Most of the time, when a movie is remade or rebooted or whatever you want to call it, it’s boring. Usually, that’s because there’s no real reason behind revisiting the characters or the franchise aside from a money grab. This is one of the reasons Hollywood is criticized for a lack of ideas or originality. Simply repeating past successes does not welcome much creativity.

This is why, when a new idea for a reboot comes along, people get excited, especially if it’s really unexpected. Years ago there was a rumor that the Men in Black franchise was going to merge with the Jonah Hill/Channing Tatum 21 Jump Street universe, which was such a bizarre idea that it was interesting.

This time the rumors involve everyone’s favorite childhood weirdo, Pee-wee Herman!

Apparently, the Safdie Brothers, fresh off their success with the decidedly non-child friendly Uncut Gems, have been approached to direct a new Pee-Wee movie. Before you scratch your heads at the fact that the Safdies and Pee-wee have distinctly different audiences and tones, that’s sort of the point. The idea is for a “dark” Pee-Wee movie.

What would such a thing entail? Pee-Wee’s alter-ego, creator Paul Reubens (no stranger to some “dark” shenanigans of his own), told the Hollywood Reporter what he has in mind.

“In it, Pee-wee emerges from prison to become an unlikely yodeling star; then moves to Hollywood and becomes a movie star; then he develops a severe pill and alcohol addiction that turns him into a monster. I’ve referred to it as the Valley of the Dolls Pee-wee movie,” Reubens said. “It’s about fame.”

Okaaaaaaaaaay. My first question is: why was Pee-wee in jail? My second question is: yodeling star? My third question is: WHEN CAN I SEE THIS MOVIE?

Apparently Reubens has had this idea for a while and even wrote a version of the script back in the 90s. Having had his own difficult experiences with fame, he certainly has a point of view. And the Safdie Brothers can do dark “guy in over his head” drama like nobody’s business. So there may be something there. Pee-wee is no stranger to dark directors with strong voices – the classic Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure was directed by Tim Burton.

Whether or not this new take on Pee-wee will actually happen is yet to be seen. Something tells me it wouldn’t exactly set the box office on fire. But Pee-wee’s last movie was on Netflix, and they are more than happy to take risks, so you never know!

I just hope Chairy escapes unscathed.

Game of Thrones was an incredible show. Groundbreaking for HBO and it absolutely deserved all the good accolades that came its way. But that last season…Season 8 of the show will always be the asterisk that drags the show down from being one of the best ever. But, star Peter Dinklage has a message for fans; “Move on.”

Dinklage, who was truly fantastic as Tyrion Lannister, gave a wide-ranging interview to the New York Times recently about new projects he’s working on. Late in the interview, he was asked about the ending.

“It’s fiction. There’s dragons in it. Move on [laughs]. No, but the show subverts what you think, and that’s what I love about it… Everybody had their own stories going on, but nobody’s was as good as what the show delivered.” – Peter Dinklage on Game of Throne’s ending pic.twitter.com/fI9fZ6eNcz

— IGN (@IGN) December 28, 2021

He said he thought people were upset with it because “they wanted the pretty white people to ride off into the sunset together.”

“By the way, it’s fiction. There’s dragons in it. Move on,” he laughed. “No, but the show subverts what you think, and that’s what I love about it.”

Dinklage thought it was the perfect time to end the show, and thought the ending was brilliant in how it wasn’t about who ruled after all.

“Everybody had their own stories going on while watching that show, but nobody’s was as good as what the show delivered, I think,” he said.

He does make a strong case for how the show frequently went out of its way to set up a fantasy trope and then cut it down. It’s what kept the show interesting and kept viewers on their feet. HOWEVER, The fans have some legit gripes with how sped up the creators made that last season. Author George R.R. Martin thought the show should’ve been two seasons longer (of course he did, he can’t finish anything) and he’s probably right. At least another season would’ve allowed them to set up the finish better.

Still, the destination was the destination, no matter how bungled the pacing was. And people…were not going to like that destination. It’s unseen if that’s how Martin plans to end things (although he clued the creators into other major moments that aren’t in the books yet, so I can’t imagine he veers off course with the ending), but Dinklage is right in that everyone had a different story. And no matter what, many of them were going to be mad with how it ended  (and just the fact that it actually was over).

But if the ending actually was as good as he thinks it was, the show would still be spoken about reverently in culture. Instead, most people have moved on. And that’s the biggest sign that things didn’t work as well as possible.

Of all the ways DC has botched their movie universe, from their painful attempt to match the MCU’s team up with a hastily-assembled version of their own, to Wonder Woman 1984, to the Snydercut, no character has gotten shorter shift than Superman.

The most iconic superhero of all got one controversial movie in which he utterly betrayed his most fundamental principles, and then didn’t even get a sequel of his own. He was immediately thrust into Batman v. Superman and then the Justice League, for which he was largely absent. And in none of those movies did he live up to the promise of his comics, or of the first two Christopher Reeve films.

Someday we’ll hopefully get a worthy follow-up, and maybe it will be directed by the Kingsmen’s Matthew Vaughn. The director is currently doing press for The King’s Man, his Kingsmen prequel, and he revealed to The Wrap that not only does he want to make a Superman movie, but he also pitched one before Man of Steel.

“I was desperate to do a Superman film. Desperate,” Vaughn confessed. “I pitched a big Superman movie before they made ‘Man of Steel.’”

He didn’t get that chance, but he’s still pining. And after having worked with Henry Cavill, he wants the Man of Steel star to reprise the role. With a slightly different tone than Snyder’s pompous, gray-toned take.

“I just got to work with Henry Cavill, which was lovely, on ‘Argylle’ and he’s unbelievable in it. I still think there’s room for a new Superman film, but a proper Superman film. A colorful, fun Superman movie. Not a dark one.”

He explains that he wishes the character had gotten his own sequel before he joined Batman’s world, which has a very different tone – especially since the Nolan movies reinvented the character for modern times

“I just thought it was a mistake putting the Batman vibe into the Superman world,” Vaughn said. “I just think they’re two separate — they’re just not relatable in any way, in my mind. It should be fun. I mean, look, ‘The Dark Knight’ was obviously different, and it made sense and it was brilliant, as a film and as a comic. But Superman was always… I loved the [Richard] Donner ‘Superman’ movie, and I think ‘Wonder Woman’ worked because, I think, ‘Wonder Woman’ was basically remaking [Donner’s] ‘Superman’ in a weird way. Yeah, I love Superman.”

I love Superman too, and that all sounds good to me. There are plenty of ways to make the character work without going the angsty, conflicted route. I’d love to see Vaughn, or someone else with the right mindset, make it work.

Either way, the character will endure. But hopefully, we’ll see him soar again soon.