The power of friendship is a foundational aspect of many coming-of-age stories across all genres. This is especially true in horror situations where people’s lives are literally on the line. Coming together as a force against a seemingly unstoppable evil and pushing forward with love and hugs is both entertaining and heartwarming.

IT: Welcome to Derry certainly uses friendship to drive its narrative with a group of 1960s era social outcasts who want to discover what evil is harming kids in their town. Arian S. Cartaya portrays Rich, a band kid with a VERY interesting family who latches onto new kid Will Hanlon. Little does he know that his new homeboy will get him into a dangerous mystery that threatens their safety. Cartaya spoke with Nerdist about Rich’s desire for friendship and his filming experience. 

Interestingly, Cartaya knew very little about Pennywise and the IT universe before he nabbed the part as Rich, a kid whom he says is very similar to himself. Rich’s friendship with Will Hanlon, played by Blake Cameron James, feels like a full circle moment considering the actors worked together prior to this series.

“It’s funny because before anything about Welcome to Derry happened, we actually did an AT&T commercial in Georgia and we definitely had a good connection there,” Cartaya told us. “And when we saw each other in Canada, we were like, ‘Oh my God, it’s you! Long time no see.’ So we already had some kind of connection there, and we just like to go have lunch, have dinner. I’m very much a hugger. So my goal at the start to the end of filming was to make Blake a hugger, and I think I accomplished that goal.” 

How adorable. Cartaya may have turned Blake into someone who loves a warm embrace, but one person he didn’t want to hug on set was Bill Skarsgård. The actor, who portrays Pennywise the Clown, was terrifying to meet in person. “It’s surreal,” Cartaya said. “He’s super intimidating. First, there’s his height. He’s super tall. He’s six foot five! So just based on that, he’s terrifying. But also before the scenes he would twitch and giggle and do all that stuff. And also his lazy eye is terrifying.” 

Between the scenes scares aside, filming Welcome to Derry was quite the challenging experience for the rising actor. Outside of juggling his normal life as a student, Cartaya noted that the show’s co-creator Andy Muschietti’s very specific vision of how the show should look and progress meant that he expected perfection. This especially threw him off during his first day of filming. 

“He’s such a great guy, but he’s such a perfectionist,” the actor noted. “He wants everything how he imagines it, so with me not being used to that, that day was a little rough emotionally. And Barbara [Muschietti], Andy’s sister, came up to my mom and told her that everything is fine. Andy just wants everything perfect.”

Cartaya’s mom stuck close by during his filming experience, which he said helped him find grounding. Now, Welcome to Derry is out in the world and he is excited about fans’ reactions to a season that he describes in the following three words: emotional, terrifying, and (of course) friendship. 

IT: Welcome to Derry is currently streaming on HBO Max.

The post WELCOME TO DERRY Star Arian S. Cartaya on Playing Rich, Friendship, and More appeared first on Nerdist.

It’s been almost five years since we all geeked out at the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home, and we were really not that far from the fourth installment, Spider-Man: Brand New Day. It goes without saying that the experience of No Way Home may never be topped, with many of the prior actors reprising their roles and bringing so much nostalgia that simply can’t be replicated, probably with any franchise (Michael Keaton coming back as Batman didn’t hit the way they thought it would). At the moment, little is known about the premise and all the characters that we will be getting, with new rumors popping up every other month. We have to give them credit, though there have been minimal paparazzi shots or leaks of the set aside from the first photos of them filming in the streets of New York, which was likely intentional. 

This marks a major shift for the franchise since the events of No Way Home have left Peter Parker completely on his own. Fans are expecting a more grounded and emotionally-driven story that redefines what comes next for our beloved hero. There are so many characters and storylines that Marvel and Sony could adapt and lots of source material to pull from, so here are 5 things we hope to see in Brand New Day.

Fans Want More Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire

Let’s be honest: yes, we got our itch scratched to see the two prior actors reprise their roles, but the people want more! Of course, it would be absurd to bring back Maguire and Garfield for major screentime, but it would be entertaining to see them engaging with Holland’s depiction in some way, shape, or form. But then again, being a realist, this has been described many times as a “rebirth” for the character, so it seems the most we may get is a reference to how Maguire and Garfield’s Peters helped him in the past. I think even hearing that dialogue in Brand New Day would be enough for us.

New Female Characters

Zendaya has solidified herself as a strong MJ opposite Holland that we definitely want to see more of, but now it’s time to bring on some more female superpowers. With so many strong characters with interesting story arcs, there’s a sea of new potential to pick from. Sadie Sink has been cast in an unknown role that has been kept top secret to say the least, but fans of the comics have speculated she could be playing Jean Grey. This would make a lot of sense, seeing how Marvel has a clear plan to further introduce X-Men into the MCU. On that note, other speculations that are valid include Carlie Cooper and MJ, and Peter’s daughter, Mayday Parker. Mayday would be interesting, but something about seeing a young Holland in a dad role just doesn’t work for me. Cooper could fit right in, seeing how the angle for this film would center around crime being fought street level, with her being involved with the NYPD. Most importantly, Cooper was featured in the Brand New Day comic run as well.

MJ Has to Remember Peter

While it’s no secret that the conclusion of No Way Home has the world not knowing who Peter is, we are so invested in seeing him reunited with MJ that we can’t accept that to be reality. Fans were left heartbroken during that coffee shop scene, so we definitely would love to see how that is reworked for the duo to be together again. John Rocha, who has been known to call some things early in advance, says that “MJ has a new boyfriend, which is what causes Peter to snap a bit,” he said. “And it makes the film a little darker and more grounded.” This would pose an interesting angle for many reasons, but also offers the opportunity for Peter to explore a new love interest. On the topic of rumors, the streets have been saying that Sydney Sweeney had been offered the role of Black Cat, shortly after she played Spider-Woman in Madame Webb. This would be a love triangle bigger than Spider-Man 3’s Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, and Bryce Dallas Howard.

Needs to Feel Different Than Previous Installments

The word here is grit, and that’s what we need more of in Brand New Day as it deals more with street crime. Jon Bernthal is set to reprise his role as the Punisher, which did come with some conditions: the actor agreed to return to his role in Daredevil as long as he was able to uphold the character’s R-rated vibes. Now that he has joined the cast, it will be interesting to see how they adapt this into the otherwise more kid-friendly Holland Spidey world. Frank Castle isn’t with the spells and super powers, dude uses guns, knives, and hands to get things done, something not many in the MCU can relate to (aside from Deadpool).

Spider-Man: Brand New Day premieres in theaters July 31, 2026.

The post 5 Things We Hope to See in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

One of the coolest parts of Predator: Badlands is how deeply it connects to the Alien universe. Although the AvP movies did this already, neither of those is considered canon to either the Alien or Predator film franchises. But Predator: Badlands certainly is, and the film’s co-star, Elle Fanning, plays the part of Thia, a Weyland-Yutani synthetic stuck on the hostile “death planet” Genna with Dek, our young Predator protagonist. But does this film stealthily connect to Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth? We think one of the many alien species from the recent FX series might actually originate from the planet Genna.

In Alien: Earth, the Weyland-Yutani spaceship Maginot was on a 65-year journey to gather extraterrestrial lifeforms for the corrupt and ruthless company. One of those was the infamous Xenomorph. But of course, there was also the T. Ocellus, a.k.a. the “Sheep with the Eye,” and several bloodsucking insectoid aliens.

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But there was also what seemed like a living plant, akin to a giant Venus flytrap. The nickname for this species was “the Orchid.” This lifeform eventually consumed several human beings when freed from captivity. But could this plant creature have originated from Badlands’ Genna?

When Dek lands on Genna, the planet his people consider the most dangerous in the galaxy, one of the first things that try to kill him are several carnivorous plant-like creatures that live in the trees. Dek escapes, but by the skin of his (protruding) teeth. Although they are not identical to the plant creatures we see in Alien: Earth, they are very similar in behavior. And since we know that Weyland-Yutani sent a contingent of synths to collect the life forms on the planet for the bio-weapons division, could this be the same world the ones from Alien: Earth came from?

We know that Alien: Earth takes place two years before Ridley Scott’s original Alien. And although there is no given date on screen for the events of Predator: Badlands, director Dan Trachtenberg said in recent interviews it was “About 300 years from now.” So, roughly 200 years after Alien: Earth, but about 100 years from the events of Alien: Resurrection, where they reveal that Weyland-Yutani sold to Walmart (yes, really). But that doesn’t mean that Weyland-Yutani never attempted to exploit Genna before.

Alien: Earth never told us which planets they gathered their various specimens from. Or if they were even supposed to all be from the same planet. Could the crew of the Maginot have visited Genna, and gathered the plant-like species there? Badlands said that only synths can survive the many dangers of Genna. However, that doesn’t mean they never tried sending humans there before. And maybe the only Maginot crew member they sent to the surface was Mr. Morrow, a cyborg.

We may never get a solid answer as to where the various specimens from Alien: Earth actually came from. Although perhaps a second season will reveal that information. But it’s certainly not out of the question that at least some of them came from the planet Genna. And that would make both the Alien and Predator narratives that much richer.

The post How PREDATOR: BADLANDS May Connect to ALIEN: EARTH appeared first on Nerdist.

Pam Grier has always embodied the soul of Black cinema fearless, unapologetic, and rooted in cultural truth. Now, through Pam Grier’s Soul Flix, she continues that legacy by curating a FAST channel that celebrates the heroes, pioneers, and timeless stories of Black film. From the gritty realism of Blaxploitation classics to the emotional powerhouses that defined later decades, Soul Flix is a living archive of resilience, artistry, and pride.

January 2026 marks the first anniversary of the channel, a milestone that feels like both a homecoming and a continuation of Pam’s lifelong mission to amplify community voices. Just as her groundbreaking roles in Coffy, Foxy Brown, and Jackie Brown helped redefine what it meant to be a leading woman in Hollywood, Soul Flix reclaims and reintroduces that same spirit to a new generation of viewers.

Pam Grier’s Soul Flix is available free to stream on The Roku Channel, Plex.tv, TiVo+, and Fawesome — bringing the culture directly to audiences without logins, paywalls, or gatekeeping.

Alongside Soul Flix, 365BLK continues to serve as a cornerstone of Black entertainment, streaming hit films and series that capture every shade of the Black experience from I Am Legend and Purple Rain to Queen Sugar, Crash, Monster’s Ball, and Dear White People. 365BLK, available via digital TV antenna and major streaming platforms, truly embodies its mantra: “Black, All Day, Every Day.”

This holiday season, both platforms are offering a lineup steeped in nostalgia, soul, and celebration.

Highlights Include:

On Pam Grier’s Soul Flix:

• Black Friday Soul Cinema Takeover (Nov 28): A tribute to the groundbreaking films and performers who defined Black film history.
• Boxing Day of Legends in the Ring (Dec 26): A knockout collection of boxing-themed classics and biopics.

On 365BLK:

• Thanksgiving with Tyler Perry (Nov 27–28): Back-to-back favorites from one of the most beloved creators in Black film.
• A Christmas Movie Marathon Kickoff (Nov 29–30): Heartwarming holiday classics including A Family Matters Christmas and Marry Me for Christmas.
• Bringin’ in the Holidays with BeBe Winans and Friends (Dec 7 & 10): A soulful mix of gospel and festive cheer.
• 12 Nights of Christmas (Dec 13–24): A nightly countdown of holiday favorites.
• In the Heat of the Night Holiday Episodes (Dec 15, 20 & 25): Heartfelt moments from one of TV’s most enduring dramas.
• Classic Sitcom Holiday Episodes (Dec 19 & 20): Throwback gems from All of Us, Eve, and Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper.

The post Pam Grier’s Soul Flix Honors the Legacy of Black Cinema appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.