The review embargo lifted today for The Mandalorian and Grogu, and the bag is more than a little mixed. Critics are either praising the film for its fun action adventure nature of the bounty hunter and his foundling or others are saying the film does not live up to the iconography that Lucasfilm and Star Wars is known for as well as having too small of a story for the big screen. With this being the first Star Wars film in seven years, a lot is likely riding on the performance of Din Djarin and Din Grogu. Ebon Moss-Bachrach has been quietly dishing details on not only Avengers: Doomsday but Secret Wars across his various media appearances in recent days. On Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Thing actor admitted the Doomsday script he read didn't have a finished third act saying, "I don't think it had an ending,” and described the production as so compartmentalized and "interstellar" that he'd repeatedly go back to Joe Russo to have the multiverse threading re-explained. Then in a separate chat with the Dog Day Afternoon Broadway team, a play based on the 1975 film the actor is performing in, he casually dropped that Secret Wars filming kicks off in August 2026, right after his stage run wraps in mid-July. HBO set August 16 as the premiere date for Lanterns and dropped a new trailer that complicates the show's dark, earth-based mystery pitch with shots of Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan in the classic Green Lantern uniform and what appears to be an off-world setting. The trailer also confirms Nathan Fillion is reprising his role as Guy Gardner and reveals Laura Linney in an undisclosed part opposite Aaron Pierre's John Stewart. Matt Reeves used a series of X posts last week to officially welcome Brian Tyree Henry and Sebastian Koch to Gotham for The Batman: Part II. They join the previously confirmed additions of Scarlett Johansson as Gilda Dent, Sebastian Stan as Harvey Dent, and Charles Dance as Harvey's father Christopher. Henry, a Marvel alum from Eternals who also memorably appeared in 2019's Joker, marks his second trip into the DC sandbox, while Koch is known for his prestige work appearing in films like Bridge of Spies. Michael continued another strong run at the box office this weekend and has now crossed $700 million dollars worldwide while the Devil Wears Prada 2 also continued its solid streak, crossing the $500 million dollar mark internationally. Mortal Kombat 2 crossed the $100 million dollar mark in its second weekend. Horror film Obsession opened very well with $23 million dollars worldwide, a big opening for a film from a first time director acquired out of a film festival. Marvel is making some changes to leadership in its comics division. The company has promoted Brad Winderbaum, already its chief of television and animation, to head of Marvel television, animation, comics and franchise. At the same time, David Abdo, former manager of Disney's music division, will transition to serve as Marvel’s general manager, comics and franchise, reporting to Winderbaum. With the new top leadership coming in, that means that Dan Buckley, the longtime Marvel Comics head, is departing. Buckley will remain at Marvel through mid-2027 to support the leadership transition. HBO's Harry Potter series will already be recasting a role as production begins on season 2. Actress Gracie Cochrane, who portrays Ginny Weasley in the upcoming season 1 will not return for Season 2 of the series due to 'unforeseen circumstances,' Cochrane and her family revealed in a statement. Disney+ has begun development on Ella Enchanted, a TV series based on the 2004 Miramax fairytale film of the same name that starred Anne Hathaway, who will return to produce the series. Anyone But You writer Ilana Wolpert will serve as showrunner. A final look trailer for Prime’s Spider-Noir, starring Nicholas Cage, was dropped today.
