Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1719

The HALO TV Series is Finally Happening At Showtime

Since it debuted in 2001, Halo has become one of the most popular video game franchises of all-time. However, Microsoft has had an extremely difficult time bringing Halo to Hollywood. A Halo feature film to be produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Neill Blomkamp fell apart in pre-production, and several subsequent attempts to revive it stalled. In 2013, Showtime lined up the rights for a Halo TV series, but the project was stuck in development for almost half a decade…until now.

Via Entertainment Weekly, Showtime has finally given Halo a series order, with a first season of ten episodes. Kyle Killen (Awake) has been signed as the showrunner, while Rise of the Planet of the Apes director Rupert Wyatt has come on board to executive produce and helm several episodes of the series. In a statement, Showtime’s David Nevins said “Halo is our most ambitious series ever, and we expect audiences who have been anticipating it for years to be thoroughly rewarded.”

So far, there’s no indication that Master Chief, the primary protagonist of the games, will appear in the Halo TV series. But according to EW, the show will maintain its 26th century setting as humanity faces the alien Covenant in an ongoing conflict that will determine the future of both species. Halo‘s universe has a very rich backstory that could be explored on the show. But we suspect it will probably carve out its own corner of the mythos rather than simply adapting one of the previously released games.

The Halo TV series may begin filming as soon as this year, which means a 2019 debut on Showtime could be in the cards.

Are you excited to finally see Halo make the jump to TV? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: Microsoft

More of the latest nerd news!

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Taika Waititi’s new What We Do in the Shadows spin-off gets a teaser !
Disenchantment teaser introduces Matt Groening’s new fantasy Netflix series!

Horror Piñatas Finally Let You Bash Pennywise’s Face In

I’m not afraid to admit that It scared the living hell out of me. Pennywise is a horrible, horrible clown who deserves nothing but the worst for all the awful things he did to the little kiddos in Derry. As such, one of my favorite scenes from the movie is seeing Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard from Stranger Things) bash Pennywise’s face in with a bat. It’s a shining example of retributive justice, one in which I wish I could’ve partaken myself. Luckily for me, and anyone else seeking revenge for the two-plus hours of pure terror they had to endure, there are now Pennywise the Clown piñatas which you too can pummel with a baseball bat.

Thanks to the Etsy shop (yeah, you read that right), you can now light up any formal gathering with a fun-filled smackdown of a Pennywise the Clown piñata. Not just for Halloween, these piñatas can be enjoyed all year round. They’re perfect for events like birthday parties, board meetings, Boxing Day celebrations or even just for a late-night bash to make you feel better/safer before bed. Is beating a clown with a baseball bat for candy a bit macabre for a birthday party? Perhaps. Is it cathartic as hell? Definitely. And if Pennywise isn’t quite your taste, the Etsy seller including but not limited to Child’s Play’s Chucky, Leatherface, and Gene Simmons. The piñatas are all handmade, 8X19 inches tall and are sure to end all those dancing Pennywise nightmares you keep having. And if they don’t, well, then buy more piñatas and hit harder.

Featured Image: Warner Bros. Pictures/New Line Cinema

Images: Etsy/

More Horror Hijinks!

Listen to Finn Wolfhard’s Spotify playlist for his It character Richie Tozier
Heavy Metal meets classic Disney songs in an ultimate music crossover
Eat Pennywise’s face off with this It-themed cake

This Overwatch Cosplayer Brought Doomfist’s Gauntlet to Real Life

Overwatch‘s Doomfist is instantly recognizable and completely intimidating. But rather than being daunted by the cybernetically enhanced fighter, Zibartas Cosplay took inspiration from the character to replicate his trademark gauntlet. The result is striking. (Get it?)

My #Doomfist gauntlet is nearly done..

This Flying Drone Looks Like a Dragon Transformer and Is Just as Mystical

We’ve accomplished a lot with drones so far, whether they’re clearing power lines with fire, putting on light shows, or saving dogs that got stuck in drains. These achievements, and virtually everything else worthwhile that drones have ever done, have one thing in common, though: They all took place outdoors. Drones do well in big open spaces, but when it comes to the small confines of the great indoors, they’re not quite as nimble. Some smart folks at the University of Tokyo decided to address this, and the solution they came up with is pretty fascinating (via BoingBoing).

The robot in the video above is appropriately called DRAGON, the name of which is derived from “Dual-rotor embedded multilink Robot with the Ability of multi-deGree-of-freedom aerial transformatiON” and is a real stretch of an acronym. Regardless, it does what a lot of drones can’t: Decide by itself what shape it should transform itself into in order to best navigate its environment. As the technology develops, it’s also possible that it will be able to be used as a flying arm that can pick up objects.

IEEE Spectrum notes:

“DRAGON is able to autonomously decide how to transform when given the constraints of the space it needs to pass through. There’s more potential here than just fitting through small spaces, though: The researchers conceptualize this robot as a sort of overactuated flying arm that can both form new shapes and use those shapes to interact with the world around it by manipulating objects. Eventually, DRAGON will wiggle through the air with as many as 12 interlinked modules, and it’ll use its two ends to pick up objects like a two-fingered gripper. And we can imagine DRAGON wrapping itself around stuff to move it, or using direct contact with the environment to do other exciting things.”

What do you think of DRAGON? Can this robot bring drones to the next level? Let us know what you think down in the comments!

Featured image: IEEE Spectrum/YouTube

Let us drone on, in a good way…

Flamethrower drones clear off power lines.
Drones playing Fruit Ninja seem pretty dangerous.
If these drones knew you were coming, they’d have baked a cake.

Can the World’s Largest Lemon Battery Power a Race Car?

Making a battery out of a lemon has been a popular school science experiment for decades, in part because it doesn’t take an inordinate amount of effort. Simply adding copper and zinc will let the lemon juice act as an electrolyte and set off an electrochemical reaction that can power small objects like a clock. But if one lemon can do that, then how much power can 1,000 lemons provide? Former NASA engineer Mark Rober recently explored that question when he was tasked to find a way to power Volkswagen’s I.D. R, a fully-electric racing car. While making the attempt, Rober and his collaborators created the world’s largest lemon battery.



Via Laughing Squid, Rober partnered with electrical engineer and fellow YouTube host William Osman, as they assembled the record-breaking lemon battery. And while the battery was an impressive creation, its output was less so. Even the combined power of 1,000 lemons could only offer a minuscule charge for the race car. Basically, there’s no way that this particular battery could ever meet that challenge.

For the remainder of the video, Rober and Osman sought alternative solutions while still attempting to utilize the 1,000 lemons they acquired. Their next idea was to literally make lemonade and give it to a group of kids, who would then provide power by constantly using a zip-line to build up a charge. That turned out to be a more successful gamble. Instead of powering the car for just a few feet, the assembled charge would have taken it across two soccer fields. Ultimately, Rober chose to go for a solar panel solution, and he was able to fully charge the car’s battery that way.

What do you think about the 1,000 lemon battery? And who’s thirsty for some lemonade? Let us know in the comment section below!

Image: Mark Rober

More weird science:

This very good dog knows CPR.
An expensive milkshake made with edible gold had better taste damn good.
Could a lightsaber cut through vibranium?

Chef Tries Making Gourmet Lucky Charms, Can’t Improve on Perfection

Lucky Charms is one of the greatest cereals of all time, but no one would ever describe a dish primarily made with processed sugar and dried marshmallow as a gourmet dining option. One ambitious chef set out to change that, though, by elevating the beloved morning staple to an even higher level of quality by using fresh ingredients and top-notch cooking techniques. Unfortunately it turns out that might not be possible, because merely recreating Lucky Charms is an overwhelming task, let alone creating a fancier, higher quality version…but not for the reason you might think.

Claire Saffitz at Bon Appétit, who has previously succeeded at making gourmet versions of popular snack foods like Skittles and high-end Kit Kats, set out to make a bowl of Lucky Charms using better ingredients and her impressive cooking skills. Then she did it again–and again–and again, because while her own take on the best part of the cereal, the marshmallows, was a huge success, even though you would guess they’d be the much harder aspect to make, the regular oat pieces became a near Sisyphean task of frustration.



Those marshmallows look amazing and we would very much like to order 500 pounds of them. The toasted oat portion….not so much.

While impressive, this technically isn’t a gourmet version of Lucky Charms in the end, because Lucky Charms is a type of cereal, and if you can’t put milk on your cereal, what you actually have is trail mix. Though we are not opposed to eating some top notch trail mix, especially with marshmallows in it. So what did we learn here, besides some new cooking skills? Lucky Charms will likely never be a fancy food item, but that doesn’t mean it’s not already perfect.

What other comfort food would you like to see her attempt to spruce up next? Take a bite out of our comments section below with your tastiest idea.

Featured Image: Bon Appétit

Food, glorious food!



Rick and Morty apple pie, ah jeez.
Layered bologna cake is deceptive to the eye, but not the stomach.
Does your pizza glitter?

Is ANT-MAN AND THE WASP the Relief We Need After INFINITY WAR?

This year, Marvel delivered a powerful one-two punch at the box office with Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War. Ant-Man and the Wasp, the third and final Marvel Studios movie of 2018, isn’t expected to match the oversized success of its immediate predecessors, but it may be just the thing we need after Infinity War snapped the MCU as we knew it. Today’s Nerdist News is rounding up the early critical response to Ant-Man and the Wasp, in order to see if this sequel is a contender.

Join host and Quantum Realm explorer, Jessica Chobot, as she shares the initial good news about Ant-Man and the Wasp. Thus far, critics have been very happy with the first MCU flick after Infinity War. Screenrant and The Hollywood Reporter had particularly glowing reviews for the film’s smaller scale and bigger heart, as well as an even larger sense of humor. USA Today also praised Evangeline Lilly‘s portrayal of Hope van Dyne/the Wasp as a formidable force in the MCU.

But it’s not all sunshine and roses in the microverse. IGN’s review had some pointed complaints about the film’s depiction of the Quantum Realm, which was more visually stunning in Doctor Strange. IGN also cautions anyone expecting Infinity War developments to temper their expectations. This isn’t a film that has intergalactic consequences, but the stakes are real for both of the titular characters. However, we do strongly suggest you stick around for the post-credit scenes. And that’s all we can say for now!

Are you excited about Ant-Man and the Wasp? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

Images: Marvel Studios

DOCTOR WHO Announces New Composer Segun Akinola

Seasons change; people change; TV shows change. Or at least Doctor Who changes. Of the many, many things that are new for the upcoming eleventh season–new Doctor, new companions, new showrunner, new length of episodes, new release schedule–one of the things we knew would also be changing is the music. Since 2005 when the series was brought back to life, we’ve had exactly one composer, Murray Gold. His music was fairly fluid, changing depending on the Doctor and circumstances, but it’s always come from one mind. Now the BBC have announced Gold’s replacement: rising star Segun Akinola.

Akinola already has 23 film and television scores under his belt, and garnered many accolades for his work on the 2016 television documentary series Black and British: A Forgotten History. He was chosen as part of the BAFTA Breakthrough Brit program in 2017, and he was interviewed about that honor in the video below.

Of Akinola, showrunner Chris Chibnall said in a statement:

“Welcome to the Doctor Who family, Segun Akinola! We’re over the moon Segun’s agreed to join us, to provide the score for the next phase of the Doctor Who adventure. From our very first conversations, it was obvious Segun was a passionate, collaborative and delightful human being as well as a fantastic and bold composer. We’re looking forward to introducing the world to his exciting and emotional soundtracks for the Thirteenth Doctor.”

Akinola himself is over the moon (space joke) to be joining Doctor Who, saying in the same press release:

“Doctor Who is woven into the fabric of British culture and recognized globally. I am absolutely thrilled to be given the privilege of working on such a beloved series and to bring my musical voice to it.”

Now we don’t have a lot of access to Akinola’s music, but there are a few tracks he contributed to the soundtrack to the 2014 documentary 1 Way Up: The Story of Peckham BMX I was able to find. Both of them nod toward the moody and spacey, which we can agree is exactly what you want from a Doctor Who composer.

Murray Gold gave Doctor Who fandom the themes for four different full-time Doctors plus the War Doctor, and legitimately shifted approach whenever necessary. Segun Akinola has some big shoes to fill, certainly, but it seems Chibnall was especially drawn to the emotion Akinola brings to his compositions. I for one can’t wait to hear both Akinola’s version of the theme music and what he brings to the incidental episodic scores.

Doctor Who series 11 is set to premiere sometime in the fall.

Image: YouTube/BAFTA

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor and the resident Whovian for Nerdist. Follow him on Twitter!

More for the Whovian!

Our review of the amazing new Doctor Who Blu-ray set for Tom Baker Season One !
Exploring the legacy of the Steven Moffat era !
Breaking down Jodie Whittaker’s first Doctor Who scene !

Nintendo Made a Gorgeous Cardboard-Themed Switch, But It’ll Be Tough to Get Your Hands on One

One of the great things about the Nintendo Switch is how easy it is to configure the console to your own specific tastes. Not only are there are plenty of games to suit a variety of interests, but the hardware side of things is conducive to imagination, too. You can get Joy-Cons in a variety of colors and mix and match them in whatever way you want. If you’re comfortable taking controllers apart and reassembling them, you can even get third-party Joy-Con shells and get creative to make controllers in colors you can’t buy in stores. (I recently made a Pokéball-themed white and red Joy-Con set myself, for example).

All that said, as broad as the Joy-Con color options are, there’s a new one that you likely won’t be able to get your hands on, which is a bummer because it looks awesome. Nintendo has made a Nintendo Labo-themed Switch (via Kotaku)—and we’re talking the whole console and dock, not just the Joy-Cons. They’ll only be given to winners of the Nintendo Labo Creators Contest, meaning only a few of them will find their way out into the world.

The look is completely on point. The system is that classic light brown cardboard color, with black accents, some embossed details, and even the appearance of a corrugated cardboard edge on the back of the dock. If you want one for yourself, you’ll have to come out on top in one of the contest categories. Getting just the Joy-Cons isn’t quite as difficult, but still really hard, since those will be given to four runner-up entrants in each category.

What do you think of the Labo-themed Switch? Are you already brainstorming contest ideas so you can win and claim one of these limited edition consoles for yourself? Let us know what you think!

Images: Nintendo

More in gaming!

9 video game movies that almost got made
Wario is actually the best Mario Kart character
Read our take on  Pokémon: Let’s Go Pikachu

LUKE CAGE Tackles the Shortcomings of Invincibility in Season 2 (Review)

Here lies last season’s Luke Cage, the urban Superman. Long live this season’s Luke, the man. In season two of Luke Cage, the Harlem hero’s trademark invincibility–in power and persona–cracks, and his fissures create openings for his characters the cast around him. The end result is something far more nuanced and intimate than the first season. Season 2 forgoes boundaries; what it loses in much of season one’s traditional superhero and gendered posture, it gains in something even closer to a tapestry of the black experience that more firmly reflects a spectrum we didn’t get before. He has quietly become Marvel’s most vulnerable and inclusive entry into its universe.

“Let’s all read the criticism” was Cheo Hodari Coker’s constant reminder to the writing team after critics and fans combed through the first season. While most comic book adaptation teams might spend the offseason pouring through their characters’ storylines to fine tune the micro-attention fans give these shows, Coker, a self-admitted boxing fan, and his team took the critics’ hits in stride, comfortably getting knocked on their asses. But as they rose from the mat, Coker said it became clear what they had to do in season two: “we started addressing the humanity.”

Over this season’s thirteen episodes, a stronger set of themes emerge around trauma, vulnerability and empathizing with painful emotions. The cool which with Michael Colter’s Cage moved through Harlem’s intersected social, political and criminal world virtually untouched falls to the wayside this season, replaced with a hubris that feels uncharacteristic while being a logical result of invincibility. Cage spent last season conquering everything around him, and this season shows him celebrating his newfound stature as a celebrity and an icon. But after suffering a series of private and public defeats early on this season, Luke goes from parting waves when he walks through the city to becoming a popular target. The show turns this into an early storyline as Cage now takes his invincibility to a new, literal place; posturing for social media stories, defiantly claiming Harlem as not only his home, but his kingdom. What makes this season’s Cage unique is the central tension is the idea of what happens when there are no boundaries between his personal and public image.

Other superheroes deal with the figurative notion of a mask: is Bruce Wayne or Batman the real identity? And the hero often manages the dynamic with an exterior identity that they can jump in and out of, trying to stay a step ahead of friends and foes while figuring out who they really are themselves. But according to Coker, Cage’s dilemma is different. “He’s like Keith Murray, Eric Sermon, and Will Smith: MCs whose public and private selves are melded. What does that mean when you don’t wear a mask? What does superheroism look like in the face of Twitter and Instagram?” This season’s emotional core punches at that for everyone in the main cast. Much like this season of Atlanta, Cage grapples with being a black public figure in the social media age, which provides both a vulnerability and an invulnerability. Cage, like Paper Boi, finds himself at times emboldened and defeated by a constant consumption of his public self, losing more and more of his core privacy, a sanctuary to deal with his own pain and failures along the way. It doesn’t always feel fair, but the season, which moves slowsly before racing toward the show’s strongest ending yet, feels more honest as a result.

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Watching the show through its hip-hop references refines this idea. Swinging between performative and intimate, egos and agendas, the clashes between Cage and Bushmaster feel personal even when the stakes are bigger than the two of them. Cage now claims Harlem and vice versa in the same prideful, symbiotic way we’ve come to associate rappers with their hoods and hometowns. Cage previously won his rap battle; his beef was over. Yet there’s always pride before the fall, and Coker is quick to introduce that with Mustafa Shakir’s Bushmaster, whose initial hatred of Cage’s arrogance and popularity feels like the coming storm of a new beef. It helps too, that this season gives the audience and the hero a greater context for Cage’s behaviors and motivations. As we watch him tackle Bushmaster and Mariah (Alfre Woodard), we also get a window into the unresolved pain behind his punches, like his fractured relationship with his father ( Reg E. Cathey), and how that impacts his relationship with Claire (Rosario Dawson) too.

As all this unfolds, the show makes space to tell stronger stories for the women. No longer suffering from the first season’s formula where most female characters seemed to exist only to fawn, the women finally shake free of his orbit. Spinning plotlines for Mariah, Misty (Simone Missick), and newcomer Gabrielle Dennis as Mariah’s estranged daughter, Tilda, grapple with sex, race, and politics beyond the lens of the black male superhero. For the first time, maybe even more than this year’s seismic Black Panther and the Dora Milaje, Luke Cage gives light to the black woman’s journey. Showing both foibles and fortitude, these characters are relatable and revelatory because they command from either side of the camera: six women directed half the season.

Luke Cage still occasionally suffers from the same tics as the first season: some of the dialogue is still heavy-handed and the musical and cultural references are as pointed as they are blunt at times. But the artificiality this season stops there. What’s been overwhelmingly grafted onto this season’s identity is a wider discussion about how these black and brown characters’ stories tap into the cost of maintaining facades with each other and within ourselves. For Coker and company, listening to the criticism about the show’s weaknesses has meant answering that call by digging deeper into the characters, using them to highlight the different ways that we all struggle to wear the right face when met with anger, humiliation, confusion and grief. It highlights too the idea that maintaining those facades means buying into our own hype; that distancing ourselves from our real pain usually only results in distancing ourselves from everyone else. For once though, the superhero isn’t the only one grappling with the mask.

Images: Netflix, Marvel