The Deconstructing series looks back at the 2019 film Midsommar, directed by Ari Aster and starring Florence Pugh

Midsommar (watch it HERE) is a wild, bloody, psychedelic and disturbing display of horror- it’s a swelling anxiety that ebbs and flows through the screen and into your brain with every brightly colored frame. And, did I mention that it’s also a great breakup movie? Ari Aster has carved quite a name for himself into the horror cannon with three original features that all explore deep and intimate themes under the guise of what the kids are calling “Elevated Horror”- Which, honestly- might make sense for Aster. In his debut feature, Hereditary, Aster explored guilt and grief through a deeply flawed family who belongs to an ancient cult. In Beau is Afraid, he calls back to his family dynamic themes and tells a story of a man realizing his mother’s flaws while trying desperately to make her proud- And in Midsommar, Aster explores the falling out of a toxic relationship through the ritualistic practices of a Swedish cult. And today, we’re going to talk about it. I’m Kier with JoBlo Horror Originals- and you’re watching Deconstructing.

2019’s Midsommar follows Dani (played by Florence Pugh), a college girl who is left devastated by the news that her suicidal younger sister has just killed herself, and their two parents in a very sinister mass carbon monoxide poisoning. This (obviously) shakes Danny to the core and drives an increasingly bigger wedge in her relationship with her boyfriend, Christian (played by Jack Reynor). Christian is a selfish, but seemingly just pre-occupied boyfriend and is constantly looking for ways to minimize his time with Dani. But when Dani gets herself invited on a guys trip to Sweeden for the once-in-a-lifetime event of the Midsummer festival, their relationship, and wellbeing will be tested in ways more twisted and graphic than you could possibly be prepared for.

If you know this movie, you know what I mean what I say when I say that we’re about to get all the way into the guts of it. And my goal is to breakdown why this movie serves as a fantastic horror film, and an almost comforting and (dare I say) cozy breakup movie. I’m realizing now that that is a VERY tall order- but I’m up to it. So, today we’re going to breakdown the themes and occurrences of Midsommar and talk about why it stands as one of the most interesting “elevated horror” movies in recent history. Let’s go.

ORIGIN

The concept and title of Midsommar were originally brought to Aster as a traditional slasher film that would be set in the compound of a Swedish cult. Aster, being hot off of the success of Hereditary, didn’t see a way into the script that would make it interesting for him to take on. That was, of course, until Aster would go through a difficult breakup of his own which left his heart set on expressing those otherwise inaccessible feelings and spinning them into something with style, shock, and hours of entertainment. Around this time, Ari was already hard at work on penning a story about two American lovers whose already rocky relationship would reach peak turmoil while visiting a Swedish compound during Midsummer. This would allow for the story to have it’s slasher elements (and believe me, it does) while also providing an engaging look into a very unsteady relationship between two people who clearly want two different things. In fact, Aster has even gone on record stating that Midsommar is “A breakup movie dressed in the clothes of a folk horror film.” Which plays more on the movie’s rewatch when the shocking imagery is less surprising and attention pulling.

Filming began in Budapest in July 2018 and went on until October that same year. With initial filming being done in the sweltering heat of the summer, wasps and bees were a common nuisance on set and would frequently cause already complicated tasks like directing hundreds of extras, actors, and crew- to be even more difficult with insects crashing the shoot. And all while going through an actual difficult breakup in real life. Yikes. Most reports of working on the film are ultimately positive while by all accounts challenging and not without its less glamorous moments. All things to be expected if you’re looking to make your audience authentically uncomfortable.

The film wrapped near the end of 2018 and was swiftly edited and released in time for summer blockbuster season in July of 2019.

THE HORROR

Now, this movie doesn’t hold anything back when it comes to the horror piece of it. The very opening scene is exactly the kind of shit that makes you perk up in your theater seat and try to chock down the lump it puts in your throat. We see the murder/suicide of Dani’s family and Dani’s gut-wrenching reaction which still sends chills down my spine. Very much the same kind of energy as Toni Collette in Hereditary. It’s rough to watch but by God does it make for a good hook to the story. Once in Sweden, the American crew and their friend/guide Pelle begin experiencing the horrors that await them right away, but slowly.

Dani has a bad trip after taking mushrooms on the first day and this brings her straight into panic mode. A feeling that she will not be able to shake for the rest of the film. Of course, probably the most horrifying scene in this film comes from one of the festival rituals that celebrates the passing of your physical life into your spiritual life. I mean, there are so many ways to fuck up my day but this scene here… It’s a special kind of deranged. Not to mention the subtle anxiety you feel from the constantly moving cult members in the background of the film that very carefully add context-clues and information to the story. There’s a show going on in the background of almost every scene that you’re kind of not supposed to notice but your brain is registering. The constant movement just out of focus creates a sense of restlessness and action that contradicts the slow burn pace of the movie. It’s what gives you that tingling sensation in your spine when you watch it.

To balance out the horror, we have characters like Mark (played brilliantly by Will Poulter) who provides comic relief and a sense of comfort in the sense that he feels like a classic side-character in a slasher film. He’s the one who’s just there to party and hook up with weird cultist chicks. Then there’s Josh (played by William Jackson Harper) who really feels like he should have been more important in this movie. He just works, it’s hard to explain.

THE BREAKUP

There are moments of horror throughout the movie that make it easy to classify as just that- a horror. Which, it definitely fucking is. I saw a dude literally get sewn into a bear carcass and burned alive… so.

Just like Sydney and Billy, this is a breakup that will be remembered by horror fans for a very long time. Christian and Dani are clearly drifting apart from each other from the very beginning. Just before Dani gets the news about her family, she calls Christian for support, and he blows her off to hang out with the boys. This is understandable, as Christian is clearly not serious about his feelings for Dani- but even after she gets the news and her entire life is torn apart, he seems eager to skip the grieving process and brush her feelings aside. Not to mention his growing disinterest once they get to the festival. At first, Dani doesn’t even seem to notice that Christian isn’t into her. And if she does notice, she certainly doesn’t care at first. But through their intense and unique experiences at Midsummer, she evolves past her need for Christian’s approval and validation and finally accepts that she is the one who decides how far the relationship goes.

Dani as our central character comes into her own by the end. Her arc is not that different from say, Jason Segal in Forgetting Sarah Marshall with our protagonist accepting that they never really liked what they had to begin with, and letting it go on their own terms. The difference being that her version of closure is to watch Christian die brutally (yet, poetically) as she takes her place as May Queen at the festival. A true coming of age ending for a true horror final girl.

THE X-FACTOR

This movie is challenging to narrow down because it’s one that isn’t quite as rewatchable as something like Halloween or Scream, but it’s also something that seems to stick with you- and that’s what I’m looking for. So to me, it’s simple. This movie’s X-Factor is the fact that despite contradicting the concept of slashers by focusing on character development, not having the killers be a secret, taking place mostly during the day, and even focusing on the romantic disenchantment of the main characters over the horrific cult activity going on right in front of the camera- It somehow STILL feels like a classic horror movie with all the good, bad, and bloody elements that come with it.

Folks, that’s a wrap on Midsommar and I must say, this movie is strongly recommended for anyone that wants a little something different for their next movie night.

A couple of the previous episodes of Deconstructing… can be seen below,. To see more episodes, and to check out our other shows, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!

Neither the big budget reboot of The Crow nor Zoe Kravitz’s Blink Twice are expected to make much of a dent this weekend.

It’s official – the dog days of summer are here. The end of August is always notorious as a dumping ground for movies studios can’t muster all that much enthusiasm for, and this week seems no exception. As such, neither Lionsgate’s new adaptation of The Crow nor WB’s Blink Twice (which used to have a much more provocative title) are expected to drum up much business.

At one time, The Crow was seen as a potential blockbuster, with it having a solid director in Rupert Sanders, who also directed Snow White and the Huntsman. Yet, the buzz has been almost uniformly negative, with it seeming that the movie’s chances of success have been going steadily downhill since the release of the first images of Bill Skarsgard as the titular character. While it’s possible that the movie might not be as bad as folks expect, it’s going to face an uphill battle at the box office, with the property itself never really having any huge breakout successes other than the iconic first film starring Brandon Lee. Following Borderlands, it seems to be another dismal failure for Lionsgate, and we’re expecting an opening in the $7 million range, which should land it in fifth place this weekend.

It will likely be beaten by Blink Twice, Zoe Kravitz‘s directorial debut. In addition to an atypical turn for co-star Channing Tatum, the movie also benefits from its low $20 million budget, and the early reviews have been pretty good. This should make about $9 million, and after VOD, it may even eke out something of a profit.

First place at the box office will likely go to Alien: Romulus, which would probably see an $18 million weekend. Second place will go to Deadpool & Wolverine, which should make about $16 million (it could pull an upset and take first place from Romulus), while It Ends With Us will pass the $100 million mark with an $11 million weekend.

Here are my predictions:

1. Alien: Romulus: $18 million
2. Deadpool & Wolverine: $16 million
3. It Ends With Us: $11 million
4. Blink Twice: $9 million
5. The Crow: $7 million

Do you think The Crow will fly higher than I’m expecting? Let us know in the comments!

Years ago, Warner Bros. had allowed a potential Rush Hour sequel to be licensed by another studio and Lionsgate may pick it up.

The Rush Hour trilogy has been seen as one of the late 90s/early 2000s best buddy cop comedies with martial arts icon Jackie Chan pairing his brand of action and humor with Chris Tucker’s own brand of fast-talking comedy. The 1998 original successfully crossed Chan over into American productions, while catapulting Chris Tucker to superstardom and made Brett Ratner Hollywood’s new hotshot director. Last year, Tucker has talked about the potential of Rush Hour 4 finally manifesting when he said, “You’re going to see a lot of good stuff coming, but it’s going to be on a whole other level. That’s what I like… I’m excited about that. It’s not going to be what you’ve normally seen… Rush Hour 4, that’s something I definitely will probably drop in there because I love working with Jackie, but I’ve got some new stuff that I think you’re really gonna like. I’m excited about it.”

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that years ago, Warner Bros., who had distributed the trilogy from their New Line Cinema label, had allowed a new sequel to be licensed elsewhere. Earlier this year, Lionsgate, which hit big in the past with their own action franchise John Wick, held a meeting to see what potential projects they were interested in greenlighting. Rush Hour 4 was one of the titles that was looked at. There is one stipulation that is making the executives hesitate — Brett Ratner is part of the pitch as the film’s producer and director. Working with Ratner is something the studio is taking the time to consider since the director has laid low for the past seven years, ever since he had been accused of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment in 2017.

Ratner has denied the allegations and no charges were ever brought against him. However, his agency had dropped him and he hasn’t directed since. According to THR, in an email with Ratner where the matter was inquired, the director said that the claims were filled with “gross inaccuracies” and refused to comment more on the matter. A couple of years ago, Chan would reveal at the Red Sea Film Festival that talks were taking place for a new sequel, “We’re talking about part 4 right now.” He even went on to add that he would be meeting with the director that night. However, Chan did not reveal if he was specifically talking about Ratner.

After the short update, Chan would go on to reminisce about how he had to be talked into doing the first film since his few attempts to break into Hollywood would not go optimally for him. “I tried so many times to go to Hollywood, but after that, I said no more Hollywood because my English is not good, they’re not my culture, they don’t like this kind of action. My manager said look, there’s a script, and it’s called Rush Hour. I said no, Hong Kong police? I’m not going to do it. He said Jackie, why don’t you try last time. I said okay, this is the last time.”

About the Author

E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.

Kelly Reilly, best known for playing Beth Dutton on Yellowstone, is set to star in the crime thriller series Under Salt Marsh

The hit Paramount Network series Yellowstone will soon be coming to an end, and while Kelly Reilly is expected to reprise the role of Beth Dutton on the follow-up series that’s now going by the title The Madison, that’s not the only project she has lined up for the immediate future. The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that Reilly is also set to star in the Sky Original crime thriller series Under Salt Marsh, which is expected to start filming later this year.

Written, created, and executive produced by Claire Oakley (Make Up), who will also direct the series, Under Salt Marsh is set in the fictional Welsh town of Morfa Halen, a tight-knit community nestled between mountains and a fast-encroaching sea that threatens its very existence. As a once-in-a-generation storm begins to gather far out at sea, former detective turned teacher Jackie Ellis (Reilly) discovers the body of her eight-year-old pupil, Cefin, seemingly drowned. The discovery sends shockwaves through the community, reviving the ghost of an unsolved cold case that rocked the town three years prior — the disappearance of Jackie’s niece, Nessa, which cost her career.

Oakley provided the following statement: “Under Salt Marsh is a crime thriller set in a community deeply connected to its environment, and interwoven with the heartache, fears, dreams and secrets of its people. At the heart of it all is Jackie, a character who embodies the wildness of the place we’re depicting. She’s free-spirited, compassionate, and determined, with a steely resolve that makes her truly of the land. We’re absolutely thrilled to have Kelly Reilly bringing Jackie to life.“

The series is being produced by Little Door Productions, in association with Sky Studios. Oakley wrote the scripts alongside Jonathan Harbottle and Nikita Lalwani. Oakley is also the lead director, with Mary Nighy on board to direct the third and fourth episodes. The Hollywood Reporter informs us that Under Salt Marsh will be available on Sky and the streaming service Now in the U.K., Ireland, and Italy. NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution will handle the international sales.

How does Under Salt Marsh sound to you? Are you a fan of Kelly Reilly, and are you looking forward to this crime thriller series? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Actors Dennis Quaid and Penelope Ann Miller discuss starring in the upcoming Ronald Reagan biopic.

The Dennis Quaid-led biopic of Ronald Reagan is one of those movies I feel like I’ve been hearing about forever. While it’s been in the planning stages for years, it first really started to pick up steam in 2019 when director Sean McNamara (Soul Surfer) signed on to helm the film, along with the great Dennis Quaid to play the famed 40th President of the United States.

Shot at the height of the pandemic in 2020, the film has spent a good chunk of time in post-production. I’ve been seeing posters of it at CinemaCon since 2021. Yet, the movie is now set for release, and star Dennis Quaid has been open about how pleased he is with the finished product, calling it his favorite movie of his own since The Right Stuff.

In the lead-up to the film’s release, we had the chance to sit and talk with Quaid and his co-star Penelope Ann Miller, who plays Nancy Reagan. Quaid has made no secret of the fact that he’s always looked up to Reagan and considered him his favorite president. In our chat, he discusses why he was very reluctant to take the role, and also didn’t want the movie to be pure hagiography, a sentiment which is echoed by Miller. In fact, she even reveals that her family actually knew the Reagans, making her casting in the film somewhat fated. Finally, I also told Quaid that, coincidently, I had just attended a screening of The Substance, which he co-stars in, before doing this interview. He seemed happy about the fact that two movies he seems genuinely excited about are coming out so close together.

Reagan, which co-stars Jon Voight, opens in theaters on August 30th.

The football star, who has made headlines with his better-half Taylor Swift, is now breaking into more acting roles.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is gearing up for the new season, but his off-season activities are heating up ever since he catapulted to fame (above the Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes) with his crossover appeal as he and pop superstar Taylor Swift made headlines as a couple. Kelce is already set to make his acting debut in the upcoming Ryan Murphy horror series Grotesquerie. The NFL star will be starring alongside Niecy Nash-Betts, Courtney B. Vance and Lesley Manville in the new FX show. Grotesquerie finds Murphy reuniting with his normal run of collaborators Jon Robin Baitz and Joe Baken.

According to Deadline, Adam Sandler, who frequently works with sports figures in his movies, has found a small cameo role for Kelce in the upcoming Netflix sequel, Happy Gilmore 2. Sandler appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon when he talked about cameos as he writes the sequel with longtime SNL collaborator Tim Herlihy. Sandler stated, “We have a nice something for Travis. He’s gonna come by.” Sandler continues to profess, “He’s a very nice guy. You guys would love him in real life. What a big, handsome guy. Funny and cool as hell. He’s a stud and he’s so funny.”

However, Kelce’s biggest project may be an action film from the creative team behind the John Wick franchise. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Kelce is in talks to star in Loose Cannons. The film is being developed at Lionsgate, which may also potentially produce a Rush Hour 4, with John Wick director Chad Stahelski producing with Jason Spitz, who is his partner at their stunt-centric production company 87Eleven Entertainment, as well as Alex Young. Tim Dowling, whose screenwriting credits include the Adam Sandler comedy Just Go With It, penned the script for Loose Cannons.

Per THR, the concept of the film “centers on how every police precinct, at least in this movie’s world, has a crazy, out of control, rule-breaking officer on staff. But rather than pair them with a straight arrow and by-the-book partner, the premise here is that an unhinged person is paired with someone just as out of line as they are. In Cannons, two loose cannons are forced to partner up after their precincts merge due to budget cuts and no one wants to work with them. The duo end up taking on the cases no one else can. The script is described as having tones of Lethal Weapon, Bad Boys and Rush Hour, all landmarks in the buddy action comedy genres.”

About the Author

E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.

Netflix has officially given the greenlight to a new Ghostbusters animated series, executive produced by Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan

Two years ago, we heard that Ghostbusters: Afterlife writer/director Jason Reitman and his co-writer Gil Kenan (who ended up directing Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) would be executive producing a new Ghostbusters animated series for the Netflix streaming service. Now Variety has broken the news that Netflix has officially given a greenlight to this series, and Elliott Kalan has boarded the project as writer, showrunner, and executive producer. Kalan has previously worked as the head writer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, wrote for the Netflix revival of Mystery Science Theater 3000, co-hosts the podcast The Flop House, and wrote the Marvel comic book series Spider-Man and the X-Men.

Plot details are still under wraps, but Variety’s sources have told them that “the 3D animated series will be tonally in line with the recent Ghostbusters films.” It’s also not clear which characters this show will be focusing on.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife starred Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, and Mckenna Grace as a family with single mom Callie and her two kids, Trevor and Phoebe, who move into a beaten-down farmhouse in Oklahoma only to discover that there’s something strange in the neighborhood. Unexplained quakes shake the town. There’s an old mine nearby that bears the name of Ivo Shandor, who built the Manhattan high-rise in the 1984 film that channeled the forces of evil. By the end of that film, the family had learned that Callie’s father was the late Ghostbuster Egon Spengler.

Callie, Trevor, and Phoebe, along with Paul Rudd as Callie’s love interest Gary Grooberson, were Ghostbusters based out of the team’s original New York firehouse HQ in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. The Spengler family returns to the iconic New York City firehouse where the original Ghostbusters have taken ghost-busting to the next level. When the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must unite to protect their home and save the world from a second ice age. Coon, Wolfhard, Grace, and Rudd starred in these films with original Ghostbusters stars Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, and Annie Potts, along with fellow new additions Celeste O’Connor as Trevor’s friend Lucky and Logan Kim as Phoebe’s friend Podcast.

This new Ghostbusters animated series is coming our way from Sony Pictures Animation, with, as mentioned, Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan executive producing for Ghost Corps, Inc. Production on the series will be handled by Netflix and Ghost Corps, Inc., which is based at Sony’s Columbia Pictures.

Are you glad to hear that we’ll be getting a new Ghostbusters animated series from Netflix? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Hellboy creator Mike Mignola has “mixed feelings” about previous movies, but The Crooked Man is the comic-accurate take he always wanted.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man will serve as yet another reboot of the iconic paranormal investigator created by Mike Mignola. However, this serves as the first Hellboy movie that Mignola has been majorly involved in from the very beginning, and he told GamesRadar that although he has “mixed feelings” about the previous movies, he’s pretty pumped about The Crooked Man.

“So often, I would come in late on projects where somebody else had already put the pieces together in a way that didn’t quite fit,” Mignola said. “And this time, I got a chance to say, ‘We’re going to do The Crooked Man, we’re going to stick to that story.’ We need to add a little bit of backstory. So we borrowed it from one other story so we didn’t have to make up new stuff.“

Mignola continued, saying they tried to “stick as much as possible to The Crooked Man [comic], because not only is it my favourite story, it has most of my favourite Hellboy moments. So the idea of actually trying to get that stuff on screen was really exciting.” He also praised director Brian Taylor for pulling moments straight from the comic: “Almost every day was amazement of, ‘Oh my god that looks like that, this looks like this. Oh my god, they used the same angle for that shot.’ It really was that amazing thing of seeing your work brought to life.“

As for the previous Hellboy movies, Mignola said, “Every one of them has been a very different experience. But as somebody who’s had mixed feelings about the earlier films, the one lesson I learned is if I can get in at the very beginning, and at some point you know you’re gonna lose – I mean you never have control but you feel like you have control at the beginning and then you hope that somebody doesn’t take apart the thing you built. That happens.” Although the last Hellboy movie didn’t exactly impress critics, I’d say that Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy movies are quite beloved; that said, as the creator of the character, Mignola is perfectly within his rights to feel as though those movies didn’t quite capture what he wanted.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man will see “Hellboy and a rookie BPRD agent stranded in 1950s rural Appalachia. There, they discover a small community haunted by witches, led by a local devil with a troubling connection to Hellboy’s past: the Crooked Man. In the comic, The Crooked Man was an eighteenth-century miser and war profiteer named Jeremiah Witkins who was hanged for his crimes yet returned from Hell as the region’s resident Devil.” The film will be released later this year.

M. Night Shyamalan says studio marketed Unbreakable as another Sixth Sense because they were too afraid to describe it as a comic-book movie.

After the massive success of The Sixth Sense, M. Night Shyamalan released Unbreakable, a thriller that is now regarded by many as one of the best comic-book movies ever made. However, at the time of its release, the studio was too afraid to market it as such.

While speaking with GQ, Shyamalan reflected on the studio’s choice to market Unbreakable as another horror/thriller rather than the comic-book movie it clearly was. “If you deny what it is because you’re afraid of it being different, then you’re stealing all of its strength,” Shyamalan said. “They were like, ‘We had one of the biggest movies of all time and the same two people are making another movie. Let’s make it look like that movie.’ As opposed to what it was, which was the beginning of an entire genre. They didn’t realize it because they were too scared to say the words ‘comic book.’“

Shyamalan recalled the studio believing that no one would want to see a movie about a comic book. “In my mind, it was a movie that was, ‘The guy is in a crash, an accident where everyone dies except him, and he doesn’t have a scratch on him, and someone says, ‘I know why that happened. You’re a real-life superhero,’” he said. “That’s the movie, but that was never said or sold.“

Although Unbreakable was a success, it didn’t quite reach the same heights as The Sixth Sense, which Shyamalan believes was due to the marketing. “Other people were coming and going, ‘That wasn’t scary,’” Shyamalan said. “And I was like, ‘Who said it was going to be that? Who said it was going to be scary?’ And so, [I learned] a really interesting lesson about, if I am going to be the purveyor of original stories for my life, I have to get partners that understand that we’re going to reinvent every single time, and we should celebrate that.” The film would go on to develop a large cult following and even spawned two sequels years later, Split and Glass.

Trap, the director’s latest film, is now playing in theaters, and in true Shyamalan tradition, it’s received some rather divisive reviews. Our own Tyler Nichols wasn’t a big fan, although he did find a few elements to enjoy. “Despite my negativity in this review, I didn’t outright hate Trap,” Nichols wrote. “The performances from both Hartnett and Pill are worth the price of admission. I could watch those two act in an empty room and be entertained. I’m just sick of Shyamalan creating these great concepts and being so incapable of sticking the landing. For every great moment in Trap, there’s an illogical one that feels like it was written by a teenager. Unless something changes, I think I may be done with Shyamalan in the theater.” You can check out the rest of his review right here.

Would Unbreakable have been more successful if it were marketed as a comic-book movie from day one?

Jared Padalecki joins Fire Country season 3 for a guest-starring role, but it could lead to his own spin-off series.

Deadline reports that Jared Padalecki is set to make his return to television as he’s been tapped to guest-star on CBS’ Fire Country for a three-episode arc. Although it’s still very early, it’s possible that this guest spot could lead to Padalecki starring in a new Fire Country spin-off.

Padalecki will play Camden, “a SoCal firefighter and maverick with a surfer swagger who is a force to be reckoned with and immediately recognizes Bode’s (Max Thieriot) raw talent.” That does sound like a character with spin-off written all over him, unless, of course, he has to return to his home planet. Padalecki has spent the last four years starring in Walker for The CW, but the series was cancelled earlier this year, leaving him with some free time.

Fire Country revolves around a young convict who joins a firefighting program looking for redemption and a shortened prison sentence. He and other inmates work alongside elite firefighters to extinguish massive blazes across the region. The potential Jared Padalecki spin-off wouldn’t be the first for Fire Country, as CBS gave a series order to Sherrif Country earlier this year, with Morena Baccarin attached to lead.

Although nothing is official, there’s a very good chance that Padalecki will be making an appearance in the fifth and final season of The Boys. The Prime Video series has already seen several major Supernatural stars turn up, including Jensen Ackles, Jim Beavers, Jeffrey Dead Morgan, and Rob Benedict. Eric Kripke, creator of Supernatural and The Boys, expressed his desire for Padalecki to appear on the show, and the actor confirmed in June that “The answer is yes.“

“We have talked [about a role]. As a matter of fact, we talked today,” Padalecki continued. “I think at this point in my acting life, I only want to work on projects that I really care about or with people that I really care about, and obviously Eric and I are indelibly connected forever…I mean, he created Supernatural. He created Sam Winchester. He created Ruby [Genevieve Padalecki], who I ended up marrying and starting a family with. I adore him. I adore his humor. I adore him as a person, his storytelling. So I can’t wait. I don’t think [Season 5] films until next year, but I will be ready when he makes the phone call. I’ll just say ‘Okay, when am I flying out?’“