The Paris Olympics draw mega television audiences, Will Lewis is haunted yet again by his past as a Rupert Murdoch lieutenant, authorities charge Huw Edwards, Kamala Harris' campaign blasts Elon Musk over A.I.-generated audio, Donald Trump lashes out at Fox News, TikTok faces Nazi troubles, "Dexter" returns from the dead, HBO teases "The Penguin," and so much more. But first, the A1.

Marvel Recaptures Its Mojo

CNN Photo Illustration/Marvel Studios

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has roared back to life.

After suffering a years-long dry spell that had fans and industry observers wondering whether the lucrative franchise was destined for irreversible decline, Marvel Studios showed that it still has plenty more gasoline left in the tank.

"Deadpool & Wolverine" clawed through initial analyst expectations, delivering a monster $211 million jolt to the domestic box office. That made the threequel the biggest opening of 2024, the biggest opening ever for an R-rated film, and the sixth biggest opening of all-time. Internationally, the film grossed $443 million, all but ensuring it will easily sail past the $1 billion mark.

The film's massive success pushed Marvel past the $30 billion mark at the global office, making it the highest-grossing franchise of all-time.

Meanwhile, the box office success coincided with the Disney-owned studio making buzzy announcements at Comic-Con. The studio revealed to an electric crowd on Saturday night that the Russo Brothers will return to direct the next two "Avengers" films, due out in 2026 and 2027. And, in a stunning announcement, Robert Downey Jr. emerged onstage as Marvel unveiled the one-time "Iron Man" actor as the franchise's next big supervillain, Doctor Doom.

Suffice to say, by the weekend's end, Marvel was riding high.

The much-needed shot in the arm couldn't have come sooner for the studio, an important component of Disney's profit engine. While it had regularly churned out superhero-sized blockbusters, Marvel has not-so-secretly struggled since "Avengers: Endgame," the epic 2019 climax that was 22 films in the making. Since then, the studio has produced a string of movies that have failed to resonate with audiences and critics, such as "The Marvels," "Eternals," and “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania." On Disney+, outside "Loki," the Marvel shows by and large have failed to generate buzz and find footing in the cultural discourse.

In a way, Marvel acknowledged to its fans over the weekend that it had veered off the road. In "Deadpool & Wolverine," Ryan Reynolds' titular character joked that Wolverine was joining the MCU at a "low point." Later in the film, Deadpool also channeled audiences when he complained about the confusing nature of the multiverse and asked Marvel executives if they could put that storyline to bed.

The move to bring back the Russo Brothers and Downey Jr. suggests that Bob Iger's Magic Kingdom has heard audiences loud and clear. Bringing the three back into the fold signals that the franchise is pivoting back to the fan-favorite ingredients that reliably delivered in the past.

That said, returning to the past as a bet on future hits is also a tacit admission that the Marvel creative engine has faltered. It's certainly a smart temporary solution to get the MCU back on track. But what happens when Marvel doesn't have the Russo Brothers and Downey Jr. to lean on?

Disney will eventually have to find an answer to that question. But, for now, Iger and his Marvel executives have bought themselves a few years of runway.

CNN Photo Illustration/Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Podium-Worthy Numbers From Paris: The Paris Olympics are proving to be a big ratings hit for NBCU. The opening ceremony, which featured Celine Dion making her epic return to the stage, averaged 28.6 million viewers on Friday night. Remarkably, the viewership has since grown, not tapered off. On Saturday, an average of 32.4 million watched the primary telecasts across NBCU's linear and digital platforms. And on Sunday, an average of 41.5 million tuned in to see Simone Biles and the U.S. women's gymnastics team compete. Those are medal-worthy numbers for NBCU, which has been counting on the Olympics to boost its struggling Peacock streaming service. THR's Rick Porter has more here. 

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Good Will Hunting: The Washington Post publisher and chief executive Will Lewis continues to be haunted by his past as a Rupert Murdoch lieutenant. On Monday, Murdoch's U.K. newspaper arm agreed in court to search for emails about a supposed "fake security threat" that Prince Harry and other plaintiffs suing the company alleged was used as an impetus to delete millions of emails relating to the phone hacking scandal. Lewis, of course, was a top executive at the Murdoch-owned company, brought in to help clean up the mess. Lewis has long denied any wrongdoing, though he has shown he is quite sensitive to questions on the topic. News Group Newspapers said the emails were not deleted as part of some "cover-up." Reuters has more.

CNN Photo Illustration/Marc Piasecki/Getty Images

Musk and Manipulation: The Kamala Harris campaign blasted Elon Musk on Monday after the X owner posted a video that included a fake, A.I.-generated voice of the candidate claiming to be the "ultimate diversity hire." Mia Ehrenberg, a campaign spokesperson, said in a statement, "We believe the American people want the real freedom, opportunity and security Vice President Harris is offering; not the fake, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump." The posting of the video came after Musk publicly endorsed Trump, a move that has raised more fears that he will skew the platform further in favor of his chosen candidate. Musk himself defended posting the video. The Associated Press' Ali Swenson has more here.

🔎 Zooming in: The episode is the latest to raise questions about how to safeguard the electorate from deceptive A.I.-generated content. As the technology quickly advances, it will soon allow anyone to clone voices and produce misleading videos on a whim. Will major tech platforms be ready?

CNN Photo Illustration/Will Lanzoni

TikTok's Nazi Troubles: It's not just Meta and X that are being exploited by extremist forces. A new study from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which was provided to WIRED's David Gilbert on Monday, found that the TikTok algorithm is promoting hate-based content to users. "The report from ISD details how hundreds of extremist TikTok accounts are openly posting videos promoting Holocaust denial and the glorification of Hitler and Nazi-era Germany, and suggesting that Nazi ideology is a solution to modern-day issues," Gilbert wrote. That's particularly concerning, given the volume of young users on the app. Gilbert has more here.

► TikTok's response: "Hateful behavior, organizations and their ideologies have no place on TikTok, and we remove more than 98 percent of this content before it is reported to us." 

CNN Photo Illustration/Randy Tepper/Showtime

'Dexter,' Back From the Dead: He's back! One of the world's most famous fictional serial killers is returning to television screens. The "Dexter" team announced at Comic-Con that Michael C. Hall will resurrect his titular role for a new sequel series, "Dexter: Resurrection," debuting in 2025. "We are thrilled to have the brilliant Michael C. Hall reprise his iconic role as Dexter Morgan in Showtime’s most successful series ever," Paramount co-chief executive Chris McCarthy said. Of course, the big question will be how it's possible for Dexter to return, given that he appeared to die in the last scene audiences saw him in. Variety's Emily Longeretta has more here.