TV Talk

WandaVision Spin-Off Starring Kathryn Hahn Is in Development

Marvel witch Agatha Harkness will star in her own Disney+ series. Plus, Bridgerton alum Regé-Jean Page teams with Noah Hawley and the Russo Brothers for a heist film. Mike Flanagan will adapt The Fall of the House of Usher. And more of the week's top trailers and TV and streaming news.

by | October 8, 2021 | Comments

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Witchy woman Agatha Harkness of Marvel Studios’ WandaVision has conjured her own series at Disney+. Bridgerton season 1 breakout star Regé-Jean Page will star in a heist film for Noah Hawley and the Russo Brothers on Netflix. Speaking of stars on the streaming giant, Mike Flanagan — creator of current hot horror series Midnight Mass and writer-director of Stephen King adaptation Doctor Sleep — will next adapt Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. It was also a big week for trailers and teasers, with Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, The Wheel of Time, The Expanse, and Peacemaker all dropping new looks at their upcoming series premieres or new seasons. Get linked up with all of them and more of the biggest news in TV and streaming this week below.


TOP STORY

WandaVision’s Agatha Harkness Returns in Spin-Off Series Starring Kathryn Hahn

Kathryn Hahn in WANDAVISION

(Photo by Marvel Studios)

When last we saw Agatha Harkness in WandaVision, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) had thwarted her planned evildoing by using some magic of her own to force the witchy woman to resume her nosy neighbor Agnes persona.

But if an in-development WandaVision spin-off series starring Kathryn Hahn goes forward, we’ll be getting a return of Agatha in a dark comedy about the woman who survived the Salem Witch Trials and continues to operate with her witchy ways.

WandaVision head writer Jac Schaeffer would writer and executive produce the spin-off as part of her overall deal with Marvel and 20th Television, Variety reports.

Emmy nominee Hahn, meanwhile, is already loading up her schedule, signing on to play legendary Joan Rivers in a Showtime limited series in development. She also appears in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out 2, and the Apple TV+ series The Shrink Next Door.


NEW TRAILERS: Matt Smith Says It’s All About the Dragons in Game of Thrones Prequel Series House of the Dragon

House of the Dragon is the Game of Thrones sequel set 200 years before the events of GoT, and in this preview, star Matt Smith, as Prince Daemon Targaryen, sums up the story: “Gods. Kings. Fire. Blood … Dreams didn’t make us king … dragons did.” The series also stars Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke, Ryan Ifans, Eve Best, and Graham McTavish. Premieres 2022. (HBO)


Read More: Everything We Know About Game Of Thrones Prequel Series House of the Dragon


More trailers and teasers released this week:
• Lost in Space season 3 is the series’ final season, and after a year of being trapped on a mysterious planet, Judy, Penny, Will and the Robot must lead the 97 young Colonists in a harrowing evacuation … but not before secrets are unearthed that will change their lives forever.  Premieres Dec. 1. (Netflix)
• Peacemaker, the Suicide Squad spin-off series, won’t premieres until January 2022, but this clip teases the tone of the action, with the movie’s director, James Gunn, directing the fun with John Cena recreating his role as the guy who just wants to create peace — no matter who he has to kill to do it. (HBO Max)
• Succession, season 3, is finally here, after a two-year (COVID delay) wait, and the time away has only made the Roy family battle for control of Waystar RoyCo more vicious — and at many moments hilarious. Premieres Oct. 17. (HBO)
The Expanse season 6 picks up with the solar system at war, as Marco Inaros and his Free Navy continue to launch devastating asteroid attacks on Earth and Mars. Premieres Dec. 10. (Amazon Prime Video)


The Wheel of Time released a clip during New York Comic Con that introduces Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), a member of the powerful all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers. Based on Robert Jordan’s best-selling fantasy novels, the series is set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to access it. Premieres Nov. 19. (Amazon Prime Video)
• A Boy Called Christmas is an adaptation of the bestselling book by Matt Haig, about the origin story of Santa Claus. Stars Henry Lawful, Jim Broadbent, Michiel Huisman, Toby Jones, Maggie Smith, Kristen Wiig, and Stephen Merchant. Premieres Nov. 24. (Netflix)
• The Afterparty is a murder mystery comedy series from Oscar winners Chris Miller and Phil Lord that centers on a murder mystery at a high school reunion. Stars Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson, Zoë Chao, Ben Schwartz, Ike Barinholtz, Ilana Glazer, Jamie Demetriou, and Dave Franco. Premieres Jan. 2022. (Apple TV+)
• What Happened, Brittany Murphy? is a documentary about the late Clueless star and suspicious way she lived and died after her big Hollywood successes. Premieres Oct. 14 (HBO Max)
• The Game is the revival of the BET/The CW football dramedy, with the action moving to Las Vegas and mix of new and original cast. Premieres Nov. 11. (Paramount+)
• Locke & Key season 2 finds the Locke kids continuing to experiment with the keys (unbeknownst to their mom), including a new key that is forged. Stars Darby Stanchfield, Connor Jessup, Emilia Jones, and Jackson Robert Scott. Premieres Oct. 22. (Netflix)
• Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show is a sweet family show, aimed specifically at preschoolers, created by and starring scene-stealing 30 Rock star Jack McBrayer, whose infectious positivity will help teach kids how even the smallest acts of kindness and compassion can change the world. Premieres Nov. 5. (Apple TV+)

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CASTING: Bridgerton’s Regé-Jean Page Will Star in a Heist Film for Noah Hawley and the Russo Brothers

Regé-Jean Page

(Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Regé-Jean Page is sticking with Netflix, as the Bridgerton alum has signed on to star in an untitled heist thriller movie written and directed by Noah Hawley and produced by Joe and Anthony Russo. Page will also be an executive producer on the project.

‘Fear the Walking Dead star Colman Domingo will play the titular role in Rustin, about charismatic, gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin,  who overcame an onslaught of obstacles, and altered the course of American history by organizing the 1963 March on Washington. George C. Wolfe (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) will direct the film, and write it with Dustin Lance Black, while Domingo’s co-stars include Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, and Audra McDonald. 

The Crown star Claire Foy, will play Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg in Doomsday Machine, a series from Anonymous Content and Wiip adapting An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination, a book from New York Times reporters Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang about Facebook’s controversial political and social role in our society. No network is yet attached, but Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and author Ayad Akhtar will write the project.

This Is Us star Sterling K. Brown will star in (and executive produce) the Hulu series Washington Black, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Esi Edugyan, about George Washington “Wash” Black, an 11-year-old boy on a Barbados sugar plantation who must flee after a shocking death threatens his life. Brown will play the larger-than-life Medwin Harris, who traveled the world after a traumatic childhood, and is a mentor to Black. (Variety)

Jessica Biel to star in Hulu’s true crime limited series Candy, replacing Elisabeth Moss in the title role as Candy Montgomery, a Texas woman who killed her romantic rival with an ax. Biel will also be an executive producer on the series.


The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina star Kiernan Shipka will cross over from streaming on Netflix to guest starring on The CW’s Riverdale. Sabrina arrives in town for season 6’s fourth episode, “The Witching Hour(s),” when Cheryl Blossom attempts a dangerous spell. “We’ve been talking about having Sabrina visit Riverdale since season 1, so it’s thrilling that this is finally happening, as part of our ‘Rivervale’ special event,” executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa said. “It’s also perfect that she shows up to help Cheryl Blossom during her hour of greatest need. Everyone on set lost their minds — I think fans will, too. It’s really fun and special.”

Taylor Kitsch has joined the cast of Netflix’s opioid crisis series Painkiller, playing a family man who suffers an injury and has his life turned upside down when he becomes addicted to opioids. Uzo Aduba and Matthew Broderick also star in the project, which reunites Kitsch with Friday Night Lights director/producer/writer Peter Berg, who also produces and directs Painkiller.

Eric Balfour will play Dean Tavoularis, the production designer for The Godfather in Paramount+’s upcoming The Offer, the making-of limited series about the classic mob family movie. (Deadline)

Donald Sutherland and Jaeden Martell will star in a Netflix adaptation of the Stephen King short story thriller Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, about a young boy who becomes friends with a reclusive billionaire. When the man does, the boy discovers his friend can communicate with him from the grave via the iPhone that was buried with him. Ryan Murphy and Jason Blum are producing the movie, while John Lee Hancock wrote and will direct.

Frank Whaley has joined the season 2 cast of Starz’ Power Book II: Ghost, playing a “heavily recurring” character named Lucas. (Deadline)

Hulu has announced the cast for its upcoming new Hellraiser movie, with original creator Clive Barker as a producer. Odessa A’zion stars, with Jamie Clayton playing Pinhead; other cast members include Brandon Flynn, Goran Visnjic, Drew Starkey, Adam Faison, Aoife Hinds, and Hiam Abbass.


PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT: Midnight Mass Creator Mike Flanagan To Adapt The Fall of the House of Usher As Netflix Series

DOCTOR SLEEP, director Mike Flanagan, on-set

(Photo by Jessica Miglio / © Warner Bros. / courtesy Everett Collection)

Netflix is getting in the Poe biz: the streaming service will produce The Fall of the House of Usher, an eight-episode limited series adaptation of various Edgar Allen Poe works. The project is created by Mike Flanagan, whose overall deal (with partner Trevor Macy) with Netflix has already included The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, and the upcoming The Midnight Club.

Following Space Force and The Morning Show, Steve Carell has signed on for another TV project in a new half-hour series at FX. The limited series, called The Patient, is a psychological thriller from The Americans creators Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg. Fields and Weisberg will write and executive produce the 10-episode series, with Carell, Caroline Moore, and Victor Hsu also EPs on the series, in which Carell will play a psychotherapist who’s held hostage by a serial killer who wants Carell’s character to help him curb his homicidal urges.

More news from FX: Oscar-nominated Judas and the Black Messiah director Shaka King and his producing partner, Brandon Harris, have signed a first-look deal with FX Productions to develop TV projects for FX. His previous TV experience includes directing eps of HBO’s High Maintenance and Hulu’s comedy Shrill.

Sopranos creator David Chase has signed a five-year deal to create new content for HBO Max, on the heels of the recent Sopranos prequel movie, The Many Saints of Newark. One request: if future prequel projects are in the works, please revolve them around more interesting characters than Dickie Moltisanti.

RuPaul, via his newly created RuCo production company, has signed a deal with Sony Pictures Television to develop new queer, character-driven scripted dramas, comedies, and animated shows that feature RuPaul’s brand of “positivity, empowerment, humor, and music.” (THR)


"IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN" - This full-length version of the classic animated PEANUTS special "It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" includes the bonus cartoon, "You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown," featuring the Great Pumpkin, and will air THURSDAY, OCT. 18 (8:00–8:30 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network. (©1966 United Feature Syndicate Inc.)

(Photo by ©1966 United Feature Syndicate Inc.)

Apple TV+, the home of new Peanuts content (like the endlessly charming and clever series The Snoopy Show) and vintage Peanuts holiday specials like It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and A Charlie Brown Christmas, will debut its first new, original Peanuts holiday special, For Auld Lang Syne, on Dec. 10. In the story, Charlie Brown and company are bummed about their Christmas, because they didn’t get to see his grandma. So Lucy plans an epic New Year’s Eve party, and C. Brown pledges to accomplish one of his resolutions before the clock strikes midnight.

HBO has acquired Barry Levinson’s film The Survivor, starring Ben Foster in the true story of Harry Haft, who, after being sent to Auschwitz, survives not only the unspeakable horrors of the camp, but the gladiatorial boxing spectacle he is forced to perform with his fellow prisoners for the amusement of his captors. After a daring escape, he makes his way to New York, where he uses his boxing skills – fighting legends like Rocky Marciano – in hopes of making a name for himself and reuniting with the woman he loves. The movie, which drew rave reviews after its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, also stars Danny DeVito, Vicky Krieps, Billy Magnussen, Peter Sarsgaard, and John Leguizamo.

Disney+ has greenlit the action-comedy series American Born Chinese, an adaptation of Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel about teen Jin Wang, who meets a new student at school and becomes involved in a battle of Chinese mythology gods and issues of culture, family, and identity. Bob’s Burgers executive producer Kelvin Yu and his brother, Westworld story editor Charles Yu, will write the series. (Deadline)

Viacom has signed a multi-year deal to distribute WOW: Women of Wrestling, the female wrestling league that will begin airing in weekend syndication during the fall of 2022. WOW was created by GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling) founder David McLane, and is owned by McLane and Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss.

Homeland producers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa are partnering with Starzplay, the streaming service from Starz and Sony Pictures Television, to adapt the podcast XRey as an eight-part series about the rise and fall of Spanish King Juan Carlos I, who abdicated in 2014.


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