Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1875

What Do We Learn About Rey’s Parents in THE LAST JEDI?

Warning: There are massive spoilers ahead for Star Wars: The Last Jedi! Either come back after you’ve seen the movie or proceed at your own risk. 

After two years, we finally(?) know where Rey stands among the Skywalkers, the Kenobis, the Solos, and hey, maybe even the Palpatines. Because as much as the thought of the Emperor having a kid makes us shudder, that was a real theory. Star Wars: The Last Jedi cleared up some of the mystery about Rey’s parentage that The Force Awakens only hinted at. But can we really trust the source of that intel when it’s Kylo Ren? Today’s Nerdist News is all about whether the man formerly known as Ben Solo told Rey the truth.

Join host and Canto Bight’s third best codebreaker, Jessica Chobot, as she goes over the big reveal: Rey’s parents were simply junk traders who left her behind on Jakku. In other words, Rey isn’t a child of destiny, she’s a nobody. “A diamond in the rough,” if you want to go full Aladdin. At least that’s what Kylo Ren would have have us believe, as he made his pitch for Rey to join him and rule the galaxy side-by-side. Given the tension between them, it’s probably a good thing that she’s not his secret sister/cousin.

 

Another thing we have to wonder is if this was always the plan for Rey. Did J.J. Abrams have this in mind when we saw the brief flashback of young Rey getting abandoned by her parents on Jakku? Or was this twist something that Rian Johnson came up with for this chapter? Because within the context of the film, it really worked. Now, the greater powers of the Force aren’t limited to the Skywalker family and their close circle of friends and foes. Random people and even children from across the galaxy can access the Force, although Rey and Kylo Ren appear to be the most powerful Force users of the current generation.

If Abrams has a different vision for Rey’s backstory, it’s entirely possible that Episode IX will walk back that revelation. It wouldn’t even be much of a stretch to suggest that Kylo Ren lied. He probably would have said anything to cement his alliance with Rey after they essentially pulled off a First Order coup. Or perhaps Kylo Ren saw what he wanted to see. The ending of the film even suggests that their connection in the Force remains strong despite the death of the one who claimed that he brought them together. Either way, Rey and Kylo Ren are gonna have one hell of a reunion in two years when the new trilogy comes to an end.

Do you think that Kylo Ren told Rey the truth about her parents? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

Images: Lucasfilm

Celebrating MEGA MAN’s RPG Spinoff, BATTLE NETWORK

Mega Man, a name nearly as synonymous with video games as Mario or Pac Man, has been a staple of both arcades and home consoles for the last three decades. It’s no surprise why people love Mega Man — tight controls, beautiful sprite-based visuals, a real challenge — but Mega Man‘s success does not stop at his 10 (and soon to be 11) action platformers.

In honor of Dr. Light’s 30-year-old robot, I’d like to take the time to celebrate an underappreciated Mega Man gem, the RPG spinoff, Battle Network.

Mario is always praised for its jump from platformer to RPG with three incredibly successful spinoffs, Mario RPG, Mario and Luigi, and Paper Mario, but the Blue Bomber made a similar leap to the Gameboy Advance in the early 2000s.

Other than Pokemon, this is the series that saw the most of my Gameboy Advance playtime. The six Battle Network games each boasted 20+ hours of charming dialogue, tons of collectibles, and one of the most unique gameplay systems I’ve ever seen. Part collectible card game, part action RPG/turn-based RPG, Battle Network managed to take the challenge, complexity, and mechanics of the original platformers and transfer them into a well-designed role playing game.

This game wasn’t as difficult as the originals, but it still had its fair share of challenge — the games’ turn-based planning and execution kept you on your toes. Mega Man’s slick ninja-esque design said from the beginning that this was a new Mega Man, but still clearly our favorite Buster. He even retained his ability to absorb his enemies’ powers via their battle cards, which he could use in future battles. Later games even let him assume their forms just like the Robot Masters of old.

Gameplay aside, what kept me coming back were the characters and world. The 20xx of Battle Network was a modern-day haven of the early internet, and Mega Man was an online AI avatar called a NetNavi. He and his friends, including fan favorites Gutsman and Protoman, were linked to a group of IRL middle-schoolers, lending the game a schooldays, Spider-Man charm as you juggled the responsibilities of everyday life while trying to save the world. Altering servers in the real world changed Mega Man’s battlefield, and likewise actions in the Net would affect real world change, making every mission a two-front battle.

The first few games were well-received, but an unfortunate mix of over-saturation and limited evolution burned out the player base. Capcom released the games on an annual basis with limited innovation; each game was more of a continuation than a true sequel. Coupled with the fact that later games released two different versions with minor differences a-la Pokemon, Battle Network simply overstayed its welcome.

Also, the game had a truly hilarious amount of localization errors.

With the recent announcement of the long-awaited Mega Man 11, maybe Capcom will finally return to the spinoff series, or at least create a new Mega Man RPG. They haven’t completely forgotten Battle Network, though; NetNavi Mega Man made a cameo appearance in Super Smash Bros.

Maybe there’s hope after all.

Image: Capcom, Nintendo

More Mega Man!

A brand new Mega Man game is coming
Live-action Mega Man movie has found surprising directors
You can get the first six Mega Man games on your phone

STAR TREK and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’s Ronald D. Moore is Writing a New Space Drama

After spending years exploring the past in Outlander on Starz, veteran writer and producer Ronald D. Moore has booked a return trip to outer space. Apple has ordered Moore’s new space drama straight-to-series as part of its aggressive entrance into the realm of scripted original programming.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the story, and revealed that the currently untitled series will take place in an alternate timeline where the space race never ended. Beyond that, we don’t really know much about it or even when it will take place within that new timeline. But between Moore’s stints on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the Battlestar Galactica reboot, there are certain things that we may be able to infer about his next project.

Moore’s strength isn’t simply writing compelling sci-fi stories, it’s his ability to create the complex and flawed characters that inhabit these fantastic worlds. Most of Battlestar Galactica‘s main players were damaged human beings who struggled with their circumstances and their inner demons against a science-fiction backdrop. Additionally, Moore and his creative collaborators used the Battlestar Galactica reboot as a way to offer commentary on modern issues in a way that didn’t feel forced. That’s a very useful skill to bring to the table for any drama series.

Apple hasn’t announced when Moore’s new series will begin production, but it is definitely on our radar.

What do you want to see from Moore’s space race drama? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: Collider/NBCUniversal TV

Jack Black Masterminds a Polka Ponzi Scheme in THE POLKA KING’s First Trailer

Next month, Jack Black is goin’ all polka on Netflix. And we’re not talking about a bold reinvention of his music career (although we did recently debut his new song, “Everybody Polka Polka”). Black is starring in The Polka King, an original film that is based upon the true story of  Jan Lewan, a polka musician who set up an elaborate Ponzi scheme that was simply too good to be true. In the first trailer for The Polka King, Black steps into the role of Lewan and enjoys the good life until his crimes catch up with him.

But nothing stops the polka.

A talented musician, the real Jan Lewan was called the “King of Pennsylvania Polka” in the ’90s. An equally talented con man, Lewan also created the very first “Polka Ponzi scheme.” The trailer for the film centers upon Lewan’s exposure as a fraud as he struggles to find a way to hang on to his money and stay out of jail. The trailer also shows off the film’s impressive co-stars, including Jenny Slate as Lewan’s wife, Marla, and Jason Schwartzman as his sidekick, Mickey.

The Polka King also co-stars Jacki Weaver, J.B. Smoove, and Willie Garson. The film was directed by Maya Forbes, and you can read our review from Sundance before it drops on Netflix starting on Friday, January 12, 2018.

What do you think about the first trailer for The Polka King? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: Netflix

Back in Jack Black Content

Listen to Black debut “Everybody Polka Polka”
Watch Jack Black, the Rock and Kevin Hart improv a Jumanji rap
The Nerdist Podcast: Jack Black

King Arthur Fights To Take Back Atlantis In AQUAMAN #31 (Exclusive Preview)

Aquaman may be an iconic DC Comics hero, but often, he’s a hero who gets little love from people in the mainstream. Which is pretty dumb, because he’s nearly invulnerable, has super strength, telepathic abilities, and oh…he’s monarch of 75% of the planet Earth. I’d say that should earn Arthur Curry some respect.

Unfortunately, even in the world of the DCU right now, King Arthur of Atlantis has been tossed aside by his own people, with their coup resulting in his being ousted from the throne, and replaced by the usurper, King Rath.

But now, with the help of his loyal allies, Arthur plans on getting his rightful place on the throne back and beating back the forces of the man who stole his birthright. With an Aquaman movie coming in 2018 starring Jason Momoa, one said to be heavily influenced by recent run of the comics, there is no better time to jump on board the regular ongoing Aquaman title and see what all the fuss is about.

You can check out our exclusive preview of the first five pages from Aquaman #31, together with the variant cover down below in our gallery.

Publisher: DC Comics

Writer: Dan Abnett

Artist: Riccardo Federici

Cover Artists: Stjepan Sejic (Variant) Joshua Middleton

Here’s the official synopsis:

“Take Back the Throne” part one! Arthur joins forces with his new ally Dolphin, his loyal frenemy Vulko, and the love of his life Mera, to rally the underworld of Atlantis and end the reign of the nefarious King Rath! But even as Rath doubles his efforts to destroy “the Aquaman,” dangerous new enemies begin to emerge from unexpected places…some vying for the throne themselves! ”

 Aquaman #31  is due to hit stores on Wednesday, December 20th

Are you as excited for Aquaman to take back his throne? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Images: DC Comics

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Need More Aquastuff?

Here are 7 essential Aquaman quotes.
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The STAR WARS Cantina Song’s “Real” Lyrics Are Actually Really Sad

Everyone knows the Star Wars Cantina Song from A New Hope. It’s a jaunty, upbeat, little song played by the Catina Band (or Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes) in a seedy Cantina on Mos Eisely that can put a smile on your face and has a super bad habit of getting stuck in your head for hours on end. But behind those perky tunes lies a pretty dark secret that has only now been uncovered.

Thanks to the Youtube channel The Warp Zone, we now know the lyrics to the Cantina Song. Okay, so they might just be parody lyrics, but they shine a light on one of the starkest (albeit fictional) social injustices since the great house elf rally of the Harry Potter universe.

Honestly, with all of the other crazy stuff going on in the Star Wars universe, I have to admit that I really didn’t pay much attention to the poor treatment of the droids. However, for all of the help they give to their human companions, they do get treated pretty awfully. Luckily, our favorite droids like Artoo, C-3PO, and BB-8 have managed to break free from oppression and played vital parts in saving the galaxy. However, it still makes you wonder why a Mos Eisely cantina owner would be cool with murder and arms being lobbed off in his establishment, but not a droid or two.

Of course, the only thing more shocking than finally seeing the truth behind the dark underbelly of the droid slave trade, torture, and oppression is finally realizing what genre of music the Cantina Band plays. Seriously, look it up; I can’t believe this is the first time I’m hearing about this…

What do you think of the Cantina Band parody song? What are some other dark aspects of the Star Wars universe that we just gloss over? Tell us in the comments!

More Star Wars? Of Course!

John Boyega and Oscar Isaac read fans’ thirst tweets.
Read our super spoilery review of The Last Jedi.
Try your hand at making porg cupcakes!

Feature Image: Disney/Lucasfilm

John Boyega and Gwendoline Christie Team Up to Stick Their Hands in Mystery Boxes

Don’t expect a warm and friendly reunion between John Boyega‘s Finn and Gwendoline Christie‘s Captain Phasma in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. In real life, though, Boyega and Christie seem to have a much better relationship. Ahead of The Last Jedi‘s release, Vanity Fair put Boyega and Christie’s bond to the test by making them play a few rounds of The Fear Box.

As it turned out, The Fear Box was not aptly named, since there was nothing inside it that could have hurt either performer. But when they were forced to stick their hands into the box and feel living creatures that they couldn’t see, both Boyega and Christie hilariously flipped out. To make things even more difficult (and adorable), they also took turns teasing each other that the box might have something inside that could hurt them.

It’s hard to say which performer had the most difficult opening selection. Between the baby bearded dragons and the rosy boa snake, Boyega and Christie were so worked up that it left them afraid to try even when there were only inanimate objects, like a BB-8 (yes, I know the BB-8 is a living, “breathing” bundle of joy, but this was an inanimate version), in the box. Even petting a dog became a weirdly funny moment for Boyega, which only made the entire experience even more enjoyable.

What did you think about this round of The Fear Box? Face your fears in the comment section below!

Images: Vanity Fair

More Star Wars fun!

John Boyega and Oscar Isaac read fans’ thirst tweets
Read our super spoilery review of The Last Jedi
Try your hand at making porg cupcakes!

Stream John Williams’ STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Score Right Now!

For 40 years, one of the highlights of the Star Wars movies has been that each one (with one exception!) came with a new soundtrack from legendary composer John Williams. Now that Williams’ career stretches back six decades, he’s cut back on his output. But like a certain Jedi Master, Williams still has immense talent at his disposal. We strongly suggest that you see Star Wars: The Last Jedi before checking out its score. But once you have caught the movie, Spotify users can listen to to Williams’ entire Last Jedi soundtrack.

Williams does reuse “Rey’s theme” from Star Wars: The Force Awakens at critical points, and of course, the opening fanfare has barely been changed in the last four decades. It’s harder to pick which track will be this movie’s breakout piece of music, but we think that “The Spark” could prove to be a fan favorite. Part of “The Spark” was featured in The Last Jedi trailers, so it was almost immediately recognizable. “A New Alliance” has breakout potential, thanks largely to its inclusion in a critical scene. Additionally, the soundtrack also hits upon the major moments within the film, including the reveal of “the Last Jedi” and several dramatic confrontations between the First Order and the Resistance.

What do you think about Williams’ latest Star Wars soundtrack? Does it live up to past Star Wars scores? Let us know which of the new tracks is your favorite, and strike a musical note for intergalactic adventure in the comment section below!

Images: Lucasfilm

More Star Wars fun!

John Boyega and Oscar Isaac read fans’ thirst tweets
Read our super spoilery review of The Last Jedi
Try your hand at making porg cupcakes!

Should Fans and Filmmakers Be Worried by the Disney-Fox Merger?

It’s official, Disney has purchased 20th Century Fox, and with it a multitude of properties like The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the X-Men. But is this mega-merger a good thing for fans and filmmakers, or is this too much power for one studio to have? We discussed all of the fallout from this deal on today’s Nerdist News Talks Back.

Helping host Jessica Chobot to break it all down today was Nerdist senior editor Dan Casey, Mothership writer Amy Vorpahl, and Bizarre States’ Andrew Bowser. They started with their overall reactions to this massive consolidation of Hollywood power (that of course The Simpsons predicted nearly 20 years ago). But how much should Marvel incorporate the X-Men and Fantastic Four into the MCU? And which Fox characters should immediately become Disney princesses? (Besides the Xenomorph queen, obviously.)

Might this merger have a chilling effect on smaller directors and creators though? Will Disney now pull all of its content from Hulu? With so many broadcast and cable properties being involved in this, how could it effect the TV landscape going forward? Are we going to see Mulder and Scully walking around Disneyland now?

But for all of our worries, are there any silver-linings to this deal? What are the biggest potential positives for fans and storytellers? And who is the biggest challenger out there now who can help keep Disney in check?

Don’t forget Nerdist News Talks Back airs live on our YouTube and Alpha channels every weekday 1:00 p.m. PT, so you can join in on the conversation with us. And make sure you check out today’s episode of Nerdist News where we’re breakdown what this merger means for Deadpool.

And don’t worry, we can say whatever we want about it, good or bad, because Disney doesn’t own us. Yet.

What is your reaction to this deal? Is it a good thing or not? Tell us why in the comments below.

Wanna Hear Us Talk Back Some More?

Watch us discuss  Annihilation here.
And we’re breaking down Black Panther‘s set-up connection to Infinity War.
Finally, some  Ready Player One discourse!

Images: Disney

Our Super Spoilery STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Review

This is no joke, friends. What follows will be an incredibly SPOILER-FILLED, SPOILER-DISCUSSING review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. This is intended only for people who’ve already seen the movie or people who really don’t care about being spoiled. If you haven’t seen the movie and do care about being spoiled, then may we point you toward our completely spoiler-free review? There’s a lot of great stuff to discuss about the actual plot and character development in the movie but we want to make sure people get the chance to see it first.

Okay, are you still with us? Then let’s go!

Last chance to pull out, Red Leader…

OKAY!

Star Wars: The Last Jedi has been garnering speculation about the future of its characters pretty much since the moment the earliest screenings of The Force Awakens ended. The questions have only grown more pressing since the announcement of The Last Jedi title, not to mention with each subsequent piece of promotional material. Indeed, we entertained theory after theory about what would or could or should happen in the next adventure in that galaxy far, far away. As we know now, Rian Johnson sought to answer just about every one of those plot threads left dangling by J.J. Abrams, and he did so by redefining what “Jedi” actually means, and what the Force and its wielders can do.

Up to now, we’ve seen users of the Force influence the minds of weak-willed fools, commune with the past and see the future, and “make rocks float,” but one of the great things about Johnson’s take on the material is that he widened its scope. Force users in The Last Jedi can communicate across lightyears of space, can send seemingly fully corporeal projections of themselves equally far distances, and even propel themselves through the vacuum of space. The first instinct from fans might be, “What?! We didn’t know they could do that.” And that’s precisely the point. I don’t want to know everything the Force can do already.

Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), General Leia (Carrie Fisher), Rey (Daisy Ridley), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), and Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) each show us things we didn’t know the Force was capable of. Luke may have wanted the Jedi to end, but that doesn’t mean the Force stops growing or surrounding and binding us. We see just how powerful each of these characters is, and, in the case of Snoke, how that power led to hubris which led to his ultimate defeat at the hands of his apprentice, clouding the mind of his master to his true intention.

We’d been speculating about Rey and Kylo’s connection, and whether, in lieu of Luke accepting Rey as a pupil, she’d find a teacher in Kylo. We also wondered if Luke or Rey (or both) would turn full evil, and conversely if Kylo would turn good. The Last Jedi addressed all of these possibilities beautifully. These mysteries remain alive for much of the film’s runtime, and Luke’s complete abandonment of the Jedi and even closing himself off to the Force makes his all the more mysterious.

We see his what happened to his Jedi Academy, and are shown his confrontation with Ben Solo in three different ways. We see a hint of Luke’s memory of Ben destroying the hut as he looked on in horror. We see the same memory, but from Ben’s perspective, which read his trusted uncle Luke as an assassin come to murder him as he slept. And finally, we get the whole truth: Luke confesses to Rey that he had a brief moment of darkness when he considered killing his nephew for the good of the galaxy, which he immediately regretted, but not before the damage was done.

Though Rey sets out with the benevolent mission to turn the conflicted Kylo to the light side, there’s so much raw power and pain in Rey that Luke and Kylo both see that she has the capability of great darkness. But the film sets up (as was reflected in the previous season of Star Wars Rebels as well) that the Jedi and the Sith are two parts of a balanced equation, that you cannot have darkness without light. Snoke mentions this specifically, that he knew for Kylo to have such dark side energy, there’d have to be an equal counterpart on the light side.

For a brief moment, in the movie’s standout action scene (possibly the best scene in the whole movie), we see what a formidable team they would make, effing up a roomful of Snoke’s impressive gladiator-like guards. It’s a partnership all too brief, for while Rey (and I) thought maybe this meant Ben Solo had turned to the light side, Ben saw it differently.

The Solo-turned-Ren seized this moment as an opportunity to gain power and bring Rey over to the dark side. But neither wish came true; the conflict in Ben Solo is all but gone and his hatred has taken over again, and despite Rey’s own anger, she could never turn to the dark side. They’re destined to be enemies. And in the same moment, all of the speculation about Rey’s parentage is answered: she’s a nobody, born to a pair of nobodies who just ran off and left her on Jakku for no good reason.

I got a split-second of disappointment at this revelation. “That’s it? She’s not a Skywalker? Or a Kenobi, or any of the other billion possibilities we thought it might be?” But Johnson has Kylo call this out. He essentially tells her she doesn’t have a part in this family drama we’ve seen unfold for seven films. And yet we know, and Luke knows, that she absolutely does have a part to play, and it doesn’t matter if she’s part of a lineage of strong-with-the-Force people. ANYBODY can be a Jedi now, as we see the little boy from Canto Bight possessing both innate Force abilities and a spark of Rebellion in his heart. The Force is for everybody, and any ol’ nobody can save the galaxy.

It was pretty roundly accepted that the title The Last Jedi referred to Luke but we now know it simply referred to the last Jedi specifically taught via the Jedi Order. As Yoda appears to Luke as he almost brings himself to burn the first Jedi temple, the pint-sized Force Ghost says it is in fact time to let the Jedi end, but only the Jedi as we’ve known them so far. When Luke has his final, super badass confrontation with Kylo, he says he is not indeed the last hero to use the Jedi teachings, but he might be the last official Jedi, which, great! Get away from pomp and circumstance.

The Last Jedi was about establishing the new normal for the franchise. Johnson is already committed to telling new stories in a new trilogy of films, and this movie set that possibility up in a big way. The First Order has won, and has all but reestablished itself as the new Empire, and the Resistance (which was initially set up as a covert, sanctioned-but-unsanctioned task force by the New Republic to stop the First Order) is in tatters and it’s up to people to reform a Rebellion. So by the end of The Last Jedi, we have a new main bad guy in Kylo, a new (although let’s face it, she was pretty much this already) main hero in Rey, and a new generation of freedom fighters and Force-wielders.

If The Force Awakens was about reestablishing what people loved about Star Wars, The Last Jedi is about setting up what they’re going to love about the films going forward. And for a 40-year-old franchise to keep us guessing like that, it’s as welcome as a cool glass of blue milk.

4.5 Force Ghosting burritos out of 5

Images: Lucasfilm

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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The weirdest theories the cast of The Last Jedi has heard!