Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 34

THE PAPER Trailer: THE OFFICE in Print Publication Font

It is beyond time to have another workplace mockumentary on our TV screens. Believe it or not, it has been over a decade since The Office ended, and right now we could all use a few extra laughs. A while ago, we got news that made us very giddy that a spinoff series was coming to Peacock. Now, we finally have a trailer for The Paper, and it is just as delightful as we imagined.

This series will follow the Toledo Truth Teller, a struggling print publication that is trying to stay a float. The paper is hiring a band of volunteer reporters to make this happen and, well, funny things will result from this. The Paper trailer hits a few points that are pretty resonant with us all, including ridiculous fluff pieces and the woes of trying to read anything on the internet thanks to a zillion ads. (Yeah, we know they aren’t your favorite thing but they are necessary.) 

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THE OFFICE Spinoff Series THE PAPER Shares First Image, Sets Official Release DateWhat Is the Release Date for The Office spinoff series The Paper?Peacock

The Paper will hit Peacock on September 4.

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AMC Theaters Now Run EVEN MORE Commercials Before Its Movies (But Studios Aren’t Happy)

Nowadays, everyone knows you can tack on a solid half hour to any movie runtime whenever you go to the theater. If a movie says it will start at 7 pm, we know there will be at least half an hour of trailers before the opening credits roll. And, in a way, we can accept that. Movie trailers and movies are inextricably linked, and seeing the movies that will soon come our way when we’re seated in the theater makes sense… Even though we wish there were fewer of them. But soon, this real estate is about to expand in time and contain commercials for more things that aren’t movies. AMC Theaters has revealed it will add EVEN more commercials to its pre-movie lineups, and these ads won’t be just trailers anymore. Get ready, Coke, you’re about to have some commercial competition at the theater.

Here’s what we know.

Fox

Starting now (July 1), AMC will add a “platinum spot” to its pre-movie commercials, incorporating additional advertising alongside the traditional bevvy of film trailers that run before a movie. The Hollywood Reporter reveals that AMC’s total deal with National CineMedia (NCM) includes, “show[ing] as much as five minutes of commercials after a movie’s official start time, and then air[ing] a 30-second to 60-second “Platinum Spot” before the one or last two trailers. Retail partners have included the likes of Jeep, E.L.F. Cosmetics, Google and Cook, among a number of other top brands.” Note: NCM is the in-theater advertising company that facilitates non-trailer ads before movies.

AMC shares, “While AMC was initially reluctant to bring this to our theaters, our competitors have fully participated for more than five years without any direct impact to their attendance. This is a strong indication that this NCM pre-show initiative does not negatively influence moviegoing habits.”

While there may not be a negative impact on moviegoing habits as companies like AMC add more commercials to their movie screenings, the question about a negative impact on the moviegoing experience is a vital and viable one. As mentioned, seeing ads for movie trailers and potentially for products, like Coke, that you might be able to enjoy at the theater makes some sense. But turning the theater into yet another landscape to barrage users with ads is really a depressing thought.

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Users aren’t changing their habits because there is little choice available to them. Across all industries, the user experience is being deprioritized in favor of a desperate hunger to squeeze every possible ad dollar out of them. We’ve seen it on streaming. And now we’re seeing it at the movie theater. However, AMC notes that adding more commercials and ads is helping to drive other projects, which are in favor of the consumer.

The company shares in a statement. “Our participation delivers us vital revenue as we continue on our recovery path and allows us to continue offering significant value on ticket prices through initiatives like Discount Tuesday, 20 percent off matinee pricing, and the upcoming 50 percent off Wednesday ticketing program.”

AMC

Companies always claim that these kinds of changes are for the good of the fan, and for the sake of the things they enjoy. Whether that’s true or not is hard to suss out. But the fact of the matter is that more ads and commercials are coming to AMC Theaters before their movies. So we guess you’d better pencil in 45 extra minutes of runtime from now on.

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AMC Increases A-List Price By $3/Month, But Also Increases Weekly Movies From 3 to 4

To “help” you out, AMC Theaters will warn you about ads when you buy your ticket. According to The Verge, this notice will inform ticket purchasers that “movies start 25-30 minutes after showtime.” AMC has previously noted that it will be “addressing the preshow on its ticketing platforms.” But we’ll see if moviegoers receive any more than this small notice. This generic message remains the same for every movie option on the AMC platform.

Nerdist

With movie runtimes running longer than ever, the extra time necessary to ensure you don’t miss any of your film feels like a big ask. But we have to wonder, will viewers even bother showing up for most of these slots anymore? And what impact will that have both on the hoped for advertising and also on trailers that typically rely on theater eyes to get seen? It doesn’t feel like a very pretty picture.

And it seems like we’re not the only ones left wondering this. A new report indicates that studios aren’t very happy with this change. Deadline shares, “Execs at the major studios began throwing furniture metaphorically, angry that moviegoers no longer were sitting through their in-cinema trailers for future movies due to lengthy preshows — a very powerful piece of marketing as moviegoing begets more moviegoing.” Deadline also notes that “some studio execs read the notice [about showtime start] as, ‘Hey, moviegoers, why don’t you just skip the pre-show until the movie starts?'”

Evidently, “Myriad studios launched their own studies last month, noticing that the preshows for the top three chains ran from 24-28 minutes before one particular new wide release that weekend in SoCal. One internal study observed that only 80% of the audience were in their seats to watch trailers a mere four minutes before a movie began.” It’s hard to know if this ire will have results, but Deadline reports that ” there’s hope that a shave can be done by year’s end.”

Originally published on June 5, 2025.

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Watch TWISTERS Cast Celebrate David Corenswet’s SUPERMAN Casting

Before he was the Man of Steel in Superman, David Corenswet starred in another delightful hit, Twisters. And, in what might be one of the most adorable videos of the decade, the Twisters cast all went WILD when they learned, on set, that David Corenswet would play the next Superman. You can watch their absolutely adorable reaction video from August 2024 below.

No one knew yet that David Corenswet would become such an iconic and beloved Man of Steel. But his fellow Twisters castmates certainly had a clue that their Tyler Owens would be an iconic Superman. Their pure love for their fellow castmate honestly fills us with all the warm, fuzzy feelings. And those can be hard to find these days. If you feel in need of a pick-me-up, we suggest you loop the above video and enjoy. Hopefully, someday, someone will love us as much as the Twisters cast loves David Corenswet and be as happy for us as they are for him and his Superman casting.

Warner Bros./David Perea

In a word, “pure.”

Superman is now in theaters. Twisters is available to stream on Prime Video.

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HBO Max Password Sharing Crackdown Will ‘Get Aggressive’ in September

Hold onto your hats, kids. There’s a new sheriff in town. HBO Max is back from the dead and ready to “get aggressive” about its password-sharing crackdown. Warner Bros. Discovery shares that it’s been lobbing softballs so far, but don’t expect to get away with sharing your HBO Max password much longer. Nope. Why should a streamer miss even a dollar of your money? Here’s what JB Perrette, head of streaming and gaming at Warner Bros. Discovery, had to say about the upcoming “aggressive” password-sharing crackdown heading to HBO Max this September.Warner Bros.

Perrette shared that Warner Bros. Discovery has spent the last few months testing to see “who’s a legitimate user who may not be a legitimate user.” And now, the password-sharing crackdown at HBO Max can heat up as the streamer “turns on the more aggressive language around what needs to happen” to make sure that the streamer is “putting the net in the right place, so to speak.” Uhm, what net? We’re not sure we follow the metaphor, but it feels like HBO Max wants to trap all those pesky password-sharing hooligans in a net? A net of paying more money, anyway.

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Right now, Perrette offers, switching metaphors, HBO Max is in its first inning of password-sharing crackdown efforts, but soon things will turn “more aggressive.” He notes, “The message language right now has been a fairly soft, cancel-able message. It will ‘start to get more fixed and such that people have to take action as opposed to right now, sort of having to be a voluntary process.’ And get this, “the real benefit will start probably in the fourth quarter and then kick in in 2026.”

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The real benefit! It all sounds a bit like supervillain speak to us. We have to wonder if streamers like HBO Max aren’t already making enough money as it is—do they really need to crack down on every last password sharer? God speed streamers. We hope you avoid… the net.

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WEDNESDAY Showrunners Discuss Creepier, Kookier Season 2

The producing and writing partnership of Miles Miller and Alfred Gough were the minds behind shows like Into the Badlands, and, most famously, Smallville. Since 2022, they’ve relaunched the Addams Family franchise, giving it new life with to Netflix’s megahit Wednesday, starring Jenna Ortega. Ahead of the second season, we chatted with the duo about diving into a new season-long mystery, the addition of new characters to Nevermore Academy, and one very Tim Burton stop-motion sequence in episode one of Wednesday season two.

Nerdist: There’s a very cool stop-motion sequence in season two of Wednesday, which feels particularly Tim Burton-esque. Did that come from you two, or was that all a Burton decision?

Miles Miller: No, it was our idea. It was something that we had written, the idea that Ajax is telling this story to a bunch of kids in a dorm room, and we wrote it out just like he was saying the story was. And it was like, “We need to visualize this somehow.” And then we thought, let’s just do it as a regular flashback. It felt like if we ever were going to do something crazy and expensive, do it now. And we’d always been fascinated, and obviously, we thought Tim would love it, this idea of doing a stop motion sequence. Because it’s incredibly expensive and time-consuming. So it actually took nine months to complete that sequence. It’s 60 seconds long.

Netflix

We asked the same team who did Corpse Bride, McKinnon and Saunders, who are this amazing British stop motion company out of the north of England. And it really elevates the episode, and it’s so beautiful, so exquisite. It feels like a mini movie within the show. And Tim was all over it, and he loved the idea. And actually he designed something in it. We walk into his trailer, and there’s this little Tupperware box inside, and in this nest of cotton balls is this little plaster head that Tim has made over the weekend. And it has paperclip hair, and that’s the Clockwork Boy. And that was the beginning of that. So it really is a signature moment in the show and very, very Tim.

The adults have a lot more to do this season than in season one. Was it always the plan to ultimately have them more involved in Wednesday’s day-to-day life in season two?

Alfred Gough: It was. Again, we wanted to explore the family, but do it in a way that felt organic to our story. So bringing them in, and also Pugsley, obviously a student, and then giving Morticia this job as the chairperson for the Nevermore gala, that was a way to have her around. And then we could explore the complications that brings to Wednesday and her relationship. But it did allow us to kind of delve deeper into the Addams family.

Netflix

Pugsley has never received as much love and attention as Wednesday as a character in the franchise, but in season two of Wednesday, he gets a lot more fleshed out. Was Pugsley’s glow-up always part of the mission statement for season two?

Miles Miller: Very much so. We agree. Pugsley has always been an afterthought, or sort of in the background, so we thought, wouldn’t it be fun to see him front and center and give him his own story? Especially with the zombie at the end of the first episode, which really triggers the story of the season. So I think Isaac Ordonez does such an amazing job. I mean, he has the face of an Addams character, as if drawn by Charles Addams, and he brings such fun and mischief and humanity to the role. So we really lucked out there.

Netflix

I won’t give too much away here, but there is a “Wednesday goes to summer camp” element this season that provides some fun story beats. What do you think it is about seeing the Addams clan in a camp environment that tickles us so much?

Alfred Gough: Well, it sure does. I mean, it’s our homage to Addams Family Values, which was the camp scene with Pugsley. And Wednesday was definitely the highlight of that film. And we were like, well, what if there was a high school camp day, and what would that bring? So I think for us it was just the idea of seeing them in that environment again, I don’t know, it’s just “the Addams in nature, fish out of water” again.

Miles Miller: And I think Colleen Atwood, who’s our amazing costume designer, had a ball with the costumes, and we built the Adams Family Mansion as a tent. It was just a blast in terms of seeing them out in the great outdoors.

Netflix

Wednesday has always been horror adjacent, but this season has some truly dark, genuinely scary stuff. What made you decide to go from just spooky to truly scary in Wednesday season two?

Alfred Gough: Well, we wanted to evolve the show, and I think for us it was a natural step. And again, I think it’s scary. We don’t get too scary, but it is definitely scarier. And I think especially when you get into the fourth episode, it kind of lent itself to that kind of genre.

You both also came up with new breeds of outcast this season. Was that challenging for you guys to come up with newer, even weirder beings?

Netflix

Miles Miller: It was fun for us to come up with. I think the wonderful thing about having a hit show is you have the range to do more stuff. So in season one, we were very limited in terms of budget and what we could do. And this season, we could let our imaginations fly, and had a chance to actually use the visual effects and the budget we had to make those things a reality. Things we always wanted to do and couldn’t afford. We could do all of those this season.

Wednesday Addams is really embracing her psychic powers this season, but she’s also a bit in over her head. This is a Wednesday that needs to get over her pride a little bit, and ask for help. Did you always see that as part of her character growth?

Netflix

Miles Miller: Yeah, I think that’s something that we definitely saw as an evolution of her character. And she’s a deeply flawed character, and she lives with such certainty, she thinks she’s in control, and she’s not. I think that’s sort of in terms of a season, her arc was very interesting. And it certainly would put her in conflict with those who are trying to help, and she’s refusing help. So it’s a character that feels, in many ways, not a teenager, yet in many ways, she still is. And this felt like a really relatable way to tell that story.

Joanna Lumley from Absolutely Fabulous is brilliantly cast for Grandmamma this season. Although it was weird hearing her with an American accent. She’s probably the most different from her classic Addams Family persona. What were your inspirations for this new version of the character?

Netflix

Miles Miller: Well, certainly Joanna was actually the first person that we thought about because we were trying to think who would be the perfect mother to Catherine Zeta Jones. You got one Academy Award-winning and iconic Morticia. And Joanna just felt like, “Oh yeah, that’s the perfect person.” I think there’s such a style that Joanna brings, and sophistication. And then that inspiration for The Bride of Frankenstein wig. So it just felt like they fit together. It really does feel like a family that they are all a part of. And they’re all formidable.

Now that we’ve met Grandmama, will we ever learn who Grandpapa is? I feel like that’s something that no Addams Family piece of media has dealt with. Have you ever thought of who Wednesday’s grandfather might be?

Alfred Gough: We have. It’s something we definitely want to explore down the road. That’s the great thing with the Addams Family. Even though we all know them, we don’t really know much about them, and it really is kind of a blank slate. So it’s been really wonderful to be able to kind of explore their dynamics, a family that loves each other, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have conflict and family secrets.

Part one of Wednesday season two is now streaming on Netflix.

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RIP Hulu App: Say Goodbye to Green as Disney+ Consumes Hulu

It’s the end of another streamer as the streaming era continues to consolidate toward cable-like entities that hold various channels in their grasp. Although it’s not entirely surprising that this would happen, we still feel kind of sad to hear that the Hulu app will soon cease to exist. Hulu green has been one of the hallmarks of the streaming era as we’ve known it, and now, it will no longer exist, at least not on the surface. In June, Disney finally became the full owner of Hulu, buying out Comcast for millions of dollars. And now it is moving to bring Hulu into the fold, so to speak. The Hulu app will be phased out and closed down, and, instead, Hulu properties such as Shōgun, Alien: Earth, and The Bear will live on the Disney+ app. Here’s what we learned about the closing of the Hulu app.

Hulu

Disney has revealed that a new “unified” Disney+ and Hulu app will arrive in 2026. Customers will still be able to buy stand-alone Hulu and Disney+ subscriptions, but these arms will both live in the same combined app. CEO Bob Iger and CFO Hugh Johnston shared, ““Today we are announcing a major step forward in strengthening our streaming offering by fully integrating Hulu into Disney+. This will create an impressive package of entertainment, pairing the highest-caliber brands and franchises, great general entertainment, family programming, news and industry-leading live sports content in a single app.”

The reasoning for shutting down Hulu and bringing everything together includes, “improved consumer experience,” lower costs due to a single tech platform, and opportunities to bundle ad sales.

Internationally, Hulu will replace the Star tile, which currently contains content from Disney-owned brands such as ABC, FX, and 20th Century Studios. Disney will push Hulu as its global general entertainment brand.

Ultimately, the end of the Hulu app is merely symbolic. Disney would own 100% of Hulu whether or not the Hulu app remained in existence. But the symbolism is not lost on us. As a hits the streaming landscape, we feel we must ask ourselves whether there truly are different voices creating content anymore. Some of the beauty that existed in the early days of streaming came from the way the multitude of streamers that emerged created movies and TV series from wildly different perspectives and with diverging intent. As Disney+ swallows up the Hulu app, we see a literal representation of how that plurality of viewpoints is no longer in play. 

RIP Hulu app, we’ll see you inside of Disney+. 

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HAMILTON Movie with OG Broadway Cast Heads to Theaters, Plus Special Bonus

You only get one shot to celebrate an important 10th anniversary. So when it comes to Hamilton Disney is, fittingly, not throwing away this opportunity. The smash hit musical is officially celebrating ten years since it debuted on Broadway in New York City. To honor the occasion, the Mouse House announced it’s releasing its Disney+ recording of Hamilton, featuring the original Broadway cast, in movie theaters. And it’s arriving with a new bonus that not even Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton would argue about.

Walt Disney Studios is sending its filmed version of Hamilton, starring the original Broadway cast, to movie theaters so it can live on the big screen. The recording will come to theaters in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico on September 5, 2025. While it’s been available on Disney+ since July 2020, that won’t stop diehards from turning out. Especially because this big screen showing will include a great new extra.

The theatrical version of the Hamilton movie will begin with “Reuniting the Revolution.” Disney calls it “an exclusive special prologue to the film featuring all-new interviews with the original cast and creators as they reflect on the impact the show has had on their lives.”

Disney

Ticket to Hamilton in theaters are already to available to purchase at Fandango. For those outside North America, Hamilton will take the stage in movie theaters in the UK and Ireland on September 26. It then arrives in Australia and New Zealand on November 13.

“When we filmed Hamilton, we wanted to try to capture the feeling of being in the Richard Rodgers Theatre during that first year on Broadway,” said director-producer Thomas Kail in a statement about the Hamilton movie heading to theaters. “And we’re thrilled that audiences will now have the opportunity to experience it on the big screen.”

And experience it they will. We know Hamilton fans. We are Hamilton fans. None of them will throw away this shot to see it like never before.

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THE BOYS Prequel VOUGHT RISING Adds 4 New Cast Regulars

The Boys is coming to an end, but the world of The Boys is only getting bigger. Yet another live-action spinoff will soon debut on Prime Video. Unlike with Gen V though, this time around we’re going back. Vought Rising will show us how the powerful global conglomerate built its supe empire with the blood, sweat, and tears of innocent people. The show will feature two characters first introduced on The Boys. Vought Rising will star Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy and Aya Cash’s Nazi and first Vought supe Stormfront (who was first known as Liberty.) Now we know who will join them on the prequel. Amazon has announced five new Vought Rising cast members getting in on the bad superhero fun.

Harry Livingstone/Monic Schmindheini/Ricky Staffieri/Matt Doyle

Prime Video has found five new stars for Vought Rising as the cast for the series officially grows. Jorden Myrie (Sherwood), Nicolò Pasetti (The Last Voyage of the Demeter), Ricky Staffieri (The Bear), and Brian J. Smith (SENSE8) have signed onto The Boys prequel as series regulars. They join previously announced stars Will Hochman and Elizabeth Posey.

The studio did not share character names or descriptions for its newest Vought Rising cast members. Since the show takes place in the 1950s, it’s hard to speculate who anyone might be playing. That’s decades before Soldier Boy led the supe team Payback, which appeared in a flashback on The Boys. Safe to say though at least a few of these performers will play arrogant, amoral monsters loaded up with Compound V and unleashed on an unsuspecting public with little to no consequences for their heinous actions. Some will also likely play scientists and corporate suits working for at Vought International, a company so evil it feels real. And maaaaybe, just maybe, one or two of these new cast members will play actual good people in Vought Rising, trying to stop a monster destined to succeed.

Prime Video

Not exactly a brave set of predictions, we know. This is the universe of The Boys, after all. No matter how big it gets somethings will always be true. We can’t wait to learn more about the new characters and cast of Vought Rising and what The Boys prequel has in store for us all.

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HIM Trailer Is Gorier in 2 Minutes Than Most Horror Movies in 2 Hours

“In this game, violence is rewarded. So learn to enjoy it.” That seems to be the thesis statement of Jordan Peele’s upcoming movie, HIM. But it’s not just a theory. Nope. We literally see a bloody training montage as the HIM trailer intensifies, complete with footballs flying at full force into players’ faces, cracking them open and sending blood gushing everywhere. Honestly, the trailer for HIM is bloodier than most of the horror movies we’ve seen in full this year. We feel surprised that such a level of brutality is allowed in a trailer. But it has us morbidly intrigued to see more, although queasy. HIM’s trailer promises that this movie has audacity. It has vision. And it is not afraid to make an audience gasp and look away. If two minutes of footage has struck us so viscerally, we can’t begin to image what the whole movie will do.

HIM’s trailer comes with a pretty robust synopsis of the film. But even though there is a lot of detail given about Jordan Peele’s upcoming movie, when we put together HIM’s trailer with its description, we are still left with a ton of questions. Is the supernatural involved in this movie? Is it magic or madness? And just what kind of sacrifice will our star player Cameron Cade end up making on the alter of football? We don’t know, but we can start speculating now.

Universal Pictures

You can read the full HIM movie synopsis below, after which we suggest you rewatch the trailer, stat.

From Oscar® winner Jordan Peele and Monkeypaw Productions, producers of the landmark horror films Get Out, Us, Candyman and Nope, comes a chilling journey into the inner sanctum of fame, idolatry and the pursuit of excellence at any cost, featuring an electrifying dramatic performance from Marlon Wayans (Air, Respect).

Former college wide-receiver Tyriq Withers (Atlanta, the upcoming I Know What You Did Last Summer) plays Cameron Cade, a rising-star quarterback who has devoted his life, and identity, to football. On the eve of professional football’s annual scouting Combine, Cam is attacked by an unhinged fan and suffers a potentially career-ending brain trauma.

Just when all seems lost, Cam receives a lifeline when his hero, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), a legendary eight-time Championship quarterback and cultural megastar, offers to train Cam at Isaiah’s isolated compound that he shares with his celebrity influencer wife, Elsie White (Julia Fox; Uncut Gems, No Sudden Move). But as Cam’s training accelerates, Isaiah’s charisma begins to curdle into something darker, sending his protégé down a disorienting rabbit hole that may cost him more than he ever bargained for.

The film features a dynamic supporting cast including alternative comedy legend Tim Heidecker (First Time Female Director, Us) and Australian comic Jim Jefferies (The Jim Jefferies Show), plus MMA heavyweight fighter Maurice Greene and hip hop phenoms Guapdad 4000 and Grammy nominee Tierra Whack, all three in their feature film debuts. HIM is directed by Justin Tipping (Kicks) from an acclaimed Black List screenplay by Zack Akers & Skip Bronkie (creators of the sci-fi crime series Limetown) and by Justin Tipping. The film is produced by Ian Cooper (Nope, Us), Jordan Peele (Candyman, BlacKkKlansman), Win Rosenfeld (Candyman, Lovecraft Country) and Jamal M. Watson (Hala, Sprinter) for Monkeypaw Productions and is executive produced by David Kern and Monkeypaw’s Kate Oh.

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Football is a game where violence is rewarded. It’s a brutal, primal game where players clash into one another, hurt their bodies, and hurt their minds. We can see exactly why the backdrop of the sport makes for the perfect horror movie. And if this HIM trailer is anything to judge by, this movie going to be one violent, gory ride. 

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How an Important WEDNESDAY Season 1 Character Returns in Season 2

Wednesday fans have been wondering since Netflix announced a second season if a particularly nefarious character would make a comeback. Although it didn’t happen until season two episode three, “Call of the Woe,” we can confirm that actress Christina Ricci does indeed reappear in the show. But this time, she’s a patient in the Willow Hill psychiatric hospital. She only cameos in episode three, but appears in a larger capacity in episode four. Sadly, however, this is where her character meets her untimely end. RIP, Mrs. Thornhill, we hardly knew you.

Netflix

In season one, Ricci played a prominent role as Mrs. Marilyn Thornhill, the only “Normie” teacher at the Nevermore Academy, the school for Outcasts that Wednesday Addams attends. Ricci’s casting, of course, raised a lot of questions about who she really was initially, as she famously played the child version of Wednesday in the ‘90s Addams Family films. At first, Mrs. Thornhill seemed like a benevolent botany teacher. She even served as a mentor to Wednesday as she adjusted to life at Nevermore.

Mrs. Thornhill’s real identity actually tied her character into the main mystery of the series, which had Wednesday investigating a murder involving her parents. When the elder Addams were students at Nevermore Academy, Gomez had been accused of killing local rich kid Garret Gates. The notoriously anti-outcast Gates family all died later under mysterious circumstances. Mrs. Thornhill, the botany teacher, played the part of the caring den mother well. But she had more evil plans in store.

Netflix

Mrs. Thornhill. It turned out, wasn’t really a Thornhill at all. She was really Laurel Gates. She faked her own death in a drowning accident as a child. As the last surviving member of the powerful and outcast-hating local Gates family, Laurel changed her name and infiltrated Nevermore, waiting for the right time to exact her revenge on outcasts. She used her knowledge of plants to create a chemical that would unlock the “Hyde” (hidden monster) persona of local teenage Tyler Galpin, which she planned to use as a weapon of revenge against the Nevermore Academy, and specifically, Wednesday. And she came very close to succeeding, too.

We learn in season two that Laurel actually survived the season one finale. The police sent her to Northern State Correctional Prison. She appears again with much shorter hair, acting loonier than ever. Although she did make visits to Willow Hill, helping the staff to deprogram Tyler. She still has an emotional hold over Tyler Galpin, and his doctor is trying to learn how she could control his Hyde persona.

Even though she tries to reach Tyler, he still hates her, and tries to choke her to death. Later, when a zombie escapes his cell, she uses the ensuing chaos to see Tyler again. She frees him, but as a “thank you” to his “mother,” Tyler Hydes-out, impaling her with his claws. She dies telling Tyler, “Mommy loves you.” And that is the end of Laurel/Marilyn. But in the world of Wednesday, death is often not permanent. You never know.

Part one of Wednesday season two is currently streaming on Netflix.

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