Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 95
May 6, 2025
How a Pivotal ANDOR Storyline Just Lined Up with STAR WARS REBELS
One of the events we’ve been waiting for since Andor began finally happened in season two episode nine. In this chapter, Senator Mon Mothma of Chandrilla, in reaction to the Ghorman Massacre the day before, publicly calls out Emperor Palpatine as the architect of this bloody slaughter. She does this right in the chambers of the Imperial Senate. This is something fans knew was coming, as Star Wars Rebels shows us Mon Mothma immediately after making this declaration. Later in the timeline, Rogue One shows her in exile on Yavin 4 leading the Alliance. But did Andor properly line up with Rebels’ storyline? For the most part, yes.
In this episode of Andor, Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) makes the fateful decision to make a public stand against the Emperor during a session of the Senate. Senator Bail Organa (Benjamin Bratt) gives her the floor, where she bluntly states “I believe we are in crisis. The distance between what is said, and what is known to be true, has become an abyss. Of all the things at risk, the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous. The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil.” Mon Mothma knows what she says next will end her career, and quite possibly, her life.
Lucasfilm Mon Mothma continues on, saying “When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to whatever monster screams the loudest. This chamber’s hold on the truth was finally lost on the Ghorman plaza. What happened on Ghorman was unprovoked genocide. And that truth has been exiled from this chamber. And the monster screaming the loudest? The monster we helped create? The monster coming for us all soon enough is Emperor Palpatine.”
Lucasfilm After publicly declaring the Emperor a genocidal monster, she narrowly escapes the Senate building with her life. She does this with the help of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), whom she meets for the first time in this episode. After she barely gets away unharmed, Mon learns while hiding in Luthen’s safehouse that rebel agents will smuggle her off Coruscant. Once off world, she’ll meet up with “a Yavin escort.” We don’t actually see Mon leave the planet in this episode, but Cassian leaves and goes to Yavin 4 ahead of her.
Arriving on Yavin 4, Cassian’s superiors inform him that Gold Squadron is escorting Mon Mothma off Coruscant to the hidden base. She also has to make a speech meant for broadcast across the galaxy. And this is where Andor actually connects with Rebels. In the season three Rebels episode “Secret Cargo,” we get to see Gold Squadron bring the fugitive Mon Mothma to the Ghost so they can refuel their ships. Mon Mothma’s ally in the senate, Bail Organa, arranges this meeting.
Lucasfilm Right before Mon Mothma arrives, the crew of the Ghost hears the speech they talk about her needing to give in Andor via the HoloNet. In this speech, she denounces the Ghorman Massacre publicly. She cites it as proof that the self-appointed Emperor is “Nothing more than a lying executioner who has imposed tyranny on the galaxy under the pretense of security.” Ghost crew member Zeb can’t believe she’s still breathing after making such an accusation against Emperor Palpatine. And viewers of Andor now know how close she was to arrest and probable execution.
Lucasfilm In the Rebels episode, the Imperials learn of Mothma’s whereabouts. She then becomes the titular secret cargo for the Ghost crew. After evading Imperial forces, Mon Mothma has the task of going to Dantooine, site of an older rebel base. This is the planet Princess Leia gave Tarkin as the location of the Rebel Base in A New Hope. Leia did this knowing it was no longer the Rebellion’s primary HQ. This is also the fateful moment when Tarkin destroys Alderaan instead. Once arriving in orbit of Dantooine, Mon Mothma makes another broadcast. This time, uniting the various rebel cells into what we know in the original trilogy as the Rebel Alliance.
Andor never shows Mon Mothma connecting with the Rebels crew of Hera, Zeb, Chopper, and Ezra Bridger on the Ghost. However, Andor does pave the way very clearly for those events to happen. Of course, it would have been nice to have a cameo of the Ghost crew, or even just a mention. The connection we did get was only a very subtle one. But between episode nine of Andor’s second season, and the Rebels episode “Secret Cargo,” together they form a full picture of Mon Mothma’s brave decision to leave her comfortable life behind and become the figurehead of freedom in the galaxy. Genevieve O’Reilly portrays Mon Mothma in both Andor and Rebels, and these episodes both show how she’s perhaps the galaxy’s true greatest hero.
Star Wars: Andor season two and Star Wars Rebels are currently streaming on Disney+.
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Is Princess Leia Seen or Mentioned in ANDOR Season 2?
In episode six of Andor season 2, we are reintroduced to a pivotal character in the Star Wars saga, Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan. Actor Benjamin Bratt now plays the character, replacing Jimmy Smits, who played Bail in all live-action appearances previously. The appearance of Bail Organa has us asking, just where the heck is his daughter, Princess Leia Organa? The events of Andor’s second-to-last batch of episodes take place 2 BBY, so two years before the Battle of Yavin. We know that Leia, at this point, is a junior Imperial senator. And we also know she’s already helping the rebels. Yet Bail makes no mention of her at all.
LucasfilmWe already know that Leia won’t appear in the Andor series. The young actress who played her in Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vivien Lyra Blair, confirmed that Lucasfilm didn’t ask her back. But to be fair, she’s only 12 years old right now. By the time of Andor’s last few episodes, Leia is around 17-19 years old. So a teenage actress likely would have been cast anyway. And understandably, the Andor production just didn’t want to wade into the waters of recasting the late Carrie Fisher around the age she was when Leia first appeared. But it still feels odd there’s not even mention of Leia at all, given her importance to the saga.
Lucasfilm The only instance in official onscreen canon we have of a pre-A New Hope/Rogue One Leia Organa besides Obi-Wan Kenobi is the Star Wars Rebels episode “A Princess on Lothal.” In that episode, a 15-year-old Leia is running missions as a representative of her father’s office as Senator of Alderaan, secretly aiding different rebel cells. This is where she meets the crew of the Ghost, and they have an adventure together. While her brother Luke is still playing with his T-16 on Tatooine, Leia is already deep in the fight. And this is why the lack of any mention of her is a bit puzzling.
Lucasfilm There may be, however, an indirect reference to Leia by Bail Organa in episode nine. When Mon Mothma is about to make her speech in the Senate against Palpatine’s role in the Ghorman massacre, she assumes her longtime ally Bail is about to take a public stand and leave with her. But Bail informs her the time is not right for him to leave for Yavin 4 yet, he has too much to lose. We know Bail Organa is not a coward, so we think a safe assumption is that he fears his exposure as a rebel sympathizer might endanger Leia. He knows she’s the daughter of Anakin Skywalker, and the possible last hope for a new Jedi Order. He can’t be selfish and risk her safety just yet.
LucasfilmIs there still hope for a mention of Princess Leia before the series wraps up? Perhaps. The final few episodes of Andor will link up directly to the events of Rogue One. By this point, she’s on the rebel frontlines, with her starcruiser the Tantive IV on Yavin 4 base. She’s part of the battle of Scarif after all. Yes, we know she won’t appear on screen. But hopefully, we at least hear a mention of the junior senator from Alderaan. Because this young princess is about to change the course of galactic events.
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ANDOR Captures How Evil Empires Use the Media To Sell Oppression
How do you do something that should be impossible and turn your own war crimes into a political victory? How do you sell a massacre? What’s the key to getting the public to celebrate an atrocity? You do what the Empire did in Andor‘s second season and get the media to do it for you. A big reason the show’s stunning third arc felt so painfully real is the Empire knew an uncritical media is the greatest weapon against truth itself.
Lucasfilm/Disney+The annihilation of Ghorman and its people on Andor is among the best, most horrifying sequences ever filmed. But it wasn’t just stellar writing, performances, and production that made that possible. The brutality and evil of the Empire’s genocide worked on such a visceral level because of how they pulled it off. That years long plan was only possible because the media made it possible.
Krennic and his top-secret team of monsters knew the Empire couldn’t just destroy a planet as prestigious, powerful, and politically connected as Ghorman without anyone noticing or responding. From the first day those Imperial officers begun planning the planet’s extermination they knew they value of propaganda. They wouldn’t be able to make the public accept an unimaginable horror. They had to make the public believe the opposite was true, that fiction was fact, that oppression was liberation. And no entity is better at turning even the most heinous and obvious lies into accepted wisdom than a credulous journalist unwilling to question authority.
LucasfilmIn BBY 2, the bitter fruits of the Empire’s covert labor bloomed on screens across the galaxy far, far away. Respected, well-attired, smooth sounding reporters delivered shocking reports from Ghorman itself. All of them delivered the same exact message of fear and worry about terrorists causing problems on the planet. They spoke of insurrectionist refusing the Empire’s offers of peaceful negotiations.
They all, without question, reported on a bombing—without any facts, only innuendo—in such a biased way it clearly indicated Ghormans had committed the crime. A false flag operation was presented to the entire galaxy as the murder of brave Imperial heroes who only wanted to maintain order on an unruly planet. Even the gathering of an oppressed people in a public square for a general strike, regular people singing their anthem, was reported as a violent uprising before anyone even got hurt.
Most chilling was that the media went out to the streets of Ghorman and spoke the exact same words as the Empire. Those journalists delivered verbatim, to everyone, Partagaz’s line about the “inexplicable resistance to imperial norms” supposedly responsible for Ghorman’s problems.
LucasfilmThose reporters had no interest in the truth, only in the story. And the easiest, most sensational story was the one the Empire sold them. It manipulated the media into selling a lie, but that was only possible because the media allowed it to happen. They allowed themselves to become tools of oppression. Even though it was all but impossible for anyone to know the true reason the Empire had come to Ghorman, the Empire’s cover story made no sense. It showed up one day and illegally built an armory, then cut off the planet from others, arrested its citizens for made up crimes, and put its boot on the neck of every Ghor.
Even in the final moments, when there was one last chance to tell the truth about Ghorman—when mining equipment had inexplicably arrived, when no one could find a single shred of truth rebels had committed the previous night’s bombing, and the Empire wasn’t even trying to sell its lie anymore—the media didn’t care. It kept reporting what the Empire wanted. Then, even after a massacre those reporters saw with their own eyes, the media defended its fascists overlords. The Empire moved in so quickly, it was clear that was always the plan. But the media never blinked. It blamed the Rebellion for what happened. The official, supposedly independent media spoke of “the price we’ll pay for our own safety.” It was a chilling reminder to all watching that they could be the next Ghorman.
It was all so horrifying because it all felt so authentic. Intentional or not, far too many members of the media succumb to the same failures in our galaxy. That is especially true of those in prominent positions who speak with authority bestowed by their outlet. They allow themselves to easily become de facto mouthpieces for evil. And when they do, they fail us all. None of us are safe when those we entrust to hold the powerful accountable instead sell lies on fascist behalf. What hope does the truth have when journalists becomes tools of tyranny? When, instead of reporting, they do the dirtiest of work for the most vile among us?
The truth is the greatest weapon we have against injustice, which is why evil empire’s fight so hard to keep it hidden. And if the media won’t tell the truth, who will? That’s what Dreena wanted to know during Ghorman’s dying breath. Her desperate emotional plea to the galaxy was for others to report what truly happened. Her message was one the media needed to hear more than anyone. “If you can hear me, if you believe in truth, if you have faith left in truth, please, please mark this message and pass it forward.” May her message carry to the corner of every galaxy everywhere.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He thinks Andor’s BBY 2 arc is maybe the greatest thing to ever appear on TV. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
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MAGIC: THE GATHERING Brings FINAL FANTASY Debut Showcase to PAX EAST
If there’s one thing we’re obsessed with, it’s Magic: The Gathering‘s increasingly cool and elaborate collaborations with other major properties. We still haven’t recovered from their major Marvel Magic card reveal. It was absolutely epic. But sure to be every bit as epic is Magic: The Gathering‘s upcoming Final Fantasy collection. And at PAX East 2025, we’re about to learn a whole lot more about this fantastical meeting of the minds. At Nerdist, we’ll be streaming panel highlights on our YouTube channel as well as covering news on the site. And you can bet we’ll be seated to hear more about Magic: The Gathering‘s PAX East reveals. Here’s what you can expect and when you can expect it.
Magic: The Gathering is bringing its to PAX East on Saturday, May 10, at 12pm. This showcase will run for TWO hours, yes, until 2pm. So make sure to get a comfy seat and get ready for a ton of iconic information. The official description for the panel shares, “In a celebration of two beloved games, join us as we explore the remarkable collaboration between FINAL FANTASY and Magic: The Gathering. Previewing cards drawn from every mainline FINAL FANTASY game, the Magic design team shares the story of how this set for the ages was built.” And we bet its a story for the ages of the universe.
Wizards of the Coast/Square EnixWe absolutely cannot wait to see the cards that will be revealed. Magic: The Gathering promises the Final Fantasy panel at Pax East will also include some “fun surprises.” Gavin Verhey, Zakeel Gordon, Daniel Holt, and Dillon Deveney will be on hand for this one.
In addition to whatever Final Fantasy reveals we receive at the panel, Magic: The Gathering will also highlight the collabartion at its Pax East booth, alongside its Trakir: Dragonstorm set. Magic: The Gathering shares, “Playing FINAL FANTASY is one thing—but what if you could be part of the game? Visit Booth #16031 and immerse yourself in two iconic scenes from FINAL FANTASY VII! Take pictures and find our Chocobo Awakened Inferno mascot roaming PAX East to earn an MTG Arena sleeve while supplies last!” We love all the immersion happening at PAX East this year. Additionally, there will be a ton of opportunties to actually play Magic: The Gathering at the con, so make sure to the full schedule.
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MAGIC: THE GATHERING and FINAL FANTASY Crossover Reveals Commander DecksPAX East kicks off on May 8 and runs until May 11. Tickets are available now.
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ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN Heads to PAX East, Promises Immersive Theater Demo
Are you gearing up to head to PAX East? We at Nerdist certainly are. You’ll even be able to catch the highlights of the event streaming on Nerdist‘s YouTube channel throughout the weekend. As we close in on the beginning of the con, we’re getting excited about a few different things. And one of the big ones is Elden Ring Nightreign‘s big splash at the event. Bandai Namco is bringing the massively anticipated next game in the franchise to PAX East, and it’s combining a demo for the game with immersive theater?! We’ve been thinking a lot about immersive theater recently, and really do believe it makes a lot of sense hand in hand with video gameplay. So we absolutely can’t wait to discover what this is all about. Here’s everything we know about what Elden Ring Nightreign is bringing to PAX East.
Before we get into the nitty gritty of Elden Ring Nightreign‘s PAX East adventures, we’d be remiss not to share a brand new trailer for the game that just recently released. In it, we see one of the eight Nightlords that players must tackle in the game: Libra.
Is that sufficiently cool for you? Okay! Back to PAX East! Bandai Namco shares the following about its activation. “Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. is heating up springtime in Boston with can’t miss activations at PAX East, including a brand new demo for FromSoftware, Inc.’s hotly anticipated next game, ELDEN RING™ NIGHTREIGN. The demo will feature large in an immersive theater on the show floor, where popular content creators will enlist players to take on the game’s challenging three-player co-op action, and if successful win prizes for everyone the audience.” This sounds like it will be one elaborate adventure.
Bandai NamcoAdditionally, the company notes of its PAX East attraction, “ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN is a standalone PvE co-op action game set in the same universe as the bestselling action RPG ELDEN RING™. This entirely new experience thrusts players into a harsh and unforgiving world, where they team up in squads of three to explore across a changing map and outlast a three day-and-night cycle to take on terrifying bosses known as Nightlords. PAX East attendees will have a chance to experience this game in a once-in-a-lifetime event, entering an immersive dome theater and participating in demos that will pair members of the audience with popular content creators. Seasoned Souls-like players Distortion2, Oroboro, LilAggy, Larxa, and Parkenharbor will enlist one lucky player for each demo session as they vie for prizes for everyone in attendance, while epic shout casters Jake Lyon and Shyowager amplify the action. ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN theater demos will run every hour at the Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. booth (16055); attendees will need to come to the booth to register for free to receive tickets with showtimes.”
Nothing like a bit of immersive theater to get you right inside a game! PAX East kicks off on May 8 and runs until May 11. Tickets are available now.
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THE LITTLE WITCHER Family-Friendly Comic Collection Turns Geralt Into a Lovable Dad
Nothing really captures the spirit of The Witcher quite like Geralt of Rivia delivering a perfectly exasperated “f***.” In a world of magic and monsters, where humans are far more difficult to deal with than enormous beasts, a little (or let’s face it, a lot of) cursing is an easy way to vent pent up frustration. However, we’re definitely sure we won’t be hearing the White Wolf swearing in his newest publication. Random House has announced its bringing fans back to the Continent with The Little Witcher, a family-friendly original comic series based on the video games.
Random HouseIf you always wanted to tell your toddler tales about Geralt but also aren’t a maniac, Random House has solved your problem. The publisher’s new collection of comics about found family “features Geralt of Rivia as your average monster-slaying dad, trying to raise young Ciri to be a good kid while teaching her all about life as a witcher.”
The collection ($16) features truly adorable illustrations from Giada Carboni. It’s series of stories come from Rafal Babraj, Nadia Gasik, Katarzyna Grzyb, Sebastian Kalemba, Katarzyna Krainska, Lukasz Ludkowski, Tomasz Matera, Krzysztof Muciak, Jacek Rembis, Alex Sutton, Bartosz Sztybor, Milena Zajac, and Marcin Zwierzchowski.
The comic’s official page also includes a synopsis for the collection. It will feature locations and characters older fans know and love from Andrzej Sapkowski’s books, the video games, and Netflix’s series. From Random House:
Young Ciri’s extensive training at Kaer Morhen, the witchers’ stronghold, includes everything she needs to learn to survive the many threats in her world . . . as well as all the antics and fun of a little girl bonding with her adoptive dad and family. With help from Geralt and Ciri’s closest companions—including the motherly magic of Yennefer of Vengerberg and the wisdom of uncle Vesemir—these adorable tales of a non-traditional family will make you laugh, make you sigh, and make you realize that raising a Little Witcher is not that different from raising any other kid. Sure, bedtime stories might include warnings of monsters who fart when surprised, and Geralt might invoke the Witcher Code to get Ciri to brush her teeth or clean her room, but even the formidable White Wolf knows to surrender when it comes to bedtime battles or Afternoon Tea with the toys.
Random HouseThe Little Witcher arrives on May 13, 2025. If you grab a copy to read to your own little Ciri just remember that no matter how much your kiddo might like tales from the Continent, they’re not ready for the adult version of Geralt just yet. That version of their new favorite dad would f***ing terrify them.
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Casting for Greta Gerwig’s NARNIA Netflix Movies Has Begun to Emerge
Move over Barbie Land, Greta Gerwig is set to tackle another intensely popular world, Narnia. According to The New Yorker, Gerwig “has a deal with Netflix to write and direct at least two films based on C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia.” This confirmation came straight from Gerwig herself, and recently, a deal with IMAX, shed some light on a release schedule for the first of the films. Even more interesting, IMAX’s CEO teased there may be as many as EIGHT Chronicles of Narnia movies on the horizon from Netflix.
Warner Bros./ Walt Disney PicturesWhen Will Gerwig’s Netflix Narnia Movies Begin to Release?Greta Gerwig’s Chronicles of Narnia movie will head to IMAX, giving us a date for its initial release in theaters. Gerwig’s Chronicles of Narnia movie has set an IMAX release date of Thanksgiving Day 2026 where it will play for two weeks. That means Gerwig’s first Chronicles of Narnia movie will release in IMAX theaters on November 26, 2026. It will run until December 10th. Of course, this is a Netflix movie. So when can we expect the streamer to release Greta Gerwig’s Chronicles of Narnia? The trades indicate Netflix will release the film “during the Christmas period that year.”
In March of 2024, Gerwig herself shared with Deadline that the Narnia movies are in “the very early stages of pre-production in the UK.” The publication additionally adds that “Narnia more than likely won’t be ready to go before cameras until late this year or possibly early next. It’s yet to be determined, plus Gerwig has yet to appoint key department heads who will create the magical land where animals behave as equals with humans, witches wage war and dragons and horses fly.”
Who Will Star in Greta Gerwig’s Narnia Movies?Some casting reports for Greta Gerwig’s Narnia movies have begun to trickle in. First named is Meryl Streep, who will seemingly be playing Aslan. Reportedly joining her is Sex Education and Barbie actress Emma Mackey, who is said to portray the villainous White Witch, also known as Jadis.
What Can We Expect From Greta Gerwig’s Narnia Movies? (Apparently, Rock and Roll)For now, very little information is available about these new Greta Gerwig Chronicles of Narnia movie adaptations. We don’t know which parts of the series will get adapted or even in what format we’ll see them come to life. The Chronicles of Narnia received a big-screen adaptation in the 2000s, with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader all receiving live-action movies. However, the series did not take as well as hoped. (Although the movies did launch Ben Barnes, for which we appreciate them.)
Recently, we got a small but strange update on Greta Gerwig’s Chronicles of Narnia Netflix film. This new bit of information came from from producer Amy Pascal, who is working on the upcoming movie. Pascal revealed, Gerwig would bring to life “a very new take on Narnia. It’s all about rock and roll.” We personally do not really remember rock and roll being a huge feature of any of the Chronicles of Narnia books, but hey, if Mr. Tumnus wants to get his shades on do a dance number, we’re not against it. Jadis the White Witch does have some pretty rocking vibes, we’ll give them that. And lions have been dancing and singing all over recently, so, okay, punk rock Aslan with a mohawk mane, here we came.
How Many Chronicles of Narnia Movies Will We See From Netflix (And Maybe Greta Gerwig)?Just how many Chronicles of Narnia movies will we see, though? It sounds like at least one movie for every book and then some. Talking about IMAX’s deal to screen Gerwig’s first Chronicles of Narnia movie, IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond shared, “This was a really great movie [for us] because I think there are like eight movies planned … and what Imax does best is launch franchises and launch events, [and] this is the kind of movie that is very conducive to an Imax release.”
“Like eight movies” planned is news to us. In total, there are seven Chronicles of Narnia books, and this would mean Netflix plans to make one movie for every book and then some. Of course, it could be that Gelfond means seven Chronicles of Narnia movies when he says “like eight,” or perhaps one of the books will see two movies made about it. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair have all been made into movies before. But some Chronicles of Narnia books have never been adapted. It certainly would be fascinating to see The Magician’s Nephew finally on our screens. Or could these eight Chronicles of Narnia movies dive into only one of the stories instead? Only time will tell.
What we do know is that Greta Gerwig is set to write and direct at least two of these movies. But could she bat for all eight? We wouldn’t be against it.
Could We See a Deeper Take on the Chronicles of Narnia?
20th Century StudiosThe idea of a Chronicles of Narnia movie done by Gerwig is a fascinating one. The books by C. S. Lewis are dense and heavily philosophical and religious. While the latest Narnia movies leaned more heavily into broad fantasy themes, a Gerwig-helmed Narnia series could get deeper and more existential. But for now, we’ll just have to imagine the possibilities and hope the movies do indeed come to pass. Long live Aslan, hopefully, he’s more than just a Ken.
Originally published on July 5, 2023.
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Will There Be 2 Competing MCU Avengers Teams in AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY?
By the end of Captain America: Brave New World, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) conceded that President Ross (Harrison Ford) was right about one thing — the world needs a new Avengers team. A team that, presumably, he’s going to assemble himself. Meanwhile, the ending of Thunderbolts* confirms that the former assassins and soldiers are now “The New Avengers.” And that Sam Wilson is suing them for copyright infringement. So does that mean we’ll have two competing Avengers teams in the MCU in Avengers: Doomsday? There’s actually a lot of precedent for that within the pages of Marvel Comics. We think that the MCU might just take some inspiration from a few of them.
The West Coast Avengers, the First Avengers Spin-Off Team
Marvel ComicsIn the comics, the Avengers were essentially one team of superheroes for twenty years, from their 1963 inception to 1984. That’s when Marvel launched West Coast Avengers, the first-ever Avengers spinoff team. The original WCA was led by Hawkeye, and was not a separate group per se, as much as a branch of the main Avengers in New York. The Vision, who was the East Coast Avengers’ chairman at the time, thought expanding the team’s influence would be a good thing. The original roster for the West Coast Avengers title was Hawkeye (Clint Barton), Iron Man (James Rhodes) as well as Mockingbird, Wonder Man, and Tigra. Later members include the Vision, Scarlet Witch, Moon Knight, and Dr. Henry Pym. Of those prominent West Coast Avengers members, only Tigra has yet to be introduced into the MCU at this point.
Could Captain America Form an MCU West Coast Avengers?
Marvel Studios We could envision Sam Wilson setting up a new MCU Avengers team in L.A. after Captain America: Brave New World, including his good friends like Rhodey and Clint. Vision and Wonder Man could also join after their new Disney+ series end. And Clint’s wife Laura Barton has been strongly hinted at being the MCU version of Mockingbird. So Linda Cardellini could suit up, too. Moon Knight in the MCU does not seem like a team player, so we’d count him out. Also, Wanda Maximoff is either dead or at least MIA. Henry Pym could be a technical adviser to the team, with Sam’s buddy “Tic Tac,” a.k.a. Ant-Man, as part of the group. There were a lot of Ant-Man hints in Captain America: Brave New World. Plus, Falcon Joaquín Torres would likely be part of this version of the MCU Avengers as well since Sam basically invited him to his team. And, this way, he could finally meet Ant-Man. It makes a lot of sense to us.
Marvel StudiosThe ingredients are there for Cap to form a version of the West Coast Avengers in the MCU, even though Sam Wilson in the comics was never a part of that team. Avengers: Doomsday could skip over his recruitment of the team and already have them in place.
The Thunderbolts Become the Dark Avengers in the Marvel Comics
Marvel ComicsWe doubt that Cap’s team will work with or want any association with the new Thunderbolts version of the Avengers in the MCU, regardless of how many calls Bucky makes. We can’t blame Sam for being very against working under government watchdogs again. Especially given his stance in Captain America: Civil War, not to mention his recent experiences in Brave New World. So that means the Thunderbolts/Avengers will likely be the solo government-sponsored team, In the 2000s, Mighty Avengers was the government-sanctioned Avengers team book. The initial lineup for Mighty Avengers was Iron Man, Wasp, Carol Danvers, Wonder Man, Black Widow, and Ares. But after they failed to stop a Skrull infiltration, America turned to ex-villain Norman Osborn to reform the team in his image.
Marvel ComicsOsborne does exactly this in the Marvel Comics series that followed, Dark Avengers. In that series, Norman Osborn takes several “reformed” villains, many of which were once Thunderbolts, and dresses them up in classic Avengers costumes and codenames. He tries to sell the world that these are the true inheritors of the name Avengers. The title of the comic is Dark Avengers, but the team never actually calls themselves that, going only by Avengers. Dark Avengers was published concurrently with New Avengers, which had a competing team of heroes claiming to be the real deal. We totally foresee a version of these events taking place in the MCU, only without Norman Osborn, who doesn’t exist on Earth-616.
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine now functions as the MCU’s Norman Osborn stand-in. And indeed, as we see in the Thunderbolts* after-the-credits scene, the Thunderbolts have become the new MCU Avengers (with a silent Dark), but the implication is that another Avengers team will also arise.
Two Avengers Teams, One MCU Mission
Marvel StudiosIt seems that when Avengers: Doomsday hits the MCU, we’re going to have two totally different teams calling themselves Avengers attempt to deal with the new Multiversal threat. Sam’s new team, whoever they may be, and the re-christened Thunderbolts squad, with his buddy Bucky leading the rival group. (Or at least, that’s the sense we received from the movie.) They are going to have to learn to work together if they intend to save the planet. But we have a feeling they will mostly be fighting each other, thus allowing Earth-616 to fall because both teams are too busy quarreling with each other over who is the “real” Avengers. Hopefully, good friends Sam and Bucky’s respective teams, along with the help of the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, can get it together in time to save the world.
Originally published on February 13, 2025.
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May 5, 2025
Adorable Video Shows James Gunn’s Dog Losing It Watching Krypto the Superdog in SUPERMAN
We’re calling it now; Krypto the Superdog is going to be the breakout star of James Gunn’s Superman. We already love the rambunctious alien pooch just from the trailer. We knew his upcoming appearance in the film was based on Gunn’s own rescue dog, Ozu. But we didn’t know just how much he’s based on him. In a video posted to Gunn’s Instagram, we see him watching scenes from the film with Ozu, who is barking up a storm reacting to Krypto on screen. You can watch this adorable video right here:
Gunn reveals the Krypto was actually 3D modeled on Ozu’s body, then made white to match his DC Comics counterpart. So when Ozu goes wild at seeing Krypto on screen, he’s actually freaking out at his own doppelgänger. As Gunn says, “Every time he sees himself on screen, he tries to murder himself.” Back in October, Gunn described how Ozu came into his life, and how he influenced Superman. Here’s what he had to say:
Krypto was inspired by our dog Ozu, who we adopted shortly after I started writing Superman. Ozu, who came from a hoarding situation in a backyard with 60 other dogs and never knew human beings, was problematic to say the least. He immediately came in and destroyed our home, our shoes, our furniture – he even ate my laptop. It took a long time before he would even let us touch him. I remember thinking, ‘Gosh, how difficult would life be if Ozu had superpowers?’ – and thus Krypto came into the script and changed the shape of the story as Ozu was changing my life.
Warner Bros./DCIn the comics, Krypto traditionally looks like a white Labrador Retriever from Earth. But he’s a canine from the planet Krypton after all, so really, he can look like any kind of dog. We’re actually partial to this smaller, scrappier version of Kal-El’s best friend. And we can’t wait to see more of him when James Gunn’s Superman hits theaters on July 11.
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SQUID GAME Season 3 Teaser Opens Up a Box of Vengeance
It is time to play more deadly games. A couple of years ago, the Korean survival series thriller Squid Game hit Netflix, and things haven’t quite been the same since then. The show has countless fans all around the world and is officially a part of pop culture history. Even if you haven’t watched Squid Game, you know those tracksuits. Many are sad that the show’s third season will be the last one. But no game goes on forever, even when you want it to. The teaser trailer for Squid Game season three shows Gi-hun back again and ready to end these games for good.
In the new Squid Game season three trailer, which you can watch below, guards come in carrying those coffins that usually hold the bodies of deceased players. But this time there’s a surprise…
When the new players open the box, it is Gi-hun inside. The Squid Game season three teaser trailer then goes right into the new game and we even see a huge gumball machine dispense red and blue balls, which hint at what’s coming in the next challenge.
The Squid Game season three trailer is short but quite intense. A few familiar folks return for this final round, including the Front Man, detective Hwang Jun-ho, and players Myung-gi (Player 333), Dae-ho (Player 388), Hyun-ju (Player 120), Yong-sik (Player 007), Geum-ja (Player 149), Jun-hee (Player 222), Min-su (Player 125), Nam-gyu (Player 124), and the pink guard No-eul.
RELATED ARTICLE
SQUID GAME Season 3 Shares First Images and June Release Date for Final RoundWhat Is the Release Date for Squid Game Season 3?
NetflixThe third and final season of Squid Game will hit Netflix on June 27. Let’s see how it all ends. If you. need us, we’ll keep searching for clues in the season three teaser trailer while we wait.
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