Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1788

WESTWORLD Showrunners Threaten to Spoil All of Season 2

Westworld returns to HBO on April 22, 2018. The hype has been building slowly as new information is meted out in the form of an interactive experience, a trailer, and an updated website. What new mysteries awaited audiences this year? You could practically hear the fans cracking their knuckles, ready to peel back the layers and lay bare the beating heart of DELOS. But then something strange happened. Showrunner Jonathan Nolan took to Reddit in an AMA and dropped a bombshell. He and fellow showrunner Lisa Joy are considering posting every spoiler and plot twist for Season Two ahead of the premiere.

[Fans theorizing] creates a larger problem for us, though, in terms of the way your guesswork is reported online. ‘Theories’ can actually be spoilers, and the line between the two is confusing. It’s something we’ve been thinking about since last season. The fans of Game of Thrones, for instance, rallied around and protected the secrets of the narrative in part because they already knew those secrets (through season 5).

We thought about this long and hard, and came to a difficult (and potentially highly controversial) decision. If you guys agree, we’re going to post a video that lays out the plot (and twists and turns) of season 2. Everything. The whole sordid thing. Up front. That way the members of the community here who want the season spoiled for them can watch ahead, and then protect the rest of the community, and help to distinguish between what’s ‘theory’ and what’s spoiler.

It’s a new age, and a new world in terms of the relationship between the folks making shows and the community watching them. And trust is a big part of that. We’ve made our cast part of this decision, and they’re fully supportive. We’re so excited to be in this with you guys together. So if this post reaches a 1000 upvotes we’ll deliver the goods.

I’ll admit it: this is a bold move. As a proponent of spoiling myself so I can enjoy something like a thriller without the nervous anxiety of “What will happen next?” I see nothing wrong with spoilers. Reading George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire didn’t ruin the emotional beats of watching Game of Thrones. But the idea of putting all the spoilers in one place so fans can easily access them — and then trusting said fans not to spoil those who want to go in unsullied — feels like it is missing the point of the fun. Fans don’t theorize because we want the answers handed to us; solving the puzzle is half the fun. It’s the reason ARG (Alternate Reality Games) tied to major franchises are so worthwhile. Putting in the work makes the payoff that much better.

For example, within Westworld’s lore itself, there was a way to access the backend of the DELOS website. Once there, one could see that guests were signing away their rights to any DNA that ended up on or in the hosts. For what purpose remains a mystery. The answer led to more questions, a cascade effect similar to the dialogue and choice options given to hosts within Westworld itself.

I’m not opposed to HBO putting up spoilers for Season 2. But at least make us work for it. Hide clues on the DELOS site, create dummy accounts for third-party companies that funnel resources to Westworld. Maybe have a disgruntled former employee or unhappy guest leave a screed on a message board you can only access by solving a series of interconnected clues. Don’t just hand it to us. We’re not toddlers. We’re a collective of amateur sleuths looking for adventure and the companionship of being in this together. Giving us the answers is just boring.

Photo Credit: HBO

BATGIRL Movie Gets a New Screenwriter

After writer/director Joss Whedon departed the Batgirl movie, citing his inability to “crack the story,” many fans wondered what that meant for the future of the film — and if the film even had a future now at all. Well, it seems Warner Brothers is showing their determination to continue with a Batgirl movie, as it is being reported in Deadline that the upcoming Transformers spinoff Bumblebee movie’s screenwriter Christina Hodson is now working on the screenplay for the film. This movie would still star the most famous iteration of Batgirl, a.k.a. Barbara Gordon. No director is attached yet, but fully expect a female director to take the helm as well when the time comes.

Apparently, this would not be the first time that Hodson has taken a crack at writing the adventures of Babs Gordon. It seems that at some point in the recent past, Warner Bros hired her to write the script for a Birds of Prey movie, which featured the character. In the comics, and on the short lived television series from 2002, the Birds of Prey were a team led by the former Batgirl, now confined to a wheelchair thanks to an injury she received on the job. She led a pair of female crime fighters, the Huntress and Black Canary. While there were rumors of a Birds of Prey movie, Warner Bros never officially announced it, so the fact that they have an unproduced script is news to most fans. If Batgirl becomes a hit, it’s nice to know they already have a potential spin-off script ready to go, and by the same writer no less.

Warner Bros and DC Entertainment have been trying to get their act together after the disappointment of Justice League, but the massive success of Wonder Woman proves that when the right creative team comes together, magic can still happen. And truthfully, aside from Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman 2, it’s not long there’s a ton of other female led superhero movies announced as coming. Now is the exact right time for Batgirl to make her big screen debut.

How do you feel about this new writer coming on board the Batgirl film? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Images: DC Comics

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Did the New SOLO Trailer Hint At Boba Fett’s Return?

Warning: Potential spoilers ahead for Solo: A Star Wars Story !

We’re just over a month away from a new Star Wars film, and Lucasfilm won’t let anyone forget about Han Solo. A new trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story dropped over the weekend and gave us a glimpse at Han’s first meeting with Lando, Chewbacca’s age, and maybe even Chewie’s wife. So far, there’s no direct sign of Han’s nemesis Boba Fett, but there may be a few clues pointing towards his inclusion. Today’s Nerdist News examines the Solo footage to bring you the evidence.

Join host and Jaxxon’s second cousin, Jessica Chobot, as she drops some Mandalorian knowledge on us. If you look closely at the scene where Han pushes money towards the camera in the latest trailer, you’ll see a familiar skull on one of the coins. That’s the kyr’bes symbol, and it appears on a lot of Mandalorian items even after the Disney reboot. The skull itself belongs to the mythosaur, a creature long thought to be extinct. And yet what could be a mythosaur skull is visible near Han, Chewie, and Qi’ra on the planet Vandor.

It’s circumstantial evidence at best, and the presence of a Mandalorian symbol doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll see Boba Fett. However, the original trilogy hinted at a long history between Han and Jabba the Hutt. Boba Fett worked for Jabba in A New Hope, so it’s possible both characters could appear in this prequel story.

However, we aren’t expecting anything more than cameo appearances at best. Both Boba Fett and Jabba the Hutt have been withheld from Solo‘s marketing push. Remember, Disney couldn’t resist teasing Darth Vader’s role in Rogue One, even when it turned out to be brief.

Do you think the Mandalorian symbol means Boba Fett is making a comeback in Solo? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

Images: Lucasfilm

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MINEKO’S NIGHT MARKET is Perfect for Casual Gamers and Cat-Lovers

If you’ve been longing to fill an Animal Crossing-shaped hole in your heart, Meowza Games is coming to your rescue later this year with Mineko’s Night Market. The indie game, coming to PC/Mac and possibly other platforms in 2018, puts you in the adorable shoes of Mineko as she explores her new home on a mysterious island packed with cats.



It’s hard not to draw the similarities to Animal Crossing, as the colorful island is filled with quirky townspeople and changes with the seasons. Gameplay consists of day-to-day activities like collecting resources, crafting, and unlocking modes of transportation to reach other parts of the unique island.

It all leads to the eponymous Night Market, one night a week where Mineko sells her hard-earned trinkets and crafted items to the inhabitants of the island. Then it’s time to spend that money on mini-games like cat racing (did we mention there are a lot of cats?), collectibles, and more within the magical market. There are even weekly events and a variety of stage shows, so you’ll probably never have the same night at the market twice.

Mineko’s Night Market looks whimsical, enchanting, and entirely open-ended, leaving you to explore Mount Fugu Island and spend your days however you’d like. The game “celebrates Japanese culture while introducing a heartwarming story about friendship, choices, and cats,” says the official description, which sounds like an utterly charming way to spend your gaming time.

What exciting activities are in store in this new area????
????
???
?
.
Answer: You can pet a cat. pic.twitter.com/MTTh84Mjot

— meowza (@meowza) January 2, 2018

Whether you’re an Animal Crossing fan, interested in Japanese culture, or simply a cat person, it seems like there’s something for every casual gamer in Mineko’s Night Market. Keep an eye meowt for it on Steam later this year.

All Images: Meowza Games / Humble Bundle

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GAME OF THRONES Shot One Battle for 55 Days

Warning: This post contains potential spoilers for Game of Thrones’ eighth and final season.

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Game of Thrones‘ seventh season had its issues, but incredible spectacles were not among them. From the Loot Train Attack, to Euron’s assault at sea, to the Frozen Lake showdown, the show’s biggest sequences were stunning visual achievements. But it looks like the final season will include a battle that will outdo them all, since it required three locations and a whopping two months to film. But beyond how amazing it might be to watch, its setting means it could finally answer one long debated fan theory. And depending on when it takes place in the season it could tell us who will win the Great War between the living and the dead.

Winter is Coming reported longtime assistant director on the show Jonathan Quinlan shared a (now-deleted) photo on his (now-private) Instagram account of a letter that was shared with the show’s cast and crew following the conclusion of “something that’s never been done before.” Titled “This is for the Night Dragons,” it details a television shoot that is unparalleled in television history.

The note that the #GameofThrones producers gave to the cast and crew after filming for 55 straight nights pic.twitter.com/fEYJZo5eMi

— Game of Thrones Facts (@thronesfacts) April 7, 2018

That’s an almost unfathomable undertaking for a television show, and it’s criminal we now have a year to go before we see it. But for those of us obsessed with the show’s histories and lore, where it takes place is just as exciting, because this record-setting battle–that was almost certainly between the White Walkers and the living–was shot at the Winterfell set, a place whose very name could have something to do with this battle.

Winterfell could be a direct, obvious name like Casterly Rock (a rock the Casterlys lived on), or Dragonstone (a stony island full of Targaryens and carved dragons), but fans have long debated if Winterfell has much more meaning, specifically when it comes to the most important battle in the history of Westeros, the Battle for the Dawn.

Little is known about the details surrounding the decisive fight from the first Long Night, when the last hero Azor Ahai led the living in victory over the White Walkers, pushing them back into the deep ice of the North for thousands of years. Some believe the location of that fight was in the spot where Bran the Builder later built the home of House Stark, and its name reflects the defeat of the army of the dead–literally where “winter fell.”

If this 55-day shoot is where history repeats itself, where the dead are defeated by the living led by the Prince That Was Promised (both Jon and Daenerys, the top two candidates will be at Winterfell after all), and it takes place towards the end of the show’s final season, this could be the second–and final–Battle for the Dawn, the ultimate showdown that has been building from the show’s first scene.

Of course no optimistic Game of Thrones‘ theory exists without an equally opposite negative one, which is why there are those who believe Winterfell’s name could be far more ominous. Because even if it stands on the spot where the first Battle for the Dawn took place, the name could also be terrible foreshadowing. Because if the White Walkers emerge victorious in the show’s biggest sequence ever, it would be where “winter fell” on the living, and/or where the Starks and the North (“winter”) fell.

If that’s what happens here, where this sequence airs during the season could be a harbinger of who wins the Great War. Placed earlier in the season would likely mean the living flee south, possibly to King’s Landing where Cersei and her forces are, for their final stand. But if the White Walkers win this near the end of the season, that could be how it ends. A Song of Ice and Fire could end with eternal cold and darkness descending on the world, with winter falling on the Seven Kingdoms.

For something that took 55 days to shoot this battle will probably be one the greatest achievements in television history. Whether its outcome makes anyone happy though is a totally different question, one that might depend on what harbinger of winter falls.

What do you think? Is the name Winterfell far more important than we think, or is it just a name? Invade our comments section below with your thoughts.

Images: HBO

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The Mythology That Inspired STAR WARS is Now Online

The original Star Wars told a very specific, very focused story of a farm boy leaving his humble existence behind to join a larger world of good versus evil, where he’d have to overcome great adversity and eventually become what we’d classically call a “hero.” This is obviously not a new idea, but George Lucas‘ use of it in 1977 was perfect. He owes much of that success to scholar, author, historian, and mythologist Joseph Campbell who was the first to take the entire history of myth and put it into a seminal volume, 1949’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

Campbell was the first to comb through every major myth in human history and create guidelines for the archetypal hero, what they do, where they go, who they meet, almost beat for beat. The Hero with a Thousand Faces was the Rosetta Stone for creating a compelling adventure story–which is what people talk about when they say “The Hero’s Journey”–and writers ever since have been influenced by it, most famously by Lucas when he acknowledged Campbell’s influence on Star Wars.

Now, Campbell’s landmark 1988 miniseries The Power of Myth has been made available digitally for the first time ever, thanks to Kino Lorber. In it, Campbell sat down with journalist Bill Moyers to explain mythology in terms of popular culture in a series of six, hour-long episodes. Each episode dealt with a different aspect of the mythologies, characters, and themes central to world cultures and religions. The first episode, “The Hero’s Adventure,” talked extensively about Star Wars.

The complete series is available through iTunes, Amazon, Vimeo, Kino Lorber’s Alive Mind Cinema website (alivemindcinema.com) and www.PowerOfMyth.net, and the first episode is available for free via iTunes (right here!).

If you have any interest in digging into the origins of Star Wars, and truly any of our great modern myths (everything from Batman to The Lord of the Rings to any Pixar movie you’ve ever seen), The Power of Myth is an amazing resource.

Images: Lucasfilm, Kino Lorber

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

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Plan an Adorable Heist with SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY Funko Toys

Disney is giving their fans ZERO break time in April and May. Once all the fervor of Avengers: Infinity War dies down, it picks right back up again with Solo: A Star Wars Story. Telling the story of the early days of Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian is no easy task. Funko wants to make sure you’re ready for it. Here is a rundown of the awesome clothing and collectibles they have in store for us.

Here’s the man himself, Han Solo, with his classic blaster in hand. For those of you Harrison Ford enthusiasts, you can pretend this figure is a young Ford. Having no mouth on the figure helps.

Whenever you have Han Solo, you know Chewbacca can’t be far behind (unless it’s in Revenge of the Sith or The Last Jedi. That’s splitting hairs, though). Depending on the figure, Chewie is made to look either menacing or adorable. This one is definitely the latter.

Talking about Funkos without talking about exclusives is just a travesty. The above photo is a Han exclusive from Walgreens. This is an ensemble we can both get behind and want to wear.

See the rest of Funko’s extensive Solo offerings in the gallery below. Solo: A Star Wars Story opens in theaters on May 25.

What do you think? Is your Star Wars collection going to get even bigger now thanks to Funko? Let me know on Twitter at @donnielederer or sound off in the comments below.

Images: Funko

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SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY Hot Wheels Can Kessel Run All Over Your Home (Exclusive)

Han Solo has always had one of the best rides in the galaxy in the Millennium Falcon. But as cocky as he can be behind the controls of the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy, imagine if he were cocky enough to drive a car that looks…kinda like him. Also, imagine if everyone else in Solo: A Star Wars Story had the same idea. That’s the thinking behind the designs of Hot Wheels‘ new Star Wars character cars, which are hitting stores right now.

Gotta love how the white bumper implies the shiny-white, leading-man-clean teeth of Alden Ehrenreich.

Chewbacca, fittingly, is a bigger and more rugged vehicle, with a windshield patterned on his snow goggles (which he never needed on Hoth–Wookiee eyes must get tougher as they age).

Lando, on the other hand gets a ride that’s as super-fly as he is…and it’s an actual landau coupe with a Lando cape.

The stylish gambler is no childish bambino, but a man with a macho ride.

As a fan of the spin-off novels before they were ever called EU, I do miss Vuffi Raa, but this Lando is looking so smooth I think I can easily get over it. It’s like the ’60s Batmobile of Star Wars.

Each Hot Wheels car is 1:64 scale, and can either run on Hot Wheels tracks or be displayed in and out of package. Han, Chewbacca, and Lando are available now, to be followed later this summer by rides for Qi’ra, Range Trooper, and the mysterious masked Enfys Nest and Moloch. We’ll never tell you the odds of finding any given one, though, because Hot Wheels go as fast off the shelves as they do on plastic race tracks. And at $3.99 each, they’re among the most affordable Star Wars collectibles around.

Are you ready to corral this Correlian collection? Let us know with a comment.

Images: Mattel

THE WALKING DEAD’s “Worth” Gives Us Theories About the Season Eight Finale

Warning: Spoilers are ahead for season eight of  The Walking Dead . Keep reading at your own risk.

On this week’s episode of The Walking Dead, “Worth,” several characters are finally called upon to quite literally prove their worth. At this point, the season finale battle can diverge any which way from the comics, and Dwight, Eugene, Aaron, and Simon will likely all have key roles in how it all plays out.

Well the first three do, at least. This week we finally said goodbye to Simon, whose fate was pretty much sealed the moment Negan walked back through those Sanctuary doors. Ironically, Simon’s own death ends up having the effect he was looking for: Negan is now fully prepared to kill everyone at the Hilltop. This finally aligns Negan with his comic book counterpart, who says something similar when he first introduces the plan to gunk up their weapons with walker guts.

In the comics, rather than set up a perimeter and pick them off one by one as TV Negan suggests, they storm the Hilltop outright, and it’s Dwight who shoots Rick with an infected arrow. This surprisingly doesn’t kill Rick, and his unexpected recovery allows him to catch Negan off guard enough to end the war. Is it possible we see something similar in the show? When Rick says his now infamous “my mercy will prevail over my wrath” line, his eyes do look rather pink, so it’s possible he says that as he’s overcoming the fever. On the other hand, having Rick miraculously beat an infection, on top of wrapping up the season, may be too much for one episode.

TV Negan is now also aware of Dwight’s loyalties, so it’s hard to see him trusting Dwight to shoot Rick at this point. Right now it feels more like a question of: is Dwight going to survive the next episode? In the comics, Dwight ends up becoming the leader of the Saviors for a while, and even takes Lucille as his own, claiming he wants to change what the bat symbolizes.

But show Dwight doesn’t feel like he’d go that route. He seems disinterested in leadership, and we know for a fact that Daryl, a non-comic book character, has been gunning for his demise for almost two seasons now. With Rick and Daryl likely to believe Dwight purposely set a trap for them, is the season finale going to be the final episode for Dwight?

There’s also the question of what Eugene will do, as he’s had significantly more, shall we say, flexible loyalties than the Eugene of the comic. While Eugene has been a frustratingly self-serving character this past season, this episode finally gave us a possible allusion to something more: “Here we go; time to do something useful with our pathetic lives,” he says, promising to make a ton of bullets for Negan to “change Savior history forevermore.”

The writers made sure to include an earlier scene where Eugene warns Gabriel that if he doesn’t properly seal the bullets, they may backfire on the Saviors. Is it possible Rosita’s words finally got through to him and he’s going to sabotage Negan’s forces? The other option is Eugene going the way of his comic book counterpart and escaping the Sanctuary, delivering a truckload of ammunition to Rick. It’s hard to see how that would play out in the episode with Negan’s current plan, but one can hope Eugene finally does the right thing.

The real outlier here may be Aaron and his connection to the women of Oceanside. Oceanside is a community that has been on the periphery since season seven, and their demographics and participation in the war against Negan are different in the comics. They’re an intriguing and sorely underused plot line, though, and it will be interesting to see how successful Aaron has been in convincing the women to help. Oceanside may very well be the key to victory that Rick has been looking for this whole time.

 

And then of course there’s the question of Negan. We know Negan is unlikely to die—as he doesn’t in the comics, and all of Carl’s pleading for peace has to mean something now—but how will Rick subdue him? And who’s going to die before we get there? With a main character like Carl gone, it suddenly feels like nobody is safe.

With so many elements in play, it’s exciting to think about how the finale will shake out. What are your theories for this season’s final episode next week? Shout out in the comments!

Images: AMC

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New SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY Trailer Shows Us When Han Met Lando (Now With Poster)

UPDATE: there’s a new poster now too!

Per the Patton Oswalt routine of some years ago, it’s true that we don’t need to see the origin of every single thing that was ever mentioned in a Star Wars movie. But in the case of Solo: A Star Wars Story, the initial meeting of Han Solo and Lando Calrissian looks like it might be something special. Donald Glover has been our favorite thing about the new movie since he was announced, and so far his Lando is living up to the hype…or at least, like Lando, that’s what he wants you to think.

The music in the beginning of the trailer is a little jarring, but hey, if Star Trek characters can listen to either jazz and/or the Beastie Boys constantly, there’s no reason an outlaw like Han wouldn’t enjoy an electric stringed instrument. The action looks near-constant, Emilia Clarke is charming as always, and Paul Bettany looks like he might be channeling the scary Da Vinci Code albino monk he played in another Ron Howard movie.

And hey, do we now know Chewbacca’s actual age? (At least to the point where we can calculate it, given what we know?) How come he never got gray? And how is it that being old makes him a better driver? When 190 years old you reach, take your license away they will. Ah, but we are mere humans. Or Corellians.

Are you ready to make the Kessel Run? Hyperdrive into comments below and tell us!

Image: Lucasfilm

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