D.C. hosted WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event show at Capital One Arena featuring John Cena’s final match.
Pro wrestling star Gunther (upper left) applies a chocking move on John Cena (bottom center) during Cena’s retirement match at WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event in D.C.’s Capital One Arena on Dec. 13, 2025.
(Photo by Rich Freeda/WWE)
Photo by Rich Freeda/WWE
A wide shot of over 19,000 spectators at WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event in D.C.’s Capital One Arena on Dec. 13, 2025.
(Photo by Mike Marques/WWE)
Photo by Mike Marques/WWE
John Cena aims to hit Gunther during his retirement match on WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event in D.C.’s Capital One Arena on Dec. 13, 2025.
(Photo by Rich Freeda/WWE)
Photo by Rich Freeda/WWE
John Cena prepares to do his signature move on Gunther during his final professional wrestling match at WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event in D.C.’s Capital One Arena on Dec. 13, 2025.
(Photo by Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
Photo by Georgiana Dallas/WWE
Professional wrestler John Cena plays to the crowd as Gunther watches before his retirement match WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event in D.C.’s Capital One Arena on Dec. 13, 2025.
(Photo by Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
Photo by Georgiana Dallas/WWE
John Cena looks at the audience after losing his retirement match WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event in D.C.’s Capital One Arena on Dec. 13, 2025.
(Photo by Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
Photo by Georgiana Dallas/WWE
Professional wrestler John Cena makes his entrance before his retirement match at WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event in D.C.’s Capital One Arena on Dec. 13, 2025.
(Photo by WWE)
Photo by WWE
John Cena bows to the crowd in D.C.’s Capital One Arena after WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event show on Dec. 13, 2025.
(Photo by Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
Photo by Georgiana Dallas/WWE
WWE wrestler Gunther applies a sleeper move on John Cena during WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event in D.C.’s Capital One Arena on Dec. 13, 2025.
(Photo by Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
Photo by Georgiana Dallas/WWE
Professional wrestler John Cena salutes the crowd in D.C.’s Capital One Arena after WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event show on Dec. 13, 2025.
(Photo by WWE)
Cena took on Austrian pro wrestling star “The Ring General” Gunther and lost after a brutal 24-minute match.
WTOP’s José Umaña talked to fans about the results, with many traveling long distances to get to D.C. for the event.
“It really sucked that John Cena lost,” said Winston, who traveled from California for the match. “We lost a great legend today. It won’t be the same and there won’t be another John Cena.”
Antonio also came from California to see Cena one last time.
“I did not think I would ever see Cena tap out,” Antonio said.
After a career spanning over 20 years, he said it was hard to see it end like that.
“John Cena’s model was always ‘never give up,’” Antonio said.
But, he said, it was worth the trip across the U.S. for the event.
“I had to see the ‘GOAT,’ the greatest of all time, retire. It’s 100% worth it. Win or lose, it didn’t matter. He’s still the best,” he said.
Patrick said it was his first WWE match and he traveled from Florida for it.
“It was a great match,” Patrick said. “I kind of figured it was going to come to an end like that, but the rest of the other matches were pretty good.”
Earl B. Bryant told WTOP that the match showed those watching what the future holds.
“Tonight it didn’t go the way that the people wanted, but the ‘The Ring General’ did what was necessary by taking the energy out of this place and paving the way for the new,” Bryant said. “Gunther is the future of wrestling.”
Blake came from Nova Scotia in Canada said the matches the whole night were entertaining for fans.
“I really enjoyed the card, but just the ending could have been a lot better,” Blake said. “It was probably his idea to tap out, honestly. But, I mean, wonderful career. He’s the ‘GOAT’ for a reason,” he said.
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John Cena began his WWE retirement tour back in January, and it’s coming to an end this weekend when the wrestling legend headlines WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. For the last fight of his career, Cena has been matched up with “The Ring General” Gunther on the night’s fight card, which also features matches between Cody Rhodes and Oba Femi, a tag team match featuring AJ Styles & Dragon Lee vs. Je’Von Evans & Leon Slater, and a women’s matchup between Bayley and Sol Ruca. This show starts at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday and will stream with a subscription to Peacock, or grab a 7-day trial of Peacock through Prime Video and tune in for free.
Here’s a look at how to watch John Cena’s final fight at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event this weekend, including how to stream the entire thing for free.
How to watch WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event:
Date: Dec. 13, 2025
Time: 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
Streaming: Peacock
Where to watch WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event:
The WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event will air live on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025 on Peacock, with fights starting at 8 p.m. ET. You can also tune in to the Saturday Night’s Main Event Countdown pre-show starting at 6 p.m. ET, and the post-show, which immediately follows the event on Peacock.
Who will be at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event?
This weekend’s Saturday Night’s Main Event will be headlined by John Cena and Gunther. Also on the bill, you can catch matches between Cody Rhodes and Oba Femi, a tag team bout between AJ Styles & Dragon Lee vs. Je’Von Evans & Leon Slater, and a women’s matchup between Bayley and Sol Ruca.
How to watch the WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event:
This weekend’s WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event streams exclusively on Peacock, but there is a way to get it for free, with Prime Video.
Right now, you can grab a free 7-day trial of Peacock Premium Plus if you sign up through Prime Video, so you can watch sports like the WWE, Premier League, and Sunday Night Football, along with original series like All Her Fault and The Traitors, and great Bravo and NBC shows, at no cost. You can cancel after the trial ends, or keep the subscription to Peacock Premium Plus for $16.99/month.
While a regular Peacock subscription begins at $10.99 for a Premium Plan and goes up to $16.99 for the ad-free Premium Plus plan, you can get an ad-supported subscription for free if you’re a Walmart+ subscriber.
Walmart+ members actually get their choice between Paramount+ or Peacock included in their membership at no additional cost. A monthly subscription to Walmart+ costs $12.99, and an annual plan costs $98 and includes additional perks like five free months of Apple Music, discounts on Cinemark movie theater memberships, free shipping and delivery on Walmart purchases, discounts on gas, and much more.
Instacart+ subscribers are able to get an annual Peacock Premium plan (a $109.99 value) for free as part of their plan. After a free 14-day trial, Instacart+ plans cost $99/year, meaning you’ll save more on Peacock simply by subscribing to the delivery service, but you’ll get tons of extras, like free grocery and restaurant delivery, and a free subscription to the NY Times Cooking app, too.
Starting at $11 a month, a Peacock subscription is a great way to stream this weekend’s Saturday Night’s Main Event.
On top of this weekend’s wrestling, you’ll also get access to thousands of hours of shows and movies, including beloved sitcoms such as Parks and Recreation and The Office. For $17 monthly you can upgrade to an ad-free subscription which includes live access to your local NBC affiliate (not just during designated sports and events) and the ability to download select titles to watch offline.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kevin Federline says concern for his two sons with Britney Spears long kept him from telling his story, and those same concerns are the reason he’s telling it now that they’re men.
In a memoir to be released Tuesday, “You Thought You Knew,” Federline documents his difficult years as husband, ex-husband, and co-parent with Spears, who wrote her own memoir in 2023.
Federline’s includes some salacious stories and some potentially disturbing details about her behavior that have already made headlines.
“I want my children to be able to move forward in their lives and know that the actual truth of everything is out there,” Federline, 47, told The Associated Press in a Zoom interview, backed by palm trees in Hawaii, where he now lives with wife Victoria Prince and their two daughters. “That’s a very, very big part of this for me. And it’s really important that I share my story, so they don’t have to.”
He and Spears’ son Preston is now 20 and his brother Jayden is 19. They have little relationship with their mother.
Federline was a 26-year-old backup dancer for other major pop acts when he coupled with Spears in 2004. Their courtship, two-year marriage and divorce took them through one of the most intense celebrity media frenzies in modern history. Federline was ruthlessly roasted as a loser hanger-on, especially after he released his own deeply mocked hip-hop album.
Britney Spears, center right, and her husband Kevin Federline are interviewed by Rachel from the Tyra Banks show as Tyra Banks, right, looks on while they arrive for the LG Mariah Carey and Jermaine Dupri Post Grammy Party at a private residence, Feb. 8, 2006, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
Britney Spears, center right, and her husband Kevin Federline are interviewed by Rachel from the Tyra Banks show as Tyra Banks, right, looks on while they arrive for the LG Mariah Carey and Jermaine Dupri Post Grammy Party at a private residence, Feb. 8, 2006, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
“I wasn’t just famous — I was infamous,” he writes in the book, which will be released on the new audiobook first platform Listenin.
He told the AP he long considered writing the book, but recently got serious about it.
“I picked it up and put it down quite a lot over probably a five-year period,” he said. “I think that it’s a very good description of me, who I am, the father I’ve become, the husband I am, the ex-husband I am.”
Key revelations from Kevin Federline about Britney Spears
— Federline describes the night he and Spears first connected at a Hollywood nightclub, and how they hooked up hours later in a hotel bungalow: “Britney turned around, slipped off her underwear and started kissing me, tearing at my clothes with both hands. We stumbled toward the bed while I struggled to kick my pants off my ankles. This. Is. Happening. OK, sorry. Calm down, that’s as detailed as I’m going to get.”
— He writes that a “San Andreas-level seismic shift in my reality” followed a few hours later when he left the hotel with Spears and dozens of paparazzi cars followed them.
— He describes the night before their wedding, when Spears called her ex Justin Timberlake, seeking closure: “She never really got over him. She might’ve loved me, but there was something there with Justin that she couldn’t let go of.”
Justin Timberlake, right, greets Kevin Federline as they arrive at the JT-TV launch party in Los Angeles, Feb. 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Justin Timberlake, right, greets Kevin Federline as they arrive at the JT-TV launch party in Los Angeles, Feb. 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
— Federline said seeing Spears drinking while pregnant “tripped the silent alarms in my head.” He later was outraged when he saw her doing cocaine when the boys were still breastfeeding, saying “are you seriously going to go home after this and feed them like you don’t have a body full of drugs?”
— He writes that Preston told him Spears mercilessly mocked him and once punched him in the face.
— He says the boys began refusing to visit her when they were 13 and 14, and later told him stories that “shook me to the core.” “They would awaken sometimes at night to find her standing silently in the doorway, watching them sleep — ‘Oh, you’re awake?’ — with a knife in her hand.”
Spears’ response to Federline’s book
Spears responded with a statement on her social media accounts. She said Federline has engaged in “constant gaslighting.”
“Trust me, those white lies in that book, they are going straight to the bank and I’m the only one who genuinely gets hurt here.” She said, adding that “if you really know me, you won’t pay attention to the tabloids of my mental health and drinking.”
She also addressed her relationship with her sons:
“I have always pleaded and screamed to have a life with my boys. Relationships with teenage boys is complex. I have felt demoralized by this situation and have always asked and almost begged for them to be a part of my life. Sadly, they have always witnessed the lack of respect shown by (their) own father for me.”
An attorney for Spears did not respond to a request for comment.
Federline’s life, and thoughts about Spears’ life
Federline writes about growing up in Fresno, California, and finding “my therapy and my purpose” through dance.
Kevin Federline performs during a concert at the House of Blues Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2006, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
Kevin Federline performs during a concert at the House of Blues Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2006, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
He reminisces about his first big tour, with Pink, and working with Aaliyah, Destiny’s Child and Michael Jackson. He details wrestling with John Cena in the WWE and appearing in a self-mocking Super Bowl commercial.
Federline says Preston and Jayden are living on their own as young adults, and have both been working on making music that makes him proud.
He weighs in on Spears’ dissolved court conservatorship, saying it was necessary but hurt most of the people involved. He said the fans who fought to free her left an unfortunate legacy.
“The Free Britney movement may have started from a good place, but it vilified everyone around her so intensely that now it’s nearly impossible for anyone to step in,” he writes.
He says in the book that he wrote it in part as a public plea for her to get more help.
“I’ve lost hope that things will ever fully turn around,” he writes, “but I still hope that Britney can find peace.”
After eight weekly episodes, Peacemaker season two has finally come to an end. James Gunn’s sophomore effort with the John Cena-led show, which exists in canon limbo between the DCUs of old and new, had a lot of hype around it. That hype became even more fever-pitched as the show was positioned as a direct follow-up to Superman. So without further ado, here are all the peaks and valleys from Peacemaker season two.
We here at io9 have made it our top priority to glaze Eagly, the best Peacemaker character (edging out Adrian by the narrowest of margins), at every given opportunity. He’s simply a delight. There’s just something about the Muppet kayfabe of its cast of actors having to pantomime (or better yet, act with a mocapped actor like in Superman) for all of Eagly’s silly little moments.
Whether it was Eagly indignantly ignoring the team to chase down some baloney or soaring into the fray for his big hero moment, the fact that CGI and motion capture turned a damn bird into a cherished character—and made viewers search “does the bird die” every week—is proof of how good Gunn is at weaponizing cute animals to pull at our heartstrings. Thankfully, the bird survived this season. Big shout-out to Dee Bradley Baker, whose wild career arc led to voicing the show’s undisputed best boy.
Peacemaker‘s second season felt distinctly sillier than its first. Maybe something was in the water with the show sharing a streaming service with Looney Tunes (before Warner Bros., in its infinite wisdom, got rid of the show) because this season had big Looney Tunes energy. No element emphasized that more than Michael Rooker’s Elmer Fudd-ass subplot as Red St. Wild, who hunted Eagly while toting a comedically oversized rifle. It’s always a good sign when a comic book show isn’t afraid of being goofy, and this whole bit was peak. No notes.
Liked: That big (albeit predictable) Earth X twist
Although viewers predicted that Peacemaker‘s alternate dimension was Earth X weeks in advance of when Gunn thought they would catch on, the punch of the reveal wasn’t any less effective as a huge “uh-oh” moment of the season. Kudos to Gunn for deliberately choosing background characters in Earth X to be of the mayonnaise complexion variety, while rapidly cutting back to our world—set in Atlanta, mind you—with very visible and, dare we say, drop-dead gorgeous extras turning the heads of the main cast. It was a clever twist made all the more poignant for fans sitting in anticipation for how that shoe would drop, and it dropped in the most hilarious way possible.
What’s more, it managed to make its entire Nazi world ride the line between being outwardly comedic and deeply upsetting, highlighting the danger Judomaster and Adebayo were in. We know Gunn tries not to make his works analogues for real life events (cough cough Superman), but letting Adebayo say the quiet part out loud about our current political climate not being so different from Earth X was some good shit. Robert Patrick’s character can keep his fence-sitting centrist hero speech, though.
From the moment Gunn became publicly cagey about where the rest of the season would head, it was clear the DC boss had big plans and cameos in mind. While it was a bit of a shame that, despite all the secrecy, he ended up scooping himself in the director’s commentary of Superman‘s expedited digital release, it didn’t make Nicholas Hoult‘s cameo as Lex Luthor any less huge.
Considering Gunn’s misgivings about his Peacemaker characters haphazardly making cameos in other DC projects without his prior knowledge, it was neat to see Gunn make Peacemaker feel less like a property stripped for parts to elevate shakier projects and instead act as an essential lynchpin. It can afford to have cameos that aren’t silhouettes, and big marquee players in the DC Universe can come play around in Peacemaker‘s toy box.
Gunn’s really good at making an ensemble cast of characters who are otherwise assholes feel like the most endearing, compelling, tight-knit group of pals. Peacemaker‘s cast is to DC what the Guardians of the Galaxy misfits were to Marvel, and that sentiment is made even more true in season two.
With every development where the gang was on their own splintered adventure, the thought of “I wonder what X would think/say about this” was all but impossible to ignore. And, not missing a beat, the show would deliver those moments. Seeing the gang’s reunion teased out was super effective because the show felt like its heart was made whole whenever the group got together and tried to overcome whatever harrowing situation they were in. Witnessing the gang giving each other shit from a place of love and dropping the pretenses of their joking relationships to get real was one of the best bits from the show.
Liked: John Cena’s evolution from wrestler to bona fide actor
Among wrestlers turned actors, the hierarchy of talent is still ironclad, with John Cena behind Dave Bautista and leaps ahead of Dwayne Johnson. However, Cena’s performance this season was his best yet; with his uncanny comedic timing, physical acting, and emotional depth, Cena was firing on all cylinders. You can always tell when an actor is just phoning it in compared to when they’re deeply in their element, playing off their costars and acting like a sponge, squeezing out every action and reaction they can from a scene. And Cena did that shit.
Watching him play a man with a silly helmet who bawls his eyes out when he’s seen as a joke—and later realizes his weirdo assortment of a found family is willing to kill his alternate dimension family to save him—was genuinely emotionally stirring. Sure, solid scripts lay the groundwork for exceptional stories—but the raw vulnerability and versatility Cena brought this season truly earned him the title of actor.
One of the strong points of Peacemaker‘s first season was its comedy. Much of it was Donnie Darko-esque, delivering terminally online asides about fandoms, niche factoids, or observations that would otherwise fit right at home on r/ShowerThoughts subreddit. But what made them work was that they weren’t throwaway quips to fill time. Some were overly long but worked because they were the rare, drawn-out, improvised bits in a sea of short-jab punchy jokes.
We didn’t get much of that this season. Instead, the humor hovered somewhere between “drawn-out Family Guy prelude to a cutaway gag that never comes” and Ghostbusters-reboot levels of “oops—all improvisations.” The end result was a lot of long-walked bits that weren’t worth their flimsy punchlines. Unfortunately, much of this was divvied up to Economos, making him a character one would reflexively brace themselves for in preparation for a ramble that didn’t go anywhere, much less effectively distract the bad guys while the rest of the gang engages in sneaky subterfuge.
It’s no secret that James Gunn loves his needle drops. And to his credit, he does it better than most. Much of his deep pulls are leagues preferable to the overplayed tunes other directors employ, which become more distracting to the scenes they’re tied to than a stellar underscoring.
That being said, Gunn got a bit too overzealous this time around. While yes, Foxy Shazam’s “Oh Lord” is a bop, its inclusion as one of three needle drops in montages in the show’s finale felt more like padding out a limp ending to a show whose penultimate episode ended on a stronger note than its own finale. What’s worse, many of the finale’s musical sequences felt like they would’ve been leagues more interesting as actual scenes. Speaking of…
Much of Peacemaker‘s thrust as a show felt like it petered out by the time its eighth episode and final episode rolled around. Sure, we got to see what happened between Harcourt and Chris on that boat. Sure, we got to see the gang have an emotional climax that deepened their bonds. But the whole episode felt like multiple epilogues stitched together to signpost where the DC Universe was going with portal dimensions, leaving the 11th Street kids in the dust.
And that sucked. Especially since its heavy-handed musical montages flattened moments when it felt like we were building up to the gang thwarting ARGUS’ plans with Planet Salvation, only to putz around with Judomaster, Fleury, and Bordeaux (who just show up as new members of the group without any real justification for why), setting up their own base of operations.
Having the legs cut under what felt like a way to get back at ARGUS made it seem like the show didn’t really know what to do with them. Plus, Chris getting black bagged and sequestered in Planet Salvation felt like a cop-out after that rah-rah speech about fighting back—and a bit of a waste of time with a show that’s otherwise been lean and to-the-point.
Ultimately, “Full Nelson” felt more like an empty punt toward the rest of the DC Universe that left its characters in a lurch. Placing Chris in a proverbial box and filing him away was certainly not a cathartic touchdown. We spent the whole season liking these characters. Having the finale set up other shows while shelving the 11th Street kids didn’t instill excitement for how Lanterns—or any future DC project—will “yes, and” with Peacemaker as an expansive connected universe.
Peacemaker season two is now streaming on HBO Max.
Peacemaker‘s penultimate episode gave us a lot more insight into Chris Smith’s (John Cena) “perfect” alternate universe. And just when we all thought we understood that it was the Nazi America, Auggie Smith (Robert Patrick) says something that throws a wrench into our assumptions.
**Spoilers for Peacemaker season 2 lie ahead**
In episode 6, Chris learned that his “perfect” world was filled with Nazis. Ads (Danielle Brooks) had to run away from Keith (David Denman) when he announced to everyone that “one got out” and suddenly the world Chris was willing to give up everything for was a lot darker than the world he lived in.
Now, we know that this world is one where the Nazis won World War II and it resulted in people of coloring being thrown into camps, as Vigilante (Freddie Stroma) telling everyone. But when Chris, Emilia (Jennifer Holland), and Economos (Steve Agee) all get caught up with Auggie and Keith, they learn some pretty shocking information.
The most shocking part about this back and forth was when Auggie pushed back at being called a Nazi. “Don’t call me that,” he said and when Emilia says “Don’t call you a Nazi?,” he responds by saying “I don’t agree with them.” Before he can explain what he means, Vigilante flies into the kitchen and stabs him repeatedly, stopping Auggie’s explanation right then and there.
He’s still not a good guy
We can tell throughout the rest of the episode that Chris is in shock. He thinks that his alternate universe is still a good dude and arguably, he’s better than Chris’ real dad but he is still upholding Nazi values. He might not “agree” with them but his son was the one who jumped out of a car and screamed at Ads.
Vigilante’s response to Auggie and Keith is telling. When our normal Adrian says that his best friend is Peacemaker, the new universe’s Adrian is furious because Auggie, Keith, and Chris in that universe all uphold the racist values of the Nazis in charge. He’s not absolved of sin because he simply thinks that he is different from the Nazis.
Keith, Chris, and Auggie are, in their own ways, supporting Nazi ideals by attacking those who are opposing them. Auggie can justify it all he wants but he’s still not a hero. And our universe’s Chris wants so badly to believe that his father can be good that he’s willing to ignore that for a brief moment. I trust that Emilia and Ads would both tell him how Auggie still wasn’t a “good” guy once they’re back home but still.
The twist reveal that Auggie isn’t as bad as Chris’ dad doesn’t do much for the character aside from showing that he is a different kind of coward in the Nazi America universe. I hope that Chris doesn’t try to think he’s anything other than a man who fought to uphold Nazi values, even if he didn’t “believe” the same thing as the Nazis.
Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She’s been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff’s biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she’s your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell’s dog, Brisket.
Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.
With the season two premiere behind us, it’s time to see what new debaucherous misadventures await John Cena’s Christopher Smith in the second episode of DC Studios’ Peacemaker. Given the explosive finale of the first episode, we’re in for a lot of explanations from our silver-helmeted would-be hero.
Episode two, “A Man Is Only as Good as His Bird,” jumps back eight months before the show’s premiere, providing context for why Chris was being surveilled by his ginger-bearded buddy, John Economos (Steve Agee). Turns out it was all the machinations of ARGUS figurehead Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo). While Flag Sr. and Economos’ work relationship is tenable at best, Flag Sr. does pull rank by having Economos spill the beans over his son’s death. Apparently, Amanda Waller ordered that the details for everything that happened in The Suicide Squad (James Gunn’s version) be covered up, as she’s wont to do.
However, Economos hands over a file about Flag to Flag Sr., and he learns the gory details about his son’s death at the hands of Chris. And with that, the inevitable clash between the two has gotten even more anticipation boiling under the surface of Peacemaker‘s second season.
We then return to Chris in the present, and he is still in a bit of a pickle, having killed himself from an alternate dimension. Ever the galaxy-brained genius, Chris’ first attempt to hide the evidence of his Kafkaesque homicide is to sweep it under the rug, literally. But it turns out not even Chris can employ the “You Can’t C Me” approach to covering up a murder. After justifiably crashing out a wee bit, taking a shower, and having a bit of a cry, he phones a friend to aid in sawing himself into pieces.
While Economos is still surveilling Chris mid-lunch break, noshing on some McDonald’s, we’re introduced to a new Peacemaker character, Fleury (Tim Meadows). After some dressing down of Economos’ gun safety faux pas (he tried to pull his firearm on Fleury while his weapon was still in its holster), Fleury informs Economos that he was sent by Sasha Bordeaux (Sol Rodriguez) to serve as backup, since it’s clear Economos can’t in good faith objectively surveil Chris, given their history as bros.
Serendipitously, Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) shows up on Chris’ doorstep, and he tells her about his pocket dimension. In the spirit of sharing, Adebayo tells him about the whole Rick Flag Sr. situation. She then advises Chris to stop using his pocket universe because ARGUS is alerted whenever he does. She also says he should surrender it to them so they can’t hang it over his head, should something go wrong, as a reason to send him back to prison.
Soon after, Adrian Chase (Freddie Stroma), aka Vigilante, shows up. It turns out he was the friend Chris phoned earlier. Apropos, Adrian shows up with cleaning supplies in hand to help Chris deal with his Weekend at Bernie’s pocket dimension whoopsies. Underscored by Foxy Shazam’s “Evil Thoughts,” Chris and Adrian get to hacking away at the cadaverous doppelganger.
With the doppelganger Peacemaker properly charcoaled in the pocket universe incinerator, Chris, understandably fucked up by the whole situation, peeks through the photo gallery of his double’s phone to see if life really was greener on the other side. The first album he clicks on is a 158-picture album dedicated to Milla Harcourt (Jennifer Holland). After thumbing through candid photos of them snuggled up in bed and other Hallmark-worthy candid moments, the gears begin to turn in his square skull to ditch his life in our dimension for the newly Chris-less one, proving men will literally waltz through pocket dimensions instead of going to therapy. Meanwhile, Fleury’s assortment of fratbro ARGUS militia task force, charged with surveilling Chris, is chomping at the bit to bumrush his house.
Speaking of Harcourt, we then cut to her attempting to nurse her barroom brawl scars from the previous episode to host their rooftop going-away party for Economos. That’s right, the gang is finally getting back together. As Economos notes, the impromptu venue looks really lovely. It features a whole string of overhead vintage lights that fancy restaurants use to create a cozy ambiance for their dining experience. Only their get-together exclusively features chips and dip, music from a dingy music speaker, and Bud Light brewskies. But hey, what more can a viewer ask than to see the gang back together finally?
But because we can’t have nice things, the ARGUS task force springs into action, raiding Chris’ house while the proverbial papa bird was away from his nest, partying. During their sweep, an ARGUS grunt drops a little DC Universe lore tidbit, saying that they’re equipped with scanners to detect extraterrestrial beings, which, as noted, is a major “dimensional discrepancy.” If you can forgive the above bird pun, know that it was all in service of setting up the Smith abode guard dog, Eagly, foiling ARGUS’ plans. We love an episode title that perfectly encapsulates the money-shot moments of its episode.
Eagly kicks tons of ass, taking out every task force member one by one. And because of Fleury’s bird blindness, he can’t take the shot and save his team because he “can’t tell how big this thing is.” For everyone furiously Googling “Does Eagly die?”, the answer is no. After handing the team their generous asses, the winged symbol of America struts back into the house.
Unfortunately, the bow on this wonderfully Eagly-filled episode sees Chris and Harcourt finally kind of talk at the party about what they are. Things don’t go well. While Chris tries to voice his concern for Harcourt since Task Force X broke up, she rebuffs, saying she doesn’t want to be seen as some damaged bird he can fix. So after stumbling back home sauced AF, Chris decides to go back into the hugbox of his pocket universe to see if things were as great with alternate dimension Harcourt as they seemed in the pictures.
But while Chris settles into the house, we overhear inquisitive questions from his not-racist alt-dimension dad, Auggie Smith (Robert Patrick), wondering where his son went. During Auggie’s out-loud questioning—assumedly toward Chris’ alternate-dimension brother, Keith Smith (David Denman)—we get hints that shit ain’t so sweet in the alternate universe for Chris after all. Apparently, his dead doppelganger had a pill problem and might’ve been messing around with another woman that wasn’t Harcourt. Chris, too blitzed to care, texts a risky “Hey” message to alt-dimension Harcourt and receives a “Hey” with a broken heart emoji in turn. Hopefully, our nails won’t have been gnawed to the bone in anxious anticipation of how Chris’ man-pain will lead to even more cosmic problems for everyone and himself.
Peaceful Peacemaker Pontifications
Adebayo reveals that she and her ex had plans to move to Gotham. In retrospect, they’re probably better off staying their broken-up selves, given how the low rent in either Matt Reeves’ Elseworld or a Creature Commandos‘ iteration of the city can’t be worth moving to.
The aftermath of Chris’ orgy reminds us that he’s a bisexual icon, even when he’s not taking the Justice Gang’s LinkedIn-ass interview well.
Vigilante’s surprisingly insightful diatribe about liking sex, despite Chris’ assumption that he wasn’t into it because of how freaky sex can be, feels like an act of bonding with his friends.
Fleury is another oddball addition to the cast. Notably, his bird blindness and lack of workplace decorum, as well as his whole Mean Girls try-hard act of name-calling to seem cool
Economos puts to bed that the plural of Pokémon is Pokémon, not Pokémon.
With Superman in the books, the time has finally come to see how DC Studios’ rebooted universe will continue with the second season of James Gunn’s John Cena-led TV series, Peacemaker. Even before the show’s release, Peacemaker existed in a unique transitional phase between the old and new DC Universes, leading fans to wonder which elements would carry over and which would be left behind.
The answer to that, as gleaned from trailers and the occasional Gunn interview about its premiere being not safe for work, will have something to do with pocket universes and Peacemaker contending with himself in some capacity. So without further ado, let’s see what Gunn and DC Studios have been cooking up.
During a season one recap that brings us up to speed, noting Christopher Smith, (a.k.a. Peacemaker)’s relatively normal upbringing with his racist father, Auggie Smith (Robert Patrick), we’re reminded that his dear old dad has a pocket dimension in his house. Unlike Lex Luthor’s pocket dimension, which he uses as a prison for those who slight him, Auggie (a.k.a. the White Dragon), utilizes it as a storage facility for all his gadgets, including Chris’ many Inspector Gadget-coded helmets. The explosive finale of season one saw Auggie killed, yet still present as a ghost haunting Chris in his pursuit of being recognized as a legitimate superhero. Surely, the show’s focus on pocket dimensions will prove to be a valuable narrative device later this season.
Why focus on the recap, you ask? Well, it’s already done some retconning on the season one finale. Famously, the finale saw the Justice League’s Wonder Woman, Superman, the Flash, and Aquaman show up late as hell to the party. However, Peacemaker season two’s recap is already showing its hand in taking creative liberties, changing how it incorporates its superhero cameos. Now, instead of the Justice League showing up, it’s silhouettes of the Justice Gang’s Mister Terrific, Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern, with Superman and Supergirl in tow.
Just like the Peacemaker finale, the recap only features Hawkgirl and Green Lantern actors Isabela Merced and Nathan Fillion. Appropriately, they barb back at Chris, with Hawkgirl calling him a meathead and Fillion’s Guy Gardner taking issue with Peacemaker spreading rumors that he’s a puke freak.
From here, the first episode, “The Ties That Grind,” begins with Chris rolling out of bed, awakened by Eagly on a cold winter night. After a reflective glance out his window, Chris quickly punches in a code and stands at the threshold of a pocket dimension doorway, wearing nothing but a shirt and his tighty whities, as he witnesses an aurora borealis light show as whatever cosmic mumbo jumbo morphs into his Peacemaker lair.
Peacemaker’s lair apparently doubles as a communal garbage incinerator; a “crypt-keeping looking” alien guy appears, shrugs off Chris’ “good morning,” incinerates a giant rat, and then waltzes back through another interdimensional door like he strolled right out of Rick and Morty. But we’ve no time for interdimensional pleasantries, because Eagly discovers there’s another door, equipped with the same keypad, as Chris’ inside the pocket universe. What’s more, just outside of it is a pile of off-brand-looking Peacemaker helmets.
After punching in the same door code as his own, Chris stumbles into a well-furnished trophy room with eerie villain music, and something is amiss. This adversarial alternate reality has a newspaper clipping of Chris, his father, and what can only be assumed is his brother in the Evergreen Sentinel, showing them being awarded them the key to the city for being a top superhero trio. To add more credence to his strange discovery, Chris is greeted by an alt-version of his father, who wonders if he’s been sleepwalking again. Chris, overwhelmed by this reunion not being a ghostly haunting of his father like in the season one finale, runs away in terror.
There’s a pocket dimension inside Chris’ home, and it leads to a world where he didn’t kill his dad and wasn’t a raging racist and homophobe (as far as we know). All things weighing on Chris’ mind that he’s, like a man, trying to push down as he drives on the passenger’s side of Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks)’s ride as she tells him about her apparent breakup with her girlfriend.
Instead of blindly parroting Adebayo, he suggests that her ex was probably concerned about her safety. Adebayo counters this by pointing out that Chris seems to think he’s invincible and immune to danger during their missions, despite her concerns about his bravado. Their conversation steers into Chris asking about his crush, Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), and whether she has spoken with Adebayo since the season one finale, which saw her hospitalized. Naturally, Chris is only concerned with whether or not Harcourt has talked about him, which she hasn’t. Womp womp.
Romantic pining aside, Chris gets vulnerable about his own insecurities, admitting that metahumans have apparently been bullying him, saying they make fun of him for his Jersey Shore haircut and “wearing a disco ball” on his head—conveniently forgetting he’s also said some not-so-nice things about Aquaman sleeping with the fishes.
“I know it’s cause my muscles are bigger than theirs, but jeez, right?” Chris remarks.
Adebayo reminds Chris that, despite the online trash talk, Peacemaker is a superhero who saved the world from a hivemind of alien bugs. Still, Chris seeks validation from his would-be peers as well, saying he no longer wants to be taken as a joke. This brings us to our first trial in legitimizing Peacemaker as a superhero: his job interview for the Justice Gang in a derelict strip mall. Things didn’t go so well for a lady ahead of him, storming out in a huff, clad in a full bunny get-up, but she’s not played by 17-time WWE world heavyweight champion John Cena, so Chris’s luck might be better.
Chris’ interview is officiated by Hawkgirl, Gardner, and LordTech owner and Justice Gang financier, Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn). After some mic issues, Chris overhears Hawkgirl and Gardner shit talk him between asking questions. But instead of popping a lid like he usually does, Chris swallows his pride and recites his bona fides as one of the best marksmen in the world with virtually any weapon and his hand-to-hand prowess. All of which only translates to Gardner as Chris being a violent dude who kills first and asks questions later.
Ironically, Lord emphasizes that the Justice Gang does not kill—this prompts Hawkgirl to scrunch her face as she recalls her act of pancaking a genocidal world leader who allied himself with Luthor in Superman. Regardless, the events of Superman have raised doubts about trusting metahumans, so they’d like to be extra cautious with screening who gets to be part of the team.
Lord cuts to the chase, bringing up Chris’ background check, noting he’s served time for first-degree murder and his killing of “dozens of people”—all of whom Chris says were for good reason. But Lord wonders which ones weren’t. While spilling his guts metaphorically about reckoning with his indiscriminate violence from the trauma his father gave him and the death of his brother, he overhears Hawkgirl and Gardner babble on about butts and how Peacemaker sucks. Instead of being embarassed that the mute function on their microphones isn’t working, Gardner laughs in Chris’ face—despite being the guy in charge of this not happening all day with every other interivewee.
By the time Lord looks up to apologize, Chris has already stormed out of the building in a similar huff as the bunny lady, telling Adebayo that his only talent, according to the Justice Gang, is “sucking dick.” Incensed, Chris retorts, saying sucking dick isn’t a put-down, but a compliment. All the same, Chris is fully disenchanted with the idea of joining the Justice Gang.
Turns out Chris wasn’t the only person getting a harsh grilling. While he was getting the worst superhero interview of his life, Harcourt was receiving hard truths from an interviewer from the NSA, saying that despite her “having a vagina,” she suffers from toxic masculinity. Proving his point, Harcourt has a shouting match with the interviewer about her “maintaining a hard appearance” and burying he feelings. After trying to walk back and calling him a “see you next Tuesday,” Harcourt claims her black-balling is a result of Amanda Waller’s own wrath.
After punching the dashboard of her car in a rage, Harcourt meets up with Chris, who asks about all the bruises, which she candidly admits to having caused by bashing her fists against it.
While nursing her bloody hands and remarking about how virtually every intelligence agency rejected her, Chris plays housekeeper, wrapping ice in a towel to place on Harcourt’s knuckles, all while noticing her pile of overdue bills. The romantic sparks between Chris and Harcourt are pretty undeniable in this touching scene, but they’re trying their damndest to keep things strictly business. And what better way to do that than airing out their grievances with Amanda Waller?
As they’re commiserating, Chris inquires if Harcourt wants to talk about something that happened “the other night on the boat.” Harcourt doesn’t seem to remember much beyond it being a party boat and not wanting to be on it, but Chris begs to differ. Apparently, the two got drunk and bumped uglies, but Harcourt quantified their tryst as a fuckup. Chris, pained by her waving off whatever happened that night, tries to at least have Harcourt acquiesce to it being a fun mistake, but she leaves him out to dry.
In full mourning territory, Chris returns home, loads up his bong, and starts snorting lines of coke like he was listening to the new Clipse album instead of the diegetic musings of “Guestlist” by Swedish rock band Hardcore Superstar. Which then cuts to Chris throwing a nude orgy rager at his apartment, full of all the adult private parts danging about on screen with reckless abandon that would make any parent rush to cover their children’s eyes had they dove straight into Peacemaker after watching Superman, expecting the same kind of general audience camp.
While everyone is having sex around Chris, some fist-bumping him mid-act, it’s clear he’s not having a good time (but he does give a little smirk when being kissed by male and female participants simultaneously—a bi icon!). Still, Chris is having the definition of a bad trip, rubbing at his face in a dizzying sequence. At the same time, appropriately bisexual lighting of his living room goes full kaleidoscope as everyone at his party either dances or sexes their night away.
In a stupor, Chris decides now’s the perfect time to bail on his party into the recesses of his pocket dimension. The camera then moves through space outside of his house to show John Economos (Steve Agee) has been outside in an ice cream truck, surveilling Peacemaker. Economos then answers a call from Adrian Chase (Freddie Stroma), a.k.a. Vigilante. Evidently, they’ve become close enough buddies since the last time we saw them that Vigilante will cold-call him, requesting Economos to quiz him on owl facts.
Echoing Chris’ question to Adebayo about Harcourt, Vigilante asks Economos if he has spoken to Peacemaker lately. It’s very sweet that everyone, despite not checking in on one another, seems to worry about how Chris is handling the whole not being accepted as a genuine hero thing. Just after Vigilante reluctantly returns to his restaurant job, one of the screens on Economos’ ice cream stakeout set up alerts him to something being missed.
Economos then gets a call from a newcomer to Peacemaker season two, Sasha Bordeaux (Sol Rodriguez). In the comics, Bordeux served as the bodyguard of Bruce Wayne—who we’ve yet to see in the new DC outside his appearance in Creature Commandos—and later served as the Black Queen of Checkmate. Here, her role seems to be that of a member of Belle Reve, which employed Economos at the end of season one, and she asks him to investigate. After hanging up on Economos, Bordeaux storms into the office of Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), who’s busy massaging the bridge of his nose, watching the newscaster complain about Arkham and Belle Reve metahuman escapees.
Here, we get the most consequential conversation in the episode that viewers have been wondering about since its opening. Apparently, in January, a “Christopher Smith” glitch similar to Luthor’s pocket dimension incident—which nearly consumed Metropolis in the final act of Superman—occured. This glitch has been happening more frequently at Chris’ humble abode, hence why Economos was stationed to surveil his house.
Flag Sr. and Bordeaux phone Economos, who spots Chris standing in front of his pocket dimension doorway. Flag Sr. decides to classify the situation as a priority one threat until they determine whether the Chris glitch results in another dimensional rift. Inside the portal dimension, Chris drunkenly stumbles through the room and punches the code back into the alt dimension as Foxy Shazam’s “Dreamer” plays in the background.
Inside the room once again, Chris gawks at the life his alternate dimension self appears to be having as a celebrated hero who, at one point, saved Gotham from an “ultra-humanite.” Unlike before, Chris’s window shopping of his alternate dimension self extends beyond the trophy room as he starts galavanting about the rest of the house, which looks more like a lavish mansion than the humble suburban house he currently lives in.
After making his way to the front yard, Chris gawks at a pickup truck in the driveway; Chris’ brother, Keith Smith (David Denman), emerges. Bewildered, Keith asks what Chris is doing home, inquiring if his matters at Blüdhaven have been sorted out. Seeing one’s dead brother all grown up would send anyone, much less Chris, into a tizzy. But after the two hug it out, and are joined by dear old dad, also wondering why Chris is home, and the dudes decide to throw a party.
At this point, the idea of leaving his old world behind for a second chance with his brother and father—who, in this version, don’t seem to be raging white supremacists (unless you’re a “knee-high imp”)—is as tempting to Chris as kryptonite is deadly to Superman. Elsewhere, Harcourt is getting harassed by dudes at a bar and shutting them down in typical Harcourt style. Beer bottles get smashed over some generous foreheads, balls get punched, and it’s safe to say feelings and orbital bones get hurt. Unfortunately for Harcourt, the numbers in her barroom brawl get the better of her, leading to her getting punted in the face and thrown outside.
Checking back in on Chris, the Smith patriarch stuns his befuddled son with an “I love you” before retreating to bed, leaving Chris and his brother alone while Chris is no doubt running the numbers on whether or not he should pull a page out of the doppleganger playbook of Jordan Peele’s Us and stay in the alternate dimension. Before he can think any further, Keith asks how things were with his ex. Reading the room, it’s clear that Harcourt is the ex, so at least we can figure that the grass isn’t as green on the other side of the pocket dimension either, at least when it comes to Chris’ love life. Still, Keith says Chris should try to win her back, whoever this (totally Harcourt) lady is, even if she’s with “some jarhead.”
Still keeping up the ruse that he’s this dimension’s Chris, Peacemaker nearly breaks down when he tells his brother he loves him, which his brother shrugs off with a laugh that he’s being too sentimental while drunk—not knowing all 251 pounds of Peacemaker can pack a lot of soft boy energy. While Chris is left weeping, we cut back to our dimension, where Economos is debriefing Adebayo about Peacemaker’s pocket dimension being a high-priority threat under the surveillance of Flag Sr. and his organization ARGUS (finally, a name, linking us back to Creature Commandos!).
And yes, Flag Sr. knows Chris killed his son, Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), in The Suicide Squad. Since the end of season one, Economos says Flag Sr. has been watching Chris in the hopes that he will mess up on a grand scale, so he’d have a reason to arrest him (or worse) for the betterment of humanity. Which brings us back to the anomaly inside Chris’s house, likely triggered by his dimension hopping and whatever is going on with his doppleganger, who is using their room as a shared storage closet.
After accidentally airdropping a dick pic to Adebayo, they hatch a plan to have her ask Chris what’s up with his pocket dimension instead of ratting him out to Flag Sr. Back in the alternate dimension, Chris is walking around the decadent Smith house once more and gawking at his bedroom and posters of bands like Hanoi Rocks (spelled Hanoi Roxx) on his walls. I’m sure someone more tapped into music tastes can note whether it’s in character with Chris’ raucous rotation.
Here, it’s confirmed that alt-dimension Chris’ ex is, in fact, Harcourt, with the reveal of a vacation photo of them all booed up. But before Chris can continue to romanticize over how nice his life is here, he pulls a gun on himself. Or rather, the alt-dimension Chris finally shows up and threatens to exercise his Second Amendment right on the back of our Chris’s head.
Fortunately, or unfortunately for our Chris, this alt-dimension Chris is also a bit dense, wondering if our Chris is a shapeshifter. Alt-dimension Chris gives chase to our Chris, who tries to book it back to his dimension. Alt-dimension Chris activates “magic stars,” prompting the wings of his helmet to track Chris like heat-seeking missiles, scaring up his back as he tries to put the code back into their pocket dimension, where they do battle. After some rocket tackles into some expensive-looking columns, Alt-dimension Chris beats the brakes off our Chris. But before he can deliver the finishing blow, Chris activates Alt-Chris’ jetpack, causing him to get impaled on a spike in the ceiling, thus freeing me from having to type alt-dimension Chris ever again.
We’re left with a shot of Chris holding the limp body of himself, wondering whether he should continue the charade in the alternate dimension or leave it be. Chances are, he won’t, and we’ll have more fun witnessing how he handles trying to pull double duty in his dimension or if he’ll leave it all behind to continue the chicanery in the alternate dimension.
Season two of Peacemaker will finally have Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) coming in hot for Chris Smith (John Cena) to exact revenge over the death of his son. Killing his squad leader, Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad was a moment that made Peacemaker irredeemable before being hilariously unpacked in season one of the HBO Max show, which centered the antihero’s mistake as something that broke him—that and the bullet Bloodsport (Idris Elba) put through his neck.
In an interview with GQ, Peacemaker star John Cena discussed how Smith viewed his action in the moment: “To know that Peacemaker is willing to kill for peace is important because he does. And he kills a person who he looks up to and who he’s developed a friendship with. What we know about Chris Smith through the film is he doesn’t have many friends. And when he falls in with this ragtag group of people, there’s a scene at the cantina where everyone is having drinks and sharing and getting along, and like, you can see him leaning into having friends for the first time.”
Cena continued, “We don’t know any of the backstory from season one. We don’t know about how he’s brought up. We don’t know about his brother. We don’t know any of that stuff.” This is backstory viewers become privy to when they see multitudes in Chris he’s not even aware of on Peacemaker, but the killing in Suicide Squad makes it hard to overcome based on what’s given.
“You can give a note about [how] this guy’s kind of a social outcast, and that can stick. He’s found somebody in lockstep like Rick Flag, where he admires this person. It’s everything he wants to be. And then when Flag gets a different perspective on what truth is and what virtue is, Peacemaker does what he usually does. And that’s just kill for peace. And this is the first time you probably see that armor wear thin.” Deserving any sort of redemption is the last thing on anyone’s mind when he kills Flag.
In season one of Peacemaker, we begin to see that he might be deserving of forgiveness despite the red on his ledger, because Flag’s final words to him resonate: “Peacemaker…what a joke.”
The trauma of the mistake sets in motion the identity crisis at the core of the show when you see he’s afraid to kill. Cena described the moment when Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji) calls him out over it as “Peacemaker’s first chance to kind of get back on the horse after the Rick Flag trauma, and you can see he’s not over it.”
He’s seen by the 11th Street kids as vulnerable: “This hard-nosed killer who talks amongst his peers like the biggest badass when he’s hit with the moment of truth to do things that he wouldn’t even think twice about. He starts to question if what he’s doing is right.”
Eventually Peacemaker had a breakthrough by killing his bigoted fascist father, but now, of course, in season two, another dad is on the way to get even. He continued to describe how Chris’ evolution might change a well-deserved amount of payback when Flag Sr. shows up: “[You] want to root for the flawed character, and I think that’s what’s important about all the characters in Peacemaker. They all have their setbacks and flaws, but you all want to root for them because they’re all trying to do better.”
John Cena‘s Peacemaker has gone from the big screen to the small screen, and many have questioned if the anti-hero could potentially have his own feature film.
The DC Studios co-head James Gunn was recently asked if Peacemaker would jump back into the big screen following Season 2 of the HBO series.
“I actually know the answer to that question,” he said (via ComicBook). “And I am not at liberty to say under penalty of the Safran punishment, which is a loss of my knuckle. Every time I give away something, Peter Safran will take away another joint of my finger. It’s very painful. He uses a cigar cutter.”
Cena first played Christopher Smith in the Gunn-directed film The Suicide Squad (2021). The actor reprised the role in the HBO Max series Peacemaker in 2022. Cena made a brief cameo in Superman earlier this year, and his adventures will continue in Season 2 of the HBO series, which premieres August 21.
Gunn has been selective in what stories and characters are canon in the DC Universe he’s creating alongside Safran. Cena’s Peacemaker survived from the previous universe, and Gunn also recently opined about what the future holds for Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, given her role in The Suicide Squad.
“That will be revealed down the line,” he recently told EW about Robbie’s role as Harley Quinn.
Another character from the old universe Gunn is trying to bring over to the new universe is Bloodsport, played by Idris Elba.
“I definitely am always looking for a place to put Bloodsport and figuring that out,” Gunn told the publication. “So we’ll see what happens.”
Gunn recently said he was busy working on a new script, which would be the follow-up to his Superman film. The filmmaker made it clear it’s not a direct sequel to the David Corenswet movie, but Superman would be heavily featured.
MUMBAI – The youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man, married his longtime girlfriend early Saturday in what many dubbed the wedding of the year, attended by global celebrities, business tycoons and politicians, highlighting the billionaire’s staggering wealth and rising clout.
The wedding rituals, including exchanging garlands by the couple and walking around the sacred fire, began Friday and were completed past midnight.
The celebrations of Anant Ambani marrying Radhika Merchant took place at the Ambani-owned Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai and the family home. The marriage culminated months of wedding events that featured performances by pop stars including Rihanna and Justin Bieber.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended a reception organized by the Ambanis on Saturday evening.
The Ambanis hosted a “blessing ceremony’’ for friends and family members to meet the couple and wish them a happy married life.
India Today television news channel reported that the newlyweds touched Modi’s feet as a show of respect and sought his blessings.
The four-day wedding celebrations began Friday with the traditional Hindu wedding ceremony and will be followed by a grand reception to run through the weekend. The guest list includes former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson; John Kerry, the former U.S. special envoy for climate, Saudi Aramco CEO Amin H. Nasser; and Adele, Lana Del Rey, Drake and David Beckham, according to local media. The Ambani family did not confirm the guest list.
Television news channels showed the arrivals of celebrities like Kim Kardashian, who was dressed in red, and professional wrestler and Hollywood actor John Cena.
Kardashian sisters Kim and Khloé took a ride in a motorized rickshaw through bustling Mumbai streets Friday before joining the wedding ceremonies, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
International guests wore traditional clothes by major Indian fashion designers. They put on embroidered sherwanis — long-sleeved outer coats worn by men in South Asia. Cena came in a sky-blue sherwani and white pants. Nick Jonas wore a pink sherwani and white pants.
Bollywood icons Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Ranbir Kapoor attended the wedding and danced to popular Hindi movie songs. Indian cricketers, including icons Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, were among the invitees.
Police imposed traffic diversions around the wedding venue from Friday to Monday to handle the influx of guests who flew to Mumbai, where heavy monsoon rains have caused flooding and flight disruptions for the past week.
The extravaganza and the display of opulence that comes with the wedding have led many to raise questions about rising inequality in India, where the gap between rich and poor is growing. The event has also sparked anger among some Mumbai residents, who say they are struggling with snarled traffic.
“It affects our earnings. I don’t care much about the wedding,” said Vikram, a taxi driver who uses only one name.
The father of the groom, Mukesh Ambani, is the world’s ninth-richest man, with a net worth of $116 billion, according to Forbes. He is the richest person in Asia. His Reliance Industries is a conglomerate reporting over $100 billion in annual revenue, with interests that include petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecoms and retail.
The Ambani family owns, among other assets, a 27-story family compound in Mumbai worth $1 billion. The building contains three helipads, a 160-car garage and a private movie theater.
The groom, 29-year-old Anant, oversees the conglomerate’s renewable and green energy expansion. He also runs a 3,000-acre (about 1,200-hectare) animal rescue center in Gujarat state’s Jamnagar, the family’s hometown.
The bride, Radhika Merchant, also 29, is the daughter of pharmaceutical tycoon Viren Merchant and is the marketing director for his company, Encore Healthcare, according to Vogue.
Ambani’s critics say his company has relied on political connections during Congress Party-led governments in the 1970s and ’80s, and under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule after 2014.
The Ambani family’s pre-wedding celebrations have been lavish and star-studded from the start.
In March, they threw a three-day prenuptial bash for Anant that had 1,200 guests, including former world leaders, tech tycoons and Bollywood megastars, and performances by Rihanna, Akon and Diljit Dosanjh, a Punjabi singer who shot to international fame when he performed at Coachella. The event was also attended by tech billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates.
It was the start of lavish, months-long pre-wedding celebrations that grabbed headlines and set off a social media frenzy.
In May, the family took guests on a three-day cruise from Italy to France, which included Katy Perry singing her hit song “Firework” and a performance by Pitbull, according to media reports.
Last week, Justin Bieber performed for hundreds of guests at a pre-wedding concert that included performances by Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh and Salman Khan.
Ambani also made headlines in 2018, when Beyoncé performed at pre-wedding festivities for his daughter. Former U.S. Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry were among those who rubbed shoulders with Indian celebrities and Bollywood stars in the western Indian city of Udaipur.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Rafiq Maqbool And Rajanish Kakade, Associated Press
After 20 years of leaving it all on the wrestling mat, John Cena has announced he’s calling it quits.
The WWE megastar made the announcement over the weekend, telling the crowd at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena that his wrestling career will soon come to an end.
“Tonight, I officially announce my retirement from WWE,” he told Saturday’s Money in the Bank attendees, being met with a chorus of boos from his disappointed and shocked fans.
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If you’re a big Cena fan, however, there’s still plenty of time to get your fix – he said he doesn’t plan to retire until the end of 2025, he’ll still be at the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber events next year and that he’ll try to make as many appearances in as many countries as possible.
He also announced that he’ll wrestle full-time for the next year, something he hasn’t done since 2018.
“Thank you so much for letting me play in the house that you built for so many years,” Cena told the crowd, specifically shouting out Canadian wrestling diehards for their unwavering support.
“Why here?” Cena asked the Toronto crowd. “I want to talk about that for a second, I want to talk about Toronto. Matter of fact, I want to talk about Canada. Matter of fact, I want to talk about Canadians. You see, I’ve been doing this awhile, I’ve been in WWE for over two decades and in that time I’ve seen incredible waves of prosperity like we got right now … and I’ve also seen tremendous hardship.
“So in all those years, one of the most important, one of the most impressive things that I learned was whether the WWE is hot, or cold, Canadians always show up … which in my mind makes this right here the perfect place to say what I got to say!”
During the event’s post show conference, he shared how he and the WWE have had the same vision for his retirement.
“I approached the WWE with this idea and they kind of initiated the talks that this would be a great span of time if we were ever going to do it. Gosh, this is no thanks to me but the business is at incredible heights of popularity and awareness,” he said.
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Cena is regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, boasting 16 WWE Championships, more than 1,500 matches and granting more wishes for Make-A-Wish Foundation than anyone else in the program’s history.
Outside of the ring, Cena’s also been making quite the name for himself in Hollywood, starring in many big budget films including Blockers, The Suicide Squad, Barbie and Trainwreck.
You won’t be seeing John Cena in the ring for much longer. The pro wrestling icon announced his impending retirement from WWE Saturday, making a surprise appearance at the promotion’s “Money in the Bank” event in Toronto.
“The 2025 Royal Rumble will be my last. The 2025 elimination chamber will be my last. And I’m here tonight to announce that in Las Vegas, Wrestlemania 2025 will be the last Wrestlemania I compete in,” Cena said to the live audience in a video the WWE posted to social media. “I want to say thank you.”
John Cena announces his retirement during Money in the Bank at Scotiabank Arena on July 6, 2024.
WWE / Getty Images
“Thank you Cena!” The crowd chanted in response.
The Massachusetts native also expressed his excitement over Netflix’s multi-billion dollar deal acquiring the rights to WWE Raw in January.
“Raw makes history next year when it moves to Netflix. I’ve never been a part of Raw on Netflix. That is history, that is a first, and I will be there,” Cena said.
Cena shed more light on his retirement in a post-show press conference, assuring that he would remain a part of the WWE even though his career as a performer was coming to an end — and promising “a long list of dates” between January and September.
“People say they’re walking away, and two years later they come back. I want to set the record straight right now, I’m done. This is it,” Cena said in the press conference. “If you ever wanted to be a part of this one last time, we’re going to do it as big as we can and we’re fighting everybody and we hope you come enjoy the fun.”
When asked about his feelings regarding Vince McMahon, the former WWE CEO and founder who stepped down in January amid allegations of sexual assault, Cena declined to give his opinion, saying instead the WWE was “in good hands” with parent company TKO Group Holdings.
In an interview with Howard Stern in February, Cena said that he was a big advocate of accountability, but would remain a support system for McMahon for now.
“I’ve openly said, I love the guy, I have a great relationship with the guy, and that’s that,” Cena said to Stern.
The 47-year-old won 16 world championships over his nearly 20 years in the WWE, going toe-to-toe with the likes of Kurt Angle, Triple H and Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson.
Outside of the ring, Cena released a studio rap album in 2005 and has appeared in several movies and television shows. As his acting career began to flourish with starring roles in projects such as “Bumblebee,” “F9: The Fast Saga,” and “The Suicide Squad,” his appearances in the ring diminished.
“There were many before me, there will be many after. I guess what I have left to do is say my thank yous before that chapter closes,” Cena said.
After more than 23 years, John Cena is preparing to step into the ring for the last time.
During a surprise appearance at Saturday’s Money in the Bank in Toronto, Canada, the 16-time world champion wrestler announced he’s retiring from the WWE following WrestleMania 2025.
Although Cena has been known to display a towel that reads “never give up” over the years, this time he came out with one that read, “The last time is now.”
“Why am I here? Tonight, I officially announce my retirement from the WWE,” he said to shocked gasps from the audience.
“This farewell, it does not end tonight,” he said. “It is filled with opportunity. Everybody, Raw makes history next year when it moves to Netflix. I’ve never been a part of Raw on Netflix, that is history. That is a first, and I will be there.
“And along with that history making first, we are going to build so many unforgettable lasts. The 2025 Royal Rumble will be my last. The 2025 Elimination Chamber will be my last. And I’m here tonight to announce that in Las Vegas, WrestleMania 2025 will be the last WrestleMania I compete in,” added Cena.
Although the crowd booed at the news, they soon began chanting “thank you Cena,” to which he responded with his own appreciation.
“Thank you so much for letting me play in the house that you built for so many years,” said Cena. “Thank you so much always for your voice, because it’s really loud, and your honesty, because it’s beautifully brutal. And most of all, thank you so much for allowing me to be with you here tonight to let the whole world know that we are planning something unforgettable, which also involves me returning to Toronto to kick some ass!”
Cena signed to the WWE in 2001, cutting back to part-time since 2018 as he has continued to grow his acting career in such movies as Daddy’s Home (2015), Blockers (2018), The Suicide Squad (2021) and his HBO Max series spin-off Peacemaker.
He has been hailed as the new “Rock”…but does John Cena kick back and use weed?
John Cena is having a moment. People are buzzing his star is rising and he could be another Rock. Which is something considering he Rock built an empire worth $800+ million. Like the Rock, Cena is not afraid of hard work, laughing at himself, or comedy. But does John Cena use weed? Would it go with his squeaky clean imagine?
He started out as a wrestler and signed to the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2001. In 2018, he went part-time with wrestling to focus on expanding his acting and rapping career. A record 16-time world champion as recognized by WWE, Cena is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional pro wrestlers of all time.
WWE hasn’t enforced marijuana testing in ages, which was lead by the players. Although cannabis in the entertainment industry is not uncommon.
Cena has crafted his image and has popped up on the Today show with goodnatured appearances alongside his string of recent movies. His most recent, Ricky Stanicky, leans into comedy heavily. He was a presenter at this year’s Oscars while also taking a nod at a streaker who appeared 50 years ago.
Cena has long denied taking drugs, including steroids. But the rumor of his steroid use continues to trail him like the whiff of a skunk. He does drink alcohol and has built up a pretty strong reputation for being able to toss quite a large amount back and still function. But it seems he has either not used marijuana or kept it very, very on the down low.
We know in honor of the 4/20 ‘holiday’ he was the now gone Ellen show and played a game called ‘Marijuana Strain Or Show Dog’. The audience lapped it up and he seemed to enjoy the wink wink nod of it.
So while it appears he doesn’t consume, it doesn’t seem like he judges those who do and can appreciate a good chill.
The 96th Academy Awards were filled with memorable highlights and fun moments, one of which involved John Cena making a bold entrance on stage. The wrestler turned actor walked partially naked to present the award for Best Costume Design, using a white envelope and Birkenstocks to cover himself. His unexpected and humorous gesture elicited a roar of laughter from the audience, including Margot Robbie, who struggled to contain her amusement.
In his presentation, Cena emphasised the importance of costumes in movies, stating, “Costumes, they are so important. Maybe the most important thing there is.”
Fans on social media were quick to react, with some declaring, “John Cena just won the Oscars,” and others praising Cena’s commitment, saying, “no matter what anyone says, john cena COMMITS #Oscars.”
Holly Waddington won the Oscar 2024 for Best Costume Design for Poor Things.
Kate Winslet stars in The Regime. Photograph by Miya Mizuno/HBO
From Oscar-nominated dramas to delightfully funny new series, streaming is overflowing with quality content this week. Whether you want to see Adam Sandler play introspective, Kate Winslet do her most absurd work or Joaquin Phoenix star in a historical epic, your A-list options are covered.
What to watch on Netflix
Spaceman
Adam Sandler stars in this sci-fi drama from the award-winning director of HBO’s Chernobyl. Spaceman sees Sandler play Jakub, an astronaut off on a solo mission that sees him exploring the furthest regions of our solar system. While he’s there, he realizes that he may never be able to return to the life he left back on Earth. How does he reconcile with this difficult emotional realization? Well, he talks to a strange spidery creature from the beginning of time (voiced by Paul Dano) that has taken up residence on his ship. Spaceman premieres Friday, March 1st.
The Gentlemen
Guy Ritchie has made a career out of snappy British crime movies, and now he’s bringing that talent to television. The Gentlemen stands as a spin-off of his film of the same name, with warring drug lords and mob bosses holding all of the power. Theo James stars as Eddie, a man who stands to inherit a massive estate from his father. However, that land belongs to one of the country’s biggest weed-growing operations, and it turns out it’s much sought-after by other members of the criminal underground. Kaya Scodelario, Daniel Ings, Joely Richardson, and Giancarlo Esposito also star. The Gentlemen premieres Thursday, March 7th.
What to watch on Hulu
The Favourite
While Poor Things is on the road to racking up a few Academy Awards, it isn’t the first time that the likes of Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone, and Tony McNamara have worked together to create cinematic greatness. That would be The Favourite, a deliciously dark period dramedy that revolves around the strange reign of Queen Anne. Olivia Colman stars as the monarch, a troubled and insecure woman who relies on the attention of her woman in waiting, Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz). But when Sarah’s troubled cousin Abigail (Stone) enters the fray, it becomes a twisted love triangle for the ages. The Favourite streams starting Friday, March 1st.
What to watch on Amazon Prime
Ricky Stanicky
The newest movie from comedy whiz Peter Farrelly, Ricky Stanicky revolves around a trio of best friends (Zac Efron, Jermaine Fowler, and Andrew Santino) who have come to rely on their imaginary friend Ricky well into their adulthood. Whenever something goes wrong and they need to explain it, well, it’s Ricky’s fault. But when these guys’ partners and families ask if they can actually meet the fabled friend, the men decide to hire a middling actor (John Cena) to take on the role. Naturally, the guy decides to go a bit method, meaning that Efron and co. get much more than they paid for. Ricky Stanicky premieres Thursday, March 7th.
What to watch on Max
The Regime
A cutting political satire featuring an all-time great performance from Kate Winslet, The Regime is a devious and delightful new miniseries. Winslet stars as Chancellor Elena Vernham, the autocratic leader of an unnamed, vaguely Central European nation. She rules her country according to her own fleeting whims, until a strapping (and slightly unstable) former soldier comes into her life. Herbert (a hulking Matthias Schoenaerts) wins Elena and her policies over with his, er, rural charm, kicking off a political comedy of errors. Winslet is far and away the highlight of the show, serving up a fascinatingly funny performance. The Regime premieres Sunday, March 3rd. Read Observer’s review.
What to watch on Apple TV+
Napoleon
A historical drama of epic proportions, Napoleon goes big on everything. Ridley Scott boldly directs this dubiously accurate chronicle of the French ruler’s life, and it’s overflowing with action, horses and period details (it’s nominated for costume and production design at this year’s Oscars, after all). Joaquin Phoenix stars as Napoleon Bonaparte, imbuing the little corporal with his unique brand of moodiness. Vanessa Kirby plays Josephine, Napoleon’s all-but-doomed first wife who was there for his ascent to power. It’s a big, bombastic film with more than a few surprises up its sleeve. Napoleon premieres Friday, March 1st. Read Observer’s review.
The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin
British comedian Noel Fielding may be better known for his Bake Off hosting these days, but he returns to his oddball roots with The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin. The historical comedy series presents a fictional take on the life and times of infamous highway robber Dick Turpin. It’s sure to have the same wit and silliness as genre predecessors Blackadder and Monty Python, with good ol’ Dickie becoming the leader of a gang of outlaws despite being the least-skilled rogue of the bunch. The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin premieres Friday, March 1st.
What to Watch is a regular endorsement of movies and TV worth your streaming time.
Upon watching the first thirty-five seconds of the trailer for Argylle, it doesn’t take fans of 2022’s The Lost City very long to immediately spot a certain glaring correlation between the latter and the former. Right down to Argylle’s, spy novel author, Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard, not to be confused with Jessica Chastain, who once starred in a Matthew Vaughn-written movie called The Debt), being extremely introverted and “married to her work.” While The Lost City’s Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) might not have a cat she’s devoted to the way Elly is (another extremely gimmicky element of the movie), she embodies, for all intents and purposes, the same “lonely cat lady” trope. Where Loretta has a pushy manager, Beth Hatten (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), hounding her to finish the book so she can start her tour of it, Elly has her pushy mother, Ruth Conway (Catherine O’Hara), to make her write a different ending to the final installment in the Argylle series.
After reading the finale to the book, Ruth insists that Elly owes her readers more than that. Just like Dash McMahon a.k.a. Alan (Channing Tatum), the cover model for Loretta’s books, insists that she owes it to her readers to keep the Lovemore series—steeped in the erotic romance-adventure genre—going, even though she announces her plans to end it. Like Elly, she’s run out of things to say…and she also just thinks the books are generally schlocky, and not representative in the least of her true intelligence. The same ultimately goes for Elly, after Argylle’s screenwriter, Jason Fuchs, throws in an amnesia plotline that will eventually reveal Elly is an untapped reserve of far more intelligence than she lets on. An “alter ego” that will inevitably lead to her wearing an atrocious sequined gold dress that she doesn’t quite rock with the same panache as Loretta with her fuchsia sequined jumpsuit (on loan, of course).
Loretta’s own intelligence, too, has been suppressed in favor of using her archaeology degree to make the main character in her series seem more “believable.” Even though there is nothing believable about an archaeologist named Dr. Lovemore. An archaeologist named Dr. Sage, on the other hand, slightly more so. Alas, Loretta no longer pursues her archaeological ambitions “legitimately.” And that’s been making her feel like enough of a sham lately to call it quits on the erotic novel front. Stuck on the last chapter, just as Elly is with her own final installment in the Argylle series, Loretta decides to slap together an ending, much to Alan’s dismay. Not just because it puts him out of a job, but because he has a long-time crush on Loretta and losing proximity/access to her, however rare, is a bitter pill to swallow. Loretta, of course, couldn’t be more oblivious to his affections…in the same mousy, bookish manner that Elly is oblivious to the fondness Aidan Wilde (Sam Rockwell) has for her when he initially approaches her on a train under the guise of being a “regular Joe.”
Turns out, he’s there to save her from the bevy of fellow spies on the train (a concept that itself reeks of the banal Brad Pitt movie, Bullet Train) out to kidnap her for, what else, her savvy spy mind. As displayed with unexpected perspicacity and foresight in the books she’s written. Foresight that is so accurate, as a matter of fact, that the top/most dangerous spy organization in the world, the Division, truly believes she’s the only one who can find what (or rather, who) they’re looking for. In the same fashion, Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe), the man who kidnaps Loretta in The Lost City, does so because, as he reminds her, “Your fictional archaeologist was making real translations of a dead language. Something no one else has been able to do.” He then reminds her that she was once a young college student doing her dissertation on the lost language that will lead Abigail to the Crown of Fire, a valuable yet priceless treasure that has thus far only been the stuff of lore. Until Loretta gave Abigail hope that she could crack the code to finding it.
Aidan, too, hopes that Elly can use her unique writer’s brain to tap into some arcane spy knowledge that will lead them to the British hacker who holds the Masterkey (better known as a USB drive) with all the damning evidence against the Division and its corrupt members. And, naturally, because Vaughn expects us to believe that Elly is just that shrewd (along with a lot of other things we’re supposed to “just believe”), she effortlessly figures out how to find him as she and Aidan embark on an increasingly dangerous, unexpected and all-over-the-map (literally and figuratively) journey. Which, yes, is precisely what happens in The Lost City. Except the hijinks that ensue once Loretta is kidnapped (also forced to take a plane she doesn’t want to get on, as is the case with Elly) are at least far more humorous and endearing to watch unfold (not to mention much less filled with so much expository dialogue).
Maybe this is because one knows that The Lost City isn’t trying to be everything to everyone. Doesn’t seek to extend beyond the confines of its rom-com adventure genre. One that mimics the spirit of 80s classics like Romancing the Stone and the various Indiana Jones movies of that decade. This being what The Lost City does as well, and yet with just a dash more credibility and a tone that is far less “look how clever we, the writer and director, are.” Goddamn, they’re acting like they’re capable of the kind of artful meta plotline that was present in Scream. Unfortunately, that’s not the scenario.
In any event, even The Lost City couldn’t fully melt the hearts of critics like Manohla Dargis, who wrote at the time of the film’s release: “The Lost City remains a copy of a copy.” One supposes that makes Argylle a copy of a copy of a copy. And not a very well-executed one at that. Not half as well-made as The Lost City anyway, a film that has apparently stoked a rash of imitators in the genre, including the J. Lo atrocity that was Shotgun Wedding.
Perhaps the sudden increased interest in spy and/or action-adventure rom-coms is a sign of the times, what with a reboot of Mr. and Mrs. Smith in TV series format also occurring this year. Whatever that sign is, it doesn’t exactly bode well for the “new Cold War”…or the hooey content of movies like Argylle.
Update, February 2, 12:30 p.m. ET: The actual writers of Argylle, the book, have been revealed: Terry Hayes, an Australian author and screenwriter best known for 2013’s I Am Pilgrim, and Tammy Cohen, a British writer of psychological thrillers. The pair went public in an interview with The Telegraph. Both Hayes and Cohen were previously floated by Vanity Fair as prime suspects for authorship of Argylle.
“God, I hope all the people that pre-ordered on the basis that Taylor wrote it aren’t disappointed,” Cohen told the publication in reference to the popular theory that Taylor Swift was behind the book.
“I hope they are!” Hayes quipped. “If that’s why they buy a book, they deserve every punishment they get.”
The hardest part of keeping their involvement with the project a secret for the last three years was “not being able to tell my support group of writer friends who I ring up every time I get into a mess,” Cohen said. “And also trying to account for a large amount of time when I apparently haven’t produced a book.” Hayes, who took a decade to complete his second novel, 2023’s The Year of the Locust, joked, “That was no problem for me.”
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In the lead-up to Argylle, a new spy thriller from director Matthew Vaughn, Swifties and civilians alike attempted to decipher who wrote the novel that supposedly inspired the film. But in the words of Jodie Foster in True Detective, the world has been asking the wrong question. The issue isn’t who wrote Argylle, it’s why that author’s identity has been kept under wraps when the film’s biggest twist and post-credits scene motives have already been revealed.
First, a refresher: The film stars Bryce Dallas Howard as Elly Conway, author of a series of novels about a spy named Argylle. There is also an actual Argylle novel allegedly written by a real Elly Conway, who has a verified socialmedia presence. Onlookers have speculated that the book was written by everyone from an under-the-radar real novelist to Taylor Swift. The Argylle team waited a while to extinguish that last bit of gossip, though Vanity Fair’s sources confirmed back in October that Swift is not the author. As John Cena, who plays henchman Wyatt in the film, recently toldToday: “I can’t think of a better way for people to get to know Argylle—a movie where the tagline is, ‘The greater the spy, the bigger the lie’—than with some misdirection, some spy-type deception,” adding, “I got to debunk the rumor, but I’m grateful for Taylor and her fans to be so engaged, and it really fits in with our theme.”
The film version of Argylle contains details that can also be found in the real Conway’s digital footprint. The character mentions working as a small-town waitress before she was in an ice skating accident; Conway’s actual author bio on the Penguin Random House website mentions that “she wrote her first novel about Agent Argylle while working as a waitress in a late-night diner.” An author’s note in the book states that Conway conceived of the plot in a “febrile dream” that occurred after a “terrible accident.”
In the film, a fan of Conway’s points out the author’s talent for predicting real-life geopolitical events in the pages of her novels. “The secret is research, research, research,” Howard’s character replies. “Although that is what I would say as a real spy, so…” This is apparently what catches the attention of The Division, a cartoonishly evil group that begins to hunt Conway. In turn, the CIA sends Sam Rockwell’s spy, Aidan Wilde, to protect Elly.
Conway doesn’t know who to trust—an anxiety that is vindicated when she discovers that the people who purport to be her parents (played by Bryan Cranston and Catherine O’Hara) are actually Division baddies posing as mom and dad.
And then the film takes another twist. We learn that Elly Conway is not a real person, but a new identity that the evil duo gave Howard’s character after she began suffering from amnesia. Elly Conway is actually Agent R. (as in Rachel) Kylle, Samuel L. Jackson’s former CIA director, Alfred Solomon, tells her. Kylle was a top agency operative who fell into a coma and was then brainwashed by the opposition. The Division tricked her into becoming a reclusive author in hopes that her novels, based on Kylle’s actual repressed memories, would lead them to an all-important missing data file. As Alfie summarizes it: “The books are not predictions. They are memories of who you are.”
Of course, the real-life novel nods to this reveal. Conway dedicates the book to “Mom and Dad, who have been beside me every step of the way.”
Rachel’s amnesia begins to fade as her combat skills return. By the end of the film, just call her Zach Bryan, because she remembers everything and can thus save the day in outlandish fashion.
(from left) Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Alfred Solomon (Samuel L. Jackson) in Argylle, directed by Matthew Vaughn.Peter Mountain/Universal Pictures,Apple Original Films,and MARV
In 2023, Blizzard opened up Overwatch’s world for third-party collaborations. The first was a set of skins and other cosmetics based on the anime/manga One-Punch Man, which naturally turned Overwatch’s own “one-punch man,” Doomfist, into the titular hero with a new skin. The cape is luxurious, but he’s not the only hero who got to cosplay during the event. Soldier: 76 gets to ride a bike as Mumen Rider, Kiriko’s green wig is wigging as the Terrible Tornado, and Overwatch’s resident cyborg Genji naturally becomes One-Punch Man’s cyborg Genos.
Looking back, the collaboration was strange because One Punch Man hasn’t really been doing much as of late, with the third season still in development and the last one having come out in 2019. But there’s a surprising amount of love shown in the skins, highlight intros, and other cosmetics, as silly as it is seeing Soldier: 76 pedaling like his life depends on it.
The second big collaboration was with K-Pop girl group Le Sserafim, and it was an absolute banger of an event. Take my hand, walk with me. Have you heard the good word of Le Sserafim’s catchy as hell bop “Perfect Night”? Have you basked in the glory of Tracer, Kiriko, Brigitte, D.Va, and Sombra geared up for a K-Pop concert, serving some of the most glamorous skins Overwatch has ever seen? And did you watch the music video, in which all the previously mentioned girlies attend a Le Sserafim concert and use their various abilities to have their own perfect night? It ruled. I’m still wearing the Sombra skin when I play her, and have no plans to take it off.
Le Sserafim / Blizzard Entertainment
While Blizzard looked outside of its stable for crossovers, it also looked to the other side of the office and had a Diablo crossover, as well. Moira mains rejoiced as she finally got a decent skin out of the arrangement, though the Diablo-themed co-op mode was extremely mid and tiresome. Also, John Cena showed up in a viral marketing campaign for some reason, though that had no impact on the game itself.
Even if you don’t watch One-Punch Man or jive with Le Sserafim’s music, Overwatch 2’s collaborative events have felt meaningful, not like they’re just cheap crossovers. The team at Blizzard has done a lot to capture the vibes of its partners without it coming at the expense of its own identity. Crossovers can be exhausting, as games like Fortnite can lose their entire sense of self as they clutter their worlds with pieces of other properties. But so far, Overwatch 2 has found a happy medium in paying tribute to something within its own framework. — KS
“With the relaunch of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation in June, the studio has shifted its global strategy to focus on theatrical releases,” a WB Motion Picture Group spokesperson said in a statement to the outlet. “With this new direction, we have made the difficult decision not to move forward with Coyote vs Acme. We have tremendous respect for the filmmakers, casts, and crew, and are grateful for their contributions to the film.”
Based on the 1990 New Yorker humor piece written by Ian Frazier and adapted by Samy Burch— who also wrote Todd Haynes’s upcoming awards contender, May December—the film centers on Looney Tunes character Wile E. Coyote as he seeks legal action against Acme after the company’s products fail in his pursuit of the Road Runner. Costarring Will Forte and Lana Condor, the project was announced in 2020 and dated for theatrical release on July 21, 2023, before it was wiped from the calendar and replaced by Barbie.
When Batgirl was shelved last year after advance test screenings, a Warner Bros. Pictures spokesperson blamed the move on “our leadership’s strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max.” But sources told Variety that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav intended to take a tax write-down from the film, rather than spend an additional $30 million to $50 million to market it domestically. Coyote vs. Acme reportedly came with a $72 million price tag and had begun receiving high audience scores at early test screenings. Yet Warner Bros. leadership has apparently similarly balked at pouring any money into promoting the project for release. According to Deadline, the company is taking an estimated $30 million write-down on the production.
While cutting losses by canceling projects is not a new strategy for Zaslav’s company, it’s surprising that Warner Bros. would choose to shelve a film that involves so much marquee talent. DC Studios cohead James Gunn produced the film and worked on its story; director Dave Green, who previously helmed 2016’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, is developing a project at the company’s New Line Cinema division; and Cena stars in Max’s DC show Peacemaker, which is due to return for a second season. (Vanity Fair has reached out to a rep for the actor for comment.)
“For three years, I was lucky enough to make a movie about Wile E. Coyote, the most persistent, passionate, and resilient character of all time,” Green posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I was surrounded by a brilliant team, who poured their souls into this project for years. We were all determined to honor the legacies of these historic characters and actually get them right. Along the ride, we were embraced by test audiences who rewarded us with fantastic scores. I am beyond proud of the final product, and beyond devastated by WB’s decision. But in the spirit of Wile E. Coyote, resilience and persistence win the day.”
Composer Steven Price shared a snippet of the film’s score to social media, “as no-one will be able to hear it now, due to bizarre anti-art studio financial shenanigans I will never understand.”
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