TV Talk

A Spider-Man Noir Live-Action Series Is in Development for MGM+ and Prime Video

Plus, Idris Elba in movie Luther: The Fallen Sun, a possible Matthew McConaughey-led Yellowstone spinoff, John Cleese rebooting Fawlty Towers, Billions and Dexter universes expand, new trailers, and more top TV and streaming news.

by | February 13, 2023 | Comments

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The gumshoe-like Marvel character Spider-Man Noir will appear in live-action for the first time in a series for MGM+ and Prime Video. New photos of Idris Elba in film Luther: The Fallen Sun, which hits theaters ahead of its Netflix premiere. A Matthew McConaughey–led Yellowstone spinoff is in the works. Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis to star in an adaptation of Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series. John Cleese is bringing back Fawlty Towers. Showtime is expanding the Billions and Dexter TV universes. Plus, trailers for The Consultant, Perry Mason season 2, and more of the biggest news in TV and streaming of the past week.


TOP STORY

First Live-Action Spider-Man Noir Project Confirmed at MGM+ and Prime Video

SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE poster, Spider-Man Noir (voice: Nicolas Cage)

(Photo by © Columbia Pictures /Courtesy Everett Collection)

Spider-Man Noir is the second Marvel series in development for MGM+ and Prime Video based on Sony-controlled characters, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed. The first project of its sort, Angela Kang’s Silk: Spider Society, was greenlit in the latter half of 2022.

The program is inspired by the 2009 comics fronted by an edgy, brooding, black-and-white version of the web-slinger who fights crime in 1930s Depression Era New York. It will be set in its own universe away from the likes of Peter Parker.


This isn’t the first time Spider-Man Noir will have appeared on-screen. Previously, This Is Us alum Milo Ventimiglia voiced the character in Ultimate Spider-Man, and Nicolas Cage memorably played him in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It will be the first time, however, that the character will appear in a live-action project.

Into the Spider-Verse producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller developed the series with Oren Uziel (The Lost City), who will step into the role of writer and executive producer on the series. Lord, Miller, and former Sony boss Amy Pascal will also executive produce.

The series will debut domestically on the MGM+ linear channel followed by a global debut on Prime Video. Variety originally reported this news.


Related: Watch Every Super Bowl Movie Trailer Including The Flash, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and More


Idris Elba and Andy Serkis Square Off in Luther: The Fallen Sun


The acclaimed BBC series Luther may be over, but detective chief inspector John Luther’s business continues. Netflix’s new film Luther: The Fallen Sun continues the hardened police investigator’s story and, as you can see by the official first trailer released by the streamer, he’s definitely has his work cut out for him.

Breaking out of prison to do what he does best, Luther tracks unhinged serial killer David Robey (Andy Serkis) in the franchise’s first movie, which was written by original series creator Neil Cross. Based on the reaction to all those on duty in the trailer, John will face more than one challenge as he hunts this new threat.

Cynthia Erivo, Dermot Crowley, Paul McGann, Michael Smiley, and Wunmi Mosaku also star. Luther: The Fallen Sun hits theaters on February 24 before premiering on March 10 on Netflix.


New Trailers: Christoph Waltz Is Living His Best Creepy-Boss Life in Prime Video’s The Consultant

Say hello to Regus Patoff, the new interim boss at highly-successful gaming company CompWare. By all accounts, Christoph Waltz’s character in The Consultant is nothing more than a, well, consultant. But as the above trailer lets on, there’s something rather creepy going on underneath that polished exterior. After the shocking death of CompWare’s CEO, Patoff is hired to make sure things stay on track with the company. But as it’s discovered that the recently dead boss previously consulted for a company whose own CEO perished after Patoff joined that team, questions of this so-called consultant’s actual agenda begin bubbling to the surface.

The Consultant is based on Bentley Little’s novel of the same name. Starring alongside Waltz are Nat Wolff, Brittany O’Grady, and Aimee Carrero. “For those who work remotely, you have one hour to get here, or you’ll be terminated,” Patoff warns in the trailer. He means fired, right? Right!? The Consultant premieres Friday, February 24 on Prime Video.

More trailers and teasers released this week:
African Queens: Njinga is a new docu-series from Jada Pinkett-Smith that follows the rise and reign of Queen Njinga of Angola amid family betrayal and political rivalries. Premieres February 15. (Netflix)
White Man Can’t Jump is a modern remix of the iconic 1992 film that celebrates the streetball hustling culture of Los Angeles starring multi-platinum rap superstar Jack Harlow and Sinqua Walls. Juggling tenuous relationships, financial pressures and serious internal struggles, the two ballers — opposites who are seemingly miles apart — find they might have more in common than they imagined possible. Premieres May 19. (Hulu)
Unstable follows successful biotech entrepreneur Ellis Dragon (Rob Lowe) as he struggles to regain his footing following the death of his wife. His son Jackson (John Owen Lowe) returns home to help save the family company from impending disaster, as Ellis’ employees continue to work on their potentially world-changing technology. Premieres March 30. (Netflix)
School Spirits is a YA series centered around Maddie (Peyton List), a teen girl stuck in the afterlife investigating her mysterious disappearance. Premieres March 9. (Paramount+)
Outer Banks season 3 finds new adventures taking the Pogues to the Caribbean and far beyond as the friends are pulled into a dangerous rival’s hunt for a legendary lost city. Premieres February 23. (Netflix)
Full Swing gives you off-course access to some of today’s greatest golf players, taking viewers inside the minds of players as they work to build their legacy. and as some weigh the choice of leaving the TOUR for the newly formed LIV league. Premieres February 15. (Netflix)


Perry Mason season 2 picks up months after the Dodson case has come to an end. A new murder, involving the scion of a powerful oil family finds Perry, Della, and Paul at the center of a case that will uncover far reaching conspiracies and force them to reckon with what it truly means to be guilty. Premieres March 6. (HBO)
Agent Elvis is an irreverent animated action-comedy with Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey voicing Elvis Presley. Follow Elvis as he trades in his jumpsuit for a jetpack to battle the dark forces that threaten the country — all while holding down his day job as the King of Rock and Roll. Premieres March 2023. (Netflix)
Liaison is a story about espionage, political intrigue and enduring love that explores how past mistakes have the potential to destroy the future. Vincent Cassel and Eva Green star. Premieres February 24. (Apple TV+)
Glitch: The Rise and Fall of HQ Trivia chronicles the tech-fueled rise and Fyre-style fall of HQ Trivia, the revolutionary “game show on your phone” app that went viral, swept the nation, then crashed and burned. Premieres March 5. (CNN)
The Night Agent follows a vigilant FBI agent who, while monitoring an emergency line, answers a call that plunges him into a deadly conspiracy involving a mole at the White House. Premieres March 23. (Netflix)
RapCaviar is a new documentary series, based on the renowned Spotify playlist, that tackles some of today’s most provocative issues through the stories of hip-hop visionaries and emerging stars currently ruling the charts and influencing our culture, from City Girls to Tyler, The Creator, Jack Harlow, Polo G, Roddy Ricch, Coi Leray and more. Premieres March 30. (Hulu)

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Casting: A Matthew McConaughey–Led Yellowstone Spinoff May Be in the Works at Paramount

Matthew McConaughey

(Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

Talks reportedly have begun with Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey to potentially star in a new spinoff series in the Yellowstone universe, according to THR. Info of this potential update to Taylor Sheridan’s small-screen universe comes as news of scheduling conflicts with star Kevin Costner, who won a Golden Globe for his performance as John Dutton in the flagship series, raises concerns over Yellowstone‘s future.

During the the second half of production for season 5, Costner said he could work for just one week. “We have no news to report,” Paramount Network said in a statement responding to the news, Deadline reported. “Kevin Costner is a big part of Yellowstone, and we hope that’s the case for a long time to come. Thanks to the brilliant mind of Taylor Sheridan, we are always working on franchise expansions of this incredible world he has built. Matthew McConaughey is a phenomenal talent with whom we’d love to partner.”


Oscar winner Nicole Kidman and Oscar nominee and Halloween movie icon Jamie Lee Curtis are teaming up on Prime Video’s TV adaptation of Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta book series (featuring 26 titles, in total), Deadline reports. Kidman will take on the title role as the titular forensic pathologist, with Curtis playing her sister Dorothy.

Ben Stiller is in talks to star in a TV series adaptation of the documentary Three Identical Strangers. Like the movie before it, the limited series would explore the true story of identical triplets Bobby Shafran, David Kellman, and Eddy Galland, who were separated at birth and reunited decades later. Stiller would play the three brothers as adults. (Variety)

Hugh Laurie is joining the ensemble cast of Apple TV+’s espionage thriller Tehran in season 3. He will take on the role of Eric Peterson, a South African nuclear inspector.

Stephanie Hsu, Ronny Chieng, Poppy Liu, Jimmy O. Yang, James Hong, Leonard Wu, Lisa Lu, and Rosalie Chiang guest star alongside cast including Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon has added to the cast of the highly-anticipated spinoff series starring Norman Reedus: Anne Charrier in the role of “Genet,” Eriq Ebanouey in the role of “Fallou,” Laika Blanc Francard in the role of “Sylvie,” Romain Levi in the role of “Codron,” and newcomer Louis Puech Scigliuzzi in the role of “Laurent.” They join previously announced series regulars Reedus and Clémence Poésy. Set after the series conclusion of TWD, the Reedus-led offshoot finds the zombie apocalypse fan favorite transported across the Atlantic to France and a whole new level of a world gone mad.

Sam Neill will star as Stan Delaney opposite Annette Bening’s Joy Delaney in Peacock’s limited drama series Apples Never Fall. The program is based on Liane Moriarty’s best-selling novel, which centers on the Delaneys, who, as the logline states, “appear to be an enviably contented family. Former tennis coaches Joy and Stan are parents to four adult children. After decades of marriage, they have finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. But after Joy disappears, her children are forced to re-examine their parents’ marriage and their family history with fresh eyes.”

The Venery of Samantha Bird has added Henry Czerny and Doug Savant to the cast of Starz’s upcoming drama series in recurring roles. Czerny will play Teddy, Samantha’s (Katherine Langford) father and a former artist and teacher. Savant is sharp businessman Al Minot. (Deadline)

William H. Macy, Anja Savcic, Andrew Santino, and Lex Scott Davis have been added to the cast of Peter Farrelly’s Ricky Stanicky at Prime Video. They join previously announced cast members Zac Efron, John Cena, and Jermaine Fowler. (Deadline)


(Photo by Netflix)

Netflix has ordered The Madness, an eight-episode limited series from Chernin Entertainment starring Colman Domingo. According to the show’s logline, the conspiracy thriller follows media pundit Muncie Daniels (Domingo) who must fight for his innocence and his life after he stumbled upon a murder deep in the Poconos woods. As the walls close in, Muncie strives to reconnect with his estranged family – and his lost ideals – in order to survive.

The Bear star Ayo Edibiri will guest star in Abbott Elementary as Ayesha Teagues, the complicated sister of Janine (series creator Quinta Brunson). (Variety)

Daniel Dae Kim is set to star in and executive produce a multi-lingual adaptation of the graphic novel Butterfly at Amazon. Kim will play David Chung who, according to the show’s logline, is “an enigmatic, highly unpredictable former US intelligence operative living in South Korea, whose life is blown to pieces when the consequences of an impossible decision from his past come back to haunt him, and he finds himself pursued by Rebecca, a deadly, sociopathic young agent assigned to kill him.” (Variety)

Renate Reinsve, Peter Sarsgaard, and O-T Fagbenle have been added to the primary cast of Apple TV+’s Presumed Innocent. Reinsve will play driven and enigmatic Chicago prosecutor Carolyn Polhemus; Sarsgaard is Chief Deputy District attorney Tommy Molto; and Fagbenle is slick, ambitious politician Nico Della Guardia. They join Jake Gyllenhaal, Ruth Negga, Bill Camp and Elizabeth Marvel in the series, which hails from David E. Kelly and J.J. Abrams. (Deadline)

Caitlin Reilly, Charlie Bushnell, J. Smith-Cameron, and Carl Tart have joined the voice cast of Peacock’s first adult animated comedy In the Know, from co-creators Mike Judge, Zach Woods, and Brandon Gardner. Woods and Judge also star in the series, which centers on Lauren Caspian, NPR’s third most popular host. “He’s a well-meaning, hypocritical nimrod, just like you and me,” the official logline states. “He’s also a stop motion puppet. Each episode follows the making of an episode of Lauren’s show In the Know, in which Lauren conducts in-depth interviews with real world human guests. Lauren collaborates with a diverse crew of NPR staff. They are also puppets and nimrods.”


Production & Development: John Cleese Is Reviving Classic British Sitcom Fawlty Towers

FAWLTY TOWERS, (from left): Prunella Scales, John Cleese, Ballard Berkeley

(Photo by BBC / Courtesy: Everett Collection)

Monty Python icon John Cleese is reviving classic British sitcom Fawlty Towers with the help of his daughter Camilla Cleese, who will write and star in the project. Matthew George, Rob Reiner, Michele Reiner, and Derrick Rossi are all on board to executive produce the series which has been acquired by Castle Rock Television.

“What I like about Matt is that, unlike many producers, he really gets the creative process,” John Cleese said in a statement. “When we first met, he offered an excellent first idea, and then Matt, my daughter Camilla, and I had one of the best creative sessions I can remember. By dessert we had an overall concept so good that, a few days later, it won the approval of Rob and Michele Reiner. Camilla and I look forward enormously to expanding it into a series.”

The original series ran for two six-episode seasons in 1975 and 1979 and followed the struggles of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), who did all he could to keep the hotel he ran and his marriage from completely falling apart. Considering that concept, the new series will follow Basil Fawlty as he does his best to navigate the modern world. Not much else is known about the new series, but the press release does nod to the relationship between Basil and his newly-discovered daughter who decide to run a boutique hotel together as a main driving point of the story.

Showtime To Expand Billions and Dexter TV universes

BILLIONS Showtime)

(Photo by James Minchin/Showtime)

Taking a cue from Taylor Sheridan’s ever-expanding Yellowstone TV universe, Showtime has announced plans for multiple spinoffs for hit drama Billions, which stars Paul Giamatti, Cory Stoll, and Maggie Siff, and genre fave Dexter, starring Michael C. Hall.

The four projects currently on the development slate to build out the Billions story world are:

  • Billions: Miami (w/t): set in the world of private aviation, where the clientele believe the rules of society, government and gravity don’t apply to them, amidst the wealth, nightlife, contraband and the cryptocurrency that pulses through that city. Koppelman and Levien are already in the writing process on this project.
  • Billions: London (w/t): this project takes place across the pond and operates within the world of UK finance.
  • Millions (w/t): this series follows a collection of diverse, thirtysomething, financial mogul wannabes who does whatever it takes to make it in Manhattan.
  • Trillions (w/t): a drama based on fictional stories of the richest people in the world — titans of industry living all over the country but coming into contact and conflict with one another.

On the Dexter front:

  • Dexter: Origins: Showtime has placed a straight-to-series order of the prequel series that will explore Dexter Morgan as a young man just beginning to learn his father Harry’s serial killer code. Set in Miami, the show will begin as Dexter graduates college to join Miami Metro, where he meets younger versions of many of the characters we came to know in the original series. And yes, that means we’ll also dig into Dexter’s family life, which will include a very-much-alive Harry and his very formidable teenage sister, Deb.
  • Dexter: New BloodThis new iteration of the reboot series will center on Dexter’s son Harrison (Jack Alcott), who survived his tumultuous reintroduction with his father and flees to New York City where he must wrestle with his own violent nature and whether, like his father, he too is compelled to kill.
  • An untitled Trinity Killer series: Currently in the exploration phase, Showtime is exploring projects based on other characters from the Dexter universe, including the notorious murderer played by Emmy winner John Lithgow.

Showtime is teaming up with George Clooney for thriller series The Department (w/t). Clooney is set to direct the program and executive produce alongside Grant Heslov. Based on the French program Le Bureau, which NPR has called, “one of the best TV shows in the world,” the series follows the daily life and missions of the agents within France’s principal external security service.

Ripley, the series starring Andrew Scott that is primarily based on Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley novels, has moved from Showtime to Netflix. Also starring Johnny Flynn and Dakota Fanning, the eight-episode series will primarily follow the events from The Talented Mr. Ripley. (Deadline)

Starz is expanding the Spartacus universe with a new chapter, currently in development. The show will explore uncharted territory and new journeys of the original series’ iconic characters. Original series creator, writer, and executive producer Steven S. DeKnight, will serve as showrunner and executive producer on the project.

Two Bosch spinoff series are in the works at Amazon, with plans to air on the streamer’s ad-supported free platform, Freevee. One will center on Detective Jerry Edgar (played by Jamie Hector), while the other is set to focus on LAPD Detective Renee Ballard, an important character in Michael Connelly’s books that has yet-to-be cast. (THR)

Amazon is developing Wytches, an animated adaptation of the comic books created by Scott Snyder and Jock. The story follows 17-year-old Sailor Rooks who, after her family relocates to a small New England town after a terrible accident, makes the shocking discovery that monsters that prey on the people’s darkest fears and desires lurk right there under the city. (Variety)

CBS is said to be replacing The Late Late Show with a reboot of game series, @midnight. Original host Chris Hardwick is not attached to the project. (Variety)


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