Our Sidelined 2 Review praises Noah Beck's wild ride sequel. Edge-of-seat fights mix with fun vibes. Pros, cons, and watch tips inside. See it! Read more visit website!
Sidelined 2: Intercepted hits you out of nowhere before you even know what’s going on. What seems like a bumpy, dumb college kid romance on the surface quietly morphs into a sharper, more self-conscious follow-up — one that knows exactly what it wants to do with Noah Beck, with Tubi’s brand, with its Gen Z audience. This isn’t a movie aspiring to be high-brow; it’s a movie knowing what kind of movie it is and playing to those strengths.
From the willfully chaotic emotions to its influencer-driven star power, Sidelined 2 straddles the line between melodrama and digital-era escapism, establishing a larger, more audacious universe that could (please!) continue on in Sidelined 3. It’s loud, it’s flawed, it’s melodramatic—and for some reason, that’s exactly what makes it work. The ambiguous ending of Sidelined 2 is a blatant strategic set up for a third movie. By keeping Dallas in New York and Drayton in L.A., this franchise provides a “reunion” hook for Sidelined 3.
The performance of Sidelined 2, is also a good way to Tubi’s brand enhancement. It shows the platform can grow a franchise, hold onto talent (like Van Der Beek and Beck), and create original buzz on social media. This begins to separate Tubi from the blight of the “digital discount bin” and towards being a destination for certain demographic groups.
Life After High School is what the film opens with. Dallas and Drayton are now three different men, in two different places, physically and emotionally. Dallas, a third-generation navy dancer, is attending dance school on a partial scholarship at CalArts and dealing with hard classes, self-doubt and financial woes. Drayton, on the other hand, is at USC as a highly recruited freshman quarterback, cloaked in anonymity as he prepares for the NFL.
The physical separation of their campuses in Los Angeles becomes a metaphor for the emotional rift between them. With busy college schedules, their biggest hurdle is just making time to meet up. This sets up a believable and relatable conflict, moving the story beyond high school angst to a realistic exploration of how young adults juggle priorities, responsibility, and relationships.
The final act is the biggest departure from the standard rom-com template, in which reality—not romance—wins. Dallas comes to Drayton’s first game post-injury to root for him one last time, and voilà, the audience gets the emotional sports moment they’ve been waiting for. But after the match, instead of rekindling their relationship or committing to making a long-distance relationship work, they just share one last kiss and decide to go their separate ways — Dallas is headed to New York with her career, while Drayton intends to stay put in L.A.
Their conversation about being “the right person at the wrong time” is what holds the film, and Drayton’s line about fate leaves the door slightly ajar for what comes next without obligating a false happy ending.
This down-to-earth ending have generated a lot of chatter and both Noah Beck and Siena Agudong have commended it for being authentic to their characters. The movie aligns with the “realistic romance” trend of late a la La La Land, where personal growth and career aspiration come before staying together, a message that strongly resonates with Gen Z.
Noah Beck’s spin on the world Sidelined is built around is, obviously, its biggest draw, with 33 million TikTok followers making him one of the biggest names in the creator world and his transition into acting indicative of the industry trend of casting stars with established online audiences. His reviews were mixed but getting better – some reviewers think he looks “too nice” to be the bad boy, while others say his natural TikTok charm translates well to screen, particularly in the lighter moments. The film also taps into his real-life persona by including footage of him exercising, shirtless and acting flirty in a way that mimics TikTok thirst traps. It’s a kind of fan service – and the film never pretends its audiences aren’t as interested in watching Noah Beck as they are in watching Drayton.
Meanwhile, Siena Agudong is the “working actor” type. Coming from Nickelodeon and Disney, she has the technical ability to handle the emotional weight of the film. It is her performance that grounds Beck’s more raw presence. Their chemistry is part acting technique, part influencer collaboration—it seems engineered to be clipped, shared and memed by fans.
Sidelined 2 takes place somewhere between the wholesomeness of Prom Pact and dramatic chaos of After. It doesn’t have the graphic nature of After or the budget of The Kissing Booth, but it makes space for itself by being, arguably, more “realistic” about the jump from high school to college than either.
Sidelined 2: Intercepted is a victory of utility over polish. It is a “mindless dose of Tubi entertainment,” much like a Big Mac is a “mindless meal” – it has been designed, is predictable, and resembles what the customer expects. That tells us that the movie of the future is going to be not just about the art on the screen but about the ecosystem surrounding it: ads, apps, influencers and the holiday weekends when we all want something to watch that doesn’t require us to think too much.
It ends with Dallas and Drayton walking away from each other, their futures unwritten. But for Tubi, the future is written in code, and looks a lot like this: bright, loud, free, and endless.
Tron: Ares' box office flop stuns Hollywood. Learn why Jared Leto's passion project failed, its $33 million debut, and how it changed his career forever.
The November 2025 release of Disney’s long-awaited sequel, Tron: Ares, fizzled at the box office after a gross that trade observers called a disaster and an “IP-killing event”. The Joachim Rønning directed film made a lackluster domestic debut of $33.2 million to $33.5 million, well below its estimated opening gross by $10 million or more. The opening fell just shy of $60 million worldwide, ranging from $60.2 million to $60.5 million.
Ares not hitting the $100m mark in its opening weekend against its sizable budget made for an early and likely impossible-to-recover-from financial loss for Disney. With the failure, Report said that it is very likely that Disney will “retire the franchise from the big screen” for the foreseeable future, signaling to investors a continued reluctance to finance risky.
The box office doom of Tron: Ares, according to MovieWeb, once again raised and intensified doubts about Jared Leto’s bankability as a star who could anchor a major studio tentpole. The seeds for this industry skepticism were planted three years earlier with the collapse of Sony’s Morbius (2022).
This recurring pattern of financial failure has consolidated a trade consensus that sees Leto as an actor who can’t reliably bring in box office for similar big Intellectual Property (IP) tentpole projects. Industry reports have indicated that “the big paydays Leto received for Ares might well be over,” as studios are increasingly shying away from the actor as a dependable male star draw.
In today’s Hollywood, star viability is inexorably linked to public perception and promotability, more so for those who headline massive franchises for corporations like Disney. Leto also has considerable baggage, including several sexual misconduct allegations (which his representatives deny) that surfaced just prior to the Tron: Ares press cycle.
The allegations posed significant challenges for Disney’s marketing team, with industry executives wondering how the actor could “shoulder the pressure of selling two theatrical movies while dancing around the damning claims”. The controversies had an immediate effect on possible promotional opportunities, creating uncertainty as to whether prominent media outlets would allow him to participate in the usual press routines to help market a blockbuster, making him a major-risk.
Industry peers is also pointed out his self-serving spectacle and unprofessional distraction after his extreme behavior on set including mailing eccentric gifts to Suicide Squad co-stars or walking around on crutches for Morbius. The perceived expense of working with the actor’s process wasn’t anymore worth the result. This professional reputation of being a “pain in the ass” who wastes time, combined with his inability to open wide films makes him a uniquely risky bet for studios that want to run-efficient production and clean PR.
According to People, The flop of Tron: Ares is far more than a box office number, it’s the shattering of an actor’s sincere passion against the cold, hard financial calculations of contemporary Hollywood. For years, Jared Leto was spearheading the movie, leveraging his celebrity and producer credit, dating back to 2017, to bring Disney’s long-dormant sci-fi franchise out of development purgatory. His commitment was authentic; he was a fan of the original film and its tech, and playing the digital warrior Ares was a very personal goal for him.
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The broad consensus in the business is that Leto’s way out is would be to turn on a dime and not be the lead vehicle for a big-budget franchise movie. The most obvious sign of that strategic recalibration: his next role is as Skeletor in Amazon MGM’s Masters of the Universe.
Reports say, This casting is generally regarded as a potential career booster for the actor. Adopting the role of the main villain, Leto once again places the financial weight solely on the IP and the hero, enabling him to focus on crafting a memorable performance. The campy villainous role of Skeletor is a dream role for Leto, and one that lends itself perfectly to his style of transformative acting where he utilises heavy makeup and theatricality (see House of Gucci). How well this transition works will depend on his ability to strike the right balance of “menace and camp,” and keep critics away from dismissing the performance as too silly, a perception that has dogged both his Paolo Gucci and Joker performances.
Leto and his team’s main professional challenge is to manage the promotional risk. Any future promotions around the film will have to strategically separate the actor from the success of the project, downplaying those risky stunts or conversations about method acting that come from set, and instead just talk about the character and the spectacle of the film. The twin flop of Morbius and Tron: Ares have cemented that Jared Leto is simply no longer considered bankable enough to weather the scrutiny and controversy that comes with carrying a mega-budget franchise.
Explore the Future of the MCU, including returning heroes, the upcoming Avengers movies, and major story changes shaping Marvel's next phase.
Benedict Cumberbatch has an extraordinary double billing in Hollywood right now. He’s in, a cornerstone, really, of Marvel’s almighty cinematic universe (MCU). On the flip side, he has a solid independent film career, as evidenced by his upcoming film, The Thing With Feathers. That balance of blockbuster dominance and arty experimentation speaks to his versatility, and the power of his star.
Reports indicate that the MCU is the financial foundation and global visibility for Cumberbatch, but projects like The Thing With Feathers are vital to keep his critical worth alive. This file claims the actor is now carrying out a “legacy management” approach, wielding clout to influence the creative direction of his blockbuster commitments and demonstrated by his producing role and director selection preferences while also going back to his experimental, literary roots in adaptations.
The Thing With Feathers is a departure from the visual effects-laden projects that Benedict Cumberbatch has been attached to of late. From acclaimed novelist Max Porter’s bestselling novella Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, the film preserves the book’s idiosyncratic, poetic form and surreal atmosphere.
The plot revolves around an unnamed London father (Dad) and his two sons as they struggle to survive in the wake of the sudden death of their wife and mother. Into their mourning home comes Crow— a frenzied, mythic character who says he’ll remain until the family no longer requires his presence. Crow is the physical manifestation of grief, so for Jack, it’s the personification of losing his wife.
Helmed by Dylan Southern, it employs a dreamlike non-linear narrative to bring Porter’s emotional, stream of consciousness novel to life on the screen, mixing stark household realism with surreal horror.
Cast Highlights
Benedict Cumberbatch as Dad – a profoundly raw portrayal of mourning, more in line with his work in Patrick Melrose than Doctor Strange.
David Thewlis as Crow – a sinister but bright, guardian and bully.
Richard and Henry Boxall play the brothers, and this is the one that really did engage me emotionally.
The movie doesn’t treat grief as hushed sorrow, but as frenetic, cluttered, and terrifying. Crow becomes the father’s Jungian shadow, making him face feelings he seeks to escape – turning the tale into a psychological thriller where the real beast is internal suffering.
Cumberbatch’s acting is considered to be one of the best if not the best. Praise for him speaks of him being in “terrific shape” and turning in a performance that is “confidential and emotional”. The Guardian also notes that:
“While the attention is on the home drama the film is involving and
affecting.”
Cumberbatch is reportedly taking a more “hands-on producerlike” role who will be able to handle the visual spectacle, with the film’s intellectual depth in the making of the film.
“very protective of the character and wants a director”
—He said
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Cumberbatch gave an interview in early 2025 in the dance where she said she would not be appearing in Avengers: Doomsday (2026), sparking rumors that the character would be written out. However, in the The Thing With Feathers premiere at Sundance he flatly corrected reports.
“I got that wrong, I’m in the next one.”
—Cumberbatch said and also joked to fans,
in reference to the tight Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) and secrecy culture that Marvel instills, which frequently has its actors feed false information to the press to protect surprises.
It is now confirmed that Doctor Strange will appear in Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and will have a “huge” role in Avengers: Secret Wars (2027).
Strange’s place in Secret Wars should be similar to his prominence in the comics, acting as second-in-command (“Sheriff of Agamotto”) to Doctor Doom, leader of the multiverse’s remains (Battleworld). Robert Downey Jr., reprising his role for the first time as Doctor Doom from the MCU, the dynamic between Cumberbatch and Downey Jr. (who also starred together as Sherlock Holmes and Iron Man, respectively) recently tops for the studio.
The next few years are crucial for Benedict Cumberbatch. In a London flat in “The Thing With Feathers” audiences will also get to see him unmasked and fighting a figurative crow. This part reconfirms his dramatic obama essay credentials and acts as a Salto dancer à la spectacle au lieu de suivant.
At the same time, the Marvel Cinematic Universe machine is turning toward him. The active development here is Doctor Strange 3, strongly based on the “Time Runs Out” storyline, and his already confirmed appearance in Avengers: Doomsday, marking him as the story lead of the Multiverse Saga’s concluding chapter. Bird-themed surrealist or multiversal terrors: on both, Benedict Cumberbatch is at the center of two vastly different though thematically connected cinematic universes.
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