By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 1 hour ago

Right now, hopes for Avengers: Doomsday are higher than ever. Marvel bigwigs like Kevin Feige and the Russos are hoping that this film can overcome the dreaded superhero fatigue, excite the public, and transform the MCU back into a money-printing machine. After enduring years of duds like Eternals and Captain America: Brave New World, fans are just hoping to see something as cool as Endgame. Despite the collective hype, though, Doomsday is still a huge gamble, and if it fails, it may very well take the entire cinematic universe with it.

Unfortunately, there have been some powerful hints that Doomsday might spell doom for the MCU. For example, Nightcrawler actor Alan Cumming recently gave an interview to Deadline in which he talked about his experiences working on both X2: X-Men United and Avengers: Doomsday. While he tried to keep things positive about the upcoming Marvel blockbuster, he did say something a bit alarming. According to him, Doomsday is so confusingly chock full of different characters that the film feels like “superhero soup.”

Welcome, Crawler!

While plenty of normies know him from the excellent Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion, Alan Cumming first landed on geeks’ radar when he portrayed Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United, one of the best superhero sequels ever made. Fans loved that film, but the actor apparently had a terrible time making it. Cumming cryptically told Deadline that “There were things that happened on the [X2] set that were just shocking to me” and that “The working environment was very, very wrong and very just unacceptable.” Comparatively, he found working on Avengers: Doomsday to be much more pleasant in almost every way.

However, the actor did have a few blunt notes about Marvel’s upcoming blockbuster. While he was happy to go back to playing Nightcrawler “because I really liked the character,” he declared that Avengers: Doomsday “is like superhero soup. There’s so many of them in it. I just can’t keep up.” He noted that reading the script was particularly difficult because “everyone’s got two names.” On top of that, “there were secret names in it because they didn’t want to let out that a certain character was coming back,” and they used different names in the script. Cumming ultimately wrapped his thoughts by saying, “It was so confusing.”

Is Marvel Doomed?

I’m as hyped for Avengers: Doomsday as the next nerd with an embarrassing amount of Marvel action figures and comic books. However, Alan Cumming’s interview has me very nervous about this upcoming blockbuster. I keep coming back to a simple thought: if the guy actually making this movie can’t keep track of the characters or plot, what chance do the rest of us have? Even if the plot of the movie is perfectly clear (which, given its crunchy connection to the Multiverse, is deeply unlikely), we’ll still be left with a big bowl of “superhero soup.” 

That is, the film may very well be juggling far too many characters to do all of them justice, and we may be getting a bunch of crowd-pleasing cameos at the expense of telling a good story. Plus, Marvel is gambling almost everything on the idea that general audiences won’t get confused by seeing so many different character variations and alternate universes onscreen. Sure, Marvel superfans can keep up, but normies might get hung up asking why Captain America is back, why Iron Man is Doctor Doom, and (if plot reports are true) why the universes of their favorite old Marvel movies keep getting destroyed.

I’ve got my fingers and replica adamantium claws crossed that I’m wrong about all of this. Marvel used alternate universes quite well in both Spider-Man: No Way Home and Deadpool & Wolverine, so there’s a chance that Avengers: Doomsday will be another critical and commercial Hulk smash of a movie. But with so many characters jammed into one movie to fight a Big Bad we haven’t even met yet, Doomsday looks like it’s on track to be a huge mess. And if Marvel spills this particular bowl of superhero soup all over the place, nobody will be coming back for more when Secret Wars rolls around!

By Brent McKnight
| Published 29 seconds ago

In 2020, normally reliable box office draw Gerard Butler released a flop. Unfortunately, his disaster movie Greenland hit theaters while the real world was already living through a global catastrophe. Audiences stuck at home during COVID weren’t especially interested in watching another story about society collapsing, panic in the streets, and governments struggling to contain mass death. The timing crushed its theatrical potential.

But it found life over time by streaming on HBO, and word of mouth grew to the point that, against all odds, Greenland got a sequel in January of this year. Now both the sequel and the original are topping the streaming charts. Greenland 2: Migration is the most-watched movie on HBO Max this week, and the original Greenland is right behind it at number two.

Before You Watch The Sequel, Watch Greenland

If you go into Greenland, the latest world-threatening disaster opus fronted by Gerard Butler, expecting the over-the-top scene-chomping chaos in the vein of Geostorm, you’ll find something quite different. Sure, the fate of the world is on the line, but the Scottish tough guy isn’t the one responsible for saving the day, and this is much more grounded and straightforward.

Though we’re talking destruction on a potentially global scale, the story is much smaller and personal. Instead of trying to save the world, he’s just trying to save his family. The result is the best disaster movie since the 2015 Danish import The Wave set the high-water mark in that regard, pun very much intended.

Gerard Butler plays John Garrity, an everyman trying to mend fences with his estranged wife, Allison (Morena Baccarin), because every hero in every disaster movie always has an estranged wife, and his moppet of a son, Nathan (Roger Dale Floyd). When a comet with the decidedly ho-hum name of Clarke makes a beeline for Earth in what would be an extinction-level event, he has to find a way to get them to safety.

That’s it. At a basic level, that’s the story. It is, of course, much more difficult than that, and Gerard Butler’s John is thwarted at every turn. In reality, it’s all pretty typical stuff, standard disaster movie fare. Their escape is fraught with obstacles: there’s a lottery to decide who the government saves, the diabetic son loses his insulin, there are problems with the evacuation point, the family gets separated, and so on. There’s nothing particularly inventive, surprising, or even original going on, but while Greenland hits familiar beats, it does most of them really well.

A Series Of Escalating Problems

Chris Sparling’s Greenland script is essentially an escalating series of problems, one piled upon the next. Simple, but effective. And stuntman-turned-director Ric Roman Waugh (Angel Has Fallen) takes every opportunity to ratchet up the pressure. Again, there’s nothing mind-blowing or innovative, but it’s efficient and generally successful in its efforts to crank up the tension.

Eventually, fire rains from the sky, and exploding planes are everywhere while Gerard Butler hammer-fights in the back of a pickup on the freeway. Scenes like that pepper the movie, highlighting Waugh’s action background.

But for most of Greenland, probably the first two-thirds, the threat of annihilation from above is just that, a threat, looming out there. We get moments and glimpses, often shown via news footage or social media posts, which keep the larger threat a presence while the characters deal with the more in-your-face concerns of the moment. It’s also a handy strategy with the film’s relatively modest $35 million budget.

Gerard Butler’s John and Morena Baccarin’s Allison navigating the human element is where the film is most harrowing during this stage. Waugh and Sparling do a good job of showing the various reactions to the strain of impending doom. Some people pray, some party, some essentially kick off the Purge; there’s both cruelty and kindness as individuals go out of their way to help, while others only look out for number one. If a car pulls over, are their intentions altruistic, or do they have robbery on their mind? Questions like this center and ground the main action, giving every choice and move an urgency.

For the most part, Greenland clips along at a brisk pace, propelled by the moment-to-moment hurdles, it’s one barrier after another. The filmmakers don’t waste a lot of time with the setup; there’s tension in the marriage, the kid has an illness to contend with, there’s a comet, go. Gerard Butler plays a solid, concerned father and husband, Morena Baccarin delivers an equally sturdy, worried wife and mother, and the kid is there, too. The script doesn’t ask much of the actors or require them to stretch in any way, but they do what they need to do and accomplish what they set out to accomplish.

One Disaster After Another

This one-disaster-to-the-next approach to story structure provides enough energy to push Greenland forward. Until it doesn’t. With around 40 minutes left, things hit a deep lull, and the momentum peters out. The story bogs down in the minutiae of the Garrity family drama, which does the film no favors. It’s tedious and bland, not to mention ill-timed in the grand narrative scheme.

When we stop, we realize how flimsy the characters are. It’s forgivable when they rush through one hazard after another, reacting and making split-second choices, but when there’s time to truly look at them, their thinness shows. No one cares why Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin’s characters broke up.

Greenland attempts to work its way out of this pause by ramping up the disaster quotient. This is where we get flaming space debris bombarding our heroes, apocalyptic chaos, and what amounts to a car chase with comet chunks. But even though they up the ante in this regard, the plot rehashes what came before; the characters do things they’ve already done, and this repetition feels stale. Even with cataclysmic explosions, fireballs from the heavens, and all manner of end-of-the-world pandemonium, the film kind of limps to the finish line.

With Greenland, Ric Roman Waugh, Gerard Butler, and company deliver precisely the movie they promise. Big and booming, there’s plenty of bombastic thrills and brink-of-annihilation action, with just enough human connection to keep viewers engaged. It never veers from the disaster movie template, but everything it does, it does well, and should more than sate those looking to watch the world crumble on screen.

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 1 second ago

To this day, the failure of Game of Thrones feels a little bit surreal. Once upon a time, it was one of the most popular shows in the world, and it was lauded as the best example of how to adapt a popular book series into live-action. By the end, though, everything had gone fully off the rails. The writers started debating from George R.R. Martin’s books before running out of books to adapt. As a result, the writing and characterization suffered, and the final season was so universally hated that many of the show’s biggest fans made a Night’s Watch-style vow to never again watch this acclaimed series.

The critical failure of Game of Thrones came as a huge surprise to most of the fandom, but it really shouldn’t have. You see, this show was created by David Benioff, a man who first achieved mainstream success by writing Troy, a blockbuster adaptation of The Iliad starring Brad Pitt. While that film made a profit, it has a 53 percent on Rotten Tomatoes because it’s a poorly-written piece of trash. Between that and its obscenely poor adaptation of the original source material, writer David Benioff had a destiny that even Maester Aemon could see: to completely and utterly f*ck up Game of Thrones. 

A Song Of Ice And Failure

The first film that David Benioff ever wrote was 25th Hour, a Spike Lee film about a man enjoying his last day of freedom before he goes to jail for seven years. It was critically acclaimed, but with a box office of only $23.9 million, clearly overlooked by the general public. Benioff’s next project was Troy, an infinitely more ambitious film. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring big names like Brad Pitt and future Game of Thrones star Sean Bean, this blockbuster earned nearly half a billion dollars at the box office. Less than two years later, Benioff began talks with George R.R. Martin about adapting his famous book series.

Most fans agree that Game of Thrones was good, right until it wasn’t. Why, then, do I think Troy effectively predicted the downfall of this popular HBO series? Simple: Troy might have been Benioff’s breakout film, but it was also a stinker later declared “rotten” over on Rotten Tomatoes. There are many problems with the movie (a movie that both Brad Pitt and his co-star Peter O’Toole later trashed), but most of the biggest problems come from Benioff’s unwillingness to properly adapt the original source material. That means he screwed up a beloved story humans have been studying for literally thousands of years.

Game Of Thrones Choked At The End

The movie’s portrayal of The Iliad is full of major changes from the original text. For example, the gods are removed almost entirely. Some characters die who are meant to survive (like Menalus), and other characters live who were supposed to die (like Paris). Other characters are rewritten for the worst, like war hero Odysseus being simplified to “the smart guy” and captive Briseis being promoted to a Trojan goddess. Finally, the movie condenses a decade-long conflict into a weeks-long skirmish while throwing in plenty of elements (including the Trojan Horse chicanery) that weren’t actually written about in The Iliad. 

In short, the writing in Troy was awful, and those of us who love Greek mythology have despised this film for more than 20 years due to its various inaccuracies. A few years later, Benioff’s Game of Thrones showed the same sloppy disregard for the original source material. Major characters like Young Griff (who claims to be Aegon Targaryen, the rightful king of Westeros) are cut out entirely. In another case, the mystically terrifying and downright apocalyptic Euron Greyjoy was reduced to a cartoonish caricature of swashbuckling swagger. 

That Face When You Read The Script

Fan-favorite character Tyrion was downright sanitized compared to his portrayal in the books, which was already bad enough. Later, his brother’s long journey towards independence was completely forgotten so he could simp for his sister yet again. The Dorne storyline was turned into an amateur side story (the Sand Snakes were just pure cringe), Lady Stoneheart was cut out, and franchise Big Bad the Night King got one-shotted by a little girl.

These are just a few of the problematic ways that the show disappointed its most dedicated fans (don’t even get me started on Daenerys’ dumb heel turn and Bran’s inexplicable importance to the ending). But it’s important to note that the biggest disappointments came from how Game of Thrones veered away from the original text in many frustrating ways. These were unforced errors overseen by lazy showrunners too concerned with wrapping everything up than making sure this show stuck the landing. One of those showrunners was David Benioff, who explained his sloppy approach to literary adaptations over two decades ago.

Now, Our Watch Is Complete

In a 2004 issue of the journal Creative Screenwriting, Benioff discusses his approach to adapting Homer’s epic poem The Iliad into Troy, a blockbuster feature film. “I always followed the route that I thought was better for the movie; if that meant that I was cheating on Homer, then so be it.” To the writer, it was an easy decision to cut or change things from the book in order to create a better film. But Benioff seemingly didn’t know or care that, to major fans of the original source material, major changes would keep us from actually enjoying the movie. 

In short, that’s what happened with Game of Thrones. After relatively faithfully adapting earlier books, the show kept making bigger and bigger changes that angered the fandom. This culminated in a slopfest of a final season that very nearly ruined one of the biggest franchises in television history. All of this happened under the not-so-watchful eye of David Benioff, a man whose entire Hollywood career was built on badly adapting a beloved, swords-and-sorcery literary epic. Seriously, go watch Troy, and then listen to your favorite mythology bro tell you everything that movie got wrong about Homer’s ancient classic. After that, you’ll know why Game of Thrones’ failed fate was sealed long before its first episode ever aired on HBO.

The world of Friday the 13th is finally returning, but this time audiences are heading back to Camp Crystal Lake long before Jason Voorhees became one of horror’s most iconic killers. A24 and Peacock’s upcoming prequel series Crystal Lake is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated horror television events in years, blending psychological horror, slasher roots, and prestige television storytelling into a fresh take on the legendary franchise.

Produced by A24, Crystal Lake serves as a prequel to the original Friday the 13th film and will explore the dark origins surrounding Pamela Voorhees, Camp Crystal Lake, and the tragedy that changed horror history forever. The series is being developed for Peacock and is currently scheduled to premiere on October 15, 2026.

Leading the cast is Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees, the grieving mother whose descent into madness became the catalyst for the franchise’s blood-soaked legacy. The role marks a major shift for Cardellini, who is best known for projects like Dead to Me, Scooby-Doo, and Freaks and Geeks. Joining her is Callum Vinson as a young Jason Voorhees, giving fans their first real look at the character before he became the masked killer audiences know today.

Additional cast members include William Catlett, Devin Kessler, Cameron Scoggins, and Gwendolyn Sundstrom, alongside recurring appearances from Nick Cordileone, Joy Suprano, Danielle Kotch, and Christopher Denham.

The series has undergone a fascinating development journey. Originally announced in 2022 with Bryan Fuller attached as showrunner, the project later shifted creative direction before landing with writer and producer Brad Caleb Kane. Kane has described Crystal Lake as more than a traditional slasher series, calling it a psychological thriller inspired by paranoid 1970s cinema. According to Kane, the show will still feature brutal kills and rivers of blood, but the violence will be grounded in character, trauma, and atmosphere rather than simple shock value.

Linda Cardellini (Pam Voorhees) and Callum Vinson (Jason Voorhees)

That approach feels perfectly aligned with A24’s modern horror identity. Over the past decade, the studio has transformed genre filmmaking with films like Hereditary, Midsommar, and Talk to Me, often emphasizing emotional dread and layered storytelling over traditional jump scares. Crystal Lake appears poised to bring that same elevated horror style into the Friday the 13th universe while still honoring the franchise’s campfire slasher roots.

Filming reportedly took place in New Jersey, including locations tied to the original 1980 movie, giving the project an extra layer of authenticity for longtime fans. Production wrapped in late 2025, and recent updates suggest the series is now deep into post-production.

For horror fans, Crystal Lake represents something the franchise has never truly explored before: the emotional and psychological foundation behind the Voorhees family tragedy. Instead of simply revisiting Jason’s kills, the series aims to show how the legend of Crystal Lake was born in the first place.

And with A24 involved, expectations are understandably sky high.

Chile! Plies has never been shy about turning everyday moments into viral humor, and his latest post had social media cracking up once again. Let’s just say, he casually threw out a very specific “job opening” that caught fans off guard. And fans seem to think he’s shooting his shot aimed at Stefon Diggs’ former chef, Jamila Adams. So, was he joking or is he seriously recruiting?

RELATED: Jamila Adams Speaks Out After Stefon Diggs Is Found Not Guilty In Assault Case (PHOTO)

Plies Opens Chef Enrollment Call

In the clip, Plies lounges on a leather couch in a black shirt and a light baseball cap, barely keeping it together as he bursts into laughter while addressing his latest need: a chef. “I Need A Chef Bih!!!!!!!!! U Ain’t Even Gotta Know How To Cook!!!!” he wrote in the caption, doubling down on the comedic energy of the post. At one point, he even grabs his chest from laughing so hard while repeating that he’s “looking for a chef” and specifically wants a “female chef,” a detail that only added more fuel to the internet’s reaction. The moment quickly sparked chatter online, especially as fans began connecting it to reports about Stefon Diggs’ former chef, Jamila Adams. And, it left many joking that Plies might just be building his own “dream kitchen team” in real time.

Now, if you’re wondering what exactly sparked Plies’ sudden “chef search,” social media users believe the rapper may have been reacting to viral clips from chef Jamila Adams’ Instagram page. On Wednesday, Jamila shared a video of herself dancing around the kitchen while cooking, fully vibing out as the camera rolled. “Editing out my kitchen concerts I really be in my own lil world when im cooking!” she wrote in the caption as she danced to tracks like ‘Rock The Boat’ by Aaliyah and ‘Upgrade U’ by Beyoncé.

But it wasn’t just the playlist catching attention online. Viewers also couldn’t stop talking about the way Jamila confidently showed off “what her momma gave her” while cooking. And, it only fueled the internet’s jokes about why Plies suddenly seems interested in hiring a new chef.

The Roommates Said “Hide The Chefs”

Folks wasted no time running to The Shade Room’s Instagram comment section after Plies posted the video. And whew—the Roommates definitely had jokes. Some users claimed this is exactly how Stefon Diggs allegedly got caught up in the first place. While others joked that Jamila Adams clearly knows what she’s doing with this “marketing strategy.” Meanwhile, plenty of commenters told Plies to play it safe and hire somebody’s granny instead.

One Instagram user @daishazhane said, “That’s exactly why she posted this. Looking for her next client 😂😂😂”

This Instagram user @naypexx claimed, “Hey siri play She Got it Made by Plies 😭😭😭”

And, Instagram user @dejaa___ added, “Her advertisement doing its job I know that’s right“

Meanwhile, Instagram user @flawednfabulous wrote, “Ain’t this how she ended up in court ? JUST COOK THE FOOD CHEF😅”

While Instagram user @tam_tam1087 shared, “Don’t do it Plies!!! You’ll be better off smelling what The Rock is cooking! 🤷🏾‍♀️😂”

Then, Instagram user @tony_hustle_215 said, “That’s how Diggs got caught up my boy. Get you an old granny man 😂”

RELATED: Footage Shows Stefon Diggs Shedding Tears After Being Found Not Guilty In Assault & Strangulation Case (VIDEOS)

Sienna Miller is getting real about mothering three kids in different phases of life after welcoming a newborn.

“I would say the teenage girl would be harder to juggle until the transatlantic flight I took yesterday with the toddler and the newborn,” Miller, 44, said during a Thursday, May 15 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “The toddler now wins, hands down.”

She added, “It was an absolute disaster. There’s no negotiating. No is no.”

Miller recalled the “looks” she was given on the flight while having a child throwing a tantrum.

“The baby’s screaming. She’s screaming,” Miller continued. “I got to the line, the immigration line, and just broke down. I was just like, ‘What do I do?’”

Miller shares eldest daughter, Marlowe, 13, with ex-fiancé Tom Sturridge. She and boyfriend Oli Green have two kids — a daughter born in January 2024 and a second baby born three weeks ago.

“It’s crazy to be talking words and wearing, like, a dress,” Miller said on Thursday. “What has happened from pajama gate?”

Miller confirmed to E! News on Monday, May 11, that she had given birth to her second baby with Green, 29.

“It’s happened,” she confirmed. “I have a tiny baby next door.”

Miller joked, “It feels like stringing sentences together is a bit challenging. I’m on very little sleep, but I’m madly in love with my baby.”

Miller announced her pregnancy in December 2025 when showing off her baby bump at the British Fashion Awards.

Miller has been romantically linked to Green, a fellow actor and producer, since 2022.

“I didn’t expect to take it seriously,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in June 2024. “And then quite quickly, I fell in love.”

The couple made headlines for their 14-year age gap, which Miller addressed in the same interview.

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“I wasn’t like, ‘I’m gonna get a younger boyfriend,’” she recalled. “It was more, ‘F***! Why are you young? That’s so annoying.’”

However, the age gap ended up being a huge plus for Miller, who praised her man for how he treats her.

“There is a difference in the way that generation of men respect women,” she continued. “It’s specific to him, he is very wise and well-adjusted, but I do believe it’s also that generation. They have grown up with a slightly more level playing field. I see it in his female friends as well as in the men.”

David Letterman made a fiery return to his old stomping grounds to stand in solidarity with Stephen Colbert as his tenure on the network comes to an end. 

The late-night legend did not hold back his frustration, openly criticizing the network’s leadership and participating in a chaotic display of defiance.

This update follows CBS’s 2025 announcement that the show would end for “financial reasons” after Skydance Media’s acquisition of Paramount. 

On Thursday, 79-year-old Letterman returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater for one final appearance on the show he founded over three decades ago. 

Joining the 62-year-old Colbert, Letterman used his platform to air his grievances about the cancellation of the franchise, jokingly saying, “I have every right to be p-ssed off, so I’ll be p-ssed off here a little bit.” 

He reminded the audience that the theater was rebuilt under his watch and that he paved the way for Colbert’s success, emphasizing that while a network can take away a show, they cannot silence a person’s voice.

The veteran comedian also took a lighthearted jab at the future of other late-night hosts, questioning what would happen to “the Jimmys” now that the landscape is shifting.

The evening took a destructive turn when the two hosts headed to the roof of the theater to vent their frustrations on network property. Letterman expressed that destroying the furniture brought “true joy” to his heart as they tossed Colbert’s desk chair and the iconic guest sofas off the building. They even launched a commemorative cake sent by CBS to mark the show’s 1993–2026 run.

David Letterman Did Not Buy CBS’s Explanation For Ending ‘The Late Show’

While Letterman’s recent rooftop rebellion with Colbert was a physical display of his anger, his verbal attacks on CBS have been equally sharp.

In a recent interview, the legendary broadcaster didn’t mince words, describing the network executives as “lying weasels” for their handling of the show’s departure. 

Although Letterman admitted he no longer feels a personal sense of ownership over the program, he remains fiercely protective of the legacy he built and the staff currently working there. The Blast reported that he compared the news of the shutdown to a poorly handled robbery.

Letterman also explicitly challenged the network’s claim that the move was a financial necessity due to the rise of streaming, insisting instead that the budget explanation was merely a cover for the true nature of the Skydance deal.

How David Letterman Feels About Stephen Colbert’s Replacement

Beyond his criticism of the network’s honesty, Letterman has also dissected the specific strategy CBS is using to fill the void left by Colbert’s departure.

During an appearance on “The Barbara Gaines Show” podcast, the former host explained that the network is prioritizing profit by drastically cutting production costs. 

Instead of a traditional variety show, the 11:35 p.m. slot will be handed over to Byron Allen’s “Comics Unleashed,” followed by “Funny You Should Ask” at 12:35 a.m., per The Blast. 

While he admitted that replacing a high-budget production with a simpler comedy talk show is a “pretty good idea” financially, it marks a significant departure from the established late-night format.

Stephen Colbert Was Suprised By The Cancellation Of His Show

Amid the corporate tension and set-piece destruction, Colbert broke his silence on the surprising end of his tenure. The comedian revealed that the news of the show’s cancellation came without any warning, catching him completely off guard just after he had signed a new contract. 

While CBS maintains that the decision was based on profitability, Colbert admitted he was shocked to see the “Late Show” franchise being retired entirely rather than simply finding a new host, as reported by The Blast.

Notably, even with his departure looming, Colbert has remained candid on-air, continuing to offer sharp critiques of President Donald Trump. This persistence has led some, including several US senators, to wonder if the cancellation was influenced by political pressure rather than just financial concerns. 

Stephen Colbert Is Already Looking At New Career Choices

While the political and corporate fallout of his cancellation remains a hot topic, Colbert is already preparing for a major creative shift.

The Blast confirmed that as his late-night era draws to a close this May, the 62-year-old host is moving into blockbuster filmmaking as a screenwriter for a new “The Lord of the Rings” project. 

Working alongside his son, Peter McGee, and collaborator Philippa Boyens, Colbert is co-writing a film titled “Shadow of the Past.” The host, a lifelong fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, developed the story after discovering elements from the original books that were left out of the initial movie trilogy.

Movies that center on the battles fought by members of the military certainly have their place, but sometimes it’s more fun to see what (albeit, fictional) soldiers might do against an alien combatant rather than another flesh-and-blood human being. It’s with this idea in mind that the military science fiction subgenre was likely born, and though the idea certainly exists across every storytelling medium, it’s the movies that typically offer the best military vs. alien warfare.

Whether you prefer realistic depictions of alien invasions, comic book-inspired tales, or one-on-one conflicts between man and extra-terrestrial beast, there are plenty of options to choose from. For all you action lovers out there, we’ve put together a list of some of the best action-packed military vs. alien movies we could muster. While you have no doubt seen some of these, others may have slipped over your watchlist. So, let’s rouse the troops and look to the skies, because these are the alien invasion movies that you’ve just got to see.

10

‘Battle: Los Angeles’ (2011)

For a gritty, intense, and fairly violent take on the battle between U.S. Marines and alien invaders, Battle: Los Angeles is an underrated sci-fi adventure that may just be worth revisiting. Following Aaron Eckhart‘s Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz and his Marine platoon, the movie has no trouble living up to its name as the soldiers fight for the sake of a small batch of survivors. Sure, it’s a bit clichéd, but it’s still perfect for folks looking for a military-focused alien adventure.

Full of shaky action sequences that echo the early 2000s style of Bourne-like action movies and high-stakes that hardly let up, Battle: LA deserves more praise than it initially received. It was largely overshadowed by Skyline at the time, but has since become a cult favorite for many who adore these sorts of action-packed thrills. Director Jonathan Liebesman pushed the concept to the limit as the City of Angels is on the line.

9

‘Stargate’ (1994)

Image via MGM

The father of modern military sci-fi on television, Stargate is another underrated sci-fi flick that takes U.S. Air Force Colonel Jack O’Neil (Kurt Russell) and a small group through an interstellar wormhole that sends them to the Ancient Egypt-inspired world of Abydos. There, they discover that Egyptian mythology is actually fact, but Ra (Jaye Davidson) isn’t an actual god, he’s an alien warlord who seeks to return to and invade Earth. Although not as grand a scale as some of the other films on this list, the stakes remain high.

Stargate would prove such a good idea that it would spawn a trilogy of television shows that continued the military sci-fi adventure, including Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate Universe. While the shows are great (and come highly recommended), Stargate the movie is where it’s at if you’re looking for a quick watch that scratches your alien itch. You won’t be disappointed in this Roland Emmerich adventure.

8

‘Pacific Rim’ (2013)

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Clearly inspired by the megazord battles of Power Rangers, there’s nothing quite like the original Pacific Rim. When monstrous kaijus begin appearing through a rift in the Pacific Ocean, mankind’s military forces come together to build Jaegers, giant mech suits that require two pilots to fight in-sync. As giant robots battle giant monsters, this military sci-fi flick isn’t your typical boots-on-the-ground soldier vs. alien warfare picture, but it certainly qualifies.

Directed by Guillermo del Toro, Pacific Rim would also spawn a larger franchise, though the original sci-fi masterpiece is still undoubtedly the best of the brand. With shockingly relatable characters and a complex mythology that is both original and engaging, Pacific Rim delivers on all giant fronts. It’s only a shame that we didn’t get a crossover with Godzilla…

7

‘Predator’ (1987)

Image via 20th Century Fox

While not the original “military vs. alien” movie, Predator may be one of the first to come to mind when you think of members of the Armed Forces in conflict with extraterrestrials. When the CIA sends U.S. Army Special Forces operator Dutch Schaefer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) on a mission to the Central American jungle, things go haywire when an alien warrior begins tearing through his entire unit. In many ways, Predator was the first of its kind, sparking a wave of imitators, though it remains firmly on top.

Directed by action movie legend John McTiernan, Predator is everything folks love about Schwarzenegger movies, complete with a solid cast that also includes Carl Weathers and Shane Black. The action movie ended up sparking an entire Predator franchise that continues the idea, but only the original 1987 film really delivers on that initial “military vs. alien” premise — well, except for maybe the Shane Black-directed The Predator, but that movie is terrible so feel free to skip it.

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‘War Machine’ (2026)

Image via Netflix

Riding on the tail of Predator is the newest Netflix hit War Machine, which tosses Alan Ritchson in with a group of potential U.S. Army Rangers as they seek to accomplish their final task before promotion. Only, upon arriving in the field, they soon find themselves stalked and hunted by a mechanical monster that crash-landed from the stars. Fighting to get their wounded comrades help, they attempt to outrun the machine as it relentlessly pursues them. By the end, it becomes clear that humanity is at war.

War Machine may not be as thrilling as Predator, but it comes from similar bones and (for the most part) sticks the landing. The juxtaposition of Ritchson’s service in Afghanistan with this new intergalactic warfare is fascinating, especially as he works through the trauma of one while surviving the other. War Machine is a great watch if you’re looking for something quick but engaging on a free evening, and it looks like we may even get a sequel down the line.

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‘Man of Steel’ (2013)

Image via Warner Bros.

Alright, now this one may seem like a strange pick on the surface since Superman (Henry Cavill) is not a member of the military. However, Zack Snyder‘s DC Extended Universe begins with the U.S. Army getting involved with the titular Man of Steel the moment an alien threat shows up in Earth’s orbit. In fact, Snyder even pits the military against General Zod (Michael Shannon) and his elite Kryptonian army, with Man of Steel being the first live-action Superman feature to utilize the U.S. Department of Defense in the making of.

Between the Man of Steel working alongside the military to characters like U.S. Air Force Colonel Nathan Hardy (Christopher Meloni) taking down a handful of invaders single-handedly, there’s enough here in between the superheroics to keep any Armed Forces enthusiast satisfied. It may not be your conventional military vs. alien picture, but Man of Steel honors real-world heroes while highlighting DC’s flagship wonder. It’s a fine balance with some stellar sci-fi action sequences to boot.

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‘Starship Troopers’ (1997)

Image via TriStar Pictures

Probably one of the first movies that came to mind when you think of aliens vs. soldiers was Starship Troopers — and for good reason. This semi-satirical, propaganda-inspired take on the military industrial complex pits mankind’s Mobile Infantry against a wave of alien bugs who may (or may not) be threatening to take over our world. Director Paul Verhoeven likely had no idea how beloved this movie would be all these years later — we even counted it among the best sci-fi flicks of the ’90s.

Although undoubtedly a critique of American militarism, Starship Troopers arguably plays better when watched straight as an almost patriotic unification of humanity against a common goal. Of course, there’s a lot wrong with the Federation, but these warriors are an elite band that are easy to get behind, between the unstoppable Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) to the dazzling Dizzy Flores (Dina Meyer). Plus, it’s just a ton of fun to watch those alien bugs go splat.

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‘Edge of Tomorrow’ (2014)

Image via Warner Bros.

We’ve seen Tom Cruise as a member of the military before (hello, Top Gun) and we’ve even seen him go up against alien invaders (Oblivion, anyone?), but if you want both of those ideas in one single place, there’s no better action flick out there than Edge of Tomorrow. Billed as “Live. Die. Repeat.” in some markets, this fast-paced Doug Liman picture thrusts Cruise’s Major William Cage, a P.R. rep with no combat experience, right into the fire alongside recent hero Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt).

As the pair battle this group of “Mimics,” animal-like alien beings that accidentally give Cage the ability to relive the same day after every death. With the knowledge he gains from his multiple lives, we watch as Cage himself grows into a hero, and fights alongside the United Defense Force (UDF) to wipe out all alien invaders. With thrilling battle sequences and a compelling arc for Cruise’ latest on-screen hero, Edge of Tomorrow is so good that fans have been clamoring for a sequel for years.

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‘Aliens’ (1986)

Image via 20th Century Studios

Of course, this list wouldn’t be remotely complete without James Cameron’s Aliens. Sure, some might argue that Avatar is the better pick, but there’s nothing that beats the Colonel Marines going up against a hive of xenomorphs on an abandoned alien world. Throw in Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley, and the whole thing is a recipe for science fiction success topped off by incredible visuals that frighten as much as they do captivate.

Aliens really is the crown jewel of the larger Alien franchise, despite being a sequel. Not only does it offer plenty of alien vs. military showdowns worthy of the name, but characters like Corporal Dwayne Hicks (Michael Biehn) and the android Bishop (Lance Henriksen) made military science fiction cool again at a time when it was not the norm. For so many reasons, Aliens deserves its place here — it may even be the best of the bunch.

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‘Independence Day’ (1996)

Image via 20th Century Studios

Of course, when it comes to military forces waging war on impending alien invaders, there is perhaps no better movie than Independence Day. Coupling various perspectives, from Air Force pilots and government scientists to the average Joe’s willingness to pick up a weapon and fight, Roland Emmerich outdid himself with this inspiring disaster epic that helped usher in a new wave of sci-fi blockbuster. The stacked cast includes Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, and a host of other great performers.

Independence Day is all you could truly wish for in a movie tackling this caliber of alien vs. military warfare. Not only does it offer an interesting perspective on the inner-workings of the American government at the height of such a crisis, but it’s just too darn exciting to turn off. Even a poor sequel doesn’t dampen our love for the original sci-fi classic, which is an annual tradition for many around the Fourth of July.