Gayle King reported on the new allegations against her former co-anchor during Wednesday's 'CBS This Morning.'
read more
Icetruck.tv News Blog
TV
'Dancing With the Stars' to Air All-Athletes Season in the Spring
In this story
The ABC reality staple will feature all athletes when it returns in the spring.
ABC is adding a new twist for Dancing With the Stars.
The network announced Tuesday night that it will air what appears to be a shortened mini-season of its reality staple in the spring. The next, all-live season will feature all athletes. The list of its 10 participants — off from its standard 13 — to be announced at a later date. Two-time Emmy winner Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews will return as hosts. The athletes will perform choreographed routines that will be judged by a panel of ballroom experts as well as by viewer votes.
ABC's announcement came Tuesday night, after the 25th season finale that saw [spoiler alert] actor-singer Jordan Fisher take home the show's coveted Mirrorball trophy. Fisher and finalist Frankie Muniz will both go on to join Dancing With the Stars: Live! Light Up the Night, the live winter tour.
ABC Dancing with the StarsRead the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com
'Chicago Med' Bosses Talk New Romances, Shooting Aftermath and Time Slot Move
Showrunners Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov also discuss adjusting to a November return date and ripping from the headlines.
[Warning: This story contains spoilers from the season three premiere of Chicago Med, "Speak Your Truth."]
Chicago Med came back Tuesday for its third season, but it wasn't exactly business as usual for the Dick Wolf medical drama. Rather than a normal September return date, the series returned in late November with a slightly shorter 20-episode season order.
"It took some logistical maneuvering because we have to be in sync chronologically with the other Chicago shows," co-showrunner Andrew Schneider tells The Hollywood Reporter in reference to Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D.
"We just had to adjust because we had originally planned that our first show was going to pick up immediately after the final episode," adds his wife, co-showrunner Diane Frolov. "We couldn’t do that having a later start."
The upside is Chicago Med returns in a new time slot, airing directly behind the hit family drama This Is Us. "We think it's a good matchup so we're very excited about that," Frolov says.
There were also several major developments on screen in the season opener: Dr. Charles (Oliver Platt) survived the gun wound he sustained in the season two finale, but helped free the man who shot him. Robin (Mekia Cox) was able to return home after her surgery but she continued exhibiting worrisome side effects to Connor (Colin Donnell). And finally, after Natalie (Torrey DeVitto) and Will (Nick Gehlfuss) finally admitted their feelings for each other and shared a passionate kiss, putting to end at least two seasons of will-they-or-won't-they tension.
THR spoke with Schneider and Frolov about those big moves and what's next.
What were your big goals into the writers room for season three?
Andrew Schneider: We set up a number of things in the finale that would generate stories for the coming season. We had Charles being shot and the emotional and physical effects of that, both to him and his colleagues…
Diane Frolov: …and particularly Sarah. That really kicks off a lot of stories for us for this season, with the Sarah-Charles relationship and again how that shooting affects her.
Schneider: We also have some new romances that are always tough to navigate in a work situation. Especially with Ethan and April, there's a power differential because he's a doctor and she's a nurse, and there's always going to be a power difference between them in the workplace while they're trying to build a romantic relationship.
Frolov: It's similar to Will and Natalie. Although they're both doctors, they can be very opinionated at times and have opposing opinions in their relationship as well. How's that going to play out?
Schneider: And there's plenty of medical and ethical questions related to medicine where two doctors can be on opposite sides, but both are right because it's a gray area. But it doesn't make having a romantic relationship any easier.
Frolov: I think our big challenge, and it's always our challenge, is that we look for medical stories that we can play out these relationships in.
Talking specifically about Will and Natalie, why was now the right time to pair them together and move beyond the will-they-or-won't-they element of their relationship?
Frolov: We just felt that they had earned that. We had watched that back and forth and we've seen them with other people and at this point, there weren't other people between them so it just felt like the moment that they would give it a try. There didn't seem to be an organic obstacle.
What other personal obstacles will they face as they pursue a romantic relationship?
Frolov: If you look back on their relationship, Will had always put Natalie on a pedestal and been protective of her and we'll see friction around that. He'll want to take care of her but sometimes that crosses into paternalism or at least it can be interpreted as a paternalism from her point of view.
Schneider: They have very different life experiences. She's a single mom and he's never been married, doesn’t have children. He comes from a working-class Irish catholic family in Chicago and she's an upper middle-class girl from Seattle. Their world views are a little different and he has to really learn who she is other than just the romantic fantasy of Natalie.
Can you elaborate about the effects of Dr. Charles being shot, not only on him but the rest of the hospital?
Schneider: Anybody who is shot is going to suffer some form of PTSD and it also has a ripple effect to close ones. For Sarah, Charles is kind of a surrogate dad. Her own dad abandoned her when she was a little girl and Charles was the one who brought her into psychiatry and has kind of a fatherly relationship with her. For her, almost losing him is emotionally devastating.
Frolov: You see that in the first episode. Her reaction to what Charles is doing, it really comes from this terror that she felt about losing him.
Schneider: It also brings this question in her mind about the safety of being a psychiatrist in emergency situations and she'll have to deal with increased anxiety and fears about treating the patients.
Frolov: Those fears are really born from this traumatic situation with Charles.
Another big storyline is Charles' daughter, Robin, who is still dealing with this major medical issue. Mekia Cox is now a series regular on Once Upon a Time so how did you figure out where to take that character given her limited availability? How much will we see of that storyline?
Schneider: [She's in] five episodes so quite a bit. It's very trying for her relationship with Connor because he's always trying to assess: Is she suffering residual effects of the illness or is this who she is? What's creating her personality? And the pressure of that is very hard on Robin.
Frolov: One of the themes we'll be dealing with is nature versus nurture. And Robin is a perfect example of that because she has something going on that affects her behavior and so it's where does that end and where does that begin? It's really hard for her to know that as well.
You also have this recurring character in Dr. Bekkar (Norma Kuhling). What do you think she adds to the ensemble that wasn't there before last season?
Schneider: A couple things: one, from our research, it turns out that surgical fellows are incredibly competitive and all surgeons have kind of a big ego and we thought it would be interesting to explore Connor's competitive nature…
Frolov: …with a colleague. What we've seen him with is mentors or superiors so we wanted to see him with a colleague, with an equal, who's really tough. We could just see different colors of Connor in that way.
We've touched on a lot of the characters but what can you say about what is coming up for Sharon (S. Epatha Merkerson)?
Schneider: We actually have a lot for her because what we're going to deal with are the pressures on administrators to rein in costs at hospitals.
Frolov: How do you balance patient care with the bottom line? Is that possible?
Schneider: She gets a lot of pressure to improve the bottom line and it puts her in a very different situation a number of times.
Frolov: Right now, there are a lot of emergency departments closing because they just can't make it financially. In a lot of cases, the emergency department is the money loser in a hospital so it becomes out-sourced.
What other big issues or cases are you excited to tell? Anything pulled from the headlines?
Frolov: A number. One is a woman has emergency surgery for cancer which Medicaid will pay for but she has complications past that and when she needs serious long-term care that's not paid for. …We have someone who dies in the waiting room and the family gets the bill for $16,000.
Schneider: These are real stories.
Frolov: We're doing a lot of that this season.
Schneider: This is a little past the midway part of the season, but we have an episode where a baby goes missing in the hospital and they lock the hospital down. Nobody comes in or out while the search for this baby is going on. So that's kind of an umbrella episode where all the stories take place in the context of the hospital being locked down.
Chicago Med airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on NBC.
'This Is Us' Star Chrissy Metz Opens Up About Kate's Miscarriage
In this story
The actress talks with THR about processing grief, Toby's grand gestures and what to expect from Sterling K. Brown in the Randall-focused episode.
[Warning: This story contains spoilers from the "Number Two" episode of NBC's This Is Us.]
At the end of the first in a trilogy of This Is Us episodes centering on each of the Pearson family Big Three, Randall (Sterling K. Brown) delivered some horrible news to a spiraling Kevin (Justin Hartley): their sister, Kate (Chrissy Metz), had lost her baby. The second episode, Tuesday's "Number Two," followed Kate through the same day Kevin experienced, including the devastating moment in which she miscarried her child.
"This is like next-level heartache," Metz told The Hollywood Reporter of her character's latest emotional hurdle. "There is such a stigma and such shame around miscarriage. One in five women will have a miscarriage. How is it great to talk about something that people are really afraid to talk about that we never do? How do we bring it up? Where do you bring it up? It's hard to process."
While Kate at first feels like she's experiencing the tragedy alone, she soon realizes — thanks to an emotional confrontation with her mother Rebecca (Mandy Moore) — that her fiancé Toby (Chris Sullivan) is hurting, too.
"She feels like she's going through this alone, because how could Toby possibly understand? [But she finally realizes] that, yes, he's not carrying the baby, but he also has to process it in his own way," Metz says. "Just coming to terms with actually having a miscarriage, the hormonal imbalances. Your body still thinks that you're pregnant. There's so much going on physically, and that affects you mentally and emotionally. And then when she finally realizes that she has to process the feelings as opposed to eat over them at the Chinese buffet. It's scary, uncharted territory, and I think she's afraid that she doesn't know what means for the relationship."
The moment between Metz and Moore is the most emotional scene the two have shared on the Dan Fogelman-created drama thus far, and Metz said that their characters' conversation will have lasting healing effects.
"Her relationship with her mother has never been solid enough to feel that she can trust her or call her without being judged or have the magnifying glass over her life," she said. "That's why she does call and say, 'Listen, you know I lost the baby, and I don't want to talk about it.' And when Rebecca shows up, it's another layer of healing in that it's changing their relationship and bringing them closer together in a really difficult time. Then we find out that Rebecca never held Kyle [her third biological child who died during birth], and there's a common ground in their grief and their loss, and we've never seen that between Rebecca and Kate. … You've never seen Kate vulnerable with her mom. It's always been private, quiet moments. It's never right in front of her face when they talk about the real pain and the real sadness. Having this miscarriage has brought them together. They have more in common than they ever thought."
The Emmy-nominated actress also noted that being so vulnerable and emotional while filming that scene was one of the more special moments she's experienced on the time-jumping family drama. "Yes, I'm emotional, but I'm pretty optimistic and upbeat. So sitting in that space is difficult. But I have to say, when I opened that door, and the way that Mandy, as an actress, showed up for me as an actress and for my character, I lost it. I thought about my own mother. It was really something. There were so many feelings in the hug." That moment will also change the relationship between Toby and Kate — but for the better. "Kate and Toby really do love each other, and they're going to get through it together and they're going to put the shower curtain up together, and they're going to talk about their feelings. Being vulnerable in relationships is really hard," Metz says.
But now that Kate has finally opened up about how she's really feeling, the couple can process their grief together. "It might not be instant, but they process it, Metz says. "It's scary. People do have multiple miscarriages, and there's uncertainty, and she's still pursuing music. She doesn't know what that looks like, and we don't know what's happening with Kevin, really. It is very hopeful, and I really liked that aspect of the writing because I think art and what we watch and what we read can help us to process things differently."
Before he can fully move on, however, he pulls a very Toby move — a grand gesture to the UPS shipping facility stop the baby bath they'd ordered from being delivered to their home, something that probably could have been accomplished by just waiting at home and getting the mail before Kate.
"He has his own pain and his grief [over the baby], and his previous marriage was somebody who completely disregarded who he was as a human being, and all his goodness, but just took advantage of him," Metz says. "I think with Kate, she enjoys that. She is romantic, and she loves love. He knows [the bath] is important to her because she went to go measure the bathtub for the baby bath and that's where the miscarriage [began]. How does he process his grief in his style? What can he possibly do? He cannot help her in any way, physically, mentally, emotionally until she lets him in. What does he do? That's the way of him deflecting or him trying to help in his own way — to stop the mail coming so she doesn't even see the box of the baby bath. … He was in a lot of pain and that was the only thing that he could potentially have control over because he doesn't have control over anything else. It's a really sweet gesture, and we do what we think is right at the time."
On Nov. 28, the third and final stand-alone episode will turn the focus on the last of the so-called Big Three: Randall (Sterling K. Brown). Metz says that the hour will reveal some of Randall's most formative experiences and how they connect to the choices he's made in his adult life.
"Obviously, being twins, there's sort of a divide between [Kate and Kevin] and Randall," she said. "There are so many discoveries that we're going to understand about how Randall felt and about his inability to be flexible — because he's very rigid — and how he felt as a kid and as a teenager growing up and his backstory and what shaped his decisions, and why he was, for instance, attracted to Beth, and how they got together. It's going to be really good, and really different. I'm just excited for everybody to see. Niles [Fitch], who plays the young Randall, is just fantastic. It's just really cool to find out what it is that shaped all of the characters in to their adulthood. We're going to discover a lot about that."
This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.
NBC This Is UsRead the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com
‘The Voice’ Season 13 Top 11 Revealed
Two artists had to sing for the instant save for the first time this season.
The Voice delivered the results of Monday night’s top 12 performances, which viewers had the chance to vote on for the first time this season. Ten artists were automatically voted through to next week, and the bottom two vote-getters had to sing live for the instant save.
Coaches Adam Levine, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson and Blake Shelton were present to see which of their artists would be advancing to next week’s live performances. The first three artists voted through to next week were Team Adam’s Addison Agen, Team Jennifer’s Noah Mac and Team Blake’s Chloe Kohanski.
Hudson also took the stage tonight with her artists Mac, Davon Fleming and Shi’Ann Jones for a performance of “Let It Be.” Carson Daly brought the remaining nine artists to the stage to announce the next round of results. America voted to save Team Miley’s Brooke Simpson and Team Blake’s Keisha Renee.
Adam Levine took the stage with Maroon 5 for a performance for the first time this season. The next two artists through to next week’s performances were Team Jennifer’s Jones and Team Miley’s Janice Freeman. Shelton took the stage with his team for the first time this season, too. He sang “If It Will, It Will” along with his artists Kohanski, Red Marlow and Renee. The last three artists voted through to the top 11 were Team Jennifer’s Fleming, Team Team Miley’s Ashland Craft and Team Blake’s Marlow.
That left Team Adam’s Adam Cunningham and Jon Mero to sing live for the instant save. Cunningham went first, singing “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater. It was a high-pressure situation, but he gave a high-energy performance that showcased all his strengths. He got a standing ovation from all four coaches. Mero followed with a performance of “I Want You Back,” and he similarly did what he does best. He’s a very natural performer, and his vocals were more technically impressive than Cunningham’s.
Levine said they both proved that they should still be here, adding that he was not going to choose favorites. Cunningham secured the instant save, and Mero went home.
Tonight’s results did not bode well for Team Adam. The Voice season 13 continues with more live performances next week.
King, whose 'CBS This Morning' co-host Charlie Rose was fired following accusations of sexual misconduct, made the comments on 'The Late Show' Tuesday.
read more
'Game of Thrones' Podcast: One Last Look at Season 1
This week's 'Winter Was Here' podcast features our final conversation about the first season of 'Thrones,' before our season two rewatch begins.
What would the world of Westeros look like with Eddard Stark (Sean Bean) still in place?
It's a question that's fresh on the mind following a rewatch of Game of Thrones' first season, in which the Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North's final days on earth (or Planetos if you prefer) are front and center. How much bloodshed would have been averted if Joffrey (Jack Gleason) hadn't ordered Ned's head on a Valyrian platter? Would the War of the Five Kings have reached an earlier conclusion? Would Ned have found a way to install Jon Snow (Kit Harington) on the Iron Throne, due to his secret origin? With a level-headed leader in place, would the Seven Kingdoms be prepared for the coming arrival of the White Walkers?
Quite frankly, it's well-worn territory, at least as far as it concerns "Winter Was Here," the Game of Thrones rewatch podcast collaboration between The Hollywood Reporter and Post Show Recaps. Hosts Rob Cesternino and Josh Wigler (that's me!) have discussed the alternate timeline in which Ned Stark survives his trip to King's Landing ad nauseam. Here's what hasn't been discussed ad nauseam:
• What would Game of Thrones look like if Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) was still alive?
• What about if Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) wasn't murdered?
• How about if Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) had died when Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) pushed him out the window — what does the future of Game of Thrones look like without the Three-Eyed Raven in place?
One doesn't need greensight to ponder these possibilities. All one needs is a free hour to listen to our final thoughts on season one in the podcast below:
Ten episodes down. Fifty-seven still to go — and that's not even counting the final six episodes of the series that have yet to air. It's a daunting task, almost as fearsome as the one facing the men of the Night's Watch as they march beyond the Wall, or Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) as she sets out on the Kingsroad to face untold horrors, or Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) as he journeys to the capital of Westeros to serve as acting Hand of the King in the face of a coming war, or any other number of the hardships facing the cast of Game of Thrones as they exit the first season of the show. We take on the task gladly. Onward to season two, beginning next week. Make sure you don't miss an episode of "Winter Was Here" by subscribing to the show on iTunes or your podcast catcher of choice. Send in your comments and questions using the podcast's email address [email protected] or our feedback form. Keep checking THR.com/GameOfThrones for news, interviews, theories and more. 
Game of ThronesRead the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com
'Runaways' Stars on Playing the Villains: "We Literally Have Blood on Our Hands"
The 10 actors responsible for bringing the Pride to life speak with THR about their characters' dilemma.
[Warning: This story contains spoilers from the first three episodes of Hulu's Runaways.]
Something happens when the parents at the heart of the new Marvel series Runaways, currently streaming the first three episodes of its freshman season on Hulu, put on their super-villain attire: they become covered in blood, or at least the same crimson hue so evocative of the ritualistic sacrifices they make as members of the shadow organization known as the Pride.
"Putting on those red robes is very symbolic," Angel Parker, who plays Catherine Wilder, tells The Hollywood Reporter about the sensation involved with donning the Pride uniform. "We know what we're shooting that day. We know what we're doing. They're beautiful. They're heavy. They're also dyed a deep red, so it kind of tints your skin afterwards — so when we're done, we literally have blood on our hands. We're literally covered in red."
There's a heaviness involved with tapping into this dark side of the Runaways cast, according to the 10 men and women responsible with bringing the Pride to life. The hook of Runaways sees six teenagers discovering that their parents are members of some sort of villainous enterprise, sacrificing humans on an annual basis (if not more frequently) for as-yet unrevealed purposes. In the comic books from Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona on which the new Hulu series is based, the members of the Pride are fairly clear-cut in terms of their villainy. But the show, created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (The O.C., Gossip Girl), blurs the line between good and evil when it comes to the parents as forces of antagonism.
"When I first read the book, I was a young man. When I came back to the book more recently, I was a parent," says Schwartz. "I started wondering about these parent characters, because I have all these new thoughts about life as a parent."
"It's definitely in the DNA of the comic book that the parents have a reason for doing what they're doing," adds Savage. "They believe they're acting in the best interests of their kids. In order to bring that to life in season one of the show, we felt we needed to dig deeper into the parents' relationships with their kids and also their relationships with each other — both as couples and as individuals among the Pride, knowing they have this long history of working on this unspeakable project together, and how it's complicated their lives and created closeness, but also conflict with each other as a group. It felt like something very interesting we needed to flesh out."
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, here's how the actors tasked with bringing the Pride to life view their characters' villainous actions, and how the series treats its central premise of conflict between parents and their children writ large on a Marvel Universe scale.
Ever Carradine (as Janet Stein): "You know the day in your childhood when you wake up and realize your parents aren't heroes — they're just people trying to get through the world? On Runaways, it's that same idea, but on steroids: not only do these kids realize their parents are people, they're also super-villains."
Annie Wersching (as Leslie Dean): "I currently have a 4-year-old and a 7-year-old, two little boys. It's funny, because my little one is totally in this place where he's asking: 'Are there bad guys in the world? You'll protect me from bad guys, right?' He's trying to figure it out. Legitimately, are there bad guys in the world? He's working through those concepts in his cute little brain. It's something we all in life have to come to terms with and experience. I can't even imagine if it was that close to your family. Granted, the kids in this show don't know the whole story and can't see everything from our side, but I can't imagine the real life scenario where you're learning this stuff about your mom and dad and what they're doing. I don't even know what I would do. Probably something similar to what they do! But it's interesting to see how universal it is, to wonder about the world and wonder about good and bad, right and wrong. I see it happening with my little guys, and I think it's very relatable."
Ryan Sands (Geoffrey Wilder): "I love the duality: the public face and the private face. The way our amazing writers have crafted the first two episodes, where we see things from the kids' point of view essentially, and in the second episode, we see things from the same period of time but from the parents' perspective. Because there's so much at stake — the level of secrecy — the public face we have to have is so crucial. We can't miss a beat. We can't draw any attention to the craziness that happens in that dungeon when we put those robes on. It's really, really fun to play: having to smile while being conflicted about what's really going on. It's fun. That's what draws me into the shows that I would like to watch. I want to see something going on behind a character's eyes. What's the subtext in that scene? Where's that line? It's really exciting."
Angel Parker (Catherine Wilder): "Playing a villain with a heart of gold, or playing a villain where you understand why they are the way they are — because we do go into backstory, and we do delve into what's happened 10 years ago and 18 years ago, through flashing back to how we became the way we are — being able to tell that story is one of the great benefits of this story being told as a TV show and not as a movie."
Kip Pardue (Frank Dean): "We all think that we would do anything for our kids or for our families. You really feel like you would take a bullet for them, or dive in front of a moving car. But what if the stakes were even higher? What if they were even bigger? I get to go to work and play pretend and find out what I would do for my family if there really was something wrong. Are you doing it to protect them? Because you love them? Because you know it's best for them in the long run? Because it's best for them right now? All of these metaphors are stretched so far in this show, and it's fun to answer those questions as time goes on. What would I do? What would Frank do? It's all a really fun exercise and a really fun puzzle to put together."
James Yaegashi (Robert Minoru): "Stephanie and Josh said at the onset when we did the first episode that this is going to be a slow burn. There's still so much to be discovered. I'm actually curious myself: what's the tipping point where protecting your kid and doing things for their benefit maybe ventures into having to do things that are painful for them for their own good? Where's that boundary? In a pedestrian world, it might be, do you spank your kid or not? That kind of thing. But the stakes are so much higher here. It's a really interesting thing. Through the course of the first season, there's a building frustration with the inability to connect with the family, but there's also something so much bigger at stake that will require a kind of unified front. I feel like I'm still discovering what that's like, even playing the quote-unquote 'villain.' Honestly, I'm not even convinced that I am playing a villain. Then again, who thinks that? If you ask any horrible person who's doing horrible things, their conscience probably isn't at work anyway! Maybe I've successfully slipped into that place!"
Kevin Weisman ("Dale Yorkes"): "Most of us are parents, and we like to share stories on set about being parents. My kids are eleven and nine, and there are moments where I'm not their best friend. You have to be a parent. You see the frustration and anger in their eyes over the decision you've just made, whether that's sending them to bed. You always have that fear: 'My kid doesn't like me today!' But you have to be a parent. This takes that idea to the next level."
Brigid Brannah (Stacey Yorkes): "It's a metaphor for life. It's hard to remember being a teenager. Josh and Stephanie are kind of brilliant at that. Looking at teenagers and into these kids' worlds, and all my nieces and nephews and all of the teenagers that I see, you're in such another state about what's right and wrong and what you think is easy and difficult. Immediately, you think: 'No, that means you're against me.' You have these very decided opinions. Even if you're actually unsure, in a moment, you have such conviction as a teenager about who you're going to be and what you believe in. That might change in a month, but there's this very passionate feeling in general about so many different things. This show is such a perfect example of teenagers looking at the world: 'Are you for me or are you against me?' There isn't a gray area when you're a teenager. Either you don't get it, or you do get it. And I think parents feel differently: 'No, I am for you, but there are complicated forces at work! There are rules for a reason! I'm not trying to destroy your life. That person may be bad!' I think parents are all gray area, and kids tend to be very black and white."
James Marsters (Victor Stein): "This isn't a black and white story of good guy teenagers and bad guy parents. Yes, the parents are making huge mistakes, and you can easily see them as villains. But the writing is more complex than that. The parents are actually trying to do the right thing. It's a complex and sometimes dark world, but it's also quite light in many places."
Brittany Ishibashi (Tina Minoru): "I hope it sparks some conversations. Kids rebel. People continue to do that through their lives. You should question authority — not for the sake of being rebellious, but because you can't always assume that the people in charge have your best interests at heart, and are always looking out for you. If that can inform looking deeper into yourself and finding out what matters to you, and creating your identity, then that's awesome and great. But hopefully, this starts some conversations in that regard."
Sound off with your thoughts on the first three episodes of Marvel's Runaways in the comments below, and keep checking with THR for continuing coverage of the series.
'The Punisher': 7 Burning Questions for Season 2 of the Netflix Series
The Hollywood Reporter forecasts Frank Castle's future.
[Warning: this story contains full spoilers for the first season of Marvel's The Punisher.]
Frank's back. Now what?
It's the question left hanging at the end of the first season of Marvel's The Punisher, the sixth original Netflix series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — and the one that's least connected to that shared universe, at that. Over the course of the intensely violent season, Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) has finally shot and stabbed his way through everyone responsible for the deaths of his family, with the exception of one enemy he decides to leave alive. There's an unexpected sense of closure in place at the end of the season, with only a few story threads still hanging in the breeze — and those are the threads we're pulling on now.
With the first season of the series in the books, here are the seven biggest questions we're still pondering about the future of The Punisher on Netflix.
1. When will The Punisher return?
It's the top question on the board: with thirteen episodes locked and loaded, when can we expect Netflix to bring Frank Castle back into the Marvel Universe? At the moment, the future of the brand's status on the streaming service is shrouded in some measure of mystery. The second seasons of Marvel's Jessica Jones and Marvel's Luke Cage have already entered production, a second season of Marvel's Iron Fist has been announced, and a third season of Marvel's Daredevil has started casting up, with one very exciting returning player already in the mix. With the exception of Marvel's The Defenders, Netflix has renewed every single one of its Marvel endeavors. There's little reason to expect anything different when it comes to The Punisher, except for one small detail…
2. Is Frank's war really over?
The first season ends with Frank finally making strides toward some measure of peace, joining his friend Curtis' (Jason R. Moore) therapy group for veterans. In the last moments of the season, Frank owns up to being scared about living a life where he no longer has a war to fight, now that he's finally fully avenged his family. But will the new status quo remain intact? Can Frank Castle exist without the Punisher in his heart? Certainly not according to decades of Marvel Comics stories, but perhaps the live-action version of the character will legitimately end here — though showrunner Steve Lightfoot's assertion that he envisions "multiple seasons" of The Punisher suggests otherwise.
3. Why didn't we hear about Daredevil?
Frank Castle isn't exactly a team player, so it's no surprise he wasn't invited along for the ride when Marvel assembled The Defenders earlier this year. With that said, Frank's first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe came courtesy of Daredevil season two. Indeed, Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) was an important factor in the first Punisher season. Why, then, didn't we hear at all about the ramifications of The Defenders, which concluded with the apparent death of Charlie Cox's horned hero? Does The Punisher take place before The Defenders, or was it simply a matter of the series making a conscious effort to distance itself from the rest of the Marvel world? If it's the latter, Frank making it through an entire season without commenting on the presumed death of Red feels like a missed opportunity.
4. What's next for Micro?
If the first season of Punished ended on a bittersweet note for Frank, it was nothing but happiness for his new friend David "Micro" Lieberman, played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Like Frank, Micro lost his entire family thanks to the same conspiracy, but not permanently. At the end of the season, Micro's name was cleared, allowing him to return to his family without fear of reprisal. If the series continues for another season, it's hard to imagine Micro not getting back in the fight to resume his role as Frank's eye in the sky. But what would have to happen in order to get the character in such a position? Another threat against the Lieberman family — perhaps even an escalation? One shudders to think about that prospect; poor Zach (Kobi Frumer) is still recovering from nearly getting his head chopped off by the Punisher!
5. When will Punisher go all in on Jigsaw?
Speaking of people recovering from wounds sustained at the hands of Frank Castle (physically and otherwise), there's Billy Russo (Ben Barnes), still alive at the end of season one. Really, the entire first season of the series built up to the moment comic book fans were anticipating from the moment they heard the words "Billy Russo," the real name of one of the Punisher's most readily identifiable villains: Jigsaw. The way the season ends, it seems clear that Russo will return as the Punisher's disfigured foe in the future — but as Daredevil clearly established, the Marvel-Netflix shows have no problem setting bad guys up for payoffs much further down the line, given how Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) lorded over the first season of Netflix's inaugural Marvel series, only to appear in just two episodes of season two. We could be in for a similar deal with Jigsaw, assuming Punisher returns at all.
6. Who will Frank fight next?
If it's not Jigsaw, then who? Could we see Frank cross paths once more with the aforementioned Fisk, who will return to the Marvel Netflix Universe in the upcoming season of Daredevil? How about some new faces from the Marvel Comics catalogue? Speaking with THR, Lightfoot identified one possible adversary: Barracuda, a popular villain from Garth Ennis' Punisher MAX comics. There are a few other Punisher villains who already exist in the Netflix series, in fact, though revealing their identities would tip a potential direction for season two, however unlikely. Let's just say Billy Russo isn't the only friend in Frank's life who could betray him moving forward, and leave it at that.
7. Can we return to the beginning?
The first episode of The Punisher stands apart from the rest of the season for a few reasons, including the fact that it features Frank enacting multiple punishments across the country. It's evocative of some of the best Punisher stories, in which Frank moves from one journey for justice to another without spending too much time dwelling on the past. With Frank's family avenged, here's hoping future episodes of the show aren't as heavily serialized as season one, and instead offer up standalone stories that can further explore the themes of trauma introduced in this first season. Quite frankly, few prospects are more thrilling than the thought of an entire episode devoted to Punisher: Wine Journal.
Today I learned #ThePunisher drinks rosé. pic.twitter.com/G4OdL3B35l
— Josh Wigler (@roundhoward) November 18, 2017
What do you want to see next from Marvel's The Punisher? Let us know in the comments section below, and check out the rest of our season one coverage.
The PunisherRead the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com
The company also unveils 'Urban Myths' episodes on David Bowie, Alice Cooper and Salvador Dali, as well as Public Enemy, plus arts doc series 'Ronnie Wood Artist in Residence.'
read more
