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io9Movies
This Captain Marvel VFX Breakdown Shows That Maybe the Movie Didn’t Need 4 Cat Actors
Without Goose the Flerken, there’s a very good chance that Nick Fury would have been murdered by the Kree in Captain Marvel, which would have had catastrophic consequences for the larger MCU. Without Fury, there probably wouldn’t be any Avengers, and without them, well. You get the idea. It tracks that Marvel would go to … Continued
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io9Books & Comics
Stjepan Šejić’s Harleen Will Explore Harley Quinn’s Inner Workings
While Harley Quinn’s long since stepped out of the Joker’s shadow and become an antihero as part of her own arc of evolution, DC’s next big Harley-centric series is going back in time to delve into Harleen Quinzel’s past to re-examine who she is. Today, DC announced writer-artist Stjepan Šejić’s upcoming Harleen, a series under … Continued
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io9Books & Comics
Batman Beyond and Supergirl Are Part of DC’s Next Legion of Superheroes Series
The 31st century’s always been a wild, fantastical place in DC’s comics, existing in a distinctly separate narrative space than the publisher’s flagship titles that are set in the present. But this September, that’s all set to change in a new Legion of Superheroes series from writer Brian Michael Bendis and a number of hotshot … Continued
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io9Books & Comics
Disney’s Falcon & Winter Soldier Has to Explore Race and Captain America’s Legacy
Now that they’ve done their part to save the universe in Avengers: Endgame, Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes are packing up their gear and jetting off to Disney+ to star in their own miniseries. Falcon & Winter Soldier is sure to give the duo an interesting space to define themselves as Avengers in a post-Endgame … Continued
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io9Books & Comics
Jessica Jones‘ Carrie-Anne Moss Discusses the Dangerous, Yet Vulnerable, Jeri Hogarth
Carrie-Anne Moss’ Jeri Hogarth is one of the most dynamic and fascinating characters in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. She’s been a Jessica Jones fixture since season one when she was introduced as a very dangerous antihero in her own right, using her shrewd legal mind instead of her fists to lay the proverbial smackdown on anyone … Continued
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io9Movies
Steven Universe: The Movie Adds Chance the Rapper to Its Musical Ranks
When we talked to Steven Universe creator Rebecca Sugar last year about the creative process that goes into crafting the series’ excellent music, we asked what other artists she had in heavy Spotify rotation. She mentioned Chance the Rapper (and his equally excellent rendition of the Arthur theme song). With that in mind, the latest … Continued
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io9Books & Comics
What Pennyworth‘s New Trailer Lacks in Batman, It Makes Up for in Englishness
Right, then. Let’s get on with it, shall we? Epix’s upcoming Pennyworth series assumes we live in a world not unlike that of Teen Titans Go! to the Movies. A world where the important—but not entirely, um, exciting—people in Batman’s life are put front and center in cinematic epics designed to capture fans’ imaginations. Even … Continued
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io9Movies
Dark Phoenix‘s Simon Kinberg Took Inspiration From Nolan’s Batman to Bring the X-Men Down to Earth
There’s an unsteady, chaotic energy coursing through much of Simon Kinberg’s Dark Phoenix. It almost feels like an extension of the existential crisis its titular hero finds herself in as she becomes the most powerful mutant to ever walk the Earth. That feeling, according to Kinberg, was a wholly intentional part of his directorial debut. … Continued
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io9Books & Comics
Report: Swamp Thing Could Have Run for 3 Seasons and Led to a Justice League: Dark Spinoff
TV shows come and go, but the recent cancellation of DC Universe’s Swamp Thing series was particularly surprising considering that the first season, which only began airing weeks ago, was generally well received by fans and critics alike. As strange and sudden as Swamp Thing’s departure seems from the outside, it sounds like everyone working … Continued
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io9
Black Mirror‘s ‘Striking Vipers’ Is an Important Exploration of Black Masculinity and Sexuality
“Striking Vipers,” the first episode of Black Mirror’s fifth season, keeps with the series’ tradition of hitting the pause button on its nightmarish depictions of near-future realities in favor of exploring intimate, human stories about the positive emotional connections our technological innovations make possible. But, like all of Black Mirror, this episode takes its characters … Continued
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io9Books & Comics
In Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, Pivoting to Video Is Perilous
Long, long ago, plucky youngsters like Jimmy Olsen with an affinity for the written word (or photography) and butting into other peoples’ business could build successful careers as journalists if they had the right gumption and know-how. But in today’s cutthroat media landscape, it takes a lot more than a dorky grin and a … Continued
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io9Books & Comics
A Brief Explanation of Dark Phoenix‘s Confusing Alien Villain
While Fox was perfectly fine spoiling Dark Phoenix’s major death in early advertisements, the true identity of Jessica Chastain’s alien character was kept conspicuously hush in the weeks leading up to the film’s premiere. Though an explanation for the codename she was referred to by the studio (“Smith”) is never explained in the film itself, … Continued
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io9Books & Comics
Revolution Is a Shared Theme in This Week’s Best New Comics
Even though moments of climactic action are often what we remember best about revolutions, transformative change often starts in the quiet moments long before any of the theatrics begin. The stories featured in this week’s best new comics are all about people in the midst of rapidly-changing worlds, but what really stands out about these … Continued
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io9Television
Jessica Jones Season 3 Is a Last Call That Feels Too Familiar
Jessica Jones understands that recovering from psychological trauma is often a lifelong process, something marked by countless instances of backsliding and false starts that can make it feel like one might never be whole again. In the Netflix series’ third and final season, the MCU’s favorite nihilist detective is extremely back on her bullshit, which … Continued
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io9Movies
Simon Kinberg Likens Dark Phoenix‘s Original Ending to Captain America: Civil War and Captain Marvel
While the cast of Simon Kinberg’s Dark Phoenix has spoken about the similarities between the film’s original ending and the ending of another recent big superhero film—similarities that were so extensive they required the final X-Men installment to undergo extensive reshoots—everyone has been coy about what that other superhero film was, as well as how … Continued
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io9Movies
Jordan Peele Says Midsommar‘s Idyllic Beauty ‘Transcends the Horror of Itself’
Beneath the vibrantly saturated facade of Ari Aster’s upcoming folk horror film Midsommar, there are some very dark secrets. Two American tourists journey to a small Swedish town for what they believe is going to be a normal vacation, but they soon realize that they’ve arrived just in time for a festival that only takes … Continued
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io9Books & Comics
The Swamp Thing TV Show Has Been Canceled [Updated]
DC Universe’s Swamp Thing series from executive producer James Wan has reportedly been canceled after just one episode. Deadline reports (and other trades have followed) that Swamp Thing is no more following an earlier decision to reduce the first season’s number of episodes down to 10 from 13 while the show was still in production. … Continued
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io9
Runaways Season 3 Is Getting Hellishly Magical Courtesy of Elizabeth Hurley as Morgan le Fay
When Runaways’ Nico Minoru took hold of the Staff of One in the Hulu show’s first season, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was only just beginning to flirt with the idea of proper magic, and so the Staff’s strange powers were conveniently explained away as being technological in nature. But the latest bit of Runaways season … Continued
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io9Movies
Dark Phoenix Is a Bittersweet Goodbye to Fox’s X-Men
Simon Kinberg’s Dark Phoenix became one of the most significant of Fox’s X-Men films the moment it became clear it would be the last installment in the franchise that set the stage for the modern comic book movie boom. Not only was the film going to bring the story of Charles Xavier’s mutant heroes to … Continued
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io9Movies
Wolverine Isn’t in Dark Phoenix for a Good Reason
Wolverine could have been in Dark Phoenix, but he’s not. That’s probably for the best. Wolverine’s brief cameo in X-Men: Apocalypse was one of the more eyebrow-raising things about the film, because it opened up the possibility for more elements of the original X-films to begin filtering into the newer, younger generation of stories. When … Continued