W42 Preview: VisionQuest and Crystal Lake Arrive This Week, Other Mommy Tops the Box Office
Halloween season gets serious this week: Marvel's VisionQuest opens on Disney+ on Wednesday, and A24's Friday the 13th prequel Crystal Lake drops all eight episodes on Peacock on Thursday. Netflix brings a four-part Mike Tyson docuseries, a German psychological thriller and a Boston season of Love Is Blind, while Other Mommy took the weekend box office crown.
Two franchise series, two very different moods, and both of them land midweek. One is the last piece of the WandaVision trilogy; the other asks you to feel sorry for Pamela Voorhees. Netflix fills the gaps on either side of them, and the theaters had a horror weekend of their own. Here's the slate for the week of October 12, ranked by how hard I'm guarding my evenings.
VisionQuest: the WandaVision trilogy closes out
VisionQuest (Disney+, Wednesday, October 14) premieres with two episodes, and this is the one Marvel fans have been circling since WandaVision ended with a bleached-white Vision flying off with his memories restored and absolutely no idea what to do with them. That's where this one picks up: the White Vision trying to work out who, or what, he actually is.
Paul Bettany is back as Vision, and the headline is James Spader returning as Ultron for the first time since Age of Ultron in 2015. Showrunner and creator is Terry Matalas, the man who turned Star Trek: Picard season 3 into a reunion that actually worked, which is about the most reassuring résumé you could attach to a show built on legacy characters.
The supporting cast reads like a roll call of every AI Tony Stark ever built:
- James D'Arcy as J.A.R.V.I.S.
- Orla Brady as F.R.I.D.A.Y.
- Emily Hampshire as E.D.I.T.H.
- T'Nia Miller as Jocasta
- Todd Stashwick as Paladin
- Ruaridh Mollica as an older Tommy, Wanda's son, taking over from Jett Klyne
It's eight episodes, and the schedule front-loads them:
- Ep 1-2: Wednesday, October 14
- Ep 3-4: Wednesday, October 21
- Ep 5-6: Wednesday, October 28
- Ep 7: Wednesday, November 4
- Ep 8: Wednesday, November 11 (finale)
Quick take: Matalas plus Spader is the most promising pairing Marvel has put on Disney+ in a while, and WandaVision and Agatha All Along both earned the benefit of the doubt for this corner of the MCU. Double-episode premieres also mean the first night should actually go somewhere.
Anticipation level: 9/10. Where to watch: Disney+, episodes 1-2 Wednesday, October 14, then weekly through November 11.
Crystal Lake: all eight episodes, one Thursday
Crystal Lake (Peacock, Thursday, October 15) is the Friday the 13th prequel series from A24, and Peacock is dropping the whole season at once. Eight episodes, no weekly wait, which is exactly how a slasher should be consumed.
Linda Cardellini plays Pam Voorhees. Before she was the killer from the 1980 original, she was a single mother grieving her young son Jason, who drowned in the town lake. Then two strangers turn up asking questions about her past, and the town starts wondering just who Pam Voorhees really is. Peacock's pitch, not mine, and I love it.
Brad Caleb Kane created and wrote the series and executive produces. It's been a long road here: Peacock ordered the show back in 2022, and original showrunner Bryan Fuller left the project in 2024. The cast around Cardellini includes William Catlett, Devin Kessler, Cameron Scoggins and Gwendolyn Sundstrom, with Callum Vinson as young Jason. Original Friday the 13th screenwriter Victor Miller is among the executive producers.
Quick take: a prequel told from the mother's side is the smartest possible way into this franchise, because the films never gave Pam more than one act. Cardellini can do grief and menace in the same scene, and an all-at-once drop the week before Halloween is perfect timing.
Anticipation level: 8/10. Where to watch: Peacock, all 8 episodes Thursday, October 15.
Netflix this week
- TYSON (Netflix, Tuesday, October 13). A four-part docuseries from director Floyd Russ, with Bill Simmons among the executive producers. It goes from a rough Brooklyn childhood to becoming the youngest heavyweight champion ever, and it doesn't skip the prison time, the money problems, the substance abuse or the comeback. Four hours is the right length for a life this loud. Anticipation level: 8/10.
- The Trap (Netflix, Tuesday, October 13). A six-part German psychological thriller (Die Falle) from Isabel Kleefeld, adapted from Melanie Raabe's bestselling novel. Friederike Becht plays Lisa Konrad, a famous author who hasn't left her house in a decade since her sister's murder, until she thinks she sees the killer on TV and decides to use herself as bait. If you liked Dear Child, this is the same team's energy. Anticipation level: 7/10.
- Love Is Blind, season 11 (Netflix, Wednesday, October 14). The pods move to Boston, with Nick and Vanessa Lachey hosting again. Episodes 1-5 drop Wednesday, then batches on October 21 and 28 and the finale on November 4. You already know whether you're in. Anticipation level: 6/10.
One schedule note: Hunting Gary Glitter, the three-part docuseries some listings still show for October 14, is off the calendar. Netflix postponed it indefinitely in September, citing new legal information, and hasn't set a new date.
Meanwhile, in theaters
Last weekend (October 9-11, studio estimates) was a horror win. Universal's Other Mommy, starring Jessica Chastain, opened at No. 1 with $27.5M, ahead of the studio's own projection of around $20M despite a D+ CinemaScore. Verity fell to No. 2 with $11.5M ($53.9M total), Resident Evil slipped to No. 3 with $8.4M ($138.5M total) and Heart of the Beast came fourth with $7.1M ($49.7M total). Aaron Sorkin's The Social Reckoning opened fifth at $5.5M, a quiet start for the follow-up to The Social Network.
The takeaway
Wednesday is Marvel night: two episodes of VisionQuest, and Love Is Blind after it if that's your thing. Thursday, clear the evening for Crystal Lake, because eight episodes of Pam Voorhees won't binge themselves. Monday and Tuesday are taken care of: start TYSON, keep The Trap for when you want subtitles and dread. See you next week.
Comments (0)
Log in to leave a comment.