Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 309

Mike Flanagan Will Direct ‘Radical’ New EXORCIST Movie, Film Will Not Be a BELIEVER Sequel

The Exorcist: Believer fell well short of expectations in 2023. Then The Exorcist: Believer‘s planned sequel movie lost its release date and its director in early 2024. It seemed like the reboot of the famous franchise was in some trouble. But now, Mike Flanagan will direct the next Exorcist movie for Blumhouse and Universal pictures (at one point titled, The Exorcist: Deceiver). The new Exorcist movie will not, however, be a sequel to Believer. A release notes, “The film will tell an all-new story set in The Exorcist universe and is not a sequel to 2023’s The Exorcist: Believer.” Instead, Flanagan’s movie will be a “radical new take on The Exorcist.”

Flanagan has an excellent reputation for his deft, atmospheric horror—so he could be just the ticket to set the franchise back on course.

Warner Bros.

While three new Exorcist movies were imagined in this reboot attempt, it’s unknown if Flanagan will direct one or two more movies. Since the movies will no longer function as a trilogy, the fate of the third movie is yet to be determined. But if anyone can turn a franchise around, it’s The Fall of the House of Usher creator.

Universal Pictures

For now, there is no release date for Flanagan’s potential Exorcist movie. We’ll also have to wait and see if it remains titled The Exorcist: Deceiver.

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ATTACK ON TITAN Musical Coming to New York

We love the trend of bringing nerdy properties to the stage. Nerds love theater too! The latest of these is the Attack on Titan musical. If you love the anime, don’t delay though, because there are currently only four performances of the Attack on Titan musical scheduled.

A release shares, “The story of Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan series is heading to the stage in style in ATTACK on TITAN: The Musical, and four performances are officially lined up for New York City this October.” You can pre-order your tickets through Crunchyroll now. Otherwise, general tickets to the Attack on Titan musical will go on sale June 3.

You can check out the trailer for Attack on Titan: The Musical above.

A release further shares, “Based on the manga by Hajime Isayama and its anime adaptation, ATTACK on TITAN: The Musical will be performed with a mix of conventional musical theater techniques and state-of-the-art technology. Breakdance world champion Go Ueki (HYPNOSISMIC -Division Rap Battle) directs the musical adaptation, which premiered with sold out runs in Osaka and Tokyo in January 2023.”

Crunchyroll

So don’t delay and snag your tickets today.

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STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC Timeline Explained

When the newest Disney+ Star Wars series, The Acolyte, was first announced in 2020, one of the big takeaways from the then-enigmatic project was that it would take place during “the waning days of the High Republic.” The promise of a live-action series brought a new spotlight to the ambitious new multi-media literary effort slated to debut in early 2021. It offered a swath of new Star Wars stories set in an era that was older than the New Republic but newer than the Old Republic. This era is The High Republic.

Over the last several years, the High Republic gained a loyal cult following of Star Wars fans to its pages. The Acolyte will be many fans’ first real experience with the storytelling of this galactic era and some of the unique characters created for it. As such, we’ve decided to offer you a history of the era, as far as we know currently. While each book and story within the High Republic has its share of twists and turns, consider this a broad overview of the main overarching throughline of the High Republic as a collective in anticipation of The Acolyte. For a more in-depth coverage, check out our video timeline.

The High Republic Origins 

The real-world origins of the High Republic began in 2018 under the name Avengers Initiative. Wait, sorry, the All-Star Initiative, and later, Project Luminous. The initial project included five authors: Justina Ireland, Cavan Scott, Claudia Gray, Daniel José Older, and Charles Soule. Each are fan-favorite authors, both within the Star Wars canon and their outside work. They would later add more authors to the mix, like George Mann, Alyssa Wong,  Zoraida Córdova, and Tessa Gratton. 

Lucasfilm

Starting around 500 years before the first Star Wars movie, or “500 Before the Battle of Yavin,” the High Republic era is one of exploration and expansion. The Galactic Republic has largely recovered from the dark ages following the fall of the Old Republic. Now the Republic is trying to expand out again to the Outer Rim. This is especially true for the region known as the Galactic Frontier. This Frontier is popular among pirates including familiar faces like Maz Kanata. 

This is a golden age for the Jedi. Believing the Sith threat fully defeated generations earlier, the Jedi focus on their mission as the “guardians of peace and justice” as Obi-Wan Kenobi would say. These Jedi often rally around the cry “For Light and Life.” They frequently dress in resplendent gold-on-white temple robes, though Jedi in the field still wear the more familiar brown vibes. 

Story-wise, The High Republic consists of three main phases. We’re going to discuss them in chronological order instead of publishing order. We’ll start with Phase 2, which takes place in 382 BBY, 150 years before the rest of the series. Star Wars was like, “we heard you like prequels so here’s some prequel for your prequel.”

The High Republic Phase 2 – 382 BBY

Phase 2 introduces a few different religious groups with affiliation to the Force, including groups that have appeared in previous Star Wars media. These groups include the Guardians of the Whills and the Church of the Force. We also meet a more fanatical cult known as the Path of the Open Hand. They believe the Jedi and any other Force sensitives who use powers are actively harming the Force. Their belief is basically a hyper-extended version of Chaos Theory. The use of the Force, even innocuously, in one spot could cause catastrophe somewhere else in the universe. Their own catchphrase is “The Force shall be free,” because any good cult should have a motto. 

Lucasfilm

A good cult needs a false prophet too, and the Path has one in The Mother. Despite the cult’s beliefs, the Mother is secretly a Force-user herself, with a bitter personal grudge against the Jedi. She comes into possession of creatures that feed off of Force users, causing them to have intense, terrifying hallucinations before the creatures devour their essence, leaving a lifeless husk behind. The Mother calls these creatures the Leveler, but the Jedi and later books call them the Nameless. 

The Mother’s powers allow her to pass most charisma checks, causing followers to flock to her, often not knowing why they find her so alluring. The Mother manipulates current events and even tries to sabotage the peace talks of a major generational war between two worlds to destabilize the region and drive more followers to her flock.

Lucasfilm

One such follower is Marda Ro, a member of refugee alien race the Evereni whom the galaxy at large distrusts. A great storm destroyed the Evereni homeworld, and then a corrupt government left the survivors distrustful of everyone but themselves. Marda is a true believer in the Path of the Open Hand. However, her love for the Jedi Padawan Kevmo Zink tests that faith.

Kevmo and his master are killed by the Nameless. Marda, in her fanaticism, interprets their deaths as an example of the destruction that follows from using the Force. This only strengthens Marda’s devotion to the Path’s cause. She claims they are now the Path of the Closed Fist, a more militant version of the cult. Soon more Jedi arrive at the Path’s homeworld of Dalna after their sabotage of a peace treaty leads to a full-scale riot and battle on the pilgrim’s moon of Jedha. Jedha, of course, is where Jyn Erso later visits in Rogue One. 

Lucasfilm

The Nameless’ effects on the Jedi, as well as internal tensions within the cult, cause events to escalate into a massacre known as the Night of Sorrow. Marda swears revenge against the Jedi. The Path of the Closed Fist now becomes a gang of marauders called the Nihil. 

Afraid public knowledge of the Nameless could harm the Jedi, Grand Master Yoda and other Jedi keep information about them out of the archives. Over the next few decades the Nameless become something of a Jedi folklore, a nursery rhyme to scare younglings in an era before Anakin Skywalker existed. And we come to the end of Phase 2. 

The High Republic Phase 1 – 232 BBY

A cargo ship known as the Legacy Run travels through hyperspace when a strange shadowy object appears in front of it causing a collision. The impact of the crash sends huge chunks of starship careening through hyperspace. These chunks cause more crashes and destruction along many high-traffic routes. These force ships in the region to drop out of hyperspace lanes and become stranded. This event is known as The Great Hyperspace Disaster.

Lucasfilm

The pieces of the ship emerging from lightspeed threaten to obliterate a system known as Hetzal, home to over 40 billion people. Every Jedi within reach of the system converges in an attempt to avert the disaster. Their leader in this Avar Kriss, a powerful Jedi who uses her impressive Force abilities to guide this task force to work as a collective unit. 

The Republic’s current Chancellor, Lina Soh, engaged in a series of Great Works projects to present the Republic as a shining symbol of hope. One such project is the Starlight Beacon. This Jedi space station positioned near the Galactic Frontier would serve as the Jedi’s base of operations on the Galactic Frontier. It would allow them to respond to calls for aid sooner than the Temple on Coruscant could provide. As the Hero of Hetzal, Avar Kriss becomes marshal of the station.

In the last 150 years the Nihil have evolved, or devolved, into a marauding group of Viking-like raiders with a prominent storm theme. They are led from the shadows by Marchion Ro, a descendant of Marda, who carries her mission of vengeance with him. At first, the Nihil seem like opportunists, extorting worlds threatened by the emerging starship remnants from the Great Disaster. We later learn that the Nihil caused the explosion to begin with. Marchion sacrifices a third of the Nihil during a space battle against the Jedi and Republic, appearing that they lost.

231 BBY

A year after the Great Hyperspace Disaster, the Republic grows complacent thinking that the threat of the Nihil has gone. Chancellor Soh moves forward with her plans for another of her Great Works, The Republic Fair. This is like a World’s Fair but in Star Wars. 

Shocking probably nobody except the characters in the book, the Nihil attack! A massive coordinated assault by the Nihil informs the Republic that they are indeed still around. The Jedi and Republic begin Operation: Counterstrike, an effort to seek out and destroy the Nihil. In an attack on a Nihil base, the Jedi learn that the marauders have some of the Nameless. One of the creatures kills a Jedi named Loden Greatstorm, reducing him to a Force-drained husk. 

Lucasfilm

The Jedi mistakenly believe that one of Marchion Ro’s top lieutenants, a Twi’lek woman named Lourna Dee, is the leader of the whole organization. Avar Kriss and her Starlight Beacon Jedi defy the council and send Jedi undercover into Nihil territory to capture Lourna. 

230 BBY

Once again the Jedi and Republic mistakenly believe that they’ve defeated the Nihil. Marchion Ro springs the next phase of his plan. He launches a series of assaults on a number of worlds, creating a refugee crisis at Starlight Beacon. A Nihil sabotage team takes advantage of how overwhelmed the Beacon is and slips through, moving quickly throughout the station causing systemic and structural failures. They also unleash a Nameless into the station to cause havoc among the Jedi onboard. Despite their best efforts, the Jedi are unable to save the station. Starlight crashes onto a nearby world, killing many of the Jedi serving on it. The Republic watches in horror as the crash rips the symbol of the Jedi’s light from the sky. It’s at this time that Marchion Ro finally reveals himself to the galaxy.

The High Republic Phase 3 – 229 BBY

The Nihil have installed a massive barrier in space called the Stormwall. This series of disruptive buoys pull ships out of hyperspace preventing lightspeed travel beyond them. The Nihil have declared a region of the Galactic Frontier to be the Nihil Occlusion Zone. Thus far they have prevented the Jedi and Republic from traveling beyond this border. Avar Kriss finds herself trapped behind it in Nihil-controlled space. After months of isolation, Avar manages to get past the Stormwall and return to the Jedi Temple to report on her time behind enemy lines. 

Lucasfilm

Phase 3 is still in the middle of publishing, so we don’t fully know how the events will play out beyond this point. We also don’t know how they’ll feed into the story of The Acolyte close to a century later. How much the events of these stories still press on the Jedi will become clear when the series debuts on June 4.

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New THE LORD OF THE RINGS Movie THE HUNT FOR GOLLUM Releasing in 2026

There and back again, as the famous saying goes. Bilbo Baggins felt that was the theme of his life in The Hobbit, and now life is reflecting art. We are all going there and back again to the world of The Lord of the Rings. In early 2023, we learned that new live-action The Lord of the Rings movies were in the works at Warner Bros. Discovery. And now, our most recent updates reveal that Peter Jackson will once again craft these fantasy films. Additionally, we will see these new live-action The Lord of the Rings movies sooner than we think. The first of the new The Lord of the Rings films will release in 2026. (Yes, that’s 2026, not 2006, we had to check too.) It will be titled Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum and will focus on Andy Serkis’ Gollum.

What Will the New The Lord of the Rings Movie, The Hunt for Gollum, Be About?New Line Cinema

But what story will this new The Lord of the Rings movie tell? Well, Zaslav initially noted that it will “explore storylines yet to be told.” That could mean many things. But we certainly have a few ideas of what The Lord of the Rings tales we’d like to see on-screen. However, per Variety, the working title of the movie is The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum and it will star Andy Serkis’ Gollum. Andy Serkis will also direct the movie.

“Yesssss, Precious,” shared Serkis, “The time has come once more to venture into the unknown with my dear friends, the extraordinary and incomparable guardians of Middle Earth Peter, Fran and Philippa. With Mike and Pam, and the Warner Bros team on the quest as well, alongside WETA and our filmmaking family in New Zealand, it’s just all too delicious…”   

Warner Bros. Discovery’s Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy further noted, “For over two decades, moviegoers have embraced the Lord of the Rings film trilogy because of the undeniable devotion Peter [Jackson], Fran [Walsh] and Philippa [Boyens] have shown towards protecting the legacy of Tolkien’s works, and to ensure audiences could experience the incredible world he created in a way that honors his literary vision. We are honored they have agreed be our partners on these two new films. With Andy [Serkis] coming aboard to direct Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum (working title), we continue an important commitment to excellence that is a true hallmark of how we all want to venture ahead and further contribute to the Lord of the Rings cinematic history.”

Peter Jackson Will Be Involved in the New The Lord of the Rings MovieNew Line Cinema

Zaslav also revealed that the genius behind the first set of live-action The Lord of the Rings movies, Peter Jackson, will return for these new films. He notes that Peter Jackson and his writing partners, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens “will be involved every step of the way.” The trio is producing the Gollum movie. Walsh and Boyens will also be writing the script. They will be joined by Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou.

Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens noted of The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, “It is an honour and a privilege to travel back to Middle-earth with our good friend and collaborator, Andy Serkis, who has unfinished business with that Stinker — Gollum! As life long fans of Professor Tolkien’s vast mythology, we are proud to be working with Mike De Luca, Pam Abdy and the entire team at Warner Bros. on another epic adventure!”

Recently, the movie’s creators shared a little bit more about why they chose to center Gollum in the upcoming Lord of the Rings movie.

Will We See Other The Lord of the Rings Characters or Familiar Actors in The Hunt for Gollum?New Line Cinema

Peter Jackson revealed a bit of insight into the decision and also noted that it’s too early to tell whether other The Lord of the Rings character will appear in The Hunt for Gollum. He said, “The Gollum/Sméagol character has always fascinated me because Gollum reflects the worst of human nature, whilst his Sméagol side is, arguably, quite sympathetic. I think he connects with readers and film audiences alike, because there’s a little bit of both of them in all of us. We really want to explore his backstory and delve into those parts of his journey we didn’t have time to cover in the earlier films. It’s too soon to know who will cross his path, but suffice to say we will take our lead from Professor Tolkien.”

Serkis also teased a bit about whether other familiar characters and their original The Lord of the Rings actors could appear in The Hunt for Gollum, noting, “That’s a difficult question to answer right at this moment in time, because we’re really in the nascent stages of what it is exactly where we’re doing, and where the story’s going to take us. So I don’t want to commit anything right now. I mean, because it’s so raw and so raw and wriggling, and we are just literally having very early state script discussions and ideas of exactly where and how we’re going to drop anchor with the character and his journey and how he is or comes into contact with other characters, and the characters that we know and don’t know. So still, I would hate to say anything that’s going to commit us at this point, because it’s literally all up for grabs.”

Viggo Mortensen Would Return as Aragorn in The Hunt for Gollum If the Story Was RightNew Line Cinema

Recently, Viggo Mortensen chimed in on whether he would return to his The Lord of the Rings character Aragorn in The Hunt for Gollum. He noted that he would be happy to return in the new The Lord of the Rings movie, but only if it was the right thing to do for the character. Mortensen noted, “Sure. I don’t know exactly what the story is, I haven’t heard. Maybe I’ll hear about it eventually. I like playing that character. I learned a lot playing the character. I enjoyed it a lot. I would only do it if I was right for it in terms of, you know, the age I am now and so forth. I would only do it if I was right for the character. It would be silly to do it otherwise.

Why Gollum as the Star of this New The Lord of the Rings Movie?

Additionally, Boyens added of selecting Gollum’s story, “Gollum’s story is one of the most compelling to us in terms of a character that we couldn’t go as deeply into as we wanted to before, which sounds strange when you say that, given how familiar he is to everybody. Gollum’s life span takes place in such an interesting period of Middle-earth. When the question was first asked, this was the first story we thought of. Because I can tell you, and people might not believe this, but we had zero expectations of going back to this. It wasn’t something we were looking to do, particularly. So when the question was asked, it was, what would draw you back? And it was about working with the people we we’re working with. It was also about the chance to work with Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy at the studio. Alan Horn is now back at the studio. It just felt right.”

Once the story of the movie settled on Gollum, Serkis was the natural choice for director if it wasn’t going to be Peter Jackson. Boyens adds, “We wanted him to tell the story of Gollum and the hunt for Gollum as soon as we decided, okay, that’s the story. And Pete knew he didn’t want to direct go back into the world of Middle-earth again. [Peter] really enjoyed working with Kenji Kamiyama, who directed War of the Rohirrim. As soon as Pete decided, okay, I’m not going to direct it myself, and it’s going to be Gollum’s story, I swear to God, there was no one else but Andy Serkis.”

Finally, Serkis revealed, “Gollum has always stuck with me throughout all of these years. I’ve read audio books of the trilogy and the Silmarillion and The Hobbit, so Tolkien’s world has never left me in all of that time since we did the first films. And the character particularly has remained such an enormous part of my life. So it’s absolutely thrilling to be able to go back and do a deep dive into his world again, and specifically into Gotham’s psychology. I know we’re all interested in investigating on a deeper level who that character is, and on top of that, to be able to direct and hopefully create a film which has its place within the canon, but also something that’s fresh and new and a different approach.”

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum Is Coming in 2026, Other New Movies on the HorizonNew Line Cinema

During Warner Bros. Discovery’s first-quarter earnings conference call, which we first saw on Variety, CEO David Zaslav dropped the precious news. He shared that Warner Bros. Discovery is “now in the early stages of script development” for the first of the new The Lord of the Rings movies. And that the company “anticipates” that The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will “release in 2026.”

Zaslav additionally noted, “Lord of the Rings’ is one of the most successful and revered franchises in history and presents a significant opportunity for theatrical business.” With a 2026 release date, we guess we’ll hear more about these The Lord of the Rings movies sooner rather than later. Of course, given the “opportunity” here, we wouldn’t be surprised to hear about more new The Lord of the Rings movies very soon.

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STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC Timeline Explained

Star Wars fans are entering a new era in the galaxy far, far away in the upcoming Disney+ series, The Acolyte, and Dan Casey is here to fill you in on everything you need to know about The High Republic!

Written by Riley Silverman
Hosted by Dan Casey
Edited by Adam Murray

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Kerry Washington, Glenn Close, and Andrew Scott Join WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY Cast

Benoit Blanc and his Kentucky Fried Foghorn Leghorn drawl is coming back for his “most dangerous case yet.” That’s how Daniel Craig’s brilliant detective described his next outing in the announcement trailer for Rian Johnson’s third Knives Out installment, Wake Up Dead Man. Who will join Craig for some murder-mystery fun this time around? What is the movie about? And when (and where) can we expect to see it?

Netflix

The latest additions to the Wake Up Dead Man cast are Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, and Andrew Scott. They join the recently announced Cailee Spaeny and Josh O’Connor in Knives Out 3 and we could not feel more excited.

Here’s everything we know about Netflix’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery so far.

TitleNetflix

Knives Out 3 is officially titled Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. That latter half of that title also appeared in Glass Onion‘s title, much to the chagrin of Rian Johnson.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery‘s PlotNetflix

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery does not have an official synopsis, but we do have some early clues about what to expect from it. Johnson’s announcement of the film included commentary about how much he loves the malleability of whodunits. Combined with calling it Benoit Blanc’s “most dangerous case yet,” and everything points towards the darkest entry in the franchise yet.

The title and its accompanying font also suggest the film will have something to do with pirates. (Though we can’t rule out the film is about U2. Hopefully The Edge is safe either way.)

Does that mean a good old-fashioned treasure hunt gone wrong? A setting somewhere in the Caribbean? Arr, until we be getting something more official, wese can let our imaginations run wild like the sea. (Sorry.)

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery‘s Cast20th Century Studios/Netflix

Johnson confirmed a report that Mare of Easttown and Alien: Romulus‘ Cailee Spaeny is joining the returning Daniel Craig in the cast. The Crown‘s Emmy winner and Challengers star Josh O’Connor will also join the cast of Knives Out 3. Spaeny and O’Connor’s roles are not yet known.

Of course, Daniel Craig will reprise his role as Benoit Blanc in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.

Behind the ScenesLionsgate

For the third time, Rian Johnson is directing his own script in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. He’s also producing the film with his T-Street Pictures partner Ram Bergman.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery‘s Release DateLionsgate

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will come to Netflix in 2025. It will also hopefully also come theaters, and for a longer run than its predecessor.)

The movie does not have an official release day yet; however, the first two installments have Thanksgiving weekend releases. Knives Out arrived in theaters Thanksgiving weekend on November 27, 2019. After some film festival screenings, Glass Onion came to theaters for a brief run on Thanksgiving weekend, November 23, 2022. It then started streaming on Netflix, Wake Up Dead Man‘s ultimate home, on December 23.

If Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery follows a similar release schedule, we should expect to see it on the big screen on November 26, 2025. And we didn’t even need to be Benoit Blanc to figure that out.

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This LEGO Ideas Apple Store Design Is Pristine

LEGO Ideas has some of the coolest projects around. Sometimes they become a real LEGO set that brick fans can buy and build. We certainly hope that’s the case for this Apple Store LEGO project by builder legotruman (in collaboration with 2A2A). 

Honestly, Apple stores are gorgeous and often pristine with people milling about, which is exactly what we see in these LEGO concept photos. I especially love the trees and the little squirrel chilling outside.

Click To View Gallery legotruman/LEGO Ideas legotruman/LEGO Ideas legotruman/LEGO Ideas legotruman/LEGO Ideas legotruman/LEGO Ideas

Here’s some points about its design: 

This model is not based on any one specific Apple store location. Instead, it is uniquely designed after observing the features and style shared by many iconic store locations.The building features tall glass walls around the front and two sides.The huge apple logo shines in white, placed front and center. These are features seen in most apple stores, contributing to the consistent aesthetics of these locations.Black border “door frames” indicates the entrances.Inside, clean space with friendly staff members in blue t-shirts.The long wooden tables showcasing the latest iPhone, iMac and MacBook.On the shelves, white product packages and headphones (arranged in a floral pattern, seen in many store locations).On the right, indoor Ficus trees in white pot with nougat brim (seen in many real-life store locations).On the left, stairs crossing the boundary of indoor/ outdoor spaces.Upstairs, a display table for colorful Apple Watch, more staff helpers, and a beautiful color gradient screen as backdrop. Many store locations feature similar large display on white wall backgrounds.

This model will have a detachable roof and a front wall glass that can be removed with ease. The dimensions would be 41 cm x 25.6 cm x 15.8 cm with 1539 parts.

You can support this project and play a part in making it a reality.

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Ruby Sunday and Other Companions Who Got Older While Waiting for the Doctor

On the surface, traveling with the Doctor seems like a dream. As the Fifteenth Doctor said, you don’t have to worry about a job, boss, bills, or anything else that stresses the average human. You can fill your life with adventures and go practically anywhere in the TARDIS. But, as fans of the show know, life as a companion can get really complicated and downright sad. In the show’s more recent seasons, we’ve seen several companions go through the wringer in different ways. Sometimes, it is permanent, like Bill Potts’ sad ending. But even when it doesn’t last, seeing bad things happen to the Doctor’s friends is distressing. 

BBC/Bad Wolf Studios/Disney+

The Doctor’s current companion, Ruby Sunday, went through a timeline where she lost everyone she loved and spent 65 years being stalked by an older version of herself. We watched her go through an entire lifetime trying to solve a mystery without the Doctor. The worst part is, this isn’t the first time that a Doctor Who companion got left (or separated) from the Doctor and got older while waiting for their return. Here are a couple other companions who went through a similar experience. 

Amy Pond – “The Girl Who Waited”

Eleventh Doctor companion Amy Pond has a rather unique relationship with the Doctor. She met him as a child and grew up talking about her imaginary friend in the blue box who promised to come back soon. He did return, but it was years later when she was an adult and preparing to marry Rory Williams (who became a companion, too), and they began to travel.

Later on, in “The Girl Who Waited,” she got separated from the Doctor and Rory in a quarantine facility on a foreign planet. Time passed much quicker there, leading to her being there for 36 years. We meet an older Amy and the Doctor has to leave her behind to save younger Amy to avoid a paradox. Once again, Amy (or at least a version of her) had to wait a long time for the Doctor’s return.

Amy and Rory eventually leave the TARDIS after a Weeping Angel sends them back in time. The Doctor cannot reach them and we learn that they die of old age, together. What a wild journey.

Rory Williams – “The Doctor’s Wife” and “The Angels Take Manhattan”

Speaking of Rory and those Weeping Angels, we do get to see an older Rory in “The Angels Take Manhattan.” Before it all ends, Rory ends up in Winter Quay, a hotel full of aging people who are being used by the Weeping Angels to zap their time energy. Amy and Rory go through extreme measures to free Rory from this imprisonment but we do see him in there in old age.

Before all of this, “The Doctor’s Wife” shows poor Rory getting trapped in a TARDIS maze where his timeline speeds up quickly while trying to escape. Amy finds him and he is older and hysterical. Thankfully, this time conundrum works itself out as the episode progresses.

Clara Oswald – “Last Christmas”

We love a weird Christmas episode. “Last Christmas” is a dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream type of story. It is, well, about crabs that latch onto your face and force you into dreams while they devour your brain. Fantastic. This happens to the Twelfth Doctor’s companion Clara Oswald, who ends up with a crab on her face so long that she appears elderly. She says 62 years have passed. Of course, the Doctor gets Clara back as a young person and she decides to continue traveling with him. 

Sarah Jane Smith – “School Reunion”

Now this one is quite different. Instead of everything happening in an episode or two, this legitimately takes decades. Sarah Jane Smith is one of the most beloved Classic Who companions who spent time with the Third and Fourth Doctors. In the 1976 serial “The Hand of Fear,” The Fourth Doctor is summoned to his home planet of Gallifrey and says she cannot go with him. He drops her off on Earth (in the wrong place) and goes off in the TARDIS. Sarah makes an appearance in an anniversary story in 1983. But, because of timey wimey things, Sarah ends up going back to her life investigating weird things on Earth with K9, a robot dog.

Thirty years after her initial exit, Sarah Jane crosses paths with the Tenth Doctor. It is a reunion that causes tension between her and his current companion Rose Tyler. Sarah Jane is upset that he never came back for her all those years. Rose is upset that the Doctor could be so close to someone and just leave them. And the Doctor is stuck in the middle. For Sarah Jane, there was no timeline reversal or different versions of her. It was simply having to wait and wonder for years and years while getting older. 

Sometimes, traveling with the Doctor can lead to years of heartbreak, pain, and longing, indeed.

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Which Marvel Character Is Giancarlo Esposito Playing in the MCU?

Giancarlo Esposito is a veteran working actor who ascended to “TV’s greatest villain” thanks to his roles in Breaking Bad, The Mandalorian, and The Boys. And he’s long made his intentions very known about wanting to be a part of the MCU. For a long time, he campaigned to play Professor X in the MCU’s X-Men reboot. But now it seems he snagged another MCU role, one he described as appearing briefly first (probably a post-credits cameo) and then in a larger capacity in a Disney+ series. Here’s what he said:

I cannot promise you it’ll be Professor X, because here’s what I think. I think that there’s something about being original. We’ve seen different versions of Professor X. Wouldn’t you like to see me play a character in a Marvel movie who is original, and new, and fresh? So, mark my words: This will happen sooner than you think.

Marvel Comics/Prime Video

Based on these criteria, these are our guesses for Giancarlo Esposito’s upcoming MCU role. A reminder, Esposito said “new and fresh,” which makes us think he’s not a previously established Marvel movie character. Otherwise, we’d have him down for Doctor Doom, Green Goblin, or Magneto. We think he’d be a particularly great Norman Osborn actually. Yes, we also realize all of these are villains or adversary-type roles. At this point, it’s clear Esposito has no problem leaning into his talents at playing Machiavellian villains. This is a guy who loves playing baddies, so we’re taking that into account.

Baron BloodMarvel Comics

First appearing in 1976, Baron Blood is a vampire villain who often fought Captain America. In the pages of Marvel Comics, John Falsworth was a British aristocrat, who during the early part of the 20th century was transformed into a vampire by Dracula himself. He fought Captain America and the Invaders during World War II, and eventually, he (and those who succeeded him in the title) became an enemy of Blade, the Vampire Hunter. We could see Esposito playing a version of Baron Blood, perhaps having a supporting vampiric role in the eventual Blade reboot, before starring in a potential Midnight Suns series as the lead villain. If you saw Abigail, you know Esposito was born to play the undead.

Mister SinisterMarvel Comics

Almost all of the major X-Men villains have appeared in live-action during the Fox era. So when Kevin Feige reboots Marvel’s mutants for the MCU, there is going to be a lot of new versions of classic characters. Yet one major X-Men villain has never shown up in live-action, and he’s rumored to be the “Big Bad” of the MCU X-Men, and that’s Mister Sinister. The nearly immortal, 19th-century geneticist (real name Nathaniel Essex) is the perfect erudite and scheming villain that Esposito has made his name playing. And with Sinister, he’d be introducing a role to live-action, not having to do a part someone else made famous already. We could see him cameo first in Deadpool & Wolverine, before appearing in a Disney+ X-Men related series.

Annihilus Marvel Comics

We’ve seen a lot of the classic Marvel cosmic villains in one form or another on the big screen already. Thanos, Ronan, Dormammu, the list goes on. But we have yet to see Annihilus, the terrifying ruler of the Negative Zone. This villain first fought the Fantastic Four, before becoming an enemy of every major cosmic Marvel hero. He’s a character that would be visually striking, and who has a huge amount of Marvel events like Annihilation to draw from. This would likely be a motion capture role, but we think Esposito is up to the challenge. We could see him appearing first in the upcoming Fantastic Four film in a cameo capacity, and then being the main villain of the Nova series, rumored to be on the way for Disney+ soon.

Rama-TutMarvel Comics

We’re all assuming that Giancarlo Esposito is talking about a live-action role, but what if it’s both live-action and animated? The finale of X-Men ’97 season one took us back to ancient Egypt, where the X-Men met a young En Sabah Nur, better known as Apocalypse. In the distance, we see a futuristic domed citadel in ancient Cairo. Could this be the base of Rama-Tut, the time-traveling variant of Kang the Conquerer? If it’s based on the comics, it definitely should be. We could see Esposito play this particular Kang variant in a small way in a future project like Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and then voicing Rama-Tut in season two of X-Men ’97. He’d be crossing the streams between universes, but it would be an incredibly fun challenge for him as actor.

The BeyonderMarvel Comics

The Beyonder is a character that is neither a villain nor a hero. An omnipotent godlike being, he first appeared in the 1984 event comic Secret Wars. He later appeared in every following Secret Wars iteration, including Jonathan Hickman’s 2015 version. With Avengers: Secret Wars coming up soon, we know the Beyonder has to be a part of it. Since Secret Wars is going to be a huge story, it will likely have a Disney+ series component. Something like Battleworld perhaps? We could see Giancarlo Esposito appearing as the Beyonder in a smaller capacity in Deadpool & Wolverine, then going on to both Avengers: Secret Wars and a Disney+ series related to it. There really is no bigger role in the MCU than the Beyonder. It would be a feather in his cap.

The Mad ThinkerMarvel Comics

First appearing as an adversary in Fantastic Four, the genius scientist the Mad Thinker was infamous for creating one advanced A.I. after another. These machines ranged from the android Quasimodo to the Awesome Android. Julius (his only known name) was a recurring thorn in the side of the FF. Yet with his robotic know-how, he could be a real threat to someone like the Vision. We think it’s possible that Esposito is cast as the Mad Thinker, who may appear in Fantastic Four. Then later, he could become the primary antagonist in the upcoming Vision series for Disney+.

MephistoMarvel Comics

We know, the name “Mephisto” triggers flashbacks to rampant speculation during the WandaVision era. However, the demonic villain is a major Marvel bad guy. He has to show up somewhere, at some point, doesn’t he? We think it could be the ultimate villainous role for Giancarlo Esposito, seeing as Mephisto is basically the Devil. We would not be shocked if Mephisto appears in cameo form in something like Agatha All Along, before landing a bigger bad guy role in a Disney+ series like Ghost Rider. Mephisto is also one of the biggest enemies of the Silver Surfer. With Marvel Studios soon introducing the Surfer in Fantastic Four, a Disney+ series may follow. That’s a perfect place for Mephisto to appear regularly.

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Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Josh O’Connor Join WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY Cast

Benoit Blanc and his Kentucky Fried Foghorn Leghorn drawl is coming back for his “most dangerous case yet.” That’s how Daniel Craig’s brilliant detective described his next outing in the announcement trailer for Rian Johnson’s third Knives Out installment, Wake Up Dead Man. Who will join Craig for some murder-mystery fun this time around? What is the movie about? And when (and where) can we expect to see it?

Netflix

The latest addition to the Wake Up Dead Man cast is Andrew Scott. He joins the recently announced Cailee Spaeny and Josh O’Connor in Knives Out 3 and we could not feel more excited.

Here’s everything we know about Netflix’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery so far.

TitleNetflix

Knives Out 3 is officially titled Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. That latter half of that title also appeared in Glass Onion‘s title, much to the chagrin of Rian Johnson.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery‘s PlotNetflix

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery does not have an official synopsis, but we do have some early clues about what to expect from it. Johnson’s announcement of the film included commentary about how much he loves the malleability of whodunits. Combined with calling it Benoit Blanc’s “most dangerous case yet,” and everything points towards the darkest entry in the franchise yet.

The title and its accompanying font also suggest the film will have something to do with pirates. (Though we can’t rule out the film is about U2. Hopefully The Edge is safe either way.)

Does that mean a good old-fashioned treasure hunt gone wrong? A setting somewhere in the Caribbean? Arr, until we be getting something more official, wese can let our imaginations run wild like the sea. (Sorry.)

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery‘s Cast20th Century Studios/Netflix

Johnson confirmed a report that Mare of Easttown and Alien: Romulus‘ Cailee Spaeny is joining the returning Daniel Craig in the cast. The Crown‘s Emmy winner and Challengers star Josh O’Connor will also join the cast of Knives Out 3. Spaeny and O’Connor’s roles are not yet known.

Of course, Daniel Craig will reprise his role as Benoit Blanc in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.

Behind the ScenesLionsgate

For the third time, Rian Johnson is directing his own script in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. He’s also producing the film with his T-Street Pictures partner Ram Bergman.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery‘s Release DateLionsgate

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will come to Netflix in 2025. It will also hopefully also come theaters, and for a longer run than its predecessor.)

The movie does not have an official release day yet; however, the first two installments have Thanksgiving weekend releases. Knives Out arrived in theaters Thanksgiving weekend on November 27, 2019. After some film festival screenings, Glass Onion came to theaters for a brief run on Thanksgiving weekend, November 23, 2022. It then started streaming on Netflix, Wake Up Dead Man‘s ultimate home, on December 23.

If Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery follows a similar release schedule, we should expect to see it on the big screen on November 26, 2025. And we didn’t even need to be Benoit Blanc to figure that out.

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