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Paddington has become one of the most beloved franchises in family-friendly media, with three successful films under its belt. Now, there’s yet another installment coming to delight everyone. During CinemaCon 2026, a trade show event filled with film news, Studio Canal CEO Anna Marsh announced that Paddington 4 is currently in development. StudioCanal

Right now, there’s not an official title for the film nor a release date. But it is lovely to have this news considering that the last film, Paddington in Peru, just came out in 2024. We are super excited about this news and all the other things that we will find out while covering CinemaCon 2026 live in Las Vegas.

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The Boys final season will also serve as a de facto Supernatural reunion. Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins are getting in on the fun with Jensen Ackles and showrunner Eric Kripke. But while we’ve known that, we only just learned for sure who Padelicki is playing. We’re finally going to meet the former member of the Seven who used to sneak college girls into Vought Tower with Lamplighter, the speedster A-Train replaced, Mister Marathon. @conmose

#theboys #jaredpadalecki #comiccon @FACTSConvention @dayonempm

♬ origineel geluid – Conmose

Padalecki confirmed the casting rumor about himself during an appearance at the FACTS Convention in Belgium. (Which we first heard about at ComicBook.com.) He is playing Mister Marathon, a character referenced multiple times on the TV adaptation. He was the Seven’s speedster before A-Train took his spit. A-Train was also in the group four years longer than his predecessor. We’ll finally see the Flash-like Mister Marathon when Padelecki and Collins make their series debut in season five’s coming episodes.

The super fast Supe was a minor character in Garth Ennis’ comic series, where he died quickly during a failed rescue of a highjacked plane. Who will be looking for Mister Marathon after all these years? A show trailer revealed Homelander and Soldier Boy will come calling. We’re sure that will go just fine for Mister Marathon!

Prime Video

While we now know for sure who Padalecki is playing, we still don’t know Collins’ character just yet. But we know what to expect from both her and Mister Marathon. Kripke previously described both of the show’s new characters as “just such douchebags.” No wonder Homelander and Soldier Boy will want to meet with them.

Will Mister Marathon want to work with his old Seven leader again? Based on how things have gone for everyone else int he group, he should probably run away from the whole situation.

The post Jared Padalecki Reveals He’s Playing a Speedy Supe on THE BOYS appeared first on Nerdist.

Adapted from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s famous semi-autobiographical Little House books comes a fresh look at the pioneer family we know and love. Netflix is coming out with an all-new Little House on the Prairie series. The series, executive-produced by showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine, offers a unique perspective on the struggles and triumphs of the American frontier. Meet the Ingalls family in Netflix’s first teaser trailer for Little House on the Prairie for season one below!Little House on the Prairie’s Trailer Reminds Us Season One Comes to Netflix this July

“Once upon a time, Pa, and Ma, and Mary, and Laura left the Big Woods of Wisconsin and moved to the prairie…”

The Little House on the Prairie trailer begins with the familiar introduction, opening with a shot of Laura frolicking alongside the family’s beloved dog, Jack. Leaving behind everything that they know, the Ingalls uproot their lives to start anew in the American West. Netflix shares glimpses of the family in their wagon, scenic shots of the prairie, and the pioneer town they move to. It’s an intimate, emotional first look at the Ingall’s journey.

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Netflix’s LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE Renewed for Season 2

Little House on the Prairie was first adapted into a live-action series in 1974. The show ran for a whopping nine seasons. Sonnenshine offers a fresh perspective to the beloved story. The show is part hopeful family drama, part epic survival tale, and part origin story of the American West. The reimagining has already been renewed for season two.

Who Will Play the Ingalls?

Crosby Fitzgerald and Luke Bracey will play Ma and Pa. Alice Halsey and Skywalker Hughes are sisters, Laura and Mary. From what we can tell so far, the show is bound to be as heartwarming as ever.

Netflix

“This show is a love story about a family,” Sonnenshine tells Tudum. “That’s really at the core of what Little House on the Prairie is about: a family that is there for each other, that tells stories to each other, tells stories about themselves.”

The first season is based on the third book in the Little House series. CBS Studios will produce with Anonymous Content. A show that exudes heart, we’re excited to see what’s in store next for the Ingalls family. Little House on the Prairie premieres on Netflix on July 9.

The post Does the LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE Trailer Look Good? appeared first on Nerdist.

Project Hail Mary, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and starring Ryan Gosling, is everything we go to the movies for. It’s smart, funny, heartwarming, and manages to still give us a jaw-dropping sci-fi spectacle. Not to mention, the adorable alien known as Rocky is already an instant icon. Perhaps most importantly, it proves that a non-franchise IP can still draw crowds into movie theaters. But if you missed seeing the film in a glorious IMAX presentation, we have some good news for you. Project Hail Mary will officially return to IMAX 70mm for a one-week-only engagement, starting on Friday, April 17.

This calls for a fist bump 👊! #ProjectHailMary returns to IMAX 70mm and digital locations this Friday. Tickets on sale now. https://t.co/CwNQIDZOl8 pic.twitter.com/Ppdj51evuN

— IMAX (@IMAX) April 13, 2026

Project Hail Mary had to give up its IMAX screens for the Super Mario Galaxy Movie recently. So Mario and Luigi undercut a lot of fans who wanted to see the movie again in the best theatrical format possible. Maybe those two thought Rocky was one of Bowser’s minions? But at least for one week, fans can re-experience Project Hail Mary with nearly two hours of expanded aspect ratio. Lord and Miller’s sci-fi film is already the most successful film that Amazon/MGM Studios has released. And it shows few signs of slowing down.

Amazon/MGM Studios

In the film, based on the novel by Andy Weir, Ryan Gosling plays Ryland Grace, a schoolteacher who wakes up from an induced coma on an interstellar spaceship. And he wakes up with no memory of how he got there. Before long, Grace realizes he’s the sole survivor of a three-person crew sent on a “Hail Mary” mission to save Earth’s sun from extinction.

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Take Rocky Home with LEGO PROJECT HAIL MARY Set

Luckily, he makes a friend from a distant alien civilization during the mission. And just like that, Project Hail Mary becomes one of the best human/alien buddy movies ever made. Grace and Rocky now give Han and Chewie a run for their money. You can buy tickets for Project Hail Mary in IMAX now.

The post PROJECT HAIL MARY to Amaze in IMAX Again for One Week appeared first on Nerdist.

All good things must come to an end. That includes the stupidly hilarious animated hit Smooling Fronds. Excuse me, Smiling Friends. Originally greenlit for five seasons, it came as a shock for fans to hear that the series would end after season three. Creators Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack made the abrupt announcement earlier this year. Now, the dreadful day is upon us. Here’s how you can watch the final two episodes of Smiling Friends. Adult Swim

Alas, we will never get another sarcastic comment from Charlie. A positive outburst from Pim. A daring solo adventure from Allan or Glep. There’s always reruns, I guess. Sigh. It’s just not the same. The final two episodes of Smiling Friends aired live on Adult Swim on Sunday, April 12. If you missed them, both episodes are now available to stream with an HBO Max subscription.

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RICK AND MORTY Season 9 Shares First Images and May Premiere Date

The final two episodes make up episodes nine and ten of season three. Here’s the official synopsis of each one:

• S3, E9 – “Friend-Bot”
  • The Smiling Friends befriend a helpful robot and what happens next will shock you.
• S3, E10 – “Charlie’s Uncle Dies and Doesn’t Come Back”
  • Pim and Charlie meet Charlie’s Uncle, who’s full of mysteries and tricks alike; and then Allan goes gaga.

Why is Smiling Friends Ending? Adult Swim

Hadel and Cusack have spoken out about the abrupt cancellation. The duo clarified that the decision to end the series was entirely their own, though Adult Swim supported it. The show is weird and stupid, and we just can’t get enough. Seriously, we’re really going to miss the Smiling Friends and their outrageous antics. To quote Mr. Boss, Smiling Friends is over. Nevertheless, it will always live on in our hearts (unlike Charlie’s uncle, it seems). Maybe not with new episodes, but absolutely in the form of iconic quotes and compilation videos on TikTok.

To get us through this dark time, there’s always another dumb adult cartoon to turn to. Season nine of Rick and Morty premieres May 24 at 11 p.m. on Adult Swim.

The post Here’s How to Watch the Final Episodes of SMILING FRIENDS appeared first on Nerdist.

I checked the calendar three times to make sure I have this right: It is, in fact, the year 2026. I wasn’t sure after hearing Frankie Muniz regurgitate a terrible TV take that was boring ten years ago. Muniz told his Malcom in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair co-star Byran Cranston he always wanted “to kill” Breaking Bad‘s Skyler White. His hatred for the character is an old, absurd opinion Walter White himself immediately shut down.

Bryan Cranston pushes back after Frankie Muniz said he wanted Skyler White to diepic.twitter.com/atLvRZjRz2

— Saul Goodman ⚖ (@itsSaulGoodman) April 13, 2026

During a joint appeared on First We Feast’s Hot One Versus, Muniz told Cranston he loved Breaking Bad, but he wanted to “kill” Skyler White. Muniz said it would have made Walter White’s life “so much easier.” Again, this just happened in the year 2026 and not on a Breaking Bad message in 2010.

Fortunately, Bryan Cranston immediately explained why that old uninformed take—frequently echoed by some of Breaking Bad‘s worst fans who didn’t realize Walter White was a monster and Skyler did nothing wrong—was nonsense.

AMC

“Now see, she got a lot of blowback from that,” said Cranston. “Well, first of all, Anna Gunn is a superb actor, but she got, like, ‘Ahh! Why don’t you get off his back?’ Wait a minute. Let me understand this. Her husband leaves without any explanation. She’s pregnant. He’s making crystal methamphetamine, and people have died. And she’s the bitch? Like, we couldn’t understand.”

Neither can I, Bryan. Neither can I. Walter White was a disgusting pig whose ego and failures led him to become a mass murdering sociopath. Skyler White’s only crime on was not turning him in and saving a whole lot of lives. Even then, it’s one thing to have found her annoying. It’s another to say you wanted “to kill her.”

In 2026, neither Bryan Cranston nor I should have to explain why.

The post Bryan Cranston Defends BREAKING BAD’s Skyler White After Frankie Muniz’s Terrible Take appeared first on Nerdist.

The neighborhood ice cream man is probably one of the least threatening people in existence… at least, on a surface level. He’s the friendly guy with the truck that’s playing a catchy tune. He pulls up and gives kids a sweet and cold treat to enjoy on a hot summer day. The ice cream guy wears a smile and perhaps a nice uniform to make himself seem like a friend. But, when you think about it, the ice cream man could be a total creep or even a deadly killer if he wanted to be. Eli Roth imagines this horrifying scenario in the trailer for Ice Cream Man, which turns an innocent childhood figure into a nightmare. 

ICE CREAM MAN | Official Trailer 🍦🩸

I Scream. You Scream. We All Scream for Ice Cream Man.

In theatres August 7. pic.twitter.com/Bv6LhZBnj0

— Cinemark Theatres (@Cinemark) April 13, 2026

Roth, who is known for hits like Thanksgiving and Cabin Fever, directs, produces, and stars in Ice Cream Man, which he also co-wrote with Noah Belson. That’s a lot of work, my guy. The film takes place during a seemingly idyllic summer when a town goes into madness when an ice cream man serves up sweets with really bad results. It is the type of horror flick that has my name all over it, to be honest.

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Ice Cream Man stars Ari Millen as the titular character, Benjamin Byron Davis, Karen Cliche, Dylan Hawco, Sarah Abbott, Shiloh O’Reilly, Kiori Mirza Waldman, Charlie Zeltzer, and Charlie Storey. 

What Is the Release Date for Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man Horror Movie? Valerie Flores: The Horror Section

Ice Cream Man will deliver sweet scares when it hits theaters on August 7.

The post There’s Nothing Sweet About Eli Roth’s ICE CREAM MAN Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

We support women’s rights to right. We support women’s rights to wrongs. We also support cursed castles and dark romances. And we TOTALLY support messy, queer love-quadrangles. Be honest, is there any other kind of queer love story? And it sounds like we’ll receive ALL of this and more in The Thorns We Wear Inside Amy Avery. This beautifully written, lush novel tells the tale of a witch, a monster, and two parasitic demons trying to keep them apart. (Come on now, demons!) And at Nerdist, it’s our pleasure to exclusively reveal the cover for The Thorns We Wear Inside, which is every bit as gorgeous as we’re imagining the contents of this book to be. Here’s your first look at the cover of this dark romantic sapphic fairytale.DAW Books/Micaela Alcaino

Damn, that is one exceptional cover. Artist Micaela Alcaino has absolutely outdone herself. We are loving the statue vibes, the stark red, maybe of blood, maybe of passion, maybe of both, and the gilded gold. Of course, the most intense detail is how our leading ladies are ALMOST but not quite touching as thorns grow around them. Just let them hold hands!!! We’re yelling in our hearts already. So there’s no doubt we’re going to be absolutely verklempt while reading this book. The Thorns We Wear Inside really sets that dark-fairy-tale tone and brings the feeling of blossoming romance we crave.

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The Thorns We Wear Inside‘s cover is enough to woo me over to this novel. But if you’d like to know a bit more, here’s the official synopsis:

For fans of For the Wolf and Nettle & Bone comes a dark, romantic fantasy about a witch, a monster, and the two parasitic demons who’ll stop at nothing to keep them apart.

Raye is cursed. Living things crumble at her touch, drained by the demon who clings to her like a seductive, malevolent shadow. No wonder the townsfolk want her dead. Tormented and pursued, she seeks shelter in a mysterious castle at the heart of a forest.

The castle is an eerie place. Its residents lie trapped in time like flies in amber, all save one. Mir. Mir has a demon of her own, a creature that forces her to seek and crave blood. When the two women begin to use the castle’s trove of magic to unravel their curses, their demons unite. The parasites refuse to let their hosts escape, and perhaps even more dangerously, Mir can bear Raye’s poisonous touch: the first caress either of them has felt in years.

As monster hunters close in on the forest, Raye and Mir will have to break both the castle’s curse and the binds of their twisted quadrangle before the past catches up with them.

The Thorns We Wear Inside sounds like a perfect fantastical queer adventure; a mysterious castle, curses, demons, and the first touch another person has felt in years. We’re sighing a wistful sight.

If you’d love to get The Thorns We Wear Inside and its perfect cover on your shelves, you can pre-order the book right now through Amazon. The Thorns We Wear Inside will release on November 10, 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!

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The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is many things. It’s the Haymitch Abernathy backstory we’ve all been waiting for. (Which, of course, you can read right now in book form, if you’d like.) It’s another movie in a franchise that feels more resonant than ever. AND it’s a movie that is somehow full of incredibly big names and famous faces. In The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, we get to see Kieran Culkin, Elle Fanning, Jesse Plemons, Glenn Close, Maya Hawke, Mckenna Grace, and Ralph Fiennes take center stage. They’re not playing our main characters, but man, do they pull focus. You can watch the trailer for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping below.

For those who have forgotten, here’s the synopsis of the new Hunger Games movie, “THE HUNGER GAMES: SUNRISE ON THE REAPING revisits the world of Panem 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, starting on the morning of the reaping of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell.” This Hunger Games, of course, is the one that brought Haymitch Abernathy into the arena, paving the way for him to become the haggard victor who would help Katniss and Peeta navigate through their own games. Rumor has it that Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson will reprise their roles as Katniss and Peeta in the movie, but we haven’t seen any glimpses of them yet.

Additionally, if of interest, here is the synopsis of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping‘s novel synopsis:

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.

Lionsgate

A young Haymitch Abernathy will be played by Joseph Zada in the movie. And it’s a testament to Zada that despite all the aforementioned big names, he still manages to catch our attention in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping trailer. We’re already pulling for him, all the while bracing for the tragedy that we know cannot be avoided.

Click To View Gallery Lionsgate Lionsgate Lionsgate Lionsgate Lionsgate Lionsgate

As for this new Hunger Games movie’s other stars… The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping trailer lets us see Kieran Culkin as Hunger Games host Caesar Flickerman, Elle Fanning as a younger Effie Trinket, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, a role previously played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, Glenn Close as Drusilla Sickle, “the cruel escort to the District 12 Tributes,” Maya Hawke as Wiress, a victor turned mentor, and Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner. And, of course, there’s Ralph Fiennes, stepping into the villainous role that was originated by the late Donald Sutherland. You can read more about all these roles here.

Well, here we go again. May the odds be ever in our favor. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping releases on November 20, 2026. Its source novel is available to buy today.

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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On April 12, 1976, a novel from first-time author Anne Rice called Interview with the Vampire hit bookstores. In hardcover, the book barely made a dent. But in paperback, it slowly grew into a cult hit over the years, and over the past five decades, it has sold 80 million copies worldwide. The book led to a series, The Vampire Chronicles, which sold another 70 million copies. Only Dracula and Twilight have had a greater overall impact on pop culture when it comes to our shared perception of the undead. Besides its popular film and television adaptations, here are some of the ways that Rice’s signature work influenced vampire pop culture over the past 50 years. And in some cases, just pop culture in general.New Orleans as the Fictional Vampire City of ChoiceBallantine Books

The city of New Orleans, LA, had its share of vampiric folklore, long before Anne Rice wrote her first novel. Notably, Jacques Saint Germain and the Carter brothers were well-known New Orleans vampire urban legends. But none of those stories sparked much in the way of film or television inspiration. But after IWTV, the Crescent City became undead central in all kinds of fiction. From the Poppy Z. Brite novel Lost Souls, to True Blood, to The Originals, all of them used New Orleans as America’s Transylvania. Even the cheesy Gerard Butler movie Dracula 2000 took place in NOLA. But it was certainly IWTV that popularized the concept in wider pop culture.

The Brooding-Yet-Sexy-Vampire TropeWarner Bros./Twentieth Century Television/HBO/Lionsgate

Since Dracula, most vampires in novels and films have been unrepentantly evil. There were some examples of brooding, self-loathing vampires, like Countess Zaleska in Dracula’s Daughter, one of Rice’s direct inspirations. Another notable example was Barnabas Collins in the ’60s TV soap Dark Shadows, who pre-dated IWTV. But the novel’s narrator, Louis, presented a new level of self-hatred in a vampire character. One who physically starved himself and ate rats in alleys to avoid hurting humans. That level of sad (yet somehow still sexy) vampire represented by Louis gave birth to many others over the years. Most famous among them are Angel on Buffy, Bill Compton on True Blood, and, like it or not, Edward Cullen in Twilight. In their own way, each is a direct descendant of Louis de Pointe du Lac.

Lestat and Louis Introduce the Sexual Tension Male Vampire Duo

Vampires have always been queer-coded. There were plenty of sapphic vampires in pop culture, going back to Carmilla and all its adaptations. Girl-on-girl vampire action was all the rage in the ’70s. But a homoerotic charge between two male vampires was too taboo (except for porn films) until Rice’s IWTV. The Lestat/Louis dynamic, between one flamboyant vampire who relishes in wickedness (often light-haired), and his brooding, self-hating companion (usually dark-haired), is a large reason why early readers who embraced the book were queer readers. It was the Heated Rivalry of its day. Only with a lot more blood.

AMC Networks

Ever since Lestat and Louis in IWTV, we’ve had similar (if less overtly queer) vampiric pairings in fiction. Chief among them are David and Michael in The Lost Boys, Angel and Spike in Buffy, and Bill Compton and Eric Northman on True Blood. In all of these examples, there’s a woman involved in a form of love triangle with them, but it’s always clear she’s just there to “no homo” their clear sexual tension. This is less so in The Vampire Diaries, but that’s only because the two male Salvatore vamps are literal brothers. But all of these undead male pairings owe their existence in some way to Louis and Lestat. At least now, the adaptations don’t have to be vague about the queer nature of these stories.

IWTV’s Claudia Introduces the Angry Child VampireWarner Bros/DEG/EFTI/Universal Pictures

Undead children existed before IWTV’s Claudia, to be certain. Just the year before Rice’s novel was published, Stephen King had a pair of memorable child vampires in Salem’s Lot. Yet those vampires didn’t really have any agency, and were just extensions of a powerful master vampire’s will. But Claudia was the first vampire who really felt the horror of immortality while trapped in a child’s body. But since that character emerged in IWTV, we’ve had many similar to Claudia. There’s Homer in Near Dark, Eli in Let the Right One In, and most recently, Abigail. It’s fair to say Rice’s ruthless child vampire Claudia is the template for all of them.

A Community of the UndeadAMC

In most vampire fiction since Dracula, the power structure was one master vampire, and a brood of mindless minions. But none of them were really a family in the way we think of today. But IWTV popularized the idea of vampiric covens, something often reserved for witches before. This was exemplified not only by Lestat’s New Orleans family, but also by Armand’s theatrical troupe in Paris. We’ve seen that kind of vampiric society all over the place ever since, from the Lost Boys, to the Master’s brood in Buffy. Other examples include the Mikaelson Family in The Originals, and the Cullens in the Twilight saga. This also extends to RPGs, where Vampire: The Masquerade had multiple undead clans. While other examples may have existed before, IWTV certainly popularized the concept of vampire communities.

Tony Scott’s The Hunger Was a Stealth Anne Rice AdaptationMGM

Tony Scott’s stylish 1983 New Wave cult vampire film The Hunger is based on the novel by Whitley Strieber, a guy who’s mostly famous for being abducted by aliens and writing books about it. The film adaptation stars David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, and Catherine Deneuve as elegant urban vampires. The opening scene features Bauhaus performing their song “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.” In case there was any doubt, this was the gothiest movie of all time. Strieber’s book had a more sci-fi take on vampires than Scott’s film, which is lush, gothic, and sexy. The reason for that is Tony Scott really wanted to direct a version of IWTV, but the rights were at another studio. So, Scott just injected a heavy dose of Rice’s style, atmosphere, queerness, and themes into his version of Streiber’s tale. In some ways, it was a quasi IWTV adaptation a decade before Neil Jordan’s film.

Interview with the Vampire Inspired Songs from Prominent Artists

Once IWTV became a hit in paperback and achieved cult status, many musicians became enthralled by it and wrote songs about it. One of the first was Sting, who included the song “Moon Over Bourbon Street,” inspired by the character of Louis, on his 1985 album The Dream of the Blue Turtles. The band Concrete Blonde’s 1990 song “Bloodletting” was all about a vampire coven in New Orleans, clearly the vamps from IWTV. One funny example is Annie Lennox’s “Love Song for a Vampire,” from the film Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The singer later admitted she wrote the song inspired by Rice’s novel, not Stoker’s. And the Goddess of Pop, Cher, was a huge fan of IWTV, and wrote a song inspired by it, “Lovers Forever,” which she pitched to be used in the 1994 film. It ultimately wound up on her 2013 album Closer to the Truth. Like any good vampire, it couldn’t stay in its coffin.

Alfred A. Knopf/Ballantine Books/Redbubble

Interview with the Vampire has now been adapted twice, first as a feature film, then as a television series. And no doubt it will be adapted again for a new generation when the time is right. In another fifty years, we imagine readers will still be absorbing it, and getting lost in Rice’s flowery prose. In the end, the most vampiric thing about this story is perhaps that it just won’t die.

The post 50 Years of INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE in Pop Culture appeared first on Nerdist.

“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.”

Shudder

Tales 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!

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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.

Popeyes

Here’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.

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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.

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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 Video

During 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 Video

It 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.

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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.

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THE ART OF AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Hardcover Celebrates John Romita’s Incredible Artwork

It’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.

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.”

FX

Also 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.

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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 NASA

Artemis 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.

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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.

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Every Streaming Cost Increase In 2026: TWO Price Hikes Already

If 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 Ghibli

On 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?

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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.”

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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.

Reddit

Despite 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.

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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 Animation

In 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 Animation

Living 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 Animation

Despite 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 Animation

Without 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+.

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