Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1833

Dave Filoni on That STAR WARS REBELS Death

Warning: Serious spoilers are ahead for the Star Wars Rebels season four episode “Jedi Night.” Jump into hyperspace and away from this page if you haven’t watched the episode yet.

When you get so invested in a story and its characters that you cheer their victories and experience their losses in your heart, it’s a gift. Albeit, sometimes it’s a painful gift that makes you say the storyteller’s name like a curse word, but a gift nonetheless. Star Wars Rebels is one of those stories that has claimed intense devotion of fans over the last four seasons, and in Monday night’s episode, the Ghost crew—family, really—said goodbye to one of their own. The fight against the Empire just got very personal for them.

Losing Kanan Jarrus, voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr., wasn’t easy to watch. But given where the character started and his struggles and developments over the course of the series, I understand. Star Wars Rebels executive producer Dave Filoni spoke about Kanan’s death after a screening of “Jedi Night” and other episodes on Friday at Lucasfilm. He confirmed, no, it wasn’t about Yoda’s line in The Empire Strikes Back. “It has nothing to do with that. I can’t stress that enough. Rebels exists apart from whatever the consequences of all the other characters are, and you don’t know when Yoda tells Luke that what he’s trying to drive Luke towards,” Filoni said. “It’s like when Obi-Wan tells Luke, ‘Your father’s the best starfighter in the galaxy.’ I’ve always been like, ‘Well, we sure shot Anakin down a lot in Clone Wars.’ So, that’s not necessarily true either.”

He continued, “People take every line as this complete doctrine, and that’s absolutely not the case. To try to believe–you have to then parse that line out and start dividing it. Like what does it mean even to be a Jedi and does Yoda get to be the only person to define that. What he’s saying is, ‘You’re the only person left, Luke, trained in the art of a Jedi and being a Jedi that is around right now the way that Obi-Wan and I taught people.’ I could take it that way.”

Instead, it was about getting Kanan to a place that could help Ezra. Kanan, as the mentor, had to figure it out first. Filoni related Kanan to Gandalf. He explained, “A lot of my modeling comes from a lot of my exposure to reading Tolkien. Gandalf is not a complete mentor. He’s way more down the path than anyone else, but he’s not complete. That’s why he’s very symbolically gray. He has to figure it out along the way and then attain a new level. Kanan has to also attain a new level before his apprentice can attain anything. And then you see the consequences of Ezra’s actions. He doesn’t get the lesson immediately. He doesn’t understand what’s going on there and he falls into self pity and he falls into fear, and all of those things start to consume him again. The wolves go, ‘Whoa. This is what he did for you, and this is what you give back?’ They get angry. They sniff that out. The biggest thing the wolves smell on him is fear.”

In Kanan’s final heartbreaking moment, the Jedi regained his sight. That was with purpose. “In that moment he’s not bound as this material thing that the physicality of sight would be a limitation to him,” Filoni said. “He tells Hera at one point before they go to Malachor, ‘We’ll see each other again.’ I felt that this was a follow through. And it happened because when I was drawing the storyboards for that scene at my desk–a lot of those scenes I’ll sit there and personally pick all the shots and how I want it–I was drawing Kanan and I had drawn his eyes in. I was looking at it and thought, ‘Yeah, he should look at her.’ It happened that way. You have to seize the moment when you’re telling stories, and it was just a fluid thing.”

Sketching out those scenes wasn’t cheerful. Filoni teased that despite what fans think, he’s not gleeful about killing off a character. He recalled, “When I was drawing that scene, it was getting depressing. I’m in my office, I’m by myself. I called Freddie [Prinze Jr], and I was like, ‘Man, what are we doing? This is depressing.’ And he was like, ‘You gotta do it. Go on. Kill me.’ He was so sure about it from years ago. When we would first talk about the character, he was resolute about the fact that his character needed to die. And he’s right. But it was really difficult. It was a challenging thing to do, and I didn’t take it lightly.”

Images: Disney XD/Lucasfilm

Amy Ratcliffe is an Associate Editor for Nerdist. She likes Star Wars a little. Follow her on Twitter.

More Star Wars Rebels!

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STAR WARS REBELS Says Goodbye to [Spoiler] and Faces Grief Head-On

Warning: Serious spoilers are ahead for the Star Wars Rebels season four episodes, “Jedi Night” and “DUME.” Jump into hyperspace and away from this page if you haven’t watched the episodes yet.

Star Wars Rebels is unique in the greater Star Wars universe for myriad reasons. It’s enriched mythology and exploration of the Force in ways we haven’t quite seen before. The animated series focuses on a family, and not family related by blood, but family that’s chosen each other. The show’s shown one of the few mother-daughter relationships in the galaxy with Sabine Wren and her mother Ursa. And now, it adds another first: Star Wars Rebels lost a key character in Monday’s episode and took the time to face grief and the different ways it can manifest.

Leia Organa watched the Empire destroy Alderaan. She had no time to dwell on emotion because of the looming attack on the Death Star. Han perished in The Force Awakens, but characters had to worry about getting away from Starkiller Base and then evacuating the rebel base on D’Qar. I could give more examples, but other than brief or symbolic scenes of grief, we haven’t had the opportunity to get up close and personal with loss in Star Wars.

Kanan Jarrus, voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr. (I cannot give enough praise for his performance in “Jedi Night”), sacrificed himself to save his family. After rescuing Hera from the Imperials, he used the Force to hold back a massive explosion that would have engulfed him, Hera, Ezra, and Sabine. It’s the ultimate Jedi act to be so selfless. In Kanan’s final look at Hera, he regained his sight. He viewed things clearly. I couldn’t see any fear, only determination. It was a heartbreaking but beautiful end for the character who’s gone from a reluctant teacher to a wise warrior and mentor.

To kill a central character is no trivial matter. Not in Star Wars. We’ve watched some major characters we’ve known and loved for decades pass in recent films, sure, but this isn’t Game of Thrones—you don’t expect a key death every other episode. And, though it’s easy for me to forget, Rebels is a children’s TV show. That’s why it’s especially important to see the rest of the Ghost crew react.

Kanan’s death had a huge impact on his family. That’s obvious. I could say so without on-screen evidence because we know they all cared for one another. But we saw every member of the crew process the news. Zeb and Sabine grieved through anger; they wanted to exact revenge upon the Empire, a life for a life. Ezra responded with fear. He lost his teacher and a father figure; he admitted to the loth-wolves he was afraid. Hera was despondent. She’d just told Kanan she loved him; she reacted with sadness and regret and guilt.

As the second episode, “DUME,” progressed, each character took small steps forward. They honored Kanan’s memory by remembering his optimism and his teachings. They were assisted by Chopper (by the way, Chopper taking Hera’s hand nearly broke me) and by the mysterious loth-wolves, including one giant one called Dume, which is Kanan’s true last name. Kanan’s loss is going to be painful for a long time. This is the first personal loss for the group, and given how long they’ve been fighting the Empire, that’s kind of remarkable. This will leave scars on all of them.

Nothing about grief is straightforward. It’s complex with flowing threads primed for tangles and knots. The feelings can come and go in waves. While we only saw the beginning of how the rebels grapple with their new reality without Kanan, it was impactful, well-crafted, and performed with precision and grace.

What do you think of what happened to Kanan? How about the reaction of the Ghost crew? Tell me in the comments.

Images: Disney XD/Lucasfilm

Amy Ratcliffe is an Associate Editor for Nerdist. She likes Star Wars a little. Follow her on Twitter.

More Star Wars Rebels!

How Mortis is tying into Star Wars Rebels.
Dave Filoni on Hera and Kanan’s kiss earlier this season.
Filoni discusses why Kanan cut his hair.

2 Kids Tried to Get into BLACK PANTHER Dressed as a Tall Guy in a Trench Coat

Black Panther is killing it at the box office this weekend, and everyone is clamoring to see the newest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe again and again. Of course, the problem with seeing a movie on the big screen is getting the cash to swing those high movie theater ticket prices. While a bunch of us just chose to skip morning coffee for a few days (or weeks) to get the funds together, not everyone planned ahead, and as such had to get creative when it came to figuring out how to afford a movie ticket.

In a move filled with youthful optimism and blinding creativity, two youngsters developed a foolproof plan to sneak both of them in while only buying one ticket: having one guy stand on the other’s shoulders, rolling up to the movie theater in a tremendous trench coat, Little Rascals-style. Laughing Squid first tipped us off to this delightful story, and if you got the two at just the right angle, the results were pretty great.

Another angle of standing in line. pic.twitter.com/wYi9r3hFeq

— Pillsbury (@stevelikescups) February 17, 2018

Okay, maybe “pretty great” is too strong, but it’s definitely better than expected. Of course, once they started moving the illusion was a bit ruined. Shockingly, the two were not able to fool the movie theater staff.

We tried getting the two for one special at black panther. The manager was not having it. pic.twitter.com/Ktqsuh7s3m

— Pillsbury (@stevelikescups) February 16, 2018

And while, yeah, the costume isn’t super convincing, we’ve got to admit that everyone whipping out their phones and recording this Totally Normal Tall Trench Coat-Wearing Man buying a movie ticket certainly would tip off movie theater staff that something was amiss. I mean, c’mon, guys, be cool! You’ve got to film that stuff on the sly so your fellow Black Panther fans can pull of their heist! That’s Movie Theater Espionage 101, friends.

Unfortunately, these two guys weren’t able to fool the brass at their local movie theater and were turned away. We can only hope that these two masters of disguise are able to either find a more effective disguise or, you know, manage to round up the funds they needed to support Black Panther. Whichever works.

What are some of the weirdest ways you’ve seen someone try to sneak into a theater? Tell us in the comments!

Feature Image: Marvel

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TOMB RAIDER Fans, There’s a Lara Croft Barbie on the Way!

Who says Barbies can’t raid tombs? Mattel just announced the addition of a li’l Lara Croft to their ever-growing collection of film-inspired Barbies and Kens. Appropriately dubbed Tomb Raider Barbie and crafted in the likeness of Alicia Vikander, the doll will be available March 9, but you can go ahead and pre-order it for $29.99 just in case. Then, on March 16, provided you don’t get too much side-eye from the employee taking your ticket, you can bring the doll with you to see Tomb Raider. (We won’t judge.)

Tomb Raider Barbie’s body is fully articulated, meaning she’ll be able to traverse any make-believe cavern she comes across. (From my experience with Barbies, and I have a considerable amount, that also means she can do the splits and stiffly replicate the motions of “YMCA.”) Lest you worry that she won’t be able to scale any impossibly high cave walls, the included climbing axe fits in her hand for just suck a task. Lara also comes with a map, a journal, and a display stand. She sports a sleeveless tank, belted skinny pants, and modestly heeled boots.

The doll—which is, let’s face it, genuinely awesome—was designed by Bill Greening. This is far from the Mattel principal designer’s first foray into Barbies of pop culture favorites. And while his take on Tippi Hendren in The Birds might still be the greatest Barbie ever created, given how much this doll looks like the Lara we’ve come to know and love in the most recent iteration of Tomb Raider games, Tippi could be dethroned. All I’m saying is I may have to make some room in my already-overflowing toy display case.

Also, please tell Bob Greening I want a Nathan Drake Ken next, preferably one with stubble and a rakish grin.

Which movie/video game character do you want to see as a Barbie or Ken? Let us know in the comments!

Images: Mattel

Self-Driving Car Navigates Snowy Moscow Streets After Storm

The question is no longer if we will all ride around in self-driving cars in the future, the when. And society just took one very important—and snowy—step closer to that day, after a Russian company’s autonomous cars safely navigated the city streets of Moscow after a storm.

This video, which came across at The Verge, shows the Russian technology company Yandex’s self-driving car dealing with less than ideal weather conditions; in fact, this was the company’s first time sending its prototype Taxi out into the real world after it started conducting winter tests on a closed course late last year. This “advanced test” required the Taxi to deal “with traffic, pedestrians, parked vehicles, and other road hazards on snowy and icy streets,” not to mention light precipitation during the drive, which took place when it was -6 Celsius (21 Fahrenheit)—conditions no human driver would ever want to deal with.



As the company noted in its blog post about the drive, “navigating snow-covered city streets requires significant amounts of data including images of both the snowy roads and street signs,” and Moscow offered an ideal testing ground thanks to “high traffic volumes and diverse weather and seasonal changes.”

It should be noted that Yandex happens to also be the largest internet search engine in Russia, which means they are Google’s direct competitor in another field. But the good news is that in this war for autonomous car supremacy everyone will win when the day comes when self-driving cars makes hitting the road safer for all of us, no matter how bad the weather.

What real world test do you want to see a self-driving car achieve next? Tell us in the comments below.

Featured Image: Yandex

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The World is Getting a SUPER MARIO BROS. ENCYCLOPEDIA!

In case you’re looking for some light reading to pass the time between rounds of Super Mario Odyssey, October 23 will mark the U.S. release of the Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia. Released by Dark Horse Publishing, the 256-page tome chronicles 30 years of Mario and Luigi’s adventures, starting with the game that first introduced us to that plucky little plumber, 1985’s Super Mario Bros. (Apparently, Donkey Kong’s Jump Man doesn’t fit the bill.) Additionally, 2013’s Super Mario 3D World is the most recent game that gets extensive coverage in this particular volume, so don’t expect much information on Odyssey.

Even without his Switch foray, the encyclopedia will be a must-read for any Nintendo fan. It’ll offer expert insight on 17 games, tips and tricks for completionists who never could find that one last secret item, and, perhaps most excitingly, the stories behind in-game glitches.

The Amazon description also cites “the evolution of the Goomba,” something I’ve never considered but will have at the back of my mind for months to come. (I’m also hoping this means I’ll get more information on Birdo’s origin story and off-screen redemption arc, and I can’t be alone in this.)

So far, we only have the release date for the standard edition, which will retail for $39.99. (If you simply can’t wait to guarantee you’ll get a copy on release, you can pre-order it on Amazon.) Judging from what Dark Horse has done with other franchises and The Legend of Zelda in particular–you can also pre-order the display-worthy, Nintendo cartridge-mimicking special edition of that–something cooler and pricier will be coming down the pike later.

In the meantime, you can formulate your own theories on how glitches worm their way into otherwise perfect games and eventually see how right or wrong you were.

Which game are you most excited to find out more about? Let us know in the comments!

Images: Nintendo, Digital Spy

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Where the TRANSFORMERS Movies Can Go From Here

It’s considered heresy among toy collectors and cinephiles, but I have always been a fan of the Michael Bay Transformers movies. The box office tallies suggest others are as well, but I rarely hear somebody admit it. Now, with Hasbro announcing the live-action movie-verse is rebooting after the Bumblebee solo adventure, emotions are decidedly mixed. But of course I have thoughts.

Many of the perceived problems with “Bayformers” have been exaggerated over the years, or were a function of what was possible. Fans wanted robots to be the main characters, but they were expensive effects to render; to compensate, every movie features at least one smaller robot who’s achieved with practical effects. People complained at first that too many of the robots looked similar and were shot in confusing close-ups; again, this was a function of expensive renders. As the series has progressed, the robots have had more strikingly different appearances and colors and been given more screen time; with the upgrade to 3D as of Dark of the Moon, Michael Bay has even held his shots longer, making the action less confusing.

Were the designs over-complicated? To a point they had to be, if they were to portray realistic vehicles. Toy transformations were able to cheat by, for example, squeezing legs into an area where a person might sit, but a convincing movie transformation can’t. You could make a case Christopher Nolan overcomplicated the Batsuit in The Dark Knight from its basic comic design, but nobody does, because they like the movie. Optimus Prime is still recognizable as Optimus Prime, but I’ll totally grant they should have settled on something slightly more familiar for Megatron. And if you have complaints that Bay should have aimed the movies at kids and adults rather than 15-year-old boys, or been less broad with the humor, I won’t argue. It’s a choice that doesn’t always work.

The plots are often self-contradictory nonsense, but at their best, like The Last Knight, they capture the type of logic with which young children play. And it’s hugely frustrating that that movie ended on a tease of Unicron next movie, only for us to learn that the films won’t be continuing as is. Unless…

One of the great things about Transformers as a property is there have been so many iterations that didn’t align with one another (heck, it’s originally based on Microman, like the Micronauts, and even the Transformers branding in itself is a retcon) that a while back, Hasbro and Takara just declared it’s a multiverse, and everything counts. And who can move between all the realities? Unicron. So the easiest, in-continuity way to reboot is simple: begin the next movie with Unicron, and have him shift interdimensionally. Show the Cybertron origin story, as his twin Primus becomes the planet that will birth the Autobots and Decepticons. A movie that begins with two planet robots punching each other has my attention, and probably yours too.

What next? First, give Peter Cullen and Frank Welker healthy raises to continue voicing Optimus and Megatron as long as they’re able. No fan opposes that. Bring back all the characters who’ve been killed off or given short shrift: Starscream, Arcee, Soundwave, and Ratchet would be a good start. You can keep the basic aesthetic but still bring them more in line with classic designs; Age of Extinction proved that by giving Optimus his classic cab design, briefly. Have the human protagonist actually be Spike Witwicky this time, have his girlfriend be Carly, and let their roles evolve as they get older along with the series. Map out a plan that starts with a new version of the Generation 1 tale,and culminates in the future with a revised take on the original animated movie, in live-action. But mostly, map out a plan! Michael Bay has pulled off “Hey, surprise! They’ve been on earth the whole time…again!” four times. We’re due for a series that actually has continuity, and begins and ends with Unicron versus Primus.

And if Hasbro is still going for a Hasbro movie-verse–G.I. Joe and Micronauts movies are set for 2020, with an unspecified title in 2021 and Action Man recently announced–have Transformers be part of it. They share a common ancestor with Micronauts and are the natural plot device to evolve G.I. Joe into the shape-shifting vehicles of M.A.S.K. If Paramount can somehow get the rights back, Transformer technology could even evolve into actual holograms for, um, Jem and the Holograms. IDW Publishing comics have already done the heavy lifting on this. I’m skeptical moviegoers will go all-in on the Hasbro-verse, but it’ll be wild to at least see it attempted.

Finally, we can probably agree: no robot testicles. No urination. No robots that can just turn into anything at any time; the way Laserbeak operated in Dark of the Moon almost defeated the whole purpose of the concept. No robots that don’t transform into anything–the name means something. But you can absolutely keep the Mountain Dew soda machine robot from the first movie. We’re past due for a toy version. And please leave the Universal ride alone.

Images: Paramount/De Laurentiis Entertainment Group

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7 Essential Episodes of the Forgotten EERIE, INDIANA

Eerie, Indiana is one of the most unique, spooky, and fun kids TV shows of all time. It tells the story of Marshall Teller, who’s recently relocated to the creepy suburb of Eerie, Indiana (pop 16,661) and spends his time exploring the mysteries of his strange new hometown. Working as a kids version of Twilight Zone with a recurring cast, the show was a fun twist on anthology sci-fi that played with the medium and dissected classic genre tropes.

The show is often forgotten when it comes to our fave kids TV shows due to the fact that its original 18 episodes only ran from September 1991 to April 1992 on NBC, before disappearing off our screens until 1993 when Disney picked it up for syndication (giving us an extra episode in the process); it eventually moved over to Fox Kids in 1997. For those who do remember it, the strange show holds a special place in our hearts. Luckily, if you’re desperate to revisit Eerie or have yet to discover it, fret not, for it’s currently streaming on Amazon! So for your viewing pleasure here are our top seven essential episodes to start your Eerie, Indiana binge!

“Foreverware” (Episode one)

Directed by Joe Dante, the first episode Eerie, Indiana really set the bar for the rest of the cult classic kids show. From the vibrant, abstract opening titles that pay homage to Hitchcock’s Vertigo, you know that you’re watching something truly special. In this fun take on The Stepford Wives, Marshall and his best friend Simon explore a group of local moms who have a penchant for vintage clothes. After some investigation, it turns out they keep themselves forever young by sleeping in Tupperware-style containers. A classic episode, this one will likely you give you instant nostalgia if you ever watched the Fox Kids Saturday morning schedule!

“The Retainer” (Episode two)

Marshall and Simon’s adventures get even weirder in the second episode of the series when their friend Steve visits Eerie’s local orthodontist. He gets an extravagant retainer that happens to give him the power to read the minds of local dogs! A super fun entry in Eerie canon, this tale takes a humorously dark twist when Marshall hooks a tape recorder up to Steve’s retainer and the crew discover that man’s best friend isn’t actually that friendly at all.

“ATM with a Heart of Gold” (Episode three)

When Marshall’s dad invents a Max Headroom-style ATM called Mr. Wilson. It’s meant to make banking friendlier… so friendly, in fact, that Simon become firm friends with him. That’s strange enough, but this tale really kicks off when Mr. Wilson starts giving his new friend Simon money, which ends up throwing the entirety of Eerie into bankruptcy. A cute sci-fi parable about greed, friendship, and loneliness, “ATM with a Heart of Gold” is a total gem.

“Heart on a Chain” (Episode seven)

My personal fave ever episode, “Heart on a Chain” takes a classic genre trope and flips it on its head. We meet Melanie, a girl with a serious heart condition who sets the young men of Eerie’s hearts aflame. As Marshall and his bad boy friend Devon compete for her affections, Devon dies in a car accident, leaving Melanie with a brand new heart and a whole new personality. This is a radical episode as it stars horror icon Danielle Harris and has one of the creepiest moments of the series. (Keep an eye out in the background of the final scene!)

“The Lost Hour” (Episode 10)

Every good science fiction movie needs a time loop story. When Marshall decides he doesn’t want to respect Daylight Saving Time, he ends up in an alternate dimension where people who don’t change their watches get trapped… forever! This version of Eerie looks the same except everyone Marshall’s ever known or loved is gone. There’s just Marshall, a mysterious milkman, a young girl who got trapped the year before, and a group of creepy garbage collectors who appear to be after them!

“Tornado Days” (Episode 12*)

Things go awry in Eerie as the town gets ready for its annual picnic celebrating the local tornado, Old Bob. Marshall decides to ignore the festivities until a tornado hunter crashes into his front lawn, claiming that Old Bob is trying to kill him and Marshall might just be next! See, Old Bob is a tornado with an ego and he doesn’t take being ignored lightly. “Tornado Days” pokes gentle fun at the kind of hilarious local traditions that we’ve all grown up with while being an engaging story about a sentient natural disaster!

“Tornado Days” is listed as episode 13 on Amazon.

“Reality Takes a Holiday” (Episode 17*)

Introducing kids to metacommentary way back in 1992, Eerie, Indiana went full self-referential when Marshall finds himself backstage on the set of a TV show with everyone calling him by his IRL name Omri Katz! This was the official final episode of Eerie, Indiana, though a secret last episode—”The Broken Record”—was aired by Disney (and later by Fox) when the show was picked for syndication. A true exercise in pushing the boundaries of a half hour kids show, this is one of the absolute highlights of Eerie, Indiana’s short life span.

“Reality Takes a Holiday” is listed as episode 19 on Amazon.

Will you be checking out Eerie, Indiana? Did we miss you favorite episode? Was Omri Katz your first crush? Let us know in the comments!

Images: NBC

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The Jackie and Laurie #1112: Scan For Dollar Signs

This week on the Jackie and Laurie Show, fuck over the local guy, it’s too bad you don’t have a personality, and being creative with kids.

 

Comic of the Week: Amy Silverberg @AmySilverberg

 

Pre-Order Laurie’s new book Dead People Suck!

http://amzn.to/2yNYF4Y

 

Follow @jackiekashian and @anylaurie16 on Twitter!

Follow the show! @JackieandLaurie

BLACK PANTHER’s Massive Opening Weekend Set Box Office Records Across the Globe

It sounds like the question to ask this President’s Day is not “Did you see Black Panther?” but rather “How many times did you see Black Panther?” Based on its mammoth opening weekend ticket sales, we can conclude that pretty much all of you made a trip to Wakanda, and some of you definitely made more than one.

We expected the movie to have a huge opening weekend, but it blew past even our wildest expectations, as if Shuri herself was remotely driving sales. Forbes reports that the movie’s three-day domestic box office, which includes Thursday night sales, came in at a whopping $201.8 million, the biggest ever for a film released in the normally slower movie-going month of February (easily besting Deadpool‘s $132 total from 2016). It also topped the record opening weekend for any movie ever released in March and April too.

Overall it came in fifth all-time domestically for opening three-day sales behind only The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, Jurassic World, and The Avengers. (And you’d better believe that outperforming even Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War is no lean feat for a standalone Marvel movie.) The AP writes that Disney projects the movie, which had a budget of $200 million, will have a four-day domestic holiday total of $218 million.

As Deadline notes, with an additional $169 million in international tickets sales—despite not opening in China, Japan, or Russia—its total box office take will come in at $361 million, placing it 15th all time for a global opening weekend. So much for those who said a movie with a primarily black cast would struggle to find an audience abroad.

These numbers also give director Ryan Coogler the record for biggest opening weekend box office intake for a black director; before long, Coogler should land the same superlative for biggest box office intake overall. (Said record currently belongs to Sidney Poitier and his film Stir Crazy, which had an inflation-adjusted take of $322 million.)

Are you surprised by the film’s box office success, or did you expect it to set records? Tell us why in the comments below.

Images: Marvel

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