Venom 2 Set Video May Hint at Cletus Kasady's Carnage Transformation

A new set video for Venom 2 hints at Woody Harrelson's serial killer Cletus Kasady transforming into the symbiote supervillain Carnage.

A new Venom 2 set video hints at Woody Harrelson's Cletus Kasady transforming into the symbiote supervillain Carnage. The Oscar-nominated Harrelson made his debut as Kasady during a mid-credits scene in the first Venom, when journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is invited to interview the incarcerated murderer. Harrelson's casting was seemingly meant to be a secret, but leaked well ahead of the film's release in October 2018. Upon learning the news about his involvement was already out there, Harrelson revealed his character - who was still a mystery at the time - would only be in "a little fraction" of the first Venom before potentially playing a leading role in the sequel.

Many fans were quick to deduce this meant Harrelson is playing Kasady (one of the better-known Venom villains in Marvel Comics), and the film would set the stage for Carnage to enter the picture in Venom 2. Sure enough, Harrelson was later confirmed to be reprising his role in the sequel, with Andy Serkis directing from a script by Venom co-writer Kelly Marcel. Now, just a day after Hardy revealed the first photo of Kasady in Venom 2, some leaked footage offers a tease of the character going full Carnage (albeit, without any CGI).

Instagram user VenomIsComing has posted a video from the Venom 2 set showing Harrelson filming a scene for the sequel - one that, by the look of it, will involve Kasady unleashing his symbiote counterpart. Take a look, below.

The video shows Kasady standing aside his car and being held at gunpoint by what appears to be a federal agent, who quickly proceeds to open fire. Judging by his relaxed body language and odd hand movements, the scene will involve Harrelson's character using his symbiote to both absorb the bullets and subsequently attack the agent, with the Carnage effects being added in post-production. Fans will also notice Harrelson is wearing the same shirt and jacket he had on in the photo Hardy released yesterday, complete with his combed hair (a change from the wild hairdo he had in prison). The implication is this scene will take place sometime after Kasady has broken out and spruced up a bit before terrorizing San Francisco with the aid of his newly gained abilities.

Although the teaser for the original Venom refrained from revealing any of the film's symbiote CGI effects, it's a fair bet Sony will avoid repeating that mistake by offering a sneak peek at Carnage in the first preview for Venom 2. Similarly, Harrelson should be comfortably in his element playing the deranged killer, even in the scenes where he's just standing there and waving his arms while Carnage wreaks havoc (like the sequence teased here). Arguably, the first Venom suffered from its villain, Carlton Drake/Riot, being a little too serious and grounded in his behavior compared to the cheesy comic book movie around him. Fortunately, Harrelson as Carnage seems to be on the same wavelength as everything else in Venom 2, and the sequel should be all the better for it.

Marvel’s Moon Knight Show: Oliver Jackson-Cohen Responds To Fan-Casting

The Invisible Man star Oliver Jackson-Cohen has responded to him being the center of fan casts to play Marc Spector in Marvel's Moon Knight show.

Oliver Jackson-Cohen has responded to being a top choice among fans to play Marc Spector in Marvel's Moon Knight series on Disney+. Last year Marvel Studios announced Moon Knight's addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Since then, the notoriously tight-lipped studio hasn't said much else about the show.

Although Moon Knight is a favorite character among die-hard Marvel Comics fans, he is not a household name. The man behind the all-white suit is Marc Spector, a rabbi's son turned mercenary who gains his abilities from the Egyptian Moon God Khonshu - or at least that is what he believes. The magical Moon God is cool, but what makes Moon Knight truly unique is the reveal that he has a dissociative identity disorder. Each of his three personalities has it's own distinctive personalities and identities. Assuming the MCU version of Spector is the same, the studio will need to cast an actor who can handle the massive range required for the role.

Marvel hasn't cast the part yet, but fans have been hoping the Jewish superhero will be played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen. He recently starred in The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix and will next play the titular role in Blumhouse's The Invisible Man. Jackson-Cohen was doing press to promote the movie, and ET Online asked the actor about the internet's desire for him to play Moon Knight. The actor, while flattered, admitted that he's totally unfamiliar with the character. However, he certainly would love to be a superhero and work for Marvel.

I have heard this, yes! I don't understand what a Moon Knight is. [laughs] Every single time I open Instagram, it's like, 'MOON KNIGHT!' And I'm like, 'This is so great and thank you, but I don't know what it is!' No one's called me... I would love to be a Marvel superhero. That would be a dream. Tell all of your viewers to go and stand outside Marvel headquarters!

Jackson-Cohen may not yet be familiar with Moon Knight, but maybe he should read up on the character because he'd make a pretty good Marc Spector. He's in his early 30s, so he could play the role for a long time, and he's tall - 6'3 - meaning he could pull off the hero's imposing physical presence. Additionally, he's a rising actor in the industry (which Marvel loves to target) and has the range to play multiple personalities. But, Jackson-Cohen has not been contacted by Marvel to this point, so it is unclear if he's even under consideration. Rumors pointed to Daniel Radcliffe being in the running, but then a casting notice leaked, stating Marvel is looking for a Zac Efron-type Jewish-Israeli actor. That's good news for Jackson-Cohen, whose father is from an Egyptian-Jewish family.

Whether he does speak to the studio or not, it shouldn't be long before Marvel announces who is going to play Moon Knight. They hired Jeremy Slater (The Umbrella Academy) to lead the writing room ahead of production, beginning at some point later this year. With the costume fittings and training that will need to be done for whoever is cast as Moon Knight, a decision could come at any time. Now that Oliver Jackson-Cohen has expressed his interest in joining the MCU, though, maybe Marvel will look his way as the search for Moon Knight's lead actor continues.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Trailer: Meet Clone Force 99, AKA The Bad Batch

Disney+ and Lucasfilm have debuted a new trailer for the seventh and final season of the acclaimed Star Wars: The Clone Wars introducing audiences to Clone Force 99, also known as The Bad Batch.

From Dave Filoni, director and executive producer of The Mandalorian, the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars will continue the storylines introduced in the original series, exploring the events leading up to Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

The 12-episode season will feature the voices of Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker, Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano, Dee Bradley Baker as Captain Rex and the clone troopers, James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan, and Sam Witwer as Maul.

Created by George Lucas, the show first aired in 2008 and became an entry point into Star Wars for an entire generation, following fan-favorites like Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Padmé Amidala, while introducing major new characters like Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex. It became a multi-Emmy winner and is now regarded as essential Star Wars.

Even though The Clone Wars will be having its epic conclusion this year, it appears it won’t be the end for the animated Star Wars universe as SWNN has also revealed that a sequel series to Rebels is currently in development to pick up the story of Ahsoka from the series finale and could premiere as early as this year.

Castlevania Season 3 trailer: Evil never stays buried On Netflix

Castlevania Season 3 trailer: Evil never stays buried

After revealing the premiere date for the series earlier this month, Netflix has debuted the first full trailer for the third season of its animated adaptation of Castlevania showing that the human world is in chaos and that evil never stays buried.

A Konami video game, the first Castlevania was a popular title for the original Nintendo Entertainment System, following the game’s release in 1986. The storyline has the player controlling a vampire hunter by the name Simon Belmont. Belmont, the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan, is trying to save Eastern Europe from extinction at the hand of Vlad Dracula Tepe himself. Inspired by the game, the animated Castlevania hails from bestselling author and comic book legend Warren Ellis.

The Castlevania cast features the voice talents of Graham McTavish (The Hobbit, Preacher) as Dracula, Richard Armitage (The Hobbit trilogy) as Trevor Belmont, James Callis (Battlestar Galactica) as Alucard, Emily Swallow (Supernatural) as Lisa, Matt Frewer (Orphan Black) as The Bishop, Tony Amendola (Annabelle) as The Elder and Alejandra Reynoso (G.I. Joe: Renegades) as Sypha Belnades.

Castlevania is executive produced by Warren Ellis, Kevin Kolde, Adi Shankar and Fred Seibert. Production services are provided by Austin, Texas-based Powerhouse Animation with Brad Graeber supervising producer, Jason Williams as producer, and Sam Deats as director.

Marvel's First Gay Superhero & Kiss Accidentally Confirmed By Eternals Actor

• BY MOLLY FREEMAN
• FEB 13, 2020

Marvel's first gay superhero is Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), who will have the MCU's first gay kiss, confirmed by Eternals movie actor Haaz Sleiman.

Marvel's first gay superhero is Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), who will have the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first gay kiss, as confirmed by Eternals movie actor Haaz Sleiman. After Avengers: Endgame - and, to a lesser extent, Spider-Man: Far From Home - wrapped up Phase 3 of the MCU last year, Marvel Studios is kicking of Phase 4 in 2020. The two Marvel movies slated to hit theaters are Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow and Eternals. The latter will introduce a whole new team of superheroes to the MCU, played by an all-star cast that includes the likes of Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek.

As the MCU has progressed, there have been more and more calls for films with diverse lead characters. In 2018, Black Panther became the franchise's first black-led movie, while 2019's Captain Marvel was the first MCU solo movie starring a female character. Eternals promises to bring a great deal more representation to the MCU with a diverse ensemble cast. It's also been confirmed by Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige that Eternals would include the MCU's first gay superhero, but it was unclear which hero it would be. Now, one of the supporting actors in the film has confirmed as much.

In an interview with NewNowNext, Haaz Sleiman spoke about his role in the upcoming Marvel movie, Eternals. Sleiman confirmed he's playing the husband of Henry's Phastos, though he didn't specify his character's name: "I just shot a Marvel film with the first openly gay superhero, The Eternals. I’m married to the gay superhero Phastos, played by Atlanta’s Brian Tyree Henry, and we represent a gay family and have a child." When asked if Eternals would feature Marvel's first gay kiss, Sleiman confirmed it would. He said:

Oh, yeah, absolutely, and it’s a beautiful, very moving kiss. Everyone cried on set. For me it’s very important to show how loving and beautiful a queer family can be. Brian Tyree Henry is such a tremendous actor and brought so much beauty into this part, and at one point I saw a child in his eyes, and I think it’s important for the world to be reminded that we in the queer community were all children at one point. We forget that because we’re always depicted as sexual or rebellious. We forget to connect on that human part.

Last year, Avengers: Endgame introduced a gay character, the nameless support group member played by co-director Joe Russo, who became Marvel's first confirmed LGBTQ character in the MCU. Though technically a step forward for representation in the MCU, it was criticized for being such a minor part of the film, and for the role not going to a gay actor. Last spring, reports first surfaced that Eternals was casting a gay superhero, and ever since the film's cast was confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, many speculated it would be Richard Madden's Ikaris.

Instead, it appears the MCU's first gay superhero will be Henry's Phastos, and he'll share an on-screen kiss with his husband, the character played by Sleiman. Sleiman's comments fall in line with what Feige previously said about Phastos being married with a child, having a family of his own, though we didn't know at the time the studio head was talking about Henry's character. Based on Sleiman's comments, it seems Phastos' kiss with his husband will be more highlighted than the incredibly brief lesbian kiss in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Hopefully Phastos' sexuality will be a key part of his character in Eternals, bringing much-needed representation to the MCU. But it's also important the character isn't entirely defined by his sexuality either, which is something Sleiman alludes to in his comments about Phastos. Fans will learn more about Phastos, his husband and their child as the Eternals release date gets closer.