Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for the Invincible Season 4 premiere.Things are heating up for young superhero Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) in Invincible Season 4. When we last saw him in the Season 3 finale, he’d seemingly killed the bloodthirsty Viltrumite warrior, Conquest (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), but not before damage was dealt to his girlfriend, Atom Eve (Gillian Jacobs). He’d also made a vow to his younger half-brother, Oliver (Christian Convery), that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill anybody who lays their hands on his loved ones. The first three episodes of Season 4, dropping all at once — “Making the World a Better Place,” “I’ll Give You the Grand Tour,” and “I Gotta Get Some Air” — are an explosive and shocking start to this chapter of Prime Video’s animated superhero series, effectively teeing up the highest stakes the series has seen yet.

Dinosaurus Makes His Debut in ‘Invincible’ Season 4 Episode 1

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“Making the World a Better Place” begins with a montage establishing what Mark and his friends and family have been up to. While Mark is no longer a part of the GDA (the Global Defense Agency), he is still being closely monitored by Cecil Stedman (Walton Goggins) and Donald Ferguson (Chris Diamantopoulos). His limbs are also now in robotic casts made by Robot, which allow him to continue to fight. In Season 3, Oliver was more enthusiastic about training to become a superhero, but this season, he is undergoing a case of what we earthlings call adolescence. Upon receiving a call to defeat the capture of the supervillain Furnace, Mark tries to get Oliver to join him, but the half-Thraxan tween is far more interested in staying home and playing video games. Frustrated, Mark concedes and decides to go alone, but not before his mother, Debbie (Sandra Oh), tells him to take a night off.

Meanwhile, Cecil meets with the former Guardians of the Globe, who have disbanded after the death of Rex Splode (Jason Mantzoukas). While initially reluctant to work for him again, they ultimately agree. Rudy/Robot (Ross Marquand/Zachary Quinto), who now has taken on the name of Rex in honor of his fallen teammate, pleads with Cecil to let him be the team leader, but Cecil denies him the position. Instead, he enlists the invulnerable, aging superhero Brit (Jonathan Banks) for the job. Cecil tells Rex that if he truly wants to become a leader, he’s going to have to earn his trust back — something he currently does not have.

Mark arrives in the city and becomes haunted by a booming voice that claims he called for him. The voice taunts him, saying he thanks him for the loss of lives in his battle. He believes that Mark can cause a human extinction event, something he strives for. It’s revealed that the voice was from a hulking T. rex/man hybrid, dubbed Dinosaurus (Matthew Rhys), who proceeds to attack Mark. Whilst in the midst of the battle, Mark breaks off his robotic casts, his injuries having healed. Abruptly, Dinosaurus disappears, and in his place is a naked man, who pleads with Mark, claiming that he was not in control of what just happened. Mark grabs the man by the throat, intending to choke him out, but the Guardians arrive on the scene and stop him.

Mark arrives at Eve’s home, where we learn that she is still running Invincible Inc., something Mark still isn’t fully comfortable with, despite Eve stressing to him that it’s a nonprofit organization. Eve’s parents, Adam (Fred Tatasciore) and Betsy (Grey Griffin), arrive for dinner with the two. After battling a literal human dinosaur and nearly killing him, this dinner proves to be almost as tense. Adam belittles Mark, blaming him for the fact that he is now unemployed. He proceeds to offer Mark a cigar on the patio, hopefully as part of a truce or an apology, and begins by praising Eve, telling Mark, “She’s still my little girl.” However, it’s not long before he pins more blame on Mark, telling him that it was his fault after her near-death experience with Conquest.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Betsy talks to Eve about Mark. While she has always been quieter and more sympathetic towards Mark than Adam has, she is also no longer in support of their relationship. Once the two leave, Mark opens up to Eve about his encounter with Dinosaurus, before breaking down and saying that maybe Adam is right about him. Eve comforts Mark and assures him that it is not the case. She uses her powers to make him a cup of coffee, something that she has done plenty of times before — except once Mark takes a sip, it tastes terrible, which raises concern.

Mark Battles Universa and Sequids in ‘Invincible’ Season 4 Episode 1

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In the meantime, two new threats arrive. The first is the green-skinned alien warrior Universa (Danai Gurira), who uses her staff to detect unusually high energy levels nearby. The next scene sees two construction workers walking through the sewers, talking about the lack of rats that are usually in abundance. Rus (Ben Schwartz), the human astronaut who was possessed by the Sequids in Season 2, arrives, and the two men are attacked by a wave of Sequids. At the Grayson home, it’s revealed that Debbie and her boyfriend Paul (Cliff Curtis) are still going strong. While Paul is a bit concerned about Mark and Oliver judging them, she stresses that her sons really don’t care. At the breakfast table, Mark apologizes to Oliver, but while they chat, Paul awkwardly walks down the stairs, to which they tell him that they are happy for Debbie. Eve rushes in and tells Mark that Invincible Inc. has received an alert, but she has no idea what it’s about.

That alert is clearly not about the sequids, which are revealed to be causing chaos in the city, infecting any human who comes in contact with them. In the meantime, Universa has taken a power plant hostage. Debbie takes Oliver to the superhero costume extraordinaire Art (Mark Hamill), who gives updates to his suit. As Oliver talks about living in his father’s shadow, Debbie flashes back to the first time Nolan/Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons) tried on his suit. Oliver is assured that he is more than just “his father’s son.” As Cecil and Donald are alerted about the Sequid attack, Mark and Eve arrive at the power plant, where they fight off Universa, who demands more energy to consume. She absorbs Eve’s powers, which continue to malfunction, much to her concern. Mark ends up taking away Universa’s staff, while Eve delivers the final blow.

Brit gives the Guardians of the Globe a rundown of their latest mission, which involves using Neural Disrupters and teleports to zap away Sequids from all the possessed humans. A force field has been placed around the city, so they must ensure that nobody escapes. The battle proves to be tense, and Brit calls upon Cecil to persuade Mark to join the fight. Having just defeated Universa, Eve opts to stay back to try to figure out what is going on with her powers. Paul visits Debbie at her workplace, where he apologizes for leaving so abruptly earlier that morning. She accepts, and in return, Paul asks Debbie if they should move in together.

As the Guardians of the Globe continue to battle the Sequid army, Rex/Robot defies Brit’s orders and heads to the sewer, where he saves a woman, but not before being knocked out by Rus. He safely teleports away. The Sequid infestation is nearly contained when Mark arrives to face Rus, who taunts him, saying that he was the one responsible for bringing the Sequids to Earth. In retaliation, Mark punches Rus’s head clean off, much to the shock of the Guardians. In the post-credits, it is revealed that Conquest is alive and being kept prisoner in an underground bunker, as Cecil and Donald monitor him remotely. Much to their shock, he awakens and escapes, flying off deep into space.

‘Invincible’ Season 4 Episode 2 Reveals Omni-Man’s Tragic Origin Story

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“I’ll Give You the Grand Tour” begins with a flashback to Nolan’s days on Viltrum. We see several mysterious silos crash-land on the planet, spraying something into the atmosphere. We see a young Nolan (Talon Warburton), having an uncanny resemblance to Mark, working as a domineering instructor to a class of young Viltrumite children, quizzing them on fighting, and the history of Emperor Argall and his death at the hands of the Great Betrayer.

We learn that it’s Nolan’s first day of “adulthood,” as his parents battle him to near death. He survives, however, and so do they, telling their son that he fought well, and he is sent off on his first assignment. While Nolan is in his quarters with other young Viltrumites, being instructed by a general, one of the recruits begins bleeding from his nose and ears, before vomiting up blood and dying. More Viltrumites begin doing the same, including the instructor. It is explained that the silos at the beginning of the episode were a biological weapon used to attack Viltrumite DNA, dubbed the Skurge Virus. Billions of Viltrumites are killed, and Nolan is sent to Earth to see if humans are compatible enough to help rebuild the Viltrum Empire.

It’s revealed that Nolan has been telling this entire story to Allen the Alien (Seth Rogen), who in turn asks if Mark didn’t have powers, would he have killed him. Nolan responds by saying he doesn’t know. The two arrive on the planet Talescria, where Nolan is told that his mustache is going to raise some serious questions. Allen reunites with his girlfriend, Telia (Tatiana Maslany), who initially shoots Nolan with a giant rifle. Telia takes Allen and Nolan to Thaedus (Peter Cullen), who reveals himself to Nolan as the Great Betrayer, and asks him to join the Coalition of Planets to defeat the Viltrum Empire. Allen then shows Thaedus a list, made by Nolan, of various Viltrumite weaknesses and weapons that they can use to win the war. While initially not wanting to agree to help the Coalition, Nolan eventually agrees to join the war.

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Nolan and Allen Search for Viltrumite Weaknesses in ‘Invincible’ Season 4 Episode 2

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Nolan, Allen, and Telia board a starship named the Venture, a USS Enterprise-like vehicle, captained by an irritated and unqualified captain (Scott Aukerman). To make matters even more uncomfortable, they are forced to share quarters, so Nolan must sleep on the couch while Allen and Telia loudly have sex in the bedroom. On the first day of their voyage, the Venture ends up getting stuck in an asteroid field, and Nolan and Allen attempt to get things fixed. As they explore the field, Nolan leads Allen to an asteroid where he has kept a gun that used to belong to his adversary, Space Racer (Winston Duke). Nolan assures Allen that he buried Space Racer alive centuries ago, assuming he’s likely dead at this point, but that turns out not to be the case. Space Racer attacks the two, but before the fight gets worse, Allen calms him down and convinces him to join the Coalition of Planets.

Their next stop is on a small planet that is home to the Sinlak Beetle, which contains a compound in their shells that makes Viltrumites weak to physical injury. They also travel to another planet, home of an alien race that has seemingly gone extinct, after the Viltrumites moved their planet closer to the sun, causing all of their water to evaporate. While visiting another planet, they are stopped by two Gelderian guards, who say their forces are still recovering from an attack orchestrated by the Viltrumites. In turn, they inform Nolan and Allen of a superhero on Earth known as Tech Jacket. They then travel to Battle Beast’s home planet, but are told that he is not there, and to “seek out blood and fire, and you’ll be there.”

That night, finally sick of Allen and Telia’s loud sex keeping him awake, Nolan leaves their quarters, only to discover that there are more bedrooms onboard the Venture, and the captain believed they were in a “triadic relationship.” Their final stop is on an ice-covered planet, home to an alien race known as the Ragnar. The Viltrumites had built a shield against their sun, causing the Ragnars to be completely frozen, which means that their extraction will be easy. As Nolan and Allen attempt to bring a frozen Ragnar back to the Venture, the ship’s captain orders his team to shoot at the shield, destroying it. This causes the Ragnars to escape their icy cages and attack. Enraged, Telia demands to become captain. As Allen and Nolan fight off the Ragnars, Telia blocks the sun once more with the Venture, causing them to turn to ice once more.

Later on, Nolan opens up to Allen more, saying that every time the Viltrumites had a chance to change, they just “doubled down on being evil.” In response, Allen hugs Nolan. Telia briefs Thaedus, with the latter claiming that they need to have Mark join them in battle. Nolan isn’t a fan of this idea, not wanting to go back to Earth. In order to convince him, Thaedus takes Nolan to his lab, where he reveals his greatest sin: he created the Scurge Virus. Enraged, Nolan nearly attacks Thaedus, but makes him promise only to use the virus as a last resort, and in turn, he’ll return to Earth to recruit Mark. In the post-credits scene, Conquest goes to meet with Thragg (Lee Pace), begging to be executed. His request is denied, with the Viltrumite leader telling him that he still has “so much work to do.”

Titan Returns in ‘Invincible’ Season 4 Episode 3

“I Gotta Get Some Air” begins with the thick-skinned crime boss Titan (Todd Williams) meeting up with rival crime kingpin, Machine Head (Jeffrey Donovan), at an upscale hotel bar. Machine Head informs him that Mr. Liu (Tzi Ma), their old enemy and former head of The Order, isn’t dead. Machine Head proposes that Titan rejoins The Order, which will grant him greater protection from Mr. Liu and his men, but he turns down the invite, claiming he’ll take his chances.

At the GDA base, Cecil and Donald rewatch the footage of Mark killing Rus, concerned about how he has become far less hesitant about killing. While Angstrom Levy and Conquest were already villains, Rus was an innocent man, and his illness could have been cured. Donald, always the more optimistic of the two, sees the good in Mark, but Cecil is still wary. It is also shown that D.A. Sinclair (Eric Bauza) is still working closely with the GDA. The Guardians of the Globe debate Mark’s actions, with Bulletproof (Jay Pharoah), arguing that Mark did the right thing. Brit reprimands Rex for defying his orders, and he walks away. While in the shower, Rex coughs up a sequid, which nearly attaches itself to him, only for Lucy/Monster Girl (Grey Griffin/Kevin Michael Richardson) to save him at the last second.

Mark is stressed about his recent actions and attempts to call Eve, who doesn’t pick up her phone because she’s still trying to figure out why her powers are malfunctioning. As Mark waits for Eve to respond, Donald arrives, telling him that Cecil needs to see him. In the meantime, Paul tells Debbie that he has made an offer on a new house. Instead of being excited, Debbie is more hesitant about the idea of moving, especially since she raised both Mark and Oliver at her old home. While walking in the park with his wife and daughter, Vanessa (Nicole Byer) and Fiona (Somali Rose), Titan is attacked by Mr. Liu’s henchmen, who assassinate his security. Isotope (Diamantopoulos) arrives and saves Vanessa and Fiona, as Titan finishes off the fight. Mark meets with Cecil, who tells him that if he didn’t reach out to help Mark, he wouldn’t be doing his job correctly. He warns Mark about emotional consequences, but before their conversation can continue, D.A. Sinclair enters the office and attempts to apologize to Mark. Disgusted, Mark leaves. Donald then walks into the room, asking Cecil if he told Mark about Conquest.

The Flaxans Return in ‘Invincible’ Season 4 Episode 3

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Mark meets up with Eve, who expresses her concerns about her malfunctioning powers. In turn, Mark reassures her that things will be okay, and that, since Rex fixed Monster Girl’s aging curse, maybe he’ll be able to help aid her. He then tells her that Cecil was able to successfully cover up the footage of him killing Rus. Their tender moment is interrupted by Oliver, who’s been listening in on their conversation, and he offers to help Mark and Eve by filling in on the latest Invincible Inc. job, which was put in by Titan. While Titan is initially dismissive of Oliver filling in for Mark, he ultimately allows him to help. Especially if it means that he can keep Fiona safe.

Rex tells Eve that he may be able to help figure out what is going on with her powers, but before any research can be done, he receives an alert: the Flaxans have returned, and this time, they’ve created tech that prevents them from aging rapidly in Earth’s atmosphere, and have begun taking human prisoners through a massive portal. Mark assists the Guardians in their battle, as Brit attempts to find and destroy the Emitter controlling the Flaxan portal. Oliver flies Titan to Mr. Liu’s hideout, who proceeds to transform into his dragon form again. Oliver chases after the Dragon Liu, while Titan attempts to fight off Liu’s bodyguard, the Great Wall. Realizing he cannot defeat Liu on his own, Oliver calls Eve to get Mark to help him, but she informs him that he is busy fighting off the Flaxans.

Against Cecil’s orders, Brit allows Monster Girl and Robot to go through the Flaxan portal in order to destroy their emitter and rescue the hostages. While they free the prisoners, the portal ends up closing, trapping them on the Flaxans’ home planet. After receiving a call from Eve, Mark flies off to help Oliver. The brothers are able to ultimately defeat Liu, but his human form, along with Great Wall, ultimately escape. Furious at Titan for putting his brother in danger, Mark begins attacking Titan, only for Oliver to stop him. At the end of Episode 3, Titan agrees to rejoin the Order, only for it to be revealed that Mr. Liu has also been blackmailed into joining. A post-credits scene sees Eve locking herself in the bathroom and taking a pregnancy test, which turns out to be positive.

The first three episodes of Invincible Season 4 are overwhelmingly dense, especially with the introduction of several new villains like Dinosaura and Universa. While some battles feel anticlimactic, the story itself is heading in an exciting direction. Episode 2, “I’ll Give You the Grand Tour,” is easily the strongest of the bunch, with a more focused plot and further development of Nolan’s newfound emotions.

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Release Date

March 26, 2021

Network

Amazon Prime Video

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Franchise(s)

Invincible

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Pros & Cons

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• Episode 2 is a thrilling, emotional, and hilarious, as Nolan and Allen trek across the stars.
• Mark killing Rus proves to be one of the series’ most shocking moments.
• Debbie is getting to have her own agency again.

• Episodes 1 and 3 are a bit too busy with new characters and new villains to battle.

By Robert Scucci
| Published 1 hour ago

2016’s Nocturnal Animals does the unthinkable by boasting a story-within-a-story framework without ever coming off as patronizing or confusing. Adapted from the 1993 Austin Wright novel Tony and Susan, it respects the source material by bringing its essence to life through a visual medium and has zero fat in its storytelling. What impressed me most was how the film actually plays like a novel. Scenes jump from the main narrative to the in-universe fiction seamlessly, as if you’re picking up a great book, reading a flashback sequence, and then being thrust back into the present the second you turn the page and start a new chapter, complete with the context needed to keep the story moving.

A dark romantic thriller with a gritty neo-noir bent, Nocturnal Animals sees Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) and Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal) come to terms with their lives as fiction becomes reality, the past bleeds into the present, and regret takes on a life of its own through art and the lingering question of what could have been if things had turned out differently.

The Breakup And The Book

We first learn about Susan Morrow’s present-day life in Nocturnal Animals, and it’s an unhappy one despite her success. Susan owns an art gallery, and her latest installation is a resounding success and the talk of the town. At home, however, her life leaves much to be desired. Her husband Hutton Morrow (Armie Hammer) constantly travels for work, cheats on her, and remains emotionally absent from their relationship.

When Susan receives a package from her ex-husband Edward, whom she hasn’t spoken to in 20 years, her curiosity is piqued. Inside is a manuscript for the novel he’s trying to publish, Nocturnal Animals. Not only does the title reference the nickname he gave her when they were married, but the book itself is dedicated to her. Feeling unfulfilled in both her career and her current marriage, she cracks the book open to see what he has to say and is immediately sucked in.

The Story Within The Story

In Nocturnal Animals, the fictional novel depicted in Nocturnal Animals, we’re introduced to Tony Hastings (also portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal), who is traveling along a remote West Texas road with his wife Laura (Isla Fisher) and daughter India (Ellie Bamber). They are accosted by three thugs, Ray Marcus (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), Lou (Karl Glusman), and Turk (Robert Aramayo), who kidnap Laura and India after terrorizing the family on the dark highway.

Tony, separated from his wife and daughter during the encounter, has no idea what has happened to them after he is dragged away and left stranded in the middle of the night. He eventually learns the horrifying truth that Laura and India have been brutally assaulted and murdered.

Grieving the loss of his wife and daughter, Tony seeks help from Detective Bobby Andes (Michael Shannon), who reveals he has terminal lung cancer and will soon be forced into retirement. When pressed by Detective Andes, who’s got an axe to grind and nothing to lose, Tony becomes convinced that pursuing revenge by any means necessary is the only path forward because doing things by the book will never bring him the justice his family deserves. Dead set on identifying the men who destroyed his family and killing them himself, Tony’s grief slowly transforms into rage, and the hunt begins.

As Susan reads through Nocturnal Animals, memories of her tumultuous relationship with Edward resurface. Here we see a much younger, well put together Jake Gyllenhaal who is wide-eyed and idealistic because they still have their entire lives ahead of them. While we don’t fully grasp the symbolism embedded in the novel until the film’s third-act reveal, it becomes increasingly clear why their relationship fell apart and why Edward is suddenly so eager to reconnect with Susan after decades of silence.

Not A Baby-Bird Endeavor

With so many layers in its narrative structure, Nocturnal Animals is far from a passive watch. It’s obvious that the grief depicted in the novel within the film serves as a metaphor for Edward’s past relationship with Susan, among other things, but we aren’t given all the details right away, nor should we be. If you watch the film a second time, you’ll notice a breadcrumb trail of clues that probably slipped past you during your first viewing.

Despite its many layers, watching Nocturnal Animals is a fluid and visceral experience. Since we are seeing events through Edward’s eyes as he wrote them in his novel, which is dark, violent, and sexually graphic at times, none of the more heightened sequences feel out of place. The fictional narrative plays like pulpy crime fiction designed to provoke this exact reaction through its brooding tension and grimy atmosphere.

At some level, any seasoned thriller fan will recognize where this story is headed, but the road getting there will haunt you long after the credits roll. To experience the story within the story for yourself, you can stream Nocturnal Animals on Paramount+ as of this writing.

By Jennifer Asencio
| Published 29 seconds ago

The 2026 Academy Awards are in the books, and, despite a plethora of nominees, the race came down to two movies: Sinners and One Battle After Another.

Six movies were nominated for Best Picture in addition to those, for a total of eight: Bugonia, Train Dreams, Sentimental Value, Marty Supreme, F1, Frankenstein, Secret Agent, and Hamnet. A few sleepers that earned nominations in other categories included Weapons and Song Sung Blue, but for the most part, the nominations in almost every major category included Sinners, One Battle After Another, Frankenstein, and Sentimental Value. Sinners alone had 16 Oscar nominations, the most in the history of the Academy Awards to date.

Sinners Secured Four Oscars

I have to be honest: I haven’t felt the compulsion to watch the Oscars in years. But with such a compelling slate of contestants this time, as well as the potential to make history, I had to check it out. The show wasn’t actually too bad. Most of the jokes were tasteful and despite Conan O’Brien’s warning that the show would “get political,” it very rarely did.

But Sinners only took away four Oscars: Best Original Screenplay for Ryan Coogler, Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan, Best Original Score, and Best Cinematography. In one respect, Sinners did make history, as cinematographer Autumn Durald Arckapaw became the first woman to win in that category. Sinners was a movie about music, so it was great that Ludwig Goransson took that Oscar.

The surprise of the night (at least for me) was the Best Original Song category, which I thought for sure would go to “I Lied to You” from Sinners, but instead went to “Golden” by the K-Pop Demon Hunters, whose movie of the same name won Best Animated Feature. The singers from popular Korean cartoon entertained the audience with an extravaganza show during the ceremony, as did Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq, performing the Sinners song.

One Battle After Another Cleans Up

Although One Batlle After Another bested Sinners, it was only by two awards. Paul Thomas Anderson won Best Director, and the movie won Best Picture, Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn, and a new category for Best Casting. Leonardo DiCaprio was once again passed over for Best Actor, making his record only one win (2015’s The Revenant) for eight nominations.

Aside from the surprise of K-Pop Demon Hunters, the biggest winner of the night wasn’t a movie, but a genre. The horror genre took home eight Oscars between three movies: Sinners, Frankenstein, and Weapons. Genre movies like fantasy, science fiction, and horror don’t usually perform well at the Oscars except in the special effects category; The Return of the King was a notable exception but not the norm.

Overall, this year there were a lot of notable films and not enough awards for all of them. Besides, the Oscars play by Highlander rules most of the time: there can be only one. But even that rule got broken when there was a tie for Best Live Action Short Film (The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva). So no matter who won, it was truly a night of ups and downs, where two very worthy movies fought each other for the top prize, and came out nearly even.

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 17 seconds ago

One of the significant joys of consuming movie after movie is watching directors discover how to put a new twist on an old formula, allowing them to create something unlike anything we have seen before. A prime example of this is Zombieland (2009), a movie whose titular monsters had long since seemed played out on the big screen. However, director Ruben Fleischer made these venerable monsters serious again by placing them in the last place you’d expect: a comedy.

While horror comedies are often hit or miss, Zombieland sticks the zombie landing thanks to its smart writing and killer cast of stars. Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, and Emma Stone all team up to survive the apocalypse, and they are joined by Bill Murray, someone with quite a bit of experience putting the dead in their place. If you’re ready for the best gags and the most over-the-top kills, you don’t have to wait for a real-life apocalypse: all you have to do is stream Zombieland on Netflix today.

It’s The End Of The World As We Know It

The premise of Zombieland is that all of America has been overrun by zombies, forcing the uninfected humans to find their own ways to survive. One such human is Columbus (survivors generally go by their cities of origin), a young man who has developed an extensive list of rules for surviving the undead apocalypse. But when his plan to reunite with his parents goes entirely off the rails, it’s clear that he and his newfound friends will need more than a few commonsense rules to avoid becoming the walking dead. 

The relatively small cast of Zombieland still sports some big names, including Jesse Eisenberg (best known for The Social Network) as a young survivor hoping to reunite with his parents. Woody Harrelson (best known for True Detective) plays a redneck survivor whose rough-and-tumble ways might just keep his newfound allies alive. In addition to the rule-loving young man, those allies include characters played by Emma Stone (best known for Easy A) and Abigail Breslin (best known for Little Miss Sunshine), two sisters who may be far more dangerous than they appear.

Girls, Guns, And Gore

Zombieland had a higher budget than most horror films. Fortunately for the studio, moviegoers ran to the theater (cardio, as the film reminds us, is very important), making this horror comedy a breakout hit. Against a budget of $23.6 million, it earned $102.4 million. This made a sequel inevitable, and Zombieland: Double Tap came out in 2016. Unfortunately, it had a higher budget and made less money, putting the franchise’s future in jeopardy. Still, director Ruben Fleischer hasn’t ruled out doing a third film focusing on Madison, the ditzy character (played by Zoey Deutch) who was introduced in the second movie.

When Zombieland came out, professional reviewers were more than a bit excited to see a new take on an otherwise tired genre: the zombie movie. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an 89 percent, with critics praising the movie for being both a quippy, quote-worthy comedy and a gloriously gory scarefest. They also gave it the highest praise of all, noting that this film is proof that the right director is still capable of giving us a zombie film that isn’t as dead on arrival as its shambling antagonists.

A Horror Comedy That Hits All The Right Notes

Personally, horror comedy is my favorite film genre, and I love Zombieland for how it manages to get the ratio between the two just right. As a scary movie, it’s full of incredibly memorable frights, and these scares represent the best modern use of zombies outside of Train To Busan. But Zombieland is just as funny as it is frightening, giving us killer one-liners and phrases (like double-tap) that instantly became part of our pop culture lexicon. Fortunately, all of the main cast are talented comedians in their own right, and they help to elevate the dialogue into something truly unforgettable.

Speaking of the cast, it helps that everyone in Zombieland has such awesome chemistry with one another, all while giving standout performances as surprisingly dynamic characters. Harrelson plays a gruff survivalist who secretly has a heart of gold, just as Emma Stone plays a damaged person secretly looking for someone to connect with. That person might just be Jesse Eisenberg’s character, and this Social Network veteran does a perfect job of playing a nebbish beta boy who is destined to embrace his inner warrior during the zombie apocalypse or die trying.

Surviving The Apocalypse With The Girl Next Door

That’s the thing about Zombieland: it’s easy to dismiss this movie as a silly horror movie, mostly suitable (at best) for when you want to turn your brain off and just vibe out with some popcorn. But beneath all the blood and guts, there’s a genuine film that fires on all cylinders. Every character gets a rewarding arc, every setup pays off, and every ultraviolent moment moves the plot forward. That gives us something genuinely rare: a horror movie with some meat on its bones, one that invites you to devour its runtime with the same zeal that its monsters devour every hapless human they can catch.

Is Zombieland the hilarious horror comedy you’ve been waiting for, or would you rather become a mindless zombie than watch through to the credits? The only way to find out is to grab the remote (go ahead and run to the living room, a little cardio will get you ready for the apocalypse) and stream this smash hit for yourself on Netflix. Afterward, one thing’s for sure: you’ll never look at Bill Murray the same after seeing his hilarious cameo!

By Jennifer Asencio
| Published 28 seconds ago

Max Landis’s attempt to return to Hollywood isn’t going too well. The director submitted a script for consideration for a new movie based on Hasbro’s G.I. Joe franchise to co-producer Paramount. It was announced on March 14, 2026, that they were turning it down.

The proposed script would have been about a world where the evil organization CORBA has succeeded in its plans for domination, and the G.I. Joe organization is considered a “conspiracy theory,” or even an underground group of rebels. Max seemed very proud of the subversiveness of his idea, but Hasbro and Paramount rejected it for creative reasons.

Landis’ Exile From Hollywood

Max is the son of John Landis, best known for classics like Animal House, Three Amigos, Coming to America, and Michael Jackson’s cinematic music video, Thriller. With such big shoes to fill, Max’s success has only been moderate in comparison, with writing credits for Chronicle, the Netflix fantasy Bright, and Victor Frankenstein. He also penned 18 episodes of a series based on Douglas Adams’ novel, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.

He has largely been out of the entertainment industry due to allegations of sexual misconduct from 2016. He’s written a few projects but has mostly remained out of the spotlight until news broke that he submitted a pitch for the proposed G.I. Joe project. Among his future projects, according to IMDB, is a proposed rewrite of his father’s werewolf comedy, An American Werewolf in London. Given his treatment for the G.I. Joe movie, it’s concerning to imagine how he’s going to mangle his father’s legacy.

Danny McBride Might Save The Day

Other ideas for a G.I. Joe movie are being considered jointly by Hasbro and Paramount, including a script from Danny McBride of Pineapple Express and The Righteous Gemstones fame. Paramount wants to expand on this franchise, although the studio hasn’t been very good at that lately: Starfleet Academy, their latest Star Trek failure, is probably not airing its second season. This may mean they are extra-cautious about what script they choose for the iconic and patriotic franchise.

The general sentiment among fans is that they’re glad this script never got off the ground. Reducing the Joes to shadowy guerrillas is an idea more like a bad fanfiction than a story about the “real American hero” that was so beloved in the 80s. The general sentiment is that a G.I. Joe movie should be like the cartoon from our childhood.

Since Danny McBride’s name has been mentioned over the other scripts, it seems likely they are taking him seriously. This may be a good thing, as McBride excels at being a big kid and is of the right age that he would have been a genuine fan of the show. Whether his concept wins the pitch or not, whoever manages to capture the spirit of the Hasbro franchise will probably be rewarded at the box office, while attempts to change the franchise too much might reject fans the way Starfleet Academy and The Acolyte did to their fanbases.

Regardless, it’s obvious that Max Landis was not that fan. Stay tuned, because eventually we’ll know whose script Paramount and Hasbro pick, and knowing is half the battle.

Lindsay Hubbard took a jab at ex-fiancé Carl Radke while trying to talk him up to Summer House season 10 newbie Bailey Taylor.

“It wasn’t a date, but it kinda felt like a date,” Carl, 41, told his housemates during the Tuesday, March 17, episode of the Bravo series, revealing that he hung out with Bailey, 30, earlier that week in the city.

He noted that Bailey told him that Lindsay, 39, had some nice and not-so-nice things to say about him before they spent time together.

“You were just like, ‘Go for it,’” Carl claimed Lindsay told Bailey, who didn’t come to the Hamptons that weekend and therefore couldn’t weigh in on what was said between her and Lindsay ahead of time.

Lindsay clarified to both Carl and the group that she told Bailey, “You should go for Carl,” adding with a laugh, “See, I’m nice.”

Carl then claimed that Lindsay told Bailey she actually gave him “two thumbs down” but to still “go for it” if she wanted.

“She paraphrased that,” Lindsay claimed. “I said, ‘He probably won’t have sex with you but he’s a great conversationalist.’”

Lindsay’s confession stunned the table, with castmate Amanda Batula pointing out, “You were so close to being nice.”

Carl didn’t address the topic further with everyone around, but he later told the cameras that Lindsay’s remark was pegged to how their sex life diminished before they broke up.

“Lindsay and I weren’t sleeping together [toward the end] because of how not stable [the] foundation [was that] we were on,” Carl claimed in a confessional.

Related: Summer House’s Carl Hasn’t ‘Kissed Anybody’ Since Lindsay Split

Lindsay Hubbard has a new man in her life, but her ex-fiancé, Carl Radke, is still healing from their broken engagement. “I haven’t kissed anybody since Lindsay,” Carl, 39, confessed during part 2 of the Summer House season 8 reunion on Thursday, June 13. “I haven’t hooked up with anybody since Lindsay.” Carl called his […]

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He then alleged, “But when we first started dating and having sex, she used to say it was the best sex of her life.”

Carl pointed out, “Before that I used to get destroyed for being a f***boy, having too much sex. Now I’m being a little more careful and I get dragged for that? Can’t win.”

When Summer House premiered in January 2017, Lindsay and Carl’s friendship was one of the many dynamics fans loved. After years of friendship, the pair attempted to date during season 4, but they soon decided they were better off as pals.

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Related: Carl Radke Says Ex Lindsay Hubbard Seemed ‘Much Happier’ Amid Pregnancy

Lindsay Hubbard brought the pregnancy glow to Summer House season 9, according to her ex, Carl Radke. Carl, 40, told People in an interview published on Wednesday, February 12, that Lindsay seemed “much happier” while filming the latest season of the Bravo reality show last summer. At the time, Lindsay, 38, was expecting her first […]

Lindsay and Carl gave their romantic relationship a second shot in fall 2021, with Carl exclusively telling Us Weekly in January 2022, “I’ve never felt more myself around someone than her. And for me, that’s powerful.”

Carl eventually proposed to Lindsay in August 2022, which fans saw play out on season 7 of the Bravo show.

One year later, as they were preparing to walk down the aisle, Carl called off the engagement in August 2023.

While Lindsay has claimed she was “blindsided” by their breakup, both she and Carl have remained part of Summer House.

They were even housemates when Lindsay was pregnant with then-boyfriend Turner Kufe’s baby in summer 2024. (Lindsay welcomed her daughter, Gemma, in December of that year.)

Summer House airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.