Curiouser and curiouser. <p><strong>The Background</strong>: Nick Venable is an Assistant Managing Editor, and the TV Editor. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper. After rising up through the ranks covering Movies, Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. And if you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy. His love for his wife and daughters is almost equaled by his love of gasp-for-breath laughter and gasp-for-breath horror. A lifetime spent in the vicinity of a television screen led to his current dream job, as well as his knowledge of too many TV themes and ad jingles.</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>What He's Into</strong>: Nick is one of those people who won’t necessarily insert a Monty Python reference into every conversation, but is still mentally equipped to do so. Beyond such appreciation for surreal UK comedy, Nick also indulges in as much horror splendor as possible, from Stephen King novels to James Tynion IV comics to Freddy Krueger one-liners to all things Mike Flanagan. Throw in a dash of NFL, some 311 and Weird Al, fried crawfish poboys, bourbon, ‘90s-era pro wrestling, crossword puzzles and mystery-driven video games, and baby, you got a stew going. (Nick will insert an Arrested Development reference into every conversation, if possible.)</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>What He's Excited About</strong>: Anything Jeff Lemire, Tom King and W. Maxwell Prince think of, ever. More of Kelly Reilly’s deliriously fierce performances on Yellowstone. HBO’s The Last of Us. Clone High’s return. Colin Farrell’s Penguin being in every movie/TV show/breakfast cereal.</p>

Well this is surprising, especially given what a tough time Ben Affleck had in the cape and cowl (he told the New York Times there was a good chance he would have “drunk himself to death” if he played the character again), but the actor will return to play Bruce Wayne/Batman in The Flash, to be directed by It filmmaker Andy Muschietti and co-written by comic book legend Grant Morrison (the exclusive reveal came via Vanity Fair) and starring Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen, first introduced in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Huh. The big screen solo …

As part of the ongoing 40th anniversary celebration of The Empire Strikes Back, the official Star Wars website has been sharing exclusive interviews, videos and behind-the-scenes stories, including one that will absolutely floor you about how the original ending of the movie was replaced after it had been released into some theaters. The Empire Strikes Back initially premiered with a 70mm special engagement on May 21, 1980, three weeks before it would be released nationwide in 35mm. But after that initial release, George Lucas called Industrial Light & Magic general manager Tom Smith, and asked for some additional …

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, released in 2019, is a popular, well-regarded first-person shooters in the long line of Activation-distributed popular, well-regarded first-person shooters making the Call of Duty franchise. Each game provides a sense of familiarity (shoot the bad people with the gun, please!) with a sense of exploration (oh my God, this story mode is making me reckon with the inherent evils of war!). But when the CoD: MW community logged in recently, they were met with a couple of surprises no one could have anticipated. One: The promise of a new game …

The evil King Shazam is going to war with the DC Universe, but he's proving himself stronger than Thor along the way (and it's not close).

Wally West is on a mission in his new series Flash Forward, and it's sending him up against the Avengers and X-Men (of DC's Multiverse).

Nobody seems to like Will Smith's look for the new Aladdin, but why is anybody so surprised?