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Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 133

March 11, 2025

James Gunn Reveals New Look at Mysterious SUPERMAN Villain, Engineer

Soon, the world will meet a new Clark Kent in Superman. (Formerly titled Superman: Legacy). DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran are rebooting the most famous superhero in the world as they transition the franchise from the DCEU to the DCU. Who will play the Man of Steel on the big screen this time around? What kind of story will we see him in? And who will bring it to life? We’re keeping track of all these answers and more.

Recently, James Gunn gave us a new look at one of Superman‘s villains, Engineer. In the DCU, Engineer is played by María Gabriela de Faría. We don’t know too much about her role yet, but we know she is “sinister perfection.”

Happy Anniversary to the Engineer, created by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch, who you can see played to sinister perfection by puppy in human form Gaby de Faria in #Superman this July! 🦾 pic.twitter.com/baXnmpCIoR
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 10, 2025

Here’s everything we know about Superman so far.

Title

Warner Bros.

The DCU’s first official movie (though not its first official release) is now titled simply Superman. Of course, the movie began its life as Superman: Legacy. It will kick off the film side of what James Gunn has called the franchise’s first chapter, “Gods and Monsters.” He has also called this movie “the true beginning” of the DCU.

Superman‘s Plot An illustrated Superman sits above the trees and looks over his shoulders

DC Comics/Frank Quitely

While the film still has no official synopsis, Warner Bros. did provide a description of what we can expect from the story, which James Gunn says is not an origin tale.

Superman tells the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.

Gunn announced the film with art from the cover of All-Star Superman by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely. Whether or not that means the story is influenced, inspired by, or adapted from the 12-issue comic series in any way is unclear. What Gunn has said is the movie will focus on “an earlier part of Superman’s life,” where he is still old enough to already be working for the Daily Planet.

We also have our first look at David Corenswet as the DCU’s Superman.

Superman Legacy first look reveals David Corenswet as DCU Superman and his costume

James Gunn

We also have our first look at Nicholas Hoult’s Lux Luthor. The menacing villain looks to be in fine form as he scowls around our first glimpse of the Superman movie. Check him out above in all his in all his glory, and you can then take a look at the character in action in the trailer itself. (We break it down here)

Warner Bros./DCSuperman‘s Cast James Gunn DCU new movie Superman Legacy casts leads David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan

Netflix/DC Comics/Prime Video

David Corenswet will play Superman, while Rachel Brosnahan will play Lois Lane.

In addition, four more actors have joined the cast of Superman. Isabela Merced will play Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi will play Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillion will play Green Lantern Guy Gardner, and Anthony Carrigan will play Metamorpho. María Gabriela de Faría will play the villain The Engineer in the movie. Also known as Angela Spica, the character has nanotechnology built into her body. Additionally, Sara Sampaio will play Eve Teschmacher, Skyler Gisondo will play Jimmy Olsen, and Wendell Pierce will play The Daily Planet boss Perry White. Saturday Night Live‘s Beck Bennett will play The Daily Planet‘s sports journalist Steve Lombard. James Gunn has also confirmed that Nicholas Hoult will play Lex Luthor.

James Gunn recently confirmed that one exciting canine character would join the world of the DCU’s Superman this summer. Gunn shared that Krypto the Superdog would be a fixture of the movie and that he would be a pup who is a “not-so-good-good-boy” inspired by Gunn’s own real-life dog, Ozu.

In full, Gunn notes:

Krypto arrives on screens in Superman this summer. Krypto was inspired by our dog Ozu, who we adopted shortly after I started writing Superman. Ozu, who came from a hoarding situation in a backyard with 60 other dogs & never knew human beings, was problematic to say the least. He immediately came in & destroyed our home, our shoes, our furniture – he even ate my laptop. It took a long time before he would even let us touch him. I remember thinking, “Gosh, how difficult would life be if Ozu had superpowers?” – and thus Krypto came into the script & changed the shape of the story as Ozu was changing my life. What better time to debut the not-so-good-good-boy Krypto than #AdoptAShelterDog month. Btw, Ozu today, is, fairly often, a very good boy. #Superman

Gunn also recently confirmed the casting of Ma and Pa Kent on Threads. Pruitt Taylor Vince (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) will play Jonathan Kent, a.k.a. Pa Kent. Meanwhile, Neva Howell will play Martha Kent.

Behind the Scenes

James Gunn wrote the (definitely completed) script and is directing.

Superman‘s Release Date

Thanks to the efforts of our talented crew, who never lost faith during the longest strikes in Hollywood history, and who never let their foot off the pedal, continuing to barrel forward, creating the most amazing character and set designs I’ve seen in my entire career,… pic.twitter.com/ntnEbA2fC0
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) November 11, 2023

Superman will soar into theaters faster than a speeding bullet on July 11, 2025.

Originally published on April 11, 2023.

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Published on March 11, 2025 10:08

DEATH STRANDING 2 Trailer Reveals Release Date, Norman Reedus as a Daddy, and SO Much More

Few video game creators are as invested in the cinematic nature of their games and are as absolutely bonkers (complimentary) as Hideo Kojima. So, if you thought that the first Death Stranding game was an absolute masterpiece in the mind-blowing and the bizarre, strap in for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. Although it does not include Mads Mikkelsen (sad), the 10 minute trailer for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach throws in basically everything else and the kitchen sink. Happily, that also includes a long-awaited release date for the Death Stranding 2 game. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach will release on June 26, 2025 and pre-orders will soon begin. And that summer release date is necessary because it will take you that long to recover from this trailer.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach‘s 10 Minute Trailer

Check out the full ten minutes of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach‘s trailer below and dive into some wild action, bizarre monsters, and some deep underlying heart.

An array of gorgeous settings? Check. At least five different ways the world can end? Check. Norman Reedus kissing a baby? Check and check! (And we’re happy to see it.) Did we mention bizarre hand-based giant monsters and Mad Max director George Miller piloting a huge mecha to fight them? Also check.

Death Stranding 2 on the beach trailer Norman Reedus and a baby

Kojima Productions george miller in death stranding 2

Kojima Productions

That’s not even to get into The Last of Us‘ Troy Baker and his incredibly abnormal tongue. And was that a condemnation of America’s gun culture we saw? And possibly an allusion/cross-over with Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid universe via Luca Marinelli’s character—who does a pretty good job at mirroring Metal Gear Solid‘s protagonist Solid Snake in the Death Stranding 2 trailer.

Death Stranding 2 on the beach trailer Troy baker as antagonist with weird tongue

Kojima Productions Death Stranding 2 reference to Metal Gear Solid protagonist Solid Snake

Kojima Productions

Only Hideo Kojima could bring all these parts together into one confusing but alluring mass that is Death Stranding 2: On the Beach‘s 10-minute trailer.

Ten minutes, we can’t get over it. If it takes that long just to take in the trailer, how long will this game be? It’s estimated Death Stranding took about 40 hours to complete the most basic game, but to see everything might have taken more than 100. We bet this game will aim to top that.

DEATH STRANDING Live-Action Movie In the Works at A24 and Kojima ProductionsDeath Stranding 2: On the Beach‘s Synopsis Death Stranding 2 on the beach trailer - creepy baby

Death Stranding 2 on the beach trailer - creepy baby

Kojima Productions

In addition to Death Stranding 2: On the Beach‘s trailer, Kojima Productions also revealed a synopsis for the sequel game. It notes, “In DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH, embark on an inspiring mission of human connection beyond the UCA. Sam—with companions by his side—sets out on a new journey to save humanity from extinction. Join them as they traverse a world beset by otherworldly enemies, obstacles and a haunting question: should we have connected? Step by step, legendary game creator Hideo Kojima changes the world once again.“

Of course, this synopsis doesn’t nearly cover everything we saw in the trailer. But what could? The official page additionally adds, “DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH sees Norman Reedus, Léa Seydoux, and Troy Baker return to Hideo Kojima’s genre-defying universe. They will be joined by Elle Fanning, Shioli Kutsuna, and Academy Award-winning film director George Miller. ”

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Release Date and Pre-Order Information Death Stranding 2 on the beach trailer hand monsters

Kojima Productions

Soon, we’ll be able to get our hands on Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and unfurl all its secrets (to the best of our abilities anyway.) Death Stranding 2: On the Beach will release on June 26. Pre-orders for the sequel game will begin on March 17, 2025, 10:00 a.m. (local time). More information will become available here as the time comes.

Okay, Death Stranding 2, you have our attention.

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Published on March 11, 2025 09:12

NOVOCAINE Is a Mind-Numbing Mishmash of Genres Mixed with Jack Quaid’s Charm

Novocaine is a totally confounding movie that is surprisingly easy to describe. It’s an entertaining yet bad film. Not bad in the “intentional B-schlock fun” way either. Bad as in, “This is not good.” How can both of those things possibly be true? How can a movie I found entertaining also stink? Because while almost every individual scene is good (and star Jack Quaid is very, very good) none of those scene go together. Novocaine is a mishmash of multiple genres that don’t work together. The result is a movie that has no idea what it is, what it wants to do, or why it’s doing anything.

The trailer for Novocaine indicates it’s an action-comedy, and there are definitely times when that’s exactly what it is. But the film’s first 15 minutes present a very serious, interesting, well-done drama about pain and the scars we carry with us. That’s because the movie meaningfully reflects on its premise. It follows Jack Quaid’s Nate Caine, a man who literally cannot feel any physical pain because of a genetic condition. His painless existence is incredibly painful. He’s isolated from almost everyone and most things. He can’t even eat real food. His outlooks finally seem to change for him when he meets the proverbial “girl of his dreams,” Sherry, played by Prey‘s Amber Midthunder. She’s also very good in the film.

Their budding relationship quickly turns the movie into more of a rom-com, and I liked that as well. I would have loved if Novocaine had continued being about them.

Paramount Pictures

Then the movie suddenly turns into Heat. Not “funny Heat.” Novocaine just straight up becomes a deadly heist film with all the gravity of a Michael Mann movie. It’s… really good. There’s an intense bank robbery sequence that is really well done. It’s also really jarring and nonsensical. Within 30 minutes you get three distinct genres, but none of them are in conversation with one another. This isn’t a harmonious stew of concepts blending together. It’s a plate of food where no part of the meal makes sense with the other. Novocaine is like getting served tuna fish with pistachio pudding and brie. You can enjoy each of them separately, but not in the same bite.

Then things get even weirder when Novocaine finally gets to its promise of being an action-comedy, but even then it can’t settle on one tone. At times it plays like an absurdist comedy. Other scenes are more of a black comedy. And some feature more of a traditional style of humor. Those violent shifts in tone, even among the movie’s comedic elements, results in a dizzying whiplash.

Jack Quaid wearing a suit and holding a knife in Novocaine

Paramount Pictures

The only constant in the movie is also its best asset, Quaid. It’s easy to see why directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen wanted him. Nate shares a lot of the same qualities as Quaid’s Hughie on The Boys. They’re both kind, unassuming, normal guys who find themselves in an absurd situation. (In this case, that happens when Nate goes after the bank robbers to save Sherry. This seat-of-his-pants plan requires him to use his genetic condition like a super power, resulting in a lot of the movie’s physical humor.)

Nate is not just Hughie in a different story, though. Quaid really makes Nate his own. He’s softer, sad in a different way, and also has the kind of aloof detachment that feels natural after a life locked away from danger. Despite the two characters obvious similarities I did not think about The Boys once during the movie. Quaid loses himself in the part in an immensely impressive leading performance.

Jack Quaid wearing a suit and running with a gun in Novocaine

Paramount Pictures

While the disparate genres and roller coaster tones don’t work in the film, it at least provides Quaid a chance to show off his range. He pulls all of the different genres off effortlessly. He’s tremendous when Novocaine is a drama, when it’s a rom-com, when it’s a heist thriller, when it’s an action movie, and when its one of three or four different comedies. Without his performance the film might be totally unwatchable. With him every scene is entertaining and interesting.

It’s just too bad all of those scenes combine for an incoherent, unsatisfying mess. Novocaine doesn’t know what it is. It’s not clear it has a purpose. It just felt like doing a bunch of stuff regardless of whether or not those things made sense. It’s the epitome of the saying, “The whole is less than the sum of its parts.”

So while it is not a wholly painful movie experience, it sure doesn’t feel that good on the whole either.

Novocaine ⭐ (2.5 of 5)

Novocaine premieres March 14, 2025.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He can feel pain, especially emotional pain, so be nice in the comments section. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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Published on March 11, 2025 08:19

Spores Are Back in THE LAST OF US Season 2 (And They Bring Drama)

The Last of Us‘ video game fans were expecting to see the Cordyceps fungus spread through spores in the air when season on of the TV series hit our screens. After all, that’s how the virus traditionally attacked in the original world of The Last of Us. But The Last of Us season one introduced Cordyceps tendrils into the franchise instead of spores. Much to the confusion of some, instead of airborne particles that could be inhaled, The Last of Us‘ TV infected created a network of vine-like tendrils that allowed them to communicate and create something like a hive mind.

In addition to passing the Cordyceps infection through bits and saliva, the tendrils could also turn a healthy human into an infected one. Now, though, the game-accurate vision of the fungus’ spread is coming to our TV screens. In season two of The Last of Us, we’ll see Cordyceps spores come into play, offering a deadly new way for the infection to ensnare our favorite characters.

At SXSW, showrunners Neil Druckmann and Carl Mazin confirmed, “spores are back.” Spores were initially avoided on The Last of Us to help enhance the drama of becoming infected on the TV series… and to avoid Pedro Pascal’s Joel and Bella Ramsey’s Ellie having to don gas masks all the time. Much as we love Pedro Pascal in a mask, it was probably better that Joel didn’t have to constantly wear one like The Mandalorian.

But in season two of The Last of Us, Druckmann reveals there will be “an escalation of numbers and types of infected, but also, as you see in the trailer, an escalation of the vector of how this thing spreads.” And that means The Last of Us is getting spores. Druckmann continues, “Season 1, we had this new thing that wasn’t in the game of these tendrils that spread, and that was one form. And then one shot you see in this trailer, there are things in the air.” (You can see the shot of spores in The Last of Us season two’s trailer above, time stamp of 1:18)

the last of us season two brings back spores

Max

Druckmann concluded, “The reason [we’re doing it now], I mean, we really wanted to figure it out, and again, everything has to be drama. There had to be a dramatic reason of introducing it now. And there is.”

the last of us season two clicker in the snow

Max

We’ll have to wait for details on that, but an escalation in danger and ease of becoming infected will certainly help up the stakes of the series. Spores are also viscerally displeasing in a whole new way, and we bet they’ll leave us shuddering a we watch The Last of Us season two.

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Published on March 11, 2025 08:02

March 10, 2025

How DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN Turned an Overused Story Trope Around

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A truly shocking moment in Daredevil: Born Again’s first episode was the murder of his best friend Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson). Originally, Marvel did not even intend for Netflix Daredevil characters Foggy and Karen Page to return for Born Again. However, the new showrunners realized Foggy’s death would form Charlie Cox’s character arc for the rest of the season. And as far as we’re concerned, they were right. We don’t think the story would have nearly as much impact without Foggy’s death. But it’s led fans online to ask, did Marvel just “Fridge Foggy??” If so, it begs the question, if creators kill a male supporting character in service to a male lead character’s story, is it still fridging? First, maybe we should properly explain what fridging even is for those unaware.

From left to right: Deborah Ann Woll, Charlie Cox, and Elden Henson in Daredevil: Born Again, before tragedy strikes.

Marvel Television “Fridging,” The Tradition of Harming Women Characters to Service Male Character Story Arcs

The term fridging was coined in 1999 by comics creator Gail Simone, famous for writing Birds of Prey and Uncanny X-Men. It’s actually short for “Women in Refrigerators.” Simone used this term to describe a trope in fiction where female characters faced harm and death as a plot device to motivate the lead male characters. The refrigerators part of the term references a 1994 Green Lantern comic. In one infamous issue, the hero’s enemy murdered his girlfriend. He then stuffed her body in a refrigerator, left for him to find. This was a grisly iteration of a trope going back decades. Yet the term “fridging” stuck. Some believe it only counts as fridging if the woman killed was created only to die. But that’s not always the case. Stan Lee didn’t create Spider-Man’s girlfriend Gwen Stacy to die, for example. Other writers chose to kill her years later.

From left to right: Amber Benson as Tara in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Maggie Gyllenhall as Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight, and Morena Baccarin in Deadpool,

Twentieth Century Television/Warner Bros./Twentieth Century Studios

Once the term entered the popular consciousness, people took notice of how often stories used it. And not just in comics, but in other media as well. Buffy the Vampire Slayer did it, and Solo did it as well. Deadpool 2 did it with Wade’s girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). Yet when that film was released in 2018, people were so aware of this trope as overused and problematic, they shot a new ending. In the new ending, Deadpool reverses Vanessa’s death via time travel. These days, creators are far more conscious of how tired this trope is. Credit to Marvel, they could have killed Karen (Deborah Ann Woll) instead of Foggy. In the comics, Karen was famously fridged when Bullseye killed her. So we’re glad that Marvel was wise enough to give the live-action version a different fate. But when it happens to a male character, is it still problematic?

Can a Male Character’s Death Like Daredevil’s Foggy Nelson Count as “Fridging?” The death of Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) in Daredevil: Born Again episode one.

The death of Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) in Daredevil: Born Again episode one.

Marvel Television

The main reason killing off a Foggy Nelson doesn’t qualify as fridging in the strictest sense is simply that most genre fiction centers around straight male characters. And thus, their loved ones who must suffer to further their stories are almost always women. If more female characters were the leads in more of these types of stories, then a lot more boyfriends and male mentors would die too. It’s really the imbalance in pop culture storytelling when it comes to gender that makes the concept even an issue. So as long as that’s the case, fridging as a term remains reserved for women characters.

The truth is, killing off loved ones for a main character in a story is a good plot device. There’s no denying it usually works, at least when done well. It’s why it’s a trope that writers keep using. One of the best Worf (Michael Dorn) storylines on Star Trek: The Next Generation was when his enemy killed his lover K’ehleyr. He then went AWOL and took revenge for her murder. The death of Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhall) in The Dark Knight? Crucial to both Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent’s arcs. But when most of your major narrative fiction, especially heroic genre fiction, centers on male characters, the motivational deaths invariably occur to women. The result is seeing interesting female characters suffer and die in disproportionate numbers to male ones. It’s just not cool and damaging to culture overall when used over and over again.

Killing Off Secondary Male Characters Is Rare, But Hardly Unheard Of Chris Pine and Gal Gadot as Steve Trevor and Diana Prince in Wonder Woman (2017).

Chris Pine and Gal Gadot as Steve Trevor and Diana Prince in Wonder Woman (2017).

Warner Bros.

So is Foggy’s death as a male secondary character really that unusual? Yes, but it’s not without precedent. In Patty Jenkins’ 2017 Wonder Woman, love interest Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) dies in a way that properly motivates Diana (Gal Gadot) in the final act. No one argued it didn’t make the film work better. An example of male fridging that almost everyone disliked was Pa Kent (Kevin Costner) in Man of Steel. But even then, it was less that he died, it was that Clark (Henry Cavill) could have easily prevented it. It doesn’t qualify as genre fiction, but Carrie Bradshaw’s main love interest in Sex and the City, “Mr. Big,” was killed off in the first episode of “…And Just Like That.” Dealing with his death becomes the primary motivating factor for Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) throughout that series.

Foggy and Kirsten sit at a bar in Daredevil: Born Again right before his death

Giovanni Rufino/Marvel Television/Disney+

Ultimately, these kinds of stories will always kill off characters to motivate the lead. Death is just part of life, and you can’t remove the death of loved ones from storytelling tropes entirely. But until this happens to male characters as often as female ones, we can’t really call what happened to Foggy fridging. Killing off the male secondary characters should perhaps get its own term. But it happens so much less frequently, no one has bothered yet. Maybe Elden Henson’s contribution to pop culture will be creating the term “Getting Foggied” for male characters. Where not sure if that’s the kind of legacy he wants for his character, but it would be interesting if that’s what finally gives this trope a proper name.

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Published on March 10, 2025 17:03

New LEGO MARIO KART Set Speeds Onto Shelves This May

LEGO will release a model of Mario driving the Standard Kart from Mario Kart in late spring. Fans have been waiting for a set like this for a while, as there are other Mario Kart sets, but on a much smaller scale. The new Mario Kart – Mario & Standard Kart LEGO set includes over 1,900 pieces and carries an 18+ difficulty rating. The set could not come at a better time, as one of the predicted launch games for the Nintendo Switch 2 is a new installment of the Mario Kart Franchise.

You can take a look at this Mario Kart LEGO creation below.

LEGO

The Mario & Standard Kart LEGO set is a build-and-display model showcasing the game’s base kart and first character among its selection. The Mario replica has a poseable head and arms, which allows him to perform different poses. We especially love that you can move this LEGO Mario into yippee pose, when he puts a fist up in the air after hitting someone with a shell or banana.

LEGO

Similar to other collectible displays from LEGO, this Mario Kart set comes with a stand for the kart so you can display it in the dynamic angles that you would see while racing in the game. For example, you can position actions like drifting, jumping off a ramp, or making sharp turns using the movable stand.

While building this Mario Kart set, you can use the LEGO Builder app to view building instructions. Additionally, you can view a digital 3D model of your set as you build it and track your progress. This ability is especially handy if you want to build this LEGO set with your whole Mario Kart team. Everyone can have their own instructions. The Mario & Standard Kart set is part of a range of LEGO Super Mario collectibles marketed toward adults. Others include the Mario & Yoshi set and the Piranha Plant set.

The LEGO Mario & Standard Kart comes with two different gifts with purchase. The Mario Kart – Toad Pit Crew and Ferrari 499P – Hypercar. The Toad Pit Crew gift with purchase benefit ends March 11, whereas the Hypercar ends March 12. The LEGO Mario & Standard Kart set is available for preorder on the LEGO website, retailing for $169.99. It is expected to ship May 15, 2025. As they say, Yippee!

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Published on March 10, 2025 15:35

ANDOR Season 2 Will Have an Unorthodox Release Schedule on Disney+

Andor, starring Diego Luna as the titular Star Wars hero, is coming back for its second (and final) season at long last. We will finally see how both Cassian Andor and Mon Mothma’s storylines sync up to where we meet them in Rogue One. The season has 12 episodes overall, which is an unusual amount for a Disney+ original show. Especially one as pricey as Andor. But Disney+ won’t spread it out over 12 weeks. The streamer has revealed that Andor’s second season will have an unusual release schedule. Here’s how it’s going to look, according to official Disney sources:

The final season of Andor will unfold over 12 episodes broken down into four chapters of three episodes each. The first chapter will premiere April 22, with subsequent chapters debuting each week.

April 22 — E1, E2, E3
April 29 — E4, E5, E6
May 6 — E7, E8, E9
May 13 — E10, E11, E12

Andor season 2 new look at Cassian Andor

Lucasfilm

Essentially, Star Wars fans will have a three-hour movie every week for a solid month. And based on the high quality of the first season, it’ll be a fantastic movie. Of course, this was not always the intended rollout for the show. When Collider asked Andor creator Tony Gilroy if they always planned to release Andor season two this way, here’s what he had to say about it:

We heard about that as we finished. We finished the show in November. We finaled the show in November, so we really had to wait for Skeleton Crew. It’s a Disney decision. There’s an internal logic behind it. They have their reasons. It’s kind of cool. I mean, it puts a burden on podcasters. What are they going to do? It’s a movie a week, you know?

So what is Disney’s internal logic here, you may ask? Well, we have no proof. However, recent polling has shown that younger viewers greatly prefer the binge model versus weekly episode drops. It makes sense, as a whole generation grew up with the model Netflix created. Streamers always care more about what a younger demographic likes versus The Olds, who were reared on weekly episodes. So this model, similar to Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, seems to be meeting somewhere in the middle. Fans can binge several episodes, and Disney+ can still stretch out the experience for longer than a weekend. Whatever way they choose to release the follow-up to Andor’s brilliant first season, we know we can’t wait for it to get here.

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Published on March 10, 2025 14:17

ANDOR Episodes Available Free on YouTube, ANDOR Scripts Won’t Release Due to AI, and Other March News

Somehow, it’s three months into 2025, and the year is really getting started. Here are some entertainment news tidbits that dropped in March. (You can check out February’s round-up here)

Andor Season 1 Episodes Available to Watch For Free on YouTube

If you don’t have Disney+ but want to get caught up on arguably the best Star Wars show ever, Andor, before season two hits. Disney and YouTube have a solution for you, at least partially. Episodes 1-3 of Andor season one are now available to watch free on Disney+’s YouTube. Additionally, all episodes of Andor are now available on Hulu, in case that’s your streaming platform of choice.

Andor Scripts Won’t Release Because of AI Concerns Diego Luna as Cassian Andor flying a ship

Lucasfilm

You can now watch Andor across many different platforms, but don’t expect to get your hands on any scripts. Andor creator Tony Gilroy shares that though he once promised he’d release the Andor scripts, he now will keep them close to his chest due to AI’s sneaky ways. Gilroy notes, “I wanted to do it. We put it together. It’s really cool. I’ve seen it, I loved it. AI is the reason we’re not. In the end, it would be 1,500 pages that came directly off this desk. I mean, terribly sadly, it’s just too much of an X-ray and too easily absorbed. Why help the f***ing robots any more than you can? So, it was an ego thing. It was vanity that makes you want to do it, and the downside is real. So, vanity loses.”

Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil Movie Coming Fall 2026, Lands at Sony Resident Evil 4 remake poster shows Leon Kennedy with a pistol and Ashley starring off to the right as Ganados mob at the bottom of the images.

Resident Evil 4 remake poster shows Leon Kennedy with a pistol and Ashley starring off to the right as Ganados mob at the bottom of the images.

Capcom

Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil reboot is heading home to Sony Pictures and producer PlayStation Productions. The Resident Evil cinematic franchise has long been under Sony’s purview, but to keep it, the studio had to participate in quite the bidding war. Nevertheless, Sony prevailed and will bring us the next Resident Evil movie, which is helmed by Barbarian filmmaker Zach Cregger.

The release date for the next Resident Evil movie is September 18, 2026.

Robert Pattinson Says He’s Going to Be “A F**cking Old Batman” in The Batman—Part II ANDOR Episodes Available Free on YouTube, ANDOR Scripts Won’t Release Due to AI, and Other March News_1

ANDOR Episodes Available Free on YouTube, ANDOR Scripts Won’t Release Due to AI, and Other March News_1

Warner Bros.

The Batman—Part II has had some delays. Rumor has it that it will begin filming soon(ish), and one person who hopes so is Robert Pattinson. He shares, “I fucking hope so,” when asked if he’ll return to Batman’s world soon, “I started out as young Batman, and I’m going to be fucking old Batman by the sequel. I’m 38, I’m old.” Oop, well, we also love an old Batman.

Every Streaming Cost Increase In 2025: Netflix Sets Major Price Hike Across PlansYouTube Offering Less Expensive Premium Tier, YouTube Premium Lite

YouTube

Are all the ads on YouTube making you batty? Well, now you can take advantage of the perks of YouTube’s Premium tier, namely an ad-free experience, in a less expensive way. YouTube is now offering YouTube Premium Light. YouTube Premium Lite will cost $7.99 per month vs. $13.99 per month, the cost of premium. That’s a pretty steep reduction. YouTube Premium Lite will make “most videos” on YouTube ad-free for subscribers, including gaming, fashion, news, and beauty videos. Music content and shorts will remain full of ads, however. And YouTube Premium Lite will not allow video downloads or background play. Still, for those wanting less ads in their lives, YouTube Premium Lite seems like a good choice.

THUNDERBOLTS* Reveals Avengers Tower’s New Owner and Its Ominous New Name…’Watchtower’

Tony Stark sold his famous New York City skyscraper in Spider-Man: Homecoming. That was way back in 2017! Ever since we’ve speculated about who actually bought the building that became Avengers Tower. Was it the Fantastic Four? Kingpin? Norman Osborn? Turns out the answer is none of them! The newest trailer for Thunderbolts* features the team of anti-heroes meeting at that iconic building because it now belongs to Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.

Marvel Studios debuted a “special look” at Thunderbolts* during Disney’s D23 Brazil. The action-packed trailer features a lot of what we’ve already been expecting from the film. There are plenty of laughs, a litany of explosions, the group fighting among themselves, and David Harbour’s Red Guardian being the superhero dad we all deserve. Oh yeah, and Bob is also here. Bob. Bob.

What we didn’t expect from this Thunderbolts* trailer was to finally get an answer to one of the MCU’s longest outstanding questions. That shot of the team in the elevator, the one Marvel has been teasing for a very long time, has an incredible payoff. They’re riding the elevator at what was once Avengers Tower. It is now the property of Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. She tells the Thunderbolts, “To think of all the monumental fights that happened exactly here where you’re standing. I mean, the place wasn’t cheap, but it’s got good optics.”

The Thunderbolts* team standing in Avengers Tower

Marvel Studios

Hooooo baby that last line is fun. Val has been putting together her own team of “heroes” with checkered pasts. What better way to sell a new, questionable superhero group to the public than by having them operate out of a building that symbolizes bravery and teamwork? In that way Val buying Avengers Tower is less about making a big real estate investment and more about a pricey marketing strategy. It’s a good one, too. It’s already working on us.

In Thunderbolts*, the Avengers Tower will snag a new, much more ominous name, “Watchtower.” Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier shares, “We know what that tower means. Who’s the person you would least like to own that tower, that means so much to so many people? Can you use that as a symbol of things taking a darker turn?”

Her ownership of Avengers Tower could also answer another major MCU question we have. This team’s own name has a giant asterisk attached to their movie’s title. It would be only fitting for them to work out of Avengers Tower if they end up being called the Dark Avengers, or just Avengers, when the film debuts May 2, 2025.

The post THUNDERBOLTS* Reveals Avengers Tower’s New Owner and Its Ominous New Name…’Watchtower’ appeared first on Nerdist.

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Published on March 10, 2025 11:50

Disney Shares New Look at Stark Flight Lab Ride Coming to Disney California Adventure’s Avengers Campus

Tony Stark is coming to Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure Park, and when he arrives he’s arriving in style. Iron Man will, fittingly, use state-of-the-art technology on his new ride. During this year’s SXSW Robert Downey Jr. himself helped reveal new concept footage and some behind-the-scenes looks of the upcoming Stark Flight Lab attraction. The ride will feature a first-of-its-kind design, where a track will take guests to a robotic arm that will then pick them up so they can experience what it’s like to be Iron Man.

Robert Downey Jr. surprised attendees in Austin during Disney’s “The Future of World-Building at Disney” panel at this SXSW 2025. He joined Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and President and Chief Creative Officer for Walt Disney Imagineering Bruce Vaughn onstage to discuss development of Stark Flight Lab. It’s one of two major new attractions, along with Avengers Infinity Defense, coming to DCA.

The E-ticket ride will put guests in “gyro-kinetic pods.” Those pods will then roll along a track until it arrives at a gigantic robotic arm. The Disney Parks blogs says the arms will then “hoist you into the air where you’ll make several high-speed maneuvers inspired by Iron Man and some other Avengers.” When your test flight is over you’ll then be placed back on the track.

Concept footage split with the real thing for the robot arm holding pods on Stark Flight Lab

Disney

“Nothing like this has ever been done before in a theme park, and we’re so excited about it,” said Vaughn. The fact guests will actually see this ride mechanism is also part of the experience. Vaughn said, “Usually, we hide all the tech behind the scenes so you can focus on the story. Here, the tech IS the story, so we’re putting it front and center.”

Downey joked the other Avengers who will appear on his ride will be “based on merit and whomever picks up my FaceTime calls on the first ring.” He also praised the Imagineers creating the attraction. Downey Jr. even contributed to the ride’s themes. When he visited the hghly secrective WDI headquarters, he noted the robot arm looked like Tony Stark’s DUM-E. That led to DUM-E becoming part of the experience. Imagineers used both dancers and motion capture to create a “virtual mirror” they then used as guidance in early ride mockups. They say the goal is to make the ride’s arm look as real as DUM-E.

We love it. Thematically this all makes sense. (Even if the possible wait time for this ride already has us worried.) And if Stark Flight Lab makes us feel like we got to take a spin in Iron Man’s suit this will be one of Earth’s mightiest theme park attractions.

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Published on March 10, 2025 10:14

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