Over the past few years, there’s been a ton of conversation about the power of representation in the media. While LGTBQ+ representation includes telling authentic queer stories, it also extends to seeing queer actors land major roles. And, now that out star of the movies/TV/stage Jonathan Bailey has starred in both Wicked and Jurassic World Rebirth, can we stop pretending that gay actors aren’t bankable?
The actor got a following thanks to his role in Bridgerton(streaming with a Netflix subscription) before starring in a slew of successful TV and movie projects. Bailey has become the internet’s boyfriend as a result, and is thirsted over by both men and women alike. His sexuality hasn’t dissuaded fans from this, and in fact he may be the reason certain moviegoers went to see Jurassic World Rebirth, which killed at the box office. I’m hoping that his success will quell fears over giving LGBTQ+ actors major blockbuster roles.
Hollywood Usually Sees Queer Actors/Stories As A Gamble
Nathan Lane were scared to come out, even when playing LGBTQ+ characters in projects like The Birdcage. Many actors have shared similar stories about being discouraged against coming out of the closet by their team, over fear of it negatively affecting their careers.
Ian McKellen encouraging actors to come out and be their authentic selves. While there are no doubt plenty of closeted actors out there, I have to wonder if Bailey’s career is helping to change the minds of execs and actors alike.
(Image credit: Universal)
Jonathan Bailey Has Played A Romantic Lead And An Action Star
When the Wicked cast list revealed Jonathan Bailey was playing Fiyero, it seemed like a perfect fit. He’s got a history with musical theater, including starring in Company on the West End. Even still, audiences were swooning over his performance in the movie musical, particularly his big song “Dancing Through Life.” It feels like director Jon M. Chu and company knew what they were doing with the edit, including an unnecessary shot or two of Bailey’s butt. While we all know he’s a gay man, that didn’t stop him from convincingly playing the love interest of both Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba and Ariana Grande’s Glinda throughout its runtime.
Then there’s his most recent release: Jurassic World Rebirth. As soon as the movie’s trailers dropped, tweets started popping up online about the “slutty little glasses” Bailey wore in the blockbuster. The internet can’t stop thirsting over the actor, who went viral for kissing Scarlett Johansson during press events. His character, Dr. Henry Loomis, never had his sexuality revealed in the movie, but like Wicked, Bailey is once again the male lead of that dino-centric movie. And, he did a number of thrilling action sequences and stunts in the process.
While I hope to see Jonathan Bailey’s career continue to thrive, I’m also hoping that he opens doors and changes minds in the process. Jurassic World Rebirth is in theaters now as part of the 2025 movie release list, and Wicked: For Good will follow suit on November 21st.
If you’re a millennial like myself, there’s a fair chance that you really only knew Leslie Nielsen for his work in comedy. After the actor starred in David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker’s Airplane!, he became an icon in spoof movies, and he continued to make funny films like the Naked Gun trilogy up until his death in 2010. Before 1980, however, Nielsen was best known as the serious star of features like Forbidden Planet and The Poseidon Adventure – and it was specifically the history of that mid-career genre switch-up that convinced producer Seth MacFarlane that no actor other than could star in the upcoming Naked Gun legacyquel other than Liam Neeson.
The ability of performers to play their role straight even as events around them get goofier and goofier can make or break a spoof movie, and it very much helps to have serious gravitas in the mix (think about Leslie Nielsen entering the cockpit multiple times in the third act of Airplane! to sternly say, “I just want to tell you both good luck. We’re all counting on you.”) In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Seth MacFarlane explained that quality makes Liam Neeson uniquely qualified for the role of Frank Drebin Jr., saying,
Liam Neeson is probably the only actor alive in the 21st century who could do what Leslie Nielsen did, largely because that kind of actor is not something that we’re really generating a lot of in Hollywood anymore. [He’s] larger than life on screen and yet so honest, two things that don’t always mesh, but he’s really able to be that kind of an on-camera powerhouse.
The Orville and episodes of Family Guy, Seth MacFarlane likes to shine a light on Neeson’s comedic skills, and choosing him to play the lead in The Naked Gun ultimately links back to a spoof philosophy held by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. Said the filmmaker,
One of the cardinal rules for the Zucker brothers was that you don’t cast comedians. You cast serious, dramatic actors, preferably with a ton of gravitas, which Liam has in bountiful levels.
It won’t be too much longer before we get to see that special gravitas exploited for comedy. Co-starring Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand, Danny Huston and more, The Naked Gun is set with an August 1 release date will be playing on the big screen everywhere.
The DC Universe isn’t quite ready for the Justice League just yet. As DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran build out their plan for the canon in what has been dubbed Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, they’ve put some notable heroes instantly in play, but DC’s most famous superhero group has not yet assembled. Instead, for now, Superman is introducing fans to what has been dubbed the Justice Gang – and the stars of that ensemble have some thoughts about the JL roster.
CinemaBlend’s Jeff McCobb attended the Los Angeles press day for Superman last month, and while sitting down with Anthony Carrigan (who plays Metamorpho in the film) and the members of the Justice Gang (Isabela Merced a.k.a Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion a.k.a. Green Lantern, and Edi Gathegi a.k.a. Mr. Terrific), he asked for their first round Justice League picks. As captured in the video above, instead of going for some of more obvious choices like The Flash and Aquaman, they offered up some unexpected names who would be great to see on the big screen.
Ben Schwartz is best known to audiences for voicing Sonic The Hedgehog, he has been campaigning for the opportunity to play Plastic Man for years.
Of course, it’s worth noting that the classic DC Trinity also got some love in the room as well. Wanting to see some fellow female heroes team-up with Hawkgirl on the big screen, Isabela Merced suggested the animal powers of Vixen and the dark magic of Raven, but she also wants to see the DC Universe of Wonder Woman. And as for Nathan Fillion, he is stoked to see the continuity’s incarnation of Batman. Why? Because there is a famous scene from the comics where the Dark Knight knocks out Guy Gardner a.k.a. Green Lantern with a crack to the jaw, and it’s a moment that he would love to bring to the big screen.
There will surely be a lot of speculation about the team on the way in the coming months and years – but let’s not put the cart before the horse! Before we can see the DC Universe’s Justice League, we’re first being introduced to the Justice Gang, and that’s happening this weekend with the arrival of Superman in theaters everywhere on Friday. As I note in my four-and-a-half star CinemaBlend review, it’s an absolute blast, and after you see the blockbuster, be sure to head back here to the site for more of our interview and feature coverage.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the biggest movie franchises to ever exist, and it has become something of a template for several other attempts to create wide-reaching film series. Marvel Studios certainly has done a lot right when it comes to developing these movies, but that doesn’t mean they’ve been perfect. There are things worth being critical about. Like, just what is the deal with the MCU’s “phases” anyway? Even James Gunn isn’t sure.
The MCU has been divided up into different “phases” over its nearly two-decade history. They’re designed to break up the story into sections, but it has to be said that the points at which some of these chapters start and stop don’t seem to make much sense. Even James Gunn, who directed three Guardians of the Galaxy movies, tells GQ he never knew what any of it meant, saying…
I never understood what any of the phases were in Marvel. I don’t know what any of it means, like, I have no clue what it means. I have no clue what any of that stuff ever meant.
Guardians of the Galaxy movie (in what was considered Phase Two) there was no specific plan at Marvel Studios. So Gunn wrote the segment entirely himself, with no input from marvel on what to say or how to say it. He essentially designed the rest of the Infinity Saga himself.
Phase 1 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe certainly made some sense, as it consisted of several origin story movies and ended when those characters came together to form the Avengers, but that’s arguably the only break that makes sense. Phase Three didn’t end when the Infinity Saga came to a close with Avengers: Endgame. It ended a movie later with Spider-Man: Far From Home. The only thing that seems to unify Marvel’s Phase 4 is that some people didn’t care for it. The rest of the upcoming Marvel movies will constitute Marvel’s Phase Six, and will likely end as the Multiverse saga closes up shop but even that isn’t entirely clear.
Now that Gunn is himself in charge of building a cinematic universe, we’ll see how he handles this same issue. He’s already called the beginning of the DCU “Chapter 1” titling it Gods & Monsters, though it’s unclear if Gunn’s chapters are parallels to an MCU phase, or their larger “sagas.” Either way, one can at least expect Gunn’s chapters to make sense to him.
Peacock’s 2025 TV schedule offerings include one of my most anticipated shows this fall, Greg Daniels’ new The Office series, The Paper. The fresh comedy is one of the most hyped items because it’s the veteran showrunner’s spinoff of the pop culture staple, The Office. And while I’m literally counting down the days until it’s September 4 premiere, the release schedule the streamer has planned for it makes me nervous.
As mentioned, fans of the OG lovable, cringeworthy show have been hoping for any continuation of the mockumentary for years. Now, we’re just around the corner from it, and plenty are buzzing, including Office alumni who have been advocating for it and its star, Domhnall Gleeson.So, as all of us are gearing up for its drop, Peacock revealed the release plan for the episodes. In a press release from NBC, it was announced that The Paper will start early in September, release multiple episodes each week, and end by the end of the month:
The Paper premieres on Peacock with four episodes on September 4, followed by two new episodes every Thursday through September 25.
Poker Face Season 2 can help give some perspective. It gave us a three-episode premiere on May 8 and has been releasing one episode per week through today, July 10. So, this schedule makes me wonder why they aren’t doing the same thing with another presumably high-profile show like The Paper.
Regardless of all of the ins and outs of streamer schedule release templates, the singular month The Paper is getting provides very few opportunities for water-cooler moments. This year alone, we’ve seen primarily streamed shows, like Severance and The White Lotus, thrive on a week-to-week model. There was room for audiences to talk about what was going on in great detail for two full months or more. That kind of time is valuable for audiences to grow, and not giving The Paper that kind of opportunity worries me.
(Image credit: NBC)
The shred of hope I’m clutching on to for dear life is that all of this is reminiscent of the US’s adaptation of the UK comedy’s introduction back in 2005. The Paper’s lead, Domhnall Gleeson, is playing a character who is already getting compared to Michael Scott, like Carell was to Ricky Gervais’ David Brent. Also, like The Office, which had six episodes and a run from March 29 to April 26 to prove itself, The Paper will get eight episodes and the month of September to win audiences over.
As you can guess, I’ll be keeping tabs on The Paper through its month-long release. And I’ll be watching it with my Peacock subscription week to week while doing my best to keep the calendar concerns at bay.
