Blumhouse has been the heart of horror for much of the last couple decades, with franchises like The Conjuring, Insidious, and Sinister making big money at the box office and becoming instant audience favorites. With the worlds of Annabelle and The Conjuring always expanding, fans have sometimes wondered about the "shared universe" potential for some of the Blumhouse movies, and producer Jason Blum admitted in a recent interview that it's something he and his team have considered. More specifically, the Sinister and Insidious franchises felt like a good fit for some kind of crossover, leading to some development on a project that never quite got off the ground.

It makes sense to be cautious about these things. While Freddy vs. Jason and Alien vs. Predator were both huge hits, for example, none of those franchises has ever hit those same heights again since. The challenge, Blum explained, was finding a story that made the crossover worth doing.

"I think it would be fun to do, but we have to find the right story," Blum told Cinepop. "We developed it for a while, like you said, you're right, we did develop it for a while, but we could never come up with a great movie. And I didn't want to make a movie just for the sake of combining the two franchises. I wanted to make a movie that was really good. We never came up with a great idea, but I'm open."

Insidious, which has spawned three other films in its series, centers on a couple whose son slips into what seems like a coma -- but is in fact a kind of astral projection, making him a conduit for demonic activity and essentially allowing him to become possessed. Sinister follows a struggling true-crime writer, who finds a number of especially violent and gruesome snuff films, and finds himself pulled into supernatural intrigue, desperately trying to keep his family safely out of it.

Blum is currently working the press rounds in support of Insidious: The Red Door. As a studio head, though, he has been answering plenty of questions about other projects, including the long-delayed Spawn reboot from comics legend Todd McFarlane.

"I would say you have a lot to hope for because it's in very very active development," Blum told ComicBook.com's Chris Killian. "What needs to happen is that my fellow friends the writers and the studios need to figure out their differences and get back to writing, but we've got a great group of folks putting it together, and my hope is that that movie -- my prediction is maybe we'll actually see a Spawn movie in '25. No promises, but that's my prediction."

Update, 6/30/2023, 1 p.m. ET: An earlier version of this report inadvertently cited the wrong source interview. We apologize for the error.

While last year's Hocus Pocus 2 brought back original Hocus Pocus stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, it also introduced audiences to new characters, such as Sam Richardson's Gilbert. A third film in the series was confirmed just earlier this month, though there are many unknown factors about what this upcoming adventure would explore, but Richardson recently confirmed his interest in bringing back Gilbert. Between the current writers' strike and potential actors' strikes on the horizon, we shouldn't expect substantial momentum on the project anytime soon. Hocus Pocus 3 doesn't currently have a release date.

When asked by TheWrap about whether Gilbert will be returning for the third film, Richardson revealed, "I certainly hope so, I had such a great time playing Gilbert in Hocus Pocus 2. I'd go and play on that set any day of the week. You just tell me, I'll be there."

In the original Hocus Pocus, the evil Sanderson sisters were resurrected when a virgin inadvertently lit the Black Flame Candle. In the sequel, Gilbert intentionally recreated the candle to bring the sisters back, having witnessed their magic when he was a kid. By the end of the film, Gilbert had realized the error of his ways and helped our teen-aged heroes take down the sisters, which would allow him to make a more amicable return for a third film.

The original Hocus Pocus landed in theaters in the summer of 1993 and was relatively overlooked at the time, likely due to it hitting theaters so far ahead of Halloween and with Jurassic Park having been released shortly before the Halloween-themed adventure. Over the years, broadcasts of Hocus Pocus on various networks saw an entire generation of young viewers become enchanted with the experience its following grew more passionate with each passing year.

It may have taken nearly 30 years for a sequel to emerge, but it sounds as though it won't take nearly as long for a third entry, given how successful Hocus Pocus 2 was for Disney+. It's currently unknown if Midler, Parker, and Najimy will return for a third film, but sequel director Anne Fletcher and sequel writer Jen D'Angelo are reportedly on board.

Stay tuned for updates on Hocus Pocus 3.

Would you like to see Richardson return for the third film? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

Over the course of two seasons, Showtime's Yellowjackets has established itself as one of the most twisted and entertaining TV shows around. The mystery-thriller follows a group of high school girls lost in the wilderness after a plane crash, and the women they become more than two decades after the accident. Yellowjackets asks a lot of questions without providing many answers (yet), leading to an abundance of fan theories online. One of the theories floating around after the conclusion of Season 2 focuses on the character of Van, and how she might be the big "evil" force behind so much of the tragedy.

There isn't a lot of hard evidence to support that claim, and Van has been on the wrong end of some of the worst incidents in the series so far. Liv Hewson, who plays the teenage version of Van, thinks that theory is beyond ridiculous.

"Van, who's been minding her business in Ohio for 25 years? Give me a break," Hewson told Teen Vogue during a recent interview. "If somebody's 'evil,' you don't have to think about what their motivations are. You're invited to engage with these characters as human beings insofar as you want to or decide to, but to see people try and react to Yellowjackets as moral absolutism? I'm not sure what show you're watching. Everyone's gonna do terrible things on the 'doing terrible things to survive' show!"

As Hewson indicated, Van has been arguably the furthest removed from the drama since leaving the wilderness. She's been running a video store in Ohio, taking care of her ailing mother, and dealing with cancer of her own.

Yellowjackets Bonus Episode

The second season of Yellowjackets wrapped up its run on Showtime earlier this year, but there's more on the way before Season 3. Co-creator Ashley Lyle revealed on social media that there will be "bonus episode" arriving some time between Season 2 and Season 3, though the exact timing and content of the episode is a total mystery,

"There will be a bonus episode between seasons," Lyle told a fan on Twitter, "but I love you guys and I don't want y'all to lose sleep thinking it's tonight."

Some fans had theorized that an unannounced episode would be released the week after the Season 2 finale aired. The second season only consisted of nine episodes, so many had hoped that there would be a surprise 10th installment at its normal time.

What did you think of the second season of Yellowjackets? Which wild fan theory is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

Ryan Murphy's anticipated second season of Monster, a series that will center on the Menendez Brothers murder, has cast its leads. Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez will play Erik and Lyle Hernandez, brothers who were convicted of killing their parents in 1996. While the first season of Monster drew fire from critics for glamorizing the murders of Jeffrey Dahmer, the Menendez killings are a bit less controversial -- although certainly no less high-profile, having given the OJ Simpson trial a run for its money as the most-covered big-money murder trial of the 1990s.

Deadline first broke the story. Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story will be the next installment in the franchise, and one of the last big projects for Murphy at Netflix, having recently revealed that he plans to leave the streamer and set up shop with Disney at the end of his current contract.

On August 20, 1989, Jos? and Mary Men?ndez were killed in their Beverly Hills home, with their sons calling 911 to report that someone had killed their parents, as they claimed they were out that evening seeing Tim Burton's Batman. In the months after the murders, the brothers lived relatively affluent lifestyles, thanks to the inheritance from their parents, which partially contributed to authorities believing the brothers were the only ones with a motive for the murders. Erik would go on to confess his crimes to his psychologist in 1990, leading to the pair's arrest.

The trial of the Men?ndez brothers revealed that the pair had been physically, emotionally, and sexually abused by their parents over the course of years, leading to the night of their murder, in which the brothers claimed they feared for their own lives. The brothers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for their crimes in 1996, a process which took two trials, since the first ended in a deadlocked jury.

Between the salacious details of the crimes, the televised trial, and growing infatuation the public held for cable TV, the trial and the brothers themselves became a major staple of pop culture in the early '90s. Last year's Monster was a major event for Netflix, topping its most-watched charts for weeks, and star Evan Peters earned various awards for his portrayal of Dahmer. The controversies largely centered around what some audiences felt was an exploitative and humanizing portrayal of Dahmer, with victims' families expressing their disappointment with Netflix and Murphy for the series' existence. With Season 2 focusing on one specific crime, it would seem more likely that the series will spend just as much time exploring the public's obsession with the crimes as the crimes themselves.

The Evil Dead franchise is alive and well, as proven by the success of its latest installment, Evil Dead Rise. The new film, a continuation of the world created by Sam Raimi, hit theaters back in April and went on to gross more than $146 million on a modest budget. It was a winner for Warner Bros. theatrically, and that has already led fans to wonder if another sequel will be on the way soon, or if they'll have to wait another decade for a follow-up.

Lee Cronin, who directed Evil Dead Rise, has mixed feelings about taking on a direct sequel. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Cronin shared his thoughts on making another Evil Dead.

"Look, [another Evil Dead] is always a possibility," Cronin said. "I had a great experience making this movie with some really great people, and in success, that makes you look at what is possible next. When I was announced as the person to do this movie, it's not that I wasn't the obvious choice. There were some people that would've known who I was from my previous film, horror aficionados and people that liked that movie. But I came from a bit of a different place. There is a part of me that's interested in planting a very different flag within genre. This film has a lot of intensity, it has a lot of its own energy and maybe it would be gratifying for me to just go and do something else."

Cronin went on to say that, while he'd like to do something different, he also feels tempted to go back to the world of Evil Dead and follow Rise with another story.

"But equally, it's also very tempting to look back into this world, particularly the characters that have survived and the new lore that I've brought into play," he continued. "So it's certainly something to be discussed. It's something that we discussed on set, because when you're making a movie in a franchise, you're always talking about what's next and what's possible. So I suppose I'm in the lucky position where I have some choice, whereas in the past, when you're trying to crawl up the ladder to be a filmmaker with any focus on you, you're just going after the thing that you're desperate to get made. So it's nice right now.

"You talked about things in a drawer, and I put down other original ideas and original screenplays to go and make Evil Dead Rise. So it's nice to be in this moment where I'm able to look around and think about what's next. Sometimes, it's about the relay. So I love all my children equally, and let's see who's the quickest to the start line, so we can start the race again with another movie."

Where to Watch Evil Dead Rise

Evil Dead Rise had a great run at the box office just a couple of months ago, but the acclaimed franchise sequel is already available to stream.

The film was added to the Max streaming lineup this month, so anyone with a Max subscription can watch it right now, at no extra cost. If you don't have Max you can sign up here.

What did you think of Evil Dead Rise? Let us know in the comments!

When comic book fans think of DC, they might often jump to the superheroics of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman, but the publisher's storied history of figures has debuted all kinds of creations, including the monstrous Swamp Thing. With James Mangold developing a new Swamp Thing movie for the revived DC Universe under James Gunn and Peter Safran, the filmmaker has claimed that, rather than there being any goal of establishing an interconnected universe with long-term ramifications, he wants to use Swamp Thing as a way to tell a gothic horror story akin to something like Frankenstein or even inspired by the seminal '80s film RoboCop.

"Basically, the second I heard DC was going through some leadership convulsion and James was taking over, I just saw it as an opportunity to throw my hat down in the most -- I mean I just called them and I said, 'In all the stuff you're doing, if the idea of me making a gothic horror film, origin story of Swamp Thing fits in, tell me,'" Mangold recently revealed to the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "It's no different speech than anyone else gets with me; I don't have any agenda for a universe, I'm not building towards someone joining in some future. Have at it, but I'd just be interested in telling, I've always been interested in doing a version of Frankenstein, basically, and, yet, I feel, 'It's alive!' has been done enough, but Swamp Thing always occurred to me as this wonderful version of a Frankenstein story, much in the way one of my favorite pop films of growing up, RoboCop, the original one. This guy who just wakes up and he's been turned into, he finds he's become this machine, was also something I was fascinated with with Logan, obviously."

He continued, "But, to me, the idea of making almost a noir, mystery, horror film about a guy who wakes up and he's this thing. There's an amnesiac quality of, 'How did I get here and who did this to me?' So I'm envisioning a horror-noir film following a creature that can't be seen, trying to piece together from fragments of memories, what happened and who did it. And none of this runs counter to the Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson and all the great work that went on ... I'm just framing it up in a new movie context, but that's all they were exploring in these comics and so beautifully."

It was only a decade ago that the slate of DC heroes earned a revival under a shared continuity with 2013's Man of Steel, with that franchise embracing a more dour and subdued tone. With Mangold claiming he wants to make a horror movie and the franchise previously delivering somber heroes, the filmmaker went on to address if his film will deliver R-rated material.

"My favorite thing about rated R isn't that I can say 'f-ck' or we can show naked people or more blood, which all obviously happens, can happen with that rating. But then when you make a rated-R movie, the entire marketing apparatus of a studio understands that they cannot dream, on this particular picture, of action figures, lunch boxes, and special tie-ins to get children to this movie," Mangold expressed. "It changes the way the script is perceived, meaning that, to use an example, Logan, pretty early on in the picture, there's an almost eight-minute scene between Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman inside that water tower. You can't do an eight-minute scene between two men over 40, entirely dialogue, one of them in a wheelchair talking about their past, in a movie that's designed [for younger audiences]. Your studio is gonna go, 'I don't know, Fast X is speaking more my language.' The reality is the rating suddenly creates tremendous space, even if you're not using the rating for what it's designed for. It creates an understanding of who this movie is for and that's a real advantage."

James Mangold's Swamp Thing doesn't currently have a release date.

Are you looking forward to Mangold's film? Let us know in the comments!

The mysterious adventures in MGM+'s FROM don't look to be coming to a close anytime soon, as the streamer confirmed today that a Season 3 of the series was officially on the way. Given that Season 2 of the series concluded with a bit of a cliffhanger earlier this year, audiences will be excited to know that they could get the answers they were hoping for in a Season 3, though the new episodes will sure to debut an all-new series of mysteries. While it's unknown when the third season could start filming, MGM+ is aiming for a 2024 release for Season 3.

"The first two seasons of FROM captivated critics and terrified and engaged fans, who have formed a thriving online community that is trying to put the pieces together week by week as the secrets of the nightmarish town -- and possibly beyond -- are slowly revealed," Michael Wright, head of MGM+, said in a statement. "We can't wait for fans to see the surprises ahead in Season 3, which promises more scares and mysteries, but also more answers."

"We're so grateful for the support of our fans and FROMily this season. We have a lot more story to tell ... and shocking, weird roads to take you on, with plenty of answers along the way," Jack Bender, executive producer, and director, added.

Per press release, "MGM+, a premium linear channel and streaming service, announced today that the contemporary sci-fi horror series FROM has been renewed for a 10-episode third season. Created and executive produced by John Griffin (Crater) and executive produced by showrunner Jeff Pinkner (Lost, Alias, Fringe), and director Jack Bender (Lost, Game of Thrones), the series unravels the mystery of a nightmarish town that traps all those who enter. In the wake of Season 2's epic cliffhanger, escape will become a tantalizing and very real possibility as the true nature of the town comes into focus, and the townspeople go on offense against the myriad horrors surrounding them. The series is set to return in 2024.

"FROM is the second-most viewed series in the history of the premium network, behind the Emmy-winning Godfather of Harlem, starring Forest Whitaker and co-created by Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein (Narcos).

"The series stars Harold Perrineau (Lost) and an ensemble cast that includes Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace, The Affair), Eion Bailey (Band of Brothers, Once Upon a Time), Hannah Cheramy (Under Wraps, Van Helsing), Simon Webster (Strays), Ricky He (The Good Doctor), Chloe Van Landschoot (Charity, Skin), Corteon Moore (Utopia Falls), Pegah Ghafoori (The Perfect Wedding), David Alpay (Castle Rock), Elizabeth Saunders (Clarice), Elizabeth Moy, Avery Konrad (Honor Society), and Scott McCord (East of Middle West). Joining the ensemble in Season Two were Nathan D. Simmons (Diggstown, This Hour Has 22 Minutes), Kaelen Ohm (Hit & Run, Eumenides Falls), Angela Moore (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Maid), A.J. Simmons (Reacher), and Deborah Grover (My Next Door Nightmare, Jann)."

Stay tuned for details on Season 3 of FROM.

Are you glad the series will return? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

With just a month to go until Disney's Haunted Mansion is unleashed on foolish mortals, the studio has released an all-new TV spot for the upcoming film to announce that tickets are now available for the adventure. Fans have already been given multiple looks at the upcoming adaptation of the beloved ride, so while this new TV spot doesn't offer many substantial updates, we are given a handful of new looks at the movie, including fresh perspectives on the iconic Hatbox Ghost. You can check out the all-new TV spot below before Haunted Mansion lands in theaters on July 28th.

In the new film, a doctor (Rosario Dawson) and her 9-year-old son (Chase Dillon), looking to start a new life, move into a strangely affordable mansion in New Orleans, only to discover that the place is much more than they bargained for. Desperate for help, they contact a priest (Owen Wilson), who, in turn, enlists the aid of a widowed scientist-turned failed-paranormal expert (LaKeith Stanfield), a French Quarter psychic (Tiffany Haddish), and a crotchety historian (Danny DeVito).

Back in 2003, the Pirates of the Caribbean film was a major success for Disney, which was based on the iconic ride from their amusement parks. Landing in theaters later that year was an Eddie Murphy-starring The Haunted Mansion, which failed to capture the public's attention as successfully as the swashbuckling adventure from earlier in the year. In this regard, Disney would become a bit more selective about how to bring beloved rides to life, so despite it taking 20 years for a new Haunted Mansion to be realized, it looks to be much more in the spirit of the source material than its predecessor.

This is a Disney film, however, so even though this film earned a PG-13 rating, it should still be an experience that's fun for the whole family.

"I think they found the sweet spot of scary, funny, and adventure," star Jamie Lee Curtis shared with Entertainment Weekly of the project. "You know, it's cooking. I barely cook, I attempt cooking all the time, and it's all ingredients, and then the mix and the time, and it's always hard to know, are you going to make something yummy? And from what I'm seeing, and what I've heard, [director] Justin [Simien] has made something yummy."

She continued, "It's modern, fresh, old-fashioned, and scary, but not scary like a monster movie. It's scary like a Disney ride, and funny. If you go on that ride, there's a lot of humor as well as the scary, ghost-y stuff."

Haunted Mansion hits theaters on July 28th.

Are you looking forward to the new movie? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

While there are a lot of unknowns surrounding the plot of the upcoming fifth and final season of Stranger Things, Netflix today confirmed that 10 Cloverfield Lane and Prey director Dan Trachtenberg had been enlisted to help bring the mysterious series to life. Even the streamer reported that it was currently unknown what episode the filmmaker would be directing, though it's unclear whether that's because they want to keep these details under wraps or if it's because, with shooting currently on hold, it hasn't been decided which chapter of the new season would be the best fit for his skills.

"Get ready to head back to Hawkins, Indiana. Season 5 of Stranger Things is inching closer, and a new member is joining the Party -- 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg will direct an episode of the show's upcoming final season," Netflix announced. "There's no word yet on which episode the director will helm, but he's an eminently qualified set of hands."

The streamer added, "The Stranger Things writing team began working on the show's final season in August 2022, and back in November 2022, they gave us a tantalizing hint about the Upside Down's epic conclusion. Episode 1 of Season 5 is called 'The Crawl,' but what that might signify is anyone's guess."

Trachtenberg is no stranger to keeping secrets, as he developed and began filming "Skulls" without revealing that the movie was an entry into the Predator franchise, and even expressed his disappointment when the movie was revealed to be a prequel to the iconic 1987 film before it was unleashed on audiences. Similarly, his film 10 Cloverfield Lane was largely kept under wraps until only months before its release, with that movie securing only a single trailer and avoiding offering any direct teases of how it connected to 2008's Cloverfield.

There's a lot of expectations about the upcoming Season 5 of the series, especially given that it's the series' sendoff, but audiences have an extended wait ahead of them, as the writers' strike saw production shutting down indefinitely. With various other filmmaking guilds on the verge of similarly striking, it's entirely unknown when production on Stranger Things will resume, though longtime fans know that the episodes will surely be worth the wait.

Stay tuned for details on Stranger Things Season 5.

Are you excited that the director has joined the new season? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

The long-in-development Spawn reboot is apparently close to entering production, with Insidious: The Red Door producer and Blumhouse chief Jason Blum telling ComicBook.com that the current hope is to have the movie in theaters in 2025. Unfortunately, it sounds like the script is not yet completed, because Blum suggested that the key to getting the movie back on track is the end of the current Writers Guild strike. He offered no insight as to whether the movie, which was to be directed by Todd McFarlane, is still working with McFarlane's original idea or whether big changes have been made since the last update.

Warner Bros. released a Spawn movie in 1997, through its New Line Cinema imprint. The movie earned $88 million at the box office -- about double its budget -- but was not regarded especially well by critics or audiences. McFarlane started talking about another movie in very specific terms in around 2016, saying that he had an Oscar-winning actor interested (this later turned out to be Jamie Foxx, who remains attached to the project). The plan is for the movie to be a hard-R horror film, rather than playing in the superhero genre like the previous movie did.

"I would say you have a lot to hope for because it's in very very active development," Blum told ComicBook.com's Chris Killian. "What needs to happen is that my fellow friends the writers and the studios need to figure out their differences and get back to writing, but we've got a great group of folks putting it together, and my hope is that that movie -- my prediction is maybe we'll actually see a Spawn movie in '25. No promises, but that's my prediction."

In Insidious: The Red Door, the horror franchise's original cast returns for the final chapter of the Lambert family's terrifying saga. To put their demons to rest once and for all, Josh (Patrick Wilson) and a college-aged Dalton (Ty Simpkins) must go deeper into The Further than ever before, facing their family's dark past and a host of new and more horrifying terrors that lurk behind the red door.

The original cast from Insidious is back with Patrick Wilson (also making his directorial debut), Ty Simpkins, Rose Byrne, and Andrew Astor. Also starring Sinclair Daniel and Hiam Abbass. Produced by Jason Blum, Oren Peli, James Wan and Leigh Whannell. The screenplay is written by Scott Teems from a story by Leigh Whannell, based on characters created by Leigh Whannell.

Insidious: The Red Door opens in theaters on July 7.

Netflix has released a new trailer for Bird Box Barcelona, the long-awaited sequel to the movie that captivated the internet in 2018. According to the streamer, the film follows Mario and his daughter, Anna, as they traverse Barcelona in search of shelter. Despite banding together with a crew that seems safe, a more nefarious threat looms just ahead. The movie apparently runs "in a parallel timeline" to the first movie, so don't expect direct connections between this movie and its Sandra Bullock-led counterpart. Ever since the first one exploded in popularity, Netflix saw franchise potential and started talking about creating a "Bird Box cinematic universe."

This is the second trailer for the new movie, with an earlier teaser coming out at the beginning of June. The film stars Mario Casas, Alejandra Howard, Naila Shuberth, Diego Calva, Leonardo Sbaraglia, and Krypton's Georgina Campbell.

You can see the trailer below.

Bird Box was a major hit for Netflix when it was released during Christmas of 2018. The horror movie premise was simple and easy to do on a budget ($19.8 million): entities so powerful that the sight of them makes people kill themselves. It was an effective vehicle for some great acting talent (Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, Sarah Paulson, John Malkovich) who made the feeling of ominous threat feel very real - often while wearing blindfolds.

Here's the official synopsis for Bird Box Barcelona:

From the producers of the global phenomenon, Bird Box, comes BIRD BOX BARCELONA, an expansion of the film that riveted audiences in 2018. After a mysterious force decimates the world's population, Sebastian must navigate his own survival journey through the desolate streets of Barcelona. As he forms uneasy alliances with other survivors and they try to escape the city, an unexpected and even more sinister threat grows.

Alex Pastor and David Pastor (Carriers, Self/Less), will be co-directors of Bird Box Barcelona. The film will star Mario Casas as Sebasti?n, Naila Schuberth as Sophia, Georgina Campbell (Barbarian), Diego Calva (Babylon), Alejandra Howard, Lola Due?as, Patrick Criado, Gonzalo de Castro, Michelle Jenner, Leonardo Sbaraglia, and Celia Freijeiro.

Bird Box Barcelona drops on the streamer on July 14.

Written by Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson, the one shot tells a fun story that fills in an interesting piece of Hellboy's history (which seems to be the point of these 50s tales). Readers are introduced to Virginia Payne, a character previously only seen in a Hellboy prose story, who needs help looking into mysterious animal attacks in rural India. Naturally there's a fun twist on what they think is happening here when the truth is revealed, one that could probably carry its own story arc. That's the magic of this entire world though, never giving readers more than is necessary

On that note, Hellboy universe comics have an impossible standard in the artistic realm. In addition to Mignola's own work you have the likes of Richard Corben, Duncan Fegredo, Laurence Campbell, and countless others that have near-perfect records. Which is to say that the work done by artist Alison Sampson and colorist Lee Loughridge really doesn't work in this one-shot. Sampson's styling of Hellboy is one that transitions between pages - at times he looks too human; at times he looks like a felt puppet; and sometimes the horns are too big. There's a staggering inconsistency with Hellboy across the issue, and that's just him.

Sampson's art isn't all bad, but oddly her best work is in the regular aspects of life here. Environments and vistas look great, and are shaded in a way that feels in-keeping with Hellboy standards, even the human characters have some good panels. There are even some instances where the character's interior thoughts and memories come to life in a unique way, but it is fleeting. On the whole though there's awkwardness, stilted poses, uncanny perspectives, poor framing, and positioning that defies the limits of the anatomy.

You can't win every game, and you're not going to like every comic. While there's instances in the storytelling of "Fearful Symmetry" that are fun and bring a Hellboy-style twist to things, the visuals can't even match the fun tone that's occurring. Sadly this is a pretty big misstep for the world of Hellboy.

Published by Dark Horse Comics

On June 28, 2023

Written by Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson

Art by Alison Sampson

Colors by Lee Loughridge

Letters by Clem Robins

Cover by Laurence Campbell and Dave Stewart

It's been five months since M3GAN was released and her cult appeal continues. Blumhouse's new movie, about an AI doll that becomes self aware and causes havoc, has done what most movies tend to do these days, left its previous streaming home and found a new one. Previously streaming on Peacock after its theatrical release concluded, M3GAN is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video at no extra cost. It's of note that only the theatrical cut of M3GAN can be watched for free on Amazon Prime Video, and the Unrated Cut of M3GAN, which features a few differences, has to be purchased on its own.

What is M3GAN rated?

The theatrical cut of M3GAN, the only version available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, is rated PG-13. M3GAN earned that rating for "violent content and terror, some strong language and a suggestive reference." For those curious about the specifics of why M3GAN was given a PG-13, while a lot of its violent content is obscured or not shown on screen, there is some that is visible. This includes a scene where M3GAN pulls a young boy's ear from the side of head, stretching it to a comical degree. Blood is seen throughout the movie, but the unrated cut is the only version to show a lot of it, which is the extent of the extended content in that version of M3GAN.

Who plays M3GAN?

When filming M3GAN, two different actresses actually brought the character to life. Young actress Amie Donald played the character on set, wearing a mask that was later augmented with visual effects in post-production. Afterward singer and TikTok star Jenna Davis provided the iconic voice of the character.

"I had to be very imaginative and really put myself in the situation because I was behind the mic," Davis previously said in an interview with Alternative Press. "I guess it could be seen as difficult in that regard, but I think I also found M3GAN and found her different [sides] - her fun side, her dark side, her oh-my-goodness-what-is-she-about-to-do side. It was fun to be able to play with tones, and also build a relationship with different characters because she's not a human, she's an AI.

A sequel to M3GAN has already been confirmed, with M3GAN 2.0 scheduled to be released in January of 2025. Screenwriter Akela Cooper is confirmed to be back for the sequel and is penning the script. Other cast members have not been confirmed just yet.

The Five Nights at Freddy's movie got its very first trailer this week to show what the game-to-movie adaptation of the acclaimed horrors series will look like on the big screen. The reveal follows teases from Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions, the horror studio producing the movie, that suggested we'd be getting this very reveal soon. The movie itself is scheduled to release in theaters and on Peacock on October 27th, so we'll hopefully get plenty more teases between now and then.

The trailer shown below opens with a setup that should be familiar to Five Nights at Freddy's fans. The security guard players control in the game is played by actor Josh Hutcherson here who's best known as Peeta from the Hunger Games series. Hutcherson's security guard character is Mike Schmidt who takes on a job offer from Matthew Lillard's character William Afton, the main antagonist from the games who is also the co-founder of Fazbear Entertainment. To raise the stakes a bit from what we see in the game since Five Nights at Freddy's focuses pretty much exclusively on the main player, the security guard Mike has his daughter with him at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, too, and is warned that the animatronics want to make the girl "like them."

"The terrifying horror game phenomenon becomes a blood-chilling cinematic event, as Blumhouse- the producer of M3GAN, The Black Phone and The Invisible Man- brings Five Nights at Freddy's to the big screen," a synopsis for the film reads. "The film follows a troubled security guard as he begins working at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift at Freddy's won't be so easy to make it through."

Blumhouse's Five Nights at Freddy's movie comes to theaters and Peacock on October 27th.

This story is developing...

Before you know it, summer will turn to fall and spooky season will be upon us. As has become standard with Halloween time, the theatrical slate is filling up with horror-based releases, including that of Saw X, the tenth entry in the Lionsgate-owned horror franchise. Monday afternoon, the film's official Twitter account released a new logo for the movie.

While a logo released earlier this year feature both "Saw" and "X" in the same style, the new logo has been update to differentiate between the two. While "Saw" continues to take on the appearance of the same typography of previous entries, the "X" has been given a more contemporary, classy look.

I'll put an X on my calendar. https://t.co/AeFTFTmGDu pic.twitter.com/MzzQvFaCwH

-- Saw (@Saw) June 26, 2023

Saw X filmed in Mexico City beginning late last year and finished this February. The film will feature the return of filmmaker Kevin Greutert, the director behind Saw VI and Saw: The Final Chapter. The film features the return of Tobin Bell as Jigsaw while new additions to the cast include Synn?ve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Michael Beach, Renata Vaca, Paulette Hernandez, Joshua Okomoto, and Octavio Hinojosa.

"Just wrapped shooting on Saw X, and though the challenges were huge (easy films are rarely worthwhile in the end), it was one of the most rewarding and epic experiences of my life. Cast and crew were firing on all cylinders though almost everyone involved was new to the SAW universe, and I got COVID in the final 2 weeks of production, and the movie was made entirely on edgy locations here in Mexico City. My fingers are trembling with anticipation as I look forward to starting to edit," Greutert wrote in an extended Twitter thread earlier this year.

"I hope we can use the title 'Saw X' because this chapter really gets back to the roots of what makes SAW so special to me and everyone else who loves John Kramer's saga," he continued. "Heartfelt thanks to all the cast, not all of whom I can name here but including Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Synn?ve Lund, Steven Brand, Renata Vaca, Paulette Hernandez, Octavio Hinojosa, Joshua Okamoto, and Michael Beach, and of course writers Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger, as well as production designer Anthony Stabley, cinematographer Nick Matthews, ADs Barbara Cole and Renan Bendersky, the phenomenal prosthetics team at Fractured FX, makeup key Malinalli Contreras, wardrobe supervisor Tenoria, my assistant Majo Nassar, and everyone else who helped make this happen, as well as producers Mark Burg, Oren Koules, Ulrich Maier, Erick and Lionsgate for trusting me with this blood-spitting beast of a story. This is an incredible day for me, can't wait for the world to see the final movie."

Saw X hits theaters October 27th.

One of the craziest missed connections in Hollywood history is the idea that A Nightmare on Elm Street star Robert Englund had a chance to play Luke Skywalker in 1977's Star Wars. Granted, this isn't like an Eric Stoltz thing where they got the movie into production and had to change -- but the proximity of an iconic actor with an iconic character that seems totally off-brand for him is a wild one. During a recent conversation with People, he recalled the story as clearly and succinctly as he could -- important, since a prior, shorter version of the story had gone viral, causing Mark Hamill to correct some of the misconceptions in it.

While hoping to get cast for Apocalypse Now, directed by George Lucas's longtime friend Francis Ford Coppola, a casting agent suggested Englund should instead try to read for the "space movie that they were casting across the hall." According to Englund, nothing ever came of it -- all they did was take a Polaroid of him and send him on his way -- but he was struck by the name "Luke Skywalker," which he said was "just the coolest name in the world."

Englund famously recommended Hamill for the role, although Hamill later said that his agent already had him up for it by then.

"I'm a character actor, so I never thought of it for me, but when I went back to my apartment, there was Mark with a Heineken in his fist watching Bob Newhart. I told him about it, and he got on the phone and called his agent," Englund told People. "Now his agent, I believe she already had him up for the role," Englund recalls. "And that may be true, I don't know, but I know that Mark hadn't heard about it yet. And I did tell him about it, and he got on the phone. That's the story."

In Hollywood Dreams and Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story, "A classically trained actor and director, Robert Englund has become one of the most revolutionary horror icons of our generation. Throughout his career, Englund starred in many well-known movies, but shot to super-stardom with his portrayal of supernatural serial killer Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. This unique and intimate portrait captures the man behind the glove and features interviews with Englund and his wife Nancy, Lin Shaye, Eli Roth, Tony Todd, Heather Langenkamp, and more."

Stay tuned for updates on the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Hollywood Dreams and Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story is streaming on Screambox and Digital HD.

"Who's There?" It's Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), in hot pursuit of the woman who snatched their belongings to end The Walking Dead: Dead City's "Old Acquaintances" series premiere. The chase for this shabbily-dressed denizen of post-apocalyptic New York City leads Maggie and Negan to a rooftop, stories above the thousands of walkers amassed on the streets below. "Damn! Well, that's cool," Negan can't help but remark at the sight of the nimble older woman ziplining from one rooftop to another. She's playfully leading them along, and Negan doesn't hesitate to give chase. Maggie braces herself, grips the pulley... and is unnerved by strange music coming from somewhere down below. Maggie makes it over the death slide. Welcome to New York!

In the countryside, Nina (Pallavi Sastry) introduces Ginny (Mahina Napoleon) to The Bricks. People from the Hilltop have relocated to an old brick factory converted into a farming colony somewhere outside New Babylon. The unspeaking Ginny hails from Oceanside, Nina says, as Ginny silently watches a man climb atop a grain silo.

Maggie and Negan catch up with the bag-napper, who doesn't speak but offers a trade: a half-eaten pigeon that Negan graciously accepts. He asks if she can take them to the building Maggie spotted blowing smoke at the same time every morning and night. "Pigeon Lady," as she's affectionately nicknamed by Negan, says something in a foreign language that Negan roughly translates to "'hell freakin' no.'" They can either follow her or go back to face the swarm of walkers and a bullet from New Babylon Marshal Perlie Armstrong (Gaius Charles).

"Pigeon Lady" leads the "tourists" to Amaia (Karina Ortiz) and Tommaso (Jonathan Higginbotham), native New Yorkers holed up in a bank building with other survivors. Her name is Esther, and she has the friendly demeanor of the Pigeon Lady from Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. "You don't know us, and we don't know you," Negan says, calming tensions. "Not saying that we're friendly, that depends on you. But I don't think this crazy pigeon lady -- no offense -- is gonna bring us all this way to get our asses smoked." Tommaso, who is the type to shout "I'm walkin' here!," gets tough: "Friendly? Does it look like we need friends? We own this city. There are thousands of us."

Clearly, they're not with the Croat. Maggie lies: they were heading up north to a settlement in Canada when their boat washed ashore in a storm. They're here to get supplies so they can get on their way again. But Amaia calls bullshit, so Luther (Michael Anthony) confiscates their weapons, and Tommaso takes Maggie and Negan to their cell: a bathroom with two sinks and two buckets.

Back at the Bricks, Ginny gets her own accomodations in Hershel's room. The humble bedroom shifts to another time and place: Maggie scolds a teenaged Hershel (Logan Kim) for skipping weapons training for the third time this month. She can't keep telling him how important it is "to be ready at all times," he finishes with attitude. She reminds him that the bo staff training is necessary: people could come at him with anything. He blows her off again. "Then I guess I'd be dead." Maggie admires his charcoal drawings, which her son snatches away and crumples into garbage.

In the present, Negan calls out Maggie for spinning bullshit instead of giving a little and getting a little. They could be good for manpower or information, Negan points out, which is what Maggie thought he's there for. Finally, he explains why he's been so tight-lipped about the Croat:

"Right around the time that the world turned into shit soup, the Croat turned up at my door, so to speak. He had been through... well, let's just say he had been through some really bad shit. Worst shit imaginable. So I took him in. Kept him from brain-painting the walls with someone he was calling his brother. Buraz. Said that I made him feel safe. I don't know, I guess at that point everyone was looking for a little sanctuary from the hellfire we'd all been damned to. I mean, we lost everything. The thing is, I really thought I was helping him."

"It takes a monster to make one, I guess," Maggie says through gritted teeth. "I was only a monster when I absolutely had to be," Negan responds. "When I had to put on a show to protect my people. Anyway... the Croat, he had a way of reading people. And then toying with them, and pulling them apart. When a threat needed to be handled, it was a skill set that I found very useful." The Croat was Negan's torturer, but he "took it too far" during one of the Sanctuary's first skirmishes with the Kingdom.

A young woman holed up in a car a few miles from the Sanctuary. She appeared to be a drifter, so Negan gave a direct order to let her walk. The Croat thought she was a scout with beans to spill -- which she eventually copped to after being subjected to torture so heinous that Negan is unable to say the words. "She was just a kid," Negan recalls. "After that, I knew he was a rabid dog that needed to be put down. I had one shot. One. I missed, blew off his ear. The rest of him got away." Negan hasn't seen or heard from him since. Maggie figures the Croat is going to want to kill Negan, a detail he neglected to mention before. "I do know how he operates, Maggie," he reminds her.

Elsewhere, Armstrong makes it to the address on the note he carries in his pocket: Oliver St., Apt. 505. NY, NY. 1003. It's the apartment where his brother, Joel Armstrong, holed up -- and shot himself in the head. Armstrong covers the long-rotting body with a sheet and a cross necklace. The closest thing to a burial. But no last rites. Armstrong picks up the gun, checks it for bullets, and leaves the room without a word. Outside in the alley, Armstrong steps into an animal trap and is strung up in a net.

Back at the bank building, Amaia and Tommaso's people are clearing out in a hurry. Maggie and Negan led the Croat's Burazi right to them. When Tommaso doesn't listen to his suggestion they join forces, Negan threatens him with the pigeon bone he's been sharpening all afternoon. "I want to gauge your jugular out right this second," Negan growls, "but I'm not gonna do that. Because we are here to help you." Maggie and Negan help Amaia and Tommaso's people fend off the Burazi, the Croat's gang clad in overcoats and motorcycle helmets fashioned with protruding blades. Maggie, Negan, Amaia, Tommaso, and Luther get away, but a Burazi takes Esther hostage. Negan tries to talk him down, but there's no negotiating with these barbarians. The helmeted Burazi stabs Esther in the guts, killing her, causing Amaia and Tommaso to mourn their beloved family member.

Big mistake. In a rage, Negan rips the Burazi's helmet off and drags him into the bank. As the Croat's convoy descends on the building, Negan slams the Burazi's head through panes of glass on the upper level. "Knock knock!" He shit talks a "neckbeard" Burazi below. "Holy shit, are you kidding me? Seriously? You have a neckbeard AND a rat tail? I get it, the world went to hell and you stopped giving a shit. But my dude, there is a line. So how about you put your helmet back on, stuff all that shit back away, and stop being such a distraction to the rest of us." As Negan puts on a show, he doesn't hear Maggie slink in behind him.

"Knock knock? Who's there? Butter. Butter who? Butter get out your umbrellas, because it is about to goddamn rain!" With that, Negan slits the Burazi's throat, spraying blood over his brethren. Then Negan grips the knife and slices open his victim's guts, draining blood and innards over the Burazi below. "I don't know if any of you have checked tonight's forecast, but if I see even one mole hair on one of your ugly-ass faces, it won't be just a rainstorm. Hell, it won't be a thunderstorm. It'll be a goddamn hurricane!" Negan casually dumps the body over the rail - and turns to see Maggie. Goddamn it. She saw that.

As Ginny sneaks a stolen motorbike out of the Bricks, Negan peels glass shards out of his blood-stained hands. He's sitting with what he did under Luther's watchful eye. Amaia comforts a grieving Tommaso. She hands him Esther's necklace of a gold Pi symbol. He cops to lying about "the thousands of us out there." The people they lost this day are their family, and the few of them still alive are all that's left, thanks to the Croat. "You get on the island, but you don't get off. Those Burazi back there, the psycho they work for, he made sure of that," Tommaso says.

"You mean the Croat," Maggie says. No more bullshit. That psycho "Van Gogh" is the reason they're in New York: he has her son. "So, you want to go to the psycho," Amaia tells her. "That we can help you with. You know... if you're looking to die."

Armstrong might do just that. Night has fallen when the Croat (?eljko Ivanek) and his brotherhood of Burazi find the marshal strung up in their trap. Removing his bladed helmet, the Croat tells Armstrong: "Don't worry. You're safe now."

New episodes of The Walking Dead: Dead City premiere Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

[This story contains spoilers from The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 1 Episode 2, "Who's There?"] "It takes a monster to make one," says Maggie (Lauren Cohan) upon learning the history of the man who took her son: The Croat (?eljko Ivanek). In The Walking Dead: Dead City series premiere, Maggie turned to Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) for help months after the Croat raided her home at The Bricks outside New Babylon. As Maggie told it, the Croat's raiders outnumbered and overpowered the farming colony, stole all their grain, returned a month later to collect more -- and took Hershel (Logan Kim) as collateral. Sound familiar?

If that didn't ring a bell, it was the whistle -- one high tone, one low tone -- that did it. It was the last thing Maggie heard before she met Negan. "Oh, that Croat," he recalled of the "exceptionally insane son of a bitch" who ran with Negan's Saviors when he was running the show at the Sanctuary.

In Sunday's "Who's There?," the uncharacteristically tight-lipped Negan revealed intel on the man known only as the Croat. And it turns out he was too extreme even for Negan's Saviors.

The Croat turned up at Negan's door "right around the time that the world turned into shit soup." He'd been through "really bad shit, the worst shit imaginable," so Negan took him in and protected him. The Croat called him "buraz" -- "brother" in Croatian -- because Negan made him feel safe.

"I guess at that point everyone was looking for a little sanctuary from the hellfire we'd all been damned to. I mean, we lost everything. The thing is, I really thought I was helping him," Negan recalled. "The Croat, he had a way of reading people. And then toying with them and pulling them apart. When a threat needed to be handled, it was a skill set that I found very useful." The Croat was Negan's torturer.

We learn that the Croat took torture "too far" during one of the Sanctuary's first skirmishes with King Ezekiel's Kingdom, before Negan imposed his rule over Rick Grimes and the Alexandrians (explaining why the Croat was never seen or mentioned on The Walking Dead.)

"A person had holed up in a car a couple miles from the Sanctuary. She seemed to me she was a drifter, nothing to do with us or anything we were up to. So I gave a direct order: let her walk," Negan explained. "The Croat, he saw it differently, thought that she had beans to spill. And he was right. She was a scout. At least, that's what she copped to before..." Negan couldn't bring himself to utter how the Croat extracted that information. But his reaction gave it away: the young woman in the Croat's clutches suffered.

"She was just a kid. After that, I knew he was a rabid dog that needed to be put down. I had one shot. One. I missed. Blew off his ear. The rest of him got away. Haven't seen or heard from him since." Until now.

"We will get to see a little bit of [the Croat's history] coming up, so you'll get a clear idea of how he's sort of folded into the Negan backstory," Ivanek told ComicBook. "But that's why I also went back and watched all 11 seasons [of The Walking Dead] just trying to a figure out the Maggie and Negan relationship in the first place, but just this whole Negan world that I come from and I'm trying to recreate in some sense."

New episodes of The Walking Dead: Dead City premiere Thursdays on AMC+ and Sundays on AMC.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

American Horror Stories Season 3 has added Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Lisa Rinna to the cast. According to Deadline, Rinna will appear in an episode of the upcoming third season of the horror anthology series titled "Tapeworm". No details about the episode or her character have been announced, though per the report Rinna has completed most of the filming for the episode at this time. Rinna exited Real Housewives of Beverly Hills earlier. this year after eight seasons on the Bravo reality series.

American Horror Stories is a horror anthology series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk and serves as a spinoff/companion series to American Horror Story, though the two series are not necessarily always directly connected. Stories tells a different story in each episode while American Horror Story tells a story over each season, though there are some exceptions for both series. The first season of American Horror Stories had two episodes -- its first episode and its final episode -- that were connected (and also connected to the first season of American Horror Story) and American Horror Story has itself had a season that was split between two narratives (Double Feature) and a season that served as a sequel/crossover to several seasons (Apocalypse).

American Horror Story Season 12 is Currently in Production

Season 12 of American Horror Story is currently in production in Manhattan, despite the ongoing Writers Guild Strike. Season 12 of American Horror Story -- which does not yet have an expected release date -- is set to deviate from previous seasons of the fan-favorite anthology series by being based on specific source material. The season is said to be inspired by Danielle Valentine's upcoming novel, Delicate Condition, which will be published on August 1st. The novel is described as "a gripping thriller about a woman who becomes convinced that a sinister figure is going to great lengths to make sure her pregnancy never happens while the men in her life refuse to believe a word she says." It was announced in April that Kim Kardashian will star in the season alongside Emma Roberts, Cara Delevingne, Michaela Jae Rodriguez, and Matt Czuchry. Halley Feiffer is set to serve as showrunner.

Zachary Quinto Will Return to American Horror Story in Season 12

American Horror Story alum Zachary Quinto recently confirmed that he will also be appearing in Delicate, confirming that he has a guest cameo role in the season. Quinto last appeared in Season 11, American Horror Story: NYC and his Delicate appearance will mark his fourth appearance in the overall series. Quinto also revealed that he was "really impressed" by Kardashian and thinks she will do a wonderful job.

"I did a cameo on this season of American Horror Story and I got to meet her," Quinto said. "She was so lovely and warm and, really, I don't think she needs my advice."

He added, "She seemed really in her element, and I was really impressed by her spirit and her openness. I really look forward to seeing this season because I think she's gonna do a wonderful job."

While many cinematic franchises focus on a narrative's protagonists returning for repeated adventures, the Predator franchise instead puts its focus on otherworldly hunters, as each installment often features all-new characters with little-to-no connection to characters in other movies. This means that, while the prequel Prey introduced audiences to Amber Midthunder's Naru, who managed to fight back against the high-tech threat, the actor thinks that her character would be much more focused on her own community than potentially attempting to track down and eradicate more extraterrestrials. No updates have been given by 20th Century Studios about the next chapter in the cinematic series.

"That was always how I felt about it because the movie is such a journey that definitely as the character by the end it feels like -- well, also, there's the -- I think that it does in part feel like that. I think it's a hope for the best, prepare for the worst situation," Midthunder detailed to Collider about preparing her character's tribe for threats. "I think that it feels as though they're not gonna come back, but there are ultimately obviously all kinds of threats out there that are unforeseen. Even like the French fur trappers in that interaction and stuff like that, those are all discoveries of things that are out there that they had no idea about. So I think that it's not necessarily preparing for more predators or whatever; I think it's just there [are] unforeseen threats and we gotta be ready."

The original Predator landed in theaters in 1987 and saw the now-iconic creature stalking a group of mercenaries in the jungle, with the first sequel then taking the creature's terror into an urban environment. The next two entries in the series saw the creature collide with the Alien franchise, before the proper series returned with Robert Rodriguez's Predators. Eight years would go by before a new entry emerged, which came in the form of 2018's The Predator.

Despite none of the Predator follow-ups managing to capture the same excitement of that debut entry, Prey attempted to secretly circumvent expectations, as it was filmed under the codename "Skulls" and director Dan Trachtenberg hoped to keep its Predator connections under wraps. The prequel's connection to the franchise might have been spoiled ahead of release, but that didn't impact its reception, as Prey was a hit with both audiences and critics, even if it was relegated to being a Hulu exclusive as opposed to getting a theatrical release.

Stay tuned for details on the future of the Predator franchise.

What would you like to see in the series' future? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

The world of horror has a number of subgenres with passionate followings, with various films having been released that explore what happens when wild animals turn deadly and victims are caught in their path of violence. An even more specific corner of horror focuses on the havoc caused by sharks, as the fish are both some of the most ferocious and majestic creatures in the animal kingdom. The documentary Sharksploitation aims to explore this highly specific realm of cinema, which was kicked off with the massive success of Steven Spielberg's Jaws and inspired countless copycats. Sharksploitation is set to hit Shudder on July 21st.

"The movie Jaws had a massive impact on me becoming a filmmaker, and it began my lifelong fascination with sharks," director/producer Stephen Scarlata shared in a statement when the project was announced. "I love these [exploitation films], and with each one I watch, my love grows more vital for the species, and my heart breaks more over the horrors they go through in everyday life, from overfishing to shark finning."

He added, "This documentary is the ultimate love letter to the shark movie genre, filmmakers who work hard to make these films, and to the misunderstood species themselves."

Spielberg's Jaws was based on the Peter Benchley novel of the same name, and while Spielberg had previously delivered feature-length adventures, it marked his cinematic debut. The film was marred with countless production issues and challenges, though when Jaws was officially unleashed in theaters in 1975, its success coined the term "blockbuster," as it drew hordes of audiences across the country.

The movie proved the public's interest in tales of terror that unfolded on the ocean, immediately igniting imitators like Orca and Piranha. The interest and excitement surrounding the creatures continue, as more recent films like The Shallows, 47 Meters Down, and Deep Blue Sea 3 all keep the shark-themed subgenre alive.

One of the drawbacks to the popularity of these films, however, is the misrepresentation of the animals in the real world, resulting in finning and overfishing. Sharksploitation aims to address not only the excitement of the animal's fictional prominence, but also how these films impacted the actual animal.

Scarlata added, "Through interviews with filmmakers, critics, scholars, and conservationists we will explore the colossal challenge of making these films, the cultural imprint they've left on audiences, and their impact on this misunderstood species."

Sharksploitation is set to hit Shudder on July 21st.

Are you looking forward to the documentary? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

A seminal horror experience for kids in the '90s was Nickelodeon's Are You Afraid of the Dark?, which delivered family-friendly tales of terror to either intrigue audiences about the horror genre or scare them away for life. Recent years have seen the series revived and reimagined in various ways, with one of the new ways the series will stay alive is through the upcoming middle-grade novel Are You Afraid of the Dark?: The Tale of the Gravemother. Much like the original TV show, the book aims to walk the line between eerie and exciting to draw in younger readers to the iconic world. Are You Afraid of the Dark?: The Tale of the Gravemother hits shelves on June 27th.

Per press release, "Published under the Amulet imprint with an announced first printing of 75,000 copies, the first middle-grade novel, The Tale of the Gravemother, will be written by critically acclaimed horror author Rin Chupeco and released in hardcover on June 27th. Horror novelist Danielle Valentine is signed on to write book two in the series, which features original horror stories narrated by an all-new Midnight Society. Fall 2023 will introduce the first graphic novel, The Witch's Wings and Other Terrifying Tales, drawing inspiration from Mexican folklore and urban legends and written by bestselling author Tehlor Kay Mejia and illustrated by Justin and Alexis Hernandez, Junyi Wu, and Kaylee Rowena. The middle-grade graphic novels will be simultaneously published in both hardcover and paperback upon release.

"One of Nickelodeon's most iconic series from the '90s, the original Are You Afraid of the Dark? delivered riveting stories of horror to young audiences, all from a kid's perspective. In 2019, Are You Afraid of the Dark? saw a revival on Nickelodeon, which aired with an all-new Midnight Society telling scary stories to the next generation of horror enthusiasts. The show recently debuted its third installment, Are You Afraid of The Dark?: Ghost Island, which premiered on July 30, 2022.

"The Tale of the Gravemother marks the launch of the publishing program. The original novel is set in Solitude, a fictional town known for its local spook, a 19th-century woman responsible for the disappearance of several children. Everyone knows better than to trespass on her property. But when construction disturbs the grounds and rumors of a mysterious, jawless woman begin to circulate, 14-year-old Rhett must figure out how to put the ghost to rest before a new reign of terror is unleashed...starting with his sister as the latest victim.

"Arriving one season later, the graphic novel The Witch's Wings and Other Terrifying Tales features haunted buses, monstrous creatures, and spine-chilling mysteries. In order to join the Midnight Society, a new storyteller must share three interconnected stories -- 'The Tale of the Witch's Wings,' 'The Tale of the Haunting of Bus #13,' and 'The Tale of the Stray Comet' -- to prove she has the horror goods. The segments will be brought to life with distinct, eerie art styles from four different illustrators."

"We are thrilled -- and chilled -- to be partnering with Paramount on a creative publishing program that extends the fan-favorite Are You Afraid of the Dark? franchise with all-new original tales that will engage both existing fans and new readers alike," Andrew Smith, Senior Vice President, and Publisher of Abrams Children's Books, shared in a statement. "We're honored to be working with such amazingly talented creators -- fans themselves -- to bring these terrifying new stories to life!"

Are You Afraid of the Dark?: The Tale of the Gravemother hits shelves on June 27th.

Will you be adding the book to your collection? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

The Haunted Mansion attraction at Disney parks is a beloved experience for visitors for a number of reasons, with a key component being the ways in which it aims to creep out guests while also ensuring a spirit of whimsy is prevalent throughout the journey. With the upcoming adaptation Haunted Mansion, director Justin Simien went to great lengths not only to capture signature components of the ride itself to bring to life on screen, but also to make sure he found the right balance of genuine scares and lighthearted levity. You can check out an all-new featurette for how he brought the ride to life below before Haunted Mansion lands in theaters on July 28th.

In the new film, a doctor (Rosario Dawson) and her 9-year-old son (Chase Dillon), looking to start a new life, move into a strangely affordable mansion in New Orleans, only to discover that the place is much more than they bargained for. Desperate for help, they contact a priest (Owen Wilson), who, in turn, enlists the aid of a widowed scientist-turned failed-paranormal expert (LaKeith Stanfield), a French Quarter psychic (Tiffany Haddish), and a crotchety historian (Danny DeVito).

Simien previously recalled the lengths he went to in order to honor iconic elements of the ride, which presented the challenge of organically integrating these components while also making the film its own adventure.

"We have this set piece in the middle of the movie that was really cool and we're trying all these things, and I'm like, 'Stretching room. That's the candy. That's the thing we're all looking for,'" Simien shared with Entertainment Weekly last month. "It was about taking that effect and figuring out how to work it into the story ... As we all know, there's 999 haunts in this house, and they have slightly different objectives. As the cast figures out if the hauntings are for good or for ill, who's working for who, and who's helping us and who wants us to stay here, the stretching room becomes a missing piece of that puzzle. They start to figure out exactly who it is that's after them and who's with them. The other thing was about how do we make it cinematic? It's a cool effect when you're sitting in that elevator and moving from floor to floor [on the ride], but how do we make that adventure and escapism? How do we take some of the ideas in those paintings and expand them into a real set piece that feels satisfying?"

Haunted Mansion lands in theaters on July 28th.

Are you looking forward to the new movie? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Insidious: The Red Door has received an official PG-13 rating for "Violence, terror, frightening images, strong language, and suggestive references." That rating is on par with the rest of the Insidious franchise (Insidious, Insidious: Chapter 2, Insidious: Chapter 3, Insidious: The Last Key) which have all been rated PG-13. As always, lower production budgets and PG-13 ratings that attract the wider teenage-to-adult demographic (as opposed to just adults) has been the recipe for modest success that has sustained the Insidious franchise for over a decade.

What Is Insidious 5 About?

Insidious: The Red Door has a theatrical release date of July 7, 2023. It is 107 minutes long and will bring back franchise stars Patrick Wilson (who also directs this time), Rose Byrne, and Ty Simpkins, with the latter actor having grown significantly since first starring as young haunted child Dalton Lambert in Insidious (way back in 2011). In fact, The Red Door will make use of Simpkins' age, in a story that examines how Dalton begins to feel the demons and ghosts of "The Further" beginning to haunt him again, as his mind grows beyond the walls that his parents and psychic medium Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) put in place to protect him:

"[Patrick] really wanted to make it about the origin story, about the original cast, about those characters, and the effect on the family," Rose Byrne told Collider. "Then also to delve into the classic horror stuff, and all the tropes and all of the things the fans love, to give the fans what they want, too. So it was really cool to reunite with Ty [Simpkins], and that was wild revisiting that. I got a thrill out of that. It was a lot of fun."

"[Insidious: The Red Door is] something that I'm super passionate about, and there hasn't been a day since they pitched me the idea that I haven't been all in. It's been a lot of work by Scott Teems, the writer, and me," Wilson previously explained to Screen Rant. "And Leigh Whannell has helped out obviously a ton, and of course Blumhouse is a great partner. I've done a bunch of stuff with them, so I couldn't be happier to have my first experience with a very helpful and comfortable group of people that, for some reason, trust me. So, we'll see."

In Insidious: The Red Door, the horror franchise's original cast returns for the final chapter of the Lambert family's terrifying saga. To put their demons to rest once and for all, Josh (Patrick Wilson) and a college-aged Dalton (Ty Simpkins) must go deeper into The Further than ever before, facing their family's dark past and a host of new and more horrifying terrors that lurk behind the red door.

Insidious: The Red Door will be in theaters on July 7th.

In just a month, every shark fan's favorite week will be kicking off, with Discovery Channel releasing a teaser for this year's Shark Week, featuring Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa, serving as the Master of Ceremonies. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the iconic week, with Discovery delivering all-new specials exploring the awesome power, speed, and beauty of the impressive fish. Momoa has long been a voice for the conservation of the oceans, which extends to his more direct protection of the oceans in the Aquaman films, making the partnership a perfect match. Check out a teaser for this year's Shark Week below before it starts on Discovery Channel on July 23rd.

Per press release, "Summer's most-anticipated TV event, Discovery Channel's 'Shark Week,' hosted this year by Jason Momoa, returns for its historic 35th year on Sunday, July 23 at 8 p.m. ET. The network released its first official trailer featuring Momoa, who will guide viewers through Discovery's biggest annual celebration of sharks. During 'Shark Week,' Momoa, who is dedicated to protecting and preserving oceans, will set up the epic journeys and first-time revelations each night. A full programming schedule for 'Shark Week' will be distributed in the coming weeks."

"Over the course of Shark Week, Momoa will set up the jaw-dropping events, epic journeys, first-time revelations, and groundbreaking scientific findings that make up the summer spectacle. Fans can expect adrenaline-inducing original hours of sharks from new and continuously explored destinations, all captured on-camera by Discovery's dedicated science and research field teams. Following Shark Week, audiences can see Momoa in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, premiering in theaters on December 20th."

"As the host of Shark Week, I am beyond excited to take you along on this journey," Momoa shared in a statement. "This project means more to me than a week of talking about sharks. It's a chance for me to learn and share my connection to these amazing creatures. My love of sharks came long before my time as Aquaman - it began several generations before me."

Throughout its decades-long tenure, Shark Week has been a staple of summer programming, as it offers insight and new revelations on the creatures that make beachgoers both excited for and wary of the ocean. In addition to each year delivering new specials that shed unique insight into underexplored animals, the technology available to capture footage of sharks also evolves, allowing audiences all-new ways to appreciate the ocean's most misunderstood predator.

Shark Week kicks off on Discovery Channel on July 23rd and will also be available to stream on Max.

Are you looking forward to this year's Shark Week? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Oppenheimer tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the late director of the Manhattan Project and, in turn, the father of the atomic bomb. Given the physicist's teams created the bombs that would go on to kill over 300,000 people at the end of World War 2, it makes sense for the film to straddle the line of horror. Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan say it's something the upcoming blockbuster does well, to the point of leaving movie-goers devastated when they leave theaters.

"It is an intense experience, because it's an intense story. I showed it to a filmmaker recently who said it's kind of a horror movie. I don't disagree," Nolan said in a recent chat with Wired magazine. "It's interesting that you used the word nihilism earlier, because I don't think I'd quite managed to put my finger on it. But as I started to finish the film, I started to feel this color that's not in my other films, just darkness. It's there. The film fights against that."

According to Nolan, he's glad to be done with post-production on the film so that he can help clear his conscience of the darker subject matter.

"You know, I was relieved to be finished with it, actually. But I enjoy watching the film tremendously," the director added. "I think you'll understand when you see the film. It's a complicated set of feelings to be entertained by awful things, you know? Which is where the horror dimension comes in."

Joining Oppenheimer lead Cillian Murphy are Emily Blunt as Katherine "Kitty" Oppenheimer, Matt Damon as Leslie Groves, Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, Benny Safdie as Edward Teller, Michael Angarano as Robert Serber, Josh Hartnett as Ernest Lawrence, Dylan Arnold as Frank Oppenheimer, David Krumholtz as Isidor Isaac Rabi, Matthew Modine as Vannevar Bush, Josh Peck as Kenneth Bainbridge, Devon Bostick as Seth Neddermeyer, Matthias Schweigh?fer as Werner Heisenberg, Christopher Denham as Klaus Fuchs, Guy Burnet as George Eltenton, Danny Deferrari as Enrico Fermi, Emma Dumont as Jackie Oppenheimer, Gustaf Skarsg?rd as Hans Bethe, Trond Fausa Aurv?g as George Kistiakowsky, and Gary Oldman as Harry S. Truman.

Opening on July 21st, Oppenheimer is based on Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.

When Maya Hawke joined Stranger Things as Robin Buckley in the show's third season, many thought she was going to be the new love interest of Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), but it was soon revealed that she was gay. In the fourth season, Robin had a crush on one of her bandmates, and the finale teased a potential romance for the duo in the future. Previously, Hawke said she hopes Robin gets to kiss someone next season, but now she has mixed feelings about Robin getting a girlfriend.

"It's both a great thing, and I also love characters where their love life is not the center of their existence," Hawke told Yahoo! Entertainment. "That friendship with Steve is so special," she added. "And friendships have been carrying me through my life. I think they're really important and they deserve their airtime."

With the fifth season of Stranger Things expected to be the last, Hawke has also talked about the possibility of Robin dying.

"Well, it's the last season, so people are probably going to die," Hawke recalled to Rolling Stone. "I would love to die and get my hero's moment. I'd love to die with honor, as any actor would. But I love the way that the Duffer Brothers love their actors. The reason that they write so beautifully for me and for everyone else is because they fall in love with their actors and their characters, and they don't want to kill them. I think that's a beautiful quality that they have, and I wouldn't wish it away."

The outlet then pitched the idea of a spinoff focusing on Robin and Steve in the '90s, with Hawke confirming, "Where we go to New York and we're just partying in the clubs and figuring our sh-t out. Normally I wouldn't really be a proponent of a spinoff, but if I got to do it with Joe Keery, I would do anything. He's so funny and wonderful and smart, and he's got great boundaries. He's an excellent coworker, and I would do anything with him."

How Will Stranger Things End?

Stranger Things creators, Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer, recently revealed that their pitch for the fifth season was a tear-jerker.

"Listen. It's our process but it's just like, we really just try to focus on one season at a time," Ross Duffer previously told The Wrap. "We do have an outline for season 5 and we pitched it to Netflix and they really responded well to it. I mean, it was hard. It's the end of the story. I saw executives crying who I've never seen cry before and it was wild. And it's not just to do with the story, just the fact that it's like, Oh my God, this thing that has defined so many of our lives, these Netflix people who has been with us from the beginning, seven years now, and it's hard to imagine the journey coming to an end."

Are you hoping Robin gets a girlfriend in the final season of Stranger Things? Tell us in the comments!

While many film and television productions have shut down due to the ongoing Writers Guild Strike, work on Season 12 of American Horror Story is reportedly still underway. According to Variety, production on American Horror Story: Delicate is continuing in Manhattan, with some on Twitter even reportedly sharing video of series star Kim Kardashian arriving on set. The continued production on the series comes amid allegations that crewmembers on the series have indicated they could be blackballed in terms of other Ryan Murphy productions if they don't cross picket lines to continue production -- allegations that Variety reports a spokesperson for Murphy calls "absolute nonsense." Two other Murphy produced shows -- American Horror Stories Season 3 and American Sports Story -- are also in production in the New York and New Jersey area.

Season 12 of American Horror Story -- which does not yet have an expected release date -- is set to deviate from previous seasons of the fan-favorite anthology series by being based on specific source material. The season is said to be inspired by Danielle Valentine's upcoming novel, Delicate Condition, which will be published on August 1st. The novel is described as "a gripping thriller about a woman who becomes convinced that a sinister figure is going to great lengths to make sure her pregnancy never happens while the men in her life refuse to believe a word she says." It was announced in April that Kim Kardashian will star in the season alongside Emma Roberts, Cara Delevingne, Michaela Jae Rodriguez, and Matt Czuchry. Halley Feiffer is set to serve as showrunner.

Zachary Quinto Will Return to American Horror Story in Season 12

American Horror Story alum Zachary Quinto recently confirmed that he will also be appearing in Delicate, confirming that he has a guest cameo role in the season. Quinto last appeared in Season 11, American Horror Story: NYC and his Delicate appearance will mark his fourth appearance in the overall series. Quinto also revealed that he was "really impressed" by Kardashian and thinks she will do a wonderful job.

"I did a cameo on this season of American Horror Story and I got to meet her," Quinto said. "She was so lovely and warm and, really, I don't think she needs my advice."

He added, "She seemed really in her element, and I was really impressed by her spirit and her openness. I really look forward to seeing this season because I think she's gonna do a wonderful job."

Kim Kardashian Hired an Acting Coach to Prepare for Her American Horror Story Role

On the red carpet for the Met Gala back in May, Kardashian revealed that she had taken acting lessons to help her prepare for her American Horror Story role. Kardashian said at the time that she was having fun stepping outside of her comfort zone by taking on the role.

"We start shooting my stuff at the end of this month, but production has already started and I'm so excited," Kardashian said. "It's really fun to step outside of your comfort zone and try something new and grow. I'm so excited for the experience."

When asked specifically about acting lessons, Kardashian confirmed.

"I am, of course," she said. "It's a challenge. I like to challenge myself."

American Horror Story: Delicate does not yet have a release date.

Are you looking forward to the new season of American Horror Story? Will you be reading Valentine's novel, Delicate Condition, when it's released? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.

The Walking Dead Universe is making a brand new start of it in old New York. Sunday's June 18th series premiere of AMC spin-off The Walking Dead: Dead City drew the most-watched drama series debut of 2023 on cable, based on same-day Nielsen ratings, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 683,000 viewers tuned in to watch the "Old Acquaintances" premiere Sunday on AMC, which made the episode available early to subscribers of its AMC+ streaming service on Thursday, June 15th.

When counting replays and simulcasts on AMC Networks' BBC America and IFC channels, Dead City's on-air ratings totaled 1.12 million viewers, with 283,000 composing the core adults 25-54 demographic. THR reports that number is also the best for a cable drama series premiere in 2023.

The premiere, reuniting Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) years after November's Walking Dead series finale, is now the most-watched series premiere for AMC+ in viewers and acquisition, meaning the number of subscribers who signed up to stream The Walking Dead: Dead City. "Old Acquaintances" beat out "The Witching Hour" series premiere of Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches, which dethroned the "In Throes of Increasing Wonder..." premiere of AMC's Interview With the Vampire. That also means the ratings outperformed previous TWDU spin-offs The Walking Dead: World Beyond and Tales of the Walking Dead.

Dead City reportedly brought in more same-day viewers than Interview With the Vampire (622,000), Mayfair Witches (577,000), and Tales of the Walking Dead (572,000). The Walking Dead's "Rest in Peace" series finale, which was simulcast on AMC and AMC+ on November 20th, remains the single most-watched episode ever on AMC+ with a record-setting 3.1 million viewers watching on the streamer.

"We are thrilled so many viewers joined Maggie and Negan in the streets of Manhattan for the first episode of The Walking Dead: Dead City," said Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks. "The thrill ride keeps rolling from here, and we can't wait for the fans to see all the twists and turns in the city that never sleeps. Turns out walkers don't sleep, either."

At six episodes, Dead City sends rivals Maggie and Negan into post-apocalyptic Manhattan to rescue Maggie's son, Hershel (Logan Kim), from one of Negan's former Savior underlings known only as the Croat (?eljko Ivanek). The series has been well-reviewed, scoring a 70% "fresh" approval from critics on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

New episodes of The Walking Dead: Dead City premiere Thursdays on AMC+ and Sundays on AMC. If you missed the series premiere, read our Dead City Season 1 Episode 1 recap.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

Rick Grimes was right. "You can hide, but you can't run," Rick (Andrew Lincoln) told Morgan Jones (Lennie James) when the latter crossed over from The Walking Dead to Fear the Walking Dead. "You'll end up with people one way or another. You're connected." Morgan ran away from his people back at Alexandria after all out war with the Saviors in season 8, but as Rick reminded him: "You're a part of the world already. You'll find your way back to it, 'cause it will find its way back to you. So just come back."

But Morgan didn't come back. He ran all the way to Fear the Walking Dead, where he remained until Sunday's "All I See Is Red" midseason finale. James exited the series after five seasons on The Walking Dead spin-off that will conclude when its final six episodes air this fall.

In the end, Morgan's final episode of Fear brought him full circle to where Rick left him on The Walking Dead pilot episode: with his child (Zoey Merchant) by his side and walkie-talkie in hand, with a promise to reach Rick over the radio every day at dawn. "This message is for Rick Grimes. It's Morgan Jones. Man, I'm gonna come and look for you, whether you're at Alexandria or not," Morgan said. "I will leave this message every morning at dawn, and I'll leave the walkie on for a few minutes after. Who knows? Maybe you might even be listening."

After laying Grace (Karen David) to rest in the graveyard where he buried his mentor Eastman (John Carroll Lynch) years earlier on The Walking Dead, Morgan and Mo left Fear the Walking Dead to find Rick Grimes. But with James confirming his exit from the Walking Dead Universe, will Morgan and Rick reunite?

"In all honesty, every and anything is possible. And I know it's something that a certain percentage of our fans would like," James told ComicBook in our exclusive postmortem Q&A. "I would show up to work with Andy again any time. But anybody who knows me knows I'm fiercely protective of Morgan's story. And as far as I'm concerned, at this particular moment in time, this is the end of the road for Morgan. You'll only see him again if a story comes up within the universe that is just too good to say no to."

Lincoln recently wrapped filming on six episodes of The Walking Dead: Rick & Michonne, the spin-off reuniting long-lost lovers Rick and Michonne (Danai Gurira) in 2024 on AMC and AMC+. While there's no indication that James also filmed for that series, the new show hails from TWDU chief content officer and showrunner Scott Gimple, who wrote such seminal Morgan-centric episodes as "Clear," "Here's Not Here," and "Bury Me Here." And the door is certainly open for James to return should the right story call for more Morgan.

Asked what Morgan and Mo's future might look like, James said, "I think on one level, as he did before, he's walking into the unknown. He doesn't know, should he come across Rick again, should he bump into Rick again, what state that he's going to be in. What has happened to him over the years that they haven't been in contact?"

James continued: "He's also walking now with extra responsibility, but he's also walking now as a man who has buried, literally buried, a lot of the ghosts and pressures that were haunting him. And he's hopefully put them to rest. So wherever he ends up, one of the things I liked about this final chapter for Morgan is that ... it is like a reverse of how we started in Fear the Walking Dead. But he's certainly walking away a better man than he arrived."

Fear the Walking Dead season 8 returns with its final episodes this fall. The Walking Dead: Rick & Michonne is slated to premiere in 2024 on AMC and AMC+.

The 1988 cult horror hit Killer Klowns from Outer Space is still going strong in 2023 with plenty of new toys and Halloween animatronics launching in recent months. Now you can add new Funko Pops to that list in the form of Baby Klown, Fatso, and Bibbo. There's also a Bibbo with Shorty in Pizza Box Movie Moment exclusive. It depicts the pizza delivery scene from the film, with Shorty popping out a pizza box to zap a victim with their cotton candy gun.

Pre-orders for the Baby Klown and Fatso Killer Klowns Funko Pops are available here at Entertainment Earth (free US Super Saver shipping on orders $59+ using the code FREESHIP59 at checkout). You can grab the new Bibbo exclusive here at the Funko Shop. Details on the Movie Moment Pop can be found below.

The Bibbo with Shorty in Pizza Box Movie Moment Funko Pop is a Spirit Halloween exclusive that you can order right here for $39.99 while it lasts. You can check out Spirit Halloween's entire Killer Klowns from Outer Space collection right here, including this black light Funko Pop exclusive and their brand new 6-foot Cotton Candy Cocoon prop.

"Better hope you don't run into any Killer Klowns equipped with a Cotton Candy Gun this Halloween or you could get zapped into this Cotton Candy Cocoon Static Prop for yourself! This officially licensed prop features details just like in the movie. With a red face being consumed by the bright pink cotton candy exterior, this static prop will have your home looking straight out of a scene from the film. Hang it from the ceiling and you'll have your guests always looking over their shoulders for some Killer Klowns once they see this prop on display this Halloween."

Don't forget that Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game is on track for a release at some point in 2023. Speaking with ComicBook.com last year, Edward and Charles Chiodo had the following to say about the game and the future of the franchise:

Edward: "For me, it's been the pleasure of working with a group of people that 'get it' and are eager to hear our thoughts. Everyone at MGM Game Division, Good Shepherd Entertainment and Teravision Games understand that KKFOS is a strange, weird universe and have embraced it as their own. In some cases, they have studied the movie in great depth and are more familiar with the pop culture components than even we are. That certainly applies to the fan names of the Klowns. Their enthusiasm and creativity have gotten me excited again about all the possibilities this franchise has to offer. It's been obvious throughout our collaboration; they love the movie as much as we do. Their questions and ideas are almost always on point. That's just not something that you can fake. You either get it or you don't. Their stewardship of the IP makes me very comfortable and excited as I know that we're in good hands moving forward. We now have partners willing to take that extra step to bring incredible production value and vision to the universe of the Klowns. Because of the game, the fans, now multi-generational, will have the chance to play in our playground. Share, firsthand in the experience of being a Klown or trying to outwit a Klown.

Charles: "My brothers and I just made a film that was based on all of the best parts of the monster films we watched and loved. We just put a Chiodo Bros. spin on the screen moments that thrilled, scared and inspired us. Like many before us, we're passing what inspired us to future generations. That's what's beyond exciting to me, knowing that so many young creative artists have been inspired by our little film and that we still get to be a part of it. Our sincere thanks to Teravision, MGM, Good Shepherd and of course the diehard fans, for making a Childhood Dream finally come true."

Before Maggie and Negan took Manhattan in The Walking Dead: Dead City, there were plans for Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan to take over The Walking Dead. First, Cohan's Maggie and Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes exited AMC's flagship series after an abbreviated five-episode run in season 9. Then it looked like Norman Reedus' Daryl and Melissa McBride's Carol would leave the show together for their own spin-off before returning to the main show. And then Danai Gurira's Michonne made her departure after a handful of episodes in season 10. In 2020, AMC announced it would wrap up The Walking Dead with an eleventh and final season.

Cohan returned to the series at the end of season 10 and stayed on full-time through the show's final 30 episodes. Reedus and McBride also abandoned plans for Daryl and Carol to leave and come back to the flagship, with AMC green-lighting the Daryl & Carol spin-off that wouldn't have sent them off until after season 11. In the end, Reedus, McBride, Cohan, and Morgan all appeared as regulars through the series finale.

But that wasn't always the plan. Executive producer and Walking Dead Universe chief content officer Scott M. Gimple pitched Cohan and Morgan on another four seasons of The Walking Dead, which would have continued without Lincoln, Gurira, Reedus, and McBride.

"Before I even went back to The Walking Dead at the end of season 10, Scott Gimple had asked me about my interest in either coming back on the show or doing a different show. Originally what they ended up deciding to do was have me come back on the show and then have Jeff and I 'take over,'" Cohan told BuzzFeed. "At the time, Norman was going to leave, Andy had already left, Danai had left. We were gonna go into season 11 and do four more years with the show, with Jeff and I kind of remaining on The Walking Dead."

Cohan continued: "And in the end, they had this idea for Dead City, with our characters in a whole new location with a new storyline and that sounded really exciting because it meant we could jump forward in time."

Ultimately, the decision to end The Walking Dead after 11 seasons "was AMC," Gimple previously told EW. "It was heavy when it happened. I wasn't expecting it and had all sorts of plans for the future. When the end was announced, it was like, 'Okay, how do we pivot?' How do we enmesh even some of our plans for the future into this final season? And how do we do it in other ways, outside the series."

The answer would be not one but three new offshoots spinning out of the flagship: Maggie and Negan in The Walking Dead: Dead City; Daryl and Carol in their joint spin-off, eventually reworked as The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon; and Rick and Michonne in The Walking Dead: Rick & Michonne.

Dead City airs Sundays on AMC. Daryl Dixon premieres this fall, followed by Rick & Michonne in 2024.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

Black Mirror season 6 premiered on Netflix last week and its first episode, titled "Joan is Awful," has sent viewers into a spiral. The episode of Black Mirror, which is a meta commentary on Netflix and also the internet's insistence on engaging with negativity, has seen many wondering if the Netflix terms and conditions are as broad in reality as they appear in the episode. Though the answer is "No," Netflix has taken things to their next logical step and rolled out a viral marketing campaign for Black Mirror, one that includes some wild terms & conditions and which has seen them convert their social media profiles to "Streamberry," the fictional streaming service in "Joan is Awful." Spoilers will follow.

In the first episode of Black Mirror's sixth season, Schitt's Creek star Annie Murphy plays a woman named Joan, whose daily life quickly becomes a new TV series on Streamberry down to every private detail that she might want kept a secret. After it begins to threaten her personal life, Joan seeks legal action but her according to her attorney, Streamberry (aka Netflix) is "allowed" to do this because of the Terms and Conditions that Joan agreed to when she first signed up for the service. As a result of agreeing to it, Streamberry can make a show out of her life and she can't do anything about it.

Now things have gotten even more meta. Netflix changed their Twitter account to all Streamberry, including a new profile photo and banner image. They've also rolled out a link to streamberry.tv, a site that allows users to upload their own image and name to create their own personal version of "Joan is Awful."

Naturally, the terms & conditions drew the eye of some users, who noticed that be agreeing to them, users grant Netflix "the irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive right to record, depict, and/or portray you and use, and grant to others the right, but not the obligation, to record, depict, and/or portray you and use, your actual or simulated likeness, name, photograph, voice, actions, etc. in connection with the development, production, distribution, exploitation, advertising, promotion and publicity of this Experience, in all media, now known and later devised, and all languages, formats, versions, and forms related to such Experience without compensation to you or any other individual, unless prohibited by law."

In short, if you make a version of "Joan is Awful" with your name and your photo, you might end up on a billboard or on an Instagram post somewhere. Is it as sinsiter as what is seen in the Black Mirror episode? Maybe, but it seems like it's just for ads. At least for now.

Netflix offers very little information when it comes to streaming viewership. The service reveals the streaming data for the biggest titles on its roster on a weekly basis, though it only shares that viewership in terms of how many hours an individual movie or TV season has been watched. That metric is still being released by Netflix, but the streamer has added a second measurement, one that has doesn't really mean a whole lot but has had a major impact in the all-time Netflix rankings.

On Tuesday, Netflix announced the new "Views" metric, which is meant to examine how many individual accounts watch a particular title. Unfortunately, the numbers don't exactly tell us that. The "Views" number is simply the total hours viewed over a certain time period, divided by the length of the movie or series. With the Top 10 rankings making that number a priority, Wednesday Season 1 has moved ahead of Stranger Things 4 as the most "viewed" TV season in Netflix history.

Stranger Things 4 has held the top spot on Netflix's English-language TV rankings since shortly after its arrival last year. The season racked up more than 1.83 billion viewing hours in its first four weeks on the service. The first season of Wednesday was second on the list, with just over 1.71 billion hours. With the new "Views" metric, however, Wednesday has overtaken Stranger Things 4 on the list.

Wednesday was viewed for fewer hours than Stranger Things, but the season was significantly shorter in terms of its overall runtime. Wednesday's entire first season runs for less than seven hours, while Stranger Things 4 is a whopping 13 hours.

Netflix's new metric says that Wednesday Season 1 has 252 million views, taking its viewership total and dividing it by the overall runtime. While the math does make sense on the surface, it doesn't line up with Netflix's subscription total. It was reported this year that Netflix had around 232 million subscribers. Wednesday's "views" account for 20 million more accounts than Netflix has, so it's not the most effective way to measure the hit shows.

Another Big Netflix Change

In addition to changing the way Netflix measures success for its top shows and movies, it will also be changing the viewership window that determines its overall top 10. The previous window counted the first 28 days for any given title. The new window will measure for 91 days, allowing shows some extra time to grow after they're released.

While the first change seems a bit confusing, extending the viewership window is nothing but good news for movies and shows on Netflix. This gives titles a lot more time to find an audience before they're counted out.

The Walking Dead's Daryl and Carol spin-off lives! In 2020, AMC announced it ordered a new Walking Dead spin-off series with Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride set to star as Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier. Walking Dead Universe chief content officer Scott M. Gimple and showrunner Angela Kang created the untitled series, described as a "road show" headlined by the two fan-favorite characters who had endured for all 11 seasons of the original show. But when relocating to Europe became "logistically untenable" for the Carol actress, McBride bowed out of Daryl & Carol, and the spin-off was reworked to focus on Daryl washing ashore in France -- without Carol -- in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.

"Melissa McBride has given life to one of the most interesting, real, human and popular characters in The Walking Dead Universe," an AMC spokesperson said at the time. "Unfortunately, she is no longer able to participate in the previously announced spin-off focused on the Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier characters, which will be set and filmed in Europe ... Relocating to Europe became logistically untenable for Melissa at this time. We know fans will be disappointed by this news, but The Walking Dead Universe continues to grow and expand in interesting ways and we very much hope to see Carol again in the near future."

McBride and Reedus insisted that The Walking Dead series finale wasn't the end of the road for Carol and Daryl, with McBride hinting to EW: "I feel like Carol has more story to tell. I'll leave it at that... I think she's got some more story."

It would seem that story continues in France, where Reedus and McBride have been spotted filming together for the first time since wrapping production on the original flagship series last spring. It's unclear if McBride's scenes are for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon's first season, which premieres this fall on AMC, or a rumored second season. (AMC added the Rick Grimes & Michonne coda to The Walking Dead series finale months after that production rolled cameras for the last time.)

BOTH OF THEM ARE ALL SMILES ?? can somebody hold me? ????#TWD #MelissaMcBride #NotmanReedus pic.twitter.com/XBfsJmRznT

-- V | ? (@vicneedscoffeee) June 19, 2023

ComicBook has reached out to AMC for comment.

"I think it's safe to say that just because Daryl left and Carol's at the Commonwealth doesn't necessarily mean that's where they're going to end up, and that's where they're going to stay," Greg Nicotero, director of The Walking Dead finale and episodes of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, previously told ComicBook. "So there's a lot to be said for just that moment [in the finale], where Carol was at peace being where she was. And Daryl was sort of ready to move on, and ready to get out there and see what else is out there in the world."

The logline: "Daryl washes ashore in France and struggles to piece together how he got there and why. The series tracks his journey across a broken but resilient France as he hopes to find a way back home. As he makes the journey, though, the connections he forms along the way complicate his ultimate plan."

David Zabel (ER, Mercy Street) serves as showrunner and executive producer of the six-episode first season of Daryl Dixon. Confirmed cast members include Cl?mence Po?sy (Harry Potter) as Isabelle, Adam Nagaitis (Chernobyl) as Quinn, Anne Charrier (The Last Deadly Mission) as Genet, Laika Blanc Francard (My Night) as Sylvie, Eriq Ebouaney (Fox Hunt) as Fallou, Romain Levi (The Tunnel) as Codron, and newcomer Louis Puech Scigliuzzi as Laurent.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon premieres this fall on AMC and AMC+.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

There's been a lot of drama in the streaming community lately. Whether it's the unfolding battle between Kick and Twitch or the fallout of the Nickmercs Call of Duty skin controversy, there's a lot going on in the streamerverse part of the Internet. This is always the case, but recently it feels like someone turned the temperature up a bit. The latest drama involves popular Twitch streamer Hasan and popular YouTube streamer Dr Disrespect sharing blows. Both are no strangers to Internet beef, and both seem to not very keen on each other.

The feud began when during a recent stream Hasan took shots at Dr Disrespect for taking Nickmercs side during the aforementioned Call of Duty skin controversy. More specifically, Hasan took a shot at Dr Disrespect's very public incident of infidelity involving him and wife that took place several years ago. "He's more loyal to Nickmercs having his skin than his own wife," said the streamer.

As you would expect, Hasan has been catching some heat for the remark, with many slamming the often contentious streamer for taking things too far. And as you would expect, it especially did not sit well with Dr Disrespect, who called Hasan a "fat phony" in response and noted the Twitch streamer would never say something like that to his face.

The drama did not end there though. Seeing Hasan's comments, Nickmercs got involved during a recent stream, noting that Hasan, who says he used to be "pretty cool" with," is dead to him. For now, this is where the beef ends, but it's safe to assume Hasan will have something to say about either Dr Disrespect's rebuttal and Nickmercs' comments, if not both.

#Nickmercs: "That mofo is dead to me."

Nick defended Doc in his latest Stream on #Twitch, cutting ties with Hasan after his comments about Doc's wife. pic.twitter.com/XU8MMXrkGZ

-- Respawn First (@RespawnF1rst) June 19, 2023

As always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think or, alternatively, hit me up on Twitter @Tyler_Fischer_ and let me know over there. What do you make of this latest drama in the streamerverse? Meanwhile, for more coverage on all things gaming -- including all of the latest Twitch, Kick, and YouTube news -- click here.

[This story contains spoilers from Sunday's episode of Fear the Walking Dead.] No one's gone until they're gone -- and Fear the Walking Dead's not gone. After Sunday's "All I See Is Red" midseason finale sent off Morgan Jones (Lennie James) in his series exit, there are only six episodes left of Fear the Walking Dead. Airing this fall, the second half of the spin-off's eighth and final season is a reunion for original season 3 cast members Kim Dickens, Colman Domingo, Rub?n Blades, Danay Garc?a... and Daniel Sharman, whose Troy Otto somehow survived his apparent death and made a shocking return in the final scene of season 8A.

AMC released the teaser trailer for season 8B following Sunday's finale, revealing the first look at the final episodes of Fear the Walking Dead. The new footage, which you can watch above, shows Madison Clark (Dickens) and Victor Strand (Domingo) reuniting for the first time since season 4 (where Madison appeared to perish when she locked herself inside a baseball stadium engulfed in flames and overrun by a walker horde).

"All I See Is Red" ended with Madison reclaiming PADRE Island from siblings Shrike (Maya Eshet) and Crane (Daniel Rashid), who manipulated her into collecting children by falsely claiming they could help her find her kids, Nick (Frank Dillane) and Alicia Clark (Alycia Debnam-Carey), explaining her disappearance. There may be no Clark family reunion, but Madison promised to reunite the children she took with their long-lost parents and "make PADRE what it was meant to be in the first place."

She won't do it alone: the trailer shows Strand, Salazar, Luciana, June Dorie (Jenna Elfman), and Dwight (Austin Amelio) and Sherry (Christine Evangelista) fighting side-by-side with Madison, who can be heard saying: "This is how PADRE survives."

"I was very instrumental in Kim coming back," Domingo previously told ComicBook about Dickens' Fear the Walking Dead return. "She's not only my best friend, such a great colleague, but also knew that the showrunners [Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg]... I was doing the showrunners' bidding, to be very honest. I wanted to make sure that Kim knew that she was going to be well cared for when it comes to story, and coming back to a show that she helped build from the ground up. I wanted to make sure that she knew that not only the cast and the crew, and the show owners and producers, that we've got her back."

Fear the Walking Dead Season 8 returns this fall on AMC and AMC+.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

A new rumor about Resident Evil 9 is circulating, but is it true? The rumor comes the way of a Twitter user by the name of Chris Marx, who has been attracting some attention for some posts that seemingly relayed certain information before it was officially revealed. And this is true, however, a lot of this leaked information can also be chalked up to reasonable speculation. In other words, many of the bets made so far have been very safe ones. This is all to say, take everything here with a grain of salt.

According to the Twitter user, the next mainline installment is set to release sometime in the back half of 2024, will be revealed this year, will star Chris Redfield, and will bring back a variety of the classic Resident Evil characters.

"Resident Evil 9 will primarily revolve around the character of Chris Redfield, with the potential inclusion of other classic characters in the narrative. However, it is my belief that the story arc involving Ethan Winters has concluded, or at least temporarily reached its conclusion," reads the new rumor.

The rumor continues: "Classic characters such as Claire, Jill, Leon, and Chris (Protagonist) will return in the upcoming Resident Evil game. Players will also have the chance to play as other characters in certain missions. The game is expected to focus less on horror and more on action. It will still be a horror game. The camera mode is yet to be confirmed, but there is a possibility that players may have the option to choose between third-person and first-person perspectives. I expect it to release later in 2024, Capcom should start talking this year."

Again, a good portion of this, if not all of it, is fairly predictable. If you were going to take a shot in the dark and make a few bets about Resident Evil 9, these are the bets you'd make. In fact, if you played Resident Evil Village -- spoilers ahead -- then you will know that it's hinted Chris Redfield will be the next protagonist.

All of that said, be sure to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think. What would you like to see from the next Resident Evil game and do you believe this new rumor?

Daryl Dixon may be a fish out of water in France, but Norman Reedus is in water in the first footage from The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. A teaser trailer for the Walking Dead spin-off, which surfaced on AMC during Sunday's The Walking Dead: Dead City series premiere and the Fear the Walking Dead midseason finale, shows the actor in uncharted waters: somewhere in the ocean off the coast of post-apocalyptic France. Above, watch the new teaser that confirms the title as Daryl Dixon (and not the rumored Raise the Dead).

The brief footage shows Reedus' Daryl roped atop an overturned lifeboat, raising more questions than answers about how Daryl winds up marooned in France.

In The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, "Daryl washes ashore in France and struggles to piece together how he got there and why," the official synopsis states. "The series tracks his journey across a broken but resilient France as he hopes to find a way back home. As he makes the journey, though, the connections he forms along the way complicate his ultimate plan."

"I don't want to say too much. I just think that it really sort of embraces a Stranger In a Strange Land kind of scenario, where we're exploring post-apocalyptic Europe through the eyes of Daryl Dixon," director and executive producer Greg Nicotero previously told ComicBook about the Daryl spin-off. "I got to say, we've had a great time. It really just is a different animal. And I even was sort of surprised, myself, standing on set and going, 'I've been on Walking Dead for 12 years and here we are.' But it feels fresh and it feels new."

David Zabel (ER, Mercy Street) serves as showrunner on the series that counts Walking Dead Universe chief content officer Scott M. Gimple, former Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang, and Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman as executive producers. Joining Reedus in the series are Cl?mence Po?sy (Harry Potter) as Isabelle, Adam Nagaitis (Chernobyl) as Quinn, Anne Charrier (The Last Deadly Mission) as Genet, Laika Blanc Francard (My Night) as Sylvie, Eriq Ebouaney (Fox Hunt) as Fallou, Romain Levi (The Tunnel) as Codron, and newcomer Louis Puech Scigliuzzi as Laurent.

"The Walking Dead Universe LIVES! To conclude Fear the Walking Dead, we're thrilled to be bringing you one of its most vibrant, inventive, exciting seasons EVER, while breaking new ground with old favorites: Maggie and Negan in the madhouse of post-apocalyptic Manhattan with no one to depend on but each other...Daryl Dixon in France, a loner who cannot move through this new dangerous world alone, facing vicious enemies and never-seen-before threats of the undead. And Rick and Michonne, in a romantic saga of the dangerous road to each other, and the road they must find with each other, cornered by a new civilization and hordes of the dead," Gimple said in a statement announcing the next phase of the TWDU, which includes The Walking Dead: Dead City, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, and The Walking Dead: Rick & Michonne. "Lauren Cohan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, [Dead City] showrunner Eli Jorn?, Norman Reedus, showrunner David Zabel, Danai Gurira, and Andrew Lincoln are creating heart-wrenching, heart-pounding magic for the next phase of the TWDU!"

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon premieres this fall on AMC and AMC+.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

It may not have been a huge hit when it first arrived in 1993, but Hocus Pocus has gone on to become a wildly beloved Halloween movie in the three decades since. One of the most popular films each and every October, Hocus Pocus has gained an enormous and passionate following over the years. The trio of witches known as the Sanderson Sisters have basically become Halloween icons. What you may not know, is that comedian Rosie O'Donnell almost played one of them.

During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, O'Donnell confirmed that she was offered the role of Mary, which was eventually played by Kathy Najimy. She also confirmed that she turned the role down, not wanting to be mean to kids or have her character be on the receiving end of jokes about weight.

"Yes. Because I didn't want to play the fat, mean witch who eats and kills kids," O'Donnell explained. "Even though it was Bette Midler, who was like, my favorite, and Sarah Jessica Parker."

"I just couldn't do it," she continued. "I couldn't do a pat where I would be mean to kids and the joke was about the size. I just felt like I had to say no for that."

When asked if she regretted turning it down, O'Donnell said she didn't. She also went on to praise Najimy for how she brought the character to life.

"No, and I think Kathy's fantastic in it," O'Donnell said. "You know, she does that face. I don't even know how she does it."

Hocus Pocus Sequels

It took nearly 30 years, but Hocus Pocus did eventually spawn a sequel. 2022's Hocus Pocus 2 saw the return of Midler, Parker, Najimy, and Doug Jones, with the characters once again descending on the town of Salem. The film was released exclusively on Disney+ and quickly became the biggest original movie in the streamer's history.

Given the success of Hocus Pocus 2, it should come as no surprise that a third film is in the works at Disney. Hocus Pocus 3 will be bringing back the director and one of the writers from the hit sequel, with both Anne Fletcher and Jen D'Angelo reportedly returning for the next film.

As of right now, there has been no word as to which characters could appear in Hocus Pocus 3. The Sanderson Sisters are the cornerstone of the franchise, and Hocus Pocus 2 ended up establishing a new trio of main characters.

[This story contains spoilers from the Fear the Walking Dead midseason finale.] Troy Otto (Daniel Sharman) looked dead as a doornail when Madison Clark (Kim Dickens) bludgeoned him with a hammer in the "Things Bad Begun" episode of Fear the Walking Dead. Then his corpse washed away when her son, Nick Clark (Frank Dillane), blew up the Gonzalez Dam in a standoff with Proctor John (Ray McKinnon) to end season 3. As Madison washed ashore, the "Sleigh Ride" season finale left the fates of Alicia Clark (Alycia Debnam-Carey), Victor Strand (Colman Domingo), and Daniel Salazar (Rub?n Blades) unknown. But the last-surviving Otto was dead.

Fear eventually revealed that the Clarks, Strand, and Salazar survived the dam explosion. As it turns out, there's another survivor of the Gonzalez Dam: Troy. Sunday's "All I See Is Red" midseason finale ended with the exit of Morgan Jones (Lennie James), who went off to find Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) with his daughter Mo (Zoey Merchant) in tow. With Morgan gone, Madison's mission is to reunite the children she collected for PADRE with their parents and make the island "what it was meant to be in the first place": a safe-zone to seed new settlements across the country.

In a stinger that aired before the credits rolled, Madison could be heard announcing herself through the static on a radio tuned by a mysterious figure. "My name is Madison Clark. If you can hear this message, you are in the territory PADRE once patrolled. PADRE has fallen. They are no longer a threat to you or your children. If you lost a child, come to the following coordinates and send an SOS on this channel: 31 degrees, 51 minutes north. 81 degrees, 10 minutes west. We will find you. We will do our best to reunite you with your children. We'll make up for all the damage PADRE did to you."

The mystery listener jotted down the coordinates in a notepad before packing up an assortment of familiar items. Among them are Strand's sunglasses, Alicia's arm prosthetic (with the bony remains of her zombie-bitten arm inside), a hammer -- and a map tracking a route that begins at the Gonzalez Dam's location in Tijuana, Baja California.

It would seem that Troy Otto somehow survived and has unfinished business with Madison Clark. The last time they met in season 3's "Things Bad Begun," Madison (seemingly) killed Troy after the revelation that he led the walker horde that overran Broke Jaw Ranch, the survivalist settlement where he once lived with his brother, Jake Otto (Sam Underwood), and their father, border militiaman Jeremiah Otto Sr. (Dayton Callie).

With Morgan's exit, the second half of Fear's final season will return focus to the show's earlier characters co-created by original showrunner Dave Erickson: Madison, Strand, Daniel, Luciana, and -- it seems -- Troy Otto.

Read our midseason finale postmortem Q&A with Lennie James about Morgan's final episode of Fear the Walking Dead. Season 8 returns with new episodes later in 2023 on AMC and AMC+.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

[This story contains spoilers from the Fear the Walking Dead midseason finale.] "I don't die. Everybody else does, but I don't." The words that Morgan Jones (Lennie James) carried over from The Walking Dead proved prophetic on Sunday's "All I See Is Red" episode of Fear the Walking Dead, where Morgan made his exit -- but did not die. After finally laying his walker wife Jenny and his zombified boy Duane to rest back in King County, Morgan thought he was past having to "clear." But then Morgan lost Grace (Karen David) to a walker's bite and their daughter Mo (Zoey Merchant) to PADRE. Trapped in a cycle he thought he'd broken, Morgan's mantra repeated itself: "I lose people, and then I lose myself."

"It's like I see red. It's all I see, and all I do is kill. Again and again. Until I've cleared. Walkers, people, I don't see no difference. All I see is red," Morgan told Madison Clark (Kim Dickens), who lost herself when she kidnapped baby Mo and took her to PADRE seven years earlier. But he helped bring her back, so Morgan's last episode sent him into zombie-infested swamps with Madison to rescue his child, sent by Shrike (Maya Eshet) to clear a walker herd and retrieve coordinates PADRE needed to seed new settlements across the country.

Morgan's fear of losing Mo made him see red, and in his maddened mental state, he saw flashes of the people he's lost: his mentor Eastman, who taught him Aikido and that "all life is precious." Benjamin of the Kingdom. Mo's birth parents, Isaac and Rachel. John Dorie and John Dorie Sr. Nick and Alicia Clark. Grace. Jenny and Duane. After he endangered his daughter when walkers swamped them on the sinking houseboat where they ended up while escaping PADRE seven years ago, Morgan eventually broke the cycle when Madison told him: "You never really lose people, Morgan. None of us do."

By letting go and breaking free from the cycle, Morgan didn't lose Mo -- or himself. In the end, Morgan's journey on Fear the Walking Dead came full circle: he left with Mo to return to the Alexandria Safe-Zone and find Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). It was Rick who sent Morgan off from The Walking Dead to Fear the Walking Dead with the words, "You can hide, but you can't run."

While it was Rick who brought Morgan back from Fear, James will not be crossing over to another Walking Dead spin-off: the actor is hanging up the stick and laying Morgan to rest as he departs the Walking Dead Universe after 13 years. ComicBook spoke to James about Morgan's ending, if the door is open for a potential Morgan and Rick reunion, and why James' Walking Dead future is clear.

COMICBOOK: Morgan Jones doesn't die.

LENNIE JAMES: Well, on this one, there's two ways to go. Either you die or you don't [laughs].

Just to be clear -- this is your exit from Fear the Walking Dead. We won't be seeing Morgan in the final six episodes?

LENNIE JAMES: You will not.

You're tying up 13 years of threads from Morgan's series journey on The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. Why was midway through Fear's final season the right time to leave?

LENNIE JAMES: I think it's just the way the story panned out for the final season. I mean, on one level, you'll have to ask [showrunners] Andrew [Chambliss] and Ian [Goldberg] that question. I think it was to do with timings, when was best for the story they wanted to tell in the final season and in a way, to dedicate a chunk of the first six episodes to Morgan's story and then continue as they mean to go on.

[Walking Dead Universe chief content officer and executive producer] Scott M. Gimple put Morgan on this trajectory in The Walking Dead's "Clear" episode a decade ago. How collaborative was the process between you, Andrew, Ian, and Scott coming up with Morgan's ending for this episode?

LENNIE JAMES: I think everybody had an input. I mean, that's pretty much been how the process has been all the way along. There are different stages in which you find out what the creators, what Scott has in mind for your character. And you get to, or at least we do, we get to voice an opinion at different stages. Sometimes, as with all of us, sometimes those discussions change. Sometimes things stay the same. It truly is one of the things I've enjoyed most about being in The Walking Dead Universe is that collaborative process. And you're absolutely right in the sense of my character's link and bond with Scott. I mean, I think until I came over to Fear and some of, most of, if not all of, Morgan's pivotal episodes on The Walking Dead were written by Scott.

You mentioned things change along the way. Was there ever an alternate ending in mind for Morgan? Because this is Walking Dead, one where Morgan dies?

LENNIE JAMES: From the moment we started seeing scripts, the ending was as the ending is.

The episode ends with Morgan leaving to look for Rick Grimes. As he says, it wouldn't be the first time they found their way back to each other. Is there an open door there for Morgan to return to The Walking Dead Universe and reunite with Rick?

LENNIE JAMES: In all honesty, every and anything is possible. And I know it's something that a certain percentage of our fans would like. I would show up to work with Andy again any time. But anybody who knows me knows I'm fiercely protective of Morgan's story. And as far as I'm concerned, at this particular moment in time, this is the end of the road for Morgan. You'll only see him again if a story comes up within the universe that is just too good to say no to.

"All I See Is Red" brings Morgan full-circle back to your very first episode of Fear the Walking Dead, where Morgan ran away from his people at Alexandria. Now he's going back home to right his mistake. In your mind, what does Morgan and Mo's feature look like?

LENNIE JAMES: That's a very good question. I think they have a long way to walk. That's the first stage of it. And we know that Morgan has done it once before, so he knows what's ahead. I think on one level, as he did before, he's walking into the unknown. He doesn't know, should he come across Rick again, should he bump into Rick again, what state that he's going to be in. What has happened to him over the years that they haven't been in contact?

He's also walking now with extra responsibility, but he's also walking now as a man who has buried, literally buried, a lot of the ghosts and pressures that were haunting him. And he's hopefully put them to rest. So wherever he ends up, one of the things I liked about this final chapter for Morgan is that, you are right, it is like a reverse of how we started in Fear the Walking Dead. But he's certainly walking away a better man than he arrived.

Getting into the Morgan and the Mo of it all. There's a line that Morgan's mindset hooks on this episode, which is Madison telling Morgan, "You never really lose people, none of us do." What does that realization do to Morgan?

LENNIE JAMES: Well, I think it's something that has been gnawing away at him from when he first heard it from Alicia, when Alicia first told him that this was something that her mom said. I think it is the thing that has quietly and secretly been at the heart of what's been eating away at Morgan is just when you thought it couldn't get worse, that he finally kills his wife because his wife attacks his son. You find that there's another layer, which is that his son is still walking the earth. And I think in part, what Madison says operates on two levels. One is that he has to go back and he has to make that right. And two is that it's okay to hurt about the people and mourn the people that you've lost. You don't have to run away from that. You can sit with it, you can live with it, you can recover from it, you can absorb it. And I think that's in large part what it feels like for Morgan.

Let's piggyback off of that. Morgan fears losing Mo and losing himself. But by not letting her go, he almost loses her on the houseboat. It's not until Morgan realizes that he can let her go and not lose her that he breaks the cycle, which ultimately brings them together. What do you think Morgan's ending looks like here if he doesn't break that cycle?

LENNIE JAMES: Well, we've seen what Morgan's ending would've been. We've seen him lost, we've seen him broken. It would've been some more terrible version of that because I think to a certain extent, Mo is a victory for Morgan because he's lost everybody else. He's lost Jenny, he's lost Duane, he's lost Grace, he's lost John Dorie. I think he's in a position where if he doesn't win with Mo, it is pretty much a different ending. It's pretty much an ending ending, I would imagine.

We've seen Morgan as "Clear" Morgan, the peaceful warrior Morgan, the morally-gray Morgan. Here, he ultimately realizes that "all life is precious" isn't about killing or not killing -- it's about what you do with the time and the people that you have. How would you describe who Morgan is now at the end?

LENNIE JAMES: I'm not sure I can describe it any better than you just did, actually. I think that you are absolutely right that -- I personally, Lennie, not Morgan, have always believed that "all life is precious" isn't about whether you kill or you don't kill. "All life is precious" is about how you live your life. What is the focus of your life? You can live a life, particularly in the apocalypse, where death comes easy. What Morgan's saying is we should strive for death to come hard. We should strive for anyone's death to matter, for it to count, and that we should take a responsibility for the lives we take and the lives that we protect. And I think when he walks away with Mo, Morgan is at a stage possibly for the first time where he can actually put that belief into practice.

Let's talk about that. How do you feel about how Morgan's story ends here? The final scene in Eastman's graveyard felt like the perfect sendoff for the character.

LENNIE JAMES: I hope so! It's been a long, old road with Morgan. There are many different ways it could have ended. I think that the boys, our showrunners, not necessarily went for a happy ending because there's no happy endings in the apocalypse, but went for one that offered some kind of hope. Morgan is one of the people that I believe people would wish for hope for him. And I think that's what this ending gave him, strangely.

Can you reflect on your time as Morgan on The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead? At the end here, what are you going to miss most?

LENNIE JAMES: The people that I was working with, the cast, the crew, our directors. I mean, I know it's a cliche, but both -- I have direct experience of it because on leaving The Walking Dead, I missed the people, the crew, the folks I saw every day, the actors that I worked with, the friends I made. That familiarity that everyday-ness, I really missed. And I've missed that on leaving Fear, because obviously I left and they carried on for a few. I've had it twice, so I know exactly what I've been missing and what matters. Because neither show, it's not going down a mine, it's not being a police officer, it's not life-endangering, but it is nonetheless hard work. We shoot most of our episodes outside in not easy weather conditions in either Texas or Georgia. And it takes a real commitment for the people who put it all together. And those are the people that I'm going to miss.

I'm going to miss the routine. I'm going to miss the stories we tell. I'm going to miss hanging out, I'm going to miss sharing at close proximity in the lives of people I really, really like. And there's a lot of them I'll keep in contact with. There's a lot of them who have become friends for life, but there's still an absence. There's still a [feeling of] something has ended and I'm not exactly mourning it, but I am missing it.

Fear the Walking Dead Season 8 returns with its final episodes later in 2023 on AMC and AMC+.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

"I see red. Everything is red. Everything I see is red," Morgan Jones (Lennie James) told Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) back on the "Clear" episode of The Walking Dead. The deaths of his wife Jenny (Keisha Tillis) and his son Duane (Adrian Kali Turner) compelled Morgan to "clear": "It's like I see red. It's all I see, and all I do is kill. Again and again. Until I've cleared. Walkers, people... I don't see no difference. All I see is red." After returning to King County to put down his zombified boy, Morgan thought he was past having to clear. But then he lost Grace (Karen David) and Mo (Zoey Merchant). So says Morgan: "I lose people, then I lose myself."

Morgan sees red. Flashes of his walker wife in the scope of Rick's gun. Grace dying and reanimating. Duane. John Dorie (Garret Dillahunt). His mentor, Eastman (John Carroll Lynch), who redirected Morgan from madness and taught him to walk the path of peace. He sees Madison Clark (Kim Dickens), standing over him. An axe-wielding Morgan blacked out and attacked Madison, so she had to knock him out.

Inside the train car where Grace died are messages scrawled in blood: GRACE TURNED. CLEAR. MO RAN. CLEAR. YOU CAN'T RUN. CLEAR. CAN'T FEEL THIS AGAIN. Morgan warns Madison she's not safe with him. He's lost Grace like he lost Jenny, and he's going to lose Mo like he lost Duane. "It's like a cycle, and it's starting all over again," Morgan tells Madison. She wants to help him break the cycle, but Morgan's mental state makes him a danger to her and everyone around him.

Morgan and Madison make it to the shipyard where Shrike (Maya Eshet) sent Mo and her prefects clear the Carrion guarding the P.A.D.R.E. containers, only to find the yard mostly empty. Mo and the prefects are leading the herd into the marshes, while Shrike (Maya Eshet) treks to the other side of the swamp. She's loaded the containers onto a cargo ship and is planning to expand PADRE by seeding new communities across the U.S. As Morgan and Madison join forces with Daniel Salazar's (Rub?n Blades) parent army, Morgan radios Mo: "I want to tell you something that a friend once told me. He said you can hide, but you can't run. He wanted me to know that hurt will follow you. It follows you wherever you go, and he was right. Only thing I know that will ease it is the people you still have left. It's the same people you're running from, Mo. Just don't do what I did. Don't run."

Rick's words don't convince Mo, running from the pain of losing a parent. If PADRE's prefects make it to the ship, Shrike will send them out to establish settlements all over the country -- and he'll never see his daughter again. There are a thousand walkers between Morgan and Mo, who ended up at PADRE as a baby because of Madison. Now she's making it right. Daniel reminds them Morgan isn't the only parent with children in the swamp: they're all going.

As June (Jenna Elfman) tends to Dwight (Austin Amelio) and Sherry's (Christine Evangelista) zombie-bitten and fever-stricken son Finch (Gavin Warren), she reports that walkers are bogging down the prefects in the swamp. Mo's led them to the houseboat that nearly sank when she was trapped there with Morgan and Madison. Shrike needs the prefects to find the coordinates needed to launch PADRE's expansion, which are on the body of one of the Carrion in the swamp: Shrike and Crane's father, General Krennick (Michael B. Silver). Inside the binoculars on his body are coordinates to locations that were "developed after years of study by the U.S. military," Shrike explains. "They provide the right geographical, meteorological, and topographical conditions to ensure the communities we seed survive. We don't find them, we might as well be throwing darts at a map." She instructs the students to do what they were trained for: kill as many Carrion as they can until they find Krennick.

Mo won't survive clearing the walkers. Morgan needs his axe to get through the swamp before Shrike does, but he's losing control. There are flashes of red. A swing of Madison's hammer. Morgan comes to and finds his axe embedded in Madison's oxygen tank. Fearing he's killed Madison, he radios Mo with a warning: "If I come anywhere close to you... baby, run."

Meanwhile, Dwight wants to hunt down Shrike in the swamp and make sure she doesn't harm any more kids. June convinces Dwight to be there for Finch at the end. His son needs him, and so does Sherry. Back at the swamp, Morgan sees red as he clears walkers to get to Mo. Father and daughter end up trapped inside the walker-logged houseboat where Morgan was forced to give up Mo to PADRE seven years ago. As water and walkers begin to flood inside, Mo yells at Morgan: "Why wouldn't you just let me go?" She blames him for getting them trapped, just like before. "I was trying to run away from you!" Morgan wanted her to run. Why didn't she? "Because I didn't want to watch you die like I had to watch her," she says of Grace. "And now we're both going to die." Unless Morgan can break the cycle.

Morgan fires a flare gun answered with a radio message from Madison. Before she can get to the houseboat, Shrike corners Madison. Daniel's parent army holds off Dove (Jayla Walton) and the rest of PADRE's prefects as Madison makes her way to save Mo. Inside the flooding houseboat, Morgan fishes one of Madison's oxygen tanks out of the water and tells Mo to swim beneath the walkers to safety. "I'm not gonna make the same mistake I did before. Seven years ago, it was just like this. Surrounded by walkers, the boat sinking. You were just a baby, and I thought it was all over. I lost myself, Mo," Morgan tells her. "I saw red, and when I came to, my hands were covered in blood, and I was standing over you. And then I called PADRE because I knew I couldn't protect you, and I couldn't break the cycle. But I'm gonna break it now."

Before he drowns, Morgan radios Madison and tells her to make sure Mo doesn't get on the ship. Shrike cuts in: "Wren is coming with us. We're going to find those coordinates, and you'll never see her again." Just then, walker Krennick washes up at the houseboat. Morgan's going to bury him at the bottom of the swamp with the coordinates. Suddenly, Morgan goes red... and comes to on land. Madison was supposed to go for Mo, but she wasn't going to leave Morgan to drown. He sees red. "I can't lose her!"

"You're not gonna," Madison assures him. "PADRE, when they first had their hooks in me, my kids were the only thing that kept me going. Alicia, even when she thought I was dead, she kept me with her. You told me that yourself. You never really lose people, Morgan. None of us do." No one's gone until they're gone. And no one's really gone.

Shrike tracks Morgan and Madison to find the houseboat submerged in the swamp. As the reanimated Krennick washes ashore, Shrike sobs an apology -- and lets her zombified father rip her throat out. Madison finds the coordinates inside Krennick's binoculars. With that, Morgan and Madison call a ceasefire between PADRE's prefects and the parent army. They're going to give them the coordinates. "If that's what it takes to end all this, you can have them," says Morgan. Because he's letting Mo go. If she wants to get on that ship, if she wants to run away, if that's what she thinks she needs, he won't stand in her way. He doesn't want to lose her. But letting people go isn't losing people.

"For the longest time since I lost my wife and son, I lost myself. And then, when your mom died, it started all over again," Morgan tells Mo. "But I think I can finally break free of that cycle. I think this will do it. It was Madison that led me to it. Told me that you never really lose people. Not the people who matter." Morgan tells the prefects to get on the ship and see where the coordinates lead them. "Just remember the people you leave behind. 'Cause those people are gonna remember you. And you might not realize today or tomorrow how important that is, but the day will come. It will, Mo."

"I don't want to just remember you," Mo replies, wrapping him in a hug. "I want to be with you."

As one family reunites, another falls apart. Finch chooses mercy over wrath. As Shrike bleeds out from her bite, she begs June to adminster the radiation treatment, but June leaves her to be put down by Crane. "After you bury her, you should look for another place to live." Finch succumbs to his infection and is buried by his parents. D and Honey survived Negan and the Sanctuary, but there's no surviving this. "Maybe we're just not meant to be together," Dwight says. He's going to go back home and start over. He doesn't want to hurt her, but "us together, it just seems like what we do to each other." They agree to put an end to it and hug goodbye.

On the beach, Morgan and Mo part ways with Madison. He's going home. "Everything that's happened with Grace, with Mo, it's got me thinking about the people I ran away from when I first came to Texas. And they're people that mean as much to me as you all do," he explains. "I gotta find them. I gotta see if they're still there. Right my mistake and make sure they're all okay." He believes Madison is the leader PADRE -- and the parents -- need. She hopes to see them again, but it's goodbye. "We will always be with you," Morgan tells Madison. Father and daughter sail off into the horizon.

Back on the beach, Dove asks if they're getting on the ship. They have the coordinates, the supplies, and the fuel to seed new communities and expand. But Madison has a different idea. "There are files back on the island. Files that tell us where you came from and who your parents are. Some of them could still be out there. We're gonna find them. We're gonna bring them here," Madison says. "And we're gonna make PADRE what it was meant to be in the first place."

In the Georgia woods, Morgan and Mo bury Grace in Eastman's graveyard. Morgan is training Mo in Aikido and the art of peace. Before they move on, Morgan holds his stick-turned-axe and visits Eastman's grave. He tells Eastman what he's realized: "That all life is precious, but that is not about killing or not killing. It's about what you do with the time that you have. And the people that you have."

People like Mo. And people like Rick Grimes. They're going to find the friend Morgan told Mo about. "It wouldn't be the first time we found our way back to each other," Morgan says, clicking a walkie. "This message is for Rick Grimes. It's Morgan Jones. Man, I'm gonna come and look for you, whether you're at Alexandria or not. I will leave this message every morning at dawn, and I'll leave the walkie on for a few minutes after. Who knows? Maybe you might even be listening."

Morgan remembers people he's lost. Eastman. Benjamin. Nick. Isaac and Rachel. John Dorie and John Dorie Sr. Alicia. Jenny. Duane. Grace. You never really lose people. One last look back, and Morgan and Mo leave the cemetery behind. Morgan's future is clear.

In a stinger, radio static over the radio: I repeat. My name is Madison Clark. If you can hear this message, you are in the territory PADRE once patrolled. PADRE has fallen. They are no longer a threat to you or your children. If you lost a child ... come to the following coordinates and send an SOS on this channel.

A mysterious figure scribbles down the coordinates into a notepad. 31 degrees, 51 minutes north. 81 degrees, 10 minutes west. We will find you. We will do our best to reunite you with your children. We'll make up for all the damage PADRE did to you.

On the table are familiar possessions. Victor Strand's sunglasses. Alicia Clark's amputated bone arm. A map marked with a trail from the Gonzalez Dam in Texas to Savannah. And a hammer.

Fear the Walking Dead returns with its final six episodes later in 2023.

[This story contains spoilers from the Fear the Walking Dead midseason finale.] When Fear the Walking Dead returns for the second half of its eighth and final season, it will be without leading man Lennie James. After five seasons on the Walking Dead spin-off, the Morgan Jones actor has confirmed his exit from the series -- and the Walking Dead Universe. Sunday's "All I See Is Red" midseason finale ended a journey that started 13 years ago on the "Days Gone Bye" pilot episode of The Walking Dead in 2010, where Morgan and son Duane (Adrian Kali Turner) were the first survivors who encountered Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) in the zombie apocalypse.

Morgan eventually crossed over to Fear the Walking Dead after running away from Rick and his people at Alexandria. And in the end, he left Fear to head home and look for Rick.

"This message is for Rick Grimes. It's Morgan Jones. Man, I'm gonna come and look for you, whether you're at Alexandria or not. I will leave this message every morning at dawn, and I'll leave the walkie on for a few minutes after," Morgan said, coming full circle to how he parted ways with Rick on the first ever episode of The Walking Dead. "Who knows? Maybe you might even be listening."

James discussed his exit in a midseason finale postmortem with ComicBook, confirming that Morgan made his departure in "All I See Is Red." Asked if fans will see Morgan in Fear the Walking Dead's final six episodes, James answered: "You will not."

"I think it's just the way the story panned out for the final season," James explained about his mid-season exit. "I think it was to do with timings, when was best for the story [showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg] wanted to tell in the final season and in a way, to dedicate a chunk of the first six episodes to Morgan's story and then continue as they mean to go on."

The episode ended with a goodbye between Morgan and Madison Clark (Kim Dickens), now the leader of PADRE. Dickens will presumably receive top billing for the first time since season 4 when Fear the Walking Dead season 8 returns later this year with a focus on the show's earlier surviving characters: Victor Strand (Colman Domingo), Daniel Salazar (Rub?n Blades), Luciana (Danay Garc?a) -- and Troy Otto (Daniel Sharman), who made a shocking return in the episode's final moments.

Is Morgan gone for good? While viewers won't see Morgan and Mo's (Zoey Merchant) return trip to Alexandria on Fear, Morgan's fate is left open-ended. Just as James exits, Lincoln is returning opposite Danai Gurira in The Walking Dead: Rick & Michonne spin-off series slated for 2024.

"In all honesty, every and anything is possible. And I know it's something that a certain percentage of our fans would like. I would show up to work with Andy again any time," James said about returning to the Walking Dead Universe for a Morgan and Rick reunion. "But as anybody who knows me knows, I'm fiercely protective of Morgan's story. And as far as I'm concerned, at this particular moment in time, this is the end of the road for Morgan. You'll only see him again if a story comes up within the universe that is just too good to say no to."

Read our full postmortem Q&A with the man who brought Morgan to life on The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, Lennie James. Fear the Walking Dead Season 8 returns with its final episodes later in 2023 on AMC and AMC+.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

A vendetta thought laid to rest on The Walking Dead is back from the grave as "old acquaintances" Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) return in The Walking Dead: Dead City. Sunday's "Old Acquaintances" series premiere of the Maggie and Negan spin-off reunited the enemies years after they parted ways on The Walking Dead's "Rest in Peace" series finale, where Maggie told Negan she couldn't forgive or forget what he did to Glenn (Steven Yeun): fatally bludgeoning her husband and the father of her child with his barbwire-covered baseball bat.

Originally announced as Isle of the Dead, the new Walking Dead spin-off was among "three, maybe four options" for separate Maggie and Negan shows, Cohan previously told ComicBook.

Dead City forces Maggie and Negan back together when the Croat (?eljko Ivanek) -- a psychopathic Savior who "stood out as being an exceptionally insane son of a bitch," Negan recalls -- kidnaps Maggie's son, Hershel (Logan Kim). With Negan wanted by New Babylon Marshal Perlie Armstrong (Gaius Charles) for murdering a magistrate and four other men, he agrees to a quid pro quo with Maggie: he'll travel with her into walker-infested New York City to save Hershel from the Croat's new "Sanctuary," and she shelters his unspeaking ward, Ginny (Mahina Napoleon), at her home at The Bricks (a relocated Hilltop community).

"When [Walking Dead Universe chief content officer and executive producer] Scott [Gimple] came to us, we've sort of talked to him a few times about possible iterations of a spinoff. And then this sort of cinched in us in New York City on a mission, an undeniable mission," Cohan told ComicBook. "That was going to allow us to look at these two people and really dig into [their dynamic]. That was really exciting to us because it's almost like they take one mini step backward in order to say, 'How do you really solve this? How do you really look at why they bring up what they bring up?' And I think to have the familiarity with us, and then to take it and thrust it into New York City, it just sounded like it was going to be a pretty good time."

Added Morgan, "There were a few options that they approached both Lauren and I with as far as spinoffs. Because they were interested in doing spinoffs for these two characters, but not necessarily together. And then when [series creator and showrunner] Eli [Jorn?] came up with the idea of putting Maggie and Negan in a show together -- look, I think we were both very skeptical. 'How would that go? That's not going to work at all.'"

Jorn? researched real-life stories of forgiveness to explore the themes of grief, and loss, and trauma that have tethered Maggie and Negan since he killed Glenn in The Walking Dead season 7 episode, "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be."

"We saw an outline and it was really kind of amazing. And we've spent so much time kind of tiptoeing around these two's relationship for years and never really digging into it, to then put them in this new location that is New York City and have them have to deal with each other. There is no escaping the fact that they are on screen 99% of the time together and they're going to have to figure this out -- or not, I should say -- because we find them in a worse position than we left them. We left them with a truce of sorts. And then when Maggie needs Negan, she needs him, but she comes at him hard. She's not asking a favor, like, 'Can you help me here?' She's kind of an ass about it. And Negan kind of is like, 'Okay, I'm going to go with this,' because maybe he can get something out of it too."

When Maggie last saw Negan, he was expecting a child with his pregnant wife, Annie (Medina Senghore). What happened to Negan's wife and child will be answered in future episodes, but for now, Maggie is able to leverage harboring Ginny to coax Negan into accompanying her into Manhattan to rescue her son from the Croat.

Asked if Negan helps Maggie if there's nothing in it for him, Morgan said, "I think he may very well help her. I think he would've had an issue more with the approach, but I think he may have helped her."

"I think that there is always going to be a guilt that Negan has, especially when it comes to Hershel, more so than Maggie probably, because Negan does have this affinity toward the younger generation. And we had a couple scenes with Hershel the last year of [The Walking Dead] that were very brief, but they were cool and there was something there that kind of opened a door for this weird relationship," Morgan explained. "And I think Negan would want to bring him home, especially knowing that the Croat has him, who is the man that he has a past with. So maybe, I think there's a very good chance that he wouldn't have just said 'f--- you' to Maggie and would've probably helped. But Maggie likes to use things to her advantage, and if that means having him over a barrel, she's going to use it, and she's no dummy."

New episodes of The Walking Dead: Dead City premiere Thursdays on AMC+ and Sundays on AMC. Read our Dead City Season 1 Episode 1 recap.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

Now that work on the second batch of Wednesday episodes is officially underway, Netflix has revealed one of the biggest teases yet for the upcoming season. During the streamer's TUDUM event on Saturday, stars of the show participated in a video discussing fan theories relating to where the plot could go over the course of Season Two. At the end of the video, it was confirmed a new Addams Family member will be joining the series when its sophomore outing debuts.

Outside of the reveal a new Addams was on the way, it wasn't revealed which character it will be. Wednesday lead Jenna Ortega revealed her desire to see Cousin Itt appear on the show while Joy Sunday (Bianca) and Hunter Doohan (Tyler) agreed they'd like to see Grandmama appear on the series. Neither have appeared on the coming-of-age horror show yet.

Earlier this year, Ortega revealed she was much more "hands-on" with the development of the second season, potentially teasing she may know who the character is, in hindsight.

"We had already been throwing out so many ideas, and I'm somebody who's very hands-on. I want to know what's going on," Ortega admitted. "And with a character like Wednesday, who is so beloved and such a legend, I just really didn't want to get her wrong. So I try to have as many conversations as possible. On set, with the writers and Tim [Burton], we all would get together and decide, 'Okay, what works and what doesn't?' It was naturally already very collaborative."

She continued, "So in preparation for a second season, we wanted to get ahead of the curve and make sure that we could start the conversations earlier ... And I'm just so curious. I want to see the outfits, new characters that are coming in, scripts, and they were gracious enough to let me put the producer hat on."

It the same chat, the Scream alumnus also revealed the show would make the pivot away from romance and going into the realm of horror.

"We've decided we want to lean into the horror aspect of the show a little bit more," Ortega revealed during a conversation with Elle Fanning for Variety. "Because it is so lighthearted, and a show like this with vampires and werewolves and superpowers, you don't want to take yourself too seriously."

She added, "We're ditching any romantic love interest for Wednesday, which is really great."

Stay tuned for details on Season 2 of Wednesday, or tune into Netflix to watch the first season of the show.

The childhood story-to-horror film pipeline has another entry. A new Cinderella-focused horror film is now filming principal, starring Lauren Staerck and Natasha Henstridge. Called Cinderella's Revenge, the film is currently filming in England, directed by Zombie Spring Breakers' Andy Edwards. According to a description shared by Deadline, the film follows Staerck's Cinderella as she seeks revenge on her wicked stepsisters and stepmother with the help of her fairy godmother played by Henstridge.

"Cinderella is the most famous fairy tale in the world," producer Mark Amin told the trade. "We were able to develop a great horror script that is also a female empowerment story with global appeal."

Joining Staerck and Henstridge are Stephanie Lodge, Beatric Fletcher, Megan Purvis, and Darrell Griggs. Amin is producing the picture with Mark Lester, Cami Winikoff, and Jessica Mathis.

The movie happens to be just the latest in a new trend established in part by Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, a slasher released earlier this year. Despite scathing reviews, a sequel for the Pooh film is already in development. Not just that, but Blood and Honey director Rhys Frake-Waterfield hopes to establish an entire cinematic world based on the concept.

"The idea is that we're going to try and imagine they're all in the same world, so we can have crossovers," Frake-Waterfield previously said. "People have been messaging saying they really want to see Bambi versus Pooh...There are many, many, many other ideas out there which aren't tied to Disney. Loads of old fairytales and urban legends, concepts that are synonymous with your childhood, and they're the ones which I want to build up into a twisted alternative reality."

"We have been overwhelmed with the enthusiastic response from the public," executive producer Stuart Alson added. "From top media companies ranging from Rolling Stone magazine to USA Today to TMZ to individual comments on Reddit and YouTube--the world is craving Blood and Honey, and we're thrilled to be teaming up with Fathom to deliver Winnie-The-Pooh as never seen before."