By JOHN CARTER JR.
Warner Bros. and Disney+ are getting audiences primed for their upcoming slates of content.
Superheroes continue to dominate the movie and streaming space, but who will win the next battle in the ongoing streaming wars and will other services take a swing at these juggernauts and their content?
The video DC – The World Needs Heroes dropped on the Warner Bros. Pictures YouTube Channel on Feb. 11. Revealing not only new clips of their upcoming projects (The Batman, Black Adam, The Flash and Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom) but specifically showing off heroes we haven’t seen before. The trailer showed more of Erza Miller’s Flash, Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam, Jason Mamoa’s Aquaman and Robert Pattenson’s Batman. The true reveals were in Noah Centineo’s Atom Smasher, Pierce Brosnan’s Doctor Fate, and (stand out) Aldis Hodge as Hawkman. This amazing trailer was dropped on YouTube before the swath of Super Bowl Sunday commercials. The trailer finishes with the reveal that the films will only be in theaters — leaving room for speculation as to how this will not only benefit the movie theater space but how it will impact HBO Max. With HBO Max previously having a slate of films set for a day and date release format in 2021, films such as Space Jam, The Snyder Cut, Mortal Kombat, Dune, The Matrix and more came directly to streaming and to theaters on the same day.
In more HBO Max news, it appears The Boondocks Reboot announced in 2019, based on the 2005 Adult Swim classic directed by Aaron McGruder, has been canceled according to Cedric Yarbrough. In an interview with the Geekset Podcast, Yarbrough, who played Tom Dubois on the original boondocks, stated Sony has decided to “pull the plug.” He goes on to express his wish for the show to come back, saying they already started to record and that the scripts were “so damn funny.”
Other Cartoon Network and Adult Swim properties have been making their way to the streaming platform with some given new reboots of their own. Adventure Time Distant Lands, a sequel to 2010’s Adventure Time, wrapped up this past year. However, it was again announced that it would be getting another spinoff in Adventure time: Fiona and Cake featuring Fiona, Cake, and Simon Petrikov (The former Ice King) in a new 10 episode series. However, with every hopeful spinoff is a sad cancellation with the Cartoon Network turned HBO Max series Infinity train, with Cartoon Network not wanting to pursue more seasons after the April 4 book Duet. Since the announcement of the cancellation, Twitter users and even the creator of the show have supported bringing back the show.
Disney, unlike Warner Bros., decided to launch its big superhero trailer on Super Bowl Sunday with the Marvel Entertainment YouTube Channel dropping Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness | Official Trailer on Feb. 13. The film’s trailer has reached more than 40 million views with DC’s Mutifilm showcase only gaining 800,000. The trailer gave many more clips of Benedict Cumberbach’s Dr. Strange, Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, Xochitl Gomez as the newly introduced America Chavez, Benedict Wong’s Wong and more. The news that drove the internet wild was the reveal of a tease at Patrick Stuart’s Professor Charles Xavier making an appearance in the new film. The film is set to release May 6.
In other streaming news WowPresents plus and the BBC Three have been hosting The International Drag competition Rupaul’s Drag Race UK vs The World . The Season debuted Feb. 1 with nine queens competing for the global crowns. As of Feb 22, five remain. The show has been met with mixed reactions as usua,l with the choices of elimination for an all-stars like season. Those eliminations being that of Lemon, Cheryl Hole, Jimbo, and most recently Pangina Heals, the co-host of Drag Race Thailand. Both Pangina and Jimbo’s eliminations were heavily discussed amongst the drag community. Drag Race Season 13 runner-up Candy Muse said “this elimination …………. cancel the entire season right now #DragRaceUK,” on Twitter in response to Jimbo’s elimination. With Jujubee, Blu Hydrangea, Mo Heart, Baga Chips and Janey Jacke remaining, who will make it to the top four and be crowned queen of the world. Viewers will need to tune into WowPresents Plus.