Battery recycler Ascend Elements files for bankruptcy
Complete TALES FROM THE CRYPT Series Heading to Shudder
“Hello, Boils and Ghouls” became a common refrain in the ’90s for horror fans thanks to HBO’s cult favorite anthology series, Tales from the Crypt. For seven whole seasons, the cackling, wisecracking Crypt Keeper (an iconic puppet voiced by John Kassir), we got to witness horrible people meet grim and funny fates. Aside from a DVD release of individual seasons, the series hasn’t been readily available anywhere for a very long time. UNTIL NOW! (Yeah, you knew that was coming.) Thanks to Shudder, beginning May 1, we’ll get the entirety of Tales from the Crypt at our beck and call.
Shudder is making an event of this. So on May 1, we’ll only get season one. Additional seasons will roll out weekly on Fridays through June 12. The first season of Tales from the Crypt only has six episodes (the rest all have at least 13). However, I’d say four of those are all-timers. “The Man Who Was Dead,” “And All Through the House,” “Dig That Cat…He’s Real Gone,” and “Collection Completed” are among the best they ever made.
“Tales from the Crypt isn’t just a series — it’s a cornerstone of horror storytelling. Becoming its exclusive streaming home is both an honor and a thrill for us at Shudder,” said Courtney Thomasma, Executive Vice President of AMC Global Media’s linear and streaming products. “This is the kind of genre-defining, wonderfully twisted entertainment our members crave, and we’re proud to give The Crypt Keeper a place to cackle once again.”
ShudderTales from the Crypt is, of course, an adaptation of the classic 1950s EC Comics anthologies. The artwork of those comics were delightfully gruesome and perfectly compliment the macabre stories. Those stories in turn inspired other such comics-skewed horror anthologies like Creepshow and Tales from the Darkside. Tales from the Crypt the show, despite its hard-R gore, nudity, and bad language, spun-off into the Saturday morning animated series, Tales from the Cryptkeeper.
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.
This post has affiliate links, which means we may earn advertising money if you buy something. This doesn’t cost you anything extra, we just have to give you the heads up for legal reasons. Click away!
The post Complete TALES FROM THE CRYPT Series Heading to Shudder appeared first on Nerdist.
Popeyes ONE PIECE Meal Collab Is Coming
One Piece is about to sail into its most delicious port yet, Popeyes. If you know anything about One Piece, you know this collab isn’t as random as it sounds. One Piece‘s main character, Luffy, is obsessed with MEAT and food of any kind. So he’d definitely be into letting Popeyes fly his Straw Hat Pirate flag. Popeyes has confirmed its One Piece collab with a post highlighting Luffy’s straw hat and a tropical-looking drink. We’ll share leaked details of the One Piece Popeyes meal below, but other than this one post, the chain hasn’t released any official details. The only thing we know for sure is that the One Piece x Popeyes collab will be arriving on April 13th.
The internet has been buzzing with the news of a Popeyes One Piece meal for a little while. But the brand finally made it IG official. The caption of the post simply notes, “4.13 it’s going down.”
But what is going down in the meal? Here’s what the internet seems to think:
Firstly, it seems like this One Piece Popeyes collab will be anime-focused, it won’t center on Netflix’s live-action One Piece which just released season two and is already teasing season three. Many of the offerings seem to be Luffy-focused, which, again, makes sense. But, of course, our main reindeer, Chopper, needed to get a shout-out! Sadly, our favorite cook, Sanji, is missing. But he probably would have something to say about Popeyes.
PopeyesHere’s the breakdown of the potential One Piece Popeyes menu:
- Gum-Gum Fruit Lemonade: A Lemonade, Pineapple, Blue Raspberry, and Orange drink.
- Chopper’s Cupcake: A strawberry cake topped with pink strawberry icing & white sprinkles.
- Luffy Bento Box: Custom One Piece Box, Choice of Side, 2pc Chicken
- Luffy Bento Bundle: Custom One Piece Box, Gum-Gum Fruit Lemonade, Chopper’s Cupcake, Mac & Cheese, 2pc Chicken.
In the words of Luffy! MEAT! And also cake and lemonade. The perfect set of pirate snacks. Keep an eye on Popeyes official platforms for more details.
The post Popeyes ONE PIECE Meal Collab Is Coming appeared first on Nerdist.
Stalking victim sues OpenAI, claims ChatGPT fueled her abuser’s delusions and ignored her warnings
TechCrunch is heading to Tokyo — and bringing the Startup Battlefield with it
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Will Use Real Chocolate Again
Were you aware that for the last several years, the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups you’ve eaten didn’t actually have real chocolate in them? We sure had no idea. Yes, that sounds absurd, but it’s apparently true. The reason we know is because Barry Reese, the grandson of Reese’s founder, recently wrote a very critical open letter to Todd Scott of the Hershey company. And that letter made the rounds. We learned about this via Food Beast. Barry Reese openly accused Hershey of changing Reese’s proprietary milk chocolate recipe, and making this change without letting customers know. As a result of this public calling-out, Hershey is going back to real milk chocolate soon. Well, more like “soonish.”Hershey
In his scathing letter to the company, Barry Reese said: “Reese’s identity is being rewritten, not by storytellers, but by formulation decisions that replace Milk Chocolate with compound coatings and Peanut Butter with peanut-butter-style crèmes across multiple Reese’s products.” We’re not sure how the makers of chocolate goodies count as storytellers, but hey, we’ll go with it. Alongside the Peanut Butter Cups, Reese’s has apparently replaced real milk chocolate in their Take 5, Reese’s Fast Break, White Reese’s, Mr. Goodbar, and Reese’s Mini Hearts offerings. It appears that Reese’s Pieces was immune to this change. So you can tell E.T. to relax.
Perhaps because of this public humiliation, starting in 2027, Hershey plans to bring real milk chocolate back to its products. At least a small portion of them, anyway. The company says they will start reverting only about 3% of Reese’s products for starters. So chances are, even with the real milk chocolate back, it’ll be a long time before you taste it again. In a statement, the company said, “Hershey remains committed to making products consumers love, and that means continually reviewing our recipes to meet evolving tastes and preferences. A series of enhancements taking effect in 2027 reflects that commitment.” Maybe next year, you’ll be one of the lucky 3% who get real chocolate in their Peanut Butter Cups.
The post Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Will Use Real Chocolate Again appeared first on Nerdist.
THE BOYS’ Eric Kripke Says There Will Be Major Deaths Throughout Season 5
This interview contains major spoilers for The Boys‘ season five premiere. If you’re still avoiding them until you see the episode, you can instead head over to our non-spoiler review of the show’s stellar final season. If not, join us as we dive into the potential deaths on The Boys season five and how they might go down.
The Boys‘ began its final show with a bang. Or, rather, a “crack.” That’s roughly the sound we heard when Homelander snapped A-Train’s neck. The famous Supe’s demise was a shocking moment, an early goodbye to one of the show’s most important characters. But while Jessie T. Usher told us he loved his character’s ending, it also seemed to set the tone for what fans can expect from the series’ last year. If A-Train can die in the first episode, anyone can die at any point, right? That’s exactly what we can expect according to showrunner Eric Kripke. He told us more major deaths are coming in The Boys season five and they’ll be happening “throughout” the season.
Prime VideoDuring our interview with Kripke the day before The Boys‘ season five premiere, we asked about having to inform Usher about his character’s fate. We wanted to know if it helped the showrunner prepare for when he said goodbye to his entire cast and crew. It didn’t! Nor did it help when he had to do that with others, as his answer made clear A-Train won’t be the only big death that happens on the way to the series finale. There will be major deaths throughout season five of The Boys. Here’s what Kripke told us:
It’s a really hard phone call to say, “Your number’s up in the first episode.” And without spoiling too much, that was not the only time that season I had to make that call. And it was hard every single time, like, “Sorry, you’re not making it to the end of the season. You’re going to pack up and leave Toronto.” It’s like telling people they’re on Survivor. It was not fun because you create such a relationship and bond with these people. They genuinely become your family that it’s hard to tell them that their role is over.
Prime VideoIt was inevitable that The Boys final season would feature some major deaths. But many/most major characters from the first episode made it this far. It wasn’t unreasonable to think most of them would also make it to the series finale…before dying. Instead, they’ll get voted off the proverbial island along the way to the final Supe council.
There the question will be whether anyone will survive this Survivor-like season.
The post THE BOYS’ Eric Kripke Says There Will Be Major Deaths Throughout Season 5 appeared first on Nerdist.
J. Michael Straczynski’s THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Run Remains Untouchable
Being a Spider-Man fan is interesting. It’s a fandom that’s been gifted with a near limitless supply of stories and maximum job security. There are better chances that the NBA’s popularity falls off before Spidey’s popularity wanes. But it is a fandom that’s hardly bereft of frustrations. And after the first trailer for the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day, those frustrations reverberate in a way that makes you feel remarkably indifferent to the whole thing.
The movie doesn’t look like a mess or anything in a Madame Web way. And there’s no reason to believe it will be. So what the heck am I complaining about, then? Well, it’s not that the character has been in bad stories lately, per se, but rather exceptionally fine ones. That sentiment applies for movies, video games, and especially comic books. There’s just something missing.
Marvel Comics/J. Michael Straczynski/John Romita Jr./Scott Hanna/Dan Kemp
Spider-Man, as a character, has near limitless potential for stories given his everyman ethos and relatability. But back in April 2001, J. Michael Straczynski, a writer and a man who one can only assume was sent by heaven itself, showed exactly the kind of ceiling the character had by doing something many modern Spider-Man stories seemingly refuse to allow: Peter Parker growing up.
Straczynski’s run on the character began in earnest back with The Amazing Spider-Man #30 and lasted all the way until 2007. It remains a classic to this day, mostly because it allowed the character to evolve. Doing so involved some major decisions, with one of the headliners of his run being the remarriage of Peter and Mary Jane Watson who had been separated for…reasons I don’t have time to explain. (I also don’t feel like doing that, because explaining dumb things makes you more dumb according to Science.) They’re an iconic fictional couple for a reason. Mary Jane and Peter play off each other’s lives perfectly, they’re relatable, and endlessly adorable.
Marvel Comics/J. Michael Straczynski/John Romita Jr./Scott Hanna/Dan Kemp
There’s a sense for people that, somehow, having some semblance of your life being put together makes your story less engaging. Being married would make Peter’s story less exciting because famously being happily in love is boring. As we’ve seen from Clark Kent and Louis Lane being canonically married for 600 years, it’s impossible to craft stories around married superheroes.
But it’s not just that which sets the table for this more grown up Spider-Man. Yes, the relationship is handled brilliantly by Straczynski—especially since it has the adage of the re-connection between Peter and MJ that’s given plenty of time, too —and written with a warmth that would make Nora Ephron proud. But we also learn what Peter’s new profession is. Professor Parker is another aspect of Straczynski’s run that’s equally as important, if not more. It allows the character to truly evolve past his days of simply making ends meet. Peter’s new gig as the science teacher at his old school gives him a new purpose.
Spider-Man has always been about helping people, especially the Little Guy. So, there’s no better next step for the nerdy science aficionado than to literally guide along the next generation of individuals that are literally little guys: students. Even Peter can see the writing on the wall. The modern world isn’t one that’s been especially conducive for our children to thrive in, noting in Amazing Spider-Man #32 that “So much of their innocence is gone. The sense of wonder is gone. Their road is harder.” It’s a sentiment that, unfortunately, grows truer by the day.
Marvel Comics/J. Michael Straczynski/John Romita Jr./Scott Hanna/Dan Kemp
And Straczynski doesn’t have Peter be a teacher just to gobble up time before he’s donning the costume and giving the ole’ “Bam, Smack, Kapow” to whatever dangerously fantastical foe is putting the city in danger. Instead, it’s the focal point of what he’s trying to do. Many of the story arcs during Straczynski’s run focus on them, and hence comes much of the depth that many modern Spider-Man stories lack. They’re grounded in a completely different way.
There’s Jennifer, a student with oodles of potential that’s being squandered by being forced to live on the street and worrying about her drug-addled older brother. It cedes room for Peter to, as part of his classic attribute of finding ways to blame himself, question why he hasn’t noticed all the people who are going through such horrible situations. He didn’t see this despite quite literally swinging by these places throughout the city time and time again. Instead, he was too busy dealing with crazy supervillains to remember the regular trials and tribulations that society is plagued with.
There’s also someone like Melissa, who has all the smarts in the world. On top of her and her single mom having to deal with a scummy landlord (I realize “scummy” and “landlord” might be an oxymoron for some), she has to live without her beloved older brother, whom Spider-Man threw in jail. It gives Peter some much needed introspection, a fresh critique of superheroes as a general principle. This situation examines how heroes can sometimes misdirect their ire towards lower levels of crime, rather than the systems that elicit such behaviour in the first place.
RELATED ARTICLE
THE ART OF AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Hardcover Celebrates John Romita’s Incredible ArtworkIt’s not that all modern Spider-Man stories are bereft of serious moments. But oftentimes, when they do have them, it feels like their idea of serious is a “Just Make Him Miserable and Depressed” easy button. And it doesn’t feel like they’re trying to say anything. Straczynski didn’t have interest in doing that. In one of the first subplots told featuring a school shooting, it feels like a tone-setter for the entire series. It says “Yeah, we’re here, and we’re going for it.”
Straczynski’s run acts as an antidote, of sorts, to the far less interesting “Haha! I conquer! I destory! I’m bad guy!” sort of narrative that feels more like generating hype moments and fodder for power-scaling conversations than telling a good, character-driven story. For a good portion of its run, it is almost allergic to the idea of having blockbuster-esque setpieces. He’s the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man after all, so why not act like it?
Sometimes there will be a slice-of-life storyline, with nary a single textbox, showing how Mary Jane goes about her day as a fulltime model. Or, there’s Aunt May writing complaints to the Daily Bugle about their one-sided Spider-Man coverage. Other times, Spider-Man will just…meet a simple tailor, who helps out both the good and bad guys. This level of groundedness makes the world feel truly lived in. You’re part of the neighborhood, meeting all sorts of people with their own stories.
But all this isn’t to say that Straczynski’s Spider-Man run is completely bereft of any goofiness. In fact, it’s often even more so than most you’ll come across in any medium. There’s a real strong voice for Peter here that’s both witty and down-to-Earth in the best way. It’s unfairly funny, really, because you think of how often modern superheroes rely so heavily upon the “Wow, isn’t it CRAZY what just happened?” type of self-referential humor.
Marvel Comics/J. Michael Straczynski/John Romita Jr./Scott Hanna/Dan Kemp
He’ll interact with random New Yorkers, powerful political figures, and even literal gods like Loki, all with the same familiar cadence that a friendly neighbor would. It’s a comforting style of dialogue that Straczynski utilizes that’s never overbearing unless it absolutely has to be, saving expositional dumps for your Avengers-type arcs instead. It’s mind-boggling how talented of a writer someone can be.
The word “unfair” might be, in some ways, the word that perfectly encapsulates the J. Michael Straczynski Spider-Man run. There’s one particular story that feels quite analogous to the frustration with the character I mentioned early on. Ezekiel, a mysterious, elderly businessman who happens to have the same powers as Peter, isn’t quite a bad guy, but rather someone who never bothered using his powers for anything other than himself. He turned away when people were in danger, enriched himself, and took the safe route.
That’s what many modern Spider-Man stories are: safe. With rare exception (Spider-Verse, we love you, but for different reasons), Peter Parker isn’t given the chance to be more. I’m worried that Brand New Day might play it too safe. Whether you want to blame writing or the ever-evolving algorithmic and people-pleasing decision making determining how these giant properties go forward, or Disney, it’s all unfair.
It’s unfair because you know it can be cleverer and funnier. It’s unfair because you know it can be more genuinely romantic. It’s unfair because you know it can have so much more to say than fan service and spectacle. It’s unfair because you know it can be so much more. It’s unfair to know J. Michael Straczynski’s run on the Amazing Spider-Man is out there, and everything else seems to fall just short of it.
The post J. Michael Straczynski’s THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Run Remains Untouchable appeared first on Nerdist.
WELCOME TO WREXHAM Renewed For 3 More Seasons
We are truly living in the golden era of feel good American TV shows about underdog European soccer clubs. Ted Lasso, which seemed to end with its third season, is returning to Apple TV later this summer with an all-new team. Next month will also mark the premiere of FX’s beloved reality series, Welcome to Wrexham. What awaits owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac’s gutsy club when the show returns on May 14? We’ll have to wait to find out. What we won’t have to wait for is learning how long the show will run. It’s getting at least three more seasons, as FX has already renewed Welcome to Wrexham through season eight.FX
The Emmy Award-winning docuseries Welcome to Wrexham will remain on the pitch for at least three more seasons, with FX expecting the show’s alreayd ordered eight season to debut sometime in 2029. A three-season order for any TV show is a big deal at this point in TV history. Clearly the network believes its popularity won’t wane anytime soon.
“A three-season order for a TV series is nearly unheard of and is only possible through the ground-breaking work of our Emmy-winning documentary team and the relentless rise of Wrexham AFC and all those working so hard to make sports history,” said Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds, Co-chairmen of Wrexham AFC, in a statement. “We are forever grateful to our equally fearless and tireless partners at FX for being with us every step of the way. We are so happy we get to keep telling the Wrexham story for years to come.”
FXAlso grateful? Fans of American soccer shows about English football clubs that make them feel good. There’s never been a better time for that. And with this lengthy renewal, that time won’t be ending anytime soon.
Welcome to Wrexham seasons 1-4 are now streaming on FX.
The post WELCOME TO WREXHAM Renewed For 3 More Seasons appeared first on Nerdist.
Artemis II Shares Stunning Moon Images
One of my favorite movie quotes ever is one I almost exclusively employ under the most ridiculous circumstances: “They should have sent a poet.” I’ve long mined Jodie Foster’s memorable line from the sci-fi drama Contact for comedic purposes. But today I want to use the way her character did, sincerely, because it best captures the absolutely stunning, awe-inspiring images Artemis II has sent back to Earth from its Moon flyby. Click To View Gallery NASA NASA NASA NASA NASA NASA NASA
NASA has shared the official photos the Artemis II crew took on its record-setting mission. Its journey around the Moon on April 6 brought the crew farther from Earth than any humans have ever gone. They also got to see something nobody else ever got to witness before, “a rare in-space solar eclipse.” That provided the opportunity to turn what would have been already amazing images from this moon mission into some of the most beautiful ever captured.
This batch of Artemis II moon images is easy enough for everyone to enjoy, but they’re also providing scientists with a treasure trove of information. The crew recorded: “impact craters, ancient lava flows, and surface fractures that will help scientists study the Moon’s geologic evolution.” They also “monitored color, brightness, and texture differences across the terrain, observed an earthset and earthrise, and captured solar‑eclipse views of the Sun’s corona.” And they even saw “six meteoroid impact flashes on the darkened lunar surface.”
Not bad.
Click To View Gallery NASA NASA NASA NASA NASA NASA NASAArtemis II’s astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen took the moon images. They employed what NASA calls “a fleet of cameras to take thousands of photos.” While more are expected to arrive, it’s hard to imagine them getting any better. (You can find even more of them here.)
“Our four Artemis II astronauts — Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy — took humanity on an incredible journey around the Moon and brought back images so exquisite and brimming with science, they will inspire generations to come,” said Dr. Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington, in a statement.
That’s a good quote, but you know what they really should have done? “They should have sent a poet.” And I mean that sincerely.
The post Artemis II Shares Stunning Moon Images appeared first on Nerdist.
France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech
YouTube Premium and YouTube Music are getting more expensive
Every fusion startup that has raised over $100M
YouTube Premium Sets ANOTHER Price Hike
Here we go again. On the heels of Netflix and Prime Video’s price hikes, another streaming platform is coming in hot with a price increase. Today, we’re talking about YouTube Premium. True, as YouTube stresses, YouTube Premium hasn’t increased in cost since 2023. But today, its price has gone up by $2/month. And as we always say, while this doesn’t seem like a huge issue in the moment, if we think about just how many price hikes we’ve seen in the recent past and how many streaming platforms there are out there… It doesn’t look good for consumers. YouTube Premium, YouTube Premium Lite, and YouTube Music will see increases in price. Here’s how it breaks down.
In total, here’s how the YouTube Premium Price Hikes shape up:
- YouTube Premium sees a $2 per month price increase, from $13.99 to $15.99.
- YouTube Music sees a $1 per month price increase, from $10.99 to $11.99
- YouTube Premium Lite sees a $1 per month price increase from $7.99 to $8.99
- The YouTube family plan sees a price increase of $4 per month, from $22.99 to $26.99. This tier allows up to six people in the same arbitrary household to access the account.
These YouTube price increases will come into effect on May 14, 2026, for existing members.
RELATED ARTICLE
Every Streaming Cost Increase In 2026: TWO Price Hikes AlreadyIf you had a similar experience to mine, you received an email at night notifying you that the price of your YouTube Premium plan had increased. If we stop and consider the endlessness of these price increases, it’s actually kind of enraging. Surely, some oversight on how streaming platforms increase their pricing and why NEEDS to enter into our realities.
Studio GhibliOn its end, here’s what YouTube had to say about raising Premium pricing, “We’re updating the price for YouTube Premium plans in the US for the first time since 2023 to continue delivering a high-quality experience that supports creators and artists on YouTube. This change allows us to maintain the features our members value most: ad-free viewing, background play, and a massive library of 300M+ tracks on YouTube Music. We continue to offer several plans, ensuring subscribers can choose the option that works best for them.”
The standard messaging. But how does this additional money “continue to deliver a high-quality experience”? That’s not something we can truly measure as consumers, except to know that it somehow always seems to require even MORE money than last year.
Which price increase will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back? Only time will tell. For now, I suppose I will continue to enjoy my background play. What else can we do?
The post YouTube Premium Sets ANOTHER Price Hike appeared first on Nerdist.
Last 24 hours: Save up to $500 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 pass
PSA: If you use the Meta AI app, your friends will find out and it will be embarrassing
Snap gets closer to releasing new AI glasses after years-long hiatus
REDDIT Officially Drops r/all from the Platform
Reddit is a place we go for all of the world’s latest happenings, whether it be pop culture, news, or just random tidbits. It’s an endless web of subreddits and discussion-based forums. For those who don’t frequent the Reddit community, the platform has two major feeds that filter the most popular posts at any given time. Those feeds are r/popular and r/all. In an attempt to both simplify the platform and improve home feed personalization, Reddit has decided to give good ol’ r/all the boot. If you want to see what’s trending on the platform moving forward, you might want to check the r/popular feed instead. Reddit
Reddit first announced its decision to sideline r/all in February, following an experiment temporarily removing the feed from its apps in December 2025. As of Thursday, April 2, r/all has been benched for good. Reddit explains that the reasoning stems from r/all being a “less filtered feed.” While the feed filters out all sexually explicit content, it doesn’t exclude other popular Not Safe for Work (NSFW) posts.
“The r/all experiment has concluded and the decision was made to remove r/all,” Reddit announced in an thread published on February 26. “Reddit is leaning toward simplifying your experience to make it more personalized and relevant to your subscriptions and interests. I know some of you have some pretty strong feelings about this and I totally get that! Feel free to leave comments on this post. I will continue to pass along constructive feedback to that team.”
RELATED ARTICLE
This Person Built a GameStop in Their BasementHow Do Redditors Feel About the Loss of r/all?To say that Redditors are upset would be an understatement. They’re livid. The biggest concern is that erasing the r/all feed makes it far more difficult for users to discover new interests and subreddits. One user commented that “removing r/all sucks. We don’t need every feed to be personalized and algorithmic. R/all was the best example of Reddit being the ‘front page of the internet,’ which is what I want and why I’m here.”
Alas, the community’s efforts were in vain. Reddit followed up on Thursday, April 2 by announcing that “the final steps to deprecate r/all are being implemented.” Redditors are still free to use the r/popular feed as usual.
RedditDespite Reddit’s decision to remove it, r/all isn’t disappearing entirely. Anyone who uses old Reddit is fully able to access the feed. Like that makes it much better. Sadly for those missing r/all, it doesn’t look like Reddit will be reviving it anytime soon. The platform also announced that it will soon launch new default privacy settings for teens. Those changes roll out in early April.
The post REDDIT Officially Drops r/all from the Platform appeared first on Nerdist.
MAUL – SHADOW LORD Introduces 2 New Order 66 Jedi Survivors
Maul – Shadow Lord takes place in the aftermath of one of the most tragic events in Star Wars history, Order 66. As seen in Revenge of the Sith, shortly after taking full control, Emperor Palpatine issues this infamous directive to his Clone Troopers. They ambush and kill their Jedi generals in one horrifying moment, nearly wiping out the Jedi Order overnight. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda survived, of course. But so did Ahsoka Tano, Kanan Jarrus from Rebels, Cal Kestis from Fallen Order, and, of course, Grogu. Not to mention the Jedi who became Inquisitors. But in Maul – Shadow Lord, we meet two new survivors. These are Eeko-Dio Daki (Dennis Haysbert) and his apprentice, Devon Izara (Gideon Adlon). But we have a feeling one of them is not going to remain a survivor much longer.
Lucasfilm AnimationIn episode one, Maul –Shadow Lord introduces us to a new planet, the Blade Runner-esque world of Janix. Located in the mid rim of the galaxy, this is a highly industrialized world, teeming with skyscrapers. It feels much like a “Coruscant Jr.” But at the point in the story, Janix remains out of the immediate purview of the newly formed Galactic Empire. Although we don’t have an exact date for when Maul – Shadow Lord takes place, there are plenty of context clues. Early trailers show that the TK Stormtroopers will appear in the show. These were the first non-clone troops utilized by the Empire (as Star Wars fans learned in The Bad Batch). So, Maul takes place roughly 1 to 2 years after Revenge of the Sith, at least to start.
Lucasfilm AnimationLiving in the streets of Janix is Eeko-Dio Daki, a male Mosyk Jedi Master, who seems elderly. Mosyks are a new species, never seen before in the galaxy, created just for this series. Maul producer Matt Michnovetz gave him a hyphenated name, like Qui-Gon Jinn or Obi-Wan Kenobi, to suggest he comes from an older era of regal Jedi like them. Accompanying Eeko-Dio Daki is his young Twi’lek padawan, Devon Izara. We don’t know almost anything at this point about how both Jedi survived Order 66, but if they were already on Janix when it went down, it may explain how they’ve managed to hide for so long, as the Empire has (until now) kept Janix out of its crosshairs.
Lucasfilm AnimationDespite the Jedi Order having fallen, Master Eeko-Dio Daki still retains his Jedi code. That means no stealing, even to eat. His padawan Devon is less willing to maintain these principles, especially in a galaxy that is actively hunting them down. Because the Jedi are Public Enemy #1, the pair must hide their Force sensitivity, or risk exposing themselves. When local police arrest Devon for stealing fruit, they send her to jail. And just like that, Eeko-Dio Daki no longer has his student. Using his Force abilities in public, which at this time could get him killed on the spot, he attempts a rescue. Because of this, we think it won’t be long before the Empire sends Inquisitors to eliminate him. Eeko-Dio Daki is quite powerful, so he won’t go out without a fight.
Lucasfilm AnimationWithout her master keeping her centered, Devon will be vulnerable to Maul’s manipulations to become his new apprentice, something he clearly wants. He may use her anger at Eeko-Dio Daki’s execution (assuming that’s how he dies) to turn her to the dark side. For story reasons, Eeko-Dio Daki can’t stick around for too long. Although hopefully, Maul – Shadow Lord shows us how these two Jedi managed to initially survive the Emperor’s purge, perhaps in flashbacks. And who knows? There may have been other Jedi with them that we have yet to meet. During the Clone Wars, there were 10,000 Jedi Knights. If only 1% of them survived Order 66, that’s still 100 Jedi. Especially at this point in the Star Wars timeline. We are eager to see what Maul-Shadow Lord has yet to reveal about the remaining Jedi in this era.
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is currently streaming on Disney+.
The post MAUL – SHADOW LORD Introduces 2 New Order 66 Jedi Survivors appeared first on Nerdist.