What to Stream: 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps,' Tracy Morgan, Kim
Kardashian and 'Downton Abbey'
[November 03, 2025]
The earnest superhero team-up tale “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” and
Tracy Morgan returning to TV with a new comedy called “Crutch” are some
of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near
you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as
selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: The
upstairs-downstairs drama “Downton Abbey” bids farewell in a final
movie, Kim Kardashian plays a divorce attorney in Hulu's “All’s Fair”
and Willie Nelson continues to demonstrate his prolific output with the
release of yet another new album this year.
New movies to stream from Nov. 3-9
— Guillermo del Toro realizes his long-held dream of a sumptuous Mary
Shelley adaptation in “Frankenstein” (Friday Nov. 7 on Netflix). Del
Toro’s film, starring Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob
Elordi as his monster, uses all the trappings of handmade movie craft to
give Shelley’s classic an epic sweep. In her review, AP Film Writer
Lindsey Bahr wrote: “Everything about ‘Frankenstein’ is larger than
life, from the runtime to the emotions on display.”
— Matt Shakman’s endearingly earnest superhero team-up tale “The
Fantastic Four: First Steps” (Wednesday on Disney+) helps alleviate a
checkered-at-best history of big-screen adaptations of the classic Stan
Lee-Jack Kirby comic. Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach
and Joseph Quinn play Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, the Thing and
the Human Torch, respectively. In 1964, they work to defend Earth from
its imminent destruction by Galactus. In my review, I praised “First
Steps” as “a spiffy ’60s-era romp, bathed in retrofuturism and bygone
American optimism.”
— “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” (Friday, Nov. 7 on Peacock) bids
goodbye to the Crawleys 15 years after Julian Fellowes first debuted his
upstairs-downstairs drama. The cast of the third and final film,
directed by Simon Curtis, includes Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery and
Paul Giamatti. In her review, AP's Jocelyn Noveck wrote that the film
gives “loyal Downton fans what they want: a satisfying bit of closure
and the sense that the future, though a bit scary, may look kindly on
Downton Abbey.” Peacock is also streaming the two previous movies and
all six seasons of “Downton Abbey.”
— “The Materialists” (Friday, Nov. 7 on HBO Max), Celine Song’s
follow-up to her Oscar-nominated 2023 breakthrough “Past Lives,” stars
Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans in a romantic triangle. The
New York-set film adds a dose of economic reality to a romantic comedy
plot in what was, for A24, a modest summer hit. In her review, AP’s
Jocelyn Noveck called it “a smart rom-com that tries to be honest about
life and still leaves us smiling.”
— AP Film Writer Jake Coyle
New music to stream from Nov. 3-9
— The legendary Willie Nelson continues to demonstrate his prolific
output with the release of yet another new album this year. “Workin’
Man: Willie Sings Merle,” out Friday, Nov. 7, is exactly what it sounds
like: Nelson offering new interpretations of 11 classic songs written by
Merle Haggard. And we mean classics: Check out Nelson’s latest take on
“Okie From Muskogee,” “Mama Tried,” “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here And
Drink” and more.
— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
[to top of second column]
|
This combination of images shows promotional art for the films "The
Fantastic Four: First Steps," from left, "Frankenstein," and
"Materialists." (Marvel Studios/Netflix/A24 via AP)
New series to stream from Nov. 3-9
— Tracy Morgan returns to TV with a new comedy called “Crutch.” Morgan
plays a widowed empty-nester whose world is turned around when his adult
children move home with his grandkids in tow. The Paramount+ series
debuts Monday.
— Kim Kardashian says she will soon learn whether she passed the bar
exam to become a lawyer, but she plays a sought-after divorce attorney
in “All's Fair,” her new TV series for Hulu. Kardashian stars alongside
Glenn Close, Sarah Paulson, Niecy Nash-Betts, Naomi Watts and Teyana
Taylor in the show about an all-female law firm. Ryan Murphy created the
show with Kardashian in mind after she acted in “American Horror Story:
Delicate.” It premieres Tuesday on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.
— The old saying about truth being stranger than fiction applies to
Netflix's new four-episode limited-series “Death by Lightning.” It's a
historical dramatization (with some comedy thrown in) about how James
Garfield became the 20th president of the United States. He was shot
four months later by a man named Charles Guiteau (Matthew Macfadyen),
who was desperate for Garfield's attention. Two months after that,
Garfield died from complications of his injuries. It's a wild story that
also features Betty Gilpin, Nick Offerman, Bradley Whitford and Shea
Whigham. The series premieres Thursday.
— HBO offers up a new docuseries about the life of retired baseball
superstar Alex Rodriguez. “Alex Vs. A-Rod” features intimate interviews
with people who are related to and know Rodriguez, as well as the man
himself. The three-part series premieres Thursday.
— The next installment of “Wicked,” called “Wicked: For Good,” flies
into theaters Nov. 21 and NBC has created a musical special to pump up
the release. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande lead “Wicked: One Wonderful
Night,” a concert event that premieres Thursday on NBC and streams on
Peacock Friday, Nov. 7. Additional film cast members like Michelle Yeoh,
Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode and Ethan Slater appear as well.
— Alicia Rancilio
New video games to play from Nov. 3-9
— It’s going to be a while until the next Legend of Zelda game, but if
you’re craving some time with the princess, check out Hyrule Warriors:
Age of Imprisonment. In this spinoff, a prequel to 2023’s Tears of the
Kingdom, Zelda travels back in time to join forces with the Six Sages in
a war against the invader Ganondorf. You can also drag another human
into battle with split-screen or the GameShare feature on Nintendo’s new
console. Like the previous collaborations between Nintendo and Koei
Tecmo, it’s more hack-and-slash action than exploration and discovery.
It arrives Thursday on Switch 2.
— Lou Kesten
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
