Jeremy Smith

5 days ago | slashfilm.com | Jeremy Smith

Now that Marvel Studios has swung back into the good graces of its fan base thanks to the well-liked "Thunderbolts*" (its first fully homegrown audience success since 2023's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3"), there seems to be a major uptick in excitement for the forthcoming "The Fantastic Four: First Steps." The Matt Shakman-directed feature generated a ton of buzz when the "First Steps" theatrical trailer premiered online last month, most of it positive.

6 days ago | slashfilm.com | Jeremy Smith

When "John Wick" blasted into theaters on October 24, 2014, moviegoers lost their minds over the film's inventive amalgam of hand-to-hand combat and gunplay. It was doubly impressive due to Keanu Reeves' seemingly effortless facility for performing many of his own stunts. Obviously, no one was surprised that the star of "The Matrix" franchise could brawl and shoot convincingly, but the degree of difficulty appeared to be off the charts.

6 days ago | slashfilm.com | Jeremy Smith

When Pope Francis was elected in 2013, the go-to fictional work for Vatican intrigue was "The Godfather Part III." The final film in Francis Ford Coppola's crime saga drew inspiration from the sudden (some say suspicious) death of the newly elected Pope John Paul I in 1978, as well as the Banco Ambrosiano scandal of the early 1980s.

1 week ago | slashfilm.com | Jeremy Smith

As Marvel Studios nears the theatrical release of "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," which will serve as the kickoff of the MCU's Phase Six (thus closing the book on the franchise's dismal Phase Five), fans can't help but be laser focused on next year's "Avengers: Doomsday." It's not that the quartet's first official appearance in the MCU looks dire; it's just that Marvel, smarting from the franchise-hobbling failures of "The Marvels" and "Captain America: Brave New World," sweatily upstaged...

1 week ago | slashfilm.com | Jeremy Smith

Remember Ultron? The AI Frankenstein's monster birthed by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) was the frighteningly powerful nemesis of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's second Avengers movie, but once his primary body was eliminated by Vision (in a surprisingly moving scene), he ceased to be a factor in the superhero franchise. 10 years after the release of "Avengers: Age of Ultron," the character has been completely MIA in the movies and TV spinoffs.