Spiderman Back, A New Jewish Star?, Lasso, Haberman

“Spiderman: A Brand New Day” opens in theaters on July 31. The film follows up Dr. Stephen Strange’s spell at the end of the film “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021)—his spell made the world forget that Peter Parker (AKA Spider-Man) exists. Four years later, Parker pops up and protects New York City as the hero Spider-Man.

Tom Holland, 29, takes over the role of Spider-Man and JON BERNTHAL, 49, has a major supporting role as Frank Castle, AKA The Punisher.

Castle is a major Marvel Universe film character. Bernthal played Castle in a Netflix series (2016-19; 38 episodes) and Castle appeared in three more Castle episodes on Disney+ (2025, 2026).

Holland told a U.K. newspaper: “A dynamic between Parker and Castle evolved as me and Bernthal improvised during filming, with their characters going from hating each other to developing a “big brother/little brother rivalry”.

“Sterling Point” is a new dramatic Amazon Prime TV series. This 8-episode series will premiere on August 5 and all the episodes will “drop” on the 5th.

The plot info is very scarce. Here’s the “official” plot premise: “Annie Jacobson’s life takes a turn when she inherits her mysterious grandfather’s island in Canada. There, she finds new friends, budding romances and untold family secrets.”

ELLA RUBIN, 24, stars as Annie. She was born in New York City and grew-up in Manhattan. Her father is an insurance company CEO. Ella’s mother, and Ella’s mother’s sister, are talent agents. (A photo of Ella at her bat mitzvah was posted on-line by Ella’s brother).

This attractive and smart woman has been acting since she was 14. She has a college degree from UCLA. From 2021 to 2023, she had recurring and guest TV roles. These roles included a part on the revival of “Gossip Girl” on HBO (2021-23).

Rubin had a “breakthrough”, big supporting role in the film “In The Idea” (2024). She played Izzie, a teen. Anne Hathaway played Solene, Izzie’s mother. Solene and Izzie traveled together to a famous rock festival. Solene and a much younger rock star hit it off romantically. (Complications follow).

The Amazon Prime studio produced “In The Idea”. This film had a movie theater run. But it really showed its popularity when it streamed out on the Amazon Prime channel. Amazon said it was their most popular (streaming) movie worldwide (!).

Rubin had lead roles in two 2025 films that made money: a scary sci-fi film (“Until Dawn”) and a horror flick (“Fear Street: Prom Queen”).

The 4th season of the hit Apple+ series “Ted Lasso”’ will premiere on August 5. (The 3rd season ended in 2023). Ten 4th season episodes will stream weekly. There is one prominent Jewish actor: BRETT GOLDSTEIN, 45, plays Roy Kent, a former star soccer player and, now, the head (soccer) coach of AFC Richmond (U,K.). Goldstein has also co-penned “Lasso” scripts.

I have to apologize: I said I would write about actor/comedian TIFFANY HADDISH, 46, this week. But I am deluged with mucho info. For sure, she’s IN next week.

I put off writing the following item because the info about these two Jewish journalists is very large, too. Then I decided to pare down the “general info” about them---and very much stick to the “Jewish angle”. This week MAGGIE HABERMAN and JONATHAN SWAN, 40, next week.

Haberman, 52, is currently the White House reporter for the “NY Times”. She was hired by the “Times” in early 2016. She interviewed before and after Donald Trump won the 2016 election. She shared the Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for political reporting.

In 2022, Haberman wrote a book on the Trump presidency called “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump”. In 2026, she and Jonathan Swan published the book “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump”. Both books are huge best-sellers.

Haberman’s father’s CLYDE HABERMAN, 81, grew-up in an Orthodox home. He had a number of important posts with the “Times” (he, too, got a Pulitzer). I believe that Maggie’s mother, NANCY, is Jewish, too.

There is one helpful source that eludes me: a Maggie Haberman talk to a Hillel group. I am still trying to get what she said at that talk. However, in a 2022 speech that-- I could find --she said that anti-Semitism had grown. She said that a swastika had been spray painted on the synagogue where her children attended preschool.

Haberman’s husband is not Jewish (Armenian). It’s very possible that her children are being raised Jewish. But that isn’t certain. Many Jewish pre-schools are open to any child.