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Would Han Solo and Indiana Jones Be BFFs or Nah? An Analysis

SCENE:

Interior: a sketchy dive bar on the outskirts of a strange, dusty land

In walks a brash, confident man who needs a drink after a hectic day outrunning his evil enemies. He looks around and sees a room full of questionable characters and only one available seat. It’s at a table occupied by a man who strangely looks a lot like himself. He walks over and tilts his head at the empty chair and the other man nods his okay.

“The name’s Han Solo.”

“Indiana Jones.”

Normally when people imagine Harrison Ford‘s two most iconic characters meeting they debate who would win in a fight, but why? The better hypothetical is whether Han Solo and Indiana Jones would like each other. To answer that very important question we’re breaking down the topics that might prove most contentious if the two found themselves sharing a drink at cantina of disrepute, to determine if their differences would make them enemies, or if they’d find enough common ground to become friends.

Profession

Han: A street smart smuggler embroiled in the seedy underbelly of society, he has no problem stealing goods and selling them to the highest bidder. He’s a proud outlaw, though there are limits to who he is willing to deal with.

Indy: A respected and brilliant college professor, he believes valuable treasures belong in a museum and not solely in the hands of greedy men who would otherwise hoard them.

Verdict: The common conversation starter “What do you do for a living?” does not get them off on the right foot. Indiana Jones would despise Han for being a rogue who would gladly deal in black market antiquities if there was a buck to be made. Indy has no problem boarding a train or boat to stop men like Han, so he probably wouldn’t have an issue sneaking on to the Millennium Falcon if he thought some scared Jedi textbook was on it.

Religion

Han: Old Han might feel differently, but young Han Solo has flown from one side of this galaxy to the other and he’s seen a lot of strange stuff, but never anything to make him believe there’s one all-powerful force controlling everything. He doesn’t think there’s any kind of mystical energy field that controls his destiny.

Indy: He has literally witnessed firsthand there are supernatural forces with the ability to melt faces and grant eternal life. He doesn’t have to believe anything because he knows for a fact it’s real.

Verdict: “Never discuss religion with a stranger” never rang so true as it does with these two. Han dismissing Indy’s talk of hokey religions and ancient weapons would be very insulting. Things are testy right away. (Good thing for our favorite scruffy nerf herder his blaster would definitely prove no match for a whip or 1940s pistol if things got really heated.)

Politics

Han: After becoming disillusioned with the Empire, he turned to a life of crime, operating on the outskirts of society and its laws. Eventually his disregard for the rules of society led him to a much more meaningful path as he become a major player in the Rebellion.

Indy: Spent a lifetime standing up against an evil regimes to keep them from amassing more power, helping to keep the world safe. However his own government’s “top men” also showed him sometimes even his own side could fail him.

Verdict: The first breakthrough in the conversation comes when they talk about the evil fascists they are both fighting. Nothing brings strangers together like a toast to kicking some stormtrooper ass, but after being double-crossed so many times, Indy remains wary of a man he isn’t sure he can trust.

Snakes

Han: Accidentally flew into a giant space snake once, and then almost died falling into a terrible sort of sand snake on Tatooine.

Indy: Does not like snakes. Like, at all.

Verdict: This is a great bonding moment for them that gets ruined when Han snickers at the normal kind of Earth snakes described by Indy.

Use of Force

Han: Okay with shooting first.

Indy: Okay with shooting first.

Verdict: It’s a dangerous world/galaxy out there, and sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Game respects game.

Life Philosophy

Han: Never looks back and never thinks things through. He’s always in the moment doing what he wants without much consideration of the consequences or dangers.

Indy: Obsessed with the traditions of the past, but that often leads him to heading straight into dangerous situations without considering just how perilous things might get.

Verdict: This is where the real trouble starts, because both of them are headstrong Type A personalities but for different reasons, and the more they talk about life, the more they butt heads. It almost seems impossible they will ever get along, until things in the bar get ugly and someone else is threatened. Both of them get up to help the victim and fight back against the assailants, revealing they both share the same most important trait.

Moral Compass

Han: A good guy with a good heart who ultimately does the right thing to help others, even when it comes at great personal risk.

Indy: A good guy with a good heart who ultimately does the right thing to help others, even when it comes at great personal risk.

Final Verdict: Despite a rough start when first meeting, as well as their very different statures and outlooks on life, both Indiana Jones and Han Solo would realize they are far more alike than they are different (whomp whomp) when it mattered. Sure, Han might steal a priceless relic because it actually does have a price, and Indy would do everything possible to get it back from him, but ultimately when things go wrong they both do what’s right, a trait they would come to recognize in one another when called upon to stand up against some very bad guys.

So yes, for that reason Han Solo and Indiana Jones would get along. But they would both hate Rick Deckard. Nobody wants to drink with that dude.

Images: Lucasfilm/Paramount Pictures

HARRY POTTER Launches Multiplayer “Duelling” Club Event

Jam City‘s mobile game Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery has made it possible for muggles like us to finally fulfill our wish of attending the greatest wizarding school in the world, but eventually every student must graduate and go off into a world full of Dark Wizards. Young wizards and witches learn how to cast spells so they can stand up against bullies and enemies alike, and because the best teaching tool is experience, the game will now give us a chance to practice our skills against other players with a new Duelling Club.

Starting today Facebook connected players can “put their spellcasting prowess to good use in the first of a series of multiplayer limited time events in the game” with the Duelling Club (yes, “duelling” with two Ls.). This first round of the game will run until July 15th, but don’t worry if you’re busy this weekend because there will be more events to put your wand skills to the test this summer. Those who sign up for the tournament will be randomly assigned an opponent, with the victor winning another chance from their opponent to play again.

“During this first event, players will receive three tickets, each granting them admission to participate in a duel. A worthy opponent will be randomly selected from other Facebook Connect users. The defeated player will forfeit one of their tickets, while the victor retains their ticket—and reaps a special reward after each and every win.”

Okay this is it! All of those wrist exercises, all of those enunciation classes, and all of that time studying our Spells textbook in the Hogwarts library!

Hopefully we don’t freeze and end up using Expelliarmus repeatedly like Harry.

For future Duelling Club event dates you can check Hogwarts Mystery‘s website, Twitter, or Facebook pages.

Featured Image: Jam City

If We Actually Find The Loch Ness Monster, There’s An Official Plan

If humankind were to discover extraterrestrial life, there isn’t an official plan in place for dealing with it (at least none that I’m aware of). The closest thing to that would be the 26th Space Aggressor Squadron and the 527th Space Aggressor Squadron, both of which exist to deal with the possibility of extraterrestrial warfare. That’s nice, but what happens if we encounter some of the alien-like life that some suspect is hiding among us here on Earth, like a sasquatch or the Loch Ness monster? It turns out that if we do find Nessie, Scotland has a plan ready to go (via BBC).

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), a government-funded body, actually established a plan in 2001, and it’s pretty straightforward: DNA samples should be taken from any new creature, after which it will be released back into the lake from whence it came. SNH’s Nick Halfhide says of the plan, “There was a lot of activity on the loch at the time about Nessie. So, partly serious and partly for a bit of fun, we drew up a contingency plan about how we would help Nessie if and when she was found.”

Interest in the Loch Ness monster was recently reinvigorated because last month, a group of researchers collected DNA samples from the lake. Neil Gemmell, the scientist leading the project, said of the endeavor, “I don’t believe in the idea of a monster, but I’m open to the idea that there are things yet to be discovered and not fully understood. Maybe there’s a biological explanation for some of the stories.”

Do you think we’ll ever find Nessie? Let us know what you think down in the comments!

Featured image: M&R Glasgow/Flickr

NERDIST AFTER | MARVEL’S CLOAK AND DAGGER Throws Us For a Loop

Every week Nerdist is proud to bring you the aftershow for Freeform’s Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger, Nerdist After. Join hosts Hector Navarro and Aliza Pearl after a new episode airs for answers to your questions, Easter eggs you might have missed, interviews with the show’s cast and crew you won’t find anywhere else, and much, much more.

This week, Nerdist Editor-in-Chief Rachel Heine chatted with the hosts to recap one of the most unusual episodes of the Marvel series so far. In “Lotus Eaters,” Tandy and Tyrone combine their powers to help Ivan Hess and investigate what really happened the night they first met. But they’re not prepared for the terrors they find inside his mind…

Showrunner Joe Pokaski then joined the Nerdist trio to answer a few questions about the atypical episode, and the risks the show took in telling a story that feels one part Lost, one part Groundhog Day, but all Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger.

Hector and Aliza could hardly contain their excitement when the heroes themselves, Aubrey Joseph (Tyrone Johnson) and Olivia Holt (Tandy Bowen) grabbed seats on the sofa to share their own experiences filming the emotional episode. Then, the two friends took some rapid-ish questions from the hosts to reveal some of their innermost secrets you won’t hear anywhere else.

Do you have a question for Nerdist After? Tweet it to @Nerdist with the hashtag #CloakandDagger, and you could see answered on the show. Aubrey and Olivia are returning to Nerdist After, so this is your chance to ask them what you want to know!

Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger airs on Freeform, Hulu, and the Freeform app Thursdays at 8 PM ET/PT and 7PM Central.

All Images: Marvel / Freeform

DEADPOOL The Musical 2 Introduces the Merc With a Mouth to the AVENGERS

No matter how many properties they buy, and no matter how ambitious their crossovers get, we know the Merc With a Mouth will likely never fit in with the rest of Disney‘s superheroes. The kid-friendly Mouse House probably doesn’t have much use for a vulgar, crass, violent, inappropriate deviant with a love of breaking the fourth wall. Maybe they should reconsider though, because in honor of his big screen sequel he’s once again proving he can carry a tune in the fan-made parody film Deadpool the Musical 2.

The team from Zamurai Productions, who scored a hit with their Webby award-winning original Deadpool musical, is back with an even bigger followup worthy of our favorite katana wielding potty mouth. Watch as he takes on a bunch of over-matched bad guys, exasperated X-Men, and uninterested Avengers while also performing his own take on beloved songs from Disney classics like Moana, The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast, Aladdin, and Mulan.

Oh, and this is a Deadpool parody, so you better believe it is absolutely NSFW.

Now that’s a ****ing musical! (Also make sure you stick around to the end, because you can’t make fun of a Disney superhero movie without a post-credits scene.)

As great as these are though, even if they do end up owning his rights we don’t expect to see Disney teaming Deadpool up with their PG-13 appropriate superheroes. Sure he’s heroic, and yes he can sing, but it’s hard to walk around singing a catchy musical number stuck in your head when it has so many f-bombs.

Which parody song was your favorite? Tell us in the comments section below.

Featured Image: Deadpool Musical

Why the First Look At GLASS Reveals More Than You Think!

Nearly two decades ago, M. Night Shyamalan‘s Unbreakable was a low key superhero movie before audiences broadly embraced the genre. A long-rumored sequel seemed out of reach until Split turned out to be a stealth follow up to Unbreakable when Bruce Willis‘ David Dunn learned about James McAvoy‘s Kevin Wendell Crumb a.k.a the Horde. Next year, their stories will converge in Glass, as Samuel L. Jackson reprises his role as Elijah Price/Mr. Glass. Today’s Nerdist News is pouring over the first official images from Glass and what they mean for Shyamalan’s superhero universe.

Join host Jessica Chobot as she walks us through the first surprise from Glass: all three of the main characters have been locked up in an institution. The ending of Unbreakable told us that Mr. Glass was was arrested, but it’s stunning to see David trapped alongside his new adversary and his oldest rival. We’re very curious as to how David was captured, but that may not be the point of this story. Instead, Sarah Paulson’s Dr. Ellie Staple may be the key player as a psychiatrist who specializes in patients who believe that they are comic book characters.

We’re not sure if Shyamalan is going to make the audience question what we’ve seen over the past two films. But taken at face value, we know that David and the Horde actually have powers. Elijah’s just an evil genius, and he doesn’t need any powers beyond that. Shyamalan does love his twists, but we don’t believe he would flush the work of his previous films just to get one last “gotcha!” moment.

There are other details to be found in the pictures, including Mr. Glass fully embracing his supervillain name by having it embroidered on his outfit and the return of Anya Taylor-Joy’s Casey Cooke. It looks like Casey is actually visiting Kevin at the institution, and she is also present for a standoff involving a SWAT officer and Mr. Glass.

What do you think about the first pictures from Glass? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

Images: Universal Pictures

Cate Shortland Will Direct Marvel’s BLACK WIDOW Movie

After eight years, Marvel’s Black Widow will finally have a solo movie to call her own. At the beginning of 2018, Marvel lined up Jac Schaeffer to write a script for Black Widow while a search for a director reportedly included over 70 potential helmers. Now, the search is over and Cate Shortland will direct Scarlett Johansson‘s beloved heroine in a new adventure.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Johansson personally lobbied for Shortland to helm the Black Widow film based on the strength of her previous movie, Lore. The report even indicates that Marvel briefly considered looking at male directors before making the call to go with Shortland.

THR‘s report indicates that Black Widow will be a prequel movie set before the title character’s involvement with the Avengers. Presumably that means it would also take place before her MCU debut in Iron Man 2. There is amble material to explore in Natasha Romanoff’s backstory as she was trained to be a spy in the Russian Red Room program before deciding to break away and defect to S.H.I.E.L.D. and work alongside Nick Fury and Hawkeye. That potentially means Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Renner’s characters could possibly have roles in the movie as well.

However, Black Widow could also be set after Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4, given Marvel’s well established love of secrecy. It may make more sense to feature Black Widow in the present while flashing back to her origin story as needed. Johansson’s previous Marvel deal was supposedly going to end with Avengers 4. If so, then she would have had to make a new deal for her solo flick. If the movie proves to be a hit, do you think that Marvel and Disney would risk not lining Johansson up for potential sequels as well?

Black Widow doesn’t currently have an announced release date, but a 2020 debut seems likely if production begins this year.

Are you excited about the Black Widow movie? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: Marvel Studios

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT Proves This Franchise Will Never Die (Review)

Right around the time the first trailers for a new Mission: Impossible movie start showing, I always have the same internal conversation. I see Tom Cruise running like Prefontaine through various exotic locations while explosions and things happen around him, and I think “Oh, gosh, do we need another one of these?” And then I see that movie and I say “Yes, of course, you idiot. Of course we need another one of these.” Because the Mission: Impossible movies are awesome. And for its sixth entry, Mission: Impossible – Fallout reinvents itself again, turning in a stripped-down, brutal, hard-hitting action movie of the highest order.

Mission: Impossible movies have remained fresh since they began in 1996 by almost fully regenerating based on who’s at the helm. Certain constants remain: Tom Cruise’s stalwart, nigh-pacifistic spy Ethan Hunt; infiltration using high-tech gadgets and perfect impersonation; a team of operatives with special skills needed for said mission; usually some death-defying stunt sequences; twisted plots that are hard to follow some of the time; and so, so, so much running.

Within those constraints, the series has varied wildly, and been a direct reflection of the director in look, style, tone, and even execution. This, for some, was reason to fret since the excellent Rogue Nation‘s writer-director Christopher McQuarrie was returning for Fallout. I was therefore even more impressed that Fallout feels like it could have been directed by a completely different person. The plot is typical M:I, but it gets way less bogged down in the details, instead offering up a logical progression for Hunt and his IMF crew, again forced to go rogue.

Hunt and his usual go-to operatives Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) are on the trail of some stolen plutonium believed to be in the hands of a dangerous, the-old-world-must-die cult. Following a botch, the IMF and its new secretary, the laterally moved Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin), are forced to take a CIA blunt instrument named Walker (Henry Cavill) on a mission to correct their mistake. Naturally, nothing goes particularly smoothly and Ethan once again crosses paths with his old enemy Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) and his old ally Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) as he traverses the globe and gets in and out of various scrapes. You know, an action movie.

There’s a timeless quality to the action in Mission: Impossible – Fallout; you feel every punch of every fist fight and every high speed turn of every chase scene. The impressive and much-touted sky diving sequence is certainly impressive, made to look like a single take, but that’s by no means the height of the movie’s amazing sequences, which include cars and motorcycles through the streets of Paris, a breathless foot chase over rooftops of London, and an astounding helicopter showdown over the Himalayas.

Just like the lit fuse that begins the old 1960s TV series, Fallout burns along toward the inevitable explosive climax as the films have always done. However, Fallout also deepens the character relationships built through the other films, which is definitely new for this series. In fact, each of the previous five movies is referenced in some way, some in minor nods, and others in much larger ways. They aren’t so steeped in lore as to make it impossible (pun) to watch the movie if you haven’t seen the previous entries, but it makes for fun Easter eggs for people who’ve stuck with the franchise for 22 years.

And what’s more, these references are a reminder that the Mission: Impossible movies have always been incredibly solid, but seem to get forgotten in between outings. Only John Woo’s Mission: Impossible II would I consider a true misstep, but even that one has entertaining bits. It shows the malleability of Cruise as an action star, that Ethan Hunt can be so consistent and yet still age with the actor, from a brash and harried young agent in Brian De Palma’s original, to cool guy in Woo’s, to would-be family man in J.J. Abrams’ III, to mission-accomplishing machine in Brad Bird’s Ghost Protocol, and finally to slightly outmoded but effective do-gooder in the two McQuarrie films. The character grows, and the action has grown with him, but nothing has been outgrown and the movies are still freaking fantastic.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout is an absolute blast and easily my favorite movie of the summer. It’s a reminder that stunt work and characters still hold more weight than CGI and quips. The plot is slightly more predictable than I’d have liked, but the execution and the fantastic performances of all the actors are still amazingly fun to watch. I can’t wait for the next one!

4 out of 5

Images: Paramount

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

Girls to the Front! Disney and the UN Launch Initiative to Train Female Filmmakers

Disney has often been at the forefront of telling stories about women, with their princess movies being a Hollywood and home video stalwart since the release of Snow White in 1937. But as with many modern film studios there has been a huge lack of women behind the scenes, but via The Hollywood Reporter,Disney and the UN’s Girl Up initiative is here to change that with a new project that will support 21 new young female filmmakers to make digital short films, each of which will each focus on a different radical woman.

The details about #DreamBigPrincess are still scarce, but we do know one of the films will be about newly announced Disney CCO Jennifer Lee, who also happens to be the Academy-Award winning creator behind Frozen; she wrote and directed the smash hit. Lee explained the drive behind the project in a statement: “Using the journeys of characters like Anna, Elsa and Moana to inspire kids to dream big is at the very heart of what all of us at Disney do. The #DreamBigPrincess series is the perfect extension of that vision, providing a powerful platform for the next generation of aspiring filmmakers to create content about the women who have inspired them.”

Products and mentoring for the project will be provided by Apple and female-led production company Summerjax! The filmmakers will be selected by Disney and Girls Up, and the films look to debut on social media in October. You can also get involved. As The Hollywood Reporter states, “Additionally for each like or share of a video or photo with #DreamBigPrincess on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, Disney Worldwide Services will donate $1 to Girl Up, with a minimum donation of $500,000 and a maximum donation of $1 million.” Disney and Girl Up previously joined forces on a #DreamBigPrincess photography project, that raised $1 million for Girl Up.

We think this sounds like a cool way of celebrating female filmmakers and some of the women that have inspired them and we can’t wait to see the shorts later this year! Will you be checking out #DreamBigPrincess?

Images: Disney

RICK AND MORTY Double Album Soundtrack Arrives This Fall

Although Rick and Morty season 4 is in production, it may still be a year or more before the series returns to Adult Swim. But if you’ve ever loved the music of this series, then you’re probably going to enjoy the upcoming Rick and Morty soundtrack which will feature selections from all three seasons.

Adult Swim is teaming up with Sub Pop for the Rick and Morty soundtrack, which will be released as a 26-track double album on CD, a double vinyl LP, digitally, and on cassette. The release date is September 28, but the truly hardcore fans may want to wait until November 23 when the deluxe double LP Rick and Morty soundtrack arrives. That edition will have the LP on colored vinyl in a specially designed box with LED lights and a plexiglass window. The deluxe edition also has a bonus 7-inch single with a single remix of the screaming sun from “The Wedding Squanchers,” as well as a poster, a patch, and a sticker.

What’s on the album? Of course, Ryan Elder’s Rick and Morty theme will kick things off, and there will be a selection of Elder’s scores from the series. Additionally, fan favorite songs like “Goodbye Moonmen” from “Mortynight Run,” “Get Schwifty” from the episode of the same name, “The Flu Hatin’ Rap” from “Rick Potion #9,” “Summer and Tinkles” from “Total Rickall,” and “The Rick Dance” from “Ricksy Business.”

“Big Trouble in Little Sanchez” is represented by two of Tiny Rick’s songs: “Help Me I’m Gonna Die” and “Let Me Out.” Blonde Redhead’s “For The Damaged Coda” a.k.a. the Evil Morty theme will also be on the album, as will Chaos Chaos’ “Do You Feel It” and Mazzy Star’s “Look On Down From The Bridge.” Season 3 songs “Fathers and Daughters” and “Terryfold” will also be in the mix, in addition to two original songs inspired by the series as written and performed by Chad VanGaalen and Clipping.

Are you excited about the Rick and Morty soundtrack? Get Schwifty with us in the comment section below!

Images: Adult Swim/ Sub Pop