The Daily Mail and the Independent report that David Harbour and Lily Allen have split after five years of marriage. According to Allen, the couple will not be spending Christmas together.

The “Smile” singer and Stranger Things star have not confirmed the news, but a source who does not know the couple showed the Mail Allen’s recently reactivated Raya profile, a high-end dating site for celebrities. The Mail says Allen’s friend confirmed Harbour and Allen had separated.

Allen and Harbour reportedly met in late 2019 on Raya and married in 2020. Before the Mail‘s report, Allen, without her wedding ring, mentioned spending Christmas alone on her podcast, Miss Me?, with cohost Miquita Oliver, according to the Independent.

In an earlier episode, Allen told Oliver that she was “not in a great place mentally” and not eating after relocating from London to New York with Harbour and her two children from a previous marriage. Allen also said she was “bored of men.”

Allen and Harbour: It’s complicated

Meanwhile, Allen’s rebooted Raya profile stated she was “looking for someone to start couples therapy with.” It said Allen was visiting Los Angeles from New York but provided no further details about her status. Allen’s friend told the outlet the singer wasn’t looking for anything serious with her Raya profile because her divorce was not finalized.

This news comes after reports said Allen had returned to the U.K. alone to star in Pillowman on London’s West End, as Harbour stayed behind in New York. Allen also unfollowed the Thunderbolts star on social media last year, and a source told The Sun that the actor and musician were leading “separate lives.”

Allen has also said she might not have moved in with Harbour if not for the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Allen moved from London to New York with her children to live with Harbour, and the couple were later married in Las Vegas.

Allen also told the Times of London, “I don’t think I’d ever had s** with anybody not drunk before I got together with him. So, that was different for sure.”

She added, “It’s a totally different thing. It’s unavoidable, conscious and real,” she continued. “He had a lot of experience with it, so it’s been helpful to do it with someone that’s long-in-the-tooth in that game.”

As for Harbour, he said his relationship with Allen and her two daughters from a previous marriage “feel a little bit more like a man,” and “more like an adult.” Harbour added, “I’m in a relationship with three women who all have very different opinions of me at various times.”

As news spread Monday that Harbor and Allen were over, Allen baited speculation when she shared a video on Instagram of lions eating a zebra carcass, captioned “that circle of life. brutal.”

Allen and Harbour always seemed an unlikely pairing, as Allen is thoroughly British, with Harbour — known for the lovably brooding role of Jim Hopper on Stranger Things — more gruff and “American.”

Social media response to the news Allen and Harbour have gone their separate ways included, “I know it makes me a terrible person, but I’m kinda glad Lily Allen and David Harbour have split. He deserves so much better than her.”

Comments added, “He’s damaged his brand. He chose a woman who said the bravest and best decision she ever made was having multiple affairs with married men. A man who overlooks a red flag like that is clearly messed up.”

Allen was previously married to Scott Cooper, the father of her two children. Allen is Harbour’s first marriage. Several reports stated the couple did not respond to a request for comment about their relationship status.

They may never eclipse the timeless classics like It’s a Wonderful Life, but cheeky genre fare has nevertheless been fusing itself with a festive flair for some time now. Indeed, transgression is simply the natural order of things in the arena of artists, which is how we’ve gotten Santa Claus as a horror villain, a combative magician, and a drunk.

And yet, it wasn’t until 2022 that Saint Nicholas properly suited up as an action hero at the behest of Violent Night. This, however, turned out to be best-case scenario, because by that time, David Harbour was the perfect age to embody the scrappiest Santa ever put to screen, and after making nearly quadruple its budget at the box office, Violent Night is taking advantage of the holidays to rise up on streaming.

Per FlixPatrol, Violent Night is awaiting its milk and cookies at eighth place on Prime Video‘s worldwide film rankings at the time of writing, finding itself among a curious collection of fellow charters. There’s seasonal brethren like Jack in Time for Christmas (sixth place) and Illumination’s The Grinch (10th place), while Gladiator rides the coattails of its legacy sequel‘s sturdy theatrical haul in second place.

Violent Night stars Harbour as Santa Claus, who happens to be delivering presents to the wealthy Lightstone estate when it’s attacked by a group of mercenaries, who hold the family hostage as they ransack the mansion for valuables. Allying himself with the family’s youngest daughter Trudy (Leah Brady), Santa double-checks his naughty list for the names of the mercenaries (yes, this is an actual plot beat), and prepares to make visions of sugar plums dance in their heads.

Now, turning Santa Claus into an action hero is the sort of premise that emerges on a sleepy afternoon immediately after the words “I’m bored, let’s make a movie” are uttered. Luckily, if Violent Night was indeed schemed up out of boredom, then that certainly didn’t translate to the proceedings; the holiday-themed fight choreography and Harbour’s thoroughly entertaining turn as Kris Kringle make for some pleasantly diverting action fare, even if it ends up taking itself a bit too seriously for its own good.

For example, we find out during the film’s midpoint that, before Santa Claus became Santa Claus, he was an ancient Viking warrior known as Nikamund the Red, who was known for pulverizing his enemies with his trademark warhammer. Now, by no stretch does this revelation sink the plot, but this isn’t a film where you need to justify the combat prowess of your protagonist with a backstory that strikes fear into the hearts of his soon-to-be enemies; the simple act of making Santa Claus an action hero is more than enough for audiences to buy into, and a better version of Violent Night would have recognized that and subsequently taken better advantage of the tonal/narrative freedom that the premise allows.

But at the end of the day, Violent Night has enough awareness towards its cartoonish power to jingle all the way, and with a sequel confirmed to be in development, we can only hope that that gets honored even more next time.

As Marvel fans prepare for the 2025 release of Thunderbolts*, star David Harbour has teased what we can expect in of the dynamics between the film’s main characters. 

Harbour — who appears in the Marvel entry alongside Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell and Sebastian Stan, among others — said the relationship between of the titular superhero team is less than pleasant, which he believes is actually the source of “the fun of the movie.” The actor, who will portray Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, a super-soldier and Russian counterpart to Captain America, said he doesn’t “know that any of [the Thunderbolts ] get along.” 

“They’re thrust together as the worst people in the worst situations,” Harbour added in a recent interview with Inverse. “This person hates this person, hates this person, hates this person, and is annoyed and wants to get rid of this person.” The Stranger Things star — who is currently promoting his role in another superhero title, DC’s Creature Commandos — went on to describe the frosty team dynamics at play in Thunderbolts* as “the opposite of a love triangle,” adding that the interactions between each member are filled with “provocation.”

It’s the kind of salty banter we’ve already been teased with, since all the trailers for Thunderbolts* show a group of superheroes who are constantly butting heads and bickering, with hilarious results. The only somewhat friendly relationship we do see is between Harbour’s character and Yelena Belova, since he raised her as his child. The seeming unprofessionalism of the team also makes sense given the movie’s plot, which sees a rag-tag group of antiheroes (clearly unversed in Avengers etiquette) tapped by CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) to complete a mysterious mission. 

With minimal experience in the superhero game and diverse and colorful backgrounds, it stands to reason that of Thunderbolts would perhaps be reluctant to play nice, especially as de Fontaine’s dubious scheme seems to be reaching a head. While his onscreen counterpart might be averse to his teammates, Harbour himself has nothing but love for her co-stars, whom he said he “instantly connected with.” The actor said this connection allowed the banter between the Thunderbolts to “really translate on the screen,” and with such a starry cast, he’s sure to be right on the money.

Alongside Harbour, Pugh and Louis-Dreyfus, Thunderbolts* will also star Scarlett Johansson — reprising her role as Black Widow — and Lewis Pullman as Bob/Sentry, who has been touted as the MCU’s most powerful villain.

In other Thunderbolts* news, Stan, who will Bucky Barnes, said he hopes to one day “be in a scene” with Robert Downey Jr., while de Fontaine was revealed to be the person who bought the Avengers Tower following the events of Age of Ultron. For his part, Harbour revealed in September that the plot of Thunderbolts* will explain why there is an asterisk in the title. Thunderbolts* hits cinemas in May of next year, and will serve as the final film in Phase Five of the MCU.

Given its ever-growing popularity and monumental following, it’s natural to understand why Netflix’s Stranger Things has caused its fanbase to shed a considerable amount of tears in the past. Flash forward to now, and it looks as though we’re going to need a dozen tissue boxes again.

The super-sized series has effortlessly become one of the most beloved projects in television history, borrowing nostalgic inspiration from the ‘80s and introducing the modern-day generation to a beautiful realm of otherworldly monsters and unbreakable friendships. During its Netflix venture, the Duffer Brothers’ brainchild has certainly pushed us to grab a few tissues at a handful of tear-jerking scenes — but it’s safe to say that the waterworks are only about to begin.

Enter David Harbour, a fan-favorite fixture on the show known for portraying Jim Hopper. Hopper, of course, is introduced to Netflix subscribers in the first season as the rough-and-tough Sheriff of Hawkins, Indiana. And while his near-death experience in the finale of season 3 was enough to collectively stop our hearts, the 49-year-old recently teased just how emotional the series finale is going to make us all.

In a fresh-faced Happy Sad Confused podcast episode, Harbour unapologetically laid everything out on the table in regards to the finale’s overwhelming moments, so much so that the actor happily insisted that the Duffer Brothers “land the plane” on the finale and that this is the “best episode they’ve ever done.”

“The end of this episode when we were reading it — just us reading it — about halfway through, people started crying,” Harbour added, only to up the ante of the emotional department by revealing how the cast and crew were “uncontrollably crying” for the final 20 minutes of the finale.

Harbour followed up by sharing that long-time fans of the show will “absolutely love” the final season, although perhaps we should bunker down in our apartments for a few days in the aftermath of crying our eyes out and witnessing the end of a television era.

At the time of this writing, we have yet to be rewarded with a solid release date for the final season, but speculators currently believe that the timeframe for the release of the fifth season will happen at some point in 2025. And, yes, the waiting game is definitely putting all of us in agony, especially when you consider the fact that the last episode of Stranger Things to release on Netflix was all the way back in 2022. Good (and stranger) things come to those who wait, right?

So, what exactly are the cast and crew crying about? What unforgettable moments are we to expect in the fifth and final season of Stranger Things? Are there any character deaths that will leave us devastated? Well, it’s all entirely speculation at this point, with ionate stans crowding the drawing board and creating potential ideas and theories as to what might unfold in the final chapter of the record-breaking series. 

So while we await to see what happens to Eleven, Will, Hopper, and the rest of the unforgettable Hawkins gang, let’s enjoy the peace we currently have before Vecna tears our hopes and dreams (and Hawkins) completely apart.

What is the biggest, most confounding mystery concerning the immediate future of the MCU? Who will lead the next Avengers team? How is Robert Downey Jr. back as Doctor Doom? What blackmail did Kevin Feige have on Harrison Ford to get him to play Red Hulk? Non, nein, nyet. It’s actually: what is the actual deal with that random asterisk in the Thunderbolts* title?

For much of its lifespan, the movie about the MCU’s anti-heroes forming a team was simply called Thunderbolts, but back in March, a new logo was revealed which unveiled the curious piece of punctuation now stuck on the end. Since then, despite Marvel s at Comic-Con and D23, the studio hasn’t been forthcoming on the meaning behind the attention-grabbing asterisk.

Thanks to star David Harbour, however, we can now at least say that there is an explanation for it, and that it’s “very cool.” Red Guardian himself itted to ComicBook.com that the added asterisk was a late-in-the-day innovation, but he can understand why that would make sense for the story and he’s “excited” for audiences to find out what it’s all about.

“I mean, they retroactively put the asterisk [in]. The asterisk was an idea that that someone had… What can I say that’s not going to get me in trouble?… The asterisk is very cool. I understand why people might put an asterisk there. I’m excited for the viewers to see that as well. But I, again, I just can’t say anymore.”

The actual meaning behind the Thunderbolts* asterisk*

*Warning: this might not be the actual meaning behind the Thunderbolts* asterisk.

The other thing about Thunderbolts that Marvel seems keen to keep under wraps at this time is the exact identity of Lewis Pullman’s enigmatic role in proceedings. So far, his character is only officially being referred to as Bob — for anyone who’s picked up a comic, though, this is a particularly flimsy attempt at subterfuge. Bob Reynolds is the real name of Sentry, the Superman-level superhero who has long been rumored to feature in the film.

Now, it’s possible that the Sentry and the peculiar punctuation of it all are unconnected, but maybe we need to cut through this thorny problem with Occam’s razor and speculate that these two mysteries are actually one mystery. Maybe when Marvel is finally ready to out Sentry’s involvement, perhaps in a final trailer, it’ll finally reveal the movie’s full title — Thunderbolts*, with the subtitle *And Sentry. A similar cheeky trick has already been pulled with Agatha All Along (which went by three other fake titles before we found out the real one).

Thunderbolts* is the second of the three MCU movies we’re getting in 2025, with its May 2 release date squeezed in between February’s Captain America: Brave New World and July’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. That means we’ve likely got at least half a year to sit tight before the marketing really ramps up and further clarification on that pesky asterisk comes to light. If it ends up meaning “*Downey’s in this one, too, y’all,” I will take back all my kvetching.

Adding a pet to the family should never be a snap decision. Like children, young animals need ample love, clear rules, and a generous mentor to help them grow into their best selves.

Lily Allen and her husband, David Harbour, learned the true cost of a rambunctious pup the hard way after their rescue pup destroyed several hundred dollars’ worth of important documents. No one wants their stuff destroyed by a pet, but the simple podcast anecdote turned into a PR nightmare for the singer after the internet came for her in force following the rehoming story.

What did Lily Allen do to her dog?

Pop singer Lily Allen has found herself in hot water after a simple anecdote has turned animal lovers across the web against her. In a story shared on her podcast, “Miss Me,” Allen told fans she and husband, Stranger Things actor David Harbour adopted a pooch during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the rescue had a few more quirks than the family was prepared for.

She told listeners, “She ate all three of our ports, and they had our visas.” Allen shares two daughters with her ex-husband, Sam Cooper, who still lives in England. “I couldn’t get them back to see their dad for, like, four months, five months because this f—- dog had eaten the ports.”

Custody arrangements can take months to years to work out, depending on how well divorcees get along. Failing to adhere to the arrangement can result in a renegotiation, loss of custody, cost thousands in legal fees, and even jail time for the uncooperative parent.  

But if there is anything that animal lovers hate almost as much as they love their pets, it’s people who don’t love their pets enough. The jovial nature with which Allen told the story had armchair warriors everywhere ready to fight. The singer had no choice but to leap onto X.com to clear the air. She claimed the incident was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and that the pup was a “very badly behaved dog, and I really tried very hard with her, but it didn’t work out.”

Why are people threatening to kill Lily Allen?

If there is anything the internet hates, it’s anyone the collective mind believes has harmed an animal. PETA, the questionable animal rights group known for aggressive media stunts, ed the bloodbath that Allen claims started with “clickbait articles” published by Mail Online.

As Allen wrote a small novel to clear her name, commenters found plenty of reasons to blast the singer. “Literally absolutely nothing in this Tweet makes you look any better,” one wrote. “A dog is family, you don’t desert family,” preached another. Many called her “lazy,” “an idiot,” and implored her to, “please never have another dog.” But even as more negative Tweets rolled in, plenty of animal lovers took Allen’s side.

But Allen’s final paragraph threw fuel on the fire.

“All you are doing by engaging with these stories is making more money for people who profit from sewing division and tearing us all apart. In the same way that misinformed people acted on distorted propaganda that led to the racially driven xenophobic riots we’ve seen recently in the UK, it’s just all so toxic and I know that we can do better.”

And just like that, the Brits exploded, “You mocked the country that raised and gave you everything,” they raged, turning the dog-related-kerfuffle into a full-blown fight for home and country. “Comparing the reaction to race riots OMFG Lilly Allen the martyr,” cackled another. Commenters were fed up with her attempts to make herself the victim.

Maybe I’m simply a jaded American living in a timeline where Kristi Noem can maintain her gubernatorial seat despite shooting her dog in a ditch, but rehoming a pup doesn’t seem like a career-ending event. Perhaps the best thing she can do is duck her head and wait a week until the next hapless celebrity martyr makes themselves look like a jerk on the internet.

At long last, Netflix has finally sprinkled some Stranger Things breadcrumbs and unveiled an eye-catching behind-the-scenes teaser for the fifth and final season. And while die-hards are undoubtedly excited for the final season to arrive, we’re also equally terrified for the fate of two beloved characters.

Unlike series such as Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, which both had a fondness for killing off major characters, the Duffer Brothers’ brainchild had yet to follow that same formula. That is until the untimely deaths of Alexei, Billy, and Eddie, of course. There have been other smaller deaths in the acclaimed Netflix project, that much is already known, but a large portion of folks are now convinced that the fresh-faced teaser is hinting at more deaths than we actually realize.

Throughout the behind-the-scenes clip, several characters are shown in interesting situations — one BTS cut of Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) with a massive bruise on his face contains the caption “final chapter in this story” pasted across the screen, leading viewers to believe Steve’s fate might be in jeopardy. 

Another character placed under the microscope of concern is Jim Hopper (David Harbour), who looks to be either stuck in an unfamiliar place again or perhaps suffering from PTSD after being trapped in a Russian prison. The biggest concern is Hopper’s health, with the character now sporting a long beard, and appearing cold and fragile with a gun beside him.

That’s not to say Steve or Hopper’s deaths are confirmed or that either is in any serious danger, but seeing our beloved, badass heroes completely bruised and battered is certainly worrisome for those who have been fans of both characters for years. For now, we’ll simply have to wait and speculate until the fifth season of Stranger Things arrives on Netflix.

Season 5 is expected to premiere some time in 2025.

Over the past few years, perhaps a trend that began with the John Wick franchise, we have been getting action films that focus on one character who is incredible at both taking, and more importantly dishing out, a gigantic beat down. Luckily, we received all that and then some in 2022’s Violent Night.

We had John Wick, then came Nobody, and then came the aforementioned action thriller. Directed by Tommy Wirkola, Violent Night features David Harbour as a dejected Santa Claus who has magical god-like powers. After a family is held hostage in their luxurious mansion and Mr. Claus is trapped inside, he uses everything at his disposal to take out the numerous naughty guards.

Ultimately, the film is a fun Christmas movie while being a great vehicle for David Harbour, just like Nobody was for Bob Odenkirk. Over a year later, you might still be wondering whether the film has a post-credits scene or not, especially with Christmas being just around the corner. So, let’s take a look at the end of Violet Night and tell you if there is anything worth catching a glimpse at after the credits.

Is there a post-credits scene in Violent Night?

Even though the film ends with Santa flying away in his sleigh and the bad guys are all dead, implying that the film is wrapped up, Violent Night does actually have a post-credits scene. After both Krampus (John Leguizamo) and Commander Thorp (Mike Dopud) have been killed, Santa lies in the snow, dying, as the Lightstone family uses the power of Christmas to wish him back to life. His reindeer finally make it back to him, as they had been absent for most of the film after flying off without him, along with his old war hammer, a note from Mrs. Claus, and a replacement sack so he can finish his night of gift giving.

The credits then begin to roll, but before the main credits begin, there is a short scene. After the short scene, the movie continues with its main credits, which are worth watching if you want to see the names of the people who worked on the film. The scene depicts Bert (Alexander Elliot), who was seen live streaming from his phone before the villains of the film cut off the mansion’s internet connection, live streaming from his phone once again. Only, now he is live streaming next to Commander Thorp’s dead body. It does not serve to set up another film, only as a fun tag to what was already a fun ending. 

Although, it might have been better if we had a post-credits scene with Mrs. Claus involved, seeing how heavily she was referenced in the movie but never actually seen on screen. Well, there’s always next time. For now, folks of blood-soaked Santa thrillers can stream Violent Night on Prime Video now.

Gran Turismo‘s David Harbour has an interesting reason for getting involved in the sports biopic and video game adaptation. While most people would accept roles because of the filmmaker or they’re ionate about the project, he claims that his latest onscreen outing felt reminiscent of a film he enjoyed immensely.

Harbour plays Jack Salter, a trainer who assists Jann Mardenborough on his journey to becoming a pro-racer. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor explained that his role in this latest blockbuster reminded him of Hoosiers, a 1986 film about a high school basketball team entering the state championship. Not only did it receive a 91 percent Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, but it’s also listed in the U.S. National Film Registry.

The Stranger Things star said that his love for the sports drama was the reason why he took on the part, and believed that the role would allow him to “remake the 80s classic for a younger generation.” He also shared that he used Gene Hackman’s Norman Dale performance as inspiration, while also adding his own elements to the character.

“Yeah, but only because I watch Hoosiers once every couple years. Gene Hackman and Hoosiers are part of the reason why I took this movie. My agent sent me the Gran Turismo script and I read through it and thought, “Oh my God, I get to remake Hoosiers for a younger generation.” So that was exciting, and Hackman’s Norman Dale was really the primary North Star character for me. He’s certainly even more complicated [than Jack]. He’s got a lot more going on, and the story is really about him, but it was a nice model in a certain way. Of course, I’m doing my own personal work and I want it to be specific to me, but you can use archetypal models and tropes like that along the way.”

An interesting fact about Harbour’s role is that Jack Salter is a fictional character created for the movie. According to Digital Spy, he is a combination of various people who made an impact on Jann’s career. The actor told the publication that Gran Turismo has its “own particular style,” and is less concerned with accuracy.

Gran Turismo is a retelling of one of the most astonishing motorsports stories in recent history, where a gamer enters the world of pro racing, and it currently holds an average critic score of 61 and audience rating of 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

The biopic had its world premiere in Belgium and will race its way to theaters on Aug. 25, 2023.

As of right now, DC Studios is getting the jump on Marvel Studios. It’s an uncommon occurrence, but — who knows — it might start to happen a lot more now that James Gunn is in charge. First up, Blue Beetle is showing up the MCU’s recent Multiverse Saga offerings in a big way, thanks to its rave reviews. What’s more, and now this one is a real shock, the much-maligned The Flash has even managed to land a win over Marvel itself by avoiding a streaming pitfall that has plagued the House of Ideas a lot of late and probably will continue to as Phase Five expands.

Blue Beetle‘s reviews are crawling so high only Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 can beat it

Blue Beetle is here and, while its box office projections are looking more Shazam!-alike than we’d prefer, at least it’s getting critically acclaimed. Sitting pretty at a Certified Fresh 78% on Rotten Tomatoes means the Xolo Mariduena vehicle is easily the highest-rated DC movie released in 2023, but also higher rated than all but one of the MCU’s films released this year. Yes, unsurprisingly, the only one it can’t beat is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but even then it’s nipping at its tail as the threequel is only 3% above at 81%. James Gunn is likely A-OK with that close competition as it means his DCU is off to a strong start.

The Flash speeding onto streaming at short notice means it’s going to avoid copying Marvel’s Disney Plus curse after all

With Max revealed its full slate of new releases for August and The Flash wasn’t on there, it heavily suggested the Scarlet Speedster’s stinker of a solo movie would be doomed to take such a long time to hit streaming that it would rival Marvel’s own extreme gaps between its movies’ theatrical and streaming dates. However, in an unexpected twist, Max has now dropped the bombshell that The Flash is coming to the platform in a week’s time on Aug. 25. That means the biggest, most expensive DC flick of the year is hitting streaming without any fanfare, but at least that’s only 70 days since it opened in theaters — which is a lot less than both Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Vol. 3.

You think you know what to expect from Thunderbolts? Director Jake Schreier tells you to think again

All of a sudden, Thunderbolts has risen up as a Marvel movie that we should really be paying more attention to as everything we’ve been hearing about it lately indicates it could actually be a low-key breath of fresh air for the franchise. Following on from confirmation it’s definitely not a sequel and something fresh, director Jake Schreier is doubling down on his comments that Thunderbolts will offer a “different perspective” than what fans may be expecting. Now, the filmmaker is promising it’s a “very new take” on its concept, so don’t expect this anti-hero team-up to be a copy of The Suicide Squad.

From Spider-Man fans seemingly wanting to undo No Way Home‘s beautiful ending to Thunderbolts star David Harbour is outing Marvel for remaking Black Widow‘s whole third act at the last minute, the Marvel news train never derails, so stay tuned for more.

Good things must always come to an end. That is true for the nostalgia of simpler times when DVDs were a thing and we would have to wait in anticipation to own them, but also for the show that turned Netflix into the phenomenon it became and that essentially put DVDs out of business.

The irony of today’s round-up of news containing both updates on Stranger Things season five and the news of the farewell to Netflix’s DVD mailing service is not lost on us. The former was one of the platform’s first hits in the streaming era, initiating a revolution that had been a long time brewing. While it certainly has its perks, and we’ve enjoyed the hassle-free and relatively cheap access to all our favorite films and shows, the latest Writers and Actors strikes have put into perspective just how important the DVD business was when it came to profiting off of your work years after it was released. With streaming, the residuals are minimal.

The business side of things is also an important contextualization for why Warner Bros. might have thought it a good idea to sell the rights to some of its stronger offers to the competition. After Issa Rae’s Insecure migrated to Netflix, the Dwayne Johnson hit HBO original show Ballers from 2015 is now also doing big numbers on the competing platform. And it doesn’t end there.

David Harbour walks a slippery slope with new Stranger Things season 5 comments

Spoilers are as deadly as Vecna in the Upside Down world of streaming television, so for Stranger Things‘ David Harbour to almost accidentally reveal a major plot point of the show’s fifth and final season is a big deal. Emphasis on “almost.”

In an interview with Josh Horowitz, the 48-year-old actor, whose career received a significant boost after landing the role of Jim Hopper in the phenomenal Netflix show, revealed that the new season starts “somewhere after” the events of season four. That much seems obvious, but it was his delivery as well as what he said afterward that inspired some suspicion among fans that he could possibly be about to spill the beans on a time jump.

“You’ve got to imagine the world is a different place,” Harbour said of the new season. We last left off with the heroes of Hawkins looking over the town as it was consumed by Vecna and the Upside Down. Could that be what he meant? Or are we actually jumping all the way into a new decade?

It’s officially the end of an era as Netflix ships its last-ever DVDs

Before there was Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black, and Wednesday, Netflix was a successful DVD-by-mail service. It’s quite symbolic, then, that this branch of the company is closing down for good in the midst of the current climate felt around Hollywood, where creatives mourn the old ways of the industry, with theaters and DVDs at its center.

As the main propulsor of streaming and the consequential death of the DVD format, Netflix also largely defined the contours of the current standard business format for film and TV. A strategy that prioritizes mass content production, and forgets to look out for the little guy when it comes to the future of that same content and what its many lives in the form of re-watches should mean for the people who made it.

Netflix kept its DVD mailing system alive for 25 years but has announced that it will ship out its very last set of discs to its subscribers by September 29th. In a statement that customers received in their virtual mailboxes, the company announced a celebratory campaign to mark this termination, where those who choose to order a DVD by August 29th could win an extra 10 discs in the mail based on their queue.

An HBO original finds new life as Warner Bros. hands Netflix the keys to the palace

Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav’s relationship with streaming is an odd one. The businessman, who took over the company following a merger in April 2022, does not believe in direct-to-streaming movie releases and also has no problem getting rid of underperforming titles that cost more to keep in the platform than to get rid of (they just hate paying those residuals, don’t they?).

Zaslav’s latest move, however, seems to be a diplomatic collaboration with rival streaming platforms, as he’s been calling for Max, Netflix, Prime, and the lot to bundle together and be marketed as one product. Maybe his decision to license considerably beloved HBO original shows to Netflix is part of that same long-term plan. It started with Insecure, and now Ballers has found its new home in the TUDUM streamer, and the deal is already showing results.

The Dwayne Johnson-led sports dramedy show, which ran on HBO from 2015 to 2019, was among the top 10 most-watched series on Netflix this week in 39 countries. What’s more, it shot all the way to number one in 12 of them. All audiences needed was a reminder that the show existed to pick it back up and give it a new life. Was that Zaslav’s big idea all along, or was he just genuinely trying to get rid of things people were no longer actively watching and shift the burden to the next guy? According to Deadline, the CEO is willing to “forego exclusivity and license content to boost the bottom line.” Netflix has well over double the global subscribers of Max.

When it comes to superhero movies, the space can get a bit divisive: whether it’s Marvel versus DC, Gunn versus Snyder, or simply shills versus contrarians, superhero movie fandoms are places to avoid if you’re averse to conflict.

But if there was any common ground to be found in such a zeitgeist, it would have to be criticizing the third act, where malevolent CGI armies continue to be an invasive species as studios take hacksaw after hacksaw to just about every ending so as to make them cinema-friendly and compatible with its corresponding shared universe.

Indeed, the dissonance we all tend to feel about so many third acts is no accident, and David Harbour was all too happy to inadvertently pull back that particular curtain. In a recent interview on Happy Sad Confused, Harbour, who plays the character Red Guardian in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, revealed that the entire third act of Black Widow, the film he made his MCU debut in, was reworked in the middle of the movie’s shoot.

…I think they did want the opportunity to change some stuff. The interesting thing about Marvel that’s so great about them is they do rework stuff. Even big productions. Like Black Widow, the entire third act was reworked as we were shooting, which is incredible. And so, they just want that freedom.

Props to Harbour for trying to such a development off as an impressive feat, but, generally speaking, coming up with an entirely new ending on the spot — all without giving it the time and attention that went into the rest of the script — tends to be hazardous to the health of your story, and it’s no coincidence that Black Widow‘s overall effectiveness, like many of its genre peers, suffered from such a decision.

Perhaps one day we’ll enter a world where Marvel Studios doesn’t have full control over every single final act put out by the MCU, but for now, we’ll just have to keep slamming back the CGI fests as the franchise tries to get itself back on track.

Black Widow is available to stream on Disney Plus.