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The saga of Musk's tussle with the SEC over how he disclosed his growing stake in Twitter (now called X) has come to an end.

The $300 million round is expected to be led by Menlo Ventures, Sifted reported.

Join us as we explain everything you need to know from this latest trailer for Dune Part 3! Our resident Dune-atic Matt Caron breaks down the who’s who of the Dune universe and the conspiracy plot against Paul Atreides. Plus, we caught some details that may have major implications of the Dune franchise!

Watch our breakdown for the first trailer!

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

The post Dune Part 3’s New Trailer Has Some Shocking Reveals! appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• Stranger Things season 5 did not receive any of the major Emmy Awards nominations.
• While some may consider this a snub, overall audience reviews and critiques point to it being a justified vote.

Stranger Things was no doubt a cultural phenomenon. Seasons 4 and 5 both appeared on Netflix’s ‘Top 10 Shows of All Time’ list. Despite its popularity, season 5 was not an audience favorite. The Popcornmeter is full of fans complaining about unkillable main characters, bad CGI, and trope-y, cliched writing.

If it was for these reasons is unclear, but voters excluded the season from the Emmy nominations for Best Drama. The series’s actors got nothing in their categories, either.

Netflix

The season follows the characters from the previous four seasons as they band together and try to find and defeat Vecna, the primary antagonist. The battle they fight is both physical and mental. It also includes a lot of callbacks and parallels to prior seasons, a detail that had mixed reviews from fans.

After four relatively well-received seasons, some fans thought season five was a bit of a letdown. The season was a hot topic on social media when it came out. Plenty of critical reviews yielded high like counts and concurring comments.

@bareeqreads

Worst season of all time. You cannot convince me otherwise. #strangerthings #strangerthingss5

♬ original sound – bareeqreads

After 10 years of devotion to the show, fans were able to watch the finale in theaters on December 31, 2025. Immediately, though, there was backlash from devoted fans who easily found plot holes during the final battle.

@mattsmultiverse

What Was That #strangerthings #strangerthings5 #strangerthingsseason5 #filmtok #movietok

♬ Stranger Things – Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein

For the first time since the series came out, it did not receive a nomination for Best Drama this year. It seems the Emmys voters may have shared the fans’ critiques. They excluded the show from the top categories, limiting it to lower, more specific ones. Stranger Things‘ fifth season appears under “Outstanding Stunt Coordination for Drama” and “Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or a Movie.” Overall, it appears in seven categories. While some fans may think this is a snub, others certainly find it just.

The post STRANGER THINGS Excluded from Best Drama and Acting Emmys appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• Obsidian Entertainment, the original studio that developed Fallout: New Vegas in 2010, has been put in charge of making the next Fallout game.
• This comes amid the major restructuring at Xbox, which will include thousands of layoffs and closing several studios.
• Microsoft has canceled other projects on Obsidian’s docket, including a follow-up to Avowed, which underperformed.

The world of Xbox was shaken Tuesday with the announcement of a massive “restructuring” by the company’s new CEO Asha Sharma. This will result in over 2,000 layoffs in the next year and the closure or selling off of several subsidiary studios. But on a granular level, the studios that will stick around found themselves shifted to new projects. One of those is Obsidian Entertainment, who in addition to laying off a quarter of its workforce, will, according to Bloomberg, take over development of the next Fallout game.

Microsoft has taken Obsidian off of planned sequel to the 2025 roleplaying game Avowed along with other unannounced projects. Obsidian’s Josh Sawyer, the studio’s design director, will take over Fallout‘s next installment. While Bethesda owns the rights to Fallout and have produced most of the games since obtaining the IP, they haven’t made all of them. The last Fallout game Bethesda didn’t develop was 2010’s Fallout: New Vegas. You know who did develop it? Obsidian Entertainment, directed by Josh Sawyer. And everyone loves that game!

Obsidian/Bethesda

Fallout, hot off the success of the Prime Video series, remains one of Xbox’s biggest properties. But, even so, the most recent game to come out was 2018’s Fallout 76. Seeing as New Vegas featured prominently in season two of the series, and it remains one of the most beloved in the franchise, putting Sawyer and Obsidian in charge is a smart choice. Even if borne out of draconian corporate cuts.

RELATED ARTICLE

Xbox Laying Off 20% of Workforce, Divesting of 5 Studios

Obsidian’s previous games include the action role-playing series The Outer Worlds and fantasy ARPG Avowed. Both Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 released in 2025 and, despite mostly positive reviews, failed to meet Xbox Game Studios’ sales goals. Still, the studio was working apace on an Avowed sequel. Bloomberg reports, “it was on track to be announced within the next year. But in the end, it did not fit into Sharma’s overall strategy, according to people familiar with the game’s development.”

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

The post FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS Studio Will Tackle Next FALLOUT Game appeared first on Nerdist.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said emergency scenes are not "edge cases."

⚡ Quick Take

• A Kickstarter trailer for Dinosaurs of the Wild West has hit the internet.
• It comes from Luke Starke, the director of dino horror/war movie Primitive War.
• The series would depict a world where humans and dinos coexist.

Does anyone remember that movie Cowboys and Aliens? Ok, that one wasn’t terribly memorable. But we still like the idea of gunslingers in the Old West mixing it up with elements that are a little bit out of their purview. Which is why the concept for the series Dinosaurs of the Wild West has us positively giddy. This new project from director Luke Sparke imagines a world where dinosaurs didn’t go extinct, and mankind evolved alongside them. And in the era of saloons and ghost towns, cowboys learned to ride them. Yes, even the big ones. You can help make Dinosaurs of the Wild West a reality via Kickstarter, and you can watch a special trailer right for it right here:

According to the official synopsis, “The year is 1879, humans and dinosaurs have evolved together. But as the frontier grows stronger, so does the threat of extinction. But this time, it won’t be natural.” Dinosaurs of the Wild West comes from the same creative team behind the cult dino-horror film Primitive War. The official Kickstarter page describes this as “A bold new vision of the Old West, where towering beasts power civilization, and the fight for the future will decide whether they survive.” In this world, giant Brontosaurs haul entire towns, while cowboys ride Raptors into battle, as flying predators rule the skies.” This sounds like an ’80s/’90s toyline come to life, and we’re very here for it.

Kickstarter/Sparke Films

We also have a description for the potential first episode of Dinosaurs of the Wild West below:

When a relentless bounty hunter crosses paths with a frontier lawman, they uncover a conspiracy that reaches far beyond a single town… A conspiracy that could end the age of dinosaurs forever. Hunted by outlaws. Outmatched by industry. Out of time. They must decide: Fight for the world they know… or watch it vanish.

To make sure Dinosaurs of the Wild West becomes a reality, head on over to its official Kickstarter page.

The post DINOSAURS OF THE WILD WEST Trailer Unites Cowboys and Dinos appeared first on Nerdist.

Earlier this week, a picture that seemed to show Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell covered in tubes in a hospital bed in a state of extreme distress. It turned out to be an AI-generated fake.

The race to produce more chips is on, and Europe is in. ASML, the Dutch company that has a near-monopoly on manufacturing the machines used for chipmaking, may soon no longer be an isolated success story. Like its U.S. counterpart, the European Chips Act aims to foster the semiconductor industry — in part thanks to […]

⚡ Quick Take

• J.K. Simmons confirms he will not appear as J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
• Simmons had played the character in the three Sam Raimi films plus No Way Home.
• The actor said “Not in it, dude.”

There are truly no louder haters than J. Jonah Jameson, the Daily Bugle editor-in-chief. One of Spider-Man’s antagonists, Jameson makes it his life’s mission in every single Spider-Man iteration to expose his identity and make him out to be a bad guy.

J.K. Simmons appeared as the notorious newspaperman in Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man starting 2002. He was also the face of The Daily Bugle web series promoting Spider-Man: No Way Home. After he made a cameo in No Way Home when multiple Spider-Man universes collided, fans were hoping they might see him in the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day. However, he has now officially confirmed that he will not appear in the movie in an interview with ComicBook.

“Not in it, dude. I don’t know who on the internet decided that that was fact, but I ain’t in it.”

Marvel Studios/Sony

Despite audience protest, it does make sense that he will not be returning. He is working on a one-season crime show, The Westies, which started filming around the same time as Brand New Day. With the new movie’s plot, it doesn’t seem that the Daily Bugle side of Peter’s life will be the main focus.

Tom Holland’s Spider-Man does seem here to stay. Holland has been publicly discussing some ideas he has for the future of his role in the MCU. One of these would be including Miles Morales as Peter’s mentee, similar to the relationship developed in Into the Spider-Verse.

There are many more details yet to be uncovered about the upcoming movie. From Sadie Sink’s unconfirmed role to how Spider-Man will interact with the Hulk, the Punisher, and his former friends, we are still in the dark. Unfortunately, though, one mystery can be considered solved, and we’ll have to say goodbye to the sinister J. Jonah Jameson for now.

The post J.K. Simmons Confirms He Won’t Return in SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• Widow’s Bay earned 19 Primetime Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series.
• Matthew Rhys, Kate O’Flynn, Dale Dickey, and Stephen Root all received acting nominations.
• Pluribus and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms also got nominations for Best Drama Series.

The 78th Annual Primetime Emmy Award nominations have been revealed, and there are plenty of noms for some nerdy genre favorites this year. Not quite as many as last year, when Severance, Andor, and The Last of Us got a metric ton of nominations, but still way more than in years past. Widow’s Bay, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and Pluribus received many nominations, and all have a fair shot at winning. And there were some surprises we didn’t see coming as well, and as always, there were some major snubs. Past Emmy winners Liza Colón-Zayas and Jeff Hiller announced the nominations.

HBO/Apple TV

The winner of last year’s Best Drama Series, the medical drama The Pitt, once again leads all nominees, with 25 total. This is followed by Hacks in the comedy category with 24. But Widow’s Bay, the quirky supernatural comedy series from Apple TV+, came in third, with 19 nominations. Not bad for a freshman genre series. It garnered nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series, as well as for Matthew Rhys (Lead Actor), Stephen Root (Supporting Actor), Dale Dickey and Kate O’Flynn (Supporting Actress), and Hamish Linklater and Betty Gilpin (Guest Actors). Also, Hiro Murai and Katie Dippold received directing nominations for the pilot “Welcome to Widow’s Bay!”

Apple TV

Apple TV’s other genre show with several nominations is the sci-fi hit Pluribus, coming in at 18. In the major categories, it received Best Drama Series, Best Supporting Actress (Karolina Wydra), Best Lead Actress (Rhea Seehorn), and Best Supporting Actor (Carlos-Manuel Vesga). Turning to Westeros, HBO’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms didn’t get any acting nominations, which is a bummer, but it did receive a nomination for Outstanding Drama Series. So that’s not exactly nothing. Prime Video’s fan-favorite Fallout received 10 nominations, but none in the major categories. Not even for the excellent Walton Goggins.

Horror fans got some love as well, as Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story received nominations for its lead performers, Charlie Hunnam and Laurie Metcalf. That series was often tasteless, but the acting was top-notch. For its final season, Stranger Things received 7 technical nominations, but nothing in the major categories. Netflix’s spooky comedy megahit Wednesday received 6 nominations, but again, nothing in the major categories. And It: Welcome to Derry only received two technical nominations. Which is a shame.

Marvel Studios

A few comic book shows received nominations in technical categories too, but that’s pretty much it. The Boys got 7 nominations for its final season, but none in the major categories. No, not even for Antony Starr as Homelander. Which just feels wrong, no matter how you felt about the last season. However, Yahya Abdul-Mateen got a nom for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series for Wonder Man. And Spider-Noir received several nods in the technical categories. Will any of these nerdy shows win? We think Widow’s Bay has an excellent shot. We’ll have to wait and see when they hand out the awards on Monday, September 14, on NBC. For the full list of this year’s Emmy nominations, head on over to Deadline.

The post 2026 Emmy Noms Honor Genre Hits WIDOW’S BAY, PLURIBUS, and More appeared first on Nerdist.

Manna is launching a U.S. operations and manufacturing facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that will eventually employ 1,000 people.

Elon Musk's tech company released the newest version of Grok on Wednesday, promising a cheaper, more efficient alternative to other powerful AI models.

⚡ Quick Take

• We’re looking at Apocalypse’s biggest moments in X-Men comics history.
• Apocalypse is the main villain of X-Men ’97 season two.
• His is one of the most complicated and weirdest storylines in Marvel Comics.

The villains in the X-Men comics are some of the most colorful and interesting in Marvel’s long history. Some have proven to have real staying power, while others were very “of their time.” The first 20-ish years gave readers Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the Hellfire Club, anti-Mutant hate groups and their Sentinels, and alien threats like the Brood. By the mid-’80s, with Chris Claremont writing the main series for over a decade, things began to change, with more and more evil Mutants of varying power levels. Of these, the first and arguably most important is the ancient Mutant En Sabah Nur, known the world over as Apocalypse.

Marvel Animation

Because Mr. Nur is the main baddie in season two of X-Men ’97, we thought we’d walk you through the most important events in his wild and wacky history from the pages of Marvel Comics.

X-Factor

Apocalypse became a major fixture of the nascent X-Factor comics in 1986. That series took the original five X-Men (Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, and the newly resurrected Marvel Girl) and made them a government-sponsored Mutant-policing force. Original writer Bob Layton introduced baddies called the Alliance of Evil who had a shady and unseen benefactor for the first few issues. After issue number five, Layton left the series. Editor Bob Harras put longtime Marvel creative Louise Simonson on X-Factor and charged her with giving X-Factor a villain worthy of the original X-team. Someone up there with Magneto in heft and aura. Thus, Apocalypse was properly born.

Marvel

Apocalypse is the “First Mutant,” an extrapolation of Magneto’s belief that Homo superior are the destined rulers of Earth. Apocalypse believes not only are Mutants the be-all, end-all, he believes fundamentally in Charles Darwin and survival of the fittest. For Mutants, or anyone, to live, they must earn that right. Fighting to the death, etc.

His primary Mutant ability is self-atomic manipulation, meaning he has total control over every atom in his body. He can therefore reshape, rewrite, and retool his physiognomy at will. And what a will it is. Over the years, Apocalypse has also had his powers enhanced through various external forces, including Celestials and techno-organic viruses. And speaking of external, Apocalypse is one of the Mutant subspecies called Externals. Externals are all but immortal, as Apocalypse can self-resurrect after dying.

The Horsemen

To continue Simonson’s Biblical reference with Apocalypse, in X-Factor #15, she and her husband, artist Walt Simonson, gave Apocalypse his Four Horsemen. These four individuals (many different ones over the years) are Mutants whom Apocalypse imbues with a massive power boost and form of genetic brainwashing. The Horsemen take on the embodiments of War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death.

Marvel Comics

When we first meet the Horsemen in X-Factor, Apocalypse only has three. Mutant soldier Abraham Kieros, who creates massive seismic waves when he claps, becomes War. Autumn Rolfson, whose power causes things to decay, becomes Famine. Morlock Plague, whose powers can give people illness, naturally became the Horseman Pestilence. But who, then, would assay the role of Death? This is perhaps one of Apocalypse’s most infamous acts. He chooses Warren Worthington III, aka Angel, one of the very first X-Men and a founding member of X-Factor. At the time, Warren was at his lowest point. Following an injury incurred during battle, Warren’s friend Cameron Hodge, secretly an anti-Mutant activist, arranged to have Warren’s wings amputated.

This is when Apocalypse entered to pick up the pieces of Warren’s life. Rewriting his genetics and bestowing him with techno-organic wings, Apocalypse turned Angel into Archangel, the embodiment of Death itself. Eventually Warren would regain his wits and leave Apocalypse’s thrall. However, he also didn’t return to X-Factor right away, instead embarking on a mission to find and murder his former friend Hodge. For the rest of his life, Warren would have to contend with his latent murderous intent thanks to Apocalypse’s influence.

Marvel Comics

At one point during all of this, Apocalypse also comes into conflict with the High Evolutionary. The H.E. wants to rid Earth of all beings that would thwart the evolutionary process. Apocalypse sees this as a direct opposition to his own plans and X-Factor has to watch as two big ol’ baddies fight.

X-Cutioner’s Song

While kicking around as X-Factor’s main antagonist for years, the character eventually (seemingly) died in X-Factor #68. But, the character was way too popular to be gone long. Within a year, Apocalypse returned as part of the crossover event story “X-Cutioner’s Song.” This title—which crossed over all four X titles. As with just about everything X-Men related in the 1990s, this 12-part story was ridiculously complicated. Essentially, it involves an assassination attempt on Professor X which appears to be the work of Cable, founder of X-Force and former headmaster of the New Mutants.

Marvel Comics

This pits the X-Men and X-Factor against X-Force. In the midst of this, Mister Sinister kidnaps Scott Summers and Jean Grey, but leaves clues which point to Apocalypse and his Horsemen. Yes, Apocalypse is still alive. The messiness of this plot goes off the rails and we eventually learn that the culprit isn’t Cable at all but is Stryfe, Cable’s clone and the head of the Mutant Liberation Front. Like Cable, Stryfe is militant about Mutant autonomy. Unlike Cable, Stryfe wants to wipe out everyone and anyone along the way.

So you’d think Apocalypse would be on board with this. Not so. Weirdly, at least for this story arc, Apocalypse isn’t quite the all-out villain he usually is. He’s not a “good” guy by any means, but he ultimately saves Professor X who is infected by the TO virus.

The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix

In a lot of ways, the ’90s X-Men run is all about preventing the future, ensuring the future, and circumventing the future. Apocalypse serves as one prong of a pentagon of characters all embroiled in this. Mister Sinister attempts to create a living weapon to kill Apocalypse. This is, of course, Nathan Summers, the son of Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor (whom we have learned was a clone of Jean Grey). Sinister infects Baby Nathan with the techno organic virus and so Cyclops and Jean send him to the future.

Marvel Comics

In the miniseries “The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix,” the pair head to the far future where Apocalypse rules supreme. His group, Clan Akkaba, go up against Clan Askani, whose leader is Mother Askani, the very old version of Rachel Summers. Rachel Summers is Scott and Jean’s daughter from the “Days of Future Past” timeline who ends up in the past in the main timeline for comic book reasons. She has raised Nathan into his youth.

By this point, Apocalypse has been enfeebled and has attempted to clone Nathan Summers and put his consciousness into it. However, the real Nathan manages to kill Apocalypse. Probably forever…

The Rise of Apocalypse

In the miniseries, “The Rise of Apocalypse,” we learn the history of En Sabah Nur. He was a baby foundling raised by a tribe of Nomads. The tribe’s leader, Baal, raised young Nur to believe in survival of the fittest. At the time, Egypt was under the control of the Pharoah Rama-Tut. It turns out, Rama-Tut was actually the time travelling villain, Kang the Conqueror. Kang’s ultimate goal was to recruit Nur to be his successor, knowing that in the future, Nur would become Apocalypse.

Marvel Comics

However, Rama-Tut badly underestimates Nur. The Pharoah destroys Nur’s tribe and the young Mutant wants revenge. He travels to Rama-Tut’s city pretending to be a slave. While there, Nur falls in love with Nephri, the sister of Rama-Tut’s second in command, Ozymandias. She rejects Nur because of his facial disfigurement and the anger and despair makes his mutant power kick in. While Kang scarpers, Nur, now calling himself Apocalypse, enslaves Ozymandias and begins his first reign.

Age of Apocalypse

Maybe the most famous Apocalypse storyline doesn’t really even feature him that much. The alternate universe line-wide takeover “Age of Apocalypse” begins when Legion, the psychotic Mutant with multiple personalities, decides to travel back in time to kill Magneto, blaming Magnus for all the ills of the present. However, Legion gets it wrong and goes back to a time when Magneto and Legion’s father, Charles Xavier, are already friends. Xavier saves Magneto and dies in the process. This rewrites history for the very worse. The only Mutant who knows this time tangent occurred is Lucas Bishop, who had chased Legion through time.

Marvel Comics

The “Age of Apocalypse” finds a world in which En Sabah Nur was able to take over Earth with impunity. Magneto ends up leading the X-Men. All the existing X-books receive new titles during this period and the characters all shift and change in myriad ways. Some good guys, like Beast, are evil in AoA, whereas some villains like Sabretooth are on the side of the angels.

The Twelve

For ages and ages in the comics, we’d heard something about “The Twelve,” a group of 12 Mutants whom Apocalypse sought to collect in order to harness their powers for him to ascend into Godhood. Though many of our main characters are candidates, we later learn the Twelve in question are: Magneto, Polaris, Storm, Sunfire, Iceman, Cyclops, Phoenix, Cable, Bishop, Mikhail Rasputin (evil older brother of Colossus and Magik), Professor X, and true wildcard, the Living Monolith.

Marvel Comics

The early 2000s in X-Men comics were very convoluted and this is perhaps the biggest offender. All you really need to know is that Apocalypse wants power unending because his body is breaking down. Because “Age of Apocalypse” had been so popular, this arc’s subseries, “Ages of Apocalypse,” showed different warped realities via Apocalypse having possessed Cyclops. It’s crazy and not very good.

Lots of Cable Shenanigans

So, the biggest continued throughline with Apocalypse from the ’90s onward is his relationship, of sorts, with Cable, aka Nathan Summers. Cable time shifts to various points in the past and future in an attempt to stop the seemingly inevitable Apocalypse-ruled future from whence he came.

In the course of these adventures, we get a very fun piece of lore. In the pages of the team-up book Cable & Deadpool which ran from 2004-2008, we learn that, at one point, Cable, under the guise of “Traveler,” went back in time to kill En Sabah Nur in Ancient Egypt. During the course of his battle, Apocalypse manages cut off Cable’s cybernetic arm. After Cable seemingly wins, shooting Apocalypse in the head, Ozymandias declares Cable the Dark Riders’ new leader. Cable declines, but in the course of his bidding farewell, he gets his own techno-organic-infused blood mixed with Apocalypse’s.

Marvel Comics

This effectively creates a Bootstrap Paradox. It was Apocalypse’s TO virus which Mister Sinister gave to baby Nathan Summers who then went back in time and infected Apocalypse. So where did the virus come from? Who had it first? Chicken, egg.

Apocalypse vs. Dracula

This is not at all important but it is very weird, which is why I want to mention it. Prior to becoming a vampire, Vlad Tepes lost in battle to Apocalypse’s Clan Akkaba. Centuries later, the vampire lord wants revenge via turning all the clan into his legion of the undead. To combat this, Apocalypse must awaken from his rejuvenating slumber to team up with—is this right?—Van Helsing to stop Dracula.

Marvel Comics Uncanny X-Force

During a period of time when most of the world’s Mutants had lost their powers (thanks, Wanda), Apocalypse ended up losing his own life, seemingly for the last time. However, his followers in Clan Akkaba couldn’t stay down for long. They eventually revived their leader…somewhat. This is a child whom Akkaba intends to indoctrinate. Stopping this becomes the first mission of the now-even more clandestine Uncanny X-Force, consisting of leader Wolverine, Archangel, Psylocke, Deadpool, and Fantomex.

The “would you kill Baby ____” thought experiment pits various members of the team on opposite sides of the debate, with Deadpool acting as the most staunch voice of mercy. Who can kill a child? Well, Fantomex, turns out. This sends a ripple through the nascent team. However, Fantomex learns of a clone of Baby Apocalypse and, to make amends to himself, he decides to raise the boy to be good.

This young one, Evan Sabahnur, eventually helps X-Force battle against Archangel when Clan Akkaba awakens his latent and not-so-hidden evilness. After Dark Archangel’s defeat, Fantomex enrolls Evan into Jean Grey’s School for Higher Learning.

Marvel Comics All New X-Men

Evan Sabahnur has a hard time fitting in amongst his new classmates. They fear him and what he may eventually become. Deadpool, during this period, becomes a mentor and older brother figure to Evan and helps the young clone resist the evils of Daken and the Brotherhood. Evan, wanting even more to prove he’s his own man, names himself Genesis and joins up with the time-displaced original X-Men.

At one point, Evan even travels back in time with Beast and befriends young En Sabah Nur. He tries in vain to prevent Nur from becoming Apocalypse. Evan Sabahnur dies in the 2019 story “Age of X-Man,” which is a riff on “Age of Apocalypse” where X-Man (alternate universe Cable) creates a totalitarian utopia.

Krakoan Age

Apocalypse has one of the most interesting storylines in the entirety of the Krakoan Age, which began in 2019 with House of X/Powers of X. After Professor X and Magneto hatched their plan with Moira MacTaggart to create a Mutant utopia on the living island Krakoa, all Mutants, regardless of level of villainy, were welcome. This included Apocalypse, who actually saw this as a wonderful and fitting moment, the culmination of all of his work.

Marvel Comics

One of the major facets of the Krakoan Age is effective immortality, through resurrection. Mutants who lost their powers after M-Day can regain them by dying and undergoing Krakoan resurrection. To prevent mass suicide by depowered mutants in order to regain their powers, the Quiet Council of Krakoa devised the Crucible, a trial by combat where a depowered mutant must endure grueling physical and psychological attacks from Apocalypse before they can die and be resurrected.

During this period, he also sits on the island’s Quiet Council, the governing body for Mutantkind as well as acting as the mentor figure to the magic-focused Excalibur team. During the massive crossover event X of Swords, we learn that Apocalypse’s original Horsemen were his biological children alongside his wife Genesis. Genesis and a whole host of Mutants raised in Apocalypse’s image arrive along with Krakoa’s sister entity, Arakko. In order to make room for all these newbies, Storm terraforms Mars and makes a second Mutant homeworld.

Marvel Comics

Eventually, Apocalypse realizes his ways are not the Krakoan way, Apocalypse attacks and fights the X-Men until Jean talks him down. Upon seeing through the eyes of the Mutants on Krakoa, Apocalypse leaves for Arakko.

X-Men ’97

So far in X-Men ’97 season two, we’ve seen elements of many of Apocalypse’s early stories played out onscreen. Presumably in the present, we’ll see him enlist new Horsemen and very likely one of those will be Gambit, and possibly Colossus. Oh what fun!

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

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The post The (Most Important) Marvel Comics History of Apocalypse appeared first on Nerdist.

This developer didn't expect his side project to grow to 300,000 users, but people love Roost because it's an alternative to an always-on, fast-paced online culture.

General Intuition is betting millions of hours of video game data can train the foundation models for physical AI, making it easier to build smarter robots with minimal real-world data.

X plans to send users direct messages when posts they’ve liked, replied to, or reposted receive Community Notes, an update aimed at addressing criticism that the platform’s crowdsourced fact-checking system often arrives too late to curb misinformation.

⚡ Quick Take

• Robert Pattinson is known for playing Edward Cullen, the vampire in Twilight.
• Though he hated the role for many years, he brought up a Twilight character in an interview for The Odyssey.
• He says Antinous, who is trying to nab Odysseus’s wife and kingdom, is “like Jacob,” and that he thinks audiences will be “rooting for him.”

Even after many successful roles across many genres, Robert Pattinson is still best known for playing Edward Cullen in the Twilight saga. For years, Pattinson publicly hated the writing of the movies and his character. Now, years after the last Twilight movie, his tune has changed. He actually referenced the franchise during an MTV UK red carpet interview for The Odyssey, and jokingly compared his Antinous character to Jacob from the Twilight movies. Of course, this is funny because Jacob was famously Edward Cullen’s romantic adversary.

@mtvuk

“It’s kind of like Jacob in Twilight” 😂 We cannot wait to see Robert Pattinson playing Antinous in The Odyssey 🌊 #MTVMovies #RobertPattinson #TheOdyssey #Twilight

♬ original sound – mtvuk

He said that though his character, Antinous, is a villain of the story, he thinks the audience “will be rooting for him… It’s kinda like Jacob in Twilight.”

During the height of Twilight‘s popularity, there was a serious feud between fans who wanted Bella to end up with either vampire Edward or werewolf Jacob. Though she continuously chose Edward, there were still always plenty of Jacob loyalists.

Syncopy Inc./Summit Entertainment

Pattinson’s summary of The Odyssey is as follows (and don’t you dare tell me I’m “spoiling” a 2800-year-old text):

“What The Odyssey is about, Penelope just can’t make her mind up between two guys, and I’m just trying to like help her make a decision… [Odysseus is] dead, get over it!”

If Penelope were to choose to marry Antinous, he would not only take her hand but would also take over Odysseus’ place on the throne, so there may be more to it than “trying to help her make a decision.”

Whether you’re “Team Odysseus” or “Team Antinous” (I’m making the T-shirts right now), you can watch them both in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, which comes to theaters on July 17.

The post Robert Pattinson Says His ODYSSEY Character Is Like TWILIGHT’s Jacob appeared first on Nerdist.

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⚡ Quick Take

• Dune: Part Three‘s trailer has arrived, and we break down every single shot, Easter egg, and theory it offers.
• From the return of Jason Momoa’s Duncan Idaho to what Robert Pattinson’s Scytale is plotting to the mysterious shots of Zendaya’s Chani and children, we have a full trailer explanation for you.
• This Dune: Part Three trailer is full of wild insights and major hints at changes from the book that you won’t want to miss.

The Dune: Part Three trailer is here. And, as with all things Dune, it is jam-packed with action, emotion, and Easter eggs. Dune: Part Three will adapt Frank Herbert’s 1969 sequel novel, Dune Messiah. Dune told the story of young Paul Atreides and his rise to power. And now, Dune: Part Three takes place 17 years after Paul Atreides unleashed his Fremen armies across the known universe. He has become the figurehead of both church and state in his new empire and destroys any and all who oppose him. But Paul’s empire is under attack from both outside and within. Factions of the old imperium: the Bene Gesserit, the Spacing Guild, and the mysterious Tleilaxu, all aim to gain leverage over Paul and seize the monopoly of spice production from his control. And we get to see all this play out in the epic new sneak peek at the movie.

But how does someone destroy such a powerful leader who has the ability to see all of time and space? And how can Paul Atreides redeem himself from the terror he has set upon the universe? Well, let’s dig into this new Dune: Part Three footage to find out!

Paul Atreides Is Large and in Charge in the Dune: Part 3 Trailer

Like the first trailer, this new trailer shows the devastation of Paul Atreides’ war to solidify his hold on power. We see more shots of the brutal battle from the special preview at Cinemacon. Paul walks amongst the aftermath of another intense battle. Entire landscapes have been demolished and burned to ash, most likely the result of a Stone Burner. Paul’s sister, Alia, walks barefoot through even more ashes as she is surrounded by the dead bodies of those who tried to resist Paul’s rule. Paul Atreides climbs his dais to stand above his countless Fremen legions.

Warner Bros./Legendary Entertainment

And in case you still weren’t sure who’s in charge, we also see a MASSIVE statue of Emperor Paul Muad’Dib and his even larger palace, the Arrakeen Keep. The Arrakeen Keep looks almost like an inversion of the Emperor’s Hutment from the battle at the end of Dune Part 2. Paul overthrew the 10,000-year-long Corrino empire to build a new empire that could defy the one before it. But as Paul will come to find out, history repeats itself when it comes to charismatic leaders and the power structures that support them.

Duncan Idaho Returns in the Dune: Part 3 trailer: Here’s How Jason Momoa Comes Back

In this Dune: Part Three trailer, we hear the voice of what sounds like Duncan Idaho, describing the crimes of Paul’s new empire. In Dune: Part 1, Duncan helped Paul escape by fighting the Emperor’s Sardaukar troops, and he died in the process. But now we see him kneeling in front of Paul in the Atreides throne room. So, how is Duncan Idaho alive?

Well, Jason Momoa’s returning Duncan Idaho isn’t actually alive. He’s Hayt, a ghola. In Dune: Part Three, that means he’s reanimated flesh grown from Duncan Idaho’s dead body. Gholas are manufactured by the Tleilaxu, a secretive group of genetically altered humans who specialize in biogenetic engineering. The Tleilaxu regrew Duncan’s body in their mysterious axlotl tanks, except for his eyes, which they replaced with metallic eyes of mysterious design. The Tleilaxu also have the skills to genetically alter these gholas as well, embedding secret abilities and behaviors into their cellular makeup.

Warner Bros./Legendary

But is this still Duncan? Survey says, no. Paul Atreides bests Hayt in combat, something that would have never happened against the original Duncan Idaho, the greatest Swordmaster to have ever lived. But Hayt has no memory of his body’s previous life, only that he’s been told he was a Swordmaster and was a loyal member of House Atreides. 

But why would the Tleilaxu go through the trouble of bringing Duncan’s old body back to life? Hayt is merely a part of the grand conspiracy plot against the emperor Paul Muad’Dib Atreides. Hayt says he is meant to deliver a peace proposal. But as we see later in the Skull Tomb, he warns his former student that this proposal is meant to destroy him and his entire empire.

Paul Atreides Has Many Enemies in Dune: Part 3

The conspiracy against Paul takes a multi-pronged approach. We see the conspirators meet on a Spacing Guild Heighliner: Irulan, played by Florence Pugh, the daughter of the former emperor; the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, the head of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood; and Scytale the Face Dancer, a shapeshifter and yet another creation of the Tleilaxu.

Irulan is wife to Paul Atreides in name only, whom he married to secure his ascension to the throne at the end of Dune: Part 2 after he usurped her father’s regime. Irulan is also a Bene Gesserit sister, but her main priority is to keep her Corrino family name in power.

Warner Bros./Legendary

In this Dune: Part Three trailer, we can see Irulan landing in the Arrakeen spaceport and traveling to Paul’s Keep. She is surrounded by the Qizarate, Paul’s elite priestly guard of former Fedaykin warriors. Either she is under extreme protection or she is being held captive. As for why she’s covered in mud? We have no idea, unless the Predator is part of this conspiracy plot, too.

The Reverend Mother Mohiam aims to gain control of the Bene Gesserit’s breeding program once again. Paul Atreides is the result of generations of selective breeding, granting him his prescient powers as the Kwisatz Haderach. In the Dune Messiah book, Mohiam plots with Irulan for Irulan to give birth to Paul Atreides’ heir, thereby bringing Paul’s genetic line back into the hands of the Bene Gesserit.

Robert Pattinson’s Scytale Is Here to Menace and Delight Us in the Dune: Part 3 Trailer

Scytale is a representative of the Tleilaxu. The Tleilaxu are reviled throughout the Imperium for their genetic experiments, but many people rely on the Tleilaxu to supply manufactured creatures like Gholas or the shapeshifting Face Dancers. Scytale provides the Ghola Hayt as a way to distract Paul, but Scytale may have some additional tricks up his sleeve.

Warner Bros./Legendary

In one of Robert Pattinson’s more normal voices, Scytale explains in the Dune: Part 3 trailer that this conspiracy aims for “regime change,” to which Irulan replies that he has just signed their death warrants. Irulan fears that Paul’s prescient sight will reveal this secret meeting of traitors. But the last and maybe most mysterious member of the conspiracy, Edric the Spacing Guild Navigator, shields them from Paul’s vision.

Meet Edric of the Spacing Guild

The floating sarcophagus tank we see in both Dune: Part Three trailers most likely holds Edric of the Spacing Guild. Spacing Guild Navigators take heavy doses of the spice melange, granting them the limited prescience needed to safely guide their gigantic ships along the safest routes possible through space. The book Dune Messiah explores how those with limited oracular vision, like Edric, can cloud and muddle the oracular visions of others, like Paul.

Paul Atreides’ powerful abilities allow him to calculate the most likely futures possible. But if others can also see glimpses of those futures, they can take the actions to change potential outcomes. Both Paul and Edric are invisible to each other in their visions, but they can see the ripple effects each causes in the streams of time.

By hiding within the cloak of Edric’s prescience, the conspirators hope to distract and confuse Paul. Paul is aware there is a plot against him, but as he confesses later in the Dune: Part Three trailer, he can’t see the exact details. But could Paul be blind to the conspiracy or some other crucial moment later he cannot see beyond?

Here’s What We Think Happens

Similar to in the book, we can see the Spacing Guild most likely presenting Hayt as a gift to Paul. They do this under the guise of gaining favor with the emperor, but it is really to plant a dangerous weapon in his midst. Paul Atreides understands Hayt is part of a larger scheme, but can’t resist having his close friend brought back to him. The Tleilaxu engineered Hayt to function as a Mentat, like Thufir Hawat in Dune: Part 1, and he causes Paul to question his own actions.

With Paul distracted, the conspirators are free to strike at the power structures of Paul’s empire. Paul secured his rule with both his violent Fremen armies and his strict control over spice production, making Arrakis the sole source of power in the Imperium. But now, the fervor that rallied the Fremen to Paul’s cause has begun to wane.

Dune: Part 3‘s Trailer Shows a Blind Paul Atreides: Here’s Why The Loss of His Eyes Matters

In Dune Messiah, we hear the story of Farok, one of Paul’s top Fedaykin commandos, who finally sees a sea for the first time. For a Fremen, who grew up on a desert world and who could never conceive of the idea of that much water, the sea changed Farok’s outlook on Paul’s war.

In this trailer, we see this moment of Farok and Stilgar, wearing the same armor from the devastating battle in the preview, looking at the sea for the first time. Many of the Fremen kneel in the waves and pray, echoing the imagery of the Fremen when Paul rode his first sandworm.

The conspirators use disillusioned warriors like Farok to destroy their messiah emperor. The defectors spring a trap using an explosive weapon called a Stone Burner. In the Dune universe, the use of atomic weaponry against humans is outlawed, but a Stone Burner emits a specific type of radiation that burns away soft tissue of the body, specifically the eyes. Fremen law says any injured or blinded Fremen are considered useless to their tribes and must be cast out into the desert. So by blinding Paul Atreides, the Fremen would no longer deem him worthy as their leader.

And in this scene of Arrakeen at night, we see this part of the conspiracy play out. Paul and his elite guard, including his sister Alia, are lured out into the Arrakeen streets, and what looks like a Stone Burner explosion catches them in its blast. Paul is front and center, and we see a quick shot of him looking directly at the light with his eyes one last time.

Later in the trailer, we see the blast hasn’t killed Paul Atreides, but it has destroyed his eyes, literally turning him into a blind prophet. But can he still see? Was this the moment he couldn’t see in his visions of the future? Book readers know, but we won’t spoil more anything more for now.

There WILL Be Sandworm Action in Dune: Part 3

But what about Paul’s control over spice production? The giant sandworms are the only source of spice in the universe, and they only live on Arrakis. Paul Atreides has the ability to destroy the spice cycle on Arrakis, a threat that the rest of the Imperium would rather not put to the test. But if the Spacing Guild can break Paul’s monopoly on spice, then they, the Bene Gesserit, and the rest of the noble houses can freely access the most precious spice melange, upon which they are all entirely dependent.

In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sentence from the book, Paul learns that the Spacing Guild aims to kidnap a sandworm from Arrakis in the hopes of starting a new spice cycle on another planet. And from the look of this trailer, we think this film adaptation will greatly expand this plan to become a huge action scene.

The first Dune: Part Three trailer showed us Chani wielding a crysknife on what looked like the back of a sandworm. But now this new trailer gives us more of this major confrontation! Hayt jumps from an ornithopter and lands on a sandworm. As we hear him try to remember his past as the Atreides Swordmaster, we see Hayt unsheathe a sword. Paul watches on as Hayt gives Duncan’s old salute before mowing down any Fremen in his way.

Two Fremen glide with parachutes over the sand. A massive explosion goes off in front of a sandworm. And lastly, we see the final piece of the conspirator’s plan: Chani. 

Zendaya’s Chani Brings a Big Change From the Dune Messiah Book to Dune: Part 3

In what is probably the biggest change from the source material, this Dune: Part Three trailer leads us to believe that Zendaya’s Chani is part of the conspiracy plot against Paul Atreides. We hear Scytale say, “I found someone,” and then see Chani testing the sand in the desert. In the first Dune: Part Three trailer, we also saw Chani hitting the sand in what looked like an attempt to summon a sandworm. But later in this trailer, a sandworm charges straight at her, only to abruptly stop right before she is engulfed. If you look closely, you can see it is surrounded by what looks like thumpers, or maybe those are devices that can stop a worm.

Warner Bros./Legendary

So is Chani a crucial part of the conspirators’ plan? At the end of Dune: Part 2, Chani left Paul Atreides after he seized the throne. She was upset at how Paul manipulated her people, and she was ashamed she enabled yet another oppressor to take over her world. In Dune: Part Three, could Chani go so far as to help remove Paul from power? Could she be the key to uniting the Fremen defectors?

The conspirators must know that Chani could be a weakness for Paul Atreides. In fact, it appears Paul meets Chani, but is it really Chani? After we hear Paul confess he can’t see the future, Chani asks him what it feels like to be human like everyone else. But she calls Paul by his full formal name, instead of his Fremen name like Chani actually would. We think this is highly likely Scytale, shifting his form into Chani’s, to taunt Paul and goad him further into a trap.

As for the real Chani, this massive shift of her role in this story could have major implications for what to expect at the ending of Dune: Part Three and for the future of the Dune saga to come. Because now, we can finally talk about the beginning of the Dune: Part Three trailer and what may happen between Paul and Chani.

The Beginning of the Dune: Part 3 Trailer is of CRITICAL Importance

The Dune: Part 3 trailer begins with Paul meeting Chani in what appears to be a sietch. Chani immediately lays into Paul for what he has done to rise to power as this scene cuts to the devastation of Paul’s war. But we also see shots of Paul and Chani happily together.

This argument between Paul and Chani appears to take place shortly after the end of Dune: Part 2. The trailer even flashes back to the ending of Part 2, when Paul chose Irulan for marriage, and Chani angrily disappeared into the desert. In the Dune book, Chani accepts her role as Paul’s concubine, but in the film adaptations, her role has been expanded. She now provides the audience with a close, personal viewpoint of Paul Atreides. 

After Chani tells Paul she trusted him in the Dune: Part Three trailer, we see a flashback to when Paul and Chani were together during the events of Dune: Part 2. Chani wears her blue nezhoni scarf, which symbolizes when a Fremen woman is devoted to her partner. And many Dune fans saw this scarf as a sign that Chani may have been pregnant with Paul’s child by the end of Dune: Part 2.

We then see another shot of Paul and Chani together, where Chani wears her scarf and is clearly pregnant and showing. So is this another flashback? This would have to have happened after the end of Dune: Part 2, right? Or is this after Paul and Chani’s argument here in this Dune: Part Three trailer? Or could this even be one of Paul’s visions of a possible future that didn’t happen?

But then we get one of the most shocking shots in this entire trailer: Chani sitting on a dune next to two small children! Who could they be? Here we’re going to give you another spoiler warning, because this is a major reveal based on what we know from the books.

SPOILER WARNING: Paul Atreides and Chani’s Children in Dune: Part 3‘s Trailer

In the Dune Messiah story, one of the major plot points focuses on Paul fathering an heir. Irulan and the Bene Gesserit want Irulan to give birth to Paul’s child, to regain control of his bloodline. Paul Atreides, however, only wants to have a child with Chani, but he sees a terrible future in which she dies in childbirth, so he has held off on having children.

But by the end of the book, Chani actually gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl. Paul could not see this outcome in his visions of the future due to his children’s powerful oracular abilities. Chani’s death proves too much for Paul to handle, and he abandons his empire. Both Ghanima and Leto II then become the titular children in Children of Dune as they must decide whether to continue their father’s empire or destroy his legacy altogether.

This shot in the Dune: Part Three trailer, however, shows Chani alive with these children. We also see another shot of Paul and Chani together holding what appears to be a pair of Fremen babybjörns. And lastly, we also see Paul and Chani appear to reconcile with each other as they embrace in the Dune: Part Three trailer.

Dune’s director, Denis Villeneuve, has confirmed that this adaptation of Dune Messiah will take place 17 years after Dune: Part 2. Villeneuve has also said his adaptation still focuses on the love story between Paul and Chani.

Some of the best indicators for the timeline between the films is the length of Paul’s hair and the appearance of scars and tattoos on Paul and Chani’s faces. So maybe, if these moments of Paul and Chani together aren’t visions of a future that never existed, it looks like this argument between them and these flashbacks must take place soon after Dune: Part 2. But if Paul is already aware that he has kids, where are they during his reign in Dune: Part Three?

In the shot of Chani and the children sitting on the dune from the Dune: Part Three trailer, Chani lets her nezhoni scarf blow away in the wind. We then see Paul pick up the scarf, but his shaved head clearly shows that time has passed since his happy moments with Chani. We’ll just have to wait and see how this order of events plays out and how much it may affect the future of a potential Children of Dune adaptation. 

Dune: Part 3 Is Sure to Be an Incredible Adventure

But as for this movie and its conspiracy plot? We’ll also have to wait and see how successfully it plays out. We see Scytale have a close call with a sandworm. Reverend Mother Mohiam appears to be held captive by the psychotic Alia Atreides. Irulan has mud on her face. And Hayt might finally remember his life as Duncan Idaho. 

Paul won’t need his eyesight to sense the trap closing in around him, but just like the trap of the Gom Jabbar in Dune: Part 1, it seems like what’s left of Paul’s humanity will be put to the ultimate test. And that was everything we spotted in this latest trailer for Dune: Part Three!

Dune: Part Three will release in theaters on December 18, 2026.

The post DUNE: PART 3 Trailer: Our Complete Breakdown and Easter Egg Explainer of the Epic Sneak Peek appeared first on Nerdist.