The two-time Emmy winner is developing a film about the animated icon and will star as the doe-eyed flapper, The Times confirmed on Wednesday. The “Abbott Elementary” star and creator’s production company Fifth Chance Productions will team with cartoonist Max Fleischer’s grandson Mark Fleischer and their Fleischer Studios for the film. Variety first reported the news.
Brunson, in a news release shared with The Times, praised Betty Boop as one of the nation’s “most beloved cartoon characters” and said she realized “there was a much deeper story to tell” after she and Fifth Chance head of creative affairs Erin Wehrenberg met with the younger Fleischer. According to the release, the movie will chronicle the cartoon character’s origin and evolution through Max Fleischer’s perspective and will examine the “relationship between the artist and his creation as he navigates the creative and commercial pressures of building one of the world’s first animated icons, particularly as that icon begins to take on a life of its own.”
Betty Boop, designed by late cartoonist Myron (Grim) Natwick, first appeared in Max and Dave Fleischer‘s 1930 cartoon “Dizzy Dishes” as part of Fleischer Studio’s “Talkartoons” series. The Fleischer brothers asked Natwick to draft up a woman character for the popular song by Helen Kane, “Boop-Boop-A-Doop.” Natwick initially designed Betty as a dog’s head on the curvaceous figure of a woman and modeled her flapper hairdo on Kane’s own coif. As Betty Boop became more popular, Natwick revised his design to swap the character’s floppy dog’s ears for bangle earrings and shrinking her nose. Her curvaceous figure, flapper ‘do and large eyes remained.
Mae Questel, who provided the loopy, child-like voice of cartoon characters Betty Boop and Olive Oyl, poses in 1978 with a poster of Betty Boop.
(Associated Press)
Kane unsuccessfully sued Fleischer Studios and Paramount in 1932, alleging Betty Boop ripped off her voice, likeness and scat-singing. The performing community challenged that notion, tracing the scat-singing and gesticulations to earlier artists including Black jazz performer Baby Esther Jones and cabaret entertainer Florence Mills. The judge who oversaw the legal battle ruled against Kane.
Betty Boop was primarily featured in theatrical cartoons from 1930 to 1939 — voiced by Mae Questel — but her sex symbol status and general fabulousness made her an intergenerational icon. Earlier this year, the preliminary design of Betty Boop featured in “Dizzy Dishes” entered public domain.
“Quinta so embodies Betty’s love of life, intelligence, humor, sassiness and compassion that the relationship between her as Betty and Max burst into life at its mere mention,” Mark Fleischer said in a news release.
Brunson, though best known for the ABC comedy “Abbott Elementary,” first gained popularity in the 2010s for her viral social media comedy clips and her work on Buzzfeed. She appeared on TV series “A Black Lady Sketch Show” and “iZombie” before “Abbott Elementary,” about a group of educators at an underfunded Philadelphia elementary school, became a breakout hit in 2021.
“Abbott Elementary” has collected four Emmy Awards and was renewed in March for its sixth season at ABC.
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Among the latest products from Turkey’s prolific defense industry is a weapon directly inspired by the secretive AGM-114R9X variant of the widely used Hellfire, the effects of whichTWZ was the first to identify back in 2017. Named Neşter, which is Turkish for scalpel, the new weapon features exactly the same kind of array of pop-out, sword-like blades as used on the AGM-114R9X, a weapon popularly dubbed “Flying Ginsu” or “Ninja” due to its unusual capabilities.
ROKETSAN, NEŞTER’i tanıttı
🚀NEŞTER, MAM-L ürününün bir varyantı olarak, minimum ikincil hasar prensibiyle yüksek hassasiyetli vuruşlar yapmak üzere tasarlandı. Klasik çözümlerden farklı olarak, bulundurduğu yaklaşma sensörü sayesinde, hedefe temas öncesinde devreye giren ve… pic.twitter.com/bwpHUw3T2Y
Produced by Roketsan, the Neşter was unveiled today at the SAHA 2026 International Defense and Aerospace Exhibition in Istanbul. Like the AGM-119R9X, the new weapon was developed explicitly to prosecute targeted strikes while minimizing the risk of collateral damage to an extreme degree.
ROKETSAN’dan ‘cerrahi hassasiyetli’ yeni mühimmat: NEŞTER
Akıllı mühimmat MAM-L’nin varyantı olarak geliştirilen füze, #SAHA2026‘da tanıtıldı.
NEŞTER, patlayıcı içermeyen harp başlığı ve kesici yapısıyla hedefi noktasal ve kontrollü şekilde etkisiz hale getirebiliyor. pic.twitter.com/XWIn1m8kCX
The Neşter is a derivative of the same company’s MAM-L, which is described as a “lightweight smart micro-munition.” The compact dimensions of the MAM-L mean that it can be easily integrated on uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), as well as light attack aircraft. Indeed, the MAM-L has become a munition synonymous with the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone, which has been used to great effect in various conflicts, including in Syria, Libya, Ukraine, and in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
A MAM-L under the wing of a Bayraktar TB2 drone. Roketsan
Already, Roketsan offered the MAM-L with a range of different warheads, including armor-piercing, high-explosive blast-fragmentation, and thermobaric.
The Neşter differs in that it’s strictly focused on assassination strikes, with no warhead at all, instead featuring blades that make it an extremely low-collateral-damage weapon. As we have seen repeatedly with the AGM-114R9X, a weapon of this kind can target not just a vehicle, but a specific occupant inside it, slashing through the car at just the right spot.
A 2025 U.S. Central Command video showing, for the first time, the AGM-114R9X in action:
CENTCOM Forces Kill the Senior Military Leader of Al-Qaeda Affiliate Hurras al-Din (HaD) in Syria
On Feb. 23, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria, targeting and killing Muhammed Yusuf Ziya Talay, the senior military leader of… pic.twitter.com/trhDvgdgne
So far, very few specific details about the new Turkish weapon have been released.
As for the MAM-L, the manufacturer states that this is around 3.3 feet long, has a diameter of 6.3 inches, and a range of 9.3 miles. The munition reportedly weighs around 48 pounds. The new weapon is likely broadly similar in terms of dimensions and range. The Hellfire is a considerably bigger weapon than the MAM-L, being around 5.2 feet long and weighing closer to 100 pounds.
It should be noted that the MAM-L was developed from the L-UMTAS guided missile, essentially being an unpowered version featuring a similar guidance system. It’s not clear if the Neşter is powered or not, but being unpowered would reduce the kinetic effect of its impact, at least compared with the AGM-114R9X, and, without a warhead, this is critical for its destructive power.
L-UMTAS
Both the basic AGM-114R series and the MAM-L use laser guidance. However, the AGM-114R9X is thought to feature a unique additional guidance capability that leverages automation in order to strike so precisely on just one part of a vehicle.
One possibility could be a very fine-tuned imaging infrared (IIR) guidance package that zeroes in on a specific section of a vehicle automatically. This could be paired with laser guidance for initial cueing or be a standalone IIR seeker and logic package.
Images show the result of an AGM-114R9X strike on a car in Syria in 2025:
#Syria: fragments of the missiles used today by US to kill a former Horas Al-Din member near Killi (N. #Idlib). Those Hellfire missiles (R9X) use blades instead of explosives. Impact point in the vehicle also pictured. pic.twitter.com/i1N0BExedE
Other guidance options could be available for the Neşter, including a so-called “human-in-the-loop” system, something Israel pioneered and perfected, with an actual operator correcting its course in the terminal phases of flight. That capability, however, would require compatible datalinks, and the Neşter’s ground control ground terminal would have to support it.
The Neşter is known to feature a proximity sensor, which activates the blade mechanism just before contact with the target. Before they deploy, the six blades (the same number as on the AGM-114R9X) are stowed in slots that run along the missile’s body.
The Neşter on display, with blades deployed, on the Roketsan stand at the SAHA 2026 International Defense and Aerospace Exhibition in Istanbul. Roketsan
It can easily be imagined that the Turkish Armed Forces, and even Turkish paramilitary branches, could find a similar use for the Neşter, especially from the country’s growing arsenal of drones. If available with a motor, it would be suitable for the T129 ATAK helicopter and other rotorcraft as well.
The first Turkish Police T129B ATAK. Note the rocket pods carried under the stub wings. via X
The Turkish Armed Forces and police branches regularly launch (often combined) offensive operations over Turkish territory, including providing close air support to law-enforcement forces and troops on the ground. These frequently include the proactive engagement of those deemed to be terrorists, like the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
While the PKK has waged an insurgency in Turkey since 1984 and also operates extensively across its borders in Iraq and Syria, Ankara has stepped up its operations against the militants since a ceasefire with them ended in 2015.
A UH-60 helicopter is seen as Turkish soldiers conduct a military operation to combat the PKK, in the eastern Van province of Turkey, in January 2020. Photo by Ozkan Bilgin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Anadolu
The appearance of the Neşter at this point is therefore both in line with likely Turkish requirements for its counterinsurgency operations, and reflects the fact that the country is fast developing and widely exporting a wide range of drones as well as the munitions to arm them. By offering the Neşter specifically, Roketsan is cognizant of the growing requirement for munitions that can help prevent civilian casualties, while also targeting particular high-value individuals.
For export customers, the Neşter, like other Turkish munitions, would not be subject to the restrictions imposed by the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) guidelines, which can limit the transfer of defense and military technologies and services — especially the more sensitive ones — to certain countries.
At the same time, while the United States has very deliberately kept the AGM-114R9X under wraps, perhaps on account of the gruesome nature of its effects, it seems that Turkey is not nearly as coy. However, it still needs to complete the development work on the Neşter, something that is more challenging than it might at first appear.
