Hot Lantern men

Yesterday Lainey mentioned that the five-minute preview of Lanterns was working for her, in no small part because it is extremely well cast. Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre are both HOT, and they have GREAT chemistry as, essentially, a wildcard space cap duo.

The premiere for Lanterns was last night, and it seems like that chemistry carries over into real life. Kyle Chandler is not someone I think of as a goof, but here he is, goofing off with Aaron Pierre:

Also, I would like to know why Chandler got on the shorty stool. I’ve seen Kyle Chandler, he’s tall. Like real tall (aka around six feet, plus or minus an inch), not actor tall (aka five-nine). Aaron Pierre is also tall, but I don’t think he’s THAT much taller than Chandler. He’s just goofing off. Aaron Pierre brings out Kyle Chandler’s inner goof.

Speaking of Lanterns, though, I’ve seen the first few episodes but I’m reserving judgment. It starts off very promising, kind of in the vein of Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen, in that it balances realistic drama with superhero stuff, but there were rumors of not insignificant creative wrangling between Lindelof’s team and James Gunn’s team at DC Studios. Lanterns is part of the “DC Universe” being built by Gunn—Nathan Fillion reprises his role as bargain bin Lantern Guy Gardner—but at least in the beginning, Lindelof was really off doing his own thing. Rumor has it, though, that his vision clashed with Gunn’s.

This is what I am saying! James Gunn does not want to share his toys! He wants to be the sole creative force of the DC Universe! It is my favorite conspiracy theory right now! It’s also not long-term feasible. Marvel’s troubles are at least in part to overextending Kevin Feige. The moment the MCU metastasized to the point that Feige couldn’t keep his finger on the pulse of everything going on, it hit the skids. Delegation is key. Sector the characters and corners of the universe, let different creators drive their sectors independently of one another. Then, let the creators collaborate if and when it makes sense for their worlds to meet.

Anyway, I would like to see how Lanterns shakes out. It has potential, I’m just worried about that behind-the-scenes stuff bleeding into the final cuts of the series. In the meantime, though, I will enjoy Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, a couple of hot Lantern men, enjoying themselves and each other.

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What else happened today…

A lot of things make me feel old these days, but nothing makes me feel as old as 2000s nostalgia. Sabrina Bryan of The Cheetah Girls is revisiting her aughties past and…ugh, I cannot BELIEVE that was twenty years ago. This is all the sun’s fault! (Popsugar)

Joey Fatone and Lance Bass are co-hosting a competition show about cocktails for E!. Joey Fatone has grown…quite a mustache. Really going for those 2012 Brooklyn hipster bartender vibes. (Go Fug Yourself) 

Jennifer Westfeldt was Jon Hamm’s partner for almost twenty years, including the years that saw him rise to fame with Mad Men. They never married, though, and never had kids. (Westfeldt made a movie, Friends with Kids, about how kids complicate relationships.) Then, she and Hamm split up in 2015, and in 2023, Hamm married Anna Osceola, who is almost twenty years his junior.

Now, Hamm and Osceola are expecting their first child. Jon Hamm is 55. I truly believe there is no age limit on deciding the things you want in your life, but this is an awfully familiar path, isn’t it? A man leaves the woman who built him up for a younger model, then ends up having kids in mid-life. Maybe Jennifier Westfeldt never wanted kids anyway and is perfectly content today, but it’s just the stereotypical timing of it all that gets me. Jon Hamm could not BE more cliché. (Celebitchy)

Remember that expose in The Cut last year about Wondermind, the mental health startup co-founded by Selena Gomez and her mother, Mandy Teefey? Well, apparently that is how Wondermind investors found out that their investment was failing, and now they’re suing Selena. It’s an all-around feel-bad outcome, with Selena Gomez’s familial relationship imploding before our eyes, but also the commodification of mental health for tech investors is gross, never mind that Wondermind never delivered on grandiose promises of helping people through apps and good vibes. I don’t know how Selena can “keep [her mom] out of her orbit”, but being sued over trying to seems like the worst possible outcome. (Pajiba)