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Who is the Avengers' signature villain? Thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, most would say the Mad Titan Thanos, or maybe the Norse God of Mischief, Loki. But in the original Marvel comics, the team's greatest foe is definitely the android Ultron. Created by the Avengers' own Hank Pym/Ant-Man, Ultron's rage and destructiveness are limitless, and he keeps returning again and again like a bad penny. (If a bad penny could wipe out whole countries...)

Ultron (James Spader) was the villain of the second "Avengers" film, naturally titled "Age of Ultron." That age proved to be short-lived as Ultron seemingly perished, destroyed by his own "synthezoid" creation, the Vision (Paul Bettany). But the MCU Ultron seems to have inherited the original's knack for resurrection. The Vision is getting his own Disney+ show (reportedly titled "Vision Quest"), which will feature Spader back as Ultron. Who better to challenge "Vis" than his dear ol' dad?...

Plunder Years: Diop Reflects on the Complex Realities of Reparation

The spirit of Ozymandias, the classic poem from Percy Bysshe Shelley, might rouse itself in one’s mind during Mati Diop’s short but passionate documentary Dahomey – “Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!” Detailing the return of twenty-six artifacts from France to the Republic of Benin, which were among thousands plundered from the Kingdom of Dahomey by French colonialist troops in 1892, it’s a depiction of a journey with so much more going on beneath the surface than an exchange of cultural artifacts. Utilizing some effectively poetic and fantastical elements herself, Diop attempts to give voice to the past and marry it to the voices of the present, where it’s impossible to divorce oneself from the wreckage wrought by colonialism.…...

From Mike getting shot to Jane dying from an overdose, Breaking Bad has numerous heartbreaking moments. Many more such moments can be found in the shows greatest episode, Ozymandias. A provocative tearjerker, the episode is a richly rewarding study of interpersonal connection and consequences, full of disclosures and twists.

In it, the DEA agent, Hank Schrader, is shot dead by the Neo-Nazi gang leader, Jack Welker, while trying to arrest Walt. Jesse is also taken captive by Todd, who later subjects him to endless torture. Then, fans witness the biggest domestic fight in television history when Walt attempts to flee with Baby Holly against Skylers wishes.

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*Availability in US Release Date January 20, 2008Seasons 5

Inspired by a sonnet of the same title by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, it is the only episode to have a flawless 10/10 rating on IMDb, and...

Wolverine has quite the mix of superpowers: enhanced senses that are more animal than human, rapid healing that makes him basically immortal, and a skeleton/claws coated in unbreakable metal adamantium.

Adamantium is now synonymous with Wolverine, but its origins go back further to an earlier publication: 1969's "Avengers" #66, published five years before Wolverine's debut in "Incredible Hulk" #180-181. Written by Roy Thomas and drawn by artist Barry Windsor-Smith, the issue kicks off a three-part story where adamantium is the weapon of a villain. Which one? Ultron, the Avengers' android archnemesis, who was played many years later by James Spader in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

"Avengers" #66 was Ultron's third major appearance, and since then he's generally been depicted as having a (near) indestructible form made of adamantium. If he's going to fight Earth's Mightiest Heroes, after all, mere steel won't be enough. So, how did...

"Breaking Bad" is one of the best television shows ever made — that's it, that's the tweet (never post), as the saying goes.

Across 62 episodes following cancer-afflicted chemistry teacher turned meth kingpin Walter White/Heisenberg (Bryan Cranston), the show never lost its touch. The chapters that made up the series are just as strong as their sum. Normally on a long-running show, there'll be debate over what the best episode is. Not on "Breaking Bad" though — the consensus pick for best is season 5, episode 14 "Ozymandias," where Walter White's world at last comes tumbling down. (The title references the Percy Bysshe Shelley poem about an arrogant king now buried by the sands of time.)

There's underrated "Breaking Bad" episodes people will champion. Some might also cite bottle episode character study "Fly" (directed by future "Ozymandias" director Rian Johnson) or season 4 finale "Face-Off" as close seconds. But even fans of those episodes...

After the success of Prey, director Dan Trachtenberg is reportedly working on his next standalone film in the Predator franchise. Titled Badlands, the film reportedly features Elle Fanning in the lead role. While no plot details have been revealed, the film will also be set in the Predator universe like Prey.

Amber Midthunder in a still from Prey | 20th Century Studios

Fanning’s casting might just be a masterstroke for the film as she has been known for her powerhouse performances. While she was recently seen in her Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated series The Great, Fanning has been delivering amazing performances since she made her debut as a child actress in I Am Sam. Here are five performances that prove why she is the best choice for Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator film.

1. The Beguiled (2017) A still from The Beguiled | Credits: American Zoetrope/Fr Productions

Elle Fanning first worked with director...

Lisa and the Creature in Lisa Frankenstein develop a twisted romance, even though the monster's speech is limited. The Creature says a finite number of words and doesn't speak until very late in the film. Once the Creature speaks, he recites a poem written for Frankenstein's author, Mary Shelley, by her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Warning: Spoilers for Lisa FrankensteinCole Sprouse hardly speaks as the Creature in Lisa Frankenstein - though when he finally does, it's in a valuable moment that perfectly encapsulates the twisted romance that develops throughout the film. It's a long, bloody road before the Creature and Lisa (Kathryn Newton), the two main characters of Lisa Frankenstein's cast, express their love for one another. For the Creature, it takes rising from the dead, a few murders, and some time to escape the friend zone, and for Lisa, it takes getting over a high school crush and a...

This article contains spoilers for The Orville, Star Trek: The Original Series, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Featuring broad comedy and characters who don’t seem to be taking their jobs very seriously, the first trailer for The Orville suggested that the Fox series would be a spoof of Star Trek.

In said trailer, Captain Mercer (Seth MacFarlane) tries to eat a marble and asks an alien to move over so he is framed better in the viewscreen. Lt. Gordon Malloy (Scott Grimes) drinks beer while on duty, flying a shuttle, at 9:15 a.m. Commander Kelly Grayson’s (Adrianne Palicki) former marriage to Mercer is treated to rather stale “comic” arguments about going to therapy. Mercer’s reaction to Lt. Commander Bortus’s (Peter Macon) species being entirely male is to observe, with truly cutting and original wit, that they probably don’t have many arguments about leaving the toilet seat up.

Dark Academia movies and shows on Netflix offer a combination of gothic imagery, dramatic storylines, and studious characters, satisfying fans of the genre. The streaming giants have raised the bar in creating and adding television series and movies that perfectly incorporate the dark academia aesthetic. From mysteries set in the 1800s to supernatural capers and secret societies, there's plenty of Dark Academia content on Netflix to cater to different preferences.

There are a lot of great Dark Academia shows and movies on Netflix for fans of the genre or those who are curious about it. Tweed jackets, elbow patches, and twisted journeys of self-discovery — these are the elements at the center of Dark Academia, an aesthetic that has established a presence in movies and television based on specific themes. It isn't just young people in prep school beige, peering out from behind rows of books; it's learning taken to its most impassioned,...

British actor Julian Sands was recently found and confirmed dead after disappearing during a hike in California's San Gabriel Mountains. Sands was a handsome, talented and incredibly versatile actor, most famous for his swoon-worthy performance as romantic George Emerson in A Room With a View. He also starred as the demonic Warlock and historical figures ranging from Percy Bysshe Shelley to Franz Liszt.

Julian Sands, the British actor who pivoted from the romantic lead in “A Room With a View” to playing sinister characters in films like “Warlock,” was confirmed dead Tuesday after being reported missing near Mt. Baldy in Southern California on Jan. 13. He was 65.

On Saturday morning, hikers found human remains in the Mt. Baldy wilderness and contacted the Fontana Sheriff’s Station.

“The identification process for the body located on Mt. Baldy on June 24, 2023, has been completed and was positively identified as 65-year-old Julian Sands of North Hollywood. The manner of death is still under investigation, pending further test results. We would like to extend our gratitude to all the volunteers that worked tirelessly to locate Mr. Sands,” the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department wrote in a statement.

Sands had gone hiking in the snow-covered Baldy Bowl area, about 45 miles east of Los Angeles. He was an experienced mountaineer, but...

This article contains spoilers for Succession season 4 episode 9.

Though they may not be conventionally intelligent (and in many cases they’re outright dumb), Logan Roy’s children sure are a well-educated bunch. Never has that been more apparent than in Succession‘s second-to-last episode “Church and State.”

Even as the Roy siblings gather at a church for their father’s funeral, they are each still able to conjure up some impressive deep cut real life factoids. When the politically-inclined Connor (Alan Ruck) meets with almost President-elect Mencken (Justin Kirk), he pitches him on a “Pan-Hapsburg American-led EU alternative,” which we’re pretty sure just means restoring the Hapsburg dynasty. Mencken, who isn’t Logan Roy’s son but might as well be, hits Shiv (Sarah Snook) with an equally obscure “kinder küche kirche” reference upon learning she’s pregnant. Naturally, that’s a phrase from the German Empire used to...

"Breaking Bad" is a tragedy. The series often offsets the darkness with black comedy, but by the end, the tragedy outweighs the humor. The series' climatic, antepenultimate episode "Ozymandias" is named after the Percy Bysshe Shelley poem, the greatest written testament to man's hubris.

In the "Breaking Bad" pilot, after the not-so-humble chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston) gets a cancer diagnosis, he decides to use his talents to cook meth. He says it's to leave money behind for his family, but it's just as much about getting ahead of a world he feels screwed him over. As we learn more about Walt, it becomes clear his bad decisions started long before the diagnosis and he squandered his potential, both in chemistry and to be a better man.

In the series finale "Felina," Walt manages to settle things as much as he can, but his story still ends the only...

More than two centuries after the publication of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, Mary Shelley's powerful prose still resonates with readers and helped lay the foundation for science fiction as we know it, making her the perfect subject for one of the five historical fiction biographies being released digitally in English for the first time from Comixology Originals and Italian publisher Becco Giallo.

Titled Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream, the graphic novel is written by Alessandro Di Virgilio and features artwork by Manuela Santoni, and ahead of its March 28th release, we've been provided with exclusive preview pages to share with Daily Dead readers!

Below, you can check out our exclusive preview from Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream, as well as the official press release with additional details on all five historical fiction biographies coming out digitally as part of Amazon's Comixology Originals. To learn more about Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream,...

This Lord of the Rings article contains spoilers for The Rings of Power.

When a fantasy writer sits down to create an imaginary world, they tend to draw on all sorts of influences from reality. Different cultures, histories, and ideas all come together to create something that is new.

George R.R. Martin’s Westeros, for example, famously combines various elements of European history and cultures. The general setting is vaguely “medieval,” the Wall is inspired by the ancient Roman Hadrian’s Wall, the Iron Islands have a generically Viking feel to them, Dorne is an unusual mixture of Spain (in its landscape) and Wales (in its politics), and so on.

Tolkien was no different and several areas of his Middle-earth combine clearly identifiable real-world inspirations. Rohan, for example, broadly reflects various Germanic peoples of the early medieval period, both those who remained on the continent and the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes who colonized England,...

British actor Julian Sands has gone missing while hiking in southern California.

The prolific film and TV star was reported missing by his wife, the writer Evgenia Citkowitz, after going hiking in the San Gabriel mountains on Friday 13 January. He is a keen hiker, who once described his happiest moment as “close to a mountain summit on a glorious cold morning”.

Authorities are carrying out an extensive search-and-rescue mission for the 65-year-old actor, though extreme weather conditions had caused delays and interruptions. His adult son, Henry, is assisting in the search with an experienced climber.

The search has entered its 11th day, with Sands’ family issuing a statement on Monday 23 January thanking authorities for their “heroic” efforts.

“His family are frantic with worry,” a close friend told The Independent.

Throughout his life, Sands appeared in more than 150 films and TV series, including several Oscar winners.

The West Yorkshire-born actor began...

British actor Julian Sands has gone missing while hiking in southern California.

The prolific film and TV star was reported missing by his wife, the writer Evgenia Citkowitz, after going hiking in the San Gabriel mountains on Friday 13 January. He is a keen hiker, who once described his happiest moment as “close to a mountain summit on a glorious cold morning”.

Authorities are carrying out an extensive search-and-rescue mission for the 65-year-old actor, though extreme weather conditions had caused delays and interruptions. His adult son, Henry, is assisting in the search with an experienced climber.

The search has entered its 11th day, with Sands’ family issuing a statement on Monday 23 January thanking authorities for their “heroic” efforts.

“His family are frantic with worry,” a close friend told The Independent.

Throughout his life, Sands appeared in more than 150 films and TV series, including several Oscar winners.

The West Yorkshire-born actor began...

In about 698 days, the Walt Disney Company is supposed to have its fourth CEO in three years.

Optimistically presuming that past and current House of Mouse boss Bob Iger really does hand over the keys to the Magic Kingdom in late 2024 to a designated successor, the soon-to-be 100-year-old media giant may look very different than it does now — as could the contracting industry overall.

It’s a reality in a self-described “age of great anxiety” that Iger himself is markedly responsible for in many ways, but rarely is held accountable for.

“Iger gets a lot of praise as an executive, a lot of it well deserved,” noted an agency captain of the Disney vet, who returned on November 20 to the CEO job he handed to Bob Chapek less than two years ago. “But one of his greatest accomplishments may be sidestepping his missteps. The billions in debt that came with the Fox purchase,...

(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)

The Movie: "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"

Where You Can Stream It: Netflix

The Pitch: In addition to being the final Coen Brothers film, "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" is the most charming anthology Western about death you're ever likely to see. It's not only about death, but the specter of human mortality looms over all six segments of this film, which unfolds like a collection of short stories, complete with an actual book and the turning of pages onscreen.

In each story, a character meets their match in some way, whether it be through a musically inclined gunslinger or a math-inclined chicken. The sum total is a masterful, Oscar-nominated anthology where each tale holds its own pleasures yet also...

This article contains spoilers for Better Call Saul season 6 episode 11.

Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, the masterminds and showrunners of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, have a keen appreciation for fan service. By all accounts the two men and the writing staffs they’ve assembled are unfailingly kind and polite individuals and those qualities carry into their respective relationships with the shows’ fandoms.

That’s why Gilligan and Gould were uncommonly forward in announcing well ahead of time that Breaking Bad lead characters Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) would appear in Better Call Saul’s final season. We’re all friends here, so why try to even hide such a notable “twist?”

That’s also why when it was revealed that Better Call Saul season 6 episode 11 would be titled “Breaking Bad,” it was fair for most fans to assume that this was the episode in which Walt and Jesse appear.

Kit Harington is set to star in Fulwell 73’s biopic of Mary Shelley, titled “Mary’s Monster.

Variety first broke the news that the film was in pre-production earlier this year.

Fulwell 73 have teamed with Rose Pictures on the feature, which will go into production in the U.K. this summer.

Clara Rugaard (“I Am Mother”) will play Shelley while Harington is set to play the monster. Ferdia Walsh-Peelo (“Coda”) has also joined the cast as Shelley’s husband Percy Bysshe Shelley while Sebastian De Souza (“Normal People”) will play the couple’s friend Lord Byron.

As Variety revealed in January, Farren Blackburn (“Daredevil”) will direct based on a screenplay by Deborah Baxtrom (“Living With Frankenstein”). Stephen Hallett co-writes.

Marius de Vries (“La La Land”) has boarded as executive music producer and executive producer; Fulwell 73’s Leo Pearlman and Heather Greenwood will produce, alongside Rose Picture’s Rose Ganguzza (“Afterschool...

Exclusive: Clara Rugaard (I Am Mother) and Kit Harington (Game Of Thrones) are set to star in a new movie about the life and circle of Frankenstein scribe Mary Shelley.

The period film, which will have a contemporary sheen to it, will deal with Mary’s mental struggle to write her seminal novel. Rising Danish actress Rugaard will play Mary Shelley and Harington will be ‘the monster.’

The film’s official synopsis reads: “Mary is seduced by her own inner monster catapulting her into a dangerous, destructive psychological romance. Realising the monster is inextricably linked to her own mental state, her only route to salvation is in bringing him to life”.

Ferdia Walsh-Peelo (Coda) will play Mary’s husband Percy Bysshe Shelley and Sebastian de Souza (Normal People) will play Byron. Additional casting is underway.

Described by producers as a “high-concept, rock’n’roll take” on the Romantic period, the...

Fulwell 73 have teamed with Rose Pictures (“Kill Your Darlings”) to co-produce a feature about “Frankenstein” author Mary Shelley, Variety has learned exclusively.

Titled “Mary’s Monster,” it follows Shelley as she struggles to complete her gothic masterpiece, which was published in 1818.

Farren Blackburn will direct the feature from a screenplay by Deborah Baxtrom (“Living With Frankenstein”). The logline reads, “Terrified of giving voice to the darkness of her subconscious mind, Mary Shelley locks into a dangerous battle with her own ‘inner monster’ as she struggles to write her seminal science fiction novel, ‘Frankenstein.'”

The 204-year-old book, considered by experts to be the world’s first science fiction novel, has inspired countless film, television and theatrical adaptations. Shelley is believed to have come up with the novel at the age of 19 during a stay by Lake Geneva with her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley and the poet Lord Byron, where the...

Marianne Faithfull has lived several lifetimes in her 74 years. She was only 17 when the pop song “As Tears Go By” turned her into a star overnight in 1964, and she was in her early twenties when her relationship with Mick Jagger made her a tabloid lightning rod. After that ended, she fell deep into drugs, living for a while on the streets, before making a stunning comeback in 1979 with Broken English, an album of dark-hued, New Wave–influenced music that complemented the way her voice had grown deeper and more profound.

Marianne Faithfull pays tribute to England’s great romantic poets on her new album, She Walks in Beauty, which she made in collaboration with Bad Seeds and Dirty Three violinist Warren Ellis.

They’re previewing the record with her reading of Lord Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty,” which he wrote in June 1814. Birds chirp on the recording before piano and ethereal synths provide a bed for Faithfull’s recitation of the poem, which describes a woman’s unparalleled grace. The video for the song, which was directed by Yann Orhan,...

Pitched somewhere between horror and historical drama, this film probes the personal trauma that may have shaped Shelley’s invention of Frankenstein

Here is an earnestly intended psychological drama about Mary Shelley, and her relationship with Percy Bysshe Shelley, Byron, Polidori and Claire Clairmont during that legendary summer in 1816 on Lake Geneva when Byron challenged everyone to write a ghost story – and Mary conceived of Frankenstein, so commercially outpacing the literary alpha males and anticipating the modern world in ways far beyond them. The film’s drama centres on the trauma of her pregnancy and childbirth, yoking together the ideas of her dark imagination with pre- and postpartum depression, as well as the patriarchal male-author myth – Percy is shown being threatened by Mary’s creativity and sensuality.

It is an idealistic and heartfelt film, but also precious and self-conscious with some pretty callow performances, like a student production at the Edinburgh fringe.

Last April, Marianne Faithfull had begun working on a new album, her first in several years, when disaster struck: Then 73, she tested positive for Covid-19 and was hospitalized. Miraculously, Faithfull not only recovered but completed the album, She Walks in Beauty, which has just been announced for release on April 30th.

A collection of poetry set to “sound collage compositions,” She Walks in Beauty finds Faithfull reading from works by Lord Byron, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Wordsworth, and Lord Tennyson. Produced by Warren Ellis, a principal member of Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds,...

Carlos Watson, co-founder and CEO of Ozy Media, started his company in 2013 as a digital magazine venture that was dubbed by one reader “the love child of Vice and the Economist.”

Watson’s ambition for Ozy Media has grown to include TV series, podcasts and a traveling festival featuring top thinkers and entrepreneurs. On the latest episode of Variety podcast “Strictly Business,” the one-time McKinsey & Co. analyst and Goldman Sachs banker-turned-journalist-turned-digital entrepreneur discusses how his San Francisco-based company plans to grow even a pandemic and how he attracted top investors, including Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective and Marc Lasry.

Ozy Media’s mission is simply put: “Helping people be a little smarter a little sooner and doing it in a really flavorful way,” Watson says. He notes that Ozy Media’s digital magazine profiled Trevor Noah before he was host of “The Daily Show” and was way ahead of the...

Telling a heartbreaking tale of love that permeates the boundaries of the living and the dead, Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee" is one of 24 classic poems brought to life with new artwork by Julian Peters in the upcoming collection Poems to See By: A Comic Artist Interprets Great Poetry. Ahead of its March 31st release (just in time for National Poetry Month in April) from Plough Publishing Press, we've been provided with exclusive preview pages that combine Peters' new artwork with Poe's timeless words of love, loss, and undying loyalty.

Below, you can see a love so strong that it makes the angels jealous in our exclusive preview pages from Poems to See By. We also have the official press release with additional details, and to learn more, visit Amazon and the official websites for Plough Publishing Press and Julian Peters.

Press Release: Timed to National Poetry Month in April,...

“And on the pedestal these words appear:/‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;/Look on my works, ye Mighty and despair!’/Nothing beside remains. Round the decay/Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare.”

Percy Bysshe Shelley’s iconic poem, “Ozymandias,” since its publication in 1818, has endured as a tribute to the diminishing power of empires and the insubstantiality of nations for centuries—a sustaining reminder that leaders and monuments perceived to be indestructible will fade into dust.

Continue reading ‘The American Sector’ Speaks Volumes About Freedom With Eloquent Silence [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

Mike Cecchini Dec 1, 2019

Watchmen episode 4 introduces the mysterious Lady Trieu, and hints at a connection to Adrian Veidt.

This article contains Watchmen spoilers.

We first met the mysterious Lady Trieu back in Watchmen episode 4. Played by Hong Chau, Lady Trieu is a fabulously wealthy, impossibly brilliant futurist, one who is willing to use all of her wealth and scientific power to get exactly what she wants. Her true motivations remain unclear even as we reach the conclusion of episode 7, but she has become an increasingly visible and important character in recent weeks, both because of her invention of one of the great expositional tools in television history, the memory drug Nostalgia, and because of her willingness to rescue Angela Abar from an overdose on that same drug.

Like many members of the cast, Chau was unfamiliar with the book when she was approached about the role. “When I first sat down with Damon Lindelof,...

On the premiere episode of HBO's new action drama Watchmen, Jeremy Irons is featured in a key montage that takes us quite far away from the main action. His role is not explicitly identified, but it is generally thought that he is playing Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias. But just who is this former Watchmen member? Read on to find out, but be warned of some light spoilers from the premiere episode and the graphic novel.

In Alan Moore's written series, Adrian Veidt is born into wealth in 1939 and, as he grows, is found to be highly intelligent. His parents die when he's 17, and he inherits a huge fortune, but he chooses to donate it to charity and goes on a quest to emulate his idol: Alexander the Great.

This vision quest is what leads Veidt to don a costume and begin fighting crime under the moniker Ozymandias, which in...

Joseph Baxter Oct 21, 2019

Riverdale producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa heads HBO Max horror series The Shelley Society, and will shop Dracula spinoff The Brides.

HBO Max, the upcoming streaming service from the premium cable giant, is bolstering its lineup of original content at a rapid pace; a notion exemplified by its most recent order for an irreverently-themed horror series in The Shelley Society.

The Shelley Society will manifest as a Victorian take on The X-Files formula, following the quasi-historic exploits of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley and friends. The series order from HBO will pull the proverbial driver’s seat for Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, according to a report from Deadline. Aguirre-Sacasa – an executive producer behind current reimagined Archie Universe shows The CW’s Riverdale and Katy Keene as well as Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina – will serve as writer, executive producer and showrunner here, collaborating with Greg Berlanti via Berlanti Productions. Riverdale...

“Riverdale” Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and two of the show’s writers have set up the drama “The Shelley Society” at HBO Max with a pilot order, Variety has confirmed.

The project follows a young Mary Shelley and a band of her fellow Romantics, including Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron, as they battle supernatural threats, including the creature from Mary Shelley’s own “Frankenstein.”

“Riverdale” writers Tessa Leigh Williams and James DeWille co-created the series with Aguirre-Sacasa and also serve as executive producers. Aguirre-Sacasa will serve as showrunner. Warner Bros. Television will produce.

This marks the first project that Aguirre-Sacasa has set up under his new overall deal with Wbtv back in August. He is also the COO of Archie Comics and has served as the architect of the Archie-verse that has built up at WB over the past few years.

In addition to creating “Riverdale,” which recently returned for its fourth season on The CW,...

Mary Shelley brought “Frankenstein” to life, but her own life was found wanting when it comes to Nat Geo. The author was supposed to be the subject of the network’s newest “Genius” season, the network’s scripted biography series, following Picasso and Einstein before him. But in February, Nat Geo announced it would focus on the life of the late, great Aretha Franklin instead.

On Tuesday, National Geographic Global Network President Courteney Monroe explained why the Gothic novelist was dropped.

“We were super-excited about Mary Shelley, a fascinating person, a fascinating life. The fact is that we just couldn’t find a way to crack it creatively for an eight- to 10-hour limited series,” she said. “And our feeling was if we couldn’t do it in a really excellent way and do it right, then we shouldn’t do it.”

“So that’s what happened. We really tried.

California’s High Desert is heavy with rock history. It’s where country-rock icon Gram Parsons had his corpse cremated by friends; where an Irish band found a name and cover image for a great LP; where Jim Morrison dropped acid and made a movie; where Josh Homme and Kyuss cooked up stoner rock. Now The Mekons — those zany, erudite and beloved British punk-country-reggae-rock survivors — join the processional with Deserted. Recorded near Joshua Tree, the LP loses itself in the desert and finds timely survival metaphors everywhere. And it burrows...

History and TLC alum Jana Bennett has signed on with Ozy Media to help the Silicon Valley-based digital content firm expand its TV production and podcast operations.

Bennett joins as senior adviser with a mandate to expand the 5-year-old company’s original content operations. The company, co-founded in 2013 by former CNN and MSNBC anchor Carlos Watson, produces programming for its own digital platforms as well as supplying series to outside buyers.

Ozy Media has produced factual and talk show programs for PBS, BBC, Amazon and Facebook and has a half-dozen more in development. The company’s focus is on highlighting “the new and the next” in arts, politics, pop culture and other arenas. The Ozy Media moniker was inspired by the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Bennett is a veteran cable programmer who launched the Fyi lifestyle channel for A+E Networks in 2014. She advanced to president and g.m.

The Venice Film Festival will host a special screening of Vanessa Redgrave's Venice-set film The Aspern Papers in celebration of her receiving this year's Golden Lion lifetime achievement award for acting. 

The Aspern Papers is the first feature from director Julien Landais and is adapted from the novella by Henry James, which is based on the letters Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote to Mary Shelley's stepsister Claire Clairmont. 

Set in the late 19th century, the film sees Jonathan Rhys Meyers play an ambitious editor Morton Vint obsessed with the romantic poet Jeffrey Aspern.

He travels to Venice ...

The Venice Film Festival will host a special screening of Vanessa Redgrave's Venice-set film The Aspern Papers in celebration of her receiving this year's Golden Lion lifetime achievement award for acting. 

The Aspern Papers is the first feature from director Julien Landais and is adapted from the novella by Henry James, which is based on the letters Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote to Mary Shelley's stepsister Claire Clairmont. 

Set in the late 19th century, the film sees Jonathan Rhys Meyers play an ambitious editor Morton Vint obsessed with the romantic poet Jeffrey Aspern.

He travels to Venice ...

A biopic that brings teen-movie drama to one of literature’s great love stories

From Saudi director Haifaa al-Mansour (2012’s Wadjda), this biopic about the life of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley is, like her scientist’s creation, an odd, interesting, flawed beast. Daughter of leftwing literati William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft (who died just weeks after giving birth to her), Elle Fanning’s Mary dreams of being “substantial”, which she defines as “anything that curdles the blood and quickens the beating of the heart”. Sent to Scotland at the age of 16, she meets the radical Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley who conveniently forgets to tell her that he’s already married. Mary and Percy run away together, taking Mary’s hotheaded stepsister Claire Clairmont (Diary of a Teenage Girl’s Bel Powley) with them, and eventually fall in with the poet Lord Byron (Tom Sturridge).

The tone wavers somewhere between Gossip Girl and Jane Eyre,...

The goth, romantic feature "Mary Shelley" (Elle Fanning), directed by Haifaa al-Mansour, focuses on the young writer who fell in love with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, inspiring her to write the novel "Frankenstein", opening July 6, 2018:

"...'Mary' (Fanning) is a wayward teen spending more time reading scary literature than helping out with chores back at home. She clashes with stepmother 'Mary Jane' (Froggatt) but shares a warm relationship with stepsister 'Claire' (Powley) and father 'William Godwin' (Stephen Dillane), a renowned political philosopher and novelist.

"She also shares a strident streak with her late mother, the forward-thinking feminist 'Mary Wollstonecraft'.

"When Mary encounters handsome and rebellious poet 'Percy Shelley' (Douglas Booth), her life takes a dramatic turn that takes her across Europe...

"...encountering love, betrayal, tragedy and ultimately inspiration to write the classic horror novel "Frankenstein" aka "The Modern Prometheus"...

"...inspired by the Jewish folklore legend 'The Golem'...

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Universal Music Classics/Decca Gold announced today, the release of the score to the highly anticipated biopic from IFC Films, Mary Shelley, which features original music by composer Amelia Warner (Mum’s List). Mary Shelley will be released digitally on May 25th – the same date the film premieres in theaters in the Us.

In describing the composition process, Amelia emphasized the ghostly themes of the film by utilizing vocalists and orchestral rhythms to assist in telling this illuminating tale.

“We used a lot of synths layered with the orchestra. The real strings layered with electric synths created a strangeness and modernity that I think works well with Mary’s character. We found some amazing musicians and two incredible singers who are a huge part of the score. We used a soprano and a counter tenor and had them sing in a very expressive way. For example, when things start to...

Review by Peter Belsito

A teenage woman is trapped by the restrictions of her position in a male dominated society. The torrid true-life tale of how a passionate love affair fueled the creation of trailblazing writer Mary Shelley’s Gothic masterwork, Frankenstein.

Elle Fanning stars as Mary Shelley.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851) was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818).

Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin. The film passes through the following — mostly traumatic episodes — of her busy, short life.

Elle Fanning is superb. It focuses on the relationship with Shelley and the visit to the peculiar home of Lord Byron.

Her life is worth knowing a bit. After her mother’s death — the philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft — less than a month after her daughter Mary was born, Mary was raised by Godwin,...

On April 18 National Geographic announced the subject of the third season of its anthology series “Genius.” Author Mary Shelley, the woman behind “Frankenstein,” will follow scientist Albert Einstein and painter Pablo Picasso in the scripted series about great thinkers and creators.

Shelley will be the oldest of the “Genius” subjects thus far. She was born in 1797 and died in 1851, before either Einstein or Picasso was born. She was the daughter of philosopher William Godwin and women’s rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft. She was also the second wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley, a famous Romantic poet. She will be the first woman profiled by the Nat Geo series.

“Genius” debuted in April 2017 with Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush in the role of Einstein for the 10-episode biographical drama. It received 10 Emmy nominations, including Best Limited Series, Best Movie/Mini Actor for Rush and Best Movie/Mini Directing for Oscar winner Ron Howard...

National Geographic has renewed scripted anthology series Genius for a third season and has revealed that iconic author Mary Shelley, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, will be its subject. The network made the announcement at the conclusion of its upfront Wednesday in New York City.

Mary Shelley will follow brilliant physicist Albert Einstein, who was at the center of Season 1, and famous artist Pablo Picasso, who was the subject of Season 2. Like with the previous seasons, Nat Geo and Fox 21 Television Studios and Imagine Television are expected to go after big names for the lead — Geoffrey Rush played Einstein, and Antonio Banderas portrayed Picasso. The Season 3 renewal comes a week ahead of the April 24 premiere of Genius: Picasso.

“Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein left an indelible mark on generations of imaginations,” said Carolyn Bernstein, Evp, global development and production for National Geographic Global Networks.

Brilliant: Nat Geo just unveiled the subject for its third season of “Genius,” Mary Shelley.

The first woman genius to be chronicled by the cable channel’s scripted anthology series basically invented the science fiction and horror genres when she created Frankenstein (yes, and his monster). Shelley’s season will again be executive produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment, Mwm Studios and Eue/Sokolow.

The series hails from Fox 21 Television Studios.

Also Read: Nat Geo Wild Renews 'The Incredible Dr. Pol,' 3 Other Shows (Exclusive)

Showrunner, executive producer and writer Ken Biller will continue his role overseeing the new season, per Nat Geo. In addition to he, Grazer and Howard, Francie Calfo, Gigi Pritzker, Rachel Shane, Sam Sokolow and Jeff Cooney are also executive producers. Anna Culp is producer.

Filming on “Genius 3” is expected to begin later this year.

“Genius: Picasso” premieres on Tuesday, by the way. The first season followed Albert Einstein’s exploits, and brought a whole bunch of awards and eyeballs to National Geographic.

Also Read: Katie Couric Says Nat Geo Docuseries Goes Further Than Mainstream Media: 'These Conversations Aren't Happening' (Video)

“Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein left an indelible mark on generations of imaginations,” said Carolyn Bernstein, executive vice president, global development and production for National Geographic Global Networks. “Equally inspiring is the story of Shelley’s relentless innovation, coupled with her desire to live on her own unconventional terms despite immense societal and cultural obstacles. I can’t wait for our talented team to bring her remarkable, relevant and timely story to life for season three of ‘Genius’ and do justice to her literary legacy.”

“Mary Shelley has inspired countless filmmakers with her tale of the wretch brought to life by science gone wrong, but very few have fully captured her insightful reflections on society in the myth she left behind,” added Howard. “Few know of her struggles due to gender inequities, her additional writings, her influence on other historically significant individuals and society at large. Showcasing someone like Mary Shelley and her amazing intellect, compassion and fortitude is exactly what this series is for, and we are looking forward to continuing our successful partnership with National Geographic and Fox 21 Television Studios.”

“Our experience with Courteney, Carolyn and the Nat Geo team has been phenomenal, and our award-winning first season exceeded even our own high expectations,” said Bert Salke, president of Fox 21 Television Studios. “Audiences are in for a treat with our follow-up, featuring a transformative performance by Antonio Banderas as our Picasso, and a compelling story created by Ken Biller. The choice of Mary Shelley as the subject of our third season speaks to the incredible depth of the franchise. How fitting at this moment in time to pivot to one of the many female geniuses in human history, and Mary’s story is both stranger than fiction and incredibly dramatic. We can’t wait to get started.”

Also Read: 'Hidden Figures' TV Series in the Works at Nat Geo

Here is Nat Geo’s kickass bio on Shelley:

A brilliant thinker, radical intellectual and proto-feminist, Mary Shelley (1797-1851) brought to life one of the most enduring stories of the modern age while still a teenager. “Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus” is a cautionary tale of unchecked scientific ambition and a sophisticated meditation on social institutions, personal freedom and compassion that has captured imaginations and continues to be relevant since it was first published 200 years ago. Shelley masterfully invented the Science Fiction/Horror genre with her tale of a creature brought to life, subsequently going on to create the Post-Apocalyptic genre with her later novel, “The Last Man.”

An intellectual prodigy who was inspired from an early age by the writing of her unconventional mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, Shelley was determined to prove that women were the intellectual and creative equals of men. One of few women to support herself as an author during the early 18th century, Shelley wrote short stories, reviews, travelogues, and made prolific contributions to the world’s first encyclopedia, she also wrote six novels. Shelley’s inner circle included countless literary and scientific luminaries of the day, including Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Mary and Charles Lamb, Humphry Davy and Leigh Hunt.

Shelley met the love of her life, Romantic poet, amateur scientist and still-married Percy Bysshe Shelley, at the age of 16. After losing her virginity to Shelley at her mother’s gravesite, the pair eloped and were cast out by her father, the radical intellectual William Godwin. Shelley was to endure a lifetime of tragic misfortune, watching three of her four children die, losing multiple friends and family members to suicide, and outliving her husband, who drowned at sea. In true gothic style, Shelley elected to keep her late husband’s heart after his death

Shelley’s writing was heavily influenced by the great scientific innovation and experimentation of the early 19th century. Scientists like Luigi Galvani, Giovanni Aldini and Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles, figured prominently in her life. The story of Frankenstein was inspired in part by one of the most important scientific theories of the time, Galvanism, the study of the effect of electricity on the dead bodies of animals and humans.

Mary Shelley spent the last few years of her life being looked after by her only surviving child, Percy Florence Shelley, before dying of a brain tumor at the age of 53.

Read original story ‘Genius': Mary Shelley, ‘Frankenstein’ Author, Will Be Nat Geo Show’s First Female Genius (Video) At TheWrap...

The third season of NatGeo’s acclaimed bioseries Genius will be about the life of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley, TVLine has learned.

Shelley will be the series’ first female subject, following Season 1’s Albert Einstein (played by Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Flynn) and Season 2’s Pablo Picasso (played by Antonio Banderas and Alex Rich).

The British author and storied intellectual, who lived from 1797–1851, is best known for writing the Gothic novel Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus. She also was an 18th-century feminist, an intellectual who hobnobbed with the likes of Lord Byron and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley...

The greatest romance of her life inspired her darkest creation. That’s the tag for the new IFC Films release about Frankenstein author Mary Shelley’s tumultuous life, which has a May 25 theatrical debut in New York and Los Angeles after bowing at the Toronto Film Festival and with a Tribeca Film Festival screening coming. VOD follows on June 1.

Young Shelley had a life that seems torn from a novel of the era. Her mother died when she was young, leaving her in the care of a political philosopher father who was somewhat free-wheeling. Then there was the romance with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, which caused a family disruption, and her life as a political radical and advocate for social change.

Director Haifaa al-Mansour is the latest to tackle this compelling story, offering a look that focuses on her teen years and the budding romance with Shelley. Elle Fanning plays the title role,...

Mary Shelley tells the story of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (Elle Fanning) – author of one of the world’s most famous Gothic novels ‘Frankenstein’ – and her fiery, tempestuous relationship with renowned romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (Douglas Booth.) The pair are two outsiders constrained by polite society but bound together by a natural chemistry and progressive ideas that are beyond the boundaries of their age and time. Mary and Percy declare their love for each other and much to her family’s horror they run away together, joined by Mary’s half-sister Claire (Bel Powley.)

In the midst of growing tension within their relationship during their stay at Lord Byron’s (Tom Sturridge) house at Lake Geneva, the idea of Frankenstein is conceived when a challenge is put to all houseguests to write a ghost story. An incredible character is created, which will loom large in popular culture for centuries to come,...

“Frankenstein” author Mary Shelley’s life was one filled with extremes, from the early death of her beloved mother to a free-wheeling childhood and education care of her political philosopher dad, to her life-changing romance with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley that partially took place on her mother’s grave and her complicated and complex relationship with just about everyone in her life. She was a political radical and an outspoken advocate for social change during a time when that wasn’t exaclt the sort of thing “nice young ladies did.” Oh, and she also wrote “Frankenstein.”

Shelley still cuts a wild figure in the history of literary masterworks and progressive politics, so it’s no surprise she’s inspired scores of on-screen portrayals, though few look to be as compelling as Haifaa Al-Mansour’s upcoming “Mary Shelley.” The new biopic mostly focuses on her teenage years, when the then-Mary Wollstonecraft...