Michael B. Jordan

“The way I imagine it, after the fight, he’s riding home in a cab, with the roar of the people chanting ‘Rocky!’ still in his ears. And he just drops over dead. In other words, he has achieved everything possible and he dies when he’s on top. I don’t think people want to see Rocky when he’s 80.”

In a few weeks the Rocky franchise will return with a bit of a new direction, centering on Adonis Johnson, the son of Rocky Balboa’s former friend and legendary boxing opponent Apollo Creed. Warner Bros. has released several new clips (compiled above) from Creed, showing off some dramatic and intimate character work, and obviously saving the best stuff (the boxing) for the theatrical release.

Following the highly-publicized drama and subsequent disappointment of Fantastic Four, Josh Trank exited (or was let go from) Lucasfilm and Disney’s Boba Fett solo film. The studios are reportedly still planning on making that film, and a new rumor suggests that they came close to hiring Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray for the gig — but even more interesting is who they want to play the famed bounty hunter.

A new trailer for Creed has arrived, promising what very well could be the first great new Rocky film in years. Sylvester Stallone returns to reprise the iconic role of Rocky Balboa in the new film, which sees the great fighter discovering fresh talent in the son of his old opponent, the late Apollo Creed.

Although he recently appeared in the not-so-great Fantastic Four, the experience hasn’t put Michael B. Jordan off the idea of starring in another comic book movie — this time it might be Blood Brothers, a vampire buddy action-comedy that would be much, much different from his most recent outing.

As of this writing, Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four has made $25.6 million. Improbably, that’s less than half of either of the previous big-budget Fantastic Four movies, which are widely disliked by comics fan and cinephiles alike. There’s a chance Trank’s FF could wind up grossing less in theaters than Blade: Trinity, or even Trank’s own surprise debut hit, Chronicle (which cost about a tenth of his follow-up). In Hollywood parlance, those are ungood numbers. In most cases, they would almost mean certain doom (har dee har har) for any chance of a sequel.

Here’s the thing about this Fantastic Four movie: it was supposed to be horrible. This movie has been riding an almost unprecedented level of bad buzz since earlier this year. Strangely, it seems to have started over literally nothing. Fans were upset they hadn’t seen anything official from the movie and began to suspect it stunk. Then, depending on who you talk to, the director was fired, the actors were upset and the script was a mess. But, the days of speculation are over and none of that bad buzz matters any more; there’s an actual film that can be judged on its own merits. Sadly, Fantastic Four, on its own merits, is still horrible.

As skeptical as many fans rightfully have been about Josh Trank’s reboot of Fantastic Four, there’s something sort of appealing about the film’s aesthetic and tone from the various teasers and trailers. In keeping with 20th Century Fox’s recent X-Men films, Fantastic Four looks as though it walks the line between the fun, vibrant world of the MCU and the grittier, stylized approach of Zack Snyder’s DCU.

Michael B. Jordan is undeniably one of our most engaging rising stars, proving the sheer force of his talent with his role in Fruitvale Station (and lest we forget, his earlier role on Friday Night Lights). Jordan has two upcoming high profile roles with Fantastic Four and Creed, but his next project will take him back to a more intimate environment as he teams with the director of the acclaimed indie Short Term 12 for Just Mercy.

The latest promos for Fantastic Four give each individual member of Marvel’s First Family their very own spotlight while introducing a bit of new footage from the upcoming reboot. Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell each get their own TV spot to help audiences get a bit more acquainted with their characters and their superhero personas.