Latest news with #TheAvengers
STV News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- STV News
Dame Joanna Lumley has thrown her support behind the assisted dying Bill
Actress Dame Joanna Lumley has said she 'wouldn't mind' undergoing assisted dying if she reached a 'miserable' state where she was unable to talk or eat without help. The 79-year-old said she supported the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which was backed by MPs in the Commons last month, that would allow terminally ill adults with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death. Asked about the Bill in an interview with Saga Magazine, Dame Joanna said: 'People are terribly anxious about it and think one may be coerced (into voluntary euthanasia). 'But I'm saying this now when nobody's coercing me, don't let me turn into somebody who doesn't recognise the people I love most, where I'm having a miserable time. PA Media 'When I get to the stage where I can't speak and have to be fed, that won't be me any more and that's when I wouldn't mind saying farewell.' The Bill would see those wishing to go through assisted dying require approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist. It will next come before the House of Lords for further debate and votes. One of the Bill's most high-profile backers has been TV presenter Dame Esther Rantzen, 85, who has terminal cancer, and recently urged members of the House of Lords not to block the legislation. Dame Joanna is best known for her roles as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, Sapphire in ITV supernatural series Sapphire And Steel, and in The New Avengers, the 1970s revamped version of 1960s ITV spy series The Avengers. She will appear in season two of Netflix supernatural series Wednesday as Grandmama in August. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Whiteboard warrior: Marvel is priming Mister Fantastic to be the new leader of the Avengers
The Avengers need a new leader, and given how many potential candidates for the gig have either died, retired, or turned evil, they need it soon. The multiverse is collapsing, timelines are unravelling, box office numbers are wobbling, the Kang plan is in tatters and Blade is on its ninth script. So, naturally, Marvel's answer is to hand the reins to a stretchy man in sensible shoes who once broke the entire multiverse. Yes, according to The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman, the awesome foursome's Reed Richards is being lined up as the new leader of Earth's mightiest heroes. Or at least, he is (at times) in the comics, and it looks increasingly like he might be the only reality-straddling, buttoned up polymathable to take on this job on the big screen. 'He goes from being the nerdy scientist who's locked away in the lab, to the husband and the father who'd do anything to protect his family, to the guy who's leading the Avengers,' Shakman told Variety, in a new interview ahead of the release of First Steps. 'I realised that the version we were building had to have all of those elements.' With the Fantastic Four's debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe now only a week away, it's perhaps the right time to take a look at exactly what kind of man Marvel might be nudging into the empty chair. Let's not forget that this is a mantle once sort of jointly held by Iron Man and Captain America. Reed Richards, by contrast, is less a natural leader than he is the kind of man who accidentally invents godhood before breakfast. In the comics, he's a genius, a father, a sometimes war criminal, and very occasionally the most powerful being in existence. If Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark was all ego, charisma and self-loathing in a can, and Chris Evans's Steve Rogers was apple pie and emotional repression with the ability to bench-press liberty, then Reed is the guy who treats collapsing timelines like a crossword puzzle and has, on more than one occasion in the comics, tried to solve galactic crises using charts. Perhaps the difference this time around (after two attempts to bring the Fantastic Four to the big screen during the 20th Century Fox era) is that Richards is now being played by Pedro Pascal, an actor who has already proven in The Mandalorian that he can project warmth, gravitas and reluctant-dad energy despite wearing a bucket on his head. If anyone can revive Marvel, it's the guy who transformed what should have been another run-of-the-mill zombie video game adaptation (The Last of Us) into high-end post-apocalyptic art-house TV. Giving Reed Richards the top job also speaks volumes about where the MCU is right now. Gone are the days of heroes with moral codes, defined character arcs, and just one version of themselves per universe. We're deep into the age of collapse and crossover, where no one knows who's running what, where half the audience are Googling 'Wait, who is that?' during every post-credits scene, and the only thing holding the multiverse together is the vague promise that Downey's Doctor Doom will eventually reboot the franchise with the sheer force of his contempt. All of which brings us to hints this week (denied by Shakman) that the metal-plated menace might make his first appearance in First Steps, before presumably following Marvel's first family into the main MCU in next year's Avengers: Doomsday. If Reed is Marvel's reset button, Doom is its nuclear option — the character you deploy when you've run out of timelines, villains, and narrative excuses. The idea of Reed going up against a twisted variant of the previous Avengers figurehead – if this new Doom really is some kind of alternate-universe Tony Stark with a god complex and a cloak budget – has a certain multiverse-bending symmetry to it. So why not have Reed face him down as a new type of Avengers leader? They might just be from the same universe, and this is a battle that has been carried out countless times in print. Mister Fantastic is brilliant. He's brave. And he's got a pretty impressive track record of saving all of existence – which could come in useful when you're facing the sort of supervillain who treats the fabric of existence like a mood board for his ego. Unlike Stark or Rogers, Reed doesn't need a cool catchphrase, or a billion-dollar suit with built-in sarcasm. He just needs a quiet room, a few hundred monitors, and the freedom to quietly map the collapse of the multiverse.
Leader Live
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
First look at Samuel L Jackson in Tulsa King spin-off
Nola King follows Jackson's character, Russell Lee Washington Jr, who is tasked with taking out Sylvester Stallone's Dwight Manfredi. Manfredi, or 'the General' is the main character of Tulsa King, a mafia boss who befriended Jackson's character years earlier while they were both in prison. A photo from the production shows the two characters sitting at a table that has a bottle of alcohol on it and a reserved sign. Stallone, 79, said: 'Chris McCarthy (co-chief executive of Paramount Global) came to me with a game-changing idea: to elevate my show beyond a mob boss series, creating a dynamic, family-driven franchise. 'I was immediately on board. Sam Jackson is the only choice to anchor this new adventure in Nola and (producer) David Glasser and 101 are the perfect partner to bring it to life.' Mr McCarthy said: 'Samuel L Jackson brings unparalleled presence and global appeal, making him the perfect choice to maximise the momentum of one of our biggest hits and transform it into a hit franchise. 'Building on the breakout success of Sylvester Stallone's Tulsa King, audiences will now experience the full force of Jackson's dynamic, layered performance, supercharging one of Paramount+'s flagship series.' David C Glasser, chief executive of entertainment company 101 Studios, said: 'Partnering with Paramount has been such a rich experience. (Creator) Taylor (Sheridan) had the brilliant idea to drop Sylvester Stallone in the middle of Tulsa and it has been everything we have wanted and more. It's official! 🔥 #TulsaKing Season 3 is in the works! 👊 — Tulsa King (@TulsaKing) March 18, 2025 'The success of this show has now led us to another icon. I cannot wait to see what Sam brings to this world.' Jackson, 76, has starred in films including Django (2012), The Hateful Eight (2015), Jurassic Park (1993) and The Avengers (2012). One of his most acclaimed roles was playing hitman Jules Winnfield in Quentin Tarantino's 1994 hit crime film Pulp Fiction. Tulsa King is a Paramount+ series that follows Stallone's character, Dwight 'the General' Manfredi, as he is sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to begin a new crime enterprise after being released from prison in New York. Jackson's character will be introduced in the third series of Tulsa King, to premiere in September. Stallone and Jackson were both executive producers on Nola King.
Glasgow Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
First look at Samuel L Jackson in Tulsa King spin-off
Nola King follows Jackson's character, Russell Lee Washington Jr, who is tasked with taking out Sylvester Stallone's Dwight Manfredi. Manfredi, or 'the General' is the main character of Tulsa King, a mafia boss who befriended Jackson's character years earlier while they were both in prison. A photo from the production shows the two characters sitting at a table that has a bottle of alcohol on it and a reserved sign. Stallone, 79, said: 'Chris McCarthy (co-chief executive of Paramount Global) came to me with a game-changing idea: to elevate my show beyond a mob boss series, creating a dynamic, family-driven franchise. Samuel L Jackson plays Russell Lee Washington Jr (Ian West/PA) 'I was immediately on board. Sam Jackson is the only choice to anchor this new adventure in Nola and (producer) David Glasser and 101 are the perfect partner to bring it to life.' Mr McCarthy said: 'Samuel L Jackson brings unparalleled presence and global appeal, making him the perfect choice to maximise the momentum of one of our biggest hits and transform it into a hit franchise. 'Building on the breakout success of Sylvester Stallone's Tulsa King, audiences will now experience the full force of Jackson's dynamic, layered performance, supercharging one of Paramount+'s flagship series.' David C Glasser, chief executive of entertainment company 101 Studios, said: 'Partnering with Paramount has been such a rich experience. (Creator) Taylor (Sheridan) had the brilliant idea to drop Sylvester Stallone in the middle of Tulsa and it has been everything we have wanted and more. 'The success of this show has now led us to another icon. I cannot wait to see what Sam brings to this world.' Jackson, 76, has starred in films including Django (2012), The Hateful Eight (2015), Jurassic Park (1993) and The Avengers (2012). One of his most acclaimed roles was playing hitman Jules Winnfield in Quentin Tarantino's 1994 hit crime film Pulp Fiction. Tulsa King is a Paramount+ series that follows Stallone's character, Dwight 'the General' Manfredi, as he is sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to begin a new crime enterprise after being released from prison in New York. Jackson's character will be introduced in the third series of Tulsa King, to premiere in September. Stallone and Jackson were both executive producers on Nola King.
Rhyl Journal
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Rhyl Journal
First look at Samuel L Jackson in Tulsa King spin-off
Nola King follows Jackson's character, Russell Lee Washington Jr, who is tasked with taking out Sylvester Stallone's Dwight Manfredi. Manfredi, or 'the General' is the main character of Tulsa King, a mafia boss who befriended Jackson's character years earlier while they were both in prison. A photo from the production shows the two characters sitting at a table that has a bottle of alcohol on it and a reserved sign. Stallone, 79, said: 'Chris McCarthy (co-chief executive of Paramount Global) came to me with a game-changing idea: to elevate my show beyond a mob boss series, creating a dynamic, family-driven franchise. 'I was immediately on board. Sam Jackson is the only choice to anchor this new adventure in Nola and (producer) David Glasser and 101 are the perfect partner to bring it to life.' Mr McCarthy said: 'Samuel L Jackson brings unparalleled presence and global appeal, making him the perfect choice to maximise the momentum of one of our biggest hits and transform it into a hit franchise. 'Building on the breakout success of Sylvester Stallone's Tulsa King, audiences will now experience the full force of Jackson's dynamic, layered performance, supercharging one of Paramount+'s flagship series.' David C Glasser, chief executive of entertainment company 101 Studios, said: 'Partnering with Paramount has been such a rich experience. (Creator) Taylor (Sheridan) had the brilliant idea to drop Sylvester Stallone in the middle of Tulsa and it has been everything we have wanted and more. It's official! 🔥 #TulsaKing Season 3 is in the works! 👊 — Tulsa King (@TulsaKing) March 18, 2025 'The success of this show has now led us to another icon. I cannot wait to see what Sam brings to this world.' Jackson, 76, has starred in films including Django (2012), The Hateful Eight (2015), Jurassic Park (1993) and The Avengers (2012). One of his most acclaimed roles was playing hitman Jules Winnfield in Quentin Tarantino's 1994 hit crime film Pulp Fiction. Tulsa King is a Paramount+ series that follows Stallone's character, Dwight 'the General' Manfredi, as he is sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to begin a new crime enterprise after being released from prison in New York. Jackson's character will be introduced in the third series of Tulsa King, to premiere in September. Stallone and Jackson were both executive producers on Nola King.
