Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 25

SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY Adds SEVERANCE Actor Tramell Tillman

The cast of Spider-Man: Brand New Day continues to grow and grow. Not only does Tom Holland’s fourth solo MCU Spidey movie include Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/the Hulk and Jon Bernthal as the Punisher/Frank Castle, it has also added one of the cast members from Severance. According to a report from Variety, Emmy-nominated actor Tramell Tillman, who recently appeared in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, is joining the cast in an undisclosed role. There are no hints as to who he’s playing. So it could be a villain, a hero, or maybe just a friend of Peter Parker’s from work. Apple TV+

Rumors persist that Spider-Man: Brand New Day will feature several street-level villains that Spidey will have to fight. None of which fans believe is the “Big Bad,” whose identity is still under wraps. The only famous Spider-Man villain that we know of for sure is in Brand New Day is Michael Mando as the Scorpion. This pays off the post-credits tease from Spider-Man: Homecoming back in 2017. However, there are several similar villains from Spider-Man lore that Tramell Tillman could play. Bad guys like Tombstone, Boomerang, Tarantula, and several others. Who knows, maybe he’s playing Norman Osborn?

Tramell Tillman joins a very stacked cast, one that already includes returning Spider-Man supporting cast like Zendaya as M.J. Jones-Watson, Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds, and Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink in a mysterious role. Is she Gwen Stacy, Spider-Girl/May Parker, Jean Grey, or someone new entirely? Also part of the cast is Liza Colón-Zayas, who some fans believe is playing Miles Morales’ mother, Rio Morales. With all the on-set photos coming from the set of Brand New Day recently, it may be sooner rather than later that we have some idea just who Tillman is playing in the film.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is scheduled to hit theaters everywhere on July 26, 2026.

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James Gunn Says PEACEMAKER Season 2 Isn’t Just Another Multiverse Story

Peacemaker season two has arrived at last, after a long three-year wait. And as fans have gleaned from the trailers, alternate realities and parallel timelines play a significant role this season. But with Multiverse Saga going on in the MCU, not to mention the Spider-Verse films and even DC’s The Flash, many were weary of yet another Multiverse superhero story. But while speaking with Rainn Wilson for Interview Magazine, Peacemaker showrunner (and co-head of DC Studios) James Gunn stressed that the show’s second season is not a Multiverse story. At least, not in the way we’ve become accustomed to. Here’s what he had to say:

There’s been a lot of talk about, ‘Oh, you’re doing the multiverse and that’s already been done.’ But it really isn’t the multiverse. It’s more like Philip Roth’s The Counterlife. It’s about one reflection of your world. So the way it relates to Superman is the whole crux of the season. There’s this thing called the QUC—the Quantum Unfolding Chamber—which we saw in Season 1 of Peacemaker and exists in Auggie Smith’s (Robert Patrick) closet, which is a dimensional doorway. We find out it’s a dimensional doorway to 99 other dimensions—and by dimensions, I don’t mean alternate realities. I mean other dimensions, other realities.

HBO Max

So it’s not exactly the Multiverse, but it still kind of/sort of is. After all, the dimension Christopher Smith goes to is another version of his own reality. Sounds pretty “Multiversal” to us. But it sounds like that dimension is the exception and not the rule to the various worlds found in the Quantum Unfolding Chamber. For anyone who remembers the ’90s movie Sliding Doors starring Gwyneth Paltrow, it sounds a lot like that. So don’t expect anything in Peacemaker season two to lead to some big DCU Multiversal event movie.

From the sound of things, James Gunn is simply using alternate realities to tell a very personal story about the main character. He stressed that “It’s about the character of Christopher Smith. It’s about him discovering this other world, which is sort of an Xerox of his world with minor differences. And those minor differences seem to be that everything is better for Peacemaker. And his life over there, his doppelganger of Peacemaker, is everything that he kind of wishes his own life was.” That has us more excited about Peacemaker than any potential DCU event it might have led to.

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IWTV Cast & Creators Talk Season 3’s Core Theme, Unraveling Lestat, and Finding Their Audience

At San Diego Comic Con, the cast and creators of Interview with the Vampire (now known as The Vampire Lestat) sat down with members of the press to discuss what we might expect from season three of the show. At the press conference, producer Mark Johnson, showrunner Rolin Jones, actors Sam Reid, Jacob Anderson, Eric Bogosian and composer Daniel Hart offered some insights into our most burning questions. From the romance between Louis and Lestat, to the core theme of season three, to the finding the fanbase, lets dive into all things Interview with the Vampire season three.

On the Major Theme of Interview with the Vampire Season 3AMC

Interview with the Vampire has had two very thematically driven seasons. In season one, the characters were driven by the idea of reclamation of identity. In season two, the series focused on the idea of unveiling the truth. But what theme will season three of Interview with the Vampire be grappling with?

Well, Rolin Jones shares the central theme of The Vampire Lestat is “Mortality.” Expanding on the idea to share, “We’re really, really going after mortality, which is a strange thing for Immortals. It’s so interesting because Lestat is not really a guy who has spent a lot of time looking inward. And there’s this transformation that’s happening between, I think, the performative vampire and the actual vampire. And there’s an event that happens that we start with on episode one that literally questions this, and says, “Oh, okay, I thought I was in the middle of this. I thought I was doing this, and oh, I’m doing this.” So there’s a little bit of the portrait of the artist and throwing yourself out there, right? You put this music out there, thinking, “This is how I’m going to tell my story. I’m going to tell it this way.” And you think, “I’ve been able to control my life” and do that, and then leave it aside.”

Jones continues, “And for once, I think this music and putting himself out there as an artist, opens him up to a level of introspection that is dangerous, thrilling, very, very terrifying, and that he’s not prepared for it. And so we’re in a real Hamlet situation here. I think that he’s going after the really, really big things, and I think he’s charging forward with abandon.”

And where does that leave Lestat in Interview with the Vampire season 3? Rolin Jones ponders that very question aloud, “Does that mean trying to end it? Don’t know. Does that mean he’s trying to get to the other side of this? What is all this acting out? What is this longing for extremity? All these vampires, they live with these really, really extreme emotions. What we go through in one life, all the baggage that we collect, they do it over and over and over again. So that’s what’s really interesting about Lestat going through it, right? He’s not a naval gazer, and suddenly this thing that’s within him cracks it all open. And I think it is an immortal really, really pondering and considering mortality and how to be and how to be. It’s really pure vampire shit this year. We’re really in vampire mortality and morality.”

Mortality and morality, we like that.

On the Upcoming Unraveling of The Vampire LestatAMC

Although season three of Interview with the Vampire is actually called The Vampire Lestat, getting to the heart of Lestat is no easy task. Sam Reid discusses stripping away layers of Lestat at various times, noting that in the past seasons, it has been a really difficult thing to do. “It was really challenging.” Reid reveals, sharing that director Levan Akin challenged him to take away everything that was Lestat and see what was left. “The first time he did it was in season one, where Lestat turns up with a car and he’s got the keys and he’s like, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m nothing without you.’ He said, ‘Let’s see if we can take the whole character away.’ It’s very hard thing to do. And we did it again with Magnus, and then we did it at the end of season two; we try and take away all of these layers of character.”

But that, Reid considers, “is kind of the key to the character in a way, because as Roland says, there’s so much performative nature, and he’s built this whole world of a construct of himself. There’s got to be a guy underneath it, like pulling the strings. And it’s quite challenging because it’s so much more seductive and more fun to play the clown and it’s to play the real guy. But that’s kind of the joy and the challenge that we have.”

It sounds like Lestat isn’t going to get much choice in the matter in season three of Interview with the Vampire, though. We begin The Vampire Lestat with “Lestat in his invincible mode,” Rolin Jones teases us, “And then we just take a sledgehammer to that, over and over and over again.”

Oh no… but also oh yes.

On Finding Interview with the Vampire‘s Audience AMC

When considering what draws fans to Anne Rice’s world and specifically the world of Interview with the Vampire, here’s what Rolin Jones had to share, “These relationships [in Interview with the Vampire] are fearless about having an aggression of feeling. And maybe that is something that you don’t see on television enough, in procedurals and all that sort of thing. Just characters, scenes, and episodes rigged to make you feel, and that haunt people to stay in your box a little bit. And maybe it helps if there are attractive people for everybody.”

He adds, “I think we have a lot of different groups that feel very passionately about this, and we’ve watched it grow over the last couple of years… I have no idea, actually, what the demographic is, except for very messed-up and joyfully messed-up people.” And it’s well-known that joyfully messed-up people are the best kind.

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Building on the thoughts, Sam Reid notes, “Anne Rice said that she didn’t feel specifically associated with any specific gender herself. So whether or not it’s predominantly women or whether it’s mostly people who feel othered in some way, I think it’s that the show and the work speaks to that because she puts humanity within this point of view of the monster or the witch or the vampire or the mummy or whatever it is. And it’s that same tradition, and I’ve said this before, but it is that same tradition of Mary Shelley, of putting the point of view inside the other. And that does change the way that you look at somebody who is considered “a monster,” considered an outsider, and it gives humanity to that character and a sense of perspective. I think it’s very relatable.”

Ultimately, Jacob Anderson offers, “I think the people that need this show were found the show, and that’s what matters really.”

On Louis’ Relationships with Claudia, Lestat, and DanielAMC

Taking a deep look at Louis, Jacob Anderson shares that the most intensive parts of creating Louis always have to do with Claudia. He reveals, “I think the most difficult stuff, the most difficult is always anything to do with Claudia. It is really hard because of how much of an anchor to everything Claudia is. She’s like the core. All of the characters have this really unique relationship with her. And obviously, Louis has a very complicated, deep love for her. So anything to do with her was difficult. And also, I’m a parent, so that stabs at something personal that I can’t really separate as well as I normally can.”

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But Louis’ other relationships, especially with Daniel and Lestat, also play a key role for the actor and character. “The fun stuff, I think it’s like, there are two things. One is goading Daniel Molloy. I loved that in season two. That was really fun, having fun in Dubai, having fun with the language, being a wind up. I love that side of Louis. And the other thing was, the other thing was with Lestat, that kind of unhinged Louis, and anything that you hadn’t seen before, in season two, that you hadn’t seen Louis doing, is always fun. And there’s more of that to come, that side of Louis that he doesn’t recognize in himself necessarily when he’s telling his own story.”

On Armand in Interview with the Vampire Season 3AMC

Armand played a huge role in Interview with the Vampire season two—brainwashing Louis, engineering the death of Claudia, turning Daniel Molloy into a vampire, and generally making a huge mess of things (chiefly his own life). So, of course, he amassed a huge fanbase that loves him ardently. As part of the “Armand Apologists,” Nerdist had to ask what he’d be up to in Interview with the Vampire season three.

Here’s our question from the Interview with the Vampire press conference last night! Where is Armand? What’s he up to? He will soon return to us in full gremlin mode. #IWTV #InterviewWithTheVampire pic.twitter.com/73jn8bcJdX

— Nerdist (@nerdist) July 27, 2025

Here’s what Rolin Jones had to say about Armand’s role in The Vampire Lestat. “Give us a second to introduce a bunch of things that are going on. And then let him come in, full gremlin. You’ll be pleased.”

We’ll be holding Jones to that. More Armand, STAT. You can read our write-up of Armand in season three of Interview with the Vampire here, or by clicking the below link.

RELATED ARTICLE

Armand IS in Interview with the Vampire Season 3 & He’s ‘Full Gremlin’ Shares Rolin JonesOn Louis and Lestat’s Love, Relationship, and “Divorce Era” in Interview with the Vampire Season 3

This topic of Lestat and Louis’ love was so widely discussed by the stars that it needed its own article. You can read it here or click below.

RELATED ARTICLE

Sam Reid u0026 Jacob Anderson Discuss Louis u0026 Lestat’s ‘Divorce Era’ (and True Love) in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Season 3On the Music of The Vampire Lestat in Interview with the Vampire Season 3

Again, there was so much to say about the music of The Vampire Lestat, we gave the discussion its own piece. Check it out here.

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THE VAMPIRE LESTAT’s Music Will ‘Span Time’ Share IWTV’s Showrunner and Composer

We can’t wait to see what Interview with the Vampire season three has in store for us when it releases in 2026.

The post IWTV Cast & Creators Talk Season 3’s Core Theme, Unraveling Lestat, and Finding Their Audience appeared first on Nerdist.

ARCHIE Movie in the Works, Phil Lord and Chris Miller Producing

At this point, in the year of our gourd 2025, if Phil Lord and Chris Miller are selling, I’m buying. The pair of producers (and writers and directors) have given us some of the most interesting riffs on popular works we’ve ever seen. 21 Jump Street, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The LEGO Movie, and of course the Spider-Verse movies are all really great, smart and singular takes on the material. So, do I necessarily want or need a movie based on the 85-plus-year-old Archie Comics series? Not at all. But if Lord and Miller are doing it, I’m in. And they are.Archie Comics

According to Variety, the pair will produce an Archie Comics live-action movie along with Aditya Sood, president of their production company Lord Miller, through their first-look deal with Universal Pictures. Comic book author and apparent architectural pillar of the new DCU, Tom King, is writing the script.

“We are longtime fans of Archie, Veronica, Betty, and the gang in all of their iterations,” said Lord and Miller. “When we heard Tom King’s take on the classic material, we instantly thought it made sense as an event movie for all audiences — both lifelong fans and a whole new generation. We’re so excited to bring these beloved characters to the big screen.”

We have to assume King’s take on the material will stand apart from the recent CW Riverdale series, which went in a very different direction. Nor do we imagine it will head down the dark horror angle of DC Comics’ Chilling Adventures of Sabrina or Afterlife with Archie comics. So what could it be? Something akin to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie definitely could work.

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 Letterboxd.

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PEACEMAKER Cast Reveal Their Parallel Dimension Fantasies

Peacemaker stars Steve Agee (John Economos), Sol Rodriguez (Sasha Bordeaux), Jennifer Holland (Emilia Harcourt), Frank Grillo (Rick Flag Sr.), Danielle Brooks (Leota Adebayo), Freddie Stroma (Vigilante/Adrian Chase), are hopping through parallel dimensions as they sit down with Nerdist’s Michael Walsh to talk about what other Peacemaker role they’d want to play, what jobs they’d have and more alternate reality what-ifs!

Peacemaker season 2 premieres Thursday, Aug. 21 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO Max!

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Sam Reid & Jacob Anderson Discuss Louis & Lestat’s ‘Divorce Era’ (and True Love) in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Season 3

At the end of Interview with the Vampire season two, we saw our leading vamps, Louis and Lestat, seemingly reconciled, leaving fans raring to know what would come next for everyone’s favorite messy romance. (LouStat, as fandom has named them.) But, alas, it doesn’t seem like Louis and Lestat are quite back in the honeymoon phase of their relationship yet. At San Diego Comic Con, the show’s stars, Sam Reid and Jacob Anderson, sat down for a press conference and got into the good, bad, beautiful, and ugly of Louis and Lestat’s romance in Interview with the Vampire season three (also called The Vampire Lestat).AMC

The last time we saw Louis and Lestat together in the finale of Interview with the Vampire season two, the pair shared a poignant moment full of sweetness, grieving, and love. And although that may have been a truly touching scene between Reid and Anderson’s characters, Sam Reid cautions that, “At the end of season two, neither of them had read the book.” The book here is the in-universe version of Interview with the Vampire by Daniel Molloy, freshly released into the world at the very end of the show’s second season.

In The Vampire Lestat, Reid reveals “the book is still quite a large hurdle to get over” and “there’s the fallout of that.” Reid laughs a little wryly, “So, we’re not in a honeymoon phase right now. I think we are in our divorce era.”

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In fact, some of the scenes between Jacob Anderson’s Louis and Sam Reid’s Lestat in Interview with the Vampire season three sound like they’re going to be more explosive than ever before. In a teaser trailer for The Vampire Lestat shown at San Diego Comic Con 2025, we see Louis and Lestat attending what looks like a divorce mediation, each accompanied by their lawyers. The meeting goes south quickly as Louis and Lestat each begin to yell at the other over the perceived wrongs they’ve each done—with Louis pulling out condescending calm (“I’m happy to discuss Armand if you think that would help you.”) and Lestat devolving into French shrieking.

RELATED ARTICLE

Armand IS in Interview with the Vampire Season 3 u0026 He’s ‘Full Gremlin’ Shares Rolin Jones

Anderson says of the Lestat and Louis moment from Interview with the Vampire season three, “That scene that you see in the teaser was mad. I won’t talk too much about the whole scene, but I was a bit shaken after it. I went to [showrunner] Rolin [Jones]. And I was like, ‘What am I doing?” We had to do a different thing in that scene than we’ve done before.” And that thing, it feels like, was to be completely and totally at odds with one another in a much sharper, more cunning way than in previous fights.

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But Reid notes getting deeper into Louis, Lestat, and their romance in The Vampire Lestat was a true joy—and it’s exactly the history between them that made them able to cut one another more deeply than ever in Interview with the Vampire season three. He shares, “You have the history of two seasons and a lot of previous experience and a lot of weight that exists now between the two characters that we get to carry on to every scene. So it’s really fun that the layers just become deeper and deeper. It’s so much fun. There are endless possibilities of what you can do with these two characters because they can really burn each other’s houses down, and rebuild them back together block by block, only for one of them to come in with a demolition crew and do it all over again.”

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THE VAMPIRE LESTAT’s Music Will ‘Span Time’ Share IWTV’s Showrunner and Composer

And ultimately, getting into the heart of Lestat (and perhaps Louis getting into the heart of Lestat) sounds like it will be a key part of Interview with the Vampire season three. Sam Reid notes, “I think an important key to Lestat is also that since he has that much power, he doesn’t really feel lovable. It feels like ‘Oh, if I showed all of that power, people would just be scared of me.’ So that’s a big dynamic between Louis and Lestat. He hides so much of himself from Louis, so that he feels like he can be truly loved, and then it ends up being catastrophic in its own right.” Cue the awwwws. Hopefully, during The Vampire Lestat, Lestat can hide away less of himself and let Louis love him fully for who he is.

Because all that said, Interview with the Vampire season three composer Daniel Hart reminds us that when it comes to Lestat, “Louis is the love of his life.” And we can expect that to thread through Lestat’s songs in Interview with the Vampire season three. Hart notes, “How could he not be influenced by Louis in his songwriting? He is absolutely influenced by Louis. I think it’s fair to say, and I think I’m allowed to say, he’s written songs in season three specifically about Louis. You will know that they are songs about Louis.” We can’t wait to hear Lestat’s odes to Louis in The Vampire Lestat, whether they be romantic or vengeful.

Concluding the conversation about Louis as Lestat’s muse, Sam Reid notes that if Lestat were to cover a song about Louis in Interview with the Vampire, it would be “Bloodsport, by a very talented musician, Raleigh Richie.” Raleigh Richie is, of course, Jacob Anderson himself. But with lyrics like “Although you love me, sometimes we meet / Things can get ugly, but we’re still a team / We are an army, the brakes are within / But that’s why we’re stronger, and that’s how we’ll win.” We can agree it’s the perfect choice.

We can’t wait to see Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid back in action as Louis and Lestat when Interview with the Vampire season three releases in 2026.

The post Sam Reid & Jacob Anderson Discuss Louis & Lestat’s ‘Divorce Era’ (and True Love) in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Season 3 appeared first on Nerdist.

THE VAMPIRE LESTAT’s Music Will ‘Span Time’ Share IWTV’s Showrunner and Composer

As we head into Interview with the Vampire season three, a season that follows main character Lestat’s ascent into rock star status, the music of The Vampire Lestat will, of course, be a key component of the story. At a press conference at San Diego Comic Con, Interview with the Vampire season three showrunner Rolin Jones and composer Daniel Hart gave us a deep dive into the music we can expect from The Vampire Lestat.AMC

Composer Daniel Hart shares of the music of season three of Interview with the Vampire, “It’s been a whole different thing that we’ve been exploring this year, that we haven’t done before. And I’ve been in the writer’s room and at production on set, which I also haven’t done before, because the music is such a huge part of season three. So we’ve been talking a lot about the music that we want to be inspired by. Rolin and I have shared playlists back and forth since the very beginning of the writer’s room. We have a lot of artists in mind who have inspired us over the years.”

And in the end, parts of the sound they settled on were almost fated for Hart, who reveals, “As a kid, I grew up listening to rock and roll mostly, when my older brother brought home Led Zeppelin IV, that was the end for me. And then I also found out not long after that Robert Plant and I had the same birthday, and so I felt like there was some kind of mystical connection for me and that kind of rock and roll. That was our starting point for what we wanted out of the music in season three.”

But don’t expect The Vampire Lestat’s music to be any one thing or genre, Hart shares, “because Lestat contains multitudes. He’s not going to be limited to one specific genre or style. We tried to span time. In the way that Lestat has lived for so long, you would think he would be influenced by more music than anybody alive now because he’s seen it all first-hand. So from classical music through the Romantic era in France, and then moving into the US—early jazz, ragtime that he would’ve seen in New Orleans, and then coming through the fifties, sixties, the beginnings of rock and roll, all the way up until now, and being influenced by people that are doing stuff now. We wanted it all to be represented. That’s what we tried for.”

RELATED ARTICLE

Sam Reid & Jacob Anderson Discuss Louis & Lestat’s ‘Divorce Era’ (and True Love) in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Season 3

Of course, many of Lestat’s songs will feature a very obvious subject matter, Louis. “He’s the love of his life,” Hart notes. But “There are other songs about many other subjects. Lestat has many thoughts and feelings.” We can’t wait to hear his diss tracks.

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Interview with the Vampire season three did have a great freedom with its music though, in that the music did not necessarily have to move the plot along. Instead, it could function more as music does in our world, serving as a helpful lens into the mind of The Vampire Lestat. Hart notes, “When we were working on the songs at the beginning, I think the thing we found was the most helpful in trying to find music that would embody the spirit of Lesat was to try and avoid doing what most musicals are required to do, which is to further the plot in their lyrics.”

He goes on to say, “That was very tough to do and still get at the rawest, most vulnerable, fragile kind of emotional expression that Lestat is so good at conveying, as we’ve seen for two years now. And it was hard to do that in songs while trying to move the plot forward, specifically with the lyrics. So lyrically, we tried to stay very raw, emotional, vulnerable, and then musically explore as many styles as we possibly could to get at all the parts of Lestat that we want to show.”

As for who might be a good opening act for The Vampire Lestat, Hart muses, “I think The Vampire Lestat would be obsessed with Jay Paul. Jay Paul, British artist, mostly better known about 10 years ago than now. He’s very reclusive. But I thought that his music would particularly appeal to Lestat, both because it feels very fresh and new and original, but also obviously calls back to the eighties. And our Lestat in the book is a rock and roll star in the eighties. So that felt to me like Lestat would desperately want Jay Paul to open for him and Jay Paul would absolutely refuse.”

And after that refusal, the whole tour would take a turn. Rolin Jones offers, “And then, if that happened, then he would say, I’m never letting a musician open for me. So I would say Joey Chestnut would eat a bunch of hot dogs before, and then the lights would go down…”

Sounds like an evening we’d like to attend. To check out everything discussed at the Interview with the Vampire season three press conference, check out our article here. Interview with the Vampire season three/The Vampire Lestat releases in 2026.

The post THE VAMPIRE LESTAT’s Music Will ‘Span Time’ Share IWTV’s Showrunner and Composer appeared first on Nerdist.

Catch Every Pokémon World Championships 2025 Announcement Here

This year’s Pokémon World Championships was one for the books with lots of announcements. The heart of the event centered around Mega Evolution. With the return of the battle gimmick coming later this year in Pokémon Legends: ZA, many of the various arms of the Pokémon franchise are pivoting to bring in Mega Evolution in some way. Several of the closing ceremony announcements involved Mega Evolution in some way. This included a new game mode in Pokémon Legends: ZA, new cards for Pokémon TCG Pocket, and a brand-new card rarity for the physical Pokémon Trading Card Game. But the biggest announcement was the “mega evolution” of the Pokémon World Championships itself, with a full-fledged fan event coming to San Francisco next year. (More on that later.)

Mega Evolution’s Place in Pokémon Games

Mega Evolution was first introduced in Pokémon X & Y and marked the first of the franchise’s “battle gimmicks,” which super-charge Pokémon battles in some way. These are temporary transformations to certain Pokémon that grant those Pokémon new forms, new powers, and enhanced stats. While Mega Evolution cycled out several games ago, the franchise is returning to Mega Evolution in Pokémon Legends: ZA.

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Are There Any New Pokémon in POKÉMON LEGENDS: Z-A?The Z-A Battle Club: A Multiplayer Mode

Although the last Pokémon Legends game was a purely single-player experience, the Pokémon World Championships featured the reveal of a new multiplayer mode called the Z-A Battle Club. This new game mode is a four player battle royale mode that utilizes the game’s new real-time battle system, allowing players to attack and dodge instantly. The Z-A Battle Club mode will pit players against each other in three minute battles, with players also able to Mega Evolve to up their ante. If a Pokémon is knocked out, players return to the edge of the field with their Pokémon fully healed and able to either return to battle or be swapped out for another Pokémon on a player’s team.

New Card Game Updates Elevate Games to Another Level

Pokémon’s two card games both received significant updates tied to Mega Evolution. The physical Pokémon TCG previously announced that Mega Evolution was returning to the game via Mega Pokémon ex cards, but Pokémon World revealed that these cards would also have a new kind of alternate art cards. Mega Attack Rare cards feature fresh comic book-inspired illustration. This includes Japanese text meant to hearken back to old Mega Evolution cards from the XY era. Of course, one highlight of the upcoming era of Pokémon cards are new Mega Charizard cards. These will almost certainly be chase cards for collectors.

Mega Evolved Pokémon Are Coming to TCG Pocket

Additionally, Pokémon TCG Pocket announced that they would be introducing Mega Evolved Pokémon to the game, mirroring the physical card game. These new cards will be released around Pokémon Legends: ZA as part of a new “season.” Similar to their physical counterparts, these Mega Evolved Pokémon ex cards cost three points when they’re defeated, meaning that defeating one of these cards results in an automatic victory. Based on the brief glimpse we got of the cards in a trailer, these Mega Evolved Pokémon cards appear to be the strongest cards we’ve seen for the game so far.

Pokémon Champions Game Is in for VGC Competitions in 2026

For fans of competitive Pokémon video game play, next year will mark a brand new era. The Pokémon Company confirmed that VGC competitions at next year’s World Championships will use Pokémon Champions instead of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. This new game will allow players to use Mega Evolution via the new Omni Band, an item that can also be used to Terastallize and Dynamax Pokémon or let them use a Z-Move. Basically, the Omni Band means that all battle gimmicks will be in play in future VGC competitions, which could open the chess-like competitions to even more strategies in future years.

Additional Note: The only non-Mega Evolution-related announcement came from the smaller Pokémon Unite game, which is boosting its lineup of Pokémon with three new Water-type Pokémon. Fan-favorite Vaporeon is coming to the game along with Empoleon and Dhelmise. While Dhelmise (a ghostly anchor) is a bit of a surprise, it’s in keeping with Pokémon Unite’s tendency to feature less-heralded Pokémon in some way.

The Pokémon CompanyPokémon World Championships Will Add Fan Event in 2026

The biggest but most vague announcement was that next year’s Pokémon World Championships in San Francisco will be accompanied by a new PokémonXP fan event. As one of the biggest franchises in the world, it’s always seemed odd how muted Pokémon is when it comes to fan events, with few places for Pokémon fans to gather outside of the competitively-minded Pokémon World Championships. Cognizant of this, the Pokémon World Championships have had a steadily growing number of pure fan events, ranging from small arts and crafts tents to massive drone shows held at night.

This new PokémonXP event looks to be the biggest Pokémon event of all time, with panels, workshops and the all-important “fan experiences” available for attendees to attend. Details about PokémonXP are vague, but this marks a big step for the Pokémon franchise as they’ve never had a place for fans of the franchise to gather in one space. In many ways, PokémonXP looks to be a Mega Evolution for the Pokémon fan experiences at the Pokémon World Championships, transforming fun moments for attendees into a full-blown fan experience that can be enjoyed over days instead of a couple of hours.

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Although no new Pokémon or Mega Evolutions were revealed at this year’s Pokémon World Championships, it’s hard not to be excited about the state of the Pokémon franchise. Mega Evolution fans are especially feasting, but it seems like the Pokémon franchise is especially bustling with a new game coming out this year. The only real question is whether Mega Evolution is poised for another multi-year run at the heart of the franchise, or whether this is just a passing fad meant to help get fans by until the next games are released around the franchise’s 30th anniversary.

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THREE Frankenstein Movies (And One TV Show) Are In the Works

It’s been an exciting time in the world of Universal Monsters. We absolutely loved Nosferatu, Robert Eggers’ darkly poetic take on Dracula, which released last winter. And we equally enjoyed visiting Universal Epic Universe’s Dark Universe, a theme park world that celebrates all things Universal Monsters, when the new park opened in the spring. But every other Universal Monster, it seems, will soon pale in comparison to the mark that Frankenstein will make on the world. There are FOUR new Frankenstein projects in the works right now, and that includes three movies and one TV series. The Frankenstein movies and TV show also have some pretty major creators and stars behind them. In short, it’s a good time to be a monster. “It’s alive” has never applied more strongly.Marvel Studios/Warner Bros. Pictures/Netflix/20th Century Fox

Here’s everything we know about the three new Frankenstein movies and the one TV series coming soon to our screens.

Jump to: Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein Movie // Radu Jude & Sebastian Stan’s Frankenstein in Romania Movie // Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride Movie // Mel Brooks’ Very Young Frankenstein TV Series

Three New Frankenstein Movies Are in the Works Guillermo del Toro Is Giving Us His Take on Frankenstein for Netflix

This is the Frankenstein project you’ve probably heard of already. Iconic horror/fantasy/surrealist director Guillermo del Toro is directing and writing a Frankenstein movie for Netflix. Guillermo del Toro’s movie will star Oscar Isaac as Doctor Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as the Monster/Creature, and will also see Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, David Bradley, Lars Mikkelsen, Christian Convery, Charles Dance, and Christoph Waltz as part of its cast. That is what you might call a monsterously good collection of collaborators. We’ve only seen brief teases of del Toro’s Frankenstein movie so far, but we know that this movie will blow us away when we see it fully come to life.

The logline shares, “Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro adapts Mary Shelley’s classic tale of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.“

NetflixGuillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein Release DateNetflix

Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein movie will release in select theaters on October 17 and stream on Netflix on November 7.

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Jacob Elordi’s Monster Emerges in New Images From Guillermo del Toro’s FRANKENSTEINFrankenstein in Romania Movie Will Star Sebastian Stan

The newest Frankenstein movie to enter the ring is Frankenstein in Romania. Although Dracula is widely known for being from Transylvania, which is now a part of Romania, Frankenstein has no prior association with Romania. However, Sebastian Stan is Romanian. So it will be interesting to see Frankenstein linked with Romania in Frankenstein in Romania. The new Frankenstein movie will be written by Radu Jude, who told The Hollywood Reporter, “I’m writing a film now. It’s a Frankenstein film in Romania. Frankenstein in Romania, it’s going to be called.” Jude reveals that he imagines Sebastian Stan will play “both roles” in this movie, that is both Victor Frankenstein and his monster.

Marvel Studios

We don’t yet have many details about Jude and Stan’s new Frankenstein movie, except that “The story is understood to combine the real-life existence of a secret CIA prison in Romania in the past with the legend of the Frankenstein monster.” Very interesting.

Frankenstein in Romania‘s Release Date

No release date has yet been set for Frankenstein in Romania, but we are eager to learn more about the movie sooner rather than later.

Jump to: Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein Movie // Radu Jude & Sebastian Stan’s Frankenstein in Romania Movie // Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride Movie // Mel Brooks’ Very Young Frankenstein TV Series

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Bride of Frankenstein Movie, The Bride!, Is a Punk Rock Film with a Major Cast

Joining the monstrous fray to offer the Bride of Frankenstein her due is the Maggie Gyllenhaal-directed movie starring the Bride of Frankenstein, The Bride! This Universal Monsters movie is said to be a punk rock take on the tale, which features  Christian Bale as Frankenstein’s monster and Jessie Buckley as his bride. The movie’s tagline is “Here comes the mother fucking bride.” Yes, we feel the punk rock!

Maggie Gyllenhaal/Warner Bros.

So far, no teaser trailer or any other kind of materials have been released for Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Bride of Frankenstein movie. Although Gyllenhaal did share first look images at The Bride and Frankenstein. But those who caught a sneak peek of The Bride! at Cinema Con describe it as incredibly gory. Gyllenhaal additionally shared, “In the original ‘Bride of Frankenstein,’ the bride is in the movie for about three minutes, and she doesn’t speak, which could not be more different than our bride.”

Maggie Gyllenhaal/Warner Bros.

She goes on to share the story of The Bride! revolves around the following conceit: “What happens if his bride that comes back is beyond his wildest imagination and doesn’t fit into the box that he imagined for her, or the box that the world’s imagined for her?”

The Bride! Synopsis and Release Date

It turns out The Bride! is also a period piece, taking us into the 1930s for a story of revolution. The official synopsis for this Bride of Frankenstein movie shares, “A lonely Frankenstein travels to 1930s Chicago to seek the aide of a Dr. Euphronius in creating a companion for himself. The two reinvigorate a murdered young woman and the Bride is born. She is beyond what either of them intended, igniting a combustible romance, the attention of the police, and a wild and radical social movement.“

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See Christian Bale as Frankenstein’s Monster in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s THE BRIDE

The Bride! will release in theaters on March 6, 2026. It additionally stars Annette Bening, Penélope Cruz, and Peter Sarsgaard.

Mel Brooks Is Working on Very Young Frankenstein TV Series

In 1974, Mel Brooks wrote and directed a hilarious Frankenstein movie with Gene Wilder titled Young Frankenstein. Now, approximately 50 years later, Brooks is turning that movie into a TV series for FX called Very Young Frankenstein—a truly brilliant title.

Twentieth Century Studios

This Frankenstein horror-comedy series is still in its earliest stages, nearly at a pilot order. But we feel excited about it already. Brooks will team up with a team that knows a monstrous parody when they see it: What We Do in the Shadows‘ Stefani Robinson, who will be writer and showrunner, Taika Waititi, who will direct the pilot, and Garrett Basch. It feels like a meeting of the minds born in monstrous heaven.

The plot synopsis for the Very Young Frankenstein series simply reveals, “Inspired by Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein.” So for now, we don’t really have a clue as to what will happen in the pilot. But Nerdist‘s Eric Diaz previously wrote:

With a name like Very Young Frankenstein, it could just be a prequel to Young Frankenstein. Although that doesn’t sound nearly as fun. You wouldn’t have the monster or other elements people love about the film… They could take a cue from What We Do in the Shadows when Colin Robinson de-aged into a baby. More likely though, this show will focus on the son or grandson of Gene Wilder’s version of Dr. Frankenstein. They probably won’t live in castle, but somewhere comparable to the Staten Island home of the vampires in What We Do in the Shadows.

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VERY YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN Series in Development From WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS Team

We’re also rooting for the series to be shot in black and white as an homage to the original Universal Monsters films and to Young Frankenstein itself.

Jump to: Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein Movie // Radu Jude & Sebastian Stan’s Frankenstein in Romania Movie // Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride Movie // Mel Brooks’ Very Young Frankenstein TV Series

Will We See Even More Frankenstein Movies and Series in the Future?

Four Frankenstein projects just doesn’t seem like enough! (Kidding.) It’s hard to say if other Frankenstein movies or TV shows will spark to life at this time. It does feel like these three Frankenstein movies and one TV series might be enough for now. But hey, the Creature from the Black Lagoon is available for his close-up. Then again, if these Frankenstein movies do well at the box office we may very well yet see more on the horizon.

In the meantime, we’ll just be yelling, “It’s alive!!!!” at the top of our lungs at every midnight release.

The post THREE Frankenstein Movies (And One TV Show) Are In the Works appeared first on Nerdist.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’s Origin Story Will Hit the Stage in Off Broadway Play

In 2024, the film Saturday Night took us into the pure chaos surrounding the first episode of famed sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live. The show’s impact on pop culture is beyond measure, from several documentaries about its success to spinoff films based on popular sketches. In a world where many things are hitting streaming and ending in the blink of an eye, Saturday Night Live continues to go strong after five decades of laughs. Now, the early days of Saturday Night Live will come to the stage in an Off Broadway play called Not Ready for Prime Time.

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Every Movie Based on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’s Sketches (and Sheer Existence)

According to Deadline, this show is written by Erik J. Rodriguez and Charles A. Sothers with Conor Bagley directing it. Not Ready for Prime Time is making its debut very soon, with previews on October 5 at The Newman Mills Theater at The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space. The Saturday Night Live Off Broadway play’s opening night is October 20.

It’s not clear who will star in this venture. But, according to a description, Not Ready for Prime Time is “a bold, behind-the-scenes look at the launch of one of America’s most iconic shows…From the writers’ room battles to the live-on-air adrenaline, this fast-paced and irreverent play dives into the personalities, clashes, and lightning-in-a-bottle moments that built an American institution.”

Grove House Productions

We will have to wait for more information about purchasing tickets and what else we could see on stage. For now, the idea of Saturday Night Live coming to an Off Broadway play is more than enough to keep fans’ interest.

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