The name's Lantern. Green Lantern.

Whether he intended to or not, Henry Winkler's recent social media activity added another name to the long, long list of actors who are on audience's wishlists to play the new James Bond.

"Aaron Pierre should be the next BOND," Winkler tweeted on Sunday night after watching the British actor step onto the scene as rookie Lantern-in-training John Stewart on HBO's Lanterns.

In the 2026 scenes, it's hard to disagree. Pierre takes over the show in style (literally, too, thanks to that trendy winter attire), showcasing the blend of charm and command that could easily see him working for His Majesty's Secret Service on the big screen.

Lanterns co-star Kelly Macdonald, who plays Sheriff Kane in the series, wants Pierre to keep on trucking with his role as John Stewart, however.

"I just feel sorry for anybody that gets [linked] – it sort of gets spoken about too much," Macdonald tells GamesRadar+. "Saying yes to a Bond film is a big, big, deal. Lots of people get thrown in the mix. It feels like every week there's a new person."

Macdonald adds, "He certainly could be [Bond], but I hope to see him as a Green Lantern for many years to come."

When we mention Winkler's tweet to Pierre himself, the John Stewart actor – who is set to reprise the role in 2027's Man of Tomorrow – remained humble over the links.

"I think that is an enormous compliment, and I appreciate it greatly. That's very kind. It's a very kind thing for someone to say."

The hunt for the next 007 continues, with producer Amy Pascal recently saying the next Bond actor will be "different" and announced by the end of the year (via Deadline).

Whether he likes his martinis shaken or stirred, it appears Pierre is blocking out the noise – from the spy world or otherwise. Still, Lanterns could yet be an audition for him to earn the number.

Lanterns is now streaming on HBO Max in the UK and Ireland.

For more, here's all the latest on DCU Chapter One.

Lanterns isn't Aaron Pierre's first DC rodeo.

Almost a decade ago, a baby-faced Pierre formed part of the cast of Krypton, a SyFy series that charted the domestic court of Krypton and the lives of Superman's ancestors, including his grandfather, Seg-El.

There, Pierre played Dev-Em, a part worlds away from a far more iconic DC role – as John Stewart in Lanterns. But that doesn't mean it wasn't able to influence his step-up in comic book roles when the time came.

"I think they're two unique and individual experiences," Pierre tells GamesRadar+ during a Lanterns press event in London.

"One thing that I did take from my experience on Krypton to the set of Lanterns is – I'm still young now, but I was even younger on Krypton – I took the experience of being on a set of that enormity and that magnitude. And how do you honor your character, service the character, and do the same thing for the story in such a grand environment and in such a grand set?"

Pierre concludes, "That's that's the sort of education that I brought with me to this, and I had a blast doing it."

Pierre went from Krypton, via Pride Rock in Mufasa, to Rushville, Nebraska as part of the Lanterns cast. Next, he's going to reprise his role as John Stewart in Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow, while also blasting off to a galaxy far, far away in Star Wars: Starfighter.

Lanterns is now streaming on HBO Max in the UK and Ireland.

For more, check out the Lanterns release schedule and our guide to DCU Chapter One.

We're only 1 episode into new DCU Chapter One show Lanterns, but the theories are already starting to roll in. The latest being that fans think that Kelly MacDonald's character Kerry is a Gothamite in disguise.

Despite Lanterns being set in Nebraska, DC fans are positive that the local sheriff is actually from Gotham City. That's right, the same place where Batman himself resides. In episode 1, Kerry is seen talking on the phone to a police Commissioner when she says, "Tell Barb I said hey." Could Kerry be talking to Gotham's Commissioner Gordon? In DC comics, Gordon's wife is named Barbara, but in some stories his daughter is named Barbara Gordon, otherwise known as Batgirl.

This could just be a little DC Easter egg, or maybe it is James Gunn''s way of slipping in context for the DCU's upcoming Batman movie, The Brave and the Bold. But there's more, as Portuguese DC fan page Caverna do Morcego points out on Twitter. "Her full name is Kerry Kane. The Kane family is one of the most influential in Gotham. Bruce Wayne's mother was a Kane," reads the post.

It is true that in traditional DC comics, Batman's mother's maiden name is Martha Kane. However, a few other characters share that last name too, including Bruce Wayne's cousin, Kate (Katherine) Kane, who later became Batwoman. At this point, we don't know what 'Kerry' is short for, meaning there is the possibility that Kerry is Katherine. But that may be a bit of a reach this early on in the series.

This isn't the first time that fans have drawn a connection from Lanterns to the Batman comics. Towards the end of episode 1, Aaron Pierre's Jon Stewart walks past a poster for Janus Cosmetics, which shows a woman's face half covered in black feathers. However, in DC comics, Janus is owned by Roman Sionis, aka Batman Villain Black Mask. Following the downfall, the baddie businessman goes after Bruce Wayne after Wayne Enterprises publicly bails him out. Boy, these Gothamites really are everywhere.

Lanterns airs weekly on HBO Max and NOW. See our Lanterns release schedule for exact timings. For more, check out our Lanterns review, and find out where Lanterns takes place on the DCU timeline.

Lanterns writer Damon Lindelof is no stranger to bringing out our emotions as part of Lost, The Leftovers, and Watchmen – but even we didn't see the first episode's narrative gambit coming.

Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan is dead and, as Lindelof told Collider, it's a story beat he initially wasn't on board with.

"We can't do that, everyone is gonna hate us and it feels gimmicky," Lindelof said. "But [showrunner Chris Mundy] was like, 'I don't feel that it's gimmicky. I think that it will actually infuse the entire story with a lot of emotionality, especially if the audience understands that John and Hal were not in a good place at the time that Hal died.'"

Lindelof revealed they "gradually" started coming round to the idea, but acknowledged that "a lot of people are going to be angry."

"'I waited this long for another live-action version of Hal, having not gotten him since the Ryan Reynolds film, and then basically 50 minutes after getting me to fall in love with Kyle Chandler, you're killing him off? Fuck you.'" Lindelof said.

"I guess our feeling is, let's see how you feel at the end of Episode 8, and if you still feel like it was exploitative or unnecessary, or that it wasn't exactly what had to happen in order for this story to get told, then we deserve it. But I think we're willing to absorb the boos from the audience in the first inning, as long as we still have a shot at winning the game."

In-universe, Hal Jordan is surviving – but not quite thriving – as 'hail' comes to Rushville, Nebraska as of 2016. There's even a decade-old 'Halogram' as part of his Lantern ring that muddies the waters slightly.

But in 2026, he appears definitively dead, his frozen body slumped out on the rafters – a fitting end to a character played by a Friday Night Lights lead, perhaps, but a sad one nonetheless.

We spoke to Kyle Chandler about the reveal, and he teased that the story won't be a "slow burn" from hereon out.

Adding to the mystery, it's been confirmed that Guy Gardner has Hal Jordan's ring. There's every reason, then, why our list of prime murder suspects is so long. But we'll have to seemingly wait until the finale to find out whodunnit.

For more, check our where Lanterns takes place on the DCU timeline, as well as our interview with Aaron Pierre as he talks Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow.

The first episode of Lanterns ended, fittingly, in blackest night with a dead body.

Despite the premiere shocker – as part of a 2026 flash-forward – reframing the whole show already, Hal Jordan actor Kyle Chandler promises what follows isn't going to be a "slow burn" before we get to the grand reveal.

Be warned, major spoilers for Lanterns episode 1 within.

So, Hal Jordan is dead. How he got there, who killed him, and whether we're actually looking at Hal slumped in the snowy rafters in Rushville remain a mystery

But what Chandler is transparent about when we spoke to him about that moment is that it's going to be pedal to the (green) metal all the way through – but he warned that "everyone is going to have to watch and find out to make their own decision" on the first episode's rug-pull.

"I think it turns out great," Chandler says. "I think there's a lot of different moves in the whole deal. It's an exciting poker game."

Chandler adds, "We didn't have all the scripts starting out. They started coming in… it's not a slow burn. It goes from one world into another, and grows into that."

We already have one answer courtesy of the show's creatives. It's confirmed that Guy Gardner has Hal Jordan's ring as of the events of Superman. Good luck trying to get anything else out of them – it's among Sector 2814's biggest current secrets in the DCU.

Lanterns is available on HBO Max in the UK and Ireland.

For more, we have a list of the main suspects who could have killed Hal Jordan.

Then, we shine a light on DC's bright future with our guide to DCU Chapter One.

John Stewart actor Aaron Pierre says filming Lanterns for over 100 days prepared him for taking the next step in the DCU in 2027's Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow .

"For me, what was an enormous gift was having those eight hours of HBO [television] to live with before going onto Man of Tomorrow," Pierre tells GamesRadar+ of his DCU bow as rookie Lantern-in-training John Stewart.

It wasn't just the canvas of eight hours of television on which Pierre could paint. He embodied John Stewart across almost all of production, an opportunity he cherished – and offered a chance to build out the character.

"I was on the phone to [showrunner] Chris Mundy the other day. He was like, 'Congratulations, man. You filmed for 106 days out of 112.' Just on that note, to have 106 days with a character before going on in the DC cinematic universe is a gift. That is not a given. I am very grateful I had that," Pierre said.

On how his time on Lanterns shaped his Man of Tomorrow performance, Pierre added, "That's just the way it worked out. I don't know how intentional it was or wasn't, but I'm forever grateful for that. It allowed me to step onto the Man of Tomorrow set with a deep understanding of who my man John is."

Pierre is joining a Man of Tomorrow cast which is a mega-DCU crossover in all but name. The Superman follow-up stars David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult from the core cast; Mr. Terrific actor Edi Gathegi, Guy Gardner's Nathan Fillion, Hawkgirl's Isabela Merced, as well as Supergirl's Milly Alcock, Lars Eidinger's Brainiac, and Blue Beetle actor Xolo Maridueña.

Despite John Stewart bridging the gap between Lanterns and Man of Tomorrow, showrunner Chris Mundy told SFX that he wasn't given a mandate on where to leave off with the character by the show's season finale.

"We weren't tasked with having any specific landing point, which was great for us because it gave us freedom to land the story where we wanted to land the story," Mundy said. "But John will be part of the greater DC Universe. That was good for us to know. And where we land him is somewhere that they're happy with us landing him and somewhere they can take him, if they want."

Lanterns is available exclusively on HBO Max in the UK and Ireland.

For more, check out the Lanterns release schedule and everything else coming your way as part of DCU Chapter One.

Lanterns may have only just begun on HBO Max, but the new DC story has already started planting major Easter eggs. In the opening episode, one viewer spotted a tease for an iconic Batman villain lurking in plain sight.

Towards the end of the first episode, a poster for Janus Cosmetics can be seen behind John Stewart (Aaron Pierre). Alongside the logo is a picture of a woman's face covered partially by black feathers. Those who know their Batman villains well will recognise the name of Janus Cosmetics as the brand that's owned by Roman Sionis, whose alter ego is the Black Mask. Check out the moment below.

First introduced in the DC comics back in the '80s, the Black Mask is a Gotham City crime lord and founder of the False Face Society. After his company fell into ruin and he had to accept a bailout from Wayne Enterprises, Sionis was driven mad by revenge, targeting Bruce Wayne in a series of attacks.

If this Easter egg is teasing the character's introduction, this wouldn't be the first time we've seen them on screen. He's appeared in the animated series The Batman as well as in Birds of Prey, where he is played by Ewan McGregor.

We haven't yet met James Gunn's version of Batman, but we do know that the character is still set to be introduced in the next few years. Lanterns features the biggest tease yet for the iconic character and we wouldn't be surprised if a few more Easter eggs may be hiding in the remaining episodes of the show.

Lanterns airs weekly on HBO Max and NOW. Check out our Lanterns release schedule to make sure you don't miss a moment as well as our Lanterns review for what we think of the show.

DCU overseer James Gunn has defended the cinematic universe from complaints about tonal whiplash, especially in the wake of Lanterns' gritty murder mystery premiere.

A fan on Threads raised a common concern for those who have been on the ground floor since DCU: Chapter One launched with Creature Commandos.

They wrote, "As an 'Elseworlds' story, this first episode of Lanterns is way better than the conceit of 'True Detective meets DCU'. That said—and along with Supergirl, Creature Commandos, and the upcoming Clayface movie—I can’t comprehend this slate toward building a shared narrative universe."

Gunn, not one to keep his social media six-shooter in its holster, disagreed. He replied: "In the same way DC comics have. Certainly the DC works of Alan Moore, Darwyn Cooke, Grant Morrison, Jack Kirby, Paul Dini & Tom King can't be considered "of one tone". For me & others raised on DC comics, a huge part of the fun was enjoying a variety of stories in various genres & seeing inventive ways these tones interacted & interwove. For some of the authors - notably Moore & Morrison (& Tom King in Strange Adventures and more) that tonal interweaving became a part of the stories themselves."

While it certainly hasn't mirrored the MCU in terms of building out a universe using a tried-and-tested formula of superhero movies, there can be no doubt that the DCU has been ambitious – and attempting to appeal to a large cross-section of genre fans.

We've already had weird and wonderful animation (Creature Commandos), an anarchic season of television filled with parallel dimensions (Peacemaker season 2), a big-budget blockbuster (Superman), a flawed hero navigating the cosmos (Supergirl) and, now, Lanterns, a more intimate, grounded crime drama featuring characters who normally go big and bold with their superpowers. Body horror is also on the menu, too, with Clayface later this year.

Whatever your take, it appears that Lanterns is a hit with fans. It's currently sitting at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Our own Lanterns review was effusive in its praise, stating, "The DCU is back on track. Lanterns is a captivating murder mystery that prides itself on relentless pacing and masterful character work from Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre's John Stewart to ensure DC's superhero rivals will turn green with envy."

Lanterns, starring Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler, sees rookie John Stewart team with Green Lantern veteran Hal Jordan to investigate a murder with possibly extraterrestrial culprits. The first episode also includes a shock cliffhanger and a fresh whodunnit. We have a list of suspects here but, be warned, spoilers are within.

For more, here's how to watch the DC movies in order. If you're still not on board with the Green Lantern series, here's what to watch before Lanterns.

Lanterns has just debuted on HBO, and the DCU show is off to a spectacular start. But a crucial tidbit revealed by Lanterns co-creator Tom King on the official Lanterns podcast has me wondering how Lanterns fits into the DCU timeline.

Warning: Spoilers for Lanterns episode 1 follow.

At the end of Lanterns' first episode, it's revealed that Earth's Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, is murdered in 2026. Not only that, but his Power Ring is nowhere to be found. Without getting into the decision to kill Hal (we have plenty of thoughts on that here) or who precisely could have killed him (we have thoughts on the prime suspects as well!), my theory brain has been in overdrive ever since listening to the official podcast, where a comment from Tom King piqued my interest.

"At the end of this episode, Hal is dead," King says. "But also, you see John [Stewart]'s hand; he's not wearing that ring. Guy [Gardner] has the ring. So why does Guy end up with the ring, and where do we go after this, cause this moves us forward."

Now, this is interesting. If you'll recall, Green Lantern Guy Gardner is well-established as a Green Lantern on Earth in Superman; he's even part of a super-team in the Justice Gang, and has history with Supes before the movie starts. Superman is set in 2025, however, and Hal is murdered in 2026, which means Hal must lose his ring long before his death; years before, potentially. The Lanterns timeline just got a lot more confusing.

Of course, it's entirely possible – probable, in fact – that Lanterns will address this question in future episodes as Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner is set to appear in the show, bowl cut and all. But with the line of succession for Hal Jordan's ring made clear as day by the show, precisely how and why Guy is chosen by the ring instead of John is a fascinating question.

Lanterns is the DCU's gritty take on the traditionally cosmic superhero series, and tells a ground-level murder mystery set over multiple timelines. Showrunner Chris Mundy (True Detective: Night Country) told us realism was "totally the goal" because they're "trying to tell a real story." Co-creators Damon Lindelof and Tom King, meanwhile, bring comic-book legitimacy to the HBO show, noting in a conversation with GamesRadar+ that the idea was to "bring out the visions" of Green Lantern comic book writers.

Lanterns episode 1 is streaming now on HBO Max in the US and UK, and on NOW in the UK. For more, check out our Lanterns review, and be sure to bookmark our Lanterns release schedule so you never miss an episode.

Unlike other heroes who fight using tech or magic, the Green Lanterns are powered solely by their imagination. Yet HBO's new show Lanterns is so imaginative that many fans have pushed back against it, outraged by the shocking changes it's made to the Green Lantern mythos. And that was before the premiere ended with an even more surprising twist that's sure to rile people up further.

The controversy started early on when it was revealed that Lanterns would be more grounded in its approach. Eschewing most of the space-led antics, this version of the story was sold as a True Detective-style buddy cop show where Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) teaches John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) what it means to be a Green Lantern.

Much of the first episode unfolds exactly like that. There's very little action to speak of, especially of the superhero variety. When the ring is used, it's only to make a bottle opener or a protective bubble. Even when Jordan flies, there's no signature green aura that fans are familiar with from the comics.

None of that is necessarily a bad thing, however. 2011's atrocious Green Lantern film served as a strong warning against anyone who might lean too far into the cosmic elements of this franchise without considering the humanity that underpins it. Lanterns simply swings super far the other way, putting a new spin on this decades-old story.

Such an approach worked extremely well for HBO's adaptation of Watchmen, which Lanterns co-creator Damon Lindelof also worked on. And just like that acclaimed series, the first episode of this new DC show also makes some significant changes, especially when it comes to the fate of its central character.

Note: major spoilers for Lanterns episode 1 follow.

Hal on Earth

After Jordan and Stewart spend most of the premiere hunting for aliens in Rushville, Nebraska, the final scenes jump from 2016 to 2026, where we meet an older version of John as he returns to the town 10 years later. Or, what's left of the town.

Driving past wreckage in the dead of night, Stewart reunites with Kerry (Kelly Macdonald), who still appears to be working as the Sheriff of Rushville. The pair briefly exchange small talk, and then John asks Kerry if anyone else knows… That's when we see Hal frozen outside, and it's clear that he's actually dead.

Yep, Hal Jordan, Earth's first Green Lantern (in the DCU), is already killed off by the end of episode one.

As shocking as this might be, it won't have come as a surprise to everyone.

Prior to the release of Lanterns, some major leaks predicted this exactly, even citing the two timelines and Hal's different involvement in them. It didn't help that HBO's legal team asked various people reporting on the leak to stop sharing it and take the information down, which seemed to confirm that the leak was indeed true.

The news enraged a lot of fans at the time, and it will undoubtedly enrage them further now that Jordan's death in the show has played out for real. And honestly, it's easy to see why.

Hal Jordan hasn't exactly fared well on screen up until this point. Unlike other DC stalwarts, Green Lantern was skipped over by Zack Snyder's Justice League, presumably because of budgetary concerns and just how poorly Jordan's live-action debut in 2011 fared.

Finally giving Hal a chance to shine on screen, only to kill him off so quickly doesn't feel fair for fans who have loved this character over the decades. In many ways, Jordan is the definitive Green Lantern, which makes his sudden death even more surprising.

Green Light

However, there is something to be said for just how ballsy this twist is. If it weren't for that leak, no one would have expected this in a million years. And when it comes to source material this long-lived, isn't this exactly what we want from new adaptations? A fresh new perspective to shake things up?

By reframing a galactic superhero story into a murder mystery of sorts, Lanterns refuses to play it safe, tackling a notoriously tricky franchise with a daring new spin. It's also gratifying to see John Stewart take the spotlight he's long deserved. The character, one of the most prominent Black superheroes ever created, was first introduced all the way back in 1971, yet aside from his role in the noughties Justice League cartoon, he's often still sidelined when it comes to adaptations onscreen.

And crucially, it's not like we've been robbed of Jordan completely. With so much of this first season taking place in the past, Hal will still be extremely prominent throughout the main noughties arc, not to mention the "Halogram" who channels his essence still (presumably beyond death).

It's also worth noting that superheroes rarely stay dead for long. Hal himself was actually killed off in the comics after he became the villain Parallax and ended up sacrificing himself to save the galaxy. It took a few years for him to eventually return and resume the mantle of Green Lantern in the comics.

That's not to say Chandler's live-action Hal will have necessarily died so heroically. The point is we still don't know what's actually happened to him just yet. And therein lies the real mystery of the show. Stewart isn't just investigating an extraterrestrial case alongside Jordan. He's also investigating what happened to Jordan to cause his death, ten years on.

It's an unusual setup for a Green Lantern show, and an extremely imaginative one at that. What remains to be seen is whether Lanterns can stick the landing and justify such a cataclysmic twist, not just to the fans who instantly balk at such a choice, but for those of us who are actually open to seeing where this adventurous spin on the show might take us.

Lanterns episode 1 is streaming now on HBO Max in the US and UK, and also on NOW in the UK. For more, check out our Lanterns review, and never miss an episode with our Lanterns release schedule.

Lanterns co-creators Damon Lindelof and Tom King say they made sure to depict Hal Jordan and John Stewart's comic book origins in a way that honors various Green Lantern comic book writers, rather than one that relies on fan service.

"It transcends the idea of doing fan service to say that there's certain aspects of the canon that are essential," Lindelof tells GamesRadar+, when it comes to deciding how to work Hal Jordan and John Stewart's various comic book origin stories into the new show. "And you have to kinda throw them in the blender when you're making your smoothie. But at the same time, when you drink the smoothie, you can add one flavor too many, and it becomes overwhelming, or two flavors aren't necessarily combining in a good way."

"So I think that you put everything out on the table and you say these are the things that make John Stewart a legacy character. These are the things that make Hal Jordan a legacy character," adds Lindelof. "These are different stories about how they got the ring. These are different stories about adventures that they went on as Green Lanterns. And, and then you educate yourself, and then you know it all. And then you kind of, like, have to put all of that stuff away and start over and say, 'What's the story that we wanna tell?'"

Lanterns is a True Detective-esque take on Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), who find themselves embroiled in a mystery set in rural Rushville, Nebraska. In the show, Hal is Earth's first Green Lantern (though technically Alan Scott was the first human to wear the Green Lantern moniker in the comics), though he wasn't chosen first (and we'll let you watch the show to learn more about that lest we spoil it). John Stewart is his trainee, and the two have a mutual respect but otherwise resentment toward one another. John's backstory has been retconned a few times throughout DC comic history, though the show honors his later origin story as a US Marine.

The series also works backwards, giving us Hal and Jordan's present-day dilemmas before going into how their partnership came to be, and effectively adapting the Green Lantern comic Beware My Power which introduced John to the world back in 1972.

"From a comic book nerd, which I say proudly, point of view, you know...two different characters have very different sort of comic book histories," King says. "Hal has been very consistent in his origin stories over, over the years since, like, the early '60s when he was born. Um, John has not been consistent, and sort of rewritten and redone and not just in this medium. You know, a lot of John's origin story comes from what Dwayne McDuffie did in the Justice League, in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon."

Continues King: "But if you look at it, look at it closely and go back to those origins, you see, like, John's first appearance with Neal Adams and Denny O'Neil, there is that idea that he is chosen, and He will not accept the Lantern world that's given to him, and Hal is a little resentful of that and is rebellious against that. That's all in his first issue. And then if you look at what Dwayne did in the cartoon, that idea of sort of a military guy who's been under such pressure his whole life and has so much emotion that he has to sort of suppress, that's all in there. So it was bringing out the visions of those creators and bringing them into this world."

Lanterns is streaming now on HBO Max. For more, check out our Lanterns review, or stay up to date with our Lanterns release schedule. For more, check out our list of upcoming DC movies and shows.

The first trailer for VisionQuest has arrived at D23, and it's a wild trip into Vision's glitchy mind.

The trailer, which you can watch above, is the climax of the WandaVision trilogy, which continued with 2024's Agatha All Along. Seemingly set in the mind of White Vision, where Vision's human avatar lives out a colorful life alongside a host of Marvel universe AI characters, it's also set to reintroduce a teenage Tommy Maximoff (aka Speed). Perhaps most excitingly of all, James Spader is back as the genocidal Ultron, who seems to be taking over Vision's mind. Check the trailer out above.

Paul Bettany returns as Vision, with the rest of the cast including James Spader as Ultron, Orla Brady as Friday, Emily Hampshire as E.D.I.T.H., T'Nia Miller as Jocasta, James D'Arcy as Jarvis, and Ruaridh Mollica as Tommy Maximoff.

"I think that Terry [Matalas, showrunner] realized, and agreed with me, that I feel like Marvel gets rewarded when it takes really big swings," Bettany has previously said of the show.

"And I think that he just understood in his bones who Vision is. And Vision is for the kid that I was when I was a kid – the kid that felt like an outsider and felt like they had no community that they fit into. And he knew who these stories are for and who Vision is for. And I think we made a really fun and entertaining show about a guy who's an outsider and trying to find out who he is."

VisionQuest arrives this October 14, and from October 15 in the UK. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the most exciting upcoming Marvel movies and shows for everything else that's in the works.

You can also keep up to date with our D23 liveblog.

Lanterns showrunner and co-creator Chris Mundy says the new DC show is meant to suspend disbelief and put you in the middle of a thrilling murder-mystery.

"That was totally the goal," Mundy tells GamesRadar+, when asked whether the goal was to get the viewer completely locked in to the point where they forget they're watching a superhero show. "When I first talked to James Hawes about directing, he was in London, so it was on Zoom, and it seemed like we all kind of matched up in the way we would wanna do it. One of the first things he said was, like, 'We have to talk about flying.' He's like, 'I don't know if I'm gonna direct this, depending on what the flying is,' you know? And, and we wanted everything to feel like it was of the world. So okay, if this really happens, how does it work? What's the relationship to the ground around him and the people around him?"

The new series is a True Detective-esque mystery thriller that sees Green Lantern Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and his trainee John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) end up in rural Rushville, Nebraska, where an otherworldly mystery is brewing. It's tonally different than anything we've seen in the DCU just yet, and isn't afraid to bring darker themes and senseless violence to the forefront.

One of my favorite things about the show is how normal the usually over-the-top superhero elements feel, which include the aforementioned flying and even the fact that the Green Lantern ring itself needs to be charged like an iPhone. Unlike the super fans we see crowding around in masks and other homemade merch in the Marvel world, the citizens in Lanterns are mostly unfazed by Hal Jordan being the "guardian" of Earth, and don't see why a local cop couldn't do just as good of a job when it comes to solving a mystery.

Continues Mundy: "If you're gonna do something that has a fantastical element, but you're trying to tell a real story, it's like, what would that actually be like if it existed? Instead of it being hyperreal, you know? So, everything was very intentional. I mean, we had more meetings than you could ever imagine about every tiny detail in terms of the world, and the look, and the feel, and the texture of things, you know?

Lanterns is streaming now on HBO Max. For more, check out our Lanterns review, or stay up to date with our Lanterns release schedule.

Dead bodies. Danger. A small-town conspiracy. A grizzled vet and a plucky upstart trying to crack the case.

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

At first glance, Lanterns treads old, murderous ground in the 'backwater' of Rushville, Nebraska after a mass shooting at a high school football game. The grimy tendrils of True Detective, Top of the Lake, and even Fargo stretch out in familiar fashion across the grounded superhero detective show's first seven episodes.

But then, a flash of green light and we're suddenly stepping into the territory of two sets of three letters: HBO and – perhaps more intriguingly for comic book fans and crime aficionados alike – the DCU.

Those hungry for a prestige procedural, as fans of the channel that brought us The Wire and Mare of Easttown can rest easy, even if they may be quick to raise an eyebrow over its DC trappings.

The origins of the incumbent Green Lantern Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler, in superbly irascible form throughout) – essentially a space cop, with jurisdiction over Earth in 'Sector 2814' – are wisely breezed over in favor of Lanterns' magnetic not-so-buddy-buddy cop dynamic.

Hal, world-weary and just as quick with a vicious barb as he is at manifesting green-hued matter through his Lantern ring, has been in the job for decades by the time we meet him in 2016. There, he descends on a town filled with upstanding law enforcement, suspicious benefactors, and a John Dutton-esque patriarch in the shape of Garrett Dillahunt's fearsome cowboy William Macon.

In Hal's rear-view mirror is his trainee: hungry young lion John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), all restless charisma and eager to prove he's more than a "backup quarterback."

In brightest day...

A promising premise if ever there was one, only bolstered by an all-star creative team (Ozark's Chris Mundy, Watchmen and The Leftovers' Damon Lindelof, and comic book legend Tom King) injecting the sort of narrative momentum that puts most glacially-paced miniseries to shame.

In Lanterns, cliffhangers are sudden and meaningful. Each episode ends on a beat that will make the week-long gap between new entries excruciating and exciting in equal measure.

The plot, too, moves with such immediacy that you'll scarcely have time to take in the vivid and sharply-drawn wider cast, including Kelly Macdonald as the perma-conflicted Sheriff Kane and Laura Linney as a matter-of-fact Guardian of the Universe pulling strings in the background (not to be confused with James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy, it should be said).

One mid-season episode could even be mistaken for a finale; such is the speed the investigation – which soon introduces an alien race familiar to DC fans – unspools and later resolves itself.

Thrillingly, the writers appear to have thrown plot armor to the wayside, too. Rushville is a nasty, odd, and lethal place to live – and Lanterns makes that known at every turn.

It's a brave and bold approach which, from the jump, turns this DC adventure from a twist on standard comic book fare into HBO's most dangerous show since Boardwalk Empire or classic Game of Thrones. At any given juncture, no one is safe, and Big Moments can happen at any time.

But this isn't just about the crime; it's mostly about the characters. In Hal Jordan and John Stewart, Lanterns couldn't have chosen a better pairing. It also ensures any danger of the HBO series falling into comfortable, uninspired genre rhythms is soon swept away in favor of exploring the fiery side to the duo's relationship – and a shared history that, admittedly, dilutes the uniqueness of how Green Lanterns are chosen. More on that in a moment.

Not only does the pair being at constant loggerheads scratch the Rust Cohle and Marty Hart itch we've been clamoring for ever since True Detective's first season, it skilfully turns expectations on what a hero truly is in this fledgling universe on its head.

This isn't Superman's good-natured intentions, nor is it a flawed Supergirl or Guy Gardner's cocky bluster. Lanterns teases something far richer, the sort of emotional complexities that can only be drawn out by spending eight hours with our protagonists. There are even shades of Damon Lindelof's Watchmen in how Lanterns subtly confronts deep-rooted race issues in America alongside Hal's rapidly decaying sense of self-worth.

...in darkest night

Yet, it's not all perfect. There are times, particularly in an oddly-placed third episode that over-explains John Stewart's backstory, where Lanterns loses faith in itself and attempts to outwit an imaginary comic book audience.

In a series of events that will likely rankle with a dyed-in-the-wool DC pack, Green Lanterns lore is twisted, reframing John's lay-up of a hero's journey as a faintly unpalatable 'destiny' that robs him of most agency and comes dangerously close to a dual act of character assassination for both John and Hal, who also has an indirect part to play in John's childhood.

Those misdemeanors, though, are mild and don't derail the show – even if the lack of faith partially betrays Lanterns' primary mission of frontloading narrative shocks amid a surprisingly restrained use of CGI and color.

Yes, let's talk about the green elephant in the room. No, Lanterns is not a wide-eyed spectacle that looks like it's leapt off the pages of Geoff Johns' classic Green Lantern run. Its palette is frequently brown, muddy, and muted. Nor does it come close to approaching cosmic territory, save for a sprinkling of Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) that feels almost unfair in both how good it is and how infrequently the DC supervillain is deployed.

But does it matter? Absolutely not. This is, in many ways, a deliberate departure from 2011's Green Lantern movie. Not that you'll be thinking about the Ryan Reynolds bomb here. You'll be too busy getting lost in a captivating mystery, drenched in subtle character work and wrapped around a masterful Hal/John dynamic that almost begs to be wrung dry across multiple seasons.

Dead bodies. Danger. A small-town conspiracy. You know the rest. Yes, we've been here before. Lanterns, though, is a fascinating blend of comic book caper and murder mystery. Its core pairing of Hal Jordan and John Stewart – despite some controversial deviations from their traditional origins – crackles with tension and genuine physical threat in a manner that feels novel to both the superhero genre and the many detective shows it successfully emulates.

Better yet, it's a confident story being told at a time when the foundations of the DCU are at their shakiest. After all, Supergirl faltered big time at the box office, and James Gunn's post-Man of Tomorrow plans have not yet materialized. The DCU needed this win.

Whether it's in brightest day or blackest night for the DCU, Lanterns is guaranteed to be a shining beacon of light among its superhero TV contemporaries – and close to essential viewing, whether you're a DC fan or otherwise.

Lanterns airs on HBO and HBO Max Sunday, August 16 in the US and on HBO Max in the UK on August 17.

For more on what that means for you, check out our Lanterns release schedule.

One thing has really stood out in all of the trailers for upcoming DC show Lanterns so far, and that's Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan suited up. We've had a brief look at him in the Green Lantern suit in the early clips, and it looks pretty incredible.

However, it turns out that this was a pretty late addition to the series. Speaking on the Jimmy Kimmel Show, Chandler revealed: "So they weren't sure whether there was going to be a suit as I understand it. Then towards the end they decide let's have a suit. Then they had to design a suit, they came up with three different designs."

The actor went on to describe how the costume designers created the final piece, which he described as having "battle scars on it." He added: "It's an incredible suit, they built something that was just incredible. It took a while, it was in pieces. It took about 45 minutes to get it on."

The choice was clearly made to make sure the Green Lantern suit looked authentic too, given the backlash to Ryan Reynolds' CGI version in the panned 2011 movie. Lanterns takes place in a much more grounded reality as it combines the superhero genre with crime noir.

It follows Jordan as he teams up with a new recruit, Aaron Pierre's John Stewart, to solve a mysterious case in small-town America, which they believe has cosmic implications.

Lanterns begins on August 16 on HBO Max in the US and August 17 on NOW in the UK. For more, check out our Lanterns release schedule and our guide to all the upcoming DC movies and shows.

An actor behind cancelled Marvel TV show New Warriors has revealed a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes images from the MCU project, as well a heartfelt tribute to the series-that-never-was.

Derek Theler, who was set to play Mr. Immortal in the New Warriors pilot, took to Instagram to explain more about the show, which featured the unlikely C-list team of Squirrel Girl, Night Thrasher, Speedball, Microbe, and Debrii protecting Cleveland, Ohio, of all places.

"The concept was hilarious," Theler wrote. "A group of young adults with superpowers trying to figure out how to actually become superheroes, all while being followed by a documentary camera crew. Basically, Marvel meets The Office."

Despite filming a pilot that, according to Theler, was well-received, the show eventually fell by the wayside.

Theler wrote, "Eventually, the show disappeared into Hollywood limbo. No dramatic cancellation. No real explanation. We just never came back."

While it joins the long list of other scrapped superhero projects, from Marvel or otherwise, Theler has at least shared clips and photos from production, including Milana Vayntrub's Squirrel Girl in costume – which you can see below.

"We were FORBIDDEN from taking photos or videos on set… but there was no chance I was letting my introduction to the MCU go completely undocumented," Theler said. "So I secretly captured some BTS footage. As far as I know, it’s the only footage from our shoot outside whatever Marvel has locked away in a vault."

Theler even shared his own personal thoughts on the project's termination. He wrote, "Every once in a while, I wonder what could have been. Would people have loved it? Would we have gotten multiple seasons?"

New Warriors, though, has shown no signs of life since. Squirrel Girl's actor Milana Vayntrub went on to voice the character in Marvel Rivals, however.

Marvel Studios has pared back on its television output, too, with Daredevil: Born Again season 3 and VisionQuest among its very few MCU projects on Disney Plus in the next 12 months.

For more, check out our guide to upcoming Marvel movies.

The first season of new DCU show Lanterns hasn't even hit HBO yet, but there is already talk of a second season.

At the Lanterns premiere, ScreenRant asked co-creator Damon Lindelof if he has plans for Lanterns season 2. "If it's successful and people love it, there's a lot of runway to launch into future seasons," said Lindelof. "But I think Chris Mundy has already started a new writers' room, figuring out what new stories could be for Lanterns."

Although he didn't reveal what season 2 might entail, Lindelof did list several actors he would want to see in the next installment, including Watchmen star Regina King, The Leftovers actors Justin Theroux and Carrie Coon, and Wonder Man himself. "I worked with a great actor, Yahya Abdul Mateen II, who would be great," said Lindelof. "He was already in the old version of the DCU. He played the bad guy in the Aquaman movies."

There have been rumblings of Lanterns season 2 this week, after the series landed a new co-showrunner ahead of a possible second outing. According to The Ankler, comic writer and producer Christopher Cantwell has joined as co-showrunner alongside Chris Mundy. However, Lanterns has yet to receive an official renewal from HBO or DC Studios.

It seems that anything is possible in the DCU right now, as DCU: Chapter One has undergone a massive shake-up. On August 12, it was reported that upcoming DC shows Waller and Wonder Woman series Paradise Lost had been scrapped. But Booster Gold, which has been hit with cancellation rumors, remains in development.

However, Lindelof admits that when he approached Lanterns, he only had the first season on his mind. "We came into this with the sort of attitude that this was a mystery with a beginning, middle, and end," said the long-time DC collaborator. "We had a story to tell about characters that we really cared about, and we would want the audience to kind of get to know them over the course of the first season and really invest in them, and then that story ended."

Lanterns follows Green Lantern and intergalactic cop Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and his trainee John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) as they investigate a mysterious murder. The season is set across two timelines in 2016 and 2026, and also stars Kelly Macdonald as a local sheriff, Ulrich Thomsen as Sinestro, and Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner.

Lanterns hits HBO Max on August 16. See our Lanterns release schedule for exact timings. For more, keep up with upcoming DC movies and shows on the way.

A new look at VisionQuest has debuted at D23 and it's seemingly revealed a major new character. Shared on social media by attendees, the promotional art shows a figure on fire, surrounded by flames.

Plenty of Marvel fans on Reddit have already put two and two together and think this may be the Original Human Torch. The character has a fascinating history in the comics. Real name Jim Hammond, he first appeared back in 1939 as part of Timely Comics, Marvel's predecessor.

He was an android created by a scientist under the watch of Victor Timely (who we met in Loki season 2) and had the ability to control flames. He was one of the three main original heroes, alongside Captain America and Namor, before he fell mostly into obscurity and was repurposed into a member of the Fantastic Four in the '50s.

However, it's his connection with Vision that will likely be the most fertile ground for the upcoming TV show. In an Avengers storyline from the '70s, it was revealed that Torch's body was used to create Vision by none other than Ultron, who we know will play a key role in VisionQuest.

We have seen Vision's origins in the MCU already in Avengers: Age of Ultron. He was created by Ultron combining a vibranium body, synthetic tissue, and the Mind Stone. Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and Thor intercepted the transfer, uploading J.A.R.V.I.S. to him, making the Vision we know and love, played by Paul Bettany. This could be expanded in VisionQuest though, especially if the show dives into Ultron's origins of creating Vision.

This also isn't the first time that we've had a nod to Hammond in the MCU either. Back in Captain America: The First Avenger, Howard Stark's Stark Expo showcased an android in a glass case. Called Phineas Horton's "Synthetic Man", this was a nod to the original Human Torch. It will be interesting to see that Easter egg finally expanded in the MCU, almost 15 years later.

VisionQuest releases on October 14, 2026 on Disney Plus. This makes it the next MCU project ahead of Avengers: Doomsday in December. For more upcoming superhero movies, check out our guide to all the new Marvel movies and shows you need to know about.

With the DCU being in its infancy, it's absolutely true that there isn't a lot to watch before Lanterns. This isn't the MCU, with its hours of streaming 'homework' and other essential movies to catch up on before diving headlong into its newest release.

But if you're new to the DCU or to Green Lantern as a character, there are still multiple movies and shows we'd regard as either essential or recommend viewing. Not only will it ground you on who exactly Hal Jordan and John Stewart are before they make their in-universe bows, but our lists will also offer some much-needed context on the weirder and more cosmic side of the cinematic universe.

So, join us as we run through everything to watch before Lanterns. Then, take a look ahead to everything James Gunn and Peter Safran are cooking up as part of DCU Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.

The DCU essentials

Let's start with the DCU. While none of the current projects directly set up Lanterns, we would absolutely suggest starting with Superman if you haven't done so already.

Not only does it introduce another Green Lantern in Guy Gardner (so you can get to grips with his ego and skillset), but it also operates as an introduction to the DCU-at-large – and all the heroes that inhabit the world.

Even better, Superman's 2027 sequel, Man of Tomorrow, is confirmed to include Aaron Pierre's John Stewart. So becoming familiar with that side of the DCU is imperative before jumping onboard with Lanterns and, then, the next step in Stewart's story.

Elsewhere, Creature Commandos and Supergirl are perfect primers for fans who aren't aware of DC's zanier, more cosmic side. This isn't all Batman battering goons, you know. Creature Commandos has an eclectic cast of characters that fall right in line with the wider roster of Green Lanterns, including a living planet and a squirrel (yes, really).

While Lanterns appears to be a grounded detective drama, it may yet shoot for the stars. This year's Supergirl was another adventure among the cosmos, so is well worth seeking out too.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series

The DCU isn't the only time Hal Jordan has been on the screen. 2010s show Green Lantern: The Animated Series follows Jordan in a starbound adventure, which should give you a taste of exactly who Hal is and how he works both solo and as part of the Green Lantern Corps.

Justice League Unlimited

John Stewart has been around in the comics for decades, but Justice League and its follow-up DCAU (DC Animated Universe) series Justice League Unlimited put Stewart on the map in a big way.

The nature of the series (and the superhero group) means it's more of an ensemble piece, but there are plenty of Green Lantern-adjacent and John Stewart-centric episodes to watch. We would recommend season 1 episode 'Hunter's Moon' and season 3's 'Far From Home'.

HBO Max in the US also has other animated projects, including Green Lantern: Beware My Power and Emerald Knights.

For more, check out how to watch the DC movies in order.

Sadly, X-Men '97 season 2 has come to an end, and with it has taken one of our favorite mutants. But, according to producer Jake Castorena, that death may not be as permanent as it looked.

Warning, the following contains major spoilers for X-Men '97 season 2 episode 9, so turn back now if you haven't caught up. But first, read our spoiler-free X-Men '97 season 2 review.

During the action-packed X-Men '97 season 2 finale, a couple of characters met their end in the battle against Apocalypse. However, the biggest death has to be Nightcrawler, real name Kurt Wagner. The blue-skinned mutant sacrificed himself to the Celestial in order to save his sister Rogue. You can read more about that in our X-Men '97 season 2 ending explained.

However, we may see Wagner again. In an interview with ScreenRant, Castorena was asked whether Nightcrawler and other mutants who died earlier in the season could return. "First and foremost, I will say: is anyone ever really dead in comics? Is anyone ever really dead?" said the producer. "Make no mistake, Nightcrawler is dead, you'll just have to watch season 3 to see how it all may play out. That's what I can say."

That's a little confusing, but what it sounds like Castorena is saying is that even though certain mutants may have died, they can always be brought back. It wouldn't be the first time a mutant had been revived in the animated series. In season 2, Gambit was resurrected by Apocalypse after being murdered in season 1. Maybe we will see Nightcrawler in X-Men '97 season 3, which is expected to premiere sometime in 2027.

However, Marvel fans will get to see another version of Nightcrawler again very soon. Original Nightcrawler star Alan Cumming is set to return as the mutant in Avengers: Doomsday alongside some of his Fox-era X-Men co-stars, including Patrick Stewart's Professor X, Ian McKellen's Magneto, James Marsden's Cyclops, and more. Cumming notably played the character in the 2003 movie X2: X-Men United.

X-Men '97 season 2 is now streaming in full on Disney Plus. For more, check out our guide on how to watch the X-Men movies in order, and keep up with upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way.

The DCU is making some changes to its previously announced roster, and this reportedly includes scrapping Waller and Paradise Lost.

According to The Ankler, Waller and Paradise Lost are "both dead at DC, which also heard pitches for series built around Poison Ivy and Catwoman, though DC/HBO passed on both projects." Though Booster Gold was hit with cancellation rumors, the show "remains in development, and a search for a new writer is underway."

Waller was first announced as part of DCU's 'Chapter One,' when James Gunn and Peter Safran took control of DC Studios in 2023. The series, starring Viola Davis's Amanda Waller, was set to pick up after the events of Peacemaker season 2. Back in February 2025, Safran said that scripts "still haven't been able to land," which didn't bode well for future announcements.

Paradise Lost was also announced as part of the initial slate, and was described by Safran as a "Game of Thrones-ish story about Themyscira," the home of the Amazons and birthplace of Wonder Woman. The two projects join The Authority, which was also scrapped back in April.

In some positive news, a co-showrunner has reportedly already been hired for Lanterns season 2... which hits HBO Max on August 16.

For more, check out our list of upcoming DC movies and shows.

The first three episodes of Reacher season 4 are streaming now on Prime Video. Star Alan Ritchson bet his life in our presence that it would be the best season yet, but the Rotten Tomatoes results are in, and, sorry Alan, you're dead, as it's currently the show's lowest-rated season according to the review aggregator.

However, it's by no means disastrous news for Reacher fans, as season 4 is currently sitting on a very respectable 88% from 16 critics. Our own Reacher season 4 review awarded the new season 3.5/5* stars, with GR+'s Megan Garside noting the new season still "packs one hell of a punch" even if the "the pacing and jumbled dialogue fall short." So 'fresh', in our eyes.

That Rotten Tomatoes score is only a problem in context, as Reacher's first three seasons all earned well over 90%, with both seasons 2 and 3 achieving a near-perfect 98%, and season 1 on a solid 92%. The relatively low number of reviews is a key factor here, with Reacher season 4's two 'rotten' reviews knocking the overall score down a massive 12%. Previous seasons have had over three times as many reviews in some cases, significantly diluting the impact of any rotten ratings.

It's almost like the Rotten Tomatoes percentage is a broken metric that doesn't accurately represent a movie or show's quality. How else do you explain Spider-Man: Brand New Day being the lowest-rated Tom Holland Spider-Man movie?

And to be fair to Reacher, the vast majority of reviews are still positive, even if the final score is on the lower end for the show. "It’s not complex. It’s not Proust. But boy it is fun," said The Times (UK). "It all comes down to whether you like twisty action-thrillers that are cold-blooded with warm hearts, and high on charm," notes RogerEbert.com (luckily for us, we do).

On the more critical side, FandomWire proved tougher to please, saying "Reacher's fourth season is less bold, less brash, and less fun, but still as brutal as ever." The Playlist stuck the boot in, however, noting "The writing and acting are occasionally so bad that it can make a person almost embarrassed to watch." Yikes!

If you're willing to overlook the mixed reviews, then the season 4 is underway now, with three episodes currently available to stream on Prime Video, and new episodes airing weekly from this point. Be sure to bookmark our Reacher season 4 release schedule, so you never miss an episode. Big Reacher summer continues in September with the release of spin-off show Neagley.

Reacher season 4's first three episodes are streaming now. Wondering what to add to your watchlist next? Here's our list of the most exciting new TV shows heading your way.

X-Men '97 season 3 could arrive sooner than you think. The third season of Marvel's animated revival is currently scheduled to release in 2027, and seasons 4 is already confirmed as well. With a certain telekinetic mutant having just made her deubt in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, it's a great time to be an X-Men fan.

X-Men '97 season 2 went back to the very beginning, depicting how first mutant Apocalypse became a time-travelling tyrant hell-bent on wiping out the X-Men. Season 3 can't possibly get (much) bigger than that. But the addition of a long-awaited, blue-skinned shapeshifter has put season 3 near the top of our most anticipated list, even if the show sits outside of MCU continuity on the list of upcoming Marvel movies and shows.

Below, you'll find everything we currently know about X-Men '97 season 3, including release date speculation, educated plot theories, cast we expect to return, and more. Season 2 spoilers follow, so make sure you're up to speed before reading on. For the full deep-dive, check out our X-Men '97 season 2 ending explained.

X-Men '97 season 3 release date speculation

X-Men '97 season 3 will release in 2027, according to Marvel Studios Head of TV and Streaming Brad Winderbaum, who confirmed the (wide) release window to Collider just ahead of the season 2 finale. At the same time, Winderbaum also revealed that season 4 will follow one year later in 2028, making the two-year wait between seasons 1 and 2 a thing of the past.

Producer Larry Houston previously claimed that the two-year gap between seasons 1 and 2 wouldn't happen again, as the production problems that caused the delay were a "one-off," backing up Winderbaum's release plan. For now, we don't have a more specific date than next year, but don't be surprised if it debuts in the summer.

Is there an X-Men '97 season 2 trailer?

There is no X-Men '97 season 3 trailer just yet, though given that Marvel Studios Animation is no doubt deep into production on season 3, it's possible we may get a glimpse of the upcoming season sooner than later.

The trailer for X-Men '97 season 2 was first shown behind closed doors at New York Comic Con in October 2025, but wasn't released online until May 2026, over 7 months later. If Marvel follows the same schedule, we could have a bit of a wait on our hands for the trailer.

X-Men '97 season 3 plot speculation

While there are no official plot details about X-Men '97 season 3, we can make an educated guess about what might happen following the season 2 finale and that exciting X-Men '97 season 2 post-credits scene.

X-Men '97 season 2 ends with Apocalypse defeated, Gambit back in the land of the living, and even Rogue safe and sound, despite making a deal with a Celestial to exchange her life for Remy's. Turns out there has been a sacrifice – Nightcrawler paid the life debt, and is revealed to have died so that Rogue may live. *sniff*

The fallout of this sacrifice will no doubt figure into season 3. But far more significant in terms of future setup is the X-Men '97 season 2 post-credits scene. In her office, X-Factor operator Val Cooper is watching Graydon Creed being sworn in as president. Given he ran on an anti-mutant platform, this doesn't bode well. Only, this isn't Val; it's Mystique in disguise, who it's revealed has killed the high-ranking official. Again, this does not bode well. As Mystique flips through her file, it reads "Mystique determined to attack the US." "I'll say," quips Mystique in response. Needless to say, US soil isn't safe with Mystique on the loose.

As for the rest of the X-Men, Cyclops and Jean still have unresolved issues with their now grown-up son, Nathan (aka. Cable), particularly after he betrayed the X-Men in order to take down Remy-Apocalypse. There's also the small matter of X-Force still working to round up mutants that the government takes against. Charles may have exploited a loophole and relocated the X-Men to a rebuilt Genosha in the form of X-Corp, but this arrangement clearly doesn't have a long-term future following the attack on the X-Corp building by X-Factor in the season 2 finale, and the small matter of Mystique secretly replacing Val...

X-Men '97 season 3 cast

X-Men '97 is a show that loves to kill off beloved characters, so there are some major mutants we're not expecting to return in season 3. Though given that Gambit is now alive and kicking after being bumped off in season 1, and that time travel is an everyday occurrence, a miraculous resurrection is never out of the question.

We'd expect new characters to be introduced in future episodes, but here's where the season 3 cast stands, based on who survives season 2:

• Ray Chase as Scott Summers / Cyclops
• Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey / Phoenix
• Ross Marquand – Professor Charles Xavier
• Allison Sealy-Smith as Ororo Munroe / Storm
• Cal Dodd as Logan / Wolverine
• J.P. Karliak as Morph
• Lenore Zann as Rogue
• George Buza as Beast
• A.J. LoCascio as Remy LeBeau / Gambit
• Holly Chou as Jubilee
• Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop
• Gui Agustini as Sunspot
• Chris Potter as Nathan Summers / Cable
• Gates McFadden as Rachel Summers / Mother Askani
• Catherine Disher as Valerie Cooper
• Mystique

X-Men '97 is streaming now on Disney Plus. For more, check out our guide on how to watch the X-Men movies in order.

Reacher is back, and he means business this time. Reacher season 4 has premiered on Prime Video with the first three episodes. You'll now be chomping at the bit to get your hands on episode 4. But with the streamer changing up its release schedule with each show it releases, you may be wondering when you can catch the new installment. Don't worry, we've got you covered,

Below we have compiled everything you need to know about the Reacher season 4 release schedule, including when, where, and how you can stream each new drop. Trust us, this season goes further than ever before in terms of action and fight scenes, bringing Lee Child's 13th Jack Reacher book 'Gone Tomorrow' to life. So you'll want to spend as little time as possible scrolling and more watching Reacher try to crack the case of the mysterious murder on the train.

Each season of Reacher focuses on a brand new mission, but if you need to do a little catching up beforehand, check out our Reacher season 3 ending explained. Then, make sure to read our spoiler-free Reacher season 4 review before tuning in.

Reacher season 4, episode 4 release date: what time is on Prime Video?

Reacher season 4 episode 4 will be available to watch on Prime Video on August 19 at 12am PT / 3am ET in the US, and on the same day at 8am BST in the UK.

For other regions, please use the time zone converter.

Reacher season 4 release schedule: when are new episodes out?

The first three episodes of Reacher season 4 arrive on Prime Video on August 12, followed by a new episode every week until September 16.

The Reacher season 4 release schedule is available below:

• Reacher season 4, episode 1: August 12, 2026 - out now!
• Reacher season 4, episode 2: August 12, 2026 - out now!
• Reacher season 4, episode 3: August 12, 2026 - out now!
• Reacher season 4, episode 4: August 19, 2026
• Reacher season 4, episode 5: August 26, 2026
• Reacher season 4, episode 6: September 2, 2026
• Reacher season 4, episode 7: September 9, 2026
• Reacher season 4, episode 8: September 16, 2026

Where to watch Reacher season 4 episode 4

Reacher season 4 is exclusively available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. You'll need a subscription to be able to watch it, and these vary between ad-supported costs and premium memberships. However, the show will be available for all tiers.

How many episodes are there in Reacher season 4?

There are 8 episodes in Reacher season 4. The series is staying consistent, as this is the same as seasons 1, 2, and 3.

The same day as the Reacher season 4 finale lands on Prime Video on September 16, the full first season of spin-off Neagley will hit the streamer ready for you to binge.

But the fun doesn't stop there, as Reacher has already been renewed for season 5. Amazon has yet to confirm any details, but it is thought that the fifth installment will adapt Lee Child's 20th Jack Reacher book titled 'Make Me.'

For more, check out our list of the best Prime Video shows, and keep up with upcoming shows still to come in 2026 and beyond.

Ex-God of War star Ryan Hurst, who departed the Amazon production after an injury, has shown off a fresh look at his Kratos – and it's way better than the show's first official look.

As posted on his Instagram Stories (and preserved on social media below), Hurst shared a picture of his depiction of the ashen Ghost of Sparta.

All told, this is a vast improvement on God of War's debut image released this past February. There, Hurst's Kratos and Callum Vinson's Atreus better resembled professional cosplayers on a photoshoot than anything close to a TV-level adaptation of the beloved PlayStation series.

Original God of War creator and director David Jaffe wasn't a fan, to put it mildly – nor was an expectant audience.

Before Hurst and company could claw back goodwill, disaster struck. An injury to Hurst forced Amazon to recast the role of Kratos and reshoot multiple episodes with a new actor.

Dave Bautista is in talks to replace Hurst as Kratos, with there also being – slightly more unsubstantiated – reports that Atreus would be recast after the first season.

Over on the games side of things, there's a lot less drama. God of War: Laufey, a new title starring Deborah Ann Woll's Giant, is set to release on February 16, 2027. At SDCC, it was confirmed that a new Kratos-led game is also in development and "directly connects to the events of the Laufey game."

The God of War TV show also stars Mandy Patinkin, Teresa Palmer, Max Parker, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, and Ed Skrein.

For more, check out the other new TV shows currently in the works.

While John Stewart is set to make his DCU debut in the upcoming Lanterns, played by Aaron Pierre, the Green Lantern will soon be reappearing in next year's quasi-Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow.

But, by the sounds of things, showrunner Chris Mundy had the leeway to take Lanterns wherever he wanted to go, despite the wider universe being at play.

"We weren't tasked with having any specific landing point, which was great for us because it gave us freedom to land the story where we wanted to land the story," Mundy told SFX magazine. "But John will be part of the greater DC Universe. That was good for us to know. And where we land him is somewhere that they're happy with us landing him and somewhere they can take him, if they want."

So far, Lanterns looks more like a gritty detective drama than a superhero show, with the buddy cop dynamic between Stewart and Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan at its heart. But elsewhere in the SFX piece, Mundy hints that the grounded DC show might go cosmic: "We'd be stupid not to use everything that you can do inside the Green Lantern universe."

Man of Tomorrow, meanwhile, will see Superman forced to team up with Lex Luthor to take on Brainiac.

Along with Pierre and Chandler, the Lanterns cast also features Laura Linney, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, and Ulrich Thomsen as Sinestro.

"Our show is in a lot of ways about replacement – when should someone step aside and when is it time for the next person to take the reins?" Mundy said back in 2025. "That push and pull between those two characters is really important. So much of the power that John has is by not taking the bait, understanding that you lose your power if you’re yelling and screaming."

Lanterns arrives on August 16. In the meantime, keep up to date with everything else the DCU has in store with our guide to all the upcoming DC movies and TV shows.

Upcoming DC show Lanterns may revolve around a pair of Green Lanterns, but from what we've seen so far, it's going to remain a far more grounded murder mystery than expected.

For showrunner Chris Mundy, that decision to step away from the more cosmic reaches of Green Lantern lore in favor of a more True Detective-style investigation in dusty Nebraska was made from the jump.

"We just committed pretty early,” Mundy told SFX. “It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, should we do it this way?’ [We said] ‘We’re going to do it this way.’ So we just started building it. In that way we were all in from the beginning."

Mundy continued, "We wanted to make sure that we were firmly walking the Earth first, and then hopefully you can build those relationships, and that trust inside the show, and you can keep doing more and more."

That 'more and more' has already been hinted at in the second Lanterns trailer released during SDCC weekend. That fresh glimpse won over jaded fans with its imaginative use of the Lantern ring, tease of Sinestro, and what appeared to be a sprinkling of interstellar-set scenes. For Mundy, the sky isn't the limit. It goes far beyond that.

"We’d be stupid not to use everything that you can do inside the Green Lantern universe," Mundy said. "They have these abilities. They have the ring. Their world is just bigger, and the way we use our storytelling can be bigger too. We sometimes had to remind ourselves that there’s as much or as little sci-fi in it as we want there to be.”

Lanterns revolves around Lantern-in-training John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) being mentored by Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) as they uncover clues in a series of killings. The DCU series hits HBO on August 16.

For more, check out what we know about DCU Chapter One.

When GamesRadar+ arrives on the set of Reacher season 4, star Alan Ritchson is kicking a gun out of the hand of an oncoming thug in the doorframe of a dilapidated hallway. He does this about seven or eight times, and we watch each time as they yell cut, replace broken glass, sweep away kicked-up dust, and unruffle everyone's shirts. Director Sam Hill tells us that they've been filming this particular fight scene for a few weeks now, and that it'll last for all of 12 seconds on screen.

"We're right up against those final moments," Hill tells us, explaining that the fight scene takes place towards the end of the season. "Everybody's gonna get what they deserve. It's like the event. The closer to the end of the season you get... now things are on fire." Hill laughs before being pulled back into the madness, where they run the entire scene over again a few more times.

Reacher season 3 ended with Jack killing his nemesis Xavier Quinn with one swift stab to the chest before riding off into the sunset on his trusty motorbike… and we can't help but wonder how the journey took him to a rundown, asbestos-filled apartment building. The new season takes place in New York City, but we're standing on a studio lot in Toronto, Canada. Production designer Nazgol Goshtasbpour takes us up some rickety stairs and right into the three-floor apartment that serves as one of the central set pieces.

It took a minute for me, an avid reader of Lee Child's Jack Reacher book series, to realize where we were, but a computer system setup and a few empty cots tipped me off. Season 4 adapts the novel Gone Tomorrow, which sees Reacher witness a suicide attempt on a subway that sends him into a whirlwind of terrorists, corrupt politicians, and the 1980 Soviet-Afghan war. We're standing in one of the decrepit buildings that Reacher discovers in the South Side of Philadelphia (though it's located on 58th Street in Manhattan in the novel), belonging to main antagonists Lila and Amisha Hoth (played by Agnez Mo and Anggun, respectively).

It's an almost-reproduction of an abandoned building that they shot on location in Philly, right down to the working 1920s-era elevator they built for scenes that take place between floors. Goshtasbpour goes into the meticulousness of each detail, right down to carefully placing each piece of debris and using hot glue to make light-catching cobwebs. Lila and her criminal crew even have their own little kitchen and fireplace, though the toilet is broken and both the wiring and plumbing are exposed.

"And a lot of times with Reacher… I make this joke on set. I say, 'We're not making a feature. We're making Reacher.' Because I think it's just much more complicated," she says. "Our sets are more elaborate than a feature film." We're inclined to agree: a wall of photos offers a glimpse of another fully built (and now-destroyed) set, including a custom-built bridge with a fake road underneath. Elsewhere in Canada, they turned a piece of land into an Indonesian village, complete with an army base. Everything is practical, except for the taller palm trees and helicopters, which will be added in post. Careful not to spoil anything, Goshtasbpour explains that this is for a flashback sequence (likely for Lila and Amisha).

Fight or Flight

When we meet back up with director Sam Hill, filming is done for the day. It's mid-November, and they're still months away from being fully wrapped, as ADR and post-production tend to take a while. He takes a seat in front of the wall of set photos, one of which features the decaying hideout we just toured, prompting the group to ask about the level of danger Reacher faces from Lila and Amisha Hoth.

"What's new and exciting about every season isn't necessarily like, 'Oh, this person's a bigger, badder person to fight,' or, 'This is a bigger, harder challenge.' It's this whole new group of people reacting to a Reacher perspective on the world," Hill says. "Certainly for me, that's one of the most attractive things about this project in general, is the Reacher figure himself doesn't really arc over any given novel or over any given season, but it's all the people around him in that orbit who do."

Hill goes on to praise showrunner Nick Santora for his ability to "take this character that Lee Child created" and "weigh him against all these new people and environments." It's a non-spoilery way of saying that Reacher is definitely in over his head this season, as the Hoths are nothing like season 1's KJ Kliner or Beck and Quinn of season 3.

Without giving too much away, the Hoths are criminals with unimaginably violent pasts, and they're so skilled in the art of manipulation that even Reacher falls victim to it for a second (at least in the novel). Mo and Anggun, who play mother-and-daughter duo Amisha and Lila, are Indonesian superstars known primarily for their music. Both actors tell us during a brief chat later that day that they play strong women who have lived through a lot of atrocities and are in America with the intention of finding Lila's birth father... though that's not all they're there for.

When asked about the decision to change the book's New York City setting to Philadelphia, Hill explains that it's really just because season 2 already took place in New York and its surrounding areas. As for the Philadelphia landmarks that show up during the new season: "I'm pretty certain that Reacher as a character would not be interested in the Rocky statue at all."

For the final question, someone points out that many of the novels are from the first-person perspective of Jack Reacher, while the show itself is absent of monologues and inner dialogue. "And yet the show still communicates the interiority of Reacher. How?"

"The first is you cast a guy named Alan Ritchson as Reacher. That is step number one," Hill replies. "Step number two is put a camera as close to him as you can and let him do his thing."

Reach for the stars

"This is the worst day for you guys to be here. I'm so embarrassed," Alan Ritchson says when he sits down for our long-awaited group interview. We'd all excitedly told him that we watched him kick a gun upwards of 20 times. He immediately wished we would've come by on a more exciting shoot day. "That is mortifying. Of all the days. The most mundane, difficult. It's like a Price Is Right game."

But there's plenty more gun-kicking where that came from: "I think in the first three weeks we shot more fights than all the other seasons combined." Ritchson thinks the fight count for the entire season is around 30, and mentions that they're always running out of fake blood. As far as book-accuracy goes, this tracks: Reacher takes on multiple baddies from all angles in Gone Tomorrow. Of course, this all leads up to him fighting Lila and Amisha in a three-against-one.

"We're not in Margrave," he says, referring to the show's first season, which feels rather tame in comparison. "And it's fun. It's always funny, sorta seeing Reacher in these new situations with these new women and how he handles it… I'm always wondering what he's gonna do in these moments. I'm also waiting to see what feels right in the moment.

"And I think [Lila's] secrets and her presence and her pursuit really turned it into something really interesting," he continues. "Because he doesn't see it coming at all, and it does put him on his heels in a way that we haven't really seen, where he's like, 'What do I do with this?'"

He tells us about a set piece that we didn't get to see: a bowling alley where an all-out brawl takes place. "It's kind of a hilarious set piece for something like this, for something gory to take place, but it is probably one of the most epic fights I have ever shot in my career. We even have these great angles where it's like the old Indiana Jones moments." This is not in the book, so color me intrigued.

Ritchson has a flight to catch, but wants to make sure we don't have a doubt in our minds about Reacher season 4: "I would bet my life that this is going to be, by whatever metric you [you use], better than anything we've done."

Reacher season 4 releases on Prime Video on August 12, with the first three episodes. For more, check out our list of the best new TV shows coming in 2026 and beyond.

Filming on Daredevil: Born Again season 3 has wrapped – but Marvel fans are worried about the future.

News recently broke that Wonder Man season 2 was cancelled, despite the show being previously officially renewed. That, combined with the fact that there are no live-action Marvel shows on the release slate past Born Again season 3 next year, has fans thinking the age of MCU TV might be coming to an end.

"I have a feeling this is the last season because S2 didn't have as [many] viewers as S1 did... and after Wonder Man you never know," says one fan.

"I really hope this season won't be the last time we see everyone," says someone else. "Man, please don't be the last," asks another fan.

"Crazy how it's looking like Daredevil Born Again S3 will be the last season of live action Marvel television for a while… An end to a very interesting era in the MCU," is another person's thoughts.

"I hope it's not the last one," says another person. "Probably the final season," predicts another person.

"I think it's gonna wrap up in the 3rd one, and honestly, as long as there's something for the future of the Defenders and a big role in the next MCU movies, I'll be satisfied," says another fan.

"Sorry it took so long to say, but THAT'S A WRAP on production for Season 3 of Daredevil Born Again," showrunner Dario Scardapane wrote on his Instagram story. "Thank you to Marvel and the magnificent cast and crew that made this season something very, very, very special. I'm humbled daily by the talent I get to work with. Cannot wait for you to see what all these twisted minds have come up with. #BestCrewEver"

It's unclear at the moment whether this really is the end of the road for Daredevil. What is clear, though, is that Wonder Man season 2 definitely isn't happening.

"I love that show to death. If it were up to me, we would be making that show," co-creator Destin Daniel Cretton said recently. "And I do believe that if – and I know this sounds weird – but if it were up to Kevin [Feige], we would be doing that show."

Daredevil: Born Again season 3 arrives next March. While you wait, check out our guide to all the most exciting upcoming Marvel movies and TV shows.

Disney Plus Wonder Man series co-creator Destin Daniel Cretton says he's just as confused and heartbroken as the rest of us over the show's cancellation... but that it wasn't Marvel boss Kevin Feige's decision.

"I love that show to death. If it were up to me, we would be making that show," Cretton told TheWrap. “And I do believe that if – and I know this sounds weird – but if it were up to Kevin, we would be doing that show.”

Continued Cretton: "I'm just talking; I don’t fully understand the business of streaming, but if the business was right, we would be making that show because I know Kevin loves that show as much as I do. It's a bummer. I’m heartbroken about it. But I need to fully understand the why."

The statement comes just a day after co-creator Andrew Guest confirmed that the cancellation was "not a marketing stunt" and that "there is no movie in the works." He also clarified that there were no issues with anyone's schedules, including Cretton's (who has a lot on his plate after directing Spider-Man: Brand New Day).

Wonder Man follows Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a struggling actor with secret superpowers, as he auditions for the lead role in a superhero movie. He crosses paths with the rather eccentric Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), and the two strike up an unlikely friendship. The series currently sits at a Rotten Tomatoes score of 91%, and a rather impressive audience rating of 88%. A second season was announced back in March (and I am still really, really sad about this).

For more, check out our list of all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows in 2026 and beyond.

Iron Fist star Jessica Henwick has revealed she had conversations with Marvel about returning as her character Colleen Wing in Daredevil: Born Again season 3.

But while Jessica Jones and Luke Cage returned in season 2 – and Danny Rand will be back in season 3 – Colleen will not be making an appearance.

"I've said multiple times over the years, I would love to come back. I know that everyone is back this season. I'm not in this season," Henwick told Inverse. "We did have discussions about whether I should go back this season. But for me, her story ended with her going off into the sunset. She has the Iron Fist. She's got Misty by her side. Daughters of the Dragon is happening. She ended on a really great note."

However, that doesn't mean the door is permanently closed. "I'm just not interested in bringing her back unless it's worth sort of unpicking that happiness, because obviously she can't be happy on a TV series. If she's back, something's gone wrong," Henwick explained. "I would absolutely love to come back, but it would just really have to be the right story."

It sounds like Marvel was in agreement. "They were like, 'Yeah, we don't want to bring you back, and then you just [stand] in the back of the shot.' So hopefully soon, but I don't really know," she added.

One character who is returning for season 3 is Elodie Yung's Elektra, and we've already had a look at her comeback thanks to a set video.

Daredevil: Born Again season 3 arrives in March 2027. While you wait, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows for everything else that's on the way.

It wasn't just fans who had the rug pulled from under their feet last week when Marvel cancelled Wonder Man out of the blue just months after it had been renewed for season 2, as even showrunner Andrew Guest was shocked about the decision.

"I just want to say that I've been listening. I appreciate you all. I feel how you all feel, and I just want to clear up what I can here," said Guest over on TikTok just days after the news broke online. "This is not a marketing stunt. There is no movie in the works, and Destin's schedule... no one's schedule was an issue."

Many presumed that the enormous success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day had something to do with the cancellation. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, Brand New Day, which hit screens last Friday, July 31, is projected to earn close to $1 billion worldwide. Fans thought this meant Marvel had cancelled Wonder Man, which was directed by Cretton, in order to move the filmmaker onto bigger projects.

However, Guest says that both Cretton, stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Sir Ben Kingsley, and himself "all loved making this show," and "felt passionately about continuing to do it, and were eager to." However, something changed higher up. "There was a decision made internally between Disney and Marvel that this didn't make sense for them, even though a few months ago it did. That's all I really know."

In fact, the team had already been making major moves toward the sophomore season. "Contracts were signed, schedules were clear, the writer's room was supposed to start this month, production was supposed to begin early next year," said Guest. "I had written the first episode of season 2, and we had it outlined for where the season would go, and everyone felt really good about it. It was going to be a really incredible season that hopefully surpassed season 1."

It is not clear why Marvel and Disney decided to scrap the show, which was met with largely positive reviews and stands at an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 91%. However, Guest wants fans to continue to share their opinions on the matter. "I think there are important conversations being had online about the kind of stories that we're prioritising and the kind of shows platforms want to make."

For more, check out our guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order, and keep up with all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows in 2026 and beyond.

Wonder Man season 2 has been canceled, which means Marvel Studios' TV presence is getting pretty sparing. As one MCU fan has noticed, there are now only two Disney Plus shows in production, and they both release in the next eight months.

As it stands, VisionQuest, which ends the WandaVision saga, and Daredevil: Born Again season 3 are the only remaining live-action shows in the Marvel line-up. There are a few more in development on the animation side, including X-Men '97 season 4 and Marvel Zombies season 2, but it certainly seems that the strategy is shifting at Marvel HQ.

Kevin Feige spoke recently about the decision to not release any Marvel movies between Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. "A lot of it is a strategy we've talked about for a while, of focusing on quality," Feige told Empire magazine. "We always try to focus on quality, but when quantity is so much, you get spread thin. We didn't want to be spread thin, and the Avengers is as important as it comes."

It seems they're now planning a similar approach to TV shows, streamlining the narrative of the MCU projects once again. I was a big fan of Wonder Man and would have enjoyed seeing it return, but I've got to admit that I'm relieved by this seeming shift in strategy.

Marvel has been having a lot of problems since releasing Avengers: Endgame. Mainly referred to as superhero fatigue, it's been a case of casting too wide a net. Films have introduced endless new characters who we've never seen again (Eros who?) and brought the MCU in exceedingly far-reaching directions.

While it's been fun to try out new genres, it's all gotten a bit muddled. Realigning the MCU back around its tentpole Avengers movies and the upcoming X-Men film feels like a smarter choice. It also means we'll hopefully have fewer announcements of projects that never materialize (a Blade movie, Shang-Chi 2, and Armor Wars to name a few).

I'm hoping that the restructuring of Marvel's upcoming releases will mean a bit more focus on what the universe is planning to create. At the very least, it seems to be an admission that something needs to change for the MCU going forward to allow it to last as long as Feige plans (up to at least 2042, according to his recent comments). That in itself feels like progress.

For more on the MCU, check out our list of all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way as well as our Spider-Man: Brand New Day review.

Marvel has switched up its upcoming releases, and Wonder Man season 2 is one of the major casualties. Months after a second season was confirmed, the Disney Plus show is no longer moving forward.

Star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has now responded to the news in a statement on Instagram, thanking fans for following the show. He wrote: "Word just dropped that Wonder Man won't be coming back for Season 2. (And if you don't knowww, now ya knoww!) That's life, right? Everything will shake out."

The Watchmen star continued: "I wanted to say thank you to everybody who WATCHED the show, ENJOYED the show, and SHARED that they enjoyed the show in some way or other. The show worked. And that's my favorite thing about it. I can see in the messages I get saying how the show reminded some of you not to give up, and I feel it in the genuine love shared when I bump into some of you all during the day."

Wonder Man was a big hit with fans and critics alike. Rotten Tomatoes is usually a good indicator of how a show resonated with fans and the MCU series scored well, with a 91% critics score and 87% from fans. This makes it one of the highest-rated MCU projects in recent years, even topping Spider-Man: Brand New Day's glowing reviews.

The door is open for Marvel to bring Simon Williams back in the future, but right now Abdul-Mateen II shared his focus on the upcoming awards season. "I'm glad we got to be a part of something cool. Thank you for watching... And uhh... See you at the EMMYS." He's nominated for the Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series at the 2026 awards.

As for what is still on the slate for Marvel, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way. We've also got a breakdown of how to watch the Marvel movies in order for your next rewatch.

Wonder Man will not be returning for season 2, despite Marvel giving it the green light back in March.

The series, created by Spider-Man: Brand New Day director Destin Daniel Cretton and Hawkeye writer Andrew Guest, follows Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a struggling actor with secret superpowers, as he auditions for the lead role in a superhero movie. He crosses paths with Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), and the two strike up an unlikely (and rather chaotic) friendship. It also garnered around 550 million minutes watched in its first 10 days on Disney Plus, and was officially renewed for a second season back in March.

According to Variety, a writer's room was never opened despite the renewal. On a brighter note, the report also states that "the characters featured in the series could still appear in other Marvel projects in the future." The series currently sits at a Rotten Tomatoes score of 91%, and a rather impressive audience rating of 88%.

It took a bit for the show to get off the ground, as 2023 strikes delayed production and poorly received audience test screenings called for reshoots. Cretton and Guest even gushed about their potential season 2 plans just last month.

If you haven't seen Wonder Man, I recommend giving it a watch on Disney Plus. If you liked the different, refreshing creative direction that Prime Video took with Spider-Noir, you'll love the weirdness of Wonder Man. It's a bright spot on the Marvel timeline, and I'm sad to see it go.

For more, check out our list of all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows in 2026 and beyond.

According to Prime Video, Alan Ritchson's Jack Reacher is back and bigger than ever in Reacher season 4, which is just as well, as the first trailer shown at San Diego Comic-Con gives us a glimpse at his most dangerous mission yet.

The trailer, which you can watch above, opens with Alan Ritchson's ex-soldier sitting inside a subway car when he witnesses a woman end her own life. The police pick up Reacher for the crime, but soon after escaping their clutches, Reacher sets out to solve the death, which he thinks was suspicious. Reacher meets up with the woman's brother (Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette), who is adamant she didn't kill herself. From then on, the two are pulled into a dangerous web of criminal activity.

At one point, Reacher is told to walk away. But, of course, our favourite lucky hero does no such thing, as he is prepared to beat down as many bad guys as it takes to get to the bottom of the murder. However, it looks like season 4's villain has connections in high places, as Reacher's dedication to cracking the case quickly makes him a wanted man. Plus, it wouldn't be a season of Reacher without a romantic subplot thrown in, and it looks like Reacher will hook up with a young journalist played by AGNEZ MO.

The action series' fourth outing adapts author Lee Child's thirteenth Jack Reacher book, Home Tomorrow. The official synopsis from Prime Video reads, "When a chance encounter with a distraught stranger on a subway goes horribly wrong, Jack Reacher is drawn into a complex and deadly game that pits him against ruthless foes from the highest echelons of power."

Also at Comic Con, the Reacher and Neagley panel revealed the first trailer for the upcoming Frances Neagley spin-off. The trailer, which has since been shared by Prime Video on YouTube, gives us a glimpse of Reacher's once right-hand woman as she and her PI squad take down criminals connected to the death of her beloved friend.

Reacher season 4 starts streaming on Prime Video from August 12, and Neagley season 1 premieres right after on September 16. Stay up to date with this year's San Diego Comic-Con with our SDCC 2026 live blog and our SDCC 2026 schedule.

Although DC Studios is choosing not to promote its stack of upcoming movies at San Diego Comic-Con 2026, the Lanterns panel has given us another look at what's to come from DCU Chapter One on the small screen with a brand new trailer.

The new clip opens with Hal Jordan rudely waking his trainee, Jon Stewart, giving us a taste of the duo's Training Day-style relationship. As the pair uncover a string of crimes, Hal becomes convinced that aliens are to blame. Well, ol' Hal is correct, as later in the trailer we find out that extraterrestrial antagonists known as Manhunters, which "can take the shape of any species," are at large on Earth.

Elsewhere in the trailer, it seems as though there is quite a bit of friction between Hal Jordan and Jon Stewart, as Jon seemingly wants rid of his mentor. "The Ring has always been mind. Jordan is just keeping it warm," he says. We also get a glimpse at Nathan Fillion's Superman character Guy Gardner, and what looks to be Green Lantern's nemesis Sinestro, who you can see below.

Starring Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre as intergalactic cops and members of the Lantern Corps, Hal Jordan and new recruit Jon Stewart, Lanterns follows the duo as they investigate a murder in the American heartland, but in the process are drawn into a dark mystery.

Unlike the most recent DCU project to hit the screen, Supergirl, Lanterns is set on Earth. The show is set across two timelines, both in 2016 and in 2026, sometime after the events of Superman. But just like Supergirl, it looks like Lanterns will feed into Superman sequel Superman: Man of Tomorrow, as it has cast Jon Stewart actor Aaron Pierre.

Lanterns, which has been described as a buddy cop show meets True Detective, is the third TV show to come from Gunn's DCU, following on from Creature Commandos and Peacemaker season 2, and is the fifth project overall. However, the HBO show has a bit of pressure on it not only for being the only DC series released this year, but after Supergirl flopped at the box office, DC Studios needs Lanterns to be a hit.

Lanterns is co-created and co-written by Lost's Damon Lindelof, Criminal Minds' Chris Mundy, and comic book writer Tom King. DC heads James Gunn and Peter Safran are on board as producers. The show also stars Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, Laura Linney, Jason Ritter, and Ulrich Thomsen.

Lanterns arrives this August 16. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming DC movies and TV shows for everything else the DCU has in store.

This week, we're anticipating a hefty Avengers: Doomsday news dump on the horizon, what with the Latverian leader set to make his presence known at SDCC this weekend.

One other MCU legend that could also be making an appearance, though, is the lawyer-turned-lawbreaker, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) aka Daredevil. After the events of season 2 and behind-the-scenes footage of Élodie Yung back in action as Elektra, it's clear that the Devil of Hell's Kitchen will have a lot on his plate when he's back on our screens, and we might see some this weekend. If you can't wait that long, well, don't worry. The snoops of the internet have revealed more leaked images hinting at how he'll be looking when he returns.

A batch of images of gifts the crew was given on production have appeared online, with the most noticeable item showing Matt dressed the same way he was when he was put in prison during comic writer Chip Zdarsky's run from 2020. That artwork, from Marco Checchetto and Matt Wilson, can be seen on a poster for the show's SPFX department, who are also labeled the "Gate Keepers of Cell Block D," referencing the Ed Brubaker-penned arc from 2006. Besides wielding a great, big bushy beard and the traditional orange prison jumpsuit, Matt also dons an orange rag to make a balaclava similar to the black one we first saw Cox wear in the original Netflix series.

For the more keen-eyed fans, though, there's an even greater detail to take away from these photos, and it's the one spread across Charlie Cox's back. The T-shirt he's wearing for Born Again season 3 shows the "Daredevil" lettering, which is composed of various different comic book issues, some of which seem crucial to next season's story.

Firstly, there's a Zdarsky issue, followed by "Defenders" #2 from 2017 (no surprise there given the gang are getting back together). There's also an image of the female Muse, Morgan Whittier, from "Daredevil: Unleash Hell" #1, who was the inspiration for Matt's unhinged ex, Heather (Margarita Levieva), and her trajectory in the show's next chapter. In the comics, that Muse also went up against Elektra when she took on the mantle of Daredevil herself. Could this suggest that two of Daredevil's very lethal exes are going to throw down with one another while Matt is behind bars? If so, then perhaps it's better that our legendary lawyer stays there and lets his former lady friends air out their issues. That is, as long as an old fan-favorite assassin doesn't get to one of them first.

Perhaps the most noticeable comic issue on this t-shirt is in "Daredevil" #181, which any fan of old Hornhead will know saw Bullseye (played by Wilson Bethel) kill Elektra with her own sai.

Regardless of seeing Poindexter head off to parts unknown at the end of season 2, leaks confirm that Bethel will be back in an upgraded costume that looks more in line with the very set Bullseye wears in the comics when he kills Elektra. With that in mind, could Yung's return to Hell’s Kitchen be a brief one?

We're really going to have to wait and find out when Daredevil: Born Again returns next year. Should he make an appearance at SDCC this weekend, we'll be sure to update our live blog here.

The Far Cry TV show has added another cast member – and I'm convinced he'll be playing the villain.

On Twitter, the official Far Cry account shared that Steve Buscemi has joined the cast of the upcoming video game adaptation. "Welcome Steve Buscemi to the world of FX's FARCRY," the account wrote. "Hope you’re ready to get thrown into the deep end, lose your mind, and make a few catastrophically bad decisions along the way."

That doesn't necessarily give anything away, but some of Buscemi's most iconic roles have been villainous: Fargo's Carl Showalter, Con Air's Garland Greene, Reservoir Dogs's Mr. Pink, and Boardwalk Empire's Nucky Thompson are all characters on the wrong side of the law. So, my prediction is that Buscemi will be playing a bad guy, in line with Giancarlo Esposito's casting as Antón Castillo in Far Cry 6.

Of course, Buscemi is just as adept at playing good guys, too, so I could be totally wrong. So far, the rest of the cast only includes Lizzy Caplan and Rob Mac, so it's pretty hard to make predictions at this stage.

The TV show is set to be an anthology series hailing from Noah Hawley. "One thing that really attracted me to the Far Cry franchise is that it is an anthology and every time they release a new game, it is a totally different story," he has previously shared. "That's how I approach Fargo, and it was an exciting idea that we could build an anthology game adaptation where each season is a different story about civilized people thrown into situations where they have to become increasingly uncivilized.

"I'm not specifically adapting any of the games that they've put out – I'm saying much as I did with the Coens or X-Men [he created FX's Legion] or Alien, 'Let me have a dialog with this franchise, because this is what I think a Far Cry story is,'" he continued. "We can have a larger conversation about the strengths and weaknesses of adapting video games specifically because games are built in a way that doesn't make for the best drama.

"When you play a video game, you only really move forward through the gameplay section, and then you have these cut scenes that you can skip, so when you go to adapt those games, you have to be aware that makes the human drama kind of irrelevant to the storyline. That is death for a show," he added.

How Hawley's take on the games pans out remains to be seen. The show doesn't yet have a release date.

In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming TV shows of this year to get planning your binge-watches.

The DCU's weirdest project might have cast its lead, and, to be honest, I still can't believe this is happening.

The TV show will focus on Jimmy Olsen, Superman's pal played by Skyler Gisondo, and also, for some reason, supervillain Gorilla Grodd.

According to Deadline, Scream 7's Jimmy Tatro is in talks to play the ape, whom DC describes as "a hyper-intelligent telepathic ape who has sought to rule both the simian and human worlds, though the Flash has frequently thwarted his plans."

If you're wondering just what that has to do with Jimmy, it's because the show, apparently called DC Crime (though James Gunn has denied that's the title) is going to be like a true crime docu-series hosted by Jimmy. So, the first season is set to focus on Gorilla Grodd.

The news comes after Supergirl cratered at the box office, earning less money than notorious flop Morbius in its opening weekend. The film also debuted to the DCU's first rotten Rotten Tomatoes score, a feat that took the MCU 13 years and 26 movies.

"While Supergirl didn’t meet our box office expectations, it’s just one component of a broader, long-term strategy at DC Studios that we remain confident in," said DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran.

Next up for the DCU is Lanterns, a buddy cop show focusing on Hal Jordan and Jon Stewart of the Green Lantern Corps. That arrives this August 16.

In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming DC movies and shows for everything else the DCU has in store.

Somehow, Kang returned. The time-traveling supervillain – last seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – has a surprising appearance from one of his most prominent (and popular) variants in X-Men '97.

The third episode of X-Men '97 season 2 charts the origins of Apocalypse, then known as En Sabah Nur, in Ancient Egypt circa 3000 B.C.

En Sabah Nur rises up against a familiar leader, a Pharaoh with technology far beyond his current time. In actuality, he is Rama-Tut, a younger variant of Kang the Conqueror.

While X-Men '97 is under the Marvel Studios banner, it's not part of the MCU or the Sacred Timeline (in fact, a separate live-action X-Men movie is on its way in the near future).

However, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's post-credits scene revealed the Council of Kangs and a congregation of almost every Kang in the multiverse – including Rama-Tut.

The kicker there is they all resembled actor Jonathan Majors, who was dropped from the role after being charged and later convicted of third-degree assault and second-degree harassment.

Ever since, the MCU has clearly been reluctant to re-introduce Kang, even going so far as reworking Avengers: The Kang Dynasty into Avengers: Doomsday, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom.

Rama-Tut's appearance in X-Men '97, though, is worlds away from Majors' take. The episode, a loose adaptation of the Rise of Apocalypse comic, may open the door ever so slightly for Kang's return in the future. After all, the multiverse is a rich space with infinite possibilities. Kang may have been conquered by Paul Rudd's Ant-Man, but more can live on – with a different face – and still prove popular. X-Men '97 might be the first step towards bringing the supervillain back into the fold.

For more, check out the X-Men '97 release schedule, or check out our spoiler-free X-Men '97 season 2 review, for our verdict on the first four episodes.

X-Men '97 season 2 is almost upon us, and we can definitely expect another high-stakes, heartbreaking, and action-packed season.

After the X-Men were left stranded across time at the end of season 1, a new threat was introduced: Apocalypse. The ultra-powerful mutant is robotic in appearance but god-like in his abilities, to the point where it almost hits immortality. How did we get here? Well, a lot happened in X-Men '97 season 1. And, if you don't have time to go back and watch all 10 episodes, we've made a handy-dandy list of the most important things to know before diving into season 2.

Scroll on down for the five biggest things to remember before watching X-Men '97 season 2, but be warned: there are massive spoilers for X-Men '97 season 1 below.

1. The X-Men are stuck in three different timelines

And it's all because of Magneto. It's also why everyone on Earth thinks that the X-Men are either dead or missing. At the end of X-Men '97 season 1, Magneto manages to wipe out all of the Prime Sentinels (while killing thousands of people in the process) and retreats to his little mutant haven, an orbital space station known as Asteroid M. Bastion, still yet to be defeated, decides to crash Asteroid M into the earth... which would effectively blow up the planet. Xavier manages to help Magneto launch the asteroid into space, but it still explodes, and presumably takes the X-Men with it.

A six-month fast-forward shows us that Bishop and Forge are still in 1997, but Nightcrawler, Beast, Xavier, Magneto, and Rogue are sent to somewhere in Ancient Egypt circa 3000 B.C., while Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, and Morph are sent to a dystopian future circa 3960 A.D. X-Men '97 season 2 picks up right where season 1 left off.

2. Scott and Jean sent their son Nathan into the future because of his condition

In the X-Men '97 season 1 finale, when Cyclops and Jean are sent to the future, they meet a mystic mutant named Mother Askani, who is leading a desolate planet of hopeless people. This also just so happens to be the same future that their son, Nathan, was sent to as an infant. Shortly after he was born, Sinister injected him with a techno-organic virus with the intention of making him immortal, but it ended up almost killing him.

Realizing that there is no cure on Earth, they send him into the future with Bishop in the hopes that they can find a timeline with a cure. In the finale, Nathan is a teenager and seems pretty healthy... though we know that his cyborg-esque mutation remains, given that he eventually becomes the X-Men hero known as Cable. It's Cable who appears in X-Men '97 season 1 episode 5 and tries to warn them about Bastion's genocidal attack on Genosha.

It's important to remember that Nathan eventually becomes Cable, though it's a little confusing that Cyclops and Jean go into the future and encounter a teenage Nathan, rather than an adult Cable – meaning they've entered an alternate timeline of sorts.

3. Gambit died in the Battle of Genosha

I'm still not over it, but Gambit died during the Battle of Genosha in X-Men '97 season 1 episode 5. He throws Rogue out of harm's way before launching himself at Master Mold, the most powerful of the Prime Sentinels, which explodes and takes Gambit with it. Because of Marvel Cinematic Universe rules (though X-Men '97 is not canon to the main Earth-616 storyline), a lot of us sat and waited for him to miraculously return someway or another... but he still, sadly, seems pretty dead.

A popular theory among fans is that the show will take a page out of the comics and see Gambit brought back from the dead to become one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen. The X-Men '97 season 1 post-credits scene gives this further credibility, with the final moments of the season seeing Apocalypse pick up one of Gambit's playing cards in present-day (1997) Genosha.

X-Men '97 season 2 episode 8 is titled, 'The Dead Man's Hand,' and I'm pretty sure that's a reference to Gambit... so we'll just have to wait and see.

4. Magneto pulled the adamantium out of Wolverine

Though Wolverine seems alive and well in the X-Men '97 season 2 trailer, it's important to remember that he was on his deathbed when the first season ended. In case you forgot, X-Men '97 began with the X-Men and the world assuming that Xavier had died as a result of Gyrich's assassination attempt (which happened in the series finale of X-Men: The Animated Series, which aired on TV in, you guessed it, 1997). In his last will and testament, Xavier leaves the X-Men and the X-Mansion to Magneto, which causes a rift amongst the entire group.

Magneto tries his best to be an upstanding citizen, but is captured by Bastion. It's Dr. Cooper who finds Magneto and unleashes him, figuring that he's the only being powerful enough to kill Bastion and the Prime Sentinels. She's right, but it destroys most of the world in the process. After Magneto flees to Asteroid M, Xavier, alive and well after hiding out on an alien planet, finds him and tries to get into his mind. Magneto retaliates by almost killing Xavier, which prompts Wolverine to attack. Magneto then uses his freaky-deaky magnet powers to rip all of the adamantium from Wolverine's skeleton, leaving him in a half-dead, feral state where he can really only use his bone claws. X-Men '97 season 2 episode 5, titled 'Weapon X, Lies, and DVDS,' will likely focus on Wolverine.

5. The future where Apocalypse reigns is inevitable

I can't tell you exactly why this is important to remember, other than that Apocalypse is the primary focus of X-Men '97 season 2, but you'll just have to trust me on this one. In the X-Men '97 season 1 finale, we meet not one, but two versions of Apocalypse. In Ancient Egypt, where Xavier, Magneto, Rogue, and Nightcrawler are trapped, they encounter a mutant named En Sabah Nur. En Sabah Nur is the birth name of Apocalypse, and this particular timeline is one where he hasn't transformed into a supervillain just yet. We see Apocalypse in his present-day form in the post-credits scene, when he picks Gambit's playing card up off the ground.

In the season 2 trailer, Apocalypse makes it clear that his mission is to destroy the X-Men... in every timeline. It's important to note that he more or less can't be killed, which is what makes his reign of terror inevitable throughout time.

X-Men '97 season 2 hits Disney Plus on July 1, with the first three episodes in tow. For more, check out our X-Men '97 season 2 review, and never miss an episode with our X-Men '97 season 2 release schedule.

It feels a little ridiculous to talk about the new movie Supergirl and not discuss the titular character. But with the latest DCU flick now in theaters, all eyes won’t just be on the Maid of Might – they'll be on the Main Man, Lobo, played by Jason Momoa. And thankfully, the actor's long audition as Aquaman in the DCEU properly prepared him for the role Momoa was born to play.

Is that unfair to say about a role Momoa played multiple times, in multiple movies (and TV shows)? Perhaps. Except, ever since the actor was announced as playing Arthur Curry way back in 2014, it seemed like an odd fit. Sure, he had played a ruler before on Game of Thrones, but the monosyllabic Khal Drogo was a far cry from any iteration of Aquaman we had seen before in the comic book source material, let alone his appearances in animated TV shows and live-action on Smallville.

Yet Momoa proceeded to make the role his own from a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, all the way through the cockroach-crunching end of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. But the problem was that Momoa bent Aquaman his way into a brash, joke-slinging bad-ass who shouts "my man," gets into bar fights, and is more Momoa than Curry.

That may not entirely be an issue, because Momoa was one of the highlights of the controversial DCEU/Zack Snyder era, despite his every move seeming to be designed to specifically push back at anyone who made fun of Aquaman for talking to fish. This Aquaman was cool. He was a muscle-bound beefcake. He drinks and fights, and if you say he's anything less than rad, he will beat you up. But it also, curiously, seemed antithetical to what Aquaman is supposed to be.

Ride or die

Which is why this all makes a lot more sense once you realize Momoa was merely paving the way for Lobo. Unlike his Fast & Furious franchise cohort Dwayne Johnson – who attempted his own hostile takeover of the DC cinematic franchise and took Henry "I would just love to play Warhammer 40k if you don't mind" Cavill down with him – Momoa managed to pivot one of the more successful turns in the DCEU into his dream role in the DCU. Reportedly, the very morning James Gunn and Peter Safran were announced as the new heads of DC Studios, Momoa texted Gunn two words: "Fucking Lobo." And Gunn somehow interpreted that mysterious text correctly and agreed, stating that he thought Momoa should have been Lobo for years.

It's clear that through the auditions for Batman and casting as Aquaman, what Momoa really wanted was Lobo. And it's such a better fit, as Momoa basically is Lobo, without the immortality and bloodthirstiness. The Czarnian bounty hunter, created in 1983 by Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen, is what it says on the tin, but it wasn't until the ‘90s that the character found his niche as a commentary on the over-the-top dark and gritty superhero trend kicked off in part by characters like Wolverine at Marvel and Batman at DC. Momoa himself is like a walking, talking human parody, with his scraggly beard, wild hair, and 6'4 height. He's a wild man who looks like he'd accept an invitation to party any day, any time.

That's Lobo, and that's exactly what Momoa captures on screen with Supergirl. Yes, he physically looks like the character walked off the comic book page, thanks only in small part to black and white makeup, red eyes, and sharp teeth. But honestly, Momoa's inherent physicality does the majority of the work. And his delivery, delighted to see ultra-violence, taking no guff, and coaching a young girl to kill people, feels so much more natural coming out of Lobo than any of Momoa's dialogue did with Aquaman.

The main event

Lobo's the perfect loose cannon running through the new DCU movie, and given his relatively scant screen time, the next question is: when will we see Lobo again? A lot of that potentially depends on how Supergirl does at the box office this weekend – all signs point to "not great" – but Momoa has taken the Lobo ball this far, it's hard to believe his dreams of being the Main Man will stop here, particularly as the actor has the strength of will that would make a Green Lantern jealous.

It's entirely possible Lobo could stop by in the already filming Man of Tomorrow, whether in a cameo or another expanded supporting role, a la Supergirl. But it's tricky to say beyond that because, given James Gunn's laudable unwillingness to greenlight projects before scripts are ready, there are… Not a lot of projects greenlit.

One option? The in-development Wonder Woman reboot, which boasts Supergirl writer Ana Nogueira as screenwriter. While it would be a little weird to see Lobo only pop up as a supporting character in movies with a main, female character, given Nogueira already figured out a way to fuse Lobo into the story from comic book creators Tom King and Bilquis Evely, who is to say she couldn't do the same for Diana?

Lobo would also fit well in the already filmed Lanterns on HBO, given Lobo often tangles with the GLs in the comics. Or he could show up in whatever is following up on the prison planet plotline of Sanctuary from Season 2 of Peacemaker… We've already seen Lobo in jail once, and John Cena is yet another ex-pat from the Fast & Furious franchise Momoa could tangle with. Heck, they were supposed to be in a movie called Killer Vacation together, which we haven't heard a peep about since 2022. So this might be a way of finally getting the duo to team up.

Look, wherever Momoa goes as Lobo next, this is already a much more natural fit than Aquaman, and it's likely audiences will respond positively (regardless of the Supergirl movie's box office fate). So let’s make sure it isn't another decade before we get to see mo' Momoa in the role he was meant to play. Ya bastiches.

Supergirl is in theaters now. For more, dive into our spoiler-free Supergirl review, or catch up on the DCU to date with our guide on how to watch DC movies in order.

Good news Marvel fans, it sounds as though you won't have to wait two plus years for X-Men '97 season 3, as you did for season 2.

"Luckily, the production problems won’t occur again. There was a huge gap of time between [season] one and two. They’ve learned their lessons," said producer Larry Houston in an interview with The Direct. "So with [seasons] three and four, that won’t happen again… That was a one-off."

Season 1 landed on Disney Plus in March 2024 to glowing reviews, scoring a pretty much perfect 99% score on Rotten Tomatoes. In our X-Men '97 season 1 review, we awarded the freshman season 4.5 out of 5 stars, calling it "a seamlessly connected revival season that serves as a near-perfect reintroduction to one of Marvel’s best superhero teams."

The animated show was quickly renewed after that. But X-Men '97 Season 2 won't air until July 2026. That's over two years to wait for an animated series. However, Houston, who directed the original X-Men animated series back in the '90s, says the wait will be well worth it. "Trust me, as a fan, you will enjoy it," stated the producer. The second season has not hit Disney Plus just yet, but we have awarded it 4 stars in our X-Men '97 season 2 review.

Picking up from season 1's cliffhanger, X-Men '97 season 2 finds Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rogue, Beast, Nightcrawler, Charles Xavier, and Magneto scattered across time. But as the mutans must find a way home, back in the '90s, suspicious foes and new strains of mutant intolerance are on the rise in the wake of the X-Men's absence.

Beyond that, season 3 is already in production, and X-Men '97 season 4 has already been greenlit. But how quickly will Marvel be able to deliver the new seasons to the small screen? Whilst on The Escape Pod earlier this year, Head of Marvel TV Brad Winderbaum confirmed that both X-Men '97 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will get new seasons "every year moving forward."

X-Men '97 season 2 arrives on Disney Plus on July 1. For more, check out our guides on how to watch the X-Men movies in order and how to watch Marvel movies in order.

Lizzy Caplan is set to star alongside Rob Mac in Noah Hawley's Far Cry adaptation for Hulu.

Per a press release, the actor – whose 26-year career spans everything from Freaks and Geeks to Cloverfield – is set to star in an undisclosed role. We still don't know too much about the series yet, other than it will "retain Far Cry's signature standalone storytelling format with each season set in a new setting following a new cast of characters."

Based on the popular first-person shooter video game series of the same name, Far Cry was initially announced as an anthology series with each season featuring a new cast set in a new world. Noah Hawley serves as creator and showrunner, with Rob Mac (the artist formerly known as Rob McElhenney) starring and executive-producing under his More Bettter banner.

The first Far Cry game debuted in 2004, with each installment taking place in a different open world where survival is the goal (and there's multiple ending outcomes). My personal favorite is Far Cry 5, which takes place in the state of Montana which is overrun by a doomsday cult led by a man named Joseph Seed. No matter how you play the game, each outcome is a huge bummer (but I mean that in the best way).

Caplan's breakthrough role was Janis in the 2004 Tina Fey comedy Mean Girls, and she's gone on to star in everything from Cloverfield to Castle Rock, as well as the magician heist franchise Now You See Me.

The Far Cry show doesn't yet have a release date. While you wait, check out our guide to all the upcoming video game movies for all the other adaptations worth keeping your eye on.

An animated series based on the best-selling comic Absolute Batman is in the works at Warner Bros and DC Studios – and the era of 'reimagined' Bruce Waynes is truly upon us.

Absolute Batman, created by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta, is a monthly superhero comic that stars a 24-year-old, blue-collar Bruce Wayne who works by day as a civil engineer and still has one living parent. The comic has been widely celebrated as a reimagining of the Batman mythos. You can check out the official series logo below.

The series was announced at the 2026 Annecy International Animation Festival, alongside a Joker anime and another animated series based on Krypto the Super Dog. This means there are a total of eight animated DC Studios shows, including My Adventure With Green Lantern, Starfire! Super Powers, Miata Miracle, and the already-airing Creature Commandos. Of the eight projects, it appears that Creature Commandos is still the only one canon to the DCU.

In this particular reimagining, Alfred Pennyworth, who narrates the series, is an M16 agent, the Joker is a billionaire, and villains like Catwoman, Riddler, and Killer Croc are some of Bruce's childhood friends. The latter of which is due to the fact that he grew up poor in Crime Alley (the street where Bruce's parents were killed in the original comic), rather than living in a mansion and mingling with other affluent families.

"Can’t even begin to tell you guys how excited Nick and I are to be working on this," Snyder wrote on Twitter. "So grateful to Warner Brothers animation and DC Studios!"

Absolute Batman does not yet have a release date. For more, check out our list of all the upcoming DC movies and shows.

Almost 10 years after we last saw her on screen, Elektra is officially back, as the first look at star Élodie Yung's big return in Daredevil: Born Again season 3 has leaked online.

The video, posted on Instagram by JP Photography, shows Yung in what looks to be an updated version of her usual black and red get-up, with a black robe. The star wields Elektra's signature blades before entering a building. Marvel has yet to comment on the leak, but it looks legit, and JP Photography has posted set images before.

It is not clear if the shot is from a scene or if it is just Yung practising her moves. But fans are certainly glad to see her back. "Dude, my goat is back," said one fan on Reddit, and another added, "She heard of Karen and Heather catfighting about Matt and immediately came home to show them what a real demon looks like."

Yung made her on-screen Marvel debut in the Daredevil Netflix series, but the character died at the end of Daredevil Season 2. However, after being resurrected by The Hand, Elektra returned in The Defenders series. But after a building collapsed onto her, her fate was left open-ended. Well, it looks like a few bricks were not enough to stop the ninja, as Elektra is back, and it looks like she is still up for fighting crime.

Elektra is the latest character from the original Netflix series to join the MCU show. Picking up years after the main show ended, Born Again continues Matt Murdock's tale as a blind lawyer by day and vigilante by night. Alongside Charlie Cox as Daredevil, the spin-off has brought back Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson (albeit briefly), Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Wilson Bethel as Bullseye, and Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle.

Then, Daredevil: Born Again season 2 saw the return of Defenders star Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones. But Elektra isn't the only Marvel hero from the Netflix days to be making a comeback. Earlier leaks from Born Again season 3 confirm that Defenders stars Mike Colter and Finn Jones will be returning as Luke Cage and Danny Rand.

However, it will be interesting to see what part Elektra plays in the upcoming season. Will she act as an ally to Murdock, or will we stir up more trouble as she has done in the past? We will just have to wait and see.

Daredevil: Born Again season 3 is expected to hit Disney Plus sometime in March 2027. For more, check out how to watch the Marvel movies in order, and keep up with Marvel Phase 6 with our guide to upcoming Marvel movies and shows.

Back in 2003, FOX aired the first season of Arrested Development, featuring Will Arnett as Gob Bluth, a member of The Alliance of Magicians. While Gob was relatively normal (looking, at least), the rest were dressed like absolute freaks, which contrasted wildly with their slogan: "We Demand To Be Taken Seriously." It's a motto that, without irony, often spills out into superhero fandom, and has played out with fans of DC's Snyder-verse, which took a dead serious, mythological approach to the comic book heroes.

Shockingly, while many likely expected James Gunn's rebooted DCU to go in the other direction, with rare exceptions it's been more extreme, more violent, and far more sexual than the previous iteration, catering to an aging fanbase that craves what they perceive to be the trappings of adulthood while grasping desperately at the last vestiges of their childhood. The antidote to this disparity between source material and fan desires? My Adventures With Superman, which returns for its third season on Adult Swim and HBO Max, and shows exactly what all of James Gunn's DCU should be; yet decidedly is not.

First airing in 2023, My Adventures With Superman stars Jack Quaid as Clark Kent/Superman, initially introduced as an intern at the Daily Planet. Along with fellow interns Lois Lane (Alice Lee) and Jimmy Olsen (Ishmel Sahid), the Shonen anime-inspired series rebuilds the Superman mythos from the ground up (where else can you find Chris Parnell as a dangerously sexy Deathstroke?), expertly mixing heart and humor with big action sequences, reinvented villains and origins, and even new powers for Superman that draw heavily from Eastern comics and animation instead of Western. The result is something that feels fresh, new, and decidedly modern, while not ignoring the core of what has made Superman one of the most popular and recognizable characters in the world since 1938.

It's on, like Krypton

To loop this back to the Alliance of Magicians, there's a reason this show airs at Midnight during Adult Swim's Toonami block… It doesn't take itself seriously, featuring wall-to-wall jokes ranging from recurring audio cues (every time Jimmy says the name of his startup news app Flamebird, a bird cry is heard in the distance) alongside deeply felt twists and epic action beats as Clark discovers his darker-than-in-the-comics origins. My Adventures With Superman knows how to be both silly and earnest, often in the same scene; and the whiplash of tones works because of how well modulated the scripts are, and how razor-focused they are on the main trio of characters – now a quartet in season 3, thanks to the addition of Kara Zor-El (Kiana Madeira).

Contrast that with Superman on the big screen from James Gunn, a hyperkinetic ode to Silver Age comics that has its charms, but also features oddly modulated commentary on the modern world alongside superheroes gleefully murdering people. Or to talk about an upcoming release, how about the My Adventures With Superman version of Supergirl, who spent most of her life brainwashed and corrupted by Brainiac (Michael Emerson) and now spends season 4 obsessed with hot dogs and dating, singing and dancing, and still brings a mean punch. Meanwhile, the big screen version of Supergirl played by Milly Alcock is a drunken mess who – spoilers for the book by Tom King and Bilquis Evely – goes on a mission of revenge after Krypto the Superdog gets shot with a poisoned arrow and seems likely to die. Hot dogs or dead dogs… Which would you rather watch?

In fact, to dig deeper into Gunn's DCU, most of it is for the "We Demand To Be Taken Seriously" fans to the exclusion of nearly anyone else. The Suicide Squad featured sex scenes, profanity, and massive amounts of violence. Creature Commandos highlighted nude, animated monster sex. This fall brings Clayface, a likely R-rated body horror movie. Lanterns is on HBO, and while we don't know the exact content yet, it is intended to be True Detective with superheroes; i.e. dark, twisted, and potentially also full of nudity and sex. And Peacemaker? Full frontal nudity and orgies, alongside wall-to-wall profanity and graphic violence.

Blue world order

None of this is an aspersion on the quality of Gunn's productions – and for a point of clarity, My Adventures With Superman is also produced by Gunn's DC Studios, so it's not like he's in a battle for control of the future of DC superheroes with a rogue animated series or anything. But the carefully curated nature of the DCU that has Gunn not producing any scripts before they're 100% done, while laudable, has front-loaded the rebooted franchise with fare almost exclusively appropriate for adults that does not open the door for new fans, or those who are superhero-curious. Superman came the closest, but any DCU follow-ups – with Supergirl potentially included – aren't appealing to the same crowd.

My Adventures With Superman, technically classified as an "Elseworlds," so not connected in any way to the live-action shows and films (or Creature Commandos and the upcoming, also likely extremely adult, based on the source material Mister Miracle), lays out the welcome mat that the DCU eschews. It feels exceedingly dumb to say, "hey did you know anime is popular," but it is, and taking the characters of Superman and his amazing pals to where the non-aging audience lives means these stories can continue for another generation, and perhaps more.

Add in the upcoming My Adventures With Green Lantern spinoff – another direct contrast with the blunt instrument of Nathan Fillion's bowl-cut Guy Gardner, and the adult shenanigans of Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) on Lanterns – and you have a path forward that Gunn should have taken, but instead he walked backwards.

It's not too late, though, for Gunn to look at the approach My Adventures With Superman has pioneered and adapt that for the big and small screen of the DCU. And all it would take is for Gunn to embrace another Gob Bluth catchphrase: "I've made a huge mistake."

My Adventures with Superman season 3 is streaming now on HBO Max. For more, here's everything still to come in DCU: Chapter One, or here's our rundown of the best anime to watch in 2026.