King of the Hill is finally making its big return on the 2025 TV schedule, and I think fans who fire up their Hulu subscription on Monday will quickly be met with one inevitable truth about the new episodes. A lot has changed in Arlen over the decades, and it’s not just the viewers who will struggle to cope with that. Hank and Peggy have been overseas for quite some time, and will spend some time playing catch-up with the new Texas and all the changes happening within their friend group.
It’s certainly not a return that will invoke nostalgia, but as Toby Huss and Mike Judge said when I spoke to the them and the cast at San Diego Comic-Con, that’s by design. America as a whole has changed in the decade and a half since King of the Hill left television, and Huss mentioned a comparison creator Judge made about how viewers should see this series:
The thing you [Mike] mentioned earlier about it being like Andy Griffith is back and he’s pissed off. I think the thing about the show is that it really not nostalgic. Their coming back is not nostalgic, and it doesn’t feel like it’s a nostalgic thing, like, ‘Let’s look at the old fun people we had fun with.’ It’s nothing like that. It’s a whole other iteration of their lives,just a few years later. It’s charming in its own way, and it’s safe and it’s inviting because it’s, you know, meeting these old people, old friends again, but it never felt nostalgic.
key details in posters and other footage we’ve seen. Arlen is not the same place it was when Hank and Peggy left, and it takes both a while to find their footing.
ecent losses of Dale actor Johnny Hardwick and John Redcorn actor Jonathan Joss), the series hasn’t lost a step in finding ways to give new adventures on par with some of the greatest episodes of the show’s past.
I saw the entire series ahead of its arrival, and as a longtime King of the Hill fan, I can confidently say I want a lot more episodes. I particularly like the decision to age up characters like Bobby, Joseph and Connie, as it presents a fresh new storyline that not only is interesting, but incredibly relevant to the lives of young adults today.
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Readers will get to see for themselves when they watch King of the Hill‘s return on Hulu on Monday, August 4th. I’m excited to see the world’s response to the show returning, and I’m hoping it’s big enough that a Season 2 renewal is just around the corner.
The Harry Potter movies (which are streaming on your Peacock subscription) were filled with plenty of food scenes that made you wish The Wizarding World was real. From butterbeers to chocolate frogs, these magical treats look like quite the spellbinding experience. The fantasy franchise’s lead, Daniel Radcliffe, got real on not minding most of the eating scenes…except for one that he described as “pretty gross.”
In a 2020 episode of First We Feast, host Sean Evans asked Daniel Radcliffe about “one highlight and one lowlight” when it came to the food scenes of Harry Potter. Here was the British actor’s answer for the “highlight,” and I don’t blame him:
The crazy banquet scenes at Hogwarts where there was all like, the breakfasts particularly. I was just an 11, 12-year-old child just piling on fried eggs and bacon and sausages and baked beans every morning for just… days. So, that was great.
BTS fact of The Sorcerer’s Stone said that eating real food wasn’t always pleasant when it was sitting out there for days. Professor Flitwick’s Warwick Davis said the rotted food would apparently leave a bad smell and would not be eaten for the next takes. If only there were a spell to keep food fresher and without a rancid smell.
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, one of the major challenges The Boy Who Lived went through was having to survive three life-threatening tasks in The Triwizard Tournament. Just when you thought the most “intense and so crazy” tasks Daniel Radcliffe did were underwater training for that scene, he also had to eat something that was “pretty gross:”
In one of the films, I have to eat gillyweed, that I think was black licorice lace. It was designed to look like a kind of underwater seaweed plant that I could then shovel down my throat and that was pretty gross. I remember by the third or fourth take, I was like, ‘Oh, how many more of these are we gonna do?’
Looking back, Daniel Radcliffe looked really disgusted in the scene when Harry eats the gillyweed before being pushed into The Black Lake. Maybe it wasn’t all acting. But yeah, black licorice is a candy I never have any interest in trying. Especially after hearing the Swiss Army Man actor’s story.
Getting to have an English breakfast during filming sounds like a real feast, but eating black licorice lace sounds like torture. But whether delicious or dreadful, the cast of Harry Potter still had plenty of food throughout the movies to satisfy their appetites. Now, this makes me wonder what kind of unique foods the cast of the upcoming HBO Harry Potter show will have to give a whirl.
Golf isn’t exactly the most accessible sport, despite its popularity throughout the world stage. Happy Gilmore 2 might help change that for a new generation, as this entrant on the 2025 movie schedule could have people looking up the difference between a driver, pitch and wedge. Or it could inspire people to demand more shenanigans between co-stars Adam Sandler and Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, whom you might know better as Bad Bunny.
While I can’t exactly help with the golf-related ask, I can definitely feed that second half of what I just mentioned. That’s thanks to Netflix offering this behind-the-scene interview with Bad Bunny, which also includes some dance lessons he gave to Adam Sandler on the set. As you’ll see in the clip below, those steps may or may not have worked:
how Bad Bunny lists Adam Sandler in his phone. It makes sense, as watching the fun times the two had on set feels almost like viewing someone’s home movie, only without the creepy connotations that tip that concept into Red Dragon territory.
Saturday Night Live vets like Kevin Nealon and Rob Schnieder, as well as current cast member Marcelo Hernandez, are all part of Happy Gilmore 2’s stacked cast.
Not to mention other notables like Shaquille O’Neal and Kevin James have also become part of the repertory company that have given audiences lots to laugh about. I agree with the notion some are holding near and dear that Bad Bunny could be the next person we randomly hope shows up whenever an upcoming Adam Sandler movie is announced.
(Image credit: Netflix)
To think that if it wasn’t for Sandler and Bad Bunny’s random encounter at a Lakers game, none of this would have been possible. Had their stunned courtside staring contest never happened, the story of Tío Sandler might never have happened, which would have made Happy Gilmore 2 all the poorer.
If you still need convincing, don’t worry, as the return of Happy Gilmore is currently streaming on Netflix. If you want to watch the OG, you’ll have to venture over to the Starz streaming library. Meanwhile, Benito A. Martínez Ocasio can next be seen in Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing, which opens in theaters on August 29th and co-stars Austin Butler and Matt Smith’s wild mohawk.
Warning: spoilers for this MCU Phase 6 kickoff are in play.
Some of the best stories see the hero’s journey turned into something much darker. As The Fantastic Four: First Steps brings the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 2025 movies to a close, it also sets the stage for the upcoming Marvel movies of Phase 6 – and beyond. Which means Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars are on the horizon, with Robert Downey Jr’s return as Doctor Doom promising a big bad for the ages.
Some people aren’t exactly thrilled with this casting, but I’m open to seeing how the former Iron Man star makes his big four-panel heel turn in 2026. You might not expect that, but part of my happiness comes from the parallels between Marvel Studios’ 2008 origin story and The Fantastic Four’s cinematic return. Let’s talk about why:
Pedro Pascal’s Fantastic patriarch would be the lighter mirror image to Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom. As we see throughout First Steps’ narrative, Reed Richards is conflicted about the fact that the space mission he and his family went on mutated them into their metahuman state. That’s the sort of guilt that Tony Stark has shouldered throughout the MCU, as both men expect themselves to think their way out of any scenario safely.
What really snapped this comparison together was the moment in The Fantastic Four: First Steps where the hero, also known as Mr. Fantastic, is called out by Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) for “baby proofing the world.” Hearing those words triggered memories of Avengers: Age of Ultron’s “suit of armor around the world” remarks that Tony Stark threw out.
(Image credit: 20th Century Studios / Jay Maidment)
Reed Tech Is The Stark Industries Of Earth 828
Quick question for you: who has a lavish New York tower that acts as a lab, headquarters, and living space to die for? If you answered, “the guy with the indispensable robotic assistant,” then you’ve proven my point.
Reed Richards also lives like Tony Stark, inventing a lot of the sorts of devices his Earth-616 counterpart (and his departed dad) would have dabbled in through decades of history. While it lacks the problematic arms dealing, ReedTech has the same sort of hold on Earth-828’s economy as Stark Industries does in its relative dimension.
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Baby monitors, flying police cars, a ‘60s equivalent to hyperspace travel, and of course, teleportation are all part of the achievements The Fantastic Four’s alternate 1965 benefits from. Reed Richards and Tony Stark are practically corporate cousins at this point.
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)
Johnny Storm Represents The More Casual Side Of Tony
Turning back to the more personality-based assessment of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, another strong parallel comes from Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm. The young heartthrob of the group, Johnny’s resemblance to Tony Stark’s mix of bravado, wisdom, and lady chasing is something we saw even before getting eyes on the full movie. You can thank the “Sunday Dinner” promo clip for that, which is shown below:
The Fantastic Four: First Steps | Official Clip ‘Sunday Dinner’ | In Theaters July 25 – YouTube
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The entire family loves to “work the problem,” practically adopting the words “we’ll figure it out” as a motto. However, what pushes Johnny Storm over the line and into Tony territory is the fact that he tries to sacrifice himself to send Galactus (Ralph Ineson) into a wormhole intended to strand him.
Those of you with a Disney+ subscription who want to check my math, you can skip to the end of The Avengers, and compare that time Tony Stark tried to pull an Armageddon style sacrifice – but fell back to Earth in the nick of time.
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)
The Fantastic Four Are Seemingly The First Superheroes Of Their Dimension
While the historical timeline in the MCU saw heroes such as the Eternals and Captain America pre-dating Iron Man’s big reveal, the release order saw Tony Stark building the foundation of this long-term juggernaut. Meanwhile, in Earth-828, The Fantastic Four: First Steps seems to place these heroes as the first meta-humans in their home base.
How else would you expect repeated primetime TV specials on The Ted Gilbert Show, celebrating their arrival? Besides, of course, an easy source of exposition that allowed The Fantastic Four: First Steps to make some challenging cuts.
Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark may not have been the first hero in his timeline, but he did inspire Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to revive The Avengers Initiative. After sitting in a desk drawer for at least 13 years (per Captain Marvel’s chain of events), Tony did help initiate the first incarnation of Earth’s mightiest heroes.
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)
As The Fantastic Four: First Steps Opens MCU Phase 6, It Sets Up Massive Hype For An Evil Robert Downey Jr.
There very well may be more parallels I’ve overlooked in this comparison, but I think I’ve proven my point. Tony Stark and Marvel Studios’ legacy have been renewed through the first picture in MCU Phase 6. Over the course of the three times I’ve seen the film (so far), the point that drove this entire conversation revealed itself to me: Robert Downey Jr. is one hell of a choice for Doctor Doom.
As a James Bond fan, I can appreciate the “dark mirror” plot device, in which a hero is confronted by their opposite number. Audiences used to seeing Downey as the heroically flawed and in-control Tony Stark are going to be in for a surprise when seeing him play the Latverian figure that rejects everything Reed Richards stands for.
(Image credit: Universal Pictures)
To bring it all home, consider this: Robert Downey Jr. is going to be playing a Marvel Comics character that could bring his Academy Award-winning turn in Oppenheimer into the MCU. J. Robert Oppenheimer had Lewis Strauss, and now Reed Richards has his Doctor Doom.
Think of what a man like that would be capable of with resources and superhuman powers. With that scenario in mind, feel free to revisit The Fantastic Four: First Steps in theaters now, paying close attention to what clues may be present in that Doom’d mid-credits scene.
Looking over the 2026 movies schedule, there are a handful of upcoming superhero movies to look forward to. On the Marvel Cinematic Universe front, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is set to entertaining theatergoing audience at the end of July, with this marking Tom Holland’s return to the franchise since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. Now it’s been revealed that Holland’s Peter Parker is set to team up with another Avenger in Brand New Day, though to be honest, I’m more excited about the villain that’s also been lined up for the upcoming Marvel movie.
As shared by THR, and following just a few hours after the new Spider-Man costume tease, Mark Ruffalo has been tapped to reprise Bruce Banner, a.k.a. The Hulk, in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, something that had been rumored over the last several months. Additionally, Michael Mando is on deck to reprise Mac Gargan, who was last seen in Spider-Man: Homecoming. With his return will bring the character’s transformation into The Scorpion.
(Image credit: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
News of Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk reprisal comes three years after he last played the character in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription. Although Ruffalo and Tom Holland both appeared in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, neither of their characters shared any significant screen time. However, since they’re both scientifically gifted, I have no doubt they’ll get along splendidly.
Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield variants of Peter in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Jon Bernthal had already been announced to be reprising Frank Castle/The Punisher in Brand New Day, but needless to say that Mark Ruffalo’s character packs a lot of extra muscle.
(Image credit: Sony Pictures)
And yet, I find myself being more excited to see Michael Mando’s Mac Gargan finally become The Scorpion. Not only was it teased in the Homecoming end-credits scene that Gargan was looking to exact revenge on the Wall-Crawler with other like-minded individuals, but Scorpion is one of those classic Spidey enemies who still hasn’t been adapted for film. Sure, it was cool to see Scorpion in action during the animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man earlier this year, but I’ve been waiting for years for that character to try and impale Spidey with his cybernetic tail on the big screen. Now it’s happening, though it’s unclear if Scorpion will be the movie’s big bad or just a supporting antagonist.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day will begin principal photography later this month, and will arrive in theaters on July 31, 2026. This time around, Destin Daniel Cretton is sitting in the director’s chair, while Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers once again handled scripting duties.
Harrison Ford is a national treasure. He’s one of the most universally loved movie stars of his generation. He’s responsible for some of the most iconic franchises in cinema history, and he is also an Academy Award nominee. The man has literally done it all, and by “all,” I mean he’s even punched Ryan Gosling in the face.
Yes, if you’re not familiar with the story, during the production of the criminally underrrated Blade Runner 2049, Ford and Gosling were involved in a fight scene with each other, and somebody, generally agreed to be Gosling himself, missed his mark, resulting in Ford accidentally hitting one of America’s prettiest actors in the face. Variety recently brought up the incident during an interview with the Star Wars actor, and the veteran brushed it off, though he was sure to point out Ryan is no less pretty because of the incident. Ford said…
[We were rehearsing a fight] and we got too close and I hit him. I apologized right away. What more could I do? Can’t take back a punch. Just take it. He’s a very handsome man. He’s still very handsome.
Ryan Gosling in such a way that he actually wasn’t handsome anymore, a legion of fans would probably be more concerned with the incident.
laughing after being punched by his co-star, which resulted in the take being unusable. And to be fair, how many people have been punched by Harrison Ford? The La La Land actor is in very limited company.
Ford has said before that he apologized for the punch and has also previously taken some of the blame, saying he didn’t pull his punch as well as he should have. Though ultimately, it seems most of the blame was laid on Ryan Gosling’s face being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Shrinking actor seems to blow off the whole incident now. It happened, he can’t take it back, move on.
Blade Runner 2049 was a fantastic sequel to the original Blade Runner, one of the best science fiction movies ever. Unfortunately, the new movie followed its predecessor a little too closely, as both movies were financial flops. Blade Runner‘s ultimate quality was only found years later, and the same has largely happened with Blade Runner 2049.
Ryan Gosling may still be a very handsome man, but Harrison Ford does have one significant advantage in that department over his Blade Runner 2049 co-star. Gosling has never been named the Sexiest Man Alive by People Magazine, while Harrison Ford received that honor back in the 1990s. Gosling still has plenty of time to achieve that, as long as nobody damages his good looks.
