The Doctor Who Season 2 finale, The Reality War, delivered one of the most unexpected twists in the show’s long history. Fans were left stunned as Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor sacrificed himself to restore the timeline—only to regenerate into a very familiar face: Billie Piper. Gatwa’s tenure as the Doctor lasted two seasons, making his run one of the shortest in modern Doctor Who history. His final moments saw him channeling his regeneration energy into the Time Vortex to correct a reality shift that had erased his daughter, Poppy. The emotional farewell was punctuated by a surprise appearance from Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor, who briefly assisted him in stabilizing the timeline. In a jaw-dropping moment, Gatwa’s Doctor regenerated into Billie Piper, who famously played Rose Tyler, the beloved companion of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors. Piper’s return marks the first time in Doctor Who history that a former companion has taken on the mantle of the Doctor. However, the episode’s credits listed her as “Introducing Billie Piper,” rather than explicitly naming her as the Sixteenth Doctor, leaving fans speculating about what this means for the future of the show. Showrunner Russell T. Davies remained cryptic about Piper’s role, stating, “Billie once changed the whole of television, back in 2005, and now she’s done it again! But quite how and why and who is a story yet to be told”. With no official announcement about the next season or a Christmas special, fans are left wondering whether Piper’s Doctor will be a permanent fixture or a temporary twist. Another factor to keep in mind is that David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor is still out there and would probably find this whole thing very interesting. 

Rey’s (Daisy Ridley) journey in the Star Wars galaxy is set to continue with the upcoming movie New Jedi Order, but fans shouldn’t expect to see her mentor Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) make an appearance.

In an interview with ComicBook to promote his new movie The Life of Chuck (which opens in select theaters June 6th and nationwide June 13th), Hamill was asked if he would return as Luke’s Force ghost in New Jedi Order. Though the actor is forever grateful he played such a meaningful role in the Star Wars franchise, he believes it is time for Lucasfilm to move past the legacy characters and focus entirely on the younger generation.

“I am so grateful to George [Lucas] for letting me be a part of that back in the day, the humble days when George called Star Wars ‘the most expensive low-budget movie ever made,’” Hamill said. “We never expected it to become a permanent franchise and a part of pop culture like that. But my deal is, I had my time. I’m appreciative of that, but I really think they should focus on the future and all the new characters.”

Set to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, New Jedi Order picks up roughly 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker, following Rey as she ushers in a new era for the Jedi. While the film has encountered numerous hurdles since it was first announced, it remains in active development. During a panel at Star Wars Celebration Japan in April, New Jedi Order was one of the many Star Wars movies mentioned when Lucasfilm outlined its plans for the future.

Writer Mário Freitas and artist Lucas Pereira team up to pay tribute to the Jack Kirby legacy with a fictionalized tribute to the comics icon in the upcoming, The Man Who Dreamt the Impossible. This treasury edition one-shot will hit shelves in August from Image Comics and is a must-read for any fan of pop culture history.

“This book is huge. In format. In scope. In ambition. Just like Jack did. But this is not a biography. It is more of a classic 'what if?' scenario: what if Jack Kirby had lived well beyond the age of 76? What if he had survived his Roz; if he had spent his last years in a care home, reunited with his old creative pals from the days of the ‘House of Ideas’ (a term so well spread by propaganda, as if American comics hadn't been a house of ideas since the days of McCay, King, or Herriman)," said Freitas. "It is, above all, a narrative corollary to the great strengths of Kirby's career: the complexity of human relations and the relentless pursuit of the impossible that lies hidden in the Cosmos. But different. Original. Just like Jack did.”

Jack King is the eldest in the care home. A prodigy of imagination, always telling fascinating stories, but recently suffering from extreme fatigue and lack of motivation. Then comes Mike, a young orderly who will help restore Jack's spirit and his much-loved library, a place fallen into disarray and near abandonment, certainly not unrelated to the sinister pestilence lurking on its shelves…

Pereira added: “A textual and visual exploration of what could have been—but also of what truly was. Kirby suffered greatly in real life from what was done to him and to his work, and this story is no different. We don’t sugarcoat what needs to be said or shy away from reflecting on what actually happened. Jack is a genius, but his creations were, over time, distorted and rearranged at the whim of a former caretaker at the nursing home. Now, with Mike’s help, Jack King will set everything back in its rightful place—where it never should have ceased to be.”

This story is a salute to Jack Kirby, to the men who better took care of his work, and to others who suffered the same creative and editorial constraints throughout their careers.

The Man Who Dreamt the Impossible (Lunar Code 0625IM270) will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, August 27.

The Man Who Dreamt the Impossible will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

An early preview of the highly anticipated upcoming series Lazarus: Fallen shows that lead

character Forever Carlyle is not afraid to get bloody to prove her point. As she sets out to destroy the Families–the wealthy few running this “near future” dystopian world—she’ll need to make allies along the way. Helmed by Eisner Award-winning creators writer Greg Rucka (The Old Guard) and artist Michael Lark (Gotham Central), and colorist Santi Arcas, the New York Times bestselling dystopian sci-fi series Lazarus is returning for a final installment.

Fans of Andor, Silo, and Blade Runner will enjoy this futuristic, and yet prescient, tale about what those in power will do to obtain more power and to silence those in opposition…and what rebels, whether genetically engineered or not, will do to stop them. Along with early preview pages from Lazarus: Fallen #2, a look at the process and cover artwork from the series tease a little of what’s to come soon.



Rucka, Lark, and Arcas are joined by letterer Ariana Maher, editor Alejandro Arbona, and graphic designers Eric Trautmann and Richard Howe for the new series, with issue #1 debuting June 25 (with a Final Order Cutoff deadline for retailers today, June 2). Lazarus: The Fourth Collection—a hardcover volume that collects Lazarus #27 and #28, and for the first time, the complete seven-issue run of Lazarus: Risen—is also now available, along with the first three collections, for those looking to catch up on the series ahead of Lazarus: Fallen.

“The first arc, ’Rise’—which is taken in part from the Free slogan of ‘Rise, Resist, Be Free’—very much hits the ground running, dealing with the immediate repercussions of the end of Lazarus: Risen," said Rucka. "It’s been less than two days in the story since the end of Lazarus: Risen, and Lazarus: Fallen is throwing the reader right back into the action and the story. That’s deliberate. Readers are smart, and they know how to read and extrapolate from context, so new readers to the series will be able to understand what’s going on. That said, it’s going to be a far more rewarding read if you know how we got to this point.”



The Lazarus series follows Forever Carlyle, an unkillable, genetically-engineered soldier, controlled by the mechanisms of her father, Malcolm Carlyle. Malcolm is the patriarch of one of the powerful Families that rose to rule the world after an economic-driven apocalypse. The Families now own everything and everyone; in this neo-feudalist order, you are either of value to the Families and made a Serf, or you are irrelevant, disposable labor, called Waste.

But the Families are driven by greed, and in their unending pursuit of more and more, each created a Lazarus—a man or woman created and trained to be the loyal instrument of their Family’s will. Forever Carlyle is the Lazarus of the Carlyle Family, raised to absolutely believe in her duty to her family, and with an unquestioning loyalty to her father. That time is over, and now Forever—with the aid of her younger sister and next iteration of the Carlyle Lazarus, Infinity—means to destroy the world her father created.

“Our first issues are about framing this new world that Forever’s actions have created, about her and her sister finding allies, and about her father, Malcolm’s, own machinations,” Rucka added. “Like Forever, Malcolm knows the endgame is approaching. The question is whether or not it’s the endgame he’s envisioned all along. Amidst all this, there’s interpersonal drama and continued growth—both for Forever and her sister, now calling herself Infinity—as well as others. But Forever and Infinity are hunted from the word go, and there are other Families, and their Lazari, on their heels, including, especially, Sonja Bittner. After all, Forever has committed the ultimate crime: she’s betrayed the Family.”





Lazarus: Fallen #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, June 25, featuring a cover by Lark (Final Order Cutoff deadline for retailers is today, June 2; Lunar Code 0425IM294). Issue #2 hits shelves on July 30 (Final Order Cutoff deadline for retailers is July 7; Lunar Code 0525IM403), and issue #3 hits shelves on August 27 (Final Order Cutoff deadline for retailers is August 4; Lunar Code 0625IM356).

Lazarus: The Fourth Collection is now available at comic book shops (Lunar code 0325IM428), and on June 3, will be available at independent bookstores (ISBN: 9781534335912), Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Indigo, and Waterstones. The series will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

Amazon MGM Studios is finalizing a deal to acquire Split Fiction, a hot feature package based on the video game of the same name, which is set to team Wicked helmer Jon M. Chu and actress Sydney Sweeney, Deadline is reporting.

The deal is reportedly coming in at north of $2 million. Deadline was first to report on bidding for the project a couple of weeks ago, when Sony was among others in the race. The script is by Paul Wernick & Rhett Reese, the duo behind recent Marvel Studios hit Deadpool & Wolverine.

Story Kitchen’s Dmitri M. Johnson & Mike Goldberg will produce the feature take, with Timothy I. Stevenson executive producing. Electric Somewhere is also producing, with Hazelight Studios’ Josef Fares and Oskar Wolontis exec producing.

Joseph Quinn, who plays Johnny Storm in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, accidentally confirmed that Mole Man will appear in the film during an interview at CCXPMX25. He mentioned the character while discussing the movie’s stacked cast, saying, “There’s also Mole Man, who is wonderful in it. But Galactus is the big bad”. While Quinn didn’t elaborate on Mole Man’s role, previous reports suggest that the villain may appear in a montage of past battles the Fantastic Four have faced. Paul Walter Hauser who was announced as part of the cast months ago is the one rumored to be playing Harvey Elder, aka Mole Man, the first villain the team faced in the comics. He appeared in Fantastic Four #1 in 1961 from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and is a nuclear engineer and explorer who discovers Subterranea, an underground city filled with creatures called Moloids. This will be the character’s first appearance in live action.    

Last night was Netflix’s Tudum 2025 event that featured reveals, trailers, and release date announcements for some of the platform’s upcoming films and series. The annual fan celebration featured appearances from major stars and performances by Lady Gaga and Hanumankind. Here are some of the major announcements from the evening. Netflix confirmed that the final season of Stranger Things will be released in three parts: November 26, December 25, and December 31, 2025. Fans were treated to a highlight reel of memorable moments from the series, along with a brief sneak peek of what’s to come. The cast of Squid Game took the stage to unveil the official trailer for the third and final season, which will premiere on June 27, 2025. Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday returned with an exclusive preview of the first six minutes of Season 2. Netflix also announced that the new season will be released in two parts: August 6 and September 3, 2025. A major surprise was the confirmation that Lady Gaga will guest star in the second part of the season. Daniel Craig reprised his role as Benoit Blanc in the third installment of the Knives Out franchise. The film, directed by Rian Johnson, will premiere on December 12, 2025. The cast of One Piece introduced the newest crew member, Tony Tony Chopper, confirming that Season 2 will arrive in 2026. Fans got their first look at Chopper in live-action. Adam Sandler returned for Happy Gilmore 2, with Netflix debuting the official trailer. The sequel is set to release on July 25, 2025. Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Frankenstein was officially unveiled, starring Oscar Isaac and Mia Goth. A teaser trailer was shown, promising a dark reimagining of the classic tale. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s crime thriller The RIP was revealed with a first-look teaser. The film will premiere on January 16, 2026. 

Netflix has just dropped its latest crime thriller, Dept. Q, and it’s already being hailed as one of the best law enforcement mysteries since Mare of Easttown. Based on the Department Q book series by Jussi Adler-Olsen, the show takes viewers deep into the world of cold case investigations, blending suspense, drama, and razor-sharp dialogue.   Set in Edinburgh, Scotland, the series follows DCI Carl Morck, played by Matthew Goode (Watchmen, The Imitation Game). Morck is a brilliant but deeply troubled detective, haunted by a shooting that left his partner paralyzed and a young officer dead. As punishment, he’s exiled to the basement of the police department, where he’s assigned to Dept. Q, a newly formed cold case unit that’s more of a PR stunt than a serious investigative team. But Morck refuses to let the department be a joke. Alongside his unlikely team—including Akram Salim played by Chernobyl’s Alexej Manvelov, a Syrian immigrant with a mysterious past, and Rose Dickson played by Call the Midwife’s Leah Byrne, a young detective battling PTSD—he starts digging into cases long thought unsolvable.   The 9-part series is holding a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score and is being praised for its sharp writing, gripping performances, and atmospheric storytelling. Critics have highlighted its cinematic visuals, slow-burn tension, and jaw-dropping twists, setting it apart from other crime dramas. If you’re looking for a new bingeworthy show, this appears to be it. 

As part of the upcoming King of the Hill revival, the studio had to recast the voice of Dale Gribble after the passing of Johnny Hardwick in 2023. Hardwick voiced the character in the original run and had recorded six episodes for the upcoming season before his passing, and he will still be credited for those episodes. The new voice actor stepping in is Toby Huss, who is actually a familiar name to fans of the show—he previously voiced Kahn Souphanousinphone and Cotton Hill in the original series. The revival, premiering August 4 on Hulu, takes place years after the original series, with Dale still being an extreme conspiracy theorist, but now with even wilder theories. 

Don’t bother looking for Marvel Studios in this year’s Hall H panel list for the San Diego Comic-Con 2025. With the delay of Avengers: Doomsday from May 2026 until December, the studio has decided to hold off any major announcements and with the film still in production, they want to avoid suspending filming just to bring the cast to Southern California and then back again. That doesn’t mean Marvel is completely skipping the convention though. They still have panels scheduled that will focus on comics and games and a booth that will promote their upcoming The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which opens the same weekend. The studio will likely return in 2026 to promote their fifth Avengers film.