One of the most fun aspects of Loki, that they frankly have not done enough of, is when the writers use time travel aspects to explain away historical mysteries. In season one, we learned Tom Hiddleston’s Loki was actually the infamous D.B. Cooper, who robbed an airplane in the ’70s, popped out with a parachute, and vanished for all time. Now, in the second season’s penultimate episode, “Science/Fiction,” the show solved yet another historical mystery, MCU style. One involving the most infamous (and mythologized) prison in American history—Alcatraz.

At the end of episode four of this season, the Temporal Loom exploded, and we learned the different TVA employees who were in the control room, as well as Sylvie, were sent back to their lives before the TVA took them and wiped their memories. Mobius was a single dad named Don who sold jet skis (of course). O.B. was a scientist and an aspiring sci-fi author. Hunter B-15 was a doctor. Sylvie just went back to work at McDonald’s in 1982. But the most interesting true identity of a TVA employee had to be Casey. Turns out, the mild-mannered “guy at the desk” was once a notorious criminal, Alcatraz escaped convict Frank Morris.

When Loki starts time slipping again, Casey appears in 1962, escaping from Alcatraz. We even see the crude dummies the inmates made to appear as if they were sleeping during bedcheck. It’s something that really happened. Casey even says “If they catch us, they’re going to gut us like a fish!” That was a fun callback to season one, when Loki threatened to do the same to him but he had no idea what a fish even was. As they’re trying to escape, a time-slipping Loki appears on the shores of Alcatraz island in San Francisco. He finds Casey, now called Frank, who doesn’t recognize him, along with two other men getting ready to escape in a makeshift raft.

In reality, the two other men were Clarence and John Anglin. They were portrayed by the episode’s directors, Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson. The real Frank Morris was a lifelong criminal who spent much of his life in correctional facilities. Authorities arrested Morris for armed robbery, car theft, and finally, the crime that put him in Alcatraz, bank robbery. However, he had a genius I.Q., and was likely the real mastermind behind the whole escape. Being so smart, it’s no wonder the TVA wanted him as an employee.

Later in the episode, Loki appears to Frank Morris on a beach along with the other two escaped convicts, who made it to dry land. In reality, no one really knows what happened to the three men. Official reports suggest they drowned in the waters of San Francisco Bay, or hypothermia got them. But they never discovered any bodies. Over the past 60 years, some anecdotal evidence points to at least one of the men surviving. We have since mythologized the only successful escape from Alcatraz in pop culture. It was even the subject of the 1979 film Escape from Alcatraz with Clint Eastwood playing Frank Morris.

Frank accepts Loki’s offer to help restore the TVA, even though he doesn’t understand what’s going on. Once he realizes that O.B.’s temp pad can take anyone to anywhen, he even asks if it could take him into a bank vault. Even after doing time in the world’s most infamous prison, Frank still can’t get rid of the urge to rob banks. When one of the TemPads vanishes due to reality coming undone everyone thinks Frank stole it. Hey, when you’re famous for robbery, it’s hard to shake that reputation.

While we saw Frank/Casey unravel at the end of the episode, we have a strong feeling it’s not the last we’ve seen of him. If Loki has taught us anything, it’s that there’s always another branched timeline somewhere.

The post LOKI Reveals How One Character Was Involved in an Infamous Historical Event appeared first on Nerdist.

Heads will roll in Echo. And get bashed in. And explode. The first trailer for the upcoming MCU series Echo is full of violence, blood, and a whole lot of goodness. The trailer for this five-episode special event honestly looks amazing. Both Alaqua Cox’s Maya Lopez and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk are delivering. This truly looks like an MCU series like none other, and we kind of love it. Take a look at Echo‘s first trailer below, if you dare.

We first met Echo in the Hawkeye series, which carried a very different tone. And we feel thrilled to see her coming into her own in this outing. It is incredible to see a Marvel show center on a deaf and Indigenous character and for it to have taken care to support this representation in front of and behind the camera.

A logline for the series revealed with the trailer shares more about the show, noting:

No bad deed goes unpunished on Jan. 10, 2024, when Marvel Studios’ “Echo” launches on Disney+ and Hulu. The five-episode streaming event spotlights Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) as she is pursued by Wilson Fisk’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) criminal empire. When the journey brings her home, she must confront her own family and legacy. All five episodes will stream on Jan. 10 on both platforms. They’ll be available on Hulu until April 9. This marks the first Marvel Studios series to drop all entirely bingeable episodes at once. 

The relationship between the MCU’s Kingpin and Echo is fraught, as we’ve seen before and see again in this trailer. But when the chips fall, will Echo end up as much a monster as her mentor? Only time will tell. At one point, rumor had it that Charlie Cox’s Daredevil would also appear on the Echo show. And though he is not mentioned in any official materials so far, we caught a brief glimpse of Daredevil in a montage of shots featured in Echo‘s trailer. Very exciting.

As the description of the series mentions, there are a few interesting aspects of Echo‘s release. Firstly, the series will run on both Hulu and Disney+, likely an homage to its grittier nature. Echo also has the distinction of being the MCU’s first series rated TV-MA. And, of course, all episodes of Echo will land at once. Disney+ has never shared a series in this format before, so it will be interesting to see how it impacts viewership. We can only hope that it helps.

All five episodes of Echo will be available to stream on January 10.

The post Excellent ECHO Trailer Teases a Dark MCU Series Full of Heads Getting Bashed appeared first on Nerdist.

One of the greatest unrequited loves in the whole of the MCU has been the one between Loki‘s Mobius and a jet ski. Loki‘s first season gave us glimpses of Mobius’ jet ski adoration. Despite living his whole remembered life in the confines of the TVA, where there are certainly no rivers, lakes, ponds, or jet skis, Mobius had a very specific dream. In episode two of Loki season one, Mobius has a magazine with jet skis on his desk and tells Loki that he keeps it because “they’re awesome.” Then Mobius proceeds to give a touching monologue about jet skis and how they’re the only perfect thing in history. He calls them “a beautiful union of form and function.” Sadly, Mobius confesses he’s never actually ridden a jet ski. A cruel twist of fate! But did Mobius finally get to ride a jet ski in season two of Loki?

Here’s what went down.

Mobius Gets to Ride a Jet Ski in Season Two of Loki… Sort Of!

In episode five of Loki season two, we finally get to see Mobius ride a jet ski. And just like he told Loki in season one, it looks like fun. Mobius has the time of his life during his jet ski montage. He’s feeling the wind in his hair, he’s experiencing the sting of mist slapping him in the face, he’s surfing the waves. And it’s all set to some incredible funky instrumentals. But then, record scratch. It turns out Mobius hasn’t actually taken a jet ski out onto the ocean; he’s sitting on a stationary version of the watercraft in Piranha Powersports, the store where he works.

So did Mobius actually get to ride a jet ski in Loki? Well, technically, he was riding on a jet ski, but the adventure was still only in his mind. In our book, this is not that dissimilar to when he imagined riding jet skis in the TVA, though, of course, it’s closer. We feel happy that Mobius gets to actually touch and feel a real jet ski, but we still need to see him fulfilling his dreams.

Loki Season Two Enhances Mobius’ Love of Jet Skis

The anticipation is only heightening, though. Although Loki season one teased Mobius’ jet ski love, in season two, we see how deep it runs. In episode six, after the Temporal Loom’s dramatic explosion, Loki time slips to a a 2022-branched timeline where he meets a version of Mobius called Don. And this Mobius is obsessed with jet skis. He sells them and hypes them up every chance he gets. Among other things, Mobius shares that “a personal watercraft is kind of a thinking man’s dirtbike” and even very earnestly tries to sell the branched timeline version of Hunter B-15 on the idea of buying one though she lives in New York City. (New Yorkers will truly appreciate the futility of this mission. But Mobius is right; a jet ski would be a thrilling way to commute… Although maybe not on the Hudson.) What a truly pure love. It warms our hearts.

Mobius even owns two jet skis which he refers to as “beauties,” and offers to sell one to Loki. He, wholeheartedly agrees, of course, when Loki repeats his own words back to him and calls them “a beautiful union of form and function.” It would break his heart to let one go. But, well, Mobius can’t ride two of them, after all. Sounds like an excellent setup to us for a full-force “Mobius rides a jet ski” scene in Loki or elsewhere in the MCU.

The MCU Needs to Show Us Mobius Living His Dream in Full

Even though the branched timeline’s Mobius may have ridden his jet skis on open water, we don’t see our version of Mobius do that very thing. But we hope that in time, he gets to see his whole wish come true.

Producer Kevin Wright notes of the scene, “We wanted to find a way to do it in an unexpected way… I mean, there’s been so much anticipation, and I think we could have just plopped him on a jet ski riding around a lake, and people would have been just as happy. Owen said something really funny, which was he compared it a little bit to an old TV romance — will they, won’t they? He’s like, well, the second you do it, the thing kind of is done. So he’s like, if we’re going to do it now, it’s got to be really fun and really unexpected.”

He further shares, “That was kind of the genesis of, well, what if we tease this out?… We know we can get some of that out there. He’s working at a dealership. Also, the fun of, it is in Cleveland, which is not known for its water sports. It’s the dream but not exactly the ideal version of it.”

We completely agree that in the scope of this episode, this version of the moment was the right way to go. Mobius took one step toward his dream of riding a jet ski. But there’s still a dream out there ready to be realized… And two empty jet skis waiting patiently in a garage.

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The second installment of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune franchise isn’t the only new entry into Dune‘s world coming our way.  Warner Media, together with Legendary Television, is creating a Dune tie-in series titled Dune: The Sisterhood. The show will serve as a prequel to the films and focus on the Harkonnen Sisters as they create the mysterious order of the Bene Gesserit. Villeneuve will even serve as an executive producer.

Dune: The Sisterhood may be transforming a bit, though, when it comes to its title. According to IGN, the series has been renamed Dune: Prophecy and is expected to arrive in fall 2024. We’ll be excited to soon hear more about the show if this is true.

Here’s everything we know about Dune: The Sisterhood so far.

Title

The title for this Dune series is Dune: The Sisterhood.

Dune: The Sisterhood‘s Plot

We do not have specifics about Dune: The Sisterhood‘s plot. But, as mentioned, we do know it will serve as a prequel to the story taking place in Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two. A logline for the show reveals more about what we can expect:

Set within the mystical world of Dune, created by acclaimed author Frank Herbert, and 10,000 years before the ascension of Paul Atreides, Dune: The Sisterhood follows the Harkonnen Sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit.

Behind the Scenes

To help cement the connection between the series and movies, Denis Villeneuve will serve as an executive producer on Dune: The Sisterhood. Meanwhile, Alison Schapker will be the showrunner and an executive producer of the series. Schapker previously worked as an executive producer on Westworld. She also had a hand in Netflix’s Altered Carbon and other series like Fringe, Lost, and Almost Human. Additionally, Warner Media shares that “Diane Ademu-John serves as creator, writer, and executive producer.”

According to a release:

Academy Award-nominated writer Jon Spaihts, Scott Z. Burns, Mark Friedman and Matthew King will executive produce with Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt and Kim Herbert for the Frank Herbert estate. Kevin J. Anderson will co-produce. The series is co-produced by HBO Max and Legendary Television with Legendary also producing the film franchise that released its first installment to critical acclaim in October 2021 and garnered six Academy Awards, including Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Dune: The Sisterhood‘s Cast

So far, we’ve seen quite a few exciting casting announcements for Dune: The Sisterhood.

Emily Watson will act as the lead of the show. Watson will play the role of Valya Harkonnen. Shirley Henderson was slated to play Tula Harkonnen but has exited the series. Other cast members include:

• Indira Varma as Empress Natalya, a formidable royal who united thousands of worlds in her marriage to Emperor Corrino
• Sarah-Sofie Boussnina as Princess Ynez, an independent young princess dealing with the pressures of her responsibility as heir to the Golden Lion Throne
• Shalom Brune-Franklin as Mikaela, a strong-willed Fremen woman who serves the royal family while longing for a home planet she’s never known
• Faoileann Cunningham as Sister Jen, a fierce, unpredictable acolyte in training at the Sisterhood School who rarely reveals her emotional core
• Aoife Hinds as Sister Emeline, a zealous acolyte descended from a long line of martyrs, who carries fervent religion to her training at the Sisterhood
• Chloe Lea as Lila, the youngest acolyte at the Sisterhood School with a deep empathy beyond her years
• Travis Fimmel as Desmond Hart, a charismatic soldier with an enigmatic past, who seeks to gain the Emperor’s trust at the expense of the Sisterhood
• Mark Strong as Javicco Corrino, a man from a great line of war-time Emperors, who is called upon to govern the Imperium and manage a fragile peace
• Jade Anouka as Sister Theodosia, a talented and ambitious acolyte at the Sisterhood who harbors a dangerous secret about her past
• Chris Mason as Keiran Atreides, a Swordmaster to a Great House whose ambition to live up to his family name is disrupted when he forms an unexpected connection to a member of the royal family
• Josh Heuston as Constantine, the illegitimate son of the Emperor (Strong). His character is described as being ‘torn between seeking his father’s approval and his own happiness
• Edward Davis as Harrow Harkonnen, a rising politician from a once-great family, who harbors a strong desire to elevate his House to its former glory

Dune: The Sisterhood‘s Release Date

Dune: The Sisterhood does not yet have a release date.

Originally published in 2021.

Editor’s Note: Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks.

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Superman & Lois’ upcoming fourth season will officially be its last, according to news we saw at The Hollywood Reporter. The series, which premiered in 2021, has been one of the best iterations of the Man of Steel mythos ever. Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent and Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois Lane instantly won over the hearts of DC Comics fandom. But with The CW changing ownership, their programming is undergoing an overhaul as well, with fewer scripted shows. In a statement, The CW’s Brad Schwartz said the following:

“Over the last three seasons, Superman & Lois redefined both the superhero genre and family drama as Tyler, Elizabeth and the entire cast effortlessly portrayed these classic characters with new layers of depth and complexity that had never before been explored in the Superman universe. We are grateful for the years of hard work and graceful storytelling from the show’s writers, producers, actors, and crew, as well as our terrific partners at Warner Bros. Television and Berlanti Productions. As Superman embarks on his final flight, the team is leaving us with an absolutely epic 10-episode must-watch-every-minute farewell to one of the most legendary CW families ever.”

The end of Superman & Lois shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, for many reasons. With James Gunn launching a new DCU and Superman: Legacy in 2025, he probably wants only one iteration of Superman in live-action. He also wants one consistent DC Universe across film and TV. This means the old Arrowverse (of which Superman & Lois is technically a spinoff) must come to an end.

The cancelation of Superman & Lois marks the true end of an era. Since 2012, after the debut of Arrow, producer Greg Berlanti launched a staggering 11 DC Comics-based shows. These include The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, Batwoman, and for Max, Stargirl, Doom Patrol, and Titans. The last two were Gotham Knights and Superman & Lois. We just hope that knowing the show has an endpoint in advance will allow the writers to craft a fitting finale for the Kent family.

The post SUPERMAN & LOIS to End With Season 4 appeared first on Nerdist.

This week we heard discussions about the original Avengers returning to the MCU, saw a Mean Girls sequel (kind of), and learned the secrets of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 post-credits scenes and Easter eggs. But in the mix of all of that, there have been some truly exciting announcements and reveals we wouldn’t want you to miss out on.

Here are some of our favorite pop-culture news odds & ends from this week.

This Week’s Odds & Ends in News

Jump to:

• Poltergeist TV Series Is in Development at Amazon MGM Studios 
• Disney+’s Cancelled Captain Nemo TV Series Nautilus Saved By AMC
• The Fall of the House of Usher Prop Auction Invites You to Purchase Something Haunted and Stylish
• Another John Wick Spinoff Series Is Apparently In Development
• Bratz Dressed Up as Barbie for Halloween, and Rick and Morty Dressed as Five Nights at Freddy’s
• The Boys Will Likely Have More Seasons Than Originally Planned
• Sesame Street Is Changing Its Format to Include “More Peril”
• Fourth Wing TV Series in the Works From Amazon and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society
• Jurassic World LEGO Sets Are Roaring to Life in January 2024
• Horror Sequels Galore! The Black Phone 2 and It Follows 2 Are On the Way, Terrifier 3 Sets Release Date

Poltergeist TV Series Is in Development at Amazon MGM Studios 

You can never be free of some ghosts. Variety reports a series adaptation of the classic ’80s movie Poltergeist is in the works at Amazon MGM Studios. Currently, no plot details or writers are attached to the series. However, we know “Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey will executive produce on behalf of Amblin Television.” In 1999, Showtime released a four-season series adaptation set in Poltergiest‘s world—but television has come a long way since.

For more horror-based TV, check out what we know about Max’s The Conjuring show.

Disney+’s Cancelled Captain Nemo TV Series Nautilus Saved By AMC

In a worrying streaming trend, shows are being ordered and completed only to be canceled before release. But sometimes, there is good news. Deadline reports that although Disney+ canceled its Nautilus series, a 10-episode TV show based on Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, AMC has now saved the series. Nautilus will air on AMC and AMC+ in 2024 and tell the origin story of the iconic Captain Nemo.

To see what we learned about Nautilus initially, check out our write-up here:

The Fall of the House of Usher Prop Auction Invites You to Purchase Something Haunted and Stylish

Mike Flanagan’s final show with Netflix, The Fall of the House of Usher, was filled with horrifying yet beautiful visuals. If you loved the show’s aesthetic, you can now take a part of it home with a special prop auction.

The Fall of the House of Usher auction will take place from November 15-29 with 100% of its proceeds going to charity. Among other items, you can bid on “Verna’s (Carla Gugino) Rave Costume with Red Cloak,” “Napoleon ‘Leo’ Usher’s (Rahul Kohli) Drywall-Covered ‘Thor’ Hammer Replica,” and “Arthur Pym’s (Mark Hamill) Briefcase with Files and Accessories.”

For more about The Fall of the House of Usher‘s aesthetic, take a look at what its use of color really means.

Another John Wick Spinoff Series Is Apparently In Development

Surprise! Another John Wick spinoff series is apparently in development, according to John Wick director Chad Stahelski. Stahelski noted to Collider, “We’re doing a John Wick TV show, which, again, keeps my head going.” And added, “I would love to do a couple of episodes of the TV show just because I think I’d have fun trying things that we didn’t get to try in the films. I mean, absolutely. There’s some great ideas. And to work with a different cast and a different story structure without John Wick, it would be a fun challenge.”

Another John Wick spinoff show, aside from The Continental, which recently aired, doesn’t seem to have been widely announced yet. So we guess we’ll stay tuned to see what develops.

As if that weren’t enough John Wick, John Wick 5 is still on the table.

Bratz Dressed Up as Barbie for Halloween, and Rick and Morty Dressed as Five Nights at Freddy’s

Happy Halloween from our favorite franchises. In a bit of a shady move, some Bratz dolls dressed as the unimpressed teens looking at Barbie for Halloween—a truly hilarious spin on a Barbie movie costume which was, admittedly, very popular this year.

Meanwhile, Rick and Morty‘s characters disguised themselves as Five Nights at Freddy’s animatronics, homaging the popular game series that just released its movie adaptation. We love series dressing as series!

If you enjoyed Five Nights at Freddy‘s, you may be wondering what that sound at the end of the credits means.

The Boys Will Likely Have More Seasons Than Originally Planned

The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke originally planned for the series to have a five-season run. But it looks like that number is now defunct, and The Boys will likely have more seasons than that. Kripke shared with Inverse, “I have since realized that literally, no one in history is worse at predicting the amount of seasons of a show, like literally. I have learned my lesson, and I’ve stopped predicting how many seasons these shows go. You will find out in hindsight.” With the popularity of The Boys and its spinoff Gen V, that seems like a fair assessment to us.

Catch up with Gen V‘s most gory and shocking moments, here:

Sesame Street Is Changing Its Format to Include “More Peril”

Sesame Street wants you to know you can reinvent yourself at any age. Recently, The Hollywood Reporter revealed Sesame Street‘s format would be “reimagined” for season 56. The show will drop its “magazine style” format, which has been around for decades, in favor of “two longer, more narrative-driven segments, which will be paired with a new animated series, Tales From 123.”

Wilson Stallings, the executive VP and chief creative development and production officer for Sesame Workshop shared, “Kids love a little bit of peril, they love having emotional stakes, and in nine minutes, it’s kind of hard to really dive into those areas really effectively.” The show hopes to be able to tell a more compelling tale with these changes.

Be that as it may, we have to wonder, does Sesame Street really need more peril?

All we have to say is that Sesame Street had better keep gems like this.

Fourth Wing TV Series in the Works From Amazon and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society

Amazon MGM Studios and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society will be bringing to life a TV series based on Rebecca Yarros’ popular fantasy series, Fourth Wing. This overall deal includes all the books from the Fourth Wing universe titled The Empyrean, including its sequel Iron Flame, releasing on November 7, and the three books slated to follow.

Per Variety, the logline for the TV series shares:

Enter the brutal world of Basgiath War College where there is only one rule: Graduate or Die. Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail expected to live a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general― her tough-as-talons mother―has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. If the fire-breathing beasts don’t kill her, one of her fellow riders just might. Suspense, action, romance, and dragons blend together in a propulsive fantasy adventure from NYT bestselling author Rebecca Yarros.

In other fantasy novel adaptation news, House of the Dragon season two will release in the summer of 2024.

Jurassic World LEGO Sets Are Roaring to Life in January 2024

Show off your dino love with these two new Jurassic World LEGO sets. First up is a Dinosaur Fossils: T. rex Skull LEGO set, which turns LEGOs into bones. The official description of the set shares, “The first Jurassic World set made for display features a skull with an opening jaw, a stand with an information plaque, a hidden ‘amber’ piece at the back of the model and a ‘fossilized’ footprint.” Honestly, building a T. rex skull out of LEGOS, teeth and all, is pretty cool.

Also available is the “Baby Dinosaur Rescue Center” LEGO set and it comes complete with a bunch of, you guessed it, baby dinos. D’aww. Both Jurrasic World LEGO sets will release on January 1, 2024.

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For more creative and nature-focused LEGO fun, check out LEGO’s insect collection.

Horror Sequels Galore! The Black Phone 2 and It Follows 2 Are On the Way, Terrifier 3 Sets Release Date

October may be over, but Halloween season never is. And it’s a good thing, too, because a ton of horror sequels are coming our way.

First up, the truly terrifying Universal and Blumhouse movie, The Black Phone, will get a sequel. The Black Phone 2 is currently set to release on June 27, 2025 and, per Variety, will be the “launch of a sinister new franchise.” We have chills already.

Next, It Follows will also receive a sequel titled They Follow. The writer and director of It Follows, David Robert Mitchell, will return for the sequel alongside star Maika Monroe. It Follows was a movie that encapsulated the terrifying feeling of someone always lurking behind you, and we bet its sequel will double the sensation.

Finally, Terrifier 3 and its terrifying slasher Art the Clown will arrive in theaters on October 25, 2024, for another round of Christmas horror. We can’t wait to see what terrifying naughty-list mayhem will transpire.

In case you were curious, we’ve broken down the horoscopes of 12 iconic horror villains.

The post Another JOHN WICK Series in the Works, JURASSIC WORLD LEGO Sets, and More News Odds & Ends appeared first on Nerdist.

The Upside Down has never looked cuter. Fisher-Price’s latest Little People collector sets bring us the world of Stranger Things but in adorable miniature. Of course, the world of Stranger Things is no less harrowing or strange than we know it to be in these toy sets; it’s just, well, cuter. Vecna certainly looks like the most adorable version of himself that we’ve ever seen. But he’s not the only one. In total, Fisher-Price has announced three new Stranger Things Little People Collector sets, and they include all our favorite characters and moments from the series. These sets are the perfect thing to distract us as we wait for Stranger Things 5.

Take a look at the details of the “Castle Byers,” “Max’s Song, and “Hellfire Club” collectibles below.

Stranger Things’ New Fisher-Price Little People Collector Sets

Castle Byers Figures Take Us Back to Season One

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Head all the way back to the very first season of Stranger Things with this Fisher-Price Little People Collector Set. With this collection of figures, you can explore the castle both from within and without the Upside Down. There’s even a precious Demogorgon that gives Dart a run for its money. Just wait until it adorably tries to chomp your face off.

A release for this set shares, “True fans know Eleven loves a good waffle and can see the nethering creep and crawl across the packaging bringing Castle Byers and the Upside Down to life.” And additionally, “Fans can revel in the wonderful world of Stranger Things with this Little People Collector set, which features the whole gang including Eleven, Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, and Will Byers, plus the monstrous (but really awesome looking) Demogorgon. Each figure stands over 2.5 inches tall and is styled in each character’s signature look from the first season.”

It really is a blast from the past, in the best way.

The Castle Byers Stranger Things Fisher-Price Little People Collector set is available on Amazon. It costs $29.99.

The Max’s Song Stranger Things Little People Collector’s Set Is Adorably Terrifying

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Okay, this Little People Stranger Things toy set is absolutely ridiculous, but we love it. Is there a more harrowing scene than when Max starts to rise to the sky with her eyes rolling back into her head in Stranger Things 4? Any minute now, Vecna will crack her bones. Just look at the darling terror on Steve’s face. The juxtaposition of terrifying and cute really shows how committed these Stranger Things Little People sets are to their bit.

A release shares, “Fans of the hit Netflix series, Stranger Things, can relive the memorable scene from Season 4 when Max’s favorite song saves her from Vecna’s curse with this special edition Little People Collector Max’s Song set from Fisher-Price. Featuring 5 Little People figures styled like Max Mayfield, Lucas Sinclair, Steve Harrington, Dustin Henderson, and Vecna, this must-have set comes in a display-worthy package that takes fans from the cemetery to the Upside Down.”

And little Vecna? Come on, this one is just incredible.

The Max’s Song Stranger Things Fisher-Price Little People Collector set is available at Target. It costs 29.99.

The Hellfire Club Figure Set Is the Best

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Who could more deserve a Little People Collectors figure than Eddie Munson? No one. This Stranger Things collection celebrating the Hellfire Club is our favorite. It captures the joy the club brings to all its members and especially to us. We love all the details on this set of figures, especially Erica’s American Flag, Dustin’s cap, and the miniature Hellfire Club shirts. We’re going to need these figures for our collection immediately.

A release shares, “​Inspired by the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, this special edition Little People Collector Hellfire Club set brings the members of the Hawkins High School’s group down to Little People figurine size. Assemble the team and relive the campaign to vanquish Vecna with Eddie Munson, Dustin Henderson, Mike Wheeler, and Erica Sinclair. Arriving in a specially designed, display-worthy package, this Little People Collector figure set is the perfect gift for fans and RPG players.”

The Hellfire Clubs Stranger Things Fisher-Price Little People Collector set is available at Best Buy. It costs $24.99.

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Stephen King’s IT has haunted us since 1986. But most recently, IT and IT: Chapter Two directed by Andy Muschietti really captivated popular imagination. The devious Pennywise and his red balloon caused a stir among die-hard horror fans and casual viewers. And now, we’re heading back to Derry for more of that specific world. The newly coined streamer Max (formerly HBO Max) has officially greenlit and ordered Welcome To Derry, an IT prequel series from Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs. And now we know who will star in Welcome to Derry and when it will arrive on our screens.

The platform recently revealed that Welcome to Derry‘s cast will include Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, and James Remar. According to Deadline, Madeleine Stowe and Stephen Rider have also come aboard in recurring guest and series regular roles, respectively. Additionally, although the Pennywise series was slated for a Halloween 2024 release on Max, HBO CEO Casey Bloys now reveals that it will likely come in 2025.

According to TV Line, Andy Muschietti will also direct several episodes of the series, including its first. The publication reports the HBO IT series will be set in the ’60s. It will delve into the origins of Derry’s curse and, presumably, Pennywise the Clown. The HBO Max show will eventually lead to the first IT film.

It’s not clear whether we’d see Pennywise become the main character of the Welcome to Derry prequel show. But we wouldn’t mind seeing Bill Skarsgård step into the role once more. Though, for now, it doesn’t seem like he’ll have any involvement.

Skarsgård shared the following about the IT prequel with Jake’s Takes:

As of now, I’m not currently involved in it… If someone else gets to do it, my advice would be: Do it your own. Make it your own. Have fun with it… What I thought was so pleasurable about that character was how incredibly abstract he was.

We do, however, have a look at first look at the set of the series.

We’ll just have to see what else lies in store for Pennywise and Derry.

Originally published on February 23, 2023.

The post Max IT Prequel Series WELCOME TO DERRY Release Date Delayed to 2025 appeared first on Nerdist.

After many years of insisting that its platform would remain ad-free, Netflix’s ad tier launched a year ago. At the same time, Netflix also put significant efforts into its password-sharing crackdown, another long-time facet of the platform. And it seems like, in combination and alongside strategic price shifts, Netflix’s ad tier has found success.

In May, Netflix revealed that its ad tier had 5 million monthly active users. It now shares that number has tripled in its latest report. In a blog post, Netflix notes that its ad-supported plan “[reaches] 15 million global monthly active users.” That is indeed a huge jump. In that span of time, Netflix became increasingly strict about account-sharing. And it also moved to increase the price of its ad-free offerings. Deadline notes that “Instead of paying the new fee to share their passwords, evidence suggests that many subscribers simply enrolled in the ad-supported plan.” Since Netflix’s ad-free plans cost nearly double its current ad-supported tier, it’s not surprising that users would be drawn to the cheapest option when faced with needing to change their mechanism of viewing.

Unfortunately for the consumer, it seems like what’s always been true for the television and movie business remains true for streaming. Ads generate money. Across the board, streaming platforms that once sought to disrupt the traditional ecosystem are returning to their roots. And for those trying to watch their favorite shows, that means more ads, more price hikes, and more password-sharing crackdowns are on the horizon.

Netflix’s update does have some good news for users, though. In an effort to enhance the member experience, Netflix has “upgraded the feature set of our ads plan to include 1080p versus 720p video quality, two concurrent streams, and downloads to become available by the end of this week. All members of the ad-supported plan will be able to download their favorite series and movies, making Netflix the only ad-supported streamer to offer downloads.” Downloads are a convenient facet of Netflix’s offerings, so it’s nice that ad-tier users will get that ability back.

Additionally, Netflix notes that it has developed a new “binge ad (wt) format.” Essentially this means that “after watching three consecutive episodes, members will be presented with a fourth episode ad-free.” Netflix has always based itself partially on a model of continuous viewing. We suppose this is good news if you were intending to watch a whole series in one sitting already.

As streaming shenanigans continue to occur, it will be interesting to see if these new developments are actually sustainable.

The post Netflix’s Ad Tier Hits 15 Million Users, Spurred by Password-Sharing Crackdown and Price Shifts appeared first on Nerdist.

In Stranger Things 4, fans met and fell in love with Eddie Munson. But, unfortunately, they didn’t get to spend too much time with him. After all, there were tons of characters and plots that divided the screen time. And then, of course, Eddie met his untimely death, much to the sadness of all. But happily, Stranger Things: Flight of Icarus, a Stranger Things prequel novel by Caitlin Schneiderhan, sets aside time for us to spend just with Eddie Munson. In the pages of this Eddie Munson-centric book, fans get to uncover many fascinating facts about Eddie, some we already kind of knew and some we were delighted to discover.

Although the book has many other fun facets for you to explore, like Eddie blackmailing Hawkins High’s principal into letting Hellfire Club exist (but only after he was blackmailed first), his early meetings with Reefer Rick, and his relationship with Wayne—here are some of the best things we learned about Eddie Munson from the Stranger Things prequel book Flight of Icarus.

Eddie Munson Is Corroded Coffin’s Lead Singer and Writes His Own Songs

Since Stranger Things 4, fans have speculated about who exactly played the role of Corroded Coffin’s lead singer. Although many imagine it was Eddie, in truth, Stranger Things never let us know for sure. But Stranger Things: Flight of Icarus is here to unequivocally confirm that Eddie Munson is Corroded Coffin’s lead singer.

But not only that, the Eddie Munson prequel book reveals that Eddie is also a songwriter. In Flight of Icarus, Eddie plays his/Corroded Coffin’s original song “Fire Shroud” during an important story moment. We have to say, between songwriting and DM-ing, we love the idea of Eddie Munson growing up to be an author should he mysteriously return to life.

Eddie and Chrissy Bonded Over Their Bad Parents at the Middle School Talent Show

To the delight of many HellCheer fans, Eddie and Chrissy’s meeting at the middle-school talent show gets a long flashback in this Stranger Things prequel book. Stranger Things 4 mentioned the encounter, but Flight of Icarus puts a lot of meat on its bones.

As they wait their turn to perform, Eddie and Chrissy run into one another away from everyone else. They’re both trying to sneak a peak at the audience and thinking of their respective bad parents. Eddie is looking for his dad, who isn’t there though he promised to be, and Chrissy is looking at her mother, who, though present, only wants to pick at her daughter. Eddie and Chrissy commiserate over their shared lack of support and promise to cheer one another on in lieu of having anyone else who will. After the show, when Eddie’s father has indeed bailed, and Chrissy’s mother is indeed criticizing her, they share a smile that salvages the evening.

Eddie Loves to Discuss the Intricacies of Elven Politics in Tolkien

We knew Eddie was a J.R.R. Tolkien nerd. (“The Shire is burning, so Mordor it is,” anyone?) But we didn’t know how deep the nerdery went. In the book, we learn Eddie Munson can give a half-hour monologue on the “intricacies of Elven politics in Tolkien.”

Eddie Munson’s Mother Taught Him to Love Music (But Sadly, She Died)

Stranger Things: Flight of Icarus reveals that although Eddie Munson’s father taught him how to play the guitar, it’s Eddie’s mother who taught him to love music. While we only learn a little about her, it’s clear Eddie’s mom wasn’t a fit with Hawkins either. And she used her favorite music, Chicago blues, as a way to connect to the wider world and learn its stories. Eddie’s mom taught him music could be transformative, a means to go somewhere he couldn’t literally. He shares, “My mom’s music was plane tickets. I guess that makes my music a portal to another dimension.”

Eddie Was Gareth’s Mentor Figure Before He Was Dustin’s

Hawkins, Indiana, sees Eddie Munson as a big bad wolf, but the truth couldn’t be further from that vision. In Stranger Things 4, we see Eddie as a brotherly figure to Dustin, helping him find his way in the world and treating him as an equal and friend. But it turns out, much like Steve Harrington, Eddie has had an assortment of younger friends that he’s helped evolve. In Stranger Things: Flight of Icarus, we meet future Corroded Coffin member Gareth. While Gareth is a seasoned member of Hellfire Club by the time of Stranger Things 4, in the Eddie Munson prequel book, he barely knows or likes Dungeons & Dragons. He’s mostly looking for a place he can fit in, and that’s what brings him to Hellfire Club.

Ultimately, Eddie provides that place for Gareth, and we see him teaching Gareth how to love the game and, more importantly, how to love and be true to himself.

Eddie Munson Got to Meet Will Byers

Speaking of mentoring, one of the biggest fan regrets that came after Eddie Munson’s Stranger Things 4 death is that he didn’t get to meet Will Byers. Fans rightfully believed Will would have delighted Eddie and that Eddie would have been aspirational for Will. But happily, Eddie Munson and Will Byers get to interact in Stranger Things: Flight of Icarus.

When some bully jocks heckle Will, Eddie steps in to distract them and save Will and then passes on words of wisdom to the distraught younger boy. It’s a big moment for Eddie, who is finally ready to embrace his own advice, and probably had an impact on Will. (“To hell with what they think./You’re the only person who knows who you are.”) Eddie also tells Will that Zombie Boy is a metal nickname and invites him to Hellfire Club after immediately clocking that Will plays Dungeons & Dragons.

Eddie Often Puts Himself Between His Flock and Bullies’ Fists

Will isn’t the only mini-Freak that Eddie saves from terrible jocks, though. Almost any time a younger nerd is in danger in Flight of Icarus, Eddie Munson steps in to distract the bully. Sometimes he protects kids he doesn’t even know. The idea that Eddie thinks he’s a coward is especially ridiculous after this Stranger Things prequel novel. Eddie Munson is taking literal punches, baseball bats to the stomach, and a lot of ridicule to protect those who are part of his freak flock. We can’t think of anything more heroic than that.

Eddie Munson Had a Best Friend Who Rocks (And Is Possibly Queer)

Eddie’s best friend Ronnie is also his first friend, and he’s known her since childhood. According to Eddie, they’re pretty similar, “same broken home, same trailer park, same haircut.” Except unlike Eddie, “Veronica Ecker is going places. She’s headed to college, she’s headed to law school, she’s getting the hell out of Indiana.” (“Eddie Munson? He’s gonna die in this town.”)

It’s devastating that Eddie ends up being right about this summation because Ronnie would not have disagreed harder with it. Throughout Stranger Things: Flight of Icarus, Ronnie is the person who believes in Eddie the most overtly, except for his Uncle Wayne. Ronnie can see what’s so special about Eddie and the space he creates for other “freaks” in need of it. Ronnie and Eddie have a real “platonic life partners” energy that both resembles Robin and Steve’s Stranger Things dynamic but is completely different. It’s a shame that Ronnie and Eddie end things on a sad note.

Another cool thing about Ronnie is that Flight of Icarus implies she’s queer. After Eddie tries to make a move on her, Ronnie lets him know that she doesn’t like anyone that way and “didn’t think she’d ever have a crush on anybody.” It certainly feels queer-coded.

Eddie’s Guitar Is the Only Thing That Survived a Fire in His House

Eddie’s sweetheart is one metal guitar. Not only does she play a concert in the Upside Down, but she’s actually the only thing that survives a major fire in the house Eddie once shared with his dad. Eddie loses all of his other belongings, including his mom’s records, some of the last things he had to remember her by, but miraculously his guitar survives. This Flight of Icarus backstory makes Eddie Munson’s Upside Down weapon of choice that much more special.

The post The 9 Best Eddie Munson Facts We Learned From the STRANGER THINGS Prequel Novel appeared first on Nerdist.

Friends has been such a phenomenon for so long it’s hard to remember it was once just another new sitcom, most of which come and go without anyone noticing. It’s not as though a coveted spot in NBC’s legendary Thursday night “Must See TV” ’90s lineup guaranteed lasting success, let alone a place in TV’s proverbial Pantheon, either. When’s the last time you watched a rerun of The Single Guy or Suddenly Susan? But after nearly three decades as an omnipresent juggernaut it’s easy to forget Friends was once just hoping to find an audience big enough to keep it on the air. And that’s why it’s also easy to forget just how important Matthew Perry was in making that happen. All of Friends‘s stars are now TV icons, but without his Chandler Bing the show never would have become the sensation it still is.

The outpouring of grief after the sad passing of Matthew Perry at just 54 years old has shown just how much he and Friends mean to so many. That’s not surprising. The series’ longevity has created multiple generations of fans. Some viewers have been watching reruns for most of their lives. Friends is one of those shows, even in the streaming era, that seems to always be on somewhere. For the millions who watch it again and again, the six stars of the show have become a comforting presence. To lose one of them is really like losing an old friend who always made them laugh.

The series’ popularity and unbroken, ubiquitous spot in pop culture have made it so all six actors are equally important to its lasting success. With good reason. Friends wouldn’t be Friends without all of them. Even with six standout individual performances the show’s sum is still greater than its parts. But that wasn’t always the case. In the beginning Matthew Perry’s Chandler Bing stood out from the group. Not just within the show, either. He wasn’t merely the “funny one” on Friends. His charming, sarcastic, emotionally scarred Chandler was instantly one of the funniest characters on TV. He was the one who elevated Friends above other sitcoms at a time when network shows ruled pop culture.

Perry’s role in turning a new show into a sensation, all while playing a normal character in an ensemble, is still just as impressive three decades later. He made us laugh with nothing more than a well-timed eyebrow raise. He made Chandler Bing a comedic genius with timeless, perfectly delivered one-liners. Most importantly, he was a comedy anchor on a show that was not universally loved during its first season. Without Matthew Perry Friends might never have even truly become Friends. Without Chandler the show might never had had the chance to grow into what it became. It certainly wouldn’t have been as good.

For those who weren’t around when Friends debuted this could easily sound like hyperbole bestowed on a beloved actor who left us too soon. For those who watched from day one this is actually an understatement. Chandler Bing was without question one of the best, funniest, most singular characters on TV. And it didn’t take Perry long to establish himself as one of the best ever. All of which made him standout even more. If you asked anyone who cared about comedy in 1995 which TV star was destined for greatness, he would have been the number one answer. He really was a revelation. On the page the phrase “could I be anymore :blank:” is less than nothing. There’s nothing inherently funny about that line. Yet he made it an all-time famous gag you can only hear (and impersonate) in his voice.

If he could be that funny saying that, what else could he do? Could he be any funnier?

Watching Matthew Perry during Friends‘ early seasons was like watching a young Ken Griffey Jr. play centerfield for the Mariners. It did not seem like a ceiling existed for Matthew Perry. He might never have matched his Friends success elsewhere, but how many actors ever create a character a fraction as memorable as Chandler Bing once, let alone twice? How many people ever star on something anywhere near as popular and enduring as Friends, period? The early promise of Chandler Bing delivered exactly the kind of success everyone predicted for Matthew Perry. It just came on Friends, a show that is still as loved as ever.

Chandler Bing is not the legacy Matthew Perry hoped would define him. He didn’t think starring on Friends was his greatest accomplishment in life. To him that honor went to his work helping other addicts recover. That’s a testament to who he was as a person, and it’s the memory fans who loved him should carry in their hearts.

What he did off-screen mattered more than what he did on it. But the reaction to his passing has proven what he did professionally mattered to a lot of people, too. So we can honor his wish while also celebrating his amazing career. He created an incredible character who elevated a show that has brought immeasurable joy to countless people for nearly 30 years. And it will continue to bring them joy for many more, because Chandler Bing was a phenomenon who became a legend. That won’t ever be easy to forget.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

The post In Memory of Matthew Perry: When Chandler Bing Ruled the TV World appeared first on Nerdist.

A lot has happened in the world of entertainment this week. Prime Video’s Gen V is really setting up season four of The Boys, Loki season two is making big moves with franchise level implications, and Disney released Chris Pine’s villain song. But that’s not all that’s gone down.

Here are some of our favorite pop-culture news odds & ends that you don’t want to miss.

This Week’s Odds & Ends in News:

• EA Motive’s Iron Man Game Gets Much-Anticipated Updates
• Magic: The Gathering‘s The Lord of the Rings Collection Expands with Four New Scene Boxes
• NYC Transit App Becomes Pokémon Go of Rats and Informs You About the Rattiness of a Station
• Get Up to Some Mischief with BoxLunch’s Loki Collection
• Disneyland Resort Announces Pixar Place Hotel, the First Fully Pixar-Themed US Hotel
• Goldfish Elf Maple Syrup Flavored Grahams Are Swimming in for the Holidays
• Lost and Avatar: The Last Airbender Concerts Coming Soon
• Buy a Tiny Elf Home on Zillow
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Actor Wants Spidey-Pool in a Future Game

EA Motive’s Iron Man Game Gets Much-Anticipated Updates

Last September, Marvel Entertainment and EA’s Motive Studios announced they were teaming up for a brand new Iron Man game. This “all-new single-player, third-person, action-adventure” will “feature an original narrative that taps into the rich history of Iron Man, channeling the complexity, charisma, and creative genius of Tony Stark and enabling players to feel what it’s like to truly play as Iron Man.”

We haven’t heard too much about it since, but recently, the game received a few exciting updates. First, EA Motive shared that while the game was still in early pre-production, it had selected Unreal Engine 5 as its game engine. Additionally, a Community Council of Iron Man and Marvel fans has been selected to offer feedback on the game’s creation. And finally, Marvel Comics’ own Ryan North has joined the Iron Man game’s writing team, bringing his passion and expertise to the table. All of that sounds incredibly promising.

For more fun Avengers adventures, check out the trailer for LEGO Marvel Avengers: Code Red.

Magic: The Gathering‘s The Lord of the Rings Collection Expands with Four New Scene Boxes

Magic: The Gathering‘s The Lord of the Rings collection is really something spectacular. And now, its gorgeous offerings continue to expand with four special Tales of Middle-Earth Scene Boxes. These special sets offer fans and collectors “6 foil Borderless cards with art that combine to showcase one of the most epic scenes from The Lord of the Rings” as well as “6 Art Cards featuring the same art without any game text obscuring the view” and three booster packs which contain 12 cards each, “including 1–4 cards of rarity Rare or higher.”

The four scenes depicted in these special The Lord of the Rings Magic card box sets are Gandalf in Pelennor Fields, The Might of Galadriel, Flight of the Witch-King, and Aragorn at Helm’s Deep. Each set costs around $41, or all four are available for purchase for $144. All of these incredible box sets go on sale on November 3. We first saw these on GameSpot.

To explore more about Magic: The Gathering‘s The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth set, check out our deep dive into the set, here.

NYC Transit App Becomes Pokémon Go of Rats and Informs You About the Rattiness of a Station

Catching a glimpse of a rat in NYC is kind of like playing Pokémon Go in real life, right? To help the vision along, an app called Transit, which we first saw on Kotaku, is helping to detect rat-levels across NYC’s many different subway stops. Transit shares, “We enlisted thousands of rodent spotters across the five boroughs to rank the rattiest stations.” And in the end, Transit created the “NYC Subway Rat Detector.” Rats, it turns out, are everywhere, but in some places more than others. Those who actually download the Transit app can get updated reports on the state of their favorite station and check-in regularly on the rat situation. No word yet on what happens if you throw a Poké Ball in the direction of an NYC rat… But we’ll have to suggest that you don’t.

Did you know that rats can play video games too? Take a look at these rats playing Doom II.

Get Up to Some Mischief with BoxLunch’s Loki Collection

Ready to embrace some extra mischief in your life? BoxLunch’s Loki collection is here to help you celebrate Loki, Sylvie, Mobius, Miss Minutes, and the TVA. Even though Loki and co. are probably going to bring down some multiversal mayhem on us all, it doesn’t mean we can’t look stylish while they do. And what could we possibly need more in our lives than an Alligator Loki plush? Ask yourselves.

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The full BoxLunch Loki collection is available here.

To catch up with Loki season two check out our latest write-up.

Disneyland Resort Announces Pixar Place Hotel, the First Fully Pixar-Themed US Hotel

Disneyland + Pixar + fully-themed hotel? Sounds like a match made in heaven to us. We honestly can’t believe the United States didn’t have a full Pixar hotel already, but we guess it didn’t. Disneyland Resort recently announced the Pixar Place Hotel, which will give you an excellent new place to stay while celebrating all things Pixar.

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A release shares, “Pixar Place Hotel will evoke the inspiration and humor that goes into every Pixar film, while celebrating the artistic process. Showcasing early sketches to finished design, the art and decor will highlight vibrant Pixar stories, revealing some never-before-seen artwork.” From the iconic Pixar Lamp to The Incredibles to Toy Story 3 and beyond this new hotel will have it all. It will even include a Finding Nemo pool complete with “Crush’s Surfin’ Slide, a 186-foot-long water slide inspired by the coolest sea turtle in the ocean.” That’s cool, dude. You can check out more facets and concepts for Pixar Place above.

As if that’s not enough, a Haunted Mansion bar is coming to Disney’s next cruise ship.

Goldfish Elf Maple Syrup Flavored Grahams Are Swimming in for the Holidays

Celebrate this holiday season with something sweet, Buddy the Elf style. In honor of Elf and everyone’s favorite elf, Goldfish is putting on their holiday best and offering us some maple syrup-flavored snacks. The official description of these treats notes, “MAPLE SYRUP FLAVORED GRAHAMS: Inspired by syrup – one of elves’ four main food groups. Enjoy delicious flavors of sweet brown sugar and butter, with the taste of caramel and vanilla. Inspired by Buddy the Elf!” Count us in. We also plan to greatly enjoy the different shapes these treats come in, which include Buddy’s hat, a maple syrup jar, and, of course, the traditional goldfish.

Elf turns 20 this year, and we couldn’t think of a finer way to welcome Buddy and the gang into double digits.

Need something else sweet in your life? Stranger Things‘ Scoops Ahoy ice cream is now available at Walmart.

Lost and Avatar: The Last Airbender Concerts Coming Soon

In need of some fun geeky outings to attend? Well, two iconic franchises are about to bring you fun in concert form. Avatar: The Last Airbender and Lost are both promising concerts that will transport you.

The official website for Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert shares, “Immerse yourself in an over two-hour show with a live orchestra bringing the show’s iconic musical score to life, in perfect harmony with highlights and favorite moments from the series. Taiko and erhu will share the spotlight with violins and clarinets, while the series’ most beloved scenes play out on screen, bringing viewers into the Avatar world to experience the series’ most memorable moments with Aang, Katara, Toph, Sokka, Zuko and more.”

Four dates have been announced across Europe and the United States. Hopefully more will follow.

Meanwhile, Lost‘s Michael Giacchino offers us a concert poster and little else. We guess it’s the Lost way to be mysterious. We do know we’ll see this Dharma Initiative concert in 2024.

If you need more Avatar: The Last Airbender in your life, check out everything we know about the live-action series.

Buy a Tiny Elf Home on Zillow

Okay, so you can’t actually buy a tiny elf home on Zillow. But who doesn’t love a miniature? And if you get in contact with your elf realtor, you might just take home this little house and $10,000 courtesy of Icelandic Provisions Skyr. All you have to do is make an offering… probably not of your soul. But watch out, the fae folk are tricky. Just keep in mind that heating is wool sweaters, this home has been available for 1,000 years, and the price per square foot is a quarter leg of lamb. Can we please get Netflix on Selling Fairyland, stat?

For more fairies and mythology, check out the Ahsoka series connecton to folklore and myth.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Actor Wants Spidey-Pool in a Future Game

Let’s face it, the people love to see Spider-Man and Deadpool interacting together in a relationship affectionately known as Spidey-Pool. Maybe someday the stars will align, and we’ll even get to see them on the big screen. But another excellent option would be for Spider-Man and Deadpool to meet up in Marvel’s Spider-Man games series.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 recently released to much praise and love. We bet a Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 will become a reality sooner rather than later. But what will it entail? Well, Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s actor Yuri Lowenthal has an idea. He’d like Peter Parker and Deadpool to meet up.

Speaking to ComicBook.com, Lowenthal shared:

I mean, there are so many ways they could go with a third game. I’m assuming, at this point nobody’s had me sign a contract for a third game, but I’m assuming there will be a third game… Look, here’s something I’ve been pitching for a long time, and I don’t know if they’re going to do it, but I love the Spidey-Pool relationship. I love Deadpool and Spider-Man. As much as I talk about Moon Knight in this universe, and Bryan Intihar is tired of me talking about that, I’ve been hard-pitching, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if Nolan North and I got to play in that?” And so I would love to see that. I’d love to see Deadpool and Spidey in this. Is it going to happen? Probably not. Do they listen to me? Mostly not. But that is a relationship I would love to see explored in games.

It would, indeed, be great.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 also has its very own artbook. Check out our write-up, here.

The post IRON MAN Game Gets Update, ELF Maple Goldfish Are Here, and More News Odds & Ends appeared first on Nerdist.

Halloween is just around the corner, and that means more than just candy and realizing your costume is not weather-appropriate after it’s too late to change. The spooky season isn’t complete until we hear from Springfield, USA’s most famous cartoon family, The Simpsons. This year will mark the iconic series’ 34th Halloween special. Now we know exactly what scary stories await both them and us. Fox has provided seven images from this year’s Halloween episode of The Simpsons, “Treehouse of Horror XXXIV.” These first looks tease a cyberworld showdown, a spoof of a legendary film, and a plague that doesn’t actually sound all that bad.

As always, Halloween doesn’t end until we get a new “Treehouse of Horror” episode from The Simpsons. This year the beloved special will arrive will at Fox on Sunday, November 5th, at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. The network has now provided both images and synopses for this year’s three segments. Here’s what Fox has to say about “Treehouse of Horror XXXIV:”

After Bart is turned into an NFT, Marge fights though the blockchain to rescue her son. To track down a gruesome serial killer, Lisa turns to a murderer from her past. An outbreak transforms Springfielders into a plague of lazy, beer-loving oafs in the “Treehouse of Horror XXXIV” episode of The Simpsons.

That middle short is pretty clearly a The Silence of the Lambs parody starring Lisa and Sideshow Bob. How it took this long for The Simpsons to spoof the 1991 Best Picture winner in its “Treehouse of Horror” episodes is genuinely shocking. It’ll be worth the wait, though, if Ralph is Buffalo Bill as that image suggests he might be.

NFTs and a terrifying outbreak are obviously a little more timely, even if NFTs already seem as dead as Zombie Shakespeare. (Yes, that’s a very old “Treehouse of Horror” reference. LOOK IT UP.)

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While Lisa finding a personalized greeting written in intestines is legitimately unsettling, the single scariest image of this “Treehouse of Horror XXXIV” batch is a scared Homer running after a rolling donut.

Even after more than three decades of these The Simpsons Halloween specials, we can think of no greater nightmare for him to endure. Halloween isn’t over until we find out if he catches it or not.

The post First Images from THE SIMPSONS’ ‘Treehouse of Horror XXXIV’ Tease SILENCE OF THE LAMBS Parody appeared first on Nerdist.

Is it a day in the week that ends with a “y”? That must mean a streaming service is increasing its price. Disney+ and Hulu have increased their subscription costs, Netflix has increased its subscription cost, Prime Video is planning an increase and cost, and now Apple TV+ has joined in on the trend. I mean, why not right? Apple TV+ has officially set its second price increase since its launch. Originally, users paid $4.99 per month to subscribe. Then, that number increased to $6.99 per month. And now, Apple TV+ has officially raised its subscription price to more or less double where it began. Apple TV+ users will have to pay an increased price of $9.99 per month to continue using the service.

CNBC reports that Apple TV+’s annual package has also increased in price, rising from $69 to $99. Additionally, the Apple One bundle package will also see an increase in cost, as will Apple’s Arcade and News+. They will cost $37.95, $6.99, and $12.99 respectively.

Apple TV+ saw its first price increase in October 2022, making this the second price increase in the span of a year. For consumers, the trend of rising prices continues to be alarming. For many streaming platforms, increasing subscription costs also appears to be designed to drive users to more moderately priced ad-tiers. Apple TV+, of course, doesn’t have an ad-supported tier yet, but we’d bet one is coming. Of course, the promise of streaming was initially low-cost and ad-free programming, but that is definitely not the conceit any longer. As subscriber numbers reach plateaus, it seems like streamers are abandoning the quality of life platform they originally espoused, and high costs, ads, password-sharing crackdowns, and more are coming into the picture.

We guess we can only wait and see how the landscape will shift. But for now, all we can say for certain is that Apple TV+ has inceased its price, and basically every other streaming service has as well.

The post Apple TV+ Increases Price to $9.99 Per Month, Doubles Original Cost appeared first on Nerdist.

If you’re an Avatar: The Last Airbender fan, you probably know that everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. But when it comes to this franchise, everything really changed when Netflix announced it would be making a live-action series adaptation of the beloved animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. A live-action version of Avatar was attempted once before, but it did not go too well. Hopefully, though, this time around, we’ll all see better results. We’re crossing our fingers that this live-action outing will go well for Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, and the rest of the Gaang. It’s what the characters and the fans deserve.

Here’s everything we know about Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Title

Like the original animated series, Netflix’s adaptation will also be called Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Live-Action Series’ Plot

It seems likely, given casting choices and other teases, that the plot of Avatar: The Last Airbender’s first season will follow the animated series’ Book One: Water, otherwise known as its first season. That means we’ll see Katara and Sokka discover Aang frozen in ice and follow their journey together as Aang learns water-bending and everyone learns about friendship. Prince Zuko will, of course, be grumpily chasing the trio down. The season will most likely culminate with an epic battle at the North Pole.

Officially, the synopsis for Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender only shares the broad strokes of what we’d expect from this live-action adaptation. It reads:

The four nations once lived in harmony, with the Avatar, master of all four elements, keeping peace between them. But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked and wiped out the Air Nomads, the first step taken by the firebenders towards conquering the world. With the current incarnation of the Avatar yet to emerge, the world has lost hope.

But like a light in the darkness, hope springs forth when Aang, a young Air Nomad — and the last of his kind — reawakens to take his rightful place as the next Avatar. Alongside his newfound friends Sokka and Katara, siblings and members of the Southern Water Tribe, Aang embarks on a fantastical, action-packed quest to save the world and fight back against the fearsome onslaught of Fire Lord Ozai. But with a driven Crown Prince Zuko determined to capture them, it won’t be an easy task. They’ll need the help of the many allies and colorful characters they meet along the way.

Behind the Scenes

Albert Kim acts as showrunner, executive producer, and writer on Avatar: The Last Airbender. Jabbar Raisani and Jet Wilkinson are set to direct.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Live-Action Series’ Cast

Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender adaptation is slated to have quite the cast. Leading the series are, of course, our heroes (and anti-hero) Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko. Gordon Cormier will play the Avatar, Aang. Kiawentiio will take on the occasionally bossy, though always kind, Katara. Ian Ousley will play the goofy yet good-hearted and heroic Sokka. And Dallas Liu will star as Prince Zuko, the exiled prince of the Fire Nation who has an obsession with honor and also a lot to learn.

Click To View Gallery

Joining the core four are Daniel Dae Kim as the villain of our tale, Fire Lord Ozai, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as the wise Uncle Iroh, and Elizabeth Yu as the devlish Princess Azula.

Click To View Gallery

Of course, many other castings have been announced because the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender is brimming with incredibly cool characters. Learn about them all by checking out our article on the full Avatar: The Last Airbender cast.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Live-Action Series’ Release Date

Netflix has not yet shared the exact release date for its Avatar: The Last Airbender series. However, we know this adaptation will arrive in 2024. In the meantime, you can get ready for this new adventure by rewatching the original version of the series on Netflix.

The post Everything We Know About the AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER Live-Action Series appeared first on Nerdist.

Coach Lasso told his players to “be a duck,” but now him and a couple of friends are going to be a different four-letter “d” word instead. Mattel Creations is bringing Barbie to the pitch with an original collection of dolls inspired by Apple TV+’s award-winning series. Ted Lasso, A.F.C. Richmond owner Rebecca Walton, and PR guru Keeley Jones are heading to shelves as the iconic toy line’s newest figures.

Ted Lasso Barbie dolls reunite our favorite Greyhounds in style. Each Gold label collectible comes from designer Suim Noh. They all feature original face sculpts, articulated bodies, and stands to help them remain upright. More importantly each wears a signature look from the series and comes packaged in a unique show-inspired box. Here’s the official description for all three from Mattel Creations:

• Ted Lasso: Our Ted doll is wearing a sporty blue tracksuit with sneakers. He also has removable aviator shades, a whistle, and trusty soccer ball. Commemorative packaging features the AFC Richmond locker room complete with “BELIEVE” sign and Nate’s homemade suggestion box.
  
• Rebecca Welton: Our Rebecca doll is dressed for her morning “Biscuits With the Boss” in a chic champagne blouse with black tailored pants and classic black pumps. Statement golden earrings and a handbag complete her sophisticated look.

• Keeley Jones: Our Keeley doll is dressed for a night on the town or a chic day in the office wearing a satiny pink midi dress, chic golden heels, and black faux fur cape. Her fabulous style is complete with her trademark high ponytail, signature golden hoops, and darling pink clutch.

All three figures ($50 each) are available to order from Mattel. Ted’s is already on sale. Meanwhile the Rebecca doll ships on November 10 and Keeley’s follows on December 8. Customers can only buy two versions of any one figure in an order, a sign the company expects them to sell out.

We do, too. So if you want these don’t be a duck and forget to buy them before Ted moves back to Kansas for good.

The post Barbie Takes the Pitch in New TED LASSO Doll Collection appeared first on Nerdist.

Video game fans have been safely enjoying the excitement/terror of a post-nuclear wasteland since 1997. That’s when Fallout and its ’50s-era Cold War aesthetic first came to stores. Since then countless sequels and spinoffs have turned the game into one of genre’s most successful franchises. Now Fallout is ready to conquer another medium entirely. It’s getting its very own show from Amazon. What kind of story can gamers expect from the adaptation? Who’s behind it and who will star on it? And when will we get a chance to see it? Here’s everything we know about Prime Video’s Fallout series so far.

Title

Prime Video’s adaptation will share the same name as the original game, Fallout.

Fallout‘s Plot

Prime Video has yet to release an official synopsis for the show, but the streamer has shared some major details about the adaptation. The series is “set in the future post-apocalyptic Los Angeles and world of Fallout.” It will also tell an “original story based on Fallout that will be part of the canon of the games.” 

The first look at the show also featured a look at the franchise’s all-new Vault 33.

Behind the Scenes

Fallout comes from Bethesda Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks, and Kilter Films. The latter is the production company of executive producers Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, creators of HBO’s Westworld.

Writers Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner will also serve Fallout co-showrunners and executive producers. Nolan directs the first three episodes.

Fallout‘s Cast

The show stars: Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets), Walton Goggins (The Hateful Eight), Aaron Moten (Emancipation), Moisés Arias (The King of Staten Island), Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks), Sarita Choudhury (Homeland), Michael Emerson (Person of Interest), Leslie Uggams (Deadpool), Frances Turner (The Boys), Dave Register (Heightened), Zach Cherry (Severance), Johnny Pemberton (Ant-Man), Rodrigo Luzzi (Dead Ringers), Annabel O’Hagan (Law & Order: SVU), and Xelia Mendes-Jones (The Wheel of Time). 

Fallout‘s Release Date

Prime Video celebrated the 26th “Fallout Day” by announcing when the series will premiere via a Pip-Boy-style message. The show begins its post-apocalyptic adventure on April 12, 2024.

That’s a lot closer than it sounds, which means we should start getting trailers and more information soon, too. When we do you’ll find everything you need to know about Prime Video’s Fallout right here.

The post Everything We Know About Prime Video’s FALLOUT Series appeared first on Nerdist.

Celebrities are not, in fact, just like us. If you doubt that ask yourself the following: when’s the last time you celebrated your friend’s birthday by getting them a public park? How about a special cameo from Chris Pratt? The answer to both those questions is almost certainly a resounding “never.” But that’s exactly what Rob McElhenney, famous actor and co-owner of the English football club Wrexham A.F.C., got for his celebrity friend’s birthday this year. The It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star also got Parks & Rec‘s Andy Dwyer to help him announce the Ryan Rodney Reynolds Memorial Park in honor of the Deadpool star’s 47th birthday.

This announcement is no joke (even if the continuing birthday prank war between these famous friends is). The Ryan Rodney Reynolds Memorial Park is a very real place planned for the town of Wrexham in Wales. That’s the home of the football club Reynolds co-owns with Rob McElhenney, the one that has its own FX docu-series, Welcome to Wrexham.

The unofficial page for the public space, called “Parks & Wrex” says the location is under development in conjunction with the Wrexham County Borough Council. Once completed, it will offer an open green space for the community to enjoy. It will also host a number of events, such as restaurant pop-ups, movie screenings, farmer’s markets, and more.

Despite this announcement coming on Reynolds’ 47th birthday, the park won’t ultimately bear his name. The park’s website says the final moniker will “probably” be “something Welsh, not Canadian.” FAIR.

It’s not yet known when the town will break ground on the park, located at the old Hippodrome location on Henblas Street, let alone when it will open. But you can already order merchandise for it. Proceeds will go towards the park’s development.

In the meantime, you can also enjoy this delightful video of McElhenney and Chris Pratt. It proves celebrities are at least a little bit like us. They all want to meet Danny DeVito, too.

The post Rob McElhenney Got Ryan Reynolds a Park (and a Chris Pratt Cameo) For His Birthday appeared first on Nerdist.

It’s been another full week in the entertainment world. Netflix has raised prices again, but it also revealed some amazing looks from its Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action series. We learned that Gargoyles may turn into a Disney+ series from some excellent horror-oriented minds. Not to mention, Rick and Morty revealed its new lead voice actors. But in among the rest, some other pretty cool things happened.

Here are some of our favorite pop-culture news odds & ends that you don’t want to miss reading about.

This Week’s Odds & Ends in News:

Jump to:

• Omni-Man Will Be First Downloadable Character for Mortal Kombat 1
• Pokémon Go‘s New Party Play Offers Collaborative Gameplay and Team-Ups
• Infinity Paws Comic Brings Together All Your Favorite Marvel Pets
• Knives Out 3 Has a Premise and a Setting
• The Afterparty Has Been Canceled by Apple TV+
• Saturday Night Live Takes on Barbie‘s “I’m Just Ken” with “I’m Just Pete” Parody
• MastersFX’s Monster Museum and FX Studio Opens in Vancouver
• A New Dragon Ball series Dragon Ball: Daima Is on the Way
• LEGO Brings Your Worst Nightmares to Life in Horror Posters for Halloween
• Immersive X-Men Event, The Uncanny Experience, Wants You to Enroll in Professor X’s Institute for Gifted Youngsters

Omni-Man Will Be First Downloadable Character for Mortal Kombat 1

Much to the delight of the franchise’s fans, Mortal Kombat 1 recently released into the world. And it served as a reboot for the series as a whole. The game promised to deliver “a new era of the iconic franchise with a new fighting system, game modes, and fatalities.” And so far, so good. But, of course, these days, nothing ever stops at its first release. Via the mechanism of Kombat Pass, a purchasable add-on to the game, new characters will join the Mortal Kombat 1 fun. And first up is Invincible’s Omni-Man.

In Mortal Kombat 1, Omni-Man will offer fans of both Invincible‘s comics and its TV show something to get excited about. And, as a bonus treat, Mortal Kombat 1‘s Omni-Man will be voiced by J.K. Simmons. If these trailers are anything to go by, Omni-Man is definitely not pulling ANY punches. And he’s bringing a whole lot of blood with him. Omni-Man will arrive in the game in November 9, 2023.

GameSpot shares that in addition to Omni-Man, five more new characters will join Mortal Kombat 1 via Kombat Pass. They include Quan Chi (arriving in winter 2023/2024), Peacemaker (arriving in Winter 2023/2024), Ermac (arriving in spring 2024), Homelander (arriving in spring 2024), and Takeda (arriving in summer 2024).

Get nostalgic with Mortal Kombat 1‘s recreation of a 1993 TV commercial.

Pokémon Go‘s New Party Play Offers Collaborative Gameplay and Team-Ups

Trainers, get ready to team up because soon you won’t have to go it alone anymore while playing Pokémon Go. Pokémon Go has offered fans many fun adventures, but it has always been more of a solitary game. You can occasionally get together with a member of your team to take over a gym, but that’s about it. Normally, you can play next to someone, but not necessarily play with them. But that’s all about to change thanks to Pokémon Go‘s new feature Party Play.

With Party Play, which we first saw via Polygon, Pokémon Go players level 15 and above can “adventure and complete challenges together, all in one shared in-game experience.” As a party, players can engage in “spinning PokéStops, battling in raids, catching Pokémon, and more” and do so together. The experience will appear on every player’s screen. If you raid with your party, you’ll also get Party Power which “doubles the damage of your next Charged Attack and charges with every Fast Attack.” Sounds likes a great time to us. You can learn more about how to organize a party and the mechanics of Party Play, in Niantic’s official blog post about Party Play.

For information on Pokémon‘s latest collaboration with The Van Gogh Museum check out our post here.

Infinity Paws Comic Brings Together All Your Favorite Marvel Pets

Who doesn’t love superpowered heroic animals? I can’t think of a single person. And that’s probably why Marvel Comics is bringing together our favorite Marvel Pets in an Infinity Comic series titled Infinity Paws. Infinity Paws will assemble an all-star that includes Jeff the Land Shark, Carol Danvers’ alien feline friend Chewie (named after Star Wars‘ Chewbacca), Alligator Loki, Lucky the Pizza Dog, and more. We know we’d feel safe in their paws. The adorable series will release in spring 2024 on Marvel Unlimited, Marvel’s digital subscription service. Infinity Paws is “written by seasoned Infinity Comic creator Jason Loo… and superstar artist and colorist Nao Fuji.”

“MARVEL MEOW fans will be in for a treat! Or treats,” shares Loo via a release from Marvel. “Because we have almost all of your favorite Marvel pets in this giant crossover, from the furry ones to the scaly ones. And I couldn’t be more pleased to be joined by the delightfully talented Nao Fuji illustrating this series!”

We guess we’d better have some treats ready for all of the hardworking heroes who are about to see some action.

To enjoy more Marvel animals, learn more about Frog Thor’s deleted scene from Loki

Knives Out 3 Has a Premise and a Setting

Our favorite mystery movie franchise finally has a bit of an update. Yes. Rian Johnson has shared that Knives Out 3 has a premise AND a setting. Is that exciting or what?

In full, Johnson noted to The Wrap, “It’s coming along. I obviously couldn’t work during the strike, and now that it’s over, I’m diving in full force, and so it’s coming along. I’ve got the premise, I’ve got the setting, I’ve got what the movie is in my head. It’s just a matter of writing the damn thing.”

We can’t begin to speculate what the premise or the setting of the next Knives Out movie will be… but we are happy to hear that Benoit Blanc’s next outing is well underway.

Still pondering the end of Knives Out 2? We break it down.

Jump to:

• Pokémon Go‘s New Party Play Offers Collaborative Gameplay and Team-Ups
• Infinity Paws Comic Brings Together All Your Favorite Marvel Pets
• Omni-Man Will Be First Downloadable Character for Mortal Kombat 1
• Knives Out 3 Has a Premise and a Setting
• The Afterparty Has Been Canceled by Apple TV+
• Saturday Night Live Takes on Barbie‘s “I’m Just Ken” with “I’m Just Pete” Parody
• MastersFX’s Monster Museum and FX Studio Opens in Vancouver
• A New Dragon Ball series Dragon Ball: Daima Is on the Way
• LEGO Brings Your Worst Nightmares to Life in Horror Posters for Halloween
• Immersive X-Men Event, The Uncanny Experience, Wants You to Enroll in Professor X’s Institute for Gifted Youngsters

The Afterparty Has Been Canceled by Apple TV+

Sadly though, not all mysteries are getting great news. Apple TV+ recently canceled its part-murder mystery, part-comedy series The Afterparty after two seasons. The Afterparty, from creator Chris Miller, told a different story in each of its two seasons but had some of the cast reprise their roles. It featured names like Tiffany Haddish, Zoë Chao, Sam Richardson, John Cho, Paul Walter Hauser, Ken Jeong, and more. Of course, uniquely, each episode took on a different genre of storytelling, depending on its point of view character. From taking on a Jane Austen romance to campy horror, The Afterparty really flexed its storytelling muscles.

We’ll be sad to hear we won’t see another chapter of this unique show on our screens.

The Afterparty gave us some good moments to look back on. Check out this hilarious antic.

Saturday Night Live Takes on Barbie‘s “I’m Just Ken” with “I’m Just Pete” Parody

Wait for it… Wait for it… There it is. Barbie’s hit power-ballad “I’m Just Ken” is now officially stuck in your head. But get ready for a whole new rendition to take over your life. “I’m Just Ken” is obviously ripe for parody. And we aren’t surprised that Saturday Night Live saw their chance and took it. In “I’m Just Pete,” Pete Davidson takes us through a day in the life. To give you a taste, some of the lyrics to “I’m Just Pete” are as follows, “I’m just Pete. Anyone else, I’d be a three. But I guess I’m hot for dudes in comedy.”

We expect this won’t be the last “I’m Just Ken” parody we encounter, but it sure is a good one.

There was a lot to love about Barbie. Here’s what we thought of the movie.

MastersFX’s Monster Museum and FX Studio Opens in Vancouver

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Looking for something fun to do with your October? How about checking out some truly eerie works of FX mastery. MastersFX recently opened a Monster Museum and FX Studio in Vancouver, and it looks like it is well worth haunting.

A release shares:

The MastersFX team has created a Monster Museum, which is presenting “Forty Years of Monster-Making.” The experience offers visitors an interactive exhibit that takes them through parts of MFX’s actual working monster shop, showing-off their various techniques, and letting visitors operate the animatronics and take selfies with actual screen-used monsters.

Occupying the museum are an assortment of aliens, demons, devils, fairies, harpies, vampires, beasts, corpses, cadavers, robots, sasquatches, mummies, werewolves, zombies and more. These exhibits of “FX Art” have been personally curated by multi-Emmy Award-winner, Todd Masters.

The museum, now open on weekends during October, also demonstrates advancements that the MFX team has made within the field of special effects – aspects of which they call “Neo-Practical Effects.” The museum contains over 80 creatures and FX used in making shows on which MFX has contributed their special form of art, including: Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight, Fringe, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Sonic the Hedgehog, Yellowjackets; Stargate; Six Feet Under; Star Trek: First Contact and Predator. Even current projects are represented: It Lives Inside, Monster High, and The Fall of the House of Usher, to name a few.

What an incredibly fun-sounding time! The museum is located at 4185 Dawson Street in Burnaby, BC, in Canada. You can buy tickets here.

‘Tis the season to embrace Halloween. Here’s how these iconic slashers match up with the signs of the zodiac.

• Pokémon Go‘s New Party Play Offers Collaborative Gameplay and Team-Ups
• Infinity Paws Comic Brings Together All Your Favorite Marvel Pets
• Omni-Man Will Be First Downloadable Character for Mortal Kombat 1
• Knives Out 3 Has a Premise and a Setting
• The Afterparty Has Been Canceled by Apple TV+
• Saturday Night Live Takes on Barbie‘s “I’m Just Ken” with “I’m Just Pete” Parody
• MastersFX’s Monster Museum and FX Studio Opens in Vancouver
• A New Dragon Ball series Dragon Ball: Daima Is on the Way
• LEGO Brings Your Worst Nightmares to Life in Horror Posters for Halloween
• Immersive X-Men Event, The Uncanny Experience, Wants You to Enroll in Professor X’s Institute for Gifted Youngsters

A New Dragon Ball series Dragon Ball: Daima Is on the Way

It’s almost time for Dragon Ball‘s 40th anniversary. And it looks like we’ll celebrate with a brand new Dragon Ball series Dragon Ball: Daima. While not much is known about this upcoming Dragon Ball show yet, Toei Animation did release a teaser trailer for Daima. The trailer, which we first saw on IGN, hints at a brand-new story for the franchise. Its description shares that the new Dragon Ball: Daima series is “Drawn by the original creator, Akira Toriyama” and features “a story never told in Dragon Ball.”

In the Dragon Ball: Daima trailer, we see Goku transforming into a de-aged version of himself after an encounter with Shenron. De-aged versions of Vegeta, Bulma, Chi Chi, Pamput, Krillin, Piccolo, and Shin also appear to tease us. We feel like we’re about to see one adorable Dragon Ball story unfold.

Dragon Ball: Daima will release in fall 2024.

Need more anime in your life? Netflix is bringing a Yu Yu Hakusho live-action adaptation to our screens soon.

LEGO Brings Your Worst Nightmares to Life in Horror Posters for Halloween

Uh oh… Did you just drop a piece of your LEGO build mid-construction… only to step on it with your bare feet three weeks after you had to improvise with a block that didn’t match in color? Yep. We’ve all been there. And LEGO is capturing these true terrors in a set of LEGO horror posters just in time for Halloween. Whichever LEGO vision torments you in your nightmares, LEGO’s Building Nightmares posters are ready for you. And we’re kind of obsessed with this collection.

But you have to be a true LEGO fan to get your claws on these. The LEGO Building Nightmares horror posters are available as LEGO Insider rewards. You can redeem 1,750 points to unlock one poster. Don’t delay, though; according to DesignTaxi, there are only 5,400 copies available per poster type.

And good luck finding that piece in the carpet.

We overcame every one of these horrors when putting together LEGO’s incredible Rivendell set.

Immersive X-Men Event, The Uncanny Experience, Wants You to Enroll in Professor X’s Institute for Gifted Youngsters

The Uncanny Experience, an immersive X-Men event that takes you into Professor Xavier’s Institute for Gifted Youngsters, is back for its “sophomore year” (a.k.a, its second annual event).

A release shares:

The Uncanny Experience is an immersive event that transforms the historic Minneapolis Club into Xavier’s Institute – the home of the X-Men in comics, film, and cartoons.  The inaugural event saw ticket holders attending classes on mutant culture, exploring the campus with rooms decorated like Wolverine’s bedroom, unraveling clues in the Mystery in the Mansion quest, being initiated into the Hellfire Club, and singing karaoke alongside Dazzler.  2024 attendees can expect much of the same with even more surprises in store.

Honestly, how amazing does that sound? Immersive events can go either way, but it’s always a good sign when they come back for round two. Additionally, the event even has some pretty cool guests. The official description for The Uncanny Experience notes, “Legendary comics writer Chris Claremont returns to The Uncanny Experience where he will continue to lead discussions on X-Men History and be available for autographs, remarks, and more.  Alison Sealy-Smith and George Buza, who voice Storm and Beast in X-Men: The Animated Series and returning to the franchise with X-Men ’97, were also announced to be Special Guest attendees.”

On a practical level, this immersive X-Men experience takes place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It will run from September 28-29, 2024. Pre-sale tickets for Newsletter Subscribers are available now and the general public will be able to purchase them beginning on October 20.

Do you have what it takes to enroll? Read about the best X-Men teams ever and then decide.

The post POKÉMON GO Reveals Collaborative Play, New DRAGON BALL Series Announced and More News Odds & Ends appeared first on Nerdist.

The canary in the coal mine is singing loudly today. Recently, Netflix removed its “Basic” tier from its line-up of offerings in Canada. And now, Netflix has also axed the cheapest ad-free plan in the US and UK. The “Basic” plan was Netflix’s $10/month offering, allowing users to retain an ad-free experience relatively cheaply. But now, new Netflix users have a choice between ads or a sharp cost increase when they subscribe to the platform. This move widens the gulf between Netflix’s ad-free and ad-supported tiers, pushing users to decide where their priorities lie.

Not only that but, officially, Netflix’s Premium plans and its grandfathered-in Basic plans have officially increased in price. Those still using the Basic plan will pay $11.99 instead of $9.99. And those subscribed to Netflix’s Premium Plan will see that the plan has increased in price from $19.99 to $22.99.

Netflix’s Current Subscription Options Make an Ad-Free Experience Expensive

So which options are left for users who want to stream their favorite shows and movies on Netflix? After the removal of the Basic plan, Netflix US features three tiers. First up, the Standard with Ads plan costs $6.99/month. This is less than Netflix’s Basic plan used to cost; however, now ads are involved. Netflix’s “Standard” plan costs $15.49/month, a sharp jump. The streamer’s “Premium” plan costs which previously cost $20/month, will now see an increase in price. Netflix’s Premium plan will cost $22/month, double the cost of the defunct Basic tier.

Netflix’s Standard and Premium options are both ad-free but, among other things, support different amounts of devices. These tiers also differ in how many “extra members” you can add to your account as part of Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown.

Is Netflix’s Basic Ad-Free Plan Fully Gone?

As mentioned, Netflix’s Basic ad-free plan is no longer an option for any new subscribers. However, users already subscribed to Netflix can retain their Basic plan until they “change plans or cancel [their] account.” But that means, if ever a user decides to leave Netflix or needs to make changes for any other reasons, they’ll lose out on this legacy plan.

Netflix has raised the price of the ad-free basic plan, though. It will now cost $11.99 instead of $9.99.

The Streaming Landscape Sees Cost Increases, and Ads Everywhere

Netflix shared with Variety, “Our starting prices of $6.99 in the US and £4.99 in the U.K. [for Standard With Ads] are lower than the competition and provide great value to consumers given the breadth and quality of our catalog.”

Value is a hard measure to define with accuracy. Ultimately, beyond Netflix, the world of streaming as a whole is currently rife with price increases, ads, and other changes that complicate things for consumers. Of course, it doesn’t help that there are so many streamers to choose from out there—and that everyone is competing for more or less the same users. More than ever, it seems like the streaming world is moving closer to the previous cable experience it once tried to disrupt. We guess we’ll just have to see what comes in to disrupt this disruption.

Originally published on July 19, 2023.

The post Netflix Increases Prices for Basic and Premium Plans appeared first on Nerdist.

Phew. Is it hot in here? Or is it just these first-look photos of key members of the Fire Nation from Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender? Well, that’s an easy one. It’s definitely these first-look photos of Fire Lord Ozai, General/Uncle Iroh, Commander Zhao, and Princess Azula. We also get another look at Prince Zuko. If you’re a fan of animated fare, you know that old adage, adapting an animated series into live-action is never easy, and it often goes wrong. But, we have to give it to these images from Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender. They are show-stopping. And sizzling. You might say, everything changed when the Fire Nation first-looks attacked. Let’s take a look at what has been revealed.

Netflix Reveals Its Fire-Nation From the Live-Action Avatar: The Last Airbender

Jump to First-Look Photos of: Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Ozai // Paul Sun-Hyung as General/Uncle Iroh // Elizabeth Yu as Princess Azula // Ken Leung as Commander Zhao // Dallas Liu as Prince Zuko

First-Look Photo of Daniel Dae Kim of the Villainous Fire Lord Ozai

Fire Lord Ozai is the true villain of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Prince Zuko’s father not only torments and manipulates his son, he’s trying to colonize every other nation in Avatar‘s world. It’s hard to get the look of such a menacing figure right, but Netflix and Daniel Dae Kim nail it. Our live-action Fire Lord Ozai is point perfect to the version that existed in the animated Avatar: The Last Airbender series. We can’t wait to see him in action.

First-Look Photo of Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Live-Action Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s General/Uncle Iroh

Could there be a more anticipated live-action character than General Iroh? In many ways, Iroh is the heart and soul of the Avatar: The Last Airbender series, and he is definitely our in to understanding the complexities at the heart of the Fire Nation. Paul Sun-Hyung Lee perfectly brings Iroh to life in our first look image of him in the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender Netflix series. The gentle kindness that is necessary for General/Uncle Iroh to have already leaps off the screen. We know that when we finally get to see and hear Paul Sun-Hyung Lee’s Iroh on our screen, this Netflix live-action version of the beloved character will be just as wise and good as the Avatar: The Last Airbender animated character we already know and love.

First-Look Photo of Elizabeth Yu as Live-Action Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s Princess Azula

In the animated series, Princess Azula doesn’t truly appear until Book Two: Earth, but it looks like Zuko’s bloodthirsty sister will enter the game right from the start in Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender. Azula is not to be trifled with; she’s sharp, literally and figuratively. We can’t wait to see this member of Fire Nation royalty bring everyone around her down to size. And we have to wonder if the arc live-action Azula embarks on in the Netflix series will differ at all from her story in Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s animated form.

First-Look Photo of Ken Leung as Zuko’s Nemesis Commander Zhao

While Fire Lord Ozai is the major villain of Avatar: The Last Airbender, he mostly lurks in the shadows in the early days of the story. And it is Commander Zhao who acts as the villain of the first book or season of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Interestingly, Zhao dislikes both Zuko and Team Avatar in equal measures and is a real thorn in the side of all our heroes. Zhao needs to bring a certain irritating factor from animation to live-action, along with a deep well of cruelty and ruthlessness, and a touch of cowardice. We bet Ken Leung has what it takes. We can’t wait to see the live-action version of Zhao go toe to toe with Zuko, falter in the face of Iroh, and generally annoy us to no end.

Our Latest Look at Dallas Liu as Prince Zuko

We already got our first-look at Prince Zuko in Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series, but one look is never enough. In this new image of Zuko, the Fire Nation prince looks a little lost and vulnerable, which is the Zuko way. His banishment hair-do is out in force, but we can wait to see him evolve into the hero we know he is.

For more on Prince Zuko and how he brings to life the best anti-hero journey around, make sure to check out the Avatar: The Last Airbender episode on Nerdist‘s podcast, Laser Focus.

More About Netflix’s Live-Action Avatar: The Last Airbender Series

We don’t yet have a release date for Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series, but we know it will arrive in 2024. The series will run for eight episodes. It will be “a live-action reimagining of the beloved animated series following Aang, the young Avatar, as he learns to master the four elements (Water, Earth, Fire and Air) to restore balance to a world threatened by the terrifying Fire Nation.”

The post Welcome the Fire Nation in First-Look Photos from AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER Live-Action Series, Including Iroh and Azula appeared first on Nerdist.

The Wheel of Time only recently wrapped season two. The exciting finale took fans further into Robert Jordan’s fantasy book series of the same name. And the story will continue in season three, which Prime Video greenlit in summer 2022. While we don’t know a ton about what’s ahead, The Wheel of Time showrunner Rafe Judkins has teased some information. Here’s everything we know about season three of The Wheel of Time so far.

The Wheel of Time Season 3’s Plot

The Wheel of Time season three will pull mostly from The Shadow Rising, book four of the series. Judkins appeared at New York Comic Con in October 2023 mentioning that and also that the season will bring in elements from book five, The Fires of Heaven, too. Judkins noted the season will have more Forsaken and an exploration of Dreamwalking, which we saw a little of in season two. Additionally, the next season will focus more on Rand or Perrin.

Judkins said, “Every season, we sit down in the writers room and one of the things that we do at the very beginning is pick out a couple of the stories that we have to carve out a space to make a whole episode for. We think it’s worth it because those stories will really stand out to an audience, especially that didn’t read the books. They’re given that time, and it’s carved out, so they can really follow that character on that journey.”

Season three will return to the Two Rivers, visit the Aiel Waste and Rhuidean, and go to Tanchicho and bring in the Sea Folk.

Behind the Scenes

Prime Video hasn’t officially shared a director list or anything for season three of The Wheel of Time. We know the season has been filming for months. Executive producer Marigo Kehoe told The Hollywood Reporter they had scripts in place before they began filming, so the WGA strike didn’t cause delays. The cast is on Equity contracts rather than SAG-AFTRA, so that strike hasn’t pushed production either.

It sounds like season three will have eight episodes, following seasons one and two.

The Wheel of Time Season 3’s Cast

The cast for The Wheel of Time season three hasn’t been confirmed yet. We expect to see all existing characters return, obviously. Even if someone has died in the series, you shouldn’t count them out. We expect to see some new faces from the books, too, including Elaida, an Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah. Judkins has also said we’ll see more members of the Forsaken. He said, “I can confirm that we have cast and put on set a Forsaken you have not seen in the show as of yet.”

The Wheel of Time Season 3’s Release Date

The Wheel of Time season three doesn’t have a release date yet.

The post Everything We Know About THE WHEEL OF TIME Season 3 appeared first on Nerdist.

AMC’s adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire is finally ready to launch its second season in early 2024. The WGA and SAG strikes halted production on season two, but the series got a special dispensation to continue filming in Prague. This allowed them to complete the season. Now, AMC has released a first look scene from season two. The clip shows Louis (Jacob Anderson) and Claudia, now played by Delainey Hayles, involved with a coven of Parisian vampires. In the scene, we see the coven attack a mansion owned by some very corrupt humans. You can watch the scene in full below:

Interview with the Vampire ended its first season around the middle point of Anne Rice’s 1976 novel. Louis and Claudia had finally dispatched with their controlling maker Lestat (Sam Reid). Or at least that’s what they think. The big reveal came at the end of the season one finale. We learned that Louis’ human assistant in the modern day, Rashid, (Assad Zaman) was actually the vampire Armand, one of Rice’s most famous creations. Now, it looks like season two will deal with the second half of the novel, which dives deep into the relationship between Louis and Armand, and all its tragic fallout.

In the book, the American vampires Louis and Claudia flee New Orleans after attempting to kill Lestat. They eventually wind up in 19th century Paris. In France, they discover an undead coven who operates the Théâtre des Vampires. There, they murder victims on stage in front of a human audience, pretending it’s all a show. The leader of the coven was Armand, a 400-year-old vampire of powerful blood. In the AMC series, the setting for the Théâtre des Vampires is now post-World War II Europe, and it seems the coven, which includes the vicious vamp Santiago (Ben Daniels), is also a biker gang now. It will be interesting to see how Lestat, who only appears briefly in the second half of the novel, will be incorporated into the season.

Interview with the Vampire season two premieres in early 2024 on AMC.

The post This Scene from INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Season 2 Is Bloody Good appeared first on Nerdist.

Best Buy is saying goodbye to physical media. The retailer plans to phase out Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD sales in stores and online in early 2024. The Digital Bits broke the news, which Best Buy has since confirmed. The company said, “To state the obvious, the way we watch movies and TV shows is much different today than it was decades ago. Making this change gives us more space and opportunity to bring customers new and innovative tech for them to explore, discover and enjoy.”

Best Buy’s supply of physical media has been dwindling in stores of late anyway. However, the retailer did offer exclusive SteelBook titles. The premium metal case releases come with custom artwork. And also, the SteelBooks look cool on a shelf.

The end of DVDs and Blu-rays at Best Buy hasn’t arrived just yet, though. Best Buy will continue to sell physical media for the holidays, online and in brick-and-mortar stores. They will also keep selling video games. But as one of the last big retailers consistently offering DVDs and Blu-rays for all your favorite movies, this doesn’t seem like a good sign. Who knows how long Target, Amazon, and Walmart will keep stocking discs?

With the ephemeral nature of digital media, it’s reassuring to get your hands on tangible copies of the stories you love. It’s why people were excited to see the release of The Mandalorian, WandaVision, and Loki on Blu-ray. Shows and movies disappear from streaming services at an increasing rate. Even digital media you purchase can vanish into the ether. The lesson is, if you want to own a film or TV series, buy a physical copy when you can. Maybe from Best Buy before their physical media is gone.

The post Best Buy Is Ending DVD and Blu-ray Sales appeared first on Nerdist.

Netflix is taking yet another odd route in an attempt to gain new revenue sources. The streaming service recently removed its cheapest ad-free tier to push users towards an ad-supported tier or a more expensive ad-free plan. And, of course, you cannot share your login information with the masses anymore. There’s also its online shop that sells items tied to properties like Stranger Things and the occasional pop-up store. Now, Netflix will stake a more permanent claim in the brick-and-mortar world with several retail destinations in 2025. As Bloomberg reports, the new retail stores will be known as Netflix House.

They will offer food items, merchandise, and experiences tied to Netflix’s shows and films. Many of the details are still in the air at this moment. We don’t know which cities will have a Netflix House. But we can assume Los Angeles, New York City, and maybe another city like Atlanta will be on the list. Right now, it seems Netflix will open stores in the US and, if they are successful, expand locations to other countries.

It is quite the choice to make considering that retail stores are typically more expensive to maintain versus online-only/pop-up options. In our 2023 world, many retailers are minimizing or altogether closing their physical locations to further shift their focus online. The days of the mall rat are pretty much a thing of the past, sadly. But Josh Simon, Netflix’s VP of consumer products, is very confident in this new move. 

He tells Bloomberg, “We’ve seen how much fans love to immerse themselves in the world of our movies and TV shows, and we’ve been thinking a lot about how we take that to the next level.”

A Netflix retail store isn’t something that we saw coming but we are curious about how it will all shake out.

The post Netflix Will Open Permanent Retail Stores in 2025 appeared first on Nerdist.

October is always full of excitement. This week, Netflix released The Fall of the House of Usher and gifted us with some truly gory deaths, McDonald’s revealed its latest Boo Buckets to the world, and A24’s The Iron Claw shared its trailer to the world. But that’s not all that took place. Plenty of other exciting happenings revealed themselves, and we wouldn’t want them to get lost in the shuffle.

Here are some of our favorite pop-culture news odds & ends that you don’t want to miss reading about.

This Week’s Odds & Ends in News

Jump to:

• New Digimon Adventure 02 Movie Heads to Theaters
• One Piece‘s Showrunner Reveals He’s Writing Doctor Kureha for Jamie Lee Curtis and Other Season Two Teases
• Ian McKellen Told Patrick Stewart NOT to Do Star Trek
• Ghostface Is Here to Cause Halloween Mayhem in Youtooz Line
• Netflix Has Renewed Castlevania: Nocturne for Season Two (But Canceled Vikings: Valhalla)
• Girl Scouts Have Discontinued Popular 2022 Flavor, Raspberry Rally
• Go Camping with Pokémon in Adorable New Live-Action Hybrid Series
• D&D Beyond Wants to Make Gameplay Easier with Maps Tool
• Mickey and Friends Celebrate Avengers and X-Men‘s 60th Anniversary with Disney What If? Variant Covers
• Gaming Highlights: Slimmer PS5 Coming for the Holidays, Logitech Shares Cool Star Wars Gear

New Digimon Adventure 02 Movie Heads to Theaters

Feeling nostalgic for Saturday morning cartoons of yore? Us too. That’s why we were excited to hear about a new Digimon Adventure 02 movie coming soon to theaters. A release shares more about Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning:

This November the DigiDestined are back in theaters with a brand new movie.  Toei Animation and Fathom Events revealed today details for the U.S. theatrical release of “Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning” as a two-day event on November 8 & 9. It is present day and the chosen children from “Digimon Adventure 02” have returned with all new adventures — but now they’re 20 year old young adults! 

If Kari, T.K., and Ken are among some of your favorite Digimon characters ever, like they are mine, then you’re in luck. You can snag tickets from Fathom Events. The film will screen in both the English dub (November 8) and in Japanese with English subtitles (November 9). Additionally, “the first 50 guests to arrive at each night’s screening will receive a complimentary Digimon Card Game Tamer Party Pack -THE BEGINNING- ver. 2.0, which includes 3 out of 14 possible cards from the new Digimon Card Game deck commemorating the film (first come, first served). Lucky recipients will be among the first fans in the U.S. to own these new “Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning” themed cards before they are released to the general public in December.”

Sounds like some throwback fun to us. A synopsis for the new Digimon movie further shares:

It’s 2012, and ten years have passed since the adventure in the Digital World. Daisuke Motomiya is now twenty, and he and the rest of the DigiDestined seem to be changing bit by bit in terms of appearance and lifestyle. Then one day, a giant Digitama suddenly appears in the sky over Tokyo Tower. Daisuke and the others encounter a mysterious young man named Lui Ohwada, who informs them that he’s the first ever DigiDestined in the world…

For even more nostalgia, check out our Power Rangers throwback, here:

One Piece‘s Showrunner Reveals He’s Writing Doctor Kureha for Jamie Lee Curtis and Other Season Two Teases

Netflix’s One Piece defied the anime adaptation curse to become a much-beloved piece of the long-running franchise. Happily, Netflix green-lit season two of the show, and with the conclusion of the WGA strike, we can now hear more about it. Speaking to Deadline, One Piece co-showrunner Matt Owens discussed one of the most eagerly anticipated season two castings. For a while now, buzz has been circulating about Jamie Lee Curtis joining the live-action One Piece adaptation as Doctor Kureha. And it turns out, it’s more than just buzz.

Owens notes, “Doctor Kureha, very luckily, is a character who is coming up in our story, and is someone who is perfect for Jamie Lee Curtis.” And further adds, “After she won her Oscar, the writers’ room sent her a figure of Doctor Kureha with a nice note that said, ‘Congratulations on your statue, here’s another one to put next to it. Hope to speak to you soon.’ When she reposted that, it got a lot of fan interest, and I commented on it. We’re trying to manifest it.” Of course, with the current SAG-AFTRA strike still in play, no official casting can be confirmed. However, Owens shares of the writers’ room, “We’re writing for her — we really, really want her to come and play with us in Season 2.” Fingers crossed!

In a Reddit AMA, Owens further noted that he’d love to see live-action spinoffs, especially on starring a Young Mihawk, that One Piece’s Lougetown arc remains upcoming in the live-action, and that he can’t wait to adapt Law and Carrot.

Learn how to watch One Piece without filler episodes, here:

Ian McKellen Told Patrick Stewart NOT to Do Star Trek

In a different timeline on the multiverse, beloved actor Sir Ian McKellen almost destroyed the universe. Well, not exactly, but he may have convinced Sir Patrick Stewart not to go forward with Star Trek, thus denying us Stewart’s rendition of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

Patrick Stewart’s memoir, Making It So, has given us many fun and fascinating tidbits about the actor’s journey. But recently, via Insider, we learned Ian McKellen urged Patrick Stewart not to sign on to Star Trek. Stewart reveals in his book, “When I told him I was going to sign the contract, he almost bodily prevented me from doing so… ‘No!’ he said. ‘No, you must not do that. You must not. You have too much important theater work to do. You can’t throw that away to do TV. You can’t. No!'”

It was an impassioned plea, but Stewart followed his gut. He writes, “There are few people, particularly with regard to acting, whose counsel I trust more than Ian’s… But this time, I had to tell him that I felt theater would return to my life whenever I was ready for it, whereas an offer of the lead role in an American TV series might never come again.”

Happily, Stewart says, “Ian has acknowledged that he was wrong and I was right… More than once, in fact – primarily because I like making him say those words.” What a delightful friendship and conclusion to this tale.

Check out more stories from Patrick Stewart’s memoir, here:

Ghostface Is Here to Cause Halloween Mayhem in Youtooz Line

You scream, I scream, we all scream for Ghostface. Who doesn’t love the ever-changing masked menace? As we wait for Scream 7, and whatever new kills and frights it will bring, you can take Ghostface home for yourself. On Friday the 13th, Youtooz will release three, dare we say, adorable Ghostfaces that we can add to our collections. They are classic Ghostface, Aged Ghostface, an Entertainment Earth Exclusive, and Glow in the Dark Ghostface, also an Entertainment Earth Exclusive.

You can check out the full Ghostface collection on Youtooz’s website.

Enjoy other Youtooz shenanigans, here:

Netflix Has Renewed Castlevania: Nocturne for Season Two (But Canceled Vikings: Valhalla)

Fans of Netflix’s gorgeous Castlevania series and its spinoffs can rejoice. Netflix has renewed Castlevania: Nocturne for another season. The Castlevania series follows Richter Belmont, weaving “a never before seen origin story” for the Belmont descendent and tells the tale of vampires in the French Revolution.

Its beautiful first season is now available to stream on Netflix. And we can’t wait to see what exquisitely intense tales Castlevania: Nocturne season two will reveal.

Sadly, it’s not all good news for spinoffs. Netflix has canceled Vikings: Valhalla after three seasons. Vikings: Valhalla existed as a sequel series to History’s much-watched drama Vikings, and fans will be sad to see it go. The third and now final season of Vikings: Valhalla, however, has not yet aired. The Vikings spinoff will arrive on Netflix in 2024. Hopefully, the season will bring the show to a fulfilling close.

Catch up with season one of Castlevania: Nocturne, here:

Jump to:

• One Piece‘s Showrunner Reveals He’s Writing Doctor Kureha for Jamie Lee Curtis and Other Season Two Teases
• Ian McKellen Told Patrick Stewart NOT to Do Star Trek
• Ghostface Is Here to Cause Halloween Mayhem in Youtooz Line
• Netflix Has Renewed Castlevania: Nocturne for Season Two (But Canceled Vikings: Valhalla)
• Girl Scouts Have Discontinued Popular 2022 Flavor, Raspberry Rally
• Go Camping with Pokémon in Adorable New Live-Action Hybrid Series
• D&D Beyond Wants to Make Gameplay Easier with Maps Tool
• Mickey and Friends Celebrate Avengers and X-Men‘s 60th Anniversary with Disney What If? Variant Covers
• New Digimon Adventure 02 Movie Heads to Theaters
• Gaming Highlights: Slimmer PS5 Coming for the Holidays, Logitech Shares Cool Star Wars Gear

Girl Scouts Have Discontinued Popular 2022 Flavor, Raspberry Rally

Cancellations are really everywhere. As if it weren’t enough that TV shows get canceled, now the Girl Scouts are canceling cookie flavors. We learned via Food & Wine that the Girl Scouts of the USA announced that they have discontinued 2022’s hit flavor Rasberry Rally. Rasberry Rally, a chocolate-coated Raspberry cookie, became an instant hit. The cookies sold out almost everywhere. I personally never got to try one. And now it seems they will not return. A Girl Scout representative offered the following statement, “Last year, Raspberry Rally cookies were introduced as part of a pilot online-only sales strategy… While Raspberry Rally was extremely popular last year, we are taking a pause this season to prioritize supplying our classic varieties.”

We guess Thin Mints couldn’t take the competition. But happily, many Girl Scouts cookies will return to us shortly. The next season of cookie-selling begins in January.

Learn how else you can enjoy Girl Scout Cookies, here:

Go Camping with Pokémon in Adorable New Live-Action Hybrid Series

Need something soothing for your soul? How about a live-action/CGI hybrid web series starring Pokémon nomming on delicious-looking desserts as they prepare to go camping? In all honesty, we have no notes. We could watch this Pokémon series all day. Camping with Pokémon will run for three episodes, but that doesn’t feel like nearly enough.

Next, we hope to see Pokémon telling scary stories around their Charmeleon campfire; maybe they can be joined by some ghost Pokémon for the occasion. And we also hope one day we can go camping with Pokémon ourselves.

We also want to give an honorable mention to Pokémon‘s Dream Plush collection. Could anything be cuter than soft, napping Pokémon plushes?

Indulge in more adorable Pokémon fun, here:

D&D Beyond Wants to Make Gameplay Easier with Maps Tool

Playing Dungeons and Dragons can feel intimidating. After all, there’s a lot to plot and execute in order to create an amazing campaign. But D&D Beyond has introduced a new tool that aims to help simplify gameplay prep and get players going.

D&D Beyond shares:

Prep less, play more. That’s our guiding star for Maps, the latest tool for D&D Beyond. Whether you play online or in person, we want Maps to offer a quick and easy way for DMs to connect with players and launch their adventures on D&D Beyond. 

With Maps, you can pull official maps and monster tokens from your D&D Beyond digital library to play with. You can also upload your own maps, drop in player tokens, and apply a fog of war. When you’re ready to play, you can invite players who have a free or upgraded D&D Beyond account into the shared play space. The Game Log will help you keep track of dice rolls on the fly. 

The Maps tool is still on the first step of its journey. So stay tuned for more updates.

You can now introduce Baldur’s Gate 3 characters into your D&D campaign. Check out our article about it, here:

Mickey and Friends Celebrate Avengers and X-Men‘s 60th Anniversary with Disney What If? Variant Covers

We love a good crossover, especially one that involves our favorite franchises. In celebration of the 60^th anniversary of two all-star Marvel teams, the Avengers and the X-Men, Marvel Comics will release 12 Disney100 Variant Covers that bring Disney and Marvel even closer together. These fun Disney What If? covers will see “Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and more take over milestone moments in both Avengers and X-Men history.” That’s what we call iconic. This “monthly variant cover program [adorn] select issues of Amazing Spider-Man.” The covers will also be available in black and white.

Click To View Gallery

A release further shares, “The first trio of covers kicks things off in the Silver Age with a spin on the Avengers and X-Men’s very first appearances in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s original Avengers #1 and X-Men #1 from 1963. Both homages also feature Peg Leg Pete as the group’s respective archenemies–Loki and Magneto! Then, Mickey and friends assemble for a turning point for the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Avengers #16, which saw Captain America lead a brand-new Avengers roster that included new recruits like Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver!” That Peg Leg Pete is always causing trouble.

To get your hands on these Disney What If? variant covers, check in with your local comic shop or keep an eye on Marvel’s website. The first three covers will go on sale on January 3, February 14, and March 6, 2023.

Learn more about the Avengers and X-Men’s Marvel Comics anniversary, here:

Gaming Highlights: Slimmer PS5 Coming for the Holidays, Logitech Shares Cool Star Wars Gear

The PS5 is getting a whole new look for the holidays, kind of. It doesn’t look that much different to me, but it is slimmer. According to PlayStation’s official blog, the PS5 has “been reduced in volume by more than 30%, and weight by 18% and 24% compared to the previous models.” That does feel significant, even if it doesn’t necessarily look it. This new PS5 model also comes with “an attachable Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Drive and a 1TB SSD for more internal storage.” Nice. The updated PS5 will completely replace older models over time. Its rollout begins in November. In the US, a PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive is projected to cost $499.99, while a PS5 Digital Edition will cost 449.99 USD.

Meanwhile, Logitech G wants you to game in style with a new gaming mouse and mouse pads that celebrate Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. We especially love the mouse, which, among other excellent utilities, offers “custom Millennium Falcon-inspired thruster animations and graphics with 8-LED full-spectrum RGB lighting.” Plus, it just looks really cool. And it really ought to because it will cost you $159.99. Steep, but fabulous.

The Battle of Endor and Darth Vader editions of the Logitech G840 XL Cloth Gaming Mouse Pad will only set you back $49.99 each.

Game in style, we must!

Check out more on PlayStation’s latest updates, here:

The post ONE PIECE Eyes Jamie Lee Curtis, Girl Scouts Discontinue Cookie Flavor, and More News Odds & Ends appeared first on Nerdist.

When a studio like A24 comes out with a project called The Curse, you’d probably expect something a little bit more in the vein of Talk to Me. But A24’s The Curse is actually an upcoming TV series from Showtime and Paramount+. It’s co-created and executive-produced by Benny Safdie and Nathan Fielder. The Curse is “a genre-bending series that explores how an alleged curse disturbs the relationship of a newly married couple, Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder, as they try to conceive a child while co-starring in their new home-improvement show.” You can see the first key art for The Curse, as well as watch the first trailer for the series, right here:

The Curse is a ten-episode series, but its trailer paints a pretty good picture of what’s to come. The series premieres on streaming and on demand for Paramount+ subscribers with the Paramount+ with Showtime plan on Friday, November 10. After that, it will make its on-air debut on Showtime on Sunday, November 12, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The Curse has its world premiere at the 2023 New York Film Festival on Thursday, October 12. There, the first three episodes of its run will be screened.

In its first trailer, The Curse looks to at least partially parody the reality TV “home-flipping show” craze, a trend that consumes basic cable television these days. In this new series, the HGTV-style show of couple Asher and Whitney Siegel (Stone and Fielder) goes by the name Flipanthropy. The premise is that they flip houses in lower-income neighborhoods, supposedly intending to help the residents. But judging from The Curse‘s trailer, the duo mostly want to garner ratings for their new series and hope to achieve fame. Then, a cringe-worthy incident with a local child happens on camera. And it sends their whole reality TV endeavor into a tailspin. Especially as the child in question actually places a curse on them. We genuinely can’t wait to see the glorious train wreck unfold.

The post A24’s THE CURSE Trailer Roasts House Flipping Shows, Stars Emma Stone appeared first on Nerdist.

There aren’t many things in life that we can all agree on. But I honestly believe every person alive and born before 1995 knows that Eddie Murphy is a comedy legend. From the legendary Harlem Nights to the forever classic Coming to America, he can make us laugh no matter the situation. In fact, the more ridiculous the plot, the more he soars as a comedian. So it seems fitting that Eddie Murphy is diving all the way into the Christmas movie arena with Candy Cane Lane, an upcoming Prime Video flick with a fun teaser trailer.

The streaming service proclaims this is Eddie Murphy’s first Christmas film. And I have to strongly disagree with that because I will not stand for Trading Places erasure. (I’m kidding… sort of.) Anyway, who doesn’t love Eddie getting into full suburban Dad mode for a pure adventure? 

Check out the synopsis for Candy Cane Lane:

Eddie Murphy stars in this holiday comedy adventure about a man on a mission to win his neighborhood’s annual Christmas home decoration contest. After Chris (Eddie Murphy) inadvertently makes a deal with a mischievous elf named Pepper (Jillian Bell) to better his chances of winning, she casts a magic spell that brings the 12 Days of Christmas to life, and wreaks havoc on the whole town. At the risk of ruining the holidays for his family, Chris, his wife Carol (Tracee Ellis Ross), and their three children must race against the clock to break Pepper’s spell, battle deviously magical characters, and save Christmas for everyone.

As we see in the Candy Cane Lane trailer, the holidays are going to get very, very wacky in their household. It’s giving a touch of Clark Griswold with a heavy dose of fantasy. I don’t know that I want six geese laying eggs near my house, but I will take the five golden rings. Catch Eddie Murphy in Candy Cane Lane when it hits Prime Video on December 1.

The post Eddie Murphy Creates Christmas Chaos in CANDY CANE LANE Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

Mike Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher doesn’t pay tribute to Edgar Allan Poe only by adapting the author’s characters and stories. The Netflix series also features an original figure who honors one of the writer’s signature techniques. Poe’s works, including some his most famous, often employ ambiguity. His tales blur the lines between reality and fantasy, nature and the supernatural, logic and madness so that that it’s sometimes impossible to know what’s real in his narratives. The unknowable elements of his stories not only elevate their horror, it forces readers to engage with them on a deeper level. That’s a big reason why so many of his tales endure to this day and always will. Just as The Fall of the House of Usher‘s Verna will.

But who is Verna really in The Fall of the House of Usher? Well, it’s not clear who or what Carla Gugino’s mysterious, ageless harbinger of doom really was. Compelling arguments can be made for her being various famous mythological figures, an amalgamation of them all, or something new entirely. But while it’s fun to guess at Verna’s real identity, not knowing makes her far more interesting and terrifying in the best tradition of Edgar Allan Poe.

Who or What Is The Fall of the House of Usher‘s Verna?

Despite the series briefly teasing she might be a regular human woman, The Fall of the House of Usher‘s Verna is a supernatural being. Verna said she’s not actually a woman and existed before humans. Carla Gugino also described her character as “the executor of fate or the executor of karma.”

What Did The Fall of the House of Usher Reveal About Verna?

In The Fall of the House of Usher, Verna’s many powers include stopping people from dying, killing them in elaborate manners, mind manipulation, and knowing the future. She can also give people whatever they want and is responsible for the rise of some of the richest, most powerful, most heinous people of all-time. Verna offered Roderick and Madeline Usher their wildest dreams along with total, lifelong legal immunity, but that meant their bloodline would all die right before they both did. She also offered to keep Arthur Pym out of jail if he offered collateral as leverage. Interestingly, on The Fall of the House of Usher Verna knows the lives people would have led had they not accepted her offer.

Does The Fall of the House of Usher‘s Verna Directly Appear in Any of Poe’s Works?

No one named Verna appears in any Edgar Allan Poe story or poem, nor does she directly resemble any of the author’s countless characters. However, the name “Verna” comes from arguably the single most famous figure in the author’s entire bibliography, and Mike Flanagan’s Verna is intimately connected to that creature.

Where Did Verna Get Her Name?

The Fall of the House of Usher‘s “Verna” is an anagram of “Raven,” and she is clearly connected to the cawing animal of Edgar Allan Poe’s seminal poem. Verna often transformed into a raven on the show or had stuffed ravens and raven images surrounding her. Also, after Verna killed Lenore, the coulda-been-a poet Roderick Usher began reciting (what we know is) “The Raven” to express his grief as an actual raven appeared. That was certainly Verna, too. She also changed back into a raven after the collapse of the Ushers’ childhood home in the series finale.

If the two are connected, what does Poe’s “The Raven” tell us about Verna’s true identity?

What Does the Raven Symbolize in Edgar Allan Poe’s Poem?

At it’s core Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” is about grief. Some believe the bird crying out “nevermore” on that dreary night is the physical embodiment of the speaker’s own grief. Ravens have also long been associated with death and ill omens of the future. Both apply to the raven. In the poem the bird seems to portend a lifetime of sadness for the speaker who will never recover from losing Lenore.

Others think Poe’s raven symbolizes loss itself, or the madness that comes from living with it and embracing it. There’s a valid argument the bird represents the speaker’s guilt about something.

Verna touches upon all of these many interpretations. However, Poe’s raven has no physical control over the speaker and his fate. The bird could just be a bird looking for warmth from the rain. It might simply reflect the speaker’s feelings and lot in life because the speaker gives it meaning. Mike Flanagan’s Verna has far more tangible influence over the course of human lives. She has a “job” to do. But what job is that exactly? Like Poe’s works, the Netflix series invites us to consider multiple interpretations.

Was The Fall of the House of Usher‘s Verna the Devil?

Roderick and Madeline Usher made a deal with a supernatural being who killed innocent people who never consented to the Faustian bargain. And Verna often killed them a brutal manner that maximized their suffering. That all points to The Fall of the House of Usher‘s mystery woman being the actual Devil who, like Verna, existed before humans.

Why Is Verna on The House of Usher Not the Devil?

Verna certainly talked about herself at various times as though she is, like when she mentioned “loopholes” and unbreakable pacts. When she made an offer to Arthur Pym she even mentioned having to “come up” to see his infamous Transglobe Expedition, as though she came from Hell to Earth. However, for as much evidence that points to Verna being the Devil, there’s just as much that indicates she’s not.

Verna has no interest in souls—the most common currency of the Devil—and said they aren’t real. She seems to like making offers out of a genuine curiosity to explore human limits. Verna also possesses a real sense of right and wrong. She’s not cruel for cruelty sake. Verna is capable of love and compassion, like when she comforted Lenore. Verna loves much about her “job,” but she also has responsibilities that bring her no joy.

Why would the Devil, tasked by God in some religious teachings to tempt mankind, care about Lenore in that moment? No one else was around, so Verna didn’t need to put on a phony performance to hide her true intentions. Why let Lenore know about the millions of lives she’d help save after her death? Even the least heinous interpretations of the Devil define Satan as a creature devoid of good rather than one of active evil. If Verna were evil or devoid of goodness why would she resent not being able to give all the Usher children peaceful deaths, including the worst of them? Why would she hate to get her hands “dirty” when killing someone?

And why would Verna find Roderick Usher’s tower of bodies so reprehensible if she enjoyed human suffering? Why would she save the workers at Prospero’s party and tell Morelle to leave? Wouldn’t the Devil revel in such misery? Wouldn’t the Devil try to maximize human pain at all times?

Maybe Verna isn’t the Devil. (A conclusion we can only reach if we believe what she always says, which is exactly how the Devil might trick us!) But what is she? Why does she call herself a “creature of symmetry” who is not a “broker of suffering” the way the Devil is, but rather a “witness” to suffering? Because she might instead be a figure that ultimately comes for all of us, good and evil alike.

Was The Fall of the House of Usher‘s Verna Death?

The Grim Reaper is the ultimate witness of suffering. Death is there to meet all of us in the end, just as Verna was there at each Usher family member’s end. Death is also neither inherently good nor evil, same as Verna. Both simply “are.” Death is also a creature of symmetry. It takes us from a world that existed before our birth and will continue on after we’re gone. If Verna—who cannot be killed and can be everywhere at any time—is Death, it’s no wonder she finds people so fascinating and knows what lives they could have lived had they chosen a different path. All paths lead to her.

And who but Death could refuse death, like when Verna wouldn’t let Roderick die. The Devil is a tempter, not a merchant of death. Meanwhile, Verna can chose the nature of someone’s final moment. She can make their demise simple and pain free, ushering the dead across with a gentle and loving hand. She can also intervene directly to punish the wicked. Even when she does the latter, she offers words of wisdom, like with Freddie. “You’ve been scared your whole life,” she said to him. “And now you get to put that down. It’s here Frederick. I’m finally, finally here.” Yes, Death was there.

Death would also laugh when asked to name its price as Verna did because Death has none. You can’t bargain with Death, it simply has a job to do. And in Verna’s case, she both loves and hates her job. She shepherds a species she finds endlessly fascinating because she knows all of us, who we could have been, and what we are capable of.

Madeline thought Verna might be Death, too. But just like the case with the Devil there’s reason to doubt Verna is the Grim Reaper. Could Death make the kinds of offers to the living Verna did? Could Death directly influence life on Earth? Does Death have that kind of power over the realm of the living?

If she’s not Death, then is she simply a new interpretation of Death, the Devil, or a combination of both? Another figure of mythology or religious doctrine? A demon? An angel? A being totally new created solely for the show?

We’ll never know. But each time we think about the show or rewatch, we might become convinced of a different answer. That’s why Verna is the The Fall of the House of Usher‘s best tribute to Edgar Allan Poe. Not knowing what she is means more than if we did.

What Role Did Verna Play on The Fall of the House of Usher?

We might fear both the Devil and Death. But as they say, “The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t,” because dealing with the unknown is often far more terrifying. An enemy you can see is an enemy you can plan for. Even knowing they’re an enemy is better than being unsure if they’re a friend. There’s a type of comfort provided by certainty, even the certainty of unmistakable horror, the unknown can never provide.

The unknowable is a special kind of terror. It can make us doubt what is real and who we can trust. It makes us wonder how much are the shadows we’re seeing tricks of our mind and how much are the harbingers of doom? Is that black cat in the wall real or imagined? Does the doppelganger we see in the mirror actually there or not? Are the ghosts we see really haunting us or is it just our grief? And did the beautiful bartender actually offer us the world in exchange for our children’s lives? Once we begin to doubt our ability to know anything for certain we risk losing ourselves entirely. Unlike a monster we can see and therefore maybe defeat, not knowing what’s real creates a nightmare in our mind we can escape “nevermore.”

Verna’s identity might be unknowable, but that’s why her role on The Fall of the House of Usher is clear. She symbolizes the ambiguity that comes with both life and death, of not always knowing where what separates good and evil, of the horror of never being sure if we’re free or puppets of fate, of the fine line between peace and pain. We’ll be debating who and what she is long after the finish clearing away the fallen remains of the Usher house.

So while she might not be a character directly out of an Edgar Allan Poe stories, she is very much a character of them.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on  Twitter and  Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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Color evokes a symphony of senses—an iridescent language. In horror, hues take on a deeper, more evocative purpose. Symbolic, yes, but also a conduit to emotion: fear, lust, empathy. Think of the sharp red and black patterns of Dario Argento’s Suspiria. The shocking white demon face in William Friedkin’s The Exorcist. Rooms bathed in violet and green hues in Kim Jee-Woon’s A Tale of Two Sisters. The piercing blue sky and bright yellow prism in Ari Aster’s Midsommar. 

In Mike Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher, color is a centerpiece—not unlike the works of Edgar Allan Poe that inspired the series. The show tells the story of the eponymous Usher family, led by patriarch Roderick (Bruce Greenwood) and his twin sister Madeline (Mary McDonnell), and their dynasty that is under threat.

Each episode of House of Usher is based on a Poe short story and ends with the death of a member of the family. And each death scene—elaborate and memorable—boasts a distinct color associated with the character in conflict.

Color Is Key to The Masque of the Red Death

Color theory is a rich, potent rabbit hole, an impossible web to truly untangle. But House of Usher makes sure we’re paying attention to color just like Poe notably did in his short story The Masque of the Red Death. In the tale, a prince named Prospero holds a masquerade ball in his abbey in the midst of the Red Death, a deadly plague sweeping through the land. He’s indifferent to the great suffering happening beyond his walls. Instead, he intends to wait it out with his court, throwing a luxurious ball in mockery. 

Guests of the ball enjoy entertainment in seven rooms of the abbey, each illuminated in a specific color: blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, and black. The black room, the last, also has a red light, a frightening color combination that scares the guests so that none dare enter. Eventually, a mysterious figure dressed as a Red Death victim arrives at the ball and makes his way through each room. Prospero follows him with a dagger, intending to kill him, only to find that there’s nothing inside of his robes. He is in fact a manifestation of the Red Death itself, which now spreads inside the abbey. 

The Masque of the Red Death‘s plot lends itself to the second episode of House of Usher and its use of color. While the colors associated with the Usher children vary slightly from the story, the characters have a specific, colorful light when they meet their fate. 

Scholars and theorists have puzzled over the colors in the short story, some arguing there’s no purpose at all but aesthetics and disorder, others thinking each room is a stage of Prospero’s life. Others also associate the seven rooms with the Seven Deadly Sins—an interesting theory for the Usher children, too. 

We’re not scholars, but thought it would be fun to delve into each character and their associated color. Flanagan used theory like this as episodic structure before—each character in The Haunting of Hill House, for instance, is based on one of the five stages of grief. Are the Usher children the rooms of Prospero’s abbey? One of the deadly sins? Let’s explore .

Prospero Usher = Red

The youngest Usher child and illegitimate son of Roderick, Prospero a.k.a. Perry (Sauriyan Sapkota), lives a life of decadence. After his father rejects a business proposal, he decides to throw an exclusive rave in one of the family’s abandoned properties as an act of revenge. Perry’s color is red, which makes sense—his story is the Red Death, after all. We also see him dressed in red clothing in his episode: red pants, red patterns on his shirts. He drives a red sports car. But, most tellingly, when Verna (Carla Gugino), the show’s angel of death herself, appears to him, a red light bathes her. “You are consequence, Perry,” she tells him, moments before he dies from acidic poison. “And tonight you’re consequential.”

Red appears as an illumination in the last room of the story. Red has an association with death, disease, and the fires of Hell, but also wrath—the deadly sin associated with vengeance, which Prospero is motivated by. It’s also the color of extroverts and figures of passion, aggression, and energy. Certainly fitting for a character who lives and dies by excess. 

Camille L’Espanaye = White

Camille L’Espanaye (Kate Siegel) gets her name from the Poe story Murder in the Rue Morgue. She is the youngest illegitimate daughter of Roderick and the family’s public relations head. Camille leads a very empty life—she has no family of her own, no friends, and no purpose outside of her job. Her life is, in many ways, void of color, so it makes sense that her color is white. Her office, home, and even her hair is white. When she learns of her sister Vic’s medical experiments on chimpanzees, believing her to be the “mole” in a family court case, she aims to expose her. Before she can, Verna claims her, posing as one of the chimp victims before ripping her apart. 

White is a color of reflection, as opposed to its opposite black’s absorption. Camille is in many ways a reflection of the Usher family’s misdeeds, which she broadcasts to the world in the form of PR. It is a color of impartiality and neutrality. In Poe’s story, the white room is thought to be the color of the west, representing a transient walk towards death. 

You could argue that her color is also baby blue. There is a bluish tint to her death scene and her clothing is occasionally light blue. Baby blue is the color associated with the deadly sin of sloth—someone with an absence of interest or “habitual disinclination to exertion.”

Napoleon Usher = Yellow

Roderick’s eldest illegitimate son Napoleon (Rahul Kohli), or Leo, is miserable. He spends most of his time at home, playing video games and doing drugs. He cheats on his partner Julius and, in one of his drug-induced blackouts, kills his cat. Leo adopts another black cat hoping Julius won’t notice but the new cat is sparring and violent. It attacks Leo, prompting him to call the animal shelter where he got him. The shelter worker who arrives is actually Verna. She induces Leo’s madness over the cat—now hidden in the walls—prompting him to jump out a window to his death.

Leo’s color is yellow. He wears yellow clothing, his apartment has a yellowish hue, and a yellow light illuminates his death sequence. Verna also wears a yellow shirt when she appears to him. Yellow is not a color that appears in Poe’s story, but it is associated with the deadly sin of greed. It’s also a color with ties to temperament, indulgence, and treason—all traits that Leo represents. 

Victorine LaFourcade = Orange

Victorine (T’Nia Miller) is one of the show’s most interesting and morally complex characters. The eldest of Roderick’s illegitimate children, she is a surgeon who along with her girlfriend Al is working on a piece of tech to embed into human hearts. The tech works like a pacemaker and data collector and will be revolutionary. But Vic seems to be driven less by altruism and science than a desire to out-fame her other family members. This quandary is relayed to her by Verna, disguised as an ill patient, shortly before Vic is driven to madness. Her story mimics Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart.  

Vic’s association with orange might be the most obvious color call-out. She is almost always wearing orange, sometimes layers of it: shiny orange blouse with an orange blazer, orange top with orange pants—even her scrubs are orange. Her office has bold orange shelving and Verna appears to her in an orange sweater. She’s also awash in garish orange light when it’s revealed she killed Al and stabs herself to death. 

Orange is a medial tone—it’s the middle room in Prospero’s abbey and is associated with balance and transition. Vic is the middle Usher child and the first of the bastards, so the “transition” from legitimate heir to illegitimate. Orange is also the color associated with the deadly sin of gluttony.

Tamerlane Usher = Green

Tamerlane a.k.a. Tammy (Samantha Sloyan) is Roderick’s only legitimate daughter, borne by his first wife, Annabel Lee. She’s in a fraught and loveless marriage. She hires sex workers to live out a fantasy life with her husband that she watches from the sidelines. We learn that she’s working on a project called Goldbug, a high-end subscription box full of luxurious items. Her husband is also the head of a fitness empire that she helped develop. Tammy is controlling and cold, drained of kindness by exposure to her father’s wealth. 

Her color is green. We see it most prominently in her death episode, based on the Poe story that lends her subscription box its name: Goldbug. She wears a green dress when she presents the box to investors, and Verna wears a green ensemble as she watches from the crowd. Her home is a minty green color and she is bathed in the same bold light as her siblings when she dies: a very bombastic green shade. 

Green has an obvious correlation to the deadly sin of envy. We know Tammy hates herself—Verna purrs words about her lack of self worth in her dying moments. She longs for a life she can’t have because of an absence of emotions she can’t conjure. Green was also a symbol of madness in the Middle Ages and is associated with money. It is the third room in Poe’s Red Death story. 

Frederick Usher = Blue

The eldest Usher child and heir, Frederick (Henry Thomas), is perhaps the most unsympathetic. Furious at his wife Morelle for attending Perry’s party, where she is near-fatally wounded by acid, he grows obsessive and mocking of her. He’s a cocaine user, which runs rampant when he becomes the last surviving child. He neglects his daughter Lenore and is purely selfish, lacking all motivation and morality. His story is based on Poe’s The Pit and Pendulum, and he dies the same way: with a swinging pendulum to the abdomen. 

Frederick’s color is blue. He is almost always wearing blue clothing and is lit with blue when Verna appears to him at his death. Blue evokes beginnings: it’s the first room in Red Death and Frederick is the first Usher child. In many ways he represented purity before he was corrupted by his father. It is the color associated with the deadly sin of lust. 

He could also, arguably, represent violet. The exact hue of his death scene is debatable—it’s almost purplish blue. Violet is the color that represents the most serious of the deadly sins: pride. It’s also a color of kings and royalty, which is fitting for Frederick, the family heir. 

Lenore Usher = Black

Last is Lenore (Kyleigh Curran). Though she’s not one of Roderick’s children, as his grandchild she is an Usher heir, and therefore still a victim of Verna’s curse. Her death is the saddest of them all. Even Verna hates that she must take her. She dies in a black room with white flowers on the wall. The bed and furniture are black, as is Verna’s clothing when she comes for her. She tells Lenore that her life was not in vain: her goodness will motivate her mother to start a charity that saves millions of lives. She dies softly and painlessly. 

Black is a color of finality—the last room of Prospero’s abbey. It’s the ultimate color of death, so it makes sense that the last Usher heir would have this color. Black evokes melancholy, and what is more heartbreaking than Lenore’s fate? Her death also happens in the final episode of the series, titled, appropriately, “The Raven,” a black bird. 

Who’s to say what any of this means—if it means anything at all. Perhaps, as scholars like Eric h. du Plessis suggest, color in Poe’s works are meaningless aesthetics. Meant to evoke but not provoke. And so the show is equally showy without purpose. But it seems unlikely that a creator like Flanagan, who loves his symbology and meaningful detail, would do any of this by accident. Perhaps these colors are codes for deciphering, like meaningful breadcrumbs to the center of a delicious, hearty horror story. There’s certainly plenty to feast on in The Fall of the House of Usher and details like this, purposeful or not, don’t feel like empty calories. 

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It’s been 12 years since we last saw the Monk series grace our screens. The mystery dramedy ran on USA from 2002-2009. And yes, 2009 was 12 years ago and not just yesterday. Don’t even get us started on 2002. Monk was an early entry in the USA Network’s heyday, which involved shows like Psych, White Collar, Suits, Burn Notice, and more. And like all good things from the increasingly distant past, Monk has now received a new lease on life, this time in the form of a reunion movie that will air on Peacock. Happily, this Monk Movie finally has a release date and some first-look photos. The movie title mentions Monk’s last case, but we’re not so sure. Here’s our first taste of Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie.

Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie‘s First-Look Photos

Tony Shalhoub is back as the infamous Mr. Monk. Joining him are Ted Levine, Jason Gray-Stanford, Traylor Howard, Melora Hardin, and Hector Elizondo. You can see our first glimpses of the reunion movie below.

Click To View Gallery

More About This Reunion Movie

The logline for the movie shares, “Monk returns to solve one last, very personal case involving his beloved stepdaughter Molly, a journalist preparing for her wedding.“

And additionally, a note from Monk‘s original creative team, Andy Breckman, David Hoberman, and Randy Zisk, offers:

It’s been twelve years since the world has seen a fresh installment of MONK. The world has changed mightily in those intervening years and MONK 2023 reflects the changing world. 

We’re so delighted to have made a movie version of MONK, and we are thrilled that every one of our stars were so enthusiastic about coming back. But in coming back, we wanted to do a film that was worthy of our legacy. MR MONK’S LAST CASE is a story that is powerful, emotional, funny, heartwarming, and has something to say about the human condition. And it will be both familiar and surprising.

According to an article from Entertainment Weekly, this Monk Movie will touch on the impact of the pandemic and find Monk himself in a dark place and also facing a new foe. But hopefully, we’ll get to see a lof of those funny and heartwarming aspects as well.

As we anticipated, Breckman notes, “‘The End’ was not the end and the ‘Last Case’ we hope is not really the last case… I have an idea for a sequel that I’d love to do, and if the gods smile on this project, I hope we get a chance to continue our journey.”

Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie Release Date

Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie has now officially set its release date. The Monk Movie will release on December 8. It will stream on Peacock.

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Whatever promise streaming services once offered is not just dead, it has been replaced by existential dread. Viewers no longer have to only worry their favorite films and TV shows will get pulled from sites at month’s end. They now have to worry new, finished films and TV shows will never see the light of day. Warner Bros. shelving the completed Batgirl film was not an isolated incident. It was a harbinger of things to come. Disney+ canceled its The Spiderwick Chronicles series before it could debut, despite the fact it was already completed.

The only good news was another studio or platform could ultimately bring it to the small screen. And happily, in this increasingly rare case, that has come to pass. The Roku Channel has “landed the exclusive, premiere U.S. rights to The Spiderwick Chronicles.” Roku will release the now-saved The Spiderwick Chronicles series in early 2024.

We first learned about Disney+’s decision not to release its live-action The Spiderwick Chronicles show in August. It’s based on the children’s fantasy novel series from Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. All eight episodes—starring Christian Slater, Jack Dylan Grazer, Lyon Daniels, Noah Cottrell, Joy Bryant, and Mychala Lee—are totally finished. But in 2023, that simply doesn’t matter much of the time. In this case, Disney+ treated The Spiderwick Chronicles as a write-off, as it continues to service investors at the sad cost of creatives and fans.

The good news is that, unlike Batgirl, this show had a chance to live again. It was developed at Disney but comes from Paramount Television Studios and 20th Television. And these studios worked to find a new streaming home for The Spiderwick Chronicles. We’re glad it will appear on The Roku Channel. In 2008, we saw a movie version of The Spiderwick Chronicles, but a series will allow us to journey even deeper into the magical world. As mentioned, The Spiderwick Chronicles series will release on The Roku Channel in early 2024.

Of course, despite this saving, The Spiderwick Chronicles series might not be available for good. Even shows and movies that do make it to streaming don’t always stay there very long. That’s the complete opposite of what streaming seemed to be offering not too long ago. But, at least for the previously canceled The Spiderwick Chronicles series, there’s a happy ending for now.

Originally published on August 28, 2023.

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We are so happy to report that The Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced an end to its strike on Wednesday 27 at 12:01 a.m. PT. Yes, the writers’ strike is now officially over. This WGA strike lasted 148 days, marking the second-longest strike in the history of the union. But although difficult for all WGA members involved, the writers’ strike was well worth it. The WGA released the details of the deal it struck with the AMPTP, and the gains and protections for writers, as promised, are exceptional. Happily, as of October 9, the WGA membership voted to ratify this deal, and it will last until 2026.

From issues of AI to streaming data to health insurance, the WGA negotiating committee truly held its ground to receive a deal that meets the needs of its members. The WGA achieved agreement on many points that at one time seemed like an impossibility. But through the mechanism of its strike, the WGA managed to win these necessary evolutions, which will benefit writers today and in the future.

✅Minimum room size.
✅Pay increases.
✅AI can't write.
✅Disclosure of streaming numbers w/ residuals to match.
✅Guaranteed 2nd step for screenwriters.
✅Script fees for staff writers.
✅Writing teams get full payment into pension (this is huge for me specifically)

Hell. Yes. https://t.co/j7HPdCe41r

— Jackson Lanzing (@JacksonLanzing) September 27, 2023

For those interested in reviewing the full agreement between the AMPTP and the WGA, the WGA MBA summary has been released here. Here a few parts of note.

The Strike-Ending WGA Agreement on AI, Writers, and Hollywood

The topic of AI has occupied the mind of many a creative in recent history. Although it seems obvious to creators that AI could never replace the mind and passion of thinking humans, this truth appears less obvious to studios and executives. But happily, the WGA was able to successfully curb AI use in Hollywood, at least where writers are concerned.

The WGA agreement summary notes:

We have established regulations for the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) on MBA-covered projects in the following ways:

• AI can’t write or rewrite literary material, and AI-generated material will not be considered source material under the MBA, meaning that AI-generated material can’t be used to undermine a writer’s credit or separated rights. 
• A writer can choose to use AI when performing writing services, if the company consents and provided that the writer follows applicable company policies, but the company can’t require the writer to use AI software (e.g., ChatGPT) when performing writing services. 
• The Company must disclose to the writer if any materials given to the writer have been generated by AI or incorporate AI-generated material.
• The WGA reserves the right to assert that exploitation of writers’ material to train AI is prohibited by MBA or other law.

Basically, AI is out and writers are in. We love to see it.

The WGA Agreement on Streaming Data Transparency

Writers, and many parts of the industry, have felt great frustration over not knowing exactly how their work performs on streaming channels. Of course, not knowing and not getting paid correlate heavily. When it comes to streaming numbers and performance, the WGA’s strike-ending agreement reveals:

The Companies agree to provide the Guild, subject to a confidentiality agreement, the total number of hours streamed, both domestically and internationally, of self-produced high budget streaming programs (e.g., a Netflix original series). The Guild may share information with the membership in aggregated form.

In addition, viewership hours on streaming will factor into bonuses for writers in work created for a High Budget Subscription Video on Demand channels.

The WGA Agreement on Health and Pension Contributions for Writing Teams

It seems wild, but it’s true, that since writing teams were paid together they had to split pension and health contributions. Now, “each writer on a writing team employed for a script will receive pension and health contributions up to the relevant cap as though they were a single writer, rather than splitting the applicable cap.” That, we imagine, is a truly meaningful evolution to those that it affects.

The Writers’ Strike Is Over, What’s Next?

In addition to all of this, many other gains were made in terms of script fees, room sizes, time writers get to spend on a production, and more. When the WGA announced the strike was over on September 27, writers could officially return to work. At the time, the agreement still needed to be ratified.

Happily, as of October 9, 2023, the WGA membership officially voted to ratify the strike-ending contract. Variety shares, “The membership voted 99% in favor of ratification, with 8,435 voting in favor and 90 members opposed.” This new contract will run from September 25, 2023 through May 1, 2026. We commend the writers on all of their hard work and continual efforts to ensure a fair deal for current and future scribes in Hollywood.

While this is great news for writers, the work for unions is not over. SAG-AFTRA remains on strike and has not yet received meaningful acknowledgment from the studios. In fact, a second SAG-AFTRA strike aimed at achieving fair compensation and protections for video game work has been authorized. Members of all unions and non-union members alike should continue to show solidarity and help fight for the good of all. Here are some ideas on how you can help!

Originally published on September 27, 2023.

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If you were a kid in the ’80s, you’re likely aware of the phenomenon called Garbage Pail Kids. These trading cards from Topps caused a nationwide craze. Children traded these gross-out spoofs of the popular Cabbage Patch Kids dolls during recess at school. This resulted in many schools banning them from campus. Which honestly just made them that much cooler. Now, as with all things of the ’80s, the Garbage Pail Kids are making a comeback.

A Garbage Pail Kids Series Is Still Coming to Max

In 2021, we learned via The Hollywood Reporter that a new animated series had been greenlit for Max (then named HBO Max). It’s coming from the creative team of Halloween 2018’s Danny McBride, David Gordon Green and Josh Bycel. The hope is that characters with names like Atom Bomb, Jay Decay, and Corroded Carl will become pop-culture favorites all over again. And recently, we finally got a hint of the Garbage Pail Kids series’ status. It seems like the show is not dead despite its lack of updates, instead, it continues to be developed.

Topps

Speaking to the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Green shared, “Right now, McBride and I are trying to do an animated series on the Garbage Pail Kids, if you ever had those cards… So we’re working on that, and we’ve got some pretty cool ways we can make a naughty animated show. We’ll see if they’ll have us on that one.” In previous, reports seemed to allude to the new series being family-friendly and appropriate across age ranges. Now it sounds like something a bit more mature may be on the horizon. But, hey, a lot could have changed in two years. Hopefully, our next update about the Garbage Pail Kids series will come more quickly.

Previous Garbage Pail Kids Adaptations

The Topps Garbage Pail Kids cards were a massive success, running for an impressive fifteen different series from 1985-1988. At the time, nothing could stop the Garbage Pail Kids train, and there were early attempts at creating media spin-offs. There was a live-action movie in 1987 that sought to capitalize on the pop culture phenomenon. But it was a terrible film and a massive box office bomb. It really is on another level of atrocious. You gotta see it to believe it.

1987 also saw a Saturday morning cartoon show created as well. A full 13-episode season was fully produced by CBS. But parent groups complained, and the show never aired one episode. It did play in other territories, though, countries where the parents presumably had better things to do than get bent out of shape about a dumb cartoon.

Will This GPK Adaptation Succeed?

Despite all these failed attempts and the current seeming delays, maybe Danny McBride and David Gordon Green can make a Garbage Pail Kids series work this time. As big fans of the original cards growing up, this is more than a cynical cash-in attempt for them. They genuinely love the likes of Leaky Lindsay and Dead Fred. Who knows, maybe McBride will voice one of the characters. Maybe Drippy Dan?

Originally published on May 26, 2021.

Featured Image: Topps

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The ending of The Wheel of Time’s first season brought a small taste of the Seanchan and the immense power they wield. The new enemy arrived in the finale’s last moments, sailing towards a beach in massive ships, bringing a One-Power-made tsunami with them. As the show’s gone on, we’ve seen more of the Seanchan and their lack of mercy. The Seanchan demand fealty. Period. And they have the strongest of the Forsaken, Ishamael, at their side. If you’d like to know more context about the Seanchan from The Wheel of Time books without any plot spoilers, keep reading.

Who Are The Wheel of Time‘s Seanchan?

In season one of The Wheel of Time, characters mentioned something happening with ships in the west. Mysterious occurrences in the west come up in season two, as well. The Seanchan (pronounced SHAWN-chan) have arrived from that direction. But just who are the Seanchan? Well, they have an extensive history in The Wheel of Time books, but we’ll summarize.

The Seanchan empire calls a continent of the same name home in the world of The Wheel of Time. It sits thousands of miles west of the main continent, across the Aryth Ocean. After the Trolloc Wars (the same war that saw the fall of Manetheren), Artur Hawkwing sent a fleet across the ocean. Luthair Paendrag, Artur’s son, led the fleet and started a nearly 800-year process to unite the native nations, a.k.a. the Consolidation. This Consolidation formed the Seanchan Empire, ruled by an Empress or an Emperor with a very rigid class structure.

And now the Seanchan want to retake the continent their ancestors came from. They call it the Return. The Seanchan have been planning and gathering forces and supplies for the Return for decades in The Wheel of Time‘s universe. They’ve made their move thanks to Ishamael’s encouragement. And they’ve arrived in Falme with incredible numbers and formidable warriors, including a number of enslaved channelers. We see all of that in play when the Seanchan attack an unsuspecting village, Atuan’s Mill, and capture the Shienarans and Loial in The Wheel of Time‘s second season.

Alwhin tells the captives, “When the fleet of Luthair Paendrag crossed the Aryth Ocean, the return was promised.” She promises that those who swear fealty “will share in the prosperity of the Seanchan’s return, from Atuan’s Mill to Falme, to our great empire across the sea.”

Later, High Lord Turak explains the Seanchan’s purpose while scolding High Lady Suroth. They want to unite all the people of the world under their Empress to fight the shadow.

Who Rules the Seanchan?

The Seanchan have an Empress or Emperor, but their ruler doesn’t participate in the first wave of the invasion. Instead, we meet High Lady Suroth; she appears to be leading the Seanchan forces. She’s the one taking oaths of fealty in Atuan’s Mill. This The Wheel of Time season two character is part of Seanchan nobility, also known as the Blood. Originally, Seanchan nobles were strictly descendants of Paendrag, hence the name the Blood. However, as a reward for service to the Seanchan, non-descendants are occasionally raised into nobility.

The High Lady Suroth is a member of the High Blood, which sits below only the Seanchan’s Imperial family. The High Blood have the most significant leadership roles. Members of the High Blood shave the sides of their heads and grow two fingernails long and lacquer them. The color of the lacquer is connected to the wearer’s house. As we saw in The Wheel of Time TV series, when the Blood fail in some way, punishment involves cutting their nails, which they hold as a symbol of status. High Lord Turak inflicts this punishment upon Suroth.

Members of the Low Blood are still Seanchan nobility in The Wheel of Time, but they don’t hold positions of great importance.

The Seanchan Threat to Women Who Channel in The Wheel of Time

One of the primary reasons the Seanchan are such threatening conquerors is because they enslave female channelers. As we see in Atuan’s Mill, the Seanchan can identify women who channel. Soldiers then take the channelers into captivity. Women called sul’dam control the enslaved’s every moment of channeling. They call the enslaved channelers damane, which means “leashed one” in the Old Tongue. Seanchan use a ter’angreal, an object made from the One Power, to control women who have the ability to channel. It’s called an a’dam and depicted as a collar with a literal leash to a bracelet the sul-dam wear. Sul’dam means “leash holders” in the Old Tongue. When the sul’dam captured Egwene, we saw the leash. It also demonstrated sul’dam will take damane from wherever they find them and absolutely kidnap Aes Sedai. Damane are forced to enslave other damane.

As we’ve seen from the sul’dam “training” Egwene until she breaks, damane cannot ignore commands from sul’dam. They cannot remove their bonds without experiencing great pain. Damane cannot even think about harming a sul’dam. The connection the a’dam maintains damane and sul’dam prevents it. Escaping from a sul’dam is near impossible. It’s why Ryma has been trying to understand how to work the a’dam she shows Nynaeve and Egwene. She wants to set her captured sisters free.

The Seanchan sul’dam train damane to use the One Power as a weapon—something Aes Sedai make an oath not to do in The Wheel of Time. It’s a horrific use of the One Power, unlike anything we’ve seen in the TV series so far.

The Seanchan and the Battle of Falme

When the Seanchan invaded Falme, the Watchers of the Waves, a group who believe Artur Hawkwing’s descendants would return one day and maintain a watch, sent pleas for help around the world. No one answered, except for the Whitecloaks. They made a plan to remove the invaders and with the help of the Heroes of the Horn, they succeeded. The Seanchan were defeated in The Wheel of Time season two finale. Moiraine used the One Power to destroy their fleet of ships on the ocean outside Falme.

However, it’s unlikely the Seanchan are off the board as a threat. Their numbers are vast. They believe in their Empress’ cause. The Seanchan are probably here to stay.

Originally published on September 1, 2023.

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The Wheel of Time‘s second season is well underway. If you’re not familiar with the books, you may have some questions about the characters, the Aes Sedai, or the world. As Moiraine indicated a few times in season one, the Dragon Reborn sits at the heart of the story. She and Lan searched for the prophesied figure, as has the Dark One and his forces, for years and found the Dragon Reborn in Rand al’Thor. If you’re curious to learn more about who (and what) The Wheel of Time’s Dragon Reborn is without plot spoilers for the books beyond the TV series, here’s a guide.

What Is the Dragon Reborn?

Reincarnation exists in the world of The Wheel of Time. The Wheel turns and spins out a person’s soul and puts that soul in another body. Some key figures have multiple reincarnations within the same Age, but the Dragon comes back only once during an Age. The previous dragon, Lews Therin Telamon, lived during the Age of Legends (the Second Age). He caused the Breaking of the World but also helped seal the Dark One and his powerful followers into prisons. The Dragon Reborn is a reincarnation of Lews Therin, and as such, can channel the One Power—maybe a male channeler like Lews Therin. However, men who can channel have been rare since the Breaking, because the Dark One tainted the male half of the One Power, a.k.a. saidin. Men who channel eventually go mad.

The Dragon Reborn is not an actual dragon. In fact, The Wheel of Time books don’t include your traditional fire-breathing dragons from fantasy. It’s more like a mythical idea of a dragon. Lews Therin’s banner depicted what could be a dragon, though. It’s described as a sinuous figure like a serpent with red and gold scales along its body and legs, and clawed feet.

We should also note The Dragon Reborn is the name of the third book in Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series.

Why Is the Dragon Reborn So Important to The Wheel of Time?

The Dragon Reborn will confront the Dark One and the Shadow at the Last Battle in the current age, the Third Age. This person will either save the world or destroy it. Some worry the figure will bring about another Breaking. That’s quite a risk, but without the Dragon Reborn, the world stands no chance at all against the Dark One.

So of course the Aes Sedai want to identify this figure and do what they can to help him or her prepare for the Last Battle, a.k.a. Tarmon Gai’don. Some say the Aes Sedai truly want to control this person to serve their own means. Many groups have that same goal.

Prophecies About the Dragon Reborn

Many prophecies discuss the Dragon Reborn and how to identify him or her. In the TV series, Moiraine references one of her Aes Sedai sisters who saw the Dragon Reborn’s birth. That’s how Moiraine knows approximately how old the Dragon Reborn is. Season two of The Wheel of Time showed Gitara Moroso’s Foretelling of the Dragon’s return. Twenty years ago, Moiraine and Siuan stood as the only witnesses of Gitara’s Foretelling. Gitara saw Rand’s birth, happening as she had the Foretelling on the slopes of Dragonmount. Moiraine and Siuan kept the Foretelling secret and made a plan: Moiraine to find the Dragon and teach and protect him, Siuan to rise through the White Tower’s rank and prepare the Aes Sedai to support the Dragon.

The TV series also mentions prophecies connected to Falme and that the Dragon will reveal himself to the world there. “Above the Watchers shall the Dragon be proclaimed, bannered cross the sky in fire.” This prophecy comes true in the season two finale, albeit with the help of Moiraine.

In the books, we know more details about the Dragon Reborn was born. Many scholars and characters in The Wheel of Time books reference “The Karaethon Cycle: The Prophecies of the Dragon.” The collection of prophecies details signs of the Dragon Reborn’s arrival.

Darkfriends have their own prophecies, too. The Dark One and his followers have their eye on the Dragon Reborn, hoping to turn the figure to their side.

False Dragons

Not all men who have the ability to channel have the potential to be the Dragon Reborn. For example, we met Logain Ablar in the TV series; the Aes Sedai captured and caged him. A male channeler, he proclaimed himself as the Dragon Reborn, but he didn’t fit the prophecies. He’s what’s known as a False Dragon. Aes Sedai, usually the Red Ajah, hunt False Dragons with the purpose of gentling them—taking away their ability to channel.

Aes Sedai must feel certain a man is a False Dragon before they gentle him, however. They don’t want to risk gentling the Dragon Reborn and thus stopping him from being able to fight the Dark One. As you can imagine, it’s not always black and white

Who Is the Dragon Reborn?

The book series pretty much makes the Dragon Reborn’s identity known in the first book, though it doesn’t really cement it until books two and three. But The Wheel of Time TV series obfuscated who the Dragon Reborn was until the end of season one. Then, during the finale, the series unveiled Rand al’Thor as the Dragon Reborn. Rand discovered the truth at the Eye of the World where he encountered who he believed to be the Dark One.

As the Dragon Reborn, Rand carries a heavy burden. He will save the world from the Dark One or break it. As a male channeler, history says he will lose his mind because of that channeling—channeling he definitely needs to do in order to stop the Dark One. With Moiraine losing her connection to the Source, Rand has lost a mentor. He advised Moiraine to tell the others he died at the Eye. Rand must learn to become the Dragon Reborn, though, or the world is lost.

When Siuan, the Amyrlin Seat, learns Moiraine failed in her duty, she references the White Tower’s law about the Dragon Reborn—the law Siuan and Moiraine have been ignoring to this point. Aes Sedai are supposed to cage the Dragon Reborn and keep him shielded and under control. Then, they will pull him out like a weapon at the Last Battle to fight the Dark One.

Rand has escaped the Aes Sedai for now, but this interaction likely did not do much to build trust between him and the White Tower.

Originally published on November 22, 2021.

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The Wheel of Time introduced the Horn of Valere at the end of season one. Padan Fain snuck into Fal Dara and stole the Horn, courtesy of a Shienaran Darkfriend leaving a gate open for him. Perrin then traveled with the Shienarans to pursue Fain and the horn in season two. Unfortunately, working under the Forsaken Ishamael’s instructions, Fain took the Horn to the Seanchan. High Lord Turak did not expect such a powerful gift. He said, “With this… the whole world will be ours.” Here’s what you need to know about The Wheel of Time‘s Horn of Valere and why it’s so important with context from the books, but no plot spoilers beyond the TV series.

What Is the Horn of Valere in The Wheel of Time?

The Horn of Valere is a mysterious artifact in The Wheel of Time books, at least as far as its origins are concerned. It’s not clear who made it or why. The item, stored in an intricate box, looks like a curled, golden horn. We saw a peek of the Horn when Turak opened the box. The metal looks hammered, but it doesn’t appear out of the ordinary. In the books, a silver script winds around the mouth of the bell in Old Tongue. It reads “Tia mi aven Moridin isainde vadin,” or “The grave is no bar to my call.”

What Is the Hunt for the Horn of Valere?

The Horn of Valere hasn’t been seen since the Age of Legends and has since gained a legendary, mythical status. In the books, a guardian kept the Horn safe at the Eye of the World and Rand and company recovered it and moved it to a storeroom in Fal Dara. In The Wheel of Time TV series, the Horn was in Fal Dara with the Shienarans as guardians. Padan Fain stole the Horn in both cases.

But most of the world did not know the location of the Horn. In season two of The Wheel of Time, Selene (before she revealed herself as Lanfear) mentioned the Hunt for the Horn had been called. The second book of the series is called The Great Hunt. Illian occasionally calls for Great Hunts for the Horn and people from around the world gather then search for the object. No such hunt was ever successful.

What Does the Horn of Valere Do and Why Is It So Important?

So why does everyone want the Horn of Valere beyond discovering an artifact from another age? Though no one knows why or how, when someone sounds the Horn, it summons the world’s greatest heroes to battle. These Heroes of the Horn are the Pattern’s most mighty and honorable, bound to the Horn of the Valere. They are dead, hence why the grave is no bar to its call. Some believe the heroes will serve whichever side the person who blows the Horn falls on. The Horn of Valere is meant to be present at the Last Battle. Any army with the Heroes of the Horn at their side has an advantage. High Lord Turak says the Seanchan can use it to conquer the world, but that wouldn’t serve anyone but the Seanchan.

Mat Cauthon gets his hands on the Horn of Valere, though, and in the Battle of Falme, he sounds it and summons the Heroes of the Horn. It turns out he is one of them. In the TV series, around two dozen heroes appear, some legendary people in The Wheel of Time world. In the book, over a hundred heroes appear in Falme. In both cases, the heroes defeat the Seanchan.

After seeing the heroes in action in Falme, you can tell why it’s crucial to have the Horn of Valere at the Last Battle.

Originally published on October 3, 2023.

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The Wheel of Time season two put to rest the notion that Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, fought the Dark One at the Eye of the World. Under the surface, Rand and Moiraine seemed to suspect it couldn’t have been that easy. Indeed, it was not. Moiraine used the poem she obtained from Bayle Domon to determine that the broken cuendillar was part of the seal imprisoning Ishamael. Ishamael is a Forsaken—the most powerful one—and the Dark One’s lieutenant. This isn’t the first time the TV series has mentioned the Forsaken, but who are the Forsaken and why are they bad news? Here’s context with minimal spoilers from the books.

What Are the Forsaken in The Wheel of Time?

The Forsaken were channelers—most of them Aes Sedai—once. They sold their souls to the Dark One for eternal life, swearing allegiance to him. Also known as the Chosen, this group of 13 channelers served the Shadow in the War of the Shadow. That war was the beginning of the Age of Legends’ downhill slide into its end. Though many Forsaken led the Shadow’s armies, these 13 carry the title because they were the ones imprisoned with the Dark One. The last Dragon, Lews Therin Telamon, was responsible for trapping them. The Forsaken’s deeds during the war were so evil that they are remembered for them thousands of years later in the Third Age when The Wheel of Time takes place. Moiraine says the Forsaken are so dangerous, that if all of them escape their prisons, the side of Light has no hope of winning the Last Battle.

In The Wheel of Time, some don’t even think the Forsaken existed. They think of them only as bedtime stories meant to frighten children. Those who know the Forsaken are real believe they are safely sealed in their prisons, unable to inflict harm. Ishamael’s appearance in the world and the broken cuendillar prove those seals are no longer reliable barriers.

Who Are the Forsaken?

The 13 Forsaken are: Demandred, Ishamael, Lanfear, Mesaana, Semirhage, Balthamel, Aginor, Asmodean, Rahvin, Sammael, Be’lal, Graendal, and Moghedien.

As you can imagine, a group of ultra-powerful and ultra-ambitious evil-doers do a lot of jockeying for rank. They ultimately serve the Dark One and do whatever they can to accomplish the most in his name. Selfish and focused, they regularly betray and outmaneuver each other. They form precarious, untrustworthy alliances with each other and whoever they think will help them. In the TV series, Moiraine said the Forsaken spent as much time fighting each other as they did their enemies.

Which Forsaken Have We Met in The Wheel of Time TV Series?

We have met three Forsaken so far in The Wheel of Time TV series.

Ishamael

Rand believed him to be the Dark One, but now we know that is not true. Ishamael mentioned it at the beginning of the first episode when he told the little girl who he was. And now we know Ishamael is working with the Seanchan, one of whom was at his earlier Darkfriend meet-up, which cannot lead to good things. As we mentioned, Ishamael is the most powerful of the Forsaken. He shielded Moiraine from the One Power with a flick of his wrist, tying off a weave and leaving it in place. Ishamael planned to turn Rand to the Dark One by manipulating his friends from the Two Rivers before Rand killed him in Falme.

Lanfear

Surprise, Selene is actually Lanfear. The broken cuendillar Master Domon brought Moiraine was from outside Cairhien, where Selene has been running an inn and hooking up with Rand. Ishamael uttered a dark poem and broke the seal on Lanfear’s prison. In the Old Tongue, her name means “daughter of the night,” another name Lanfear goes by. She is stronger than almost all other female channelers, though not as powerful as Ishamael. Moiraine calls Lanfear the most dangerous of the Forsaken. She’s known for her casual cruelty and her mastery of the World of Dreams, or Tel’Aran’Rhiod. That connects to her Daughter of the Night nickname. We see her walk in Ishamael’s and Rand’s dreams.

Lanfear swore herself to the Dark One as part of an attempt to win back Lews Therin, the previous Dragon. She loved him and he her, until Lews Therin met his wife, leaving Lanfear heartbroken and desperate.

In The Wheel of Time TV series, Lanfear tries to betray Ishamael, perhaps to take all the power for herself or perhaps to endear herself to Rand.

Moghedien

Lanfear planned to drop the Forsaken attached to the six seals in Ishamael’s quarters into the ocean. However, Ishamael, sensing Lanfear’s betrayal, instead broke all the Forsaken out of their prisons. Moghedien snuck up on Lanfear in the final moments of season two. Lanfear is a master of Tel’aran’rhiod, but Moghedien is better. Her name means Spider in the Old Tongue, and fittingly, Moghedien prefers to operate from the shadows. She is the weakest of the Forsaken in terms of the One Power, but she’s still more powerful than Aes Sedai in the current age. And still, she succeeds at taking Lanfear by surprise in the finale. Before she joined the Shadow, Moghedien was an investment advisor (seriously).

Can You Kill a Forsaken?

As we learned in The Wheel of Time‘s fourth episode, killing a Forsaken by traditional means does not necessarily stop them. Lanfear is far from gone. She healed her sliced neck within minutes, or the Dark One resurrected her. It seems the TV series may be handling Forsaken deaths differently than the books, but in those stories, one can kill a Forsaken. It is not easy and usually requires a dangerous weave of the One Power, but it can be done.

We see Rand kill Ishamael in The Wheel of Time season two finale. He stabs Ishamael with his blade—his blade infused with the One Power. The Forsaken crumbles into gray dust.

How Many Forsaken Are in The Wheel of Time TV Series?

We may not see all 13 Forsaken from the books. The Wheel of Time TV series is an adaptation of many thousands of pages, first of all. Also, some of the Forsaken are more interesting (more terrible?) than others. Plus, we saw in season one that the Warder Stepin had statues of the Forsaken. The idea is you make offerings to them to ward off the Forsaken. Stepin had eight statues displayed, which may mean that’s all the Forsaken we’ll see in the TV series. Additionally, Ishamael had only six other seals in his space when Lanfear visited him in the World of Dreams.

And speaking of, Lanfear mentioned some of other Forsaken while talking to Ishamael, so they seem like safe bets. She named Moghedien, Graendal, and “the boys.” The latter probably refers to Asmodean, Be’lal, Rahvin, and Sammael. That would complete the set of eight. However, showrunner Rafe Judkins won’t confirm or deny if there are only eight Forsaken.

Originally published on September 1, 2023.

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Some moments stick with you. Perhaps the moment is a memory, good or anxiety-inducing. Maybe it’s a particular conversation. Or it could be a scene from a story, one so impactful and so wondrous you feel it viscerally. You never forget it, not after reading thousands of pages, not after years pass. Then an adaptation of the book series brings that scene to the screen more beautifully than you could have hoped. And it builds on the scene in a way that further sears the moment into your heart. That’s what happened in The Wheel of Time season two finale when Mat sounded the Horn of Valere. Time slowed. Music softened, then swelled as the horn rang out across Falme. Fog unfurled with pops of color, and then cleared to reveal the Heroes of the Horn.

The Heroes of the Horn. And Mat Cauthon, who has been so unsure about himself and his place, is one of them. He realizes who he is, who he has been all along. Mat, beautifully performed by Dónal Finn, swings his quarterstaff and dagger—his ashandarei—with confidence and knows he is one of them. He is a hero.

The Wheel of Time showrunner Rafe Judkins, who co-wrote the season two finale with Timothy Earle, tells Nerdist, “I still tear up. I’ve literally seen it 100 times, and I still tear up because it was one of those things that we talked about very early in the writer’s room. Writers who didn’t know the books were like, ‘We can’t do that. You can’t really pull it off. It’ll feel silly.’”

They’re not wrong. On paper, the scene sings. Mat sounds this artifact from legend and changes the tide of the battle. An army of dead heroes bound to the Pattern and to the Horn charge into battle. It has every reason not to work on the screen. But Judkins says they were committed to showing the Heroes of the Horn and doing it right. “Everyone worked so hard. Even those writers, too. Everyone really got on board with this idea of, ‘We’re going to figure out how to pull off this moment and make it emotional and make it work,’” Judkins says.

Judkins explains everyone from the VFX team to director of photography Maja Zamojda leaned into what the moment is from the books. That means smoke and mist and heroes from different ages of The Wheel of Time. VFX supervisor Andy Scrase recalls, “Rafe, at the time, was making a point to me about how this would be a big moment for the fans seeing this happen, ‘It’ll mean an awful lot to them.’”

Judkins says everyone started with the scene as written in The Great Hunt. Then they built on it. He says, “We spent unlimited time, really, trying to build to that moment correctly and get every single team building towards it. It took a lot to pull that off. It’s probably the most expensive shot in season two in terms of the costumes and the hair and makeup and the VFX, and all of it.”

The Sounding of the Horn of Valere

The Horn of Valere shines brightly against Falme’s blue skies. It’s plastic (though they considered white glass), prop master Lukas Katakalidis says, but electroplated with real gold. Katakalidis recalls, “We started with different concepts of, you could say, more traditional horns. It was quite a long process and we tried different shapes and sizes. But then, at some point when we showed Rafe—I think he had the idea that this item would come from the Age of Legends era, so we didn’t need to stick to a traditional shape and could come up with something new. We made a new shape that could fit the request.”

The Great Hunt describes the sound of the Horn as “a clear note, golden as the Horn was golden.” The very sound of Horn resonates through the ground and sky. Supervising sound editor Matthew Skelding knew it had to sound beautiful and unlike anything else in the series. “We had to design something completely from scratch, but then we threw out all those ideas and went with the music to see what that was doing,” Skelding says. “Then we worked around Lorne [Balfe]’s score to create something completely new that weaved in and out of the music so that it could tell the story but then disappear. Just sound unique really, and different to anything we’ve done before.”

The sound team combined several elements for the Horn of Valere. They bought a few things off eBay, they used bells. But above all, they wanted to work with Lorne’s music to make sure the horn sounded elegant. But they had to give the Horn of Valere its moment. Skelding says, “We shaped the world around that sound and created the space for it to take over. Doug [Cooper], the mixer, did a great job of shaping that and allowing it to be that big, massive thing and giving that sound some weight.”

The Heroes of the Horn Appear

“The heroes revealing themselves from this mystical fog that forms behind that—I think that was our most expensive shot actually [in season two],” Scrase says. “Just because of the time that goes into it and the type of work requires, there’s a lot of effect simulations, which in the VFX world, it’s a very time-consuming and expensive process. That was one of those moments where you wanted to pour a lot of time and effort into it.”

The Horn of Valere summons at least a dozen of the Heroes from ages past. Artur Hawkwing, Amaresu, and Birgitte Silverbow are easy to spot. They show up in The Great Hunt, as do Rogosh Eagle-eye, Gaidal Cain, Mikel, Paedrig, and Otarin, among others. The heroes appeared through the fog—Scrase notes they took care to make the fog distinct from the mist that obscured the Whitecloaks’ arrival to Falme. It needed to be an eye-catching moment, so Scrase says they went for an idea of explosions of colors in the smoke itself as the heroes formed. The colors are based on the main colors in each hero’s costume. He says, “There was lots of different inspiration I saw for that. Different things were fireworks going off in thick smoke, and the Holi Festival, and exploding paints and things. I looked at loads of different references for that.”

The Heroes Enter the Battle

That exploration led to the look of the heroes as they jumped into battle, holding back the Seanchan across Falme. It wouldn’t make sense for them to move like the other characters, so Scrase turned to his usual sources of inspiration in arts and science and other film and television to depict the heroes in action. He landed on a photography technique to help give the Heroes of the Horn different movement.

“I found some really cool looking things for the heroes early on, which was long exposure photography. I’d used it for inspiration on one or two other areas in the show,” Scrase explains. “But I think for the Heroes of the Horn, it gave a very dramatic look. The look for our heroes came about from all that, and it was executed really well from the Framestore, the VFX vendor working with me on this. What helps is it almost conveys this visualization of movement and drama when the heroes are fighting.”

Amaresu in particular sticks in Scrase’s mind. “With her, I think that’s a really good example because of her colors and her costume by Sharon Gilham. Combining the costumes with the environment, with our effect got this really dramatic look that I was quite happy with in the end. We had the idea that when the heroes first appear, they didn’t feel quite normal. When they’re moving into action, when they’re fighting, when they’re running, you see this hero’s effect on them that makes them stand out.”

The heroes each have a unique look and they have different sounds, too. Skelding says they used the sound to keep the audience focused through the many battle sequences in the last episode. That was especially the case around each of the Heroes of the Horn. “We tried to design sounds for each of them, to be able to pick out each person individually with bigger impacts on the huge hits. It was about picking up Mat onto his journey throughout that entire charge as well. The design is very much based around each of the different fighting styles of each of the heroes and trying to tell each of their own stories throughout the battle.”

Mat Cauthon As a Hero of the Horn

Mat recognizes the heroes immediately. He remembers himself. Artur Hawking tells Mat, “I have fought by your side times beyond number.” Bringing that revelation to Mat was an important part of the scene, Judkins says. “[We wanted to] make it have an emotional impact for Mat who… We needed a way to clearly communicate to the audience that one of his core character traits is that he doesn’t believe he’s a hero, but he is one. That’s a big part of what we wanted his story to hit hard to the audience who isn’t familiar with the books by the end of the season. This is a guy who is a hero, even if he doesn’t believe it.”

By making Mat one of the Heroes of the Horn, The Wheel of Time TV series brings together different pieces of Mat’s history. “There’s a couple of different things that happened for Mat in the books in terms of his ability to speak Old Tongue, the memories in his mind, the holes in his memories, the skills he has with the staff,” Judkins explains.

He continues, “There’s all of these various disparate traits that he has. Sometimes in the show, we’ll try to—Dave Hill from Game of Thrones always calls it fantasy duplication, where sometimes there’s multiple reasons that things happen and that one thing to look for in adaptation is how to bring it to one thing. Mat’s most iconic thing is blowing the Horn of Valere. We tried to tie some of these things to this moment of blowing the Horn of Valere. I think it actually tracks really cleanly and makes a lot of sense.”

And of course, Mat wasn’t the only familiar face among the Heroes of the Horn. Uno Nomesta, who the High Lady Suroth had executed earlier in the season in an extreme departure from the books, is among the heroes. Judkins says, “We did have that plan [for Uno] because we’re combining… This is a little bit of an Easter egg spoiler. Some hardcore fans will notice. But we signal very clearly another character in the books that we’ve combined Uno with. Two swords.”

The post How THE WHEEL OF TIME Brought the Heroes of the Horn to Life appeared first on Nerdist.

The Wheel of Time turns… and in The Wheel of Time season two finale, boy did it make some important moves. The episode, “What Was Meant to Be,” brought all five of the Two Rivers youths to Falme. That’s where the Seanchan and Ishamael have been the whole season. Each scene of the finale took the characters farther along their journeys. Journeys readers of Robert Jordan’s books know all too well. But the episode brought twists and delight along the way, including a moment from The Great Hunt brought so beautifully to the screen I still can’t believe it happened. We talked to The Wheel of Time showrunner Rafe Judkins, who co-wrote this episode with Timothy Earle, about the Dragon Reborn and the role of prophecy, rings, Egwene’s choice, and more.

Nerdist: We have so much to discuss. But first, let’s talk about the rings we see Lanfear, Ishamael, Lews Therin, and more wear. What can you say about those?

Rafe Judkins: We did want to give this hint of the idea that these people used to be Aes Sedai, too. They had their own ring. It’s not something from the books. But it’s something that is just hopefully a subtle thing the audience can pick up on. All of them were the same once. They were all Aes Sedai. They left to join the Dark One. We like things that push you back in the direction of thinking of the better times of Ishamael, Lanfear, and Lews Therin.

Speaking of Lanfear and Ishamael! It seems like the series is focusing on eight Forsaken rather than the 13 in the books. We saw eight statues on Stepin’s altar in season one, we see six seals in Ishamael’s room. Why only eight?

Judkins: A lot of times, you’ll see us take the 13 and make it eight because 13 is such a repeated number in The Wheel of Time series. A lot of times, we’re taking it and making it eight just because it’s simpler to produce eight clans of Aiel. It’s easier than 13. Eight Forsaken could be easier than 13 Forsaken. But I will neither confirm nor deny that there are eight Forsaken.

A real Aes Sedai answer. Let’s jump ahead towards the end of the episode. Egwene kills Renna, and it’s a huge moment for her. Tell me about taking her down this path of revenge.

Judkins: In the books, Nynaeve is there at the final moment with Egwene and Renna. For the room, we started to think about what if Nynaeve wasn’t there. We’re deep enough into the show. We need to start to show the audience who these characters are on their way to becoming. Egwene is someone who is, throughout the book series, able to make incredibly tough decisions that have incredibly severe consequences. Starting to show that here was important for us in the overall storytelling of that character. We felt like if Nynaeve wasn’t there, Egwene might do something different than if she was. This is our version of it and something that hopefully lets the audience start to really understand who Egwene will eventually become in the series.

And Rand… there’s so much to dig into, but I want to ask about his confrontation with Turak. Instead of engaging in a swordfight with a blademaster, he uses the One Power against Turak. How did you develop this scene?

Judkins: For us, we haven’t really told the story of Rand and Lan training together yet. It is coming. But we hadn’t told it yet. But we still needed to pull off this Rand/Turak confrontation. I think it’s just one of those scenes that’s etched into your mind from the second book that we had to do.

What we tried to do is combine it with a scene in the third book with Rand where he kills all these men who are attacking him and they all fall to their knees with the One Power. It’s a very disturbing, unsettling scene in book three that puts a question mark in your mind of what path Rand is headed on and gives the audience its first real glimpse of the amount of power he wields, which I think is really important. That’s what we were trying to do with that scene. We wanted to deliver the iconic scene from the books. But Rand hasn’t had that storyline with Lan yet, so this is a way we could bring it to the show.

Throughout the season, people have talked about the prophecy of the Dragon Reborn proclaiming himself in Falme. Ultimately, Moiraine helps make it happen. How do you view the role of prophecy and how it can be deterministic?

Judkins: One of the big things in the books is this idea of destiny and what it means and how much of it is what the Pattern has woven for you and how much of it is you weaving through the Pattern. Moiraine and Rand are obviously the two characters where that comes most to a head in their character arc. We wanted to give the two of them a really definitive moment at the end of this season that tackled that thematically and, I think, also have this glorious scene of Moiraine channeling again after a season without it.

We combine that together to make this banner moment that should feel really heroic and ecstatic. But also, it’s not Rand’s choice. It’s Moiraine’s choice. That sets them up very well for the storyline that they have moving forward in the books. I think it’s a really important moment for those two characters in the relationship they’re going to be building moving forward.

The post THE WHEEL OF TIME’s Showrunner on the Dragon Reborn, Rings, and More from the Season 2 Finale appeared first on Nerdist.

There’s a lot happening in the entertainment world. The first season of Ahsoka came to a close, the second season of Loki is just beginning, and all kinds of cool creations have made their way into the world. But amidst all of that, there are some other fun (and some not-so-fun) things you should probably know about.

Here are some of our favorite pop-culture news odds & ends from this week.

This Week’s Odds & Ends in News:

• Animal Crossing and LEGO Announce Collaboration
• James Gunn Confirms Peacemaker Season Two Is in His DCU, Currently Writing Season
• Hayao Miyazaki Is Already Working on his Next “Final Movie”
• The Barbie Movie Releases on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD on October 17
• Discovery+ Announces First Price Hike, Raises Cost of Ad-Free Tier
• $400 Pokémon Trading Card Game Classic Collection Comes with Foil Original Starters
• The Boys‘ Spinoff Gen V Creates Its Own In-World Social Network, “V”
• One Piece‘s Monkey D. Luffy Will Become a Float in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
• Dunkin’ Donuts Releases Inflatable Spider Donut Decoration

Animal Crossing and LEGO Announce Collaboration

Get ready to tend to your LEGO garden! Nintendo has officially teased a collaboration between Animal Crossing and LEGO. Both playing Animal Crossing and building LEGO masterpieces are two extremely calming activities, so we can only imagine how much fun they’ll be when they combine. Rumors of a collaboration have been floating for some time, and we can’t wait to see which official sets we’ll receive.

For more soothing LEGO builds, check out the latest LEGO Ideas set.

James Gunn Confirms Peacemaker Season Two Is in His DCU, Currently Writing Season

Rejoice, Peacemaker fans, Peacemaker season two is not only in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe, but it is actively being written. A little while ago, Gunn noted Peacemaker season two would be his next project after Superman: Legacy. This news, of course, heavily implied that Peacemaker season two would be in the new DC Universe, but it’s always nice to hear some confirmation. In response to a fan question on Threads that read, “Will season 2 of Peacemaker take place in the new DCU/ new continuity?” Gunn replied, “Yes and Yes.” We saw this news via IGN.

Additionally, James Gunn revealed he is currently writing season two of Peacemaker and he’s “having so much fun.” We can’t wait to hear more about the future of the series.

To see what else is in store for James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe, check out our article, here:

Hayao Miyazaki Is Already Working on his Next Movie Despite “Final Movie” Buzz

Soon, Hayao Miyazaki’s latest “final movie,” The Boy and the Heron, will release in the United States. This movie was greatly touted as the last work by the animation genius. However, Hayao Miyazaki has announced many “final movies” before. So we were not very surprised to read that The Boy and the Heron would most likely not hold the title of the last Miyazaki movie.

French publication Libération recently spoke to Studio Ghibli President Toshio Suzuki. And Suzuki said, “He’s constantly thinking about his next project. I can’t stop him, in fact, I’ve given up. Suzuki adds, “He started talking about a new project, so I’m not stopping him. As long as he’s working, I won’t be able to retire.”

This fits in with news that came from the Toronto International Film Festival. Studio Ghibli executive Junichi Nishioka noted to the CBC, “Other people say that this might be his last film, but he doesn’t feel that way at all… He is currently working on ideas for a new film. He comes into his office every day and does that. This time, he’s not going to announce his retirement at all. He’s continuing working just as he has always done.”

To this, we say, bring on the next Miyazaki movie.

You can watch the trailer for Studio Ghibli’s latest movie, The Boy and the Heron, here:

The Barbie Movie Releases on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD on October 17

It is time to say “Hi, Barbie!” once again. After an incredible theatrical run this summer, Barbie headed over to streaming to continue her reign of excellence. But now, she’s driving on back to the physical world. Life in plastic is fantastic! And also life in Blue-ray and DVD. The Barbie movie will release for purchase on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on October 17. Alongside the movie, purchases of Barbie on physical media will see some special features, six featurettes to be exact. Plus, the 4K UHD, Blu-ray case is so pink and sparkly; how could anyone resist?

To learn more about we thought of the Barbie movie, check out our review, here:

Discovery+ Announces First Price Hike and Raises Cost of Ad-Free Tier, Netflix Rumored to Also See Price Increase

No streaming service is safe right now. From price hikes to ad-tiers to password-sharing crackdowns, streaming is becoming more costly and less welcoming than it used to be. The latest to throw their hat into the fray is Discovery+. Discovery+ recently announced its first price increase ever, focusing on its ad-free tier. In a change that became immediately effective, Discovery+ announced that in the United States, “the price of a new Discovery+ ad-free monthly subscription in the U.S. will increase from $6.99 to $8.99 plus applicable taxes. The ad-lite subscription will not change and remains $4.99/month.” Meanwhile, “Existing subscribers will see their monthly rate increase on their next billing cycle on or after November 2.” As always, the streamer frames the price increase as necessary for continued quality programming.

Elsewhere, The Wall Street Journal reports Netflix is also considering a price hike for its ad-free tier. Seems like basically every streamer wants to push subscribers to ads… Or have them pay the price. Good luck to all subscribers out there.

For more on the latest streamer shenanigans, check out what Disney+ is doing.

$400 Pokemon Trading Card Game Classic Collection Comes with Foil Original Starters

Pokémon Trainers of a certain age will soon be able to get a second chance at owning certain cards they coveted as a child. A brand new Pokémon set titled the Pokémon Trading Card Game Classic collection is on sale, and for $400, it will bring all your Pokémon dreams to life. This collector’s item, which we first saw on GameSpot, includes three 60-card Pokémon decks, comes in snazzy packaging, and promises the three original Pokémon starter cards in foil form. You may not get all the hours you spent hunting for a shiny Charizard back, but you will get the satisfaction of finally having the creature in hand. The Pokémon Trading Card Game Classic collection also features a two-player game board, toolbox case with randomizer, and more.

For even more Pokémon adventures, learn more about the upcoming Pokémon live-action series:

The Boys‘ Spinoff Gen V Creates Its Own In-World Social Network, “V”

Can’t get enough of The Boys‘ spinoff, Gen V? Well, you’re in luck because Gen V and Prime Video have teamed up with gaming browser Opera GX to create a Gen V in-universe social network called V. Obviously, this is a bit of a play on Twitter’s new name—and that’s The Boys‘ universe for you.

A release shares:

Super-powered by Opera GX, V is the new social media arm of the fictional Vought International. V allows users to get to know the supes featured in Gen V, and interact with in-world profiles of their favorite members of The Seven, including characters from The Boys such as Homelander, A-Train, and dozens of other official characters from Gen V and The Boys.

V users can also explore the official in-world  Godolkin University, and catch up with some of its most popular students. Users will be able to keep up with Godolkin University’s latest student rankings as students battle for the top position and the opportunity to join The Seven, as well as access an array of exclusive Gen V content.

V will be continuously updated with new content throughout the season, echoing the hum of a real-world social network.

Sounds like a super fun way to get the most of your Gen V viewing experience. You can learn how to log-on to V, here.

Gen V is now available to watch. Check out our guide to all the new Supes and their powers, here:

One Piece‘s Monkey D. Luffy Will Become a Float in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

You know him, you love him, and now you’ll see him float in a parade. One Piece‘s Monkey D. Luffy is the latest nerdy character to become a balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. On November 23, Luffy will set sail on his latest, biggest adventure yet, down the streets of New York City. The One Piece Monkey D. Luffy balloon will be 43-feet long, 39-feet wide and 50-feet tall. We bet this balloon Luffy eats A LOT. And while he won’t have his typical crew with him, we’re told “he will be led the entire way by his own pirate crew of skilled marchers—all honorary Straw Hats for the day.” We bet they’ll wear straw hats, too, and that’s honestly delightful. It’s truly what Luffy deserves.

It’s been a big year for One Piece as the series made the leap into live-action. Check out why we thought the series was truly successful.

Dunkin’ Donuts Releases Inflatable Spider Donut Decoration

 It’s October, the best month. There are many ways to decorate for the season, but Dunkin’ Donuts wants you to consider a new unique piece of Halloween fun. The coffee chain recently released an inflatable version of their iconic spider donut. No, you can’t eat it, but if this is your favorite Halloween treat, why not take it home?

As the description for the Dunkin’ inflatable spider donut aptly shares, “For everyone that’s ever said “Man, my yard could really use a 6-foot-tall, lit up Inflatable Spider Donut to turn my Halloween decor game up a notch,” this is for you*. 

*It’s also for everyone that’s never said that, too.”

Cheers to that! This fun inflatable is available at the Dunkin’ Shop for $99. Happy pumpkin spice season!

Dunkin’ recently released a line of hard iced coffees and teas. Check out what we know about Dunkin’ Spiked, here.

The post ANIMAL CROSSING Comes to LEGO, Streaming Price Hikes, and More News Odds & Ends appeared first on Nerdist.

It turns out Pokémon‘s latest foray into live-action television is actually more like a fictional biopic of the game itself or the experience of playing the game anyway. The new Pokémon series won’t feature any Pokémon, at least not the way we’ve come to understand Pokémon franchise-related content. There certainly won’t be a grumpy, coffee-swilling, life-size Pikachu wandering about like in Detective Pikachu. And it seems like there won’t be any new Pokémon released in the series, sorry folks. No, instead this new Pokémon live-action TV show will have a meta spin to it. It will focus on a real-life fan who finds comfort in playing her favorite game from childhood, Pokémon Red, as adult life gets hard. Here’s what we know about the upcoming Pokémon TV show, Pocket ni Bōken wo Tsumekonde or “Fill Your Pocket With Adventure.”

Live-Action Pokémon TV Series Shares First Trailer

Honestly, it’s a bit of a strange turn for Pokémon to take. But with Ash’s final episodes behind us and everything starting fresh, we guess the franchise is trying to branch out. We can’t actually begrudge Pokémon too much because the premise of this live-action TV series is honestly incredibly relatable. Who among us has not been bolstered by Pokémon‘s colorful world and easy goal-oriented nature on a tough day?

The first trailer for the live-action Pokémon show really sets the scene for what the series will entail. Take a look below.

The Pokémon Show’s Synopsis

A release shares more about the new Pokémon story and what we see in its trailer. It notes that the series will feature the original Pokémon games, Pokémon Red and Green. The protagonist of the live-action show, Madoka, will live in our/the real world, where Pokémon live in game consoles. Modaka was a huge Pokémon game fan as a child. But, of course, she hasn’t touched the games in 20 years when we meet her on the show. She has, however, moved to the big city and realized achieving your dreams isn’t always as easy as it seems. But thankfully, her mom sends her a care package with her old Pokémon games to help her life transform. And then the Pokémon magic begins.

The release notes that this new live-action Pokémon series is “comical and heartwarming content” and “The world’s first ‘Pokémon Human Drama,’ in which the main character grows through Pokémon.” Additionally, it reveals the series “is a human story in which the main character, Madoka Akagi, played by Nanase Nishino, changes her work and her surroundings little by little when she touches Pokémon for the first time in a while.” The new live-action show will also remind us that, “in fact, the Pokémon game contains important lessons for life.”

The Live-Action Pokémon Series’ Release Date

As we said, we honestly have to agree. Pokémon‘s “Fill Your Pocket With Adventure” will release in Japan on October 19. It will stream on  U-NEXT. For now there’s no word of any kind of English language version of this live-action Pokémon show. But hopefully, one will arrive soon. We do love to catch ’em all.

Originally published on August 31, 2023.

The post New POKÉMON Live-Action TV Series Actually a Meta Meditation on Real-Life Game appeared first on Nerdist.

The Disney+ Loki series is all about Loki, of course. His name is right there in the title. But for fans of the MCU, Loki was a departure from the Loki story they were used to seeing. For so long, Loki and Thor had incredibly interlinked MCU narratives . But in Loki, the trickster god has had to go it alone. Still, the presence of Thor hovers around the character and the expectations of fans. In many ways, it’s good to see Loki without Thor. But after a while, the natural question starts to bubble up. Will Loki and Thor have an MCU reunion? Well, it sounds like even though Thor and Loki might not reunite in the Disney+ series, the show is doing the hard work to get Loki to a place where he could be a meaningful part of a future reunion.

Speaking to Variety in the run-up to Loki season two, executive producer Kevin Wright discussed whether Loki would return to the world of the MCU at large. He offered, “That’s the hope. I don’t want to — yeah. I think the the sun shining on Loki and Thor once again has always been the priority of the story we’re telling. But for that meeting to really be fulfilling, we have to get Loki to a certain place emotionally. I think that’s been the goal of these two seasons.”

Cue the tears from many a Thor and Loki fan. In Avengers: Infinity War, Loki tells Thor, “I assure you, brother… the sun will shine on us again.” And although Loki met his death shortly after, the statement felt prophetic. And now, thanks to the Loki series, the door remains open for Thor and Loki to see one another again in the MCU. It’s interesting to hear that preparing for this reunion has been a subtle goal of the Loki series all along. And we hope we’ll get to see it culminate on our screens. Loki does have to meet his new niece, after all. Uncle Loki, it has a nice ring.

While such a thing could be saved for a movie, Wright also discussed the possibility of a Loki season three. He noted, “I think it’s open-ended. We certainly did not develop this season going, ‘We have to tee up Season 3’ — in the way that we did with Season 1, where there was a very specific, ‘Hey, we’re coming back.’ But I also think that where this show goes, there certainly can be many, many, many more stories told with Loki in the Loki world, and in other worlds connected to Loki, the character.”

Maybe, if we’re lucky enough to get a Loki season three, one of those stories can involve Thor. And hopefully, he’ll even be in his human form… Although we’d settle for Frog Thor in a pinch.

The post A Loki and Thor MCU Reunion Is a Hope of the LOKI Series appeared first on Nerdist.

The world of The Wheel of Time comes with its own kind of magic—magic known as the One Power. It’s not referred to as “magic” in-universe, but that’s definitely what it’s like. Really, it’s kind of like the Force in Star Wars. And many women, but not all, who channel the One Power are Aes Sedai. Like Jedi, the phrase “Aes Sedai” can mean both the individual and the organization as a whole. Aes Sedai play an important role in Robert Jordan’s fantasy novels and Prime Video’s television adaptation. They have their hands in much of the world’s happenings and play a big part in the Dragon Reborn’s story.

If you’d like to learn more about The Wheel of Time’s Aes Sedai without spoilers from the books, you’re in the right place.

Who Are The Wheel of Time‘s Aes Sedai?

Put simply, the Aes Sedai are a group of women (during the events of the book and series) who wield the One Power. Many across the world of The Wheel of Time distrust them. In the Old Tongue, Aes Sedai means “servants of all.”

What Is the One Power?

Aes Sedai channel the One Power, which they pull from the True Source. The True Source has a female half and a male half, saidar and saidin respectively. During The Wheel of Time‘s events, saidin is tainted. If a man capable of channeling saidin tries to do so (like the Dragon Reborn, for example), he will eventually lose his mind and probably cause a lot of chaos in the process.

Aes Sedai channel saidar from the True Source, which as one character describes, it is, “the driving force of creation, the force the Creator made to turn the Wheel of Time.” Channelers weave flows from five elements—Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Spirit—for various affects. Aes Sedai, or any trained female channeler, can see when other women are using the One Power. It glows like an aura around the wielder.

Not everyone is born with the ability to channel, or the spark. Sometimes if a girl unknowingly begins channeling and doesn’t receive training from an Aes Sedai, she will die. Others channel on their own and survive without Aes Sedai training or interference.

Can an Aes Sedai Lose the Ability to Use the One Power?

Aes Sedai are born with the ability to use the One Power, but they can lose their powers in different ways. Other channelers can temporarily block Aes Sedai from the One Power using a shield. The shield weave blocks access to the One Power; the person using the weave can actively maintain it or tie the weave off and leave it, though this leaves more of an opening for someone to break the shield.

Another channeler permanently stop an Aes Sedai from using the One Power with stilling (it’s called gentling when it’s done to a male channeler). At the end of season one of The Wheel of Time, Ishamael stilled Moiraine. She lost the ability to use the One Power as a result.

Aes Sedai can accidentally cut themselves off from the One Power by burning out. This can happen when a channeler tries to use too much of the One Power. Burning out can sometimes be lethal for the Aes Sedai and/or her Warder.

However an Aes Sedai loses her powers, it is a jarring, traumatic loss.

Where Do the Aes Sedai Live?

The Aes Sedai call the island of Tar Valon home. They occupy the White Tower, which sits in a kind of campus. Aes Sedai do not have to permanently reside in the White Tower once they’re full sisters, though many do. Aspiring sisters train in the tower from Novice, to Accepted, to Aes Sedai. Warders also train and live on the grounds.

How Does Someone Become an Aes Sedai?

An Aes Sedai can sense if another women has the ability to channel. Whenever possible, they try to bring these women, usually on the younger side, to the White Tower to receive at least enough training to prevent the women from harming themselves with One Power. Some young women find their own way to Tar Valon too. Those who can channel start as Novices, then after they learn and grow in strength (if they do), they become Accepted. At the Accepted level, the woman must pas through the arches and then she receives an Aes Sedai ring—the Great Serpent ring. It depicts a serpent eating its own tail, a symbol of the ever-turning wheel of time. From Accepted, a woman goes on to become full Aes Sedai.

Once a full Aes Sedai, the woman has to take three oaths: to tell no lies, to not make any weapons that be used to harm other beings, and to not wield the One Power as a weapon. They make the oaths on the Oath Rod, which makes the oath unbreakable with the One Power. At this time they choose which Ajah they would like to join.

Aes Sedai Ajahs

The Aes Sedai split themselves into one of seven Ajahs: Blue, Red, Yellow, Green, Gray, Brown, and White. Each Ajah has its own purpose and leaders. When Aes Sedai become full sisters, they choose the Ajah they want to join. Aes Sedai often wear a color representing their Ajah, and in the books, they sometimes don vine-embroidered shawls that have fringe showing their Ajah’s color.

The Yellow Ajah heals, and the Blue Ajah is about righteous causes and justice. The Red Ajah loathes men and focuses on the misuse of the One Power, especially as it pertains to men channeling. The Green Ajah stands ready for the Last Battle, or Tarmon Gai’don. Grays are all about diplomacy and politics, while Browns put their energy towards gathering and preserving knowledge. And finally the White Ajah specializes in philosophy and logic.

An eighth Ajah exists too: the Black Ajah. Members of this Ajah have pledged themselves to the Dark One. They largely keep this allegiance secret and operate from the shadows. Not all Aes Sedai believe the Black Ajah is real. However, The Wheel of Time TV series has revealed Liandrin to be a member of the Black Ajah, possibly meaning she’s the Aes Sedai who attended Ishamael’s gathering of Darkfriends. When an Aes Sedai swears the oath to the Dark One, it breaks her Aes Sedai oath, meaning they can lie and use the One Power as a weapon. We’ve seen Liandrin do both things.

Aes Sedai and Warders

With the exception of the Red Ajah, nearly every Aes Sedai bonds a Warder. Members of the Green Ajah often bond more than one and sometimes marry one of their Warders. Aes Sedai use the One Power to bond a Warder (with permission) to serve as a bodyguard, basically. With the bonding, a Warder gains enhanced abilities such as stamina and strength. They form an emotional bond, and a Warder and Aes Sedai can sense each other’s physical locations.

Aes Sedai Politics

Amazon Prime Video

Like any organization, the Aes Sedai have a leader and a council. They call their leader the Amyrlin Seat; the position’s full title is the Amyrlin Seat, Watcher of the Seals, the Flame of Tar Valon. Once sisters raise her to the position, she leaves her Ajah behind and becomes a mother to all Aes Sedai. The Amyrlin Seat wears a stole with seven stripes to represent the seven Ajahs. The Amyrlin Seat’s right hand woman is the Keeper of the Chronicles. The Amyrlin appoints the Keeper with the Hall of the Tower’s support and typically chooses the Keeper from the same Ajah that the Amyrlin once belonged to. Though the Keeper formally leaves that Ajah like the Amyrlin, the Keeper’s stole is the color of her former Ajah.

During The Wheel of Time, the current Amyrlin Seat is Siuan Sanche and the Keeper of the Chronicles is Leane Sharif.

The Aes Sedai have a council called the Hall of the Tower. Three Sitters from each Ajah sit on the council and implement the Amyrlin’s rules and also create policies for the whole of the organization.

Aes Sedai and the Age of Legends

The events of The Wheel of Time take place in the Third Age, which spans over 3,000 years. But before that was the Second Age, also known as the Age of Legends. During that period, there were more Aes Sedai and they were more powerful. Saidin was not yet tainted, so male and female channelers worked together. The Aes Sedai in this age could make tools that helped them channel more of the One Power—angreal, sa’angreal, and ter’angreal.. The Age of Legends comes up repeatedly in the books and we’ve seen it in the TV series as well. It’s an important era to keep in the back of your mind.

Notable Aes Sedai in The Wheel of Time TV Series So Far

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Since Aes Sedai play a pivotal role in the story, The Wheel of Time TV series includes a number of sisters. We see many in the halls of the White Tower and on the streets of Tar Valon, but let’s look at some of the most notable Aes Sedai in the adaptation’s story so far.

• Siuan Sanche – Amyrlin Seat, formerly of the Blue Ajah
• Leane Sharif – Keeper of the Chronicles, formerly of the Blue Ajah
• Moiraine Damodred – Blue Ajah
• Alanna Mosvani – Green Ajah
• Liandrin Guirale – Black Ajah (formerly Red Ajah)
• Verin Mathwin – Brown Ajah
• Sheriam Bayanar – Mistress of Novices, Blue Ajah
• Adeleas Namelle – Brown Ajah
• Yasicca Cellaech – Brown Ajah
• Ryma Galfrey – Yellow Ajah, currently a damane
• Maigan – Sitter of the Blue Ajah, currently a damane
• Gitara Moroso – former Keeper of the Chronicles and of the Blue Ajah, had the Foretelling about the Dragon Reborn’s birth

Originally published on September 2, 2021.

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Ads are the newest trend in streaming services. We now have Netflix’s ad-supported tier, Disney+’s ad-supported tier, Max Ad-Free, and coming soon, AMC+ with ads will arrive on our screens. As with other streamers’ ad-tiers, this AMC+ option will serve as a lower-cost offering designed to bolster subscriptions. Here’s what we know about the plans for this new ad-supported offering.

This new ad tier comes at a lower cost than the standard AMC+ service. AMC+ with ads will cost $4.99 per month. Currently, the ad-free version of AMC+ costs $8.99 per month. That is a fairly significant difference. Additionally, those interested in adding ads to their AMC+ can officially do so now. The AMC+ ad tier launched on September 28 and has begun its rollout. AMC notes that its ad tier will have “initial availability on its direct-to-consumer platform and apps, expanding to third-party platforms and channels providers in the coming weeks.”

Kim Kelleher, the company’s chief commercial officer, shares more about how AMC+ intends to incorporate ads into its platform. She notes:

We will place ads in ways that are not disruptive, that are really thoughtful. Some movies will have no ads. Some movies may have a mid-roll, or some will have a pre-roll. It’s not one-size-fits-all, and we get to be very careful in how we place commercials in viewers’ streaming choices. AMC+ subscribers will get access to all content, no matter their choice. It will be the same product on both tiers. We are not going to take series and movies people expect to watch and say that you only get them if you pay more. We want this to be a great viewer experience.

AMC‘s release further shares that “the ad-supported version includes a light ad load of less than five minutes per hour and all of the same series and film titles that are offered on the ad-free version.”

Well, it sounds like a promising start for AMC+ with ads. At one time, the beauty of streaming was that there were minimal ads at play. However, with so many streaming options, the lowest-cost services could win the day.

Originally published on April 17, 2023.

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In the latest episode of The Wheel of Time, “Daes Dae’mar,” which translates to “the Great Game” in the Old Tongue, a number of characters made important discoveries. Mat found out about Ishamael’s existence. The Seanchan learned of Egwene’s incredible strength in the One Power. Rand probably embraced some newly inflamed feelings about Aes Sedai after his encounter with the Amyrlin Seat. But the biggest revelation involved Moiraine and her loss of the One Power.

A flashback showed the moment Moiraine and Siuan learned about the Dragon Reborn’s coming from a Foretelling. That event 20 years ago changed the course of their lives. Moiraine was to find the Dragon and guide him. Siuan was to prepare the White Tower and gather the Aes Sedai’s support for the Dragon. Siuan lays failure for Rand’s lack of skill at Moiraine’s feet and seemingly blames her for losing access to the One Power. But as it turns out, Ishamael did not still Moiraine; he only shielded her.

Occasionally in season two we’ve heard characters say that women cut off permanently from the One Power, known as being stilled, often lose the will to live. They cannot handle the absence of the connection that has always been present within them. To lose access to the One Power is to undergo a severe trauma. Verin tells Lan how strong Moiraine has been to keep moving forward. Not entirely convinced, and probably fairly unhappy about Moiraine threatening to have Alanna take Lan’s Warder bond by force, Lan does some digging worthy of a sister of the Brown Ajah.

Lan pulls statistics on Aes Sedai who were stilled and how many survived. He questions Logain, a false Dragon who the Aes Sedai gentled but who can still see One Power weaves made by male channelers. Logain tells Lan weaves sit on Moiraine, something Rand later confirms. Rand sees a knot, meaning Ishamael placed the weave and tied it off—an ability lost since the Age of Legends. Aes Sedai believe they have to actively maintain weaves for them to work. We see this in the episode when the sisters take turns maintaining the shield on Rand.

Truth, unbelievable as it may be to Moiraine, uncovered, Lan urges Rand to channel and cut the knot. Moiraine regains access to the One Power and uses it immediately. Moiraine has stood on her own without the One Power all season and confronted some painful external and internal challenges. She probably sees truth in Siuan’s criticism and believes she’s a failure for not guiding and protecting Rand.  It must be bittersweet for Moiraine to regain such an important part of who she believes she is at the same time as her and Siuan’s mutual betrayal.

The Wheel of Time‘s season two finale airs next Friday, October 6.

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It’s been an exciting week to say the least. The WGA strike happily came to an end, Pokémon announced its full Van Gogh Museum collaboration, and we even got to see a very exciting familiar face on Ahsoka. But in the mix with all that, there were some other exciting annoucements and releases that might have gotten lost in the shuffle. But never fear, we’re ready to catch you up on it all.

Here are some of our favorite pop-culture news odds & ends that you don’t want to miss reading about.

This Week’s Odds & Ends in News:

• A Reboot of The Office Is Reportedly in the Works From Greg Daniels
• Newest The Lord of the Rings Release Will Be a Cozy Game Featuring Hobbits and the Shire
• Get Ready for the Holidays with LEGO’s Marvel Avengers Advent Calendar
• A Rick & Morty Movie Could Be Heading Our Way
• Enjoy Magic: The Gathering Themed Pancakes a IHOP
• Spirit Halloween Movie Coming to Stream on Shudder
• Skittles Littles Invites You to Taste a Mini Rainbow

A Reboot of The Office Is Reportedly in the Works From Greg Daniels

That’s right folks, it might be time to head back to work… Or whatever it is they do in The Office. According to The Wrap, The Office series co-creator Greg Daniels is reportedly working on a reboot of the show’s US version. This news is still tenuous for now. It comes from Puck News‘ Matthew Belloni. As the WGA strike came to a close, Belloni shared in his newsletter, “We’re also about to see a firehose of announcements of projects and castings that have been held back for fear of bad optics or violating guild rules. Greg Daniels is set to do a reboot of ‘The Office,’ for instance.”

Of course, we’ve seen conversations surrounding a reboot or spinoff of The Office before. In fact, Parks and Recreation started life as a spinoff of The Office. In this age of media, everything old can become new again. And The Office remains an immensely popular show. So if Greg Daniels really was helming a The Office reboot, it would not surprise us. But we would be equally unsurprised if it did not come to pass. Only time will tell.

Check out news of the latest remake of The Office, here:

Newest The Lord of the Rings Release Will Be a Cozy Game Featuring Hobbits and the Shire

Ready for some truly exciting news for fall? A new The Lord of the Rings video game is coming our way and this one will be a cozy outing dedicated to Hobbits and the Shire. Honestly, we could not imagine a better idea to make into reality. We don’t know too much about the game yet, but a teaser trailer for Tales of the Shire sets up with just the right vibes.

Your cosy Hobbit life awaits in Tales of the Shire, a heart-warming new The Lord of the Rings™ game by Wētā Workshop and Private Division. Coming 2024. pic.twitter.com/CvDnRXyMQN

— talesoftheshire (@talesoftheshire) September 21, 2023

A little watercolor, a little humming, and a few leaves blowing in the wind, you say? That’s a real mood right there. The only explanation we get so far notes, “Your cosy Hobbit life awaits in Tales of the Shire, a heart-warming new The Lord of the Ring game by Wētā Workshop and Private Division. Coming 2024.” In the video, we do see references to the Green Dragon, Ivy Bush, and Bywater. But those are about our only clues.

Wētā Workshop, of course, is known for its gorgeous creations and work on The Lord of the Rings movies. We’re hoping for the best and expecting the best with Tales of the Shire.

Check out some gorgeous The Lord of the Rings collectible items, here:

Get Ready for the Holidays with LEGO’s Marvel Avengers Advent Calendar

If you’re like us, you don’t really want to get ready for the holidays yet. It feels early. But nevertheless, the holiday season is incoming whether we like it or not. But least it’s bringing with it some excellent gifting ideas. High on our list is this LEGO Marvel Avengers Advent Calendar. Whether this is your first LEGO Marvel Advent calendar or your hundredth, opening 24 days of superhero surprises make for a lot of fun.

This year the calendar will bring you LEGO Minifigures of your favorite Avengers like Okoye, Doctor Strange, Captain America, Spider-Man, Wong, Iron Man, and Black Widow alongside mini builds and accessories. Additionally, “Buildable play experiences include a Quinjet, jetpack, ice hockey kit, the Hydra Train and lots more items inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.” Basically, you get to create a LEGO Avengers winter wonderland. And what could be better than that? We especially love Okoye playing a game of hockey.

The LEGO Marvel Avengers Advent Calander is available now and costs $44.99.

For more LEGO Marvel fun, check out this advanced Captain America shield set, here:

A Rick and Morty Movie Could Be Heading Our Way

Rick and Morty season season seven premieres in October. But a recent profile with creator Dan Harmon by The Hollywood Reporter indicates even more Rick and Morty could be on the way in movie form. The publication notes “Pre-strike, Harmon even had a serious conversation with executives at Warner Bros. about a Rick and Morty feature. He says they were all aligned on a kind of ‘“’super episode’”’ conceit, the way that Matt Stone and Trey Parker approached the South Park movie years ago. He has plenty more percolating in development, too, including a musical and a multicam.”

Whether these Rick and Morty movie conversations return post-strike remains to be seen. But it feels like one way or another, we’ll get a whole lot more Rick and Morty on our screens sooner rather than later. A “super episode” seems to only make sense.

Check out Rick and Morty‘s full season seven trailer, here:

Enjoy Magic: The Gathering Themed Pancakes a IHOP

Need more Magic: The Gathering in your life? How about in pancake form? Well, if so, you’re in luck. IHOP and Magic: The Gathering are collaborating on a Magic-themed menu that will be available for a limited time. In addition to being able to redeem IHOP loyalty points for Magic: The Gathering Arena in-game rewards, “Guests can also order from a custom Magic: The Gathering Arena menu featuring five specially themed pancakes at participating IHOPs.”

Here’s what the menu consists of:

• Ajani’s Purr-fect Pancakes: Original Buttermilk – classic original buttermilk keeping the Multiverse at peace. 
• Jace’s Illusion-Berry Pancakes: Double Blueberry – double blueberry pancakes conjured specially for magic lovers. 
• Liliana’s Chocolate Corruption Pancakes: Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Chocolate pancakes – chocolate chips & chocolate syrup – irresistible for mere mortals. 
• Chandra’s Pyroblast Pancakes: Strawberry Banana – a delicious combination of banana-filled pancakes topped with fiery red strawberries, more bananas & strawberry syrup. Consume with haste. 
• Vivien’s Heroic Protein Pancakes: Protein Power – protein-packed pancakes that are in tune with nature & in tune with your stomach.

Sounds magical to us!

Check out Magic: The Gathering‘s latest cool collaboration cards, here:

Spirit Halloween Movie Coming to Stream on Shudder

Remember the Spirit Halloween movie? Maybe you do, probably you don’t. But if you want to watch your favorite Halloween store transform into a horror movie you can now do so at any time. The Spirit Halloween movie will start streaming on Shudder beginning on October 2. This movie might not be what you call good, but it could be what you call a good time. Not to mention, according to Variety, it was shot in abandoned Toys R Us location in Georgia.

Relive the magic of the Spirit Halloween movie’s trailer, here:

Skittles Littles Invites You to Taste a Mini Rainbow

Admit it! Things are better when they’re teeny tiny. Just look at mini M&Ms! Well, Skittles wants to get into the fun now with Skittles Littles. These small candies are exactly what they sound like, Skittles but shrunk down to cute-size. We love it. A release shares, “Bursting with the five iconic fruity flavors of SKITTLES fans love, now in a tiny and more poppable form, SKITTLES Littles make it even easier to enjoy SKITTLES on-the-go.”

We can’t wait to taste the tiny rainbow. Skittles Littles are available now in stores and online.

If you’re looking for more adorable treats, take a look at this Girl Scout Cookie collaboration with Skippy P.B. Bites

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What a shock. After Netflix’s extended password-sharing crackdowns proved to be unfortunately successful, Disney+ has decided this is a good time to start a password-sharing crackdown of its own. Actually, we aren’t surprised. It seems like the new streaming playbook includes password-sharing limitations right alongside price increases and ad-supported tiers. Disney+ had previously indicated such a password-sharing crackdown was on the horizon earlier in the year. And now it looks like it’s here, and it will start in Canada. Here’s what we know about Disney+’s password-sharing crackdown efforts so far.

Disney+ Notifies Users of Password Sharing Crackdown

According to The Verge, Disney+ sent an email to subscribers in Canada alerting them that password-sharing was on notice. The email noted, “We’re implementing restrictions on your ability to share your account or login credentials outside of your household.” Although Disney+ did not go too deeply into detail about what its password-sharing crackdown would look like, it feels like the streamer is emulating Netflix’s version. In fact, Disney+ even references the idea of “households,” a term Netflix created so it could enforce who could and could not use one Netflix account.

Changes to Disney+’s User Agreement in Canada

In the case of Disney+, an updated Help Center page notes, “You may not share your subscription outside of your household.” Additionally, a new “account sharing” heading now appears in Candian subscribers’ user agreements. As shared by MobileSyrup, the section includes the following information:

Unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier, you may not share your subscription outside of your household. “Household” means the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the individuals who reside therein. Additional usage rules may apply for certain Service Tiers.

We may, in our sole discretion, analyze the use of your account to determine compliance with this Agreement. If we determine that you have violated this Agreement, we may limit or terminate access to the Service and/or take any other steps as permitted by this Agreement (including those set forth in Section 6 of this Agreement).

You will be responsible for any use of your account by your household, including compliance with this section.

It doesn’t seem all that likely that Disney+ would actually terminate a user for password-sharing, but now it can’t say it didn’t warn you.

When Will Disney+’s Password Sharing Crackdown Begin?

For most Canadian users, these changes in password-sharing policies will come into effect on November 1. This will correspond with the launch of Disney+’s ad-supported tiers in Canada. While its not clear if Disney will immediately enforce the password policy, it is clearly making sure users know it intends to at some point. For now, Disney+ has not shared any options to add other users to an account or to easily separate profiles from one account into a new account. We guess we’ll see how seriously Disney+ will take this new initiative.

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It’s been thirty years since Jodie Foster won her second Oscar for playing young investigator Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs. Now, she’s playing a detective again in the fourth season of HBO’s True Detective alongside Kali Reis, completing the traditional True Detective duo. According to TV Line, True Detective: Night Country will premiere on January 14. We also have a new teaser trailer for this season.

Jodie Foster is also an executive producer for this season and will play Detective Liz Danvers in the series. Kali Reis meanwhile, will play Detective Evangeline Navarro. The creative force behind this newest iteration of True Detective is writer and director Issa López. You can read the official description right here:

The series is centered around Detectives Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro who are looking to solve the case of six men that operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanishing without a trace, when the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska. The pair will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice.

This already sounds spooky and intriguing—and in the vein of the celebrated first season of True Detective. While many big film actors transitioned to TV over the years, this marks the first time Foster has done television work since childhood. At least in front of the camera that is. In recent years, she directed episodes of Orange Is the New Black, Black Mirror, and Tales from the Loop.

Reis, meanwhile, recently debuted in Catch the Fair One, an indie movie whose story she also helped to develop. According to Deadline, she is the first Indigenous American female world champion in boxing, as well as an Indigenous rights advocate. She’ll soon appear in Black Flies alongside Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan.

True Detective Season Four’s Premiere Date

The last season of True Detective came in 2019 and, as stated previously, this new season will come our way on January 14, 2024. Here’s hoping that Foster can channel some of those Clarice Starling vibes, and give fans a new classic character. We love Jodie Foster best when she’s the smartest sleuth in the room. And we can’t wait to see what she and Reis have in store for us.

Originally published on June 28, 2022.

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‘Tis the season for many things—pumpkin spice lattes, apple picking, and… video game adaptations. Yes, more than ever, our favorite games are turning into series for our viewing pleasure. Next up, the popular video game Devil May Cry is heading to Netflix in the form of an anime series. In this current gaming adaptation age, we bet the results are better than ever. Although we don’t yet have a release date for this anime, Netflix did share a teaser trailer for the series. Here’s what we know about the Devil May Cry series heading to Netflix.

Devil May Cry Series Announcement Teaser Trailer

Conversations about the Devil May Cry animated series have been circulating since 2021. So we feel glad to finally see it coming to fruition. Netflix’s teaser for Devil May Cry doesn’t show us too much about what we can expect from the anime show. But it does set the tone just right. The quick scenes of action and the hard rock music certainly have us ready to dive into an episode. And the animation looks incredibly good.

 The only character we see in the Devil May Cry teaser is Dante. He’s got his red jacket, his guns, his white hair, and he’s ready to go. But in earlier conversations, creator and showrunner of the series Adi Shankar confirmed we’d see other familiar Devil May Cry characters. He noted, “I can confirm that Vergil is in it, as well as Lady, and of course Dante as well.” We can’t wait to see how these characters transform for the show.

The Anime Series Synopsis

Netflix also shared a logline for the Devil May Cry series; it notes:

In this animated adaptation of the popular Capcom game, sinister forces are at play to open the portal between the human and demon realms. In the middle of it all is Dante, an orphaned demon-hunter-for-hire, unaware that the fate of both worlds hangs around his neck.

We do love a sinister force. And an orphaned demon-hunter-for-hire. Dante certainly does not seem aware the fate of multiple worlds is on his shoulders in the teaser clip, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens when he does.

Devil May Cry‘s Release Date, Episode Count, and More

Right now, Devil May Cry does not have an official Netflix release date. All we know is that it’s “coming soon.” However, we do know that the series will be eight episodes long. Adi Shankar, as mentioned, is the showrunner and creator. Alex Larsen is the writer on the show. The series comes from Netflix, Capcom, and Studio MIR, so we know it is in good hands.

Shankar noted, “I’m honored that Netflix and Capcom have entrusted me to shepherd the Devil May Cry franchise. Alex Larsen and I love these characters; we are part of the fandom, and vow to surpass the exceptionally high bar we set for ourselves.”

Hopefully, we will know more about when Devil May Cry will be released and get to see more of its characters before too long.

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