The Boys sixth episode is a chaotic, wild, and heartbreaking ride. MM suffers a major panic attack, A-Train puts himself closer to danger, and we discover Joe Kessler is literally a figment of Butcher’s imagination. But the most uncomfortable part of this episode of The Boys (besides Homelander sucking milk from Firecracker’s breasts) is Tek Knight and his Tek Cave. 

Related: Who Is Tek Knight? His Comic and TV History in The Boys Universe, Explained

What Happens at Tek Knight’s Tek Cave in The Boys?

A-Train reveals to MM that Cameron Coleman was brutally killed after Ashley set him up as the Vought leak. He also tells MM about Homelander bringing the Seven, Cate, and Sam together to form a supe army for some reason and Tek Knight was talking to Sage in secret. So, Hughie, MM, Starlight, and Kimiko go on their own undercover mission at Tek Knight’s federalist society party (I know…) at his estate to find more information. (Frenchie turned himself in for his crimes, so he is locked up. And Butcher is off torturing Sameer like a psychopath, unbeknownst to everyone else.)

MM is able to accost Webweaver, a very gross supe who is an obvious parody of Spider-Man, and get Hughie into his smelly suit to infiltrate the party. It is a risky move considering Tek Knight has superhuman smell/taste and he can sense when a person’s heart rate increases or if they are nervous. Things are initially going well despite Hughie discovering that Sage, Homelander, Firecracker, and Victoria Neuman are also at this party.

Then, it goes quickly awry when Tek Knight invites Hughie, whom he initially seems to believe is the real Webweaver, to his Tek Cave (a play on Batman’s Bat Cave). The Tek Cave is deep under his estate, minded by his butler/right-hand man Elijah (read: Alfred). It is basically a BDSM and/or torture chamber for Tek Knight to appease his sexual proclivities. That guy loves all sorts of holes. Hughie goes along with Tek Knight’s weird request to sit his naked butt on a cake and pass gas into it.

Ashely and Tek Knight Like to Play Sexual Games Together

But everything goes way left field with the arrival of Ashely, who apparently matches (and perhaps exceeds) Tek’s freak. Oh, and Tek Knight’s former sidekick Laddio is in a full leather outfit and chained to the wall to watch it all. 

Ashley binds Hughie up, tickles his feet, and says some pretty explicit things about what she will do to him. We don’t see any of them happen thankfully but she does, um, climax and wipe her fingers on the mask Hughie is wearing. Tek Knight is watching it all and asks Hughie what the safeword is, which Hughie doesn’t know because he is not a regular member of the Tek Cave Sex Club. Meanwhile, the Boys crew decides to stage a rescue mission (To the Tek Cave!) which predictably goes wrong. After a few setbacks, Starlight and Kimiko reach the Tek Cave and subdue Tek Knight, who is preparing to torture and assault Hughie. 

Tek Knight Is Working With Sister Sage and Homelander to Make Prisons Into Internment Camps

They try to torture information out of Tek Knight, which doesn’t work because he’s a masochist. So they hit him where it really hurts: his pockets. They send millions to liberal organizations but he doesn’t crack until they almost make a donation to Black Lives Matter. He tells them that Sage and Homelander want to use the many prisons he owns to create internment camps for regular humans. This is highly disturbing for a couple of reasons. First, as we heard earlier in the episode, this is why Tek Knight is so filthy rich. Second, this is a scary development in Homelander and Sage’s plan to control the masses while supes rule with impunity.

Tek Knight admits he doesn’t know the details of their plans. And, to be honest, it would not be smart for him to say no considering Homelander could kill him. He might as well have said no because Elijah steps in and suddenly kills Tek Knight. Elijah says he’s been tired of Tek Knight’s entitlement and gross behavior but creating internment camps takes things too far. The crew escapes while Elijah and Laddio stay behind to make Tek Knight’s death look like an accident. Hughie is very disturbed by what he endured and has a breakdown, saying he misses his father. That poor guy is having an awful time.

What Will Happen in The Boys After Tek Knight’s Death?

Later on, Firecracker tells Homelander Tek Knight is dead and that she saw Starlight at the house. Now, he knows the leak wasn’t Cameron, but someone else. Between this and a kid spotting A-Train saving MM’s life, it is not looking good for the speedster. Tek Knight’s death is a lot less weird than it was in The Boys’ comics but that Tek Cave makes this version of the character one to remember.

We will have to see how his demise throws a wrench in Homelander and Sage’s plan and if Laddio and Elijah will step up to help the Boys in the near future. The Boys do have access to Tek Knight’s information via that laptop for now, so there could be other secrets that will help them end this plan for good.

The post THE BOYS Takes Us to Tek Knight’s Super Freaky ‘Tek Cave’ appeared first on Nerdist.

The Boys continues to show us the dangers of Compound V and Compound V24 in its fourth season. Hughie’s desperate attempt to save his ailing father ended in disaster in episode five. And, throughout the season, Butcher kept physically spiraling while trying to kill Homelander. He teamed up with a former colleague and friend, Joe Kessler (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan), earlier in the season to dig into locating and using the supe-killing virus from Gen V to get the job done. The show turned all of this on its head in episode six by revealing that Joe Kessler is actually dead and a figment of Butcher’s imagination in The Boys. The supe-killing virus is also far more unstable and dangerous than we thought. 

In this episode, Butcher is still holding Sameer hostage to force him to make more of the virus. He goes out to gather the necessary ingredients needed and also has a long conversation with Joe Kessler about coming home from war. Of course, his visions of Becca continue as she urges him to make a better choice to save Ryan. Towards the end, both Becca and Joe Kessler are speaking to Butcher in a very “angel and devil on shoulders” type of way.

Joe Kessler Is Actually Dead and a Figment of Butcher’s Compound V24-Influenced Imagination

Becca urges Butcher against genocide (more on that later) while Kessler is ready to kill all supes. Suddenly, Butcher tells Becca to shut up (basically) and Butcher is shocked. We see things for what they are for the first time with Butcher having a full-on conversation with no one. So yes, Joe Kessler is not a living person but the physical representation of Billy Butcher’s dark side, a contrast with Becca’s light. This makes sense considering we never saw Joe Kessler interact with anyone else on the show. We cannot imagine what’s going through Sameer’s mind during his imprisonment. 

Speaking of him, he refuses to make more of the supe-killing virus. Why? Because to make the virus strong enough to kill Homelander, it would become very unstable and potent. It is airborne and highly contagious, which means the supe virus would not only kill the intended person (Homelander) but anyone with Compound V in their veins. That’s likely thousands, if not millions, of people worldwide at this point. Butcher is going to die either way but that puts Kimiko, Starlight, and Ryan, among others. 

What Happened to the Real Joe Kessler in The Boys Universe?

The Joe Kessler apparition reveals the real person died back when they were in the midst of a conflict in the Panjshir Valley. Butcher did not pull Kessler out and save him but instead left him to die, which checks out for good ole Billy. He cannot seem to remember that very real fact and buys into the idea that he’s scheming with his old buddy. The effects of Compound V24 (and that V shot) are taking a major toll on Butcher, indeed. Now, he must deal with his choice to cut off Sameer’s leg and the ramifications that will come from messing with Victoria’s man. 

The post THE BOYS Reveals the Truth About Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Joe Kessler appeared first on Nerdist.

Many villains are at play in The Boys season four. But episode six solidified one fact: Sister Sage and Homelander are one hell of an evil duo. Homelander continues to distance himself further from any shreds of humanity still in his superpowered body as he works to put supes and billionaires in complete power. He is also strong-arming Victoria Neuman into forcing billionaires to commit treason and create a 25th Amendment situation (i.e. if the President dies, the VP becomes President). This would create a world where supes rule without oversight. But, until now, we weren’t quite sure why Sister Sage was so invested in helping Homelander advance his plans. 

Sister Sage’s Family Tragedy Led to Her Hate all Humans

Sage, Homelander, and Victoria Neuman all attend Tek Knight’s alt-right shindig at his estate. While he’s off in the Tek Cave being a wild dude, Sage and Victoria have a conversation. Sage reveals her grandmother was diagnosed with Stage 3 leukemia. She said the doctors didn’t care to save “some old ex-Black Panther,” so Sage came up with a cure. She gave the research to them and they brushed her off. Her grandmother later died in pain.

Sage says she could cure cancer, reverse global warming, and more, but she believes there is no point because humans are animals. She uses this story to appeal to Victoria, saying they both understand living in a world where they are ignored. Sage encourages her to take power by getting one hand in the enemies’ pockets while slitting their throat with the other. Oof. 

If I were a billionaire and a group of supes—including one with the power to laser my head off and another that can pop my skull—asked me to be part of their coup plans, I’d have to consider it. The billionaires push back on a few very valid issues (how to handle the military, stock markets, etc.) but Victoria uses her cunning to sway them in her favor. (Sister Sage was dealing with temporary brain damage courtesy of MM shooting her in the head.) They all seem in favor of supporting her but it remains to be seen if that holds up.

Sage and Homelander Want to Create Internment Camps for Humans (and Anti-Supe Folks)

In this episode, we also discover Sage and Homelander were working with Tek Knight to create internment camps. Knight’s ancestors owned a large portion of the prison industrial complex, which explains why he is so rich now. He agrees to partner with Sage and Homelander to use those spaces to hold humans as supes take over the world. It’s a bleak plan that sets up the possibility for genocidal activity. The show doesn’t make it clear how much Victoria knows about this plan, but she only cares about herself and her daughter, who is now a supe. I am sure she would be down to do something so vile. 

With Tek Knight dead, Victoria getting billionaires into her pocket, and Sage’s hatred of white men possibly leading to her double crossing Homelander, The Boys is spiraling as season four begins to come to a close.

The post Homelander and Sister Sage’s Supe Plans Are Darker Than We Imagined on THE BOYS appeared first on Nerdist.

A few months ago, the cancellation of Star Trek: Prodigy made fans righteously angry. Despite having a mostly complete season two, Paramount+ pulled the plug on the popular series anyway. To make things worse, the streaming service took the show off of its platform entirely. So, what did fans do? They took to the skies, literally flying a “Save Star Trek: Prodigy” banner over the offices of other streaming services, including Netflix. It’s a wild gesture but apparently one that resonated with the hearts of Netflix’s decision makers. Star Trek: Prodigy has a new streaming home with Netflix and will move forward with a second season, which has officially hit streaming as of July 1, 2024. 

In a world with a lot of annoying streaming updates, this is some pretty refreshing and welcome news. Season one of Star Trek: Prodigy will hit Netflix before the end of this year. Season two will make its debut sometime in 2024. The crew of Protostar and Kathryn Janeway are getting the second shot that they so richly deserve with more Star Trek: Prodigy at Netflix. Speaking of Janeway, actress Kate Mulgrew released a brief statement about the fandom’s awesomeness. 

“I’ve always held that the Star Trek fan base is among the strongest and most intelligent in the world.  They have shown their collective passion, and we’re happy to be able to celebrate Prodigy once again,” said Mulgrew. 

Star Trek: Prodigy executive producer Alex Kurtzman and co-showrunners Dan and Kevin Hageman also had a few words to add. “Thank you to our incredible Star Trek: Prodigy fans, who championed not just a show, but a community that’s always been connected by the belief that we build a better future together. We set out to inspire you, but you inspired us. The team is still hard at work on the second season, and we can’t wait to share it with the amazing fans around the world.”

We love to hear it! Fandom is at its best when everyone works together for the greater good.

Originally published on October 11, 2023.

The post STAR TREK: PRODIGY Season 2 Is Now Streaming On Netflix appeared first on Nerdist.

The Sandman will continue its drama with another serving of episodes. What will happen in this next installment with Morpheus? That remains to be seen. We do not know when these episodes will hit Netflix but we do know that there will be new characters and cast members coming into the fold for The Sandman season two. 

Netflix released a ton of information about the new faces we will need in The Sandman’s next season. We will get to see gods like Loki, Odin, and Thor, but they will certainly be different from the MCU characters we’ve grown to love.

All the New Characters and Cast Members Appearing in The Sandman Season Two

Ruairi O’Connor (he/him) as Orpheus

Official description: “Orpheus, the poet, musician, and oracle, is the only child of Dream and the muse, Calliope. Orpheus is an idealistic, romantic, young man – and very much his father’s son – until tragedy strikes and reveals to him the true nature of love.”

Freddie Fox (he/him) as Loki

Official Description: “…the god of chaos. Loki is a charming, seductive shapeshifter. The smartest and most dangerous person in any room, Loki is utterly irresistible and never to be trusted.” That certainly sounds on brand for this famous Greek god.

Clive Russell (he/him) as Odin

Official Description: “…the father of Thor, and blood-brother to Loki. He is a longtime ally of Dream’s, but finds himself driven to desperate extremes in his efforts to stave off Ragnarök.”

Laurence O’Fuarain (he/him) as Thor

Official Description: “…the storm god. With his hammer Mjollnir, Thor is brusque, rude, and driven entirely by his appetites – for food and drink, for battle, and for sex.

Ann Skelly (she/her) as Nuala and Douglas Booth (he/him) as Cluracan

Official Description: “…royal emissaries from the court of Faerie. Nuala and Cluracan are siblings who are opposites in every way. Nuala is responsible, empathetic, and principled. Cluracan is an impulsive rogue who lives for pleasure. They disagree about everything, except their devotion to one another.”

Jack Gleeson (he/him) as Puck

Official Description: “…a malevolent hobgoblin who serves as the royal jester to King Auberon of Faerie. Puck is fascinated by mortals and enjoys nothing more than making sport of them for his own amusement. He’s also the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”  

Indya Moore (she/her) as Wanda

Official Description: “…a professional driver and security agent for an exclusive travel firm. Wanda proves herself to be an indispensable guide on an Endless road trip to the waking world.”

Steve Coogan (he/him) as the Voice of Barnabas

Official Description: “…the canine companion of the Endless’ prodigal brother. Barnabas is loyal and loving, but an outspoken cynic. He’s man’s best friend and man’s sharpest critic.”

I know nothing about Barnabas but somehow I feel like he will be my favorite character. Let’s see how all of these new characters will play into The Sandman season two.

The post THE SANDMAN Announces Its New Season 2 Characters and Cast, Including Thor, Loki, and More appeared first on Nerdist.

The world of The Boys and Gen V never fails to leave us with questions that need answers. Until recently, one of the biggest mysteries leading into The Boys season four was about Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s mysterious new character. A lot of fans, myself included, assumed that Morgan would portray Tek Knight, a character from The Boys comics. We discovered that wasn’t the case when Gen V actually introduced Tek Knight, played by Derek Wilson, in its fourth episode. But who is Tek Knight and what role does he play in The Boys’ universe? Let’s get into his history, powers, and much more.

The History of Tek Knight in The Boys Comics and TV Show, Explained

As we all know, The Boys characters are (mostly) evil parodies of Marvel and DC Comics icons. Tek Knight a.k.a. Robert Vernon is no different as a mashup of Iron Man and Batman. In the comics, he is a founding member of the Payback collective despite having no clear superpowers. Instead, technology and intelligence are his powers; however, he uses them for nefarious reasons. Tek Knight is rather homophobic and engages in bizarre sexual behaviors, some in reality and others during moments of imagined psychosis. But compared to other villains he was mostly harmless, at least in the eyes of The Boys. Tek Knight’s behavior is explained due to a tumor in his brain. Eventually, a psychotic episode leads to his death. He thinks he’s saved Earth by having sex with a meteor but a falling wheelbarrow actually hits and kills him. [Editor’s note: A whole lot to unpack there.]

The Boys TV show mentioned Tek Knight a few times throughout its first three seasons. There’s a movie called Tek Knight Lives and that he’s made some tech in the universe. And Tek Knight was apparently a part of a hostage situation that left a woman paralyzed, as evidenced by a newspaper clipping in MM’s closet. So he’s certainly been in the ether for a while before his Gen V appearance (more on that below).

Following Gen V, Tek Knight made a brief appearance in The Boys season four’s fifth episode during a Vought event where he revealed his new movie, hilariously titled The Tek Knight. He will have a larger role in the show’s upcoming episode, which will take us to the TekCave. Considering his love of, um, holes, this cannot gowell.

Tek Knight’s Motivations, Powers, and Place in the Gen V Spinoff 

Gen V’s fourth episode is very, very Tek Knight heavy. We meet him through a Vought+ commercial for his crime investigation series The Whole Truth. Tek Knight is a famous Godolkin University alumni who is back on campus to dig into Golden Boy’s death. His presence is unsettling for many, especially Dean Shetty. She’s very busy trying to keep the truth about the woods, Golden Boy, and Sam’s escape under wraps. Dean Shetty reveals that many of Tek Knight’s interview subjects end up dead or badly beaten after crossing his path.

Unlike the comics, Tek Knight does have some level of special powers. He’s able to sense that Dean Shetty has adrenaline coming from her pores and is apparently ovulating. Tek Knight later uses his powers to break down Andre after smelling Maddie’s, erm, hole on his breath. He later agitates Marie, calling her a liar when her pupils dilate during an impromptu class interrogation. Thankfully, Andre calls him out for being a hack and a “small man playing f**king hero” because he’s never been one. Still, Tek Knight is so unnerving that Marie ends up admitting the truth. She tells the room about what happened with Golden Boy, finally giving Jordan their due credit.

Tek Knight is willing to do anything to continue to increase his celebrity and popularity, including fabricating wild lies as the truth. He tells Dean Shetty that knows the complete truth and tries to blackmail her into taking the fall for Golden Boy’s death. Mr. Knight says he will go to Vought about Sam’s escape but he underestimates the power of a human dean with a lot to lose. 

Dean Shetty gets the last laugh with some dirt on Tek Knight. Like the comics, Tek Knight has a fatal brain tumor that causes him to do sexual things with pretty much any object that has a hole. She shows him video evidence of his odd trysts and threatens to leak them online if he doesn’t get out of God U’s business. Tek Knight flips his story, saying Golden Boy’s death is nothing more than an unfortunate tragedy. He goes about his business but not without having a couple intimate moments with a tree and a bathroom hand dryer. Thank you, sir, for your contributions to our post about Gen V‘s gross and shocking moments.

Will Tek Knight Return to Gen V?

Tek Knight is in The Boys season four, so he could show up in Gen V season two. We cannot imagine this universe would kill off such a random and ridiculous character. So, let’s expect Tek Knight to pop up in the future and stick his nose (and another body part) where it doesn’t belong.

Originally published October 6, 2023.

The post Who Is Tek Knight? His Comic and TV History in THE BOYS and GEN V’s Universe, Explained appeared first on Nerdist.

There’s something special about ‘90s heartthrobs and dream girls. Maybe you loved She’s All That because Freddie Prinze, Jr. and/or Rachael Leigh Cook were indeed all that. (Some of us were absolutely interested in both, hehe.) I totally hear you and had plenty of crushes of my own, like the Fresh Prince himself. Another guy I love is Josh Hartnett, whom I first saw in scary films like Halloween H20 and The Faculty. Of course, he was far from the villain in those films and many others as he became a teen idol and kept building his career. So, imagine my distress when I watched the trailer for Trap, a horror movie where Josh Hartnett is a serial killer at a pop concert.

The film, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, is about Cooper, a dad taking his teen daughter Riley (played by Ariel Donoghue) to see her favorite singer. That sounds touching and totally normal, right? Well, if you know anything about Shyamalan, then you knew the Trap trailer was gonna go left field.

We see Cooper marveling at his daughter’s pure joy over seeing her music queen live. He tells her that he’s going to the restroom and that’s when your heart starts to pound. Is someone going to kidnap her? Is there some supernatural or demonic foolery afoot? Not quite. Cooper notices an unsettling amount of security on his way to the restroom and questions someone who works there.

The guy reluctantly tells him that they’re setting a trap for “the Butcher,” a serial killer who lives up to his name. The worker says there’s no way to leave, and Cooper retreats to the bathroom to check his home security. And guess what? He has someone chained and screaming in his basement! What. The. Hell. Cooper starts seeing red and wondering how he’s going to get out of there without being caught and really, really ruining Riley’s day. Yikes. A movie from the killer’s POV is inspired, indeed.

The world of Trap feels even more real with the release of a whole music video by Riley’s pop idol.

What Is the Release Date for M. Night Shyamalan and Josh Hartnett’s Horror Movie Trap? 

The trailer doesn’t offer up any brutality but we do get brooding stares from Hartnett that make me feel very conflicted. I want to talk about it but not in public. Anyway, Trap will now hit theaters a week earlier than planned, on August 2, and I cannot wait to see what happens to Cooper and Riley. Oh, and the man in the basement, too.

Originally published April 18, 2024.

The post Josh Hartnett Is a Serial Killer Dad in TRAP’s Surprising Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

House of the Dragon season two is finally here and the tension is overflowing between the Blacks and the Greens. The first episode shows a remorseful Queen Alicent who realizes she’s set the stage for violence to swallow her family whole. On the other side is (THE RIGHTFUL QUEEN) Rhaenyra, who is mourning the loss of her son Lucerys and only speaks four words in the entire episode: “I want Aemond Targaryen.” I know that’s right, sis. This season is getting into full swing and, if the first season is any indication, House of the Dragon will deliver lots of shocking, gross, brutal, and bloody moments. 

Jump To: Episode 1 // Episode 2 // Episode 3

Episode 1 – “A Son for a Son”

Queen Alicent and Criston Cole Are a, Um, Thing Now

In terms of the Game of Thrones universe, this episode was actually rather tame. The first shocking (well, more like gently surprising) moment was the oral sex scene between Alicent and Ser Criston Cole. (We all hate him, right? RIGHT?!) I felt like there were a few hints that they might get together, especially considering how salty he STILL IS over Rhaenyra rejecting his proposal years ago. But there was nothing outright to suggest that their relationship had turned sexual until now. 

It’s even more shocking for poor Helaena to walk in on her mother on top of him after witnessing the brutal murder of her child. 

The Murder of Jaehaerys Targaryen By Blood and Cheese

Speaking of that, the death of Jaehaerys Targaryen has viewers divided but it still certainly registers as a shocking moment. Helaena has to watch her baby boy’s head be slowly sawn off and collected by Blood and Cheese. She then flees the room and alerts Alicent about the death. It’s not the first time a child has died in this universe, of course. But this level of brutality happening to a very small and innocent one is jarring. Daemon has really started some mess!

Episode 2 – “Rhaenyra the Cruel”

The Prince Jaehaerys Street Processional

Otto’s plan to use Jaehaerys’ death to 1) frame Rhaenyra for it and 2) drum up support/sympathy from the kingdom’s subjects was gross. It was incredibly jarring to see his little body (with the head sewn back on) as the carriage made its way through the streets. This only proves that there are people on both sides willing to do anything to win this ongoing battle.

The Hanging of the Ratcatchers

What a terrible time to be a ratcatcher in King’s Landing. Aegon acts out of rage after Blood tells him that his accomplice is a ratcatcher and orders all of them to be hung and displayed in the streets. Cheese is one of them but this move also turns many people in the kingdom away from the royal family.

Ser Criston Cole Becomes Aegon’s Hand

Otto rightfully calls Aegon out about his abhorrent actions. Aegon responds that he will not be seen as weak and dismisses his own grandfather as his Hand. He names Criston Cole, which only gives the latter more power to continue his plan to hurt Rhaenyra in any way possible. We bet Aegon wouldn’t be so thrilled if he knew Criston was sleeping with his mother…

The Twin Duel Between Arryk and Erryk Ends in Tragedy

Ser Criston Cole decides to make himself feel less guilty about his actions by essentially sentencing Arryk to death. He sends him to Dragonstone to slay Rhaenyra, knowing it will not end well no matter what. Arryk and Erryk confront each other in Rhaenyra’s bedchambers. Their fight ends with Arryk killing Erryk before he stabs himself with his sword. What an awful ending, indeed.

Episode 3 – “The Burning Mill”

The Bracken and Blackwood Slaughter

The beginning of episode three shows us tension boiling over between two feuding collectives who have also chosen sides in the Black vs. Green fight. An argument over boundary stones leads to a full on slaughter where everyone dies. Yikes.

Aegon Embarrasses Aemond 

Aegon goes to Aemond’s familiar haunt to make fun of his brother, who is spending time confiding in a sex worker. Aemond doesn’t have anything to be ashamed of considering his encounters with her are consensual (unlike Aegon’s horrific sexual assaults of staff) but his brother certainly makes him feel like a lesser man (and quietly angry) because he has a fondness for this specific woman. Aemond leaves as Aegon offers his squire to the woman. Terrible. 

Daemon’s Vision of Rhaenyra and Jaehaerys 

Daemon is off to his own adventure at Harrenhal. He stays there after “conquering” it but finds it hard to relax. Daemon believes someone is at his door to attack him and he goes out to see a vision of a younger Rhaenyra saying he has to clean up his messes as he comes and goes. He sees her sewing Jaehaerys head back on and watches in horror before coming back to reality… or so he thought. He gets an omen that he will die where he is. Hmmm. 

Rhaenyra Returns to King’s Landing to Confront (a Very Stubborn) Alicent

Rhaenyra makes one last ditch effort to stop the war. With Mysaria’s help, she disguises herself and gets to Alicent. She tells her that war is not necessary and they even get clarity about what Viserys really meant on his deathbed. Still, Alicent says her son being king is not a mistake and she refuses to help correct things in any way. Sigh.

We cannot wait to see what other shocking, bloody, and gross moments will happen in House of the Dragon season two.

Originally published June 17, 2024.

The post The Most Brutal, Shocking, and Gross Moments of HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Season 2 appeared first on Nerdist.

The Deadpool & Wolverine movie is coming our way in July and we can’t wait to see what these two best bubs are gonna do. In the meantime, the main way to celebrate their awesomeness is collecting all the cool paraphernalia that comes with a big MCU release. We still can’t get over that very-inappropriate popcorn bucket, tbh. Funko is getting into the mix with new Deadpool, Wolverine, and Dogpool Pop! figures that deserve a spot on your shelf. 

These figures are currently available to order. And, if you’re attending San Diego Comic-Con, then you’re in luck. You will be able to do Funko’s Pop! Yourself experience and create your own cosplay character modeled after either Deadpool or Wolverine. It comes with an exclusive box, character body, and two additional accessories. 

Click To View Gallery

Those who don’t attend SDCC will be able to purchase a limited edition “attach pack” beginning on July 24 to cosplay their Funko figure as either Deadpool or Wolverine alongside the usual Pop! Yourself collectible. 

We must admit, Dogpool is both strange and adorable. What a fun way to celebrate this highly-anticipated film!

The post Funko Celebrates DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE with Fun New Pop! Figures appeared first on Nerdist.

Netflix’s Greek mythology dramedy KAOS, starring Jeff Goldblum as Zeus, is coming our way really soon. We dug the KAOS trailer and all of its weirdness and now we have some fresh images and an August release date for the eight episode series. Here’s another look at the clip to refresh your memory. 

And, for those who don’t know what this show is about, this synopsis should help:

We love these colorful and vibrant first look images from KAOS. Who knew that Zeus likes to cook on the grill? What a typical dad move. 

Click To View Gallery

The series also stars Janet Mcteer as Zeus’ wife Hera, Nabhaan Rizwaan as their wayward son Dionysus, Aurora Perrineau and Killian Scott as Riddy and Orpheus, a disillusioned wife and distracted rock-star husband, respectively. 

What Is the Release Date for Netflix’s KAOS series?

KAOS will hit Netflix on August 29.

The post Netflix’s Greek Dramedy KAOS Delivers First Look Images and Release Date appeared first on Nerdist.

Four seasons later, The Boys is still one of the wildest shows to ever hit TV. This season is already full of totally diabolical moments, plot twists, and so much blood. Homelander has a new advisor, Sister Sage, who is amping up the violence in an ongoing war. Victoria Neuman aims to pop Robert Singer’s head and become the President of the United States. And the Boys are causing trouble every time they step on the scene. We have no idea where things will go. But one thing is for sure. The Boys season four is packed with shocking, gross, and plain weird moments. 

Here are all the things that made us gasp, groan, cringe, and laugh out loud. 

Jump To: Episode One // Episode Two // Episode Three // Episode Four // Episode Five

The Boys Season Four, Episode One’s Most Shocking, Gross, and Wild Moments – “Department of Dirty Tricks” 

Victoria Neuman’s Daughter Zoe Rips Kimiko’s Arm Off 

It doesn’t take long for The Boys to get back into its supe shenanigans and wild, shocking moments. The team is at election night and trying to quietly assassinate Victoria Neuman. Of course, things go wrong when Victoria’s daughter Zoe catches Frenchie, Kimiko, and a few CIA agents in their hotel room. Zoe, who got a dose of Compound V last season, finally displays her powers and they are gruesome. Tentacles shoot out of her mouth, crushing and ripping apart her adversaries with ease. She tears through a couple of agents before going one-on-one with Kimiko, ripping her arm off in the process. Thankfully, Kimiko’s powers include her ability to heal from pretty much anything…

Kimiko’s Face-Off Moment

…including her jump out of a window. Starlight flies up to catch Frenchie but Kimiko slams into the pavement in front of MM. She sits up shortly afterwards but her entire face is peeled off. Kimiko puts it back in place and heals pretty quickly. 

A Shot to the Head and Victoria Is Not Dead 

It seems head-popping isn’t the only power that Victoria has. She survives Hughie’s acid attack and Butcher shooting her point blank in the head with humorous ease. Victoria tells them that they are getting worse at her job before casually strolling off.

Homelander Is Plucking His Pubic Hairs 

Homelander continues to be an enigma to us all. He’s plucking grey pubic hairs and storing them in a container. It is obvious that he’s not happy about his body aging but why the hell is he saving them? 

The Deep Is Willing to Go Down on A-Train 

Everyone is so afraid of Homelander that it is destroying Vought. Ashley and company agree with his every thought, which is beginning to frustrate him. Homelander expresses his annoyance with this after asking the Deep to give A-Train a blowjob, which he nearly does out of fear. The problem is, Homelander likes to punish and/or kill people who oppose him. So what is everyone supposed to do?!

Firecracker’s Endless Lies

This one will probably apply for every episode. But Firecracker is an unhinged truther who accuses Starlight’s organization for at-risk teens of having some “LGBTQ dungeon,” child trafficking, and more. 

Frenchie’s Hot New Romance

Frenchie and Kimiko do not seem destined for a relationship despite being very close. He’s in a romance with Colin, a guy who works at Starlight House. They have apparently been meeting up in the bathroom for hookup sessions. Kimiko knows what’s going on and she’s cool with it. 

The Seven Beat Three Homelander Fans to Death, Including Todd

Sage’s first idea to cause discord and turn people against Starlight is a brutal one. She invites three of Homelander’s biggest fans, including Todd, to meet him. Things quickly go violent when the true reason behind this meeting is revealed. Homelander tells the Deep, A-Train, and Black Noir to beat them all to death with bats. They hesitate but the Deep and Black Noir do it. A-Train eventually places the bodies at a protest outside of Homelander’s verdict reading at the courthouse to frame a couple of Starlighters. This is very, very nasty work. 

Black Noir Speaks?!

Hold on…this character has always been silent but deadly. Whoever is under that mask speaks and it is jarring. 

Sister Sage Starts a Brutal Fight 

Sage appears in the crowd dressed as a Starlight supporter. After he’s found not guilty, she throws something at a Homelander fan and yells at him, starting a massive fight between the opposing sides. It gets brutal with Colin and another Starlight House worker suffering injuries. The bodies are placed and discovered, making it seem like these deaths happened because of Homelander’s verdict.

Butcher’s Butthole Attachment

Butcher considers sending Victoria Neuman the Red River files that she desperately wants from Hughie. But, after Becca’s spirit appears to him, he has a change of heart. Instead, he sends over an attachment of a hairy butthole. Is it his butthole? We will never know and don’t really want to know.

The Return of Hughie’s Mom 

Hughie’s mom, who inexplicably left when he was very young, returns in the wake of his father’s coma. We don’t know why she’s there or what she’s been up to but it is a shocking twist for him, indeed. 

The Boys Season Four, Episode Two’s Most Shocking, Gross, and Wild Moments – “Life Among the Septics” 

Butcher Reveals His Diagnosis 

The Boys are all shocked that Butcher is going to die in a matter of months. He’s been sick for six months and, according to Homelander’s senses, he probably only has another six months left to live. It angers MM, who kicks him out of the Boys for being deceptive. 

Ryan Is “Homeboy”

This is more funny than anything else. The entire pitch for Ryan’s supe story is hilariously stupid and Sage is the only person that admits it blows. Using the word “homeboy” for a white kid is so unserious. 

Sister Sage’s Takedown of Ashley

Ashley thinks she can verbally bully Sage like she does with others. But Sage puts her in her place, saying that she’s so afraid of Homelander that she’s bald and the only way Ashely will be useful is if she starts lactating so he can suck on her breasts. Good Lord. She then immediately tells the Deep to stop taking crap from someone who is genetically inferior like Ashley. Honestly, I love it.

The Deep’s Takedown of Ashley (With a Toilet Threat) 

Ashley tries to get smart with the Deep during a rehearsal and he tells her that he will drown her in a used toilet if she talks to him like that again. She’s shocked and clearly afraid while he feels empowered for the first time in a while. 

Kimiko’s Drunk Escapades

After tracking Sister Sage to a hotel with a weird truther convention going on, Kimiko is upset when she sees a post that’s triggering to her. She finds beer and drinks eight of them and her behavior gets super funny, including her stealing Frenchie’s phone and sending a sext to Colin. 

Splinter Eats His Own A** (Again and Again) 

Frenchie and Kimiko always end up in some BS. MM tells them to follow Splinter, a supe who can splinter himself into duplicate versions, as he wanders off from Firecracker’s ongoing alt-supe rant. They find him in a spa room with several versions with their mouths deep in buttcrack while the main one is, um, pleasuring himself to her photo. Good lord. 

MM Beats the S**t Out of Butcher

This moment has been brewing for a while. MM’s frustration over Butcher’s behavior and general lack of care for anyone else in the Boys comes to a head at the aforementioned convention. He punches Butcher a few good times before telling him to stay away for good. Sure, Butcher doesn’t listen but it’s a wild and rather sad moment to see two former friends have such animosity between them. 

A-Train Is Trying to Be Good?!

A-Train seems to be turning over a new leaf this season after his previous actions led to his brother being in a wheelchair. He noticeably didn’t beat anyone’s brains in when requested and, after his brother calls him out for being a fraud, he decides to do the right thing. A-Train shows up at the Boys headquarters and drops off a video that will clear the two wrongly accused Starlighters. Annie still hates him for obvious reasons but Hughie appreciates his actions. 

Ryan (Accidentally) Splatters a Man Onto a Building

The staged rescue scene that Vought planned for Ryan goes awry. Ryan is still very young and not fully aware of his true strength. He’s supposed to lightly fling the (fake) robber but instead he launches him into the side of a building. Yikes. 

Splinter, Firecracker, and the Boys Crash a Bat Mitzvah and Oh S**t There Are Penises

Obviously, Sage set the Boys up by luring them into a room. She tells Firecracker and Splinter to kill them so they can get to the next level with Homelander. The fight spills into another innocent party room, where naked Splinters run everyone away. Firecracker manages to toss in a few racist comments, bullets litter the floor, and Butcher comes in for a brave moment to help his comrades. It’s an all-around rad scene.

Frenchie Killed Colin’s Family

Frenchie reveals that Colin was a judge’s son and that, in his previous line of work, he murdered his whole family. It’s obviously tearing him up inside and won’t end well when Colin finds out. 

Jump To: Episode One // Episode Two // Episode Three // Episode Four // Episode Five

The Boys Season Four, Episode Three’s Most Shocking, Gross, and Wild Moments – “We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here” 

Ashley Becomes the Vought Mascot and Homelander Lasers a Head

Damn. Sage swoops in for her next power play and becomes the CEO of Vought, leaving Ashley as its “Ronald McDonald.” She’s on the verge of resigning and leaving for Disney until she sees Homelander laser a woman’s head in the middle of trying to tell the truth. Oh, and she’s still literally crushing her boy toy’s balls. 

Frenchie’s Drug Trip and Ducks 

Frenchie goes with Kimiko to dig into her past a bit more but he’s not very helpful. He’s higher than the moon and seeing rubber ducks as well as hallucinating people he’s killed. Great job, buddy. 

Starlight Was a Mean Pageant Girl Who Ruined Firecracker’s Career 

We finally know why Firecracker hates Starlight so much. She reminds Annie that they were on the same circuit until she told everyone that Firecracker had an “a**f**ck gangbang” with the judges. Annie called her white trash and said it was the only way she was in the competitions. Firecracker believes that Annie hasn’t changed deep down and will do what she can to destroy her. 

The Ice Capades Jesus Show Massacre

Vought is putting on a holiday show that’s all about putting the Christ back in Christmas. (Sigh.) While the skaters are running through their performance, Hughie and MM are spying on Homelander, Victoria, and Sage, who are cooking up some nefarious deals. Sweaty Hughie captures the attention of Homelander, who lasers a skater while trying to get Hughie. Things go full panic as skaters accidentally cut each other to shreds with their blades. Yikes. We guess this show will not proceed as planned. 

The Deep and Sister Sage Hook Up 

What an odd couple. Sister Sage is eating a blooming onion when the Deep comes in to chat with her. They weirdly have a few interests in common and, the next thing you know, she’s rubbing a fried onion across his lips.

The Boys Season Four, Episode Four’s Most Shocking, Gross, and Wild Moments – ”Wisdom of the Ages” 

Homelander’s Homecoming Revenge

There’s so much to say about this that we wrote up a separate piece about Homelander’s bloody homecoming. But of course it is on this list because his visit is gross, shocking, bloody, and gets very weird at times. From making Marty masturbate in front of everyone to barbequing a human to lots of bloody body parts, Homelander gave us perhaps his most awful moment yet.

Kimiko and Hughie’s Big Bloody Battle

Kimiko is not happy with Hughie. She goes with him to be his muscle for a situation, only to realize they are meeting A-Train. Hughie wants Compound V to save his father, which Kimiko doesn’t agree with. They quickly have to set aside their differences when a band of people from Kimiko’s past pop up. Hughie gets pretty bloody as he slices a man open and, well, Kimiko is always ripping up bodies.

Firecracker Is a Pedophile… and Uses It to Her Advantage

Firecracker is still on Annie/Starlight’s behind, so Butcher and MM attempt to get her to shut up. They find out that she committed statutory rape of a 15-year-old boy and threaten to tell the world. Firecracker pulls a fast one on them, tweeting it out herself and then “confessing her sin” in front of the world. Her weirdo followers eat up her words and it doesn’t affect her.

Annie’s Righteous Revenge Against Firecracker

Firecracker chooses to tell the world that Annie had an abortion when she was six weeks pregnant. This is horrifying to Annie, not because she’s ashamed of her decision. It is terrible because 1) it is her private medical business and 2) it will tank her plans to align with Robert Singer. Annie finally loses her cool and beats Firecracker up in front of cameras. She deserved it, tbh.

Butcher Fights a Stretchy Supe and Gets the Upper Hand

Butcher gets into a fight in Firecracker’s trailer and we assume he’s going to be killed. But, Butcher gets the upper hand. How is that possible? Well, he took Compound V to cure himself and he’s super strong, yet still dying. Butcher turns the other guy into mincemeat, which MM later discovers.

Sister Sage’s Lobotomy

Sister Sage asks the Deep to do her a favor. Apparently, her brain has a superhuman ability to heal, which means she can get a lobotomy and eventually become her normal self again. Her brain regenerates constantly. She asks him to do it, which “dumbs her down” and says she will have anal sex with him.

Someone Gave Hughie’s Dad Compound V (and It Wasn’t Hughie)

After a chat with Butcher, Hughie decides to not give his father Compound V and accept that he’s dying. But at the end of the episode, we see that blue juice running through his IV and he wakes up with a start.

The Boys Season Four, Episode Five’s Most Shocking, Gross, and Wild Moments – “Beware the Jabberwork, My Son”

A-Train Admits He’s a Traitor to Ashely

A-Train knows that Sister Sage will soon figure out that he’s a traitor. So, he admits it to Ashley, making her an accomplice and instructing her to help cover his tracks. And boy does she do that by framing Cameron, her ex-boyfriend, whom Homelander has beaten to death.

Victoria Neuman’s Lab of Farm Animal Horrors

MM and Butcher manage to free Stan Edgar in exchange for his help to find out where Victoria is hiding the supe-killing virus. This takes them to a remote farm property Stan owns, which is where he’s sure Victoria is keeping secrets. And it turns out she has a lab of people who are studying how the virus impacts Compound V.

Things go awry when the Boys (minus Hughie), Victoria, and Stan go looking for Sameer, a scientist who happens to be Zoe’s father. They traverse the farm and run into some wild s**t, including diabolical chickens and a flying flock of murderous sheep. It is very, very ridiculous.

Hughie’s Dad Experiences the Worst of Compound V

We wrote more extensively about Hughie’s dad and what happens to him. But his final moments are incredibly bloody, erratic, and sad. He develops a power to basically teleport through things, including human flesh, but his damaged brain means he cannot control them. Hugh Campbell accidentally kills a couple of people and is very, very scared. Hughie eventually gives him a medication that allows him to pass away peacefully, but not after much blood is shed.

Ryan Becomes a Mini Homelander

Homelander finally cracks the code on how to win over his son Ryan. He asks Ryan what he wants and Ryan tells his dad he really wants to help people. So Homelander gives him a chance to help Brenda, a Vought employee who is being sexually harassed by Adam Bourke. Ryan asks Brenda in front of Adam if she’s okay, to which she replies no. Ryan makes Adam apologize but it is not enough. After having Adam get on his knees and beg, Ryan decides that isn’t enough.

Homelander coaches him through it, which eventually leads to them allowing Brenda to repeatedly punch Adam as he begs for mercy. While Adam deserves some good punches to the face, this is the beginning of setting Ryan up to deal with all things by inciting violence. Homelander and Ryan smirk at each other, sipping milkshakes as Adam cries out. It is a chilling moment, indeed.

Butcher (and Joe) Make Demands for More Supe-Killing Juice

Butcher decides to go rogue with Joe Kessler. They cut off Sameer’s leg (well, part of it) and demand that he make some of the supe-killing virus. This should go over very well with Victoria Neuman.

Jump To: Episode One // Episode Two // Episode Three // Episode Four // Episode Five

We cannot wait to see what other gross, shocking, bloody, and plain weird moments will pop up in The Boys season four.

Originally published June 14, 2024.

The post The Most Shocking, Gross, and Plain Weird Moments of THE BOYS Season Four appeared first on Nerdist.

Marvin T. Milk a.k.a Mother’s Milk b.k.a. MM, played by the fantastic Laz Alonso, is one of the most grounded and well-crafted characters on The Boys. He isn’t the fearful Hughie nor the often callous and unpredictable Butcher. He’s not a supe but instead a highly skilled medic, loving father, clever fixer, and a man whose past haunts him. And, in the midst of many hijinks, he’s the serious yet caring guy who’s often unintentionally funny as hell. But, there’s one more claim to fame for MM: T-shirt God. It’s a small detail that many may not notice; however, it says a lot about his personality and style.

Alonso himself spilled the details about his threads, affirming that the shirt choices are intentional. “I work with our onset costume coordinator, the head of the costume department, and every episode, we pick a shirt that kind of thematically encompasses what MM is going through and where we are in the story,” he tells Nerdist. “We have always done groups and artists and this season, we also started doing songs. For example, we did Childish Gambino’s ‘This is America.'”

And that’s just one of many incredible choices. In honor of his style, here’s an ode to a bunch of the awesome shirts that Mother’s Milk wears on The Boys. 

Jump To: Season 1 Shirts // Season 2 Shirts // Season 3 Shirts // Season 4 Shirts

The Best T-Shirts That Marvin “MM” Milk Wears in Season 1

Episode 7 – De La Soul

When we first meet Marvin Milk, we don’t know much about him. In fact, he’s the last member of the OG Boys crew who begrudgingly returns. Soon, we uncover more about his life in almost perfect tandem with the intro of his incredible shirts, majority of which lean into Black culture. This one’s an ode to the eclectic hip-hop trio responsible for songs like “Me Myself and I.” It’s a nice nod to a group that was highly influential when MM was likely coming of age. 

Episode 8 – The Big X

Mother’s Milk wears a black T-shirt with a big X scrawled across the front. It’s presumably a sign for “don’t cross me,” which, well, says a lot about him. (Sometimes, an X is used to represent the Bronx; however, MM is a Harlem native so that’s probably not it.) He doesn’t have the powers (or twisted mind) of supes like Homelander but he’s still a force when pissed off. And, he looks really, really good in black. Or anything, to be honest. Moving on…

The Best T-Shirts That Marvin “MM” Milk Wears in Season 2

Episode 1 – Wu-Tang Clan

Wu-Tang ain’t nuthing ta f*** with and neither is Marvin. Once again, this logo shirt speaks volumes. I’m pretty sure that Laz Alonso himself likes Wu-Tang (because why wouldn’t he?!) but it is a known fact that MM is a Wu fan. And if you don’t know about Wu-Tang, you better ask somebody. 

Episode 2 – Boogie Down Productions 

Boogie Down Productions was a hip-hop collective in the ‘80s featuring the legendary KRS-One, DJ Scott La Rock, and D-Nice, the DJ who infamously made the beginning of covid more tolerable with his “Club Quarantine” live DJ sets. Strong political and social commentary anchored their storytelling about the harsh realities of the South Bronx. It’s very dope to see him show such a pivotal and frankly underrated group so much love. 

Episode 3 – Public Enemy 

Once again, MM doesn’t miss, this time paying homage to Public Enemy. Long before Flava Flav became a reality show icon, he was a part of this collective alongside Chuck D. There isn’t a person over the age of 30 who doesn’t know “Fight the Power,” which is essentially what MM does as a Boys member. A true king of the people. Too bad it gets whale guts all over it. 

Episode 4 – NY Giants Love

MM is a NY native, so it’s not surprising to see this Giants shirt. This one has those nice pops of color that we all recognize from the NFL team’s uniform colors. More blues and reds, please. 

Episode 4 – Power to the People 

MM rarely gives us a double dose of T-shirts in one episode. He is a busy guy, after all. But we get a wardrobe change into a Black Panther shirt. No, not the comic character but the organization. His shirt is particularly about the program ran in the late 1960s-early 1970s to feed Black youth breakfast before school. And, I must admit, the material looks soft and cozy against his muscles.

Episode 5 – Run-DMC 

The odes to NY hip hop abound with the infamous Run-DMC shirt that MM rocks with his signature leather jacket. MM’s taste in music and T-shirts is truly unmatched. 

Episode 6 and 8 – Black Fist Hoodie 

A shirt looks great but a hoodie. Wow. Perfection on MM. This hoodie is actually a part of Mississippi rapper and humanitarian David Banner’s “Black Fist” clothing collection. Love to see him in a hoodie so nice that he wore it twice.  

Episode 7 – Camouflage Yankees 

The New York Yankees get some love in this episode with a camouflaged logo shirt. Marvin is a former Marine (and yes, they do wear camo sometimes) so it’s a small homage to his past.

Episode 7 – Phife Forever

MM pays homage to Phife, a member of A Tribe Called Quest. The rapper died in 2016 and Forever is the name of his final album, which was mostly completed at his time of death. 

The Best T-Shirts That Marvin “MM” Milk Wears in Season 3

Episode 3 – N.W.A.

Our precious guy links up with the Boys and gets back on his T-shirt bullsh*t in the best way. He rocks an N.W.A. shirt as the crew reunites. We even hear the group’s single “Express Yourself” playing as MM does his usual meticulous cleaning. And he brings back the jacket AND shades. Very hot content. 

Episode 4 – Ruff Ryders 

RIP to DMX. MM’s Rough Ryders shirt is for the label and rap collective that included X, Eve, Swizz Beats, The Lox, and more. The “R” is instantly recognizable to ‘90s hip-hop fans, appearing on shirts as well as pendants for chains. 

Episode 5 – Stop the Violence

What a phrase to wear when you’re always in the midst of it. We’ve seen MM wear a Boogie Down Productions shirt and “Stop the Violence” is one of their song titles. Interestingly, this coincides with the division among the Boys when Butcher and Hughie start taking sh*t too far. 

Episode 6 – This Is America 

MM is tired of taking the high road and having to keep a level head as a Black man. (I’m not a man but whew, I get it.) This lines up well with his “This Is America” shirt, which shares a title with Donald Glover’s song about the injustices that Black people face. I don’t think MM will ever wear this shirt again, cause, well, Herogasm. 

Episode 6 – The TNT Smile Time Hour

This is one shirt that’s actually just specific to this universe and something that MM would never wear. It’s a shirt from the supe twins’ former show but you gotta wear what you can wear when your shirt gets… messed up. I must say, that color looks impeccable on his skin. 

Episode 7 – Dark Man X

Like the Ruff Ryders logo, DMX’s is also iconic. And MM continues his deep love of Black shirts, rocking one with a red logo on it. Love to see it. Alonso tells us more about why he wanted MM to wear this shirt in episode seven. “We did a shoutout to DMX and the Ruff Ryders this season,” he says. “The DMX one is in the episode where I knock out Todd. That [moment] was declarative. And we wanted to have that shirt during a moment when MM exhibits a moment of gaining back his family and control.”

Episode 8 – Snoop Dogg 

The West Coast gets a little love with this Snoop Dogg shirt. Perfect 10, no notes. 

Episode 8 – 2Pac 

He ends the season and this episode with a shirt that makes total sense considering his Snoop shirt. 2Pac is heavily associated with Cali thanks to his Death Row days; however, he’s an East Coast native who spent his high school years in the DMV, Baltimore to be specific. It turns out that Laz Alonso is himself a native of the area, hailing from DC. 

The Best T-Shirts That Marvin “MM” Milk Wears in Season 4

Episode 1 – GangStarr

MM starts The Boys season four off right with a Gang Starr shirt in the show’s opening scene. This Boston, MA hip-hop duo found success primarily in the ’90s and early 2000s. DJ Premier continues to work in the music industry to this day. Unfortunately, Guru passed away after a bout with cancer in 2010. Leave it to MM to always honor legends.

Episode 1 – EPMD

The crew is back at Boys headquarters and a perpetually stressed MM is trying to log into his damn CIA account. In this scene, he’s wearing an EPMD T-shirt, which obviously honors the influential hip-hop group featuring Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith. They came to rise in 1987 and gave us hits like “Strictly Business” and “You Gots To Chill.”

It’s the perfect shirt for MM, who is trying to handle being the leader of the Boys and always standing on business.

Episode 1 – The LOX – “Money, Power & Respect”

At first, it is hard to make out what this shirt is while MM, Frenchie, and Kimiko are tracking Todd. But, during the Starlighter/Homelander supporter showdown, we can clearly see the shirt honors The LOX, a rap trio comprised of Styles P, Jadakiss, and Sheek Louch, who were popular in the late ’90s as a group prior to each person finding their own success.

Episode 2 – Eric B & Rakim

Eric B & Rakim are a classic rap duo, much like MM and Butcher are a great pair. Well, they used to be. MM is wearing this shirt when Butcher tells everyone about his diagnosis and he subsequently kicks him out of the Boys. Then, he beats Butcher up with this shirt on. Good lord. Eric B & Rakim rocked the mic during the golden age of hip-hop in the late ’80s with classics like “Paid in Full” and “I Know You Got Soul.”

Episode 2 – OutKast

OutKast is everlasting and also a great addition to MM’s T-shirt lineup on The Boys. The Southern rap legends Andre 3000 and Big Boy are two of the most influential and successful musicians of all-time. MM slides this great shirt in at the end when he chats with Butcher and decides he’s truly done with his s**t.

Episode 3 – MF DOOM

MF Doom is what’s on MM’s chest when he is at the headquarters and suggesting that he will get A-Train to work with them. It’s a simple black hoodie (it is near Christmas and cold, apparently) with white lettering that honors the late, great British rapper who died in 2020.

Episode 4 – Big Pun

As MM decides to bring Butcher back into the fold, he’s wearing a Big Pun shirt. The Bronx rapper rose to fame in the mid-’90s with hits like “Still Not a Player.” Sadly, he died in the midst of a growing career in 2000. It’s lovely to see MM continue to honor rappers who are no longer with us. It is the only shirt he wears throughout the episode.

Episode 5 – Big Pun (Again!)

At the beginning of the episode, MM keeps his long-sleeved Big Pun T-Shirt for this episode. This makes makes sense considering time isn’t passing very quickly. But he soon goes for a quick change that’s closely related with a fun hoodie.

Episode 5 – Fat Joe

MM honors Big Pun’s partner-in-music Fat Joe with an all-black hoodie. His hoodie gets quite dirty, thanks to some Compound V-fueled chickens at Victoria’s hellacious farm.

I’m thankful for every dope ass T-shirt he wears and how they fit. Give that costume person and Laz Alonso a raise!

Originally published July 8, 2022.

The post An Ode to Marvin ‘MM’ Milk’s Impeccable T-Shirt Collection on THE BOYS appeared first on Nerdist.

The Boys season four’s fifth episode is a doozy. There’s a heap of blood, guts, gore, murderous farm animals, and more. We even see Gen V’s Cate Dunlap and Sam Riordan for a brief cameo at a Hall H Comic-Con style event promoting their new comedy series. A lot of funny and shocking things happen but the episode ends with heartbreak. The effect of Compound V on Hughie’s dad is absolutely devastating, proving that Butcher is actually right sometimes. 

At the end of episode four, Hughie’s dad comes out of his coma after an injection of Compound V. In this episode, we find out that Hughie’s mom gave it to him after Hughie hesitated to do so. At first, everything seems cool as they laugh, reminisce, and are a family again. But Hughie notices that his father is having a hard time remembering certain things. He goes to grab a Snapple for his dad while his mom is in the restroom. Upon returning, his mom is back, but Mr. Campbell is missing.

Hughie and his mom frantically look for him, only to find him standing stoically in a room with a bloody heart in his hand after accidentally killing a hospital worker. Hughie tries to get him to calm down so he can explain what’s going on, but a nurse comes in and panics. She alerts security and Hughie’s dad shakily teleports and runs through a wall. He accidentally kills more people and is frightened by his uncontrollable actions.

Hughie once again tries to talk to him but he doesn’t recognize his own son anymore. Instead, he believes Hughie is eleven years old again and becomes enraged at the sight of his estranged wife. He nearly kills her before Hughie steps in to talk him down. Both Hughie and his mom know that his father cannot live this way. Hughie decides to give his father a fatal dose of a drug to help him die peacefully. They bid him a tearful farewell as Hughie’s dad admits that he’s afraid. He calls his son “Wee Hughie,” a reference to Hughie’s comic moniker, and dies shortly afterward. 

Even if Hughie’s dad hadn’t taken that Compound V, he was going to succumb to his massive brain injury in a short amount of time. Like Kimiko and Butcher previously told Hughie, you cannot save everyone and sometimes you simply have to let people go. Watching a beloved parent die in front of your eyes is one of the worst pains a person can imagine (I’ve experienced it in real-life), so it is understandable why Hughie didn’t want to let go of his father.

We don’t know what this means for him in the future but hopefully Hughie can continue to heal his relationship with his mom. And, it is yet another scenario that affirms the awful dangers and side effects of Compound V.

The post THE BOYS Shows the Dangers of Compound V Through Hughie’s Dad appeared first on Nerdist.

The fifth episode of The Boys’ fourth season is a game changer in many ways. We discover what happens to Hughie’s dad after taking Compound V, A-Train and Ashley team up to cover his tracks, and most of the Boys team works with Victoria Neuman and Stan Edgar on a mission involving murderous farm animals. (I know.) Speaking of the latter, this episode of The Boys ties in Gen V in quite a few ways, including cameos by Cate Dunlap and Sam Riordan. Let’s dive into all the diabolical mess. 

Butcher Tells the Boys About the Supe-Killing Virus at God U 

The desperation to get rid of awful supes like Firecracker, Homelander, and Victoria Neuman is at an all-time high. So Butcher decides to tell the team about a virus that can kill supes by basically frying the Compound V out of them. MM and the others are annoyed but not shocked that he was withholding information once again. Butcher knows that Victoria has the goods, so he works with MM to strike a deal with Stan Edgar. They visit the former Vought leader in prison and say that they will help exonerate him and assist him with getting custody of Zoe. Stan is very angry that Victoria betrayed him and gave Zoe Compound V, so he agrees to help. 

Victoria Neuman Is Leading Experiments on Animals and Most of Supe-Killing Virus Is Gone

The Boys team (minus Hughie) and Stan travel to a remote home he owns to see if Victoria is stashing the supe-killing virus there. She was not only keeping it there, but also having a crew of researchers, including Zoe’s father Sameer, experiment on small animals. Victoria likely wants to perfect it so she can take out Homelander. One hamster went rogue, Compound V got into the water supply, and the farm became a not-so-pleasant space. The crew battles deadly flying sheep and chickens before they eventually discover that there’s only one dose of the supe-killing virus left. 

Butcher and Joe Kessler later return to force Sameer into making more of the virus. That is not the plan everyone wants, but Butcher is always doing his own thing. 

Related Posts:

Gen V Characters Tek Knight, Cate Dunlap, and Sam Riordan Appear at a Comic-Con Style Convention in The Boys Season Four

We get a few familiar faces from Gen V at a convention to announce Vought’s next media phases. Tek Knight announces a film called The Tek Knight with a dark sequence and a great soundtrack. (God, I love this show.) Then, the “Guardians of Godolkin” come out to announce their show Flipped. Cate plays a stuck-up sorority girl, Sam is a nerd, but a gypsy swaps their bodies. Honestly, that show sounds awful.

Sam and Cate also appear at Vought with Homelander and the Seven. Homelander says they will now be wrathful gods and Cate happily agrees to do whatever he wishes. Sam, on the other hand, looks afraid and doesn’t have much to say. Outside of a brief TV report about Marie and the others being missing, there hasn’t been much mention of the God U kids until now. We will see how Cate and Sam play a larger role in the final episodes. 

We know that The Boys season four will likely end on a note that preps us for Gen V‘s second season. Maybe we will see where Marie and her friends are being hidden. Maybe we will get a glimpse of The Tek Knight. Either way, we love how The Boys seamlessly blends Gen V into its narrative.

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The Boys‘ spinoff series Gen V (mostly) did its own thing with the mystery at Godolkin University. But that doesn’t mean these shows aren’t closely intertwined. For college supes like Marie Moreau, the deification of superheroes led their parents to inject them babies with Compound V in hopes that they’d gain powers. This drug is a big part of The Boys’ overall history and future storylines. So, let’s dig into all things Compound V, its different forms, and what it means for the characters of Gen V and The Boys. 

The History of Compound V and Compound V24 in The Boys, Explained

The first season of The Boys introduces us to Compound V. It is a blue serum that can give both humans and animals extraordinary abilities. Nazi scientist Frederick Vought created it during WWII to turn adult soldiers into supes. Over the years, Vought International continued to make and manipulate his formula. The abilities a person can get are random and, if there are multiple doses, the powers can change based on how it mutates in the body. Interestingly, Compound V has a better survival and success rate with babies and young children versus adults. It is not a guarantee that anyone who takes Compound V will develop powers at any point in their lives. And, as expected, higher doses for those who can successfully process Compound V makes them stronger/faster/etc. This is why Queen Maeve and Homelander are so wildly strong.

In The Boys, we see an adult and already superpowered A-Train and his then-girlfriend Popclaw take Compound V. They use it in regular, small doses to enhance their abilities, much like a steroid does for normal human athletes. Unfortunately, it can cause the opposite effect and weaken their powers or cause major damage to their organs. That’s what happens to the speedster A-Train, who ends up needing a heart transplant.

The Boys season three gives us a different form of the serum with Compound V24, which is also known as Temp V. Compound V24 is a green super serum that allows a regular person to be a supe for 24 hours with just one dose. It is expensive—two million dollars, to be exact—and doesn’t seem to be addictive. Well, unless you count a person’s ego boost as addictive. Butcher gets his initial dose from Queen Maeve in hopes of being able to fight Soldier Boy and the Payback collective. Hughie also takes some of it so he can gain powers and feel more useful in general. 

Like any drug, Compound V24 has side effects. It made Butcher vomit green blood, drizzle goo out of his ears, and eventually led to such severe sickness that he only has months to live (allegedly). Starlight reveals that Compound V24 is fatal after three doses and Butcher has hit that mark.

Compound V24 comes into play in The Boys season four as we learn more about Butcher’s fate. The first three episodes show how it is affecting his body, with wormlike crawling happening under his skin. He’s hallucinating and seeing Becca, often unable to stand, and just looks like s**t in general. We discover in episode four that Butcher tried to take regular Compound V to save his life and, while he does have some serious physical strength, it is not enough.

We see how dangerous Compound V can be through Hughie’s father, who gets a dose from Hughie’s mom. He initially pops up like toast from a serious coma but, in episode five, he gains an uncontrollable and deadly power along with some mental instability. Hughie ends up giving him a drug so he can pass away peacefully.

We also see that it causes some serious deviant behavior in animals, thanks to Victoria Neuman’s farm experiments. From deadly flying sheep to chickens that will fly right through your torso, Compound V is a mess of a drug.

Compound V in Gen V, Explained

It’s pretty obvious that Compound V plays a role in Gen V. It is right there in the show’s name. According to Indira Shetty’s conversation with Ashely Barrett in episode two, 400 kids (including Marie) found out that they weren’t born special but were drugged with Compound V as babies. Luke and Sam further discuss this in an episode three flashback. Sam is understandably furious when he finds out but Luke tries to defend his parents, saying they just thought they were giving them powers.

Why would a parent give their child a dangerous and potentially fatal drug? We assume most parents did this in hopes of making their kids wealthy/famous like the Seven. That is the case with Emma’s mom for sure. As we discover in Gen V, many of these young supes don’t know how to control their abilities when they first activate. Like Marie, some of their powers don’t kick in until puberty or another life-altering event and they are completely shocked.

They often end up in places like the Red River Institute, which is a supe orphanage. After a certain age/timeframe, they “transition” to a facility like Sage Grove psychiatric hospital or Elmira Adult rehab center where they are locked up or killed. Some supes like Sam have to grapple with mental health hurdles, too.

Marie’s power may not be as “marketable” as being a speedster or having super strength; however, she’s still one of the lucky ones. Landing at God U seemed like the best fate given her traumatic past. But we now know that the school is a front for gruesome experiments. Interestingly, we discover more about Marie’s powers, including her ability to suss out Compound V in a person’s bloodstream.

The mysteries of that weird facility known as “the woods” revealed that there’s a supe killing virus that presumably deadens the Compound V in a being’s system. The Boys season four will probably reveal something new about Compound V, so let’s stay tuned.

Originally published September 29, 2023.

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The Boys season four is in full swing and, to quote the great MM, it is truly “the bold and the bats**t.” Butcher and company cannot get along for more than two seconds, people are literally fighting on the streets, and Vought’s supes are up to no good. Despite having a ton of superheroes, I’d say no one on this show is truly a hero. But some characters are up to some seriously nefarious activities. Quite a few villains are at play in The Boys season four, so let’s look at how they are shaking up this universe.

Homelander

Of course, the chief antagonist is Homelander. He’s trying to mold Ryan in his own twisted image and is willing to do anything to take down Annie/Starlight and the Boys for good. Homelander is threatening Victoria Neuman, lasering the heads of innocent people, and being an all-around d*ck to most of his Vought family. He’s also unraveling mentally so he could do or say literally anything at any moment, like when he went back to his birthplace and killed pretty much everyone in horrific fashion. In episode five, he even starts to turn Ryan into a diabolical mini-me by appealing to his son’s desire to help others while offering his twisted guidance. The longer Ryan stays with him, the less chances of Butcher being able to save Ryan before he becomes a full-fledged baddie.

Interestingly, he’s actually not the mastermind of this season’s most heinous acts so far.

Sister Sage

The one who is really calling the evil shots is Sister Sage. Homelander brought her into the fold to help sustain Vought’s power and destroy everything that Starlight has built. And boy is she using her smarts to the wildest extent. She convinces Homelander to have A-Train, Black Noir, and the Deep murder three of Homelander’s biggest fans and pin it on two Starlight supporters. (Her doing this as a Black woman and framing two Black men is exceptionally nasty work.)

She’s also turned the Deep against Ashley, which helped her secure power as Vought’s CEO. And, she brought Firecracker, a dangerous conspiracy theorist with a rabid following, into the fold to tell her lies on a really large platform. Having someone as calculating yet even-keeled as her to balance out Homelander is frightening. Sister Sage may not be killing people directly but she is certainly a villain in The Boys season four. 

Firecracker

Being a dangerous “truther” aside, Firecracker is dangerous because of her deep-seated hatred for Starlight. In episode three, we discover Firecracker was shunned from the pageant world after Annie told people she had sex with judges. She’s certainly within her rights to hate Annie’s guts but she’s also putting a lot of innocent people in danger with her lies and twisted propaganda. Homelander’s followers are bad, but her devotees are 10 times worse because they will literally believe anything she says. Sounds familiar, right? 

From sharing Annie’s very private information on a national platform to her gross statutory rape of a teenage boy, Firecracker is absolutely a villain in The Boys. Annie may not be a natural killer but she’s going to have to silence this supe for good.

Victoria Neuman

Victoria is also up to no good. She’s working with Homelander and Sister Sage to get Robert Singer out of the way so she can be the President. Once installed, they want Victoria to give supes ultimate power in every city and get rid of any educational platforms/theories that are “anti-supe.” After what happened with Soldier Boy killing MM’s grandfather and Blue Hawk’s murder of an innocent Black man, this certainly isn’t good for society. 

In episode five, we discover that she’s taken the supe-killing virus from God U and has (sorta accidentally) created an entire farm of Compound V-powered deranged animals. She wants to take Homelander down but she also wants to make sure that she obtains the highest level of power. Right now, she’s playing nice with the Boys and Stan Edgar, but Butcher’s decision to hurt Zoe’s father and force him into making more of the virus will probably lead to her popping a few heads.

Of course, there are other people who aren’t exactly heroic. We are still trying to fully figure out what’s up with Joe Kessler (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and if A-Train is truly going to be #TeamBoys or turn on them once again. A-Train even has Ashley as his ally, which makes sense considering how Sage destroyed her career. Stan Edgar is also back on the streets, so who knows what he will cook up to save his own ass. And Butcher is always on the wrong side of a moral debate.

We will have to see what other villains emerge and keep our eyes on the Big Four as The Boys season four progresses.

Originally published on June 13, 2024.

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In the first episode of The Boys season four, we finally get to meet Joe Kessler, the mysterious character played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Until now, we only knew that he used to work with Butcher in some capacity. He’s admittedly not in the show’s first three episodes a lot but subsequent episodes do reveal more about who Jeffrey Dean Morgan is playing on The Boys. 

Episode one takes place six months after the events of season three. Billy Butcher is sick, no longer the leader of the Boys,and, well, pretty much everyone around him hates him. After a failed mission to kill Vice President-elect Victoria Neuman, Grace Mallory and President-elect Robert Singer call MM in for a heavy scolding. Butcher is not welcomed into the room but he is shocked with Joe Kessler appears at the CIA office. They worked together at the CIA and were in a war on some covert s**t. It’s been over 10 years ago, so they exchange some pleasantries and jokes before catching up over coffee.

Joe asks why Butcher is still trying to be down with the Boys. Butcher says he will get his leadership position back. Butcher is laser focused on killing Homelander and saving Ryan while Joe is clearly frustrated about Mallory’s preoccupation with killing Victoria Neuman. Joe says they need someone like him before supes start rounding up humans and putting them into camps. It’s not totally clear who the “they” is but we can assume that Joe is working on something behind Mallory’s back. 

We see Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Joe Kessler again in episode three after Butcher admits to the Boys that he only has months to live. MM is unwilling to help Butcher with his dying mission of getting Ryan away from Homelander for good. So he goes to Kessler for assistance. Joe gives Butcher a powerful drug that will knock Ryan out and allow them to essentially hold him hostage at Grace’s safehouse. Butcher bakes the drug into cookies but, after opening up about his fears of dying, decides to earn his trust instead.

Joe feels like Butcher is wasting precious time. He reveals that he looked into Butcher’s medical files and knows about his diagnosis. He also says they “need” Ryan because the whole world is about to burn. This angers Butcher because he doesn’t want Ryan to be a killing asset. Joe warns that they either figure out how to train him or they may have to figure out how to kill him. Honestly, they are both making valid points. Ryan is only 12 years old and maybe shouldn’t be trained to be a soldier. However, his lack of training could prove to be dangerous. He did (accidentally) fling a man into the side of the building and crush him, after all. The question is whether Joe is someone with good intentions or not.

In episode five, Butcher meets with Joe and gives him photos from The Woods at God U. Joe says that he and Butcher should do the job of killing Homelander without the rest of the Boys because, well, they are all a mess. (He’s not wrong.) Joe says that the two of them don’t belong with decent people. Later on, Butcher goes with the crew, Stan Edgar, and Victoria Neuman. They find Sameer, a scientist working at Victoria’s secret lab who is also her daughter Zoe’s father. He argues with Annie/Starlight about whether they should use the last bit of the supe-killing virus to take a shot and make a run for it from the Compound V animals or try to use it on a man’s corpse to kill the deranged animals. MM talks sense into everyone and they make the latter choice to save everyone, but Butcher never goes with the flow.

At the end of the episode, Butcher brings Joe to the secluded farm after he’s tied up Sameer and cut one of his legs off at the knee. Butcher threatens Sameer to make more of the supe-killing virus, lest he wants to lose more body parts. This brutality pleases Joe, who smiles in the background. This certainly won’t go over well with anyone else…

Is Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s The Boys Character Joe Kessler From the Comics?

There isn’t a Joe Kessler in The Boys comics but there is a Howard Kessler. He’s a CIA analyst who feeds the Boys information. Butcher calls him Monkey due to a gross incident that happened at a brothel. Howard Kessler is a terrible person who tries to sexually assault a woman. Butcher responds to this by having his dog Terror deliver sickening justice. I’d rather not get into all that but it seems that Joe’s last name is simply a nod to that character and nothing more.

Right now, he’s the only friend that Butcher has who will help him complete his final missions. Let’s see what else we learn about Joe Kessler this season.

Originally published on June 13, 2024.

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Have you ever imagined what the world was like in your city/town or even in the very spot you’re in right now thousands of years ago? It’s pretty cool to think about the dinosaurs and animals that once ran through your backyard. Or, if you’re in an older house or apartment, you might think about the many lives that once called your space “home.” Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis does exactly this with Here, a film that interestingly reunites Tom Hanks and Robin Wright and shows us the evolution of one small space through the eyes of several generations. (Don’t you just love to see these two together and hugging again?!) The trailer for Here is a strange trip through time, from the Jurassic era to modern-day. 

There’s a lot going on here. Zemeckis de-ages Tom Hanks and Robin Wright to show their earlier courtship days and it sure is something. He spoke to Variety recently, revealing that the entire 104 minute movie is in one spot and the camera never moves. That means it will seem much more like watching a play. We see dinosaurs in the Here trailer; however, the film seems to focus on a century timespan and revolve mostly around Richard and Margaret, the main couple. At least, that’s what we gather from the synopsis: 

From the reunited director, writer, and stars of Forrest Gump, Here is an original film about multiple families and a special place they inhabit. The story travels through generations, capturing the human experience in its purest form. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, screenplay by Eric Roth & Zemeckis and told much in the style of the acclaimed graphic novel by Richard McGuire on which it is based, Tom Hanks and Robin Wright star in a tale of love, loss, laughter and life, all of which happen right Here.

What Is the Release Date for Tom Hanks and Robin Wright’s Here Movie? 

Here will hit theaters on November 15.

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Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos’ next film, Bugonia, now has a home at Focus Features. Focus will release the film with Universal Pictures distributing it internationally (excluding Korea). Bugonia, starring Emma Stone (hello Poor Things reunion!) and Jesse Plemons, is set to release on November 7, 2025. We also have a very short logline that’s intriguing: 

Two conspiracy obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.

Ahh, you gotta love when people kidnap someone and they aren’t human. At least they actually go into it thinking that she’s an otherworldly being. The kidnappers in Abigail had no clue that they were taking on a kid vampire.

Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia is based on a 2003 South Korean sci-fi comedy “Save the Green Planet.” So, if you are like me, you’ll want to check that out while waiting for this movie’s eventual arrival. One thing is for sure: Peter Kujawski, the Chairman of Focus Features, totally digs Bugonia’s storyline. Here’s what he had to say about this news:

Yorgos Lanthimos is a cinematic visionary with a singular style that has captivated audiences worldwide. We could not be more excited to partner with him, Emma and the incredible teams at Element, Square Peg and CJ ENM to reimagine this twisted and darkly funny story.

Emma Stone playing a weird character and Lanthimos’ direction go together like peanut butter and jelly.

Originally published on May 20, 2024.

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The Walking Dead is over but, as we know, the end of the flagship series that’s been in fans’ hearts for over a decade doesn’t mean this world is done. The show already has six spinoff series: Fear the Walking Dead, Tales of the Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, The Walking Dead: Dead City, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Most of them are completed; however, there’s a couple that are continuing this franchise with more seasons.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is gearing up for season two and already has a confirmed season three. But it seems the series might get a fourth round, according to Norman Reedus during a RadioTimes interview. “We’re about to start seasons 3 and possibly 4 in Spain,” he said. “I think I’m allowed to say that. I don’t know. I just said it. But I think we’re going to Spain, to Madrid, for that.”

Jump To: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol // The Walking Dead: Dead City S2 // TWD Crossover Event

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season Two – “The Book of Carol” Is Coming in September

We are done with the first season of Daryl Dixon’s adventure, but there is already great news about his show’s second season. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon will bring Carol into the fold. We don’t know if she will also end up in France or if they will meet in some odd middle. Either way, it will be good to see those besties together again. Season two will release on September 29 with the first of six episodes.

Here are some fresh new images to get you ready for Caryl action:

You can check out The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon‘s season two teaser below.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner David Zabel gave fans more insight into season two. He reveals that the Nest is a prominent location in season two and Carol’s previous comment about some mystery person coming back will come into play. “There’s also another clue… this moment in the radio call in episode 5 where she talks about something or someone having come back,” said Zabel. “And the impression we get, and Daryl also gets, is that something’s a little off for her, something’s wrong. And so that’s going to also function into the story for Carol in season 2.”

As stated above, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season two, “The Book of Carol” will come in Summer 2024. Norman Reedus himself posted the slick announcement in his IG stories.

The Walking Dead: Dead City Season Two Will Arrive in 2025

While this universe is trucking along with Daryl’s adventures, things are slower for Dead City. We’ve known that a second season was coming for a while but didn’t know the release window until now. We will get season two in 2025. Season 1 ended with Maggie trading Negan to get her son Herschel back. Now, Negan is working for The Dama, a dangerous leader in NYC. This next chapter will presumably focus on her organization and Negan’s attempts to escape… if he even wants to do that. Negan no longer has his family and really has no friends either, so he might as well crank up the evil again, right? As long as he stays far away from the Grimes family, I truly don’t care what he does.

Here’s a synopsis for Dead City‘s second season:

In season two, in the growing war for control of Manhattan, Maggie and Negan find themselves trapped on opposite sides. As their paths intertwine, they come to see that the way out for both is more complicated and harrowing than they ever imagined.

Anywho, season two will bring new faces into the mix. Deadline reports that Sons of Anarchy alum Kim Coates will join Dead City‘s cast as Bruegel, the leader of a fierce NYC gang.

The Walking Dead‘s Potential Spinoff Crossover Event and The Ones Who Live‘s Future

As fans know, Rick Grimes was supposed to get three movies, but now it is the limited series alongside Michonne. The Ones Who Live is meant to wrap up their storylines; however, Gimple says there might be more story to tell. “Anything is possible — even if Rick dies in the last episode, anything is possible,” he said to Deadline. “We’re focused on this one right now. But this one came together in a really amazing way, where there were all sorts of plans. And then the world changed and we altered those plans.”

We obviously know now (and honestly always knew) that Rick didn’t die. He got to reunite with Judith and meet Rick, Jr., but there are so many reunions that need to happen. Morgan is out there looking for Rick, Daryl will eventually return to the US, and there’s the rest of his found family back home. All signs seem to be pointing to a crossover event, which Gimple wants to happen.

“I do have dreams of merging this all together, and I have laid little breadcrumbs toward that, but you never know exactly when and how [it will come together], because of a variety of reasons,” he told TVLine. As long as The Walking Dead franchise is getting money and attention from fans, it will surely keep making more spinoff content. That’s fine with us but please, please don’t follow the comics and kill Rick Grimes if you bring him back in the future.

A lot is happening in The Walking Dead universe and there will surely be more details about other spinoffs if they happen. There’s plenty left to explore in the land of the dead, so let’s keep walking right towards these spinoffs.

Jump To: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol // The Walking Dead: Dead City S2 // TWD Crossover Event

Originally published on April 7, 2022.

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The Boys just might offer us a Supernatural Winchester family reunion. Jensen Ackles’ played the villainous Soldier Boy in season three and will reprise that role this season alongside Jeffrey Dean Morgan. So that’s Dean and his father John Winchester right there. The Boys showrunner and Supernatural creator Eric Kripke hoped to bring Jared Padalecki to this universe to complete the trinity. And Deadline reports that Padalecki is down to be a part of The Boys‘ fifth and final season.

“I mean, he created Supernatural. He created Sam Winchester. He created Ruby [played by Genevieve Padalecki], who I ended up marrying and starting a family with,” he said. “I adore him. I adore his humor. I adore him as a person, his storytelling. So I can’t wait. I don’t think [Season 5] films until next year, but I will be ready when he makes the phone call. I’ll just say ‘Okay, when am I flying out?’”

Padalecki’s schedule is a bit more open now following the unfortunate cancellation of his Walker series. And that’s when Kripke started making his desire to bring Padalecki into the mix known.

“Texts have been sent,” Kripke previously told Entertainment Weekly shortly before the cancellation news dropped. “I feel like it would be a bummer to not have Jared on the show one way or another at this point, even if it’s just the one-episode thing. He’s been shooting Walker, but with that show wrapping up, maybe he’ll have some time to come in and play with us. I would love it. We have definitely talked about it.” 

Kripke additionally added, “I don’t have a specific role yet, but I have the will, and where there’s the will, there’s the way. I don’t know whether it would be recurring or just one episode , but I can’t imagine I’ll finish the show, whenever it ends, without getting Jared in there, at least once. He’s been unavailable for years now, and now he is [available], so I definitely wanna bring him in for something.”

Finally, Kripke referred to an eventual Padalecki and Ackles reunion on The Boys as his Supernatural Pokémon game. He shared, “I feel like I have to complete my game of ‘Supernatural’ Pokémon and I have my one big one — very big one — left to catch.”

We don’t know if it will be a complete family reunion, per se. There’s certainly hope for season five; however, there’s a chance that Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character and/or Soldier Boy could be legit dead by then. We will see what happens but, either way, we are totally down for it.

Originally published on May 22, 2024.

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Door-to-door evangelizing seems like a lot of hard work. You have to be out in the elements and spreading the word of your Lord and Savior, often to people who really don’t want to hear it. I’d imagine there are a ton of people who either ignore you, slam the door in your face, or curse you out. And, if you’re a woman, there’s always that extra risk of a guy doing or saying something to make you feel super uncomfortable. But I never thought that a missionary occupational hazard would be running into a lunatic who holds you hostage in their house for weird mental games. That’s what happens in Heretic, an A24 psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, Yellowjackets’ star Sophie Thatcher, and Chloe East with a trailer that teases a house of horrors. 

In the clip, Thatcher and Chloe are two young missionaries trying to spread knowledge about Jesus Christ. Their somewhat meek demeanors mean they are dismissed by most people. Nevertheless, they continue to bike around town and try to save souls. They go to a random, secluded house (red flag #1) where Grant’s far-too-friendly Mr. Reed lives. He invites them inside (red flag #2) and insists that it’s okay because his wife is there (red flag #3).

Things soon go down a dark path when they realize they are locked in. Mr. Reed says they can go but they have to choose between two doorways: one for believers and one for those who do not believe. I’m pretty sure there are terrible things behind both doors. The Heretic trailer is a fun peek that doesn’t give away too much but gives us the gift of a diabolical Hugh Grant. We love when he plays a villain.

Here’s the synopsis for Heretic: 

Two young missionaries are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse.

What Is the Release Date for A24’s Heretic Movie Starring Hugh Grant? 

Heretic will hit theaters on November 15, 2024.

The post Hugh Grant Holds Missionaries Hostage in a Horror House in HERETIC Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

Season two of House of the Dragon marks the beginning of a war between former friends turned bitter enemies Rhaenyra and Alicent. By now, you should have already pledged your allegiance to #TeamBlack (the right choice, obvs) or #TeamGreen (a choice, I guess) and are crossing your fingers to hope your side has the least amount of characters. It is inevitable that there will be quite a few characters who die. That is the way of war, after all, and House of the Dragon goes with death like peanut butter with jelly. So, who dies in House of the Dragon season two? Let’s track all the sad and brutal demises right here. 

Jump to: HOTD Episode 1 Deaths // HOTD Episode 2 Deaths

House of the Dragon Deaths – Episode 1 “A Son for a Son”

Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen Loses His Head to Blood and Cheese 

Jaehaerys, the son of King Aegon and his sister-wife Queen Helaena, was set to be the heir to the throne. The young and innocent boy was spotted in the episode casually playing in the council room before being sent off to his studies. Sadly, this tyke met a brutal ending thanks to some scheming by Daemon that went totally wrong. As we know, Rhaenyra is upset about her son Lucerys death at the end of season one. She only wants one thing: to see Aemond Targaryen pay for what he did.

Daemon takes this personally and hires the duo Blood and Cheese to infiltrate the royal living quarters and kill Aemond. This is obviously where the episode title “Son for a Son” comes from. And it technically happens… just to the wrong son. They locate Jaehaerys and his twin sister along with Helaena and force her to tell them which child is the boy. She does (a little too quickly for my liking) and runs off with her daughter to inform Alicent.

We don’t see a ton of blood and gore. But we hear the awful sawing sound of them taking his head to bring back to Daemon.

House of the Dragon Deaths – Episode 2 “Rhaenyra the Cruel”

Blood and Cheese Die in the Wake of Aegon’s Wrath  

Of course, Blood and Cheese don’t get away with their bumbling crime. Blood is caught leaving King’s Landing and confesses to Larys that his accomplice is a ratcatcher. Aegon, acting out of rage, orders for every ratcatcher to be killed in the kingdom. This includes Cheese but also means a lot of innocent men died, too.

Ser Arryk and His Brother Erryk Have a Sad Fight to the Death

Ser Criston Cole, who was in Alicent’s bed instead of doing his job, pulls an awful move to absolve his own guilt. He orders Ser Arryk to go on an ill-fated mission to kill Rhaenyra at Dragonstone, where his brother Erryk serves by her side. He uses the whole twin bit to get all the way to her chambers, but Erryk is warned of his arrival (presumably by Mysaria). The duo battle and Erryk gets the upper hand, killing his own brother. But, his grief over his actions quickly lead him to die by suicide with his sword. It is a heartbreaking moment that is all Criston’s fault.

There will be more bloodshed and deaths to come in House of the Dragon season two.

Originally published June 17, 2024.

The post Every Major Character Death in HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Season 2 appeared first on Nerdist.

Nosferatu. That one word causes a shiver to go down horror fans’ spines. We all know the story of the famed vampire Count Orlok, who is unofficially based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula vampire. And, no matter how many times it gets retold, we want to see it over and over again. Gothic vampire horror narratives will always reign supreme, and the original Nosferatu movie is legendary. The trailer for Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu hits the perfect notes, giving away none of its plot and simply leaning into disturbing imagery. We learn one thing throughout its narrative: He is coming. 

I don’t know the name of the casting director who brought on Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok. I do know that they deserve every good thing in life. What a perfect choice. He’s opposite Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter, the object of this vampire’s affections. The Nosferatu teaser trailer promises a dark and twisted tale centering on these two characters. 

Here’s a quick synopsis to bring things into focus: 

Robert Eggers’ NOSFERATU is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.

The remainder of Nosferatu’s cast is as follows: 

What Is the Release Date for Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu Movie? 

Nosferatu will hit theaters on December 25, 2024. What a haunting Christmas present.

The post Bill Skarsgård Comes for Lily-Rose Depp’s Blood and Body in NOSFERATU Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

Doctor Who is back. We love to see romps through space and time with the Doctor, his companion(s), and the TARDIS, and this season will certainly give us all of that. But that’s not the only reason we are happy about season 1. Ncuti Gatwa, who is one of the most stylish men on Earth, is playing our beloved Doctor and he’s not shy about using the TARDIS closet. We’ve already seen quite a few photos of Fifteen and Ruby Sunday in some sweet threads. So, in honor of his impeccable fashion sense, here’s every single outfit that Ncuti Gatwa wears in Doctor Who. 

“The Giggle” 

Like many Doctors, the first outfit we see Ncuti Gatwa in is his predecessor’s clothing. But, unlike previous Doctors, their bigeneration means he is only wearing the top half of the outfit. Fifteen wants to know what the hell is going on while wearing a white shirt, a patterned tie, white undies, and hi-top Chuck Taylors. He doesn’t even bother to change clothes before he pops off for new adventures.

“The Church on Ruby Road” 

At the beginning of the episode, we see Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor wearing that brown jacket and the striped shirt (with some chest peeking out) from several promo pics. It’s a shot from the waist up, so we don’t get the full outfit until later in the episode, which also includes blue trousers and his very cool trainers (sneakers for us American folks). Even as his outfits change, he wears an assortment of necklaces and rings to really accent things. Ncuti told us that Ralph Lauren’s HBCU line as well as his own style will influence the Doctor’s looks, which is very cool. 

The Doctor wears a few outfits while keeping an eye on Ruby before their first proper meeting. His yellow undershirt and kilt are truly a vibe as he twirls on the dance floor. Ruby stares at him and, honestly, we were staring too. When he steps outside, we get to see his black leather jacket and boots that really complete the outfit. 

We also see him watching her play the piano while wearing a brown and black plaid suit, an orange sweater, and a cowboy hat. We need him to bring that look back and put Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter on his jukebox right now.

At the end of the episode, he’s changed his shirt to a grey zipup sweater with colorful stripes! Still looking fly.

“Space Babies”

There’s no costume changes for this one. He keeps the look from the end of the Christmas special for their first space adventure. 

“The Devil’s Chord”

This Doctor Who episode starts with Ncuti Gatwa wearing a very casual street outfit: an orange short sleeved button down shirt, Levi Jeans, his trainers, and a blue belt.

But, Ruby brings up the very valid point of them changing clothes and he makes a change. That blue pinstriped suit is the business. It’s giving Temptations! Also, is the Doctor wearing a wig and faux sideburns with that suit? Yes, he is.

“Boom”

“Boom” is quite the explosive episode, even with the Doctor mostly stuck on a landmine. But, at least Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor Who outfits continue to be on point. He’s wearing a black jacket over a white shirt with a nice pair of tan trousers. His boots are also the business. Love to see it.

“73 Yards”

The Fifteenth Doctor was only in this episode for a matter of minutes. (Here’s an explanation of why.) But whew is Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor Who outfit so good in this one. The orange coat, striped shirt, and the reddish orange beanie are all a vibe.

“Dot and Bubble”

We don’t physically see the Doctor much in this episode but he does a repeat of his orange sweater and brown plaid suit. When he appears on Lindy’s screen, he loses the jacket for a better look at his sweater.

“Rogue”

Now this is the outfit of all Ncuti Gatwa Doctor Who outfits. The Regency era drip is unmatched and he is too dapper for words!

“The Legend of Ruby Sunday”

Even as the world is ending, the Doctor knows how to look good. He keeps it simple with a white T-shirt, black leather jacket, jeans, and boots as he faces Sutekh alongside Ruby and our favorite mad auntie Mel.

“Empire of Death”

The Doctor gets in one more outfit change before going back to a previous look at the very end. He keeps his white shirt but trades out the jeans for a lighter linen. Simple but Ncuti makes everything look good!

Originally published May 10, 2024.

The post Every Outfit Ncuti Gatwa Wears in DOCTOR WHO appeared first on Nerdist.

“The Church on Ruby Road” gave us a really cute Christmas special starring the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday. We met Ruby’s delightful family, including her loving adoptive mum Carla and her witty gran Cherry. Her neighborhood is also delightful, including her neighbor Mrs. Flood, played by Anita Dobson. The special teases an ongoing mystery about Ruby’s biological family but something strange is also going on with Mrs. Flood, too. She breaks the fourth wall at the end and it makes us all wonder what’s going on with her. Who is Mrs. Flood in Doctor Who? Let’s dig into how she appears throughout season one.

Near the beginning of the Christmas episode, Ruby Sunday comes home with two handfuls of groceries. We watch her neighbor Mrs. Flood argue with Abdul, another neighbor, about a large object that she’s sure he put on the sidewalk. That object is none other than the TARDIS. Abdul insists he knows nothing about this blue box. Ruby comes up and Mrs. Flood, who calls her Rubes, complains to her as Ruby looks at the box with lots of curiosity. She asks Mrs. Flood what it is and her neighbor says it is a police box. She admits she hasn’t seen one on the streets of London in around 50 years… and doesn’t want to see one now. 

Later in the episode, Mrs. Flood is walking home when she witnesses the TARDIS dematerializing. Of course, she’s in shock and drops her shopping bags. After the Doctor returns from saving baby Ruby in the past, he parks the TARDIS on the other side of the street. Mrs. Flood is rather chipper and waves hello to him. When he comes back out, they have a short conversation, including Mrs. Flood asking who he is. Predictably, the Fifteenth Doctor just says he’s passing through and she tells him to take care. At the end, Ruby comes out to inquire about the Doctor and Mrs. Flood points her to the TARDIS. Strangely, she calls her Ruby and wishes her good luck. Mrs. Flood is even nice to Abdul, who is shocked to see the TARDIS disappear. She then turns directly to the camera and says “Never seen a TARDIS before?”

Further along in the season, we see Mrs. Flood in “73 Yards.” Ruby returns home after the Doctor’s disappearance and devises a plan with her mom to figure out who the mysterious lady is and why she’s following Ruby around. Mrs. Flood comes out of the house, asking Ruby if she’s “having a good time” and questioning why she’s standing in the street talking to her mom on the phone. She says “nothing to do with me” and then scurries away. Again, she doesn’t seem to be perturbed by anything weird going on around her.

Her last appearances in the final two episodes are even stranger. Mrs. Flood volunteers to look after Ruby’s grandmum while Carla goes with her to UNIT to figure out more about Ruby’s birth mom. While there, she’s quirky until everyone leaves. Then, she goes dark, saying that she will not be getting Ruby’s grandmum a cup of tea. She tells Mrs. Sunday that she’d be very careful because there’s a storm coming in. She breaks the fourth wall again and says “he waits no more,” which we now know is Sutekh.

As they disintegrate, Mrs. Flood says that she has been hiding away and had “plans.” What kind of plans?!

Does Mrs. Flood Have a Connection to Clara Oswald or Others Like the Rani in Doctor Who?

When Fifteen saves everyone, she calls him a “clever boy,” which is a phrase that fans recognize from back when Clara Oswald was his companion. She called him a clever boy and that’s interesting considering Mrs. Flood’s wardrobe with sweaters and collared shirts looks a lot like what Clara would wear. Quite a few fans are picking up on this.

What Is Going on with Mrs. Flood in Doctor Who?

In the very final scene of the finale, she turns into a narrator of sorts, saying Ruby was having a happy ending but the Doctor’s end would be full of absolute terror. She’s wearing a white fur jacket with a hood and gives us a menacing “night night” before the episode ends. This outfit looks a lot like what Romana, a Fourth Doctor companion who was a Time Lady, wore before. Mrs. Flood hints that she’s been hiding herself away. Is she the Rani (an anagram of “rain,” which can cause a flood)? She’s been hinting at hiding herself away and the Rani, a renegade Time Lady and nemesis of the Doctor, hasn’t been seen in a long time.

So, what’s up with this lady? Is Mrs. Flood is a villain? Maybe. She could be yet another god that this Doctor must face. And that would make Ruby’s story all the more interesting considering a great threat lived next door to her. Who knows what Russell T Davies has in store.

Will Mrs. Flood Return to Doctor Who?

Either way, it seems we will get more Mrs. Flood in the future. Dobson recently told Radio Times that answers about Mrs. Flood would come in Doctor Who season two. “In fact, this particular series, season 2, which we’re [filming] at the moment, you do actually find out quite a lot about her,” she said. “That’ll be interesting, to see what people think.”

Let’s see what next season brings us.

Originally published December 25, 2023.

The post Who Is Mrs. Flood in DOCTOR WHO? Ruby’s Mysterious Neighbor Raises Eyebrows appeared first on Nerdist.

There’s something strange about Ruby Sunday. We met the Fifteenth Doctor’s companion during the Christmas special “The Church on Ruby Road” and her story set off our spidey senses. She, like the Doctor, is an orphan who doesn’t know the full extent of her past. A woman left her at the episode’s titular church but, thankfully, she was taken in and later adopted. After learning the episode titles for Doctor Who season one, we knew that Ruby’s mysterious background would come into play. “Space Babies” is a heartfelt yet very unserious romp with a literal Boogeyman (like…a man made out of boogers) but it also gives us some curious breadcrumbs about Ruby Sunday and her past. We get another taste of that and some hints about her birth day in the second episode, “The Devil’s Chord.”

In “Space Babies”, Ruby Sunday and the Doctor find themselves on a space station that operates as a baby farm in the distant future. Due to pesky budget cuts, the crew—except for a hidden nanny-like figure named Nan-E/Jocelyn—is gone. Left behind are a group of talking babies who are mostly surviving on their own. But, there’s a weird and gross creature lurking just beneath them. A lot of the episode is quippy one-liners, running, a hallway full of snot, and a wild plan to get these refugees to a safe place.

Things get serious halfway through the action when the Doctor notes that Ruby, like the babies, were abandoned. He says that’s a strange connection. He also asks if she knows anything about her birth parents at all and she confirms she was just left in the snow at a church. The Doctor then goes into his memory of her mother walking away, which we saw in the Christmas episode. However, the woman/figure that we assume is Ruby’s mom turns around and points at him menacingly.

Who Is Ruby Sunday’s Mother in Doctor Who?

Right now, we still don’t know who Ruby Sunday’s mother is in the series. We also don’t know why the Doctor’s memory of seeing her walk away from the church is different. But we do know that he’s going to poke as far as he can to find out the truth. For whatever reason, he cannot return to that night to figure out the truth. He’s nearly in tears when Ruby brings him back to the current space to note it is snowing. He says she brought a memory through from her birth day and says this has never happened before. Ruby asks what it means and he says he doesn’t know. Fifteen laughs it off and gives her a hug but Nan-E interrupts them. 

Is Ruby Sunday a Human in Doctor Who? 

At the end of the episode, Ruby runs to greet her mum Carla while Fifteen hangs out in the TARDIS. We see he’s run a scan on her body to figure out more information. It affirms she’s 19 years and 3 days old and that she is a Homo sapien, and that seems to be the case by the finale. We discover that Ruby Sunday’s mom was a teen who left her at the church because she had an abusive childhood. She works as a nurse and was only seen as important because so many people thought she was special. Ruby’s father is also going to come into her life between season one and two, so there’s a chance that there’s something weird going on.

Who Else Was There on Ruby Sunday’s Birth Night? Who Is “the Oldest One” and “the One Who Waits” in Doctor Who?

In “The Devil’s Chord,” Fifteen and Ruby Sunday find themselves battling the Maestro (played by Jinkx Monsoon), the child of Neil Patrick Harris’ Toymaker. At the end of the 60th anniversary special, the Toymaker hinted a legion was coming for the Doctor. This episode gave us a taste of that. At one point, Ruby is caught up in the musical notes of the Maestro, who wants to consume the music left in her heart. Maestro’s tuning fork brings forth Ruby’s hidden song, which is “Shepherd’s Bell Carol,” the Christmas song playing the night she was born. The same snowfall that they saw on the space station begins to fall in that room. Maestro then says, “How can a song have so much power? And power like him?” The Doctor questions who “him” is and Maestro says it is “the oldest one.”

Maestro questions how the oldest one could have been there and why. The Doctor once again wants to know who, but Maestro doesn’t give him an answer. When Maestro is defeated at the end of the episode, they warn the Doctor and Ruby that “the one who waits is almost here.”

What does all of that mean? What does all of this have to do with Ruby Sunday’s past? It is Sutekh who is apparently “the oldest one” and “the one who waits,” as he’s the main villain for this series. To read more about him, check out this post.

What Is Up With Ruby Sunday and the Recurring Snow?

We keep seeing snow over and over again. It appears once again in “Boom” as Ruby Sunday is clinging on to life. It is not certain how she’s able to conjure up that snow nor what it means for her, even at the end of the season. It seems her emotional connection to her birthday and overall hope is so strong that it is what makes it happen. But the show doesn’t make it clear.

There’s also the ongoing mystery behind Ruby’s neighbor Mrs. Flood. The season is over so we will have to wait and see what else happens with Ruby Sunday in Doctor Who season two. 

Originally published May 10, 2024.

The post What’s Going on With Ruby Sunday in DOCTOR WHO? appeared first on Nerdist.

Doctor Who’s season finale is here already and it ended with Ruby Sunday getting answers to questions that she’d been asking her whole life. In the finale, the Doctor and Ruby face Sutekh as this god of death sweeps through the universe. Sutekh wants to not only kill every living being, but he also wants to know the secret about Ruby’s birth mom, too. When he landed outside the TARDIS in 2004, the sight of Ruby’s mother was beyond his comprehension and he cannot see this mysterious woman. Of course, the Doctor and Ruby Sunday use that curiosity to defeat Sutekh, but they also get a legitimate answer about who her biological mother is.

After pretty much all things turn to dust, they travel to 2046 when Roger ap Gwilliam requires everyone to get DNA tested. They go there and use the technology, along with Ruby’s blood and the sonic screwdriver, to find out her parentage. Sutekh appears and wants the answer and it seems Ruby will give it to him. But, it is simply a trap so the Doctor can take control of the TARDIS, drag Sutekh back through the time vortex to undo all the death, and then sentence the god of death to his demise.

Who Is Ruby Sunday’s Biological Mother and Father?

Afterward, UNIT, the Doctor, and Ruby Sunday take a look at her DNA results and there is an answer about her birth mother, whose name is Louise Allison Miller. She’s 35 years old and had Ruby when she was only 15 years old. Louise was living with a stepfather who was “trouble,” which explains why she left Ruby at the church. Three years later, she moved to Coventry and got her degree, moving on with her life as a nurse. The Doctor said she was important because they thought she was important, making her existence super important. The pointing at the Doctor wasn’t at him but at the lamppost that said “Ruby Road,” which was her naming Ruby. (Does this make sense? I don’t think so.) 

Louise seems to be an ordinary person …at least, for now. Doctor Who is always cooking up something weird.

Ruby’s father is William Benjamin Garnet, who was also fifteen. We don’t see him in the episode but we know that Ruby goes off to find him, leaving the Doctor for now. (More on that in a bit.) The Doctor and Ruby Sunday do go and find her mother. While he thinks they should respect her choice to not look for Ruby, she decides to go into the coffee shop and thank her mother for keeping her safe. Ruby brings Louise to meet her mum Carla and grandmum and they all share a meal together. Louise says she wanted to look for Ruby but wasn’t sure if her daughter would be angry with her. The Doctor encourages Ruby to go on this new adventure of getting to know her birth parents. 

What Does the Reveal About Ruby Sunday’s Mom Mean for Doctor Who Season Two?

We do know that Ruby Sunday will continue to travel with the Doctor in season two. We can assume that the Doctor will meet his new companion, played by Varada Sethu, and may even spend some time with her before Ruby comes back into the mix. But showrunner Russell T Davies himself said that Ruby Sunday is very important to what happens in season two. If her story truly does tie into the Timeless Child arc, then we may discover that Ruby Sunday’s biological mom Louise Miller may not be so ordinary after all. For now, Ruby is off and spending time with her biological parents and seems happy with her personal life.

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When it comes to crafting a fantasy land or a historical setting, the costuming and set design can make or break a story’s believability. For a large majority of viewers, the visuals play just as vital of a role as solid storylines and compelling characters to bring a universe into focus. Costumes inform us about a character’s personality as well as their social and economic status. Set design brings the narratives and overall world to life. If you want to be successful, it has to look and feel real. Prime Video’s My Lady Jane certainly nails both of these aspects, which Nerdist got to experience first-hand during a set visit at Iris Studios in London, UK. 

My Lady Jane is a satirical dramedy that reimagines the life of Lady Jane Grey. She was the Queen of England for only nine days before the crown was taken away. In real life, she met her death via beheading in 1554. But, in My Lady Jane, she does become the Queen and has to deal with the schemes, jealousy, and other aspects of wielding power as a woman. This world sets up a class systems of veritans, people who cannot shapeshift into animals, and ethians, those who can shapeshift into animals. (For more on this show’s premise and characters, head to our complete explainer.) 

Considering its time period and fantasy elements, My Lady Jane’s crew had to make sure that the aesthetic details were on point. Upon our arrival, My Lady Jane was actively filming an elaborate coronation scene. Between takes, we were able to traverse the scene, taking in its intricate gold leaf detailing and decor. From an elaborate wine fountain to a massive dolphin head and ornate candelabras, I felt as though I’d stepped out of a time machine (the TARDIS, specifically) and into a completely different time.

My Lady Jane’s production designer Will Hughes-Jones, who also worked on Bridgerton, and set decorator Gina Cromwell, whose work has appeared on Downtown Abbey, were our guides. They led us through entire village sets, lofty towers, jail cells, a honeymoon suite, and more that comprise the show’s Tudor-era setting. The pair gave us a tour to three stages in one area of the studio and a larger warehouse on the other side, which was close to the show’s costume area. (More on the latter later!) 3D printing of buildings was actively happening as they broke down their process of drafting, model making, and physically constructing set pieces. 

We weren’t able to photograph much of the set to keep things under close wraps. However, we were able to take photos at the Swan Tavern, which Hughes-Jones said would double over as a barn and another tavern in the show. Recycling and reusing props are a major part of saving both time and money. It also helps with maintaining some consistency for the show’s overall design. “We had a lot of conversations with the showrunners and directors about how we can change things up to utilize them to the best of the economy that we can,” he affirmed. 

Once the set pieces are made, it is up to Gina to dress them and bring them to life. We see that shine through in several sitting areas and bedrooms, specifically through 28 tapestries. They are handmade and also contain detailing that tells a story about the characters. And, if you’re thinking that it is a typical set where there is no ceiling, think again. “We do ceilings because personally I think it’s important to put a ceiling on a set,” says Hughes-Jones. “It makes it feel real… I speak with the DP a lot and we work out how we can light through them.” 

One of the most intriguing rooms we witnessed was Jane’s room, which was filled with dried herbs and flowers. It truly gave us insight into her personality. “Jane is a bit of a herbalist,” Cromwell confirms. “She likes medicine and is a scientist, really, for this period. To hammer that home, there are a lot of herbs hanging up. There’s weird frogs and experimental things she would have had, like a still for making oils and distilling medicines. Also books…she’s brainy. In order to tell the story, we put them in so it helps the character evolve.” 

She affirms that they made many things themselves, considering My Lady Jane takes place hundreds of years ago. Cromwell and her team scoured antique stores that they would bring in and paint or reconstruct to fit their needs and accommodate space for crew and cameras. In terms of furniture, Cromwell wanted pieces with lots of and engraving carving on them. “A lot of the show is set at night,” she reveals. “So from our point of view, we are trying to see how the set will look in the dark. There’s a lot of candlelight and we need to reflect it off something.” 

Much of the overall set design draws inspiration from Will and Gina’s upbringings. “The whole Tudor period is a big project in primary school,” Cromwell said. “So you go to the castles and courts and it is kind of ingrained in us. Now we go back and look at those same things much closer. We get lots of books and look at all the art and tapestries from the time.”

“Part of the process when we are shooting on location and in the studio, I will go and look at ten castles or ten houses and choose one that works for the story,” Hughes-Jones chimes in. “Gina will come along. In the process, we will walk around and find interesting things to see. You’ll go through and say “oh, this room doesn’t work but I love that interesting little bit of paneling in the corner there” or “that window shape is really nice.” Both Gina and I have photo albums of thousands of random things. I spent a lot of time looking at floorboards because, during this period, not everywhere had flooring. There was dirt.” 

While we weren’t at location shooting, the set pieces along with actors scurrying about in their costumes was a wondrous sight. Speaking of costumes, a period drama absolutely has to bring its A++ game in that arena. That’s where costume designer Stephanie Collie (Peaky Blinders) comes into play. Witnessing her work onscreen and in photos is a joy but seeing it up close and personal is mind-blowing.

She takes us through a large room with rows and rows of costumes for nearly every major character. Some of them are duplicates to get through filming challenges. While it can be difficult to find materials when other Tudor-era series costume designers are also on the hunt, Collie traveled to make it happen. “We got stock from Italy, France, and from Spain,” Collie said. “You always need to have a basic kind of stock because sadly you just don’t have time to make everything, as much as you’d love to… I think the art department did amazing stuff with so much gold and we just hopefully added to that with the costumes.” 

Collie leaned into the character’s personalities and the reality of their circumstances to craft their wardrobes. “We’ve worked really hard to give everyone an arc in their story,” she said. “Jane [and her family] start off very poor to begin with and they don’t have much money. But Lady Frances (Jane’s mother) is trying to put on a wealthy front, but her dresses are probably from 10 years ago. Then when she gets to the palace, suddenly she’s got all these riches, all the jewels, and all the fabrics, so we made her clothing elaborate for that… I think of them as clothes, not costumes, and that the characters should try and wear them in a way that is believable.”

She jokes that Jane’s husband Guilford is, as he previously told us, a Tudor rockstar who wears lots of leather. Meanwhile, it made sense to keep Jane in simpler fabrics like linens and cotton at first. Then, she began to wear silks and beaded fabrics once she gets to the palace. Many things were sewn by hand, including the pearls on Jane’s wedding dress, which Collie jokingly says was not a fun experience for her team. Their hard work certainly meshes together to create some killer looks. 

My Lady Jane has the look and feel of both Tudor-era and fantasy. And, when the series hits Prime Video on June 27, fans will get to see everything onscreen and in motion. Get ready to watch Jane fight to keep her crown in the midst of a brewing conflict.

The post MY LADY JANE: Exploring the Tudor-Era Fantasy Series’ Lush Sets and Elaborate Costumes appeared first on Nerdist.

The Dexter prequel series is starting to come together. Paramount+ with Showtime announced the cast of Dexter: Original Sin, including Patrick Gibson as Dexter and the always fantastic Christian Slater as Harry Morgan, Dexter’s adoptive father and a homicide detective. Molly Brown, who will portray Debra Morgan, Dexter’s younger sister, also joins. In addition Patrick Dempsey has come aboard Dexter: Original Sin in a series regular role.  

Deadline reveals that Dempsey will play Aaron Spencer, “the Captain of the Miami Metro Homicide department who has a decades-long relationship with Harry Morgan (Christian Slater).”

Additionally, James Martinez (Love Victor), Christina Milian (Falling Inn Love), Alex Shimizu (The Blacklist) and Reno Wilson (Mike & Molly). According to a release, “These four actors star as members of the Miami Metro Police Department. Martinez plays Angel Batista, an up-and-coming homicide detective who leads with his heart; Milian plays Maria LaGuerta, Miami Metro’s first female homicide detective; Shimizu plays Vince Masuka, a forensic analyst who eagerly shares his expertise while relishing the chance to boss around his new intern, Dexter Morgan; and Wilson plays Bobby Watt, Harry’s longtime partner and confidant.”

Here’s a brief synopsis of Dexter: Original Sin to accompany the cast announcement: 

Set in 1991 Miami, DEXTER: ORIGINAL SIN follows Dexter (Gibson) as he transitions from student to avenging serial killer. When his bloodthirsty urges can’t be ignored any longer, Dexter must learn to channel his inner darkness. With the guidance of his father, Harry (Slater), he adopts a Code designed to help him find and kill people who deserve to be eliminated from society without getting on law enforcements’ radar. This is a particular challenge for young Dexter as he begins a forensics internship at the Miami Metro Police Department.    

What Is the Release Date for Dexter: Original Sin?

The release date for Dexter: Original Sin is unknown at this time. 

Originally published on May 23, 2024.

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The Boys will end its story in a fifth and final season. We know that Eric Kripke plans to continue Gen V for a few more seasons and create other The Boys spinoffs, too. And we are getting some very, very strong hints that The Boys‘ main villain, Homelander, could be getting a prequel spinoff series. Is this a good idea? I think so, if it is approached the right way. 

In episode four of season four, Homelander spends time confronting some of his deepest and earliest core wounds. He goes back to the Vought lab where he was born and raised for a “family reunion” of sorts. He confronts a couple of people who mistreated him as a child. Of course, Homelander gets bloody revenge on pretty much everyone, setting the stage for him to become even more unhinged. This small peek into Homelander’s origin story gives us a lot of context to some of his frankly disturbing proclivities. A prequel Homelander series would further establish how he became such a twisted being. 

I am not super interested in seeing a very young Homelander get tortured by adults. That just seems overly brutal, even for this universe’s standards. But I think the period from where he becomes “The Homelander” at age 16 through him becoming the leader of the Seven is an intriguing part of his life that we know little about. After spending years with lots of isolation and brainwashing, how did he learn to navigate larger society and become the hero of America? What challenges did he face? His journey from socially awkward supe loner to the cunning leader we all know would be fun to witness. It would largely hinge on finding the right young man to compliment Antony Starr’s flawless portrayal of an adult Homelander.

I am not always a fan of trying to humanize a villain. But the duality of having the powers of a god yet the innate human need for love, family, and approval, even after excruciating torture, makes Homelander such an effective antagonist. Sure, we could get flashbacks to his young child and pre-teen days in a The Boys spinoff series, like what The Boys posted on social media with the hashtag #HomeSweetHome. (Is that a title hint? I’d like for it to be Home Sweet Home(lander) personally.)

But that shouldn’t be the primary focus of a Homelander prequel spinoff series. By aiming at his late teen and early 20s, we’d get a chance to meet other members of the OG Seven, like Queen Maeve, at a more impressionable point of their lives, too. Maybe we can discover what happened to Mister Marathon, whom A-Train replaced prior to the events of The Boys. In fact, The Boys could even make it a true “Dawn of the Seven” spinoff story about how they all came together but with a larger focus on Homelander’s story.

Right now, we don’t know if Homelander will survive the events of The Boys or not. (My guess is he’s going to stick around.) But, if Homelander does, it wouldn’t be out of the realm for him to appear on other The Boys spinoffs. A prequel series would be an excellent way to have a complete picture of Homelander as he moves forward. In fact, it could even connect to what we get in The Boys: Mexico or future Gen V seasons. Who knows how far Dr. Vouglebaum’s reach extends? Let’s see where this wild world takes us the in future.

The post THE BOYS Is Hinting at a Homelander Prequel Spinoff Series, and It Could Be Rad appeared first on Nerdist.

Episode four of The Boys season four is certainly one for the books. Annie completely loses it after Firecracker takes her Starlight bashing antics a step too far. Hughie and Kimiko go on a wild mission while he tries to save his father’s life. And poor Frenchie finally has to admit to Colin that he killed his parents. But Homelander absolutely dominates this episode with a trip back to his place of birth as he “confronts” his past in the only way he knows how to anything: with unhinged violence. 

At the end of episode three, the many voices existing in Homelander’s head agree that he must confront his past. So, this episode starts with Homelander arriving back at the lab where he was born and raised as a child. The workers there seem both surprised and scared to see him for obvious reasons. He singles out a couple of old faces he remembers, specifically Marty and Frank. Marty even refers to him as John before he quickly tells him to use Homelander instead.

Homelander comes with a fudge whale cake and tells everyone to eat some of the cake. He also asks for a woman named Barbara, who is off-site at the moment, and instructs them that she needs to come back for the reunion. His sinister smile and narrowed eyes indicate that he’s not just there to have a homecoming party. 

Homelander invites Frank over for a game of wastepaper basketball (which most of us just call “trashketball”), saying the best out of three will win. He reminds Frank that he taught him about that game because he watched Frank play it while he was in a nearby oven. Frank was the person who ran tests on kid Homelander, turning up the temperature to see if it would burn his skin. It’s a small glimpse into Homelander’s inhumane treatment that certainly contributes to why he is such an awful supe.

It begins to dawn on Frank and the others that this visit will spiral into violence. Frank says that he was just doing his job and, well, Homelander responds by making Frank get in the oven. Frank apologizes to Homelander but he’s not trying to hear it. Homelander turns the oven up high and cooks Frank to melted bits in front of everyone. Yikes.

Later on, Homelander looks at marks on the wall of his growth and we discover that he got his Homelander moniker at 16 years old. He calls Marty over and says that he is sorry for what he did to Frank. (A lie, obviously.) Homelander says Marty was one of the kinder ones, but notes that Marty used to call him Squirt. He tells the story about why Marty gave him that name. Homelander said he would be left in an isolation room for hours while Marty and cameras watched him. As he got into puberty, Homelander would masturbate at night between Marty’s nightly rounds to feel something good. This explains why Homelander is always getting someone to satisfy him in that way now, if he’s not doing it himself.

Marty caught him doing it one night and laughed at him, calling him Squirt. Homelander decides to get revenge by making Marty masturbate in front of the entire room of people. Marty is having a hard time, uh, getting hard, and Homelander says he will do it or lose his penis to laser eyes. Marty can’t do it and Homelander lasers right at his crotch. He later steps on his head and crushes it. 

At this point, Barbara shows up and, unlike most others, she talks to Homelander without fear. He takes her into a room that he called “the bad room.” She calls him out for his behavior and says they were just people following Dr. Vogelbaum and Stan Edgar’s orders. He refutes this by saying he was a child and someone should have stood up for him. For the first time, Homelander has a point. Barbara says the day he was born he lasered out of his mom’s stomach, killing her and three others that same day. She notes that he could have broken out of there at any time, but his need for approval and love and to not disappoint them took over.

She says they brought in psychologists and helped to engineer and instill that in him so he’d be obedient. And, until this point, it has mostly kept him in check. But that’s over now, it seems. We last see Barbara in that room looking horrified at the remains of her co-worker’s dismembered bodies strewn everywhere. Homelander gets into an elevator with blood all over his face to do god knows what next. 

Between this and a season one vault video posted by The Boys social media team (seen above), there’s a chance that we could get a Homelander prequel series. We know that The Boys is ending in season five and that there are other planned spinoffs on the way. And there’s certainly a lot of diabolical things to explore with the creation and eventual rise of the show’s greatest villain. Until then, we will see how Homelander’s return to his birth place will affect his future.

The post THE BOYS Explores Homelander’s Birthplace and Origin Story in Brutally Bloody Fashion appeared first on Nerdist.

Back in 1998, R&B singer and actress Brandy famously fought with Monica over a boy in “The Boy Is Mine,” a song that still rules karaoke nights to this day. Now, in 2024, Brandy is telling an evil, racist mother-in-law that the house and the child are mine in The Front Room, an upcoming A24 horror film. That’s right, Brandy, who famously played Karla Wilson in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, is coming back to the genre! The first trailer for The Front Room shows Brandy battling against an old woman with a sinister agenda. 

Here’s a synopsis of The Front Room by A24: 

Everything goes to hell for newly-pregnant Belinda (Brandy) after her mother-in-law (Kathryn Hunter) moves in. As the diabolical guest tries to get her claws on the child, Belinda must draw the line somewhere…

The trailer for The Front Room certainly shows Belinda’s mother-in-law trying to do some weird ritual and being a real pain in general. She needs to give it up. Brandy has had about enough. It’s not hard to see…

We don’t know how things will end but we do know that Max and Sam Eggers are the writers and directors of this vehicle. Let’s see what these brothers will bring to the screen with Brandy leading the way alongside Andrew Burnap.

What Is the Release Date for Brandy’s Horror Movie The Front Room?

The Front Room will hit theaters on September 6.

The post Brandy Says ‘The Child Is Mine’ to Her Evil Mother-in-Law in THE FRONT ROOM Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

The wonderful worlds of wizardry, lush lands of fantasy epics, and all sorts of fictional adventures in between feature so many elements. There’s magic, monsters, adventure, action, and much more to craft narratives that whisk us to universes. The themes of these stories often intertwine with different sociopolitical viewpoints, providing commentary on the world we live in. But, it’s done with the flair of aliens, spaceships, wands, and maybe even a lightsaber. Or, if we’re really lucky, it is simply a fun romp that taps into our escapist nature. 

One part of magical and fantasy narratives, specifically books, that could always make room for improvement is representation. Why does it seem to be so hard to imagine a whimsical world or a space saga with non-White leading characters? One demographic that is oft overlooked is young Black boys. Many of their stories, film or otherwise, tend to center on similar narratives. But what if they wanted to be wizards and wield magic? 

That’s what writer LaDarrion Williams delivers in Blood at the Root, a New York Times bestseller novel that features a young man’s journey at an HBCU for those who are young, Black, and magical. He learns about his family roots and mysteries and finds a new set of family at Caiman University. Nerdist caught up with Williams to talk about his nerdy childhood loves, crafting Blood at the Root, Black Southern culture, and more. 

Nerdist: What were the nerdy franchises and interests and stuff that captured your attention as a kid?

LaDarrion Williams: I was a Disney kid back when Disney Channel was the good version because I don’t know what these kids got nowadays. I remember when the new Disney Channel original movies came out, you had to sit at home on Friday night at seven o’clock to watch them… I was the nerdy boy that was watching all of those movies every Friday night. And I remember when High School Musical came out and Camp Rock, all of that… I always [loved] ‘90s black cinema, watching all of those movies really shaped me. Some of those movies I’d had no business watching when I was a kid!

Yes, Love and Basketball, The Wood, Love Jones…

Williams: Yeah! Even The Best Man. Watching that now as an adult is wild! But those movies shaped me. I remember watching Eve’s Bayou and really becoming very fascinated by not only the story, but the magic that it had, the southern mystery that it had. And also, The Mummy with Brendan Frazier. But yeah, that’s what I grew up on. I have a big range of movies that I used to love watching growing up.

Love it. So how did you get into creative writing? 

Williams: I’ve always been a creative kid, but I really didn’t take it seriously until high school. I was in detention and, once you finished all your homework for the day, you had to do something. They don’t just let you sit there. And the teacher at the time, she gave me a newspaper or a book, and I was like, “well, I kind of just want to read a book or something.” I don’t want to read a newspaper all day long. And little did I know it was the play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry. And I read that play literally from front to back. And I really resonated with Walter Lee Younger… I was like, “man, these characters sound like my family.”

And I was like, “I kind of want to write something like this one day.” …the next year I got into theater, I was always the choir kid. I love singing. I love the arts, but I didn’t take it seriously until I think the 10th or 11th grade. And I started acting and doing theater, and my theater teacher gave me the play “Fences” by August Wilson. I was blown away. 

So I wrote a play about two people trapped in a hospital room during Hurricane Katrina, and come to find out they were dead the entire time. It was like The Sixth Sense. I don’t know why I wrote that at 17. When I wrote that, I won a competition and first place in playwriting in the state. My teacher was like, “I think you’re going to be a playwright. I think you’re a writer, you’re an actor, you’re a creative.” That’s what ushered me into creative writing. 

And look at where it got you! You’re here now with a successful book. Tell me about your journey with Blood at the Root, from conception to the present. 

Williams: The conception of it came in the middle of the pandemic. It was the pandemic and a lot going on in the country… I was binging The Originals and The Vampire Diaries at the time, and I was just like, “man, I’m tired.”

The Vampire Diaries made me so mad! Justice for Bonnie.

Williams: Listen, they won’t see Heaven, whoever created that. So I was just kind of angry about the type of representation we were seeing. And then Lovecraft Country came out, I was like, “whoa, wait, what?!” It just felt so refreshing. Once Lovecraft Country came out, Twitter was going crazy every Sunday night. But it was really when Beyonce dropped [her album] Black Is King as well. I was finally being fed creatively after a long time… I tweeted and said, “what if Harry Potter went to an HBCU?” It was random. I don’t know where it came from. I’m just randomly tweeting. Everybody kind of gravitated towards that tweet and I think it kind of sparked something. And so people were like, “you got to make that.”

And I was like, “well, I can’t make it in the middle of the pandemic.” We could barely get toilet paper. I’m not going to go out and shoot a whole film… I started writing the television show because Blood at the Root wasn’t supposed to be a book. It was supposed to be a TV show. I moved to LA to be a TV writer. 

I wrote the pilot script and me and my friends did a Zoom reading of it and people were like, “man, this is really cool.” I was sharing pages on Twitter and people felt like they were with it from the conception, from the tweet to the short.

That’s so cool. How did you eventually get to making the short film? 

Williams: People started donating money and were reaching out to me… I asked my friends to go shoot the short film. And everybody was like, let’s do it. And I was like, okay, let’s go do it… We snuck onto the UCLA campus to shoot the magic school [scene]. Shout out to them for not arresting these Black people for making a short film there during the pandemic! 

I realized I had something very, very special because it was really cool to see my friends being in this fantasy space. We felt like little kids playing again. And when we got done with the short film, we posted it on YouTube and Amazon Prime and people were having watch parties. 

I remember when that happened and it was great! Why didn’t you move forward with Blood at the Root in the film space? 

Williams: I was thinking Hollywood was going to come calling. I had this short film that’s viral. At the time, people were going viral and getting brand deals. They were getting TV shows, even though it was the pandemic. But when things started opening up, I couldn’t get an agent. I couldn’t get a manager. I couldn’t get nobody to even look at the short film. It was getting rejected from every single short film festival that we submitted to… It got rejected from every single one. 

That is so surprising! 

Williams: Yeah. Having that rejection toppled on me every single day, checking my email every day, I got very depressed about it. I was embarrassed because I was like, “oh, I’m going to be this big shot with this movie.” And nothing came of it. But I started to fall in love with this story even more. After a year of trying, my friends were like, “hey, why don’t you turn it into a book?”

…I saw The Hate You Give. I saw Children of Blood and Bone. I was like, “well, okay, so there are Black books that are making it.” I asked the bookstore clerk at Barnes & Noble if there were stories with Black boys. I want to see myself and be able to relate fully to the character. We went over to the YA fantasy section and we couldn’t find anything.

I’ve noticed that many Black fantasy stories will include Black girls prominently but the boys not so much. 

Williams: Black girls absolutely deserve everything and more! But when it came to the Black boys, I was starting to see a certain type of story being published. I was like, “Why are they getting killed by police? Can Black boys not live too?” I literally made the declaration right there at the bookstore that I would write this story. I locked myself in my apartment for 12 days and I wrote the first draft of Blood at the Root, the book. I took ideas from the short film and the television pilot script, and I put it into the book and created this full story about this Black kid named Malik Baron going to a magical HBCU.

You get to meet his friends and you get to go to classes and all of that. I was going to self-publish it but I worked with an editor, Margot Westin, a Black woman for Louisiana. She said, “LaDarrion, you got to traditionally publish this novel.” I know you want to self publish it. And I was like, nah. At that time, publishing really didn’t want Black boys in YA fantasy. She eventually convinced me. We worked really hard and I ended up getting an agent, whom I worked with for a year. We went to publishers and I was getting the same rejections I was getting from the short film. “We can’t connect to the character, we don’t know how to market this.” 

Mmmhmmm, we all know what that means.

Williams: Right?! But in January of 2023, we eventually signed with Penguin Random House for a three book deal. And now here it is, Blood at the Root book one is out. And I’m currently working on the sequel. 

That’s an amazing journey. You got delayed a few times, but you ultimately were not denied. What are your ultimate hopes for this trilogy and how it’ll affect the YA space?

Williams: I really hope publishers are more open to not always trying to think about white audiences. Because I think ultimately what they are saying is that they think audiences can’t connect to Black people because you don’t see Black people as human. At the end of the day, we connected to a little white British boy going to magic school. I connected to him even though I grew up in Alabama. I didn’t know nothing about the UK. I hope that publishers are more open to all types of Black stories, especially Black stories that are set in the South that do not always try to center whiteness. 

I hope that Black girls, little Black kids, queer kids, Black boys, like everybody, I hope they could see themselves in the story because Malik can be you… I also hope people are open-minded to Malik. He talks with a Southern twang, he cusses. He is angry, he is vulnerable, he’s everything. And I hope people are more open to that, to seeing that type of character in the publishing world and also in audiences. I hope they’re open to receiving it.

I certainly hope so, too. And I want people to have a more open mind when it comes to reading about and engaging with Black Southern folks and our culture. There’s always these stereotypes and thoughts about our perceived intelligence or the lack thereof based on how we talk. I want people to reject that notion and maybe Blood at the Root will help with that. People love to consume Black culture without acknowledging that a chunk of Black American culture as a whole comes from the South. I say this as a Carolina girl. 

Williams: I know that’s right! The South got something to say, just as OutKast said, right? But I think people don’t realize that. I think I’m out here in LA and I’m just like, “y’all, some of the stuff that y’all are doing is from the South.” …a lot of us don’t know about the great migration. People went from Mississippi to Chicago to Alabama. A lot of people came from Alabama to LA and Texas and Louisiana. You don’t think they brought their customs and their traditions and stuff with them?

I think about my mother, I think about my father, my grandmother, my aunties, and seeing them. And they’re reading books probably for the first time in a long time. And they say,”man, this grandmother sound like me.” Now they feel seen and they feel edified in the book. And I think I want to show that the simplicity of life in the south, the poetry, the language of the everyday people, that’s what August [Wilson] did.

I love it and I hope so many people feel seen and that we get to celebrate Black culture and the joys of magic in Blood at the Root.

The post BLOOD AT THE ROOT Author LaDarrion Williams on Crafting a Magical Black Boy Story, Rejection, and Southern Culture appeared first on Nerdist.

Are you looking to fill that Bridgerton-sized hole in your hearts while you’re (impatiently) waiting for its next season? If so, Prime Video has the perfect historical series to deliver all the fantasy, romance, adventure, drama, clever satire, and absolutely stunning visuals that your heart desires. My Lady Jane, based on the YA novel series by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows, completely changes real-life royal history surrounding Lady Jane Grey, Edward Tudor, and others with a feminist framing. Oh, and did we mention that there are shapeshifters in the mix?!

Nerdist took a visit out to My Lady Jane’s set to give you all the information about this universe’s main characters, big storylines, how it reshapes the past, and why you’ll want to jump into its action. 

What Is My Lady Jane About and How Does It Connect to Actual English History?

My Lady Jane is a satirical dramedy that reimagines the actual story of Lady Jane Grey. Who is that? Stick with us for a short history lesson that will bring this series into clearer focus. 

The (Brief) Real-Life History of Lady Jane Grey

In 1553, Lady Jane Grey (a.k.a. Lady Jane Dudley following her marriage to Lord Guilford Dudley) became the Queen of England for only nine days in a very interesting manner. Her marriage to Lord Dudley, son of King Edward VI’s chief minister, put her close to the crowd. King Edward VI’s will nominated Jane and her male heirs as successors to the throne due to her being Protestant and her commitment to his reformed Church of England. The will bumped out his two half-sisters, specifically Mary, who was Catholic. The Privy Council of England (a body of advisors to the Kingdom) and other notable people honor his wishes initially. 

Needless to say, a stir happened among supporters with many believing Mary is the rightful Queen. Lady Jane Grey became the Queen of England on July 10; however, the Privy Council got rid of her on July 19. She was then held prisoner in the Tower of England, convicted of treason, and, after her father got into a rebellious mix against Queen Mary, executed via beheading alongside her husband at only 16 or 17 years old. What a terrible ending to a short life. 

My Lady Jane’s Take on Her Life and Legacy 

This series literally gives two middle fingers up to Lady Jane Grey’s awful ending. The series imagines a world where Jane actually gets to save herself in an alt-fantasy Tudor era world. Here’s a quick synopsis for My Lady Jane: 

Inspired by the best-selling book, My Lady Jane is a radical retelling of English royal history, in which King Henry VIII’s son Edward does not die of tuberculosis, Lady Jane Grey is not beheaded, and neither is her rascal of a husband Guildford. At the center of this rollicking new series is the brilliant and headstrong Jane who is unexpectedly crowned queen overnight and finds herself the target of nefarious villains coming for the crown (and her head)… My Lady Jane is an epic tale of true love and high adventure, where the damsel in distress saves herself, her true love, and then the Kingdom. 

My Lady Jane’s behind-the-scenes team runs on women power, including the show’s creator, showrunner, and co-executive producer Gemma Burgess, fellow showrunner Meredith Glynn, and director Jamie Babbit. During our set visit, which took place in London, UK in December 2022 in the midst of active filming, the trio spoke with us on an elaborate hot set depicting an event that Lady Jane Grey wasn’t afforded during short life and even shorter reign: a coronation celebration.

“She was never coronated, which is why she doesn’t always appear on [royal history] lists,” Burgess reveals. “So it’s kind of our equivalent of a coronation ball and everything’s about to fall apart. So we wanted to make the ball as beautiful and excessive as possible and then destroy it!” Burgess says moments like these and the series as a whole will depict Lady Jane Grey as a fully-realized young woman and less of a little-known and murky historical figure. 

My Lady Jane will still hit some important historical points, like the ongoing contention between Protestants and Catholics. However, even that aspect is getting its own fantasy leaning. In this world, it is ethians (shapeshifters who are frowned upon by the current regime) versus verities (normal people who cannot turn into animals). 

“The Protestant/Catholic thing that was going on way back when was really about otherism,” Glynn tells us. “In [today’s times], there is so much otherism. The ethians and the verities are our two groups and the ethians are the others [who are] persecuted. There’s laws passed against them. And for me as a queer person, I really related to the themes of what’s going on in our show with the ethians as kind of a metaphor for a lot of queer people and any other people who are persecuted.”  

You can certainly expect a crossing between these two social lines and a rebellion on the rise in the midst of romance (more on the latter later). 

Who Are the Main Characters in My Lady Jane? 

Like many historical series, there are a ton of people in the cast. Here are a few of the main players you should know: 

Lady Jane Grey

Obviously, Lady Jane is the primary character in this story. Newcomer Emily Bader calls her character “one of the dumbest smart people you’ll ever meet.” Bader elaborates, “She knows everything about people and the world, but she knows very little about what it means to be a person and to be a part of the world… she’s dealing with finding her identity and her power as a woman at a time, even when you were the Queen of England, that power was constantly being either taken from you or you had to fight for it. And so I think she’s figuring out how to keep her power while also discovering what it’s like to be a woman with love and femininity and all those things that sometimes don’t go hand in hand.”

Bader applauds both the novel writers as well as the show’s creators for giving Jane a second chance, in a sense. “She was a young girl that was forced into a position because of her position, her station and intelligence, and then killed for it. I think this is giving Jane, who never really had any chance to have a life or make any decisions of her own, power and identity.” 

Surprisingly, Emily Bader is a California native who does an English accent very well. Her secret? Watching Pride & Prejudice (2005) on a loop with her family and mimicking Keira Knightley. That’s not a bad strategy at all! Jane’s persona, as Bader describes it, is a little Elizabeth Bennet and Blondie, the rock singer. 

Guilford Dudley

Opposite of Bader is Edward Bluemel as Guilford Dudley, a young man who is grappling with his own secrets. While the book version of Guilford exhibits a poetic side, Bluemel says his version of the character is more about banter and a brilliance that he keeps under wraps.

“There’s definitely an intelligence to him and he definitely loves reading and he is very clever, but that’s another thing that’s sort of been hidden away,” says Bluemel. “It’s not part of the persona that he is portraying to the public at all, but you get glimmers of it. We learn very, very early on that he speaks Latin and then there’s a couple of other moments when suddenly there’s sort of a flash of intelligence that reveals exactly who he really is.” 

He says Guilford draws some inspiration from characters like Mr. Darcy and even unexpected real-life sources. “Interestingly, the description of my character when I got it said a Tudor Harry Styles… basically they basically amalgamated sort of the hottest people they could imagine and sort of put them together and then were like, do it… And I got there and they were like, “you’re going to be wearing head-to-toe leather 95% of the time and the other 5% I wear velvet.” 

We won’t give away additional details about Jane and Guilford’s arranged marriage and how their love blossoms, but they will find themselves guarding secrets, dealing with the challenges of power, and trying to keep the country together while also keeping the crown on Jane’s head. 

King Edward 

Jordan Peters is King Edward, who is actually older than he was in real life considering he died at just 15 years old. (Yes, all of these folks were super young.) “He’s representing the whole country but he hasn’t had the opportunity to live a normal life and fall in love like other people… people see him as a weak King. He’s finding himself and becoming the man that he wants to be and he goes on this whole adventure to discover who he is not only as a King but as a human being.” 

Apparently, this version of King Edward isn’t feeling too well. Is there something sinister afoot? Perhaps. 

Lord Dudley 

Guilford’s father appears to be wealthy and well-off… but that may not be the case. That is perhaps why he’s down for his son to link up with Jane. He’s a man keeping secrets close to the chest. Actor Rob Brydon tells us more about his character’s calculating ways. “I think at face he’s a good person but he’s a schemer. He’s had to scheme to keep his place in the court. It’s very cutthroat in the court.” 

Brydon says Lord Dudley and Lord Seymour have “beef” with each other that adds to the overall tension. (Yes, we did laugh at his choice of words.)  

Archer, Leader of the Ethians 

While we can assume some of our seemingly verity characters are probably hiding a shapeshifting secret, Archer is absolutely ethian. In fact, he’s the leader—or, as Michael Workeye says, King—of the ethian group. Archer will lead the charge of an eventual uprising of the ethian population. 

“He’s essentially all of the anti-establishment rolled into one,” says Workeye. “He is anti the Kingdom, anti the monarchy, and anti the way of life in England. He was born into nobility and lived a trauma free life. Great childhood.” 

Archer later becomes an ethian and leaves home. He returns home years later and see the oppression of ethians. Now, he aims to change that… by any means necessary.  

Lord Seymour 

We know that Lord Seymour, played by Dominic Cooper, is up to some sort of shenanigans. He’s certainly not a fan of Lady Jane Grey nor anyone who supports her reign. But we have yet to discover his true motivations and desires. The show’s mix of Tudor era and comedy gave Cooper the perfect challenge of how to portray his villainous character.

“In these costumes, you’re used to having a certain posture and selling a sort of “Tudory manner.” It’s still really important, I think, to play that for real. You have a tendency to sort of play up and be a bit hammy to sell the joke… it is comedy and you have to be very exact.”

Cooper says Lord Seymour (and others) don’t perceive Jane as a threat… until she is. 

Mary Tudor 

Hello Jane’s archnemesis and Edward’s younger sister. Mary Tudor, played by Kate O’Flynn (pictured above beside Lord Seymour), hints that while her character is “evil,” that no one is quite who they seem. “…[She] really wants to be Queen and is looking forward to it. She may be plotting a few things to make that happen. Maybe.”

She says Mary and Lord Seymour are in cahoots to some degree to sway things in both of their favor. How? You’ll have to watch and find out. 

The remainder of the cast is as follows: 

Why Will Historical Romance Fans Love Prime Video’s My Lady Jane Series? 

My Lady Jane draws inspiration from beloved films like The Princess Bride and A Knight’s Tale to craft its narrative. There’s a little something for everyone. Fans of history can compare notes and perhaps point out Easter eggs that nod to that time period. Romance fans will appreciate the burning romance between Jane and Guilford as they fall in love. In fact, Emily Bader says it is “surprisingly sexy and spicy.” 

Costume fanatics will absolutely rave over the show’s intricate looks, perhaps even aiming to recreate them. Those who like satire and drama will get a healthy dose of both. And, the cast boasts some diversity too, similar to Bridgerton. 

Meredith Glynn hopes viewers will come to the end of season one and say that it is fun, refreshing, and worthy of a second season.

What Is the Release Date for My Lady Jane on Prime Video?

My Lady Jane hits Prime Video on June 27 with all eight episodes streaming.

The post MY LADY JANE: The Harsh History, Charming Characters, and Feminist Framing in Prime Video’s Tudor-Era Fantasy Series appeared first on Nerdist.

One of the best and most creative horror films in recent years is undoubtedly Smile. Everything from the film’s concepts to its characters and even its marketing blitz were pretty darn close to perfection. With Smile’s resounding success, it was inevitable that Paramount Pictures would order a sequel. The first teaser trailer for Smile 2 introduces us to a new set of characters and that familiar sinister smirking.

Ya know, I am not sure about this second venture. I will definitely check it out when it hits theaters. But I think that certain concepts are cooler when they aren’t stretched to their limits. I absolutely love Parker Finn’s Laura Hasn’t Slept and didn’t mind that concept getting stretched out to a full film with Smile. Now, it feels like it could be wearing the novelty thin, if you get what I mean. No shade to anyone involved because I totally hope this film rules. It’s good to see Parker Finn is writing and directing once again!

Here’s a synopsis for Smile 2 to bring the trailer into focus: 

About to embark on a new world tour, global pop sensation Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) begins experiencing increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events. Overwhelmed by the escalating horrors and the pressures of fame, Skye is forced to face her dark past to regain control of her life before it spirals out of control. 

The Smile 2 cast includes Rosemarie DeWitt, Kyle Gallner, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Raúl Castillo, Dylan Gelula, Ray Nicholson.

What Is the Release Date for Smile 2?

Smile 2 will hit theaters just in time for Halloween on October 18.

The post SMILE 2 Trailer Takes That Sinister Smirk to Darker Depths appeared first on Nerdist.

Jordan Peele is not only a master of horror but also a master of enigma. The horror director and producer caught many fans attention with Us, Get Out, and Nope. And, he still has us in his hooks with Him, a football-centric film he’s producing starring Marlon Wayans. That film is set to hit theaters in September 2025 but it seems there’s yet another Jordan Peele project on the rise. We know absolutely nothing about it except one thing: It’s coming just in time for Halloween 2026. Jordan Peele posted a message on X (forever Twitter in our hearts) with a photo that has nothing but the date October 23, 2026. Maybe it will be called Her…

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the upcoming 2026 Jordan Peele film is on Universal Pictures upcoming slate. There is no title nor any details but fans are speculating quite a bit already. Is it Candyman 2? Maybe. He’s known for promoting all things under Monkeypaw Production’s umbrella, whether he is directing it or not.

Maybe it’s a quirky Marvel film or The People Under the Stairs remake that is supposed to be in early stages of development. Who knows. We will have to wait a long time and see what Jordan Peele has coming our way with this mysterious 2026 movie.

The post Jordan Peele Teases a New Film Set for October 2026 appeared first on Nerdist.

If you were a teenager in the 2000s, then you surely remember the great Disney masterpiece Freaky Friday. Who can forget the hilariousness of a mom and daughter who end up switching bodies thanks to a fortune cookie? It has somehow been 20 years since we saw Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan as Tess and Anna, but they are reportedly reprising those roles in a Freaky Friday sequel. According to The Hollywood Reporter, both stars are ready for more body-swapping adventures, with Elyse Hollander penning the script and Nisha Ganatra set to direct. 

Freaky Friday 2 Casting News

For now, Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan are expected to reprise their roles in Freaky Friday 2. Additionally, Variety reveals that Julia Butters has joined the Freaky Friday sequel in an unknown role. But given what we know about the movie so far, we might speculate she’ll play the daughter or future stepdaughter of Lohan’s Anna.

Additionally, Deadline reports that Manny Jacinto is is reportedly in talks to join the movie. We are 100% pro this casting.

More Updates on Freaky Friday 2

Lohan and Curtis seemed to confirm news of the movie with a celebratory Instagram post.

Additionally, Lohan herself confirmed during an Andy Cohen interview that the sequel is happening. She remained mum about any production timelines but said that both she and Curtis were excited about a Freaky Friday sequel.

What Will Freaky Friday 2 Be About?

So, what will this movie be about? Well, Jamie Lee Curtis wants her co-star to be a sexy grandma. In an interview with The View, which we learned about via Deadline, Curtis said, “Let me be the grandma, let me be the old grandma who switches places, so then Lindsay gets to be the sexy grandma who’s still happy with Mark Harmon in all the ways you would be happy with Mark Harmon… I would like to see Lindsay be the hot grandma, and I would like to see me try to deal with toddlers today. I want to be a helicopter parent in today’s world.” We’d love to see it.

Additionally, Entertainment Weekly reveals that newly minted director Nisha Ganatra shared a casting call on her social media for the movie. The casting call revealed that Anna Coleman (Lohan) now has a daughter and that she’s apparently getting married to a man who also has a daughter. Of course, Tess (Curtis) is still involved. Whatever swap is coming up for our favorite ladies, it seems like four people might be included this time.

Of course, there are no confirmed details about the Freaky Friday sequel at this time. But it isn’t shocking that this reunion is happening. During a retrospective interview, both Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan told The New York Times that they were open to a Freaky Friday sequel. And we have seen the actresses in very recent projects, too. Curtis came back as Laurie Strode once again in Halloween Ends while Lohan is back in the spotlight after Falling for Christmas, a very cute Netflix rom-com.

We’re still not ruling out Anna’s daughter swapping places with her while Tess tries to help them figure it all out. No matter what the plot is, we are totally down for a Freaky Friday sequel.

Originally published on May 11, 2023.

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Spoilers ahead for the first three episodes of The Boys season four.

Since The Boys‘ earlier seasons, the Seven collective has been in near-constant flux. At the end of season three, the group was barely clinging on with only Homelander, the Deep, and A-Train remaining. Homelander’s continuous mental unraveling and overall instability certainly hasn’t made it easy to find replacements either. But the Vought supe team is determined to move forward in season four with three new weapons in its arsenal: Sister Sage, Firecracker, and a new Black Noir (!!!). We learn a lot about these Seven members in the first three episodes, so let’s dive into their stories. 

Sister Sage Is the Smartest Person in the World, Homelander’s New Right-Hand Woman, and Vought’s True CEO 

The first addition is Sister Sage, a Black woman from Detroit whose superpower is being the smartest person in the world. A-Train is against her joining the Seven because of their previous history together in Teenage Kix, a group similar to the one in the DC Universe’s Young Justice. (We have only heard of Teenage Kix in the TV show but they haven’t been seen outside of the comics.)

A-Train thinks Sister Sage is annoying and not an asset but Homelander personally seeks her out for a few reasons. First, he is aging and concerned about the world/legacy he’s leaving for Ryan. Second, he wants to use her brain to help him figure out how to find fulfillment and joy in his new role as a leader so he can keep the Vought train running. Third, he’s tired of everyone always agreeing with him and wants someone to actually be useful. Fourth, he wants to destroy Starlight and the Boys collective for good.

Sage is interested in gaining some level of power and influence, so she joins Homelander and she is absolutely on some diabolical s**t. From killing Homelander fans to frame Starlighters to setting traps for the Boys, Sage is pulling all sorts of strings. Outside of calling the shots and causing chaos, her other motivations aren’t super clear at this time. But she’s playing the hell out of everyone to the point that she’s Vought’s CEO now. Ashley is relegated to a figurehead whom even the Deep doesn’t respect anymore. Speaking of him, she’s messing around with him and mayyybeeee killed his octopus bae. Good times. 

Firecracker Is a Conspiracy Theorist With a Connection to Starlight’s Past 

One of Sage’s tasks is to bring in someone new who can take the Seven to another level. She finds Firecracker, who makes videos and does “truther” conferences where she spreads all sorts of weird theories and lies. One of her main targets is Starlight, whom she says is running a child sex trafficking ring with Tom Hanks and Oprah. (I know, I know.) Sage feels like Firecracker has the right spark to galvanize Homelander fans into destroying those who support Starlight and her foundation. Starlight eventually confronts Firecracker, who reveals that she was on the pageant circuit with Starlight when they were younger.

Then know as Sparkler, she was ousted from the pageant world after Starlight spread a rumor about her having inappropriate sexual relations with judges. Starlight said that was the only reason that “fat, white trash” like her would be in that world. So this explains why Firecracker has so much spite for her. She says she will do whatever she can to expose Annie for the heartless b***h that she truly is. Starlight is obviously remorseful for her childhood actions but now she will have to face her past in a new way.

Firecracker is also very eager to win Homelander’s affections, which makes her even more dangerous. Unlike the more reclusive Sage, Firecracker has an audience and influence among the same demographic that supports Homelander. 

The New Black Noir Is a God U Graduate and Super Chatty

The funniest addition to the Seven is a new Black Noir. We don’t know who is under the mask but he’s very actor-y and constantly complains about not knowing what they want from him. He’s obviously willing to play along and even kill but he is also annoying everyone around him. Maybe he’s someone we’ve met before but it is likely that he’s a new character whose face we will see in the near future.

There is still one spot open in the Seven so we will have to see who takes that final chair at Homelander’s roundtable of foolishness.

The post Who Are the New Members of the Seven in THE BOYS? appeared first on Nerdist.

Spoilers ahead for the first three episodes of The Boys season four.

Every good character has to have a core wound. It’s usually something that happened to them in the past that shaped who they are today. Or it is some aspect of their life that is unclear or painful that they have yet to address. When it comes to The Boys characters, there are core wounds galore. From MM’s anger and anxiety after Soldier Boy killed his grandfather to Homelander’s deep rooted insecurities and desire to be truly loved, everyone is dealing with some complex issues. This season, we are diving into Hughie’s biggest core wound: his mother abandoning him. Hughie’s mom comes back into the picture in season four, affecting his work with the Boys and making him question his future. 

After Hughie’s father has a stroke and slips into a coma, Hughie rushes to be by his side. He feels guilty and distraught for obvious reasons, but those feelings soon give way to anger when his mom arrives. Until now, we knew that she left without a trace when Hughie was a kid but the details weren’t clear. Through a couple of heated encounters, we discover Hughie’s mom took him to school when he was six years old and disappeared.

You can feel his pain as he verbally unloads on her about her decision. He asks her why and how she could leave her own child. She tells Hughie that she had him at 22 years old and suffered from postpartum depression for years. She hid her pain from her family and finally hit a breaking point where she attempted suicide. The next day is when she left to try to save her life. Hughie’s mom said she wanted to get in contact with him but his father was too hurt and angry to let her back in their lives. She apologizes profusely and seems sincere but it is so hard to trust anyone on this damn show.

Hughie’s mom raises eyebrows for a couple reasons. First, she works for Vought (technically Voughtality selling herbal supplements and oils), which sucks because she surely knows about Hughie’s history with the company. Then again, everyone who works for Vought isn’t inherently bad. Hughie is also a grown man and she could have come back into his life years ago. The more disturbing reason is that she has medical power of attorney over Hughie’s ailing father, even noting that he updated his will recently.

She claims they have been in frequent contact recently but it is still suspicious that Hughie’s father would give that power to a woman who abandoned the family versus his beloved son. I wouldn’t say she’s a full-fledged villain but it is very strange for her to suddenly show up. We will see if Hughie and his mom can patch up their broken relationship or not.

The post THE BOYS Reveals the Heartbreaking Reason Why Hughie’s Mom Left the Family appeared first on Nerdist.

Doctor Who’s latest episode takes us back into the Regency era and “Oh, my Bridgerton!” is it a fun romp in the past. Ruby and Fifteen head back to 1813 for a little fun at a ball. Things get rather spicy with some human scandals, the villainous Chuldur’s plans to take over bodies for evil cosplay fun, and the Doctor’s interactions with Rogue, played by guest star Jonathan Groff. Many fans were curious about Groff’s Doctor Who character and how he would play into this universe. And boy, does this episode shake the show up in a way we haven’t seen before. 

The Doctor encounters Rogue, a space bounty hunter from the future who accosts him after a very funny meet-cute. Rogue believes the Doctor is a Chuldur, a shapeshifter that he’s been hired to find and chuck into some incinerator to a death sentence. Rogue brings the Doctor to his ship and the latter can’t help but act, well, like the Doctor. He’s making jokes about the inferior vessel (nothing is better than the TARDIS) and Rogue getting his name from Dungeons & Dragons.

The funniest part is when he pokes fun at Rogue by turning up his music. Guess what song is playing? Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” (Fun fact: Kylie was in the 2007 Christmas special Doctor Who episode “Voyage of the Damned.”) Rogue is clearly annoyed by the Doctor and his little screwdriver at first but that soon fades away after a scan reveals that the Doctor is not Chuldur. The duo end up liking each other. And I mean liiikkiiinnnngggg each other, nearly kissing in the TARDIS before the ongoing mystery interrupts. 

While Ruby is off being nosy and having a good time, Rogue essentially becomes The Doctor’s companion. They work together to devise a plan to send the Chuldur to a random barren dimension so they cannot kill everyone on Earth. They also cannot help but flirt throughout their plan to lure the Chuldur. This includes dancing “scandalously” in front of a crowd and (fake) arguing like a real couple.

Ruby ends up on the transporter after she has to pretend to be a Chuldur to stay alive. Rogue kisses the Doctor and takes Ruby’s place, instructing the Doctor to find him. The Doctor is obviously heartbroken but he quickly pushes his emotions aside and moves on with Ruby. 

Give me Rogue and Fifteen fanfic please. We don’t know if we will ever see Rogue again. (Probably not.) But perhaps his barren dimension adventures will come to Big Finish one day. Until then, we can smile about the Doctor finding love with someone who feels like his equal, even if it is only for one night.

The post DOCTOR WHO Delivers Queer Romance, Thanks to Jonathan Groff’s Rogue Character appeared first on Nerdist.

The Acolyte is only two episodes in but it is already a Disney+ darling. According to Deadline, the Star Wars series gained 4.8 million views in its first day, making The Acolyte the biggest series premiere on Disney+. That’s a big deal. People are obviously loving this dive into the High Republic era that’s full of secrets and mysterious happenings.

It will remain to be seen if The Acolyte can continue to keep those views up as the season progresses. There’s a whole lot going on in June with House of the Dragon season two and The Boys season four coming soon. Of course, some people may only watch one series and others may watch them all. But there’s certainly some stiff competition for viewership on the horizon.

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It’s no secret that we at Nerdist love all things LEGO. From building cool sets to trailer remakes in brick form to full on movies, we just can’t get enough. In terms of the latter, there’s a new feature length movie, delightfully titled Piece by Piece, about superproducer Pharrell Williams’ life, career, and legacy. It includes some of our favorite entertainers like Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg. The trailer for Piece by Piece digs into Pharrell Williams’ story in a vibrant and musical way in a full on LEGO movie format. We hear a voiceover from Williams as he talks about his inspirations and highlights a few artists that he’s worked with. 

The Piece by Piece trailer really delights me by using Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” and Wreckx-n-Effect’s “Rump Shaker” in less than two minutes. It truly shows Pharell’s range as a producer/songwriter and how long he’s been in the game. I also never thought I would see a LEGO movie about Pharrell Williams but the world continues to be an unpredictable place. 

What Is the Release Date for Pharrell Williams’ LEGO Movie Piece by Piece?

Piece by Piece will hit theaters on October 11.

The post Pharrell Williams’ Life Story Comes to LEGO Form in PIECE BY PIECE Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is coming our way soon! The animated Netflix adventure starring Hayley Atwell gave us a new trailer and a release date of October 10. We also finally get to hear Atwell in the role. Check out everything we know about Netflix’s upcoming Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft below.

We Finally Get to Hear Hayley Atwell Voice Lara Croft

The latest tease for Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft finally gave us something we’ve all been waiting for, a taste of what Hayley Atwell will sound like as Lara Croft. It’s just as delightfully fierce and slightly snarky as we’d hoped. The trailer also hints at some deliciously dangerous adventures to come for Lara and co. You can take a look at the sneak peak at the :40 mark of the below video.

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft Teaser Trailer and Date Announcement

Netflix’s gorgeous Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft and its gorgeous teaser trailer have us absolutely buzzing. Recently, during Geeked Week, we also got a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at this new adventure. It’s been a long time since we have seen this famous adventurer swing into action, and it looks like we are in for quite the quest.

The clip reveals exactly what it should to viewers. In this Tomb Raider trailer, We get a glimpse of Lara Croft as she dives into a mysterious abyss and shoots an arrow at the camera. There’s also some intrigue as she looks at a photo of herself with a group of people, presumably friends.

Lara Croft’s video game and film history gives her a few different backstories, including everything from being an aristocrat who chooses a life of adventure following an accident to a daughter seeking answers about her mother’s disappearance. Of course, many fans are familiar with Angelina Jolie’s take on the character. She discovers the truth behind her father’s demise while also being a total badass. It remains to be seen what Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft will do with her story, but the Netflix trailer does show how aesthetically pleasing this show will be. 

The Making of Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

This Tomb Raider series is produced by Legendary Television and video game development company Crystal Dynamics, with animation by Powerhouse Animation Studios. Powerhouse is the same studio behind the 2017 Castlevania TV series as well as video games like Mortal Kombat X. 

As part of its Geeked Week, Netflix showcased the creation of Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft and offered us a behind-the-scenes look at how the look of the character and series came together. Joy Hua, a character design supervisor on the series, shared that one of the main aims of the series is to bridge the Lara Croft fans know from the newer Survivor games and have her grow into the Lara Craft we fans know from the classic games. Hua also promises there will be many video game Easter eggs in the outfits and props fans see on screen, but that the series will also go to new and unexplored places.

Sounds like it will be an excellent adventure to us.

What Is Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft’s Release Date? 

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft will hit Netflix on October 10.

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

Originally published on September 27, 2023.

The post Check Out Hayley Atwell’s Lara Croft Voice in TOMB RAIDER: THE LEGEND OF LARA CROFT Teaser appeared first on Nerdist.

BoxLunch is well-known for not only giving us some of the finest fandom fashion around, but also giving back to those in need. The company takes a portion of its proceeds to provide meals via philanthropic partnerships. And, through its merchandise, BoxLunch consistently celebrate queer characters. That’s why their recent collaboration with GLAAD, a non-profit organization focused on LGBTQ+ advocacy and cultural change, for Pride Month doesn’t feel like some cheap gimmick to appeal to the LGBTQ+ community. It’s a natural part of who the brand is.

From now until June 30, all roundup donations in stores and online at BoxLunch will go towards GLAAD’s ongoing mission to ensure fair, accurate and inclusive representation in media. That’s certainly a cause that we can support. The company is also releasing some fun new apparel, bags, plush, and accessories featuring Adventure Time, Steven Universe, The Powerpuff Girls and other animated characters.

Check out the awesome BoxLunch Adventure Time apparel here:

Click To View Gallery

And, you can also check out some of the Steven Universe and PRIDE collections here:

Click To View Gallery

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Millennial kids (myself included) remember the joys of our toys. Who can forget how we used to forget to feed our Tamagotchis? And everyone wanted a Skip-It. One toy that many of us had was a Furby, an owl-like robotic toy that started speaking “Furbish” until it “learned English.” Like the Cabbage Patch dolls, it became a hot Christmas item that made our parents nearly fight in stores. But have you ever imagined what a Furby would be like if it came out in the not-so-distant future versus 1998. Well, the creators at Evan and Katelyn Extra have thought about that and their futuristic Furby from 2030 is a frightening robot with the body of a dog. I am afraid of it, tbh. 

The creativity and work that went into building a robot Furby is astounding. But I certainly wouldn’t want to creep up on that thing in the dark. If you want to learn more about how they made it, the below video breaks it all down.

He’s probably going to murder us all…

The post This Robotic Furby Is Absolute Nightmare Fuel appeared first on Nerdist.

Beavis and Butt-Head are somehow back in pop culture and having a moment. The ‘90s animated duo got a revival series on Paramount+ for two season. Mikey Day and Ryan Gosling also went viral for totally breaking an SNL skit while portraying these dimwitted buddies. Now, Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head is getting a third season but it is moving to Comedy Central, which seems like the perfect place for this series to land. According to Variety, the show’s second season will arrive on Comedy Central on July 10 with season three coming sometime in 2025. 

The 2022 revival film Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe will also air on Comedy Central on July 3. Now if we can get a Daria revival going, I’ll really be happy.

The post BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD Series Scores Season Three Renewal, Moves to Comedy Central appeared first on Nerdist.

A while ago, sci-fi/apocalypse fans were hype about the possibility of an I Am Legend sequel with Will Smith reprising his role alongside (the wildly attractive) Michael B. Jordan. (Be still my beating heart!) Since then, things have been rather quiet with people instead speculating about Jordan’s mystery vampire flick with Ryan Coogler. Now, thanks to a People interview, Michael B. Jordan finally confirmed that I Am Legend 2 is indeed happening with Will Smith with the script currently in progress. 

“We’re still working on the script and getting that up to par,” Jordan revealed. “It doesn’t have a release date or anything like that. I’m not sure exactly where we’re going to be filming that one, but I’m really excited to get in front of the camera with him. Being somebody that I’ve looked up to for a really long time, to be able to work with Will is something I’m really looking forward to. I’m really excited.”

This is super exciting news, indeed. Jordan, like many other young Black actors today, look up to Will Smith as a legend and inspiration. Now, he gets to work alongside him in what will probably be an epic film. For those who are wondering how Smith’s character can possibly be in this movie, the I Am Legend sequel is going with the alternate ending where his character survived. We are ready to return back to this world.

The post Michael B. Jordan Confirms I AM LEGEND 2 Script in Progress, Will Smith Will Return appeared first on Nerdist.

The Last of Us season two is coming our way in 2025 and, to our chagrin, it will have fewer episodes than season one. There will be seven episodes; however, showrunners and directors Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann also gave us some good news in the mix. First, one of the episodes will be rather long, which means we will still get plenty of story. Second, The Last of Us’ potential third season will be “significantly larger” with a wider scope. There’s so much potential storytelling that a possible season four of The Last of Us could be a reality. We love to hear that. 

Here’s what Mazin told Deadline about The Last of Us season two’s episode count: 

“The story material that we got from Part II of the game is way more than the story material that was in the first game, so part of what we had to do from the start was figure out how to tell that story across seasons. When you do that, you look for natural breakpoints, and as we laid it out, this season, the national breakpoint felt like it came after seven episodes.”

And, here are his thoughts about future seasons of The Last of Us: 

“We don’t think that we’re going to be able to tell the story even within two seasons [2 and 3] because we’re taking our time and go down interesting pathways which we did a little bit in Season 1 too. We feel like it’s almost assuredly going to be the case that — as long as people keep watching and we can keep making more television — Season 3 will be significantly larger. And indeed, the story may require Season 4.”

But don’t worry, potential The Last of Us seasons 3 and 4 won’t go beyond the scope of the current games into totally new material. Mazin shares, “As a fan, I’m thrilled that there might be a third Last of Us game. As the co-creator of this television show, there’s no world where I would want our show to go beyond the source material that people have in the world. Our show as people know it on HBO is going to cover the material from the second game and then quite a bit of material that is relevant to that story but, as I said, wanders down interesting new paths, unseen stories that were told within the context of that games material.”

We are looking forward to continuing Ellie and Joel’s apocalypse story.

The post THE LAST OF US Season Two Will Have Fewer Episodes But There’s Potential for More Seasons appeared first on Nerdist.

On the surface, living in a rustic house nestled on green acres miles away from society seems like a vibe. You don’t have to worry about annoying neighbors and you can enjoy some sweet scenery. Life is good… unless you’re in a horror movie. Then there’s something sinister waiting to disturb your peace and tear your family apart, especially if you have a child. That’s what we get in Starve Acre, a folk horror film starring Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark with an unsettling yet intriguing trailer. 

The clip shows a couple beginning to splinter after their son Owen starts experiencing something strange. Richard believes everything is okay but his spouse is not so sure. And we totally agree with her, based on all the wild imagery we see in the Starve Acre trailer, including the recurring appearance of a not-so-friendly rabbit. In fact, this furry superstar is the face of Starve Acre‘s excellent poster. We love a legend!

We also love seeing two of our favorite stars, The Rings of Power‘s Morfydd Clark and House of the Dragon‘s Matt Smith, in one movie. Both series will be sharing their second seasons right around when Starve Acre releases. It will be fun to see these talented actors inhabiting such different roles. Starve Acre‘s trailer definitely gives us a taste of the excellent performances in store.

In addition to knowing Starve Acre‘s stars, you might also think this movie’s name sounds familiar. That’s because Starve Acre is based on the book by Andrew Michael Hurley. Here’s a synopsis to make things even clearer: 

When their son starts acting strangely, a couple unwittingly allow dark and sinister forces into their home, awakening a long-dormant ancient evil rooted deep in the countryside.

What Is the Release Date for Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark’s Starve Acre?

Who can resist a film with a creepy kid and an evil entity? We certainly can’t. This film is written and directed by Daniel Kokotajlo, with Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Derrin Schlesinger, and Emma Duffy as its producers. Starve Acre will release in theaters and on-demand on July 26.

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