Jordana Brewster on Dwayne Johnson returning for 'Fast 11' after Vin Diesel feud: 'The more the merrier'

The leading man we didn't know we needed is a 50-year-old 'daddy' with a heart of gold

Yahoo

2 hours ago

Yahoo

The leading man we didn't know we needed is a 50-year-old 'daddy' with a heart of gold

Women love him. Men want to be him. Everyone can't wait to see what Pedro Pascal does next. He can play a romantic lead. He can steal scenes in prestige dramas. He can suit up for Marvel. And he can do it all in a way that makes women — and men — swoon. In the heat of summer blockbuster season, you can't miss Pedro Pascal at your movie theater. 'I'm everywherrrrrrrrrrrrrre 👥👥👥👥👥' Pascal playfully captioned a June Instagram post about one of his latest films, Eddington. And he's right. Right now, he's starring in three of the summer's most talked-about movies: Materialists, Eddington and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. His reign isn't limited to the big screen. In addition to dominating multiplexes, he nabbed another Emmy nomination for his role in The Last of Us and has continued to stir conversation about his fashion sense, viral interview responses and general sense of whimsy. It's a pivotal time for Pascal — a 50-year-old actor finally having the breakout moment he worked for his whole life, generating a rabid fan army that's passionate about his upbeat and empathetic persona. But being everywhere has its price. Pascal truly broke out in January 2023 when he starred as the morally complex post-apocalyptic father figure Joel in The Last of Us, which led to a Saturday Night Live hosting gig, which earned him an Emmy nomination and a key role in Gladiator II. As his stardom was reaching inferno levels ahead of the 2024 awards season, he got hurt tackling Paul Mescal while filming Gladiator II. Then, he got hurt again after falling down the stairs. Being in his late 40s, he couldn't recover as quickly as younger actors who were also breaking out as action heroes. Jason Walsh, Pascal's trainer who has also been his friend since 2014, tells Yahoo he saw Pascal go through 'a downward spiral.' 'When he came to me, he was like, 'I'm broken.' He was very vulnerable psychologically,' he said. Pascal, no stranger to the long road to stardom, began an excruciating journey to recovery. Walsh said he and the actor spent a full year just working on 'restabilizing' his body and helping him overcome the fear of being hurt again. Eventually, through setting small goals and working closely together, Pascal attained the strength needed to become a superhero and do most of his own stunts. 'It's one of my favorite stories, and it happened to a good friend … I'm really proud of him because these stories don't get told, because in the world of fitness, it's all about aesthetics,' Walsh says. 'He looks f***ing great, but this is his version of strength and resiliency. He's able to do all these things.' Yahoo reached out to Pascal's team for comment, but he wasn't able to respond due to his schedule. Walsh can't say enough kind things about Pascal, whom he called 'a beautiful person and so courageous' and 'super intelligent to the point where it's intimidating, in a way, but he doesn't rub your face in it.' Pascal's ability to, despite injury, challenge the masculinity norms for middle-aged men in Hollywood stands out to Walsh. 'There's a level of empathy, compassion and love [that is among the] many qualities you don't see in men anymore,' Walsh says. What his friends love about him is also what's won him such a supportive fanbase. That's part of the reason his ascension to superstar happened so swiftly. Once people knew about him, they couldn't get enough. He's just different. 'Vulnerability is a strength' It's no accident that Pascal is ascending at a time when 'toxic masculinity and nationalism' are converging, Deepak Sharma, a culture expert and professor at Case Western Reserve University who uses they/them pronouns, tells Yahoo. 'Pedro offers a kind of masculinity that isn't binary, and people love it,' Sharma explains. 'He presents himself in a way where you can't really pinpoint [his sexuality] … and you see him showing a vulnerable sensibility in his acting and daily life.' Masculinity norms in the Latino community can be even stricter than those in the general population. Pascal knows this firsthand — as the child of Chilean refugees, he has defied stereotypical machismo and advocated for gender equality long before the spotlight was shining brightly on him. Longtime fan Isabelle Deveaux, a 26-year-old who works in the film industry, first became obsessed with Pascal when he appeared in the first season of an FBI drama called Graceland, which premiered on the USA Network in 2013 — before mainstream media took an interest in him in Game of Thrones or The Mandalorian. She tells Yahoo that she tends to keep an eye out for Latinx people in Hollywood like herself. 'He just feels like Princess Diana to me right now. There's a video of him greeting fans out of a car in Mexico City, and I was like, 'That's literally Princess Diana greeting the masses,'' she says. 'He's been grinding for 25-plus years to get where he is, and it wasn't an easy path for him. … I don't think it's a trend. I think it's the fruit of his labor.' Because he's so personable and Deveaux has been rooting for him for so long, she says Pascal feels like one of her friends. That makes her feel even more invested in his success. 'Everything is so bleak, but at least it's Pedro Pascal summer, and I can go see him in everything,' she says. Fans aren't the only people moved by Pascal. The entire Hollywood machine is impressed. Annie Semenova, an acting coach, tells Yahoo that Pascal is —simply put — really good at his job. 'Pascal understands something fundamental that many actors miss: Vulnerability is strength. … He brings a lived-in authenticity that makes audiences feel safe enough to invest emotionally,' she says. 'He's proven he can carry both intimate character studies and tentpole blockbusters because he approaches each with the same level of preparation and emotional honesty.' Fans admire his emotional depth — they aren't just calling him 'Daddy' because he's hot, though he certainly is. The title he's been given isn't exclusively about his looks or his age. He takes on protective roles that inspire people to match his vulnerability with their own. 'It's the natural result of an actor who embodies masculine vulnerability, emotional intelligence and genuine warmth,' Semenova adds. To some, he's Daddy. To others, he's a meme and a progressive icon. All are correct, pop culture historian Marie Nicola tells Yahoo. He's so rare, it's no wonder he inspires such intense fan behavior. 'He's a reflection of us, the audience. Pascal is the first leading man built by the female gaze, the queer gaze and fandom culture — not the male fantasy industrial complex,' she says. 'He belongs to the people' It's also impressive that Pascal has held key roles in several shows and franchises integral to geek culture: the fantasy series Game of Thrones, Star Wars vehicle The Mandalorian, video game adaptation The Last of Us and comic book movie The Fantastic Four: First Steps. He's transitioned seamlessly from franchise to franchise, treating the source material and fandoms involved with dignity and respect. 'He was not cast into stardom. He was assembled — claimed by femmes, nerds, queer fans, Latino communities, moms, dads and those who are emotionally fluent in internet culture,' Nicola explains. 'He belongs to the people who need him to be whatever they want him to be at any given moment, and in that moment, Pascal is always down for it.' Several fans tell Yahoo that they're struck by how Pascal remains politically outspoken in favor of transgender and immigrant rights despite campaigning for major acting awards and leading a blockbuster superhero film. He frequently speaks out on behalf of the LGBTQ community and brings his transgender sister, Lux, to events. That contrasts with the strategy many other stars are employing in the current political climate. Stacy Jones, CEO of influencer marketing company Hollywood Branded, tells Yahoo this is extremely rare — not just the bravery, but the continued widespread support. 'He's walked that tightrope because he leads with empathy, not ego. He doesn't posture. He uses his voice in moments that matter, and audiences respect that,' she explains. 'This current moment [for Pascal] is the result of smart career choices, solid personal branding and real emotional intelligence. He earned trust, and in today's celebrity landscape, trust is the new currency.' On July 17 — with two movies in theaters and a major superhero film on the way — Pascal posted on Instagram about how the Trump administration would soon close the national suicide hotline for transgender youth. ''Maybe kindness is the real punk rock,'' one fan commented on Pascal's post, referencing a line from the new Superman movie, a rare blockbuster the actor doesn't have a role in. Empathy, a rejection of traditional masculinity and activism are not the kinds of things you see a lot from superheroes, but Pascal is in a league of his own — different from his peers in just about every way possible. He is, as his Instagram handle @pascalispunk suggests, punk. Solve the daily Crossword

How the Fantastic Four Shaped the Future of Superheroes

Time Magazine

5 hours ago

Time Magazine

How the Fantastic Four Shaped the Future of Superheroes

When The Fantastic Four: First Steps premieres this week, it will mark the return to prominence of four heroes not just foundational to Marvel and its ever-expanding empire of comics, movies, and television shows, but to modern pop culture and storytelling. The Fantastic Four, a tight-knit family with strange powers, were created by comic industry veterans Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1961. The comic, with its bickering heroes and setting in New York City, defied genre conventions and offered a radically different vision of superheroes than the staid, righteous Superman and Batman. Immediately successful, the Fantastic Four birthed modern Marvel comics and its vast, interrelated web of heroes and villains spanning more than 35,000 issues to date. It also created the template for the modern superhero—irreverent and wise-cracking, but flawed and vulnerable. From the Fantastic Four, the Marvel style of superheroics multiplied, yielding Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and Iron Man, among many others. Inevitably, the Marvel brand of superhero narrative leapt from the printed page to other media, first cartoons, then television and on to the movies. The Fantastic Four didn't just pave the way for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a 37-film behemoth that has grossed $31.9 billion, but also seven Superman movies ($2 billion and counting), 13 X-Men movies ($2.49 billion), the Dark Knight Trilogy ($1.12 billion) and dozens of others. Beyond the superhero genre, it's hard to watch franchises like Star Wars and the Fast & the Furious, with their bickering, misfit heroes, without seeing traces of the Fantastic Four's DNA. 'The Fantastic Four were always the heart and soul and center of the Marvel universe and the Marvel universe has inspired so many creative people in so many different ways,' says Tom DeFalco, the former editor-in-chief of Marvel who wrote 60 issues of the Fantastic Four comic in the 1990s. On and off the silver screen For characters so integral to Marvel and its history, the Fantastic Four has been noticeably absent from its cinematic universe. That's largely a result of misguided deals made in the 1990s, when a cash-strapped Marvel sold off the movie rights to its top-tier characters, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. While Spider-Man and the X-Men both enjoyed some success in their early 2000 movies, Fantastic Four fans were not as fortunate, with a pair of joke-heavy movies released in 2005 and 2007 to mostly poor reviews, and a disastrous 2015 reboot that made the first two shine in comparison. The Fantastic Four comic has also faded in and out. Starting out as Marvel's flagship comic in the 1960s, it sputtered in the 1970s before taking off again in the 1980s. The comic drew critical acclaim under writer Jonathan Hickman in the early 2010s, before disappearing entirely from 2015 to 2018, allegedly to deny Fox any free publicity for its movie. Marvel regained the rights to the Fantastic Four (as well as the X-Men) when Disney acquired Fox's film studio in 2019, and the comic, currently written by Ryan North, has been on a recent upswing. Despite that checkered history, C.B Cebulski, Marvel's editor-in-chief, says the company has never wavered in its commitment to the Fantastic Four comic and the title will enjoy extra attention in the wake of the movie release. 'From my point of view, the FFs been the core,' Cebulski says 'They've been the core in publishing. What's happened outside of publishing was never really a concern to me. But we've always focused our best efforts on making sure those four —Reed, Johnny, Ben, and Sue — were somehow featured in the best possible light every year since I've been at Marvel and before.' The story of the Fantastic Four It's hard to imagine now, in this era of superhero ubiquity, but there was a time when costumed crusaders had all but vanished from the cultural landscape. Modern superheroes were born in comic books in the late 1930s and they headlined dozens of titles throughout the 1940s. Fueled by patriotic stories, circulations soared, with some titles selling more than a million issues annually. But by the mid-1950s, super heroes had all but vanished from newsstands, a result of changing tastes and a paranoid, Cold War-fueled campaign to protect children from harmful influences. The catalyst was Seduction of the Innocent, a 1954 book by psychiatrist Frederick Wertham that argued American children were being led into juvenile delinquency by lurid and violent comics. Wertham's book led to a Congressional inquiry, led by Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, best known for his investigations into organized crime, and the blacklisting of dozens of comic creators. It also led the comic book industry to create the Comics Code Authority, a self-regulating body that prohibited titles with the words 'Horror' and 'Terror,' banned any mention of the occult, and insisted that in comic books, law enforcement must always be treated with respect and crime should never pay. As part of this self-censoring regime, comic publishers purged their lines of most superheroes, leaving western, romance, and humor comics. A handful of heroes remained, mostly stalwarts like Superman and Batman, but their stories were wan and gimmicky, far from the action-packed tales of the previous decades. Out of this parched environment, came the Fantastic Four. Unlike their relatively simple origin in the comic—a brilliant scientist, his best friend, his girlfriend and her kid brother go into space and are bombarded by cosmic rays—the creation of the Fantastic Four title is shrouded in mystery, controversy, and litigation. One version says Marvel's publisher, inspired by the success of rival DC's newly launched team book, the Justice League of America, demanded his own version. Another says Stan Lee, frustrated by years of toil churning out uninspiring comics, was prompted by his wife to try something new that would excite him. Another version assigns all the creative credit to Jack Kirby, a brilliant artist and storyteller who shunned the spotlight as much as Lee craved it. Most industry observers agree both Lee and Kirby made important contributions, but precisely who did what remains unknown. But for the next 101 issues, the two would work together, with Kirby largely coming up with plots and drawing the stories, while Lee added his distinctive dialogue and feverishly marketed the title. The eventual addition of legendary inker Joe Sinnott completed the package. For all that was revolutionary about the Fantastic Four, there is little about the characters' powers that is original. Mr. Fantastic's stretching ability mimicked Plastic Man, the Human Torch was a retread of a 1940s character with the same name, the powers of the Invisible Girl (as she was first known) date at least to H.G. Wells, and the Thing resembles any number of monsters. And collectively, as a team of uniformed adventurers with cool sci-fi gizmos, they looked a lot like the Challengers of the Unknown, a team created by Kirby for DC in 1957. Instead, the inventiveness came from the characters and their interactions. In the first issue, the Thing, (understandably) dismayed at becoming a monster, lashes out at the others. By issue three, the teenaged Human Torch quits the team in a huff. In issue eight, it's the Thing who quits. There's also humor, pop-culture references, and lots of action. For young comic readers, this was a radical departure from what they were reading elsewhere. 'The DC characters embraced authority, they were do-gooders, like the police who would come to your school and give a lecture,' says Jim Salicrup, who edited the title in the 1980s. 'There was a certain primal quality to Marvel characters.' Making the Fantastic Four unique among super teams is their family dynamic. While the members of other teams come and go, the Fantastic Four are, for better or worse, stuck with each other. 'They all are really closely tied together, by the original events that conspired to make them into the Fantastic Four. And they all went through it and they all got handed different cards in the deck,' says Walter Simonson, who wrote and drew the comic in the early 1990s. 'They're not people or characters from different origins and different places that get together and say, 'Hey, let's fight crime.'' According to Hickman, who wrote the Fantastic Four from 2009 and 2012, early drafts of the First Steps script missed that critical element. 'One of the notes I gave the studio was, 'This is excellent. It's very cool. I love this story, but here's the problem: It's about a superhero team and not a family.'' (He says subsequent drafts fixed it). After the initial success of the Fantastic Four comic, Lee quickly began adding new superheroes to the Marvel lineup, often working with Kirby, and busily cross-pollinating the titles. A year after the Fantastic Four debuted, they appeared on the cover of Amazing Spider-Man No. 1. The Hulk appeared in Fantastic Four 12. The Avengers brought five heroes together. The comics all contained letter pages, where fans debated the finer points of plots and characters, while Lee's monthly columns relentlessly promoted the lineup. A fan club soon followed. Readers ate it up. 'It was like joining a benevolent cult,' Salicrup says. By the end of the 1960s, the Marvel style of storytelling had spread to DC, whose heroes began to wrestle with real-world issues like racism and drug addiction. And Lee and Kirby continued to crank out their stories, introducing characters as varied and memorable as the Black Panther, Dr. Doom, Nick Fury, and Thor. That sustained decade of creativity is unmatched in comics, and was the result of the alchemy between Lee and Kirby, says Hickman. 'There are people who believe that you should swing for the fence every time,' Hickman says. 'That ideas are not a non-renewable resource, that it's a self perpetuating machine, that the more that you add to it, the more you get out of it. And I think people like that are prone to be able to do massive sprawling works of art. Those guys just happen to be those kinds of creators at the origin of what is a North American superhero industry. And we are so fortunate that we had those guys at the helm of the ship.'

Yahoo

10 hours ago

Yahoo

The leading man we didn't know we needed is a 50-year-old 'daddy' with a heart of gold

Women love him. Men want to be him. Everyone can't wait to see what Pedro Pascal does next. He can play a romantic lead. He can steal scenes in prestige dramas. He can suit up for Marvel. And he can do it all in a way that makes women — and men — swoon. In the heat of summer blockbuster season, you can't miss Pedro Pascal at your movie theater. 'I'm everywherrrrrrrrrrrrrre 👥👥👥👥👥' Pascal playfully captioned a June Instagram post about one of his latest films, Eddington. And he's right. Right now, he's starring in three of the summer's most talked-about movies: Materialists, Eddington and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. His reign isn't limited to the big screen. In addition to dominating multiplexes, he nabbed another Emmy nomination for his role in The Last of Us and has continued to stir conversation about his fashion sense, viral interview responses and general sense of whimsy. It's a pivotal time for Pascal — a 50-year-old actor finally having the breakout moment he worked for his whole life, generating a rabid fan army that's passionate about his upbeat and empathetic persona. But being everywhere has its price. Pascal truly broke out in January 2023 when he starred as the morally complex post-apocalyptic father figure Joel in The Last of Us, which led to a Saturday Night Live hosting gig, which earned him an Emmy nomination and a key role in Gladiator II. As his stardom was reaching inferno levels ahead of the 2024 awards season, he got hurt tackling Paul Mescal while filming Gladiator II. Then, he got hurt again after falling down the stairs. Being in his late 40s, he couldn't recover as quickly as younger actors who were also breaking out as action heroes. Jason Walsh, Pascal's trainer who has also been his friend since 2014, tells Yahoo he saw Pascal go through 'a downward spiral.' 'When he came to me, he was like, 'I'm broken.' He was very vulnerable psychologically,' he said. Pascal, no stranger to the long road to stardom, began an excruciating journey to recovery. Walsh said he and the actor spent a full year just working on 'restabilizing' his body and helping him overcome the fear of being hurt again. Eventually, through setting small goals and working closely together, Pascal attained the strength needed to become a superhero and do most of his own stunts. 'It's one of my favorite stories, and it happened to a good friend … I'm really proud of him because these stories don't get told, because in the world of fitness, it's all about aesthetics,' Walsh says. 'He looks f***ing great, but this is his version of strength and resiliency. He's able to do all these things.' Yahoo reached out to Pascal's team for comment, but he wasn't able to respond due to his schedule. Walsh can't say enough kind things about Pascal, whom he called 'a beautiful person and so courageous' and 'super intelligent to the point where it's intimidating, in a way, but he doesn't rub your face in it.' Pascal's ability to, despite injury, challenge the masculinity norms for middle-aged men in Hollywood stands out to Walsh. 'There's a level of empathy, compassion and love [that is among the] many qualities you don't see in men anymore,' Walsh says. What his friends love about him is also what's won him such a supportive fanbase. That's part of the reason his ascension to superstar happened so swiftly. Once people knew about him, they couldn't get enough. He's just different. 'Vulnerability is a strength' It's no accident that Pascal is ascending at a time when 'toxic masculinity and nationalism' are converging, Deepak Sharma, a culture expert and professor at Case Western Reserve University who uses they/them pronouns, tells Yahoo. 'Pedro offers a kind of masculinity that isn't binary, and people love it,' Sharma explains. 'He presents himself in a way where you can't really pinpoint [his sexuality] … and you see him showing a vulnerable sensibility in his acting and daily life.' Masculinity norms in the Latino community can be even stricter than those in the general population. Pascal knows this firsthand — as the child of Chilean refugees, he has defied stereotypical machismo and advocated for gender equality long before the spotlight was shining brightly on him. Longtime fan Isabelle Deveaux, a 26-year-old who works in the film industry, first became obsessed with Pascal when he appeared in the first season of an FBI drama called Graceland, which premiered on the USA Network in 2013 — before mainstream media took an interest in him in Game of Thrones or The Mandalorian. She tells Yahoo that she tends to keep an eye out for Latinx people in Hollywood like herself. 'He just feels like Princess Diana to me right now. There's a video of him greeting fans out of a car in Mexico City, and I was like, 'That's literally Princess Diana greeting the masses,'' she says. 'He's been grinding for 25-plus years to get where he is, and it wasn't an easy path for him. … I don't think it's a trend. I think it's the fruit of his labor.' Because he's so personable and Deveaux has been rooting for him for so long, she says Pascal feels like one of her friends. That makes her feel even more invested in his success. 'Everything is so bleak, but at least it's Pedro Pascal summer, and I can go see him in everything,' she says. Fans aren't the only people moved by Pascal. The entire Hollywood machine is impressed. Annie Semenova, an acting coach, tells Yahoo that Pascal is —simply put — really good at his job. 'Pascal understands something fundamental that many actors miss: Vulnerability is strength. … He brings a lived-in authenticity that makes audiences feel safe enough to invest emotionally,' she says. 'He's proven he can carry both intimate character studies and tentpole blockbusters because he approaches each with the same level of preparation and emotional honesty.' Fans admire his emotional depth — they aren't just calling him 'Daddy' because he's hot, though he certainly is. The title he's been given isn't exclusively about his looks or his age. He takes on protective roles that inspire people to match his vulnerability with their own. 'It's the natural result of an actor who embodies masculine vulnerability, emotional intelligence and genuine warmth,' Semenova adds. To some, he's Daddy. To others, he's a meme and a progressive icon. All are correct, pop culture historian Marie Nicola tells Yahoo. He's so rare, it's no wonder he inspires such intense fan behavior. 'He's a reflection of us, the audience. Pascal is the first leading man built by the female gaze, the queer gaze and fandom culture — not the male fantasy industrial complex,' she says. 'He belongs to the people' It's also impressive that Pascal has held key roles in several shows and franchises integral to geek culture: the fantasy series Game of Thrones, Star Wars vehicle The Mandalorian, video game adaptation The Last of Us and comic book movie The Fantastic Four: First Steps. He's transitioned seamlessly from franchise to franchise, treating the source material and fandoms involved with dignity and respect. 'He was not cast into stardom. He was assembled — claimed by femmes, nerds, queer fans, Latino communities, moms, dads and those who are emotionally fluent in internet culture,' Nicola explains. 'He belongs to the people who need him to be whatever they want him to be at any given moment, and in that moment, Pascal is always down for it.' Several fans tell Yahoo that they're struck by how Pascal remains politically outspoken in favor of transgender and immigrant rights despite campaigning for major acting awards and leading a blockbuster superhero film. He frequently speaks out on behalf of the LGBTQ community and brings his transgender sister, Lux, to events. That contrasts with the strategy many other stars are employing in the current political climate. Stacy Jones, CEO of influencer marketing company Hollywood Branded, tells Yahoo this is extremely rare — not just the bravery, but the continued widespread support. 'He's walked that tightrope because he leads with empathy, not ego. He doesn't posture. He uses his voice in moments that matter, and audiences respect that,' she explains. 'This current moment [for Pascal] is the result of smart career choices, solid personal branding and real emotional intelligence. He earned trust, and in today's celebrity landscape, trust is the new currency.' On July 17 — with two movies in theaters and a major superhero film on the way — Pascal posted on Instagram about how the Trump administration would soon close the national suicide hotline for transgender youth. ''Maybe kindness is the real punk rock,'' one fan commented on Pascal's post, referencing a line from the new Superman movie, a rare blockbuster the actor doesn't have a role in. Empathy, a rejection of traditional masculinity and activism are not the kinds of things you see a lot from superheroes, but Pascal is in a league of his own — different from his peers in just about every way possible. He is, as his Instagram handle @pascalispunk suggests, punk. Solve the daily Crossword

Jordana Brewster on Dwayne Johnson returning for 'Fast 11' after Vin Diesel feud: 'The more the merrier'

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The leading man we didn't know we needed is a 50-year-old 'daddy' with a heart of gold

How the Fantastic Four Shaped the Future of Superheroes

The leading man we didn't know we needed is a 50-year-old 'daddy' with a heart of gold

Jordana Brewster on Dwayne Johnson returning for 'Fast 11' after Vin Diesel feud: 'The more the merrier'

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The leading man we didn't know we needed is a 50-year-old 'daddy' with a heart of gold

How the Fantastic Four Shaped the Future of Superheroes

The leading man we didn't know we needed is a 50-year-old 'daddy' with a heart of gold

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