The Marvel Cinematic Universe constructed an empire on minor characters, proving that robust execution and an overarching model may elevate once-fringe figures like Black Widow or the Guardians of the Galaxy into franchise mainstays. (With A-list IP like Spider-Man and the X-Males leased out to different studios on the time, this was partly out of necessity.) However even by Marvel’s personal requirements, the Disney+ present “Agatha All Alongside” marks the deepest of deep cuts. Kathryn Hahn’s title character, a witch who survived Salem solely to run afoul of Elizabeth Olsen’s grief-stricken Wanda Maximoff in Marvel Studios’ TV debut “WandaVision,” has by no means even headlined a comic book guide of her personal. Agatha obtained her personal spinoff virtually solely on the power of Hahn’s scene-stealing efficiency — which is why the sooner sequence, not Marvel Comics, is credited as “Agatha All Alongside’s” supply materials.

That method pays off within the nine-episode sequence, a magical quest that takes its tonal cues from Hahn’s huge, brassy, cock-eyed efficiency. (Critics screened 4 episodes upfront.) Marvel has been in one thing of a inventive and monetary droop as of late, with viewers fatigued by an more and more interchangeable, interconnected onslaught of output. Created by “WandaVision” chief Jac Schaeffer, “Agatha All Alongside”  has a definite style and really feel, with a minimal of Marvel lore required to affix the enjoyable. All you really want to know is that the occasions of “WandaVision” have left Agatha powerless, memory-wiped and trapped within the idyllic suburb of Westview. Different correct nouns, just like the Darkhold, may be safely tuned out. MacGuffins aren’t the purpose right here.

The purpose, as an alternative, is constructing a playground expansive sufficient to comprise Hahn’s shamelessly egocentric, domineering Agatha, a protagonist unburdened by ethical obligations or so-large-they’re-meaningless stakes like saving the world. Agatha’s mission is easy, and if the worldbuilding round MCU witchcraft feels slapdash or hand-waved, that’s as a result of it’s clearly subordinate to a better purpose: assembling a solid and staging setpieces to enhance an vitality partaking sufficient to construct a present round. Hahn has spent her profession balancing comedian supporting roles (“Step Brothers,” “Dangerous Mothers”) with delicate, sensual lead performances (“Mrs. Fletcher,” “Tiny Lovely Issues”). With “Agatha,” the actor’s wackier facet lastly will get to take middle stage.

The sequence premiere makes for a sluggish begin, as a result of it’s basically a speed-run of “WandaVision”: a witch trapped in an phantasm, a number of steps behind an viewers that’s nicely conscious Agatha isn’t truly a straight-talking, small-town cop named Agnes. (Even the plain allusions to a small-screen trope — let’s name it “Mare of Easttown”-core — are straight out of its sitcom-scrambling predecessor.) It’s nonetheless nice enjoyable to observe “Agatha All Alongside” tug on the edges of this manufactured actuality, as when “Agnes” drop-kicks a suspect off his interrogation chair or Aubrey Plaza drops in for some PG-13 rated sexual rigidity, smirking traces like “If you wish to be in management, you may be.” And by the episode’s finish, we’re handled to a reawakened, righteously indignant Agatha stomping stark-naked throughout her garden. The witch’s magic remains to be MIA, however her perspective is nicely and really again.

The second episode is the true table-setter, explaining Disney’s resolution to debut each installments without delay earlier than switching to a once-a-week launch mannequin. Not solely is Agatha defenseless, she’s additionally being pursued by mysterious adversaries, together with Plaza’s true, dagger-wielding kind. (Shock: her character’s not likely the FBI agent she seems to be in Agatha’s spell-addled thoughts!) Agatha kills two birds with one stone by gathering a coven to embark on the Witches’ Highway, a legendary path that rewards those that survive it with their coronary heart’s want. Conveniently, her ill-wishers can’t observe her there.

The coven in query are an Avengers of working TV actresses over the age of 35. Broadway legend Patti Lupone performs dotty clairvoyant Lilia, liable to sudden outbursts of prophetic perception; “SNL” alum Sasheer Zamata will get her Goop on because the crystal-hawking, potion-brewing Jennifer Kale; Debra Jo Rupp reprises her “WandaVision” function as a clueless neighbor conscripted into a job she doesn’t perceive, however blithely rolls with anyway. Every witch corresponds with a pure ingredient in addition to a specific type of magic, like Ali Ahn’s “safety witch” Alice. Once more, the small print are much less essential than the pleasure of watching the group — together with Patti! — get away into track. It’s not as a lot of a banger because the sequence’ namesake, however there’s a stunning ballad that proves central to the plot (and with lyrics that function episode titles).

“Agatha All Alongside” has a humorousness that’s a marked change of tempo from the MCU’s quippy, Joss Whedon-influenced home model. The primary stopping level on the Highway is a Nancy Meyers fantasy that turns right into a wine-fueled, tastefully impartial home of horrors, and when a sinkhole begins to assert Rupp’s purse, she snaps, “That is from Talbot’s, and you’ll’t have it!” The temper is extra referential and camp-adjacent than its franchise friends. In different phrases, it’s extra homosexual, a mode that’s shortly matched with substance. (The vitality between Hahn and Plaza is decidedly not platonic.) Agatha even will get a homosexual groupie (Joe Locke) to observe her round, an amusing meta-commentary on Hahn’s real-life fan base. A type of curse conceals the child’s true identification, so everybody simply calls him Teen.

Even when the mechanics of its story aren’t solely clear to the viewers, “Agatha All Alongside” is rarely lower than completely pleasurable. There’s a way of enjoyable, to not point out constant episodic construction, within the coven’s journey down the Highway, punctuated by Agatha’s tantrums and waystations set-designed to the gills. (After the seaside home, the second cease is a ‘70s recording studio straight out of “Daisy Jones & the Six.”) It’s the uncommon Marvel mission that feels justified not by its function in some yearslong grasp plan, however its personal inventive potential. Even in her diminished state, Agatha remains to be able to some enchantment.

The primary two episodes of “Agatha All Alongside” at the moment are out there to stream on Disney+, with remaining episodes airing weekly on Wednesdays.

Chris Columbus has directed a number of the most iconic youngster performances in film historical past because the filmmaker behind “Residence Alone” and the primary two “Harry Potter” movies, and his tip for locating the appropriate youngsters is to verify they’ve the appropriate mother and father. Columbus sat down with Demi Lovato for her Hulu documentary “Little one Star” (through Leisure Weekly) and mentioned that his expertise with Macaulay Culkin‘s stardom within the wake of “Residence Alone” knowledgeable his casting search on “Harry Potter.”

“We went from capturing ‘Residence Alone’ [where] no person cared, however in the middle of a 12 months, Macaulay Culkin turned an enormous star, and that was sudden,” Columbus mentioned. “It’s not like ‘Harry Potter,’ the place you understand that it might be terribly profitable. … I got here from a working-class household, and I’ve seen it a few occasions with youngsters whenever you see somebody who comes from a working class household, and out of the blue they’re thrown into — the child turns into the breadwinner for the household.”

Columbus realized from the beginning that his “Harry Potter” casting search was being intently watched by the whole world, explaining: “I needed to put blinders on as a result of that’s all I used to be listening to all over the place. You go on the road, you go right into a pub, you go anyplace, and persons are saying, ‘Who’re you gonna forged? Who’s gonna be Harry Potter, who’s gonna be Harry Potter?’ You’re taking that info and also you carry it again to the actor and the actor’s mother and father: ‘That is gonna get fairly intense.’”

The filmmaker “felt an incredible duty” to verify whichever youngster actors he was casting within the “Harry Potter” franchise “knew what they had been moving into” as stars like Daniel Radcliffe had been required to signal on for a number of movies without delay.

“That’s the remainder of your life as a baby star,” Columbus mentioned. “That’s gonna be your legacy, and it’s important to learn to reside with that.”

Columbus was not conscious in the course of the making of “Residence Alone” that Culkin was coping with a troubled household life at residence. The actor has lengthy been outspoken in regards to the abuse he endured by the hands of his father, as soon as telling podcaster Marc Maron: “He was a foul man. He was abusive, bodily and mentally — I can present you all my scars if I wished to.” The moment stardom from “Residence Alone” didn’t combine nicely with Culkin’s troubled household life, so it was essential for Columbus to search out youngsters for “Harry Potter” who had a stable basis at residence.

“Abruptly, I spotted that oldsters needed to be a giant a part of it,” Columbus instructed Lovato within the documentary. “I can’t have [an actor] go residence to a extremely kind of shaky surroundings for the sake of a movie. It’s not value it. It was as essential to forged the mother and father because it was to forged the children.”

“Little one Star” is now streaming on Hulu.

Recent off her Emmy win, “The Bear” star Liza Colón-Zayas is hitting the marketing campaign path for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

Colón-Zayas, in addition to “Within the Heights” star Anthony Ramos, will be a part of Gov. Walz at a rally specializing in Latino voters on Sept. 21 in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania.

It was simply days in the past that Colón-Zayas grew to become the primary Latina to win the Emmy for greatest supporting actress in a comedy for her work as Tina in FX’s “The Bear.” The class additionally included Hannah Einbinder (“Hacks”), Meryl Streep (“Solely Murders within the Constructing”), Sheryl Lee Ralph (“Abbott Elementary”), Janelle James (“Abbott Elementary) and Carol Burnett (“Palm Royale”).

Colón-Zayas delivered an emotional acceptance speech, ending with a push for folks to go to the poll field. “All of the Latinas who’re taking a look at me, maintain believing and vote,” she stated. “Vote in your rights. Thanks. Thanks. Gracias.”

Grammy profitable Ramos joined the vp final yr throughout her monthlong “For our Freedoms” tour at a cease at Florida Worldwide College in Miami.

The Harris-Walz marketing campaign introduced final week that it was launching elevated efforts to achieve Latino voters throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, together with spending $3 million in adverts on Spanish language radio.

In the meantime, Jane Fonda is campaigning for Harris by door-knocking in Michigan. The Oscar winner was proven in a video posted on X by Kamala for Michigan on Wednesday hugging an Ann Arbor resident.

Advertisement

Fonda stated, “I’ve by no means executed it for a president, however that is most essential. We’ve to, must, must get [Harris and Walz] elected.”

John Leguizamo jokes that if Kamala Harris is elected, “it’s a celebration” in Hollywood.

“Productions will go loopy. They’ll greenlight the whole lot. All the things will get a sequel. If it goes the opposite approach … it’s going to be mad miserable.” pic.twitter.com/tU53NXXBSU

— Selection (@Selection) September 15, 2024

Talking to Selection on the purple carpet, John Leguizamo predicted that if Harris wins the White Home, “it’s a celebration [in] Hollywood.”

Advertisement

“Productions will go loopy,” he stated. They’ll greenlight the whole lot. All the things will get a sequel. If it goes the opposite approach … it’s going to be mad miserable.”

Benjamin G. Chew, who served as co-lead counsel for Johnny Depp in his defamation trial towards actor and former partner Amber Heard, will be a part of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP Enterprise Trial apply group.

Chew can be primarily based in Washington, D.C. and can be joined by colleagues Camille Vasquez, Leo Presiado, Andrew Crawford, Jessica Meyers and Samuel Moniz. All of them just lately moved to Sheppard Mullin from Brown Rudnick.

All six attorneys had been beforehand companions at Brown Rudnick, the place Chew co-chaired the Model and Status Administration Group.

Affiliate Honieh Udenka additionally joined the agency’s Enterprise Trial Apply Group from Brown Rudnick. 

“I’m excited to rejoin my workforce and proceed constructing on Sheppard Mullin’s stellar popularity as a litigation powerhouse,” Chew stated. “Our Model and Status Administration apply will profit from the agency’s full-service platform and deep trade experience.”

Chew is a revered lawyer who represents shoppers in advanced business litigation and disputes. He efficiently prosecuted two breaches of fiduciary responsibility circumstances for Depp and represented singer Cher in a number of circumstances, together with two associated to the Academy Award-nominated documentary “Edith & Eddie.”

He additionally represented the federal government of Dubai in securing the dismissal of Worldwide Bechtel’s petition to substantiate a multimillion-dollar arbitration award within the U.S. He received an EULEX legal trial in Kosovo on behalf of telecommunications entrepreneurs after passing the nation’s bar examination, permitting them to retain the profitable franchise.

Chew earned his B.A. from Princeton College and his J.D. from the College of Virginia Faculty of Regulation. He’s a Fellow of the American School of Trial Attorneys and teaches at Harvard Regulation Faculty’s trial advocacy workshop.

“Ben brings unparalleled trial expertise to the agency,” Luca Salvi, chair of Sheppard Mullin, stated in an announcement. “Along with his well-known litigation issues for Johnny Depp, he has represented heads of state, international governments and enterprise leaders in a wide range of issues throughout the globe. We’re delighted to have Ben and Honieh be a part of the agency and increase our Enterprise Trial apply.”

Shailene Woodley, “Star Trek” actor Zachary Quinto and “Euphoria” star Barbie Ferreira will lead the Broadway forged of “Cult of Love,” a play by “Star Wars: The Acolyte” and “Russian Doll” creator Leslye Headland.

Billed as an “equally heartwarming and heartbreaking new play concerning the issues that bind households collectively… or tear them aside,” the story takes place throughout the vacation season and follows the Dahls. Because the 4 grownup siblings return to their childhood house — with their companions in tow — the household resumes traditions like spontaneously singing carols in concord. However the gathering is something however harmonious. Because the official logline teases, “Outdated conflicts resurface, new points battled, and dinner is taking completely perpetually to be served. Will the love the Dahls have for one another be sufficient to get them by way of, or will this be their final Christmas collectively?”

“Cult of Love” will start previews on Nov. 20 on the Helen Hayes Theater forward of opening evening on Dec. 12. This manufacturing, directed by Journey Cullman (“Foyer Hero”), marks the Broadway debut of Headland, Woodley and Ferreria.

Woodley, an Emmy-nominated actor, is greatest identified for “Secret Lifetime of the American Teenager,” “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Large Little Lies,” whereas Ferreria has appeared within the films “Unpregnant” and Jordan Peele’s “Nope.” Quinto, who performed Spock within the “Star Trek” reboot and scored an Emmy nomination for “American Horror Story: Asylum,” has carried out on the Important Stem in exhibits together with “The Boys within the Band” and “The Glass Menagerie.”

They are going to be joined on stage by Molly Bernard (TV Land’s “Youthful”), Roberta Colindrez (Broadway’s “Enjoyable Residence”), Rebecca Henderson (“Star Wars: Acolyte”), Christopher Lowell (“Glow,” “How I Met Your Father”) and Christopher Sears (“Legislation & Order: Particular Victims Unit”). Extra casting shall be introduced at a later date.

“Cult of Love,” which had its world premiere at Berkeley Rep in January, will characteristic scenic design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by Sophia Choi, lighting design by Heather Gilbert, sound design by Darron L West and music supervision by Jacinth Greywoode. Casting is by Jim Carnahan, CSA and Liz Fraser, CSA.

Timothée Chalamet’s ping pong film is including a number of extra gamers.

Odessa A’zion (“Contemporary Kills,” “Hellraiser”) has joined the solid of “Marty Supreme,” from A24 and director Josh Safdie. Rounding out the solid are magician Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller), investor and “Shark Tank” persona Kevin O’Leary (aka Mr. Fantastic) and “Unhealthy Lieutenant” filmmaker Abel Ferrara.

Specifics about their roles are stored beneath wraps, however this motley crew joins beforehand introduced solid members Gwyneth Paltrow and Tyler, the Creator within the movie, which is claimed to be a couple of skilled desk tennis participant. Plot particulars are unknown, however A24 posted a picture of a ping pong ball with the phrases “coming quickly” after Selection broke information of the venture in July.

Safdie and Ronald Bronstein wrote the unique screenplay for “Marty Supreme” and produce alongside Eli Bush, Anthony Katagas, Chalamet and A24. Manufacturing kicks off within the fall.

A’zion’s credit embody Amazon Studios’ “Sitting in Bars With Cake” and tv’s “Grand Military” and “Ghosts.” Subsequent she’ll be seen within the online game adaptation “Till Daybreak,” “She Rides Shotgun,” “Nickels” and Rachel Sennott’s untitled HBO comedy sequence.

Alongside his silent magic accomplice Teller, Jillette has headlined on the Rio in Las Vegas since 2001. They’ve starred in TV exhibits together with “Penn & Teller: Idiot Us” and “Penn & Teller: Bullshit!,” and Jillette’s filmography as an actor additionally consists of “Hackers” and “Concern and Loathing in Las Vegas.” He has additionally appeared on “Buddies,” “Fashionable Household” and “The Movie star Apprentice.”

O’Leary takes on his first film function with “Marty Supreme.” Often known as Mr. Fantastic, O’Leary is a Canadian businessman greatest recognized for being the hard-shelled investor sitting middle stage on ABC’s “Shark Tank.” He has appeared as himself on different sequence together with “The Neighbors,” “Dr. Ken” and “Grace and Frankie.”

Ferrara is greatest often called the director behind gritty crime thrillers “The Driller Killer,” “Ms .45,” “King of New York” and “The Funeral.” He beforehand acted in Josh and Benny Safdie’s 2009 film “Daddy Longlegs,” in addition to a handful of his personal movies.

Safdie takes on his first solo characteristic directorial effort since 2008 with “Marty Supreme,” after hitting it large along with his brother Benny with “Uncut Gems” and “Good Time.” He just lately helmed Adam Sandler’s newest comedy particular for Netflix titled “Love You,” and he’s additionally working with Sandler on a separate film set on the planet of sports activities memorabilia and baseball.