronger person and that’s what I want to identify with. So  there’s been a bit of that around the journey. And I’ve had a lot of people talk to me about the tender side of the Stranger.

Prime Video/Vanity Fair

Certainly early Stranger season one, even before he could speak, people were getting quite a lot of tenderness through his listening, which was interesting. That wasn’t something I had thought about. I’d sort of been aware of the light moments and the dark moments. The light was normally the wonder and the lack of knowledge, and the dark was more of this possibility of being seduced by the more evil side, the dark side.

They were the things that have really come through. But it’s been really fun listening to people and listening to people talk about how the first season affected them or the characters that they loved. And people have been pretty complimentary to my face about the Stranger.

You spent season one with the Stranger not knowing who or what he is. What was it like playing him this time when he knows he’s a wizard? What was better and what was more challenging?

Weyman: That’s a really good question. I think when we left him at the end of season one, he was off with Nori beginning this journey. And I really felt he was at this point of being most hopeful, most positive, most free from being weighed down by external things or not knowing stuff. So this idea, this vision, of them stomping off through the greenery felt like a very light moment in his journey. And obviously as we get into season two, that quickly turns into a sort of arid path rather than a lush green path. The heat starts to bake down and before we know it. They don’t have a whole heap of food or drink and they’re possibly being followed and the Stranger’s being troubled by these dreams.

Prime Video

That’s where the crux of your question comes in. Yeah he is pretty certain that he’s a wizard. Other people have heard. Nori’s heard. The mystics call him an Istar. And he’s got some relationship with that. Some knowledge, I think through helping with the mystics and maybe using the stuff that Nori gave him to channel. The energy has, in some way, just reconnected him to a bit more of his origins and his eternal being.

But how he uses that or what that means for his understanding of Middle-earth, I think is murkier. I got the impression just watching that end of (episode) eight and now knowing where I’ve been in season two, that he thought his next part of the journey was going to be plain sailing. And the darkness that he’d experienced in season one was largely internal darkness about his own decisions, about how much he wanted to exert his control, how wonderful it was to be able to choose whether a firefly dies or lives. The power of being able to regenerate an apple tree, those sort of things. They were sort of internal struggles.

Whereas now I feel when he’s on his journey, he’s much more aware of this landscape struggle. He’s much more aware of Middle-earth being in peril itself. I get the feeling he senses darkness rising. The moment when he managed to produce these beetles from the broken tree, when they’re looking for food, I feel even in that moment he senses that they’re almost like the blood in his veins. That he’s worried about this Middle-earth malaise, this rising of darkness, is in some way a question that’s going to confront him. That in some way his purpose is going to be inextricably linked to this darkness rising.

Prime Video

But I don’t think he knows in what way, because I think in these dreams he’s being troubled by, they seem to be suggesting that as he makes choices, bad things happen. And I think he still isn’t far enough away from season one Stranger to have shed that idea that there is some fate or destiny of which it doesn’t matter how hard he might try, he’s still going to end up causing problems or causing darkness. So that’s sort of where we meet him.

Wizard-Hobbit relationship is at the very core of The Lord of the Rings. Does the partnership between Gandalf and Bilbo and Frodo influence your performance and interactions with Nori and Poppy in any way?

Weyman: It’s funny, you’re the second person to ask me that really specific question. And it seems weird to say this, but I hadn’t thought about those relationships in comparison with our relationships. Which I get must be a bit strange. It must sound naive or just dumb.

Not at all, actually. I ask because I’m fascinated by the process of creating characters.

Weyman: For me, it all goes back to the first time I met Markella and we did some rehearsals together. The showrunners were in the room, and J. A. (Bayona), who was directing the first episode. The Stranger obviously wasn’t going to talk, and we did this sort of little rehearsal around the crater scene when she prods the Stranger and the Stranger wakes up. Just that moment, I think J.A. wanted to get a sense of how that might look, or what the energies might be so he could think about how he was going to film it. And Markella and I sort of leapt into that.

We were in this disused school drama center, and they built blocks for the crater out of those wooden sort of things that kids used to use for stages at school. So they built this sort of crater and I was in it in my rehearsal clothes. Markella came up and did her bit. And as the Stranger woke up, I had a fairly violent, as in terrified, response and it was quite big. She obviously was terrified being Nori. I sort of skidded off the crater and ended up on the floor a bit and he was all a bit mayhem.

Prime Video

After that, there was something that happened between Markella and me. There’s this expression, “Strong but wrong.” So strong but wrong is something that I’m very capable of doing. Big idea…utterly, utterly wrong. But in that room, we both felt comfortable enough to go bold and see what they thought. Now as it happened, J.A. did think it was largely a wrong direction. He said to me very quickly, “You did quite a lot of this and I’d really like it if you didn’t do any of that, I’d like to see what happens.” But the point was that, we’d both been, on this show first thing in front of the showrunners together, and we hadn’t met each other before. We sort of bonded by our joint risk.

I feel like the Stranger’s relationship to Nori almost came secondarily from my relationship with Markella. So this blurring of Markella and I’s bond, through being able to express story without dialogue from the Stranger. Or through physical action. We had a movement coordinator, Lara, who is brilliant. We worked as three together to explore some of the ideas around what that might mean for those two beings.

The further we got into the Stranger-Nori relationship, it sort of felt like it took over from the Daniel-Markella relationship in a way that meant I, strangely, never conceived of the Wizard-Hobbit relationship. And also, the other thing to say about that is that the showrunners didn’t write it (that way). We didn’t know I was a wizard when we started. The wizard bit crystallized very late for me and Markella. The storiy that came still had this possibility he was a dark character. Yes, we knew that he’d survived this fireball. So we knew he wasn’t human or any being that was mortal on Middle-earth. But there were other question marks around where his power led and what kind of character he was.

So really the wizardry part came so late on that by then the relationship had formed. And yet, in all honesty, I hadn’t thought about that bond in that context.

Prime Video

I know you can’t tell me if you are, in fact, Mithrandir. But I am curious if you personally, at this point, know whether or not you are secretly Gandalf.

Weyman: You are curious whether I know as an actor, you mean?

As an actor, yes.

Weyman: That’s an interesting question…

How about this? Do you know your real identity, which is something that is teased early in the season?

Weyman: Yeah, that’s really an interesting. Because my argument has always been with this—and I think this is how the showrunners have tried to handle me—is that I would argue that I’ve always known. I’ve always known who he was because I’ve been with him since he was born. He was nothing else. He’s nothing else, because he hasn’t been through anything else yet. And the joy is here that the audience also knows exactly who he is. You’ve all been through exactly what I’ve been through, and that’s all there is at the minute of the Stranger.

So we do know who he is. We know very well who he is by having been with him. Interestingly, we know more about being with him than we do of any other character in the whole piece. They’ve all got a history that we don’t know anything about.

Now I know certain things have started to crystallize for (the Stranger) about this possibility of another world. And I think that’ll be fun for when Tom Bombadil comes in and we know they cross paths. Suddenly, then, you get another eternal character, Tom Bombadil, who has a dimensional quality that the Stranger hasn’t really come across yet, except for a bit with the mystics maybe.

When he comes into the sphere of Tom Bombadil, what does that do for the Stranger’s relationship to the Harfoots, which is dimensionally like our relationship in the real world. But then imagine we are in the presence of a God or a demigod, how much that would shrink down the idea of three dimensional landscape. Because four dimensional landscape gives us so much. Where does that place Nori/Poppy/the Strangers relationship? How does that fit in with what Tom Bombadil exists in? And challenges the Stranger about whether they’re positive things or negative things? I dunno whether that answers your question at all.

Prime Video

It gets to the last topic, because I want to talk about that interaction with Tom Bombadi. I just want to ask you personally, when you’re standing in this immersive set and you’re standing opposite Tom Bombadil in his hat, do you take a moment to just kind of nerd out about the whole thing?

Weyman: Ab-so-lutely. Ab-so-lutely. There was a lot of nerding out. And the set was just sumptuous. For me it couldn’t have been better. The place they made him have his home in this area when he’s in this moment, it was an unbelievably beautiful thing. And Tom, in classic Tom fashion, was able to be full of the whimsy that he is. The light touch, the speed of thought, the challenging, confronting behavior, and also the moments of utter earth shockingly massive revelation and grounded, rooted sensibility that he has.

Of course, the Stranger doesn’t know necessarily everything that we know about Tom Bombadil. He’s kept playing catch up anyway. But there’s a lot of being in the presence of Tom Bombadil for the Stranger, only suddenly becoming aware of this fourth dimension, this eternal creature, there’s a lot of catch up. It was all pretty new when he started working with a three-dimensional character in Nori, in the Harfoots, learning about all those things: friendship, love, honesty, community, place, distance. But now he’s got to catch up to a whole new being. He’s got this other sphere of, “Oh my gosh, it goes down there and it goes down there. It’s everywhere.” So t was really fun to be on stage. Really fun.

The post THE RINGS OF POWER’s Daniel Weyman on The Stranger’s Season 2 Journey and Nerding out Over Tom Bombadil appeared first on Nerdist.

THE RINGS OF POWER’s Showrunners on Season 2’s Growing Darkness, Tolkien’s Lore, and More

Middle-earth’s Second Age was a time of peace…until it wasn’t. According to The Rings of Power‘s showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne that growing darkness will dominate the show’s second season. But what else can we expect from the show’s sophomore outing? That’s what we wanted to know when we spoke with them ahead of the show’s return at Prime Video. From Tom Bombadil and Tolkien lore to finding out the Stranger’s real name and why this season is even more epic, they gave viewers a lot to be excited about as they dive int The Rings of Power season two.

Prime Video

Nerdist: Before we get into season two, I wanted to know, did the reactions to season one, good or bad, influence your approach to season two in any way?

Patrick McKay: Season two was conceived and written before a single frame of season one was seen by anybody, so in this particular instance, while it might be really tempting and easy to try to do a cause effect situation there, no, no. This was always the story. This was the plan from the beginning.

To the extent that season one influenced season two, it’s more our own experience. We like to say making season one was a bit like building a pyramid, before anyone had ever attempted to build a pyramid, including us. In season two, we’re building another pyramid, and that’s drawing on all the experience we have of having done it once before. And hopefully, we’re getting better at our jobs. We want every season and every episode to raise the bar, and if we’re getting better at doing that, then hopefully, some of the fruits of that labor are beginning to show. At the end of the day, we feel like we’re just hitting our stride.

Prime Video

What are the biggest, most obvious differences between season one and two of The Rings of Power?

J.D. Payne: Season one starts in a time of relative peace for Middle-earth. We’re bringing audiences to the Second Age in a time when the shadow had just sort of receded a bit. And we were setting up the chessboard, meeting a bunch of our heroes and one of our villains, in particular. But he was behind a cloak, so to speak, and he was not played open season one.

Season two, Sauron is out in the open. The audience knows who he is, and he’s coming to Celebrimbor in the form of Annatar. So now that the villain is here, really everything is going to be set in motion.

Season one is about the heroes and bringing people to Middle-earth. Season two is all about the villains. Annatar has been ascendant in Mordor. Sauron has left season one with three rings he created, but he was unable to turn Galadriel to his side. He doesn’t have any of the rings. He has no armies. And he has no orcs, no weapons. All he has is his own cunning, and he’s going to use it to set in motion Adar and his armies, Gil-galad and the elves in their armies, and set Middle-earth on a collision course with some pretty disastrous stuff.

Prime Video

Patrick McKay: We very consciously designed season one, as J.D. says, a return to Middle-earth, but one in which you would feel the breadth of the different kinds of peoples, the different characters, the different realms, the different races, all of which are on their own journeys. And then season one, you just started to see some of those journeys converge.

Season two is really all those different journeys, starting more and more, to feel like one epic, and that is the story of Sauron’s rise and all of Middle-earth, despite all their disparate origins and interests, having to come together to face him. But what that also means is along the way, different characters are going to rise and become major protagonists from episode to episode and even season to season. Celebrimbor, played by the amazing Charlie Edwards, has a supporting role in season one.

We lured Charlie Edwards to join our merry band with the promise that in season two, in some ways, Celebrimbor is the emotional heart of the whole season. And in future seasons, I daresay other characters might become more prominent or less prominent. We’re trying to create a rotating cast of heroes and, indeed, villains, and everybody gets their moment to shine. And season two is going to be focused much more on Sauron.

Prime Video

J.D. Payne: And Celebrimbor, because there’s a great psychological thriller between them. There’s this sort of cat-and-mouse game, as Sauron is trying to manipulate Celebrimbor into making the rings. So that’s something that we’re excited for our audiences to experience.

Patrick McKay: But it necessitates a darker tone as well as higher stakes, and not everybody’s going to get out of the season alive.

Oh. I can’t imagine you want to tell me who’s not making it out of alive.

McKay: You got to watch.

Prime Video

I asked you about the most obvious, major differences. What are some of the more subtle differences between these two seasons?

Payne: We’re working with a new production designer this season named Kristian Milsted. He worked on a lot of different shows and films before this, including a bunch of the Watchmen season that was on HBO, which we were great admirers of.

Our goal is always to do as much practically and in-camera as we possibly can. Season two, the on-set builds, the in-camera worlds, are several layers of magnitude richer and larger than anything we attempted in season one. Khazad-dûm, which we’re meeting at a time of great splendor and majesty, season one, in terms of what was actually in-camera, there were a couple of rooms and a bridge. Season two, we built an entire working dwarf mine with various tunnels and passages and unexplored caverns and marketplaces, and a huge throne room, in addition to a bridge and several other rooms. In terms of what we’re actually getting in-camera, it’s much, much, much more this season. And that all, adds to a tonal shift that we were interested in subtly applying.

Prime Video

Patrick McKay: We’re enormously proud of season one, but as J.D. said, that was Middle-earth in a time of peace. Season two, the shadows are creeping in. That means it’s going to be grittier, it’s going to be darker, and our producing director this season is the enormously talented Charlotte Brändström, who recently did an episode of Shogun we’re great admirers of, working with her in the later episodes of season one, we really found a tone that was very heart-on-sleeve emotionally, but also very grounded visually and rich in its performances.

We really wanted to capitalize on that and carry it forward. You feel a shift in the storytelling that’s not always so obvious in terms of just the gravity with which we’re approaching each of these scenes, each of these performances, each of these worlds in their depiction visually, but also hopefully how they play emotionally from scene to scene.

Prime Video

Payne: A not such a subtle difference, I can’t help but mention as I’m looking at your (wedding) ring on the Zoom screen, is now we’ve got rings in play. There’s the three Elven rings. We’re going to see the seven Dwarven rings forged. We’re going to start to see the effects that those have on our characters. The Elven rings have some mysterious qualities of healing, of preserving and protecting, and we’re going to see some of these come out in the drama.

McKay: There’s a new magic in Middle-earth this time.

Oh, and I shall also say new characters and new creatures. We’re going to see Tom Bombadil and we’re going to see Cirdan. We’re also going to see Ents, and we’re going to see Barrow-wights. There’s canon characters and creatures that I think fans are going to be very excited to see, and there’s also a ton for people who have never heard of Middle-earth before to come and enjoy the party.

Prime Video

Okay. You brought him up, so I’m going to jump the gun on asking about him. You are bringing a beloved yet divisive Middle-earth figure to the screen with Tom Bombadil. Why did you decide to include him, and what can you tell us about the role he’ll play this season?

McKay: I’m going to come at this tonally. Season two, as we said, is a darker season by virtue of the fact that Sauron is unleashed. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t still want room for Tolkienian whimsy, wonder, and humor. And in thinking about our storyline, we knew Tom Bombadil was around at this time, and we knew Tom Bombadil had never been brought to the screen in the way that we feel he deserved. Those two ultimately proved irresistible questions that we had to answer, so he’s sort of bringing the light in a season with a lot of shadow.

J.D. Payne: But one of the challenges is that Tom Bombadil sort of defies drama by his very nature. Frodo and the Hobbits go to him, not really to figure out what to do with the ring, not really figure out how to battle Sauron, just kind of to hang out, hear him sing some songs and say some rhymes and tell him about some trees and the old forest and the Barrow-wights. But he’s a powerful character, and he’s a character with deep wells of wisdom. If I can hang out with anyone in Middle-earth, anyone, it would be Tom Bombadil because he just knows everything. He’s been around forever.

The challenge was to find what’s a way you can bring a character like that into the drama in a way that doesn’t stop the story dead, but also doesn’t violate the essential nature of who Tom Bombadil is. We sort of tried to walk that line, and we think audiences here are going to enjoy it.

Prime Video

He’s such an important part of the lore, and I do want to ask you a couple of questions about that, but I don’t think everyone realizes just how many years of story this show has to condense for obvious reasons. What omission of Tolkien’s lore are you most upset you had to leave out this year?

Patrick McKay: I don’t know that we ever feel upset about our ability to play in this world. It is just such a constant source of joy and magic and wonder. What we end up feeling is gratitude for the enormous banquet that Tolkien is serve. And then to be able to every season pick a few things and fill a plate is an opportunity more than anything that would upset us.

J.D. Payne: I’ll take a nibble at the question, in as much as one of the things that is interesting about Tolkien on a literary sense, is just the sense of almost the geological timescale on which things happen in Middle-earth.

The rings are forged and then hundreds of years pass where nothing happens, and you just sort of have a shadow brewing. Or the rings are just sort of working on people. And you also have generations passing in Númenor as things are slowly, slowly, slowly getting worse. And that works in literature. It’s next to impossible to accomplish in a dramatic, especially televised or filmed dramatic dramatization.

So you lose some of those, but what you lose in that you gain in cohesion of narrative-

McKay: And emotional impact.

Payne: And emotional impact, by giving people characters they’re able to invest in. Instead of human characters dying every season and then having to meet new humans while you’re sort hanging out with these immortal elves, you get to really invest in your human characters and be with them for the entire series.

McKay: We love this material so much, and we’re always looking to bring it to the screen in the grandest way imaginable that is true to the spirit of the source, and that’s something that we’re never going to be satisfied that we’ve fully pulled off.

Prime Video

We’ve only got a couple of minutes left, so I’m going to go kind of rapid-fire here. What part of Tolkien and lore are you most excited for viewers to see this year?

Payne: Sauron, Celebrimbor, and Eregion.

McKay: The forging of the rings of power in Eregion.

You already mentioned Annatar. We see a very different version of Sauron at the start of the season. Can you tell us if there are other versions of Sauron that are going to appear?

McKay: It’s an evolution. Sauron appears in many forms, and over the course of season two there’s quite a growth and change in his chameleonic nature. But it’s not whack-a-mole with different Saurons popping up all over the place. It’s all the development of the character as his relationships inevitably erode from his inherent evil.

The first few episodes tease it. So I have to ask, I know you’re not going to tell me who the Stranger is, but will we find out who The Stranger is by the end of this season?

Payne: Definitive yes.

I think we should also say that that’s not why you should go on the Stranger’s journey this season. We like to say that he’s someone who’s come to Middle-earth; he’s learning his purpose. He knows he’s a wizard now, but he doesn’t really know what it means to be a wizard, and what does it mean to have these powers? What are my powers? How do I control my powers? What am I supposed to use them for? Who do I fight? How do I fight them? What impact is that going to have on my friends? What impact is it going to have on me? All those are the questions he’s asking on the journey’s going on as he comes into his own. So that’s the ice cream sundae. The name is just the cherry on top.

Prime Video

So when we finally learn his name is Mithrandir, will you come back and talk to me again after the season?

McKay: No comment. But yes, we will come back and talk to you.

The post THE RINGS OF POWER’s Showrunners on Season 2’s Growing Darkness, Tolkien’s Lore, and More appeared first on Nerdist.

Is THE RINGS OF POWER’s New Dark Wizard Ciarán Hinds Really Saruman?

The Rings of Power‘s second season is already teasing the Stranger’s true identity. Considering Daniel Weyman’s tall, unkempt magical mystery man wanders around in rags with halflings after arriving on Middle-earth in a literal ring of fire, there’s plenty of reason to think he’s Gandalf. But he’s no longer the the show’s only Istar. Ciarán Hinds has joined the series as a powerful dark wizard. That intimidating cult leader already feels threatened by the Stranger’s presence. And combined with his appearance, loyal acolytes, hunt for Sauron, and his outpost in the East, The Rings of Power might now feature another legendary wizard from The Lord of the Rings. Hinds might really be playing Saruman.

Prime Video

Like much of J.R.R. Tolkien’s lore, the history of Istari during the Second Age is a muddled mess of conflicting tales, timelines, and monikers. In some accounts he wrote the Valar sent Istari to Middle-earth to undermine Sauron’s grip on the east and south. But who the Valar sent exactly and when, if at all, changed over time like so many of Tolkien’s other stories. The result is that the canonical history of wizards during this era is debatable at best.

Like with other questionable/unofficial lore, that ambiguity means The Rings of Power can pick and choose which Tolkienian elements it wants to adapt. And that means it’s possible Saruman was already living on Middle-earth during the Second Age. The Prime Video series has already given us lots of evidence he was.

New Line Cinema

Hinds—a great actor who can match the intensity and onscreen presence of the late Christoper Lee— is playing a powerful dark wizard weary of another Istar. (Who might very well be his uncorrupted counterpart Gandalf.) The dark wizard’s appearance, which includes a two-toned bear, and staff that looks like the Eye of Sauron, are also remarkably reminiscent of Lee in Peter Jackson’s iconic films.

Just like with the future Saruman, Hinds character also has loyal followers willing to do terrible things on his behalf. He also seems obsessed with control and suppressing the abilities of another Istar he sees as a challenge to his position. The Rings of Power‘s dark wizard does not want the Stranger to remember who he is or how powerful he is.

Hinds’ evil Istar also calls Rhûn in the east home. That’s where evil will soon rise during the Second Age, and Saruman’s legacy is defined by his embrace of darkness which he personally spread into the west. And the Istar’s mystics spent season one looking for the Stranger because they believed he might be Sauron. In the Third Age Saruman will serve Sauron as a follower before trying to usurp him as ruler of Middle-earth. Saruman’s ultimate fall is directly connected with the Dark Lord’s growing power.

Prime Video

The parallels between Saruman during the Third Age and Hinds’ incredibly powerful Istar of the Second are obvious and bountiful. That doesn’t mean he’s definitely Saruman, however. Morgoth’s lingering evil, combined with Sauron’s darkness, could have corrupted any wizard present on Middle-earth during the Second Age. Hinds could be playing one of the blue wizards Tolkien said wandered the lands at this time. Or he might be another Istar entirely the show is introducing.

But if the Stranger proves to be the wizard we think he is, it seems very likely Hinds will, too. In the Third Age the Valar sent Saruman to Middle-earth ahead of Gandalf. Ultimately good defeated evil because they did. The Rings of Power might show the Valar did so because they knew it would work for a second time.

The post Is THE RINGS OF POWER’s New Dark Wizard Ciarán Hinds Really Saruman? appeared first on Nerdist.

Universal Announces JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH Heading to Theaters 2025

Smoldering husks of trilogies can’t even cool off these days before studios announce a new chapter. The money train keeps a-chugging. When your last three movies have all surpassed the $1 billion mark, it’s hard to rest on your laurels. Such is the case for Universal’s explicably popular Jurassic World franchise, which “wrapped up” three years ago with Jurassic World Dominion. Perfect time to announce a refresh in the form of Jurassic World Rebirth, hitting cinemas July 2025. This is the blockbuster equivalent of Friday the 13th. In the ’80s, Part V: A New Beginning came out a mere 11 months after Part IV: The Final Chapter.

Rogue One‘s Gareth Edwards will direct the film. He knows a thing or two about giant stuff, having cut his teeth on his indie breakout Monsters and then Legendary’s Godzilla. Original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp has written the screenplay for Jurassic World Rebirth. The movie will costar Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey.

Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.

Universal

Academy Award® nominee Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure genetic material from the world’s three most massive dinosaurs. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on an island where they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that’s been hidden from the world for decades.

Ali is Duncan Kincaid, Zora’s most trusted team leader; Emmy nominee and Olivier Award winner Jonathan Bailey (Wicked, Bridgerton) plays paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis; Emmy nominee Rupert Friend (Homeland, Obi-Wan Kenobi) appears as Big Pharma representative Martin Krebs and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Lincoln Lawyer, Murder on the Orient Express) plays Reuben Delgado, the father of the shipwrecked civilian family.

The cast includes Luna Blaise (Manifest), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty) and Audrina Miranda (Lopez vs. Lopez) as Reuben’s family. The film also features, as members of Zora and Krebs’ crews, Philippine Velge (Station Eleven), Bechir Sylvain (BMF) and Ed Skrein (Deadpool). 

Universal

Pretty wild Jurassic World Rebirth is only 11 months from release at this point, but that’s Hollywood for ya! I wasn’t a fan of any of the three previous Jurassic World movies, but the dino action still proved exciting for people around the world. Just shows to a go ya, the terrible thunderlizards will never go extinct.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.

.youtube-embed{padding-bottom:56.25%!important;position:relative;overflow:hidden}.youtube-embed a,.youtube-embed iframe{display:block;width:100%;height:100%;position:absolute}.youtube-embed iframe{border:0}.youtube-embed img.youtube-cover{-o-object-fit:cover;object-fit:cover;height:100%;width:100%;cursor:pointer}.youtube-embed img.play-button{width:66px;position:absolute;left:46%;top:0;bottom:0;margin:auto;cursor:pointer}@media only screen and (max-width:499px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:45%;width:60px}}@media only screen and (max-width:425px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:44%;width:60px}}@media only screen and (max-width:375px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:43%;width:56px}}@media only screen and (max-width:345px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:42%;width:50px}}.youtube-embed .progressive-img{-webkit-filter:blur(10px);filter:blur(10px)}.youtube-embed .progressive-img.loaded{-webkit-filter:none;filter:none;-webkit-transition:-webkit-filter 1s ease-out;transition:-webkit-filter 1s ease-out;-o-transition:filter 1s ease-out;-moz-transition:filter 1s ease-out;transition:filter 1s ease-out;transition:filter 1s ease-out,-webkit-filter 1s ease-out}.youtube-embed .kskdDiv{display:none!important}

The post Universal Announces JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH Heading to Theaters 2025 appeared first on Nerdist.

First Look at Daredevil From DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN

When the Netflix Marvel shows moved to Disney+, fans hoped they might see some familiar faces incorporated into the MCU’s world. Although there were many good iterations of Marvel characters in the Netflix shows, one hero that fans particularly hoped would return for a solo show or movie was Charlie Cox’s Daredevil. Happily, Marvel Studios didn’t make us wait very long. At San Diego Comic-Con 2022, the studio announced that Daredevil would receive a new MCU series on Disney+, Daredevil: Born Again. Since that announcement, the series had some ups and downs, including an overhaul of its creative team.

Marvel Studios

For now, a new video celebrating Marvel’s 85th anniversary gives us our first look at Daredevil from Daredevil: Born Again. Check it out above.

Marvel Studios

Here’s everything we know about Daredevil: Born Again.

Title

The title of the MCU Daredevil series will be Daredevil: Born Again. This is also the title of one of Daredevil‘s famous comic arcs.

Daredevil: Born Again‘s PlotMarvel Comics

We don’t yet know much about the exact plot of Daredevil: Born Again. But in the comics, Born Again is a very dark tale for Daredevil. In it, the man without fear faces down Kingpin, who manipulates Matt Murdock’s feelings for a struggling Karen Page in his attempts to destroy the hero. Whether this storyline will find its way into the MCU, we can’t say for sure. What we do know is that Daredevil: Born Again will have eighteen episodes, leaving a lot of room to explore the MCU version of the hero.

According to a report by Variety, Marvel is planning to overhaul the direction of Daredevil: Born Again. The publication shares that “Marvel Studios has recently parted ways with head writers Chris Ord and Matt Corman and is currently seeking new writers to revamp the show. Ord and Corman will still be credited as executive producers.” Additionally, Marvel has released the directors for the series episodes that have not yet already been filmed. Variety reveals that less than half of Daredevil‘s 18 episodes were filmed before the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. And that “Some elements of the already shot material will be used going forward, but Marvel is looking to take the show in a new creative direction.”

Behind the ScenesNetflix/Marvel Studios

Originally Daredevil: Born Again was written and executive produced by Matt Corman and Chris Ord. According to Deadline, Clark Johnson was meant to direct two episodes. However, Variety recently reported that Corman and Ord were released from the show and Marvel is seeking new writers and directors for the series.

The Hollywood Reporter shared the superhero crime series has added Dario Scardapane as its showrunner. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead will direct the rest of the episodes for the first season. Scardapane has experience with The Punisher, while Benson and Moorhead directed episodes of Loki season two.

While Marvel will apparently retain some episodes and other material that was already filmed, Scardapane will add new episodes and new scenes. It’s unknown how many episodes season one will have.

Daredevil: Born Again‘s CastMarvel Studios

So far, Charlie Cox, who, of course, returns as Daredevil, and Vincent D’Onofrio, who will play Kingpin, have signed onto the new series. In addition, Jon Bernthal will reprise his role as Punisher in the MCU series, and Deadline shares that Wilson Bethel’s Bullseye will also make the leap. Additionally, Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson will return as Karen Page and Foggy Nelson.

Also joining the Daredevil show are Nikki M. James, Michael Gandolfini, Margarita Levieva, Sandrine Holt, and  Lou Taylor Pucci. Their roles remain unknown. In addition, Deadline recently cited Carnival Row‘s Arty Froushan as part of the cast. And Genneya Walton will reportedly play “a young journalist with connections to a character from the original series.” Clark Johnson, in addition to directing, reportedly has a recurring role in the series.

Marvel Comics

At D23, we learned a male White Tiger is coming onto the scene in Daredevil: Born Again. We glimpsed White Tiger in a sneak peek from the series, but no casting information was yet revealed. This White Tiger is likely Hector Ayala who uses ancient amulets to transform into White Tiger, a “master of martial arts.” Perhaps we will see Daredevil defend him this season, as White Tiger is often mistaken for a criminal and gets into tight spots.

Daredevil: Born Again‘s Release Date

Daredevil: Born Again will release in March of 2025.

Originally published January 5, 2023.

The post First Look at Daredevil From DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN appeared first on Nerdist.

Marvel Shares First THUNDERBOLTS* Footage and Red Hulk Hulking Out in 85th Anniversary Video

Marvel did not start with Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark in 2008. The superhero company has been around for a very long time. This year marks Marvel’s 85th anniversary. To celebrate that momentous occasion at this year’s D23, Marvel put together a moving video montage that covers everything from its early comic book days to its status as the world’s biggest movie franchise. Now Disney has shared it with everyone. While we love reliving past glories, we can’t help but look to the future this video teases. It this offers some tantalizing glimpse at what awaits fans very soon. It features new MCU footage from Daredevil: Born Again, Ironheart, and its unlikely team of heroes from Thunderbolts*. And it ends with Harrison Ford turning into the giant crimson rage monster Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World.

This celebratory montage is worth watching just for the archival footage of Stan Lee. But the Marvel video also features comments from Kevin Feige and stars of the MCU. Most exciting is that it also provides some sneak peeks at what awaits the franchise.

Marvel Studios

In addition to new footage from Captain America: Brave New World, Daredevil: Born Again and Ironheart, this promo also shows the upcoming Thunderbolts* team. They appear all together on an elevator looking either like a team of superheroes or a pretty cool looking prog rock band. (If they end up being both in the movie we predict a 3 billion box office and a quintuple platinum album).

Marvel Studios

Not everyone is having a good time during this celebration, though. It ends with President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross going full Red Hulk at his podium. We’ve seen other brief shots of Harrison Ford’s transformation into the big red menace in Brave New World, but this is the most direct. It’s also the best, as it still looks like the beloved actor if he truly hulked out.

Marvel Studios

It’s such a great shot it won’t surprise us if Marvel also uses it someday for its 170th celebration video. It very well might. Marvel is bigger than every after 85 years. There’s no reason to think the company won’t still be around by then.

.youtube-embed{padding-bottom:56.25%!important;position:relative;overflow:hidden}.youtube-embed a,.youtube-embed iframe{display:block;width:100%;height:100%;position:absolute}.youtube-embed iframe{border:0}.youtube-embed img.youtube-cover{-o-object-fit:cover;object-fit:cover;height:100%;width:100%;cursor:pointer}.youtube-embed img.play-button{width:66px;position:absolute;left:46%;top:0;bottom:0;margin:auto;cursor:pointer}@media only screen and (max-width:499px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:45%;width:60px}}@media only screen and (max-width:425px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:44%;width:60px}}@media only screen and (max-width:375px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:43%;width:56px}}@media only screen and (max-width:345px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:42%;width:50px}}.youtube-embed .progressive-img{-webkit-filter:blur(10px);filter:blur(10px)}.youtube-embed .progressive-img.loaded{-webkit-filter:none;filter:none;-webkit-transition:-webkit-filter 1s ease-out;transition:-webkit-filter 1s ease-out;-o-transition:filter 1s ease-out;-moz-transition:filter 1s ease-out;transition:filter 1s ease-out;transition:filter 1s ease-out,-webkit-filter 1s ease-out}.youtube-embed .kskdDiv{display:none!important}

The post Marvel Shares First THUNDERBOLTS* Footage and Red Hulk Hulking Out in 85th Anniversary Video appeared first on Nerdist.