Netflix Walks...

Hooli wins? —by Stephen Schleicher

It was a big week for comics, and an even bigger week for the kind of Hollywood chess move that always ends up landing on your pull list six months later. Yes, this is the part where Hooli starts buying everything that isn’t nailed down.

PARAMOUNT INCREASES WB BID

The big end-of-week story: Warner Bros. is now signaling it prefers Paramount/Skydance’s sweetened offer over Netflix’s earlier bid — and Netflix appears to be backing off rather than escalating the fight.

If Paramount/Skydance is already carrying serious weight—reporting a $573 million net loss in Q4 2025—raising the stakes like this starts looking less like “saving the industry” and more like summoning the Financial Ruin Grim Reaper.

Stephen’s Cassandra Moment: If Paramount/Skydance overreaches, we may be watching the setup for a future fire-sale where someone with deeper pockets swoops in later. And in the meantime? Consolidation tends to squeeze risk-taking first—which is rarely great news for weird art, mid-budget swings, or anything that doesn’t come with an existing fanbase.

M.A.S.K. IS B.A.C.K.

Skybound Entertainment and Hasbro announced another media deal this past week. With control of G.I. Joe and Transformers, the comic book publisher announced M.A.S.K. will also join the Energon Universe. Dan Watters and Pye Parr are taking on the task of making this property fit into the bigger universe where humanity must fight for its survival. Hasbro announced in 2015 that its properties are part of the same universe, so I can’t wait to see My Little Pony and The Real Ghostbusters join the fight.

GO! GO! GODZILLA!

Godzilla has been crossing over with just about every comic property these last couple of years—mostly because of the big anniversary year. Now, IDW Publishing has announced that the kaiju is crossing over with Sonic the Hedgehog… I guess atomic breath just doesn’t cut it anymore. Godzilla needs rings to defeat Dr. Robotnik. Nick Marino and Jack Lawrence are bringing this one to comic shops (and book stores, right?Riiiiiight?) this summer.

THE BACKROOMS TRAILER DROPS

I stumbled into the Backrooms creepypasta several years ago—mostly through Kane Pixels’ video series. I’ve been hooked on his effects process and ability to keep the viewer engaged. A24 must have also glitched into the liminal spaces, as the trailer for the feature film dropped, bringing awareness of the Backrooms to the rest of the world.

Kane Pixels is the second YouTuber this month to make the jump toward the big screen (after Markiplier’s Iron Lung), and he won’t be the last. Hollywood is pivoting to where the audiences already are—which means the best time to build a following was five years ago, and the second-best time is right now.

Hey, Hollywood! If you’re reading this (and I know you are), Critical Hit is ripe for an adaptation.

RANDOM THOUGHT

Random Thought: DC should back up a truck of money to Peach Momoko’s house and let her do Legion of Super-Heroes as a manga-style compact line. If you want kids to read “mainstream comics,” stop pretending they’re not reading manga.

SYNERGY!

Here is a bit of synergy I can get behind. Marvel Comics announced that the Reborn: Ultimate Impact will feature a black Wonder Man. This is a pretty smart move considering how well the Disney+ series has been performing. On the downside, while the Ultimate Universe was supposed to come to an end, Marvel just can’t let anything go, allowing new Ultimate Universe characters to come to the 616.

Reborn: Ultimate Impact arrives on May 20, 2026.

A WHOLE NEW WORLD

Disney’s animated Aladdin movie is one of my all-time favorite animated features. Apparently, Dynamite Entertainment has had some success marketing the Disney titles to audiences, because in May, we are getting an Aladdin series from James III and Agnese Eterno. While Eterno is an Italian artist, this series doesn’t look to be a reprint of Italian Disney comics. This is a good thing because it shows audiences (mostly kids) have taken to the Disney offering from the publisher.

THE ROCKFORD FILES MOVES FORWARD

NBC continues to move forward with the pilot episode of a reboot of The Rockford Files. I’m willing to give David Boreanaz a chance as Jim Rockford, but I’m a bit confused about the direction of the upcoming storyline. Variety reported on Thursday that Michaela McManus has been cast in the reboot as Kate.

“An East Hollywood detective whose romantic relationship with Rockford got complicated after he publicly accused fellow officers of framing him.”

Oof… I’m still willing to give the pilot a chance, but this sounds way too removed from what audiences know about The Rockford Files—and Rockford Files fans have long and deep memories. Then again, this reboot isn’t just about getting “The Olds” to tune in for nostalgia; NBC is hoping the reunion of Boreanaz and McManus will also have “The Youngs” tuning in.

Stephen’s Cassandra Moment: I still don’t think this is getting out of pilot season.

What do you think of the news that spilled out this week? What did we miss? Use the comment section below to let us know!

Have a great weekend!

Cheers

Stephen Schleicher