Finding a director for a Star Wars movie isn’t as easy you might think. But recent moves show that Disney has a few sources they can rely upon. Take J.J. Abrams‘ recent hiring to direct Star Wars: Episode IX. The Force Awakens director signed back on to direct the final installment of the trilogy after Colin Trevorrow exited the project due to creative differences. While the move may be a cause for celebration for some, it is disconcerting for a studio like Paramount, who has given the filmmaker a home for Bad Robot projects – Cloverfield, Super 8, the Star Trek films, etc.

Now there is word that Paramount isn’t happy with Abrams directing Star Wars: Episode IX, and there’s conflicting reports on how much it cost the studio to let Abrams take the job. More on the story below.

Heroes and Villains Fanfest blew into the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey last weekend like a flash! The fanfest (HVFF for short) was a two day event just minutes from NYC, giving fans a preview of NYCC which arrives to the Javits Center in early October. HVFF featured the stars of the CW’s Arrow-Verse (Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow), as well as stars from other superhero shows on TV such as Fox’s Gotham and ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Fans had opportunities to interact with their favorite celebrities, get autographs, take photos, and watch star panels and Q&As.

It’s hard to say how fans will truly react to Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle. I had mixed feelings about the first trailer, and this new trailer doesn’t sway it in any direction. But in a day and age of reboots, a new take on Jumanji wasn’t a complete surprise.

In the new trailer, we get to see the traditional new footage and some more details on the evolution of the game, which in turn explains its world building. Now, four troublemaking high school students have become trapped in a video game of the same name, where they have become their chosen avatars. If you haven’t seen the first trailer, you get a sense of how these students chose characters that are not like themselves. So there’s that. Oh, and I guess Nick Jonas plays an ace pilot. Check out the full trailer here below.

What first started out as four street heroes defending New York City has since expanded into something else in the Marvel TV universe. The Punisher is the latest addition to the Marvel and Netflix collaboration, and though Frank Castle aka The Punisher didn’t appear in the Defenders miniseries ensemble, he will make his presence known… one bloody victim at a time. Jon Bernthal returns to reprise the title role, which was first introduced to us during the clunky Season 2 of Daredevil. The character was arguably the best thing about that season, even though the role felt more like it was shoehorned.

That being said, The Punisher is out for revenge and to bring justice to the family he lost thanks to a shadowy government organization. It doesn’t matter who Frank Castle has to go through to get that. Even if it means hitting Homeland Security, the CIA, the FBI, and more. Check out the first full trailer for Marvel’s The Punisher here below, which puts Metallica’s “One” to good use.

One of my very favorite parts of all conventions are the artists and vendors waiting to take my money, and Heroes and Villains FanFest was no different. Shirts, posters, POP!s, swords, paintings, designer coasters… you name it, they had it. There was even a tattoo parlor set up to the side of the panel stage. I spent a lot of money, and I could have spent so much more (had I not run out), but even just browsing the geeky goodies at HVFF was tons of fun.

Check out some of the awesome vendors below.