In a new interview with GQ UK (opens in new tab), the actor – who recently reprised the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi for the first time onscreen since 2005 in the eponymous Jedi’s Disney Plus series – suggested that those tasked with reviewing the trilogy simply “didn’t get” what they thought they were going to.

“I think the critics just wanted to feel like they were seven or eight again,” McGregor explained, reflecting on the negative reception to The Phantom Menace and its two follow-ups. “So I was left with that [reaction] for years and years, and it took [until I started] meeting people, and I realized how important our films have been to them.

“To begin with, all we heard really was the critical side of things,” he recalled. “That was the only voice I remember hearing, and they were not liked. I admire George for having tried to do something different with them. He didn’t just set out to make another three Star Wars films that felt like the original ones. I respected him for that. I think that’s ballsy and interesting.”

Set ten years after the events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan Kenobi catches up to the titular hero as he watches over Luke Skywalker on Tatooine. Before long, though, Obi-Wan finds himself looking after Leia Organa, as the pair try and evade the clutches of Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader.

It is available to stream on Disney Plus now. While it’s unclear whether a second season is on the cards, the show has sparked enthusiasm for a couple of spin-offs, mainly centered on Reva and Darth Vader – and you can read our argument for the latter here. While we wait for more news, check out the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows currently in the works.

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Rotten Tomatoes’ Jacqueline Coley broke the news on Twitter (opens in new tab), revealing that Kaluuya has not returned for the Marvel sequel due to scheduling conflicts with Jordan Peele’s upcoming film Nope. Kaluuya will star in the sci-fi horror film alongside Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun. 

In the Black Panther sequel, Gurira is returning as Okoye, and Letitia Wright’s Shuri, Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia, Winston Duke’s M’Baku, Angela Bassett’s Ramonda, and Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross are also back. Newcomers include Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, AKA Ironheart, and Tenoch Huerta in a mystery role – speculation has focused on Atlantean prince Namor, but Huerta has poked fun at people who think pictures of him as the character have leaked. 

The plot of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is pretty much entirely a mystery, but Freeman has teased that we should expect the unexpected. “Some of it was really – some of it’s very odd, and I think [director Ryan Coogler] could see by the reaction on my face some of the things he was saying… He kept sort of stopping, and going… He kept on saying, ‘Stay with me, but this is going to work.'”

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrives this November 11. Before then, She-Hulk will land on Disney Plus beginning this August 17.  In the meantime, check out our ultimate guide to Marvel Phase 4 for everything else the MCU has in store for us. 

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Set years before the events of the 2009 hit, the sequel-turned-prequel centers on Leena Klammer, who went by Esther in the first flick – a woman suffering from a hormone disorder that stunts her growth – as she travels to the US after orchestrating an elaborate escape from an Estonian psychiatric facility. There, she impersonates the missing daughter of Tricia (Julia Stiles) and Allen Albright (Rossif Sutherland), Esther, and quickly moves into their home, but Tricia soon becomes convinced that Esther isn’t who she claims to be. 

Judging from the synopsis and the teaser, which you can watch above, what follows is pretty standard horror movie stuff: Allen, the husband, doesn’t believe his wife’s concerns, while Leena/Esther splits her time between painting eerie pictures and trying her best to separate them (or worse). If its predecessor is anything to go by, though, it’s sure to have a few surprises in store.

What’s perhaps most impressive about the clip, however, is how they’ve managed to de-age Fuhrman. The 25-year-old actor was just 12 when she made the twisty original, and word on the street is that no visual effects were used to make her look younger. Esther isn’t actually as young as she presents herself to be, either, so it’s kind of wild to think about how Fuhrman was once a pre-teen, playing a 33-year-old disguised as a nine-year-old, and now she’s in her mid-20s, playing an even younger version of that same character.

“I love the challenge of being able to play a kid because that’s never historically been done in cinema — I was like looking all this up, because I love looking up old movie history and things like that, and I was like, ‘Oh, an adult has never reprised the role that they played as a child,'” she told The Hollywood Reporter (opens in new tab) last year. “Will Smith, for example, recently did that movie [Gemini Man] where they de-age somebody, but to reprise a role that you literally did as a kid as an adult has never been done before. It’s kind of impossible. And we did it.

“We didn’t use special effects, we didn’t use any crazy makeup tricks. And I think that’s what makes the movie work, is because you really can’t figure out how I look like a [9-year-old], but I do. It’s really creepy.”

Written by Scream’s David Coggeshall and directed by The Boy’s William Brent Bell, Orphan: First Kill is set to release in select theaters, on Digital, and on Paramount+ on August 19. In the UK, it will be coming out exclusively in cinemas.

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Stallone will play Joe Smith, AKA Samaritan, a superhero who went missing after an epic battle two decades ago. Javon Walton, who’s known for his roles in Euphoria and The Umbrella Academy season 3, plays Joe’s young neighbour Sam, who discovers the secret alter ego he’s tried to leave behind. The three newly released stills show Joe walking along a street with Sam, in the midst of a fight that he seems to be winning, and facing off against Cyrus (played by Game of Thrones’ Pilou Asbæk). 

The movie also stars Dascha Polanco, Martin Starr, and Moisés Arias. Samaritan was helmed by Julius Avery, who previously directed the 2014 crime thriller Son of a Gun and thr 2018 action horror Overlord and was originally meant to have a theatrical release in November 2020, before being delayed to December 2020 and June 2021 due to the pandemic. It’s finally arriving on our screens, on Prime Video, this August.  

Screenwriter Bragi F. Schut penned the script around a decade ago, before adapting the story into a series of graphic novels published by Mythos Comics in 2014. The story is being described as a dark, new take on the superhero genre. 

Samaritan arrives on the streamer on August 26. In the meantime, check out our picks of the best movies on Amazon Prime Video that you can watch right now. 

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Tessa Thompson, who plays Valkyrie in Thor: Love and Thunder, has revealed that she fought to keep one scene in particular in the final cut. In the movie, Luke Hemsworth and Matt Damon play members of a theatre troupe who put on shows in New Asgard about the events of previous Thor movies – both return from Thor: Ragnarok. 

At one point, the actors approach Valkyrie after Gorr the God Butcher attacks New Asgard to ask about putting on another play covering the villain’s rampage, and that moment almost ended up cut from the film. “I loved it! These movies go through so many different edits, so things stay and go away. And typically, I just watch these movies at the premiere, but this time around, I actually watched a couple of the cuts because I found that process really interesting. I’m now producing more, so I really wanted to understand how the “sausage” is made,” Thompson told The Hollywood Reporter (opens in new tab).

“And so there was one cut where that bit went away and I was so sad, but then it came back and I was so happy. (Laughs.) I was like, “That has to be in the movie!” So I was very sad for a brief second when it wasn’t there, but yeah, that was so fun,” she continued. “Having them around to explore the importance of theater and storytelling, as expressed in Asgardian culture, I just loved that.” 

While that scene eventually made it back into the movie, Natalie Portman, who plays Jane Foster – AKA the Mighty Thor – has revealed that a lot ended up on the cutting room floor. “There were whole sequences, planets, characters, and worlds that didn’t end up in the movie that were hilarious and amazing and [that] we spent a lot of time and energy on, and certainly the entire crew also designing and conceiving,” she commented. 

At the moment, there are no confirmed plans for Thor’s return, but judging by the Love and Thunder post-credits scenes and that surprise cameo, we can probably expect a Thor 5 that covers those particular plot developments. Until then, you can catch up on the MCU on Disney Plus, and for much more on the movie, you can check out our spoilery guides on:  

• Thor: Love and Thunder ending explained
• Every Thor: Love and Thunder Easter egg you might have missed
• When does Thor: Love and Thunder take place on the Marvel timeline?
• When to expect Thor: Love and Thunder on Disney Plus
• Who dies in Thor: Love and Thunder?
• All the Thor: Love and Thunder cameos you might have missed
• Every cut Thor: Love and Thunder cameo, listed
• Does Thor have a daughter in the comics?
• Is Loki in Thor: Love and Thunder?
• How to watch the Marvel movies in order 
• The full Marvel timeline, explained
• Everything coming in Marvel Phase 4

The post Tessa Thompson reveals the scene she fought to keep in Thor Love and Thunder appeared first on Game News.

To aid you in spotting these, we’ve compiled a list of all the biggest moments we noticed in the new movie. However, as you might expect, we’ll be getting into heavy spoiler territory below. So make sure you’ve seen Thor 4 before reading our guide. Everyone else, read on for our breakdown of all of the Thor: Love and Thunder Easter eggs and references you need to know about.

Thor 4 Easter Eggs

Thor’s t-shirt with the Yggdrasil on it

During his opening scene with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor can be seen wearing a shirt with Yggdrasil on it. This is the World Tree in Norse mythology, which holds up the Nine Realms, including Asgard, Jotunheim, and Niflheim. This doesn’t play into the plot of the movie but is a nice nod to Thor’s comic book and Old Norse history.

Thor’s goats: Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder, 

After Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy help save a planet at the beginning of Thor: Love and Thunder, the God of Thunder receives a gift for his efforts. He is given two screaming goats, who fans of the comics will know are Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder. These are Thor’s trusty mystical goats who pull his chariot. In Thor: Love and Thunder, they get the slightly less glamorous job of pulling a tourist Viking ship. 

Thor’s handshake with Star-Lord  

When Thor and Star-Lord are parting ways to head on their own missions, Thor wants to do a special handshake with the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy. This starts as a “human handshake, to the Asgardian handshake, into the snake that you cannot trust, and finish with a classic Asgardian high one.” While we never saw Loki and Thor do this handshake themselves, the reference to the “snake” could be a nod to the God of Mischief. As you may remember, in Thor: Ragnarok, Thor told a story about a time when they were children when Loki turned into a snake. Then when Thor went to pick the snake up, Loki returned to normal form and stabbed him – hence a “snake you cannot trust”. 

References to Event Horizon and Interstellar 

When Dr. Jane Foster is in the hospital receiving her chemotherapy treatment, she winds up sitting next to a young man reading her book. She takes the opportunity to explain to him how the Einstein–Rosen bridge – or wormholes as they’re also known – works. Jane says it’s just like in Event Horizon and Interstellar. At the beginning of Event Horizon, Dr. Weir explains how wormholes work by taking a poster, folding it in half, and poking a pen through it. In Interstellar, Dr. Romilly does something very similar, folding over a piece of paper and poking a hole through it. In Thor: Love and Thunder, Jane does the exact same thing by tearing out a page of her own book, calling back to both of these moments. 

New Asgard ice cream shop called Infinity Conez

In Thor: Love and Thunder, New Asgard has been transformed into a tourist destination for Avengers fans. The town is full of nods to Marvel, including an ice cream shop called Infinity Conez. The shop’s sign features an Infinity Gauntlet holding an ice cream cone, complete with six candles representing the six Infinity Stones. Waititi gave Entertainment Tonight (opens in new tab) a look at this on the set, joking: “As you can see here, a little special invention just for the film, which I have heard on quite good know-how that it’s going to make it into real-life one day, is this ice cream shop here called ‘Infinity Conez.’ So keep an eye out for that.” 

Falligar the Behemoth

When Lady Sif calls on Thor for aid in Gorr the God Butcher’s attacks, he finds her next to Falligar the Behemoth. The huge hyena-looking creature has been felled by Gorr who’s on a mission with his Necrosword to kill all Gods. Falligar is the Patron God of the Galactic Frontier and champion of the Tournament of Immortals, as well as being a friend of Thor’s. This shot of him lying dead is taken directly from the Thor: God of Thunder #3 comic, which was published in December 2012. 

Nick Fury is under ‘Nick Furry’ on Thor’s phone 

During the flashback to Thor and Jane’s relationship, we learn they broke up because they were both so busy with work. During the montage, Jane is constantly being called away while Thor has to disappear and save the world. At one point, he receives a call from Nick Fury on his mobile, but eagle-eyed viewers will notice he has cheekily renamed him Nick Furry. 

Thor’s Loki tattoo

Now we know that Loki doesn’t appear in Thor: Love and Thunder. However, there is a major reference to Thor’s brother in the Omnipotence City scene in the movie. Thor is wearing a disguise when he goes to meet Zeus, which the leader of the Gods “flicks” off, revealing he isn’t wearing anything underneath. On his back, there’s a clear tribute to Loki, who died at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War. This features Loki’s helmet and a broken heart alongside the words: “R.I.P. Loki”. Of course, an alternate version of Loki is alive in the MCU. This is the Loki who seized an opportunity with the Tesseract to disappear after the main characters went back in time in Avengers: Endgame. However, he’s a bit busy with the Time Variance Authority – which you can read all about in our Loki season 2 guide. Another part of the tattoo also features a scroll with the names of characters who have died in it. Among the list are: Loki, Mother, Father, Heimdall, Tony, and Natasha. 

Cameos

There are loads of cameos peppered throughout Thor: Love and Thunder. Matt Damon, Luke Hemsworth, and Sam Neill are back as the Asgardian thesps. Kat Dennings returns as Jane’s friend Darcy, as too does Stellan Skarsgard’s Erik Selvig. Daryl from Team Thor even shows up as an Asgardian tour guide.

Shakespearean actor Simon Russell Beale makes a cameo as one of the Gods in Omnipotence City, which is overseen by Russell Crowe cameoing as Zeus. As well as this, Chris Hemsworth’s, Taika Waititi’s, Natalie Portman’s, and Christian Bale’s kids all also have roles in the movie, with India Rose Hemsworth playing a central character. However, it’s in the post-credits scene that we get the biggest cameo when a new character is introduced to the MCU. Brett Goldstein appears as Hercules. His character has a long history with Thor in the comics, and it seems he may even be a potential adversary to the God of Thunder in the future as well. For more, check out our guide to all the Thor: Love and Thunder cameos and to Hercules in Thor: Love and Thunder.

The statues at Eternity

The final battle between Thor and Gorr the God Butcher takes place at the gate to Eternity. However, if you look in the background of this scene, you can see multiple statues lining the walls. Among them appears to be Uatu The Watcher, who played a big role in the Disney Plus What If? series. He is an observer of the multiverse and is voiced by Jeffrey Wright. This is seemingly his first appearance in live-action in the MCU. It’s not confirmed who the other statues are in this scene, but they appear to be The Living Tribunal, who is the personification of multiversal law, as well as Infinity and Death who are among the four cosmic entities who forged the Infinity Stones. 

Celestials

Two unnamed Celestials (the giant Eternal-creating deities) were briefly glimpsed during the scenes on Omnipotence City. As Thor and the team fly away, they are seen poking their heads into the building where Zeus was holding court. 

Space dolphins

One of Thor: Love and Thunder’s strangest sights is also an Easter egg. Go figure. Thor points out the space dolphins, beings of supreme love who roam around in packs of six, as they head towards the Shadow Realm. 

This is likely a reference to the run of Jason Aaron, the comic book writer who heavily influences the plot of Love and Thunder and introduced Gorr the God Butcher to the world. In his run, they attacked Thor (and an older Thor) during their final battle with Gorr.

Necrosword

Gorr’s Necrosword, the all-corrupting sword used to slay gods, was also the villain’s weapon of choice in the comics.

There, the Necrosword holds slightly different origins. Instead of being passed down from generation to generation at the dawn of time, it was created by evil symbiote god Knull to aid in his god-killing crusade. It eventually ends up in the hands of Gorr.

Thor: Love and Thunder likely doesn’t use this version of the Necrosword likely due to being tangled up in movie rights. If it’s a symbiote sword, there’s every chance it could only be used with permission of Sony or in a Sony/Marvel movie. The previous owner of the Necrosword was slain by Dionysus in the movie, but he’s not named.

Team Thor

Thor: Love and Thunder features a cameo from the series of Marvel shorts that Waititi wrote and directed back in 2016. These were set between Captain America: Civil War and Thor: Ragnarok and featured Thor moving in with a new housemate called Darryl Jacobson (played by Daley Pearson). He makes a cameo in the latest MCU movie as a tour guide in New Asgard. While it’s not clear if he’s still playing Darryl in the scene, it’s a fun nod to the internet series.

Cocktail reference

There’s a reference to the 1988 Tom Cruise movie Cocktail. On the outside of the Viking boat that’s transporting Thor and the gang to Eternity, there is a neon sign reading “Cocktails and Dreams”. This is the name of the chain of bars Cruise’s character is hoping to open one day. Speaking to Uproxx (opens in new tab), Waititi acknowledged the reference before adding how he’d initially hoped to include it in his previous Thor movie. He said: “My big regret with Ragnarok was not doing Cocktail. Well, probably Jeff Goldblum’s big palace in Ragnarok? It should have been in there.”

Was Jane snapped?

A small piece of dialogue between Thor and Jane addresses the fact she may have been among the victims of Thanos’ snap. When the pair meet again, they have a slight disagreement on how long they’ve been broken up. Jane suggests it was only three or four years, while Thor says it was “eight years, seven months, and six days, give or take”. The difference in time is likely due to the fact Jane was snapped out of existence by Thanos for five years. This was seemingly confirmed in the script for Avengers: Endgame (opens in new tab). In the notes on the scene, Jane’s name is among those listed as victims of the snap.

Potential link to Moon Knight 

Thor name-drops a number of Gods ahead of him, Valkyrie, Korg, and the Mighty Thor leaving for Omnipotence City. Among them is the Egyptian god Ra, who is a part of the Moon Knight comic books. He’s not in the Disney Plus series, but should Moon Knight season 2 happen, he could potentially play a role. Moon Knight’s writer Jeremy Slater also previously told The Direct (opens in new tab) that his script included a reference to Thor as well. He was going to include some dialogue about a rumor that “Gods were being killed” in a nod to Gorr the God Butcher.

Fore more on Thor: Love and Thunder, be sure to check out our guides to:

• The Thor: Love and Thunder ending explained
• The Thor: Love and Thunder post-credits scenes explained
• When does Thor: Love and Thunder take place on the Marvel timeline?
• When to expect Thor: Love and Thunder on Disney Plus
• Who dies in Thor: Love and Thunder?
• Every cut Thor: Love and Thunder cameo, listed
• Will there be a Thor 5?
• Does Thor have a daughter in the comics?
• Is Loki in Thor: Love and Thunder?
• How to watch the Marvel movies in order
• The full Marvel timeline, explained
• Everything coming in Marvel Phase 4

The post Thor: Love and Thunder: The major Easter Eggs and Marvel references you might have missed appeared first on Game News.

Most popular doesn’t always mean the greatest – sorry, The Interceptor – but whether you’re in the mood for neon-soaked, close-combat (Kate), a star-studded cowboy romp (The Harder They Fall), or an actioner that trades blood for banter (Red Notice), there’s bound to be something in our roundup that tickles your fancy.

Everything mentioned is available in both the US and the UK, so you can get your adrenaline fix whichever side of the pond you’re on. So, without further ado, scroll on to find the very best action movies streaming on Netflix now – and for more watching recommendations, check out our lists on The best Netflix shows and the best Netflix movies. 

The best Netflix action movies out now

RRR

Are you ready for one of the wildest movies you’ve ever seen? RRR is a masterpiece in Indian cinema. Directed by S. S. Rajamouli, the Telugu-language movie takes place in the 1920s and centers on two revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.), in their explosive challenge of the British Raj. It’s lengthy at 182 minutes, but doesn’t waste a second, cramming in everything from fiery bow and arrow battles and motorcycle chases to men fighting alongside bloodied tigers. If none of that tickles your fancy, firstly, what more do you want? Secondly, fear not, it also features a romantic subplot, a sweet bromance, and a couple of musical numbers, too. No surprise it made huge amounts of money at the box office.

The Harder They Fall

Trumpeted by Netflix as a ‘new-school western’, The Harder They Fall in fact takes the staples of old-school westerns (bandits, bank jobs, train robberies, rowdy taverns, shootouts) but blends them all together in a manner that feels fresh and vibrant. Towns populated by Black people are painted in vivid hues, while an all-white town is literally that – stores built with pale wood and streets coated with sawdust shavings like snowflakes. Director Jeymes Samuel is a stylist, given to arresting compositions and whizz-bang set-pieces, but he isn’t afraid to let his magnificent actors simply lock eyes and jaw.

Red Notice

Early in Netflix’s globe-trotting romp Red Notice, a priceless artifact is revealed to be a clever fake by the application of a fizzy drink. You won’t need sugary beverages to catch writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber’s comedy-thriller out, because it’s exactly what it seems to be: a starry and undemanding caper, with Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot sticking like fingerprints to character type. 

Reynolds plays master art thief Nolan Booth, whom we first encounter pursued by Johnson’s FBI profiler John Hartley for stealing said artifact. Various twists, turns, surprise incarcerations, and quips about Johnson’s physique later, Booth and Hartley reluctantly unite to best the Bishop (Gadot), the super-thief who routinely outwits them. Will these relative rookies-in-crime manage to make their moves before the Bishop calls checkmate?

Army of Thieves

Set six years before zombie heist movie Army of the Dead, Army of Thieves focusses on the nervous Ludwig Dieter, played by Matthias Schweighöfer, who also directs the movie. We’re in the early days of the zombie outbreak and Ludwig is just starting his safecracking days when he’s hired by a mysterious woman to carry out a heist with a ragtag bunch of aspiring thieves. The cast also includes Game of Thrones’ Nathalie Emmanuel and British comedian Guz Khan, while Zack Snyder executive produces. This one’s a fun flick that’s essentially part-Fast and Furious, part-comedy actioner that will sate any fans of Army of the Dead.

Kate

Mary Elizabeth Winstead gives John Wick a run for his money in Kate, Netflix’s action thriller. Joined by Woody Harrelson and Game of Thrones’ Michiel Huisman, Winstead plays the titular role, an assassin who finds out she only has 24 hours to live after being poisoned. She decides to spend her last moments going on a manhunt through Tokyo and befriends the daughter (Miku Martineau) of a past target in the process. Ignore the naysayers who say this one’s simply another knock-off of Keanu Reeves’ action franchise – Kate strikes out on her own, making for an engaging romp that’s well worth a watch.

Army of the Dead

Zack Snyder’s latest offering is an action-packed zombie heist movie that sees a group of mercenaries venture into an undead-ridden Las Vegas to crack a near impenetrable safe, with the promise of a huge reward. The problem is, Vegas is set to be nuked in just hours – and if that wasn’t enough to get the adrenaline pumping, a lot of the zombies the crew encounter are faster, stronger, and smarter than you’ve seen before. Expect plenty of dead vs. living showdowns. The cast includes Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana de la Reguera, Matthias Schweighöfer, Omari Hardwick, and Tig Notaro. 

The Old Guard

Charlize Theron headlines this popular graphic novel adaptation, a glorious mash of fight sequences and fantasy lore that plays the part of a modern-day actioner. The Old Guard follows a band of do-gooding mercenaries, led by Theron’s Andy, who also happen to be immortal. Through the ages, they’ve managed to keep their heads down and dispense with vigilante justice undetected, but the advent of technology soon makes that impossible.

Not content to rely solely on its cool “unstoppable warriors” schtick – that’s unveiled in an early show-stopping sequence – the movie kicks serious ass on every front. Director Gina Prince-Bythewood showcases her flair for marrying together a tight story with likable characters. Oh, and it’s got a romance for the ages, too.

The Lovebirds

A brisk, laugh-packed buddy comedy set over the course of one night. Nope, we’re not talking your standard ‘80s male-fronted pics. The Lovebirds takes that concept and splices it with the remnants of a fairy tale love story, opening on a couple, Jibran and Leilani, on their way to a party that they never reach because they fight in the car and decide to break-up. It’s tense, not particularly fun, and all feels a little grim. Until Jibran accidentally hits a cyclist who refuses their help. 

Things spiral from that point, sending the duo into harm’s way repeatedly over the evening. They encounter a host of crooks who want to kill them, naturally making them work together as a team to survive their ordeal. It’s hardly reinventing the wheel, but that’s down to the comedic chops of Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae as the couple who deliver both gags and surprisingly solid beatdowns throughout.

Wheelman

You might know him as Crossbones from the MCU, or as that guy from The Purge movies. Here Frank Grillo plays a getaway driver – aka the wheelman of the title – thrown into an unfortunate set of circumstances when a heist goes wrong. With a car full of cash and no idea who framed him, it’s up to him to figure out what happened, even though he’s no idea who he can trust. 

Dubbed a thriller and a neo-noir, with flashes of melodrama, you can safely call it all of those things. By the time the end rolls around, there’s no doubting this is a balls-to-the-wall actioner. And really, who doesn’t like a good car chase movie? Even when they’re bad they’re still a blast. Luckily, Wheelman is an excellent experiment in blending thrills and action, with a brisk running time that will make it speed by. 

The Siege of Jadotville

The Siege of Jadotville is inspired by the experiences of the 157-strong Irish Army during their 1961 UN peacekeeping mission in Congo. It’s hard to believe that Jamie Dornan, he of Fifty Shades, can deliver on the dramatic action front but he’s at the top of his game as Commandant Pat Quinlan in this Netflix Original. He leads his 150 men into battle with a world-weariness that seems baked-in, taking them on a life-changing mission to hold steady a fort from 3,000 Congolese troops.

Part of director Richie Smyth’s plan to toughen up his actors before shooting was to ensure that their experiences felt real. He made all of them attend a soldier training camp… and boy, does it show. That’s how you bring a layer of emotional truth to a movie like this. 

The Night Comes For Us 

Fancy watching something that will make your soul shake? Give this a go. It’s a blistering actioner that seldom takes its foot off the gas. Keeping the story simple works as an anchor, a way to let the action run riot, which you want with a star like The Raid’s Iko Uwais in charge. Here he plays a triad thug called Ito, who at the last minute turns on his fellow enforcers, when he spies a young girl in the village they’re currently slaying. Choosing to save her life, and waste his comrades, Ito must do whatever it takes to protect the child. 

Cinema’s gone pretty far in terms of what’s deemed, well, acceptable, pushing the limits of good taste to the extreme. The Night Comes For Us charges down that route, somehow extending previous ideas on over the top violence and relentless barrage of gore. You will not see another action movie like it this year.

Da 5 Bloods

Not a classic action movie, but features enough war-torn action to certainly find itself on this list. Da 5 Bloods is directed by Spike Lee and tells the story of four US veterans (played by Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Isiah Whitlock Jr, Norm Lewis) returning to Vietnam to locate and repatriate the remains of their squad leader (played by Chadwick Boseman). 

There’s also the little matter of finding a trunk of gold bullion they buried during the war – it was intended to pay locals for their help against the Viet Cong, but when it went down with a CIA plane, our heroes took it for themselves. This is a frequently fierce, fascinating picture, and that’s why it’s classed here as one of the best Netflix action movies available now.

The Wandering Earth

Watching Chinese box-office smash The Wandering Earth, it seems as if its screenwriter mainlined every ‘90s Hollywood disaster movie then promptly declared “Hold all the beers in the world.” The sweaty-browed machismo of American popcorn entertainment is nothing compared to what’s being dubbed China’s first proper sci-fi blockbuster. The story somehow surpasses them all. 

Earth is in dire straits as the sun is on the cusp of dying out, making life on the planet uninhabitable. Scientists pepper the Earth’s surface with 10,000 rocket thrusters, enabling Earth to be directed to a new star system…  as long as they also avoid pesky Jupiter’s gravity. It’s ambitious-as-hell yet director Frank Gwo and his team somehow juggle the superb ensemble cast along with a series of showy visuals for an at-times arresting disaster actioner. 

Code 8

We’re in a post-MCU world now where the superhero schtick is no longer counterculture. As a result, we’re now getting more fun, straight-to-streaming pics like Code 8, set in a world where roughly 4% of the population is born with abilities. Alas, this circumstance is sadly not met with excitement by the majority of citizens who cower away from “Powers”, including Connor (Robbie Amell), a twentysomething labourer struggling to pay for his mother’s medical bills. He harnesses his electrokinetic powers and joins forces with a criminal gang, in order to raise the cash. 

Arrowverse heroes and real-life cousins Robbie and Stephen Amell co-star, after having raised the financing for the film through Kickstarter. It’s their on-screen dynamic that truly sells it, with the older Amell playing the thuggish crook who enlists Connor. Writer-director Jeff Chan hardly has the type of budget typically tossed at superhero fare, yet this grittier take on an X-Men-esque world delivers plenty of compelling action sequences.

Outside the Wire

Set in the near future, Outside the Wire centers around a civil war between pro-Russian insurgents and local resistances in Ukraine leads the US to deploy peacekeeping forces. It stars Anthony Mackie (who also produced the movie) as an android officer who works with a drone pilot, played by Damson Idris, to stop a global catastrophe. Emily Beecham, Michael Kelly, and Pilou Asbæk also star. The movie was directed by Swedish filmmaker Mikael Håfström, who’s also helmed thrillers like 2013’s Escape Plan starring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Project Power

Another Netflix Original, Project Power stars Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Dominique Fishback. It follows a drug dealer (Fishback), a police officer (Gordon-Levitt), and a former soldier (Foxx) in a near-future New Orleans who team up to stop the distribution of a pill that gives the user superpowers for five minutes. The movie was directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, the duo behind Paranormal Activity 3 and Paranormal Activity 4. Colson Baker, Rodrigo Santoro, Amy Landecker, and Allen Maldonado also star.

Extraction

Sinking $65 million dollars into its action spectacle Extraction, it’s no wonder Netflix chose to, as they say, go balls-to-the-wall on every front. Nabbing Chris Hemsworth for the lead was a masterstroke, but the big get aside from Thor is its director Sam Hargrave, who also happens to be an MCU stunt performer. Much like John Wick saw noted stunt genius Chad Stahelski take the reins as director for the first time, Hargrave gets that same chance to lens action the way a stuntman experiences it.

And that’s largely why the plot might not matter much. Who’s fussed about specifics when your director’s strapping himself into a car for a 12-minute take of a high-speed car chase? Granted, the story’s a decent enough tale of a sultry mercenary who accepts a job to locate the kidnapped son of an international crime lord, but it’s not going to change the face of cinema. Come for Hemsworth playing a slightly more serious role, and stay for the terrific action set pieces. 

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Beasts of No Nation

One of Netflix’s very first productions was a bold proposition indeed; a war movie in a fictional African country, performed for long stretches in Twi (a dialect of the Akan language spoken in Ghana), about a child soldier groomed for violence by a simultaneously terrifying and magnetic commandant. Beasts of No Nation plays out in just as bleak a manner as the premise suggests, leaving the viewer morally conflicted and emotionally exhausted.

In a movie that’s equal parts thrilling and harrowing, Idris Elba delivers an absolute masterclass in his role as the commandant. You watch him groom a child for war and perform several war crimes, and yet, somehow, you still find yourself wanting to root for him. And no less of a revelation is the young Abraham Attah as Agu. 

Triple Frontier

Think of Triple Frontier as Ocean’s Eleven with a military slant. J.C Chandor directs from a script he co-wrote with Zero Dark Thirty’s Mark Boal for the testosterone movie of the year, that tells of a group of former Special Forces Operatives who band together to rob a noted cartel drug lord. It’s hardly new, plot-wise, but the movie brings out plenty of surprises beneath its pecs. Notably, its cast manages to venture into interesting territory with their characters, who find themselves in dire straits when a simple plan goes wrong.

Oscar Isaac leads as Santiago “Pope” Garcia, a DEA Agent who reunites his former team (Ben Affleck on top form, Charlie Hunnam, Pedro Pascal, and Garrett Hedlund) to carry out the heist, that undoubtedly doesn’t pan out the way they expect. Netflix struck gold with this winning combo of top-shelf A-listers, taut, precision scripting, and great action sequences that have your heart in your throat. One of the best action movies on Netflix, Triple Frontier packs equal amounts of brawn and brain and is eminently watchable. 

The Debt Collector

Non-Netflix original available in US/UK

Several collaborations deep, and action champ Scott Adkins and director Jesse Johnson’s established rapport continues to, well, put Adkins into increasingly-hairy situations where the only way out is through… someone’s face. The pair typically ramp up the Guy Ritchie-esque British crime thriller template, yet this time they relocate to sunny Los Angeles where Adkins’ dedicated martial arts teacher French is struggling to keep his dojo open. 

He quickly accepts a job as a debt collector that connects him with Sue, a former B-movie ninja expert, whose shabby aesthetic masks his thunderous desire to break people’s legs. Johnson and Adkins are in their element here. The stunt coordinator-turned director dispenses with scene-after-scene of action-comedy genius, clearly comfortable with both at this point in his career.

6 Underground

Starring Ryan Reynolds and directed by Michael Bay, this movie follows a group of, you guessed it, six people. All of them are highly skilled and capable of taking down even the most untouchable of targets. Their aim this time round is a dictator in Turkistan, named Rovach Alimov. 

Though this film didn’t do that well with critics, it’s still packed with action, and Reynolds’ performance as the lead character has been praised. 6 Underground is a great choice for a slice of explosive escapism, especially if you’re already a Bay fan. 

Okja

A near-future sci-fi flick by Snowpiercer director Bong Joon-ho, this is exactly the type of Netflix Original the world needs: funny, weird, and utterly charming. Part environmental parable, part bleeding heart manifesto, the movie follows, Mija, a 10-year old whose best friend is a super-pig called Okja. When the lab that created her friend steal the swine away from her, Mija embarks on an adventure to retrieve Okja that takes her across the globe.

Unlike the brutal, bleak landscape of Snowpiecer, Okja showcases Joon-Ho’s softer side. It’s still oddball and wacky but packed with a ton of heart.  One of Netflix’s first movies that manages to juggle different ideas without losing sight of the goal; a real genre-blending effort. Oh, and Tilda Swinton. Anything that involves Tilda Swinton is worth watching.

The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf

A spin-off of The Witcher Netflix series, Nightmare of the Wolf serves as an origin story for Geralt’s (Henry Cavill) mentor and fellow witcher Vesemir,  voiced by Theo James. A servant on a nobleman’s estate, Vesemir longs to explore the Continent and find his destiny. Sherlock’s Lara Pulver is Tetra, a sorceress descended from one of the Continent’s first mages. She and her followers work to keep peace on the Continent by ensuring that magic is not abused. Graham McTavish voices warrior-leader Deglan, while Mary McDonnell is noblewoman Lady Zerbst.

Kwang Il Han directed the movie, while Beau DeMayo wrote the script, and The Witcher showrunner and executive producer Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is on board as a producer. Han is part of Studio Mir, who worked on the series The Legend of Korra, and DeMayo has also written and produced on the original Witcher series.

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“I’ve been having some conversations with him [Tom Cruise] about it,” Teller told Entertainment Tonight (opens in new tab). “We’ll see.” He added: “That would be great, but that’s all up to TC. It’s all up to Tom.”

Teller plays Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw in Top Gun: Maverick, the son of Goose (Anthony Edwards), Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise)’s best friend in the first Top Gun film. The movie also stars Jennifer Connolly, Jon Hamm, and Glen Powell and saw Joseph Kosinski take over the director’s chair. The sequel came 36 years after the original movie, so the fact that a threequel is already being discussed is good news for those of us with a need for even more speed.

Already the biggest movie of Cruise’s career, with his biggest debut both domestically and internationally, Top Gun: Maverick is now the first time one of the actor’s films has crossed the $1 billion mark. 

As well as a potential threequel, Cruise also reportedly has the final say on how long Maverick stays on the big screen. Originally released on May 27, the theatrical window currently stands at 120 days. And, with such astronomical box office numbers, it’s no wonder Top Gun 2 seems here to stay in the multiplex.

If you’ve already seen Top Gun: Maverick, check out our guide to the rest of the biggest movie release dates coming our way in 2022.

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Franchise regulars King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Korg (Waititi), and Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) are also back for another round, along with plenty of new faces, too. If you’ve already seen the movie, you might be itching for an at-home re-watch. But when will the Marvel movie be available to stream on Disney Plus, the home of the rest of the MCU? 

When is Thor: Love and Thunder releasing on Disney Plus?

While we don’t have an official Thor: Love and Thunder streaming release date just yet, we’ve done our best to estimate when it might arrive on Disney Plus. To use some recent Marvel movies as examples, Eternals arrived on the streamer 70 days after its theatrical release, while Black Widow dropped 90 days after arriving in cinemas (though the movie was simultaneously available on Disney Plus but for a $30/£20 additional fee). However, Disney’s most recent theatrical release, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, arrived on Disney Plus only 48 days after it first arrived on the big screen. 

That leaves us with a pretty big window, but it does narrow things down a bit. As Thor: Love and Thunder was released on July 7, 48 days after that takes us to August 24. At the other end of the window, 90 days from July 7 is October 5. Chances are, the movie will arrive on Disney Plus this September. 

Have you seen Thor: Love and Thunder? Then check out our spoiler-filled guides to:

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The fourth installment in the MCU’s Captain America film saga follows Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson from the Disney Plus series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. As such, that means he won’t be playing the role of Captain America’s sidekick Falcon anymore, but rather the Cap himself, since he finally accepted the superhero’s shield and mantle at the end of the first season of the Disney Plus show. It’s unclear if the MCU’s first Captain America, Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers, will be making an appearance.

Plot details are still being kept under wraps, but with Onah now signed on to direct, you can start to get an idea, at least tonally, of where the movie could go. In addition to directing The Cloverfield Paradox, Onah wrote and directed the 2015 thriller The Girl Is in Trouble and the 2019 social thriller Luce. If his past work is anything to go by, Captain America 4 could be quite the thrill ride. 

Marvel producer Nate Moore teased some Captain America 4 plot details back in November, saying “we’re going to put him through the ringer,” but now that a director is on-board you can expect the story to really take shape.

The script for Captain America 4 was written by Falcon and the Winter Soldier creator Malcolm Spellman alongside a staff writer for the show, Dalan Musson. 

Marvel has yet to reveal a start date for filming or a potential release date for Captain America 4, but expect it to be released as part of Marvel Phase 4.

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