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Brent Lang Moves to IndieWire as Next Editor-in-Chief

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Veteran entertainment journalist Brent Lang has been named editor-in-chief of IndieWire, succeeding longtime editorial leader Dana Harris-Bridson, parent company Penske Media announced Friday.

Lang joins IndieWire effective Aug. 17 after serving as executive editor at sister publication Variety, where he helped oversee the outlet’s film and entertainment coverage. Harris-Bridson had led IndieWire since 2011, guiding its expansion as one of Hollywood’s leading film and television publications.

The leadership change is an internal move within Penske Media. Lang moves from the much-larger Variety, with a staff of over 200, to overseeing IndieWire’s smaller newsroom of just under 25 staffers.

More to come…

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‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Post Credits Scene, Explained

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If you’re just leaving the theater for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” you may be wondering what the hell just happened.

Tom Holland’s latest Spidey adventure (this one helmed by Destin Daniel Cretton) concludes with a single scene at the very end of the credits, one that builds off of an application seen throughout the rest of the movie.

The only problem is, early audiences can’t decide what it actually means.

So we’re going to break down the most logical explanations for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s” post-credits scene and how it might tie into “Avengers: Doomsday.”

This should go without saying since we’re talking about the very last frames of the film, but spoiler warning for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”

What is the post-credits scene for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”?

In “Brand New Day,” audiences are introduced to the Spidey Tracker, an app developed in-universe by Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) to help him locate Spider-Man based on reported sightings. Ned developed the app in the hopes of tracking Spider-Man down and thanking him for saving him so many times during high school (not remembering that the reason Spidey was always there for the save, and the reason that they were often in danger, was because it was his best friend, Peter Parker).

Sony and Marvel used the Spidey Tracker for some real-world marketing, featuring it heavily in promos and giving it its own website at spideytracker.com. The tracker is another example of how heavily “Brand New Day” is inspired by Insomniac’s recent Spider-Man PlayStation games, with a similar app, the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man app, developed in Spider-Man: Miles Morales by Miles’ friend Ganke Lee (a comic book character that also inspired the MCU’s interpretation of Ned Leeds).

The Spidey Tracker comes to play again in the film’s post-credits scene, which features no actors or live-action footage. Instead, the scene simply shows that a new Spider-Man sighting has been detected by the app, which zooms out to show that said Spidey appears somewhere in outer space beyond the moon. I guess Ned’s coding really thought of everything.

It’s a brief scene that is light on details, so what it actually means is anybody’s guess. Clearly, a Spider-Man is in space — but where, and which one, remains up for debate. As early crowds debate their interpretations, here are the theories that seem the most likely.

"Spider-Man: No Way Home" (Sony Pictures)
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” (Credit: Sony Pictures)

Theory #1: Earth-616 goes into the Spider-Verse

Have you heard of incursions? They’re about to come to play in a big way in “Avengers: Doomsday.”

In case you’ve forgotten from movies like “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” incursions are cosmic events that see two universes from the multiverse cross over with one another, threatening to crash into each other and destroy all life. In Jonathan Hickman’s “New Avengers” comic (which leads up to his “Secret Wars” event), heroes are given two options when faced with an incursion: They can allow both Earths to crash into each other, destroying both universes, or they can destroy one planet Earth and allow both universes to live. Heavy stuff!

The appearance of another Spider-Man off-world could imply that the boundaries between the main Marvel universe (Earth-616) and another world in the multiverse are eroding, allowing them to cross over. So who would that other Spider-Man be? The most likely culprits would be Peter 2 (Tobey Maguire) and Peter 3 (Andrew Garfield), who both already visited the MCU in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”

But there are also plenty of other Spideys that exist in the multiverse but have not been seen in the MCU: Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy (Ghost Spider) and Miguel O’Hara (Spider-Man 2099), to name a few.

So perhaps this post-credits scene is teasing that the MCU will not just cross over with the Fox X-Men and Fantastic Four’s universes, as teased in the “Doomsday” trailer, but will also feature another Spider-Man’s world getting pulled into the mix.

The only problem with this theory is that the Spidey Track blip appears to be pretty far out in space for it to be an incursion. Without much data on what incursions actually look like in the MCU, however, it can’t be fully written off.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Vanessa Kirby, Pedro Pascal and Joseph Quinn in "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" (Credit: Marvel Studios)
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Vanessa Kirby, Pedro Pascal and Joseph Quinn in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” (Credit: Marvel Studios)

Theory #2: A Fantastic voyage

If Spider-Man is headed to space, he’s going to need a spaceship. Who do we know in “Doomsday” who has one of those?

A second possibility for this post-credits scene is that Spider-Man has hitched a ride with the Fantastic Four, seen entering Earth-616 on their rocket in the credits scene for “Thunderbolts*.” This theory itself comes with two different readings.

First of all, the Fantastic Four, after arriving to Earth-616, could end up going back to space for a mission in “Doomsday.” If that’s the case, perhaps Holland’s Peter Parker hitches a ride with them, giving movie audiences the first glimpse at the Fantastic Four/Spider-Man relationship that is so pivotal in the comics.

There’s also a possibility that, when the Fantastic Four arrives on Earth-616, they’re already bringing another Spider-Man with them. Matt Shakman previously stated that the Fantastic Four are the only heroes native to Earth-818, but perhaps another Peter Parker met up with the Four after another incursion event in their universe. It’s a stretch (get it? Mr. Fantastic?), but these multiverses escapades can get pretty complicated.

Doctor Doom, Avengers: Doomsday, Marvel
Doctor Doom in “Avengers: Doomsday” (Marvel)

Theory #3: Welcome to Battleworld

Another theory is that this post-credits scene doesn’t tie into “Doomsday” at all — it ties into its sequel, “Avengers: Secret Wars.”

The original “Secret Wars” from the 1980s (an event written by Jim Shooter, with art by Mike Zeck, Bob Layton and John Beatty, meant to drive toy sales) sees a collection of Marvel heroes and villains travel to a distant planet called Battleworld, created by an all-powerful being named the Beyonder.

In 2015, Hickman and Esad Ribić rebooted this concept with an event comic that served as the conclusion to Hickman’s time on “Avengers” and “New Avengers.” In that book, Doctor Doom takes the power of the Beyonders to create a patchwork Battleworld (made up of the incursion points from various Earths) as the last remnant of the multiverse.

While most people lose their memories of life before Battleworld in Hickman and Ribić’s comic, a select group of heroes (including Peter Parker and Miles Morales) survive the change with their memories intact by boarding a ship known as the Life Raft, created by Reed Richards and T’Challa to restart society after the death of the multiverse.

Assuming that the next two “Avengers” films follow a similar narrative arc, it’s possible that Spider-Man’s presence in space is actually him appearing on Battleworld in “Secret Wars” rather than making an unannounced “Doomsday” appearance.

venom
Sony Pictures

Theory #4: Let there be Venom

You know what else first appeared in the 1984 “Secret Wars”? Venom.

Well, kind of. Technically, Spider-Man’s black costume debuted in 1984’s “The Amazing Spider-Man #252,” a book that takes place after “Secret Wars” despite being released sooner (in a time when fans were likely far less picky about lore and chronology than they are today). Peter obtained that black costume on Battleworld, with audiences not learning until later that it was actually an alien (with loads of Venom lore being filled in from there).

Both Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 3” and the Tom Hardy “Venom” trilogy already established the Symbiotes as being extraterrestrial, and the post-credits scene for “No Way Home” revealed that some of Venom was left behind on Earth-616. Maybe that detail will finally come into play in the upcoming films, tying into a spacebound Spider-Man adventure.

Or maybe this is a stretch even Reed Richards couldn’t make.

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Wendell Pierce & Erika Woods Talk ‘Raising Kanan’ Penultimate Episode

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SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points for Starz’s Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 5 Episode 7.

With only one episode to go for the series finale of the hit Starz crime drama Power Book II: Raising Kanan, there’s no doubt that there are plenty of bodies yet to be piled up. In last night’s episode—the penultimate of the series—fans witnessed the end of three lives that were mostly unexpected.

As I reported this morning, following the early season death of Lou (Malcolm Mays), Raising Kanan killed off his brother Marvin (London Brown) in Episode 7. This ending was not fully a surprise, as the character had accepted his fate and had plans put in motion to protect his daughter Jukebox (Hailey Kilgore). Read Brown’s true post-mortem to learn more about what was going on in Marvin’s head and what could’ve been should he have survived.

What I didn’t note in that story is that there were two more significant deaths. Last night, we also said goodbye to Snaps (Wendell Pierce) and Pop (Erika Woods), two agents of chaos who joined the fold in Season 3. They were murdered by Juke in a surprise twist following the revelation that they were behind Famous’ (Antonio Ortiz) death in Season 4.

Pierce and Woods spoke to Deadline about Snaps and Pop’s demise, what it’s like playing a couple as a real-life couple, and why it was perfect that they were shot to death by Juke.

DEADLINE: What was the initial attraction for you both to play Snaps and Pop?

ERIKA WOODS: Getting to work with Wendell Pierce definitely made it very attractive. I mean, duh. [Laughs] For me, that was that was first and foremost. And then getting to play someone on the other side of law, since I’ve always played law enforcement. Getting to play someone so devious and delicious and methodical-it was really challenging and, most of all, fun.

WENDELL PIERCE: I just wanted to be a part of the world. They are very specific in the way they develop characters and populate the world of the Power universe. That’s a very rare thing. So, any sort of good writing is always attractive.

DEADLINE: When I announced your castings, I learned you are a real-life couple. What was it like working together?

WOODS: It was really fun and a great learning experience. And just like with any coworker, it was a great collaboration with not just Wendell, but our nephew Breeze [Shameik Moore] and all the other great characters in the universe. It was the icing on the cake.

PIERCE: You do the work as normal. You try to be a great collaborator and be there for your scene partner. And since we know each other really well, it really helps develop the characters a little deeper.

DEADLINE: One of my favorite elements of this couple was how they dressed and carried themselves. The costumes were all top-notch. Did you enjoy that as well?

WOODS: Yes, it was the other character in the universe; our wardrobe, led by Tsigie White, was another collaborator for us. I absolutely loved it. It helped shape our characters.

PIERCE: It lets you know who you are. The clothes are just another variable that lets you know who the character is as a part of the character development. And Tsigie is a great designer. Everything was custom. I really think the work that she did is worthy of awards because people always take it for granted that costuming is not easy, especially when it’s a contemporary show. It really is very specific, very inventive, very creative work with different fabrics. We became known for dressing alike and complementing each other so much so that our characters have become one of the leading characters for Halloween.

DEADLINE: Did either of you take anything home as a memento?

PIERCE: I did. I had such great hats. I took several hats. You know, the red ostrich and brown leather and all of that. So I have a collection of a few of the hats.

WOODS: I definitely did take a pair of boots. Really nice vintage boots that I loved.

DEADLINE: Focusing on Episode 7, we all say goodbye to Snaps and Pop after Jukebox murders them. Why was she the right person to kill them?

WOODS: I think with Juke it was the element of surprise, which I think was perfect, because Kanan [Mekai Curtis] might have been the obvious choice. I think to have Juke and her discretion and being so methodical, we had no idea we were being followed. She outgained us in the end. I thought that was just genius writing, and very well played.

PIERCE: Ultimately, when you are in the game, you always have to have your head on a swivel and watch your back. But it’s almost impossible for anyone to be absolutely perfect. With as long as we have been in the game, and as the OGs, we let our guard down. It takes that one moment of indiscretion and relaxation that puts you in jeopardy. That’s the lesson that’s learned. You pay the consequences for the lifestyle that you lead, and as the saying goes, no one gets out of this life alive.

DEADLINE: With the loss of Marvin, Snaps, and Pop, how do you think it will affect the game?

PIERCE: The thing I love about the Power Universe is we play with time. This was a prequel set before the original Power, and next we’re seeing Origins, how others come on. We spoke for two seasons about Breeze before we even saw him. So there are opportunities to go back and discover how these people got involved in the game, and what made them an OG. There are flashbacks [on the show]. We saw Lou after he was dead, and we saw scenes leading up to his death. There’s still a lot of history about Snaps and Pop that we don’t know. Snap, Crackle, and Pop. Who’s Crackle?

DEADLINE: Wait a minute, there’s a Crackle?

WOODS: Yep!

PIERCE: You’ll have to wait and see.

DEADLINE: It has to be DefCon.

PIERCE: We’ll have to wait and see. And what was our relationship with DefCon? Who is DefCon?

WOODS: Huh? It would be nice to reveal that in Origins, don’t you think, Rosy? I think that would be a very nice reveal because I can neither confirm nor deny.

PIERCE: Ultimately, you have to pay the consequences for your actions. So that’s the lesson in what happens to these characters in this episode. What you do in the dark will ultimately come to light, so you best be careful. There, but by the grace of God, go I. What happened to me can also happen to you.

DEADLINE: So what you are teasing is that you both could come back as flashbacks in Power: Origins?

PIERCE: Anything is possible.

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John Oliver Extends HBO Deal for One More Year

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John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” will live on for another year, TheWrap has learned.

The late night host has signed a new deal to extend his time with the premium cable network for another year, meaning the show will carry on until at least the end of 2027. This marks a change from his previous three-year deal cadence amid uncertainty related to the impending Paramount Global merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, HBO’s parent company.

More to come…

The post John Oliver Extends HBO Deal for One More Year appeared first on TheWrap.

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