Dynamite Entertainment has officially opened solicitations for the highly anticipated crossover series between The Powerpuff Girls and Thundercats, set to debut on June 4, 2025. The first issue of this unprecedented pairing will feature a diverse range of collectible variant covers from artists, including Paulina Ganucheau, Coleman Engle, Coran Kizer Stone, Saowee, and Nicoletta Baldari. This unexpected collaboration brings together the Chemical X-powered trio from Townsville with the warriors of Third Earth in what the publisher describes as “the greatest crossover since peanut butter met jelly.” The main storyline follows Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup after they’re trapped in a runaway rocket by Mojo Jojo and transported to a strange planet where their superpowers no longer function, forcing them to ally with the Thundercats against the ancient evil Mumm-Ra.

The crossover represents a significant expansion of Dynamite’s growing catalog of nostalgic properties, with both franchises finding renewed interest among collectors and fans of classic animation. Writer Paulina Ganucheau and artist Coleman Engle, who have been announced as the creative team behind the series, face the unique challenge of merging two dramatically different fictional universes with distinct visual styles and tonal approaches. “After being trapped in a runaway rocket by Mojo Jojo, the titanic trio find themselves on a strange planet where their super-powers don’t work,” states the official synopsis. “Luckily, someone named Snarf is there to provide a situation report and wouldn’t you know it, there’s evil that needs defeating! But without their Chemical X-enhanced abilities, what can Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup do against a foe like Mumm-Ra?”

[RELATED: Yes, The Powerpuff Girls Could Take Omni Man In a Fight]

Prior to the June release of the first full issue, fans will have an opportunity to preview the crossover on Free Comic Book Day, with a special #0 issue scheduled for May 3, 2025. This introductory installment promises to establish the groundwork for the full series while showcasing how the creative team plans to navigate the contrasting dynamics between the elementary school superheroes and the more mature, battle-hardened Thundercats. The Free Comic Book Day special serves as both a marketing tool and a low-barrier entry point for potential new readers who might be familiar with either franchise through their respective animated series but haven’t previously engaged with their comic book adaptations.

The Powerpuff Girls Are Extremely Popular Right Now

The timing of this crossover coincides with a significant resurgence of The Powerpuff Girls. The original series creator, Craig McCracken, is returning to the franchise for an official revival that is currently in development with Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe. While specific details about this project remain limited, Warner Bros. Animation president Sam Register previously called McCracken’s return “an opportunity we could not pass up,” suggesting a significant investment in the property’s future.

Furthermore, on April 12th, the original The Powerpuff Girls animated series will return to television with a regular Saturday morning time slot on Cartoon Network for the first time in years, airing weekly at 10:30 AM as part of a revamped animation block that also includes Steven Universe. This television return comes at a particularly strategic moment as the series will be departing from Netflix’s streaming platform on April 2nd, redirecting viewers toward traditional broadcast options or the HBO Max streaming service, where the complete series remains available.

Finally, footage from the canceled live-action CW The Powerpuff Girls adaptation leaked online earlier this month. The controversial pilot, which reimagined Blossom (Chloe Bennet), Bubbles (Dove Cameron), and Buttercup (Yana Perrault) as disillusioned twentysomethings, generated substantial social media discussion after revealing its satirical take on the source material. The leaked trailer depicted a drastically different interpretation where the adult protagonists had abandoned their crime-fighting responsibilities following a tragic incident involving their nemesis Mojo, portrayed as a human character rather than the anthropomorphic monkey from the cartoon.

Check out all the covers for the Thunderbolts & The Powerpuff Girls. Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

The post The Powerpuff Girls Are Getting the Wildest Comics Crossover This Summer appeared first on ComicBook.com.

2025 has been a rough year for animation as while some great new shows are making their debut, there are just as many that are coming to their respective ends. We may only be a quarter into this year thus far, but there are some big shows that have come to their respective ends and others that have announced their imminently approaching ends as well. But it’s not all doom and gloom for these shows either as while they might have come to an end, they are thankfully still available to watch if you somehow missed them during their initial run.

With so many of these big animated shows coming to an end for the year thus far, now is the time to look back at the major finales and make sure you get to see them now that they are complete. Each of these shows has come to an end for one reason or another, but their entire library is now available for streaming. Read on for a break down of the animated shows that ended this year, and let us know which ones you miss the most in the comments.

RELATED: Jellystone! Creator C. H. Greenblatt Talks Cartoon Network Crossover, Space Ghost and More

Craig of the Creek (Ended January 25th)

Where to Watch: Hulu, Max

Craig of the Creek was the first major ending of the year, and unfortunately it is likely the most permanent on this list overall. The Cartoon Network series came to an end after five seasons, and seven years for its broadcast and even got to have a feature film release to help flesh it out before it was done. This series has a rather satisfying conclusion at the heart of it all as well as the final episode not only is a full reflection of just how far Craig and the others have come since it all started, but it’s also just another day at the creek. You should really watch it now that it’s all in one place at last.

Jellystone! (Ended March 6th)

Where to Watch: Max

Jellystone! has ended its run with Max after three seasons of episodes with the streaming service, and introduced fans to a remixed version of Hanna-Barbera’s classic animated library that brought each of these characters to the modern age. This is one of those endings where production might have wrapped, but there’s still a potential to go on. Speaking to ComicBook, series creator C.H. Greenblatt noted that the final season was “Final for now, but who knows?” Elaborating further, “We all have our fingers crossed. Who knows? If there’s more, we’re ready. Trust me. We’re ready to hit the ground running.”

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (Ended March 8th)

Where to Watch: Disney+

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur unfortunately was cancelled before the second season of the series even got to air its final few episodes, and that ultimately means that the final episodes had more of a lingering cloud overhead for the people who had been watching along. But now that it has come to an end, it really is a good time to go back and check out this animated series to see how unique of a show it really was. Even with the support from fans it seemed like it was cut off at the knees, so perhaps watching with a clear mind would make it stand out all the more.

Win or Lose (Ended March 12th)

Where to Watch: Disney+

Win or Lose is unlike the other animated series on the list as the Pixar Animation Studios only conceived it as a miniseries. It was a project developed to expand on an idea in a whole new way, and was able to do so by the end. Though it did stir up some controversy for what ended up being left on the cutting room table (something Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur was also familiar with), Win or Lose was able to accomplish what it set out to do. It’s a complete experience, and with the release of its final episode, it’s now the best time to go back and check it all out.

Tiny Toons Looniversity (Ended March 22nd)

Where to Watch: Max

Tiny Toons Looniversity was a surprising project as it rebooted the classic Tiny Toon Adventures from the 1990s. The Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation collaboration introduced a new era of fans to these classic toons, but the second season of the series officially aired its final episodes with the Max streaming service as Spring came to an end. It wasn’t outright cancelled, but those behind the production seemed to have moved on to other projects by the time this final batch of episodes finally made its debut. In a time when the Looney Tunes franchise could use as much support as it can get, you should check this one out.

The post Every Major Animated Series That Ended in 2025 So Far (& How to Watch Them) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Daredevil: Born Again opens with a devastating tragedy as Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) murders Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) in front of his friends. In the aftermath of this loss, a grief-stricken Matt crosses a moral line when he throws Bullseye from a rooftop in a rage-fueled attempt to kill him. Though Bullseye survives the fall, Matt’s Catholic faith is profoundly shaken by his willingness to commit murder. Overwhelmed by guilt and moral conflict, Matt makes the difficult decision to hang up his Daredevil horns, focusing solely on his legal career alongside his new partner, Kirsten McDuffie (Nikki M. James). For much of this season of Daredevil: Born Again, Matt struggles with this self-imposed restriction, attempting to pursue justice exclusively through legal channels while the city around him descends into chaos under Mayor Wilson Fisk’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) influence. This internal battle between Matt’s two identities reaches its breaking point in Episode 6, when he finally dons the Daredevil suit again.

WARNING: Spoilers below for Daredevil: Born Again Episode 6

Matt’s path back to vigilantism begins with his defense of Hector Ayala (Kamar De Los Reyes) in Episode 2. The situation escalates when Matt discovers Hector is secretly the White Tiger, another vigilante protecting New York’s streets. This revelation immediately parallels Matt’s abandoned dual identity, forcing him to confront the very lifestyle he’s rejected. When corrupt officers threaten to eliminate Nicky Torres (Nick Jordan), the key witness who could exonerate Hector, Matt physically confronts them in Nicky’s apartment. Though he doesn’t wear the Daredevil suit, this moment marks his first return to vigilante-style violence since Foggy’s death, leaving him with bloodied knuckles that serve as a visual reminder of the violence still within him.

[RELATED: Daredevil: Born Again Fixes Marvel Fan’s Problem With Netflix Punisher]

Despite Matt’s legal victory in securing Hector’s freedom, the White Tiger is executed shortly after resuming his vigilante activities. This devastating turn of events deepens Matt’s internal conflict. He successfully worked within the system to prove Hector’s innocence, only to see him killed. This sense of failure compounds when Angela Del Toro (Camila Rodriguez), Hector’s niece, approaches Matt in Episode 4, seeking help to continue her uncle’s investigation into mysterious disappearances around an abandoned subway line. Matt’s refusal to step outside legal boundaries leaves him unable to offer meaningful assistance, causing Angela to storm out in frustration after pointedly reminding him of her uncle’s belief that sometimes you must take action yourself. 

The breaking point comes in Episode 6 when Matt learns that Angela has disappeared while investigating the tunnels beneath the city. Matt’s first instinct is to place a 911 call, but he knows that the system he’s committed to cannot respond quickly enough to save her from the serial killer Muse. The weight of his accumulated guilt — over Foggy’s death, over Hector’s murder, and now over Angela’s disappearance after he refused to help her — culminates in Matt putting on his Daredevil costume again. As such, his return to the mask isn’t a rejection of his earlier moral stand but a recognition that both parts of his identity are necessary to truly serve justice.

Matt’s Return to Daredevil Represents a Reconciliation of His Dual Identities

Daredevil: Born Again constructs a deliberate pathway of escalating moral challenges that ultimately lead Matt back to the Daredevil suit. First comes Hector’s case, where Matt witnesses firsthand how corrupt officers fabricate evidence and intimidate witnesses, revealing the system’s vulnerabilities. Then Hector’s murder following his legal exoneration drives home that sometimes courtroom justice isn’t enough to protect the innocent. Angela’s subsequent visit forces Matt to confront the consequences of his inaction as she berates him for hiding behind legal protocols while people continue disappearing. The steady accumulation of these experiences creates an inescapable moral calculus: when Angela goes missing and becomes Muse’s latest victim, Matt must acknowledge that adherence to his self-imposed restrictions would make him complicit in her death. 

Because of this gradual approach, Matt Murdock’s decision to reclaim the Daredevil mantle in Episode 6 of Born Again marks a critical evolution in his understanding of his dual identity. Matt becoming Daredevil again isn’t portrayed as a moral compromise but as the necessary integration of the lawyer who believes in the system and the vigilante who acts when that system fails. Unlike his previous approach of compartmentalizing his life, this new integration suggests a more mature acceptance that justice sometimes requires working both within and outside established systems, especially when people in power explore legal loopholes to enact their tyranny. The timing couldn’t be better, as Wilson Fisk keeps abusing his mayoral power to oppress the people of New York City.

New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again premiere on Disney+ every Tuesday.

What do you think about Matt’s journey back to becoming Daredevil? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post Daredevil: Born Again Finally Gives Marvel Fans What They Want (And There’s No Going Back for Matt Murdock) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Stephanie Vaquer had a tall task for tonight’s WWE NXT, as she was going to have to defend both her NXT Women’s Championship and her NXT Women’s North American Championship on the same night. If she defended both successfully, it would be the first time a WWE Champion would have successfully defended both Titles on the same night something stars like Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins haven’t been able to do in the past. For Vaquer, it would be up to her to take down Jaida Parker and Fallon Henley, and though both matches ended up having interference of some kind, Vaquer would still find a way to retain both of her Championships and make WWE history in the process.

Parker came out swinging with big slams to Vaquer, while Vaquer targeted the legs and knees of Parker with a submission. Parker was able to break the hold by getting to the bottom rope, and Vaquer almost got a near fall shortly after. Vaquer almost got a quick pin right after, but Parker was able to kick out before the 3 count.

Parker then locked in a submission and struck Vaquer in the back of the head with big strikes. Vaquer then got countered by Parker in the corner, with Parker swinging the momentum back in a huge way. During the break, Vaquer would make a few comeback attempts, but Parker was still in control until after the break, when Vaquer caught her with an armbar over the ropes.

Vaquer hit a 619 on Parker and then set up for the trademark move that left Parker reeling. Parker was able to hit back and deliver a Falcon Arrow for a near fall, though Vaquer was able to kick out in time. Parker hit a spinebuster soon after and then delivered her signature, but Jordynne Grace was at ringside and distracted Parker a bit, allowing Vaquer to hit the finisher and get the win, retaining her NXT Women’s Championship.

[RELATED: Naomi’s WWE Heel Turn is Already Better Than John Cena’s]

With one down, there was only one left to go, and it would be against the former Women’s North American Champion Fallon Henley. Henley didn’t wait for the main event though, as all of Fatal Influence ambushed Vaquer and attacked her after her win, with Jacy Jayne hitting three sentons on the Champion.

It was finally time for the main event, and Vaquer was looking to make history with a second Title defense, though she was clearly hurt after the earlier attack, with her wincing at just lifting the Championship. Henley went right at Vaquer’s damaged ribs and then went for a pin after a slam, but Vaquer kicked out and came back swinging.

Vaquer kicked out of another pin but Henley got her in the corner and kept targeting the hurt ribs, though Vaquer was able to buy some space with a dropkick. Henley stayed focused on the ribs with stomps and kicks, and managed to dodge a 619 attempt before hitting one of her own. During the commercial break, Henley stayed on Vaquer with more stomps and slams, continuing to damage the hurt ribs.

Vaquer was hurt but kept fighting back, connecting with head butts and then hitting Fallon with a superplex. Vaquer slammed Henley head-first into the turnbuckle a few times before hitting the meteora in the corner. Henley countered Vaquer’s move and slammed her down before hitting a nasty suplex, but Vaquer was able to counter into a near fall.

Out of the ring, Vaquer was attacked by Fatal Influence and Henley then hit a big slam from the top rope, but Vaquer somehow kicked out at 2. Vaquer was able to throw Henley into Nyx and hit an SVB on Henley, winning the match and making history as the only Superstar to successfully defend Two Championships in one night.

Fatal Influence attacked Vaquer but Jordynne Grace made the save, giving some indication as to who Vaquer will battle next. Grace held Vaquer’s Title and wouldn’t give it back until Jaida Parker attacked Grace, and now Ava has a choice to make regarding Vaquer’s next challenger.

Becky Lynch tried to defend both her Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships at Money in the Bank in 2019, and while she was able to retain her Raw Women’s Championship against Lacey Evans, she lost the SmackDown Women’s Championship to Charlotte Flair at the same event. Flair would lose that Title rather quickly though thanks to Bayley cashing in her Money in the Bank briefcase.

Seth Rollins also defended two Championships in 2019, as he was Universal Champion and part of the Raw Tag Team Champions (alongside Braun Strowman) at Clash of Champions. Rollins and Strowman lost the Raw Tag Team Titles to Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler, but was able to retain his Universal Championship later in the night.

What did you think of both matches and who do you want to see Vaquer face next? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things wrestling with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!

The post WWE Champion Makes History (And Even Becky Lynch Couldn’t Do It) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Throughout the early episodes of Daredevil: Born Again, viewers have observed mysterious murals appearing across New York City, all bearing a distinctive signature. The graffiti is the obvious work of Muse, a Marvel supervillain teased in the marketing material of Daredevil: Born Again, but who has remained in the shadows for most of the season. This slow-burn introduction has allowed the series to develop tension around Muse while Mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) uses the public’s growing fear of masked vigilantes to advance his political agenda. In Episode 6 of Daredevil: Born Again though, Muse finally becomes a primary antagonist. However, comic readers familiar with the character from Charles Soule’s Daredevil run might notice the series is taking a different approach with the villain.

WARNING: Spoilers below for Daredevil: Born Again Episode 6

Muse debuted in Daredevil #11 (2016) as a superhuman villain with extraordinary abilities. The Marvel Comics version of the villain possesses enhanced strength and speed, allowing him to physically overpower Daredevil in combat situations. His most distinctive power, however, is his ability to remain completely undetectable to Daredevil’s radar sense — making him effectively “invisible” to Matt Murdock’s heightened perceptions. This unique advantage makes Muse an exceptionally dangerous opponent for Daredevil, who relies heavily on his enhanced senses to compensate for his blindness.

[RELATED: Daredevil: Born Again Fixes Marvel Fan’s Problem With Netflix Punisher]

In Daredevil: Born Again, Muse lacks these supernatural elements. When Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) confronts the villain in Episode 6, the character proves to be a formidable combatant, capable of temporarily standing his ground against the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. Yet, he possesses no superhuman abilities that would make him “invisible” to Daredevil’s senses. Despite this significant change, the series preserves crucial aspects of the character’s methodology from the comics. Specifically, Muse still uses victims’ blood as the medium for his artistic creations, mixing it with an epoxy that makes the murals nearly impossible to remove. Episode 6 also maintains the horrific scale of his crimes, revealing that over 60 people have been murdered to supply blood for his murals across New York. This grounded approach fits with the show’s overall tone while retaining the horror elements that made the character memorable in the comics.

Muse Retains the Villain’s Thematic Purpose in the MCU

Although Daredevil: Born Again significantly alters Muse’s power set, the series maintains the character’s narrative function. The comic book Muse emerged during Mayor Fisk’s administration, with his crimes providing justification for anti-vigilante legislation that hampered Daredevil’s activities. Similarly, the MCU’s Muse creates the perfect opportunity for Mayor Fisk to establish his Anti-Vigilante Task Force, giving him greater control over the city and legal means to target his enemies. This parallel demonstrates how the MCU preserves Muse’s thematic importance while modifying his personal attributes.

In addition, the decision to remove Muse’s supernatural abilities aligns with the established tone of Daredevil in live-action. The original Netflix series rarely ventured into overtly superhuman territory, focusing instead on relatively grounded threats like Wilson Fisk, Bullseye, and various criminal organizations. Even when adapting The Hand, the show downplayed many supernatural elements, ignoring the demonic associations of the ninjas. This approach distinguished the “street-level” corner of the MCU from the cosmic and magical threats faced by other Marvel heroes, establishing Hell’s Kitchen as a more realistic setting despite existing within the same universe as gods and aliens.

New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again premiere on Disney+ every Tuesday.

Are you happy with how Daredevil: Born Again depicts Muse? Or would you prefer the MCU Muse to have his supernatural abilities? Join the discussion in the comments!

The post Daredevil: Born Again Makes Big Changes to Muse’s Comic Book Powers appeared first on ComicBook.com.

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again episode 6.] There’s an old proverb: “As one bad apple spoils the others, so you must show no quarter to sin or sinners.” In Tuesday’s episode of Daredevil: Born Again — which saw Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) each react to the graffiti artist/serial killer on the loose by taking the law into their own hands — Matt suited up as a masked vigilante for the first time since Foggy’s murder a year earlier, while Mayor Fisk pressured NYPD Commissioner Gallo (Michael Gaston) into gathering “every bad apple in the barrel” for Fisk’s handpicked Anti-Vigilante Task Force.

Bad apples like Officer Powell (Hamish Allan-Headley), the corrupt cop who had Hector Ayala/White Tiger (Kamar de los Reyes) framed as a cop killer, and the Punisher “fanboy” who shot and killed the vigilante after Matt had him acquitted.

“It appears your officers have a subculture amongst them,” Mayor Fisk tells Gallo of the crooked cops tattooed with the Punisher’s symbol. “People like to use the word ‘gang.’ I prefer motivated individuals.” Due to the extreme nature of Muse’s crimes, Mayor Fisk’s Task Force permits special powers and privileges: Overtime pay. No body cameras. And the use of excessive force.

RELATED: Daredevil: Born Again Pays Homage to a Spider-Man/Daredevil Villain

Fisk’s AVTF recruits Sergeant Cole North (Chicago P.D.‘s Jeremy Isaiah Earl), a Chicago transplant who was top of his class in the academy before making detective in just three years. Fisk instructs North to inform his fellow officers how he “lost it all” and ended up in New York, so he says he was responding to a call of possible drug activity in the park. He saw a drug dealer pushing OxyContin on an 11-year-old, but the dealer denied everything.

North explains, “I encouraged him to tell the truth. Captain didn’t see it that way. There’s a lot of sh-tbags in the world, sir. Now there’s a lot less of them.”

As founding members of the Anti-Vigilante Task Force, Fisk has tasked Officers North and Powell — and another dozen officers with Punisher insignia — with hunting masked killers like Muse. Fisk sought these officers out because of their skills and ability to get results by any means necessary — and as New York’s Finest, Fisk wants them to be seen taking the city back.

In the comics, Detective Cole North debuted in the five-part “Know Fear” arc that ran in issues #1-5 of Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto’s Daredevil run in 2019 (a storyline that has more in common with Born Again than Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s eponymous storyline). Except Cole isn’t a crooked cop.

Law & Order

2019’s Daredevil #1 establishes that Cole, who transferred from Chicago to New York’s 18th Precinct, has a clean-cut, by-the-books attitude that clashes with the local officers.

When we meet him, Cole takes umbrage with two officers attempting to cover up vigilante Daredevil’s involvement in beating up a gunman despite Mayor Fisk officially outlawing the city’s heroes via anti-vigilante legislation: the Powers Act.

“This is not something we turn away from. There is no justice here. No law,” Cole tells the officers, explaining that Daredevil isn’t helping by hurting. Meanwhile, Matt, who had only recently returned to being Daredevil after recuperating from an injury, accidentally causes the death of a low-level crook while sloppily breaking up a liquor store robbery. (The crook, Leo Carraro, hits his head in the scuffle and dies from head trauma.)

As a guilt-ridden Matt investigates what he suspects to be a frame job by Kingpin-turned-Mayor Wilson Fisk, Cole doggedly pursues “New York’s most wanted killer”: Daredevil.

Crime & Punishment

It’s revealed later that Cole takes on the homicide case not to bring Daredevil to justice, but to bring down a criminal. As Cole tells himself, “I don’t care about ‘justice.’ I just want to stop crime.” To that end, he upholds Mayor Fisk’s law targeting vigilantism, but Cole is determined to arrest both Daredevil and the supposedly former Kingpin of Crime.

“I don’t think people should wear masks and dole out their versions of ‘justice,'” Cole tells Fisk in the mayor’s office. “I don’t think anyone should be above the law… Mr. Mayor.”

Meanwhile, Matt learns that Fisk wasn’t involved in setting him up, and it turns out that he killed a man, albeit inadvertently. Daredevil then decides to rededicate himself to helping people and not just hurting people, and being more careful with his violence. But being a masked vigilante who takes the law into his own hands makes him a criminal, so Daredevil has to be held accountable, according to Cole.

Cole eventually cuffs and arrests Daredevil after a brutal street brawl witnessed by his fellow officers. (Half of them are cops Daredevil saved; the other half are dirty and too scared to interfere.) Cole calls out the officers for letting an unlawful vigilante run loose in Hell’s Kitchen, and goes to unmask the apprehended Daredevil before another good cop — considering Daredevil one of their own — stops him.

Blue & Red

Later, when the Governor’s office orders police precincts in Hell’s Kitchen not to respond to crimes, and a gang war breaks out between rival crime families, all hell breaks loose in the Kitchen. Cole still wants to do things by the book, but ultimately teams up with the still-outlawed Daredevil to save Hell’s Kitchen in “Inferno.” When he’s ordered by Mayor Fisk to arrest Daredevil, Cole refuses the order — only for Daredevil to hand himself over to the authorities, because Cole was right: vigilantes need to be accountable.

Cole ends up becoming one of Daredevil’s trusted allies, and as he tells the masked man in Daredevil #11, “We thought we could do better working as part of some system. But the systems infect you, don’t they? Chip away at your compass.”

At least for Cole’s counterpart in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it seems Sgt. North has been corrupted by the system.

New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again air Tuesday nights on Disney+.

The post Good Cop, Bad Cop: Who Is Cole North in Daredevil: Born Again? appeared first on ComicBook.com.

HBO’s Harry Potter TV series has found its Hagrid in a beloved British actor. There are few IPs as recognizable and iconic as Harry Potter. The books were mega hits in their own right, but Warner Bros. really helped take things to another level. Thanks to movies, video games, merchandise, and even theme parks, Harry Potter has remained a pop culture juggernaut despite the books having concluded nearly 20 years ago. The films themselves have been done for nearly 15 years, minus the less acclaimed Fantastic Beast series which was abruptly canceled after the third film failed to impress. Nevertheless, despite those films not being as successful, it didn’t do any major damage to the IP.

After David Zaslav took over WB, it was rumored that the company was interested in making new Harry Potter films, possibly via an adaptation of Rowling’s play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The story follows Harry Potter as an adult along with his kids who are attending Hogwarts. However, it seemingly didn’t happen because actors like Daniel Radcliffe were vocally disinterested in returning to Harry Potter. So, WB is doing the next best thing for itself and starting again with a Harry Potter TV series on Max. The series is expected to adapt one book a season with the aim being to use the longer runtime of a TV season to cover material from the books that the movies could not.

Harry Potter TV Series Casts Nick Frost as Hagrid

As of right now, we’re not quite sure how all of this will look, but the Harry Potter TV series has been assembling a cast for a while. We don’t know who is playing Harry, Hermione, or Ron, but we do know who will be playing some of the key supporting roles. John Lithgow has been taped to play Professor Dumbledore and now, it appears Shaun of the Dead star Nick Frost will be playing Hagrid. Deadline has reported that Frost is in negotiations to play the half-giant and beloved friend to the three young wizards. The article also notes that Frost seemed to be teasing something big on his Instagram on March 20th and is following Lithgow and Severus Snape actor Paapa Essiedu, fueling all kinds of speculation.

As of right now, HBO is remaining tight lipped on the casting and gave a statement to Deadline saying that it will only comment on this kind of news once deals are finalized. Nevertheless, Frost is an inspired choice for Hagrid and will likely be a great fit for the character in the upcoming Harry Potter series. While the films were filled with a strictly British cast, unless a character wasn’t British, it seems like the HBO show isn’t as strict about that. Lithgow is an American actor, so it’s possible other Americans could appear in the Harry Potter series as well. With that said, it does seem like the show will still feature a mostly British cast with actors like Nick Frost.

The Harry Potter TV series is expected to begin filming this summer, so it’s likely pre-production will be ramping up fairly soon with more casting announcements in the coming weeks. Some fans are pretty against the idea of a Harry Potter TV series, believing the movies were pitch perfect and anything else may feel somewhat redundant. However, we’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out.

What do you think of Nick Frost as Hagrid in HBO’s Harry Potter? Let me know in the comments below!

The post HBO’s Harry Potter Series Finds Its Hagrid appeared first on ComicBook.com.

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again episode 5.] “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.” Marvel’s Daredevil began with Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) in a confessional booth, recounting something his grandmother, a God-fearing Catholic, used to say: “‘Be careful of the Murdock boys. They got the devil in ’em.'” For his father, boxer “Battlin'” Jack Murdock, that meant he would batter his opponents into the corner of the ring and “let the devil out.” For Matt, that meant battling his demons as the guardian devil of Hell’s Kitchen.

Matt hasn’t let the devil out since Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) shot and killed Foggy (Elden Henson), and a wrathful Daredevil sinned by breaking his no-kill rule. Bullseye survived only because of his Cogmium-reinforced skeleton, but a line was crossed, and Matt still has yet to suit up as Daredevil a year later.

That nearly changed in Tuesday’s “With Interest” episode of Daredevil: Born Again. On St. Patrick’s Day, Matt visits New York Mutual Bank to secure a loan for his law firm, Murdock & McDuffie, which is regretfully turned down by assistant manager Yusuf Khan (guest star Mohan Kapur, reprising his role from Ms. Marvel and The Marvels).

RELATED: Daredevil: Born Again May Have Just Hinted the Biggest Fan Theory Is True

When five armed robbers storm the bank, each wearing a different colored balaclava — Green (Cillian O’Sullivan), Red (John Ford-Dunker), Yellow (John Anthony Gorman), Blue (Cameron Moir), and Purple (Ryan Ward) — Matt feigns the role of an unassuming blind man to embed himself within the group of hostages rounded up by Green (a.k.a. Devlin).

They’re Luca’s (Patrick Murney) men, there to steal a diamond worth the $1.8 million that Luca owes Viktor (Gino Anthony Pesi) as restitution to keep the peace among New York’s Five Families. (Devlin is the gunman who committed a double homicide in a truck hijacking at Red Hook Port back in episode 3.)

He Who Is Without Sin

Wearing a green balaclava and wielding an assault rifle, Devlin’s look resembles Sin-Eater, a short-lived villain who had a run-in with Daredevil and Spider-Man in “The Death of Jean DeWolff,” a four-part storyline spanning 1985’s Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110.

After Spider-Man’s friend, Captain Jean DeWolff, is found murdered in her apartment as the victim of a double-barrelled shotgun blast, the wall-crawler investigates her murder with Detective Stan Carter. But it’s blind defense attorney Matt Murdock who is the first to encounter Sin-Eater in Spectacular Spider-Man #107, when Matt’s radar sense detects the assassin lying in wait in Judge Horace Rosenthal’s chambers.

Matt’s old friend is gunned down as Sin-Eater’s second victim, making him the target of both Daredevil and Spider-Man. Sin-Eater’s next kill is a reverend in a confessional booth, the third victim of the masked murderer proselytizing about his mission to purge “sinners.”

Spider-Man and Daredevil both turn to Wilson Fisk, Kingpin of Crime, for information on the Sin-Eater, who’s next target is The Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson. The Sin-Eater turns up at the Bugle offices with a shotgun and takes hostages, but he’s disarmed by editor Robbie Robertson and an uncostumed Peter Parker. Unmasked as Emil Gregg, Daredevil’s hyper-senses determine that the schizophrenic Emil is a copycat.

Guilty as Sin

In Spectacular #109, Spider-Man and Daredevil discover that Stan Carter is the real Sin-Eater just as he targets the Jameson residence. When he instead finds the Bugle‘s Betty Brant with Marla Jameson, Sin-Eater reveals his reasons for killing: He killed the “sinner” priest for opposing capital punishment, he killed the judge for coddling criminals, and he wanted to kill Jameson for opposing masked vigilantes.

When Daredevil tries to stop an enraged Spider-Man from brutally beating Carter, the two costumed vigilantes come to blows, and Spider-Man nearly leaves Carter at the mercy of mob justice before pulling him out of the crowd. Once the Sin-Eater is exposed as a police sergeant and Carter is back in custody, Spectacular #110 ends with another unmasking: Daredevil deduces that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, so he reveals his secret identity as Matt Murdock.

All My Sins Remembered

Carter was eventually released from a mental hospital, and the voices in his head caused him to resume his Sin-Eater alter-ego (who he came to believe was a separate person). To free himself of the Sin-Eater, he took a young boy hostage and was gunned down by the police in 1987’s The Spectacular Spider-Man #136. It was then revealed that Carter never loaded Sin-Eater’s shotgun.

While other masked men took on the identity of the Sin-Eater, Stan Carter remained dead until 2020’s Amazing Spider-Man: Sins Rising Prelude. It was revealed that Carter was in Hell for his sins, only to be resurrected as a sins-cleansing supervillain by Spider-Man’s demon archvillain Kindred (in the Nick Spencer-penned “Sins Rising” arc in Amazing Spider-Man #45-48).

New episodes of Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again air Tuesday nights on Disney+.

The post Daredevil: Born Again Pays Homage to a Spider-Man/Daredevil Villain appeared first on ComicBook.com.

King of the Hill is currently in the works on a new revival series for Hulu, so now is the best time to look back on it all with some of the best episodes from the very first season. King of the Hill first debuted with Fox back in 1997 with one of the shortest seasons in the original run. The Mike Judge and Greg Daniels developed animated series introduced fans to the fictional Texas town of Arlen, and the humble and conservative people within it. Offering a more grounded take on its world than seen with hits like The Simpsons, King of the Hill immediately stood out from the pack.

King of the Hill’s first season is also a much quieter affair than fans might have seen in later seasons to come. King of the Hill had a humble origin as Hank Hill navigated his quiet life in his small neighborhood, but the world around him was steadily changing. The series mined its comedy from how Hank needed to change in order to fit the wacky world around him, and the first season truly had some stellar examples of this initial idea.

Read on for five of the best episodes from King of the Hill’s first season, and let us know which are your favorites in the comments!

Square Peg (Season 1, Episode 2)

King of the Hill really started to carve out a unique path early on in its first season with “Square Peg.” Although the series introduced fans to Hank as he was constantly confused by his son, Bobby, the second episode of the series further expanded this dynamic to the rest of the family to showcase just how the rest of the Hill family would be changing with these new times. As Bobby takes sexual education in school, and Peggy is tasked with teaching it, the first of these conservative views is challenged when Peggy starts openly speaking about the subjects that Hank’s generation would rather keep quiet.

It’s a small glimpse into the dynamic that would be explored through the rest of the series, and a great example of their strong characterization early on.

Hank’s Unmentionable Problem (Season 1, Episode 6)

But this idea of Hank being pushed in an uncomfortable situation gets even more exaggerated with a more hilarious, but relatable problem. When Hank gets constipated from all of the meat and beer he consumes, his inability to relieve himself becomes the talk of the neighborhood. Hank is forced to face this embarrassment head on, but it really takes an emotional turn when he realizes that Peggy only wants what’s best for him.

She’s worried that his lifestyle will kill him, and thus has been pushing all of these embarrassing procedures and medications on him just to help. It’s only when Hank’s emotional state rests that he’s allowed to finally use the bathroom, and really makes for one of the best endings in the first season overall.

Keeping Up With Our Joneses (Season 1, Episode 10)

King of the Hill began with the concept of taking a conservative, old school ideology and mining it to the extreme, and that is especially prominent in “Keeping Up With Our Joneses.” This episode reveals that Hank and Peggy used to smoke cigarettes all the time before having Bobby, and the two of them return to the habit when Bobby himself is caught smoking. Bobby ends up hooked to nicotine just as much as the two of them are when a punishment goes awry, and they’re only allowed to resolve all of this when Peggy’s niece Luanne locks them in a room overnight and gets them to quit cold turkey.

It’s an episode that really shows off new sides of the Hills’ personalities, and gives the series a rather fun edge that would continue to be a part of Hank and Peggy’s characterizations in the years to come. This was one of the better examples of the high kinds of drama that could also emerge from the series’ comedy, and it really sticks the landing when it all comes to an end.

King of the Ant Hill (Season 1, Episode 11)

Hank’s friend and neighbor Dale Gribble had been part of the extended crew since the very beginning, and had stood out thanks to his tendency to go on wild conspiracy theory tangents. But this was the first real episode where we got to see just how unhinged Dale could be as he starts a feud with Hank over the fact that Hank won’t let Dale treat his lawn for insects. It’s here that fans get to see just how far Dale is willing to go when he has a vendetta, and it’s not limited to his enemies as he’ll manipulate his friends. All the while, Bobby is hypnotized by the ant queen to do its bidding. It was the first of many truly wacky episodes in King of the Hill, and the start of Dale’s wild future from then on.

Plastic White Female (Season 1, Episode 12)

King of the Hill is just as much Bobby’s show as it is Hank’s. “That boy ain’t right” has become such a catchphrase outside of the series because of how little Hank and Bobby see eye to eye. That comes to a literal head with “Plastic White Female” as Bobby falls in love with the practice mannequin Luanne needs for school. It’s Bobby practicing just how he would approach women (something every boy of that age seems to do at the time) when he gets invited to his first Boy/Girl party. When Hanks finds out, he destroys it.

This ends up with Hank needing to volunteer to serve as the model for Luanne’s school exam, and Bobby needing to go to the party and somehow shake off everything that happened. The end of the episode then sparks the bigger friendship turned romance between Bobby and Connie, and it’s a perfect finale for this debut season as its a sweet tease for the future. And if it would have been the end, it was a sweet end for Bobby. Just great on rewatch.

The post These Are the Best 5 Episodes of King of the Hill Season 1 appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The upcoming second season of the hit Disney+ Star Wars series, Andor, is set to premiere on April 22, giving fans a devastating final chapter with the fan-favorite character. Season two will cover a four year time frame (ranging from 4 BBY (Before Battle of Yavin) to 1 BBY) leading Cassian Andor directly to his final mission in the events of Rogue One. The five years preceding the Battle of Yavin were critical to the Rebellion, as the many separate rebel cells began to organize into one cohesive unit strong enough to make a strike against the Empire. 

Andor Season 1 takes place solely in 5 BBY and is an isolated story about Cassian’s adventures (or misadventures) that lead him to join Luthen Rael’s (Stellan Skarsgard) rebel cell. However, another notable series, Star Wars Rebels, also starts in 5 BBY and also focuses on a small cell of rebels relying on their scant resources to deal as much damage to the Empire as possible. Episode 6 of Andor goes even further in connecting these two series, and you may have completely missed it.

Kessel Plays a Major Role in Both Shows

In Andor Episode 6, “The Axe Forgets,” the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) is grappling with increased rebel activity. Though other ISB agents believe any thefts or assaults at the hands of rebels are independent and uncoordinated, an assistant to ISB supervisor Dedra Meero puts forth another theory, suggesting that the recent uptick in activity is “too random to be random.” The assistant goes on to list out locations that the rebel cells have been active on recently, including Kessel. 

The planet Kessel — known for its spice mines — has appeared in the Star Wars universe multiple times, perhaps most famously with regards to the “Kessel Run” — the smuggling route that Han Solo boasted flying the Millennium Falcon through in 12 parsecs. However, in the exact same time period as Andor, the insurgents in Star Wars Rebels deal a massive blow to Kessel and the workforce in their mines. 

RELATED – Could Andor Season 2 Feature Fan-Favorite Rebels? The Timeline Adds Up

Star Wars Rebels and Andor Happen at the Same Time

In Season 1, Episode 2 of Star Wars Rebels — “Spark of Rebellion: Pt. 2” — the Ghost crew consisting of Hera Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus, Zeb Orrelios, Sabine Wren, Ezra Bridger, and and droid Chopper are tipped off about a group of Wookiee prisoners being transported on an Imperial ship to Kessel to be pressed into slavery in the spice mines. Upon receiving this information, the crew infiltrates the ship to enact a rescue mission. Another ISB agent — Alexsandr Kallus — is obsessed with catching the rebels and learns of the rescue mission, using the opportunity to spring a trap on his foes and capture them. Ultimately, Kallus is unsuccessful and the Ghost crew liberates the Wookiees, bringing them to safety and depriving the Empire of their workforce in the Kessel mines.

The Ghost crew’s blow against the Empire happens at the same time as the events in Andor, meaning that the reference to some sort of rebel strike affecting Kessel is the same rescue mission led by Kanan Jarrus in “Spark of Rebellion: Pt. 2.” This is not the first time a Rebels Easter egg was dropped in Cassian Andor’s world. In Rogue One, while on Yavin-4, General Hera Syndulla is paged over the speakers and her droid, Chopper, can be seen roaming around the base. Hera’s beloved ship, the Ghost, can also be seen on Yavin-4 and fighting in the Battle of Scarif. 

With Andor Season two taking place concurrently with the events in Star Wars: Rebels, it will be interesting to see any characters from Rebels make an appearance. 

Andor Season 2 premieres on Disney+ on April 22.

The post Andor Connected to One of the Best Episodes of Star Wars Rebels (And You Missed It) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

WARNING: There are spoilers ahead! Last week’s episode of The Wheel of Time — Season 3, Episode 4, “The Road to the Spear” — was the best the show has seen yet, and everyone from critics and fans to the cast and crew are rightfully celebrating it on social media. However, the greatness of this installment is emblematic of the show’s overall missed potential, and the way studios are holding back the fantasy genre on TV in general. The shortened seasons and longer production times of TV shows had sparked a lot of discussion in recent months, and The Wheel of Time may suffer from this gradual trend more than any other show. Without more episodes, Amazon entirely misses the point of adapting one of the longest fantasy epics ever published.

“The Road to the Spear” is the longest Wheel of Time episode yet, and it uses every minute to great effect. It depicts Rand al’Thor’s visit to the ancient, abandoned city of Rhuidean — a magical ruin in the middle of the Aiel Waste which is sacred to the Aiel people. The episode dedicates its entire runtime to this event, without visiting any of its other characters or storylines, and it pulls out all the stops so that this climactic event will make sense narratively and visually.

Like most viewers (judging by social media), I was enthralled for all 69 minutes of this episode, and elated to see this show reach such a high point. However, the “Inside Episode” segment afterward put the triumph in a new perspective, and served as a bit of a buzzkill. There, showrunner Rafe Judkins, EP and star Rosamund Pike, and star Josha Stradowski talked together about the immense challenge of this episode — not just logistically, but in terms of timing.

[RELATED: The Wheel of Time’s Ayoola Smart on Preparing for Aviendha’s Role and Shipping]

“We only have eight episodes every year, and so, how you use that time is the biggest thing we’re ever up against,” Judkins said, “and this one, we were like, ‘This is a story worth telling.’ It takes a lot of maneuvering right from the beginning stages in the writers’ room, but we felt like, ‘We’re going to move other stuff around so that we can really see this journey that Rand is on, and that Moiraine is on, together,’ because that relationship is so central to this season, and to the entire series. And so, we should give that hour to them and what they’re experiencing.”

Hearing him address the pressure to cram plot points in so plainly can be disheartening, in a way, as it calls to mind all the other Rhuidean-level events that might not make it into this adaptation. Meanwhile, Pike spoke as a producer, saying, “I think it’s a very exciting episode that you wrote — Rafe wrote that one — and then, I think it has the experimental scope that I always craved an wanted for this show right from the word go.”

Return on Investment

Everyone wishes their favorite series had more episodes and more seasons, and many showrunners likely feel the same pressure that Judkins is describing. For The Wheel of Time, however, the length of this meandering tale is really the fundamental point of it all. The original series consists of 15 novels, written almost entirely by Robert Jordan with Brandon Sanderson stepping in to finish the series based on Jordan’s notes after the author passed away. That’s millions of words, thousands of pages, hundreds of hours of audiobook — all spent fully immersed in the Westlands.

Even the most die-hard fans of The Wheel of Time would agree that the series simply didn’t need to be that long to get its story and its themes across. The excessive length is a feature, not a bug — especially for those who picked up the books when they were finished or close to finished. Fans of epic fantasy and sci-fi often seek out these extra-long series because, when done right, they can provide more return on your investment of time and attention. You meet the characters, learn the rules of the magic system, begin to memorize the map, the bestiary, the made-up words, etc., and you want to spend more time in that setting to enjoy your newfound expertise.

This is a big part of the reason why fantasy adaptations work so much better as TV shows than as movies. However, if you stop and think about it, Amazon hasn’t given Pike and Judkins much more time than a movie per book. Season 1 included elements of the first three novels in the series, while Season 2 completed the adaptation of the second and third books. Season 3 is expected to cover the fourth and fifth books in this series in just eight episodes. That’s an average of four hours per book — no more than the Extended Editions of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

Length is This Series’ Strength

That’s a shame, because the novel series really does make the most of its excessive length. The story meanders and takes its characters on seemingly unimportant side quests, which expose their true natures and prepare them for the real trials to come. It gets to explore almost every corner of the fantasy world Jordan has meticulously mapped and cataloged — almost, because systematically exploring it would feel unnatural, as Jordan likely realized.

Despite its length, the series doesn’t get bogged down with overly complicated magical rules, fictional linguistics, or other pitfalls of the genre. It always stays focused on the organic growth of its characters, and that’s what buoys the reader through even the most boring moments in the plot — the fandom affectionately refers to books seven through 10 as “the slog.” A boring day spent with a friend is better than a boring day on your own, and the same is true of a boring chapter spent marching alongside Mat Cauthon and the Band of the Red Hand.

The length of the series is likely one of the main reasons fans responded positively to the last three books, written by a relatively unknown Sanderson after Jordan passed away, with the blessing of Jordan’s wife and collaborator, Harriet McDougal. By the time we got around to the Final Battle, we had been through trials by fire with all these characters multiple times, and we had seen their true grit and determination spelled out on screen. The culmination of the story was certainly cathartic, but it almost didn’t matter after years spent honing these characters into capable heroes.

That’s not to say that The Wheel of Time has no unique points to make or themes to flesh out — only that those themes didn’t require 15 novels. The show has done an excellent job at highlighting the best parts of Jordan’s worldbuilding, while also making it clear that this series was his homage to the likes of Tolkien. Still, I can’t help but feel like someone watching the show would struggle to care about Heron-marked swords and Ter’angreals without plodding through the novels one word at a time, and developing a sense of belonging in this world.

No Solution

The episode count and pacing has been a concern for fans since The Wheel of Time first started — back then, I marveled that the producers weren’t planning at least one season per book, sweet summer child that I was. I bring it up now so that we can discuss it as a high point, rather than at the end of a season. “The Road to the Spear” was so excellent, and in another turning of the Wheel, every episode might have left us feeling that way.

This is especially important for critics to keep in mind, and those on social media prone to assigning “blame” when their favorite shows don’t go the way they’d like. It’s clearer than ever that Judkins, Pike, and everyone else involved are pouring their hearts and souls into this project, and working under immense constraints that they don’t seem to like. They know as well as us that condensing Jordan’s verbose descriptions and character tics down for TV fundamentally changes the tone of the story, but it’s the task Amazon has set them. We should remember that the cast, crew, and creators started as fans of the series, while studios get involved only because franchise name recognition often leads to profit.

we should also acknowledge that it may not be possible for a show like The Wheel of Time to get a lengthy adaptation of this caliber. Prime Video has not disclosed much information on the show’s budget or its viewership results, but it seems safe to assume it is an expensive production, and money is the key limiting factor on its episode count. If Amazon simply can’t afford to give the show more screentime, that’s part of a broader issue with the streaming business model in general.

Meanwhile, the intense labor of the cast and crew are a consideration as well. Fans lashed out hard at the showrunners of Game of Thrones when it ended, noting that HBO had asked them to extend the show but they had declined. However, just last year, star Kit Harington told an interviewer that he wasn’t sure he could have gone on at the show’s breakneck pace. He entered rehab as the final season was ending, and it does seem unfair for these creators to sacrifice their health and their personal lives just so we can get a new season of prestige TV every year.

Thankfully, whatever doesn’t make it onto the TV show will still exist in the books, and it’s there waiting for us anytime. The Wheel of Time Season 3 has four more episodes to go, airing on Thursdays on Prime Video through April 17th. The novels are available in print, digital, and audiobook formats.

The post The Wheel of Time’s Best Episode Also Highlights Its Biggest Weakness appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Nothing has swept the Internet quite like Walton Goggins‘s wide-eyed, slack-jawed reaction to Sam Rockwell’s stunning monologue in The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 5. It was a perfect storm: most fans of Goggins as an actor haven’t seen him utterly speechless and in a sort of awe in character before; Rockwell’s appearance was a surprise, and it turns out he’s in the rest of the season, so he can’t compete for a guest actor Emmy off that scene alone — he’ll be against Goggins in Supporting Actor. The content of the monologue, of course, is shocking (in a good way): Frank (Rockwell) discloses his path to sobriety, which includes a journey through his unique relationship with gender and sexuality. Rick (Goggins) is less horrified, with his wide eyes, and more just trying to process a whole lot of information all at once.

The White Lotus scene feels unique; a lot of monologues in TV have a tendency to be loud, declamatory speeches, either in an attempt to rally the troops (in a lot of science fiction and fantasy) or to make a wider point as elaborately as possible (most Aaron Sorkin shows — though we love them). Monologues aren’t used a whole lot for a quiet catharsis; they’re usually delivered at the peak of the mountain, not at the bottom of one. Goggins is also an ideal scene partner for this monologue; he is silent, but fully engaged. His face tells us everything we need to know; he doesn’t have to say anything.

Here are 5 other TV monologue scenes that break the mold: not trying to will out a victory or crush other characters into submission, no. These are monologues that come from the soul.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Captain’s (Deleted) Log

Star Trek is known for its speeches, because usually, they’re what saves the day. Jean-Luc Picard would give some diplomatic missive, and Kirk would yell at some species to find their inner humanity somewhere, and by the time the credits rolled, things were peachy.

Deep Space Nine took that idea and broke it open with their season six episode, “In the Pale Moonlight.” It’s a masterclass for Avery Brooks as Sisko, but he’s always good: the key to the episode is the fact that everything that happens, most of it bad, has already happened. The episode is framed around Sisko confessing what are, arguably, war crimes, to his Captain’s Log. The audience is his only scene partner in the traditional sense, but Brooks clearly shows Sisko wrestling with his inner angels and demons (or Prophets and Pah-Wraiths) — this isn’t about the history he’ll make or unmake. This confession is for him, and that’s only solidified when he deletes the log as the final twist of the episode. It was a transgression, in so many ways: captains could delete logs and reshape history, and maybe… they could even live with that.

Succession : Ewan’s Euology

Most of Succession‘s big moments were arguments – or at least involved a lot of interjecting whenever someone else tried to say something lengthy. So, when Ewan Roy (James Cromwell) claims the stage during his little brother Logan’s (Brian Cox) big funeral near the end of the final season, and the Roy siblings actually sit and listen to the person who probably knew their father best tell his actual story… it’s a big deal!

Ewan has a captive audience, sure, but it’s a remarkably still moment for a show that always seemed hopped up on whatever Kendall’s drug of choice was that season. Ewan finally unpacks the truth of his secret shared origin story with Logan, in all its tragic horror; not so much an ‘immigrant makes good’ story as much as a ‘war orphan fights for survival and claws his way to the top.’ But if it was just Ewan getting in one last jab at Logan, this eulogy wouldn’t make this list; instead, Ewan seems genuinely heartbroken to see his baby brother go, but also heartbroken to acknowledge the monster he became in life.

The full text of Ewan’s eulogy to Logan can be found here, and you can watch the scene from “Church and State” in Succession season 4 on Max.

Barry : Sally’s Monologue

When a character scarier than Bill Hader’s Barry appears in the show Barry, it’s a thrill. No, really, it is. Sally (Sarah Goldberg) spends a lot of time vacillating in the early seasons between being a good person and just becoming a creature of ruthless ambition. Sally’s monologue towards the end of Season 2, is delivered to Barry, whose reaction in the hands of Hader is frightening in a millisecond. But the real star here is Goldberg, who makes Sally’s neuroses almost likable and her stakes admirable, until you realize she’s ranting about how much better she is at acting to a literal hitman.

Context is everything, of course: Sally has her own trauma that she deals with (or doesn’t deal with), and the way she seems to self-soothe is to let everything out verbally. Maybe she’s not that different from Rockwell’s White Lotus character – or anyone at the end of a long day or wasted an opportunity who just wants to… vent.

Andor: One Way Out

Okay, fine… this is… technically a rousing speech? It’s not that rousing. It’s more… suicidal, really. (And, ultimately, given Kino Loy’s fate…) Luthen Rael’s quietly furious speech in Andor also gets a lot of play; however, Kino’s monologue starts out slow and halting, and really not all that inspiring, until the dam finally breaks, and that’s what makes it special. Andy Serkis, no makeup, no CGI, just a normal dude, delivering this monologue.

It’s not about going out and claiming a victory; it’s about stealing a tiny shred of dignity back in a cold, unfeeling universe. Loy’s speech feels like an awakening, but it’s also an ending, a reminder that the show we’re watching is a mere prequel to one of Star Wars‘s biggest tragedies.

Interview with the Vampire: Lestat’s Origin Story

In the AMC+ Interview with the Vampire series, Lestat (Sam Reid) is a bit of a peacock. That may be underselling it. Louis (Jacob Anderson) is where most of the tender emotions come from… and Lestat’s retelling of the horror of his vampire origin story isn’t gentle, but it does begin to unpeel the many thick layers of …tacky Victorian wallpaper, almost, that Lestat has wrapped himself in. The origin he gives here is right from Anne Rice’s books; the new Interview with the Vampire can diverge from its given path in more than a few ways, but it stays true to its core characters.

Lestat doesn’t like to be abandoned is the verbatim message he imparts to Claudia and Louis by the end of the scene; the subtext, though, is a quiet despair at how he ended up as he is in the first place. Lestat tends to rejoice in his vampirism; this was another hint that his self-worship might, too, be bravado.

The Daily Show: Post-9/11 Zen

You can’t find Jon Stewart’s first Daily Show monologue after September 11th on YouTube, but you can find it on Comedy Central’s website, which is still a thing. This isn’t a ‘scene’ in the traditional sense, unless you follow me on a really esoteric explanation of what a scene really is. But what it is, is a shaken New Yorker trying to make everyone, including himself, try to feel normal after all that’s happened. Talk show hosts (especially Stewart) can get loud and bombastic most of the time, but he never does here (although he does start crying). He begins the monologue by asking “Are you okay?” — not to a wide audience, but to you, the viewer, and by the end, he offers hope for a brighter tomorrow, not just for you, but also for himself.

The Daily Show was meant to tape on 9/11; they went off the air until September 20th. From that gap, we got, I feel, a moment of vital catharsis. It may not have felt good, but as any of the characters above will attest, it’s such a pleasure to be able to share a feeling at all.

There are a lot of phenomenal monologues in TV history, and this list tries to focus on quieter, cathartic ones. Do you have any favorites along those lines? Let us know in the comments.

The post 5 Best TV Show Monologue Scenes of Our Time appeared first on ComicBook.com.

American Dad! has officially come to an end with TBS after over a decade of episodes, and now its future is uncertain as it prepares to potentially return to its original home of the Fox network. American Dad! has been one of Seth MacFarlane’s most successful animated series, and has even found a popularity outside of Family Guy‘s reach. Although the series was meant to serve as a sort of sister series with Family Guy and aired with Fox in the same Sunday evening block, like Family Guy, American Dad! ended up getting shuffled off Fox and found more success elsewhere.

American Dad! has ended with TBS with the final episode of Season 19, “What Great Advancements!” which aired with the network this week. This final episode served not only as a perfect cap to the era, but also a potential finale to the series if it never comes back. After first making its debut with TBS back in 2014, this also marks the end of an 11 year run that has outshined pretty much everything that it did in its original 9 or so year run with Fox. It’s an entirely different show now.

How Does American Dad End?

American Dad! ended its run with TBS with Season 19, Episode 22, “What Great Advancements!” Like many of the best episodes in the series’ history, this finale completely reinvents its world and imagines Stan and the others living in a silent film, black and white era. Stan is an inventor on a failing farm with hopes of making it in the big city, and soon invents a special roach that actually gives everyone the power of speech. It’s then revealed that this world is literally silent and in black and white through the course of the episode.

Stan then soon forgets the reason he came to the big city in the first place, and is so blinded by greed and success that he pushes everyone to the wayside. When he eventually invents a device to give everything color, he’s shot and the device is stolen from him and given to the people. With color throughout the world, Stan is ruined and goes back to his farm life. It’s only then he realizes he had a good life after all (even if he still misses the money). It’s a sweet ending for the series on TBS, but thankfully it seems like the series will indeed continue.

RELATED: 10 Best Roger Personas in American Dad, Ranked

Is American Dad Cancelled?

American Dad! is still one of the most successful animated series as it was the second most binged series on Hulu in 2024 overall, so the uncertainty for the series’ future did not last long. It’s been reported that there are already talks in place to continue American Dad! with its original home on Fox for Season 20 and beyond. It’s yet to be confirmed whether or not this would be the case, but it’s not the first time that Fox has bought back the rights to an original series after its found success elsewhere like they have done with Family Guy and Futurama in the past.

American Dad! found massive success with TBS, and enjoyed a longer run with the network than it did with Fox. The animated series was not only the final scripted TBS original program left with the network, but reruns of the series are still scheduled to air with the network through to 2030 despite them not producing any more episodes. It just goes to show just how big of a program its become in the 11 years time since it left Fox, and hopefully it still has a bright future ahead of it.

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The only qualification for inclusion was that the character could have only been in a single episode. Given how long South Park has been running, it’s important to specify just what being a one-off character means. In short, it means they only had a speaking part in one episode. If they spoke in one episode and then appeared as a background character in other episodes (e.g., Bridon Gueermo and his parents from Season 12’s “Elementary School Musical”), that still counts as being a one-off character. That means Nurse Gollum, who spoke in both “Conjoined Fetus Lady” and “Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods,” was excluded.

That said, Nurse Gollum (not to mention Starvin’ Marvin) should come back. Like Dr. Mephisto, she was a perfect addition to the classic South Park roster. The only other excluding factor was a celebrity character. Not so much a character played by a celebrity (you’ll find one of those here), but a South Park representation of a celebrity. Apologies, Jeff from Season 7’s “Cancelled.” Anyway, without further ado, here are the one-off South Park characters who need to come back.

Damien from “Damien” (Season 1, Episode 10)

“Damien” may not be in the top five episodes of Season 1, but it’s still pretty fun. Its title character, Damien Thorn of The Omen fame, is also quite a bit more than one might expect. He’s actually a pretty nice kid, just looking for acceptance.

Damien gets a full arc in his Season 1 episode and even returns to Hell, so it makes some sense that he never came back. That is, right up until one realizes that Satan debuted in “Damien” and he’s come back any number of times. The closest Damien has come is a few background appearances (e.g. in “Gnomes,” “Professor Chaos,” “Smug Alert!,” and “ManBearPig”) and a speaking role in the game South Park: The Stick of Truth.

The Book Mobile Driver from “Chickenlover” (Season 2, Episode 4)

Sure, once it’s revealed the Book Mobile driver is actually the Chickenlover, Officer Barbrady gives him a few good cracks on the head with his nightstick. And, sure, he’s seen laying on the ground bleeding out. But he did, in fact, survive.

The only other times the Book Mobile driver has been seen are in a newspaper article in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and as a background character in the South Park Police Station in “Toilet Paper.” It’s a shame because, like many other early season characters, he had his charm (not including his proclivity for making love to chickens, of course). Who says he couldn’t again attempt to get the boys hooked on “the magic of reading?”

Parallel Universe Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny from “Spookyfish” (Season 2, Episode 15)

The parallel universe versions of Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny from “Spookyfish” are just one element that makes the Season 2 episode such a winner. Stan’s A-plot is fantastic, Sharon Marsh’s attempts to cover for Stan are increasingly hilarious, and the pet store owner’s explanation of why he built his shop on a Native American burial ground is one of the best jokes of the season.

Even still, the best part of “Spookyfish” is the “evil” Eric Cartman. It’s so jarring to see a Cartman who isn’t an awful little monster, and it would have been nice to see him again, if only for him to sing the “You Guys Are My Best Friends” song once more. Perhaps even the core four boys could go to the parallel universe and see what that’s like.

Miss Stevens from “Rainforest Shmainforest” (Season 3, Episode 1)

Arguably the biggest guest star South Park ever got, Jennifer Aniston’s presence in the Season 3 opener, “Rainforest Shmainforest,” helps elevate what is otherwise a fairly middling episode. It’s so clear that Aniston is relishing the opportunity to break away from her network television gig on Friends and drop a few F-bombs.

And, now that those F-bombs wouldn’t be bleeped thanks to streaming, why not have her come back in, say, a Paramount+ special? The only location the former activist wouldn’t be is in the Rainforest, begging the question of just what she’s up to these days. Maybe she’s started a new choir to sing about how dumb (in South Park‘s opinion) other narcissistic, ego-inflating causes are.

Sexual Harassment Panda from “Sexual Harassment Panda” (Season 3, Episode 6)

Another very temporary fixture of early South Park, the educational mascot Sexual Harassment Panda, is one of the goofiest characters to date. He’s just such a random figure, one that seemingly exists without a purpose. Even when it comes to educating young people about sexual harassment, he’s awful at it.

He only truly finds purpose in the final moments when he becomes Peetie the Don’t Sue People Panda. But that’s only after he’s gone to the Island of Misfit Mascots. Speaking of that location, Jimmy the Don’t Hold Onto a Large Magnet While Someone Else Uses a Fan Nearby Falcon needs to come back too. His message is just too important to relegate to a single episode.

[RELATED: 10 Most Controversial South Park Episodes]

The Chinpokomon from “Chinpokomon” (Season 3, Episode 11)

Fine, this one’s a bit of a cheat since the Chinpokomon don’t even speak in their eponymous episode, but the fact remains that the Chinpokomon should come back. Chu-Chu Nezumi, Donkeytron, Fatdactyl, Ferasnarf, Furrycat, the Pikachu-like Lambtron, Monkay, Pengin, Pterdaken, Roo-stor, and, of course, Shoe, are all so perfect.

There have been references to the characters here and there, primarily in the video games South Park: The Fractured But Whole and South Park: Snow Day! but for the most part, these little pocket monsters were nowhere to be seen after their Season 3 episode. Even still, for those who played those aforementioned games, they did get to see Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s newest additions to the Chinpoko-line-up, including the cat/snake hybrid Sna-kat, the roided-out rat Roidrat, and the Justin Bieber-reminiscent Biebersaurus.

Mark Cotswolds from “Hooked on Monkey Fonics” (Season 3, Episode 12)

Mark and Rebecca Cotswolds should have come back not so much because they were great characters, but more because their debut episode definitively set them up as new additions to the South Park Elementary school class. Instead, they never spoke again, though Mark was seen in “Professor Chaos,” “The Death Camp of Tolerance,” “Raisins,” “Wing,” “Smug Alert!,” and the first part of the “Imaginationland” trilogy.

The reason Mark is the only Cotswolds sibling listed in the heading is that Rebecca was the final character to be voiced by Mary Kay Bergman, who took her own life shortly after the episode aired. Rebecca was so uniquely voiced that it wouldn’t make sense to recast, nor would it be particularly respectful to Bergman’s memory to bring the character back.

BSM-471 from “Trapper Keeper” (Season 4, Episode 12)

BSM-471 (using the codename Bill Cosby) is a cyborg from the future sent to the modern day to stop Cartman’s Trapper-keeper before it takes over the world. He’s also a pretty terrific reference to The Terminator.

BSM-471 is a true one-off character. He’s never so much as shown his face again. Odd, considering there have been a number of truly bizarre events in the town of South Park that could have used his interference.

Tad Mikowski & Thumper from “Asspen” (Season 6, Episode 2)

In just a single episode, both Tad Mikowski and Thumper the ski instructor became iconic South Park characters. It figures because Season 6’s “Asspen” is an iconic episode. From the numerous (and eventually successful) attempts by the two agents to sell the boys’ parents a timeshare to Ike’s disastrous descent down the mountain, it all works.

It’s that former point that was an in for Tad and Thumper to come back. Sure, South Park wasn’t bound to continuity at that point in the series’ run, but the parents did buy a timeshare, so why couldn’t they have all come back to “Have a good time” and hear Tad belt out another “Stan Darsh” song? That said, both characters were seen in Season Twenty-Two’s “Buddha Box,” with Buddha Boxes on their heads.

Miss Claridge from “Pre-School” (Season 8, Episode 10)

“Pre-School” is an underrated episode of South Park, but it’s also a dark one. Poor Miss Claridge is just a pre-school teacher who is trying to put out a fire set by Trent Boyett, which the core four boys claim they can put out (with their urine). In the process, she is consumed by flame, has the boys urinate on her to try and put her in the fire, and is ultimately left in a full-body electric wheelchair. To speak, there’s one beep to represent “Yes” and two beeps to represent “No.”

It’s not the only suffering Miss Claridge experiences during the episode, for instance, in the final moments when her electric wheelchair is supercharged by a taser gun. It’s all so grimly funny that one just wonders what else Parker and Stone could think up for her. The closest they’ve come to having her reappear is in “The Death of Eric Cartman,” where the title character gives her a gift basket as an apology.

The post South Park: 10 One-Off Characters Who Deserve to Make A Return appeared first on ComicBook.com.

There are certain quotes from Star Wars that are synonymous with the films. Whether it is Princess Leia’s, “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope,” or Vader’s iconic, “No, I am your father” moment, certain quotes from the series have become significant in pop culture to the point where one cannot say, read, or hear the quote without knowing exactly when it came from. Another of these lines comes from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Upon noticing that the rebels were duped by the Empire, Admiral Ackbar proclaims, “It’s a trap!” The short line has taken on a life of its own, becoming one of the most widely referenced Star Wars moments in the entire nine-movie series.

However, technically, Admiral Ackbar was not actually the first character in the larger Star Wars franchise to say this, chronologically speaking. In Episode 2 of the new Star Wars Rebels podcast, Pod of Rebellion, host Jon Lee Brody pointed out the real origin of the quote.

Ezra Bridger Was a Trendsetter Years Before Return of the Jedi

Pod of Rebellion is a new podcast hosted by Vanessa Marshall (voice of Hera Syndulla), Tiya Sircar (voice of Sabine Wren), Taylor Gray (voice of Ezra Bridger), and Jon Lee Brody. Each episode relates to a specific episode of Star Wars Rebels, with the voice cast sharing some behind-the-scenes stories from their experience making the show. 

[RELATED: Could Andor Season 2 Feature Fan-Favorite Rebels? The Timeline Adds Up]

In the latest episode of Pod of Rebellion, Brody refers to the Rebels episode of the same title and notes, “There’s a line that Ezra has in this when he warns the Ghost crew. He says ‘It’s a trap.’ Now, that line in particular is associated with Admiral Ackbar, of course, in Return of the Jedi, even though I believe Princess Leia also said it I think two or three times in [Star Wars:] The Empire Strikes Back. But canonically speaking, in the sequential order of things, technically Ezra Bridger said, ‘It’s a trap,’ first, before Leia or Admiral Ackbar.”

In “Spark of Rebellion: Pt. 2” — the second episode of the first season of Star Wars Rebels — the Ghost crew learns about an Imperial ship carrying Wookiee prisoners who were to be sold into slavery. Some of these captives even served in the Clone Wars, which is a soft spot for Kanan, as he too fought in the Clone Wars as a young padawan. Kanan devises a plan to infiltrate the Imperial ship with Sabine and Zeb and free the Wookiees. However, the plan goes awry when Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) agent Alexsandr Kallus and his patrol of stormtroopers appear and board the ship as well. As Kallus is on a mission to capture the rebels, his presence there is not a coincidence at all.

When Hera and Ezra — waiting aboard the Ghost to provide escape — see Kallus’ ship, they have to take quick action to warn their friends. Ezra takes it upon himself to board the Imperial ship, locate his crewmates, and tell them of Kallus’s well-laid plan.

“It’s a trap! We gotta get out of here. It’s a trap! […] It’s not an op, it’s a trap!” Ezra yells, just in time to stop Kanan and Zeb from running into a group of stormtroopers. 

As if Ezra Bridger wasn’t already one of the most important Jedi in the Star Wars universe, he now has the honor of originating a classic quote — three times, in fact — years before Admiral Ackbar.

Taylor Gray, the actor who portrayed Ezra in Rebels, discussed the moment on Pod of Rebellion and jokingly called on Ashley Eckstein — voice of Ahsoka Tano — to put the phrase “Ezra did it first” on a shirt. Eckstein is the founder of the fashion company Her Universe, which is known for its Star Wars collections. Her Universe already has a few Ezra-inspired pieces, but “Ezra did it first” would certainly be a fun addition to the catalog. 

You can listen to Pod of Rebellion anywhere you stream your podcasts. New episodes are released every Tuesday.

The post Everything You Know About This Iconic Star Wars Line Is Wrong appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Battlestar Galactica reboot seems to be on hold indefinitely at the time of this writing, though we know it was still in the works at least as recently as July of 2024. With the project seemingly on hold, some of the details on it have started to come out — including a big revelation from one of the previous stars, Tricia Helfer last week. During a discussion on the Sackhoff Show podcast, Helfer revealed that the original series creator, Ron Moore, had set one major rule on the potential remake — it could not portray the Cylons as humanoid life. This would have been a major limitation on the series, but it also would have called back to the original series, and vindicated some of its ideas with new special effects technology.

Helfer joined her former Battlestar Galactica co-star Katee Sackhoff on her podcast last week, along with Sackhoff’s co-host Jeff Porter. Sackhoff had just interviewed Moore the previous week, and was eager to continue discussing Battlestar with a fellow veteran of the franchise. Porter observed that Moore was relatively laid back about the idea of another reboot — not interested in participating, but not opposed to its existence. However, he remembered a previous conversation where Helfer alluded to more negotiations between Moore and Sam Esmail, the producer behind this planned reboot.

He was referencing Battlestar Galacticast, Helfer’s show which has been on hiatus since 2020, when she last interviewed Moore. She couldn’t recall direct quotes from the time, but agreed that Moore had been generally unbothered by the existence of another reboot — especially if it were handled by Esmail. “He had told me — it couldn’t be on the record at the time that I had taped my podcast, so I don’t know if I can say it now — but he had told me he had one stipulation,” she recalled. “He was basically like, ‘ Do what you want to do, but here’s the stipulation that you can’t have.'”

[RELATED: 7 Must-See Shows If You Loved The Expanse]

Noting that Esmail’s reboot seems to be stalled, Helfer grew conspiratorial. “It’s dead in the water at least for now. Maybe I can say it, then? Should I say it?” she said excitedly. With some encouragement, she went on, “What he told me at the time was that he said they couldn’t have humanoid Cylons. They couldn’t have the human-looking Cylons.”

As they marveled at how big of a change this would be, Helfer added that she believed Esmail had originally planned to make his Cylons look human until Moore had asked him not to. However, the trio saw some merit in this idea and how it would change the course of the story.

The original 1978 Battlestar Galactica revolved around human colonies in a distant galaxy, fighting an endless war against robots called Cylons. In that version, the Cylons were created by an enemy alien race that had long since gone extinct. However, in Moore’s reboot continuity beginning in 2000, the Cylons were created by humanity themselves as servants. They gradually evolved to greater intelligence and sentience, while incorporating biological components into their designs. By the time the story started, the Cylons were generally indistinguishable from humans.

It’s disappointing to hear Sackhoff, Helfer, and Porter agree that the reboot series doesn’t seem to be moving forward, especially with this tantalizing hint at how it could have reimagined the original series’ premise. However, the rights to the franchise are still out there and could be scooped up at any time for another journey into deep space. In the meantime, Moore’s Battlestar Galactica is streaming now on Prime Video, while the original series and a number of spinoff titles are available to rent or purchase on PVOD stores.

The post Battlestar Galactica Creator’s Rule for New Reboot Revealed (and It Makes Sense) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Star Wars fans have gotten a very exciting update about Ahsoka Season 2, as it looks like production has started. Actor Eman Esfandi (who plays Ezra Bridger on the show) shared his friend Josh Hash’s social media post on his Instagram story. Hash’s post features an image of Esfandi about to pop a bottle of champagne, seemingly to celebrate the start of his podcast Keepers of the Fire and filming on Ahsoka Season 2 if the caption is anything to go by. Hash congratulated Esfandi on his accomplishments, wishing him well as he embarks on these projects.

“Congrats @emanesfandi on launching your podcast @keepersofthefire & kicking off [Ahsoka] season 2,” Hash wrote, capping his message off with a party emoji. Check out the post (shared on X by Star Wars Holocron) in the space below:

While Ahsoka Season 2 currently does not have a release date, the plan has been for the cameras to start rolling in the spring. Back in December 2024, word was production would begin this April. Lucasfilm is going to utilize “multiple different film techniques” this season, pushing Ahsoka beyond the sound stages where Season 1 filmed.

[RELATED – Star Wars’ Latest Retcon Makes Ahsoka’s Continuity Even More Complicated]

Official details about Ahsoka Season 2 are largely being kept under wraps, though we do know that Game of Thrones star Rory McCann has joined the show’s cast. He will play Baylan Skoll, replacing the late Ray Stevenson in the role. There are rumors circulating that Ahsoka Season 2 could feature Natalie Portman’s Padmé Amidala, but nothing has been confirmed on that front.

Few could have predicted we’d get an update on Ahsoka Season 2’s production status from a social media post by one of Esfandi’s friends, but it’s encouraging to know the show remains on track. Now that the secret is out, perhaps Lucasfilm will unveil a more formal, official announcement — one that gives fans a look behind the scenes. Obviously, the studio isn’t going to reveal too much at this juncture, but Lucasfilm knows how to offer intriguing teases to excite fans and generate hype. Ahsoka Season 2 should be an important project for the Star Wars franchise, as it will likely help set the stage for Dave Filoni’s in-development New Republic movie. Building some early buzz by highlighting the show’s return seems like a sound strategy.

There is an Ahsoka panel planned for next month’s Star Wars Celebration in Japan. The official description bills it as a retrospective on the show’s first season with Dave Filoni and “special guests,” but it wouldn’t be a shock if some Season 2 details were shared at the convention. Since production has only just started (or will start in the coming days), it’ll be much too soon for a proper teaser trailer, but there might be enough for a sizzle reel (similar to what happened with Season 1 during Celebration 2022). While the panel’s primary focus is looking back on Season 1, Filoni and Co. would be remiss if they didn’t at least tease what’s in store for the second season. Even if it’s just more casting announcements, that would be another exciting development.

The post Ahsoka 2 Gets Exciting Update From Unexpected Place appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Daredevil: Born Again is about to cross the halfway point of Season 1, and Marvel Studios is letting fans know with a new midseason trailer that makes one thing abundantly clear: Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) will be back in the suit. The new sizzle reel of footage actually teases more than that: we get scenes of Matt in his civilian clothes, facing a squad of robbers in some kind of bank heist situation; then, of course, we see Matt as Daredevil, taking on the likes of the serial killer Muse. In the midst of all that, we get some pretty intense-looking (if only brief) teases of things boiling over for Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio), and more from Frank Castle/The Punisher (Jon Bernthal), who looks like he will be suiting up and teaming with Daredevil for some pretty brutal action. Oh, and Bullseye looks like he’ll be coming back, too.

Daredevil: Born Again Two-Episode Special Event

Daredevil: Born Again Episodes 5 and 6 will both be released on Tuesday evening, March 25th, and will only be available to stream on Disney+.

Daredevil: Born Again Midseason Trailer

This midseason trailer for Born Again is almost like a focus grouped response to all the biggest criticisms that Daredevil fans have had with the series, thus far. If nothing else, it’s also a pretty big promise that the back half of the series is going to be (as one critical quote advertises) “worth the wait.”

The footage looks exciting, no doubt, but it’s also a somewhat somber reminder that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is still mired in some choppy waters. Born Again was the breaking point where Disney and Marvel Studios executives began to reassess what was happening with the franchise and its production strategies, going so far as to completely retool the entire show.

Punisher actor Jon Bernthal drove the point home wth his recent quotes about how the first version of Born Again was so divergent from the original Netflix version that he wanted no parts of it.

[RELATED: Daredevil: Born Again Proves Netflix’s Bing-Watch Release Was Better]

“It was like, let’s see if this works. Let’s see if there’s a real openness and a hunger to let Frank be what Frank is… Ultimately, I didn’t see it,” Bernthal said about those initial return talks. “I didn’t see the version of Frank, and what they wanted from Frank [didn’t] really make sense to me, and I thought it would not appeal to the fans and wouldn’t be congruent. It was not something I was really interested in doing.” When the show was put on production hiatus and retooled, Bernthal found himself in a very different sort of creative position: “They really brought me into the conversation. We really got specific about where Frank is psychologically, where Frank’s at physically.”

Admittedly, this footage from the back half looks a lot more like the Netflix Daredevil (and Punisher) than the Disney+ Daredevil, which could mean the showrunners and Marvel Studios land the plane on a good runway, leading to the already-confirmed Season 2.

The post Daredevil: Born Again’s New Midseason Trailer Drops (Before Tonight’s Two-Episode Release) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The original Small Council almost looked completely different on Game of Thrones, as actor Conleth Hill says he tried his best to turn down the role of Lord Varys, Master of Whispers. In a actor recently spoke to The Irish Times about his acting career, in which Game of Thrones is actually an outlier among more grounded dramas, sitcoms, and a lot of musical theater. Still, Thrones is undoubtedly the work Hill is best known for around the world, and he revealed that he tried to turn it down because of how different it is from his usual work. He said that learning more about Varys’ background and true motivation finally sold him on the project.

“I was resistant for a long time. I’m not into wizards,” Hill said. He explained that now, he likes the way Game of Thrones stands out among his other credits. “I don’t think it was a typical casting call. They wanted people who could handle the language, who had done Shakespeare.”

As for the insight that finally endeared Varys to Hill, it came from a scene that didn’t make it to the show until Season 3, Episode 4, “And Now His Watch Is Ended.” Here, Varys seems to explain his real backstory to Tyrion Lannister — he was kidnapped and castrated as a child by a sorcerer in the city of Myr, so that the sorcerer could use this “sacrifice” to enact some kind of magic.

[RELATED: Every Game of Thrones Season Ranked From Worst to Best]

To Varys’ horror, it actually worked, putting the sorcerer in contact with an otherworldly voice that terrified Varys as much as the abuse he had suffered. This instilled Varys with a hatred of all magic and purported sorcerers — something he and Hill apparently have in common — while also putting him on the path to becoming a spy. After sharing all this, Varys opens a wooden crate to reveal that he has tracked down the sorcerer who maimed him, and has just received him as a prisoner.

Varys shares all this with Tyrion because it relates to Tyrion’s own quest for political power and revenge. He counsels the Lannister heir to be patient and build influence slowly over time, assuring him that “The revenge you want will be yours in time — if you have the stomach for it.”

This revelation comes in the second book in A Song of Ice and Fire, A Clash of Kings, but it is played different there. Most importantly, there is no imprisoned sorcerer present, and no indication that Varys has ever sought revenge on his abuser. Instead, Varys shares the story to explain his hatred of magical practitioners, because he believes that Stannis used magic to kill his brother Renly — which is true. With magical power growing in Westeros, it’s not clear yet how Varys’ ant-magic philosophy will impact the story to come.

Game of Thrones is streaming now on HBO and Max, while A Song of Ice and Fire is available in print, digital, and audiobook formats. A new spinoff series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, premieres sometime this year, and another season of House of the Dragon is filming now for release in 2026.

The post A Game of Thrones Star Passed on the Series Until One Scene Changed Their Mind appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Star Wars: Andor was a massive success among fans and critics alike, living up to the praise of its predecessor, Rogue One. With Season 2 just around the corner (on April 22nd), fans are excited to learn more about the characters who played major roles in the first season. One character in particular – Luthen Rael (Stella Skarsgård) – has been a mystery, as he operates under a fake identity on Coruscant and has no qualms about taking the lives of those in his employ. It was Rael who tracked down Cassian Andor in the first place, sending him on a path that would ultimately change his life – and the future of the galaxy – in the process. 

In a recent livestream on StarWars.com, Andor creator, producer, and showrunner, Tony Gilroy, gave insights into what Season 2 has in store for Luthen Rael. As there is essentially no information known about Rael, the possibilities are endless.

Andor Showrunner Gives Insight Into Luthen Rael’s History and Motivations

In the livestream from March 13, Gilroy started out by naming Rael an “accelerationist,” a term that Gilroy explained refers to “somebody who was at the center of something.” Gilroy went on to give deeper insight, stating that an accelerationist such as Luthen Rael is a “rebel leader or a leader who wants to make things worse to provoke change.” Considering the fact that Rael was the mastermind behind the Aldhani heist that was predicated on massive destruction, resulting in suspicion and heightened eyes on rebel activity at the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB), Rael certainly fits the bill of an accelerationist. 

RELATED: Could Andor Season 2 Feature Fan-Favorite Rebels? The Timeline Adds Up

Rael was well aware that the Aldhani heist would lead to a significant escalation in the burgeoning rebellion against the Galactic Empire, thus putting him and other rebels in even more danger than before. This operation wasn’t just a simple robbery; it was a carefully planned infiltration of an Imperial garrison, designed to steal a substantial amount of Imperial credits. What made it so impactful was not only the audacity of the act, but also the ripple effect it had throughout the galaxy. The heist’s success demonstrated that the Empire was vulnerable, inspiring others to resist, while simultaneously triggering a brutal crackdown from the IBS, which heightened the stakes and fueled the flames of rebellion. 

Gilroy also discussed what Season 2 of Andor has in store for exploring Rael’s motivations and who he actually is. “We’ll learn a lot about Luthen and who he was before,” Gilroy said in the livestream, “but we’ll also see a guy who built a start-up company in his garage, and [with] Aldhani, he goes public, and it’s going to be the stress of how do you take your little revolution and all the work you’ve done for 15 years, how do you go public with that and how do you go large? So, we’re going to watch him under a great deal of stress.”

Andor Explores the Darkness Spreading Throughout the Galaxy

Like Rogue One, Andor continues to tap into the grittier and darker underbelly of the Star Wars galaxy, where the Empire’s oppressive grasp is seen on a street-level, affecting innocent citizens like Cassian Andor, his mother, and everyone on his adopted home planet of Ferrix. Rael’s incendiary actions resulted in the unrest that pressed survivors of Ferrix – Andor included – into having little choice but to join the Rebellion. 

RELATED: Andor Creator Tony Gilroy Confirms Fans’ Worst Fear About His Star Wars Future

Andor Season 2 premieres on April 22 on Disney+. Until then, fans will have to wait and speculate what Rael’s intentions and backstory could be. 

Souce: StarWars YouTube channel

The post Andor Season 2 Will Explore Luthen Rael’s Origins appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Harry Potter remake is in a special place right now, with pre-production underway yet casting news still scarce, leaving room for fans, journalists, and franchise veterans to speculate. This week, the question came to Jason Isaacs, who played Lucius Malfoy in the film series from 2002 to 2011. Isaacs is currently promoting The White Lotus Season 3, but he spared time for a Harry Potter question during an interview with Variety on Monday. When asked who should take over the role of the Malfoy patriarch, Isaacs proposed “Meryl Streep. She can do anything, that woman. There’s literally no limit to what she can do.”

Isaacs may have been joking here, at least to some extent. Streep is one of the most accomplished actors of all time, and her ability to slip into any role with complete immersion has become a bit memetic over the years. He may also have been going for a subtle jab at author J.K. Rowling, who has made her preoccupation with other peoples’ gender presentation very plain. At the same time, the idea of changing characters is clearly not off the table in this remake — the frontrunner to play Severus Snape Ghanian-British actor Paapa Essiedu, so why not toy around with the Malfoy family’s demographics as well?

Isaacs went on to say that he “wouldn’t have any advice at all” for the next actor to take on the role of Lucius — or any role in this massive franchise. “Why would I bother?” he said. “I know some of the people they’re casting already. They’re brilliant actors. It’s going to be fantastic, and the last thing they need is advice from some old fart like me.”

[RELATED: These Are the 7 Most Powerful Harry Potter Characters]

It seems highly unlikely that the Harry Potter remake could lock down the incomparable Meryl Streep for a 10-season TV commitment, but Isaacs’ suggestion does pose an interesting idea. It also seems highly unlikely that Rowling would sign off on a woman playing a male version of Lucius Malfoy after her years-long tirade against transgender rights. Many Harry Potter stars have distanced themselves from Rowling over this rhetoric, but Isaacs was relatively neutral when he commented on it in 2022.

“There’s a bunch of stuff about Jo… I don’t want to get drawn into the trans issues, talking about them, because it’s such an extraordinary minefield,” Isaacs told The Telegraph at the time. One of the things that people should know about her too — not as a counter-argument — is that she has poured an enormous amount of her fortune into making the world a much better place, for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children through her charity Lumos. And that is unequivocally good. Many of us Harry Potter actors have worked for it, and seen on the ground the work that they do. So for all that she has said some very controversial things, I was not going to be jumping to stab her in the front — or back — without a conversation with her, which I’ve not managed to have yet.”

Rowling’s advocacy against transgender rights has already driven many fans away from to boycott the Harry Potter franchise altogether, and it poses a challenge for any actor joining the remake series. The new show will reportedly begin filming in August, and is expected to premiere sometime in 2026 on HBO and Max. The White Lotus Season 3 has two more episodes to go, airing on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

The post Harry Potter Star Suggests Meryl Streep Play Key Role in HBO Series (and Not Who You Think) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Tracker fans are getting more worried about the fate of Bobby Exley with every passing week. The tech-savvy ally of Colter Shaw has been missing from action for more than a month, and the only explanation provided on the show has been that Bobby is dealing with some kind of mysterious family matter. Neither CBS nor actor Eric Graise have many an official statement about the character’s absence or future, but another Tracker star has recently put our minds at ease regarding Bobby’s return.

Fiona Rene, who plays Reenie on Tracker, is one of the show’s four series regulars, and she was recently asked about her favorite guest star experiences. Rene mentioned actor Chris Lee, who has been on the series the last few weeks playing the character of Randy, Bobby’s cousin and replacement while he’s away.

While talking about Randy, Rene mentioned that he’s excited to see him and Bobby playing off one another in the near future, indicating that the two characters will be on-screen together at some point.

“I mean, can we just talk about Randy for a second? I love Chris Lee with everything in my body,” Rene told TV Insider. “He’s been such a wonderful addition to the Bobby dynamic, and I am very excited to see them together.”

That means, according to Rene, Bobby is coming back to Tracker at some point this season and he’ll be sharing the screen with Randy. That’s great news on multiple fronts. Not only are fans excited to see Bobby back, but it also indicates Randy is just going to disappear once Bobby does return. Randy has quickly established himself as a great character on Tracker, one that hopefully sticks around for the long haul. If he and Bobby have great chemistry on-screen, maybe there’s a chance that the two of them appear together a lot more often.

[RELATED: Breaking Down Jensen Ackles’ Tracker Return]

There’s also the issue of the Tracker “rest of Season 2” trailer that was released earlier this year. The ad for the back half of Tracker’s season showed Bobby in action, in a scene that hasn’t appeared in any of the episodes that have already aired. That indicates that Bobby will show up on-screen again before Season 2 comes to a close.

All of this could mean that Bobby’s disappearance is a part of the ongoing story of Tracker, setting up some kind of case later in the season. To this point, it has seemed like maybe there was simply a scheduling conflict leading to Graise’s absence.

The post Tracker Star Confirms Bobby Isn’t Leaving the Series (Despite Month-Long Absence) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

John Lithgow opens up about portraying Dumbledore on HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter TV series, explaining why he feels it won’t be a hard role to tackle. While appearing on the podcast Smartless, the actor was asked about his future in the Wizarding World, which will be a significant time commitment for Lithgow. He admitted that the “logistics are a little bit scary” regarding the travel schedule and the fact the series aims to be a comprehensive adaptation of all seven Harry Potter novels. But when it comes to actually acting as Dumbledore in the scenes, Lithgow thinks it’ll be an easy proposition, citing the character’s supporting nature.

“Dumbledore is kind of the nuclear weapon,” Lithgow said. “He only goes on very, very occasionally. I don’t think it’s gonna be that hard a job, and, we’ll just go back and forth … The logistics are a little bit scary. I really did have to think hard about whether to take it on but I also thought, well, I’m about to turn 80 next year. If this is indeed a seven- or eight-year-long job, it’s a wonderful way to grow old as an actor. I mean, the alternative is to just be hauled out once a year to play an Alzheimer’s patient … and an awful lot of death scenes with weeping middle-aged children, you know.”

Word of Lithgow’s casting in the Harry Potter show broke in February; he was the first actor officially confirmed for the project. Since Lithgow came onboard, HBO has reportedly cast Paapa Esideu and Janet McTeer as Hogwarts professors Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall, respectively. Lithgow’s involvement was noteworthy since he is American, marking a departure from the casting practices for the Harry Potter movies.

[RELATED – I Don’t Think Harry Potter Should Get a Reboot]

The Harry Potter TV show is slated to begin production at some point this summer ahead of its planned release in either 2026 or 2027. Billed as a “10-year journey” for HBO, the plan is for each season to cover one of the books, allowing the creative team to go more in-depth than the films were able to. HBO put out a casting call for the roles of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but nothing’s been announced on that front yet.

Lithgow obviously is going to take portraying Dumbledore very seriously; he understands the magnitude of this project, which is why he took his time mulling it over before signing on. What he means by saying it won’t be “that hard a job” is that the role shouldn’t be too physically taxing for him. Dumbledore is a supporting character (albeit one of the most important) throughout the Harry Potter saga, so, for the most part, he’ll be able to knock out his scenes where he shares wisdom with Harry and his friends. However, Lithgow shared during the interview that he’s only “halfway through the second [book]” as he reads the Harry Potter series in preparation. Dumbledore gets more involved in the action in later installments, famously dueling Voldemort in The Order of the Phoenix. Lithgow’s opinion on how easy Dumbledore is might change as he gets further along.

It should be interesting to see how Lithgow approaches Dumbledore. He possesses a lot of qualities that make him a strong fit for the role. He should have no problems playing a kind-hearted mentor figure who endears himself to his students, and he can also be a stern presence when that’s necessary. Hopefully, the TV show is a fresh enough adaptation that he’s able to put his own stamp on the part and isn’t trapped in the shadows of Richard Harris and Michael Gambon. There’s a lot of potential for this to be an excellent capper for what’s been a tremendous career.

The post John Lithgow Thinks Dumbledore Role Won’t Be “That Hard” (but Hasn’t Finished the Books) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Futurama has been brought back from cancellation not only once, but twice thanks to how good it all started off with right from the very beginning. Futurama‘s first season is still one of the best slates of episodes in adult animation history, and that’s still true even after all these episodes and revivals in the years since. Although this also came from the mind of The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, Futurama immediately stood out from its counterpart thanks to David X. Cohen and the rest of the team behind the scenes making sure it had its own voice at the center of it all.

Futurama‘s first season had to do a lot of work to separate itself from The Simpsons, and immediately it carved out its own voice and humor to further distance itself from anything that had come before. It really felt like adult animation was heading into the future with this one, and Season 1 is one of the best seasons to go back and highlight some of the best gems from that era overall.

Here are five of the best episodes from Futurama’s very first season, and you should let us know which are your favorites in the comments!

Space Pilot 3000 (Season 1, Episode 1)

Futurama has one of the best pilot episodes…ever really. To introduce its wild premiere, “Space Pilot 3000” sends the hapless Phillip J. Fry 1,000 years into the future when he accidentally gets cryogenically frozen. Waking up in the year 3000, Fry (and the audience) are introduced to the world of the series as he realizes how much has changed and how much has actually stayed the same. After trying for the entire episode to keep from being labeled a delivery boy with a thankless job like he had in the past, Fry ends up becoming an entirely different kind of delivery boy that has a much better (and more fun) future.

This really got the series off to an incredible start, and showed just how much of Futurama was locked down right from the very first minute. The show would change a little after this initial pilot, but much of it was already in place for the strong run it would continue to go on across multiple years, revivals, and networks.

A Fishful of Dollars (Season 1, Episode 6)

“A Fishful of Dollars” kicked off a string of absolutely memorable episodes from the first season. This episode explored more of Fry’s life in the past and juxtaposed it with how much his life had actually improved in the future. This was also the episode that introduced fans to Mom and her “friendly robot company” as a long running antagonist for the series to come. Not only was Fry scammed out of millions of dollars, he also hilariously lost himself much more by refusing to sell his anchovies. But all this showcased that Fry’s simplicity also made him that much more compelling of a protagonist going forward. He’s selfish, but ultimately loves his friends.

My Three Suns (Season 1, Episode 7)

This all gets put to the test just one episode later in “My Three Suns.” When Fry accidentally assassinates the Emperor of an alien planet by drinking him, he becomes ruler and quickly pushes away Leela and the rest of his friends with his selfishness. This one eventually comes full circle too as when he’s afraid of getting assassinated himself, the solution ends up being that they need to make him cry. And in true Futurama fashion, it doesn’t really come about until Fry gets his true comeuppance as Leela and the others start beating on him as the episode comes to an end. It’s just a fun showcase of Fry’s connection with the others in an otherwise isolated story.

RELATED: Futurama Executive Producer Talks Returning for Hulu Series, Coming Back From Cancellation, and More

A Big Piece of Garbage (Season 1, Episode 8)

“A Big Piece of Garbage” was the first episode of Futurama to ever get wide recognition as it was nominated for an Emmy that same year. It might have lost to King of the Hill that year, but this episode was recognized for a very good reason. This was the first example of Futurama using its futuristic setting to not only share a real scientific outlook on how humanity handles waste, but mined that for a truly hilarious mission that saw Earth threatened by the titular “big piece of garbage.”

Not only did it come to a very real, yet hilarious solution of “we’ll deal with it later,” but it was one of the first examples of why Futurama was still very grounded despite its outlandish setting. It struck that balance of being a comedy that worked in the present day, but was filled with plenty of ideas for its future world.

Hell Is Other Robots (Season 1, Episode 9)

Futurama has a ton of great characters on its roster, but Bender was the true highlight right from the jump. “Hell Is Other Robots” is not only one of the best episodes in the first season, but of the series overall. Seeing Bender dabble in religion for the first time only to end up going to a very real Robot Hell and meeting a very real Robot Devil, this was also one of the first demonstrations of just how wild Futurama was going to get. With a musical number performed by Dan Castellaneta (who returns in future seasons for some of the best episodes in the series), there really is no other better episode to go back and revisit from the first season. It really is a good one.

The post These Are the Best 5 Episodes of Futurama Season 1 appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Dexter: Resurrection might be the Spider-Man: No Way Home of the Dexter franchise as two major cameos have just been revealed. Dexter has a long and storied history on Showtime as a very popular crime drama about a vigilante serial killer. The show’s first few seasons were showered in awards and were a ratings hit, ushering in the era of the anti-hero on television. It ran for eight seasons and lost a bit of its steam by the end in the eyes of critics, but it retained its popularity to the bitter end and stayed increasingly relevant thanks to a second life on streaming.

Thanks to an unsatisfying ending that was left open ended, Showtime brought the series back in the form of a limited series called Dexter: New Blood nearly a decade after its initial end. It was meant to give closure to fans, but unfortunately, that closure also ruffled some feathers. Dexter Morgan was shot and killed, leaving fans angry and frustrated after an otherwise mostly solid season of TV. He was brought back just to be killed, which didn’t sit well with fans. However, it didn’t seem like something that could be undone… until it was. Michael C. Hall will return as Dexter Morgan in the sequel series Dexter: Resurrection later this summer. It’s highly anticipated, but also being kept under a veil of secrecy.

Dexter: Resurrection Will Feature Miguel Prado and the Trinity Killer

While we know next to nothing about the plot of the show, Dexter: Resurrection‘s cast is one of the best on TV… and it’s about to get even better. John Lithgow previously confirmed that he would return as the Trinity Killer in Dexter: Resurrection via a cameo. Lithgow teased he only shot for a day and would appear as some kind of “phantom” that Dexter sees as he awakens after his brush with death. However, Arthur Mitchell won’t be the only face from Dexter’s past that has come back to haunt him. Deadline is reporting that Jimmy Smits will return as Miguel Prado in Dexter: Resurrection alongside the Trinity Killer.

Details are scarce on his return, but it seems likely Miguel will be featured similarly to the Trinity Killer, as a phantom that haunts Dexter in some capacity given he was strangled to death in season 3 of the original show. Of course, with two such high profile villains returning it stands to reason that Dexter: Resurrection may feature even more of Dexter’s past will be featured in the show. We already know that Angel Batista will be in Dexter: Resurrection, likely partaking in some kind of investigation or manhunt for Dexter after his secrets were brought to the light in New Blood. We also know that James Remar is returning as Harry Morgan after being absent in Dexter: New Blood.

Could we see Doakes, Lila, Brian Moser, or possibly even Rita return as ghosts to haunt Dexter for his mistakes in Dexter: Resurrection? It’s certainly not a stretch now. Jennifer Carpenter has denied that she will appear in Dexter: Resurrection, but insider Jeff Sneider claims she will return as Deb Morgan in some capacity. Some fans are hoping to see Desmond Harrington return as Joey Quinn, but the actor has avoided giving any kinds of hints. Nevertheless, it seems like Dexter’s past will be catching up to him in this new season. Even if we don’t get the full former cast, there’s a chance they could appear again in the future.

Dexter: Resurrection is expected to run for multiple seasons, so that likely means Michael C. Hall will continue slaying evildoers for years to come. What that looks like is anyone’s guess since the walls are very much closing in on Dexter himself. Outside of returning cast members, Dexter: Resurrection will also feature Peter Dinklage, Uma Thurman, Neil Patrick Harris, and many, many others. It’s a stellar ensemble cast and one that will surely deliver a lot of thrills.

The post Dexter: Resurrection Is Bringing Back Two of Dexter’s Best Villains appeared first on ComicBook.com.

It’s time to head back to The Office. On March 24, 2005, NBC aired the pilot episode of the iconic workplace mockumentary chronicling the inner workings of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company’s branch in Scranton, Pennsylvania, as its employees faced downsizing by corporate. “What is the most important thing for a company? Is it the cash flow? Is it the inventory?” asked Regional Manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell), the obnoxious but self-declared “World’s Best Boss.” “Nuh-uh. It’s the people.”

The people person’s paper people like salesman and Assistant to the Regional Manager Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), camera-mugging prankster Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), long-suffering receptionist Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer), and new temp Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak).

Nine seasons and 201 hilariously awkward or downright cringeworthy episodes later, The Office continues to leave fans satisfied and smiling. We’ve thought about it long and hard (that’s what she said), and these are the 20 best episodes of The Office most deserving of a Dundie:

20. Scott’s Tots (Season 6, Episode 12)

The infamously cringe-inducing “Scott’s Tots” episode of The Office is emblematic of how the well-meaning Michael Scott desperately wants to be liked, to the point of pledging to pay the college tuition of an entire class of third graders dubbed “Scott’s Tots.” A cackling Stanley (Leslie David Baker) gleefully reminds Michael that 10 years have passed, and it’s time to settle up.

Michael — who sincerely believed he’d be a millionaire by the time he was 30, and then 40, but by then “had less money than when I was 30” — is forced to visit the school with Erin (Ellie Kemper) and admit the truth. After sitting through a session where Scott’s Tots literally sing his praises (“Hey, Mr. Scott! What you gonna do? What you gonna do, make our dreams come true!”), Michael confesses he won’t be paying for their tuition. Although he offers to compensate Scott’s Tots with lithium laptop batteries in lieu of tuition, Michael is left with the knowledge that he “destroyed 15 young lives.” Ooof.

“I’ve made some empty promises in my life, but hands down, that was the most generous.”
— Michael Scott

19. Murder (Season 6, Episode 10)

When it’s discovered that Dunder Mifflin is about to declare bankruptcy, sending the office into a panic, co-managers Michael and Jim clash over Michael’s decision to declare (with a Southern twang) that “there’s been a mur-dah in Savannah.” As a distraction, Michael prompts a game of Belles, Bourbon, and Bullets: A Murder Mystery Dinner Party Game, a whodunnit with a molasses-mouthed Andy (Ed Helms) trying to decipher if he asked out Erin or her roleplay character, “Naughty Nellie.”

The best moment of the episode comes when accountant Oscar (Oscar Nunez), who has been keeping tabs on Dunder Mifflin rather than playing the game, is forced to relay an announcement about the company’s liquidity in-character with a high-pitched southern accent: “This plantation, we’re running low on greenbacks. We’re having problems paying the people who give us the seeds and the dirt. We can’t pay!”

Plus, Creed (Creed Bratton) shows up late and promptly flees when Michael, speaking as playboy Caleb Crawdad, tells him that “there has been a murder, and you are a suspect.”

“Now do the Swedish Chef.”
“Uh, not familiar. What province is he from?”
“He lives on Sesame Street, dumbass.”
— Kevin and Andy

18. Money (Season 4, Episodes 7-8)

After three seasons of Will They/Won’t They, “Money” sends new couple Jim and Pam to Dwight’s Schrute Farms for an overnight stay (which Dwight insists is “agrotourism,” not a bed and breakfast). Meanwhile, Michael quite literally declares bankruptcy before running away, rather than tell lover Jan (Melora Hardin) about his financial struggles (due in part to Jan’s spending and mounting credit card debt from frivolous purchases like The Muppet Show DVDs and the Core Blaster Extreme).

The (ahem) core of the episode, however, is a tender moment in the typically antagonistic relationship between Jim and Dwight. With Andy successfully wooing Dwight’s ex Angela (Angela Kinsey), Jim commiserates with Dwight when he recalls leaving Scranton because of Pam’s relationship with her former fiancé Roy (David Denman). “It was awful. It was something that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy,” Jim says, “and that includes you.”

“I… DECLARE… BANKRUPTCY!”
“Hey, I just wanted you to know you can’t just say the word ‘bankruptcy’ and expect anything to happen.”
“I didn’t say it, I declared it.”
— Michael and Oscar

17. Diversity Day (Season 1, Episode 2)

After Michael recites a Chris Rock routine, corporate brings in diversity sensitivity trainer Mr. Brown (Larry Wilmore) for a seminar that quickly becomes uncomfortable. Michael is bleeped while doing his Chris Rock impression, and in another instance of secondhand embarrassment, insists the office is “very advanced in terms of racial awareness” as he refuses to sign a form pledging he learned something about offending his coworkers in the workplace.

Michael mounts his own program, “Diversity Tomorrow (because today is almost over),” and misappropriates an Abraham Lincoln quote before prompting an offensive exercise: a race guessing game. Michael being Michael, he takes it too far when he’s slapped by Kelly (Mindy Kaling) for his impression of an Indian person. (“Now she knows what it’s like to be a minority,” Michael, on the verge of tears, says of Kelly, who is Indian.)

“This is an environment of welcoming and you should just get the hell out of here.”
— Michael to Toby

16. Email Surveillance (Season 2, Episode 9)

By taking the employees out of the office, “Email Surveillance” gets into the interpersonal relationships: Jim’s crush on the engaged Pam; Pam’s suspicions that Dwight and Angela are dating; and Michael’s hurt feelings over not being invited to a BBQ at Jim’s apartment. After Michael is left behind by his improv class (who are fed up with his finger-gunned FBI Detective Michael Scarn), he uncomfortably crashes the party despite not being invited.

As obnoxious and offensive as he can be, it’s heartbreaking watching a rejected Michael — who considers his coworkers to be family — be left out because he’s obnoxious and offensive. And that’s why it’s heartwarming when Jim joins Michael in a karaoke duet of “Islands in the Stream.”

“I think one of the greatest things about modern America is the computerization of medical records. As a volunteer sheriff, I can look up anyone’s psychiatric records or surgical histories. Yeast infections. There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we are down river from that old bread factory.”
— Dwight

15. Niagara (Season 6, Episodes 4-5)

One called-off engagement, two weddings, and six seasons later, The Office‘s fan-favorite couple became officially official as Jim and Pam married at Niagara Falls. Of course, this being a two-part wedding episode, there’s Michael-isms (“I’ll see you in Viagara Falls”), mishaps (Andy’s scrotum-puncturing splits), and mental pictures (Jim and Pam’s way of mentally documenting the high points).

After sneaking away to get married aboard the Maid of the Mist before their church ceremony, Jim and Pam — with a cut tie and torn veil — snap mental shots as their friends and family dance down the aisle in a sequence recreating the viral YouTube video “JK Wedding Entrance Dance.”

“I bought those tickets the day I saw that YouTube video. I knew we’d need a backup plan. The boat was actually Plan C, the church was Plan B, and Plan A was marrying her a long, long time ago. Pretty much the day I met her.”
— Jim

14. Goodbye, Toby (Season 4, Episodes 18-19)

Michael sends off his archnemesis — “His Horribleness,” Human Resources rep Toby Flenderson (Paul Lieberstein) — with a going away party. Tasking Phyllis (Phyllis Smith) with heading the party-planning committee (and the impossible task of finding an anti-gravity machine), Michael then takes it upon himself to haze Toby’s replacement: Holly Flax (Amy Ryan).

When Michael finds himself falling for the “female Toby” despite his prejudice against HR — “My job is to make the office fun, your job is to make the office lame,” he explains — it’s too late to rein in Dwight, who convinces Holly that dim-witted accountant Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) is “slow.” Meanwhile, Andy accidentally thwarts Jim’s proposal plans when he usurps Toby’s going away party to propose to Angela (who Phyllis catches having an affair with Dwight), Michael finds out his ex, Jan, is pregnant, and in another shakeup to the status quo, Ryan (then VP of Northeastern Sales) is arrested for fraud to end season 4.

“Toby is going away forever, and we need to do something very, very special. In some cultures, when somebody leaves, like New Orleans culture, they have a parade and they have a band and people party in the streets.”
“Do you mean ‘leaves’ as in dies? You want us to throw Toby a New Orleans funeral?”
“If the Devil were to explode, and evil were gone forever, what sort of party would you have?”
— Michael and Pam

13. The Negotiation (Season 3, Episode 19)

While Jim tries to repay Dwight for defending him from an enraged Roy (who found out in the previous episode that Jim kissed Pam), Michael uses the list of negotiation tactics he downloaded on Wikipedia when warehouse foreman Darryl (Craig Robinson) comes to him to negotiate a raise.

Darryl convinces Michael to ask for his first raise in 14 years, so they head to Dunder Mifflin Corporate, where Michael recounts the events of the day to Jan: “I accidentally cross-dressed, and then Darryl made me feel bad for not making any money, and then I had to ride up here with stupid Toby, and then your assistant was all young and hot.”

“I remember it was very late at night, like 11, 11:30. Big fella comes in screamin’ about God knows what. I think maybe Halpert had stolen his car. Something like that. So the big fella pulls out a sock filled with nickels. Then Schrute grabs a can of hairspray and a lighter…”
— Creed

12. The Job (Season 3, Episodes 24-25)

The season 3 finale marked the end of the Stamford merger era and Jim’s relationship with Karen (Rashida Jones). As Michael, Jim, and Karen all travel to New York to interview with CFO David Wallace (Andy Buckley) for what turns out to be Jan’s position, Jim has a realization and returns to Scranton.

What prompted this about-face? A yogurt lid with an encouraging message from Pam (a callback to “Office Olympics”), as yogurt had become a recurring theme in the budding Jim-Pam romance (dating back to the pilot, when Jim noted Pam’s favorite flavor of yogurt). After two years and three seasons of Will They/Won’t They, “The Job’s” biggest surprise — besides Ryan getting the corporate job — was Jim finally asking the now-single Pam on a date.

“I am never, ever going to leave. I am going nowhere. This place is like the hospital where I was born, my house, my old age home, and my… graveyard. For my bones.”
— Michael

11. Fun Run (Season 4, Episodes 1-2)

By the time of “Fun Run,” Michael is enjoying “domestic bliss” with the recently laid-off Jan, “PB&J” are dating (in secret), and Ryan is working at corporate. The season 4 opener is best known for distracted driver Michael hitting Meredith (Kate Flannery) with his car in the parking lot, only to then assure the office that “everyone inside the car was fine.”

When Dwight reports to Michael that the hospital is giving Meredith the rabies vaccine following recent animal bites — a bat, a raccoon, and a rat — Michael decides to host a fun run race (Michael Scott’s Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race for the Cure) to raise awareness of the fact there is a cure for rabies.

“Guess what, I have flaws. What are they? Oh, I don’t know. I sing in the shower. Sometimes I spend too much time volunteering. Occasionally I’ll hit somebody with my car. So sue me. No, don’t sue me. That is the opposite of the point that I’m trying to make.”
— Michael

10. Goodbye, Michael (Season 7, Episode 22)

On Michael’s last day at the office before leaving for Colorado with fiancée Holly, he makes the rounds for his goodbyes: bear advice and paintball with Dwight, handmade mittens from Phyllis, gifts for Stanley and Andy (a ball-less felt and the company’s ten most important clients, respectively), a caricature for Kevin, and a crudely made doll for Oscar.

After a tearful goodbye in which Jim calls Michael “the best boss I ever had,” Michael leaves for the airport and almost misses Pam. “This is gonna feel so good, getting this thing off my chest,” Michael says, removing his mic. “That’s what she said.”

“The people that you work with are just, when you get down to it, your very best friends. They say on your deathbed, you never wish you spent more time at the office, but I will. Got to be a lot better than a deathbed. I actually don’t understand deathbeds. I mean, who would buy that?”
— Michael

9. Business School (Season 3, Episode 17)

A heartfelt Michael-Pam hug also ends “Business School,” where Ryan invites Michael to attend his Emerging Enterprises class as a guest speaker, and Pam invites the office to her art show. When a student lets slip that Ryan expects Dunder Mifflin to be obsolete in the next five to ten years due to competition from nationwide chains, Michael leaves the class in a huff — and later sends Ryan to the annex with Kelly.

“A good manager doesn’t fire people. He hires people and inspires people,” Michael says, imparting his final lesson. “People, Ryan. And people will never go out of business.” While Michael may not have been the best boss (despite the mug from Spencer Gifts), he was a good friend to Pam: after Oscar, Michael was the only coworker from the office to attend her art show, where he offered to buy Pam’s portrait of the office. Upon hanging it up on the wall opposite reception, Michael tells the camera: “Without paper, it could not have happened. Unless… you had a camera.”

“There are four kinds of business: Tourism. Food service. Railroads. And sales. And hospitals-slash-manufacturing. And air travel.”
— Michael

8. Booze Cruise (Season 2, Episode 11)

Although Michael may not be the most inspiring speaker, he did impart some advice to Jim during the office’s first quarter camaraderie event: a January booze cruise on Lake Wallenpaupack. “If you like her so much,” Michael told Jim of the long-engaged Pam, “don’t give up. Engaged ain’t married. Never, ever, ever give up.” (Amy Adams’ Katy was already a casualty of Jim’s crush on Pam.)

Taking the staff out of the office and trapping them on a booze cruise also makes for a great gag: while making a motivational analogy, Michael incites a panic when he tells the passengers the ship is sinking (causing one to jump overboard into the frozen lake).

“Last year, Michael’s theme was ‘Bowl over the Competition!’ So guess where we went.”
— Oscar

7. Finale (Season 9, Episodes 24-25)

Although The Office had declined by its Flanderized final season, the series finale (from pilot director Ken Kwapis and pilot writer Greg Daniels) had everything you could want from a final episode. Since the airing of the documentary, there were changes in the office (Kevin and Toby were fired, Stanley retired, a once-fired Devon was rehired). There was a wedding (Regional Manager Dwight marrying Angela at Schrute Farms). There was a big life change (Pam and Jim moving so he could work at Austin-based Athlead). And there were reunions (Michael Scott returning as Dwight’s best man for one last “that’s what she said”).

More emotional than funny, The Office finale ends with heartfelt exchanges before Pam — delivering the final line of the series — takes the painting of the office building down from the wall. “I thought it was weird when you picked us to make a documentary,” Pam says in her final confessional. “But all in all…I think an ordinary paper company like Dunder Mifflin was a great subject for a documentary. There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that kind of the point?”

“I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.”
— Andy

6. Casino Night (Season 2, Episode 22)

More romantic than comedic, “Casino Night” finds self-proclaimed “great philanderer” Michael caught between Jan and realtor Carol (Nancy Walls) when the warehouse is turned into a gambling hall for Scranton Business Park’s charity Casino Night. Besides a kleptomaniac Creed cleaning up, poker champion Kevin going all-in on losing to Phyllis, and a hilarious exchange about how Michael will donate the proceeds “to Afghanistanis with AIDS,” the episode includes a jaw-dropping confession:

“I’m in love with you,” Jim tells Pam, before a season-ending kiss leaves them both speechless. As Michael says of his own romantic troubles: “Love triangle. Drama.” Also, it gives us this oft-quoted classic:

“Why are you the way that you are? Honestly, every time I try to do something fun or exciting, you make it not that way. I hate so much about the things that you choose to be.”
— Michael to Toby

5. The Dundies (Season 2, Episode 1)

After its six-episode first season, The Office hit its stride with the Mindy Kaling-penned episode mostly set in a Chili’s. Michael hosts the annual employee awards night that hands out “Dundies” for such superlatives as “Busiest Bushiest Beaver” and “Hottest in the Office.”

During the cringeworthy ceremony, Michael Dundie-izes tracks like Naughty by Nature’s “O.P.P.” (“You down with the Dundies?”) and Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” (“You have won a tiny Dundie”); Dwight botches his role as MC; and a drunken Pam excitedly kisses Jim when she wins the “Whitest Sneakers” award before being banned from the restaurant chain.

“You know what they say about a car wreck, where it’s so awful you can’t look away? The Dundies are like a car wreck that you want to look away… but you have to stare at it because your boss is making you.”
— Pam

4. Beach Games (Season 3, Episode 23)

The penultimate episode of season 3 is where the plots of the season come to a head: the Pam-Jim-Karen and Pam-Roy-Jim love triangles and the Scranton-Stamford merger, the result of which is Michael hosting a Survivor-style competition to determine his successor as Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin Scranton.

Michael considers candidates Jim, Dwight, Stanley, and Andy (despite not yet having the corporate position). We get to see the staff battle it out (literally and figuratively) in a series of challenges, from inflatable sumo wrestling to a hotdog eating competition. In the end, an empowered Pam manages to speak up about her coworkers skipping her art show and her feelings for Jim after calling off her wedding to Roy.

“I would rather work for an upturned broom with a bucket for a head than work with somebody else in this office besides myself.”
— Stanley

3. The Injury (Season 2, Episode 12)

“The Injury” is one of the most accessible episodes of The Office. When Michael burns his foot by stepping on his George Foreman Grill, Dwight gets the more serious injury when he crashes his car into a pole while racing to Michael’s aid: a concussion.

Although jealous over the attention Dwight receives for his injury, Michael accompanies Dwight during his CAT scan (and tries to insert his foot in the machine). Plus, a concussed Dwight befriends Pam long before their actual friendship would develop.

“What do I write under ‘reason for visit’?”
“Concussion. What did you write?”
“Nothing. I wrote ‘bringing someone to the hospital.'”
— Michael and Jim

2. Stress Relief (Season 5, Episodes 14-15)

“Stress Relief” has, perhaps, one of the most memorable Office cold opens when safety officer Dwight — scorned over an ignored fire safety talk — sets fire to the office to demonstrate the proper procedure for exiting the building during an emergency.

All hell breaks loose: the trapped and panicked staff slams office equipment into doors and windows, cats are thrown into ceilings, Kevin raids a vending machine. After Dwight announces the simulation was a test of their emergency preparedness, Dwight’s drill leads to Stanley having a heart attack. Michael then takes it upon himself to make the office as peaceful a place as he can — only to cause Stanley even more stress.

“Nobody should have to go to work thinking, ‘Oh, this is the place that I might die today.’ That’s what a hospital is for. An office is for not dying. An office is a place to live life to the fullest, to the max. An office is a place where dreams come true.”
— Michael

1. Dinner Party (Season 4, Episode 13)

The arguably most quotable episode of The Office, babe, is also the cringiest. Michael invites couples Jim and Pam and Angela and Andy to dinner at his condo with Jan, but the night becomes — as Jim puts it — a game of “‘Let’s See How Uncomfortable We Can Make Our Guests.'”

And that goes for the audience: as Michael and Jan hash out their increasingly awkward anger issues during the excruciatingly long wait for dinner, there’s a spat over her candle-making business, Jan’s relationship with her former assistant turned singer-songwriter Hunter, the physical toll of Michael’s three vasectomies, and the death of Michael’s $200 plasma screen TV (appropriately destroyed with a Dundie). If you watch The Office for the awkward comedy, “Dinner Party” wins the Dundie for Cringiest. Episode. Ever.

“I would love to burn your candles!”
“You burn it, you buy it!”
“Oh, good. I’ll be your first customer!”
“You’re hardly my first!”
“THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID!”
— Michael and Jan

The post The Office 20th Anniversary: The 20 Best Episodes, Ranked appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Power Rangers franchise is now in the works on a new reboot series for Disney+, and Hasbro should really take this opportunity to start off with something brand new in order to avoid the mistakes of the past. The Power Rangers franchise lasted for 30 years worth of television shows, video games, comics, feature films and more, and seemingly ended its run for good with the release of Power Rangers Cosmic Fury on Netflix back in 2023. But you can’t keep this franchise down as a new take on the series is already in the works for a new rebooted era.

Hasbro and 20th Century TV are reportedly now working on a new Power Rangers series for Disney+ with Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz, who are currently working on the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series for Disney+, to serve as showrunners and executive producers that will be a “reinvention” of the classic franchise. The best way to do and to keep both older and newer fans of the series happy is to just start with a clean break and tackle a brand new version of the franchise never seen before.

Power Rangers Is Built on Reboots

At its core, Power Rangers is a franchise that’s build on rebooting itself. Not only was the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series a reboot of the Super Sentai series, Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, with new edited footage added for the American version of the show, but the franchise itself was reinvented each year. Although Mighty Morphin Power Rangers originally ran for three full seasons, there were a number of key cast changes and power changes to coincide with all of the new footage from other Super Sentai shows that were tossed in to keep it going. Power Rangers might have been set within a single timeline at first, but this changed over the many seasons.

Power Rangers fans should be used to reboots at this point, so the idea of a brand new one isn’t that wild of a premise. Although Power Rangers chose its ideas based on whatever Super Sentai series that Toei produced in Japan shortly before, it was still a show that reinvented itself with each season. It even got to the point that each new season was basically an entirely new series with a new cast, new premise, new timelines, powers, and much more. It was just something we all accepted without issue. But somewhere along the line, the idea of rebooting the series became an issue with dedicated fans.

For whatever reason, Power Rangers fans started fighting back against the idea of the series changing up or ignoring much of what Toei’s Super Sentai franchise had produced. Although the two franchises are completely different, there was a desire to keep many of the elements the same despite the two very different purposes. Even when a Power Rangers show was completely new, like Cosmic Fury, there was a lot of heat online over the fact that it was taking elements from a different show it had ignored (which Power Rangers has been doing from the very beginning). For whatever reason, now rebooting the series is an issue.

RELATED: What Went Wrong with Power Rangers and Disney and Why a Return Might Work

Just Start Brand New With Power Rangers

In that case, it’s best to just start brand new with Power Rangers’ new Disney+ series. As fans have gotten to see through the various comic book releases, Power Rangers can do a lot more than what fans might think it’s capable of. The reliance on Toei’s Super Sentai material was not only a crutch for creativity, but also became one of its biggest hassles as more of the fanbase wanted to see that original Japanese material adapted for the new version. To avoid that hassle with this new reboot, it’s best to just start at the beginning.

It doesn’t mean start with a new version of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (which is likely what is going to happen given that it’s basically the only version of the series that broke through the general pop culture sphere), it means start out with something that has never been seen before. There are already going to be a lot of expectations working against this new series, so it’s best to meet those challenges head on with a new version of the franchise that will get to have its own story.

To further separate this new TV series from the also apparently in the works Power Rangers movie reboot, this should be a brand new story with its own characters, villains, powers and much more. It will force even the most dedicated fans to judge this new Power Rangers on its own merits as a Power Rangers series, and has the potential to even change what we think Power Rangers is. If this wants the best chance it could have at success, a fresh start free from anything potentially holding it back is the way to go.

What do you want to see in a new Power Rangers reboot series? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments!

The post Power Rangers Should Start Fresh With New Disney+ Reboot Series appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Today’s WWE Raw featured John Cena making his second appearance on WWE TV after his now infamous actions at Elimination Chamber, and if you thought he was done eviscerating the WWE Universe for the past 25 years, you were quite wrong. In fact, Cena went a step further, not only chastising the fans for their reaction to his WWE Spinner Championship but also telling them he was out to ruin wrestling, as well as make them forget about Ric Flair and his 17 Championships. You can watch the full video below.

Cena talked about the young fan he pointed out during his last time on TV, criticizing WWE and the fans for sharing it over and over again. Cena said, “His poor pathetic face was everywhere. WWE posted it! And you loved it.”

Cena then went back in time a bit to point out the moment that the WWE crowd revealed too much, and it was in April of 2005. “It was a day that I gave you the WWE Spinner Championship, and just like right now you ate me alive. All the negative comments about the spinner belt, and you told me how stupid I was because I changed your Championship into a toy, and the Championship is not a toy,” Cena said. “Listen closely because that was the biggest mistake you ever made.”

That’s when Cena said they revealed their real thoughts and hopes about wrestling in that moment, and he was going to use that against them. Cena said, “Now that I know that, I am going to ruin wrestling. I am going to ruin wrestling for every fan, for every wrestler, for everyone.”

[RELATED: Jade Cargill Just Suffered Her First WWE Loss, so What’s Next?]

“At WrestleMania, I make history by winning a 17th Championship, and I finally force you to forget the name of the fun machine jet flying woooo Ric Flair. You will forever say the name John Cena, and even worse, I’m going to win that Championship, the center of every Superstar in this entire business and every fan in this building,” Cena said. “I will win it and retire with it. I am taking it home with me, and leaving all of you to create a brand new toy belt, because the real one comes home with me. I will be the last real Champion in WWE.”

“Revenge is best served cold, and I pay you back by ripping your heart out and forcing you to watch as I walk away with your memories, your dreams, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me,” Cena said. That’s when he was confronted by Cody Rhodes, who called him out on getting ahead of himself, as he needed to take the Title from him first. Then Rhodes told Cena he wasn’t leaving here or WrestleMania with the Championship, and the only thing he’d do is leave empty-handed.

What did you think of Cena’s threats and his plan to ruin wrestling? Let us know in the comments and you can talk all things wrestling with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!

The post WWE’s John Cena Out to “Ruin Wrestling” and Erase Ric Flair appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Bob’s Burgers is currently caught in the middle of some big schedule changes with Fox, so the wait for new episodes is going to take a bit longer than fans might have ever hoped for. Bob’s Burgers Season 15 kicked off its run last Fall alongside the premieres of The Simpsons Season 36 and more. Fox had their first major Animation Domination line up shift last Fall during all of this as Family Guy was removed from the Sunday night Fall schedule for the first time in two decades as a result of these changes. Now it’s just Bob’s Burgers‘ turn.

With the start of the midseason schedule earlier this Winter, Family Guy made its return to Fox to finally premiere Season 23 of the animated series alongside Krapopolis, The Great North, and Grimsburg. As The Simpsons prepares to make its own comeback with new episodes for Season 36 later this month, Bob’s Burgers have been wondering where the series has been. Thankfully, it is far from cancelled as many fans are fearing. It’s just going to be a longer wait to see the new episodes.

When Will Bob’s Burgers Return?

As the midseason schedule continues for Fox’s Animation Domination block, it’s been confirmed that The Simpsons Season 36 will be having its midseason premiere on Sunday, March 30th. This will be bringing it to the line up to replace Grimsburg, with a shake up then resulting in The Simpsons, Family Guy, The Great North, and Krapopolis holding it down from there. But unfortunately for fans of Bob’s Burgers, Fox has yet to announce a return date for its also in progress Season 15. Episode 10 of the series hit last December, but it’s still got a full season of episodes left to go through the rest of the year.

As far as when it will return, Fox previously noted that Bob’s Burgers Season 15 would come back with new episodes in the “Spring.” With The Simpsons being the final addition of the Winter 2025 schedule, it also means that it likely won’t be too much longer before Bob’s Burgers makes a return either. With The Great North and Krapopolis likely ending their respective runs pretty soon, Bob’s Burgers is more likely going to be taking Krapopolis‘ place when it ends some time in May. That means it’s going to be a rougher wait than anticipated, but that’s all conjecture. It could even return at a different day of the week entirely to get back on Fox even earlier.

RELATED: The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy Lock in New U.S. Streaming Deal

How to Catch Up With Bob’s Burgers

As Bob’s Burgers Season 15 is likely scheduled for a return later this May, this does raise some questions about what shows will eventually be in Fox’s Animation Domination block later this Fall. Given that many of these shows have also yet to be renewed for more seasons as of the time of this publication, and the potential return of American Dad! also being on the table around this time, the schedule for the rest of the year is just unfortunately up in the air as of this time.

If you wanted to catch up with Bob’s Burgers in the meantime, you can now find all of the Season 15 episodes available now streaming with Hulu along with every previous season released thus far. You can also check out The Bob’s Burgers Movie streaming with the service as well if you want even more. Bob’s Burgers Season 15 has had some of the best episodes of the series to date, so it will definitely be worth the wait when it finally comes back to screens this year.

The post Is Bob’s Burgers Cancelled: What’s Going on With the Show in 2025? appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The 2025 Paley Honors Spring Gala is celebrating Lynda Carter for the 50th anniversary of Wonder Woman. Carter portrayed the DC icon in the Wonder Woman live-action series of the mid-’90s and became synonymous with the character. So much so that all other Wonder Woman performances are compared to Carter’s. While fans wait to hear news on who will play Wonder Woman in James Gunn’s new DC Universe, Carter will get the recognition she deserves when she’s honored by the Paley Center for Media when the celebration kicks off on Monday, May 19th.

“Lynda Carter’s iconic portrayal remains a timeless symbol of strength, courage, and empowerment,” said Maureen J. Reidy, President and CEO of The Paley Center for Media. Lynda Carter was a Wonder Woman in front of and behind the camera. While she performed heroics when the lights were on, she continued her valiant work in her personal life as well. Carter is an advocate and philanthropist who works with the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, City of Hope/TGen’s blood cancer research, and the ERA Coalition, just to name a few organizations she’s a part of.

[RELATED: Superman Star Teases What James Gunn Movie Is Really About (and It Sounds Perfect)]

Along with celebrating Lynda Carter, the 2025 Paley Honors Spring Gala is also celebrating billionaire and businessman Joe Tsai; media and sports entrepreneur Crystal McCrary; and the ABC News morning program Good Morning America, which is also celebrating its 50th anniversary. Tsai is the owner of the NBA basketball team the Brooklyn Nets and the WNBA champion New York Liberty. He’s also the co-founder and chairman of Alibaba Group.

“Joe Tsai is a world-renowned industry icon whose innovative and visionary leadership continues to shape the future of business,” stated Reidy. “Crystal McCrary is an award-winning producer making a groundbreaking impact as a media and sports trailblazer.”

James Gunn comments on Wonder Woman prequel series

A prequel series based on Wonder Woman was one of the many projects announced when DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran unveiled the new DC Universe’s opening slate of projects. When asked in November if Paradise Lost is still “in active development,” Gunn replied: “Very active development.”

Paradise Lost was among the first projects announced in January 2023 when Gunn and Safran announced their plans for the DC Universe. At the time, they held a press conference, describing Paradise Lost as a “Game of Thrones-ish story” set on the island of Themyscira before Diana was born. Fans speculated that the show might take inspiration from the comic series “Paradise Island Lost” by Phil Jiminez and George Pérez, which was about a civil war on Themyscira.

[RELATED: Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool Takes Shots at DC in Christmas Video With Lynda Carter]

“It’s really about the political intrigue behind a society of all women,” Safran said at the time. Gunn added: “How did that come about? What’s the origin of an island of all women? What are the beautiful truths and the ugly truths behind all of that? And what’s the scheming like between the different power players in that society?”

So it appears that Wonder Woman is moving on from the likes of Lynda Carter and Gal Gadot. They will both hold a special place in the hearts of fans, but DC and Warner Bros. are looking to start with a fresh face. Let us know your thoughts on Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman celebration in the comments below!

The post Lynda Carter to Be Honored for Wonder Woman 50th Anniversary (But Will She Return?) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Don’t expect David Tennant to return in the Harry Potter TV series remake. The actor played Barty Crouch Jr. in the film series, but when he was asked about the possibility of returning to the franchise this weekend, he seemed doubtful at best. Tennant is an outspoken ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, which has put him at odds with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling in recent years. Since Rowling is an executive producer on the upcoming series, Tennant predicted he would not be invited back to reprise his role, in any case. So far, Rowling has not responded to this latest volley in her perpetual online feud with Tennant and others.

Tennant’s commentary came at Planet Comicon 2025 in Kansas City this weekend, during a Q&A event with fans. When someone asked Tennant if he would be open to reprising his role as Crouch if asked, he answered, “I mean, they’re great stories. I feel like my contribution has probably been made. I’m told there’s an executive producer that doesn’t love me all that much. I was told, recently…”

There, Tennant was cut off as the crowd cheered, and he moved on to the next question. The actor has a lot of upcoming work to promote, ironically including another adaptation with a controversial author — Good Omens. However, Tennant has made his personal stance on LGBTQIA+ rights clear enough for anyone to follow.

[RELATED: I Don’t Think Harry Potter Should Get a Reboot]

Tennant has a long history of overt support for the LGBTQIA+ community, and in recent years, has taken particular care to shout out non-binary people by wearing a pin with the non-binary pride flag during public appearances. These kinds of demonstrations of solidarity even won Tennant the 2024 “Celebrity Ally” award at the British LGBT Awards last year.

Naturally, this has put Tennant at odds with Rowling, who has taken a strong stand against transgender rights over the last five years, allying herself with far-right activists and pundits in the process. Many former Harry Potter stars have distanced themselves from Rowling through this transformation, and she has lashed out at them on social media. Tennant is no different — over the years, as Tennant has voiced support for people of all genders publicly, Rowling has responded to his quotes in her posts on X (formerly known as Twitter.)

Rowling’s involvement in the Harry Potter remake complicates the project for a lot of fans, who are unwilling to support her and her rhetoric in any way. Many have vowed to boycott the franchise so long as she profits from it. That means any actors who accept roles on this show risk drawing criticism from the LGBTQIA+ community as well, and it will be difficult for them to demonstrate that they don’t support Rowling’s misinformation and bigotry.

The Harry Potter remake is in production now, and is expected to air sometime next year on HBO and Max. Good Omens Season 3 is also filming now, but its release date on Prime Video has not yet been announced.

The post David Tennant’s Comments on Harry Potter TV Show Involvement Shade JK Rowling appeared first on ComicBook.com.

HBO pulled the plug on its mind-bending sci-fi series Westworld just as it was setting up its most ambitious season yet, leaving fans stranded in a narrative maze with no center to reach. When Westworld was abruptly canceled after its fourth season in 2022, viewers who had navigated the show’s labyrinthine plot for years were left with dozens of dangling threads and unanswered questions. The series finale, which ended with Dolores/Christina preparing to run one final “test” in a re-created version of the original Westworld park, set up what could have been a fascinating fifth season that would have brought the story full circle. Unfortunately, HBO’s decision to cancel the series means these carefully planted story seeds will never bloom.

Despite the showrunners’ claims that they had a five-season plan mapped out from the beginning, budget concerns and declining viewership led to the premature end of the show. Now, fans are left to speculate about what might have been, piecing together clues from interviews, Reddit threads, and the cryptic final scenes of season four. As we look back at this ambitious but ultimately unfinished story, several major mysteries stand out as particularly frustrating loose ends that will never receive their intended resolutions.

What Was Dolores’ Final Test?

The most glaring unanswered question comes from the season four finale. After the destruction of both humans and hosts on Earth, Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) creates a new simulation in the Sublime that resembles the original Westworld park. She mentions running “one last loop around the bend” to determine whether sentient life deserves to continue existing. But what would this test have actually involved? Would humans and hosts have been given another chance to coexist peacefully, or was Dolores planning something entirely different? The show’s cancelation means we’ll never see how this final game would have played out.

What Happens to William After the Season 2 Post-Credits Scene?

One of the most puzzling scenes in the entire series appears at the end of Season 2, showing a far-future version of William (Ed Harris) undergoing a fidelity test administered by someone resembling his daughter Emily. This scene takes place long after the events we’ve seen, in what appears to be a ruined version of the park. Was this meant to connect to Dolores’ final test? Would Season 5 have finally explained the significance of this moment? Without a final season, this tantalizing glimpse of the future remains completely disconnected from the main narrative.

Would Maeve Ever Reunite with Her Daughter?

Maeve’s (Thandiwe Newton) journey was driven by her desire to reunite with her daughter in the Sublime. Bernard promised her this reunion would happen, but Maeve was killed before reaching her goal. While Maeve’s pearl wasn’t explicitly shown being destroyed, her fate remains unresolved. Would she have been revived and finally achieved her heart’s desire, or was Bernard manipulating her for the greater good?

[RELATED – Westworld Star Says Creative Team Is Still “Plotting” to Finish Story (But How?)]

What Was Christina/Dolores Throughout Season 4?

The nature of Christina’s existence in season 4 remains somewhat ambiguous. We learn she’s a version of Dolores with amnesia who somehow gained the ability to control humans in Charlotte Hale’s world, but the mechanics of how she existed are never fully explained. Was she purely digital? How could she interact with physical objects if she wasn’t “real”? The final revelation that she was essentially writing the script for human behavior raises more questions than it answers.

What Happens to the Surviving Outliers?

Despite Dolores’ claim that sentient life on Earth was doomed, we last see Caleb’s daughter Frankie (Aurora Perrineau) and her girlfriend Odina escaping by boat to find other surviving outliers. Would they have managed to rebuild human society? Could they have eventually found and reactivated some of the host pearls left intact after the final battle? Their story ends on a hopeful note that now feels frustratingly incomplete.

What Was the Significance of the Sublime?

The virtual afterlife known as the Sublime remains one of the show’s most fascinating concepts, but its ultimate purpose in the story was never fully realized. Was it meant to be the final home for host consciousness, or was it always intended as a testing ground for Dolores’ final experiment? How would hosts from the Sublime have potentially returned to the physical world after Dolores’ test?

How Does William’s Fidelity Test Connect to Everything?

The fidelity experiments attempting to transfer human consciousness into host bodies was a major plotline that seemed to be building toward something significant. From James Delos to William to Caleb, the show kept returning to this concept without ever revealing its endgame. Would successful human-host hybrids have played a role in whatever new world might have emerged from Dolores’ final test?

In a show that prided itself on meticulously planned storylines, these unresolved mysteries represent not just loose ends but entire narrative pathways that will never be explored. While fans can theorize about what might have happened, Westworld’s premature conclusion ensures that these questions will remain permanently lodged in that most frustrating of places – the realm of what could have been.

The post 7 Westworld Mysteries That HBO Left Unanswered appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Family Guy is now working its way through Season 23 of the long running animated series, and the newest episode surprisingly brought another animated classic to an end by giving Caillou a surprising series finale. This current season of Family Guy has been one of the most unique to see develop yet as each of the episodes has offered something new that either brings back an old character, or offers a unique spin on something you wouldn’t expect. But the latest episode blends those two ideas by revisiting another Caillou parody after years of references and jokes to the PBS Kids broadcast series.

Family Guy‘s newest episode brings back Caillou in full after first bringing a parody of it to screen back in Season 19, as Stewie is so excited over the fact he’s getting an Easy-Bake Oven that he reveals that he hasn’t been so excited since he got to see the series finale of Caillou. As it plays out on screen, it soon reveals itself to be a full parody of The Sopranos‘ notorious final scene with a special guest appearance from Arthur to boot. Check it out as spotted by Sekou Toure on X:

Family Guy and Caillou Have a Hilarious History

Although the gag seen in Family Guy Season 23 Episode 8 “Dog is My Co-Pilot” is a fairly straight forward take on The Sopranos, it is a rather fun pull from the series’ history. Not only has Family Guy taken multiple shots at how The Sopranos ended over the years, this is far from the only time that they have brought Caillou into it. The first major appearance was from the Season 19 episode, “Stewie’s First Word” that had Lois wondering where Stewie could have gotten his bad language from and decides to watch all of Caillou to figure it out.

The parody back then really takes shots at Caillou’s father, and blames him for the lack of discipline for Caillou himself. Stewie has also referenced Caillou’s baldness as something he had aspired to here and there, but this is definitely the fullest callout of the children’s animated series in the years since. Even with Arthur in the mix, thankfully the series doesn’t go too far when it comes to bringing Caillou to its own end. As the series itself ended back in 2011 after five seasons.

RELATED: Family Guy Introduces the Giant Chicken’s Son for Surprising New Romance

What’s Next for Family Guy?

If you wanted to catch the newest season as it airs, Family Guy Season 23 is now airing on Sunday evenings with Fox as part of the Animation Domination block. It’s currently sitting in The Simpsons‘ time slot for the midseason schedule, but that’s going to change starting on Sunday, March 30th as The Simpsons will be returning for its own new episodes with Season 36. It’s yet to be revealed how this will shake up the line up’s schedule, but it’s unlikely that Family Guy will disappear from the block once more.

Family Guy had basically missed the entirety of 2024 outside of some exclusive episodes streaming with Hulu for the Halloween and Christmas holidays. Due to the schedule shake ups at Fox, this newest season did not premiere until earlier this year and still has a lengthy run before it comes to an end. This has also resulted in some big shake ups for the rest of Fox’s animated series, so fans should keep an eye on Sunday nights to see how the Animation Domination block changes in the near future as more new episodes premiere.

The post Family Guy Finally Gives Caillou the Finale He Deserves appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Netflix’s limited series Adolescence has quickly established itself as one of the most compelling crime dramas of 2025. Created by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, the four-part series follows the arrest and subsequent legal proceedings of 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) after he’s accused of murdering a female classmate. What sets the show apart is not just its unflinching look at youth violence but its revolutionary filming technique, as each episode is shot in a single, unbroken take, creating an immersive and claustrophobic viewing experience. The series has earned widespread critical acclaim for its raw performances, particularly from newcomer Owen Cooper and veteran Stephen Graham as Jamie’s devastated father, Eddie. 

Adolescence doesn’t shy away from exploring complex themes like online radicalization, incel subculture, and the failures of systems meant to protect vulnerable teenagers. Its examination of how social media can transform teenage angst into something far more dangerous has also sparked conversations about youth mental health and the digital landscape that modern adolescents navigate. For viewers who found themselves captivated by Adolescence‘s blend of crime drama, family tragedy, and societal commentary, the three shows below offer similar thematic depth and emotional resonance. Here’s our pick for the three shows you should watch after Adolescence.

Broadchurch

Set in the fictional coastal town of Dorset, England, Broadchurch begins with the discovery of 11-year-old Danny Latimer’s body on a beach, sending shockwaves through a tight-knit community where everyone seems to harbor secrets. Like Adolescence, the series excels at depicting the ripple effects of childhood tragedy, exploring not just the investigation led by detectives Alec Hardy (David Tennant) and Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) but the devastating impact on Danny’s family and the entire town. Chris Chibnall’s masterful writing ensures that the show never treats its central mystery as mere entertainment, instead using it as a lens to examine how grief, suspicion, and media attention can transform a community.

[RELATED: 10 Best Netflix Shows to Binge Right Now]

What makes Broadchurch particularly resonant for fans of Adolescence is its unflinching portrayal of parental anguish and its nuanced exploration of how well we truly know the people closest to us. The series shares Adolescence‘s commitment to authenticity with performances that capture the messy, complicated reality of processing trauma. All three seasons of Broadchurch maintain the tense, emotionally raw atmosphere that made Adolescence so compelling while expanding its scope to examine broader questions about justice, forgiveness, and community resilience.

Defending Jacob

Based on William Landay’s 2012 novel, Defending Jacob stars Chris Evans as Andy Barber, an assistant district attorney whose world implodes when his 14-year-old son Jacob (Jaeden Martell) is accused of murdering a classmate. The Apple TV+ miniseries shares significant thematic territory with Adolescence, particularly in its exploration of how parents grapple with the possibility that their child might be capable of violence. Much like Stephen Graham’s Eddie Miller in Adolescence, Evans’ Andy must confront his own parental blindspots and family history as evidence mounts against his son. 

Defending Jacob distinguishes itself through its exploration of genetics versus environment, as Andy discovers a family history of violence that may have been passed down to his son. In addition, Michelle Dockery delivers a stunning performance as Laurie Barber, Jacob’s mother, whose relationship with both her husband and son deteriorates as her doubts about Jacob’s innocence grow. Finally, Defending Jacob raises provocative questions about the legal system’s treatment of juvenile offenders and the impossibility of absolute certainty in matters of guilt and innocence.

Mare of Easttown

HBO’s Mare of Easttown stars Kate Winslet as Detective Mare Sheehan, investigating the murder of a teenage mother while her own life crumbles around her. Set in a struggling Pennsylvania town, the seven-episode limited series masterfully balances its central mystery with an authentic portrait of working-class America rarely seen on television.

Winslet’s Emmy-winning performance anchors the show as Mare, a former basketball star whose local celebrity status offers no protection from tragedy. Still processing her son’s suicide, fighting for custody of her grandson, and facing criticism for failing to solve another young woman’s disappearance, Mare throws herself into her latest case with a self-destructive intensity. Like Adolescence, the series examines how violence against young women reveals deeper community fractures, while never losing sight of the personal toll that violence takes on both victims and survivors.

What other series would you recommend for fans of Adolescence? Let us know in the comments!

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Since the premise of Severance first became clear, there have been fan theories exploring its strange connection to another Adam Scott role — Ben Wyatt on Parks and Recreation. Scott finally addressed this idea head-on last week during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and he seemed to validate fans’ suspicions. The idea stems from Parks and Rec Season 6, Episode 12, “Farmers Market,” where Ben asks his wife Leslie and co-worker, Leslie (Amy Poehler) for a conversational “firewall system” so that they only have to talk about work while they’re at the office. Scott acknowledged the similarity here, but assured fans it is just a coincidence.

When Kimmel brought up this viral fan theory, Scott confirmed that he has seen it floating around online. “And it is actually pretty close,” he said. “The thing my character was sort of pitching to Leslie does sound sort of like Severance.” However, when Kimmel asked if this was just a coincidence, Scott replied, “Yes.”

Parks and Rec is a workplace sitcom where Poehler and Scott play the central couple, Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt, who meet through their work in local government and fall in love. By Season 6, they are married, and their positions are work are in flux. “Farmers Market” is a major turning point, as Leslie has just returned to her old job running the parks department, while Ben has just stepped up to a new position as City Manager.

[RELATED: Is Severance Ending With Season 3? (And When Will It Premiere?)]

Ben finds it exhausting to spend all his time with the most pushy department head he oversees, even at home, so he proposes a new rule to leave work talk at the office. He describes this as a “firewall system,” which may have helped lead some viewers to relate it to Severance.

Severance is a near-future dystopia where a corporation called Lumon has developed a neural implant that can completely “sever” a person’s memories from them, essentially creating a new blank slate persona. The implant goes into effect when it is in a certain area — in this case, at the Lumon offices, where severed workers do not risk leaking sensitive information, or bringing personal drama into the workplace. In return, severed workers do not have to experience the toil or boredom of work.

Considering Ben Wyatt’s predilection for odd inventions and sweeping gestures, it’s easy to see how fans connected his off-handed remark to Scott’s new show. It’s a neat parallel, but the writers and producers of these two shows are completely different, and which casts doubt on any fan theories about a shared continuity here. However, one thing fans will often point out is that Scott only directed one episode of Parks and Rec, and it was “Farmers Market.” If there was any episode where he had particular creative input, it was this one.

Scott is now an executive producer on Severance as well as a star, but the show seems to have enough going on without holding back a surprise crossover with a retired sitcom. The theories are fun, but in all likelihood, they’ll continue to exist as reasonable doubt at most, not as a part of the canonical story. That being said, it’s hard to say what exactly is coming next in Severance after the shocking Season 3 finale last week.

Parks and Recreation is streaming now on Peacock, while Severance is available on Apple TV+. Severance has been renewed for a third season, but there’s no word yet on when it will go into production or when we might get to see it for ourselves.

The post Adam Scott Finally Addresses Theory That Parks and Rec Predicted Severance a Decade Earlier appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The original killer from the Friday the 13th franchise has a brand new face as they make their way to television. A24 and Peacock have been developing Crystal Lake, a prequel series to Friday the 13th, for a couple of years now. The show is already on its second showrunner, following the departure of Bryan Fuller, but a new casting announcement seems to have things on the right track.

On Monday, A24 and Peacock announced that Linda Cardellini had landed the role of Mrs. Pamela Vorhees (Jason’s mother) in Crystal Lake. Cardellini is known to many fans for playing Velma in the live-action Scooby-Doo films, as well as her Emmy-nominated turns in Dead to Me and Mad Men.

Crystal Lake is going to be a story all about Mrs. Vorhees, who fans remember as woman who was revealed to be the killer in the 1980 Friday the 13th. In that film, the character was played by Betsy Miller, in a performance that many consider one of the best supporting turns in slasher history.

Little is known about the plot of Crystal Lake, outside of the fact that it will tell a story that predates the events of the first Friday the 13th. The films and the character of Jason Vorhees have been locked up in a legal battle for years now, which is why there hasn’t been a reboot of the actual slasher series — and why you can no longer play the Friday the 13th video game. Crystal Lake, however, appears to be something of a gray area, able to get around the legal issues by not including the hockey mask-donning killer that has become a horror icon over the years.

[RELATED: Friday the 13th Director Predicts Crystal Lake Release Date]

Bryan Fuller was originally attached to Crystal Lake but left the project over “creative differences” with A24. Brad Caleb Kane, who is overseeing the IT prequel Welcome to Derry, was brought in to replace Fuller as creator and showrunner.

“From the moment I watched Jason Voorhees squeeze a guy’s eyeball out of its socket (in glorious 3D!) at the tender age of 8 years old, I knew my creative path was someday destined to converge with The Man Behind The Mask,” said in a statement. “Nothing defined my childhood more than growing up in the golden age of the slasher flick, and nothing’s defined the genre more than Friday The 13th. I couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity to contribute a chapter to this iconic franchise, particularly with such fearless partners as Peacock and A24.”

Are you looking forward to seeing Peacock’s Friday the 13th prequel series? Let us know in the comments!

The post Friday the 13th Prequel Series Crystal Lake Casts Scooby-Doo Star in Iconic Role (But Not Jason Voorhees) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

GLOW is right up there with Mindhunter as perhaps the best Netflix original series to date. And, like Mindhunter, Santa Clarita Diet, Shadow and Bone, Lockwood & Co., Sense8, I Am Not Okay With This, and Tuca & Bertie it was a show that got the ax prematurely. It’s especially strange in the case of GLOW because, one, it was a critical smash, and, two, while Netflix didn’t reveal specific viewership figures back in the day, it was far from being their least popular show. Three, it only had one season to go before it was set to finish. And yet, the Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin-fronted show went away after just three seasons, with each one arguably better than the last.

Worse yet for GLOW fans, their hopes were raised by Netflix renewing the show for Season 4, one month after the third debuted in August 2019. It seemed to be on its way until October 2020 when the streamer revealed it had been cancelled.

Why Was GLOW Cancelled?

The series, which focuses on fictionalized versions of real-life members of the ’80s syndicated wrestling circuit “Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling,” was never going to have the macro-scale appeal of a Stranger Things or a House of Cards. But low or dwindling viewership wasn’t the reason the series got the ax.

Instead, it was due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected most projects in the entertainment industry, to the point it shuttered quite a few series, Netflix or otherwise. GLOW Season 4 was already in production when this occurred, hence the delay of a year between season renewal and season cancellation. Back in February 2020, lead star Brie posted a set photo to her Instagram account. However, it wasn’t in production long, as the halt occurred just one month later after only one and a half episodes had been completed.

While the primary obstacle to GLOW‘s completion was COVID-19, there was another factor at play as well: cost. Efforts to prevent an outbreak on the set of the wrestling show (which by nature requires much physical contact) would have been expensive, and considering the fact the show was already high cost for a project with a solid but not phenomenal viewership, it just seemed to be too risky a proposition.

Lastly, there was a time gap issue. Netflix felt that a three-year break between the airing of seasons wouldn’t do viewership any favors. GLOW season 3 aired in 2019 and, due to COVID-19, the absolute earliest its final season would have been able to debut would have been 2022. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back, leaving fans with a bummer of an unceremonious conclusion.

[RELATED: 10 Best Netflix Shows Cancelled Too Soon]

Not to mention, the third season had ended on a cliffhanger. “A Very GLOW Christmas” has the women trying to keep their spirits afloat after the ball they were hosting in the previous episode was set on fire by a homophobic gang. One of the wrestlers, Carmen Wade, comes up with the idea of re-enacting A Christmas Carol in the ring. The show is a success and everyone prepares to go to their respective homes for the holidays.

But, in the episode’s (and, by extension, the series’) final moments, Gilpin’s Debbie Eagan approaches Brie’s Ruth Wilder and tells Wilder that she and Chris Lowell’s Sebastian “Bash” Howard intend to keep GLOW going, this time on television. Ruth has been eager to break into acting and directing feature films, so she’s gradually been distancing herself from her friends and colleagues.

Debbie sees this shift for GLOW as an opportunity to bring Ruth back into the fold but, much to Debbie’s dismay, Ruth declines the offer, even when Debbie clarifies she would like for Ruth to direct the GLOW show. Ruth boards her plane to return home and that’s the conclusion.

What Would GLOW Season 4 Have Been About?

So, what would the fourth season have looked like? Not too much is known, unfortunately, though Sam Sylvia’s actor, Marc Maron, has commented that his character and Ruth would have hooked up at some point. Other than that, the best insight comes from Brie’s Q&A with The A.V. Club, where she said “Before we started shooting the fourth season, our showrunners told me the whole story…and I was in tears by the end of their season-long synopsis.”

After briefly recapping Season 3’s final moments, she said Season 4 would open “on Ruth. I think that Ruth was gonna go back to her hometown for a little while as if she was gonna maybe quit wrestling and then get sucked back in… I’ll neither confirm nor deny that that’s the plot of the first episode that we shot that no one will ever see.” It likely would have been a great season of television, and it’s a shame that the time has likely passed for another streamer to pick up the IP for a fitting conclusion.

The seasons of GLOW we did get are now streaming on Netflix.

The post What Happened to This Cancelled Netflix Show After That Cliffhanger? appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Doctor Who Season 2 is venturing to unknown worlds, including at least one with a classic 2-D animated look. The trailer for the new season dropped on Monday, and among the many strange sights it showed us, the strangest may have been the Doctor and his companion animated in a retro style. This is just one of many clues about the stories coming in this new season, which starts on April 12th. In the U.K., the show will only be available to stream on the BBC iPlayer, while in the rest of the world, it will be included on Disney+. There are eight new episodes to enjoy with A-list cast and creators behind them, and fans are getting hyped.

The new trailer lays out an overarching plot for The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) by introducing his new companion, Belinda Chandra, played by Varada Sethu. It looks like Belinda is stranded in a different time and space, but as the Doctor points out to her, with time travel, there’s no real rush to get back. At some points in the trailer, she is clearly enjoying the scenic route, while in others the real horror of the situation is setting in.

The Doctor and Belinda are already dressed for a 1950s throwback when they’re transformed into cartoons. The two appear perplexed as a blue-skinned cartoon character says: “Roll ’em!” and the two are caught in a beam of light cast by a film projector. Somehow, this turns them both into animated versions of themselves, while changing their surroundings as well.

[RELATED: 7 Best Shows on Disney+ You Didn’t Know Were Streaming]

It’s clear this was meant to catch your attention, as it’s the point in the trailer where the music pauses before rising to a crescendo. However, with eight episode titles and no synopses so far, it’s hard to say when in the season this will occur. The most likely episode seems to be the finale, which is titled “The Reality War,” and is written by showrunner Russel T. Davies himself.

Other episode titles are also clearly represented in the trailer — “The Interstellar Song Contest,” for example, is called out by name, and both the Doctor and Belinda are obviously delighted by the premise. The season opens with The Robot Revolution, and the trailer gave us plenty of robots to speculate about. Davies wrote that episode himself as well.

Doctor Who is drawing a bigger audience than ever here in the U.S. now that it’s available week-to-week on Disney+, and with a relatively new Doctor and a brand new companion, it’s a great time to get on board. You can see all of Gatwa’s tenure as the Doctor on Disney+ now, and watch new episodes as they air starting on Saturday, April 12th.

The post Doctor Who Gets Animated in New Season 2 Trailer appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Grant Gustin and the cast of The Flash are up for reuniting for a revival of the fan-favorite CW series. While The Flash was the second DC show to join what would become the Arrowverse, it had the longest runtime out of all of them, totaling nine seasons and 184 episodes. Of course, The Flash ended at a time when Warner Bros. was putting all its attention to Ezra Miller’s portrayal of the fastest man alive on the big screen. A lot of fans believed Gustin and the rest of CW’s The Flash cast got cheated out of the spotlight, but they wouldn’t be against getting another crack at it.

The Flash was the focus of a reunion panel at FanExpo Cleveland over the weekend, with Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, and Tom Cavanagh all in attendance. They were asked if they would be interested in coming back to reprise their roles in an animated The Flash movie, and the overwhelming response was “Yes.”

[RELATED: The Flash Fans Are Still Debating the Series’ Best Storyline (And Their Choice Might Surprise You)]

“Yeah,” said Grant Gustin. “100% absolutely,” said Tom Cavanagh. “I’m available!” said Danielle Panabaker. Gustin chimed back in with, “We are actors with families….” with Candice Patton adding, “We got bills to pay!” Cavanagh ended things with, “We are all available! We are in, fully in!”

Of course, Grant Gustin is often asked about his feelings regarding The Flash and coming back for a second round. During an appearance on the Inside of You podcast with Michael Rosenbaum, Gustin echoed his sentiments that came this weekend at FanExpo Cleveland.

During the conversation with Rosenbaum, Gustin carefully articulated his position, stating, “Yeah, of course, there’s a lot of things that I’d have to like ask… not for, but about. I’d be more interested in the [creative side].” Rather than focusing on contractual requirements, Gustin emphasized his interest in understanding the creative direction of any future Flash project, demonstrating his commitment to the character.

When will DC fans see The Flash again?

To call The Flash feature film starring Ezra Miller a disappointment would be an understatement. It only earned $266 million worldwide against its $200 million budget, and has the distinction of being one of the final movies in the DC Extended Universe. The Flash did deliver some fan-favorite moments like Michael Keaton’s return as Batman, but overall didn’t set the world on fire. James Gunn and DC Studios have moved on with a reboot of the DC Universe, and so far no The Flash projects or future actors have been announced.

The Flash director Andy Muschietti Muschietti said the movie “failed, among all the other reasons, because it wasn’t a movie that appealed to all four quadrants.” He noted that when spending $200 million on a movie, the studio expects it to attract a broad audience, including “even your grandmother.” DC Studios head James Gunn addressed why characters like Clayface were receiving solo movies and not Flash, stating that the studio is “holding a beat on development” regarding any Flash-related projects, citing the studio’s primary rule: “No movie will be greenlit before the script is ready.”

Would you like to see The Flash cast back for an animated project? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

The post The Flash Cast Say They’re Up for a Series Revival (But With a Twist) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Severance Season 2 is now over, but there are a fair amount of fans who feel as though only their innie must understand what the season was even about. The second season of Severance left more than a few fans scratching their heads, as the atmospheric tone and overall sense of weirdness seemed to take precedence over pacing and creating thrilling episodic experiences. In that sense, some people came away from Severance Season 2 either struggling to get through the entire thing or struggling to find the kind of payoff that others proclaim is there.

To be fair, Severance did answer a lot of questions in Season 2 – but it didn’t tend to make those answers obvious or easy to connect with. We already have a breakdown of all the unanswered questions Severance has to address in Season 3; here, we’ll dig into the larger topic of what story Season 2 was telling (or at least attempting to).

Severance Season 1 introduced the entire premise and lore of the cult-like Lumon corporation and its cutting-edge biotech research, including the “severed floor.” We met the team at Micro Data Refinement and learned how their fractured existence – one persona that only exists while at work (innie), and their “normal” persona reserved for outside life (outie) – created dark in-between spaces festering with lies. The larger “story” of the first season turned to be one that questioned whether or not a modern psychological concept like “compartmentalization” was actually just self-deception by another name. The Season 1 finale drove that point home through the character of “Helly R.” (Britt Lower), as MDR’s most rebellious member had to come face-to-face with the reality that she is actually Helena Eagan, daughter of Lumon’s owner and the main proponent of the severed floor and its research.

That nice, tight, twisted, ride to a final game-changing shift in perspective helped Severance catch on through word of mouth; it also set some pretty big expectations for what Severance Season 2 would be – especially after a three-year wait for the second season’s arrival.

What Was Severance Season 2 Even About?

To sum it all up in a single set of terms: If Severance Season 1 explored the theme of “self-deception,” then it can be said that Severance Season 2 takes that theme and evolves it into “self-conflict.”

Going back to the Season 2 Premiere after seeing the Finale: It’s evident from the start that showrunners Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson establish a much more complicated set of relationships at work. Season 1 largely left viewers believing that a character’s outie and innie were united in the tragic circumstance of living half-lives. Season 2 quickly establishes that it’s a more complicated relationship than that: Adam Scott’s Mark S. (the prime example) has to discover throughout the season that his innie and outie both have lives and connections to others they care about (Gemma, Helly) and that those are not mutual goals, but rather a conflict that neither version of Mark is willing to risk conceding through “re-integration” of both halves into one whole. Hence, the Season 2 Finale ends with Mark having to make a choice about which version of himself gets to have the life goal he wants and chooses his innie’s life with Helly – despite the obvious impermanence of that existence and connection.

This theme of self-conflict can be traced back through every single one of the major character arcs in Severence Season 2. Dylan G. (Zach Cherry) ends up in (the weirdest) romantic triangle between his innie, his outie, and his wife Gretchen (Merritt Wever); Irving (John Turturro) tried to put aside his outie’s true mission of exposing Lumon and the severed floor but ultimately couldn’t ignore his investigative nature to the point that his innie exposed Helena Eagan masquerading as Helly, and paid the ultimate price. Helly’s story of self-conflict requires little explanation, as it went so far as to provide two of Severance‘s steamiest (and only) love scenes, which only further boggle the mind when you consider them.

Even secondary characters like Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman), Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette), and Ms. Huang (Sarah Bock), fit neatly under the thematic umbrella of self-conflict. Millchick arguably had the most understated yet impactful arc, with all the socio-political implications of his complicated character conveyed in a single unnerving portrait. Millchick tries to be the ‘higher being’ that Kier and Lumon require of him, but by the end, when trapped, he shows he still very much has some ‘beast’ inside of him. Cobel (arguably the weakest and most extraneous storyline in Season 2) also had to confront her own duality, questioning whether she is now still the loyal acolyte of Kier’s teachings or finally ready to independently be the brilliant and capable woman the Eagan family recruited and exploited. Even poor Ms. Huang ended up getting a harsh lesson about denying her childhood in favor of success and advancement, and how painful the loss of that innocence can be (RIP ring game).

[RELATED: Is Severance Ending With Season 3?]

All in all, Severance Season 2 was a slow-burn and deeper dive into who these characters are (across their full spectrum of existence), in order to payoff a finale where many (if not all) of these characters are set for some kind of internal and/or external civil war in Season 3. Like so many sophomore seasons of TV (see: Game of Thrones, Invincible) it will inevitably (and fairly) be criticized for feeling slower or more “boring,” but hopefully the slog will have been worth it – foundational building for the next chapter of the story to deliver fulfilling drama and conflict that will pull us all back to the edge of our seats, instead of having us ponder our way into a nap.

Severance Season 1 and 2 are streaming on Apple TV+.

The post Severance: What Was Season 2 Even About? Explained appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The full-length trailer for Andor Season 2 has finally arrived, and like the Rebel Alliance, it’s just in time. The 80-second preview dropped on Monday morning, almost exactly four weeks before the season premiere on Tuesday, April 22nd on Disney+. It has the scope and feel of a real cinematic trailer, which is fitting for Andor Season 2’s unique, movie-like release schedule. It also suits the rising stakes of the story, as we can see the Rebellion growing desperate as the Death Star takes shape. Fans have been dying for this trailer all year, and some were even beginning to fear it would never show up. Now that it’s here, it has set the bar high for this next batch of episodes.

The new Andor trailer gives us some sweeping views, with enough CGI to assure us that this series is getting the budget it needs. The snippets of dialogue here highlight the growing resolve of the Rebels, particularly Cassian and Bix, who sound almost frantic in their desire to win this war no matter the cost. On the other hand, about halfway through the trailer, we hear an equally confident Orson Krennic warn that “resistance is absurd,” just as we get our first look at K-2SO, who is casually battering an enemy out of his way.

Here, the Rebels also finally understand what they’re up against, and it’s easy to see how this desperation could bleed right into the start of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Andor is a prequel that started five years before the events of Rogue One, and it has fleshed out the people and mission of the Rebel Alliance quite a bit already, and they are clearly taking some big swings to finish that story here.

[RELATED: The Mandalorian & Grogu Reveals New Characters Set to Appear in the Film]

In the early days of Andor, series creator and writer Tony Gilroy had mentioned hopes of extending the show to five seasons, with one season for each year leading up to Rogue One. However, back in 2022, he spoke at the Star Wars Celebration, saying that the scale the story had taken on made it impossible to go on for that long. Instead, he devised a plan to wrap it all up in one more season.

In an age when many TV seasons are shrinking to eight or even six episodes each, Andor is coming back strong with a full 12 episodes. On top of that, they’re dropping in four bursts — three episodes on April 22nd, three more on April 29th, three more on May 6th, and the final three on May 13th. Assuming each episode is between 40 minutes and an hour long as before, that means we are essentially getting four back-to-back Star Wars movies next month, all straight to streaming.

From what we’ve seen so far, the show can certainly live up to that scope. Andor Season 2 premieres on Tuesday, April 22nd on Disney+. Season 1 is streaming there now.

The post Andor Season 2 Trailer Sees the Death Star Looming Large in Star Wars Series appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Charlie Cox sustained a finger injury while filming the legendary hallway fight sequence from the first season of Netflix’s Daredevil, a scene that has since become one of the most celebrated moments in superhero television history. The actor shared this behind-the-scenes revelation during a recent GQ “Action Replay” video where he and co-star Vincent D’Onofrio rewatched pivotal moments from the original series. The corridor fight, which appeared in the second episode of Season 1, revolutionized action choreography in streaming television through its ambitious one-shot approach and gritty realism, setting a standard that subsequent Marvel productions have tried to match. As the actor reprises his role in Disney+’s Daredevil: Born Again, his candid reflections offer fans new insight into the physical challenges behind creating one of the character’s defining moments.

“We shot it very early on,” Cox explained. “It’s the end of Episode 2, but I was still playing catch up in terms of all of the stunts and getting used to doing some martial arts. I was not really in a position to do much of that particular fight because it all takes place as an oner [aka one-shot sequence]. In one of the early takes, I swung a punch and caught my little finger on the pole. I got injured in that fight scene.” While talking about his physical challenges during Season 1 of Daredevil, Cox also praised his stunt double, Chris Brewster. “And Chris is, like, doing a hundred moves over the course of the day.” 

[RELATED: All 5 Daredevil Hallway Fight Scenes Ranked From Worst to Best]

“Do you know that microwave that hits the guy in the head?” Cox asked D’Onofrio during the scene, highlighting a moment Daredevil uses a microwave to hit a goon in his head. “I’ve signed about 10 microwaves.” This offhand comment reveals the extraordinary level of detail that fans have celebrated from the sequence, with some viewers chasing Cox during conventions for the actor to sign their microwaves.

Daredevil: Born Again Continues the Legacy of Charlie Cox’s Man Without Fear

Daredevil: Born Again, which premiered on March 4, 2025, on Disney+, directly continues the story established in the Netflix series while integrating the titular character more firmly into the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe. The revival arrives after a substantial creative overhaul that saw Marvel Studios canonizing the Netflix productions, replacing the original showrunners, and revamping the series’ approach midway through production. After filming nearly six episodes under the previous creative team, Marvel brought in Dario Scardapane, a writer from Netflix’s The Punisher, to serve as showrunner. In addition to Cox and D’Onofrio, the revival has brought back several original cast members, including Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page), Elden Henson (Foggy Nelson), and Wilson Bethel (Benjamin Poindexter/Bullseye), creating a stronger sense of continuity between the two iterations.

The first four episodes of the nine-episode first season have already established significant story developments, with the show picking up several years after the Netflix finale. The series opens with the shocking murder of Foggy Nelson at the hands of Bullseye, leading Murdock to temporarily abandon his Daredevil persona. Meanwhile, Wilson Fisk has been elected mayor of New York City, creating a new power dynamic between the longtime adversaries. Daredevil: Born Again has received positive reviews due to its mature tone and character-driven storytelling, with Cox and D’Onofrio’s performances drawing particular praise.

New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again premiere on Disney+ every Tuesday.

Do you think Daredevil: Born Again will have a scene that surpasses Netflix’s iconic hallway brawl? Let us know in the comments!

The post Marvel’s Charlie Cox Reveals Injury Sustained During Daredevil’s Most Iconic Scene appeared first on ComicBook.com.

American Dad! recently celebrated its 20th anniversary not long ago, so now is the best time to look back at it all to see just how far it’s come since that very first season. American Dad’s future is currently in flux as although it’s still one of the most popular animated series that fans love to see time and time again, it’s been caught in between networks in some notable ways in the last few years. But it’s all because American Dad caught fans’ attention early on, and never really has let go since that initial premiere all those years ago

American Dad! first premiered with Fox back in 2005, and 20 years later is now one of Seth MacFarlane’s biggest animated franchise. Family Guy might be getting all of the credit, but American Dad is just as (and in some cases) even more popular. When looking all the way back at Season 1 after all this time, there are a few gems that continue to stand out as major episodes that fans won’t want to miss if by chance they’re jumping in for the very first time.

A Smith in the Hand (Season 1, Episode 9)

American Dad! really took some time to find its right footing, and that includes the balance between its conservative atmosphere and its humor. With a very politically charged and closed off Stan Smith working for the CIA, it also meant there was still quite a lot to explore when it came to Stan…exploring himself. The final episode of the series’ initial production run was “A Smith in the Hand,” and didn’t amount to much more than a series of self-pleasure jokes but it was hilarious seeing how it all got there. It was only the tip of the kind of Stan we’d see in the years the followed. The first sign of the real wackiness to come.

Bullocks to Stan (Season 1, Episode 8)

Speaking of wacky characters, there aren’t many in American Dad that have gone as wild as Avery Bullock over the years. He started off from a very peculiar place already as well as Stan’s boss who was also very sexually active. This would later morph into degeneracy as Bullock started to have much more complicated vices and fetishes, but the early kernel was there in his brief tryst with Hailey in “Bullocks to Stan.” It also leads to a point where Stan and Avery have a huge fight in a diner, only for Bullock to pass it off as part of his grand plan. An episode like this just hits so much better in retrospect.

Francine’s Flashback (Season 1, Episode 4)

What made American Dad! stand out from Family Guy so early into its run wasn’t its focus on politics, however, it was Stan’s access to all sorts of gadgets that would ultimately run afoul of the rest of his family. The first truly example of this came with “Francine’s Flashback” as it revealed that Stan had actually been secretly wiping out Francine’s memory when he forgot their anniversary for the past 20 years. Naturally, things go wrong and she reverts back to when they first met…only to reveal that their origin story started off in an expectedly wild way. Not all of the episode ages that well, however, so just be aware of that going back in.

Roger ‘n Me (Season 1, Episode 20)

Stan and Roger’s friendship is one of the main pillars of American Dad’s history, and it really got started here. When the two of them connect on a deeper level than ever before as Stan realizes he doesn’t have any other friends, this leads to a wild result where Francine needs a dangerous (and expensive) operation while Steve and Haley are trying to date a pair that they think are their soulmates.

It’s an episode where no one makes the right decision, and end up with a terrible result at the end of it all. But because this is American Dad, it’s also the kind of ending that just makes sense for the series. And this episode helped to launch a dynamic we would see flesh out in all sorts of ways in the years to come.

Helping Handis (Season 1, Episode 21)

Now not every episode of American Dad‘s first season ages well, but this is one of those cases where that outdated nature of the idea actually amplifies how well it works today. When Steve grows a pair of breasts thanks to some special CIA level steroids, he ends up becoming very popular at school for some terrible reasons. To counter this, Stan takes some of his own to grow even larger breasts to prove to Steve that popularity was truly fleeting. It leads to one of the most audacious visuals in American Dad‘s history, and that really helped to launch the series into a whole new atmosphere.

That wasn’t all though as Francine’s story ended up being even wilder as she was a back alley doctor for a gang, and talked them into robbing a bank (immediately resulting in their deaths) in order to save herself from all of it. It was one of those ideas that really wouldn’t work in how American Dad is currently written, and really helps to emphasize how that first season used those rougher edges to succeed.

The post These Are the Best 5 Episodes of American Dad Season 1 appeared first on ComicBook.com.

If there’s one thing Netflix loves more than spending absurd amounts of money on one-off action flicks, it’s cancelling shows with small but dedicated audiences (according to their metrics, which, frankly, we still don’t totally understand). The fact that Netflix’s ‘ended’ series page on Wikipedia just keeps scrolling is a stark reminder that no show on the platform is safe. With that in mind, here are 7 underrated Netflix shows, you probably forgot about, either because of the passage of time or because, learning of a premature cancellation, you wrote the show off, never to return. Still, while a lot of Netflix shows don’t get to deliver complete arcs or a total ending, there is really still nothing like them.

Netflix throws an absurd amount of money at its originals, and it seems willing to gamble at least a season on good popcorn TV — and even more, if you’re lucky. Some of the shows on here are fluff, while others are more substantive than ‘just’ popcorn, but they’ve all suffered from slipping off the algorithm’s — and therefore most Netflix users’ — radar. These are shows well worth a revisit and a reminder to the world that they existed, even if for just a moment.

Sense8

This is a show Netflix would only greenlight early in its content creation days (well, Apple might consider it nowadays), Sense8 united the sci-fi dreams and aesthetics of The Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski. Straczynski had done this before, of course, with Babylon 5, and he’d spent the years in between pitching more shows and writing notable comic books. For The Wachowskis, in many ways, Sense8, with its queer joy and love, was a key part of their coming out story as trans women. It’s a wild show, from start to finish, and even though it had a severely abbreviated run (just 2 seasons between 2015-2018), it seemed to have limitless potential. It seems to occupy a space in TV science fiction all its own, and the science was never really the focus. The relationships between the ‘sensates’, though, were. Of all the early Netflix shows, it’s the one worth giving one more watch to.

Frontier

Frontier (2016-2018) was a co-production between Discovery Canada and Netflix. It was a show that claimed to be a historical retelling of the fur trade in the late… 18th? early 19th? century? Historical accuracy and realism weren’t exactly Frontier‘s bag, ultimately; a pulpy sensibility brought to an era usually treated with accuracy and reverence, was. Frontier looked at Turn: Washington’s Spies and John Adams and even Outlander and said… we have Jason Momoa and all of Canada’s supporting actors, so we’re going to have fun with this.

Frontier might’ve even run a few more years, if Apple TV+ hadn’t wooed Momoa away with their own wacky show, See. Frontier had something for everyone; if you want sexy young Brits screaming at each other, you got that. If you want Momoa handsome and brooding and seemingly always injured, you got that. If you wanted to see two of Canada’s finest supporting actors play My Fair Lady with one of the young Brits and actually portray a gay couple while doing so… sure! Frontier lacked sense most of the time, but it never lacked sensation. That’s something at least.

Santa Clarita Diet

There aren’t enough horror sitcoms. And if the couple at the heart of it all are living zombie and suburban real estate mom Drew Barrymore and her devoted husband Timothy Olyphant (after his Justified run)… well, that makes sense! Santa Clarita Diet shocked at first for its ready handling of the gore that comes when you become an undead being who craves nothing but human flesh, but it quickly became clear that there was love under all the blood and guts. Santa Clarita Diet started in 2017, along with several other more comedic entries on this list, proving that Netflix could do comedy just as well as drama… maybe better, actually?

GLOW

GLOW ran from its glorious debut in 2017 to its wrongful cancellation mid-pandemic and mid-production in 2020. For loyal fans, it will never be forgotten, but considering audiences as a whole were deprived of a proper ending… its cultural cache over all might be slipping. But GLOW was one of the funniest, most feminist shows on TV during its run, and it gave Alison Brie far more to do than Community‘s Annie Edison did. It also let Betty Gilpin kick butt, and introduced us to a collective of character actresses with incredible range. It understood that sometimes, you have to fight fire with fire, especially if you’re a rag-tag band of glorious lady wrestlers.

Dear White People

When the 2014 film version of Dear White People debuted, it was a bit of a sensation. The Netflix series wisely continued the story of the original film (even if that meant recasting original stars Tessa Thompson and Tyler James Williams) and brought back director and writer Justin Simien, too. Winchester University was an ideal setting for a full season of comedy, and Dear White People got four in total, starting in 2017 and ending in 2021. Of the three 2017 Netflix comedies on this list, it’s the one that got the longest run. It was often funny and biting in the best ways, a true send-up of millennial campus life, an era that’s now long gone.

Maybe the series disappeared from cultural memory once thanks to a two year delay between its third and fourth seasons… and the fact that campus life wasn’t quite the same feeling after 2020. One can only hope Simien, who recently directed The Haunted Mansion remake, does get more chances to make comedies in the future. While he seemingly lost out on future Disney+ series Lando, he does have a Star Trek comedy in development.

Giri/Haji

Netflix has a lot of “one and dones” on its roster; while many of them are considered miniseries, Giri/Haji (2020) wasn’t one. A Japanese/British crime thriller, it was a co-production between the BBC and Netflix, and apparently… this initial team-up didn’t go very far. It was a dual language show, set in both London and Tokyo, and maybe it was just too much for the average Netflix viewer. Critics loved it, but that wasn’t enough. It is a thrilling show, led well by Kelly Macdonald and Takehiro Hira. One hopes it will always get some remembrance as a daring experiment done well, which just debuted during one of the toughest times for a global production to really take off.

Locke & Key

Locke & Key got the three seasons its creators wanted. It was often overshadowed by Stranger Things, and it might always be, but it was a compelling enough comic book adaptation for its time. It premiered right before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down, and that might have encouraged its survival. While a dark story, its young cast brought plenty of life to the mysteries of the first season, and it got better in its second season, even if the third and final season didn’t get rave reviews. For a story locked in development hell since 2010, it’s a remarkable survival story.

Are there any underrated Netflix shows you think we missed? Let us know in the comments!

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The Powerpuff Girls are gearing up to return to TV screens for the first time in years with a new time slot coming to Cartoon Network. Warner Bros. Animation has gone to great lengths to celebrate some of their Cartoon Network classic shows in unexpected ways. With the likes of the special Checkered Past block with Adult Swim bringing back some of these older shows for a regular schedule for the first time in many years, there are a few notable series that fans have been hoping to see make their return to TV too but have yet to do so.

The Powerpuff Girls have been getting a lot of buzz online lately thanks to the recent leaking of the cancelled live-action pilot, and interest in the original animated series is at an all time high as a result. Thankfully, it looks like there’s going to be a much easier way to watch episodes of the classic series as @CNSchedules on X has spotted that The Powerpuff Girls will be returning to Cartoon Network on Saturday, April 12th as part of a new morning lineup that also includes a returning Steven Universe to the network as well

The Powerpuff Girls Returns to Cartoon Network

The schedule for The Powerpuff Girls‘ return to Cartoon Network (which thankfully doesn’t look to be teasing the reboot from 2016 either, which was panned by fans and critics for good reason) on Saturday, April 12th breaks down as such:

• 9:00AM – Teen Titans Go!
• 9:30AM – Iyanu
• 10:00AM – Steven Universe
• 10:30AM – The Powerpuff Girls

It’s a great time for The Powerpuff Girls to return to Cartoon Network as it’s about to be much harder to stream the classic episodes too. Although the series is still going to be available with Max for the foreseeable future, The Powerpuff Girls is going to be leaving Netflix’s streaming service on April 2nd. With the series returning to Cartoon Network not long after, it’s going to be the perfect time to shift up your habits and check it out on Saturday mornings.

The Powerpuff Girls last had a regular place on Cartoon Network’s schedule back in 2023 to celebrate the animated series’ 25th anniversary, but this return is a little more notable despite the fanfare behind. Because unlike some of the other Cartoon Network classics airing with the network again, The Powerpuff Girls hasn’t been put into one of the Adult Swim time slots.

RELATED: Top 10 The Powerpuff Girls Episodes, Ranked

What’s Next for The Powerpuff Girls?

The Powerpuff Girls might never be launching a live-action series, but there are still new projects for the franchise now in the works. It’s important to note that the classic will be returning to Cartoon Network specifically as it’s a good indication of the future plans that Warner Bros. Animation could have in the works. It was announced that original series creator Craig McCracken would be returning for a new revival of The Powerpuff Girls (and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends), but no new updates have been announced as of the time of this publication.

Working with Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe (The Amazing World of Gumball), Sam Register, president of Cartoon Network Studios, Warner Bros. Animation and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe said the following about the reboot’s initial announcement, “The Hanna-Barbera homecoming of Craig was an opportunity we could not pass up…Along with his unparalleled sense of fun and imagination, he’s bringing two of his greatest works in ‘The Powerpuff Girls’ and ‘Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends,’ and we are so excited for these characters to be a part of the new legacy taking shape at the studio.”

HT – @CNSchedules on X

The post The Powerpuff Girls Returning to TV for the First Time in Years appeared first on ComicBook.com.

[Warning: This article contains Daredevil: Born Again season 1 episode 1 spoilers.] “His heart is still beating.” That’s what Matt Murdock repeatedly told himself from behind bars as his heightened senses heard his lawyer and friend, Foggy Nelson, be stabbed to death in the pages of 2006’s Daredevil #82. After Brian Michael Bendis’ character-defining Daredevil run ended with the Man Without Fear imprisoned in Ryker’s alongside his arch-nemesis — Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime — Ed Brubaker’s six-part “The Devil in Cell-Block D” began with the shocking death of a character who had been a part of the book since its very first issue in 1964.

Just as shocking was the death of Elden Henson’s Foggy Nelson in the opening minutes of Daredevil: Born Again, which saw the assassin Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) shoot and kill the attorney at law during a night out with partners Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll). Suited up as Daredevil, Matt battled Bullseye as he listened to Foggy’s heart slow — and once his heart finally stopped beating, threw Foggy’s killer off a roof.

Bullseye survived his four-story plummet to the street below, but Foggy bled out and died. Or did he? The official Daredevil Instagram account cites artist Michael Lark’s panels from Daredevil #82 as inspiration for the “Heaven’s Half Hour” episode of Born Again, in which Foggy is apparently killed.

RELATED: Daredevil’s Shadowland Made Matt Murdock the Deadly Devil of Hell’s Kitchen

Fans were blindsided by Foggy’s death, which happened onscreen and resulted in Matt trading in his horned Daredevil cowl for a braille obituary program from Foggy’s funeral (which happened off-screen). It seems that Foggy Nelson is dead and buried, never to return… except that’s exactly what happened in the comics.

Just issues into Brubaker’s run, Daredevil #87 concluded the “Devil in Cell-Block D” arc by revealing that Foggy survived the attempt on his life when he was locked in a cell and shanked by prison inmates. (Although Matt heard Foggy’s heart stop beating as he bled out and died, it was revealed later Foggy was resuscitated in an ambulance.) Matt — who had been arrested by the FBI after his alleged secret identity as Daredevil leaked in the press — even attended Foggy’s funeral in handcuffs.

But Daredevil #88, “The Secret Life of Foggy Nelson,” revealed the truth: that FBI higher-ups had Foggy recovering from his injuries in protective custody under the assumed name “Everett Williams” (a homage to Daredevil co-creator Bill Everett, who was born William Blake Everett).

Because Foggy was targeted by Daredevil’s enemies, he was whisked out of surgery and into witness relocation. Foggy tried to contact The Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich and alert Matt (who had already escaped prison with the Punisher’s help and was overseas chasing Foggy’s killer), but the Feds stashed Foggy in a safehouse in the suburbs. Who was it that targeted Foggy Nelson?

Vanessa Fisk, the Kingpin’s terminally-ill wife. In Brubaker and Lark’s Daredevil #92, it was revealed that Vanessa Fisk faked Foggy’s death and had her FBI connections stash him in witness protection in an attempt to get a wrathful Matt to kill her husband in prison.

RELATED: Daredevil, Punishment and Pain: An Elegy for Foggy Nelson

After she exposed the FBI’s “Framegate” scandal to put Daredevil’s secret identity back in the bottle, Matt returned home to Hell’s Kitchen and heard a familiar sound: Foggy Nelson’s heartbeat.

New episodes of Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again air Tuesday nights on Disney+.

The post Daredevil: Born Again May Have Just Hinted the Biggest Fan Theory Is True appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Simpsons is gearing up to return for the second half of Season 36 later this month, and now fans have gotten to see the first look at its midseason premiere episode. The Simpsons has been going through a lot of schedule shake ups in the past year as Fox continues to shuffle their Animation Domination block on Sunday evenings, and this past year saw some of the biggest shake ups yet between Family Guy and The Simpsons as the two have been swapping places for the past few weeks. Now The Simpsons is finally getting ready for its own comeback.

The Simpsons was not one of the many Fox animated programs that made its comeback during the midseason start to the schedule this year, and it was later revealed that the series would then make its return at a much later date in the Spring. Although this led to some awkwardness among fans of both animated series, The Simpsons is finally on deck for its own comeback on Sunday, March 30th at 8:00PM EST. Check out the first look at its midseason premiere below.

What to Know for The Simpsons’ Midseason Premiere

The Simpsons Season 36 will be kicking off with Episode 12 of the series when it returns to Fox on Sunday, March 30th at 8:00PM EST. Titled “The Flandshees of Innersimpson,” the episode has been teased to feature Jane Kaczmarek and Rachel Bloom in guest spot appearances. As for what the episode is about, it’s also been teased that it will involve “Bart dipping his toe into the world of celebrity DJ-ing, and Homer finally pushes Flanders too far.” The latter half of the description makes a lot of sense considering the title of the episode apes The Banshees of Inisherin, which was a feature film that featured Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two friends who no longer spent time together.

The guest spot for the episode also tease a return from Jane Kaczmarek’s recurring judge character, Judge Constance Harm. After first making her debut with the animated series back in Season 13’s “The Parent Rap,” she has been playing a fairly recurring role as The Simpsons often found themselves at the center of some major court cases over the years since. Her most recent appearance was back in Season 34’s “One Angry Lisa” for example, so this episode might have a court case in it too.

RELATED: Sorry Disney+, This Is Actually the Best Order to Watch The Simpsons

How to Catch Up With The Simpsons

With The Simpsons making its return for Season 36 in a little over a week from the time of this publication, it’s now the best time to catch up with everything that has been released thus far. You can now find the first 35 seasons of the animated series streaming exclusively with Disney+. To make revisiting the episodes even easier, Disney+ even recently launched a brand new streaming channel with the service that will be airing all of its episodes in order on a 24/7 schedule in a continuous loop.

If you wanted to catch up with the first 11 episodes of The Simpsons Season 36 released last Fall, you can now find all of these episodes streaming with Hulu. They will also be offering the latest episodes after their air with Fox on Sunday evenings, so it’s the best way to keep up with the most up-to-date releases for the long running series. As it fast approaches the 800th episode milestone, it’s going to be bigger than ever before with more ways to watch in the near future.

The post The Simpsons Reveals First Look at 2025 Premiere appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The superhero genre is one of the biggest – if not the biggest – in movies and TV. Back when they weren’t even being adapted and only existed in comic books, they were already a huge deal. Now, in 2025, we all know that just one Marvel Cinematic Universe movie can easily turn into yet another record-breaking hit. There was a time not too long ago when the pressure was building, with people feeling that the whole heroes vs. villains thing was becoming oversaturated. But it looks like everything’s going back to how it used to be – or at least, that’s what all the fans are hoping for.

When The Avengers hit theaters in 2012, it kicked off a massive era. With it came the unwavering loyalty of a massive audience and a fandom that, although it had existed long before, exploded in size and passion. To this day, it just keeps growing, building traditions, making memes, freaking out together, and coming up with a million wild theories. This community has been going strong for over a decade, and even now, there are things that only MCU fans truly get.

No Middle Ground Feedback in the MCU Fandom

Every fan knows there’s no middle ground when it comes to MCU movies and shows – just like everyone knows the expectations for these productions are insanely high. It’s normal for huge fandoms to have clashing opinions, but it’s rare to hear balanced feedback that actually weighs the strengths and weaknesses of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, or Captain America: Brave New World, for example. Before 2019, this wasn’t as intense, but Avengers: Endgame set the bar so high that every movie after it was bound to struggle.

This isn’t exactly new, though. The backlash was so massive that even now, most fans either love or completely trash whatever Marvel Studios puts out. Let’s face it: when it’s good, the praise is through the roof, but one tiny flaw in the script or CGI? Instant flood of criticism.

The Collective Trauma of Avengers: Infinity War

[RELATED – Every MCU Movie Ranked From Worst to Best (According to CinemaScore)]

The four Avengers films have been incredible, but there’s no denying that the last two completely shook audiences. Infinity War, in particular, was a turning point for the MCU, leaving a deep and pretty traumatic mark. Sure, Tony and Natasha’s deaths in Endgame are still a touchy subject for fans, but losing half the heroes at the end of a movie, all at once? That was pure devastation. The helplessness of watching Thanos snap his fingers created a worldwide, collective emotional breakdown. The impact of the film went beyond just the story itself – it took a whole year for fans to even begin forgiving the Russo brothers.

Watching beloved characters like Bucky, Wanda, T’Challa, Groot, Doctor Strange, and so many others vanish into dust out of nowhere still haunts fans to this day. But Peter? Terrified, clinging to Tony, begging for help? That scene hit on a whole different level. Even now, it feels like something we’ve never fully recovered from. After the movie dropped, every fan needed a long moment just to process the sheer weight of what had just happened.

Iconic Dialogue That Became Jokes

“On your left,” “Dormammu, I’ve come to bargain,” “I can do this all day,” “We have a Hulk,” “Who the hell is Bucky?” – just a few examples of how iconic the writing and, more importantly, the performances in the MCU have been. Some of these lines were only said once, yet they transcended their original moments, becoming memes and inside jokes within the fandom. Quotes that were originally packed with emotion and drama have been reinterpreted in hilarious ways, turning into some of the most well-known running gags in the community.

To put it in perspective, this has gone so far that if you don’t have at least half the lines from the Guardians meeting Tony, Peter, and Stephen in space memorized – or Thor struggling to activate the Quinjet – then, do you even know the MCU? It’s just another testament to how deeply connected fans have become to these characters over the years.

Legendary Quotes and Habits from the Cast

Just like the fans, the MCU cast has had their fair share of fun. Especially during the studio’s golden age – when everything revolved around the Avengers – the actors did an avalanche of interviews, and in the age of the internet, those clips spread like wildfire. Mark Ruffalo accidentally dropping spoilers for Endgame while Don Cheadle panicked next to him; Benedict Cumberbatch acting as Tom Holland’s personal spoiler filter; Anthony Mackie constantly roasting Sebastian Stan; Chris Evans’ absolutely chaotic laugh; and Robert Downey Jr. casually slipping into Tony Stark mode – all became legendary moments that fans never let go of.

Some interview lines even turned into inside jokes, like Paul Rudd naming Thor’s hammer “Jonathan.” And who could forget Mackie comparing himself to Cinderella and hitting up Chris Evans for 20 bucks? These moments feel uniquely MCU – almost like every piece of this wildly successful franchise just clicks together perfectly.

The Milestone That Was Spider-Man: No Way Home

Deadpool & Wolverine certainly shattered records, but when it comes to pure fan service and absolute mind-blowing moments, no movie did it better than Spider-Man: No Way Home. Theaters were packed, and the crowd’s reaction to Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s appearances was so loud that you could barely hear their first lines. Even before the movie dropped, the rumors were out of control, and if there’s one lesson every MCU fan learned from that experience, it’s this: never trust what the cast says about future projects – anyone could be lying.

No Way Home made MCU history, pulling in nearly $2 billion at the box office. And while its success was undeniable, no one outside the fandom will ever truly grasp just how massive that moment was. It wasn’t just a movie – it was an event, a defining milestone for the superhero genre and the multiverse narrative, all while uniting entire generations of Spider-Man fans.

Crazy Theories That Became Famous

The MCU has always been a breeding ground for wild theories, and some have reached “classic” status within the fandom – either because they went viral or because they actually made sense. Long before certain twists were revealed in the movies and shows, fans were already speculating about hidden connections, secret characters, and future plotlines. Some of the most talked-about theories included a Venom prequel back in 2017, Tony’s arc reactor secretly being an Infinity Stone, Thanos resurrecting major villains, and even Stan Lee being Uatu.

For years, these and countless other theories have circulated all over the internet, with content creators dissecting every frame to explain the most convincing ones. This kind of speculation has basically become a geek ritual – it’s what makes the audience truly immerse themselves in the franchise rather than just passively watching. The fact that some of these have become so legendary that they’re practically MCU folklore is one of the coolest things about the fandom.

The Ritual of Waiting for Post-Credit Scenes

Maybe this isn’t as much of a thing anymore, since the MCU’s massive popularity has broken the bubble and made a lot more people aware of how it all works. But how many times have you gone to see a superhero movie and been the only one in your group still sitting through the credits? It’s a tradition that started from day one and has basically turned into a ritual. If you’re a Marvel fan, you have to stay and watch – no matter what, even if it’s just a throwaway scene like in Guardians of the Galaxy.

What’s funny is that this habit has spread so much that now people expect any movie, no matter the genre, to have a post-credits scene. Marvel started this. And even today, it still feels like a little reward for the most dedicated fans. Sure, they usually tease what’s next in the universe, but they also fuel speculation and keep the theory train rolling. If post-credits scenes aren’t one of those things only an MCU fan truly gets, they’re definitely a prime example of what it means to be an MCU fan.

Easter Eggs from the Comics

Everyone knows the MCU takes its own path, separate from the comics. But the comic book easter eggs? Those are gold. They make fans feel like they’re part of an exclusive club, catching little details that others might miss. Whether it’s a quick glimpse at an iconic object, a setting pulled straight from the panels, or a famous catchphrase snuck into a scene, these references remind us just how deeply the movies stay connected to their roots. And it’s one of the most rewarding things about being a fan.

Wolverine rocking his classic yellow suit in Deadpool & Wolverine; Wanda and Vision’s spot-on Halloween costumes in WandaVision; the nod to Thor’s first-ever comic appearance in Thor: The Dark World; or even Rhodey’s phone playing the Invincible Iron Man theme in the first Iron Man movie – this is the kind of stuff that makes fans lose their minds. For many, finding an Easter egg isn’t just fun, it’s like uncovering hidden treasure.

Stan Lee’s Cameos

Before Stan Lee passed away, any chance the MCU got, there he was – making a cameo. Whether it was a quick one-liner or just a blink-and-you-miss-it appearance (especially in the Spider-Man films), every time he showed up, it brought a smile to fans’ faces. His cameos were always packed with humor, but today, they carry an immense sentimental weight. With Lee, we weren’t just seeing a fun Easter egg – we were witnessing the heart and legacy of Marvel itself.

More than just one of the main visionary minds behind the comics, Lee became a living symbol of the Marvel fandom. His presence in the films wasn’t just a running gag – it was a reminder of Marvel’s history, a tribute to its roots, and a piece of the franchise’s identity. Seeing him pop up on screen, sometimes even interacting with the main characters, was always a special moment. He produced many films, but in the eyes of fans, he wasn’t just a creator – he was the God of Marvel.

Symbolic Numbers Hidden Across Productions

Numbers have always held a special, symbolic significance within the MCU, appearing in subtle but meaningful ways across various productions. Who doesn’t recognize the iconic “3000” immortalized by Tony Stark? It has become synonymous with affection and is proudly repeated by the fan base. Along with it, numbers like 42 and 616 also carry meanings far beyond just being a simple count, appearing multiple times in the studio’s films and series.

Each time these numbers show up, they’re carefully analyzed and interpreted as intentional elements, reinforcing Marvel’s commitment to maintaining a cohesive universe full of intricate details. This is one of the unique aspects of the MCU, almost like an Easter egg, but more than just a nod to fans. Compared to other franchises like DC or Star Wars, which may use numbers in a more structured or functional way, the MCU integrates them in a manner that goes beyond homage or fan service. They’re woven into the narrative so seamlessly that, even if they aren’t the main focus, they add layers to the world and keep fans engaged at all times.

The post 10 Things Only Real MCU Fans Will Understand appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Rod Serling’s brilliant, often powerful The Twilight Zone has inspired any number of prominent directors over the years. It makes sense why, as the episodes were often inventive, politically charged, and more often than not came equipped with a surprising twist. And, throughout five seasons and 156 episodes, there were some stone-cold winners. Episodes that, even six decades later, hold a tremendous amount of narrative power. That said, not all of them were winners. In fact, The Twilight Zone could be something of a mixed bag. It was at its strongest when it was aiming a lens at society or trying to catch the audience off-guard and at its worst when it was trying to be, well, funny.

What follows are the episodes that fall firmly in the former category. As far as IMDb voters are concerned, these are the best of the best. Let’s see if you agree.

10) “The Shelter” (Season 3, Episode 3) – 8.6

Some great Twilight Zone episodes are light on supernatural and sci-fi elements. “The Shelter” has none. Like “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” (more on that later), it’s just about the selfish, violent core of human nature.

The episode follows physician Bill Stockton, who has been spending his spare time building a nuclear fallout shelter. When he, his family, his friends, and his neighbors all begin hearing a Civil Defense announcement about potential UFO sightings, those he once considered close to him begin showing their true colors.

9) “The Obsolete Man” (Season 2, Episode 29) – 8.6

Rocky‘s Burgess Meredith was always a terrific presence on The Twilight Zone. He infused his characters with a quirky charm and mousy nature that often made him the target for abuse by those around him. And like with “Time Enough at Last” (which we’ll get to), this was an absolute asset to “The Obsolete Man.”

Meredith stars as Romney Wordsworth, who is unfortunate enough to live within a futuristic totalitarian society. As a librarian, he is now on trial for being “obsolete.” After being found guilty, the man of faith (another strike against him in the atheist society) requests that he is executed by an assassin on national television. The Chancellor, who oversees the sham of a trial, visits Wordsworth in his cell, and the latter reveals that his manner of execution is a bomb, and the door to his cell is locked. As the clock continues to tick toward the explosive deadline, the Chancellor becomes more and more consumed by despair and, with the cameras rolling, screams that Wordsworth unlock the door “in the name of God.” This results in the Chancellor being put on trial and, fairly swiftly, beaten to death.

8) “It’s a Good Life” (Season 3, Episode 8) – 8.6

“It’s a Good Life” is such a terrific episode that it was one of the few adapted for Twilight Zone: The Movie (to lesser effect). It’s not easy to make one of an anthology horror series’ scariest villains a child, but thanks to the performance by Lost in Space‘s Bill Mumy, that’s exactly what Anthony Fremont is.

Fremont is a six-year-old with a firm hold over all those around him. He has various abilities, including telepathy. If someone in his small Ohio town so much as thinks that something he’s done is anything other than “good,” they suffer severe punishment. For instance, when a drunken resident of the town finally breaks down and berates Anthony, he gets turned into a jack-in-the-box. It’s an incredibly inventive episode, and like some of the other great Twilight Zone episodes, it’s about as nihilistic as they get.

7) “Living Doll” (Season 5, Episode 6) – 8.7

A major inspiration for the Child’s Play franchise’s Chucky, Talky Tina is one of the most iconic figures in The Twilight Zone‘s history. “Living Doll” isn’t the only episode of the show to feature a small inanimate object that apparently has life in it, but it is by far the best.

Starring Kojak and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service‘s Telly Savalas as infertile and rage-prone stepfather Erich Streator, the episode is focused on a three-person family that, in a way, becomes four. But whereas Erich’s wife and stepdaughter believe this little doll is a simple, cute toy, the newfound patriarch begins to suspect it harbors hostile intentions. And he’s right. But, by the time his wife comes around to believing him, it’s too late.

6) “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?” (Season 2, Episode 28) – 8.7

“Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?” is a sublime merger of The Twilight Zone‘s greatest elements. A look at paranoia? Check. A silly but not too silly tone? Check. A doozy of a twist? Two checks.

The narrative takes place in a single location: a diner. In that diner is a group of bus passengers, as the conditions have made it too difficult for the trip to continue for the time being. But that’s not why two state troopers have arrived. They’re here to follow up on a strange call about a crashed UFO. It seems the occupant of that UFO is also in the diner, and now the bus passengers are beginning to point fingers with increasing volatility. The troopers aren’t wrong … but there may be more than alien on the premises.

[RELATED –This Episode of The Twilight Zone Was Banned from TV for Over 50 Years]

5) “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” (Season 1, Episode 22) – 8.9

The definitive example of why The Twilight Zone is not only one of the scariest horror TV anthology series, but by far the most incisive, “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” is an all-timer. Maple Street could be any street in America, filled with people who are friendly on the surface but talkative when the doors are closed, and the blinds are drawn.

When strange occurrences become more frequent (e.g. simple things like blinking street lights), the once-peaceful occupants of this thin street in a small town begin grabbing for one another’s throats. Is it actually an alien invasion? As it so happens, yes, but it’s less an invasion and more a chuckle-producing experiment on human nature.

4) “Time Enough at Last” (Season 1, Episode 8) – 8.9

A great starter episode for any budding The Twilight Zone fan, “Time Enough at Last” is the ultimate episode when it comes to getting the viewer thinking. Featuring quite possibly the greatest performance of Burgess Meredith’s career, it’s an episode that carries impressively substantial narrative heft for just 22 minutes.

Meredith is Henry Bemis, a banker who spends most of his free time the same way he spends his time on the clock: reading. That is, when his boss isn’t on his case at work, or his domineering wife isn’t on his case at home. Getting lost in the written word is all Bemis wants to do. And, when he locks himself in the bank’s vault to do just that, a nuclear bomb goes off. With everyone he knows dead, he’ll now be able to read to his heart’s content. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the best eyesight in the world, so he’ll need his glasses to do that. Here’s hoping he doesn’t break those gla— Oops.

3) “To Serve Man” (Season 3, Episode 24) – 9.0

Featuring what may very well be the scariest ending of The Twilight Zone‘s run, the success of “To Serve Man” all hinges on a single double entendre. Thanks to a pitch-perfect tone and razor-sharp pacing, it stands as one of the series’ best episodes.

The Kanamit are an alien species who have just revealed themselves to us Earthlings. Their leader (played by 007 antagonist Jaws himself, Richard Kiel) addresses the people of Earth with what seem like noble intentions. In his hand is a book title To Serve Man. To understand just how the Kanamit intend to help Earth, the book will have to first be deciphered. Unfortunately, once that happens, it’s revealed just what this book is. It’s not a guidebook to altruism … it’s a cookbook.

2) “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” (Season 5, Episode 3) – 9.0

Still a creepy The Twilight Zone episode to this day, “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” is a great example of how the series was at its best when it confined itself to a single location. It’s the episode that springs to most people’s minds when they hear the title of the show and it makes sense it was adapted for Twilight Zone: The Movie (though, like with “It’s a Good Life,” to severely diminished effect).

William Shatner stars as Robert Wilson, an aviophobic man who has just been released from a mental health clinic. Alongside his wife, he’s currently on an airplane and, as the flight progresses, he finds himself tormented by a “gremlin.” Once the flight lands the audience is asking themselves the same question his wife is: Was it there or was it a mere figment of his imagination?

1) “Eye of the Beholder” (Season 2, Episode 6) – 9.1

A thematically stunning episode with much to say about how human beings perceive one another, “Eye of the Beholder” is without a doubt a timeless episode. Not so much because of the prosthetics in the closing moments (though they look pretty good given the restrained budgeting the series always faced), but because its message is one that will always be relevant.

The narrative follows Janet Tyler, who is in the process of receiving her eleventh physical alteration surgery. That’s the cap allowed by the futuristic society in which she lives. Unfortunately, once the bandages are removed, she finds that, to her peers, she’s still hideous. The viewer, however, sees a beautiful woman. It’s only when the doctor and nurses turn towards the camera that there’s reason to recoil.

The post These Are the 10 Highest Rated The Twilight Zone Episodes According to IMDB appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Apple TV+’s Severance presents viewers with the unsettling concept of the Severed Floor at Lumon Industries, where employees’ work memories are separated from their personal lives thanks to a surgically implanted chip. Each department within this sterile environment serves a specific function in Lumon’s mysterious operations. However, the true nature of their work often remains hidden from both the employees and viewers alike. Furthermore, the company’s compartmentalized structure intentionally keeps employees isolated, preventing them from understanding the full scope of their collective work and the ethical implications that would arise if they discovered the truth. That’s part of what makes the show so enticing, with Severance becoming Apple TV+’s viewed series as fans return every week to grab new pieces of the puzzle.

Season 2 of Severance substantially expanded our understanding of what happens behind those white corridors, revealing disturbing connections between seemingly unrelated departments and painting a clearer picture of Lumon’s true agenda. From data processing to wellness programs, each workspace is designed to reinforce corporate mythology while advancing Lumon’s experimental goals. Let’s review all we know about the departments Severance has already visited.

Macrodata Refinement (MDR)

Macrodata Refinement, where Mark Scout (Adam Scott) and his team work, appears to be a simple data processing department at first glance. Employees sit at computer terminals arranged in a cross formation, sorting mysterious numbers into digital bins based on how the figures make them “feel.” The work seems nonsensical, with the refiners grouping numbers into categories without understanding their significance or purpose. Season 2 reveals the disturbing truth behind MDR’s work: the files they process directly correspond to rooms on the Testing Floor where human subjects undergo psychological experimentation. 

When an MDR employee sorts numbers from files like “Wellington,” “Dranesville,” or “Allentown,” they’re actually creating or modifying artificial personalities that will be activated in test subjects on the Testing Floor. This means Mark has been unknowingly participating in his wife Gemma’s (Dichen Lachman) torture, as each completed file shapes a new traumatic experience one of her innies must endure.

Testing Floor

The Testing Floor, located below the main Severed Floor, reveals the true purpose of Lumon’s Severed Floor. This department houses human test subjects who undergo extreme psychological experimentation. The facility consists of a sterile environment with a hallway leading to various rooms named identically to the files processed by MDR. When test subjects like Gemma enter these rooms, their severance chips activate unique, room-specific personalities. Each personality exists solely within its designated environment and experiences a specifically designed form of stress or discomfort. 

[RELATED: 5 Major Questions We Have After Severance Season 2]

In Wellington, Gemma becomes a dental patient undergoing endless procedures. In Allentown, she writes Christmas thank-you notes until her hand cramps. Another room simulates a turbulent airplane ride, trapping her in perpetual fear. These agonizing experiences are meticulously designed to test the limits of the severance chip by determining how much trauma each artificial personality can endure before the barriers between consciousnesses begin to fail. Mr. Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) and Dr. Mauer (Robby Benson) monitor these tests, tracking whether “the severance barriers are holding” under various stressors.

Optics and Design (O&D)

Optics and Design was initially presented as a small department responsible for storing, maintaining, and rotating Lumon’s extensive collection of artwork — paintings said to represent the teaching of Lumon’s founder, Kier. However, the department harbors a significant secret. Behind a door within O&D lies a vast workspace containing rows of machines operated by dozens of employees. These workers manufacture various objects, including hatchets and watering cans, though their exact purpose remains unclear in for O&D workers. 

Season 2 of Severance reveals that the objects created in Optics and Design are sent down to the Testing Floor, meaning that this department supplies the test rooms with everything needed to recreate the agonizing experiences that human subjects must undergo. In addition, O&D also manufactures unique cards whose purpose we still don’t fully understand. During a flashback scene in Season 2 of Severance, Gemma solves a test sent to her by email, identifying a series of cards. That means O&D is also connected to Lumon’s activities outside the Severed Floor.

Mammalians Nurturable

Mammalians Nurturable is an oddly whimsical department where baby goats are raised in tiny pens under the care of Lumon employees. The pens are connected to a room covered in grassy hills, where the workers of Mammalians Nurturable mingle with their animals. In the second season finale, Severance reveals the goats are being raised for ritual sacrifice. When test subjects on the Testing Floor complete their purpose, they are killed in a ceremony that involves sacrificing a goat. Mr. Drummond explains that the animal must be entombed with the test subject to guide their spirit to Kier. This confirms Mammalians Nurturable serves a quasi-religious function connected to Lumon’s cult-like practices.

Choreography and Merriment

Introduced in the Severance Season 2 finale, Choreography and Merriment comprise a group of Lumon workers that function as a marching band. They play songs in rhythmic perfection while executing complex choreographies as an amusing reward for Mark S. after he completes the Cold Harbor file. Since this department is entirely dedicated to song and dance, they might also be behind the elaborate “waffle party” sequence, which combines food rewards with choreographed performances by masked figures representing Kier Eagan’s four tempers (woe, frolic, dread, and malice).

Administration

Administration serves as the command center for operations on the severed floor, housing both the Manager’s office and the Deputy Manager’s desk. Together, the Manager and Deputy Manager work to keep departments separate and innies subservient and compliant. The goal of Administration is to keep innies working to advance the experiments on the Testing Floor.

[RELATED: Severance Season 2 Actually Answered Many of the Show’s Biggest Mysteries (Even If You Didn’t Realize It)]

Security Office

The Security Office functions as the technological control center for the entire severed floor, monitoring and managing both the physical space and the severance system itself.  Access to this department requires a black security badge, highlighting its sensitive nature within Lumon’s hierarchy. This restricted area contains numerous visual security monitors displaying feeds from cameras throughout the facility, alongside specialized equipment used to interface with employees’ severance chips. The equipment housed here includes controls for the “Overtime Contingency,” a protocol that can temporarily awaken innie consciousnesses while employees are absent from the Severed Floor. In Season 2 of Severance, the Security Office room has been refurbished into the Outie Family Visitation Center, meaning the security equipment has been relocated somewhere else.

Perpetuity Wing

The Perpetuity Wing serves as a museum celebrating Lumon’s history and the legacy of its founder, Kier Eagan. Accessed via a staircase from the main Severed Floor, this subterranean area contains three main exhibits: a hall displaying current and former CEOs, pictures of smiles supposedly belonging to people Lumon helped, and a full-size replica of Kier Eagan’s house. The replica house contains artifacts from Eagan’s life, including his embroidered slippers, shaving kit, and early Lumon products, all displayed with reverence typically reserved for religious relics. The Perpetuity Wing also serves as the location for the coveted “waffle party,” where top MDR performers are rewarded with food and a special dance presentation.

Wellness Center

The Wellness Center provides a space where severed employees receive individualized sessions designed to reinforce their connection to Lumon while offering controlled emotional release. Initially run by Ms. Casey, the department has a comfortable waiting area and a distinctive treatment room accessed through doors marked “Enter” and “Exit.” While the Wellness sessions are said to be private, the therapy room contains a hidden camera that records both the Wellness Director and the employee, allowing the Administration to monitor these supposedly therapeutic interactions. After Ms. Casey is sent back to the Testing Floor at the end of the first season, the Wellness Center is deactivated, with its doors entirely barred.

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