Over the years, Sterling K. Brown has played a lot of different kinds of roles. In his latest movie, Is God Is, which hits theaters this weekend as part of the 2026 movie schedule, he adds another type: creeeeeeepy villain. I love it. The movie, and his performance, are a delight, and I mean that in the scariest possible way. Is God Is is as disturbing as it is funny, and Brown is a major reason for that. I’m so here for it.

An Instant Classic Horror Comedy

Is God Is, the directorial debut from playwright Aleshea Harris, is really funny. It’s also really upsetting. This isn’t the kind of movie I usually enjoy, but after Sinners and Weapons were two of my favorites of 2026, it’s obvious that horror movies are growing on me. Though it's technically being called a "thriller" by most critics, there are enough elements in it for me to classify it as horror.

The cast is fantastic and really understood the assignment that Harris’s screenplay (based on her own play) lays out. Kara Young and Mallori Johnson, as the twins Racine and Anaia, respectively, are funny and sympathetic as sisters who have faced serious trauma at the hands of their father (played by Brown). Vivica A. Fox, as their mother or “God,” as Racine calls her, is downright terrifying in her time on screen, and all the supporting roles played by the likes of Janelle Monáe and Erika Alexander are also pitch-perfect for the story. It’s Brown who steals the show for me, though.

Playing A Villain Is Rare For Brown

Whether it’s a father, brother, and son who cares deeply for his family in This is Us, a stoic action/adventure hero in Paradise, or a flamboyant doctor in American Fiction (which earned him an Oscar nomination), there’s no question Brown has serious range. Still, he’s never really played a villain. At least, not a villain like he plays in Is God Is. Sure, N'Jobu in Black Panther is kind of a villain, but not for anything we really see on screen. And in Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul, Brown certainly plays a very bad person, but he’s not the villain of the movie in the traditional sense.

Here, he most certainly is, and he absolutely nails it. Though we only catch glimpses of him for most of the movie, his presence is constantly felt. He is menacing and scary in every flashback, but when we meet him, he's soft-spoken and almost meek. That makes him 10 times creepier than if he had played the role with his usual swagger and booming voice. He also wears the dorkiest damn pants he’s ever worn on screen, and even the costume choice makes the character scarier. The movie spends a lot of time setting up just how bad a person the twins’ father is, and when you first hear his voice, you question everything about the movie. Not for long, though. It’s brilliant.

I’m really excited to see what lies ahead for Aleshea Harris, because her decisions in this movie far exceed what you might expect from a first-time director. I can’t wait for what she does next. As for Brown, we’ll likely see him next in the final season of Paradise next year with our Hulu subscriptions.

DC has been going through some changes recently, thank to a new shared universe from co-CEO James Gunn. We've already had TV shows and Superman (which are streaming with a HBO Max subscription), but there are countless questions about upcoming DC movies. Fans are curious about which actors will play various beloved heroes, and Sterling K. Brown recently confirmed he'd be down to play an iconic member of the Justice League. Let's break it all down.

Fans who spent years watching the DC movies in order know that anything could happen in the newly formed DCU. There's been non-stop discourse about who might play heroes in future projects, and one fan took to Instagram to share that he wants to see Brown as none other than the Martian Manhunter. The Paradise actor responded in the comments section, posting:

Well, there you have it. Brown has seen the chatter, and is down to play Martian Manhunter in a future DC project. James Gunn's plans for that particular hero are currently a mystery, but the fact that the Emmy-winning actor wants to get in on the fun is pretty thrilling. We'll have to wait and see if this ever happens, but the This Is Us star's interest is likely going to go viral with fans.

Martian Manhunter was part of the OG Justice League lineup in the comics, and has also been adapted in various video games, animated series, and live-action TV shows over the years. But he hasn't gotten the chance to shine on the big screen just yet. Most recently he had a small but memorable role in Zack Snyder's Justice League, played by Harry Lennix. It turns out his character General Swanwick was always intended to be that hero all along.

Give how early it still is in the DCU, it seems like just about anything could happen in the newly formed shared universe. Its first slate of titles is called Gods and Monsters, and spans projects on both the small and silver screens. It's unclear if/when Martian Manhunter will enter the fray, but James Gunn has a clear love for the comics, so it's certainly possible. Although it'll likely take years for the Justice League to be assembled given its current pace.

Sterling K. Brown would make an awesome J'onn J'onzz, so let's just hope it happens one day. For now he's been keeping busy, including his Emmy-nominated starring role in Paradise (streaming with a Hulu subscription).

The next DC movie coming to theaters is Supergirl on June 26th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Hopefully we get some more casting news about the DCU sooner rather than later.

Sterling K. Brown has a number of fabulous roles to his name (as well as some Emmys and an Oscar nomination), but apparently we’ve never seen him like this. Is God Is, which premieres May 15 on the 2026 movie calendar, is an adaptation of an Off-Broadway play from Aleshea Harris, who also wrote the movie’s script and serves as director. Reviews are in for the road trip thriller, and critics are raving about the performances and Harris' message.

The monster in this movie may be portrayed by Sterling K. Brown, but Is God Is is an ensemble film led by two-time Tony Award winner Kara Young and Mallori Johnson. They play twins who are scarred from a fire set by their father (Brown) in an attempt to kill their mother (Vivica A. Fox) when they were young, and the movie shows their efforts to track him down after their mother asks them to kill him.

Jourdain Searles of THR praises the performances in her Is God Is review but says the visuals fall flat. The acting is vivid, the critic says, but the South is depicted as underpopulated and too neat or quiet for such a story. Searles writes:

Alison Foreman of IndieWire gives it an A-, writing that Aleshea Harris perfectly distracts from the characters’ unbearable suffering with dream-like visuals, dark humor and a great soundtrack, ultimately delivering catharsis in its “electric conclusion” that can only come from a hideous tale told with confidence. Foreman says:

Jocelyn Noveck of the AP rates Is God Is 3 out of 4 stars, saying we’ve never seen Sterling K. Brown like this — “a man utterly dripping with villainy, if villainy were in liquid form.” The movie has a lot to say about rage, and that's not limited just to the Monster who tried to burn Racine and Anaia’s mother alive. In Noveck’s words:

Kristy Puchko of Mashable says Aleshea Harris “delivers filmmaking that is so mythic, mesmerizing, and menacing that it's easily one of the best movies of 2026.” Is God Is is a Southern-fried road trip movie that takes inspiration from Greek mythology, Black culture and Quentin Tarantino. And Sterling K. Brown’s wickedness is “goose-bump inducing.” Puchko continues:

Monica Castillo of AV Club gives the movie a B, noting how Aleshea Harris uses this story to rage against the domestic violence inflicted by the patriarchy. However, despite the fact that this kind of abuse is still an issue women face, Harris finds a way to inject beauty and tenderness into Is God Is. Castillo writes:

As complex and frightening as this stage-to-screen adaptation sounds, the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, praising Aleshea Harris’ feature debut to the tune of a 98% Rotten Tomatoes score. If you want to find out how the twins’ revenge tale ends — and what they learned along the way — Is God Is hits theaters on Friday, May 15.

After seeing the buzz earlier this year when Paradise Season 2 was airing on the 2026 TV schedule, I decided to fire up my Hulu subscription and see what the series was all about. While I knew there was an obvious connection to This Is Us via Sterling K. Brown, I was completely unaware at first that the series was also made by creator Dan Fogelman.

That said, I looked it up pretty early into Season 1, because I noticed a lot of similarities between the two shows. Basically, I feel like Paradise is a spookier version of This Is Us, which may seem wild to those who have seen both, but hear me out on this.

Paradise Features A Lot Of The Same Emotional Gut Punches Of This Is Us

While the violence and post-apocalyptic setting of Paradise separates it from This Is Us, I think it's clear that both shows thrive in how they present tragedy. Dan Fogelman really knows how to twist the knife with sad moments, making you think it's all going to be alright when you know it likely won't be. Case in point, I'd say that Annie's tragic Season 2 death felt very similar to Jack's death in This Is Us, with characters doing everything they can right, and it still not working out.

Paradise certainly leans in on the thriller genre more often than not, but it can also be sappy at times. In fact, its sweeter moments make it feel more like an Elseworlds version of This Is Us to me more often than not. I think that's what keeps me from comparing it to Lost, which seemed more focused on heightening the drama with mystery.

Sterling K. Brown's Xavier is Different Than Randall, But There's Also Some Similarities

Xavier is much different than Randall in many ways, but I couldn't help but see the two characters in each other during the scenes in which they interact with their wives and families. I think part of it is I think that Sterling K. Brown plays the ideal family man so well, and it was something that immediately stood out to me in This Is Us. He's a stern and loving father in both, and also maybe a little too consumed with his job.

All this to say, I don't think that it's a bad thing that Paradise, which will end with Season 3, borrows from the This Is Us playbook. The latter was a great series that made its cast cry just as much as its audience during its run on NBC. Who knows, maybe that advanced AI Alex will somehow alter the timeline so that Paradise is ultimately a prequel to This Is Us, in a twist we haven't seen since Newhart.

I doubt that happens, but I will say to anyone who hasn't seen This Is Us, Paradise, or vice versa, it's worth checking out. I love both, assuming the final season of the latest series is as good as the first two, and I can't wait for new episodes to arrive.

WARNING! There are major spoilers ahead for the first two seasons of Paradise in this story. If you’re not caught up, now’s your chance to use your Hulu subscription before diving into Season 3.

It’s always nice to finish what you start, and for Paradise, that means one more season to conclude the story of what started as a murder mystery but has evolved into a sprawling story about time, physics, and the importance of family. Season 2 ended dramatically with the self-sacrifice of Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson), locking herself in the bunker to prevent nuclear fallout after the power system went into meltdown. Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) and the rest of the people living in the bunker are on the outside now, with Xavier presumably headed to the second bunker, where Alex is, to save the world.

The good news is that Paradise has stuck to a pretty traditional time table, and it probably won’t be an extended wait before Season 3 is upon us. Here’s everything we know about the show's future, including when production is planned to start, and who will likely be back for the conclusion of creator Dan Fogelman’s story.

Paradise Season 3 Release Date

With production scheduled to start this month, we’re still a ways away from Season 3. There is currently no scheduled release date for Paradise Season 3. However, unlike the laborious waits necessary for some streaming shows (ahem, Stranger Things), there’s a good chance this sci-fi show will be back sometime in early 2027. Season 2's episodes hit the 2026 TV schedule on February 23, 13 months after Season 1 debuted, so there's good reason to expect the break will be about the same between Seasons 2 and 3.

In fact, in the last week of March 2026, just as the season finale hit both Hulu and Disney+ (yep, you can watch with a Disney+ subscription, too), Sterling K. Brown took to Instagram to celebrate not only the conclusion of the most recent season, but also to update fans on the filming of Season 3. Brown told his IG followers on March 31st, 2026:

That, of course, is great news. We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for an official premiere date, but it’ll be a few months before anyone knows for sure.

Who Will Be In Season 3?

It’s still too early for an official cast list, but it’s pretty safe to assume that all (or many) of the surviving characters will be back. Here’s who we expect will return, and which characters, though no longer living, could return in flashbacks, or… well, who knows what kind of power the quantum computer Alex has.

Sterling K. Bown As Xavier Collins

We know Brown will be back, as he explained in his IG post. It would be pretty weird if he weren’t returning, as he’s the lead in the show and an executive producer of it, right? Season 2 ended with Sinatra explaining to Collins that it was up to him to get to the second bunker under the Denver airport and save the world using Alex. How he gets there, and what it means, well, who knows, but I can’t wait to find out.

Sarah Shahi As Gabriela Torabi

Dr. Gabriela Torabi (Sarah Shahi) survived the bunker’s destruction and had a pretty awkward moment with Xavier’s wife, Teri, on the outside. Torabi and Collins had been in a pretty steaming relationship prior to Xavier learning Teri was still alive. Where that leaves her on the outside is anyone’s guess, but as one of the smartest people in the bunker, she’ll likely play a big role in wherever the survivors end up.

Enuka Okuma As Teri Rogers-Collins

Season 2’s emotional high-water mark came when Xavier (after coming close to disaster) finally reunited with his wife Teri (Enuka Okuma) in Episodes 6 and 7. Along with Xavier, Teri made it back to the bunker, and the whole family reunited as chaos unfolded just before it all came crashing down. Teri and the kids made it out alive and are on the road with the other refugees.

Thomas Doherty As Link/Dylan

Link (or Dylan, maybe?), played by Thomas Doherty, was a key new character in Season 2, and his story is certain to continue in Season 3 of Paradise. He is the original inventor of the machine who eventually became Alex, so it’s likely he will help Xavier reach the second bunker and use Alex in some way to save the world.

Additionally, most of the kids will probably be back, like Aliyah Mastin as Presley Collins, Percy Daggs IV as James Collins, Charlie Evans as Jeremy Bradford, and Kate Godfrey as Hadley Redmond.

Deceased Characters Who We Could See Again

Of course, in a Dan Fogelman show, no character is really gone forever, even after they die. In Seasons 1 and 2, we saw quite a lot of President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) despite his being murdered in the very first episode. That said, here is a list of deceased characters who I think we’ll see more of, either in flashbacks or possibly in alternate timelines (or both):

• Julianne Nicholson as Samantha "Sinatra" Redmond
• James Marsden as Cal Bradford
• Nicole Brydon Bloom as Jane Driscoll
• Krys Marshall as Nicole Robinson
• Jon Beavers as Billy Pace
• Shailene Woodley as Annie Clay
• Michael McGrady as Geiger

It would be wonderful see all of these characters at least one more time.

Dan Fogelman Will Continue As The Writer And Showrunner

Showrunner Dan Fogelman, who also created the Sterling K. Brown-starring This Is Us, will of course remain with the show to see out its conclusion. Since the beginning, Fogelman has said that he intends the show to have a three-season arc, and it looks like that’s what he’ll get. That is exciting news, as hopefully it means Paradise doesn’t suffer the same fate as Lost or Game of Thrones and ends strongly.

Could There Be A Season 4 After This?

The answer to this question is probably no; however, in that same IG post, Brown, perhaps jokingly, said:

Obviously, that opens up the door for a fourth season, but let’s be real, it’s pretty unlikely, and Brown was probably just joking around. One thing we know for sure is he (and Fogelman) are “gonna give us three,” so let’s celebrate that. I can’t wait to see how it all ends.

Major spoilers below for Paradise’s Season 2 finale, so be warned if you haven’t yet watched “Exodus” via Hulu subscription or Disney+ subscription.

Welp, plenty of Paradise viewers no doubt went into this second-season conclusion thinking it’d be a doozy, and the episode did not disappoint on that front. We watched as the full Collins family reunited for the first time since before the super-volcanic eruption, and as Sinatra made what appeared to be the ultimate sacrifice, so confident that her actions would lead to an “everything’s fine now” existence. (I desperately need an endless supply of whatever biological mood-bosters Sinatra was running on.)

Throughout all of the reveals and theory-worthy elements that drew focus and were discussed throughout “Exodus,” the biggest twist in my eyes was a moment that featured zero dialogue and was never properly mentioned by any of the characters. Let’s put on Robinson’s blood-soaked sleeveless T-shirt and dive into this algorithmic mayhem, shall we?

Nearly Everything About Dylan And Alex Left Me Confused

The episode’s flashback opening showed us Thomas Doherty’s character Dylan (formerly known mostly as Link) helping Patrick Fischler’s scientist Henry Miller develop what would become the most powerful computer imaginable. We didn’t need to see a ton of that process to understand the connection there between the two geniuses, and that Dylan was as sweet and caring with Henry’s dying wife Alex as could be. It’s clear they agreed when it came time to name the thing.

In the end, after all was said and done, I still wasn’t — am still not — fully on board with the adult Dylan we’ve been watching being the grown-up iteration of Sinatra’s son. It seems too paradoxical to me that the character is largely responsible for creating the technological device that makes his existence possible. I may just need to take a little more time to consider the timeline physics of it all. I certainly believed in Julianne Nicholson’s performance, and that Sinatra was 100% convinced, but I needed another connect-the-narrative-dots sequence to really drive that home.

It would have helped if Sinatra had reacted to Xavier’s news about Dylan having a child with Annie, since it would presumably be huge for her to learn that she’s a quasi-grandmother, especially so soon after first meeting Dylan and arriving at her grand theory. But she barely reacts when Xavier brings the baby up, which just makes me all the more suspicious that her assumptions are correct.

My Biggest Surprise Of The Episode: Jane Is Still Alive! Probably!

I thought it was mighty suspect when, early in the episode, Sarah Stahi's Torabi is just sitting on her bed, with Jane's corpse still laid out in her shower, before she gets the text about all the bunker catastrophes. It only became clear later on, of course, that this was something of a Chekov's Pseudo-Corpse In The Shower.

Later, after the "Exodus" protocol was put into effect and the many thousands of bunker residents evacuated the area, the episode jumps back into Torabi's apartment for just a few brief and unassuming seconds. At first, it almost seems like we're just watching a random location in the midst of the ongoing destruction throughout Paradise being showcased. But it's not random at all.

Rather, that shot very directly revealed to fans that Torabi never fully confirmed that she'd killed Jane, as Nicole Brydon Bloom's villainous character was no longer in there! She gone!

Granted, the absence of Jane's corpse is not undeniable proof of Jane's survival, since she not only would have needed to make her way to the street without passing out from blood loss, but she then would have needed to evacuate the area along with everyone else without others learning about her stab wound. She probably wouldn't have needed to disguise herself, since Torabi didn't tell anyone about their not-so-lethal confrontation until Sinatra returned to the control room.

But as far as I could tell, no other moments throughout the rest of the finale showed us where Jane went, or even that she for sure made it outside the giant steel doors before Sinatra shut them. I was waiting for a quick shot of Jane from behind, possibly watching Torabi in a threatening manner as she talked with Xavier and Teri. Or perhaps a shot of her lying on the side of a road, where one or more unsuspecting characters picks her up and promises to bring her back to health.

I really, really, really wanted this episode to provide a better explanation behind the 1997 email that referenced Jane's birth, and whether that was somehow Alex's doing, and why Jane was seemingly the lynchpin that Alex knew would be best eliminated. I can't wait for Season 3 for those answers!

I'm also kind of annoyed with how easily I believed Bloom talking about her would-be death scene where Torabi gets the upper hand, and how she was initially against the idea that Jane would be so easy to kill, but that she understood the idea that the character's overconfidence was to be her downfall, without considering how Torabi might react to an attempt on her life. I guess it's possible that Bloom wasn't told about that finale scene, but that would just be cruel.

How does everyone else think Jane's return will play out in Season 3? Will she pop up out of nowhere hellbent on revenge? Or will we learn that she never actually made it out of the bunker, and that she's now all irradiated and mutated from the nuclear meltdown? Or, third option, will her alternate-timeline iteration be revealed as the prime version, and that her stabbed and injured body has been retconned by time? Probably the first option.

With a third and likely final season already in development, Paradise is hopefully set to deliver answers for its grander mysteries with that last batch of episodes, futher setting it apart from frequent comparison fodder Lost. Just beware if any Season 3 locations are revealed to be named "Limbo" and/or "Purgatory."

A lot of people have been comparing Paradise, the Sterling K. Brown-led show that you can watch with a Hulu subscription, to ABC’s hit from the mid-’00s, Lost (also on Hulu). The comparisons make a lot of sense. Both shows are great sci-fi with hidden forces messing with things; there are Easter Eggs galore, and, most importantly, both have a giant mystery at their heart and leave viewers asking more questions after each episode. That comparison is a compliment to both shows, but it may also make some Paradise fans nervous, as Lost notoriously fell apart at the end, in many fans' eyes. There is one major difference.

We Know When Paradise Is Going To End

The biggest problem that the creators and writers of Lost faced was that it was a network show. It existed in a world before streaming, just as prestige TV was really coming into full bloom. That meant that the writers had to keep feeding the beast. 22 episodes a season, and a successful show meant the network wanted more seasons and more episodes to sell ads. Lost ended up running for 121 episodes over six seasons. That’s a lot of content, in the parlance of our time. From a viewer's perspective, the writers seemed to be struggling to stretch the story out, which led to controversial episodes like “Nicki and Paulo,” not to mention the ending that left many frustrated.

Paradise doesn’t have to play by the same rules on the 2026 TV schedule. Streaming has changed both how shows are written and produced, and how we as viewers consume them. We don’t need 22-episode seasons. Sure, it would be nice if some shows were as regular as network shows, with new episodes every year, but we get more with less, for sure. And to be fair, the current season of Paradise was released about a year after the first, so no complaints on that front! It also means that when Paradise concludes with Season 3, it will likely be a total of 24 episodes. Just over one season of Lost episodes’ worth.

Paradise Has Always Had A Three Season Arc

Very early on after Paradise became a hit, the show’s creator, Dan Fogelman, made it clear that he had a three-season story arc in mind. That means he knew where the story was going to start, and, critically, where it was going to end. This is a luxury the creators of Lost likely didn't have. They never really knew how much ABC was going to want. That’s just how TV operated for its first 50 or 60 years. Get a hit show? Keep going until the audience quits watching. Don’t leave them wanting more; leave them after they’ve had way too much.

Fogelman, who has proven that he knows how to end a show with This is Us (also starring Brown), clearly had the full story mapped out and ready to play out over three seasons, and now we know that’s exactly how many we’ll get. That means, hopefully, he and the cast are ready to stick the landing. Something Lost never got a fair chance to do.

Gentle warning - there are very light spoilers ahead for Paradise. I won’t spoil anything important to the story or the plot, though. If you want to catch up to Episode 7, you can do that with a Hulu subscription or a Disney+ subscription.

Paradise is one of my favorite shows on the 2026 TV schedule, and this week, in Episode 7, I caught what must be an homage to one of my all-time favorite shows, The West Wing. It came along with yet another little Easter egg line, delivered by James Marsden as President Cal Bradford in the same scene. In addition to endless twists and turns, Paradise makes a lot of pop culture references, especially when it comes to the soundtrack. However, this is the first time a TV show reference has stood out to me, and I love it.

President Jeb Barlett Had A Reoccurring Line That Bradford Used

Fans of The West Wing (which you can watch with an HBO Max subscription) will know that one of the most common things President Bartlett (Martin Sheen) would use with his staff was “What’s next?” It meant he had all the information he needed on a topic and was ready to move on to the next important bit of business. It goes all the way back to the very first episode; in fact, it was the final line of The West Wing’s pilot. Bartlett explained what it meant best in one of the best episodes of the whole series, “In The Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part I” in Season 2.

This is the exact phrase President Bradford used as he was getting a tour of the bunker in Episode 7 of Season 2 of Paradise, called “The Final Countdown” (another pop culture reference). While on the tour, the chief architect of the bunker, Anders (Erik Svedberg-Zelman), tries to explain how everything works. Bradford asks him to dumb the explanations down to “caveman” levels, but once Bradford does get it, he simply says, “What’s next?” and is ready to move on. Like another fictional president, once Bradford understands something, he’s ready for the next thing. It’s a lovely homage, right?

It’s Not The Only Fun Line During The Tour

The second quick pop culture reference comes a little later in the tour. As Bradford is proving he’s not quite the idiot Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) thought he was by explaining how empires fall, he drops a reference to CBS’s coverage of March Madness. Bradford, a huge University of Kentucky basketball fan, explains that every dynasty and every empire falls, but before they fall, they have a “shining moment” when they believe they are unstoppable.

This wouldn’t have stood out had Bradford not referenced Kentucky, once a dynasty in college hoops, before saying the line. The line, as NCAA ball fans will know, is from the song “One Shining Moment,” written by David Barrett and usually performed by the late Luther Vandross (other versions have been used on occasion). That song is played at the end of every NCAA Basketball tournament, after the champion has been crowned. It has been a part of every tournament since 1987.

With one episode left to go and quite a few questions to be answered, the Paradise Season 2 finale is sure to be a doozy. I can’t wait to tune in, and hopefully we’ll get to have a little fun on the way, as I did with these two lines.

Spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet watched the Paradise episode “The Final Countdown” via Hulu subscription or Disney+ subscription.

With easy comparisons to make with the twisty and mystery-driven legacy of Lost, Paradise has given fans a ton of plotlines geared for nutty theorizing, and the second-to-last episode of Season 2 seemingly kinda-sorta justified all the speculation about Alex and the concept of a parallel universe. Julianne Nicholson’s Sinatra and Thomas Doherty’s Link finally met face to face, with the Bunker’s shady spearheader believing him to be her long-dead son Dylan. Or at least an alt-version of him.

It’s one of the wildest TV twists of anything that’s played out so far in the 2026 TV schedule, at least if true; there’s technically no guarantee that the finale will fully explain this mystery, or that it won't somehow also involve time travel. If that Link and Dylan connection does end up being legitimate, it actually gives Sterling K. Brown’s Xavier a massive advantage when he and Teri’s crew roll into Colorado. Assuming the Bunker isn’t destroyed by a nuclear meltdown, of course.

Sinatra And Link's Meeting Revealed Several Details

Before dipping into true sci-fi territory, let's look at the hard (presumed) facts laid out during this tense pie-filled meet-up. First, Link says his group is 10,000-strong, and that they're stationed in smaller groups all over the place. That hasn't been proven true yet, but his confidence makes it sound like a believable boast.

Based on the quality of the apple pie he's given, Link correctly infers just how advanced Bunker life has remained, and initially states that the group wants to take over one of the Bunker's nuclear reactors. Only after does he lay out the grander scheme: to destroy Alex, though it's not 100% clear how much the outsiders know about it. That said, nobody balked when Sinatra implied Alex isn't a person, so it seems like everyone is on the same page there. (Sinatra took a quick trip to "visit" Alex at the end of the ep, and the location was one that Xavier and Link have seen in visions.)

The big bad mamma jamma of a reveal, however, came when Michael McGrady's Geiger used Link's "real" first name, Dylan. Sinatra then asked through her shock when he was born, only to learn that he shares a birthday with her late son. To anyone else, a mere coincidence, but to the woman who may or may not have used an AI algorithm to alter the course of reality, it's quite a zinger.

Sinatra appears to take it at face value that Link is an alt-timeline iteration of Sinatra's son, and bangs her oft-ignored hubby in celebration. However, the Bunker is about to crumble down around her thanks to not just Link's group, but Jeremy Bradford and Agent (or former Agent) Robinson. And I have to think she's going to go into full lockdown without allowing anyone else to enter the Colorado safe haven. Except she might have to let Xavier in.

Xavier May Unwittingly Be Protecting Sinatra's Grandchild

Now that he's back with Teri after some hectic and emotionally fraught circumstances, Xavier's next must-accomplish goal is reconnecting with their two kids in the Bunker. But that's going to be far more challenging than escaping the location, since he'll likely be returning to a total s--tshow regarding Sinatra, Link and the threat of a nuclear meltdown.

Though he doesn't know it yet, he and Teri arguably possess the one thing that could guarantee their safe entry, or the safe return of their son and daughter. Namely, they have Link and Annie's baby. And if Sinatra's assumption about Link is correct, then that baby is kinda-sorta her grandchild, though I doubt the Bunker enforcer would be capable at this point of keeping that kid at arm's length if she catches a whiff of its potential identity.

Of course, all of that information's importance relies entirely on an outcome where Xavier, Sinatra and Link all become aware of the pertinent details in a timely fashion. Otherwise, Xavier won't realize he has such a key bargaining chip, and Sinatra might not grasp that she should handle Xavier and Teri with kid gloves, no pun intended.

All that said, I have no idea how Link/Dylan will react whenever he learns that he impregnated Annie during their time together. Maybe having a child will cause him to rethink how he wants his group to act, and what he wants to do about Alex. Or it might just spur him to act even faster and more diligently.

Hopefully the Season 2 finale can give us some answers when it drops on Hulu on Monday, March 30.

Major spoilers below for the penultimate episode of Paradise Season 2, so be warned if you haven’t yet streamed it via Hulu subscription or Disney+ subscription.

From the start, Paradise has been a giant guessing game, with plenty of mysteries and theories for audiences to sort through, and Season 2 really upped the ante with its “Who is Alex?” secret. Now, with just one episode left to set up what will presumably be the third and final season, Paradise dropped what might be its dooziest reveal yet, on top of putting a variety of major characters in danger, and it all seemingly turned my most promising theories about this show upside down.

Without much time to spare, let’s talk out Sinatra’s big plans for Alex, her big meeting with Link, and the fate of Paradise’s most chilling character.

Is Link An Alt-Universe Version Of Sinatra's Late Son Dylan?

Paradise has clearly been building up to a massive reveal for Link, but I can't honestly say that I've been expecting that reveal to tie him so directly to the story of Sinatra and her husband's late son Dylan. Not even when she and Tim start talking about him and everything gets all sad. I thought Link might be a conduit that would lead Sinatra back to a reality where Dylan was still alive, and I guess that's technically what this could be, even if it's not how I thought it would be presented.

Sinatra seemingly viewed Link as a formidable adversary right up until the point when Geiger called out to him using the character's birthname of "Dylan," which sent Sinatra into a glazed-eyes dream mode. She's almost definitely already bought into the whole shebang, regardless of any unforeseen consequences.

But does it even make sense for these two distinct characters to be the same person? If Link is an alt-version of Dylan, how did he work with Henry Miller to help create the current state of Alex? Was he always in "our" timeline, or was he pulled into ours from his own long ago? He doesn't seem to have memories of growing up with Sinatra, so to speak, so was that characers's childhood pointedly different, or did he not actually have one? I don't know that I can feel comfortable answering this one for "real," as it were. Either scenario sets up too many add-on questions to know anything for sure.

What Is Alex, And What Is Sinatra's Purpose For It?

Arguably the biggest Paradise question being asked in recent weeks, at least beyond "Will Xavier and Teri reunite lovingly?" revolves entirely around the mysterious "Alex" that's been referenced and threatened. But what are we even talking about when Alex comes up?

Though Sinatra calls Alex a "her" when speaking to Link, and though it appears to be named after the late wife of scientist Henry Miller, it's extremely doubtful that anyone is actually talking about a human female here. Instead, I'm pretty sure Alex is some kind of artificial intelligence supercomputer that's been tasked with figuring out how to save the planet and/or humanity's reign on it.

Certain theories have suggested time travel is involved, while others have pointed to a variety of alternate timelines being key to this mystery. But I have to think Alex's goal isn't quite so fancy, even if none of my explanations properly explain how Alex could have sent those foreboding emails back in 1997. (I'm hoping they're not actually related, even as ridiculous as that seems.)

I've been thinking Alex is working from a risk-assessment and survival-likelihood algorithm that essentially lays out every possible future from one second to the next, and figures out the "best" path to take so that civilization can be rebuilt. If Alex decides that certain people will likely one day become a threat that stands in the way, then steps are taken to make sure those people are nullified.

But hold up now. After Sinatra gets the bug in her head that Link and Dylan are the same, she seemingly goes back to rekindle her and Tim's romance after saying this specific phrase: "It worked." I don't think she was specifying that the meeting with Link and the other outsiders went successfully, or else she would have worded that very differently.

So was that meant to indicate that the entire point of Alex was a means to bring her dead child back, with the fate of the world merely a secondary focus?

Is Jane Already Dead For Real After Getting Her Own Confusing Episode?

The episode “Jane” didn’t dig into the backstory of Nicole Brydon Bloom’s villainous Jane Driscoll in the ways I expected, or would have preferred even. I’m still not sure what the foreshadowy 1997 messages were about, nor how killing Jane as a baby would have stopped any natural disaster from occurring decades later. (Although it’s theoretically possible that there’s a parallel universe where Baby Jane died and no super-volcanic eruptions happened.)

We mainly learned that her mother held on to the idea of Jane being an albatross around her neck, and wasn’t a personable parent in the slightest. Also, that Jane had extensive training to be a badass, and was psychotic enough to cut a man’s penis off to secure her friend a rightful promotion. Nothing we couldn’t have already assumed previously, but still. I thought it was more of an introductory look at Jane’s upbringing, meant to be continued later. But then she went and got herself possibly killed by Torabi.

Jane has been as chilling and unpredictable as any threat in Paradise across Season 2, so it doesn’t sit right with me that Dan Fogelman & Co. would take her out of the equation in such a way. I mean, good on Torabi for saving herself, but what was the point in learning more about this pathological killer the episode before she gets offed?

Considering we don’t actually see anyone pronounce Jane dead, on top of everything above, I don’t think she’s joined the choir invisible just yet. This architect of chaos still has more destruction to bring about, I’m sure of it. Unless, like, there’s an alt-universe Jane out there who also wasn't killed as a baby, and will step up in her stead. But if this show starts doing that with everyone, I’m going to need to nap until the final episode.

Paradise will deliver the (hopefully) answer-filled Season 2 finale on Hulu on Monday, March 30, so get ready to start compiling theory lists for where Season 3 will take this story.

WARNING: There are spoilers ahead for Paradise, so if you’re not caught up, you can quickly catch up with a Hulu subscription.

I love Paradise, the Sterling K. Brown-led show. It’s my favorite show thus far on the 2026 TV schedule. However, there is one thing that is bugging me, and that is the motivations of two of the characters, and the most recent episode is the most glaring example of it. It’s an episode all about Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom) and her backstory, something that’s been a long time coming. It also involved Dr. Torabi (Sarah Shahi), so let’s get into it.

Jane Is A Stone-Cold Killer

We finally learned a little about Jane’s background in this week’s episode, titled simply “Jane,” and while it does explain a little about how Jane became the stone-cold assassin that she is in the show, it still felt very thin to me. She’s obviously got some serious mental health issues, and psychopathy is a big part of that. How did she ever pass any kind of mental exam to get into the CIA (which I assume is where she is doing her training in the backstory, though that’s a little fuzzy)?

Sure, the CIA is probably forgiving when they are looking for what M once called James Bond: a blunt instrument. That’s almost certainly why she ended up on Sinatra’s (Julianne Nicholson) radar when she recruited her for security in the bunker, but how did she remain in the CIA after delivering the, uh, “parts” of her trainer to her mentor, Stacy Thomas (Ryan Michelle Bathé), as a present?

Maybe she didn’t; the episode left us hanging (for lack of a better term) when Jane arrived to give the present to Stacy. As an aside, if you’re a fan of the show, check out the podcast hosted by Bathé, especially the most recent episode.

Still, the backstory wasn’t enough for me. Yes, Jane had a terrible mom, but we’ve seen far worse mothers on TV before. And yes, there was that crazy message to the Circuit City (RIP) employee on the day Jane was born that “a killer will be born today” (which plays into the time travel/multiverse theories), but how did Jane end up as stone-cold as she is? She’s ruthless and unfeeling, but having imaginary friends and a distracted mother doesn’t feel like enough to get her there. Hopefully, showrunner and creator Dan Fogelman has more in store for us.

Dr. Torabi’s Motivations Are Strange, Too

At the end of the episode, Dr. Torabi confronts Jane and lets her know that she is on to her. As a psychiatrist, Torabi certainly understands how dangerous Jane is, so why in the world would she be so forthright when confronting her? Torabi also knows that Sinatra isn’t happy with her and that Sinatra uses Jane as her blunt instrument. This is a level of danger Torabi is bringing on herself, knowing full well where it could lead. That just doesn’t make sense to me.

This is contrasted by just how well the show has done in showing us the motivations behind both Xavier (Brown) and Sinatra. We know exactly why they are doing what they are doing (even if we have no idea what Sinatra is doing). Those stories give me hope that Torabi and Jane’s reasons will be revealed, and with two episodes left, and now a third season confirmed, I think we probably will.

WARNING! There are spoilers ahead for Paradise Episode 5 of Season 5. If you haven't watched it yet, log in with your Hulu subscription to check out the latest in the best show on the streamer right now.

The one thing you can count on in Paradise is that as a viewer, you’ll usually get a pretty good cliffhanger at the end of each episode. Often, of course, those involve Xavier (Sterling K. Brown), and lately, they’ve involved the search for his wife, Teri (Enuka Okuma). After Episode 5’s cliffhanger, for the first time, I'm genuinely worried about Xavier, and given the theories about where the show is headed, I think I have good reason to be.

What Are Gary’s Intentions?

At the end of Episode 4, Xavier meets Gary, played by the always great Cameron Britton. We suspect Gary is innocent enough, even heroic, in saving both Teri and the young kid, Bean, as we see in the latest episode. We also learn that Gary is in love with Teri, but the love is unrequited. While it seems like Gary is able to move on by the middle of the episode, with the final reveal, we learn that’s not the case at all.

Desperate to keep Teri from learning that the people on the train are traveling to Colorado, we see in a flashback that he had murdered his partner and fellow survivor, Ennis (Andy McQueen). Xavier is on to him pretty early on in the episode, but plays things close to the vest, never revealing too much to Gary. Still, at the end, we see Gary lie to Xavier about his feelings for Teri, and the two men shake hands as Bean watches from behind some bushes.

Gary seems like a coward, but we know he is willing to kill to keep Teri close. Will he pull a fast one and take Xavier out, too? With three episodes left in this excellent Season 2 of a planned three seasons, I feel like Xavier’s fate is up in the air for the first time.

If The Time Travel Or Multiverse Theories Are Real, No One Is Safe

Practically speaking, it’s pretty unlikely that Brown won’t be a part of the show until the end. Not only does he have a long working relationship with the show’s creator, Dan Fogelman (Fogelman also created This Is Us), but Brown is also a producer on the show. Not to mention Xavier has been the main focus of every aspect of the show, given him pretty strong plot armor. It would be pretty weird to shift the attention away from him completely.

However, if the online theories are correct, and there are some time-traveling/multiverse shenanigans at play, it’s pretty easy for that plot armor to be exposed. It would mean no one, not even Xavier, is safe, at least not in the present timeline, or the present universe.

Of course, I don’t think it means that Brown is leaving the show, nor would Xavier being murdered in this timeline or multiverse mean the end of Brown’s time on the show. Heck, even dead characters are part of flashbacks at least. This makes Xavier’s plot armor even thinner.

We’re still early in the 2026 TV schedule, but Paradise has proven to be the show I most look forward to each week. While I’ve grown used to the twists and turns, surprise character deaths, and everything else the show throws at us, losing Xavier, or this Xavier, would be devastating.

There are some major spoilers ahead for Paradise, so if you aren’t caught up, fire up your Hulu subscription and come back when you’re ready to get into theories about the show.

Paradise Season 2 is off to a banger of a start, and after dropping three episodes to kick it off, we got a fourth jaw-dropping and tragic episode this week. I loved the way we were introduced to Annie (Shailene Woodley) in the first episode, so her death hit hard. Now we’re on the road with Xavier (Sterling K. Brown), looking for his wife Teri in Atlanta, while Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) is facing a revolt (and a possible invasion) back in the bunker in Colorado. I’m all in on this so far, but I’ve also made the mistake of reading some online discourse, and a new theory is emerging that I can’t get behind: time travel.

Paradise has become a show, like Lost, a couple of decades ago, that inspires a ton of online chatter. Showrunner/creator Dan Fogelman showed in the very first episode that we shouldn’t trust what we see is all it seems when we learned about the bunker. There have been twists and turns throughout, but all of those have been grounded in some sort of reality. We can quibble about how realistic some of the science is, but there hasn’t been anything too over the top “out there” like time travel.

Who (Or What) Is Alex?

Introducing the idea of time travel would be a major plot twist, but why do so many fans seem to think this twist is coming? Well, it seems to come down to the mysterious “Alex,” Sinatra’s secret project, and some nose bleeds. Alex is a name we’ve heard three times now. The first time came when Link (Thomas Doherty) was about to leave Graceland, and Geiger (Michael McGrady) tells him that they had to leave for Colorado to “kill Alex.”

The second mention of Alex happened when Billy Pace (Jon Beavers), in a flashback, killed Henry Miller (Patrick Fischler), a quantum physicist whose company was desired by Sinatra before “The Day” for as-yet unknown reasons. Miller, just before Pace kills him, euthanized his sick wife, named Alex. We also learn that Link is Miller’s protege and co-owner of the company Sinatra is trying acquire for their technology (whatever that tech is).

At the end of Episode 3, we again hear the name Alex in a conversation between Sinatra and her maid (or who we think is her maid), Carmen (Maria-Elena Laas). As Dr. Gabriela Torabi (Sarah Shahi) listens in on the bug she planted, Sintra asks Carmen about “Alex,” and is informed that Alex is improving. We still don’t know who or what Alex is or what she/he/they/it have to do with anything, but could it be a time travel project or some kind of multiverse thing? Ugh. I hope not.

The Nosebleeds And The Visions

At different points, both Billy Pace and Xavier experience headaches, visions, and nosebleeds that some fans speculate are due to time travel. When Billy shot Miller, he did so after Miller had handed him a tissue, seemingly anticipating the nosebleed. Later, while Xavier is piloting the plane through a storm, he also experiences one. Link also experienced them while staying at Graceland with Annie. Something is definitely up.

In addition to the nosebleeds, Link and Xavier seemed to be connected somehow. In the third episode, as Xavier is recovering at Graceland, he has a vision of Link and him together. Later, in Episode 4, Link also sees the vision while sleeping ahead of their final trek to Colorado. It doesn’t seem like the two previously knew each other, but does that mean that they are time-traveling? Or that they do know each other in an alternate universe? Again, I hope not.

Throughout all of this, we also learn that Sinatra has been syphoning off power from the bunker’s grid for a secret project that some fans say is why she was so interested in Link and Miller’s research and their company. She’s working on whatever they were working on and it requires a tremendous amount of electricity. Introducing a company involved in quantum physics also introduces the sci-fi trope of time travel or some kind of multiverse situation using “science.” I’m not down with either.

I’m Not A Fan Of Time Travel Plots

I get it, the one thing billionaires like Sinatra can’t buy is more time. And she certainly has reasons for having a desire to travel back in time, or sideways into another universe. Not just to save the world from the disaster, but also to save her deceased son, whom we learned all about last season, and is the motivating factor in many of her decisions thus far. It will undoubtably make things very messy, plotwise.

For starters, time travel always gets confusing to me. It always introduces plot holes, no matter how it’s presented. It stresses me out as I try to keep all the threads going in my brain. I simply don’t like movies and shows about time travel, and I really hope these are all red herrings. As for the multiverse theory… well… call it my MCU fatigue, but I hate that idea, too. I hate that in the MCU’s multiverse, nothing is real, nothing is forever, and the stakes are therefore meaningless. Either or both of these tropes ruin things very quickly for me.

Paradise is easily one of my favorite shows on the 2026 TV schedule, and I love that it’s been fairly straightforward, while keeping me on my toes as I watch. However, if there is a new twist introduced that invites a complete rewrite of everything we’ve seen so far and basically allows for anything to change with a hand wave, I’ll be very annoyed, to say the least. The world that the show has constructed so far, like the bunker Sinatra constructed, is solid, but precarious. Don’t let it all fall apart, or I'm going to get headaches and nosebleeds!

Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Paradise Season 2, which you can catch up on with either a Hulu subscription or a Disney subscription.

Paradise Season 2 kicked off this week with a bang. Or three bangs to be exact. The first three episodes of the season dropped late Sunday night/early Monday morning, and I have to say, I think it was the perfect way for the season to be introduced. Streaming services sometimes struggle to present episodes the right way, like Season 4 of Bridgerton, ending the first half of the season without a good cliffhanger. Here’s how Paradise got it right.

The First Episode Featured All New Characters

Back in the olden days, before streaming, a season premiere like “Graceland” would have been roasted by fans. “Where was Xavier!?” “What about the bunker??” “Is Sinatra in trouble?!” “I neeeeed answers now!!” Those are just a few of the complaints I can imagine would have stretched out for a week as we all waited for the second episode. Instead, the hit show, starring Sterling K. Brown, could afford not to feature him in the first episode because of the release format.

Instead, in “Graceland,” we’re introduced to two brand new characters, Annie Clay (Shailene Woodley) and Link (Thomas Doherty), and for the full episode, we learn their situation through flashbacks and their current situation after the disaster struck. The episode takes its time telling the stories, especially Annie’s backstory. It allows us to get to know her, so that by the end, when we catch our first glimpse of Xavier on the ground near his crashed plane, we are emotionally invested in the new character. This never could have happened with an old network TV show. People would be howling mad that we’ve only gotten more questions and no answers to the previous season’s cliffhangers.

We Still Get Some Answers And See The Season Get Set Up

In the second episode, “Mayday,” we get back to Xavier’s story and catch up with where we left him, on a plane headed to Atlanta to find his wife, Teri (Enuka Okuma). We see him in the current time, flying and eventually crashing, but we also get way more backstory about his relationship and marriage to Teri. We’re now much more emotionally invested in them as a couple than we were when we all assumed she died in the catastrophe. After Xavier is found and nursed back to health by Annie, we find out she’s going to try to force him to return to Colorado.

Then, in episode three, we get some answers about Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) and her condition after she was shot by Jane Discoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom) in the Season 1 finale. It also sets up broader questions for the season. Why is Sinatra using excess power from the bunker? Why is Henry and Link’s company so important to her? Who is Alex, and how does he or she fit in? Ok, that last one was teased in the first episode, but it’s brought back in Episode 3.

All told, it’s a fantastic way to introduce a new season, including important new characters and all-new mysteries. We’re just a couple of months into the 2026 TV schedule, and I already have a must-see show with Paradise (again), and I can’t wait to see how everything plays out.

Xavier Collins is officially out of the bunker and back on our screens, as Paradise Season 2 premiered on the 2026 TV schedule. Sterling K. Brown’s post-apocalyptic drama captivated audiences in its first season, genre-hopping from murder mystery to disaster film to political thriller, and already the second set of episodes has flipped the script on much of what we thought we knew. Does creator Dan Fogelman know where the story is headed? How many seasons will Paradise last? Surprisingly, he has those answers.

With the first three episodes of Paradise Season 2 now available to stream with a Hulu subscription, many fans are likely focused on questions like, “Who is Alex?” and “What is Sinatra up to?” But for all of the Lost comparisons that this series gets, there are also valid questions to be asked about the endgame. According to John Hoberg, executive producer and writer, Dan Fogelman has had a plan since the beginning, telling THR:

That is certainly an interesting way to say the series will end after Season 3, and it gets my wheels turning about what kind of ending we’re in for. Complete global annihilation? Whatever the case, with Dan Fogelman involved, I can only imagine it will be emotional — I haven’t forgotten the This Is Us finale!

John Hoberg said Paradise was always mapped out to be three seasons, and before they’d even hired a writers room, there was a plan in place for each of the three, including Season 1 being in the bunker, Xavier venturing to the surface in Season 2 and the mysterious “final thing” that will occur in Episode 8 next month.

At this point, they’ve already plotted out most of Season 3, the writer said, despite not having an official renewal yet from Hulu. Assuming that comes as planned, Dan Fogelman and co. will wrap the story then.

I’m just happy to know Dan Fogelman, John Hoberg and the rest have a clear path in place for the Paradise ending, and if this was always envisioned as a three-season series, I’d imagine Hulu isn’t going to have any issues letting them see that vision through. That really beats series that go on for too long with no narrative purpose or — even worse — shows that get canceled before they can finish their story.

With the scope expanding so much in Season 2 to incorporate what’s happening on the Earth’s surface, as well as political tensions boiling over inside the bunker, it’s actually really nice to know we don’t have to worry very much about the fate of Paradise. Instead, we can savor Xavier’s quest, Sinatra’s scheming and the mysterious “Alex” plot with the knowledge that we’ve still got one more season to wrap up any outstanding questions.

Tune in for new episodes of Paradise each Monday on Hulu.

The first season of Paradise took the TV world by storm with its twisty post-apocalyptic murder mystery. While the assassination of President Cal Bradford drove the story, it was always more about the bigger secrets surrounding the doomsday event — and what was really happening outside of their underground “paradise.” As Season 2 premieres on the 2026 TV schedule, we're about to find that out for ourselves. Critics have seen 7 of the 8 episodes, and they’re mostly in for more fun in (and out of) the bunker.

Last we saw Sterling K. Brown’s Xavier Collins, he was headed to the Earth’s surface in search of his wife, after Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) revealed there were survivors, and Teri was one of them. What will Xavier encounter outside of the bunker? Even more worrisome, what chaos will unfold inside of it? According to Cheryl Eddy of Gizmodo, Paradise Season 2 succeeds in following multiple characters (complete with flashbacks, of course) to bring us even more tension and thrills this time around. The critic writes:

Jonathan Wilson of Ready Steady Cut says the expanded scope of Season 2 plays to Dan Fogelman’s strength in weaving emotional storylines together This Is Us-style. It isn’t perfect, Wilson says, but the pluses outweigh the minuses for an overall “immensely satisfying” sophomore effort. The critic rates the season 4 out of 5 stars, writing:

Belen Edwards of Mashable notes how expanding the world beyond the Colorado bunker also leaves us without a strong “Who killed the president?”-esque mystery to center the drama, but that’s not Fogelman's only big Season 2 swing. The premiere episode focuses almost solely on a survivor we’ve never met before — Annie, as Shailene Woodley joins the Paradise cast — and surprises like that continue throughout. Critics don’t know how it ends, but this one has certainly enjoyed the ride either way. Edwards says:

For other critics, the ride alone may not be enough, as Angie Han on THR argues that bigger isn’t necessarily better in Paradise’s case. The series has always been more heart than head, Han says, and there’s definitely enough good in Season 2 to make you not want to sweat the small stuff. However, the inconsistencies, plot holes and dead-end narratives accumulate to eat away at the series’ already-shaky structure. The critic continues:

Clint Worthington of RogerEbert says Paradise loses the novelty that drew us to it in the first place, as Xavier splits off into his own storyline. The political intrigue and unsettling veneer of normalcy inside Sinatra’s “Paradise” are gone, and while “a few pulpy delights” still exist, according to Worthington, it’s all a bit too slow-moving for his taste. The critic says:

While the reviews are a little mixed, the critics all seem to agree there’s plenty to like here — especially if you’re a fan of Dan Fogelman’s timeline-jumping, heartstring-pulling, gasp-worthy, twisty storytelling. However, when you open the door to the bunker, things are going to change, and when you add more characters, others could get lost.

How much that bothers you will likely determine how you feel about Paradise Season 2, but the 30 critics reporting to Rotten Tomatoes have brought it to a Certified Fresh 90%. The first three episodes are available to stream now with a Hulu subscription, with episodes coming weekly on Mondays thereafter.

February comes to a close this week, but the month has potentially left the best for last. If you’ve been heartsick over the last month about what’s going to happen on Bridgerton or you’re dying to see who wins this season of The Traitors, your questions are about to be answered. One of the more exciting movies hitting streaming this month is also on offer if you’ve required an action fix. Here’s a look at what you won’t want to miss this week on streaming.

Paradise, Season 2 - February 23 (Hulu)

The first season of Paradise was a major hit that had lots of new fans talking about the drama, following its major twist, which we won’t be spoiling here. The way the previous season ended will likely have many tuning in to see what happens next when Season 2 of the Sterling K. Brown-led drama arrives. The first three episodes will be available with your Hulu subscription this week.

The Bluff - February 25 (Prime Video)

There’s nothing quite like a good and bloody action movie, and The Bluff, available with a Prime Video subscription this week, looks to be just what we need to scratch that itch. Priyanka Chopra Jonas gets a juicy starring role as a woman hiding out in the Caribbean in 1846, only to have her past, in the form of Karl Urban, track her down. It looks like somebody asked the question, “What if John Wick were a woman and also a pirate?” I can’t wait to see the answer.

Bridgerton, Season 4 Part 2 - February 26 (Netflix)

Romance is in the air as the second half of the new season of Bridgerton arrives. All the remaining episodes of the new season will drop in your Netflix subscription, so get ready to binge them all to find out what happens to the love life of Benedict Bridgerton. I have a feeling it will all turn out ok in the end.

The Traitors, Season 4 Finale & The Traitors UK February 26 (Peacock)

Another epic season of The Traitors comes to an end this week. One of the most popular reality competition shows of the streaming era airs its final episode and its reunion special this week. But don’t cancel your Peacock subscription just yet, as the newest season of the UK version of The Traitors hits the same day, giving you plenty more to watch.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Season 2 - February 27 (Apple TV)

We’re still about a year away from the next Godzilla X Kong movie, but fans who can’t wait for more from Legendary Pictures Monsterverse can get that itch scratched, on an admittedly smaller scale, in the form of the new season of Monach: Legacy of Monsters. The series, available with an Apple TV subscription, follows the human organization that tracks and studies the massive creatures. Season 2 promises plenty of monster action alongside more human drama.

February was bgreat but March could end up even bigger on streaming. Get ready for the Peaky Blinders movie coming to Netflix, the new season of Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+ (with the return of Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones), and the next take on the Sherlock Holmes mythos in Prime Video’s Young Sherlock.

Sterling K. Brown's big return to live-action television in the 2025 TV schedule with Hulu's Paradise proved that he can handle the leading man role after sharing the spotlight in This Is Us. The political thriller with a dystopian twist is returning early in the 2026 TV schedule for anybody with a Hulu subscription, and there are a lot of questions after Season 1 ended with his character, Xavier, leaving the relative safety of the bunker to search for his wife. Brown has now revealed when in Season 2 to expect a huge twist, even if he didn't spoil the particulars of what the twist will be.

Paradise, which was renewed before the first season even ended, hails from This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman. Based on Sterling K. Brown's comments to TVLine about the upcoming Season 2, the producer hasn't lost his touch for twists even if the Hulu series is vastly different from the NBC hit. Brown previewed an upcoming game-changer:

Whatever the future holds, fans can at least say with certainty that they won't have to wait three weeks to see what this Episode 3 twist is. Unless there's another surprise early premiere like the first time around, Hulu is releasing the first three episodes on February 23 before switching to weekly releases for the rest of the second season.

The leading man also previewed that Billy Pace (Jon Beavers) will appear in Episode 3 despite seemingly being killed off at the end of Season 1, but the format of the series means that Billy isn't necessarily back from the dead. His return could be a flashback. After all, President Bradford (James Marsden) appears in the teaser for Season 2, and Cal is definitely dead after Season 1.

Sterling K. Brown knows to expect twists from creator Dan Fogelman after working with him for six seasons of This Is Us. While that emotional rollercoaster of a series was not dystopian in the way that Paradise is, the leading man went on to share that Fogelman still brings the shockers:

With Paradise airing on Hulu rather than network television, Xavier and Co. can say more than just "Son of a gun!" I wouldn't blame the character if he hits a limit in Season 2 based on the teaser for what's to come, including the arrival of Shailene Woodley as a new character. Take a look:

Season 2 of Paradise will premiere on Tuesday, February 24 with the first three of the next eight episodes. While the future isn't currently guaranteed beyond the upcoming second season, Brown shared that he and Fogelman have "three seasons of television planned," so be sure to tune in to prove that there's an audience for a Season 3.

In fact, if Paradise keeps up the pace of releasing a new season every year like a traditional network TV show, fans could get answers to all of their questions in a timely fashion. Dan Fogelman definitely doesn't seem to agree with the Duffer Brothers of Stranger Things fans when it comes to releasing TV shows every year!

Three years have passed since This Is Us’ series finale shut the book on the Pearson family saga, and yet it’s pretty amazing how quickly those emotions can come flooding back. The NBC ensemble drama had a way of bringing the tears — both happy and sad — over its six-season run, and Justin Hartley’s reaction to rewatching one of the series’ most brutally heartbreaking scenes has me back in my feelings.

The series centered around the Pearson family: Jack (Milo Ventimiglia), his wife Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and their children, the Big Three — Kevin (Justin Hartley), Kate (Chrissie Metz) and Randall (Sterling K. Brown), who they adopted after he was abandoned at a fire station. There was always tension between Kevin and Randall, especially after Jack died of heart failure following a house fire (sorry, Crock-Pot).

The sibling rivalry came to a head in the Season 4 finale, when the brothers went for the jugular, Randall telling Kevin that their father had died ashamed of him, and Kevin responding with an equally cruel sentiment, saying:

Justin Hartley relived that scene in a segment with People, and he wore the most pained expression on his face as he pleaded with his character:

Seeing the regret Justin Hartley had that Kevin could say that to his brother made me tear up in the same way it did when I first watched the scene back in 2020. It was awful, but it was also so authentic to the characters. Hartley explained:

That was also the beauty of This Is Us. The way the writers jumped around in time to explore the Big Three in different stages of their lives gave us so much context into their thoughts and actions. It also showed them as flawed characters, with Justin Hartley acknowledging the brothers could have handled the situation differently, but that’s often not what happens in real life.

Over the first four seasons we were shown so many layers to these characters that by the time Kevin and Randall faced off in that episode, we knew how much Randall struggled to fit in with his white family. We also knew how much Kevin resented the extra attention his brother got from their parents because of that, making their insults toward each other cut so deep. Justin Hartley said:

That’s a hard point to argue, with its cast and crew being nominated for dozens of Emmy Awards during its six seasons. It’s also hard to argue how much of an impact a show has had when simply rewatching a scene from five years ago can elicit all the same emotions it did the first time.

Luckily for us, we can still revisit any part of the Pearson family timeline, as all six seasons of This Is Us are available to stream with a Hulu subscription.

Spoilers ahead for Season 1 of Paradise. Stream the series now with a Hulu subscription.

It would probably be incorrect to say that Paradise was a big surprise for me when it hit the 2025 TV schedule, because I’d never bet against Dan Fogelman and Sterling K. Brown to deliver the goods. However, I wasn’t expecting that the political thriller/disaster series would make me so emotional in the same way as This Is Us. I can’t wait to see what’s next for the Emmy-nominated series, and fans just got a big update from Brown himself.

Paradise Season 2 has wrapped, Sterling K. Brown announced via Instagram. While I know we still have a while to wait before we can expect new episodes, I’m so hyped to know how far along in the process they are — at least I was until I saw a comment that made me upset over that big Season 1 death again. First, take a look at SKB’s video:

Sterling K. Brown strolled around the set as he thanked fans for “riding” with him and his colleagues. He said they’re hoping to give us something “as good if not better” for Paradise Season 2. It was a bittersweet day, the Oscar-nominated actor said but, in addition to being excited for us to see their work on the upcoming season, SKB even expressed hope for a third season!

It’s all very exciting, and fans hit the comment section with enthusiasm. But, as I scrolled through the “congratulations” and dancing gifs, one comment sent a jolt through me that I was not expecting. Jon Beavers, who played agent Billy Pace on Season 1 wrote:

Whyyyyyyy? Why is Jon Beavers doing this to me? I was definitely not ready to be reminded of his character's Season 1 death.

Now, I’m on record as saying that I think James Marsden’s Cal was the most tragic figure of Season 1, and I stand by that. But we all knew going in that President Bradford was murdered, so his actual death wasn’t the most jarring. I think many fans would agree it was Billy Pace getting killed by his girlfriend, fellow agent Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom), that was far more shocking and frustrating.

Several fans replied to his comment to share their own grief over the loss of Billy, writing:

• Xavier BETTER have found Billy’s long lost twin brother out there! – @mamasheesh
• [Jon Beavers] I hope you were just playing dead in season 1 – @bethwilliamsss014
• We are Ok with a Billy clone as well. – @iggy_the_dissectologist

Anybody who’s watched Dan Fogelman’s previous hit show This Is Us knows that a character’s death doesn’t mean we never see the actor again. We’ll have to wait and see if Jon Beavers — and James Marsden, for that matter — do end up making anymore appearances on Paradise.

What we do know is that Shailene Woodley has been added to the cast for Season 2 and, as SKB’s Xavier Collins heads above ground to find his wife and other survivors, Sinatra’s underground “paradise” seems to be at a real risk of erupting into full-blown chaos. I can’t freaking wait.

Paradise Season 2 is expected to hit Hulu in 2026.

I expected Sterling K. Brown’s new show, Washington Black, which you can stream now with a Hulu subscription, to be a straightforward story of an enslaved man escaping bondage in the United States and finding freedom in Nova Scotia. It is that, but at least one episode in, it seems like it will be much more, and I can’t wait to keep watching.

There Is Some Light Magical Realism I Didn’t Expect At All

To be sure, the magical realism is subdued, but it makes for a very steampunk vibe at times that I really dig. The first episode of Washington Black, which stars Eddie Karanja as the younger titular character and Ernest Kingsley Jr. as the older version, reminded me at times of a great Jules Verne novel. Wash (as the character is known) is taken under the wing of his master’s brother, Titch (Tom Ellis, who is set to star in an upcoming FBI spinoff), an inventor in every 19th-century sense of the word. He’s building things with iron and powering them with steam, and attempting to invent a flying machine.

Wash is a precocious kid and Titch takes a liking to him and starts educating him in the ways of science and engineering. Wash inherently understands much of what he sees in Titch’s workshop, even fixing a device he’s never seen before, much to Titch’s amazement. When the show flashes forward to Wash in Nova Scotia, these lessons have paid off, and he is clearly very educated and working to carry on Titch’s attempts to build a flying machine.

There Is An Ominous Undertone, And I Think I Know Where It Is Headed

I’m already rooting for Wash and worried about his future. As it must have been for all the formerly enslaved people living in Halifax (where Emmy-nominee Sterling K. Brown is the group’s de facto leader), there is a sense of impending doom. A bounty hunter has arrived, looking for Wash, as he continues to work on his invention. Wash has also become smitten with another new arrival to town, Tanna (Iola Evans), so there is a budding love story happening at the same time.

Towards the end of the episode, Wash finds Tanna on the beach, where he has come to test his model airship. She is amazed by his work and encourages him to continue. I think this sets up how the show might end, with Wash escaping the clutches of the bounty hunter on his flying machine, and I can’t wait for it. Steam-powered flight was first achieved in the 1850s, some decades after the show's time period, so seeing a steampunk, Jules Verne-style airship at the end fits the light magical realism that I sense in the show.

If you haven’t watched Brown's second great show on the 2025 TV schedule, I would encourage you to do so. The set pieces and locations look amazing. It’s a much bigger production than I expected, as well. It takes viewers from the cane fields of Barbados to the brisk beaches of Nova Scotia (all shot on location), and I can’t wait to see where else it takes us.

Most actors would probably agree that getting started in the business can be difficult. One thing, however, that can help tremendously is landing guest roles on television shows, like the many that appear on the 2025 TV schedule. This is exactly one of the ways that Emmy winner/Oscar nominee Sterling K. Brown made a living for himself before hitting it big with his work on This Is Us and American Crime Story. Over a decade after appearing in one episode of NCIS, however, the Washington Black star is still thinking about how series lead Mark Harmon treated him.

What Did Sterling K. Brown Say About His Guest Role On NCIS And Mark Harmon?

While 2016 was the year that Sterling K. Brown seemed to burst onto the small screen from nowhere with his highly praised (and awarded) roles as Randall Pearson in This Is Us (which still has fans asking him for hugs three years after the series ended) and Christopher Darden in American Crime Story, he’d been kicking around Hollywood for about 15 years before then.

Brown had a regular role on Army Wives from 2007-2013, but was also filling his work days by guest starring on shows like Supernatural, NYPD Blue, JAG, ER, Alias, Without a Trace, Person of Interest, and yes, he’s one of many actors who popped up on NCIS. It turns out that his one 2013 episode of the ever-popular long-running hit (which will be in Season 23 this fall) really had an impact on him, largely because of how he was treated by then-star Mark Harmon. As he recently told People:

My guess is that, at the very least, coming into a show where the cast has been together for a long time can be intimidating, and at the very worst one could actively be made to feel like they don’t belong or matter. In fact, Brown noted earlier in his interview that he’d been on sets where it was clear “these people could give a flying Fig Newton if I'm here or not,” because he didn’t feel welcome.

So, it makes sense that he would both separate himself from Harmon (who’d starred on the show for eleven seasons at that point) and try not to get involved with the leads even once he was approached by the actor. As we’ve heard from others who worked with Harmon on the procedural, like Scott Wolf (who said the lead “really made me feel welcome there”) and Rocky Carroll (who credits him with making sure the cast and crew were always a “team” and kept them “motivated”), the star stepped up and made sure that Brown felt like he belonged.

This led to him developing a rapport with Harmon (who left the series in Season 19) and being able to get some advice from the actor, who’d made a name for himself on St. Elsewhere in the early ‘80s. Brown continued:

It’s always good to be able to look at and focus on the positives of anything as much as possible, especially when it comes to the amount of time we all spend working every day. Not only is it great to hear that Brown loved his time on NCIS, but that he got some great advice that he still carries with him.

The Emmy nominations are out, and after watching all the nominated performances for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series on the 2025 television schedule, I’m completely torn as to who I think should win. Pedro Pascal, Sterling K. Brown, Noah Wyle, Gary Oldman, and Adam Scott all put in amazing turns in amazing shows. How to pick just one? I don’t know if I can, but by the end of this story, I hope to have some clarity.

Pedro Pascal For The Last Of Us

Pedro Pascal may indeed be the “internet’s daddy,” and a big reason why is his role as Joel in The Last of Us. There is one more season for The Last of Us, but given Joel's limited role in Season 2 (IYKYK), this may be Pascal's final shot at winning an Emmy for this particular role. If I'm honest, I think he deserves this award more for Season 1 of The Last of Us, as his role was much bigger, of course. However, since every scene he's a part of in Season 2 has so much emotional weight, it's not like he's undeserving now.

The last few years have been amazing for Pascal and his fans. He also has Fantastic Four: First Steps coming out this month, and The Mandalorian and Grogu on the 2026 movie schedule. For Pascal to win an Emmy for one of the best video game adaptations ever would be a crowning achievement. An achievement he well deserves. But he’s hardly alone in this category.

Adam Scott For Severance

Apple TV+ has put out some amazing movies and TV shows in the last few years and at the top of that list has to be Severance. The Emmys have certainly recognized that with an amazing 27 nominations in 2025, leading all shows. Adam Scott, who plays Mark S., leads a fantastic cast that includes fellow nominees Britt Lower, John Turturro, Tramell Tillman, and Patricia Arquette.

I do think, as amazing as Severance is and as fantastic as Scott is, he may be the longshot in this category, which goes to show just how loaded it is. I won’t be surprised by anything when the Emmy is announced on September 14th, but still, if I were a betting man, I wouldn’t be betting on Scott. He’ll surely be nominated again after Season 3 of Severance.

Noah Wyle For The Pitt

HBO Max's fantastic medical drama The Pitt was at first a tough watch for me, at first. It took me a couple of restarts to finally get into it. That’s not because I thought it was bad, in fact, it was quite the opposite, it was so good–and so real–that I had to turn it off. It was literally freaking me out by how real it felt.

The show’s star, Noah Wyle, has five Emmy nominations to his name from his days on that other medical drama he once starred in, ER, but honestly, he hit a new level of performance with The Pitt. Though he never won for ER, and he might not win here, given the competition, his performance is riveting, heartfelt, and most importantly, real.

Sterling K. Brown For Paradise

Hulu’s Paradise is the brainchild of Dan Fogelman, who is also responsible for a little show called This Is Us, for which Sterling K. Brown was nominated for five Emmys in this same category and won the award in 2017 after Season 1. Brown and Fogelman teamed up again for Paradise, and the outcome, unsurprisingly, was another fantastic season of television and a slew of Emmy nominations.

Brown brings his trademark emotional depth to a character, Secret Service Agent Xavier Collins, who might have been two-dimensional in anyone but Brown and Fogelman’s hands. On the surface, the show is a science fiction whodunit, but with Brown leading the amazing cast, it’s so much more than that. A win here would be Brown’s fourth Emmy (he also won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson and Best Narrator for Lincoln: Divided We Stand), so it’s never a surprise to see him on the stage accepting an award for acting excellence.

Gary Oldman For Slow Horses

Finally, we come to what is actually my personal favorite. Slow Horses, which you can stream with an Apple TV+ subscription, has been among the best shows on streaming for four seasons now (with a fifth right around the corner). Gary Oldman, who plays the crusty, smelly, chain-smoking, washed-up spy Jackson Lamb in the thriller, has been outstanding for all of those seasons.

This is only Oldman’s second nomination for Slow Horses, which almost seems criminal. The Oscar winner has never won an Emmy, and while I would be happy to see any of these actors win, I’m quietly rooting for Oldman, because I really love the show, and his performance is so good, I can smell his character through the screen–and I mean that in the best way.

Who Will Win Is Anyone’s Guess

This is the Emmys, so of course there are always going to be five worthy Emmy nominees for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series, but this year just feels different to me. It seems especially hard to predict a winner. While I’m personally rooting for Oldman, as I said, I don’t know that he’ll take it home, and really, nothing would surprise me here.

I’ve been sitting here for almost a day thinking about this, and still have no clue who will win. All five actors put in deserving performances in excellent (and very popular) shows. Even though I said Adam Scott is maybe the longshot, the more I think about Severance and its dozens of nominations, the more I change my mind about that. That’s where we are with this category. I go back and forth between all five. I can’t wait to tune in to CBS in September to find out who wins.

It’s hard to believe it’s been three years since we said goodbye to the Pearson family and This Is Us after six seasons. Even as the cast moves onto some great other projects on the 2025 TV schedule, there’s a part of me that yearns to catch up with Kevin, Kate and Randall. Apparently I’m not alone, because Sterling K. Brown opened up about the effect episodes continue to have on people.

Sterling K. Brown played Randall Pearson on This Is Us (which can be streamed in full with a Hulu subscription or Netflix subscription). In talking about episodes that continue to make an impact, Brown mentioned the one where Milo Ventimiglia’s Jack dies after the Pearsons’ house burns down. Brown told EW the episode has a different meaning in the aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires — in which Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore both lost their houses, saying:

This Is Us did a lot of things right, and one of them was definitely connecting people. Over six seasons, creator Dan Fogelman weaved us through different generations of the Pearson family, showing how a seemingly random act from one person could change the entire trajectory of someone else’s life.

At times we’d start an episode by following a stranger’s story, only to have that stranger be an integral part of the Pearson family by the episode's end. William Hill (played by the late Ron Cephas Jones) was one of those characters. He turned out to be Randall’s birth father who had left him at the fire station as a newborn.

Fans quickly grew to love William, and his death was one of This Is Us’ most heartbreaking moments. In fact, Sterling K. Brown said that episode — Season 1’s “Memphis” — is the one fans most often want to talk to him about, and I have to imagine that’s where plenty of the requests for a hug come into play.

Today Sterling K. Brown and Dan Fogelman are working together again, on Hulu's Paradise, and unsurprisingly, that series hits some of the same emotional notes as This Is Us. You can count me among the fans who are happy that it’s been renewed for a second season.

In other Big Three news, Justin Hartley’s Tracker (streaming with a Paramount+ subscription) also got a third-season order at CBS, and Susan Kelechi Watson (who played Randall’s MVP wife Beth) is one of the stars on Netflix's ensemble series The Residence. Hopefully these shows can comfort us as well as a hug from Sterling K. Brown would.

Spoilers for Season 1 of Paradise are ahead! If you haven’t seen the series yet, you can stream it with a Hulu subscription.

This Is Us and Paradise have a couple of very obvious connections – they were both created by Dan Fogelman and they both star Sterling K. Brown. Outside of that, though, I didn’t expect the Hulu series on the 2025 TV schedule to remind me of the NBC hit at all. However, after binge-watching Paradise, I realized these shows hit my emotions very hard in similar ways.

Now, as you know, Paradise is a heart-pounding thriller about the murder of the president that takes place in what is basically a bunker built for the end of the world. The Is Us is an emotional drama about a family. In concept, these projects don’t have much in common at all. However, based on each show’s emphasis on family connections and their effective use of timeline hopping to build empathy and understanding, I found myself reaching for the tissues while watching them for similar reasons.

Like This Is Us, The Heart Of Paradise Is The Families The Show Is Based Around

Dan Fogelman and his team are experts at building empathy. In both This Is Us and Paradise, you fall in love with big families, and you ride through life with them as they experience their highest highs and lowest lows. What that means is you see their greatest qualities and ugly flaws, and you accept it all.

While the stakes are obviously more extreme in Paradise, at its heart, these people are simply trying to protect those they love. On This Is Us, the heart of the show was Rebecca, Jack, Randall, Kevin and Kate’s relationship and how they worked through life together. What drives Paradise’s main character Xavier is his love for his kids and (missing?) wife, and what motivates our primary antagonist Sinatra is protecting her daughter.

So, when I watched Paradise, I found myself getting misty-eyed over character deaths (like Billy’s) and plot developments, like, you know, the world ending, because I was watching these characters struggle deeply with how their families had been impacted by great loss. It took this show past your general thriller and turned it into a deeply emotional drama that had me as emotional as I was when I found out how Jack died.

I think that’s a big reason why I love Paradise so much. Like This Is Us, it puts family first in a lot of ways, and those relationships (and how we learn about them, which we’ll talk about next) are what invested me on a deeply emotional level.

Both Paradise And This Is Us Effectively Use Timeline Hopping To Tell Their Stories

If you watched This Is Us (you can do so now with a Hulu or Netflix subscription), you are no stranger to timeline jumping. On the NBC drama, that was the name of the game. We bounced between Kevin, Kate and Randall’s childhood and their adulthood, and that back and forth gave us a deep, emotional and complex understanding of the Pearson family.

The same thing happened in Paradise.

By alternating timelines between pre- and post-world ending event, we got to know the characters and their pasts, which ultimately made their fates hit harder.

Take James Marsden’s President Cal, for example. For the first section of the series, it was hard to empathize with him. He’s kind of a jerk, and on the surface, it was hard to root for him. However, by the end of the season, Cal might be the show’s biggest tragedy. That’s because it’s revealed in flashbacks that he was trying to right his wrongs, however, in the present his loved ones didn’t realize that until long after he was dead.

Billy is another example of this. His character is fully fleshed out in basically one episode. In the lead-up to his death, we flashed between his present and past, learning about his childhood and what got him into the bunker. While his actions above ground weren’t good, we also see that the world wasn’t exactly nice to him. It became clear that this place was a second chance for him, and learning that minutes before he died ripped my heart out.

In both cases, like This Is Us, we were able to see these characters as three-dimensional folks because we learned about certain facets of their past at perfect moments. Basically, the structure of both shows makes it so they can deliver heavy emotional blows.

Overall, like This Is Us, Paradise is a show based in human connection, it just also happens to take place at the end of the world. So, yeah, this series absolutely ripped my heart out exactly like Sterling K. Brown’s other drama did, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Actress Jennifer Lopez has had a long and wildly successful career as an actress and global pop star. And while JLo and Ben Affleck's relationship made countless headlines, it turns out that she was unwittingly involved in Sterling K. Brown's early relationship with his wife Ryan Michelle Bathe. And it relates to one of her iconic music videos.

While JLo's This Is Me... Now brought visuals for her new music to life for those with an Amazon Prime subscription, her classic music videos were wildly popular. While appearing on The Graham Norton Show, actor Sterling K. Brown recalled a time when Lopez caused a fight (and breakup) when he was dating his wife. In his words:

Uh oh. Honestly, can you blame him though? Whether it's "Love Don't Cost A Thing", "Waiting For Tonight" or "Get Right", Jennifer Lopez has released a number of glorious music videos. And the reaction from many is to stare with full attention as she sings, dances, and sometimes plays multiple characters.

Unfortunately, Sterling K. Brown's then-girlfriend wasn't a big fan of how the star of Paradise (which is streaming with a Hulu subscription) welled up while watching Jenny From The Block. As he continued:

Ouch. While Jennifer Lopez is known for her high profile relationships, it's wild to think about the way she somehow influenced Brown's relationship with Bathe. Luckily there is a happy ending at the end of this tale, which is probably why the This Is Us star was comfortable sharing it on Graham Norton. As he concluded:

Sometimes absence makes the heart grow fonder, so perhaps that was the case with Brown's temporary break-up from his future wife. They're still together after all these years, and have a family together. You can watch the Emmy-winning actor recall this story below:

While Sterling K. Brown's performances in TV and film are consistently great, he's also endlessly charismatic in interviews. This clip is just one funny example, showing how he seemingly doesn't take himself too seriously.

Both Jennifer Lopez and Sterling K. Brown continue to work consistently, and now I kind of want to see them share the screen together. I mean, it would be quite the ending to this anecdote. Unfortunately they aren't being paired in this way for anything on the 2025 movie release list.

There are spoilers in this article, so beware!

I love Paradise. The Dan Fogelman (This Is Us) creation has more twists and turns than a mountain road and for the most part, they work. Right up until the end, that is. The show’s premiere sets things up to be a murder mystery after President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) is found dead by the head of his security detail, Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown). Unfortunately, the payoff in the final episode, which you can watch with a Hulu subscription, left me disappointed and frustrated.

Making A Murder Mystery

Great mysteries leave breadcrumbs for the audience to follow. Paradise dropped red herrings and hints to the potential murderer. There are the two Secret Service agents who turn off the cameras to play video games (or so they say), and a sociopathic villain and leader of the hidden, underground town. Then there's the head of the Secret Service who was secretly having an affair with the president. Even Xavier himself is a potential killer.

All of it setting up a showdown between the villain, Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) and Xavier. In the end, we get the showdown, but the murderer turns out to be a side character no one paid attention to who has nothing to do with the bigger picture.

It would take until the final episode until we started getting any clues at all as to who the real murderer was, instead of endless fake outs and deceptions. It turns out, it was someone no one expected, because literally no roads led to him until about 45 minutes before the reveal.

It Was The Librarian? What?

Finally, in the last episode, we learn more about the man who attempted to assassinate President Bradford before the disaster occurred, a call back to a flashback in the premiere. Trent (Ian Merrigan), the town librarian, walked out of prison in the chaos of the impending disaster, and faked his way into the bunker after murdering two people stuck in traffic to get in.

It also turns out, we learn in a flashback, that he was a construction foreman who helped build the bunker and he was upset that the powers that be were exposing his workers to dangerous arsenopyrite, and so he took action by attempting to kill the president and landed in prison.

We then learn that it was Trent who killed Bradford, finally getting his revenge for the deaths of his crew. That’s honestly all well and good. Who the murderer is isn’t what frustrated me, it was that nothing at all pointed to Trent throughout the show. That plotline was sidelined and the final reveal felt like a twist for twists' sake. One last “OMG” moment that, for me, fell completely flat.

It Doesn’t Ruin The Future Of The Show

Paradise is clearly much bigger than the murder mystery. The intrigue that the finale sets up for Season 2, which will also be available with a Disney+/Hulu bundle. Xavier is off to find his wife, the villain Sinatra is laid up in the hospital, and Agent Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom) is a potential new villain. It leaves a ton to be explored and I’m very excited by that. It’s just too bad the mystery wasn’t more fun to watch play out.

In any case-of-the-week procedural, you get a slew of guest stars popping in and out. However, in The Good Wife, the army of talent Robert and Michelle King’s show assembled to support the cast of regulars is next level. From actors we already knew and loved when the show was airing on CBS in the 2010s to performers who have since become A-list names, this list is really a who’s-who of Hollywood’s finest talents.

Pedro Pascal - Nathan Landry - 6 Episodes

These days, we know Pedro Pascal as Mr. Fantastic in the Fantastic Four or Joel in The Last of Us. However, before all that – and even before he died on Game of Thrones – he played the prosecutor Nathan Landry in six episodes of The Good Wife across Seasons 1 (Episodes 8, 13, 14 and 15) and 2 (Episodes 1 and 12).

Cristin Milioti - Onya Eggertson - 1 Episode

A handful of years before she was revealed as the mother of the How I Met Your Mother cast and over a decade before she stunned us all with her portrayal of Sofia Falcone in The Penguin, Cristin Milioti played the paranoid Onya Eggertson in Season 2, Episode 1 of The Good Wife.

Brian Tyree Henry - Randall Simmons - 1 Episode

In Season 2, Episode 2, Brian Tyree Henry plays Randall Simmons, a man Will and Alicia defend in military court. Of course, after this brief role, the actor went on to have an illustrious career as he starred in the hit show Atlanta and films like Causeway (for which he earned a 2023 Oscar nomination).

Rachel Brosnahan - Caitlin Fenton - 1 Episode

Rachel Brosnahan is Lois Lane in James Gunn’s Superman, and before that, she was The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Before those career-defining fast-talking roles, she played Caitlin Fenton, a client Alicia worked with during Season 2, Episode 6.

Michael J. Fox - Louis Canning - 26 Episodes

I think there’s an argument to be made that The Good Wife should be considered one of Michael J. Fox’s best projects. Yes, there’s Family Ties, Back to the Future and Spin City. However, his cunning and sly lawyer Louis Canning is an incredible character who he plays to perfection in 26 episodes across Seasons 2 through 7.

Ana Gasteyer - Judge Patrice Lessner - 5 Episodes

Making sure the lawyers say “in my opinion” in their various statements is Judge Patrice Lessner’s signature move, and it’s hilarious. That funny element of this character is perfect, too, considering she’s played in Seasons 1, 2, 4 and 6 by Saturday Night Live alum and comedy genius Ana Gasteyer.

Mike Colter - Lemond Bishop - 21 Episodes

Mike Colter has become a Michelle and Robert King repertory player thanks to his leading role in the show Evil, and you likely also recognize him for playing the titular Luke Cage in the Marvel series. However, before that, he played the drug lord Lemond Bishop in 21 episodes of The Good Wife between Seasons 1 and 6.

Melissa Benoist - Molly - 1 Episode

I was introduced to Melissa Benoist when she appeared on Glee. Then, The CW’s Supergirl made her a household name. However, long before all that, she had a small guest starring role on The Good Wife as Molly, Cary Agos’ first cousin, in Season 2, Episode 9.

David Oyelowo - Judge Edward Weldon - 1 Episode

From Selma to Lawmen: Bass Reeves, David Oyelowo has become well known for playing very powerful people. That was true back in 2010, too, when he played Judge Edward Weldon in Season 2, Episode 11 of The Good Wife.

Jeremy Strong - Matt Becker - 5 Episodes

Long before playing the “eldest boy” in the cast of Succession and winning an Emmy for his portrayal of Kendall Roy in the HBO hit, Jeremy Strong played pollster Matt Becker in five episodes of The Good Wife. While we’ve come to know this actor for his big roles in film and television, his early career features this fun, smaller and memorable character who appeared in Seasons 2 (Episodes 13, 15, 16 and 17) and 4 (Episode 21) of the CBS hit.

Rita Wilson - Viola Walsh - 6 Episodes

There’s a rotating cast of entertaining lawyers who pop in from time to time to be a thorn in the side of Lockhart/Gardner. This includes Michael J. Fox and Martha Plimpton’s iconic defense attorneys. It also includes Rita Wilson’s lawyer, Viola Walsh, who was featured in six episodes of the show between Seasons 2 and 6.

America Ferrera - Natalie Flores - 4 Episodes

The year after Ugly Betty ended, America Ferrera joined the cast of The Good Wife for three episodes in Season 2 (Episodes 15, 18 and 20), then popped up again during Season 5, Episode 8. She played student Natalie Flores in the show. After that, she went on to lead the comedy Superstore and played a major role in the cast of 2023’s Barbie.

Taye Diggs - Dean Levine-Wilkins - 3 Episodes

I was introduced to Taye Diggs thanks to his role as the Bandleader in one of the best musicals, Chicago. He’s also very well known for films like House on Haunted Hill, Rent, and Set It Up. So, it was fun to come see him play on The Good Wife when he appeared in Season 6, Episodes 2, 3 and 5 as the lawyer Dean Levine-Wilkins.

Sarah Silverman - Stephanie Engler - 1 Episode

Sarah Silverman had been in the comedy game for a long time before playing Stephanie Engler in Season 2, Episode 22 of The Good Wife. And she brought that sense of humor to the show while also showing off her more dramatic side while playing this client of Lockhart/Gardner.

Michael Kelly - Mickey Gunn - 2 Episodes

Michael Kelly is one of those actors who seemingly has shown up in everything. He’s a well-known character actor who has been in projects like Jack Ryan, Lioness, The Penguin, House of Cards and so much more. And in Season 3, Episodes 2 and 8 of The Good Wife he played Mickey Gunn, a political strategist who spent a lot of time verbally sparring with Alan Cumming’s Eli Gold.

Sterling K. Brown - Andrew Boylan - 1 Episode

Sterling K. Brown is a staple on television, thanks to his starring roles in This Is Us and Hulu’s Paradise. However, as he was coming up as an actor, he guest-starred on a whole bunch of network procedurals, including The Good Wife, where he played complicated eyewitness Andrew Boylan in Season 3, Episode 4.

Meghann Fahy - Shelby Hale - 1 Episode

Meghann Fahy’s leading role in Freeform’s The Bold Type introduced me to her, then she broke big because she was part of The White Lotus’ Season 2 cast. In the lead-up to all that, she guest-starred in Season 3, Episode 6 of The Good Wife as Shelby Hale.

Matthew Perry - Mike Kresteva - 3 Episodes

Matthew Perry’s Mike Kresteva proved to be a snarky adversary of Alicia in his introductory episode (Season 3, Episode 19). And seeing him come back in Season 4, Episodes 1 and 18, was always fun! Overall, while the actor brought the sarcastic sense of humor we know and love him for thanks to Friends, this show also let him show off a more dramatic side.

Kristin Chenoweth - Peggy Byrne - 2 Episodes

The Good Wife loves its Broadway guest stars, and one of their biggest gets on this front was Kristin Chenoweth. The Tony winner and Wicked alum played Peggy Byrn in Season 4, Episodes 1 and 6 and it was always fun to see her interact with Alan Cumming’s Eli Gold.

Nathan Lane - Clarke Hayden - 15 Episodes

In the beginning (Season 4), Clarke Hayden is a trustee assigned to Lockheart/ Gardner, and he worked on their horrendous financial situation. Later, he worked with the firm as a lawyer. This character who appears in 15 episodes across Seasons 4 and 5 is played by the remarkable Nathan Lane, who you most definitely know from his legendary work in films like The Birdcage, The Producers and The Lion King.

Carrie Preston - Elsbeth Tascioni - 14 Episodes

Carrie Preston’s Elsbeth Tascioni was so iconic on The Good Wife and The Good Fight that she got her own show. After starring in 14 episodes of the flagship show across every season (except Season 2) and five episodes of the spinoff and winning an Emmy for her work, the Kings created Elsbeth, a hit CBS show based around Preston’s lawyer-turned-crime-solver.

Stockard Channing - Veronica Loy - 11 Episodes

Who do you hire to play Julianna Margulies’ on-screen mother? Stockard Channing, of course. In 11 episodes across Seasons 4, 5, 6, and 7, the Grease actress appeared as Veronica Loy, the mom of our leading lady, Alicia Florrick.

Will Patton - Mike Tascioni - 4 Episodes

Elsbeth talks a lot about her ex-husband and her son. While we didn’t meet her kid, Teddy, until Elsbeth, we did meet her former spouse, Mike Tascioni, in four episodes of The Good Wife during Season 7, Episodes 15, 16, 17 and 19. He was played by Will Patton, who you likely recognize from one of the best sports movies, Remember the Titans, and shows like Yellowstone.

Parker Posey - Vanessa Gold - 3 Episodes

Who can go toe-to-toe with Alan Cumming and play his ex? Parker Posey, of course. The indie film darling played Eli Gold’s ex-wife in Season 3, Episodes 6, 15 and 20, and she was the perfect person to play this vital character in the political consultant’s story.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph - Margie - 1 Episode

Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph appeared in one episode of The Good Wife, Season 4, Episode 21, to be exact. She played Margie on the show. These days, she’s best known for her turns in The Holdover, Dolemite is My Name and Only Murders in the Building, so it’s cool to think that this CBS procedural was one of her first-ever on-screen gigs.

Gillian Jacobs - Sonia - 1 Episode

In an almost blink and you’ll miss it role, Gillian Jacobs (of Community fame) appeared in the pilot of The Good Wife as Alicia and Cary’s assistant.

Christina Ricci - Therese Dodd - 1 Episode

Before The Good Wife, we knew Christina Ricci from The Addams Family and Casper. In more recent years, she and the Yellowjackets cast are all the rage. However, for one episode in 2012, Season 4, Episode 7, to be exact, she played comedienne Therese Dodd in the hit CBS drama.

Wallace Shawn - Charles Lester - 3 Episodes

We know and love Wallace Shawn for saying “inconceivable” in The Princess Bride, and we also adore him for his roles in The Incredibles, Toy Story and more. We also know and love him for playing the Lemond Bishop’s lawyer, Charles Lester, in both The Good Wife and The Good Fight. And for the sake of this story, he was specifically in three episodes of the flagship series, appearing in Season 4, Episode 16, Season 5, Episode 13 and Season 6, Episode 22.

Kyle MacLachlan - Josh Perotti - 4 Episodes

Kyle MacLachlan is a TV legend. Obviously, Twin Peaks is what he’s best known for, and more recently, he and the cast of Fallout have made quite the splash on streaming. Between all that, he appeared in four episodes of The Good Wife (Season 4, Episodes 14 and 15 and Season 6, Episodes 5 and 6). He played Josh Perotti on the show, a federal prosecutor.

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor - Linda Underwood - 1 Episode

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is best known for her work in movies like Origin, King Richard and Nickel Boys, and she’s reached great acclaim for them. In the earlier days of her career, though, she was featured in Season 1, Episode 5 of The Good Wife, where she played Linda Underwood.

Matthew Lillard - Rowby Canton - 2 Episodes

It’s honestly a joy to see Matthew Lillard in anything. Of course, we know him best as one of the original Ghostfaces in Scream and Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, and he’s made waves in recent years for Five Nights at Freddys. However, he can do more than genre work, as proven by his two episodes of The Good Wife (Season 5, Episode 11 and Season 7, Episode 12) where he played musician Rowby Canton.

Vanessa Williams - Courtney Paige - 4 Episodes

Vanessa Williams is well known and loved for her roles on long-lasting shows like Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives. However, she’s also a King repertory player. She appeared in four episodes of The Good Wife, Season 7, Episodes 7 through 10, as CEO Courtney Paige, and then she showed up as a totally different character years later in the spinoff series, Elsbeth.

This list is honestly barely scratching the surface of the iconic actors who have been recruited to guest star on The Good Wife. The list is honestly elite, and it’s always fun to go back and see so many performers during so many different stages of their careers.

Filming for the long-awaited live-action adaptation of the 1980s cartoon Voltron finally started late last year. While we don’t have a release date yet, we do know Voltron has a star-studded cast that includes Henry Cavill, Sterling K. Brown, Rita Ora, Alba Baptista, and more. It hasn’t been revealed who each is playing, but I have some thoughts on this and about a whole lot more, as the afternoon cartoon holds a special place in my Gen X heart.

It All Started In St. Louis

I grew up in St. Louis, and while I didn’t realize it at the time, the whole reason we have Voltron at all is because of a TV exec in St. Louis named Ted Kopler. Kopler owned a TV station in St. Louis known as KPLR (get it?). In the 1980s, legend has it that in order to develop programming his young kids would enjoy, he struck on the idea of buying foreign kids’ shows and repackage them in the United States.

In a fluke accident, after Koplar discovered three Japanese anime at a trade show, he ordered copies of each, but one called Beast King GoLion was sent by mistake and Kopler loved it. When repacked with an English audio track and some editing, it became Voltron: Defender Of The Universe.

We St. Louisans are a proud bunch and let’s be honest, we don’t always get the best national press. So this one is ours. It came from a little TV station in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis and grew into a worldwide franchise. The upcoming live-action adaptation is the most recent, and most exciting, development yet.

We’re Getting New Characters

In addition to the cast, we also know the new movie will feature a “new generation of pilots,” per Deadline. As much as I'd love to see the original characters, there are still ways to bring their story into the film.

As is often the case with Japanese anime adaptations, the original story from Beast King GoLion was considerably more adult-oriented. Characters were killed, others were enslaved, and some dealt with drug addiction. I understand why most of those elements were removed from Voltron—it was an afternoon cartoon for kids, after all. A live-action adaptation is the perfect opportunity to add some of those darker moments, giving the characters new and, frankly, more interesting motivations.

One character, Sven, became playground legend when he was injured on the show and basically disappeared from the show. His fate was a hot topic of debate between kickball at bats, but in the end, he was just nursing an injury. His backstory in Beast King GoLion included losing his rank as the team leader due to his drug use.

Sterling K. Brown, who’s Hulu show Paradise just finished Season 1, and is available to stream in full on Hulu and Disney+, would be perfect as a character that incorporates some of that backstory. Sven is a complicated character in the original Beast King GoLion and while some of his darker backstory, including the drug use, was rewritten for Voltron, it’s still a heavy role, the kind Brown excels at.

It All Comes Full Circle

One of the coolest things about this adaptation for me as a St. Louisan is that not only is St. Louis native Sterling K. Brown one of the stars, but one of the producers listed on the upcoming sci-fi movie is Bob Kopler. He is the son of the late Ted Kopler, the man ultimately responsible for bringing Voltron to the world. Now that shooting has officially kicked off, St. Louis stands by, ready for Voltron to once again defend the universe.

Warning! There Are Spoilers Ahead For Season 1 Of Paradise

Season 1 of Paradise, which you can watch in full with a Hulu subscription, didn’t end quite how I thought it would. The season's penultimate episode seemed to set up a showdown between our hero Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown), and the show’s ruthless villain, Samantha Redmond (Julianne Nicholson), known by her codename “Sinatra." As the finale played out, that wasn't where the cliffhanger left us. Still, it left me scared for Season 2 and what is in store for the residents of the Paradise bunker, and just what our seeming new villain, Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom) is up to.

The Twists In Paradise Keep Coming Until The Very End

In a show that had twist after twist, true to showrunner Dan Fogelman’s style, it was the final one that surprised me. Xavier, who we last saw in Episode 7, which CinemaBlend's Sean O'Connell called "one of the greatest episodes of television I have ever seen," confronting Sinatra over the truth about the fate of his wife after the global catastrophe.

Sinatra shows her true colors and admits that she has kidnapped his daughter, and demands Xavier and his cohorts stand down. Faced with the possibility of impeding doom for his daughter, and after learning that Sinatra is not responsible for President Cal Bradford's (James Marsden) death, Xavier relents and gets his crew to back down.

That’s when things go off the rails. After complying with all of Sinatra’s demands, he returns to learn that she has lost control of her assassin, Jane, who has, Sinatra believes, murdered Xavier’s daughter. Consumed with rage, Xavier holds a gun to Sinatra’s head, but before he can exact his revenge, Sinatra is shot in the chest by an unseen Jane, who then tells Xavier that his daughter is alive and tells Sinatra that she needs her alive.

Okay, so this is not how I expected things to play out. I should have known to be on my toes with Fogelman’s style of twisting things when you least expect it, but in my brain, I penciled in a Season 2 plotline making Sinatra one of the darkest villains in TV history, where no one on the show is safe. That might have scared me the most for the heroes, but that’s not what scares me now.

The Real Fear Here

I’m not scared for Xavier as he is on his way out of the bunker and presumably to Atlanta to find his wife Teri (Enuka Okuma). We’ve only had small glimpses into life outside the bunker, but we know people are surviving and it doesn’t appear to be a nuclear winter. I’m skeptical that Teri is actually still alive, but that’s another story, and Xavier will be fine, I hope. He's too capable and driven not to be.

What scares me the most about what is coming in Season 2 is what kind of chaos will come down on the ordinary citizens of the Paradise bunker. Sinatra ruled the “town” with an iron fist and showed over and over again just how brutal she could be to maintain a kind of peace. Sure, it was more or less a prison, and Sinatra was lying about what was happening outside of the bunker, including the potential fates of thousands of bunker residents’ loved ones, but it was peaceful. She knew how to keep it that way until the president was murdered.

People Are Dealing With The World Ending Outside The Bunker

Outside the bunker has clearly been anarchy since the volcano erupted and the nukes started flying, but the people that have lived are surviving. In the years since the catastrophe, it seems (from what limited information we have) that some are building communities and searching for lost loved ones. Meanwhile, inside everything has been, at least on the surface, idyllic.

That illusion was shattered by Bradford’s murder and cascaded quickly from there, but now it’s out there. Xavier has no doubt inspired a resistance movement with his messaging and that could lead to all out civil war, with no escape for the innocent bystanders, and that is a scarier prospect than anything on the show.

The one person keeping it altogether as a somewhat benevolent dictator (until lately) is in a hospital bed. The two characters who we might expect to take charge are sidelined for one reason or another: Sinatra is in the hospital and Xavier is off to rescue Teri.

We know how incompetent the vice president is, and the billionaires are going to keep arguing and never agree on a leader. In real terms, the bunker is in a state of anarchy, and there are a lot of armed soldiers. We can find some hope in the abilities of Xavier's former boss, Agent Nicole Robinson (Krys Marshall) and Dr. Gabriela Torabi (Sarah Shahi). They've made some questionable choices in the past, but they were the ones who identified Bradford's killer and his accomplice.

Jane Discroll Is The Wildcard

Amongst all the chaos, there is Jane. She was last seen enjoying a nice game of tennis on her newly acquired Wii. That last shot is disturbing. She's just shot the leader of the bunker, and her boss, but she's got time to sneak in a nice bit of video game tennis? She's either a complete agent of chaos or she has a plan she's so confident in, she can sneak in some rest and relaxation as the bunker teeters on the brink. It's hard to believe she has good intentions, either way.

We know Jane needs Sinatra alive, but what are her plans for the founder of Paradise and for the town itself? No one except Sinatra knows just how ruthless Jane can be. Is her plan to replace Sinatra? Does Jane just want to see the world burn? Does she want to expose the secret to the survivors on the outside?

It all spells doom for the residents of Paradise. The bunker is on the verge of a dystopian hell, instead of the utopian heaven that Sinatra first envisioned. No amount of fake cheese fries is going to keep the citizens distracted in Season 2 of one of Hulu's best shows. Let's just hope we don't have to wait too long to see what happens next.

Spoiler alert! This story contains major spoilers for the entire first season of Paradise, which is available to stream with a Hulu subscription.

Lots of great shows have premiered this year already, but for me, Paradise Season 1 was not only one of the best series to stream on Hulu, but one of the best so far on the 2025 TV schedule overall. From the characters to the performances to the twisty plot, Sterling K. Brown and his co-stars had me locked into this political thriller. After the finale dropped on March 4, I found that I couldn’t stop thinking about the tragedy of James Marsden as President Cal Bradford.

The penultimate episode of Paradise’s first season absolutely broke my heart as we finally got to see the disaster that (supposedly) rendered the Earth’s surface unlivable. That phone call between Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) and his wife Teri (Enuka Okuma) was a lot to handle, but after the final episode, “The Man Who Kept the Secrets,” I can’t help but be devastated for Cal and the loneliness of his final days.

Cal’s Last Conversations With Everyone Were Straight-Up Brutal

First I will say it’s not lost on me that nepo-President Cal Bradford was not a perfect man. He was an entitled white man who got handed the keys (and the nuclear codes) to the country simply because the patriarchy is alive and well. He was not a good husband, probably not a great dad, and he left a loooot of people to die as he and his family fled to the safety of Sinatra’s underground Paradise. But was he evil enough to deserve what his final hours held?

Early on we learned that Cal was somehow responsible for Xavier’s wife getting left behind on that fateful day, and while Xavier has continued to do his job as a Secret Service agent, he makes no secret about how he feels for the president, with his final words to Cal being:

Then there’s the president’s teen son Jeremy (Charlie Evans), who got into an argument with his dad over his role in what happened on “The Day,” delivering the parting words:

Just because it’s true doesn’t make it not cruel. So that’s two of the people closest to him savoring the thought of his demise. Surely his dear old dad will be a source of comfort, right? Maybe in a different show, but not Paradise. Here, when Cal tells Kane Bradford (Gerald McRaney) that he's in danger and asks if — after a life spent as his dad’s chess piece — he ever made him proud, Kane replies:

That one really took the wind out of Cal’s sails. I can imagine he was rarely, if ever, as vulnerable with his father than in that moment, and he did not get any validation for the life he knew was likely ending soon.

Think about these conversations in comparison to the heart-wrenching phone call between Xavier and Teri before the bomb hit, where he says to imagine he’s holding her, and they cry and shower each other in “I love you”s in what they think are her final moments. And she didn’t even die!

Xavier, Jeremy And Kane Change Their Views, But Not Until After Cal Is Dead

In Paradise’s final episodes, we find out Cal is taking steps to right his many wrongs, putting his life in danger by standing up to Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson). This leads to Xavier learning that on that terrible day when he thought he’d watched a nuclear missile hit Atlanta, where Teri was, Cal had actually flipped a switch that deactivated all of the world’s nukes, thus saving his wife’s life. We see Kane — in his dementia mistaking Jeremy for Cal — tell the man he thinks is his son:

We also see Jeremy embracing not just his dad’s music, but the advice Cal gave him — if you don’t like this world, change it — and begin doing what his father hadn’t done by being open and honest with his fellow citizens about what he knew.

However, Cal Bradford will never know that the three people who so brutally told him his life was a waste — who said they wished he was dead and would not rest until it was so — had changed their minds. Paradise may be able to bring Teri back from what we thought was certain death and nuclear winter, but Cal is dead dead.

Even with Paradise renewed for Season 2, there’s simply no way to reverse the final interactions that Cal had with his friend, dad and son.

Will James Marsden Return For Paradise Season 2?

President Cal Bradford was murdered in the premiere of Paradise but still managed to play a main role throughout, thanks to flashbacks. Now that we know who the killer is and the national security secrets have been spilled, will that continue to be the case? Or — with Season 2 presumably going to focus on recovering survivors and the rebuilding efforts on Earth — did we learn all we could from Cal in the first eight episodes?

It’s likely far too early for that kind of question, but even if Cal does show back up when Season 2 hits the Hulu schedule, it won’t change the terrible things he heard from his loved ones before he died, and to me, that makes his story (the ending of it, at least) the most tragic.

If you want to relive all the political thrills and A+ performances of Paradise, the entire first season is available to stream now on Hulu.

Something that can be easy to forget about as we all enjoy the new episodes of television currently airing on the 2025 TV schedule is how important all of those guest starring roles are to the actors who play them. In fact, it’s not uncommon for actors to get their start by playing small parts on TV, and big stars from Jennifer Lopez to Timothèe Chalamet have done just that. Speaking of Chalamet, he was recently among the celebs who took a drink at the SAG Awards because of a before-fame appearance in the Law & Order franchise, but the also long-running NCIS has had its share of major talent guest-star, as well.

Which Celebs Should Take A Drink For Appearing On NCIS?

Before you ask why this has to be a drinking game, you should know that I’m just following the path set forth by the wonderful Keke Palmer. She presented at the SAG Awards in late February and announced that she’d come up with a drinking game for those in attendance, with her asking everyone to take a drink if they’d ever appeared on Law & Order.

Not only did Timothèe Chalamet respond by taking a swig, but so did Elle Fanning, new 2025 Oscar winner Zoe Saldaña and co-presenters Palmer and 2024 and 2025 Oscar nominee Colman Domingo.

As one might imagine, though, the NCIS franchise (which celebrated its 1,000th episode in April 2024) is also no slouch when it comes to snagging up and coming or established talent to fill its many guest starring roles. The OG series started in 2003 and has already spawned five spinoffs (with a sixth, NCIS: Tony & Ziva, premiering in the near-ish future), so there have been hundreds if not thousands of smaller parts to cast over the course of 22 years. And, a number of celebrities have filled the NCIS ranks, with some of them netting their part before they were famous.

For instance? Well, Twisters star Glen Powell stepped up to play a Marine in Season 10, Episodes 6 and 7. Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown appeared in the sixth episode of Season 12, while This Is Us and Paradise actor Sterling K. Brown had an important part in Season 11, Episode 10 in December 2013, and The Iron Claw lead Zac Efron showed up in the thirteenth episode of the third season, which aired mere days before High School Musical premiered and made him a superstar.

Other famous folk have also popped up on the franchise, including Lily Tomlin, Drew Carey, Jamie Lee Curtis and even Michelle Obama. So, all of this is to say that we can never discount the guest roles on our favorite shows, because you just never know who you might see.

Spoiler alert! This story contains major spoilers for the Paradise episode “The Day,” which dropped February 25. If you’re not caught up, stream it with your Hulu subscription before reading further!

For the first six episodes of Sterling K. Brown’s new thriller Paradise, we've largely been kept in the dark regarding the tragedy that forced a fraction of society to descend to Sinatra’s man-made utopia. We knew only that people died, the planet was destroyed and its underground survivors deeply traumatized. In “The Day,” we finally learned what happened to the world, and while my jaw was on the ground for pretty much the entire episode, my heart may not recover from the final conversation between Brown’s character and his wife.

This Disaster Episode Felt Like Something That Could Really Happen

Paradise has easily become one of my favorite shows on the 2025 TV schedule, and “The Day” really leveled up in terms of both story and character development. Much of the episode played out like a Roland Emmerich film, after an Antarctic volcano erupted, causing part of the ice shelf to melt and triggering tsunamis that quickly took out cities around the world. War broke out immediately, and a crowd outside the Oval Office watched a TV reporter in Jakarta get taken out by a wave while standing at the top of a 20-story building.

As for Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown), his focus was on getting the president to safety and getting his wife Teri out of Atlanta. We’ve known from the start that Teri never made it that day, but that sure didn’t keep me from feeling Xavier’s desperation with every dropped phone call and failed text.

On top of that, of course, was the absolute pandemonium happening around President Cal Bradford (James Marsden). As people realized they were being left to die, panic took over. A staffer reached for a gun and was shot. The aide carrying the nuclear football was killed trying to board Marine One. A Secret Service agent pulled a gun on Xavier, only to be taken out himself.

To see this all go down in and around even a fictional White House was beyond disturbing, because even though the weather events were straight out of a disaster movie, there didn’t seem to be anything too exaggerated about people’s reactions to what was happening.

I felt a momentary sense of relief when Xavier was reunited with his and Teri’s children on their flight to Colorado, but my heart broke when Presley and James started asking, “Where’s mommy?” and Xavier was too overcome with sorrow to even respond. Then came that final phone call.

Xavier And Teri’s Phone Call Broke Me

I wasn’t expecting Xavier to get to talk to his wife one last time, and I certainly wasn’t prepared for how heart-wrenching that scene would be. Xavier tried to comfort Teri, who was understandably distraught. As he watched a real-time map of nuclear missiles approaching their targets — with Atlanta being one of them — they cried and said they loved each other, and then Teri uttered her final words, a message to their children:

Jesus, I can’t even transcribe that without tearing up again. It honestly doesn’t matter to me that Teri didn’t actually die (I predicted that twist early on). In that moment, she thought she was gone, Xavier thought it, and he and their kids have — in the show’s current timeline — been dealing with that grief for years.

We’ve got just one episode left for Xavier to identify the outsider who killed the president, find his kids, reunite with Teri and take down Sinatra. I’m not sure it’s possible to fit all that into one episode (or how my emotions would handle it), so thank goodness Paradise has already been renewed for Season 2. The Season 1 finale will be available to stream on Hulu on March 4.

We aren't even two months into the year, and the 2025 TV schedule has already been filled to the brim with great shows and networks have been taking notice and handing out renewals. In fact, CBS renewed nine shows on Thursday, including Justin Hartley’s hit drama Tracker, while Hulu picked up Sterling K. Brown’s Paradise for a second season. With the This Is Us stars sticking around on their respective shows, their former NBC co-stars are showing all the love, and I'm thrilled to see it!

The Members Of This Is Us’ Big Three Respond To Paradise’s Renewal

Paradise, which comes from This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman, dropped early on streaming services on January 26, two days before it was scheduled to premiere the first three episodes. Since then, the show has become quite a hit, leading Hulu to renew it with just six episodes under its belt.

Brown dropped the good news via the Paradise Instagram account, with “Season 2” written on his hand to celebrate, take a look:

Many fans took to the comments to share their happiness over the news, as well as some of the Paradise cast, including James Marsden.

But that’s not all. Brown’s This Is Us co-star Chrissy Metz couldn’t help but share some sisterly love for her on-screen brother and was as excited as ever to hear that more Paradise is on the way, commenting:

Additionally, Hartley liked Brown’s post about the show, proving that The Big Three will always be close.

Even though the NBC drama these actors worked on together ended in 2022, the cast is still like a family, and it’s so great to see, especially since we know the This Is Us cast still text each other.

Also, seeing this renewal has me thinking that since Brown is still working with Fogelman on Paradise, maybe another This Is Us reunion could happen on the show...or Hartley's series, Tracker.

The This Is Us Family Reacted To Tracker’s Renewal

Thursday was a big day for the This Is Us family when it came to renewals, because Tracker, which is executive produced by This Is Us producer and director Ken Olin, was also given a third-season pickup on CBS.

Justin Hartley posted a video to his Instagram telling the cast and crew the good news, and it’s wonderful, take a look:

The Pearson family was quick to show love to Hartley, with his on-screen mother, Mandy Moore, liking the post. Brown also took to the comments to share the love and hope that Tracker sticks around for years to come:

Tracker has had a few This Is Us reunions already, and with more on the way, it’s possible that more of the Pearson family or family friends will appear. However, fans will just have to wait and see.

At the very least, the love and support are pouring in from the cast, and I can’t get enough of it. Now, it's time to get excited about what's to come as you continue supporting these shows by streaming Paradise with a Hulu subscription and watching Tracker on CBS or with a Paramount+ subscription.

Are you up to speed on Paradise? In my humble opinion, it’s one of the best Hulu shows available on the streaming platform, a riveting murder mystery with a massive hook that has apocalyptic implications for the planet, and deeper ties for the characters that need to be explored. People initially tuned in to Paradise because it marked a reunion of sorts for actor Sterling K. Brown and his This Is Us mastermind, Dan Fogelman. But the thing that has hooked me, and I assume most audience members, are the characters that are being introduced in each episode. They are so expertly written, and so dense in personality, that even though I’m intrigued by the main mystery, I watch because I care where these characters are going.

So far, Paradise has rolled out four of its planned eight episodes for Season 1, and I’m annoyed that my favorite character – Agent Billy Pace (Jon Beavers) – met his unfortunate end at the conclusion of Episode 4. Similar to This Is Us, Paradise utilizes flashbacks to leap around its established timeline, so I bet we see Billy again. This concept also allowed the audience to get to know the father of Sterling K. Brown’s complicated Agent Xavier Collins. Collins was assigned to the Presidential beat for the Secret Service, but failed to protect President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) in the pilot episode. We have seen Collins make some very difficult decisions over the course of Paradise’s first four episodes, suggesting that he’s uncompromising. That trait is spelled out in the relationship scenes between Xavier and his dad. But as Brown told us, they also hit home for other reasons.

We were lucky enough to interview Sterling K. Brown and James Marsden for a Paradise press day, and I mentioned the Xavier scenes with his father as prime examples of the rich characterization happening in the first half of the season. Brown was appreciative, and then went on to explain:

I had no idea that Sterling K. Brown lost his father at that pivotal age. He has proven himself to be such an interesting actor, so the fact that he can draw on past trauma does hint at an ability to connect with genuine emotion. It shows up in almost all of his finest roles. I felt privileged that Brown chose to share that truth in our conversation, because it made me understand the man more, and also the character. Go back and watch the scenes from Paradise Episode 3 to see how Xavier’s relationship with his father, a pilot, resonates now that you have this new information.

But those scenes also went the extra mile to establish, early in this season, the kind of man that Xavier Collins is, as Brown went on to explain:

I’ve been lucky enough to see the bulk of the Paradise Season 1, and I can tell you that the moral fortitude of Sterling K. Brown’s Xavier Collins is very important to the unfurling of the central mystery that audiences want to learn about. But in addition to the murder of the President, as well as the murder of Agent Billy Pace, the show also needs to explore what happened on the Earth’s surface that drove the surviving population into a hollowed-out mountain range, where they now live in paradise.

Paradise Episode 5 will drop on Hulu on Tuesday, February 11. It all builds to the season finale, scheduled for March 4.

Did you remember that Sterling K. Brown has appeared in the MCU? The actor had a minor role in Black Panther, the 18th of the Marvel movies in order, as N’Jobu, the father of Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger. Seven years have passed since Black Panther’s release, and the This is Us star is looking to get back into the superhero franchise. But how would that be accomplished given that, well, N’Jobu was killed off?

Brown, whom those with a Hulu subscription can currently see in the political thriller TV series Paradise, shared his desire to return to the MCU in an interview with Variety, saying:

A lot has happened with Sterling K. Brown since Black Panther came out. His time as Randall Pearson came to an end when This is Us wrapped up after six seasons, and he’s taken part in movies and TV shows like Frozen II, American Fiction, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Solar Opposites and Invincible. He’s also set to star opposite Henry Cavill in the upcoming live-action Voltron movie. Brown’s profile is bigger than ever, and considering he didn’t get that much screen time in Black Panther, I don’t blame him for wanting to get that MCU “reset.”

But as mentioned earlier, not only is N’Jobu dead, he’s been dead since the early ‘90s. The character met his end when King T’Chaka, his older brother, fatally injured him using his Black Panther claws when N’Jobu tried to shoot him. Now, N’Jobu did reappear in Black Panther’s present day storyline when Killmonger saw his father in the Ancestral Plane after ingesting the Heart-Shaped Herb. However, with Killmonger also dead, the chances of seeing N’Jobu in Black Panther 3 or any of the upcoming Marvel movies is unlikely.

So if Sterling K. Brown wants to return to the MCU, it’ll need to be as a different character. Fortunately, there are a handful of examples of actors playing two different roles in the MCU, including Gemma Chan as Minn-Erva and Sersi, Linda Cardellini as Laura Barton and Lylla, and Michelle Yeoh as Aleta Ogord and Ying Nan. Even Robert Downey Jr., who helped anchor this franchise as Tony Stark/Iron Man for 11 years, is getting ready to play Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Granted, it’s speculated that he’ll end up being a Tony variant, but still, it counts!

I’ll join Sterling K. Brown in asking Kevin Feige and the rest of the Marvel Studios brass to consider him for a new role. It’d be great to see him leave an even bigger stamp on the MCU, so if that happens, we here at CinemaBlend will let you know about it.

When audiences got to the end of the pilot for the award-winning show This Is Us, most were shocked to learn that they were watching three different storylines play out in different decades… all featuring members of the same family. It was a clever puzzle-box entrance into what became an heartwarming story of the Pearson family, as presented by the creative writer and creator Dan Fogelman. Eyes were on Hulu’s new drama Paradise so audiences could see if Fogelman’s reunion with This Is Us standout Sterling K. Brown could match the previous levels of entertainment. And another surprise was waiting at the end of Paradise Episode 1 – though it’s one that will have a quicker payoff in its explanation.

You might not want to keep reading below if you haven’t yet caught up on the first three episodes of Paradise, available to stream now if you have a Hulu subscription.

What happens at the end of Paradise’s pilot?

The bulk of the main story presented in Paradise involved a lead Secret Service agent named Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) who springs into action one morning when he arrives at the Oval Office and finds U.S. President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) dead on the floor, apparently murdered. We spend most of the pilot figuring out, alongside Collins, who he can trust. Meanwhile, other advisors around the government leader figure out how to maintain peace in their idyllic community. This storyline, alone, could help Paradise become one of the best shows streaming on Hulu at the moment.

But there’s a twist. The audience ultimately learns that the city where all of this action is taking place is housed inside of a caved-out mountain. And that something horrible happened to the rest of the planet, forcing the top minds to escape to this setting, and try to preserve the remains of humanity. It’s a sick hook, one that Paradise Episode 2 writer Katie French says they spent so much time exploring as they scripted the series. In an exclusive interview, French told CinemaBlend:

Because Paradise comes from Dan Fogelman, you could predict that the episodes were going to be character driven. So far, Episode 1 set the table, while Episodes 2 and 3 focused on Julianne Nicholson’s manipulative Samantha (aka “Sinatra), and Sarah Shahi’s Gabriela. But when will we start to learn about what happened on the surface?

When will Paradise explore the disaster that hit the planet?

It was difficult to interview the Paradise cast on behalf of the season, because I knew that the episodes would roll out on Hulu weekly, even though I’d been able to see seven of the 8 episodes in Season One. With that in mind, I asked the cast if Paradise would be the kind of show that spent multiple seasons teasing out the reality outside of the mountain without ever showing it. Sometimes that happens with a science-fiction drama. The “threat” happening off screen is window dressing for the human element, and you never really find out about the danger that’s lurking.

But Julianne Nicholson promised CinemaBlend, and Paradise viewers, that details are on the way as she said:

To which Sarah Shahi added:

The hints at the direction of the rest of the season do start to crop up, as immediately as Paradise Episode 2. In one brief shot, we see Sterling K. Brown’s Xavier Collins speaking to his wife on a mobile phone as something bright and overwhelming happens outside of his window. And one of the most terrifying scenes featured in the first three episodes of Paradise probably feature the scientist doing his best Chicken Little impersonation about the dangers of climate change, only to be speaking to an empty room.

Commenting on that sequence, Paradise co-writer Katie French explained:

This tells me that wherever Paradise goes – with the story of the mountain city or the story of disaster on the Earth’s surface – the decisions made in the writer’s room will always be rooted in character. Which is why I have hope that this will be a journey worth taking.

Looking for more options outside of Paradise. Check out our guide to the best streaming services available to consumers, as they all have unique offerings that are sure to interest the curious audience member.

Watch Paradise Online

Watch Paradise: Preview

Acclaimed screenwriter Dan Fogelman reunites with Emmy-winning actor Sterling K. Brown for this unpredictable new 8-part thriller, in which top secret White House conspiracies come bubbling up after the US president is found dead. Boasting an A-list ensemble and guaranteed to keep you guessing, we explain below how to watch Paradise online where you are.

This nail-biting thriller is something of a departure for Fogelman. He’s best known as the man behind NBC’s hugely successful family drama This is Us (2016-2022), which was heaped with praise and even more glittering awards, particularly Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction), who took home Emmy, NAACP, and Golden Globe awards for the role (clearly, he’s called Sterling for a reason).

Paradise is a different beast: a high-concept political thriller with Shyamalanian ambitions that plays into Fogelman’s love for gleefully wrongfooting his audience. Brown is secret security agent Xavier Collins, a widowed father bestowed with top secret information by incumbent President Cal Bradford (a charismatic James Marsden). He soon finds himself a prime suspect after discovering the president dead. Who killed Cal? And why are they trying to frame Xavier?

Fogelman takes a big swing with this series, packed with political machinations, timeline-jumping flashbacks, and mind-blowing “didn’t see that coming” twists. And it’s all grounded by a compelling cast rounded off by Julianne Nicholson (Mare of Easttown) as billionaire Samantha Redmond and Krys Marshall (For All Mankind) as Agent Robinson, who was carrying on an affair with Cal behind the scenes.

Ready for some heart-stopping drama? Read on for our detailed guide explaining how to watch Paradise online exclusively on Hulu in the US.

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How to watch Paradise online in the US

US viewers can watch Paradise online exclusively on Hulu. The show premiered on January 28 with the first three episodes, with a new episode going out weekly every Wednesday thereafter at 12am PT / 3am ET, with the series concluding on March 4.

Subscribers can choose from a variety of Hulu plans. Firstly, you can opt for one of its on-demand only plans, which comes with a 30-day free trial to new members. Thereafter, you’ll pay $9.99 a month for its ad-supported plan, or $18.99 a month to go commercial free.

If you want to benefit from its 90+ live channels, the Hulu + Live TV plan is currently $82.99 per month (pay just $59.99 for the first three months before November 19). That comes with ad-supported Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, and Hulu included too. For more bundle options, keep reading...

How to watch Paradise with the Disney Plus bundle

If you're in the US and want even more from your streaming services, then going for the Disney Plus bundle could be a great plan. One of the best streaming deals available, it adds Hulu and ESPN Plus to Disney Plus, meaning that you also get loads more original TV shows as well as a whole host of live sports.

How to watch Paradise online in Canada

Located in Canada? You’ll want a Disney Plus subscription to watch Paradise online. The first three episodes of Dan Fogelson’s latest series premiered on Tuesday, January 28, with new episodes uploaded weekly thereafter.

In the Great North, Disney Plus starts from CA$8.99 a month for the platform’s ad-supported plan . Otherwise, choose between its Standard (CA$12.99 a month/CA$129.99 annually) or Premium ad-free options (CA$15.99 a month/CA$159.99 a year).

How to watch Paradise online in the UK

Luckily for UK viewers, brand-new thriller Paradise arrives every week at the same time as the US on Tuesdays following its premiere January 28. Simply sign-up for a Disney Plus membership to stream every episode.

Across the pond, Disney Plus plans start from £4.99 a month . Of course, subscribers have the option of upgrading to the ad-free Standard plan at £8.99, or the £12.99 Premium option, which supports 4K and HDR streaming.

How to watch Paradise online in Australia

Just like the UK, Australian audiences can watch Paradise when they sign up for Disney Plus. The show debuted an initial trio of episodes on January 28 before falling into a one-episode-a-week release pattern.

In Australia, there are only a couple of Disney Plus price options to choose from. Go monthly for AU$13.99, or get a great saving – effectively 12 months for the price of 10 – by getting an annual plan for AU$139.99. There’s also a Disney Plus Premium plan available at AU$17.99 a month if you’re looking to boost your audio and video quality.

Paradise Trailer

Paradise Episode Release Schedule

• Paradise – Episode 1: "Wildcat is Down" Tuesday, January 28
• Paradise – Episode 2: "Sinatra" Tuesday, January 28
• Paradise – Episode 3: "The Architect of Social Well-Being" Tuesday, January 28
• Paradise – Episode 4: "Agent Billy Pace" Tuesday, February 4
• Paradise – Episode 5: "In the Palaces of Crowned Kings" Tuesday, February 11
• Paradise – Episode 6: "You Asked for Miracles" Tuesday, February 18
• Paradise – Episode 7: "The Day" Tuesday, February 25
• Paradise – Episode 8: "The Man Who Kept the Secrets" Tuesday, March 4

Who is in the cast of Paradise?

• Sterling K. Brown as Xavier Collins
• James Marsden as President Cal Bradford
• Julianne Nicholson as Samantha Redmond
• Sarah Shahi as Dr. Gabriel Torabi
• Nicole Brydon Bloom as Jane Driscoll
• Jon Beavers as Billy Robinson
• Percy Daggs IV as James
• Aliyah Mastin as Presley
• Krys Marshall as Agent Robinson
• Cassidy Freeman as the First Lady

My wife and I don’t watch a ton of television. Usually, we’ll wait to hear if a show is any good before we dive in, because we’ve wasted time on shows that are slow to develop, or end up going nowhere before being canceled. This is why we haven’t started Severance yet (though reactions to Season 2 have moved the show up our Must Watch list), and were late to hit programs such as Only Murders in the Building, Hacks, Shogun, and the brilliant The Bear, which we binged in a weekend ahead of The Bear Season 3. That show’s incredible. But for work-related responsibilities, I had to check out Dan Fogelman’s upcoming series Paradise, available on Hulu, and friends? This has become my new obsession… and it can be yours starting right now!

Paradise reunites Dan Fogelman with his award-winning This is Us star Sterling K. Brown for a completely different experiment that’s equally tense, emotional, and character-driven at its core. Brown plays Xavier Collins, lead Secret Service security agent for the U.S. President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) during a cataclysmic event. But in the opening moments of Paradise Episode 1, titled “Wildcat Is Down,” Collins discovers that the President has been murdered in the Oval Office, and is tasked with figuring out who might have been able to pull off such a feat.

Now, the good news. Paradise was meant to drop its first three episodes on Tuesday, January 28. But based on the overwhelmingly positive early reviews, the first episode was posted to both Hulu and Disney+, meaning you can start watching it now as long as you have a subscription. I would advise you to press play as soon as physically possible, because Paradise is the best show on streaming at the moment, and the season only gets better and better as it unfolds.

I rewatched Paradise Episode 1 before writing this, so as not to reveal anything too delicious in this reaction piece. Similar to This Is Us, Paradise skips around the timeline to tell stories of its characters at different points of their lives. Especially President Cal Bradford, who is killed in the opener, though Marsden gets plenty of material in which to sink his teeth as Paradise explains who killed Bradford, and why. And again, like This Is Us, you stay with the story because you quickly grow to love the characters. Dan Fogelman wrote Paradise Episode 1, and co-wrote Episode 2. There is a lot of world-building happening in these early stories, with a lot of it focused on Collins and Bradford’s relationship. But when I tell you that Episode 1 is merely the tip of this iceberg, you are going to have to trust me until Episodes 2 and 3 arrive on January 28.

It’s hard to tell you why I love Paradise without giving away specific details. So I’ll leave you with this. The eight-episode season never loses steam on its magnificent writing, keeping a tight grip on a very taut premise. It features career-best work by Sterling K. Brown and James Marsden – who evolves in ways you can not expect as the season goes on. And while this is a terrible thing to tease, because you will have to wait to see what I mean, remember this when I tell you that Paradise Episode 7, “The Day,” is one of the greatest episodes of television I have ever seen.

It’s that good.

If you have Hulu or Disney+, watch Paradise Episode 1 as soon as you can. Get on board with this show early, because it’s all people will be talking about in a few weeks, when the mesmerizing plot starts to unfold.

January is coming to an end and February is just about to get underway. This means a major shake-up in the offerings of all the best streaming services and many library titles disappear from one place, possibly appear elsewhere, and an entirely new library of new content arrives.

There's always a crazy amount new on Netflix at the start of every month but this week one popular series returns for a second season. Upcoming on Disney+ we have a brand new animated series that will like have Marvel fans crawling the walls with joy.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man - January 29 (Disney+)

We’re still waiting for Spider-Man: No Way Home to make it onto Disney+, but until then, basically every other Spider-Man movie and animated series ever conceived can be viewed if you have a Disney+ subscription. And now there’s one more, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is a brand new animated series that will give us a fresh take on Spidey’s early years as a wall-crawling hero who also has to navigate high school.

Paradise January 29 (Hulu)

A lot of people with a Hulu subscription got to know Sterling K. Brown on This is Us. Brown has continued to show just how great an actor he is in film and TV but rarely does he get a chance to truly lead. Hulu’s new series Paradise sees Brown play a secret service agent who joins a community of some of the most wealthy and powerful people in the world, only to become wrapped up in a sinister investigation after another member of the community is murdered.

Mythic Quest Season 4 - January 29 (Apple TV+)

In an era when so many streaming shows rarely make it past Season 1, the fact that Mythic Quest has made it to Season 4 is a pretty impressive milestone. Clearly, a lot of people with an Apple TV+ subscription have been fans of this workplace comedy set at a video game developer. The new season looks to be just as funny as ever.

The Recruit Season 2 - January 30 (Netflix)

The Recruit’s first season on Netflix got a strong response from viewers and that reaction has now translated into a second season for the show that stars Noah Centineo as a lawyer working for the CIA who becomes a field agent. It's balance of action and humor was a win the first time around. In Season 2 the action travels to South Korea.

You're Cordially Invited - January 30 (Prime Video)

Weddings are certainly stressful affairs but in You’re Cordially Invited we see just how funny that stress can be. When two destination weddings get double booked at the same location, the two groups try to coexist. Instead, chaos ensues Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon co-star in the year's first great reason to have a Prime Video subscription.

The first month of 2025 has been a solid one for streaming so one hopes that it's an indication of what is to come over the next 11 months.

The Boys has been delighting and disgusting fans for four seasons now as one of the best sci-fi series on Amazon Prime, but sadly that’s all coming to an end in 2025 (or whenever Season 5 comes out). The casting over the past five years has been stunning, skyrocketing actors like Jack Quaid to fame (is it just me or is he in, like, every movie on the 2025 calendar?) and hiring actors like Giancarlo Esposito and Jensen Ackles for substantial characters. It turns out Sterling K. Brown was also once offered a role, and I’ve got a guess about which character that might have been.

Sterling K. Brown Talks Turning Down A Role On The Boys

Sterling K. Brown has turned in some fantastic performances in his career, earning three Emmys for three different projects, including his role as Randall Pearson on the beloved NBC tearjerker This Is Us. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for his role in American Fiction. This all means Brown has gotten to be more selective about the parts he accepts, and he revealed to Variety that The Boys was one show he turned down. The actor said:

Sterling K. Brown said he was heartbroken to reject an offer to work with Eric Kripke again after previously appearing on four episodes of Supernatural, and I would love to say that I’m thrilled for the actor to be in such a fortunate position, but damn that’s disappointing. So the big question is, what role was Brown offered?

Could Sterling K. Brown Have Been Offered The Role Of Joe Kessler?

This Is Us’ Randall was a consummate sweetheart, but I have no doubt Sterling K. Brown would have relished playing a big bad, and there are definitely plenty of those to go around on The Boys. Given what he said about it being a season-long arc, I’m wondering if he was offered Joe Kessler — a role that ultimately went to Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

If you don’t remember the big Kessler reveal in Season 4’s “Dirty Business” — you can stream the episode with an Amazon Prime subscription, but I’m going to spoil it here anyway — we learned that Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character died years ago, and Butcher (Karl Urban) was merely manifesting the devil on his shoulder all season in the same way Becca’s ghost appeared as Butcher’s angel. It was very Fight Club but still quite effective.

I can totally see Sterling K. Brown in that role, and the only reason I’m not super bummed it didn’t happen is because Jeffrey Dean Morgan was just so delicious as the villain.

I could be wrong, too. Brown didn’t specify which season he was offered the role, so it’s always possible it was a different character. I don't think it would have been Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy, bit I could easily picture him playing Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) or in a governmental position like Claudia Doumit’s Victoria Neuman (RIP), but they have appeared throughout the series, not just one season.

Either way, it all likely worked out well for everyone involved, and as The Boys’ fifth and final season looms, Sterling K. Brown has reunited with This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman for Paradise, which can be streamed with a Hulu subscription when it premieres Tuesday, January 28.

When you've been around as long as NCIS has, there are bound to be a ton of big stars who have made cameos or had early roles in their career on the show. Some of the biggest stars of today have popped up on the long-running CBS procedural. Here is a list of quite a few stars who have appeared on NCIS.

Millie Bobby Brown

Before Millie Bobby Brown hit the really big time as Eleven in Stranger Things, she was working steadily from a young age. One of her first roles on American television came in Episode 6 of Season 12 of NCIS back in 2014. She had only had a couple of roles before it. 

Glen Powell

Glen Powell has emerged as one of the biggest stars around. His first huge break came in Top Gun Maverick, and even though that made him an A-lister, he'd been a working actor for decades at that point, going back to roles he had as a kid. An early role in his adulthood came in Season 10 of NCIS, where he played a Marine in a double episode. 

Lily Tomlin

You just never knew who might show up on NCIS. In Season 9 viewers were treated to an appearance by the legendary Lily Tomlin. In true Tomlin style, she plays a quirky but capable grandmother to one of the team members, McGee (Sean Murray). 

Billy Dee Williams

If fans ever wondered why Gibbs (Mark Harmon) had the first name Jethro, they learned why in Season 10. In the episode, the great Billy Dee Williams plays Jethro Moore, a World War II hero, and Gibbs' father's best friend. Moore and the older Gibbs had had a falling out, but by the end, the younger Gibbs had smoothed everything out between them. 

Jamie Lee Curtis

Hollywood legend Jamie Lee Curtis had a bit more than just a cameo. On the show she played Dr. Samantha Ryan over five episodes towards the end of Season 9 plays a possible love interest for Gibbs, but alas it was not meant to be and she is forced to go into hiding, never to be heard from again on the show. 

Terry O'Quinn

In the early days of NCIS, there was another show about to make its network debut: Lost. It turns out that quite a few actors who became known for their roles on Lost also popped up on NCIS around the same time. One is none other than John Locke himself, Terry O'Quinn. O'Quinn plays a Marine Colonel in an episode in the show's first season. 

Danica McKellar

Danica McKellar is best known as Winnie Cooper in The Wonder Years. She also had a great, if somewhat brief, run in The West Wing as Will's sister. On NCIS, she appeared in the Season 2 episode called "Witness," as the titular witness of a crime. In the years since McKellar has found a home in made-for-TV Christmas movies and remains popular with her fans. 

Sean Astin

Sean Astin has carved out a pretty amazing career. His very first role, as Mikey in The Goonies, is one of the most beloved movie characters of all time. Plus he was in that little trilogy known as the Lord of the Rings, something he was nervous about. More recently, he was a key cast member of Stranger Things. In between, he was never not working, including a guest spot in Season 9 of NCIS. 

Taye Diggs

You could say that Taye Diggs got back to his roots in his guest appearance in Season 13. While Diggs plays a Marine on the show, he's a marine with the voice of an angel and at the end of the show, Diggs sings "Hallelujah" with the help of the real-life MusiCorps Wounded Warrior Band. Diggs, of course, got his start on Broadway in musicals like Carousel and Rent. 

Samantha Logan

Samantha Logan is best known for roles in Netflix's 12 Reasons Why and CW's All American, but before both of those roles she played the daughter of a character played by Taye Diggs on NCIS. Logan made her acting debut way back in 2009 when she was just 13 and had a small role in Gossip Girl. 

Bob Newhart

What can we say about the late, great Bob Newhart? His TV career is the stuff of legends with two massively popular shows that bore his name and for a younger generation, he'll always be Will Farrell's character's adoptive father in Elf. He also popped up in NCIS, playing a character very much in his wheelhouse. 

Jon Cryer

Jon Cryer started his career in some classic '80s movies like Pretty In Pink and Morgan Stewart's Coming Home. In the 2000s, he became a TV legend as one of the men in Two and a Half Men. He's since even played Lex Luthor, in the Supergirl TV show. Somehow he also found the time to pop into an episode of NCIS playing a battlefield doctor. 

Drew Carey

He started in stand-up. Then had a hit show named after himself. Then he became a superstar of daytime TV as the host of The Price is Right. Drew Carey has done it all, including showing up for one episode of NCIS as a retired marine. Carey was a marine in real life, so the role is actually perfect.  

Michelle Obama

Okay, okay so technically Michelle Obama isn't an actress, but she did show up in one episode of NCIS while she was First Lady of the United States. She played herself of course, there's no way she could be anyone but herself, right? She welcomed Gibbs and others to the White in an episode called "Homefront."

Abigail Breslin

As one of the youngest Oscar nominees ever, at age 10, you might think that Abigail Breslin just burst on the scene in Little Miss Sunshine. That's not the case though. Breslin was already a working actor with a bunch of credits on her resume, including a supporting role in one episode of NCIS in the Season 2 premiere. 

Sterling K. Brown

The Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning actor Sterling K. Brown was a veteran of prime-time TV long before his own show, This Is Us, made people cry every week. As he was coming up in Hollywood, he popped up on all kinds of network shows, including one episode of NCIS in 2013.

Dean Norris

Dean Norris is most famous for Breaking Bad, but he's been snagging roles for decades. One role was as a Marine in a very early episode of NCIS. In Episode 12 of Season 1, Norris plays a soldier with a past run-in with Gibbs when Gibbs was still an MP.

Zac Efron

Zac Efron became a huge star thanks to movies like High School Musical and Neighbors, but he was a child long before those movies exploded. One of his early roles came in a Season 3 episode of NCIS where he played a trouble-making kid that he was perfect for. 

Jesse Plemons

A quick glance at Jessie Plemons resume will show that the actor took the long road to fame. While he would eventually be leading men and key supporting characters in some of Hollywood's biggest movies, he started more humbly. One such example is his role as a teenager getting in trouble with the team at NCIS on the show. 

Colin Hanks

Tom Hanks is often called "America's Dad" and so that must make Colin Hanks our collective brother, right? Well, maybe not, but he is a great actor in his own right and he shows it in roles like the one he starred in on NCIS in two episodes at the end of Season 10. 

Sherilyn Fenn

As one of the breakout stars of Twin Peaks in the '90s, Sherilyn Fenn is no stranger to network TV. With over 100 credits to her name on IMDB, she's been on shows all over the dial over the last 30 years or so. One of those credits came in Season 1 of NCIS.

Josh Holloway

Josh Holloway's star shined the brightest when he starred as Sawyer in Lost starting in the fall of 2004. Just a few months before that, he played a local sheriff in Season 1 of NCIS. Since then, he's been a regular in shows like Yellowstone, Colony, and Intelligence. 

Frank Whaley

It's crazy to think that Frank Whaley's career goes all the way back to the '80s. IT's even crazier to realize he's over 60 years old now. The guy hasn't aged a day since Career Opportunities in 1991. Come to think of it, neither has his co-star in that movie, Jennifer Connelly. Connelly, however, hasn't been in an episode of NCIS and Whaley has, playing an escaped convict. 

Jim Rash

Jim Rash is most beloved for playing the hapless dean of the community college in Community, but he's been in tons of over shows. He's been in some quirky shows too, like a voice role in Mike Tyson's Mysteries and as a semi-regular on Reno 911!. He's a writer as well, co-writing the George Clooney movie The Descendants. He also found time to star in an episode of NCIS way back in it's first season. 

Julie Benz

Julie Benz's first big TV role was on Buffy The Vampire Slayer and later its spinoff Angel, playing Darla. Later she was a regular on Hawaii Five-O and Defiance. In Episode 22 of Season 1 of NCIS, Benz played the grieving wife of a soldier. 

Emilie De Ravin

It turns out that NCIS was a good place for cast members of Lost to star right before they all got super famous on the ABC show. Emilie de Ravin is one of those stars who appeared in a Season 1 episode of the show just like her fellow Lost cast members Josh Holloway and Terry O'Quinn. 

Bellamy Young

Before Bellamy Young became a regular on the hit show Scandal, she worked on a lot of shows on TV, including two early episodes of Law & Order, where she played two different roles, something it turns out a lot of actors did. Young played an undercover ATF agent in an episode in Season 1 of NCIS.

Daphne Zuniga

For anyone who grew up in the 1980s, Daphne Zuniga will always be Princess Vesper in Mel Brooks' classic Space Balls and Alison in The Sure Thing alongside John Cusack. In the 2020s she was still turning in great performances, like that of a Navy commander with very questionable motives in a Season 17 episode of NCIS.

Zoe Perry

In The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon's mother was played by the great Laurie Metcalfe. When the spinoff Young Shelton hit the airwaves. Zoe Perry took over the role and played it perfectly. She had a lot of experience at that point, including a guest spot as a police officer in two episodes of NCIS during the show's 13th season.

Ray Wise

Ray Wise is one of the great character actors of his generation. He's most famous for playing Leland Palmer, the father-turned-murderer in Twin Peaks, but his career stretches back to the 1960s. On NCIS he plays the father of a guy who thinks he's a superhero, which as you can imagine, he has no patience for in Episode 15 of Season 9. 

Tyler Ritter

Actor Tyler Ritter, who is the son of the beloved John Ritter, seems to pop up all over the place. He's played a detective in Arrow, he was in Homecoming, and he played  Abby Sciuto's (Pauley Perrette) brother Luca in an NCIS crossover event with NCIS: New Orleans when the spinoff began. 

Don Lake

You might not know his name, but you know his face, especially if you are a fan of the Christopher Quest-verse. Don Lake was a cast member in Waiting for Guffman, Best In Show, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration, and even Mascots. Usually, he plays the straight man, but that doesn't mean he's not hilarious. Even in serious roles, like his in a Season 17 episode of NCIS, you can't help but crack a smile when he's on screen. 

It was a heart-wrenching moment on This Is Us when Randall’s biological father William passed away from stomach cancer toward the end of Season 1. It was just as heartbreaking to fans in real life when the actor who played him, Ron Cephas Jones, passed away at the age of 66 in August 2023. Now, Mandy Moore and Sterling K. Brown are reflecting on the memories they have of their beloved co-star struggling with his health while on set.

On an episode of the podcast That Was Us, the stars spoke about Season 1’s episode “Pilgrim Rick.” This was when Jack and Rebecca had a marriage goal moment after a car accident made the married pair and their kids stuck in a motel missing Thanksgiving dinner. They came up with their own traditions of watching Police Academy 3, roasting hotdogs on the furnace and wearing the famous Pilgrim Hat.

Mandy Moore remembered when her co-star, Ron Cephas Jones, filmed a hiking scene and what a “physically taxing exercise” it was for the Tony Award nominee:

Ron Cephas Jones struggled with health scares and was diagnosed with emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In 2020, he received a double lung transplant, spending two months at the hospital being on and off a ventilator. That year, the actor eventually recovered and he went on to make Emmys history with his daughter Jasmine by being the first father/daughter duo to win awards at the same show.

Despite his character’s death, Ron was able to cameo in the series finale with William escorting Rebecca, who was dying from Alzheimer’s, on the train towards death. Then, a few years after the show ended, the Emmy winner passed away on August 19, 2023, from “a long-standing pulmonary issue.”

In “Pilgrim Rick,” William, who was battling stomach cancer, was asked what it felt like to be dying, which he described as “beautiful pieces of life are flying all around me” and the importance of “catching the moments.” After Mandy Moore read William’s monologue, Sterling K. Brown was in tears remembering his on-screen biological father on the podcast, saying:

It’s truly tragic that as Ron Cephas Jones was going through health issues of his own around this time. However, he was able to draw from his personal experiences and bring them to William, making his character all the more authentic.

When the cast of This Is Us was tributing Cephas Jones after his death, Brown posted on Instagram a still photo of the two from the episode “Memphis.” He touched on how “the world is a little less bright” without him there, but he will be “loved” and “missed.” Mandy Moore’s post also sent kind words to the beloved actor remarking that “he was such an intrinsic part of the fabric of the show.”

Mandy Moore and Sterling K. Brown recalled that their co-star Cephas Jones was “struggling” during moments on the set of This Is Us due to his real-life health issues. However, the celebrated actor continued to be an iconic presence on the show with his recurring appearances, earning himself two Emmys and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

You can watch Cephas Jones, Moore, Brown and the rest of the cast of This Is Us with a Netflix subscription or Hulu subscription.

Some of our best horror movies have been centered around characters who just so happen to be legendary creatures of the night: vampires. And, because of the enduring popularity of these mythological bloodsuckers, not only do we also have a number of TV vamps, but many famous actors who’ve portrayed some version of the famed, usually-human-looking beasts. Here for you now are 32 actors who’ve played a vampire.

Eddie Murphy (Vampire In Brooklyn)

So many vamps have been seen on screen that even a comedy and action movie legend like Eddie Murphy has played one. The 1995 horror comedy, Vampire in Brooklyn, saw the star play the last member of a group of Caribbean vampires, who hits New York to find a mate so that he can continue his family line.

Tom Cruise (Interview With The Vampire)

Who could forget the 1994 film that gave us Tom Cruise as the captivating and cruel (And blond!) bloodthirsty fiend, Lestat de Lioncourt, from author Anne Rice’s legendary novel series, The Vampire Chronicles? Of course, it also gave us Brad Pitt’s tortured vamp, Louis, and made a star out of young Kirsten Dunst.

Dakota Fanning (The Twilight Saga: New Moon, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse)

While there are some obvious stars to add to this list, let us not forget that the cast of famous (and soon-to-be-famous) vampires in The Twilight Saga films was quite stacked. That roster included noted child star Dakota Fanning, who portrayed the villainous Volturi guard member, Jane, who was able to mentally create sensations of pain in those who she deemed worthy of punishment.

Evan Rachel Wood (True Blood)

Several vampire-focused TV shows have hit the airwaves over the past 20 or so years, so we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the HBO hit, True Blood. Many of its stars portrayed members of vamp-kind for most or all of the series’ seven seasons, but Evan Rachel Wood made an equally impressive (bloody) splash as the Vampire Queen of Louisiana, Sophie-Anne Leclerq, during her recurring guest appearances in Seasons 2-4.

Robert Pattinson (Twilight)

Back to Twilight! It’s not worth mentioning this franchise without bringing up lead romantic vamp Edward Cullen, as well as the man who brought him to life in five movies, eventuall live action Batman actor Robert Pattinson. Despite the fact that his love interest’s portrayer, Kristen Stewart, would have dumped Edward “immediately”!

Chloë Grace Moretz (Let Me In)

It’s possible that we don’t get creepier than kid vampires in movies and television shows, and that’s what we got with Chloë Grace Moretz’s Abby in the 2010 film, Let Me In. She befriends a young loner after moving into his apartment complex, but is (you guessed it) hiding nefarious purposes he could have never guessed, which end up taking his life in a most unexpected direction.

Salma Hayek (From Dusk Till Dawn)

This might be the shortest movie vampire appearance on the list, as 1996’s From Dusk Til Dawn saw Salma Hayek play the fanged exotic dancer, Santanico Pandemonium, only for about five memorable minutes that simply cannot be forgotten once witnessed.

Taika Waititi (What We Do In The Shadows)

Undead life isn’t always filled with glamorous globe-hopping adventure, gorgeous mates who can’t resist you and other perks, at least according to 2014’s What We Do in the Shadows, which concerns the rather mundane day-to-day lives of vampire roommates, of whom Taika Waititi’s uptight and nearly 400-year-old vamp, Viago, is among.

Theo James (Underworld: Awakening, Underworld: Blood Wars)

Another big screen franchise that depended on heaps of stars to populate its supernatural world is that of Underworld. Two sequels saw Theo James play the heroic vampire, David, heir to one of the main vamp covens, and lead Selene’s one steadfast ally during an important time in her journey.

Willem Dafoe (Shadow Of The Vampire)

Not many cinematic vampires are said to be based on a real person, but the one played by Willem Dafoe in 2000’s Shadow of the Vampire is. He portrayed a fictionalized version of the real Nosferatu lead actor, Max Schreck, whom the crew begins to suspect is an actual vampire because of his behavior and the strange goings-on surrounding filming.

Gerard Butler (Dracula 2000)

Speaking of vampires who are based on real people…Author Bram Stoker based his Dracula on Vlad the Impaler, and Gerard Butler played yet another version of the ever-popular character in a film from, yes, 2000. This tale sees the ancient vamp accidentally awoken by a group of thieves who find and steal his highly protected coffin, which had been watched over by generations of the Van Helsing family.

Wesley Snipes (Blade)

A Marvel character that will soon have another portrayer when the upcoming Blade reboot finally begins filming, the original action/horror trilogy famously saw Wesley Snipes take on the vampire/human hybrid titular lead, who’s a nearly unstoppable vamp hunter bent on taking down all members of the species who bit his mother and infected him with their supernatural blood while he was still in utero.

Colin Farrell (Fright Night)

If a scary and suave undead night stalker is your type, look no further than Colin Farrell’s Jerry Dandrige in 2011’s remake of the 1985 cult classic, Fright Night. He may have to eventually do battle with a couple of teenagers, but he sure looks darn good doing it.

Ethan Hawke (Daybreakers)

A movie that takes a more science-fiction approach to a world overrun by vampires is the 2009 film Daybreakers, which sees Ethan Hawke play a vamp hematologist who refuses to drink human blood and is looking for a synthetic option to their usual meal of choice that will stop humanity from being wiped out by his more brutal peers.

Luke Evans (Dracula Untold)

Again with Dracula? Why, yes! This time, Luke Evans plays a Vlad the Impaler who only becomes a vampire to have the strength, speed and ferocity to turn back an invading army in an attempt to save the people of his kingdom. Does it work out for him? Well, yes…and no.

Kate Beckinsale (Underworld)

There’s no mentioning the Underworld franchise without giving respect to the main heroine, Kate Beckinsale’s Selene. In the first film she’s a vampire looking to destroy the werewolves that killed her family, but she ends up uncovering a major secret about the two sets of creatures and falling in love with a human, instead.

Alicia Silverstone (Vamps)

This 2012 horror comedy sees Alicia Silverstone play Goody, an old vampire who tries to stay young and hip while helping her much younger bloodsucking buddy, Stacy (Krysten Ritter), get used to her powers as they try to abstain from the red stuff during their immortal and unholy (sorta) lives.

Pedro Pascal (Bloodsucking Bastards)

Ever wondered what working in an office that was slowly being overrun by vampires who care as much about the bottom line as they do about drinking blood would be like? Just watch Bloodsucking Bastards, where beloved The Last of Us cast member Pedro Pascal begins turning his employees into the titular immortals.

Jim Carrey (Once Bitten)

Jim Carrey’s first leading role came in this 1985 comedy, where he played a teen virgin turned into a vampire by an alluring, 400-year-old creature of the night, who seduced him so she could use his blood to keep her youthful appearance.

Paul Reubens (Buffy The Vampire Slayer)

In the 1992 horror comedy that eventually led to the long-running series of the same name, the late Paul Reubens starred as Amilyn, a vamp doing the bidding of a much more powerful bloodsucker who’s ruling his kind in Los Angeles.

Alexander Skarsgård (True Blood)

While HBO’s True Blood was positively filled with the undead, few of them made as much of an impact on audiences (and the lead, Sookie) as Alexander Skarsgård’s cunning and alluring (but sorta evil) 1,000-year-old Eric Northman. This also happens to be the role that really made Skarsgård famous.

David Boreanaz (Buffy, Angel)

When it comes to popular TV vampires, no one can discount the reign of David Boreanaz as evil vamp turned heroic vamp (and then sometimes evil vamp again) Angel, whom he played on Buffy the Vampire Slayer beginning with the first episode in 1997, through wrapping his run on the fifth season series finale of his own show, Angel, in 2004.

Sterling K. Brown (Supernatural)

Sterling K. Brown may best be known now for delivering heartfelt emotions as Randall Pearson on This Is Us, but for four episodes across Seasons 2 and 3 of the CW mega-hit, Supernatural, he played Hunter and dedicated vamp-hater-turned-vampire, Gordon Walker, to astounding, understandably cold-blooded effect.

Kiefer Sutherland (The Lost Boys)

Even though Kiefer Sutherland was certainly a star on the rise by the time he starred in The Lost Boys in 1987, his part as apparent vampire motorcycle gang leader David cemented his leading man qualities and turned him into a household name.

Rami Malek (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part II)

Sure, Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the best Rami Malek movies to watch, but let’s not discount his turn as the powerful (and ancient) Egyptian vampire, Benjamin, in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part II, one of the few creatures of the night in the franchise who can directly manipulate things, with his specialty being controlling fire, water, air and earth.

Bryce Dallas Howard (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse)

Yet another actor you may have forgotten was fanged in the expansive Twilight franchise is Jurassic World star Bryce Dallas Howard. She took over the role of evil, vengeful vamp Victoria (who’s looking to kill Bella in retaliation for Edward killing her love, James) from Rachelle Lefevre, for the third movie, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

Tilda Swinton (Only Lovers Left Alive)

As one half of the very old vampire couple at the center of the 2013 dramedy, Only Lovers Left Alive, Tilda Swinton is a wife forced to visit the husband (played by Tom Hiddleston) she’s long been separated from once she realizes his lengthy undead existence has begun to bring him down, as she tries to force him to reevaluate the value of living forever.

Bill Nighy (Underworld, Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans)

Every good vampire needs a parental figure to show them the ropes, and for Underworld’s Selene, that role was filled by Viktor, who was portrayed by Love, Actually star Bill Nighy. His Vampire Elder turned out to be more of a threat than the heroine ever expected, though, leading to some tense moments between Selene and her mentor.

Gary Oldman (Bram Stoker's Dracula) 

Back to Drac! One of the most popular films about the character is still 1992’s Bram Stoker's Dracula, which saw eventual Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban star Gary Oldman play Vlad Dracula.

Christopher Meloni (True Blood)

Where there is one vampire there are generally enough to have a whole hierarchy among their brethren, and as with the series True Blood, sometimes we get to see what that could look like. In Season 5, Law & Order: SVU and Organized Crime star Christopher Meloni portrayed the Guardian, Roman Zimojic, who led the Vampire Authority and (ostensibly) set the rules for all vamps. Many, however, didn’t agree with his desire to have his kind fit in with human society, which caused a lot of problems for the calm, determined and deadly when challenged leader.

Nicolas Cage (Renfield)

If you guessed that this is yet another Dracula story, well, you’re sort of correct. 2023’s horror comedy, Renfield, stars Nicholas Hoult as the count’s titular long-time familiar, who’s tired of helping him kill innocent people and all the abuse he’s taken from the being who gifted him with immortality, as well as super strength and speed (when he eats bugs) 90 years prior. So, he gets help from a support group for people in codependent relationships in order to be able to live his own life again. Nicolas Cage is our Dracula here, and he’s a perfectly winking one, who still manages to be creepy and deadly.

Johnny Depp (Dark Shadows)

Johnny Depp has become known for his outrageous characters, and his Barnabas Collins is no different. The 2012 Dark Shadows film (which was based on the 1966-1971 gothic daytime drama of the same name) follows Barnabas after he’s cursed with vampirism in 1760, buried alive in a coffin, and then accidentally freed in the early 1970s. He rejoins the Collins family at the estate they still hold, while trying to keep his true nature a secret, but hijinks ensue as his past comes back to haunt them. 

This, of course, is just a small sampling of the famous actors who've portrayed vampires over the years, but if you decide to do a vamp movie/TV show marathon, you can start right here and have hours of entertainment.

This year’s Super Bowl Sunday was a major occasion for several reasons. Obviously, it was a night filled with football, as the Kansas City Chiefs triumphed over the San Francisco 49ers. And there were plenty of funny SB LVIII commercials. On top of all that though, the night marked the debut of CBS’ Tracker, which stars Justin Hartley. The drama series premiered after the big game, and it would seem that said programming placement paid off. That’s because Hartley’s 2024 TV schedule entry has already been renewed for a second season and, of course, some of his This Is Us peeps showed support.

News of Tracker’s renewal arrived this week, and the leading man himself marked the occasion. He did so by taking to Instagram to share a post that included the official announcement. The actor also included a brief caption through which he expressed gratitude to the fans for making the freshman series a hit. You can check out the post in its entirety down below: 

I have to say, this is very impressive. It’s not often that a show gets picked up for Season 2 less than a month after its premiere. But, then again, one could definitely attribute at least part of this buzz to the time slot that the first episode aired in. The Super Bowl typically garners significant viewership, so a series – whether it be old or new – can definitely benefit from all of those eyes if it airs later in the night. So it would seem that congratulations are definitely in order. 

The former Kevin Pearson actor’s announcement is lovely enough, but it’s made even sweeter by the fact that some of his co-stars from This Is Us commented. One person to do so was his on-screen brother, Sterling K. Brown, who played Randall Pearson. The Oscar-nominated star provided a jovial response, which began with a question that fans were probably wondering as well:

The other star who reacted to the big news was Kate Pearson actress Chrissy Metz. She conveyed nothing but excitement when acknowledging her former cast member’s good fortune: 

I’m not surprised that the bonds amongst the This Is Us family still appear to be strong, and I’m also not shocked that this renewal happened. It centers around a lone-wolf survivalist named Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley), who helps private citizens using his extensive tracking skills. Critics were high on Tracker, as they lauded its direction as well as Hartley’s performance. CinemaBlend’s own Laura Hurley also praised it while making a case for why viewers should stick around after the Super Bowl to watch it. 

It would seem that the Eye Network definitely has a hit on their hands and, if you ask Justin Hartley, TIS deserves credit for helping to bolster it in that regard in addition to the Super Bowl slot. As Season 1 continues, fans are sure to have a sense of comfort knowing that another season is on the way. And I’d also imagine that Hartley’s colleagues will continue to cheer him on as it all plays out.

New episodes of Tracker air on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, and you can also stream the show using a Paramount+ subscription. Those who want to see the lead star and his co-stars on their former show can also check out all six seasons of This Is Us using a Netflix subscription.

American Fiction's Cliff Ellison—the flashy surgeon brother to Jeffrey Wright's Monk, who is letting his freak flag fly as a newly out gay man after divorcing his wife—ranks high among Sterling K. Brown's best performances, earning the actor his first Oscar nomination. But will it be the one to score the multihyphenate talent that coveted EGOT? 

Of course, that "EGOT" distinction is given to those illustrious few who have won all four of the major American performing arts awards: the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. The most recent recipients of the honor include music icon Elton John (in 2024), acting legend Viola Davis (in 2023) and world-famous belter and talk-show host Jennifer Hudson (in 2022). Brown, who is accomplished across both stage and screen, recently revealed his wish to one day join those EGOT winners with a few extra trophies of his own. He told The Hollywood Reporter:

The 47-year-old actor already has a few high-profile awards under his belt. He has three Primetime Emmy Awards: the first, a 2016 Supporting Actor win for his portrayal of Christopher Darden in American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson,. That was followed by a Lead Actor trophy a year later for his role as Randall Pearson in the beloved NBC drama This Is Us, and most recently in 2021 for Outstanding Narrator for Lincoln: Divided We Stand. He also scored Emmy nominations for his work in Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. 

On his metaphorical mantle, he's also got a Golden Globe, a Critics' Choice and several SAG Awards, both individual and ensemble, for his work on This Is Us, and another SAG as part of the Black Panther cast. 

Given his popularity with awards bodies, it would be a safe bet that Brown will see several more awards in his professional future, but he's also got the performing bonafides to back it up. Along with being an acclaimed actor, the dude can really sing, as he displayed in both The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, as well as Frozen II. A stage musical with a handy little cast album should be more than enough to nab the guy a Tony and Grammy!

You can see if Sterling K. Brown will add an Oscar to his already considerable Emmy collection, and get halfway through that EGOT acronym, when the 96th Academy Awards take place on March 10.

There are plenty of stories about TV casts that didn’t gel behind the scenes once the cameras stopped rolling. Grey’s Anatomy, for example, made headlines for disagreements between its actors in the early years, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air famously recast Aunt Viv amid Will Smith’s (now-resolved) feud with Janet Hubert. As many other examples as there are, This Is Us is definitely not one of those shows. In fact, nearly two years after the Pearson saga came to an end, Justin Hartley said the cast still texts each other.

Justin Hartley and the rest of the cast of NBC’s heart-wrenching drama may have moved on to new projects, but the This Is Us actors certainly haven’t forgotten about the people who played their family members for six years. The Kevin Pearson portrayer relayed a great story about the still-active group chat when People asked who from the show he still kept in touch with. Hartley responded: 

Mandy Moore may be younger than Justin Hartley and Sterling K. Brown — who, along with Chrissy Metz, played the children of Moore’s character Rebecca — but somehow it’s not hard to picture her sending them maternal wisdom via text or making fun of them with some “ridiculous” video. 

Justin Hartley is now starring in Tracker on CBS, which critics called a hit for the Eye Network, but it’s obvious in the way he talks about his previous show that it had a huge impact on his life and career. In fact, the actor said he credits This Is Us for Tracker getting that sweet post-Super Bowl premiere slot. He’s also going to reunite with his TV stepfather Jon Huertas, who is reportedly directing an upcoming episode of Tracker, and Hartley said he’s looking forward to “spending a ton of time together.”

Even before This Is Us ended, it was obvious how much the cast members meant to each other. What other actors go viral for doing the Wobble during downtime on set? Sterling K. Brown also made an emotional plea for Mandy Moore to win an Emmy Award for her tough storyline in the final season, as Rebecca’s health deteriorated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Since the series finale, Chrissy Metz has said she “desperately” misses the show, reflecting on how life-changing it was for her and for its fans as well. The cast members have continued to celebrate each other’s personal and professional achievements, including Sterling K. Brown’s Academy Award nomination for his role in American Fiction. Justin Hartley always knew his Big Three brother was worthy of such recognition, though, as he told the magazine: 

We may not be getting any new stories from the timeline-jumping Pearson drama, but it still feels good to know the love is still there between the actors. You can relive all six seasons of This Is Us on streaming with a Netflix subscription or a Hulu subscription. 

The brand new, revamped and rebooted DC Universe (DCU) has opened up endless possibilities. A new Superman has already been cast and is ready to take flight in the first movie in the new universe, which is replacing the old DC Extended Universe (DCEU). 

Producer James Gunn has shown he has a clear vision to wipe away most of the past and move forward with new actors and new stories, so for the purposes of this daydreaming, we're going to leave out the great actors who have appeared in DC-related films in the past, including the most recent movies starring the likes of Jason Momoa, Gal Gadot, and Ben Affleck, though we're not against them returning, too. 

Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling is one of the biggest stars in the world, and also one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood. He's the kind of actor you could cast in almost any role and you just know he'd hit it out of the park. He could play a hero or a villain and audiences would be transfixed no matter what. We probably want him as one of the most famous heroes though, someone befitting his star status. 

Daisy Ridley

We know she can carry a franchise, and we know she's a tough woman, so Daisy Ridley just has to find her way into the DCU. Of course, she'd have to be a hero, but who knows, maybe a change of pace from the Star Wars movies could be cool and she could play a villain. Either way, she has to have powers greater than The Force. 

Tom Cruise

It's time. It's hard to believe Tom Cruise has never been in a superhero movie. One of, in not the, biggest action stars of the last few decades still has that "hole" on his resume and it's time it got filled. Of course, we'd all love to see Cruise as a hero, but it would be awesome for him to be in any role, even a cameo like his turn in Tropic Thunder. Just get him in there, James Gunn! 

Jennifer Lawrence

Sure, Jennifer Lawrence appeared in the X-Men franchise, but that was years ago, and the comic book movie scene is a whole lot different today. Lawrence is a perfect fit for any number of roles, and even though she's great as Mystique, what about a hero as big as Wonder Woman or Black Canary? Surely she'd be fantastic. 

John Krasinski

John Krasinski delighted fans with his cameo as Dr. Reed Richards in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. MCU fans have been dying to see him as Mister Fantastic in the Fantastic 4 in the future, but so far, there's only been cold water thrown on the idea. That opens up the DCU for the former The Office star and he needs to step in. 

Zendaya

There isn't a bigger star on the scene right now than Zendaya. Sure, she's played MJ in the MCU and Spider-Man movies, but let's give her some real superpowers and let her run wild in the DCU. 

Jacob Elordi

Sure, Jacob Elordi says he's not interested in playing a superhero, having turned down an opportunity to read for Superman in the new DCU, but that doesn't mean we can't dream, right? There are so many heroes in the universe he could play. Elordi has been a hit in recent years with his role on HBO's Euphoria and movies like Saltburn and Pricilla, so he doesn't really need to be in the DCU, but we need him to be. 

Timothée Chalamet

Timothée Chalamet has a knack for picking great roles for himself. At this point, he can pick and choose anything he wants, given how often his movies are hits. Chalamet could probably just tell James Gunn what role he wanted and they'd find a way for it to happen. So let's do it! 

Meryl Streep

Let's be real, there is nothing Meryl Streep can't do. The greatest actor of her generation, bar none, and yet, she's never appeared in a superhero movie. She's flirted with the idea, according to some reports, and she even did the Wakanda salute at the 2024 Golden Globes, but alas, we still haven't seen her in one. The new DCU must have a spot for her, right?

Patina Miller

Patina Miller has won a Tony and she's starred in two hit shows (Madam Secretary and Power Book III: Raising Kanan), but she hasn't broken big on the big screen, aside from an important but too-brief role in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, and it's time that changed. She looks like a superhero and can act her socks off, so let's make it happen, let's make her a star in the DCU. 

Adam Driver

As Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequels, Adam Driver showed he could play a first-rate villain. Now it's time to see him play a hero. Any hero, pick one, it doesn't matter, he'd kill it. Batman? For sure. Superman? Well, that role is taken, but yes. Aquaman? Oh yes. Martian Manhunter? Check. Wonder Woman? Sure, why not, he's got the hair for it. Let's go! 

Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg may be aging gracefully and while he says he's ready to play grandpa roles, we think he'll never be too old for a spot in the DCU. Somehow he's never been in either the MCU or any of the DC-related properties, so the time is right. 

Cailee Spaeny

She may not jump off the page as a possible superhero, but don't forget that Cailee Spaeny starred in Pacific Rim Uprising and clearly has the chops to be in a big action flick. She's an up-and-coming superstar and jumping into the DCU now would be perfect timing. 

Alan Ritchson

Reacher's Alan Ritchson is over six feet tall and built like a monster truck, is there anyone in Hollywood more perfect to play an intimidating villain in a comic book movie? Sure, he could play a superhero, too, but being a villain would be an awesome departure from his character on Reacher and it would be a ton a fun. And again, just look at the guy! 

Sterling K. Brown

Sterling K. Brown had an all-too-brief role as T'Chala's traitorous brother N'Jobu in Black Panther and it's high time he gets a chance to sink his teeth into a bigger superhero role. How about John Stewart/Green Lantern in the DCU? Brown has even campaigned for the role, so really, it's a perfect opportunity to get him into the DC Universe, it needs to happen, so we're putting it out there into the universe again. 

Peter Dinklage

Peter Dinklage has dabbled in superhero movies in the past, playing the villain, Bolivar Trask, in X-Men: Days of Future Past, as Eitri in Avengers: Infinity War, and as the Toxic Avenger, but it leaves us all wanting more. Let's be honest here, anything Dinklage does is awesome, so getting him into the DCU somehow would be amazing. He's also pretty good at carrying a wildly popular franchise, as he proved with Game of Thrones.

Taraji P. Henson

Taraji P. Henson has done it all, except star in a comic book movie. Henson is one of the best actors of her generation and yet, she's got this hole in her resume that, let's be honest, we all want to see filled. The DCU would be a perfect place for her to land, in just about any role, superhero, villain, regular human... anything, just get her in there! 

Charlize Theron

Audiences were teased with a Charlize Theron character in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and the actress stars in the Old Guard franchise, but she's not appeared in any DC-related projects yet and she sure deserves to. We'd love to see her in any number of roles, as she can play just about anything. 

Jason Statham

He's one of the biggest action stars in the world, and yet Jason Statham hasn't appeared in the MCU or anything DC-related. This is something that must be remedied! How about Cliff Steele/Robotman, whose origin story comes out of a race car crash, which would dovetail perfectly with Statham's past work as star of The Transporter movies and in the Fast franchise?

Jodie Comer

Jodie Comer has been taking the world by storm over the last few years and that means it's time to find her way into the DCU. Comer could be great in the MCU, but the possibilities in the DCU are endless and for someone like her, on the rise in Hollywood, the sky's the limit. 

Don Cheadle

Don Cheadle is pretty entrenched in the MCU, where he's played James "Rhodey" Rhodes/War Machine 10 times in various movies and TV shows. Still, Cheadle is awesome, and there has to be a way to get him into the DCU, too. He'd need to play a completely different kind of character, like a villain, but we're for it. 

Jenna Ortega

Wednesday star Jenna Ortega is clearly ready for the big time. She'd be great as Aquagirl, or, even better, the villain Lourdes Lucero/Encantadora. There are a lot of options, let's hope she fits into one, because it would be great. 

Zoe Saldaña

Zoe Saldaña is another star that most fans immediately associate with The Guardians of the Galaxy and the MCU, but with the Guardians franchise possibly winding down, and the franchise's director, James Gunn, now in charge over at DC, this could be a good time to switch it up for Saldaña, as there are a lot of different heroes she would be great for. 

Josh Gad

Hear us out. Josh Gad may not be the first person you think of when you think of an action movie or a comic book movie, but some of the best casting decisions are sometimes the ones you least expect. Think Michael Keaton as Batman or even Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man. Gad, with his blend of humor and "everyman" qualities, can be pretty chameleon-like and that could make him perfect for the DCU. 

Gwendoline Christie

How has this happened? How have we gotten dozens of superhero movies in the last couple of decades and Gwendoline Christie hasn't been in any of them? Sure, she's got the physique to play any hero out there, but it's her wit and comedic timing combined with that that makes the Game of Thrones star a no-brainer. This seems too easy.

Naomie Harris

Naomie Harris jumped into the comic book world by playing Shriek in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. She was predictably great, so why not have her cast as a character with a multi-film arc? She should be. With the James Bond Universe in flux with the departure of Daniel Craig, this would be a great time for Harris to find a new franchise to get attached to. 

Daniel Kaluuya

Black Panther star Daniel Kaluuya (who also starred as a real-life Black Panther in Judas and the Black Messiah) is an actor who could fit into the DCU in just about any role. He could be a charming hero, or an evil villain, or even a government bureaucrat. Kaluuya's acting toolbox has a lot of options, the DCU will do well to take advantage of that somehow. 

Natalie Dormer

Natalie Dormer is a veteran of a lot of big-time franchises. Game of Thrones, Hunger Games, and even the MCU. Unfortunately, she was in fewer Game of Thrones episodes than you would think, and her appearances in the other two were also fairly brief. The DCU has a great opportunity to feature her in a much larger role. 

Donald Glover

This is another absolute no-brainer. Donald Glover is one of the most talented and charming actors in the business, there are an endless amount of roles he could fill in the DCU, so someone out there needs to find a spot for him. 

Diego Luna

With Andor (and his other projects) Diego Luna showed the world how great he can be in a franchise. His performance was gripping, and bringing that same energy to the DCU would be fantastic. 

Jack Quaid

Let's take a sec to lament that despite starring in one of the wildest superhero franchises of all time, The Boys, Jack Quaid hasn't really had an opportunity to be a proper superhero (V-24 notwithstanding). So let's give him a proper chance here! Put him in the DCU! 

Hayden Panettiere

Save the cheerleader, save the world. It was a mantra for Heroes and it's time to see Hayden Panettiere play another superhero. She was so great in Heroes, there's no way she wouldn't be great in the DCU

The DC Universe is James Gunn's oyster, these are some of the pearls out there just waiting to be plopped onto his beach. 

Sterling K. Brown is truly living out the statement that it’s truly an honor to be nominated. The beloved actor received a 2024 Oscar nomination for his work in American Fiction, and when the awards ceremony airs on the 2024 TV schedule, he’ll be shown next to Robert Downey Jr., Ryan Gosling, Robert De Niro and Mark Ruffalo in the Best Supporting Actor Category. While any of these men could win, I mean surprises happen all the time at The Academy Awards, Brown is convinced his name won’t be called and RDJ’s will, and he explained why he’s “totally fine” with that. 

It’s not very often that you see an actor so happily claim that they won’t win an Academy Award. Only a week after Sterling K. Brown received his first Oscar nomination, he appeared on The Graham Norton Show (via EW) to talk about his projects and his recognition for the work he did in the book-to-screen adaptation of American Fiction. While sitting with fellow nominee Colman Domingo (who is in the Lead Actor category for Rustin), Brown said:

Along with that declaration, the Huff Post noted that he said this on the British talk show:

While he truly seems happy to not win, Colman Domingo fired back saying that Brown can’t know for sure if his name will be called or not. However, the This Is Us star was adamant as he explained:

Based on what we know about American Fiction and Oppenheimer, it’s clear that the Christopher Nolan-directed flick starring Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. stands a better chance of winning. While Brown’s film with Jeffrey Wright (who was also nominated for Lead Actor) is outstanding, Oppenheimer was prominently seen among the 2024 Golden Globes winners, which included a win for Downey, and it’s been picking up award after award on the circuit. 

Since the release of Oppenheimer back in July, the big question has been about whether Robert Downey Jr. will win his first Oscar or if Ryan Gosling will pull an upset for his performance in Barbie. Sadly, the conversation around Brown in American Fiction, De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon and Ruffalo in Poor Things has taken a backseat to RDJ and Gosling. 

At this point, it truly feels like the script is written, and Robert Downey Jr. will take home a well-earned Oscar for his performance as the antagonist Lewis Strauss in the Oppenheimer cast. In the last two years, the heavy frontrunner in the Supporting Actor category has won, with Troy Kotsur winning for CODA and Ke Huy Quan taking home the gold for Everything Everywhere All At Once. It seems like that will happen for the Iron Man star too, and Sterling K. Brown believes that too.

However, while Sterling K. Brown is certain he won’t take home gold on March 10, the fact that he was nominated speaks to how brilliant he is in American Fiction. And ultimately, whether the movie wins or loses, being part of the Oscars race gives it the much-deserved attention it likely wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.  

To see who ends up taking home the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, you can catch The 96th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 10 at 7 p.m. ET on ABC.

The top actors in Hollywood make a lot of money, but anyone will tell you that the real money is in production. That means that many of the biggest stars in the world have formed their own companies to produce both their own films and other projects that interest them. 

Often, these company names and logos appear at the beginning of the movies, along with larger, more recognizable studios like Paramount and Disney. Here is a list of many of the actors with their own production companies, along with the name of the company to look out for. 

Jordan Peele - Monkeypaw Productions

Jordan Peele has become one of the most exciting and interesting directors and producers in recent years. His Monkeypaw Productions has produced or co-produced his own movies, like Get Out, Us, and Nope, as well as other films like Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman, and Adamma Ebo's Honk For Jesus, Save Your Soul.

Tom Hanks - Playtone

Tom Hanks' Playtone has been wildly successful on the big and small screens. With movies starring Hanks like Cast Away, Charlie Wilson's Way, The Polar Express, and Greyhound, as well as films not starring him, like Mamma Mia and its sequel, the company keeps winning. It has also hit it big on TV with shows like Band of Brothers, The Pacific, and John Adams on HBO, and the CNN series about each decade of the last 60 years. 

Elizabeth Banks - Brownstone Productions

Elizabeth Banks has been on a hot streak with her company Brownstone Productions. It's most notable for the Pitch Perfect franchise, but the company has also co-produced movies like 2019's Charlie's Angels, and that surprise 2023 hit about a bear that gets into something it should not have in the woods, with scary (and hilarious) results. 

Reese Witherspoon - Pacific Standard

When Reese Witherspoon started Pacific Standard in 2012, she did so with the express purpose of highlighting and producing projects with strong female leads, crews, and topics. So far, it's been a huge success with films like Gone Girl and Wild, as well as TV shows like The Morning Show, and Big Little Lies. 

Adam Sandler - Happy Madison Productions

Adam Sandler movies are not for everyone, but wow, do they make him a lot of money through his company, Happy Madison. Though the two films it's named after Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison were not his productions, almost everything he's been in since 2000 is, and it continues to make a ton of money for the actor. The company has even dabbled in TV, most notably with The Goldbergs.

Drew Barrymore - Flower Films

Drew Barrymore's company, Flower Films, has produced or co-produced a ton of movies since she founded it in 1999. With movies like Donnie Darko, 50 First Dates, Fever Pitch, and the Charlie's Angels franchise, it is safe to assume Barrymore has made a pretty penny. Of course, it also produces her daytime talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show. 

Queen Latifah - Flavor Unit Entertainment

Queen Latifah's Flavor Unit Entertainment started out producing movies with moderate budgets that she starred in, like The Cookout and Beauty Shop, but these days, it's been successful on TV with her show, The Equalizer.

George Clooney - Smokehouse Pictures

Smokehouse Pictures is the second company founded by George Clooney after he shut down Section Eight Productions in 2006. Most movies he's starred in or directed since 2008 have been produced under the Smokehouse banner, including Leatherheads, Monuments Men, and The Boys In The Boat, plus other projects like Ocean's 8 and Argo.

Sandra Bullock - Fortus Films

Sandra Bullock may not be acting as much these days, but her production company, Fortus Films, is still humming along. Through the company, Bullock has produced movies like Miss Congeniality and its sequel, Two Weeks Notice, and The Lost City.

Courteney Cox - Coquette Productions

Friends star Courteney Cox and her ex-husband David Arquette started Coquette Productions together in 2004. The business relationship continued after the couple split six years later, though they haven't actually produced much in recent years. 

Brad Pitt - Plan B Entertainment

Plan B Entertainment was started by Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, and producer Brad Grey in 2001. In 2004, Pitt and Grey bought Aniston out in the midst of her split from Pitt. Since then, the company has gone on to major success, with three of its movies, The Departed, 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight all winning Best Picture Oscars, with seven others receiving nominations for the award. 

Sterling K. Brown - Indian Meadows Productions

This Is Us star Sterling K. Brown named his production Indian Meadows Productions after the name of the neighborhood he grew up in outside St. Louis. Though it's just getting started, there are some interesting things on the way as Brown's star continues to shine brightly. 

Margot Robbie - LuckyChap Productions

Margot Robbie may have gotten snubbed at the 2024 Oscars for Barbie, but you can be sure she wasn't snubbed out of money as one of the producers of the hit movie. Robbie's company, LuckyChap Productions, has also produced movies Robbie starred in like I, Tonya and Birds of Prey as well as other projects she didn't star in like Saltburn and Promising Young Woman.

Leonardo DiCaprio - Appian Way Productions

Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions produced two Oscar-winners with The Aviator (which won five) and The Revenant (which won three, including Best Actor for DiCaprio). Through the company, DiCaprio not only produced feature films, but documentaries, as well. 

Nicole Kidman - Blossom Films

While Nicole Kidman's Blossom Films has dabbled in movies, most notably the 2011 rom-com Monte Carlo with Selena Gomez, it has found its biggest successes on the small screen. With shows like Big Little Lies, The Undoing, Nine Perfect Strangers, and 2024's Expats. 

Michael Douglas

Further Films, founded by Michael Douglas, doesn't have the portfolio that others may have on this list, as they seem to have found a niche in thrillers and suspense films like Swimfan, Don't Say a Word, 2017's Flatliners, and the streaming show Ratched.

Natalie Portman - Handsomecharlie Films

Natalie Portman named her company, Handsomecharlie Films, after her beloved dog, and she's put together a nice run of movies. She's produced many of her own projects, like No Strings Attached and Jane Got a Gun, as well as a surprise that she didn't star in, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. 

Eddie Murphy - Eddie Murphy Productions

Eddie Murphy started betting on himself early in his career through Eddie Murphy Productions and it has paid off, big time. Starting with Raw in 1987, the company has produced some huge movies for the legendary comedian, including Coming To America, Harlem Nights, Boomarang, The Nutty Professor, and Norbit. 

Barbra Streisand - Barwood Films

Barbra Streisand has produced many of her own projects through her company, Barwood Films. 1976's A Star Is Born, The Prince Of Tides, and Yentl are a few of the examples of her biggest successes. Barwood has also dabbled in TV movies, like the groundbreaking What Makes a Family in 2001, about a lesbian couple having a child together. 

Alec Baldwin - El Dorado Pictures

Alec Baldwin's El Dorado Pictures has been in the news a lot in recent years due to its connection to Rust and the tragic events that occurred on set. Baldwin has produced quite a few of his own projects through the company over the years and even got into the TV game show space with the revival of Match Game, which he also hosted. 

Tina Fey - Little Stranger

Tina Fey has one of the sharpest wits in Hollywood, so it's no surprise she would use those same brains to produce. From critically acclaimed movies like 2024's Mean Girls to wildly successful TV shows including 30 Rock and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Fey, and her company Little Stranger, continue to crush it. 

Laurence Fishburne - Cinema Gypsy Productions

The biggest success Laurence Fishburne and his company Cinema Gypsy Productions has seen thus far is the sitcom black-ish, but he's also produced some great movies of his own that have flown under the radar, but are worth checking out, in Five Fingers and Akeelah and the Bee.

Jodie Foster - Egg Pictures

It's no surprise that an actor and director like Jodie Foster, who has been in show business for basically all of her life, would be a producer as well. Through her Egg Pictures production company, she produced many of her own projects, starting with Nell in 1994 and Home for the Holidays in 1995. She closed the company in 2002 when she decided that producing wasn't for her. 

Clint Eastwood - Malpaso Films

Without question, one of the most successful companies on this list is Malpaso Films, founded by Clint Eastwood. It has served as the production company for almost all of the films Eastwood has directed and its history stretches back to the mid-1960s. Many of his classic films, including Unforgiven, The Bridges of Madison County, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Dirty Harry, Escape from Alcatraz, Million Dollar Baby, Sully, and many more have all been produced or co-produced by Malpaso. 

Halle Berry - 606 Films

Halle Berry's 606 Films has an interesting origin story. Though it was formed as part of her deal to star in Extant, the name has an important meaning. She named it after CA Senate Bill 606, a law intended to protect celebrities' children from the paparazzi.

It was an important issue for Berry, and when the company was formed, her partner, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, said, "606 Films is named for the anti-paparazzi bill, Senate Bill 606, which Halle fought so hard for and won, when no one believed it could be achieved. It truly informs the spirit of our company — making dreams possible, one bill at a time."

Mel Gibson - Icon Productions

Mel Gibson is not the most universally loved man in Hollywood, to be sure, but he's often bet on himself with his Icon Films, and more times than not, it's worked. Since 1989, he's financed many of his own projects completely through Icon, making movies like Hacksaw Ridge, The Passion of the Christ, and We Were Soldiers, plus co-producing maybe his most iconic movie, Braveheart. 

Salma Hayek - Ventanarosa Productions

Ventanarosa Productions, founded by Salma Hayek in 1999 has most often focused on Latin-centric projects, including Hayek's own Frida and the hit TV show, Ugly Betty. Ventanarosa also works throughout Latin America, producing Spanish-language films and TV. 

Will Smith - Overbrook Entertainment

Will Smith grew up in the West Philly neighborhood of Overbrook, which he took for the name of his production company as well, Overbrook Entertainment. Through it, Smith has produced many of his own projects, starting with Ali in 2001. King Richard, for which he infamously won the Oscar for Best Actor in 2022, was also produced by Overbrook. On the small screen, the Netflix hit Cobra Kai is an Overbrook production, as well. 

Amy Poehler - Paper Kite Productions

Amy Poehler's Paper Kite Production has dabbled in movies, but most of its success has been on TV and streaming. With shows like Russian Doll, and Broad City, you can see that Poehler likes sticking with what she knows, comedy. You might be surprised, though, that the company has also found success with reality TV and even feature length documentaries.

Danny DeVito - Jersey Films

Danny DeVito is obviously proud of his New Jersey roots, naming his production company Jersey Films. He also has to be proud of the output from the company with films like Pulp Fiction and Get Shorty. He's found a lot of success on TV too, with Reno 911! Another of Jersey's films, Erin Brockovich, was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards in 2001.

Charlize Theron - Denver And Delilah Productions

Denver and Delilah Productions' first film was Monster, starring the company's founder, Charlize Theron. That seems to have inspired a bit of a theme, as the company has produced other serial killer-related projects, like Netflix's show Mindhunters, and the HBO docuseries Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York. There are also a few non-serial killer films, like Bombshell, Atomic Blonde, and Murder Mystery.

Will Ferrell - Gary Sanchez Productions

Before Adam McKay and Will Ferrell had their falling out in 2019 and dissolved Gary Sanchez Productions, the company had been wildly successful, releasing some of the funniest movies and shows over the last couple of decades. Step Brothers, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, Daddy's Home, Eastbound & Down, and Drunk History are just a few examples. Add to that a little HBO show called Succession, which has won just a few Emmys, and wow, what a success story. 

As this list shows, success as an actor often leads to success in production as well, so actors will continue to open up their own shops, and will continue to crush it, for sure.