‘X-Men ’97’ Is a Worthy Follow-Up to the Beloved Animated Series: TV Review

Will Iron Man return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? The verdict is still out. Since Iron Man’s tragic death in "Avengers: Endgame" (2019), Robert Downey Jr., who played the character over a span of 11 years, has been asked time and time again if he’d return to the role if the opportunity presented itself. Very shortly after his character’s departure from the MCU, Downey appeared on "The Joe Rogan Experience," where Rogan took the opportunity to ask the actor if he would ever return to the role he played for so long.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Robert Downey Jr. is not closing the door on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which he kicked off in 2008 with “Iron Man” and headlined for 11 years through 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.” Iron Man met his demise in that tentpole, but that has never stopped rumors from circulating that Marvel is trying to bring Downey back into the fold, especially now that the MCU has hit a box office rough patch with 2023 flops such as “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “The Marvels.” Certainly, Downey’s return as Iron Man could restore Marvel to its blockbuster glory days. Speaking to Esquire magazine after his Oscar win for “Oppenheimer” last month, Downey was asked if he would ever return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe now that he is officially an Academy Award winner.

Brent Lang Executive Editor It’s going to take a live action version of “Moana” a little longer to swim to shore than Disney first expected. The film, originally slated to open in 2025, has been pushed back to July 10, 2026. That news came as part of a deluge of Disney release date announcements and shifting debuts.

William Earl administrator SPOILER ALERT: This article discusses plot points from “The First Omen.” Director Arkasha Stevenson grew up as a fan of “The Omen” franchise, but any anxiety she felt about helming a prequel to the 1976 original was funneled into the potential of shifting the series’ perspective. “It’s a pretty masculine franchise,” she says. “Exploring it through the point of view of a woman was exciting.

Naman Ramachandran Toonz Media Group and Be That Spark Corp, a joint venture between BLKBX Originals and Zuroam Media, have signed a co-production and co-distribution agreement for upcoming 3D animated series “Little Sparks.” “Little Sparks” is based on the children’s book series “A Little Spark” by Chris Parsons, recipient of the Mom’s Choice Award Gold Medal for family-friendly media. The books will be adapted into a CGI animated series aimed at the four to eight age group.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Mitski is such a cerebral record-maker that I didn’t expect to be coming away from her 2024 shows making proclamations that I might have just seen the best-choreographed tour of the year. But it’s true: Her run of three shows at L.A.’s Shine Auditorium was the kind of unexpected, advanced study in movement that couldn’t possibly be guessed just from listening to her records — the latest and best of which was last year’s pretty heady “The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We.” Just to be clear, invoking choreography here doesn’t mean Mitski brought along a herd of backup hoofers, which would be unbecoming for an erstwhile indie-rocker, if de rigueur for the pop stars she may also be reasonably rated against now.

Eva Mendes has complicated feelings towards the month of April. In a new Instagram post, Mendes opened up about the month, which saw the death of her brother and the birth of one of her daughters. Eva Mendes shares her favorite Julio Iglesias song and her personal connection to itEva Mendes gushes about Ryan Gosling and shares rare anecdote about her daughterA post shared by Eva Mendes (@evamendes)Mendes shared her thoughts in an Instagram post, posting two photos of herself.

Philippe Clement has a close eye on his Rangers stars who are prepared to go above and beyond to improve.

It appears Ezra Miller was quietly recast as mad scientist D.A. Sinclair in Season 2 of Prime Video‘s Invincible.

We’re getting the first look at Disney Junior‘s Ariel, the upcoming animated musical series for preschoolers. The network today released the first trailer for the series, inspired by The Little Mermaid live-action movie.

and an inner child is a deeply relatable idea, even in a cuckoosical such as this one.David Korins’ set of spaceship white-neon frames is more streamlined than past “Tommy’s,” but it’s used so deftly by McAnuff, lighting designer Amanda Zieve and choreographer Lorin Latarro to paint lush and kaleidoscopic stage pictures. Most wouldn’t call this musical a dance show, but Lotarro’s thrilling choreography makes a case for that category.

With a $45.5 million haul at the box office this weekend, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” is the number one film in the country, and the Ghostbusters are back. While it remains to be seen if there will be a sequel—‘Frozen Empire’ cost $100 million, so it’ll need to make much more than “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”— fans will still have plenty of modern material to keep them happy if audiences want them.

Selome Hailu “X-Men ’97” hit four million views in its first five days on Disney+. According to Disney, this marks the streamer’s most-watched premiere for a full-length animated series since Season 1 of Marvel’s “What If…?” in 2021, putting “X-Men ’97” ahead of Season 2 of “What If…?” as well as “Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures,” “Iwájú” and both seasons of “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.” (Animated shorts, such as “Star Wars: Visions,” “I Am Groot” and “Zootopia+” are excluded from this count.) “X-Men ’97” follows up on “X-Men: The Animated Series,” which ran on Fox Kids from 1992 to 1997.

Series Mania was Warner Bros. Discovery’s European roll-out timeline for Max, announced Thursday at the climax of the Series Mania’s Lille Dialogues. The most keenly anticipated session was nearly Series Mania’ Forum first: a Netflix showcase hosted by a confident Larry Tanz who significantly proved the only goal streamer exec to drill down on volume commitment.

Selome Hailu The animated series based on Studio WildCard’s “Ark: Survival Evolved” video game finally has a platform attached. The first six episodes of Season 1 surprise dropped on Paramount+ on Thursday, with the remaining seven episodes set for a later date. Spanning eons of human history, “Ark: The Animated Series” follows 21st century paleontologist Helena Walker (voiced by Madeleine Madden), who finds herself resurrected on a mysterious primeval island populated by prehistoric beasts.

Surprise! The first six episodes of Ark: The Animated Series, based on the hit adventure video game Ark: Survival Evolved, are available to stream now exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Canada. The series will debut in all other Paramount+ international markets starting April 19. The seven-episode Part 2 of the season will be released at a later date. Watch the promo below.

Prime Video has debuted the first official photos of Jacob Elordi‘s new series!

How is it possible that Apple TV’s high-budget “Palm Royale” doesn’t work? With this insanely talented cast and trendy concept, it should be a slam dunk, right? The main reason it’s not is a depressingly common one in today’s TV and streaming landscape: It’s the wrong length. Like so many recent projects, it wears out its welcome with narrative diversions that don’t work and subplots that sag in the middle of the season to the point where it becomes impossible to care.

Marvel Studios feels like it’s at a crossroads moment. Between the Sony Pictures yesteryear greatest hits franchise elements of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and the 20th Century Fox-era cameo expectations of “Deadpool & Wolverine,” Marvel is really steeped in the full throws of nostalgia right now as it regroups in the post-“Avengers: Endgame” landscape, rediscovering who they are and where they want to go.

Bill Hader is been cast in a Dr. Seuss movie!