Television and Film

During his “Office Hours” YouTube show this week, comedian Tim Heidecker acknowledged the surge of support from his fans, or as he called it, facetiously, “a huge outcry, a huge movement, I would say, to get me to play JD Vance, perhaps on SNL?”

https://youtu.be/oanKBd8bpUA

Robert Downey Jr stunned fans as the Iron Man star removed a mask during the San Diego Comic-Con Hall H panel to reveal that he will play Doctor Doom, one of Marvel’s biggest villains, in the upcoming film Avengers: Doomsday.

The panel on Saturday was flooded with hooded figures wearing masks of the comic book villain known for his sorcery and science when Downey Jr revealed his face. “I like playing complicated characters,” he said as fans began to chant his name.

This week, Disney and Marvel showed members of the press 40 minutes of Deadpool & Wolverine ahead of the film’s press junket. The idea, presumably, is to give us enough context to talk about in interviews without spoiling any of the big surprises. Because of that, what I wasn’t expecting was that the first 40 minutes actually has a bunch of big, big surprises in it. From the very first scene, you will instantly be shocked at how far this movie is willing to go, and how focused and smart its commentary is. Especially if you’re a huge Marvel movie fan.

It’s weird to write about just the first 40 minutes of a movie but, when it’s something as highly anticipated as Deadpool & Wolverine, it seems worth it. Obviously though, you can’t review a movie by its first third, so we’ll end with this: the first 40 min of Deadpool & Wolverine are a tiny bit confusing and even a little clunky, but we loved them anyway. If the next 80 minutes continue to build off those at the same pace as is suggested, this could be a very special movie. We have a feeling, when those credits roll, small issues at the beginning could be wiped clean by big swings at the end.

Full reviews for Deadpool & Wolverine go up Tuesday July 22. We’ll have one for you then. It’s in theaters July 26.

Prime Video’s sequel series Sausage Party: Foodtopia — which drops all eight episodes of its first season July 11th — picks up after the cataclysm at Shopwell’s. Food has defeated its human oppressors to become “the dominant species on planet Earth.”

Trailer: https://youtu.be/JrmC2uJXsMM

DreamWorks Animation has announced that “Shrek 5″ is officially in development, with a far, far away release date of July 1, 2026. Original “Shrek” stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz are all confirmed to return.

Antonio Banderas’ return as the feisty feline Puss in Boots is not yet confirmed. “Shrek 5” will be directed by Walt Dohrn, who served as a writer and artist on “Shrek 2” and “Shrek the Third,” and as head of story on “Shrek Forever After,” in which he also voiced Rumpelstiltskin. “Shrek 5” will be produced by franchise returner Gina Shay and Illumination founder Chris Meledandri; Brad Ableson serves as co-director.

Murphy let it slip in June that he had already begun voice recording for the film and will next do a Donkey spinoff movie.

“We started doing [‘Shrek 5’] months ago,” Murphy told Collider. “I did this. I recorded the first act, and we’ll be doing it this year, we’ll finish it up. ‘Shrek’ is coming out and Donkey’s gonna have his own movie. We’re gonna do Donkey as well. So we’re gonna do a ‘Shrek,’ and we’re doing a Donkey [movie].”

• Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
• The Bear (Hulu)
• Diarra from Detroit (BET+)
• Doctor Who (Disney+)
• Fantasmas (HBO)
• Hacks (Max)
• John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in L.A. (Netflix)
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Prime Video)
• Queenie (Hulu)
• Ripley (Netflix)
• Shogun (Hulu)
• The Sympathizer (HBO)
• True Detective: Night Country (HBO)
• We Are Lady Parts (Peacock)
• Welcome to Wrexham (FX)

J.G. Quintel’s new “Regular Show” and Craig McCracken’s “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends” spin-off both feature in a new production slate from Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe.

Unveiled Wednesday at Annecy, they join a new “Adventure Time” series, “Side Quests,” as greenlights at the Warner-owned companies.

The news slate also boasts two more “Adventure Time” shows in development, plus an unannounced Scooby-Doo project.