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02/22/17 @ 4:20 pm EST
 One of the enduring mysteries of this season of Star Wars Rebels has been that of the Bendu, and those little "Force owls," the Convorees, that seem to hang around him. To some surprise, some of those Convorees were even watching when Sabine was training to fight with the Darksaber in "Trials of the Darksaber," something many fans sought significance in. In this case, though, it seems the Convorees aren't much more than just owls. "I don't want to take away any of the magic," EP Dave Filoni said with a laugh to ComicBook.com. "When [Melchior] Zwyer was directing that episode and we had everything figured out and all the staging, he put some of those birds in the foreground, and I was like, 'Oh, you know every time we do that everybody thinks it means something, right?'" Zwyer argued that the shot looked better with the birds in it, and Filoni figured out a reason. "I was like, 'Well, we could leave them in there...' I think that it's just, for me, a watchfulness, and they are a continuous connection to the Force and nature." The Convorees and their need to be around the action helps to show "the Force exists whther the Jedi or Sith or anyone exists or not. They are practitioners of the Force, they don't have sole dominion over it," he said. "We ahve this owl flying around - this is the worst answer, but some of the owls are just owls. Then one of them in particular is not just a bird."
04/21/25 @ 9:34 pm EST
The cosmic landscape of the Marvel Universe is about to drastically transform! This June, visionary writer Jonathan Hickman and superstar artists Iban Coello and Federico Vicentini present IMPERIAL, a four-issue event series that shatters and restructures the galactic empires of the Marvel Universe! Revolutionizing space-set storytelling forever, the saga kicks off with the startling assassination of various intergalactic leaders, creating a power vacuum in the stars and igniting war! Today, fans can peek at what lies ahead with the reveal of the series’ second issue, on sale this July. Ultimate Spider-Man superstar Marco Checchetto delivers another dynamic cover for the highly anticipated series that depicts some of the event’s major players including Deathbird, Nova, Gladiator, and Shuri. Meanwhile, She-Hulk, a character who will embark on a surprising journey in the series, grabs the spotlight in a variant cover by acclaimed artist Gerald Parel. And W. Scott Forbes delivers a stunning portrait of Lilandra, Professor X’s greatest love. The former Shi’ar Majestrix was recently resurrected in the X-Manhunt crossover where she departed Earth with Professor X to rescue their daughter, Empress Xandra. Part two of a four-part Marvel cosmic event!Against the fallout of someone mysteriously killing the rulers of the Marvel galactic empires, the fires of war are lit! As that conflict simmers, Nova and Star-Lord race to discover who is behind all these evil acts—a journey that takes them to the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda! “I’m very excited about this project as I’m obviously a huge fan of all things Marvel Cosmic,” Hickman said when the series was announced. “The goal here is to kind of do what we did with the recent Ultimate line for all of our space titles, except having the setup book (IMPERIAL) be more of an event than a world building exercise (like Ultimate Invasion). The art team is killing it and we’re all just very excited for what’s happening in this special corner of the Marvel Universe.” With groundbreaking developments for HULKS, BLACK PANTHERS, NOVAS, GUARDIANS and COSMIC KINGS and QUEENS, IMPERIAL lays the foundation for an entire new landscape of interconnected space-set stories, making it the must-read comic book of the summer! Check out the new covers and preorder the debut issue at your local comic shop today!   
... 04/21/25 @ 4:16 pm EST
New York Times bestselling writer C.S. Pacat and lauded artist Johanna the Mad return to the high stakes world of Fence with FENCE BREAKTHROUGH: GAME CHANGER, the next chapter in the Fence saga! Kings Row have made it to the final sixteen in the fencing championships, but they have a long way to go before they reach the finals—and Exton, where Nicholas and Seiji both have scores to settle. Before they can think of that, however, Nicholas has to face off across the piste with Kyle, who doesn’t know Nicholas’s connection to the Coste family—and who believes Nicholas hasn’t earned his place on Kings Row’s team or as Seiji’s teammate. Can he pull off a victory and keep Kings Row in the running for championship gold? “Rivalries and romances intensify, and Nicholas has his first real face off with his family,” said series creator C.S. Pacat. “I’m so excited for you all to read this one–get ready for the whole game to change!” FENCE BREAKTHROUGH: GAME CHANGER #1 will be available in comic shops July 30, 2025. It is available for pre-order at your local comic shop. Digital copies can be purchased from content providers, including Kindle, iBooks, and Google Play. FENCE BREAKTHROUGH: GAME CHANGER #1 features a main cover by series artist Johanna the Mad and variants by DJ Kirkland (Save Yourself!)! FENCE BREAKTHROUGH: GAME CHANGER is the latest release from BOOM! Studios’ award-winning BOOM! Box imprint, home to groundbreaking original series such as Lumberjanes by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Gus Allen, and ND Stevenson; Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera and Celia Moscote; Giant Days by John Allison, Lissa Treiman, and Max Sarin; Mamo by Sas Milledge; Save Yourself! by Bones Leopard and Kelly and Nichole Matthews; Specter Inspectors by Bowen McCurdy and Kaitlyn Musto; The Last Witch by Conor McCreery and V.V. Glass; Ghosted in LA by Sina Grace and Siobhan Keenan; The Avant-Guards by Carly Usdin and Noah Hayes; Fence by C.S. Pacat and Johanna the Mad; Goldie Vance by Hope Larson and Brittney Williams; Hollow by Shannon Watters, Branden Boyer-White, and Berenice Nelle; Getting Dizzy by Shea Fontana and Celia Moscote; and the educational series Seen: True Stories of Marginalized Trailblazers. ... 04/21/25 @ 1:35 pm EST
The first public look of Zach Cregger’s follow-up after Barbarian is here: Weapons. This is not the clip seen at CinemaCon, by the way, but rather pieces of it. The voiceover as the camera swirls around a darkened kid’s bedroom here sounds like it’s from Toby Huss as he tells a concerned parent, “Mr. Graff, I can understand your passion, and I don’t mind having these conversations with you, because God forbid, if it was my child, I’d be demanding answers too.” The set-up here — children are leaving their houses in the middle of the night — and it’s freaking parents out. Originally set to come out over MLK weekend 2026, Warners got so excited about Weapons, they moved it to summer on Aug. 8 after excellent test scores. The notion is that we’re bound for another horror event film after Ryan Coogler’s Sinners opened to $48M this past weekend. (via Deadline) Teaser: https://youtu.be/I3qtHlROEuc 04/21/25 @ 1:25 pm EST
Alan Ruck, fresh off HBO’s “Succession,” has been cast in the upcoming horror-thriller “Corporate Retreat.” He joins an ensemble that also includes Rosanna Arquette (“Pulp Fiction”) and Ashton Sanders (“Moonlight”). Ruck portrayed Connor Roy on the Emmy-winning “Succession,” for which the show’s cast twice won the SAG Award for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series. Ruck himself was nominated for a Golden Globe as well as a Primetime Emmy for his performance in “Succession.” He is also known for his roles in films like “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Speed” and “Twister” and the television series “Spin City.” Principal photography on “Corporate Retreat” starts in June. The film follows a group of corporate employees at a tech company whose team-bonding retreat devolves into a bloody fight to survive the tests of a vengeful executive. (via Variety) 04/21/25 @ 1:16 pm EST
Indie producer and distributor GKIDS has boarded “100 Meters” (“Hyakuemu”), the upcoming animated feature from director Kenji Iwaisawa, as a producing partner and North American distributor. Based on the manga by Uoto, author of “Orb: On the Movements of the Earth”, which also received a recent anime adaptation, “100 Meters” was first announced prior to its work-in-progress session at last year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Following a Sept. 19 release in Japan, GKIDS will release “100 Meters” in North American theaters this October, in original Japanese and a new English version. GKIDS — whose films have earned 13 best animated feature Oscar nominations — is the North American distributor of Oscar winner “The Boy and the Heron” and the Studio Ghibli library. “100 Meters” follows Togashi, a naturally gifted track star. In sixth grade, he meets Komiya, a transfer student who is full of determination but lacks technique. In teaching him, Togashi gives Komiya a new purpose: to win no matter what. Years pass by, and Togashi and Komiya meet again as rivals on the track and reveal their true selves. (via Variety) 04/20/25 @ 2:13 pm EST
The Ninth Jedi is an animated episode in the first volume of Star Wars: Visions, an anthology series released on Disney+. Created by Kenji Kamiyama and produced by the Japanese animation studio Production I.G, it premiered in September 2021. The story is set in an alternate Star Wars timeline where the Jedi Order has long been extinct, and the Sith are actively working to prevent its revival. The story follows Lah Kara, the daughter of a lightsaber-smith, who becomes a key figure in the effort to rebuild the Jedi Order. Her journey intertwines with Margrave Juro, a ruler seeking to unite Jedi hopefuls and forge new lightsabers using kyber crystals. It was announced at the Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo that The Ninth Jedi will be expanded into a long-form series, set to debut in 2026. This series will continue Kara's story and delve deeper into the mythology introduced in the short. 
04/20/25 @ 2:01 pm EST
Sinners actor Delroy Lindo shared his thoughts on Marvel's long-delayed Blade reboot, describing it as a project that "just went off the rails." He mentioned that Marvel initially seemed very interested in his input, and the early discussions were exciting and inclusive. Lindo was set to play a character inspired by Marcus Garvey, leading a Black community, which he found conceptually thrilling. However, despite the promising start, the project faced numerous challenges, including creative differences, and ultimately stalled. The film was officially announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. Marvel Studios revealed that Mahershala Ali would take on the role of the iconic vampire hunter, marking his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The reboot has faced several delays due to a combination of factors including multiple changes in its creative team, including the departure of directors like Bassam Tariq and Yann Demange, as well as several screenwriters and the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent industry strikes in Hollywood significantly disrupted the production timeline. Despite these setbacks, Marvel Studios has expressed its commitment to the project and to Ali's portrayal of Blade. 
04/19/25 @ 12:13 pm EST
With the upcoming Fantastic Four: First Steps, Pedro Pascal is talking about the physicality of playing Mr. Fantastic and comparing Reed Richards to Din Djarin who he plays on The Mandalorian. “You know, with Din Djarin, there’s so much physical authorship that is a collective effort, with my work, Brendan Wayne’s work, Latif Crowder’s work, other bodies that have stepped into the armor, but primarily, those two guys and myself. With Reed, that, for me, was a brand new kind of experience to author something that is very, very familiar to the world, has previous authorship, a very specific understanding of the pages of the comics, and different evolutions and stuff like that. And then something that is so independent in its identity as far as our version is concerned. To me, you know, his body may stretch, but this is a brain character, and it’s really his mind that was the most important to me.” Following up on that and how he got into the movement for the character, Pascal said, “I guess I’ll just give it completely away. I thought of the brilliance of an octopus. Not in any literal physical translated way, but I put it into my subconscious. Yeah. That’s the biggest character secret reveal that I’ve given to you.” Fantastic Four: First Steps his theaters July 25th.  04/19/25 @ 12:02 pm EST
Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds are good friends, but that didn’t keep the man who has played Wolverine for over two decades from sharing the one gripe he had about his most recent turn as the yellow clad mutant. Famously known as a song-and-dance-man, Jackman found it odd that the one scene in Deadpool & Wolverine that involved dancing didn’t involve him. Jackman told the live audience at Radio City Music Hall: “Don’t tell Ryan… I don’t need to be in every scene in the movie. But Ryan is a writer. And when I see the script, I see that the scene that I’m not in is the opening sequence which is a dance number to an NSYNC song by Ryan. I’m like, the one scene I’m not in has dance. Now Ryan, he’s very talented, but dancing?” This was part of his musical review show, From New York, With Love, and got a good laugh from the audience. Jackman then performed the dance that got away alongside his trainer and former dancer Beth Lewis. 
04/19/25 @ 11:52 am EST
At Star Wars Celebration in Japan this week, fans were treated to some exciting updates about Ahsoka Season 2: Rory McCann has been cast as Baylan Skoll, taking over the role after the passing of Ray Stevenson. McCann's portrayal is expected to honor the character's legacy. Hayden Christensen is officially returning as Anakin Skywalker. While details about his role remain under wraps, his involvement has fans buzzing. Admiral Ackbar will make an appearance, facing off against Grand Admiral Thrawn. Filming for the new season is set to begin in just a few days, with eight episodes planned. Ahsoka stars Rosario Dawson, David Tennant, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ivanna Sakhno.  |
