Michael Shannon Got ‘A Little Confused’ When Asked to Star in ‘The Flash’ as General Zod: ‘I Think I Died’ in ‘Man of Steel’

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Almost a week after “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” opened in theaters and bombed at the box office, Zachary Levi took to Instagram to weigh in on a whole lot of drama surrounding the DC comic book tentpole. In a video, the actor confirmed that plans for the “Fury of the Gods” post-credits scene — in which Shazam is recruited to join the Justice Society — were “thwarted,” although he did not say by who. A report from The Wrap published after “Fury of the God’s” opening weekend claimed that Dwayne Johnson sabotaged the “Shazam” post-credits scene by blocking “Black Adam” characters Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) and Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) from appearing in it. Johnson headlined “Black Adam” and aimed to start a new thread of the DC Universe built around his character facing off against Henry Cavill’s Superman. “Black Adam” also underperformed at the box office, and both Johnson and Cavill are not included in the new DC Universe being spearheaded by DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Keanu Reeves revealed in a new interview with ComicBook.com that he once split open a man’s head during a stunt scene gone wrong while making one of the “John Wick” movies. Reeves has four “John Wick” movies under his belt, and the action franchise has required him to do insane stunts involving speeding cars, nunchucks, swords and more. “Well I mean everyone is pretty tired – but it’s the best kind of tired,” Reeves said when asked about what kind of accidents have taken place on the action-heavy “John Wick” sets. “It’s like you climbed a mountain now you’re resting; like you finished the game and you won.” “So in terms of accidents: I made a mistake once – I cut a gentleman’s head open,” Reeves continued. “So that really fucking sucked – excuse my language. But other than that…oh, one guy got hit by a car. He was in the car, so he had to go to the hospital, but he was okay. All of this to say that you do have to take care. But it’s great that everyone [on set] is watching out for each other.”

Norman Steinberg, who co-scripted Mel Brooks’ comedy classic Blazing Saddles with and won an Emmy for Flip Wilson’s 1970s variety show, has died. He was 83. The WGA East said Steinberg died March 15 but did not provide other details.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Becoming princess Ariel for Disney’s live action “The Little Mermaid” required Halle Bailey to be in the water for 13 hours straight on set during some days of filming, the actor revealed in a new Edition magazine profile. The film, directed by “Chicago” and “Into the Woods” helmer Rob Marshall, used practical water tanks and visual effects to create extensive underwater sequences for the movie. “I pushed myself as far as I’ve ever pushed myself in life,” Bailey told the publication about spending some days on set in the water for 13 hours. “And I feel like the message from [Ariel] was to know that you’ve always had it in you.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Oscar nominee Ciarán Hinds is well known among “Game of Thrones” fans for playing Mance Rayder, the king beyond the wall and leader of the wildlings. Hinds appeared in five episodes of the Emmy-winning HBO fantasy series across three seasons. In a recent interview with The Independent, Hinds got honest about not exactly loving all the sex in “Game of Thrones.” “I was rather put off by the amount of sexuality that was going on in it, because it was taking away from the actual political storytelling,” Hinds said. “But that’s business, I guess, from their perspective.” Hinds also spoke to The Independent about the increase of intimacy coordinators on sets in recent years. Hinds’ daughter, Aoife, is also an actor and worked closely with intimacy coordinators while starring opposite Paul Mescal in Hulu’s “Normal People.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Stranger Things” star Gaten Matarazzo told Jimmy Fallon during a recent interview on “The Tonight Show” that he’s living in “deep fear” of “Stranger Things” ending after its five-season run on Netflix. The cast will shoot the fifth and final season this year. Matarazzo and his character, Dustin, have been a “Stranger Things” lead since the pilot episode. “It’s interesting to constantly just be reminded how much people have resonated with it,” Matarazzo said. when asked about the series coming to an end. “I mean, it’s something that’s so important to all of us and has just been essential to the growth that I’ve had over all of my teenage years into my 20s. It’s the defining aspect of the past 10 years of my life, practically the past decade.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Willem Dafoe is not ruling out a third appearance as the iconic Spider-Man villain Norman Osborne/Green Goblin. The actor’s beloved role in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” remains his most recognizable performance, and he reprised Green Goblin to rave reviews in 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Dafoe told Inverse in a recent interview to promote his new thriller, “Inside,” that a third go-around with the Spider-Man villain is not out of the question. “If everything was right, sure,” Dafoe said. “I mean, that’s a great role. I liked the fact that it’s a double role both times. Twenty years ago, and fairly recently, both times [were] very different experiences, but I had a good time on both.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Sam Neill revealed in an interview with The Guardian that he is being treated for stage-three blood cancer. Neill, best known for playing Alan Grant in the “Jurassic Park” franchise, first “experienced swollen glands during publicity for ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ in March last year and was soon diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma,” the publication reports. “I can’t pretend that the last year hasn’t had its dark moments,” Neill said in an interview touting his upcoming memoir, in which he writes frankly about his cancer diagnosis. “But those dark moments throw the light into sharp relief, you know, and have made me grateful for every day and immensely grateful for all my friends. Just pleased to be alive.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Lucy Liu is making her comic book movie debut in “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” playing the villainous Kalypso alongside Helen Mirren and “West Side Story” breakout Rachel Zegler. The three actors play the daughters of Atlas, who come to our planet to reclaim the magic that fuels Zachary Levi’s Shazam. Liu was recently asked by The Cut about starring in a superhero movie for the first time at 54 years old. “If it had happened earlier, it would have been miraculous,” Liu said. “It would have been a different story; my career would have been easier. There would have been more opportunity.” Sizable comic book movie roles for Asian-Americans simply did not exist when Liu was coming up in the industry. She had her action breakthrough playing Alex Munday opposite Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore in 2000’s “Charlie’s Angels” and its 2003 sequel, “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.”

EXCLUSIVE: Mila Kunis has been set to star opposite Michael Keaton in comedy Goodrich, we can reveal.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Michelle Yeoh’s mother and family broke down in tears during the 2023 Oscars telecast, where Yeoh was awarded the best actress prize for her performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Yeoh’s victory made her the first Asian lead actress winner in Oscars history and only the second woman of color to win the category (Halle Berry, who presented Yeoh with the Oscar alongside Jessica Chastain, was the first for “Monster’s Ball”). The actress’ mom, Janet Yeoh, and other family members watched the Oscars live in Malaysia and cheered, wept and screamed when Michelle’s name was called as the winner. “I so love my daughter and she has made Malaysia proud,” Janet Yeoh told a news conference after her Oscars viewing party in Kuala Lumpur (via Associated Press). “Malaysia Boleh (Malaysia Can)!”

The Hollywood Reporter claims that Jenna Ortega is close to being cast in the sequel.Fans know Ortega as the newest scream queen in Hollywood. She’s starred on shows like You and even stars in the titular role on Netflix’s Wednesday. In addition, she’s also horrified fans in two Scream franchise movies.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director New “Lord of the Rings” movies are officially on the way from Warner Bros., and Andy Serkis is the first original cast member to say he’s ready to return to Middle-Earth. Serkis gave an iconic motion capture performance as Gollum in Peter Jackson’s original trilogy and reprised the role in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” “Look, [producers] Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens are sort of a second family that I have become part of and have gone on to make so many films with,” Serkis told BroBible’s Post-Credit Podcast. “And — let me tell you — they are the best and most incredible people to work with. I think that there are so many other potential Middle-Earth projects which could come about, and if they’re doing them, I would, of course, jump at the chance to have that relationship rekindled.”

DC Studios dropped the first trailer for “The Flash” during this year’s Super Bowl to much anticipation.

Rachel Seo Jenna Ortega is eyeing a role in Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice 2,” Variety has confirmed. Ortega, best known for her role as Wednesday Addams in Netflix’s recent series reboot “Wednesday,” is in talks to play the daughter of Lydia Deetz, portrayed by Winona Ryder in the original film. This marks her second time working with Burton, who was an executive producer on “Wednesday” and directed four of its eight episodes. Michael Keaton is also set to reprise his role as the title character. Representatives for Warner Bros. and Ortega did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.

Tim Burton is staying in the Jenna Ortega business, as the ‘Wednesday’ star is currently eyeing a role in “Beetlejuice 2,” TheWrap has confirmed.The film will be the sequel to Burton’s 1988 comedy classic that also marked his first collaboration with Michael Keaton. He’s expected to direct and Keaton is likely to return as the devious poltergeist-for-hire.

Looper, Shannon was surprised to receive a phone call from director Andy Muschietti asking him to reprise Zod in “The Flash.”  “I was a little confused.” Shannon said, “As memory serves me, I think I died in ‘Man of Steel.’ Are they sure they got the right guy? But then they explained to me the whole multiverse phenomenon, which … I was a little behind the times on that. I can’t say that I’m a huge consumer of this genre of films — not that I have anything against them. If I’m going to watch a movie, the odds are it’s not going to be one of those, but I sure love making them.”Shannon added: “I loved making “Man of Steel,” and I love working with [director] Zack [Snyder], and I felt like it was actually, in a way, a fairly important film.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Michael Caine recently told The Spectator (via IndieWire) that it’s “bullshit” his 1964 war epic “Zulu” was cited on a recent United Kingdom counter-terrorism report. The controversial Prevent strategy flagged a handful of popular films, British sitcoms, works of literature and more as possible sources of inspiration for terrorist groups and far-right extremists. “Zulu” was cited alongside “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” “Brave New World,” “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and the BBC’s original “House of Cards,” among other titles. “That is the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard,” Caine said bluntly when told the news about “Zulu” being classified as a “key text” for “white nationalists and supremacists.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Micheal B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson prepped for “Creed III” in an unusual way: “Mike and I actually went to therapy together,” Thompson recently revealed to Refinery29. “We did couples therapy.” Thompson stars in the “Creed” franchise as Bianca, Adonis’ longtime love interest and a successful music producer. The two are married and have a child in “Creed 3,” but Adonis’ unwillingness to open up about his past drives a minor wedge between them. The actors processed their characters’ relationship by attending couples therapy in character as Adonis and Bianca. “Yes, in character, but it ended up being like — the line sometimes between character and us get blurred because we bring so much of what we’re exploring personally to the characters in general,” Thompson said. “So funnily, it was the first time…I’m probably saying too much. I’ll say it was an early experience in couples therapy for us both [personally], but it was as these characters, which is very weird.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Marc Guggenheim has been a staple of DC Entertainment on television for over a decade as the co-creator of The CW’s Arrowverse, which launched in 2012 with “Arrow” (Guggenheim developed the series with Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg) and continued through “The Flash,” “Supergirl” and more. In a February 2023 blog post that’s now circulating online (via Entertainment Weekly), Guggenheim lamented over not being included in the new DC Universe that’s taking shape at Warner Bros. under DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran. Guggenheim admitted in his blog post that friends had told him Hollywood would come calling after he pulled off The CW’s ambitious “Crisis On Infinite Earths” storyline. That crossover event, which aired in December 2019 and January 2020, brought together six different superhero series for a story that ran through five hours of television. It was no easy feat, and Guggenheim said he even put up thousands of dollars of his own money to pull it off.