by Emily Nagle
[usr 4.5]
Netflix dropped the third and final season of his latest animated series “Kid Cosmic” on Thursday, a day after its premiere’s one-year anniversary.
When we last left off in season 2, the motley crew of heroes finally got the hang of their powers, and just in time to save the world from the infamous Erodius the Planet Killer. While the first season appropriately focused on Kid’s character development as he learned that being a hero isn’t all about flying around and defeating the bad guys, and the sophomore season focused on Jo as she figures out how to lead the team, the final season wraps up the story.
Season 3, subtitled “The Global Heroes!”, focuses on the aftermath of Erodius’ defeat. Now that they’ve saved the world from the notorious planet killer, they’re real heroes, complete with special suits, a giant mecha robot, and a super-vehicle. Kid and the Global Heroes are living out their wildest dreams…except Papa G and Jo, who think it’s all too good to be true.
Just like in the previous seasons, the colorful animation remains one of my favorite parts of this entire show. It differs from the art style I’ve seen in other animated series recently, and is actually one of the major factors that keeps me watching. There’s also moments in the show (such as parts of the fight sequences, vehicles, and shots of the record player at Mo’s Oasis) where the animation will briefly turn 3D, which made the cartoony superhero show more lifelike.
The show’s final season is a quick watch, only consisting of six episodes (the first season contains 10, while the second season has 8). Clocking in about two hours, it was the perfect binge-watch for the snow day I had recently.
Although it’s not very long, season 3 is definitely the heaviest emotionally, as the team figures out that things aren’t always what they seem. At the beginning of the show, it’s fairly lighthearted and just pure fun. Now that we’re at the end of our journey with the Global Heroes, things are getting pretty intense. This season features several episodes zeroing in on Papa G, particularly his relationship with Kid and what he’s willing to sacrifice to make his last living relative happy.
In an interview with TheWrap, creator Craig McCracken told sources that it was his choice to end the series after three seasons, because that’s how much time he needed to tell the his story. “I didn’t want to do a show that could kind of last forever and make six, seven seasons of it,” McCracken explained. “I wanted to do something kind of short and sweet.”
And short and sweet it was. Because it’s a limited series, every episode and every line of dialogue has a purpose in the story. It’s compact and very to-the-point – no filler episodes in this show! – but it’s also really funny and has a lot of heart.
The way McCracken ended the series felt just right. After the Global Heroes’ work defending the planet from intergalactic evil is finished, Kid isn’t ready to leave their space adventures behind (and honestly, me neither. I just wanna experience it all again!). To remedy this, Mo’s Oasis Cafe – which has been rebuilt by the team following its destruction by Erodius – re-opens to serve the entire galaxy, staying true to its new slogan: “Mo’s Oasis: Like no other place in space is.” It’s not like everything went back to the way it was before they saved the world – all the characters, even 4-year-old Rosa, have grown so much since their debut last year. The ending was comforting, and reminded me of a hot cup of coffee after eating a filling meal at a restaurant (and not just because that’s where the show ended).
All three seasons of “Kid Cosmic” are available to stream on Netflix.
by Emily Nagle
The sophomore season of Disney+’s Marvel series “Loki” is set to begin production this summer.
After its premiere last summer, Disney confirmed that the show would be returning for a second season, making it the first show on their streaming platform to do so. However, until recently, Marvel fans weren’t exactly sure when they would get to see more of the show.
Backstage confirmed in a Monday report that season 2 of “Loki” will begin shooting this summer at Pinewood Studios in the UK – the first season of the show was shot at Pinewood’s Atlanta, GA location, which has since rebranded as Trilith Studios.
Although pre-production is clearly further along than fans may have initially suspected, the storylines and content to be explored in the upcoming season are still unknown. All of Marvel’s 2021 films disregarded the events of “Loki”; therefore, it is likely that “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Thor: Love and Thunder”, both announced for release this year, will play with the storylines established in season 2.
“Loki” takes place after the events of “Avengers: Endgame“, and follows an alternate version of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) on a time-traveling adventure as he clashes with the Time Variance Authority due to being from a different timeline. Accompanying the God of Mischief on his misadventures are his variant Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), Judge Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), as well as TVA members Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku). The full main cast list for the second season is still unknown.
by Emily Nagle
Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for Weekend of January 28-30, 2022
5. The King’s Man ($1.6 million)
4. Redeeming Love ($1.7 million)
3. Sing 2 ($4.6 million)
2. Scream ($7.2 million)
1. Spider-Man: No Way Home ($11 million)
This past weekend marked the seventh weekend of release for “Spider-Man: No Way Home”; it was by far its least profitable weekend yet, raking in only $11 million. This is a 21% decrease from earlier, and is most likely due to the nor’easter that smacked the east coast, knocking out power for thousands, in addition to increasing restrictions due to the Omicron variant. To date, the latest installment in the “Spider-Man” films has grossed $1 billion overseas, making for a grand total of $1.7 billion. The total revenue makes “No Way Home” the 6th highest grossing film of all time, behind “Avengers: Infinity War” ($2 billion) and right in front of “Jurassic World” ($1.6 billion).
by Emily Nagle
Jason Momoa is in final negotiations to join the cast for the tenth installment in the “Fast and Furious” film series.
The “Aquaman” star would star alongside Vin Diesel‘s character Dominic Toretto, as well as Diesel’s costars Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Charlize Theron, Ludacris, and Sung Kang.
Since the action film series began in 2001, “Fast and Furious” has recruited big names including Gal Gadot, John Cena, and Helen Mirren. Diesel tried to get Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to return to the series as agent Lucas Hobbs after taking a break during the most recent film, but Johnson turned down the invitation privately, as well as publicly on social media. It is unknown what kind of role Momoa’s character would play in the film due to the script still being in production.
In an interview with Variety, director Justin Lin and Diesel explained that they are still brainstorming storylines for the upcoming “Fast” films.
“We’ve been talking a lot about Mrs. Toretto, from the very beginning of [me] coming back for ‘F9,'” Lin explained of the series’ future. “So, I feel like there’s gonna be a time and place to be able to reveal that.”
Directed by Justin Lin, “Fast and Furious 10”, as it is tentatively called, is set to begin production this spring and speed into theaters in summer 2023. It is the penultimate film in the series, with an 11th movie planned to be the final one.
by Emily Nagle
In preparation for the launch of HBO Max in Asia, WarnerMedia has hired three new senior content execs based out of Singapore and India.
From Singapore, Mark Francis has climbed aboard WarnerMedia as Group Lead of Production and Development, while Wee Shi Ming is now Lead of Entertainment Content Acquisition for North Asia. Francis and Shi Ming will report to Magdalene Ew, WarnerMedia’s Head of Content & Entertainment for Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Francis boasts nearly 2 decades of production experience. He joins WarnerMedia from Astro, where he was the head of OTT content; he was also the chief content officer at the now-defunct South Asian streamer Iflix. Francis’ other experience include the Asian divisions of National Geographic, Fox, and Discovery. His new position at WarnerMedia will involve developing original content exclusive to HBO Max Asia.
Wee Shi Ming has experience at Viu and Sony Television Networks; she was the head of acquisition and programming for Asian content at the latter. She will work alongside Katheryn Lim, who leads content acquisition for international and English-language entertainment titles at HBO Asia.
In Mumbai, Saugata Mukherjee has been appointed as Head of Content & Entertainment for India. He was previously head of original content at Sony Pictures Networks India, and has also worked at Hotstar and Star TV Network. He will report to Clement Schwebig, Managing Director of India, Southeast Asia & Korea.
Schwebig described of the new hires, “These are vital roles as we look to ramp up our original content and programming ambitions in this region. Saugata, Mark and Shi Ming have a great eye for a winning project and have enviable connections within the industry.”
HBO Asia has been bolstering their production teams over the past several months to prepare for the eventual launch of HBO Max, which does not yet have an official launch date. In September, Audrey Wee was hired as the physical production lead for regional entertainment content in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Earlier this month, Jason Monteiro was announced to oversee HBO Max when it launches; currently, Monteiro is overseeing interim streamer HBO Go, which is available in eight different markets of the region.
by Emily Nagle
Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for Weekend of April 9-11
5. The King’s Man ($1.8 million)
4. Redeeming Love ($3.5 million)
3. Sing 2 ($5.7 million)
2. Scream ($12.2 million)
1. Spider-Man: No Way Home ($14 million)
After being beat out last weekend by “Scream”, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” climbed back up to number one. Its $14 million gross was a 30% decrease compared to the long weekend, and to date it has made $720.9 million since its release 6 weeks ago.
“Scream” came in fairly close to number one, not trailing far behind “No Way Home”. Its box office performance this weekend was a 59% decrease compared to its opening last weekend, and to date it has made $51 million in theaters. The previous installment in the slasher film series, “Scream 4”, only made $97 million due to mixed reviews from critics; “Scream” already seems to be more promising, with amazing reviews from critics who described the film as honoring the late Wes Craven’s legacy.
“Redeeming Love” released this weekend, and broke into the top 5 with $3.5 million. The movie is based on Francine Rivers’ novel of the same name; Rivers co-wrote the screenplay with director DJ Caruso, which is set in 1850s California and follows Angel (Abigail Cowen), who only knows suffering after being sold into prostitution as a child, but finds healing when she falls in love with Michael Hosea (Tom Lewis). Even though it made the number-four spot this weekend, reviews from critics were mostly unfavorable, with a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7/10 on IMDb, and A.A. Dowd of AV Club called the story an “icky power imbalance”.
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