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Michael Patrick King Hopes Nothing Warrants ‘The Comeback’ Season 4

Published

1 day ago

May 14, 2026

SPOILERS: This post contains details about The Comeback series finale ‘Valerie Cherish’

After Valerie Cherish gave her final bow in The Comeback finale, Michael Patrick King doesn’t plan on bringing the fictional diva out of retirement again.

The co-creator of the HBO mockumentary reality show told Deadline he feels “very happy about this being the finale of the series,” and despite the unintentional decade-long break between each three seasons, he and co-creator/star Lisa Kudrow have no plans to return to the show in the distant future.

“And it took us a very long time to come up with the right machine to risk building a show around,” he said of Season 3’s AI focus. “So, hopefully there won’t be any apocalyptic unknown things appearing in the next 10 years that would warrant us to come back.”

King explained that Season 3 came about as a “fear-based comedy” about the looming threat of AI in Hollywood and the anxieties “of where we are now—not even the reality of where we are, because we’re still in that moment before any studio actually admits they’re using AI, which was our main goal to get on television before that moment happened.”

“The original thought was taking the most human person we could think of and putting her up against a machine, which is AI, and Valerie really has so many very human attributes,” he noted of Kudrow’s iconic character. “She’s smart, she’s flawed, she’s strong, she’s weak, she’s obsessive, she’s egotistical. She’s all of us on any minute of the day. She’s human.”

Lisa Kudrow as Valerie Cherish in ‘The Comeback’

With an epilogue in the credits that teases the future of the show’s satirical alternate universe, in which AI is used to churn out shows that people “like to leave on while they do – whatever,” King added a disclaimer that “no AI was used in the writing of this series.”

“It’s kind of emotional to say something is handmade. When you look at a garment and it says ‘handmade,’ it means something, in a weird way,” said King, adding: “And we can only really concentrate on writing because we don’t know where everything else is going. But our show’s always been about writing and television, and we addressed as much as we could without giving a moral of the story, because no one knows what it is. We’re still wondering.”

Read on about Michael Patrick King’s farewell to Valerie Cherish and his parting thoughts on AI in Hollywood in The Comeback series finale.

DEADLINE: I really loved this finale and the way Val takes a stand against the studio and AI in general. Tell me about bringing her to that moment.

MICHAEL PATRICK KING: The whole season really was about us wondering what would happen if Valerie got the spotlight that she’d been craving so desperately in the first two seasons. What happens if she suddenly is the one in the middle of the spotlight and she doesn’t have to beg for stuff, but almost too much is thrown at her? And so what I’m sort of hearing from people and what I’m happy about, one of the things, is that people started to see her strength and her caring about other people and her ability to function as the wheels were coming off the car. So for us, Lisa and I were kind of reporting a show about the fear of where we are now—not even the reality of where we are, because we’re still in that moment before any studio actually admits they’re using AI, which was our main goal to get on television before that moment happened. That was why we worked so hard to get the show out so it could feel still a little bit ahead of whenever that news is gonna come. So, everything we wrote and everything we felt is based on the idea that people will have to deal with whatever it is. So, it was almost a fear-based comedy about how people can choose to move through this world, and didn’t wanna take Valerie this entire way and not have her succeed. The original thought was taking the most human person we could think of and putting her up against a machine, which is AI, and Valerie really has so many very human attributes. She’s smart, she’s flawed, she’s strong, she’s weak, she’s obsessive, she’s egotistical. She’s all of us on any minute of the day. She’s human. She has great flaws, and what we tried to do with the very, very end, especially the last moment of Valerie talking to the camera, was sort of reframe how people had seen her. And she says, “You have to agree to be humiliated, and I never signed up.” That was one of the things that spun my head around when we were in the writing room, was Lisa saying, “I want people to have a new version of everything they’ve seen. I want them to be able to look at the first two seasons like, ‘Oh, she’s a survivor,’ which is the truth.” I mean, we ended the pilot of the very first season with Destiny’s Child ‘Survivor’, so we’ve been telling people [she’s a] survivor, but the odds against her have been so stacked that people only saw the tragedies rather than the victories, I think.

Laura Silverman as Jane Benson and Lisa Kudrow as Valerie Cherish in ‘The Comeback’

DEADLINE: Yeah, I loved that final monologue that you’re talking about, especially how you faded to color, and she’s wearing the same color from the pilot. That was perfect.

KING: I’m glad you got that. The idea of, sometimes when we see people, we see them as only one thing, we see them as black-and-white, and what we wanted to do in that fade was not only take Valerie from a black-and-white image to a fully vibrant color of who she could really be and has always been. The other thing we were trying to do in that last image was really evoke all of filmmaking. We have Jane’s old camera, old film, old black-and-white, right? And the evolution of Hollywood, we’ve gone from that shot on film—we had limited roles of it that we could use, and we went all the way through that—into what we’re doing now, which is very advanced HD stuff. So, in that one choice, we take Valerie from black-and-white to color, but we’re also winking and acknowledging how the industry has gone from black-and-white to color and it’s still here.

DEADLINE: And I love the part where you see Valerie’s reflection in Jane’s lens, and just the whole relationship between the two of them, like seeing Jane defend Val on TV. Can you tell me about lhow much has changed between those two since the first season?

KING: Oh my God, the entire fun thing about doing a series, if you get to do more than one season, is the evolution of the characters. Where are they going? How can you evolve them if you have more time with them? And one of the main drumbeats of the show was evolving the relationship of Valerie and Jane to get to the point where it started, where Jane was in the shadows and sort of just putting the bullseye on Valerie because that was her job. And one of the most thrilling things for me in the second to last episode is when Valerie and Mark are having a private moment in the laundry room. And the reality show producer who used to be a Jane, that used to be Jane’s job, says, “go to the other door,” and Jane gets in the way and just locks it and won’t let them intrude, and she just goes really nicely, “hi.” And that shows how somebody has fallen into deep protective mode with their friends. And the last moment that you’re talking about is when Jane says, “I feel like I’m seeing you for the first time.” No matter how long we sometimes know people, they’ll do something or say something and you feel like, “Oh wow, I’ve never seen them that way.” And that shot, Elie Smolkin, our DP, created that shot. That is not an effect shot. That’s actually an in-camera shot. The reflection was the reflection in the lens of the old camera. I mean, when you look at it, you think, “Oh, that’s a drop-in.” It’s not. They sprayed the lens with a mist, and it lasted for a minute, and that’s how long it captured. We got the shot of Valerie. That’s real. That’s not a trick. That’s old filmmaking. That’s not new filmmaking. Yeah, we love the fact that Jane became a protector. We love that. We love that they actually became friends, or clearly in each other’s lives in a different way than they started. We tried to do with that with all the characters, and a lot of the characters went into an evolution where they became the most desperate parts of Valerie. Billy became the most try-hard, the most needing the spotlight, and Jane became the opposite. She became the most grounded, sort of soft, comfortable place for for Valerie to land.

DEADLINE: I also loved in the penultimate, seeing Juna return. Tell me why that was so important to have that moment between them.

KING: Because that was the darkest moment in the series, really, when Valerie feels responsible, and all those people that she’s been doing the show with don’t approve of her suddenly and turn against her. It’s the only time in the show where she says to Jane as she’s walking away, “No camera, just walk.” So, she’s really feeling like she doesn’t wanna be seen, and then Juna shows up and sees her and reminds Valerie who she is, who she’s been. Because she’s so clearly telling her, “you did all these good things for me,” and we wanted to point out that Valerie has never ever been about ego. She’s always against anybody else getting less, she just wanted more. She never wanted Juna to get less or any of the other actors to get less. She always just wanted more for herself. But at that moment when Juna replays her memory of Valerie to Valerie and then says, “you’re it,” which is a deliberate reference to I’m It, which was when Valerie was in I’m It. That was her sweet spot when she was the star of I’m It. So when Juna says, “Valerie, to me, you’re it,” it brings back a lot of emotion and energy. And what it does is it almost restarts Valerie so that she walks into the next scene with Mark and The Finance Dudes, and she’s all, “Hello, I’m Valerie Cherish.” She’s all pumped up again, and then she helps Mark. People can help each other by seeing each other in a good way, so Juna is a very important character because she’s literally the most pure character on the show. She’s always been one of those people who just moves through the world, things kind of go her way. So, for her to see Valerie is great, and it also reflected the last 21 years of the history of these characters in people’s minds. But the showdown in the, in the office with Andrew Scott, there are things that Lisa does in that scene that I’ve never seen, and I think I’ve seen a lot of things that she can do as an actor, but there are moments of her when he tells her, “you can be replaced.” She’s actually grown in such a big way, but I love how she stands up to him, and that is really the human against the machine. And then she quits, but in true Valerie [fashion], comes walking right back in and says, “I’ll call you tomorrow and tell you whether I quit.” She can’t really let go. And what’s really interesting is that last moment where she walks back, that happened on the set, because I realized, “Oh, if she leaves, the audience will think the show’s over. We don’t have any tension.” So, I said to Lisa, “I think we need to come back,” and she said, “Yep, great.” So that was in the moment just because I wanted the tension of what’s she gonna do to keep going. And then the other fun thing, which I want to point out, the scene after that in the bedroom with Mark, that’s the only time in the series we’ve been in their bedroom that wasn’t a ceiling cam, the only time you’ve actually seen them in the real world of their bedroom. Because we think we’re past it. Valerie’s now moved on from hearing what other people think, she’s sort of just living her life.

Damian Young as Mark Berman and Lisa Kudrow as Valerie Cherish in ‘The Comeback’

DEADLINE: I didn’t realize that. But I also loved that in the monologue at the end, when she walks away all stoically and then she comes back and she’s like, “A callback is…” That was funny.

KING: Yes, she comes back. It’s so Valerie. She literally comes back in The Comeback, and then she wants to tell people about a sitcom writing term for comedy, you know what I mean? It just goes from the sublime to the ridiculous, which is kind of what she is. She can be ridiculous, and then every now and then, she can be sublime. And I think that’s kind of what people have responded to about that third season, is that Valerie has moments of great depth, and people are very touched that their comic hero can also move them to crying for a minute and then make them laugh right again. It’s a very rare character and an even rarer actress that can do that.

DEADLINE: At the very end, there is the disclaimer that no AI was used in the writing of this series. Do you think that’s gonna be a standard disclaimer soon that people are gonna start using?

KING: I don’t know. I think what’s interesting about the epilogue, writing the story is, we say that Valerie went on to do a show that received a lot of attention. The next thing we say is that How’s That is entering its third season with a fully digital cast. And I think that what we’re trying to maybe postulate a little bit is that … the show started based on the threat of reality TV back in the first season. It was, “Reality TV is taking away our jobs, and it’s going to destroy narrative TV.” Well, it didn’t, and in fact, since reality TV’s birth, we had that whole second wave of the Golden Age of Television. And so now, reality TV is kind of just a wing on the house of television, a different kind of a wing, but it’s there if you wanna go into it. And so, what we were trying to say at the end there was, maybe this excellent work will continue, and then there’ll be a wing for shows that people “leave on while they do whatever,” as we say. And the final thing is, it’s kind of emotional to say something is handmade. When you look at a garment and it says “handmade,” it means something, in a weird way. And so, if television is handmade, it that’s what that tag at the end means, it’s like it means, “This is handmade by people, so if you care about that, then that should lift you up a little bit.” And we can only really concentrate on writing because we don’t know where everything else is going. But our show’s always been about writing and television, and we addressed as much as we could without giving a moral of the story, because no one knows what it is. We’re still wondering.

DEADLINE: Well, I am a huge fan of the show. I’ve watched it since the first season, and I know this is billed as the last season, but do you think in another 10 years, if there’s a new reality TV or a new AI that Hollywood is up against, that you and Lisa might get the inspiration to come back for Season 4?

KING: This is the finale of the series. It feels like the trilogy. Lisa keeps saying it’s a trilogy because it has three pieces, and it feels like beginning, middle and end for us. We never intended to have our brand be, every 10 years, we come back. But now to come back in two years would be ridiculous. So, I don’t foresee that far in the future, but we really, really feel very happy about this being the finale of the series. We’ve been very blessed that people really like it, and they really liked that first season, which is the only reason we came back, because of DVD and energy from the audience created an interest. And then the second season, people said was great, and some people said, “That’s great, you’re done.” And it took us a very long time to come up with the right machine to risk building a show around. So, hopefully there won’t be any apocalyptic unknown things appearing in the next 10 years that would warrant us to come back. But we’re very happy. That’s not a marketing ploy, that is a reality.

movies

MrBeast & Teamsters Lock Horns Over Beast Games Unionization

Published

11 minutes ago

May 15, 2026

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EXCLUSIVE: Just days after inking a union deal with IATSE for production on Season 3 of Prime Video’s Beast Games, MrBeast now finds himself in a stand-off of sorts with the Teamsters.

A tense dust-up this afternoon to try to solve an impasse in negotiations has seen by the Teamsters as over reach. In response the union threatening a strike starting early Friday morning, I hear. Obviously, such a move would bring current production on the Greenville, North Carolina-based $10 million competition show to a halt.

Beast Games paid out union level wages to its crew in Seasons 1 and 2. For Season 3, it looked like more of the same was on the menu from parent company Beast Industries, with a nod from Amazon.

Appreciating that, the Teamsters wanted to solidify the production as a union one.

That codification of conditions was not exactly what MrBeast (AKA Jimmy Donaldson) and team were thinking it seems. So, earlier Thursday, with the good will of the IATSE deal still in the air, the Beasties offered up taking a poll of the affected crew (AKA a card check) to determine if 50% + 1 desired Teamster representation, a labor insider tells Deadline.

The Teamsters side of Local 391 and Hollywood’s Lindsay Dougherty-run Local 399 balked at the perceived move into their territory. The whole thing seemed to go south rapidly, with a 6 AM deadline thrown down as a marker.

Neither Beast Industries nor Local 399 responded tonight to Deadline’s request for comment on what is going down at the production. However, with the hours ticking away, it looks like the parties are engaged presently in a parlay of sorts to perhaps resolve the situation before the morning.

Fact is, there is a very close to home blueprint for all sides to follow — thanks to IATSE.

On May 11, after the union was recognized, Beast Industries and IATSE reached an agreement to cover around 500 crew members on the sprawling Beast Games. Turns out it could be a pretty far reaching deal. Earlier this week, IATSE says that the agreement covers not only Season 3 but “subsequent seasons” – – though nothing beyond a third season has been given the go-ahead by Amazon.

Putting 1,000 contestants against each other in a series of challenges (some more challenging that others, let’s be honest), Beast Games is fronted by co-creator MrBeast.

Despite some legal salvos about conditions on the real life Squid-Game-with-less-fatal-results show, Prime Video quietly but unsurprisingly handed the very well viewed BG a Season 3 renewal not long after the Season 2 debut earlier this year. Cited as a shakedown by Team Beast, a subsequent harassment and retaliation suit by a former Beast Industries social media staffer also hasn’t caused any delay in Beast Games going forward either.

Stay tuned. Get up early.

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‘Off Campus’ Author Elle Kennedy Talks Show Season 1, Teases Season 2

Published

1 hour ago

May 15, 2026

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Editor’s Note: Trigger & Content Warning – This piece also mentions rape and physical abuse/domestic violence as part of the main characters’ storylines.

SPOILER ALERT: This post spoils the Off Campus book series.

As with many a book adaptation, author Elle Kennedy didn’t want to get her hopes up too high when her Off Campus series rights were first optioned before the COVID pandemic set in, but the final product of a deal made right before the 2023 Writers Guild of America Strike has finally skated onto Prime Video.

Based on her first book in the series, The Deal, Season 1 of Off Campus follows singer songwriter Hannah Wells (Ella Bright) and hockey team captain Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli) an unlikely pair who strike up a fake dating agreement that leads to real feelings. Co-showrunners Louisa Levy and Gina Fattore helmed the adaptation of the book that started it all. Beneath the light romance arcs lie serious themes, like Hannah’s and Garrett’s individual past struggles — rape and domestic violence, respectively — which they continue to contend with as young adults in college at the fictional Briar University, whose sports teams compete against some Ivy League schools in Kennedy’s books.

“Because the issues were so heavy for Hannah and for Garrett, you can’t just have them suddenly jumping into bed in chapter one, right? It was really important for me to have them have this friendship that was rooted in trust and go from there,” Kennedy told Deadline. “They really needed that slow burn in order for those issues to get dealt with in a sensitive and respectful way.”

Hannah and Garrett join the ranks of other famous TV and film couples who have been through such a scheme, like Lara Jean Song Covey (Lana Condor) and Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) in Netflix’s To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before films and Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon, Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page) in Season 1 of Netflix’s Bridgerton. Prime Video also has the film adaptation of Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis, starring Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman, on the horizon.

“I’ve never thought about why I love it, I just do. Probably because, in most fake dating situations, it’s two people who would never be together. It’s probably mostly the opposites attract part of it [that] people resonate with because it’s these two people who make no sense [together],” the author said of the trope. “In The Deal, she’s this music student and he’s a hockey player. How are they gonna find common ground? It’s the tension between these two personalities. That’s probably why I’m drawn to it.”

In the below interview, Kennedy — who has YA thriller Thornbird coming in June and her newly revealed Bad Idea installment set in the Off Campus and Briar U universe coming November — talks about her involvement as a producer on the show, a big change that made sense to her in the adaptation, her approach to expanding the Off Campus universe after writing The Deal as a planned standalone and much more.

DEADLINE: Did anything stand out to you about what Louisa and Gina loved, how they wanted to change things?

ELLE KENNEDY: My biggest thing, I don’t want to say the word concern, but my biggest requirement was, I really want to keep the vibe of the series so what people [felt] when they’re reading the books, I want them to feel it [from the show]. That is focusing on the dynamics with the characters, the relationships, the banter, the bromance, Hannah and Allie’s best friendship and how supportive they are.

I didn’t want to lose any of those elements. I think that after having seen all the screeners, and having the premiere, the energy with a live audience, that’s what they felt when I when I wrote the books and what I wanted them to feel. I got that sense that they felt [those things] when they were watching it. I think it turned out great.

These characters are special. It’s like a found family. They love each other. They rag on each other. That’s the same vibe I wanted. I wanted people who watch the show to feel like they are at Briar U and they are friends with these people. I think we succeeded.

Belmont Cameli as Garrett, Jalen Thomas Brooks as Tucker, Antonio Cipriano as Logan, Stephen Thomas Kalyn as Dean in OFF CAMPUS

DEADLINE: It’s been over a decade since the first book came out. What do you think of the changes made in the show? Has it changed how you see the stories compared to how you felt when you first wrote the books?

KENNEDY: I have a soft spot for this series because it was my first foray into younger characters, like college age. So it’s always going to be a nostalgic thing. My feelings for it haven’t really changed. It’s not like they’ve evolved in a different way. It’s almost like this series, whenever I revisit it, it gives me that same joy, and it’s just such a fun world to be in.

In terms of 10 years ago, yeah, obviously we’ve updated some things. In the books, when I first wrote them, they were using taxis, there was no rideshare, just little things like that. It’s fun to see it modernized.

In terms of changes, I think there are some cool ones. Probably my favorite big change would be changing Justin. In the book, he is a football player. In the show, he’s a musician, and Josh just plays him so well. I think that made a lot of sense to [cast him] as Garrett’s foil, someone that Hannah would be attracted to. She’s got her musician and then her jock that she would never fall for. Those kinds of changes I felt made sense.

Justin (Josh Heuston) in OFF CAMPUS

Liane Hentscher/ Prime

DEADLINE: Music is a big element in the show. Did you recommend any songs for the series?

KENNEDY: I love that they got Remi [Wolf] to do a live [concert]. That was really cool. For the most part, the songs that are in the books, I’m a fan girl of One Direction, so I’m just gonna put in things I like, and I love Lady Gaga. I thought, “It would be great if we can use these. But if we can’t, that’s fine.” And I think that some choices, the ones that I have heard, have been really fun.

DEADLINE: When you were writing The Deal, did you envision the stories of Garrett’s teammates, or were you just thinking it would be a one-off? How did that evolve?

KENNEDY: I go into almost every series thinking it’s going to be a standalone. And I don’t know how I have not learned my lesson at this point, because before that, I wrote many things that I thought were gonna be standalones. I had a romantic suspense series. I was like, “It’s just one book, and it ended up being eight.” I had a Navy SEAL thing that was gonna be one story, and then it ended up being 10.

Whenever I start a new world, my goal is, I just want to write one fun story, and then usually there will be side characters, or someone that I introduce, where it’s either I fall in love with them, or my editor will. My editor’s a huge fan of Logan. She’s like, his number one fan. She’ll fight you for him. She lost her mind, she was like, “What do you mean it’s one book? We have to see [his story.] So after The Deal, there were just too many good side characters that people wanted to see, so it ended up being way more books than I expected. And I’m not mad about it. I love it.

DEADLINE: We are all curious about which couple will be the focus of season two. I know you probably can’t say if you know or not. India Fowler has been cast as Grace Ivers, so that’s exciting.

KENNEDY: Yeah, I can’t speak to Season Two yet. I haven’t seen any scripts or anything either, so I’m going to be as surprised and excited as everybody else. I know some things, but I won’t share them. All I can say is it’s going to be really, really exciting to see the other characters start to get time at center stage. The Grace casting is super exciting. I saw Antonio and India’s screen test together, and it’s like they stepped out of the books. I got chills. I loved it. I’m so excited to see her join the cast.

DEADLINE: As a producer, what was your involvement? I’m sure you went to set. How much did they pull you into the process? How much did you want to be involved?

KENNEDY: I have no experience with this, so I was learning everything for the first time. Amazon is an expert in the TV landscape, so they know what works, what doesn’t work. I wasn’t in the writers room, but I did have conversations with them, so I knew what was going on and where the series arcs were going.

In terms of set, I went up for my set visit. I got to see Malone’s and the dorm, the off-campus house. It was so surreal seeing all this stuff and seeing how much work goes into it.

DEADLINE: I ask because Jenny Han was super involved with The Summer I Turned Pretty, and then they have Every Year After coming out in June too.

KENNEDY: Yep, another Canadian. Carley [Fortune] is Canadian as well. She’s from Toronto, which is where I’m from. Canadian girls unite.

DEADLINE: Have you talked at all between each other about getting your books adapted?

KENNEDY: We actually DM here and there. She’s lovely. We keep saying we need to have lunch when we’re both in Toronto, and then we never do, because she’s on a book tour, or I’m on a book tour or. Hopefully this summer, we can get together. I can’t wait for her show. I love a good lake romance, so we’re all set.

L-R: Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli) and Hannah Wells (Ella Bright) in OFF CAMPUS

Liane Hentscher / Prime

DEADLINE: When it comes to balancing, especially in The Deal, the very serious themes of Hannah’s rape and Garrett’s dad being abusive with the lighter parts, how does it help when we see it on screen and read about it? How can people take romance more seriously?

KENNEDY: I agree with you that romance is definitely not taken seriously, which is a shame, because it is probably one of the top-selling genres, and there’s a reason for it. People are drawn to these stories for a reason, in terms of, obviously, there’s some romances that are more light, some that are more dark. I write in the college space, and it’s younger people, and it’s coming of age, and a lot more issues than, say, a workplace romance, where they might just be bantering about work.

I tend to focus on deeper themes. It is definitely a balance because you want it to be fun and you want the banter, and you want that journey of the relationship, and then you also want to see the characters’ growth and how they change, and how their traumas affect the way they view relationships, and then how they overcome them, whether as a couple, or how they help each other overcome it.

I do think the idea that [romance] is all just spicy scenes is disheartening sometimes because I do think there are such incredible stories, and these themes, and people are drawn to them for a reason. Not that they’re only reading it for the spice. They’re reading it for the journey, for the emotions that they feel. I do hope that people start to take them a little more seriously, and it’s good to see them in the mainstream now because it’s showing that this is not just sex, but there’s a lot more to it. There’s so much more heart to them.

DEADLINE: Back to the order of the books. You said your editor really liked Logan. Did you ever think “Okay now it’s time for Tucker”? How did it come to you that you wanted Dean and Allie to be together, and how did you want to round it out with The Legacy?

KENNEDY: Well, I wanted it to be a trilogy, to be honest, and I wanted there to be — spoiler alert — a big impactful death for Dean. My editor loved Logan, I loved Garrett, and then I loved Dean. I love seeing a reformed Playboy character. So I wanted to shatter his world, and it was gonna be originally with Tucker, and my editor was like, “Absolutely not. We love him so much.” There’s no way you can write a series without Tucker getting a book. When I was writing The Mistake, I still hadn’t decided, but Tucker, I was like, “Oh, I just love him so much.” He’s so kind, not to make it sound like he’s boring, he’s not.

He’s the caretaker of the group. And I was like, “No, he needs [a story].” So I ended up choosing a different character to shatter Dean with, and it ended up being four books. But then in Dean’s book, I introduced more teammates, and had introduced his sister, and I was like, “Oh boy.”

(L-R) Beau Maxwell (Khobe Clarke), Dean Di Laurentis (Stephen Thomas Kalyn) and John Tucker (Jalen Thomas Brooks) in OFF CAMPUS

Liane Hentscher / Prime

DEADLINE: With that death and foreshadowing, I’m curious about the costumes at the combined party? What did you think of that touch?

KENNEDY: Can I just say? It didn’t even occur to me. I didn’t even think about it until I saw a an Instagram reel where someone, after the trailer came out, highlighted it, and I gasped. So I see it now, yeah, but at the time, to me, it just felt like a fun duo because the whole theme of the party is famous duos. I had nothing to do with that [choice], but, holy moly.

DEADLINE: This series does feel like it could be a show with 10 seasons, and there’s this whole world. Did you ever you know consider that when you were writing these books?

KENNEDY: I agree with you, it lends itself to multi-seasons and different ensembles. I definitely think that you will see other characters pop up, and I’m hoping we get to see everyone from, I guess they can’t go next generation, but at least from Briar U. There’s so much potential in this world, and I think the writers are excited to explore it. We’ll see who pops up.

DEADLINE: I love when the creator knows that viewership will largely have read the book so they include all these little nods, references and hints at things to come.

KENNEDY: I think it’s really important, especially because the fans are the reason that the series is popular. They love it. They’ve invested so much time and online content and excitement. It wouldn’t exist without them. So I am glad for little easter eggs like that. Louisa and Gina and the writers had an easter egg list when they when they were working, and it was like, how many of these can we get in, and they did their best to try to put in — I can’t spoil anything, but I think when people watch the show, they’re gonna see. There’s little objects or little references that [connect]. I think people will be happy. They’re definitely going to notice all of the nods to the books and to future books too.

DEADLINE: Are there any romance tropes you still want to write?

KENNEDY: I can’t say because the one I’m doing right now is one that I was dying to do, so I just turned in that book. So the next book that comes out is a trope that I’m excited about.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. It took place at the beginning of May before Elle Kennedy unveiled the title of Bad Idea which follows Dean and Allie’s daughter Ivy Di Laurentis and AJ Connelly.

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movies

‘The Batman Part II’ Casts Brian Tyree Henry, Sebastian Koch & More

Published

2 hours ago

May 15, 2026

qasimgillani

Gotham City is welcoming a few new faces as production on The Batman: Part II gets underway.

After Deadline reported that Sebastian Stan was in talks to join the sequel as Harvey Dent (aka Two-Face) and Scarlett Johansson was also eyeing a role, writer and director Matt Reeves confirmed his casting on social media with a GIF, along with several new cast members.

“In a Gotham state of mind… Welcome,” wrote Reeves with Stan’s announcement.

Reeves also posted a GIF of Johansson looking in a car’s rear-view mirror. “Next exit, Gotham… Welcome,” he wrote.

Keeping up the Gen Z-friendly announcements, Reeves shared GIFs of Brian Tyree Henry, Sebastian Koch and Charles Dance, whose casting Deadline previously reported.

They join returning stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon and Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb/The Penguin

Last week, Reeves revealed that production has begun on The Batman: Part II, teasing set photos of the Batmobile driving through snow.

Gunn revealed last July that the script for The Batman: Part II was finished, following several delays. In August, a letter to Warner Bros. Discovery’s shareholders revealed that filming on the sequel would begin filming in the spring, ahead of an Oct. 1, 2027 theatrical release.