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Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Santa Claus in THE MAN WITH THE BAG Trailer

Prime Video's The Man With the Bag casts Arnold Schwarzenegger as Santa Claus, whose stolen toy bag (taken by a vengeful elf played by Awkwafina) forces him to recruit a reformed thief (Alan Ritchson) to assemble a heist crew and save Christmas. Directed by Adam Shankman, the film also stars Liza Koshy, Kyle Mooney, Jane Krakowski, and Ken Jeong. The author finds the absurd premise amusingly over-the-top but is cautiously entertained. It releases on Prime Video December 2.

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BALDUR'S GATE 3 Comics Are Coming

Dark Horse Comics and Wizards of the Coast are teasing a new Baldur's Gate 3 comic book series featuring at least Astarion and Karlach, part of a larger wave of BG3 tie-in media (following an announced TV series and an Astarion prequel novel). Full details will be revealed October 9 at New York Comic Con. The author praises early art previews and expresses excitement for the expanding BG3 multimedia universe.

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DOOMSDAY SCREENX Trailer Seems to Confirm Kate Bishop/Hawkeye

The wider SCREENX-format trailer for Avengers: Doomsday reveals extra side footage suggesting a scene between Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) actually takes place in Kate Bishop's apartment, hinting Hailee Steinfeld's Hawkeye may appear in the film. This ties back to The Marvels' post-credits scene, where Kamala Khan mentions recruiting "Ant-Man's daughter," suggesting a Young Avengers/Champions team is forming. The author speculates this could be a cameo or setup for Avengers: Secret Wars or a rumored Champions Disney+ special, continuing the MCU's slow-burn introduction of young hero team members like Wiccan and Speed.

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Watch THE TRAVELER & THE TROLL Short: It Has a SIX-FOOT Puppet

The award-winning, Kickstarter-funded dark fantasy horror-comedy short The Traveler & The Troll — starring Erika Ishii as a weary traveler who must answer a troll's three riddles to survive a haunted forest — is now available to watch online after a two-year festival run (including wins at Overlook Film Festival and HollyShorts). Written/directed/produced by Adam Murray, the nine-minute film uses fully practical effects, including a six-foot animatronic troll puppet, stop-motion, prosthetics, and zero AI. The author praises its nostalgic '80s dark-fantasy tone and hopes for future installments.

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SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY Re-Release and the DLC-ification of Movies

Disney and Sony are reportedly developing an imminent theatrical re-release of the still-in-theaters Spider-Man: Brand New Day, featuring cut scenes with Rosario Dawson's Claire Temple and other bonus footage — mirroring the recent Avengers: Endgame: Encore re-release strategy. The author strongly criticizes this as a greedy, "DLC-ification" of cinema, arguing it exploits fans who already helped the film (currently at $2.5 billion globally) break box office records by charging them again for minor additions that used to be standard home-video bonus features, and warns this could signal a troubling industry-wide trend of charging more for less across streaming, re-releases, and even music reissues.

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Alan Cumming Doesn't Understand AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY Plot

In a candid interview, Alan Cumming admitted he doesn't fully understand the plot of Avengers: Doomsday, in which he reprises Nightcrawler, joking that on set he simply asked crew members where to point his body rather than trying to follow the story. He also revealed he never actually filmed scenes in-person with Pedro Pascal or Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), interacting only with their body doubles, a fact confirmed when he ran into Pugh in person at the Emmys. Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters December 18.

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Sony Developing a Series Based on Spider-Man's Clone Saga

Sony and Prime Video are developing a live-action series based on Spider-Man's controversial 1990s comic book storyline, "The Clone Saga," written by American Born Chinese creator Kelvin Yu. The show will reportedly follow Peter Parker clones Ben Reilly (Scarlet Spider) and Kaine Parker as they grapple with their identities while confronting other clones, possibly including the villainous Spidercide. The article recaps the saga's controversial comics history, where Marvel briefly declared Ben Reilly the "real" Spider-Man before reversing course. The author expresses skepticism about how a Spider-Man clone story can work without actually using Spider-Man himself, given Sony's live-action shows can't use the name, but notes No Way Home's success suggests even maligned source material can find new life on screen.

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Turn Off Your Smartwatch at the Movie Theater!!!

A brief opinion piece urging moviegoers to turn off or remove smartwatches in theaters, not just silence phones, since their ambient glow and notification flashes are a constant, underrated source of distraction in a darkened theater. The author references Avengers: Doomsday's cast PSA about silencing phones as inspiration for expanding the message to cover smartwatches as well.

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AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY Cast Assembles for 'Silence Your Phone' PSA

Marvel released a star-studded theater PSA featuring dozens of Avengers: Doomsday cast members (played by their actual actors) sitting in a movie audience watching Thor face off against Doctor Doom, only for a ringing cellphone to interrupt the dramatic moment. The audience includes characters like Gambit, Shuri, Cyclops, Reed Richards, Mystique, and many more. The author praises the fun, all-star nature of the ad while reinforcing its serious message: silence and pocket your phone (and smartwatch) at the movies out of respect for the shared theatrical experience.

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Good News/Bad News About Jon Watts' STAR WARS: EPISODE X

Jon Watts (Spider-Man trilogy, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew) has been tapped to direct Star Wars: Episode X, a new Skywalker Saga trilogy written entirely by Simon Kinberg, with Daisy Ridley returning as Rey in a "minor role" that may expand later. The author argues it's disappointing that Lucasfilm is revisiting the Skywalker Saga rather than moving the franchise forward into new, unexplored eras, but finds reason for optimism: Disney has reportedly shelved Ridley's previously announced New Jedi Order film in favor of this new trilogy centered on fresh, largely unknown characters, and having one writer pen all three films (unlike the disjointed sequel trilogy) suggests a more coherent creative plan this time.

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