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DOCTOR WHO Debuts New TARDIS Interior and Opening Title Sequence

Doctor Who’s new era is giving us a lot of awesome changes. We are getting yet another clean slate with Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday, a new companion. And, of course, there’s a new (but not new!) showrunner taking the reins for this next chapter. Fans are already loving Russell T Davies’ return as the leader of this classic sci-fi series. Future episodes will also be available on Disney+ for US fans to enjoy. With all of these changes, it is not surprising that Doctor Who is delivering a new opening title sequence as well as a fresh upgrade to the interior of the TARDIS.

The first of three Doctor Who 60th-anniversary specials revealed these fun updates to the TARDIS and more. First, let’s talk about that new Doctor Who opening sequence. The time vortex looks like a colorful and daring realm of its own as the TARDIS sweeps through it in dramatic fashion. We hear the familiar theme song with yet another twist, thanks to the genius of composer Murray Gold. It’s a vibrant homage to opening title sequences from Doctor Who’s past, indeed. 

The BIG reveal – watch the Doctor and Donna react to the brand new TARDIS interior! 🟦 #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/biAxHiwGjT

— Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) November 25, 2023

If this wasn’t enough to make you squee with delight, then surely you jumped for joy when the Fourteenth Doctor and Donna entered the TARDIS. A new Doctor typically results in a new TARDIS interior on Doctor Who, and this one doesn’t disappoint. It still has the tenets of a typical console room, complete with lots of round lights. At first, it seemed a bit too bright and lacking excitement. But, after watching David Tennant run around its ramps like a kid on Christmas, we got to see this TARDIS interior come to life with some beautiful colors. It looks like a proper spaceship with its otherworldly aura. Check out all the photos of the upgrade below.

Click To View Gallery BBC/Bad Wolf Studios/Disney+ BBC/Bad Wolf Studios/Disney+ BBC/Bad Wolf Studios/Disney+ BBC/Bad Wolf Studios/Disney+ BBC/Bad Wolf Studios/Disney+ BBC/Bad Wolf Studios/Disney+

It remains to be seen if Ncuti’s Doctor will keep this new TARDIS interior or not. I’d personally love for this design to stick around for more than three episodes. But perhaps the creative minds behind Doctor Who have something even more splendid in store for Fifteen’s TARDIS. It does seem likely that Doctor Who will keep the new opening sequence for a while. There could be a slight variation in the theme song to differentiate between Doctors, but outside of that change, this title sequence is probably tied to this new “Bad Wolf” era. Doctor Who is back on TV, and we appreciate all of its wonderful gifts. 

The post DOCTOR WHO Debuts New TARDIS Interior and Opening Title Sequence appeared first on Nerdist.

What Happens to Donna Noble in the DOCTOR WHO Anniversary Special?

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It’s been a long time since Donna Noble ran (and verbally sparred) with the Doctor. She’s back and honestly better than ever in “The Star Beast,” the first of three specials celebrating Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary. There have been a lot of questions about how the Doctor and Donna would link up again considering Donna’s mind would “burn” if she remembered her TARDIS life. We get answers to that question and much more. Let’s get into what happens to Donna Noble (not Temple) in Doctor Who’s anniversary special.

Disney Branded Television/BBC/Bad WolfHow Does Donna Noble Reunite with the Doctor?

Donna and the Doctor’s reunion is actually rather chill. Fourteen arrives at a market and briefly wanders around before he sees someone carrying far too many boxes. He runs over to help and takes a couple of boxes only to reveal Donna’s face. Humorously, the Doctor stacks the boxes up and attempts to run away but Donna pulls him back in. To be fair, it was a rude move on the skinny man’s part. She says the boxes belong to Rose, which initially freaks the Doctor out until he discovers Rose is her daughter. 

As if on cue, a spaceship lands and everyone sees it except a briefly distracted Donna. That lady truly misses every damn thing. She doesn’t have a clue who the Doctor is at this point and no reason to be suspicious of his presence. 

Does the DoctorDonna Show Up in Doctor Who’s Anniversary Special? BBC

The issue of Donna Noble having to forget the Doctor and all her time travels has been a sore point for fans for many years. The Doctor may have thought he was doing what was best for Donna but he never gave her a choice. In “The Star Beast,” Donna’s mom Sylvia and Fourteen try to keep Donna from remembering anything but it is to no avail. As the Doctor keeps showing up, Donna becomes more suspicious about why he cares for her and her family. She finds herself doing things automatically, like holding his sonic screwdriver while he mans a protective shield. It all comes to a head at the steel factory when Donna makes the choice to go help the Doctor versus running towards safety with her family. 

We are thankful she made that choice. The Doctor needed the DoctorDonna’s help with shutting down Beep the Meep’s operation. He’s resistant but Donna makes the choice to allow him to unlock her memories and resurrect the DoctorDonna. The energy is so great that it manifests in her as well as her daughter Rose, which saves her life. The trio come together to thwart Beep’s plan to use London as a fuel source. But the Doctor knows that Donna and Rose cannot keep such vast knowledge in their heads. This time, Donna and Rose call him out, saying that they know what a male-presenting Time Lord could never understand: that you can simply choose to release that power. This gives Donna the agency that she didn’t get years ago. 

What’s Up with Donna Noble’s Daughter Rose and Her Husband Shaun Temple?BBC

In the final episodes of the Tenth Doctor’s era, we “met” her husband Shaun Temple. The Doctor never interacts with him but he does watch Donna with Shaun, including on their wedding day, from afar. Fifteen years later, Shaun Temple is still married to Donna, who hilariously didn’t take his last name because Noble Temple sounded weird together. Shaun and Donna have a daughter named Rose. At first, it seems this name is from Donna’s subconscious that still remembers Rose Tyler. And this is sort of true, except the metacrisis was passed down to Rose. Donna’s daughter is trans and chose the name Rose to better fit her identity! But she’s also a Noble, which Shaun doesn’t mind because he loves his girls. So sweet.

Rose also unknowingly made stuffed animals in the likeness of villains her mom faced with the Doctor in a shed that mimics the TARDIS. And, because she doesn’t fit neatly into a binary, she was able to embrace that Time Lord energy and make a choice to let it go. Rose once felt strange and lost but now she’s fully aware of who she is as a person. Love to see it.

Sooo, Is Donna Noble Still Rich From Her Winning Lottery Ticket?

Donna Noble is rich in love and family support but not with money. This is wild considering the Doctor gave her a winning lottery ticket so she would have a good life. But Donna, still heavily influenced by the Doctor unbeknownst to her, gave the money away to help others in the world. Outside of slick remarks by Sylvia, no one seems to blame her for her choice. The Doctor may not give her another lottery ticket but he is trying to get her a job with UNIT. Her interview will have to wait because, well, she spilled coffee on the TARDIS console and now they are in flux somewhere. Good times. 

Does Donna Noble Die in the Doctor Who Anniversary Special?Disney Branded Television/BBC/Bad Wolf

No, Donna doesn’t die in the first special. But that doesn’t mean the Doctor can keep her safe from the Celestial Toymaker. Russell T Davies does hint that things won’t be very pleasant for Donna in this round. Time will tell what ultimately happens to Donna and the Fourteenth Doctor. Our bet is that he saves her life and regenerates as a result, like he did with her grandfather Wilf years prior.

The post What Happens to Donna Noble in the DOCTOR WHO Anniversary Special? appeared first on Nerdist.

All the DOCTOR WHO 60th Anniversary Special Easter Eggs, Callbacks, and References

Doctor Who is back, y’all! The first of three 60th anniversary specials, “The Star Beast,” kicked off a set of adventures with Fourteen and Donna Noble. We had the pleasure of meeting Doctor Who comic and audio characters Beep the Meep and the Wrarth Warriors. And, here at Nerdist, we also had the fun challenge of searching for Doctor Who Easter eggs, callbacks, and references to previous events in this episode. While some are expressly pointed out, others are not quite so obvious. Let’s take a look at what we have spotted so far.

[image error]BBCOnce Upon a Time Lord 

“The Star Beast” starts with the Doctor and Donna Noble addressing us directly. The Doctor begins his story about traveling with Donna, saying “once upon a Time Lord.” It’s more than just a clever phrase. It is the name of a recent Doctor Who graphic novel by writer Dan Slott and artist Christopher Jones starring the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones. In this story, the Pyromeths capture Martha. She distracts them by telling epic tales of the Tenth Doctor facing off against foes like the Daleks, Cybermen, Ice Warriors, and more. 

The Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble’s Greatest Hits, Recapped

At this point, Donna can’t recall her travels with the Doctor. And, to be honest, some fans have forgotten them too. It has been 15 years, after all. (We can help you with remembering Donna’s ending.) Thankfully, Doctor Who uses her opening dialogue to take us down memory lane with plenty of flashbacks. We see several images from their journey, including the Empress (a.k.a. the arachnid lady) from when they first met in 2006’s “The Runaway Bride.” 

We also get glimpses of a Sontaran from “The Sontaran Stratagem,” a skull in a spacesuit from “Silence in the Library,” the evil wasp from “The Unicorn and the Wasp,” the Pyrovile villain from “The Fires of Pompeii,” and the Adipose spaceship from “Partners in Crime.” But that’s not all! We see the eye of a Dalek from “The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End” and the planet Midnight from the episode of the same name. And of course we see a glimpse of the metacrisis event that led to the Tenth Doctor’s controversial decision to wipe Donna’s mind.

CyberDog 

The Doctor lands in the Camden Town section of London and begins to wander the streets. We see a place called CyberDog in the background. It doesn’t draw the attention of the Doctor but some fans would assume its an in-universe reference to the Cybermen. In actuality, CyberDog is a real clothing store in that area. As far as Easter eggs go, there’s a Doctor Who short story involving this store called “Dummy Massacre.” In it, a blogger was inside CyberDog in March 2005 when the Autons attacked. This is the same event we witnessed through Rose and the Ninth Doctor in “Rose.” The mysterious blogger took over the conspiracy theory website, Who Is Doctor Who?, from Clive Davis (RIP) and wrote about his harrowing experience.

Every Era Begins with a Rose… Sort Of

Rose Noble’s name is an obvious nod to Rose Tyler, the first companion of the modern era. We learn a lot about Rose in this episode, including why she chose that name and her connection to the Doctor. But, there’s more to this reference. We now have three different eras of Doctor Who: classic, modern, and the new Russell T Davies era that we are calling Bad Wolf for now. And each of those eras begin with a Rose… sort of.

The show’s first companion went by Susan Foreman; however, her real first name is apparently Arkytior, which means Rose in Gallifreyan. This is established in the 1994 Doctor Who short story “Roses.” (No, it did not inspire Rose Tyler’s name. Davies got that from his TV drama Bob & Rose.) Is it totally canon? Not really, considering it hasn’t come up on the show yet. But it’s fun anyway. Now, Rose Noble is ushering in yet another chapter in Doctor Who’s story. 

Donna Noble’s Theme Rises

As Donna and Rose leave the Doctor at the Camden Market, we can hear Donna’s theme music in the background. Remember when companions each had their own theme songs? It was truly an iconic time in Doctor Who history. 

Allons-y!

It’s been a long time since we’ve heard that catchphrase. The Doctor says it to Donna’s husband Shaun Temple as they prepare to drive off towards the spaceship crash landing site. 

Who the Hell Is Nerys?

While in the car with Shaun, the Doctor says he’s a friend of Donna’s old frenemy Nerys. We met her during “The Runaway Bride” as the jealous friend who tried to make a move on Donna’s then-fiancé Lance. We never learn a lot about her, but Donna and Nerys remained friends despite Nerys being shady. She is in attendance at Donna’s wedding to Shaun, which we witness from afar. But apparently things have gone south with their relationship. Later in “The Star Beast,” Donna calls Nerys a viper who can’t keep her mouth shut. We never see her in this episode, but we get the feeling she’s still lurking in the grass nearby. 

Donna and That Lottery Money

Despite Donna having her memories wiped by the Doctor, she ultimately ended up with a great life. In “The End of Time Part 2,” the Doctor left the Noble family a huge lottery ticket and she married the love of her life. However, we discover that Donna gave away all of her money because she was under the veil of memory suppression. Therefore, the “Doctory” parts of her pushed her to want to help the world versus helping herself. We appreciate the goodwill but girl, that was millions of pounds. 

Additional Doctor Who Easter egg: Shaun mentions that the ticket was a “triple rollover,” which references what Donna notes about the ticket when she receives it.

UNIT’s First Scientific Advisor 

During his investigation of the “crash” (technically landing) site, the Doctor encounters Shirley Anne Bingham. She certainly recognizes this version of him, even though he cleverly recalls when he was wearing a bowtie and, later on, a woman. The most interesting part of this is the Doctor saying he was UNIT’s first scientific advisor. This is a reference to the early days of the Third Doctor era when got into trouble with the Time Lords. They disabled his TARDIS and left him stuck on Earth. He took a job with UNIT and begrudgingly became their scientific advisor. 

Shirley Anne Honors Shirley Coward

Speaking of the fantastic Shirley Anne, her name itself is a fun Doctor Who Easter egg. It’s a nod to Shirley Coward, a vision mixer on the show during its first lead actor transition. The term/concept of regeneration wasn’t used on the show quite yet, but that’s exactly what happened when William Hartnell passed the torch to Second Doctor actor Patrick Troughton. Shirley expertly laid shots of both actors on top of each other and created a distortion effect that made this transition seamless, eerie, and iconic.

Beep the Meep and the Wrarth WarriorsDisney Branded Television/BBC/Bad Wolf

This episode’s monsters and big villain both come from ‘80s era Doctor Who comics. If you’d like to read up more on their history, check out this post. Basically, the show closely sticks to their origin story, honoring a part of Who that some fans didn’t know about until now. 

The Shadow Proclamation Is Still Alive and Well, We Guess

Fourteen is completely over the shenanigans between Beep and the Wrarth Warriors. So he brings them together in a dingy garage, invoking a few sections of the Shadow Proclamation to stop the ongoing violence. He particularly calls out section 15, which Rose Tyler clumsily (and incorrectly) used in “The Christmas Invasion.” She was trying to take on the role of the Doctor while Ten was recovering from regeneration, but her words did not scare the Sycorax. Gotta love a fun Doctor Who callback, right? This rule means that murder is not a rule of war. And what does Beep do shortly after? Murder. 

Binary. Binary. Binary. 

With Donna’s permission, the Doctor unravels the failsafe and Donna regains her memories. She begins to say “binary” repeatedly, which was what she previously said when the Time Lord knowledge began to overwhelm her brain and cause her to stutter. 

Rose Noble’s Workshed and Villain Creatures

We discover that the metacrisis split itself between Donna and her daughter Rose. It was housed within Rose’s DNA all along. This explains why Rose chose her name along with the specific types of furry toys she made. The teen’s workshop shed door resembles the door of the TARDIS. And each of her creatures loosely resemble monsters that Ten and Donna encountered in the past. We see a stuffed Dalek, Judoon, Adipose, Cyberman, and Ood. There is a furry, brown doglike creature that could represent Cybershade, which were animal-like versions of Cybermen. Interestingly, the latter creature is from a Doctor-only story, “The Next Doctor.” Rose is basically a walking Doctor Who Easter egg and we love her.

Jammie Dodger Doctor?

Shirley Anne calls the Doctor a “jammie,” which seems to be a Jammie Dodger reference. The biscuit with jam in the middle is a favorite snack of the Doctor, particularly the Eleventh Doctor. He would not only eat them, but also use them cleverly to trick the Daleks in “Victory of the Daleks.” Once he won, the Doctor ate his Jammie Dodger as a prize.

We can’t wait to see what other Doctor Who Easter eggs, references, and callbacks will come up in the next two specials. Happy 60th Anniversary to the greatest sci-fi series of all-time.

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DOCTOR WHO’s Beep the Meep and the Wrarth Warriors Comic and Big Finish Origins, Explained

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Doctor Who is celebrating 60 years of time and space adventures in style with a slate of anniversary specials with David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor and Donna Noble. The pair reunited in “The Star Beast,” as the Doctor went up against a very furry antagonist being chased by scary looking bug-like creatures. The adorable yet angry Beep the Meep and the Wrarth Warriors are brand new to many fans of the TV show. However, these characters are far from new to the overall Doctor Who universe. Here’s what you should know about the Big Finish and Doctor Who comics history of Beep the Meep and the Wrarth Warriors and how they appear in “The Star Beast.” 

Pat Mills/John Wagner/Dave Gibbons/BBC TelevisionThe Doctor Who Comics and Big Finish Audios History of Beep the Meep and the Wrarth Warriors

Beep the Meep made his debut in the black-and-white comic story Doctor Who and the Star Beast (1980), written by Pat Mills and John Wagner with illustrations by Dave Gibbons. In the comics, Beep the Meep is big, furry, and white, much like the character appears in the TV show. Beep is the leader of the Meeps, a peaceful race who lived joyfully until their planet orbited near a Black Sun. The rays mutated them, making them an angry collective hellbent on conquering other planets. The Meeps were stopped by the Wrarth Warriors, a group of genetically engineered law enforcers with red eyes and a detachable claw for their left arm. The Star Council designed them specifically to deal with the Meeps, which they mostly succeeded at. However, Beep managed to escape death.

Beep’s ship crash landed into Earth, specifically the city of Blackcastle. The Meep leader put on a sweet front and befriended two kids named Sharon and Fudge. The innocent duo gave Beep shelter and the Fourth Doctor soon came along to help the fuzzy creature out. However, Beep the Meep’s true nature came to light. The Doctor teamed up with the Wrarth Warriors to defeat him. Following this story, Sharon became the Fourth Doctor’s next comic companion. 

John Freeman/Gary Russell/Mike Collins/Steve Pini

Beep the Meep later made a brief cameo in Doctor Who Magazine #173’s Party Animals in 1991. This time, he appeared at a party that the Seventh Doctor and Ace attended. Here, Beep was colorized as a blue creature with yellow eyes. But we don’t see more action from him until 1996’s The Star Beast II. In that story, he got out on parole and wanted sadistic revenge. Once again, the Fourth Doctor got the upper hand, using black star energy to trap Beep inside For the Love of Lassie, a kids’ movie.

The most hilarious Beep the Meep comic appearance is Doctor Who Magazine #283’s TV Action! (1999). Beep tried to take over BBC’s TV hub to turn everyone in the UK evil, until the actor Tom Baker distracted him from his evil plan. You see, Beep the Meep thought Tom Baker was the Fourth Doctor (can’t imagine why…) and focused on destroying his longtime nemesis. The Eighth Doctor and Izzy came together to defeat Beep. 

Beep the Meep made the leap to audio stories with Big Finish’s The Ratings War, which was a CD that came with Doctor Who Magazine #313 (2002). Toby Longworth gave Beep the Meep a voice as the character faced the Sixth Doctor. Again, Beep tried to use TV to control the masses but he did not succeed. Once again, Beep ended up back in the hands of the Wrarth Warriors. In March 2019, Beep the Meep was in a Big Finish audio adaptation of Doctor Who and the Star Beast, with Bethan Dixon Bate providing the leader’s voice.

John Freeman/Gary Russell/Mike Collins/Steve Pini

For the most part, the Wrarth Warriors only made comic and audio appearances to stop Beep the Meep. However, the Wrarth Warriors do briefly face the Slitheen family in the Russell T Davies’ story “Raxacoricofallapatorius,” which was in the book Monsters and Villains. In this adventure, they are still star police who deal with the Slitheen family’s illegal deeds. 

Beep the Meep and the Wrarth Warriors in Doctor Who’s 60th Anniversary Special Episode “The Star Beast” 

In the episode, Rose Noble, the Doctor, and pretty much everyone else in London except Donna Noble see a spaceship that appears to crash land in London. The ship lands in a steelworks mill; however, a separate vessel ends up near the Noble family home. Rose walks in an alleyway and runs into Beep the Meep (voiced by Miriam Margolyes). Who can resist a furry white creature with big brown eyes?! Beep is undeniably cute and Rose immediately tries to befriend this new alien creature. Meanwhile, large bug-like creatures are dead set on hunting him down.

The Doctor arrives at the Noble home, with Donna’s mum Sylvia trying to prevent Donna from remembering her TARDIS travels. Beep the Meep tells them that the bug creatures, known as Wrarth Warriors, cultivated Meepkind for their fur until the galaxy said that was no longer acceptable. So the Wrarth Warriors slaughtered them and said that they will hunt down Beep. We also learn Beep has two hearts like the Doctor. 

Disney Branded Television/BBC/Bad Wolf

Things predictably go awry when the Wrarth Warriors and UNIT soldiers, who are under a mind spell of sorts, get into battle. They destroy poor Donna’s home as the Doctor works to get them and Beep the Meep out alive. The Doctor soon realizes the Wrarth Warriors are perhaps not the villains after all. He brings Donna and her family along with Beep to an abandoned garage. Fourteen then summons the two main Wrarth Warriors via teleportation. 

One warrior gives them the real story. He says the Meeps’ planet once basked in the light of the living sun. One day the sun went mad and became psychedelic, its radiation mutating all of Meep-kind into cruel beasts who live for conquest. Basically they all went mad and they can transfer this psychosis through their eyes. The Meep army captured the Galactic Council, beheaded them, and ate them. So, the Wrarth Warriors were summoned to stop them. They eliminated majority of Meepkind and now Beep the Meep, the cruelest of them all and the leader, is the only one left. Beep finally reveals his true nature and kills the two Wrarth Warrior leaders. This story largely lines up with the comic origins for Beep and the Wrarth Warriors. 

Disney Branded Television/BBC/Bad Wolf

Beep the Meep’s ship did not crash at all. He purposely landed on Earth to use its dagger drive to gain energy by stabbing into the ground and burning everything within a five-mile radius for fuel. Yep, that means Beep the Meep would destroy the entirety of London to give his ship some more juice. Of course, the Doctor and the DoctorDonna (!!!) come together once again to save the day. They work together in the engine control room to disable the dagger drive system and render his ship useless.

The Doctor ejects Beep out of the capsule and into the custody of the Wrarth Warriors. Beep the Meep gets 10,000 years in prison but, before he goes, he says he will tell “the Boss.” We can assume this is the Celestial Toymaker, whom the Doctor and Donna will face in the upcoming specials. For more about him, check out our explainer about his Doctor Who history. 

It’s unclear if we will see Beep the Meep or the Wrarth Warriors in the next two Doctor Who anniversary specials. We doubt it considering the Toymaker is on the way. But it was fun to see deep-cut Doctor Who comic characters come to life to celebrate the show’s enduring legacy.

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Rick and Morty Are Bad People (And That’s OK!) | S7E6 “Rickfending Your Mort” Breakdown

Welcome back, Rick & Morty fans! After last week’s explosive episode, Rick and Morty take a much needed reset in this cosmic clip show as the duo stand trial for their past actions. Dan dives in to find out whether Rick and Morty are good people in today’s episode of Nerdist News!

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Hear Chris Pratt’s Lasagna-Loving Cat in THE GARFIELD MOVIE’s First Trailer

Not everyone loved the news Chris Pratt was going to voice Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. To some he just seemed like an odd choice to play an Italian plumber. But no one was upset when, soon after, Pratt was also given the role of Garfield in a new animated film. No one was upset because no one believed the report. How could he be the only star in Hollywood capable of voicing two very famous characters? And back-to-back, no less? It was—and it remains—weird. A lot of consternation went away, though, when it turned out his Mario was actually pretty good. And now we know what his iconic cat sounds like. The first trailer for The Garfield Movie has finally given us a chance to hear Chris Pratt’s lazy, Odie-kicking feline.

If you love the sound of Chris Pratt’s normal voice, you are in for a real treat with this Garfield movie.

Do you hate Mondays but love Chris Pratt sounding like he does on a normal Monday? If so, The Garfield Movie‘s first trailer has likely left you feeling conflicted this morning. At least we can all feel good about baby Garfield, an adorable, very hungry kitty. How did Garfield end up alone in the streets, though?

Released alongside the trailer, here is The Garfield Movie‘s official synopsis from Sony Pictures:

Garfield, the world-famous, Monday-hating, lasagna-loving indoor cat, is about to have a wild outdoor adventure! After an unexpected reunion with his long-lost father – scruffy street cat Vic (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) – Garfield and his canine friend Odie are forced from their perfectly pampered life into joining Vic in a hilarious, high-stakes heist.

Pratt also recently shared a behind-the-scenes look at the movie where he does seem to be embodying Garfield.

Sony Pictures

Directed by Mark Dindal with a screenplay from Paul A. Kaplan & Mark Torgove and David Reynolds, the Garfield cast also includes Hannah Waddingham, Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult, Cecily Strong, Harvey Guillén, Brett Goldstein, and Bowen Yang.

That’s an incredible lineup of stars. Will they all simply be using their totally normal voices, too? We won’t know until The Garfield Movie comes to theaters on not Monday/Friday, May 24, 2024.

Originally published on November 13, 2023.

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These STAR WARS x RSVLTS Holiday Shirts Bring Lots of Geeky Cheer

Ready to celebrate the holidays in the galaxy far, far away? No, we don’t mean Wookiee Life Day. But if you want to attempt Princess Leia’s song from the Star Wars Holiday Special, be our guest. No, we mean regular Earth holidays like Christmas and Chanukah. Well, the folks at RSVLTS have just the right Star Wars-inspired holiday shirts to wear this season, and they are so festive they will put Emperor Palpatine in the spirit. You can check out images of the three 2023 holiday season button-up shirts from RSVLTS right here:

Star Wars – “I Am Your Father Christmas”RSVLTS

The first shirt, “I Am Your Father Christmas,” shows Darth Vader in the Santa role, commandeering his sleigh through the skies. Only, instead of being led by flying reindeer, it’s flying Imperial AT-ATs. As Santa Vader flies past the Death Star, we can see his wrapped gifts of lightsabers, remotes for saber training, and an Imperial torture droid?? Just what little Luke always wanted to find under the tree. It comes in four styles: Men’s ($70), Long sleeve ($72), Women’s ($70), Preschool ($39), and Youth ($45).

Star Wars – “Festival of Lightsabers”RSVLTS

Their next shirt celebrates Chanukah, droid style. Instead of a Festival of Lights, we get a Festival of Lightsabers. (The dad jokes keep on coming with these shirt names). This button-up shirt showcases the Rebel Alliance symbol as a menorah, surrounded by the lightsabers in question, and many versions of R2-D2. It comes in four styles: Men’s ($70), Long sleeves ($72), Women’s ($70), Preschool ($39), and Youth ($45).

Star Wars – “Vader’s Little Helpers” RSVLTS

And now, we’re back to the Dark Lord of the Sith as Santa again. And Kris Kringle thought he had it bad when Jack Skellington replaced him. With “Vader’s Little Helpers,” we see Darth Vader running things in his factory in the North Pole (or is that Hoth?) He’s even got Stormtroopers instead of Elves wrapping gifts. Like the previous two shirts, it also comes in four styles: Men’s ($70), Long sleeves ($72), Women’s ($70), Preschool ($39), and Youth ($45).

RSVLTS

So get ready for the holiday season and grab one (or four) of these Star Wars RSVLTS as soon as possible.

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Why People Are the Heart of MONARCH: LEGACY OF MONSTERS

Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is a very big show. Of course, part of the reason is it features Godzilla, the big man himself. And it has a fair amount of other massive creatures to stretch the frame. But it’s also a show full of big mysteries, big characters, and big, big relationships. And that’s exactly how the makers of the show want it. We spoke to executive producers-developers Chris Black and Matt Fraction and executive producer-director Matt Shakman about making a show about people in which Godzilla also appears. Plus, hey, secret organizations and Snake Plissken fighting monsters.

Apple TV+

Monarch, the clandestine organization of monster tracking, has always been a force for good in the Monsterverse movies. Right away, however, the series positions them as a bit less trustworthy. They have some secrets, some skeletons in the closet. “They’re the scientists and the soldiers and the protectors and the people who are studying and defending us against Titans,” explained Black. “The movies are told very much from the inside looking out. We thought a fun approach to this was to flip that perspective really 180 degrees and tell the story from the outside looking in. You don’t know who Monarch are, that they just show up at the site of this horrible disaster. Did they know it was coming? Did they cause it? Who are they? What rights and responsibilities do they have here? And to build a mystery around that, that pulls our characters down this rabbit hole.”

Legendary

The same holds true for Godzilla himself. In the 2014 Godzilla film, the King of the Monsters defends the Earth from MUTOs, but definitely not San Francisco, its people, or especially its buildings. Fraction tells us the giant lizard needs to remain a possible threat in the series, which takes place a year after that first film. “It’s the Godzilla show. We wanted Godzilla, right? He’s the King of the Monsters. He’s got to be in it. But, it was about building this human narrative that takes our cast on a global adventure and figuring out what’s the most painful, inconvenient, dangerous time to disrupt that quest with an encounter with a giant monster. It was really about creating spectacle and obstacle that stopped our characters from getting the answers that they want.”

“Very specific to episode one,” Black added, “we made a decision that we didn’t want Cate (Anna Sawai) to have a monster in her life in that story. That the only time you see Godzilla in Cate’s story, is in her flashback. Because we wanted the monster she’s dealing with in that storyline is her father.” Indeed, Hiroshi Randa and the secrets he kept from Cate and her half-brother Kentaro (Ren Watabe), who did not know about each other, is the driving factor in the show. It isn’t Godzilla.

Apple TV+

“I think that’s what the brilliance of what these guys constructed,” Shakman said, “is that it isn’t drama scene, spectacle scene, drama scene. It’s one sort of intertwining, beautiful narrative where the monsters are a part of the world. They have to deal with them sometimes on a banal level, sometimes in an exciting and dangerous way, but their whole lives are affected by the presence of these monsters.

“We tell the story of how Cate encounters Godzilla, and we’ve seen a portion of that sequence already in Godzilla 2014. We shot our own version of it, but it’s sort of interesting that we were on the other side of the bridge and you could almost have followed anybody on that bridge that day and there would’ve been an interesting family story and a story of trauma and how lives have been changed by how the world has changed around them.”

The Randa children and their respective families are, as Black explains, the key relationship of the show. Shakman agrees, adding “They’re siblings, but they come from such different backgrounds, cultural backgrounds. They were raised in completely different circumstances, and they both have an idea of who their father is that is different and is challenged.”

Apple TV+

Like Godzilla, Hiroshi ends up as both hero and villain. “He’s both good and bad, depending on your perspective,” Shakman continues. “Humans occupy similar terrain in this show. And certainly the father who looms large over the story has a larger agenda, but ends up leaving behind a certain emotional damage as well. So how do you reconcile those things? How do you navigate them? It’s what the show is about, at least in the present. Certainly in the past there are elements of that too.”

“In the past,” Fraction adds, “we have a scientist and we have a soldier, and they encounter two forces of nature, one human and one titan. And how those encounters influence and affect them in the past create the man Hiroshi Randa became, the father he was to these two characters, and everything ties together. It’s all ultimately asking the same question.”

But we also need to address the Kurt Russell of it all. Russell plays former Monarch soldier Lee Shaw, and his son Wyatt Russell portrays Shaw at the birth of Monarch itself. It’s a fascinating on-screen tandem role, and one the makers of the show couldn’t be happier they pulled off.

Apple TV+

“Like Godzilla,” Shakman pointed out, “he’s one of the characters who crosses through the timelines. He’s an important point of view character in the past, learning about monsters, figuring out this world. And then he’s the wise sage who guides our young, newer generation in the present. It was obviously two important parts that needed two great actors. And as we made the list of all the great actors, oh my gosh, there’s an actor on each list who happens to be related and bear a striking resemblance to each other.

“Lo and behold,” he continued, “one of them, Kurt Russell, who we all grew up loving as much as we loved Godzilla. And Wyatt is an incredible actor who’s doing brilliant work. They got to make a character together. And yeah, there’s a little bit of Snake Plissken in there. But there’s also a lot of what Wyatt brings, and they’re very different performers. They have a different style and approach. It was fun to make the show and to have Kurt sit at the monitor behind and sort of watch what Wyatt was doing, or Wyatt watching his dad and to figure out how they could make something together that was new for both of them.”

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters airs weekly on Apple TV+.

Editor’s Note: Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.

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BLACK MIRROR Renewed for Season 7 at Netflix

In an age where shows are getting canceled left and right, it seems a really good anthology might be the best way to crack the code. At least, Black Mirror‘s renewal for a season seven at Netflix seems to indicate that may be true. The sci-fi dystopian show has captivated audiences for as long as its been around, and certainly for its six seasons on Netflix. Of course, that could be because every day it feels more like Black Mirror‘s universe and our reality are one and the same. We don’t love that, we do love Netflix renewing Black Mirror for another outing.

Netflix

So far, there isn’t that much information available about the seventh season of Black Mirror, aside from confirmation of its renewal, which we first saw on Variety. We don’t know how many episodes the season will have or who will bring to life the stories they tell. Prior seasons have been a variety of lengths and episode numbers, so it’s hard to predict what we’ll see. Of course, all past Black Mirror seasons have delivered star-studded casts and incredible line-ups of writers and directors, so we feel pretty sure that this one will not be any different. We guess we will have to wait and see for more details. And all the while, we should probably cross our fingers that whatever apocalyptic tales take place in Black Mirror season seven, we don’t see them happening outside our window first.

Netflix

Black Mirror is currently available to stream on Netflix as we wait for more news of its season seven. Its first six seasons feature many harrowing tales, including a particularly prescient one about AI from season six. We also think you should give the Miley Cyrus episode a try. We wouldn’t say it’s the best show to watch during the holiday season, but hey, season two does have a Christmas episode.

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SUPERMAN: LEGACY May Have Found Its Lex Luthor and More

Soon the world will meet a new Clark Kent in Superman: Legacy. DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran are rebooting the most famous superhero in the world as they transition the franchise from the DCEU to the DCU. Who will play the Man of Steel on the big screen this time around? What kind of story will we see him in? And who will bring it to life? We’re keeping track of all these answers and more. The latest news: Nicholas Hoult, who was a possibility to play Superman, is in talks to play Lex Luthor. If Hoult truly has been cast as Lex Luthor, this casting will give Lex a fitting narrative in Superman: Legacy.

Additionally, Deadline reports that Sara Sampaio has been cast as Eve Teschmacher. Eve Teschmacher is Lex Luthor’s assistant who became his love interest/partner in crime. It’ll be interesting to see what role Eve will play in Superman: Legacy. The Hollywood Reporter further reports that The Righteous Gemstone‘s Skyler Gisondo has joined the cast as Jimmy Olsen, a photographer from The Daily Planet who works with Lois Lane and Clark Kent.

DC Comics/Frank Quitely

Here’s everything we know about Superman: Legacy.

Title

The DCU’s first official movie (though not its first official release) is titled Superman: Legacy. That will kick off the film side of what James Gunn has called the franchise’s first chapter, “Gods and Monsters.” He has also called Superman: Legacy “the true beginning” of the DCU.

Superman: Legacy‘s Plot

While the film still has no official synopsis, Warner Bros. did provide a description of what we can expect from the story, which James Gunn says is not an origin tale.

Superman: Legacy tells the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.

Gunn announced the film with art from the cover of All-Star Superman by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely. Whether or not that means the story is influenced, inspired by, or adapted from the 12-issue comic series in any way is unclear. What Gunn has said is the movie will focus on “an earlier part of Superman’s life,” where he is still old enough to already be working for the Daily Planet.

Superman: Legacy‘s Cast

Accurate! (They are not only both incredible actors, but also wonderful people). https://t.co/1FtwYIDeYj

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) June 27, 2023

David Corenswet will play Superman, while Rachel Brosnahan will play Lois Lane.

In addition, four more actors have joined the cast of Superman: Legacy. Isabela Merced will play Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi will play Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillion will play Green Lantern Guy Gardner, and Anthony Carrigan will play Metamorpho. María Gabriela de Faría will play the villain The Engineer in the movie. Also known as Angela Spica, the character has nanotechnology built into her body.

The Hollywood Reporter states Nicholas Hoult is in talks to play Lex Luthor.

Behind the Scenes 

James Gunn wrote the (definitely completed) script and is directing.

Superman: Legacy‘s Release Date

Thanks to the efforts of our talented crew, who never lost faith during the longest strikes in Hollywood history, and who never let their foot off the pedal, continuing to barrel forward, creating the most amazing character and set designs I’ve seen in my entire career,… pic.twitter.com/ntnEbA2fC0

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) November 11, 2023

Superman: Legacy will soar into theaters faster than a speeding bullet on July 11, 2025.

Originally published on April 11, 2023.

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