Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2032

Boba Fett Is a Bad Bounty Hunter

Who’ the most fearsome, ruthless, unquestioned greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy far, far away?

We have no idea, we just know it’s not Boba Fett.

That’s right, Boba Fett isn’t merely overrated, he’s awful at his job. In fact, we’re not even sure he know what his job is, since he never seems to actually do it. His accomplishments throughout the entire Star Wars universe, from the movies to cartoons to comic books, aren’t mediocre, they are non-existent.

Our Dan Casey explains why the Mandalorian-armor wearing clone son of Jango Fett has consistently failed to live up to his grand reputation. Sure, your initial reaction might be that we’re nuts, that Boba Fett is awesome. “No disintegrations!” you’re probably yelling. But yet, have you ever, you know, seen Boba Fett do that? No, no you haven’t.

So what have you seen him do? And not just in the films, but in The Clone Wars cartoon series or even the Star Wars comics? Here’s the list of every super awesome thing Boba Fett has ever done in any canonical source:

He looked cool

That’s it! That’s the list.

Because as Dan explains, his only real badass moments have come from places that are no longer canon. Yeah, the Expanded Universe’s greatest victim is Boba Fett’s street cred.

“Boba Fett? Boba Fett?”

More like, Nobig Fett. Or maybe we should have went with Bo-bah Fett? Boba Feh? Boo-ba Fett?

The Empire Strikes Back came out in 1980, man. You’ve had 37 years to do something to earn your reputation. And no, being ret-conned to escape the Sarlacc pit does not count.

But what do you think? Are we being a little harsh on him, or does he actually suck? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Images: Lucasfilm

Chris Hardwick and Team Nerdist Take on Team POWER RANGERS in Laser Tag At ID10T Fest!

Last weekend, Nerdist founder Chris Hardwick brought his ID10T Music Festival + Comic Conival to Silicon Valley for a unique event that combined almost all of our favorite passions, including TV shows, music, comics, comedy, and more. And if you didn’t happen to make it out to the inaugural ID10T Fest, then you missed the epic laser tag showdown between Chris’ Team Nerdist and a team representing Saban’s Power Rangers!

That’s right, it was Team Nerdist vs. Team Power Rangers for the ultimate laser tag bragging rights. And who better to follow Chris into battle than his wife, Lydia Hardwick Hearst? As Chris himself noted, she would easily defeat him if she was on the other team! Chris was also joined by his nephew, Caleb Hardwick, and Bizarre States co-host, Andrew Bowser.

Team Power Rangers was represented by Power Morphicon founder Scott Zillner, Power Rangers Now founder Michael Louie, and YouTube star Dang Matt Smith. Fortunately, they were also joined by two of the stars from Saban’s Power Rangers: Yellow Ranger Becky G and Blue Ranger RJ Cyler.

The video offers up a taste of the Power Rangers themed course and the laser tag action, and it turned out to be an amazingly close game. As much as we’d like to say that Team Nerdist did what Rita Repulsa failed to do so many times in the TV series, we can’t. Because Team Power Rangers came out on top with a score of 143 to 140. Oh sure, they’re celebrating now. But wait until we unleash our Putties!

Despite our defeat in battle, we’re very proud of the way that ID10T came out. The festival brought together the cast and creators behind Mystery Science Theater 3000, Stan Against Evil, The Magicians, Animaniacs, Portlandia, and Harmontown, as well as some of the biggest names in comedy and music, as well as an impressive lineup of comic book creators. We’re pumped to do it again, if we get the opportunity!

What did you think about the battle between Team Nerdist and Team Power Rangers? Let us know in the comment section below!

Saban’s Power Rangers is available now on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital HD. Story by Matt Sazama, Burke Sharpless, Michael Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney, screenplay by John Gatins, directed by Dean Israelite.

Motion Picture Artwork © 2017 Lions Gate Entertainment Inc.  POWER RANGERS and all original names, original characters, distinctive likenesses thereof and original trademarks and logos are the exclusive property of SCG Power Rangers LLC. © 2017. All Rights Reserved.

Sorry, GAME OF THRONES Fans: Your Favorite ‘Ship is Probably Dead

Of all the new photos we’ve gotten in preparation for the seventh season of Game of Thrones, let’s be real: only one of them matters. The photo in question features the number one all-time ‘ship to end all Westerosi ‘ships. Of course we’re talking about Brienne of Tarth and Tormund Giantsbane, the most unlikely—but clearly perfect—pairing of wishful lovers the internet has ever seen.

Only: theirs is a love that is not destined to ever be. Even the showrunners have said as much. Cue a million tiny violins for the love of Babeienne of Tarth and Tormund Giantsbae.

Speaking about how the Good ‘Ship Tarthbae (a name we just made up right now), showrunners Dan Weiss and Dave Benioff explained to Entertainment Weekly that the dynamic happened naturally when the actors were left to their own devices. “There was no dialogue written for that [moment],” explained Benioff. “there was just a line like, ‘He stares at Brienne because he’s never seen a woman like that before.’ And then we let the actors do what they do.”

Weiss went on to explain their second interaction—before parting ways at The Wall—was also not scripted, explaining that “It’s not something you could ever write. It’s just this moment where this guy is creeping out on her and he smiles in a way that makes her very uncomfortable and she just looks away. I saw it 150 times and every time it made me laugh; it’s purely the two of them.”

Now, if you’re a fan of Game of Thrones and you’re reading this, you’re probably thinking, “Oh seven hells does this mean one of these two is going to die?!” And the answer to that is: PROBABLY! HAVE YOU EVER KNOWN A LOVE TO LAST ON THIS SHOW?

Also because, as Benioff said, the fan adoration has, “inspire[d] us … to kill one of them now because there can’t be a happy ending or any romantic connection on the show. But we’re not going to tell you which one.” Which they were probably kidding about but also PROBABLY NOT, because Game of Thrones? And also life? (And also because Brienne is CLEARLY destined to end up with Jaime Lannister?)

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Sigh. Love is dead, isn’t it? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Images + GIFs: HBO

Alicia Lutes is the Managing Editor of Nerdist, creator/co-host of Fangirling, and resident Archmaester for all things Game of Thrones. Find her on Twitter!

STAR WARS Tattoos of Thrawn, BB-8, Darth Vader Show Off The Force

Based on the submissions I continue to receive from readers for Inked Wednesday, it looks as though Star Wars tattoos are the most popular sort of pop culture ink. Everything from characters, to ships, to full sleeves–just when I think I’ve seen it all, I stumble across new to me designs. This week’s selections are all about creative art and a couple of characters I haven’t seen in tattoo form before. Let’s start with a look at Grand Admiral Thrawn:

Grand Admiral Thrawn (Star Wars) | Source: Brian Hare, inked by Mike Bianco at Rose Gold’s Tattoo & Piercing

Brian also has Darth Vader ink different than most Sith Lord tattoos I see because it’s based on Ralph McQuarrie‘s concept art for the character.

Ralph McQuarrie Darth Vader (Star Wars) | Source: Brian Hare, inked by Mike Bianco

Be sure to visit the gallery below to see even more Star Wars inspired tattoos. You’ll find a Boba Fett cover up by Mike Bianco, BB-8, a cute and cartoony Luke and Leia designed based on Jeffrey Brown art, and a droid.

If you have nerdy ink on your skin or you’re a tattoo artist that applies pop culture, STEM, music, or other nerd-inspired ink (tl;dr: I want to see basically all of the tattoos, not only Star Wars ones) on a regular basis, then please hit me up because I’d like to highlight you in a future Inked Wednesday gallery. I’m especially interested if you have a sleeve or other large tattoo. You can get in touch with me via email at alratcliffe@yahoo.com. Send me photos of the tattoos you’d like me to feature (the higher resolution, the better) and don’t forget to let me know the name of your tattoo artist if you have it, as well the name of the shop he or she works out of. If you are the tattoo artist, give me links to your portfolios and/or Instagram accounts so I can share them with our readers.

Featured Image: Brian Hare

Artist Fuses DRAGON BALL Z with RICK AND MORTY, ADVENTURE TIME and More

FUSION HA! Remember watching Goku and Vegeta fuse for the first time? Likely that it, too, filled you with wonder when (after a few chubby failed attempts) Vegito emerged, a new Super Saiyin with the power of both fighters. Well, we are currently filled with with that very same level of wonder looking at the images of artist Suraj Sirohi. See, Sirohi did a bit of fusing of his own, mashing up the idea with characters completely outside of the Dragon Ball Z world. And let us tell you: the six that emerged are much more than the sums of their parts.

First up is Ned Flanders from The Simpsons and Jake from Adventure Time:

We would love to see Jake Flanders’s adventures in the Land of Ooo. Maybe he could introduce Jesus Christ to the Candy Kingdom?

Next is Rick from Rick and Morty and Pikachu from Pokemon:

BLLARP Morty, listen to your Grandpa Rickachu and use your HURK love potion attack! Oh, it’s not very UUUGH effective? What a surprise, Morty. Maybe if you improved your BOOORF personality, Morty.

Returning to Ooo and Springfield are Finn from Adventure Time and Homer from The Simpsons:

Wait, is Homer the Human eating a citizen of the Candy Kingdom?

Going back to the classics, we have Garfield and Mickey Mouse:

Ho ho! Mickfield the Mouse-Cat can’t stand Mondays.

In practice, this one works much better than in concept. Bugs Bunny from Looney Tunes and Double D from Ed, Edd n Eddy:

We may never know what lies under Buggle Bundee’s hat.

And finally, the one that could actually be a Dragon Ball villain. Mojo Jojo from The Powerpuff Girls and SpongeBob from SpongeBob Squarepants:

Spongejo Jobob is definitely a universal conqueror. This isn’t even his final form!

What other cartoon characters would you like to see fused? Let us know in the comments below.

Image: Suraj Sirohi

Original GLOW “Rap” Video is Wrong in All The Right Ways

The new Netflix series GLOW seems to have all the makings of a breakout hit for the streaming service, if we are to judge based on the—pardon me—glowing reception online from critics and fans. I know I binged the whole thing in two days, and I already can’t wait for season two. Not only is the show an endearing nostalgia trip, it’s also got a ton of well rounded roles for the mainly female ensemble cast.

Although the series is only very loosely based on the original Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling show from the mid ’80s, one thing the new show got right was the blatantly racist stereotypes they gave some of the wrestlers. If you were any kind of non-white ethnicity, somehow GLOW would find a way to use that to make a stereotypical persona for you in the ring. It seems appalling now, but thirty years ago no one even shrugged, believe it or not.

How bad was it? Well, if you watch the GLOW 100 “rap” above, which was uploaded thanks to YouTuber Bert Incorporated, you’ll get a pretty good idea of how shockingly stereotyped the ladies of GLOW actually were. One of the wrestlers is named “Palestina,” who—as her verse in the rap goes—”flew to America and kept the plane/some people think that I’m insane.” Yup, nothing quite so funny as terrorism. “Spanish Red,” of course, “loves tequila, and when her blood gets hot, she’s even meaner.” And that’s just the tip of the GLOW iceberg.

Some viewers have taken issue with the racist personas given to the wrestlers, but as the video proves, it was definitely accurate to the time period and the real series. If we’re going to do movies and television shows set in a specific era, we shouldn’t sugar coat them as to not offend our delicate modern sensibilities. The best thing we can do is laugh at how ignorant we once were, and continue trying to do better. In the meantime, if you haven’t started watching GLOW on Netflix, by all means, get on that!

What do you think of GLOW, both the new series and the original thing? Let us know down below in the comments.

Images: Netflix

Dr. Ruth’s GOOD SEX is Streaming Vintage Episodes with Jerry Seinfeld, Anthrax

Although she’s largely out of the spotlight now, Dr. Ruth Westheimer was a constant media presence if you grew up in the ’80s  and ’90s. The German born Jewish immigrant became famous for being one of America’s first “sexperts,” and she was a constant guest on late night talk shows where she tried to educate America on how to have a healthy sex life, all while David Letterman and Johnny Carson squirmed in their seats.

She also parlayed her fame into hosting at least five talk shows on Lifetime and other cable channels back in the day. If you were a kid back then like I was, you especially got a kick out of all things Dr. Ruth, because to the pre-teen brain, there is nothing more hilarious than hearing a tiny little old lady with a super thick accent say words like “erection,” “clitoris,” and “orgasm” over and over. Trust me, when you’re ten years old, that is the apex of comedy.

Another staple of the ’80s and early ’90s was Night Flight, a four hour show that ran on the USA Network which was collection of music videos, short films, and other oddities. I remember sitting transfixed in front of Night Flight for hours on end, mostly because there weren’t a whole lot of options back then. They also had the most ’80s opening credits of all time. Night Flight has since moved online at the website Night Flight Plus, where they’ve archived a ton of vintage episodes of the series. And now the esteemed Dr. Ruth has joined them!

Among the Dr. Ruth episodes included here are one which explores the teen fascination with heavy metal music (with special guest Anthrax!), learning about rap music with L.L. Cool J, chatting up the “sexiest man in America” Burt Reynolds, a pre-mega fame Jerry Seinfeld, and even UFO researcher Budd Hopkins, who of course ends up talking about various Alien sexual fantasies. I mean, who didn’t have those, right?

Maybe the best part of all these episodes is watching the mostly teenage audience, with puzzled looks on their faces as Dr. Ruth goes on and on about the proper use of condoms.  There are some truly epic tragic hairstyles on display here, and some serious fashion faux pas going on in these videos, so I highly recommend you go to Night Flight Plus and check them out.

What do you make of this trip in the Way Back Machine? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Images: Night Flight

Rob Thomas Says IZOMBIE Will Be “Radically Different” in Season 4

Warning: the following story contains major (and Major) spoilers from iZombie‘s season three finale, “Looking for Mr. Goodbrain, Part 2.” If you haven’t watched part 2 of the finale, look away now! Don’t say we didn’t warn you …

iZombie is shaking things up yet again.

The CW’s zom-rom-com always knows how to throw us for a huge loop in season finales, and the season three ender, “Looking for Mr. Goodbrain, Part 2” didn’t let us down, as expected. But what was unexpected was the shocking twist of the Fillmore Graves zombies going public, holding the innocent humans of Seattle hostage to blackmail the rest of the United States into sending the country’s recently deceased brains to them. And seeing as how Chase Graves (Jason Dohring) led the Fillmore Graves troops to secretly inject zombie blood into the flu vaccine being given freely to all the citizens of Seattle, the zombie population has grown exponentially overnight, giving real weight to the threat. Basically, as long as the rest of the country keeps Seattle well-fed in brains, they won’t go all zombie apocalypse on the humans.

With a city (and now an entire country) teetering on the edge of this risky ultimatum, just how different is iZombie going to be next year? To hear series creator Rob Thomas tell it, “pretty radically different.”

“In some ways, some things will be familiar,” Thomas tells Nerdist. “Liv [Rose McIver] and Clive [Malcolm Goodwin] will still be solving murders in Seattle. But beyond that, the show is going to feel very different. Seattle is going to be a very different place next year. Zombies will be living side-by-side with humans, with each of them knowing that. There will be places where zombies hang out publicly. Human-zombie relations will be a very touchy thing. Seattle is going to become a walled city, much like Berlin. It’s going to be very different.”

In building to this point — zombies going public — this season and pretty much the whole series has essentially been like a prequel to the potential zombie apocalypse. But Thomas promises that we haven’t gotten to that point yet. “Everyone’s trying to prevent the apocalypse,” he says. “What I think it feels like is the Cuban Missile Crisis.”

He laughs, then adds, “Like right on the edge. There are people high up in the U.S. government, probably a lot of world governments, that would be in favor of nuking Seattle and just taking care of the zombie problem. It’s a tense, tense situation. Essentially, the card that Chase Graves has to play is, ‘I’m holding a half million human citizens hostage. If you’re going to nuke all the zombies, we’re going to take a half million innocent humans with us.’ We’re in a standoff.”

However, all these radical changes doesn’t mean we’re letting go of what makes iZombie, well, iZombie.

“Even if you lived in a city like that, life would have to go on,” Thomas says. “There’s this no-mans-land between Seattle and the rest of the United States, but murders still have to solved, the garbage still has to be picked up, food has to be delivered and most importantly, the rest of the U.S. has to deliver brains to Seattle, otherwise the zombies will go hungry and if the zombies go hungry, the apocalypse will start. Just as Chase Graves said in the video in the finale, ‘Send us your brains and everything will be okay.'”

Given the fact that Chase Graves has alerted the rest of the country to Seattle’s ever-growing zombie population, it would seem pretty reasonable to expect things to grow to a national—if not global—scale in the future, but Thomas gets pretty real about why the scope of the series isn’t going to grow all that much.

“Given our budget and the fact that we film in Vancouver, it’s always going to feel very Seattle-ish,” he says with a laugh. “We don’t quite have the Game of Thrones budget where we could do desert shots or anything. We might be able to put up a Chinese flag behind us and a couple Chinese actors and fake a call to China but I think that’s about all we could manage. We’ll have largely a Pacific Northwest bent to it.”

Of course, I can’t help but sarcastically thank him for oh-so-rudely ripping away the chance to see Major (Rob Buckley) in Positano, as he was planning on moving away with his girlfriend before she was blown up in the Fillmore Graves party massacre. Thomas just laughs at the newest tragedy thrown Major’s way.

“Poor Major,” he says. “He really cannot catch a break.”

Losing Natalie (Brooke Lyons) resulted in Major asking Chase Graves to scratch him, making him a zombie once more, rejoining Team Z just in time for Z-day. But after seeing Major struggle with being a zombie for so long, and take immense joy in becoming a human, why did he choose to become a zombie again?! What a waste of a zombie cure dose!

“It is the place that feels like home to him, the place where he is accepted,” Thomas says of Major’s shocking choice. “Nowhere in Seattle does he get any respect or love. In Seattle proper, he is the guy accused of being the Chaos Killer. He has no life, he gets hate mail, his house gets vandalized. But at Fillmore Graves, he has the respect of his peers, he’s gone into combat with people and had that bonding experience. Those are his people now. After Natalie gets killed, that’s the last straw. Now he’s fully on board, he wants to be a zombie again, he wants to be at Fillmore Graves, he has chosen a side and he’s chosen zombie.”

And according to Thomas, this wasn’t just a rash, heat-of-the-moment decision for Major. And as for what this means for him and Liv romantically, since the only thing stopping them from being together was him being human and her being a zombie, this doesn’t mean everything will be sunshine and rainbows moving forward.

“We’ll see,” Thomas says cryptically. “I can tell you that as we pick him up in season four, he’s not regretting it. In fact, Liv and Major, politics is going to keep them apart in season four. I’m not saying completely apart or that it makes them hate each other or anything, but they are on opposite sides of a political divide. Major’s pretty pro-Fillmore Graves. They are the military force of an occupying army. I would almost compare it to the left wing and right wing in Israel. Politics are a bone of contention between Liv and Major next season.”

Ravi (Rahul Kohli) also took a really big step in the finale, managing to cook up one dose of a potential vaccine to prevent zombie-ism. And in the final moments of the hour, he tested it on himself, even going so far as making Liv scratch him to see if it worked.

“I can say that you get an answer to what the vaccine does in episode 401,” Thomas reveals. “We do not make you wait very long to find out what it does. There is definitely a reaction to it. I can tell you that there is some positive benefit to it and that we’re going to have some fun with that. But I want the audience to be surprised by that, by what it does.”

Not going to lie, I was pretty nervous about Ravi’s fate until he said there was “some positive benefit” to his vaccine. When I tell Thomas that he can’t kill Ravi or I riot, he laughs. “Yeah, here’s the thing,” he says. “I will promise it did not kill Ravi.”

At least we’ve got some hope going into the long summer hiatus! What did you think of the iZombie season three finale and what it means for the show’s future? Tweet me at @SydneyBucksbaum and let’s talk about it!

Images: The CW

iZombie returns for season four in early 2018.

DEADPOOL 2 Begins Filming

The irreverent merc with a mouth is back, baby! Deadpool 2 officially began filming today, and boy are we excited. Host Amy Vorpahl, Associate Editor Kyle Anderson, Managing Editor Alicia Lutes, and Deadpool himself discuss today’s nerdy news on Nerdist News Talks Back. Okay, fine, Deadpool isn’t here, but that’s totally the kind of thing he would do. Additionally, we’re dishing on Miles Morales in the MCU, Peter Parker being in Iron Man 2, and Star Wars: Forces of Destiny‘s trailer.

First up? We’ve got our first glimpse of that sweet DP since the 2016 film. This time, Wade Wilson appears to be crashing a children’s birthday party, which makes a lot of sense based on the tone of the first film. Maybe Domino will show up as a birthday clown and Cable will do some juggling? Honestly, we’re just looking forward to the plethora of jokes Deadpool will surely make about Josh Brolin playing both Cable and Thanos. Hey, maybe we’ll even get a Hugh Jackman cameo! Jackman may be done playing Wolverine, but it’s not beyond the possibility for the actor to play himself. In fact, it’d be a perfect opportunity to break the 4th wall.

Moving to one of the other Marvel movie universes, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has confirmed that Miles Morales is in the MCU. We don’t know where, but he’s somewhere. With Miles Morales’s addition, the MCU now has two legacy heroes—those who take the mantle of another hero. The first, Scott Lang’s daughter Cassie grows up to be the hero Stature, who can grow like her father’s Giant Man persona. Hopefully the MCU is paving the way for its future heroes and building up to a Young Avengers movie.

On the topic of young heroes, Peter Parker has been retconned into Iron Man 2! A popular fan theory, that Parker is the boy who Iron Man saves, which ignites the budding scientist’s love of super heroes, was so well-liked by Feige that it’s now official. It would certainly explain why Peter looks up to Uncle Tony so much, but never more than Uncle Ben.

Star Wars: Forces of Destiny, Lucasfilm’s new Youtube show, has a trailer and it’s awesome. Showcasing the series’ powerful women, Forces of Destiny looks to inspire younger viewers and instill in them a sense of independence and hope. The women of Star Wars have increasingly played a pivotal role in the series—from Leia to Rey to Ahsoka and Jyn—so it’s great to finally see a series highlighting their contributions.

Find your hope. Find your courage. Find your destiny. #ForcesOfDestiny premieres July 3 on @Disney YouTube & July 9 on @DisneyChannel. pic.twitter.com/8tffrcEKAP

— Star Wars (@starwars) June 27, 2017

You can watch and interact live with Nerdist News Talks Back every weekday at 1:00pm PST on YouTube and Alpha, and catch up with the archives just after the show!

Image: 20th Century Fox, Marvel Comics, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm

BANGARANG! is a Rufio-Centric HOOK Prequel Short

Almost three decades after Steven Spielberg and Robin Williams brought us a fat, corporate lawyer Peter Pan and a mohawk-rocking Lost Boy leader, the kid who brought Rufio to life has created a short film that explains how Roofus (Sheadan Gabriel) went from scrawny kid to Bangarang-crowing badass.

Co-written and directed by Jonah Feingold (the guy behind the Wes Anderson Force Awakens trailer), Bangarang is a sweet–if not sometimes schmaltzy–prequel to Hook with a lot of love baked into it. Roofus and his friends love to play pirate, but a leather jacket-wearing bully named Sid (Tyler Ross) threatens to kick their butts if they don’t kick themselves off the playground. At home, Roofus has to deal with the looming spectre of foster care, but he’s also got big dreams. In them, he can fly.

Bangarang is the product of a successful Kickstarter campaign led by original Rufio, Dante Basco, who executive produced and also acted in the short. His playing the supportive principal who nurtures Roofus’s big dreams and gives them homework of reading Peter Pan adds a touch of playfulness, not only for nostalgia’s sake, but also to toy with the timeline in a natural, cyclical way. He’s a totally different character, but we get a glimpse at what Rufio would have looked like (and the job he might have had) if he’d grown up.

It’s a worthwhile throwback that lets us see the scared boy hiding his insecurities behind red hair dye and bravado from Hook overcome a bully with a touch of magic and belief.

Would you want to see more?

Image: Feingold Films