John Wick 5? Nah, Just Ballerina

We knew this was coming, and here it is: Ballerina, a spin-off movie from the world of John Wick. In fact, that might be the full title of the movie — From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. That’s an even worse mouthful than “A Knives Out Mystery.”

Looks fun. While I enjoy the John Wick movies as action films, I am not in love with them like some fans. I didn’t care for John Wick 4. But this perhaps means Ballerina will be all action and less John Wick mythology? I dunno. It looks action packed. It also looks like a simple attempt to just make another John Wick movie. At least Ana De Armas is awesome.

Ballerina comes to theaters June 6.

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Who Knew There Were So Many Beetlejuices?

This Is Animated is back and they’ve done Beetlejuice! And where did they find enough Beetlejuices to animate? From stage productions around the world! That’s dedication to one’s bit, I tells ya.

I used to watch the Beetlejuice cartoon when I was a kid and it was a ton of fun! So this bit takes me back. I haven’t gone to see the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice movie sequel, though, because I just don’t care. I’ve only ever been mildly entertained by the original film, and I keep hearing bad things about this sequel. So I think I’m just going to let it pass me by.

And, as always, the next Tell It Animated should be about Robin! Though judging by upcoming movies…he might do one about Kraven, if he can find enough. And Sam Wilson has a new Captain America movie early next year. There have been plenty of Falcons and Captain Americas to draw from!

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Our First Look at The Last of Us Season 2

The Last of Us was a huge hit as a TV show, and I agree it was pretty awesome — even if I felt that the emotional impact was lessened by having already played the game and seen the story. But that’s just on me. It was an awesome show! And season 2 is coming next year.

Unlike all those chuds on the internet, I loved the second game and can’t wait to see it play out on the show. It was an awesome game with an awesome story and awesome characters, and we get to see some of them teased in this new trailer. It all looks great to me! I heard somewhere that the second game is being split into two seasons, which makes sense if they want to draw out the success of the show. And that’s fine by me. I like having good shows and good video games.

The Last of Us returns to HBO sometime next year.

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Ghosts of Yōtei Looks Friggin’ Sweet

Playstation held one of their State of Plays yesterday to reveal a suite of upcoming games. I wasn’t too interested in most of them, but we got our first look at the upcoming sequel to the truly amazing Ghosts of Tsushima. It’s going to be Ghosts of Yōtei, a new story with a new protagonist with the same beauty and power.

Looks awesome! I loved Ghosts of Tsushima, like everybody else, and this sequel looks awesome. I love the idea of moving ahead in time to a new character and story. That works perfectly fine for me. The new protagonist is named Atsu and she’s got a sweet guitar on her back; I wonder what that’s about. Atsu is going to be voiced by Erika Ishii, of whom I’m a huge fan thanks to her work on Dropout! So awesome!

Ghosts of Yōtei is going to come out next year, which means 2025 is going to be an insanely huge year for video games! I spent 2024 trying not to spend too much money on new games, and have mostly succeeded. But it seems I’m going to be shelling out so much money next year for new games!

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I Am Very Excited for Thunderbolts*

The first official teaser trailer for the Thunderbolts* movie arrived like lightning today, and it looks pretty awesome! I saw a pirated version of this when it was released at Comic-Con (or D23?) and it looks even better as a real trailer on my real phone.

I am excited for this movie! I do not hide my MCU apologies or love for the franchise still, and this looks awesome! Take a bunch of random side characters from the past few movies and shows and team them up Avengers-style! It helps that I very much like all these characters, especially U.S.Agent and Ghost. I’m so thrilled they’re bringing back Ghost! It would have been so easy to never hear from her again, but this is a perfect place for her!

It looks funny, it looks full of action, and it looks like Florence Pugh will easily carry the whole darn thing. David Harbour as Red Guardian is also no slouch in the fun department.

Thunderbolts* comes to theaters next May.

And in terms of the asterisk, I’m in the camp that believes the movie will be “Dark Avengers” by the end.

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