WIRE Buzz: James Bond dresses up No Time to Die first poster; New Stan Lee action figure; more

Just in time to celebrate James Bond Day, he’s back — and despite all the obstacles the world keeps throwing at James Bond, he’s looking better than ever. Special Agent 007 takes center stage in the first official poster for next spring’s 25th Bond movie, No Time to Die, and of course it’s an occasion that requires formalwear.

Bond actor Daniel Craig dominates the frame in the new poster, suited up in dapper duds that no doubt still conceal all kind of stealthy assassin’s tech tools. The poster’s essentially an iteration on the movie’s stylized logo, first revealed back in August, with the classed-up shot of Craig layered beneath. MGM and the No Time to Die team decided to release the new look at the movie on Oct. 5 (aka James Bond Day), the anniversary date of the 1962 premiere of Dr. No — the very first Bond film.

After all the snakebitten setbacks that have peppered the production of Bond 25, getting a glance at even a simple first poster is a welcome event. No Time to Die has suffered through more than its share of director delays, script do-overs, and accidents and injuries on the set. 

With the film marking what Craig has said will be his last performance as Bond, here’s hoping all that adversity has just served to make the finish product better. Starring Craig alongside a killer cast featuring newcomers Rami Malek (as the main baddie) and Ana de Armas (as Paloma), No Time to Die also brings back Ralph Fiennes (M), Naomie Harris (Moneypenny), Jeffrey Wright (Felix Leiter), Rory Kinnear (Bill Tanner), Lea Seydoux (Dr. Madeleine Swann), and Ben Whishaw (Q). Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, No Time To Die comes alive in theaters on April 8 of 2020.

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Even non-toy people might have a hard time resisting this one. The likeness of Marvel legend Stan Lee, as many present-day fans best remember him, is getting the action figure treatment from Hasbro. 

Standing 6’’ tall and decked out with multiple articulation points for plenty of posing possibilities, Hasbro’s upcoming collectible of Stan the Man comes with a non-canonical version of Captain America’s shield that, with Lee’s iconic signature featured front and center, probably won’t set Marvel purists’ Spidey senses tingling in the least — except, maybe, in the best of ways.

Announced at the start of New York Comic Con this week, and set to release next summer, the Marvel 6" Legends Stan Lee Figure is already available for pre-order at Target — where you can lock down your own comic book legend for $24.99. After that, all that’s left to do is sit back and wait: Your leather jacket-wearing Marvel master starts rolling out on June 1 of next year.

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Fresh off news that MSNBC talker Rachel Maddow is heading to The CW for a recurring voice role in Batwoman (as a Gotham journalist, of course), Deadline is reporting that CW veteran Sebastian Roché also has joined the cast of the soon-to-debut new series. 

Roché, who portrayed O.G. vampire father Mikael Mikaelson in both The Vampire Diaries and its successor, The Originals, reportedly will play Dr. Campbell, “one of Gotham’s most well-respected plastic surgeons and philanthropists,” according to the report. Like Maddow’s voice part as reporter journalist Vesper Fairchild, Roché’s role is a recurring one, so it likely won’t be long before we’ll see (and hear) them both. Starring Ruby Rose in the title role as Kate Kane, Batwoman has its series premiere at 8 p.m. ET this Sunday, Oct. 6, at The CW.