J.J. Abrams' first post-Star Wars movie is slowly coming together, and it'll be led by Glen Powell and Jenna Ortega

J.J. Abrams might not be liked much in certain places online after The Rise of Skywalker (a so-called franchise-killer that didn't even kill the prospect of more sequels), but he remains an effective producer and filmmaker, and while he's been sticking to producer roles for a while, he's ready to get back in the director's chair. Now, we're starting to learn who will be joining him.

Via Deadline, we've discovered that Wednesday and Beetlejuice 2 star Jenna Ortega is in advanced talks to join the cast alongside Twisters and Top Gun: Maverick's Glen Powell, another name we've been hearing over and over again as of late.

It comes as no surprise that top acting talent wants to work with Abrams, who's helmed two Star Trek and two Star Wars movies, on top of a successful reinvigoration of the Mission: Impossible franchise and Super 8, and that's without counting his many achievements on the TV side of things and all the stuff he's helped get off the ground through Bad Robot. Like it or not, he remains a huge name in Hollywood, and rising stars such as Ortega and Powell have very little to lose by teaming up with him (likely) to make a crowd-pleaser.

So, what could Abrams' new movie actually be about? Some old rumors pointed to him working on a time-travel movie of sorts, but Deadline is shooting that idea down. There's also the possibility he's chosen to focus on an adaptation of Stephen King's Billy Summers novel; Powell recently played a hitman after all. But the truth here is that everyone's just going through Bad Robot's recent public movements (of which there aren't many) in order to try and guess what the playful filmmaker is up to.

Casting these two leads suggests Warner Bros. and Bad Robot aren't looking to go small or medium with the project, yet Abrams might want to return to something simpler with his first post-Star Wars theatrical feature, perhaps to safely regain some of the general audiences and critics' trust. Then again, he's well-known for his love of genre movies and nostalgic stories, so we wouldn't be surprised either if this is another homage to beloved classics or a secret new entry in a pre-existing franchise. Stay tuned for more, as this is bound to become one of the most talked-about big-screen Hollywood projects in the coming months.