DCU Blog - January 2026 Edition: TBII/MOT Update, Lobo Spotlight And More Blue Beetle

As we reach the last day of January, the DCU certainly provided some tantalising information about upcoming projects. Let's dive right in.

Sebastian Stan has been cast for The Batman - Part II (October 1st 2027). It's rumoured that he'll be playing Harvey Dent. Filming begins in April.

Cristin Milioti has confirmed that Sofia Falcone won't be returning for The Batman - Part II. 

Superman (2025) and Peacemaker have been nominated for Saturn Awards. The former bagged eight nominations while the latter got three nods.

Superman and Spider-Man will share an upcoming crossover in their respective comics.

Christina Hodson has been confirmed as the writer for The Brave And The Bold. This reunites her with Andy Muschietti as the two previously worked on The Flash for the DCEU.

Ana Nogueira could also be reuniting with Craig Gillespie for Wonder Woman, depending on the success of Supergirl.

Man Of Tomorrow (July 9th 2027) will introduce the character, Maxima. Expect casting news soon.

A recent spotlight for Supergirl (June 26th 2026) focused on Jason Momoa's Lobo.

Diarmaid Murtagh will be playing a space pirate in Supergirl. Krem will lead a bad of space pirate/human traffickers in the movie.

Lanterns star Kyle Chandler recently talked about his experience working on the show on Today. The show will premiere on HBO late summer.

Angel Manuel Soto has confirmed that we will see Blue Beetle and his family soon in the DCU. We still need progress on that animated show.

Filming for the Jimmy Olsen spin-off will take place around the same that Man Of Tomorrow will start filming.

The Mister Miracle animated series will take place in the DCU and will see the debut of Darkseid.

Hamish Linklater has confirmed that Season 2 of Batman: Caped Crusader will be released on Amazon Prime this year.

A good start for information in the first month of 2026. I'm expecting bigger casting news over the next few months.

My Review of Industry - Season 2 (2022, HBO/BBC1)

 

Written by Mickey Down And Konrad Kay

Directed by Birgitte Stærmose And Isabella Eklöf And Caleb Femi 

Eric: "People are just knots of fear. We loosen them and we win."

Yup, I'm still flying through this show in order to catch up and this second season once again brought back Harper, Yasmin, Robert and Gus, albeit all four of them feel a tad more disconnected from one another.

In fact, this second season removed Gus from Pierpoint altogether, having him working in a different area altogether. However the presence of main Pierpoint client, Jesse Bloom (Jay Duplass) did manage to keep Gus still connected, especially when the latter hooked up with Bloom's son, Leo (Sonny Poon Tip).

Of course, it's Jesse's presence that was more prominent for Harper. She was the one who got Jesse into business with Pierpoint but she was also the one who somewhat struggled to maintained his business. Jesse turned out to be a rather slightly and volatile client.

Harper this season still had the ability to completely fuck people over. This extended to Eric but also Rishi. The latter bubbled along in the background in the first season but here he was given a more expanded role. He's actually a great foil to Harper at times while pretty boy, Daniel Van Deventer (Alex Alomar Akpobome) was a near love interest for Harper.

As for Yasmin, I did find this season gave her some interesting things to do. The relationship with her father, Charles (Adam Levy) felt like it was going to mend before being completely shattered. There's a brief "friends with benefits" dynamic between Yasmin and Pierpoint Private Wealth Manager, Celeste Pacquet (Katrine De Candole) but even that ended badly as well for her.

Last but not least, there was Robert's arc. He lost his mentor, tried to be sober, tried to mentor Venetia Berens (Indy Lewis) and also worked through his mommy issues with Nicole. It's not as strong as the first season and I did miss the interactions between him, Harper, Yasmin and Gus as the four interacted less with each other.

- Episode titles were Daddy, The Great Squid, The Fool, There Are Some Women ...., Kitchen Season, Short To The Point Of Pain, Lone Wolf And Cub and Jerusalem.

- Robert likened his mother to a tyrant and briefly reunited with his father during Christmas. He has a brother too.

- We met Harper's brother, who resented her and Yasmin learned that she had a half sister because her father got her former nanny pregnant.

- Rishi was engaged but despite his overtime dislike for Harper, he nearly copped off with her. Kenny was also trying to be a nicer person.

- Jackie got to spend time with Harper and Yasmin for an episode. Daria returned and got her own back at Eric and Harper. Venetia also accused Nicole of sexual assault.

- Chronology: COVID-19 factored into this season. Harper, Yasmin and Robert were in their third year.

While a little lagging compared to the first season, I am loving this show in general. Most of the new characters worked well enough and once again, the show really did show the cutthroat world of Pierpoint succinctly.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Firestarter (2022)

 

Written by Scott Teems

Directed by Keith Thomas

Charlie (to Hollister): "Liar, liar. Pants on fire."

If it takes me a lifetime, I will tackle every Stephen King adaptation going. This isn't one thst I imagine will be anyone's favourite list but it was first time watch for me last night.

Focusing on a couple with abilities. There was Andy McGee (Zac Efron) had telepathic powers while girlfriend Vicky Tomlinson-McGee (Sydney Lemmon) had a daughter Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong). The latter had powers of her own and they were rather dangerous.

Charlie was a kid who literally lived up to the title of this film. She could cause things to burn and because she was a child, she wasn't able to control. Andy and Vicky tried to protect Charlie from the world and from others. Needless to say, they weren't successful.

In fact Charlie's power got so out of control, not only did she end up burning her own mother but the latter also ended up being killed by the villain, Rainbird (Michael Greyeyes), a bounty hunter. It turned out that the government had designs on using Charlie as a weapon.

Throw in DSI villain Captain Jane Hollister (Gloria Reuben) and the disgraced Dr. Joseph Wanless (Kurtwood Smith) and you had both Andy and Charlie on the run. There's an alliance of sorts with Irv Manders (John Beasley) but it's rather short-lived.

Ultimately, the movie pretty much put Charlie in a position where she had to embrace her powers and had to burn everything down. There's also a redemption of sorts for Rainbird but it's rather rushed.

- One thing I didn't need to see was Charlie scorching a cat but that's exactly what we've seen.

- In the book, Hollister was a male character but here the role was written for a woman.

- Standout music: Marty Cooper's Tell The Singer I'm Sorry.

- Chronology: Present day America.

I wouldn't highly recommend Firestarter (2022) but it's not that bad either. It's just an okay remake that plodded along nicely enough. 

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Chimp Face"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson 

Directed by Alexis Martin Woodall 

Cooper: "Do I know you?"

Jordan: "It's me. It's Jordan."

When this episode opened with a flashback with Cooper and Jordan in Rome, I had a feeling it was going to end with Cooper meeting the newer version of Jordan. Suffice to say that I wasn't wrong here.

In flashbacks, Jordan quizzed Cooper on how well he actually knew her and Cooper passed. At a fountain, Cooper was hoping and praying that Jordan wouldn't fall in love with him. Somehow I don't think his wish came true.

Back into the present day, Cooper talked to a former partner of Harper Rose's named Ashley and it appeared that he was possibly infected. More time however was spent on Manny (Ben Platt), who worried about his dogs/mother/boyfriend before he broke free and changed into Isaac Powell halfway through the episode. This led to quite a scuffle between Manny ang and Cooper.

Between Jordan's transformation, Manny nearly beating the crap out of him and a discovery of some mad scientist antics, Cooper had enough. On top of that, his cat Nine Lives (unfortunate name choice) had been dead for two months. It really wasn't his day.

As for the baddies of the piece, while they didn't have as much screentime as the previous episode, The Assassin and Jeremy still make for a good team. The Assassin taught Jeremy how to navigate sex now that he's been transformed while also upgrading his wardrobe.

Last but not least, Byron Forst wanted to move up official release of his product on World Beauty Day (September 9th). This also meant him ignoring the advice of lead scientist, Ray (Rob Yang) and generally being obnoxious. I'm so hoping for Byron to get the worst comeuppance before the end of this season.

- Jordan liked Dr Seuss and Simone de Beavoir as well as movies such as Last Tango and Conformists.

- Manny had a labradoodle and a terrier. Cooper mentioned having a Jack Russell when he was younger.

- Standout music: Nice use of opera music during one scene with The Assassin and Jeremy.

- Chronology: It's been 1238 days since Byron started this whole beauty mess.

Beautiful Chimp Face was weaker compared to the first three episodes. It's not a bad episode but it did feel like it was plodding in parts. Hopefully things move a bit faster from next week onwards.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of I Saw The TV Glow (2024)

 

Written And Directed by Jane Schoenbrun

Owen (re Maddy): "What if she was right? What if I was someone else? Someone beautiful and powerful? Buried alive and suffocating to death on the other side of a television screen?"

I've been meaning to watch this movie for a while and yesterday, I managed to get around to finally seeing it. It's premise certainly intrigued me.

Television shows can be a bonding experience for a lot of people and for two outcast teenagers, one particular show resonated with them. The show was called The Pink Opaque and it focused on the connection between girls Isabel (Helena Howard) and Tara (Lindsey Jordan). Oh and their ongoing battle with Big Bad Mr Melancholy (Emma Portner).

Now that's the TV show I'm talking about. In the real world, the connection was between Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Jack Haven). Owen wasn't allowed to watch the show at home, so he'd go to Maddy's to see it or she'd tape it for him. Either way, The Pink Opaque was a source of comfort for the both of them.

Both Owen and Maddy had crappy home lives. Owen's mother, Brenda (Danielle Deadwyler) was dying and his stepfather, Frank (Fred Durst) was a bit of a jerk. Maddy also had an abusive father that she was desperate to get away from. Halfway through the film, she ended up missing and Owen's life didn't exactly go anywhere positive either.

Before their big reunion, Owen lost both parents and was barely scraping by with his life. Maddy then reappeared and told him a fanciful story about being buried alive and that both her and Owen were really Isabel and Tara from their now cancelled show. Of course Owen wasn't willing to be buried alive in order to find out if Maddy was correct or had lost the plot.

The idea in itself that both Owen and Maddy might be from The Pink Opaque and that the world they've been living in isn't real, well it's a good idea. Unfortunately, I do think the execution let it down with the ending being incredibly frustrating.

- The Pink Opaque seemed to be something akin to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers than Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The Ice Cream Monster feels like something the former would've done more than the latter.

- Speaking of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Amber Benson had a nice scene with Justice Smith. I miss seeing her in things. 

- The movie did seem to imply that Owen was gay and Maddy was trans. Owen also battled asthma and depression in later life.

- Chronology: Started off in 1996, moved into 2006 and 2010 before getting closer to the present day.

The more I think about it, the more I do like I Saw The TV Glow than I dislike it. I do think the ending was something of a letdown but the build up was great, there's something about the 90s setting I loved and yes, I think boys my age at that time had that show for girls that we loved unashamedly.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Return To Silent Hill (2026)

 

Written by Christophe Gans And Sandra Vo-Anh And Will Schneider

Directed by Christopher Gans

James: "Our place. Our town. Our love."

Okay, so this will be the first movie released in 2026 that I'll be reviewing for this and I really should've picked something. For clarity purposes, I haven't watched the previous two movies and I've never played the game series, so this will be fun.

Last year I watched Jeremy Irvine in two gay themed movies. One I loved and the other I didn't. In this movie he's playing the leading protagonist James Sunderland. As an actor, he's a bit hit and miss and sadly more in the latter category here.

The movie started with James meeting the love of his life, Mary Crane (Hannah Emily Anderson). She was trying to get out of Silent Hill but thanks to James, not only did she return to her hometown but also got into a relationship with him. Things between James and Mary were good until they weren't.

Present day had James as an alcoholic that was seeing a therapist named M (Nicola Alexis). She wanted James to work on his issues. A letter from Mary brought up old issues for James. Mostly they brought him back to Silent Hill.

The rest of the movie felt like something of an unsatisfying mess. There's flashbacks that revealed Mary to be in a cult that she wouldn't leave for James. James had several creepy encounters and there was a pyramid monster called Pyramid Head (Robert Strange). Like I said, I never played the games.

As for James and Mary, I was thoroughly bored by their love story throughout. Both actors were absolutely devoid of chemistry and the ending was an absolute cop out. It should've hit differently but it was an ending that failed to stick the landing.

- The previous movies came out in 2006 and 2012 respectively. I may review them later in the year.

- Evie Templeton reprised her role as Laura from the Silent Hill 2 remake. She was Agnes in the second season of Wednesday.

- This movie was based on the second Silent Hill game.

- Chronology: James and Mary were together for a few years before everything went to hell.

I know we're only a month into 2026, but I definitely can see Return To Silent Hill being a contender for one of the worst movies of the year. A dull, lifeless and plodding exercise in pure tedium.

Rating: 4 out of 10 

My Review of A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms: "Hard Salt Beef"

 

Written by Aziza Barnes And Ira Parker 

Directed by Owen Harris

Tanselle (to Dunk): "All men are stupid. All men are Knights."

That might be a tad harsh there, Tanselle. Saying that, she might not be entirely wrong with that statement. This episode may have made too fine a point about the perception of Dunk's general intelligence.

I don't think Dunk might be the sort of person who's well read but he does seem to have a practicality about him and this week, he seemed to be getting closer to being a Knight. While unaware of Egg's true identity, he did meet some of the latter's family throughout the episode.

Yup, this episode was overloaded with the presence of House Targaryen. In the space of thirty one minutes we were introduced to Egg's father, Prince Maekar (Sam Spruell), brother Prince Aerion (Finn Bennett) and uncle Prince Baelor (Bertie Carvel). Out of the three, Baelor taking an interest in Dunk made him the most likable of the pair.

Even when Baelor was correcting Dunk on Ser Arlan of Pennytre's true achievements, he was surprisingly considerate to Dunk's feelings. By contrast, both Maekar and Aerion in their most fleeting interactions were both condescending, rude and disdainful towards Dunk.

Circling in on the strength of the show so far, I really do love the rapport between Dunk and Egg. They're a fun duo to watch and while Egg was desperate to avoid being spotted during a night just, Dunk was more than happy to talk more about his relationship with Ser Arlan. Yup, there's more flashbacks with the latter to start and end the episode.

As for the only woman on the show so far, I'm really liking Tanselle as a character. Her interactions with Dunk are endearing and both being tall was something they could bond over. I don't know if a romance can work long term but their scenes are sweet together.

- Another Targaryen we met was Prince Valarr (Oscar Morgan). He's the son of Baelor. We also met Ser Roland Crakehall (Wade Briggs), Ser Donnel of Duskendale (Bill Ward), Lord Ashford (Paul Hunter) and his daughter, Gwin (Cara Harris).

- Did we need to see all of Ser Arlan in that regard? This show might be giving audiences the type of nudity they don't want to watch.

- Ser Dunk wanted a signal of an elm tree and stars. Tanselle was tasked with that due to her puppeteering expertise.

- Chronology: Not long from where the first episode left off.

Hard Salt Beef felt a bit more of the same as the first episode. I get this will be more of a smaller scale story compared to the other shows and I did like the jousting bits but will it retain it's audience? I guess we'll see but no more gross nudity wouldn't go amiss.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Aquaman - Rage Of Atlantis (2018)

 

Written by Jim Krieg And Jeremy Adams

Directed by Matt Peters

Aquaman: "Well, what are we waiting for? People need our help!"

A couple of months before Jason Momoa's solo outing as Aquaman hit the big screen, Lego had their own adventure with the character. Granted, it's more of a Justice League movie with Aquaman (Dee Bradley Baker) but it's the thought that counted.

In this movie, Aquaman's the King of Atlantis and in a serious relationship with Mera (Susan Eisenberg). He's also far too trusting of his half brother, Orm/Ocean Master (Trevor Devall). It's rather jarring as Orm did a bad job of keeping his resentment towards Aquaman at bay.

On the surface world and thanks to Lois Lane (Grey Griffin), Aquaman was something of a laughing stock during his altercation with Lobo (Fred Tatasciore). Then again, the rest of the League - Batman (Troy Baker), Superman (Nolan North), Wonder Woman (Grey Griffin), Cyborg (Khary Payton) and Jessica Cruz (Cristina Milizia) didn't fare much better.

The reason for Lobo being at the scene of that particular crime did play a much bigger role. For example, Orm was successfully able to remove Aquaman as Atlantis's ruler and took over the kingdom himself. He was also aided by Atrocitus (Jonathan Adams) and Dex-Starr (Dee Bradley Baker). Both characters emerge as the true villains of the piece.

Anyways, the League ended up on a different world with the water being in short supply and forged a reluctant alliance with Lobo. Mera succumbed the Red Lantern as did most of the Atlanteans and Orm learned pretty quickly that he was being duped by Atrocitus. Needless to say, Orm decided to switch sides as well.

There was fun to be had with Aquaman, his half brother, the remaining League members and Lobo working together to stop both Atrocitus and Dex Starr. It's a fun team with two characters getting to redeem themselves and Aquaman getting his Kingdom back.

- Other character appearances included Jimmy Olsen (Eric Bauza), Batgirl (Alyson Stoner) and Robin (Scott Neville).

- The ending set up that Gorilla Grodd was attacking Kathmandu.

- Jessica Cruz had a whole subplot about being able to control her ring and gaining self confidence. She's a newcomer to the Justice League.

- Chronology: Present day Atlantis, Dread Lake and a desert world with a red sun.

Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Aquaman - Rage Of Atlantis made a decent movie splash for the often ridiculed character. I did like the use of Atrocitus as a main villain in this one as well. The character was utilised well.

Rating: 6 out of 10