The Nerdist

⚡ Quick Take

• Both Doctor Who and Star Trek off the air for the first time in 60 years
• What does that mean for science fiction?

If the sci-fi world sounds empty to you right now, echoey and cavernous, there’s a reason for that. We now live at an unprecedented time (and space). Earlier this year, all Star Trek series ceased production with no movies in the immediate future. This week, we learned that the BBC put Doctor Who on blocks with no production until, per sources, at least 2028. This one-two punch to fans bestows 2026 with a dubious honor: it is now the first year without a Doctor Who or Star Trek thing in production since 1963. That’s 63 years, people.

Paramount+/Disney+

Doctor Who premiered November 23, 1963. It was on the air for 26 seasons before its extended hiatus (e.g. the BBC quietly canceled it) on December 9, 1989. After a single TV movie in 1996 and another long break, it returned March 26, 2005. It then went on for 20 full years.

Star Trek debuted initially on September 8, 1966. After 79 episodes, it went off the air in June of 1969. After a super underrated animated series from 1973 to 1974, the franchise turned to movies, making six from 1979 to 1991. In the meantime, Star Trek: The Next Generation began its seven-year run in September 1987. That started an extended period of overlapping TV series production. TNG went on from ’89 to ’94. Deep Space Nine went from 1993 to 1999; Voyager from ’95 to ’01; and Enterprise from 2001 to 2005. Then, beginning with Star Trek: Discovery in 2017, the Paramount+-era had many different series all going on at once. The final two seasons of Strange New Worlds are yet to air, but their production wrapped.

RELATED ARTICLE

DOCTOR WHO’s Billie Piper Stunt Was Never Going to Pay Off

The ’80s and ’90s Star Trek TV shows almost exactly filled in the period when Doctor Who was off the air. In fact, the revived Who began only two months before Enterprise ended. These are perennial science fiction properties that for the first time since before they started are both in a holding pattern.

I have full faith both Star Trek and Doctor Who will return at some point, be it 2028 or later. But to realize we have neither creating new stories in the present day is weirdly devastating. Now all we have is Star Wars of the big three…and, let’s just say we need more than that.

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 What No DOCTOR WHO and No STAR TREK Means For Sci-Fi appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• The Vampire Lestat composer Daniel Hart broke down “Your Biggest Fan,” Lestat’s intense songs about his maker, Magnus.

The songs created by Daniel Hart for The Vampire Lestat are nothing short of masterpieces. But one song in particular has truly stunned fans: the intense “love song” “Your Biggest Fan.” “Your Biggest Fan” functions as Lestat’s reckoning with his maker, Magnus, who forced vampirism onto him without his consent, desire, or full understanding. But, in truth, Lestat did not actually know Magnus. In Anne Rice’s The Vampire Lestat, we learn that Magnus stalked Lestat from afar before kidnapping him and turning him into a vampire. But once that was done, Magnus immediatly threw himself into the fire, leaving Lestat on his own in his new state. So ultimately, “Your Biggest Fan” reveals more about Lestat himself and his state of mind about his kidnapping and turning than anything else. Addressing this powerful song, Daniel Hart spoke to Nerdist about the process of crafting “Your Biggest Fan” for The Vampire Lestat. (As a note, please proceed with caution as you read, this response touches on darker themes.)

Hart shares about Lestat, Magnus, and “Your Biggest Fan.”:

I wrote the song pretty early on in the writer’s room process. In the writer’s room, I was going back and forth between the table where all the writers were sitting, outlining plots, discussing characters, thinking about what would happen from episode to episode in season three. And I went back and forth between the writer’s room table and then a little makeshift studio, a musical studio that I had set up in the same house where the writer’s room was based. And I would sit at the table, and we would talk and talk and talk and then someone would say something that would give me an idea, and I would go off and work on a song for a little bit, and I would come back to the table when I had gotten enough of an idea down that it wouldn’t be forgotten or lost.

I don’t remember exactly what it was about Magnus and Lestat that made me make the choices I made with “Your Biggest Fan,” but it was certainly after rereading that passage in the book of Lestat’s transformation multiple times and it just felt like there was so much meat on the bone.

And we were already talking in the writer’s room at that point about telling the story in different ways. What were the ways that we wanted to approach the characters that we either hadn’t done before in seasons one or two, or that were ways that were different from the book, or different than stuff that we had already seen in other television shows?

So I don’t know why it occurred to me, probably because deep down I am very dark and twisted, but I thought, well, if he’s going to write a song about his transformation, then he should write it from the point of view of the person who transformed him. And since it was basically abduction and then abuse, and a rape of sorts, then that would be Lestat’s experience of it.

But the person who did those things, as can often be the case in real life, the person who is the tormentor, the predator, the abuser, doesn’t view themselves that way. And for Magnus, I don’t think he viewed himself that way at all, and either because he himself was so dark and twisted or because by that point in his own life, he had just basically lost his mind. So I thought, yeah, he wouldn’t think of himself as doing something terrible at all. He wasn’t torturing people. He was loving them. So I thought, oh, it’s a love song. Obviously, it’s a love song. So then I started writing a love song about abducting someone and then torturing them, and then it became the thing that it is.

But, [of course, the song] is really about Lestat’s version of what he thinks Magnus thought was happening. Since he barely knew him. The guy transformed him and then threw himself into a fire, and that was that.

AMC

If this breakdown of “Your Biggest Fan,” isn’t enough to convince you that this series is tackling some incredibly complicated themes in truly deft ways, unlike anything you’ve ever seen on television before, then I don’t know what would be. All I know is that “Your Biggest Fan” is even more devestating in-situ when it finally comes around in The Vampire Lestat. And considering that Lestat is putting himself in Magnus’ shoes makes it even worse. Get yourself ready and get those tissues ready.

The Vampire Lestat airs at 9 pm ET/PT on AMC and AMC+. You can also read The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice today as you wait for the next episode of the series to air.

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 Daniel Hart Talks Crafting Lestat’s Magnus in THE VAMPIRE LESTAT’s ‘Your Biggest Fan’ Song appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• Apple TV has given a second season greenlight to its critical and audience favorite horror-comedy series, Widow’s Bay.

Good news for fans of spooky islands and wry humor. That’s all of us, of course. With a week to go before the finale of Apple TV’s horror-comedy or comedic horror series Widow’s Bay, the streaming service who makes all the phones announced the show will come back for a second season. That means we’ll likely get more hauntings, more sea monsters, more vague allusions to Lovecraftian elder gods, and (we hope) more petty municipal squabbles. It’s really a very good show, one of my current faves.

Apple TV

In the announcement, Apple TV promised a second season of the fan favorite series led by Emmy Award-winning star and executive producer Matthew Rhys, hailing from creator and executive producer Katie Dippold and Emmy Award-winning executive producer and director Hiro Murai.  Additionally, Apple TV announced a new, multi-year overall deal with Dippold. This is really good news because I’d love to see what other kind of strange stories Dippold has for us.

“From the moment audiences arrived in Widow’s Bay, they’ve been hooked on every eerie mystery, unexpected laughs, and cursed secret that Katie, Hiro, Matthew, and the entire team have created,” said Matt Cherniss, head of programming, Apple TV. “It’s become one of those shows everyone’s talking about, and we’re thrilled to see audiences continue to embrace it. We can’t wait to return for another season.”

Widow’s Bay is about a very small New England island of the same name. Tom Loftis (Rhys), the Mayor of Widow’s Bay, desperately wants to bring tourism to the struggling community, but many of the locals, personified by surly fisherman Wyck (Stephen Root) warn him that the island is cursed and is waking up. Tons of very strange things then ensue including ghosts, time-tripping, hags from the sea, zombified puritans, and even a Michael Myers-ass slasher. At the same time, Loftis is trying to keep his teenage son (Kingston Rumi Southwick) safe because kids born on Widow’s Bay are lowkey not allowed to leave.

But apparently all of this will get cleared up in the season one finale. “Season two is about how everything is great on the island and there’s nothing to worry about,” said creator, showrunner and executive producer Katie Dippold. I have a feeling she’s kidding.

If you haven’t yet seen Widow’s Bay, which blends both genuine horror and genuine comedy, I urge you to catch up. The first season finale will air Wednesday, June 17 on Apple TV.

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 Apple TV Greenlights WIDOW’S BAY Season 2 appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• Our newest comprehensive timeline belongs in a museum, as we laid out the complete adventures of Indiana Jones.

The Indiana Jones franchise is so much bigger than its five movies. The series has also spawned books, TV shows, video games, and fast food. That’s a whole lot of archeology—and a whole lot of dead Nazis–spanning a whole lot of time. And we don’t just mean the 45 years since Raiders of the Lost Ark swung into theaters. The famous adventurer was hunting down relics long before we met him on the big screen….though technically we didn’t see that until after.

Lucasfilm/Nerdist

How long was Henry punching bad guys and securing priceless artifacts for museums? When did he get his first teaching job? And when exactly did he do all that really famous stuff involving God, aliens, and time travel? Our Adam Murray went digging through all of the franchise’s archives— including all the things you forgot about and the stuff you never even knew about—to compile the definitive Indiana Jones timeline.

Our latest timeline deep dive looks at everything we know about the life and adventures of Henry Jones. That includes Indy’s beloved younger years, his very years as the world’s most handsome professor, his less popular older years, and the end of his life when he only had one eye George Hall.

In this comprehensive video Adam also explains how he constructed this timeline by explaining what is and isn’t canon. He also gets into the many Indiana Jones releases that exist in a nebulous canonical gray area. (Looking at you, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle!)

If this is your first Murray-made Nerdist timeline video, you might see the word “comprehensive” and think “a lot.” That’s like saying Harrison Ford has been in some movies people know. Adam’s research is so thorough and complete it would make Professor Jones jealous.

At what age would Indiana Jones be most jealous of Adam’s video. Watch to find out. Plus that’s how you’ll learn about the Whopper.

The post Our Complete INDIANA JONES Timeline Belongs in a Museum appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness new trailer makes clear that America has given Larry David centuries worth of topics to get angry about.

Larry David’s place in both television and comedy history is secure thanks to Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. But not only is he not ready to rest on his laurels, his new sketch comedy series Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness will send him through history. And the show’s new trailer makes clear that America has given Larry David centuries worth of topics to get angry about.

“Those who don’t know history… are doomed to watch Larry David repeat it.” That’s a pretty, pretty, pretty good logline. This is also a great trailer and premise. Setting Larry David lose on a few hundred years of America is exactly what we need right now. (Those Wright Brothers have it coming!)

All of the show’s many incredible guest stars—which includes Jon Hamm, Sean Hayes, Isla Fisher, Jerry Seinfeld, Susie Essman, Greg Kinnear, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Chris Parnell, and more—will only make it better.

In addition to starring as America’s timeless grump, David serves as writer and executive producer. Series co-creator Jeff Schaffer also serves as director. Plus, this show has an actual, direct connection to American history. Seriously. Former President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama also serve as executive producers via Higher Ground. Will that mean we might get to see Larry David complaining about a president wearing a tan suit? C’mon. That’s absurd. Not even Larry David would whine about something that dumb.

John Johnson/HBO

The seven-episode first season of Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness will debut at HBO on Friday, June 26 at 9 p.m. ET. New episodes will follow every week until the August 7 season finale. They will also be available at HBO Max.

Will you make Larry David happy if you tune in? Probably not, but think about how unhappy he’ll be if you don’t. Then remember he’ll be unhappy for a few centuries.

The post Larry David Makes American History Funny in LIFE, LARRY AND THE PURSUIT OF UNHAPPINESS Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• Mark Ruffalo voices Nero, a cat regretting his work with the feline mob in Venice, in the first teaser trailer for Pixar’s Gatto.

Toy Story 5 will soon arrive in theaters, but Pixar is already looking ahead to its next featured film. The studio has released its first look at Gatto. It shows that while these Venetian cats might be a lot more sophisticated than your average kitty, they still enjoy typical feline fun.

In fairness, that chain did look awfully enticing. Certainly way more fun than shaking down a little guy over some tuna.

As for the actual film, this teaser gives us an idea what we can expect from the movie’s animation, characters, tone, and sense of humor. It also reveals more about the plot than you might expect. Here’s the film’s official synopsis from Disney and Pixar:

In Gatto, after years of maneuvering the canal-ridden, superstitious city of Venice, Italy, Nero begins to question whether he’s lived the right lives. Indebted to Rocco, the local feline mob boss, Nero finds himself in a quandary and is forced to forge a truly unexpected friendship that may finally lead him to his purpose—unless Venice gets the better of him first.

The studio also released a new poster for the movie and oh Madone! It shows Nero in a less than peaceful situation amid the nighttime beauty of La Serenissima.

Disney-Pixar

Poor little guy. Speaking of Nero, he’s played by someone who usually plays a very big guy for Disney. That’s the voice Marvel’s Hulk, Mark Ruffalo. Laurence Fishburne (John Wick) plays the “ruthless mob boss cat” Rocco. It also comes from a creative team who knows a little something about making Pixar movies set in Venice, Luca director Enrico Casarosa and producer Andrea Warren.

But while Pixar released this teaser ahead of Toy Story 5‘s debut, it won’t be arriving in theaters until next year. Gatto‘s cats will get to have soem big screen feline fun on March 5, 2027.

The post Pixar’s First GATTO Trailer Introduces the Venetian Cat Mafia appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• A new report says Doctor Who could be off the air until at least 2028 following the dissolution of the BBC’s partnership with Bad Wolf.

Yesterday’s bombshell announcement that the BBC has canceled the previously greenlit Doctor Who Christmas special, and that they had split with Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf Productions, sent the Whovian community spiraling. What does it mean that the property has no showrunner, or even season order, in place? Who will take over such a massive property? The announcement also came with the promise that the Beeb would take bids from production companies to co-partner on Doctor Who. The series is really expensive and the BBC can’t incur the cost on its own. Today, fans get a little more info, and it’s not the kind of time travel we’d hoped for.

BBC Studios/Bad Wolf

In a piece on Deadline, we’ve learned, via two insiders, that the creative breakup between network and production company was mutual. The show needs a creative overhaul that simply a single Christmas special couldn’t hope to fix. Moreover, this overhaul is “expected to take years, potentially keeping the show off TV until 2028 at the earliest, sources said.”

It’s not a particularly optimistic bit of news, but I wouldn’t say it’s all that surprising. Given the turmoil surrounding the second season of Davies’ second tenure with the show, which saw co-producing partner Disney+ throwing less of its heft behind it and ratings tanking, the special would have been more of a Band-Aid than a way forward. At this point, the notion that, without a script (allegedly) or a lead actor, Doctor Who would be ready for Christmas was more than a pipe dream.

RELATED ARTICLE

DOCTOR WHO’s Billie Piper Stunt Was Never Going to Pay Off

The problem with the BBC putting the series out to creative tender—a process by which the State-run broadcaster takes bids from producers on making the series—is that, from the independent production companies’ perspective, there isn’t much of an upside. One such anonymous producer told Deadline, “you would have to be mad” to take on the show. “[It’s a] bit of a nightmare for any producer in this market with the shadow of the Disney fallout,” was the verdict of another highly-regarded producer.

This person added: “It’s hard to see another major U.S. studio replacing Disney. So the budget would be hard to get above £3M ($4M) [per episode] without significant co-pro or insane investment from the distribution arm [BBC Studios], which they will struggle to recoup on sales.”

BBC

Doctor Who also badly needs a creative refresh. Since returning in 2005, Doctor Who has not gone a single calendar year without at least one episode. Even during the COVID years. In the 21 years since Davies’ first series, we’ve had 197 episodes. A staggering 123 of those were written or co-written by only three men. Those are the showrunners, Davies, Steven Moffat, and Chris Chibnall. That is an exceedingly small creative pool. I would posit that for any new producers to come on board, they’d want to drastically revamp the show and not merely continue on in the same direction of the past two decades.

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 DOCTOR WHO Will Reportedly Stay Off the Air ‘For Years’ appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• If you feel like you’ve been personally victimized by SantaCon, you can now let the FBI know in service of its federal criminal indictment.
• SantaCon has terrorized cities for years, but it turns out it was also committing actual crimes.
• Money earmarked for charity raised by SantaCon went to its organizer instead.

If you’ve ever lived in NYC, Seattle, San Francisco, LA, Portland, and many other places, or even if you haven’t, you probably know the terror that is SantaCon. Every December, a band of roving, drunken revelers dressed in Santa, elf, or Christmas-adjacent costumes take to the streets in a massive bar crawl, purportedly for Charity, and menace the citizens of whatever town they’ve overrun. But it turns out, SantaCon isn’t just spiritually a villain, it’s literally one. And if you feel like you were personally victimized by organizer Regina George, we mean, Stefan Pildes, you can let the FBI know today.

Cineverse

Evidently, Pildes, who sold ticketed entry to SantaCon events, claimed that profits would go to charity, but Gothamist revealed that “less than a fifth of that money has gone to registered nonprofits.” And instead, as U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton shares, “Pildes promoted SantaCon as an event grounded in charitable giving, but instead of donating the millions of dollars he raised, he ran his own con game.” Among other things, Pildes used the SantaCon money earmarked for charity to “pay for extensive renovations to a lakefront property in New Jersey, luxury vacations in Hawaii, Las Vegas, and Vail, Colorado, concert tickets, extravagant meals, and a luxury vehicle, prosecutors said.

Phew, we knew SantaCon was rotten through and through. While you can’t legally complain about being hassled on the subway, if you feel you were in some way victimized by SantaCon in a way pertinent to the federal criminal indictment, you can share your information with the FBI.

The official Santa Con investigation page notes:

The FBI’s New York Division is seeking to identify potential victims of Stefan Pildes, who organized and operated the annual SantaCon event in New York City, from at least 2019 to present. Pildes was recently charged with wire fraud. The FBI believes Pildes primarily targeted SantaCon attendees who purchased tickets to the event, as well as bars that participated in the event, between the timeframe of October 2019 to present.

If you were victimized by Stefan Pildes, please fill out this short form.

If you know of someone else who has possibly been victimized by Stefan Pildes, please encourage them to complete the form themselves.

The FBI is legally mandated to identify victims of federal crimes it investigates. Victims may be eligible for certain services, restitution, and rights under federal and/or state law. Your responses are voluntary but may be useful in the federal investigation and to identify you as a potential victim. Based on the responses provided, you may be contacted by the FBI and asked to provide additional information.

RELATED ARTICLE

What Makes THE SANTA CLAUSE a Christmas Classic?

Well, godspeed to all. Hopefully, no successor will rise to take SantaCon’s place. Even if it was actually for charity, we think EasterBunnyCon would be too much for us.

The post If SantaCon Has Personally Victimized You, the FBI Wants to Know appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• Are we at the advent of a fandom coffin craze? Titan Casket is imagining a line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle caskets for every fan.
• There are so many fandom collaborations, we’re not surprised to see a fandom casket/coffin industry pop up.
• But, we feel like maybe that money is better spent buying fandom merch in the hear and now.

Listen. Fandom touches our lives deeply. That’s just a fact. For some of us, our love of nerd culture touches us from the moment we take our first breaths… and it turns out it could follow us into the afterlife. Titan Caskets, a purveyor of “high-quality caskets,” is getting into the fandom business… Or at least, is using fandom to allow you to dream about a coffin inspired by your favorites. Titan Casket doesn’t exactly have a line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fandom coffins, but it wants you to consider how its coffins can send you sailing into the great beyond in full Cowabunga form. They share that they have “colors for every character” and reveal how you might style their various coffins to achieve the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles casket of your dreams.

Titan Casket

And listen, we’re never here to yuck anyone’s yum. If folks feel a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles coffin is the way to go for themselves or their loved ones, we bless it. Although we might opine you’d be better off spending that money on something in the here and now. Recently, Titan Caskets collaborated with the streetwear brand Supreme on a $3,798 “Supreme” coffin. And now, it looks like they’re angling for even more fandom collabs for their coffins. For now, you can’t buy a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles coffin off the shelf, but you never know what tomorrow will bring in the world of fandom merchandise.

Click To View Gallery Titan Casket Titan Casket Titan Casket

We’ve seen fandom collaborations of every kind in recent times. And fandom is a great way to get people to spend a lot of money on something they might not ordinarily have purchased. We guess we should have seen fandom coffins coming. We guess we’ll have to wait and see which IP will be the first to get into this lucrative (?) business. Maybe it will be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles coffins to start, or maybe something more like The Walking Dead would make more sense.

The post TMNT Fandom Coffins Sure Are an Enterprising New Venture appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• LEGO Icons Project Hail Mary Collectible Building Set for Adults will let Ryland Grace and Rocky dock on your bookshelf.

If you were mankind’s one final hope for salvation, would you agree to fly halfway across the galaxy and sacrifice your life? Before you answer, the alternative is spending 30 years on a dying planet building LEGO sets. Tough, right? Well, it just got even tougher, because instead of an intergalactic trip, you can now stay back and build LEGO’s new Project Hail Mary set—and yes, it comes with a little LEGO Rocky.

LEGO

LEGO Icons Project Hail Mary set will let Ryland Grace’s ship dock on your bookshelf. The 830-piece set measures 12-inches high, 9.5-inches long, and 8.5-inches wide. It is a miniature recreation of the interstellar spaceship that provided humanity with one final long-shot chance at survival in the Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel. This LEGO version of the Project Hail Mary ship also comes with a functional display stand, since the only thing it can’t do is actually fly.

Most importantly, it includes LEGO minifigures for both Grace and the best character in the movie, the adorable Eridian Rocky.

LEGO

But this Project Hail Mary set is more than just a cool-looking collectible. It also moves. It comes equipped a crank on the display stand so you can turn it. That will let you “send the crew module into orbit, simulating the spaceship’s centrifugal gravity system.”

LEGO

You can send LEGO Ryland and little plastic brick Rocky to your house for $99.99. Or at least you can when it’s back in stock. Like every other Project Hail Mary collectible it’s a hot item. But we trust it’ll be back available again soon enough. Just as Eve Stratt and Ryland Grace wouldn’t let humanity down, we know LEGO won’t either.

In the meantime, you can still snag Rocky in a plush form or wear a cheeky T-shirt in his honor. Project Hail Mary heads to streaming soon, so you can build and watch at the same time.

Originally published on April 3, 2026.

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 Take Rocky Home with LEGO PROJECT HAIL MARY Set appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• You can now bring Project Hail Mary’s lovable alien Rocky home with this replica eight-inch officially licensed plushie doll.
• Rocky is too cute to resist and he costs $39.99.
• Project Hail Mary also has a ton of other cute Rocky merch to enjoy, in case the Rocky plush is sold out.

The best part of Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary? Rocky the alien. The best part of Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s big screen adaptation of the novel? Also, Rocky the alien. And now, the best collectible from the film? Oh you better believe it’s Rocky the alien. You can bring that wonderful interstellar traveler to your own home here on Earth with this delightful new figure. But unlike Ryland Grace, you’ll be able to get extra cozy with your best bud because this version is a plushie.

Project Hail Mary Store

This officially licensed Rocky Collector Figure from the Project Hail Mary store captures everything that made the character so distinct while also making him huggable. (Huggable without the need for a protective bubble between species). Despite looking like a spot-on replica, this legendary alien isn’t make of stone. Or rock. Or whatever it is Rocky’s actually made of. It’s a plush doll that stands roughly eight inches tall and is made with “soft fabrics and polyester fiber stuffing.” (Specifically velboa fabric, nylex, and TC materials.) It’s also features the same green markings the sported in the film.

You don’t need to spend untold billions in both money and human resources, not do you need to travel halfway across the galaxy like Ryland Grace, to get close to this little guy. You can order yours now for $39.99. It will ship towards the end of April. It officially arrives on the 16th, with an expected (free) arrival date around April 20-22.

Project Hail Mary Store

Give it as a gift and you are sure to “amaze amaze amaze” anyone who knows Rocky has always been and will always be the best part of Project Hail Mary. Rocky will be the perfect plush to clutch as you watch Project Hail Mary at home on streaming.

Update: If the adorable Project Hail Mary Rocky plush is currently sold out, worry not, he may be back at any time. While you wait, you can snag a pretty cute Rocky Plush Backpack Clip or a hilarious t-shirt that shows your true Rocky affinity.

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!

Originally published March 24, 2026.

The post Bring PROJECT HAIL MARY’s Rocky Home in Adorable Plushie Form appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• Taylor Swift’s big Toy Story 5 countdown turned out to be the announcement that the film will feature a new original song from the pop star.

Taylor Swift frequently sends her global horde of devoted fans into a manic frenzy with nothing more than a vague social media post. Sometimes they tease huge news. Sometimes they lead to nothing but clown shoes. On April 30th there wasn’t much mystery, though. The pop star wasn’t exactly subtle with her new “secret” message. For about ten minutes she posted a countdown that featured the iconic clouds from Andy’s room in Toy Story. Before she quickly took it down it was set to go off on May 2. Turns out we needed to wait an extra month to find out what it’s about. After days of teasing her involvement in the film, Disney and Pixar have finally revealed how Taylor Swift is involved with Toy Story 5.

Toy Story 5 will become “Tay Story” thanks to a new original song from Swift titled “I Knew It, I Knew You.” And yes, obviously, there’s a bunch of merch involved with this announcement. You can listen to it below… but more importantly, watch Taylor Swift perform it live. And, as a special bonus, you can catch her singing “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” alongside the icon that is Randy Newman.

From digital billboards, Jessie dancing to “Shake It Off,” and Swift putting her Toy Story timer back up on her own official site with an actual countdown, there wasn’t any mystery over Taylor Swift’s involvement with Toy Story 5. All we needed to know when the clock struck zero at 2 pm Eastern on June 1 was exactly what it meant. Previously, the film’s director, Andrew Stanton, addressed one major fan theory. He shot it down when he said a new song from Swift would not play over the movie’s end credits. But as many noted, he shot down the idea of a new Swift song playing over the end credits, not that one couldn’t play at any point. And that’s what we’re going to get.

Disney-Pixar

Swift’s countdown disappeared to reveal three different double-sided CDs for fans to purchase of her original song for the film. The CDs includes both an acoustic version and a piano one. Each listing said it would be for sale for 48 hours or until they sellout. Considering what we know about her fans we don’t expect them to last 48 minutes.

Taylor Swift

“It’s incredible just how meaningful it’s been having Taylor write and perform this song,” said Stanton in a press release about Taylor Swift and Toy Story 5. “Her connection to Jessie and the immediate way she understood what the character was going through was undeniable. The song is so deeply connected to Toy Story. So much so that on first listen, it instantly felt like it had always belonged there, like a long-lost family member. It was kismet.”

After all that speculation, it turned out to be the most logical theory: a new song. Not that the franchise needed her help, but Taylor Swift’s involvement could help Toy Story 5 become the most successful entry in the franchise yet. Will it? There’s no mystery when we’ll find out. Pixar’s “Tay Story” comes to theaters on June 19.

Originally published on June 1, 2026.

The post Watch Taylor Swift Perform New Song for TOY STORY 5 (And ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’) appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• The Rolling Stones and Marvel have assembled a special collection with five character vinyl covers for the group’s forthcoming album, Foreign Tongues.
• The lineup includes vinyl covers for Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Thor, and The Hulk.

If you love both The Rolling Stones and Marvel Comics, you’re about to get a whole lot of satisfaction. The two iconic institutions are proving that movie theaters aren’t the only place to have an epic crossover event. The band is releasing five special vinyl versions of its new album, Foreign Tongues. Each The Rolling Stones x Marvel collab album will feature a different Marvel superhero and a matching comic insert.

Henson/Marvel

The Rolling Stones and Marvel have assembled a special collection to promote the iconic group’s forthcoming album Foreign Tongues. U.S. music fans and superhero enthusiasts alike can now pre-order five vinyl variants of the record. Each celebrates one of five Marvel heroes. The lineup includes Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Thor, and The Hulk. (Star-Lord is going to be FURIOUS when he finds out he didn’t make the cut on a rock-n-roll/Marvel promotion.)

Henson/Marvel

Every special vinyl also comes with a custom comic book insert featuring matching artwork by Marvel illustrators specifically designed for this release.

Henson/Marvel

Each version of the Marvel albums will include the same 14-song record that The Rolling Stones recently announced. Foreign Tongues will arrive on July 10, the same day as these Marvel variant versions. The album features Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Woo, and some very special guest appearances. In addition to longtime collaborators Darryl Jones, Steve Jordan, and Matt Clifford, you’ll also hear Steve Winwood, Paul McCartney, Robert Smith of The Cure, and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith. Best of all is that the album also includes the band’s longtime drummer, Charlie Watts. The record features music he recorded during what the band says was one of his final studio sessions before his passing in 2021.

The band has already released its first single from the record, “In the Stars.”

Is there any obvious connection between The Rolling Stones and Marvel superheroes? Obviously. Superheroes can live forever, no matter what they do. We’re pretty sure that whole concept is based on Keith Richards.

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⚡ Quick Take

• 24 Jump Street, a third installment in the 21 Jump Street franchise, is in the works.
• Original cast members Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, and Ice Cube in talks to return.

It’s been 12 years since 22 Jump Street, the sequel to the surprise hit 21 Jump Street. Although the second installment was a hit, a third movie in the franchise never came to be. But according to Variety, the long-awaited third film is officially in the works, with stars Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, and Ice Cube in talks to return. Rodney Rothman (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) will direct, from a script he wrote with Hill and Meghan Malloy. 21 Jump Street directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller return, but only as producers this time. We suppose it’s been so long, they skipped 23 Jump Street and went straight to 24, just to make a joke about how long it’s been.

Sony Pictures

The original film, a comedic reboot/spoof of the ’80s teen action drama TV series, saw Hill and Tatum playing Schmidt and Jenko, a couple of slacker cops who go undercover at a local high school to take down a drug ring. The sequel takes the same premise, only this time, in a college setting. We’re not sure where the duo can go undercover now. Unless they do the reverse, and Schmidt and Jenko go undercover in a nursing home pretending to be much older. The post-credits of 22 Jump Street joked about a sequel taking them to culinary school, a medical school, etc.

There were actual plans for a 23 Jump Street at one point. This was actually meant to crossover with Sony’s Men in Black franchise. However, after Men in Black International flopped, those plans fizzled out. Which was probably for the best. There’s no actual production start date for 24 Jump Street yet, much less an actual release date. Hopefully, after a wait of a dozen years, this third installment does not disappoint fans. Here’s hoping Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum can deliver comedy gold once again.

The post 24 JUMP STREET Officially in the Works with Original Stars appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• The Vampire Lestat’s song “Black Licorice” is now streaming, and composer Daniel Hart told us about its unique origin story.

Almost every song featured on The Vampire Lestat this season is a brand-new song written for the vampire himself. But one song, featured in episode one, has actually existed for 16 years already. And that The Vampire Lestat song is “Black Licorice,” the latest The Vampire Lestat tune you can stream wherever you get your music. (“And you’d better,” the diva himself tells us.) It turns out, composer Daniel Hart had written “Black Licorice” way back in 2010. But when showrunner Rolin Jones heard it, he felt it was the perfect song for the season’s opener. Listen to “Black Licorice” below, and then check out everything Daniel Hart had to tell us about the bop and how songs moved around to create the perfect narrative accompaniments in The Vampire Lestat.

It turns out Daniel Hart was fated to write for The Vampire Lestat… So much so that he wrote a song for Lestat without even knowing it. In a conversation with Hart, we learned more about the process of fitting songs into The Vampire Lestat and the origin story of one in particular, “Black Licorice.”

In answer to whether any songs were cut or moved around, Hart noted, “Yes. There’s a song called “Big Bad Wolf” that we played last night at the premiere concert, and that song was originally written for episode one. It was written for the scene in which Lestat is on stage with the band, and then he has a sort of breakdown on stage in the middle of the song, and that song was intended to be the song for that scene. And somewhere along the way, [The Vampire Lestat Showrunner] Rolin [Jones] heard a song of mine that already existed called “Black Licorice” that I’d written in 2010, and he said, ‘Can we switch them out? Can we please switch them out? I want to use this one instead of that one.’ I said, ‘Okay, that’s fine. What do I do with this other song that already exists’ He said, ‘Oh, we’ll find a place for it. We’ll find a place for all the songs,’ which mostly happened.”

RELATED ARTICLE

‘Your Biggest Fan’: THE VAMPIRE LESTAT’s Most Haunting Song

Hart laughs, confirming, “Most of the songs are in. Sometimes in different places than they were originally intended to be.” Listen, it’s all in the process, and, as Armand might say, you can’t script a hurricane, or, perhaps, Rolin Jones. In the end, we’re glad that we got both “Black Licorice” and “Big Bad Wolf” in The Vampire Lestat. By all accounts, The Vampire Lestat’s fans, the fledglings, are loving it.

AMC

The Vampire Lestat airs at 9 pm ET/PT on AMC and AMC+. You can also read The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice today as you wait for the next episode of the series to air.

The Vampire Lesat “Black Licorice” Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I caught a real, live one
Didn’t blink, didn’t try to run
I caught a real, live one
Suckin’ on the sun

No time for glowin’ up
No time for throwin’ up
No time for vibin’ out
Your phone is blowing’ up
I caught a real, live one
No time for “I ride my stepbrother til’ he come”

[Chorus]
Doo, doo, doo, da, da, da
Don’t wanna smash your slack or be your morning star
Don’t wanna learn another TikTok dance
Wanna stay in bed, eating black licorice!
(Woo!)

[Verse 2]
Give me a million more screams
Keep ‘em scrollin’, rollin’
Fire emojin’ aubergines
Give me a million more screams, ha
And a million memes

I’ve been a bad boy
Deep down in my heart
I’ve kept a million dark secrets from the very start
Give me a million more screams
Means exactly what you think it means

[Chorus]
Doo, doo, doo, da, da, da
Don’t wanna smash your slack or be your morning star
Don’t wanna learn a fuckin’ TikTok dance
I wanna stay in bed, eating black licorice!

[Violin solo]
Uh!
Uh, uh, uh, uh!

[Bridge]
Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah
I wanna stay in bed, eating black licorice!
Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah
I wanna stay in bed, eating black licorice!
Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah
I wanna stay in bed, eating black licorice!
Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah, ah
I wanna stay in bed, eating black licorice!

Rotem Rusak is Editor-in-Chief of Nerdist. She hasn’t stopped singing “Your Biggest Fan” by The Vampire Lestat since it released.

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⚡ Quick Take

• A video explores if one were to drop a lightsaber vertically into the ground, would it just go straight to the center of the Earth?

Let’s say you’re a Jedi, and you dropped an active lightsaber straight into the Earth. Would it really just go all the way through to the center of the planet? Certainly, gags on shows like Rick & Morty and Robot Chicken have had fun with the idea. These are just the kinds of “science” debates that nerds love to have. Even when the science regarding anything in the Star Wars galaxy barely qualifies as science. But recently, YouTuber Rocket Riley decided to tackle the question head-on, with a video titled “What Happens If You Drop A Lightsaber Vertically?” So watch down below, and find out the answer.

The video pretty much destroys the fantasy that a lit saber would burrow itself down into the center of the Earth and somehow blow it up. For starters, the hilt and battery would melt long before the saber ever even got close to the planet’s core. Also, one lightsaber is not even close to the equivalent of a Death Star beam. Even though they both use kyber crystal technology. A Death Star’s destructive force is maybe the equivalent of a million lightsabers. So Earth (or any planet) would not go the way of Alderaan just because a lightsaber made it all the way down. But it wouldn’t make it all the way down anyway.

Lucasfilm

Most importantly, the Rocket Riley video explains that all lightsabers automatically turn off when dropped to the ground. If a Jedi (or Sith) throws it and it’s still on, it’s because the user is utilizing the Force to keep pressure on the hilt. Otherwise, it just shuts off the moment it leaves its owner’s hand. We know, that’s not as fun as a laser sword just melting through rock like butter. But those are the actual Star Wars rules. That Rick & Morty episode is still pretty funny, though.

The post Drop a Lightsaber Vertically, Does It Just Go on Forever? appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• The Vampire Lestat will introduce Lestat’s vampiric mother, Gabriella. But will they keep their bizarre mother/son dynamic from the novels?

AMC’s upcoming adaptation of The Vampire Lestat will adapt Anne Rice’s second novel in her Vampire Chronicles series, with Sam Reid returning as the titular vamp, now a rock star. Joining him is actress Jennifer Ehle as his mother, Gabriella, a vampire herself. In Rice’s 1985 novel, she goes by Gabrielle, but the show’s producers decided to go with the Italian pronunciation, as the character was born in Italy. The character is a fan-favorite, although some racy scenes between Mama Gabriella and her son Lestat in recent The Vampire Lestat trailers have raised some eyebrows. But this problematic relationship actually has its origins in Rice’s books, even if the Interview with the Vampire TV series may be taking things a step further. Join us as we explore the complex bond between Gabriella and Lestat, whether it’s incestual, and all the other complicated nuances of turning your mother into a vampire.

AMCDo Lestat and His Mother Gabrielle Have an Incestuous Relationship?

In Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles novels, Lestat’s relationship with his mother is complex. And that’s putting it mildly. While many have read an incestuous vibe between the undead pair, that is not literally the truth of Gabrielle and Lestat’s relationship in the books. And that’s for the simple reason that in Rice’s vampire mythology, her undead don’t have sexual intercourse. In Rice’s world, the blood exchange replaces food as sustenance, replaces drugs as hallucinogens, and replaces sex as pleasure (and procreation). So when Lestat and Gabrielle exchange blood in Interview with the Vampire‘s world, there’s an erotic charge in the text, but it’s not sex in the literal sense.

Alfred A. Knopf/Innovation Comics

Having said that, AMC’s Anne Rice Immortal Universe does not adhere to Rice’s rules in this way. The vampires in the series do have sex in human fashion, and are particularly horny in fact. One scene in the trailer for The Vampire Lestat shows Gabriella definitely touching her son, in an area where a mother should never touch her adult child. But this is clearly after she’s become a vampire. So does human morality even apply to them anymore? After all, is it any worse than, say, murdering people every night?

To recap, Lestat and Gabrielle have not been officially incestuous in the world of The Vampire Chronicles yet, although their relationship is blurry. But the series may be about to change all of that. Despite the lack of incest, though, Lestat and his mother plainly have always had a very complicated bond, going back to their human days.

The Mortal (and Miserable) Life of Gabrielle de Lioncourt

We are introduced to Gabrielle via the perspective of her son, Lestat. The Vampire Lestat explains how he was born Lestat de Lioncourt, the son of a country lord in the Auvergne in France. Although his father had a large and ancient estate, he’d run out of money years prior. A boorish man, he married a young girl named Gabrielle from Italy, hoping the dowry would help replenish his wealth. In The Vampire Lestat, we learn that Gabrielle was miserable in her life in the castle and hated her cruel husband. She bore him several children, only three of whom lived to adulthood. She had nothing but disdain for her eldest sons, who took after their awful father. But Gabrielle had a special place in her heart for her youngest, Lestat, who was sensitive and smart, and loved the arts.

AMC

When Lestat was 21, around the year 1780, his mother became ill with consumption. Knowing she was dying, she gave him her precious jewels and told him to sell them. She then told him to use the money to run away from home with his lover, Nicolas, and pursue his dream of acting in Paris. Although he was reluctant to leave his dying mother, it was her final wish that he escape and be happy. What Gabrielle didn’t count on was Lestat becoming a vampire while living in Paris.

How Lestat’s Mother Became a Vampire in The Vampire LestatAMC

When Gabrielle knew the end was near, she decided to make one last trip before she died. She went to Paris, hoping to say farewell to her son in person. Lestat was a vampire now and revealed his true nature to his mother. He had never made another vampire before, but asked her on her deathbed if she was willing to become his fledgling. Knowing she would die otherwise, Gabrielle eagerly said yes, and Lestat became the vampiric father to his human mother. Who, in a way, was now his daughter. Vampire family trees are complicated things, folks!

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Anne Rice’s Queer Supernatural World Was a Gift

Gabrielle’s personality shifted almost instantly. Where Lestat only hunted evil doers (most of the time) Gabrielle killed anyone she wanted, with little moral compunction. As she saw it, as a vampire,  she was higher on the food chain. She also began dressing as a man and wearing her long hair in a braid. She always felt powerless as a woman while mortal, uncomfortable in her own body, especially as the laws of the time required her to be subservient to men. And in particular, her cruel husband. Gabrielle, who insisted Lestat call her that name from now on, as “Mother” seemed inappropriate, also had little interest in the human world.

Gabrielle Becomes a Cold and Deadly Immortal

In The Vampire Lestat, Gabrielle constantly talked about hunting bears and other animals in the forest, and simply disconnecting from human life and returning to nature. Lestat, in contrast, remained very connected to humanity. He loved human art, and music, loved performing on stage for humans. He had no interest in living in a forest or jungle. When the ancient Vampire Armand blew up their lives in Paris, Lestat and Gabrielle left and wandered Europe and parts of Egypt for a decade. But even from the start of their journey, Gabrielle would vanish for weeks and months at a time. Although Gabrielle still loved Lestat, their bond was breaking. Things came to a head when Lestat learned she kept the news of their mortal family’s deaths from him, and he told her to leave him for good.

How Lestat and Gabrielle Reunite after 200 YearsAMC

Lestat would lose all contact with Gabrielle for almost two centuries. When he became a rock star in the 1980s, Gabrielle learned her sire/son was alive and well. When Lestat threw his big Halloween Night concert in 1985, the vampire community attacked the show, and Lestat and Louis had to escape. Gabrielle then pulled up in a sports car and rescued her son/father and his lover from the undead mob. Gabrielle tells Lestat that she imagined their reunion a hundred different ways over the centuries. And she never thought it would involve her saving him from a vampire gang at a rock concert.

RELATED ARTICLE

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE’s Overwhelming Queerness Is Revelatory and Queer People Deserve It

After the events of book three, The Queen of the Damned, the surviving vampires form a coven on the luxurious Night Island, belonging to Armand, off the coast of Florida. But as she was known to do, Gabrielle quickly grew restless and wandered off into the world again. Gabrielle would pop in and out of Lestat’s life, making cameos in Rice’s subsequent novels. But she never had a book of her own, and Anne Rice said she never wanted to write one. She said Gabrielle was too cold for her to ever write from her perspective. But as of Rice’s final novel, Blood Communion, Gabrielle and Lestat were on good terms, promising never to go no-contact again.

Anne Rice’s Tragic Inspirations for the Vampire Gabrielle, Lestat’s Mother

Anne Rice went on record several times saying that her characters helped her work through her own personal tragedies. Her daughter Michelle’s death from leukemia at age 6 inspired her to create the child vampire Claudia in Interview with the Vampire. And Rice was at least partially working through the death of her mother with the creation of Lestat’s mother, Gabrielle. Rice’s mother, Katherine O’Brien, was ahead of her time, and named Anne “Howard” when she was born, not believing in gender specific naming conventions. But her mother also suffered from alcoholism and died from its complications at age 42, when Anne was only 15. Lestat saving his Gabrielle’s life and giving her a new one was Rice using writing to fictionalize saving her own unconventional mother via supernatural means.

Is the Vampire Gabrielle a Trans Character?AMC

Fans have often cited Gabrielle as being extremely trans-coded. In The Vampire Lestat, she often lamented being forced to endure the trappings of being a woman, especially as an 18th-century woman. When she becomes a vampire, she dresses in masculine clothing and often passes as a man in a crowd. However, she never changes her pronouns, and Lestat always refers to her as “she.” But were she created today, it’s very possible Anne Rice would have written Gabrielle as a trans man. Perhaps we will see the series pick up these threads to weave a beautiful, representative story.

Gabrielle Becomes Gabriella in AMC’s The Vampire Lestat

We haven’t seen much of actress Jennifer Ehle as Gabrielle, now using the Italian pronunciation of her name, Gabriella, in The Vampire Lestat so far. She only appears at the end of episode one. However, from the way Lestat is frantically texting her to large bouts of silence, we do get the idea that her relationship with him is not really one of warmth and compassion. As Anne Rice would say, a distinct coldness emenates from the way she only appears when Lestat has literally hit rock bottom.

In The Vampire Lestat trailers, we’ve seen Gabriella in 18th-century flashbacks dressed in period costumes, and some scenes of her at Lestat’s concerts in the modern day. Gabriella seemingly presents as female in the modern day, but looks can be deceiving. She may very well identify as a trans man post-vampirism. And we hope so.

Of course, her one-episode appearance did involve her fully kissing Lestat… and not in a motherly way.

AMC

The Vampire Lestat has definitely taken the novels’ incestuous subtext to another level, and now it is just plain text between mother/child Gabriella and child/father Lestat. And while incest is shocking, to be sure, the more important consequences come as a part of the emotional toll the relationship and its dynamics take on Lestat.

We’ll have to wait and see where this relationship goes as The Vampire Lestat continues airing.

Interview with the Vampire seasons one and two and The Vampire Lestat are now streaming on AMC and AMC+.

Originally published March 4, 2026.

The post IWTV: Lestat’s Complex (Icky?) Bond with Mother Gabrielle, Explained appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• Doctor Who’s cancelation means we won’t get a pay off to the Billie Piper cliffhanger
• The Doctor Who cliffhanger was never going to work.

Any time a beloved cult-favorite TV show gets unceremoniously canceled draws the ire of fandom. Star Trek ceasing production earlier this year certainly saw fans fuming. But Doctor Who fans have a bit more of a reason to freak out. Today’s announcement that the BBC was parting (of the) ways with showrunner Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf Productions, and that the Christmas-turned-Easter special would not happen, sent fans. It positively sent them! (Yes, I am 42, how did you know?) Not least sent because the BBC has no replacement in place. When/if Doctor Who returns in several years time (presumably) with a new production company, showrunner, and lead actor, it’s a near-certainty the show’s big Billie Piper cliffhanger will never see resolution.

Perhaps this is an unpopular opinion, but…good. It was never going to pay off anyway.

BBC/Bad Wolf Studios/Disney+

For some context, the second of two Disney+ seasons of Doctor Who ended with the surprise (and if reports are correct, very last minute) departure of Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor. This came about so last minute that Davies didn’t have time to find a new fulltime Doctor before the finale and regeneration scene were to air. So, in a very typically RTD move, he went for shock and spectacle. The Fifteenth Doctor regenerates into…Billie Piper?!

Piper, of course, played Rose Tyler, the first companion of the revived series in 2005 opposite Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant. That character, and her relationship with the Doctor (romantic or otherwise) still routinely ranks at or near the top of people’s favorite Doctor/companion pairings. She as much as Tennant is synonymous with a particular era of Doctor Who. The resolution to this cliffhanger, we heard, would occur in the 2026 Christmas special. Well.

BBC

This caused quite a lot of both ker and fluffle in fan communities. Debates raged about whether this meant Billie would be the for-real-for-real Doctor, even if just for a single special, or if this would be a weird regenerative crisis, time warp, or some such mishigas. Davies had only just recently given an update on the status of the special, saying he had an outline and that the BBC was super into it, etc. This was very likely just spin at a time when the future of the special and show were in flux. But the big question remains: Even if Davies got to make the special, and even if we did get the explanation for why the Doctor was Billie Piper, would it really have satisfied people?

From his first tenure on the series in 2005-2010 up through the now-last episode of his second, Davies has always struggled to find a balance between genuinely good storytelling and boom-bam spectacle. He’s less concerned, often, with a cogent explanation for huge, wild, audience-shocking moments than he is with simply having them. He’s wonderful at smaller, quieter character moments. That’s where, I feel, much of his strengths as a writer lie. It’s the conversations, it’s the philosophical dilemmas. But when he wants to go big, he throws caution to the wind. Sometimes fans go with it, sometimes they don’t.

BBC/Bad Wolf Studios/Disney+

I’ve seen some fan sentiment today that express feelings of betrayal that, it appears, the Billie Piper cliffhanger not only won’t have a pay off but ultimately didn’t have a pay off in RTD’s mind when it happened. I think very likely Davies just thought he needed something so we’d get the mere semblance of continuity. The Doctor wouldn’t simply regenerate with no clear path forward. At the very least, Davies could buy himself some time while the BBC and Disney figured out their next moves.

I won’t call this a mistake necessarily, but it’s definitely indicative of Davies’ M.O. When in doubt, do a weird thing! He’ll figure it out later! I have no doubt he would have come up with some kind of explanation that, at least for the purposes of a single special, would have worked out okay. Piper was Rose Tyler’s memory within the Doctor, or the Doctor found a weird middle-moment between regenerations where they needed a screensaver face or something. It would have been what it was always meant to be: a placeholder.

Warner Bros.

Whether that special was going to be good or suck is kind of irrelevant. It wasn’t going to be a new status quo, nor would it likely have much impact on anything going forward. Billie did her pal Russ a solid. We got a face rather than just a glow of yellow. It was basically Davies’ version of the Looney Tunes short Duck Amuck. It was him saying “ain’t I a stinker?” before we got a “That’s All Folks!”

Whatever happens next with Doctor Who, whether it’s a clean break, a reboot, or even a continuation that simply ignores the Piper of it all, it was never going to be more than a stop-gap. So, why not just pretend it didn’t happen?

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!

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It’s time to grab your whip and fedora because Nerdist’s Adam Murray is diving deep into the adventures of Indiana Jones! From his iconic movies to his early years in the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and all the books, video games, and comics in between!

00:00 – Intro
04:49 – Chapter One: Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
53:02 – Chapter Two: Book Adventures
01:06:05 – Chapter Three: Temple of Doom
01:17:46 – Chapter Four: Raiders of the Lost Ark
01:33:47 – Chapter Five: The Last Crusade
01:51:02 – Chapter Six: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
02:00:54 – Chapter Seven: Dial of Destiny

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The post The COMPLETE Indiana Jones Timeline appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• Amazon is not making Prime Video the streaming home of Project Hail Mary. Instead it’s sending Ryland Grace and Rocky to MGM+.
• MGM+ is a streaming service that many fewer people have, so this news will certainly be disappointing to some.
• MGM+ does not come with a Prime Video subscription and must be purchased separately in order to stream Project Hail Mary.
• The cost is $7.99 a month or $61.99 a year. A free trial is available for those who want to watch Project Hail Mary but do not want to pay.

Chris Miller and Phil Lord’s Project Hail Mary was a smash hit with critics and audiences alike. The film earned rave reviews and cleaned up at the box office. Now Amazon is hoping it will help build its subscriber base for its other streaming service, because Project Hail Mary is not going to stream on Prime Video. Instead, Project Hail Mary is heading exclusively to stream on MGM+, a totally separate Amazon streaming site.

Amazon MGM StudiosProject Hail Mary Will Stream on MGM+

Amazon MGM Studios has announced its big screen adaptation of Andy Weir’s sci-fi novel will make a much less popular streaming platform its home in both the U.S. and internationally. Project Hail Mary is going MGM+.

No, MGM+ Does Not Come Free with Your Prime Video Subscription

You don’t have to look it up; we can answer your obvious question right now: No, you do not get MGM+ even if you already pay for Prime Video. MGM+ is a separate “premium linear channel and streaming service” also owned and controlled by Amazon.

How Much Do You Have to Pay for MGM+ In Order to Stream Project Hail Mary?

Prime Video subscribers can add it to their account for $7.99 a month or $61.99 a year.

There Is a Free Trial, We Guess!

Obviously, the whole point of releasing one of the year’s most popular films exclusively on a lesser-known platform is to get people to subscribe. This is about driving new subscriptions, because why not! Fortunately, you can still watch Project Hail Mary at home without adding to your already out-of-control streaming costs. Amazon offers a seven-day free trial option, so you can try MGM+ before you have to pay for it.

Amazon MGM Studios

There are certainly plenty of other shows, movies, and documentaries worth checking out on the service. But if you only care about astrophage, then seven days is plenty of time to watch (and rewatch)Ryan Gosling hang out with the most amaze amaze amaze-ing alien. And you don’t have to wait long to do that. Project Hail Mary arrives at MGM+ on June 18, 2026.

And, of course, you can already purchase a digital copy on Prime Video. That’s the Amazon streaming service you already pay for, despite it not getting all of Amazon’s best movies.

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