David Corenswet’s Superman Suit Has a Surprising DC New 52 Connection

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… well, we’re not entirely sure what it is, but it looks like something Brainiac would use to attack the Earth.

Whatever the cross-space invader in the picture that director James Gunn just posted to social media may be, the real attention goes to the figure in the foreground of the image: our very first look at David Corenswet in full uniform as Superman.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by James Gunn (@jamesgunn)

Gunn has long been posting teasers about his upcoming movie, initially dubbed Superman: Legacy, but now just titled Superman. In addition to releasing news about the extended cast, which includes The Wire vet Wendell Pierce as Perry White and genre fave Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Gunn has answered questions online and posted images of Corenswet goofing around with co-stars Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane) and Nicholas Hoult (Lex Luthor). But the picture of Corenswet as Superman is the first official piece of imagery released from the film.

Perhaps the biggest surprise here is how little Corenswet’s costume differs from those of previous live-action Supermen. The suit has the darker colors of the Henry Cavill costumes worn in Man of Steel and other films, with the texturing of many modern superhero costumes. The basketball-like dimples that cover Corenswet’s supersuit can be found on all Cavill’s costumes, as well as those seen on Tyler Hoechlin on Supergirl and Superman and Lois.

While that might rankle some fans looking for a return to the classic suit worn by the all-time best live-action Superman, Christopher Reeve, consider Brandon Routh’s costume in Superman Returns. As an homage to the Reeve Superman movies, Routh’s costume had brighter colors than found in most modern Superman outfits. But the flat texture gave the suit a plastic, artificial look—a problem made worse by the plastic insignia protruding from Routh’s chest. With modern lighting and cinematic techniques, a textured costume might just be less distracting than a smooth costume.

However, those looking closely will notice one important return to the costumes of old. This Superman sports trunks once again, an element missing from recent live-action costumes and from those in the comics, at least for a while. On one hand, the trunks are dated, a quality of strong-man outfits of the early 20th century, unbecoming for the Man of Tomorrow. On the other, Superman just feels wrong with out the splash of red to break up his blue exterior, especially with the darker blue of many suits.

Against the classic trunks, belt, and boots of the Corenswet costume are elements from the last 15 years of DC Comics. With the textures of the suit come ridges that recall the Kryptonian armor that Jim Lee gave the character during the New 52 reboot, later refined by George Pérez. As with Lee’s design, the Corenswet suit has a high collar, breaking from the plunging necklines of the comics, reflected in the suits worn by Reeve and Dean Cain in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

That said, the most classical (and controversial) aspects of the suit may be the way it fits. The lighting of the image underscores the visible folds on the chest and arms of the costume. Instead of the detailed musculature that we’re used to seeing on Cavill and Hoechlin, there’s almost a bagginess to the suit.

In a way, that lack of extreme detail points back to the first live-action Superman costumes, those worn by Kirk Alyn and George Reeves. Without question, those costumes have a cheaper quality, befitting the low-budget children’s entertainment of the shows. But there’s also something endearing and almost humane about this design choice.

For some, the New 52 elements of the costume portend a problem with the movie on the whole. The New 52 largely presented a darker version of the DC Universe, not unlike the tone of the Zack Snyder movies. Although he’s best known for films that have a real mean streak, including Guardians of the Galaxy, but even more so movies like The Suicide Squad and Super, Gunn has presented his Superman film as a more positive turn from the Snyder films.

And yet, the image Gunn released finds Superman not in a heroic pose with his cape in the air, but sitting in a chair and pulling up his boots. The dark shading of the image suggests that he’s tired and resigned, not bounding into action. For some, this look reminds them of the Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, who seemed to resent the humans who needed his help. That’s a far cry from the Grant Morrison comics that Gunn had been name-dropping as inspirations for his movie.

Or is it? While All-Star Superman is easily Morrison’s most famous work on the Man of Steel, and Superman and the Authority was his most recent, the boots point to another, more grounded take on Superman. While Pérez handled the mainline Superman book in the New 52 and Geoff Johns wrote Superman in Justice League, Morrison took over writing duties with Action Comics.

Action Comics told the new origin of Superman in the New 52, and Morrison deliberately called back to the Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster comics of the Golden Age. In those first Superman stories, the Man of Steel was more of a social crusader, one who battled unscrupulous landlords and rescued death-row inmates more than he did Lex Luthor or Parasite.

In Morrison’s Action Comics, Superman wore blue jeans and brown boots along with his red cape, a look inspired by labor organization posters. But that wasn’t the end goal for this Superman. Morrison imagined his stories as a new origin tale, one that would set the working-class roots of a character that he would carry into his adventures across the stars as an adult.

That Superman still had an optimistic attitude, a desire to inspire others with hope and a love for justice. He just saw it as the hard work that he had to do, pulling up his boots and getting into action.

That’s the spirit we see in the image that Gunn revealed. A Superman who doesn’t just represent truth and justice, but a Superman who’s going to work for it. And that’s a Superman worth looking up to.

Superman comes to theaters July11, 2025.

Star Wars: Ahmed Best Reacts to Jar Jar Binks’ Canon Ending Amid Darth Jar Jar Return

“Bring the clown. We want to see the clown. We like it how he juggles glombo shells, or spits fish up in the air and catches them, or how he dances around and falls on his butt.” So demand the orphan children on the planet Naboo, according to an interlude in the post-Return of the Jedi novel Aftermath: Empire’s End by Chuck Wendig.

And the clown acquiesces, happy to find any form of acceptance. “The adults, though,” continues the narrator, “they don’t say much about him. Or to him. And no other Gungans come to see him, either. Nobody even says his name.”

The name, if you haven’t guessed, is Jar Jar Binks. For some Star Wars fans, Empire End presents a fitting end for Jar Jar. After all, he was once one of the most hated characters in pop culture history. But there’s one person who still sticks up for Jar Jar, despite all of the suffering the character has caused for him.

“I would love just for there to be some really good closure, just to know what happened to Jar Jar. And then I don’t think it needs to be tragic” Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best told People, expressing that he’d love to see a more positive end for his original Star Wars character. In fact, Best refers to Jar Jar’s condition in Aftermath: Empire’s End, saying, “I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s Jar Jar’s fate.” Instead, Best insists that Jar Jar “was spectacularly clumsy and failed upwards. He just was just wonderful character that always found a way to succeed.”

For now, while it won’t be the canon ending for the character, Best is returning to Jar Jar in the upcoming LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy animated special (Sept. 13), specifically the “Darth Jar Jar” version of the Gungan inspired by a popular fan theory about his involvement in the Sith plot against the Jedi. Check out Lego Darth Jar Jar in the trailer below:

As Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace celebrates its 25th anniversary, many involved in the production have paused to take stock of the movie’s unlikely history. After the unprecedented excitement that greeted The Phantom Menace in 1999, the first new Star Wars movie in 16 years, the movie opened to angry rejection from critics and older fans, only to be reclaimed today by the film’s intended audience, the children of the late ’90s and early 2000s.

Best describes that period during the pre-release excitement as being in a bubble, which popped almost immediately. “So when you come out of that bubble, you’re like, ‘Oh man, everybody’s going to enjoy what we just did, because if you feel the way we felt while we were creating, it’s going to be amazing.'”

Of course, nothing could live up to the level of expectation that had accrued during the production of The Phantom Menace. “But there were already kind of preconceived ideas about it, and there is already bubbling under, this online hatred. It was already being talked about even before the movie dropped.”

However, Best also acknowledges a certain amount of risk involved with his take on the Gungan. He shared with People the trepidation he felt before debuting the character’s voice during a table read. “I was just like, ‘Everybody sounds so good. Am I going to do this voice or not?’ And then I see the character name coming up and I was like, ‘F— it.’ And I just do it,” he explained. “And everybody in the room goes crazy for it. So I was like, ‘OK, all right. I got that one out. I’m supposed to be here now.'”

Despite the positive reaction in the room, critics and audiences zeroed in on Jar Jar as the worst part of a disappointing movie. As a result, Best became a target for hate online, something that took a toll on his mental health. Both his career and his spirits suffered because of the fallout, something that took years to overcome.

But like Hayden Christensen and the prequel trilogy in general, Best has been welcomed back by Star Wars fans in recent years. In addition to reprising his role as Jar Jar for various products, Best has also appeared in live-action as Jedi Master Kelleran Beq, first in the game show Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge and later in an episode of The Mandalorian.

Best still has high hopes for his most famous character, but even if it never goes that way for Jar Jar, at least Best found a way to succeed in the end.

Link Tank: RSVLTS Amazing New Star Wars Merchandise Revealed

May 4th might be over, but the Star Wars festivities continue!

RSVLTS offers a wide array of fantastic Star Wars merch, highlighted by an epic shirt commenterating the Duel of the Fates from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Check out more of the best deals at RSVLTS

You love Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh, but do you love them enough to watch them duke it out in a slasher flick?

“iHorror is diving deep into film production with a chilling new project that’s sure to redefine your childhood memories. We’re thrilled to introduce ‘Mickey vs. Winnie,’ a groundbreaking horror slasher directed by Glenn Douglas Packard. This isn’t just any horror slasher; it’s a visceral showdown between twisted versions of childhood favorites Mickey Mouse and Winnie-the-Pooh. ‘Mickey vs. Winnie’ brings together the now-public-domain characters from A. A. Milne’s ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ books and Mickey Mouse from the 1920s ‘Steamboat Willie’ cartoon in a VS battle like never before seen.”

My Hero Academia Just Introduced The Anti-Homelander American Hero

This article contains spoilers for My Hero Academia season 7 episode 1.

My Hero Academia is an entertaining shonen anime that cleverly riffs on the superhero genre. This means that epic superpowered showdowns are par for the course where grandiose villains threaten to reshape the world through malevolent means. However, the anime’s most recent storyline that concludes season 6 and kicks off the seventh season descends hero society into all-out war. All For One, society’s most evil and dangerous villain, has triggered a parasitic relationship with Tomura Shigaraki that’s blended their consciousness to become the ultimate antagonist. Japan’s Pro Heroes have proven to be useless against Shigaraki’s powerful awakening and season six ends on a suspenseful cliffhanger that recruits international reinforcements to take on this apocalyptic threat.

My Hero Academia’s season seven premiere, “In the Nick of Time! A Big-Time Maverick from the West!” is one big showcase for Star and Stripe, America’s Number One Pro Hero. Star and Stripe’s arrival facilitates a legendary battle, but it also provides enlightening commentary on American heroes versus Japanese ones. In doing so, My Hero Academia’s presentation of the American dream proves to be distinctly different from another popular superhero who’s stepped in Americana, The Boys’ Homelander.

My Hero Academia has been primarily set in Japan. However, it’s been very clear that superheroes and villains are a global concern. The anime has previously made brief detours to other countries, but up until this point there’s been a dominant belief in the anime’s narrative that Japan is the home of the strongest characters with the most powerful Quirks. My Hero Academia’s seventh season premiere shatters this paradigm with a startling wake-up call. What’s so significant about Star and Stripe is that she’s not just a powerful American Pro Hero, but essentially the living embodiment of Lady Liberty and the Star-Spangled Banner. She endlessly exudes American pride, which casts her in a very different light than if she were just some nondescript Western savior. Star and Stripe becomes My Hero Academia’s interpretation of how America is an all-powerful, destructive force of nature that’s called in when the world needs to be shattered.

“In the Nick of Time! A Big-Time Maverick from the West!” pointedly refers to the United States as the land of “freedom and heroes.” There’s extreme reverence that’s present in the anime’s discussion of America and how it’s this invincible power that can accomplish what Japan can’t, despite their prolific Pro Heroes. Star and Stripe is treated like Japan’s final gambit against Shigaraki and she comes wielding an army’s worth of artillery and firepower. These types of weapons of mass destruction have previously been absent in My Hero Academia, so Star and Stripe makes quite the statement when she rides in on a fighter jet and commands Tiamat missiles to level her target. It’s no coincidence that she makes her entrance on war machines rather than the airborne Nomu monsters that Shigaraki flies on.

My Hero Academia engages in some compelling commentary through Star and Stripe regarding America’s reliance on warfare, right down to the country’s use of atomic bombs on Japan during World War II. Star and Stripe wields the “United Hyper Max Output Laser” on Shigaraki, which feels akin to My Hero Academia’s version of nuclear warfare. Star and Stripe doesn’t just want to win her battle, but to truly “pulverize” her target and “burn him into ashes” until there’s nothing left. It’s the most destructive act that’s ever been seen in My Hero Academia that draws chilling parallels to America’s mentality in 1945. Additionally, Star and Stripe’s Quirk – New Order – can literally rewrite reality with a very American-coded “Because I said so” quality. It’s a Quirk that seems too overpowered, albeit one that’s perfect for a country that’s used to playing by its own rules and proving that they’re the best.

An interesting feedback loop takes place with Star and Stripe, whose whole look, motif, and personality is inspired by All Might. She’s like the United States’ cosplay of Japan, which was already riffing on America with All Might. However, this imitation is treated to be superior to the original. America once again trumps Japan, even when Japan is doing its best USA impression. There’s a subtle moment in this premiere where it’s revealed that Deku’s dorm room curtains are an American flag, which speaks to the pervasive nature of the United States’ power and what it represents. These curtains aren’t an act of oppression or an admission of defeat. They’re an inspirational symbol of hope and freedom.

Star and Stripe isn’t My Hero Academia’s first look at American Pro Heroes, but she’s by far the most significant. This powerful character becomes a fascinating cultural counterpoint to another popular American branded superhero from pop culture — Homelander from The Boys. Homelander, while paying homage to Superman, was conceived as the personification of Bush-Era America and this near-invincible superpower that views himself as the best. Homelander, over time, has become more of a direct analogue for Donald Trump where megalomania and xenophobia can function in plain sight and receive praise. Star and Stripe — and All Might — aren’t like this at all, despite the pomp and circumstance behind their American pageantry.

The closest thing that My Hero Academia has to Homelander would have to be All For One — an actual villain — rather than its American-centric heroes. Curiously, Star and Stripe and All Might represent the strength and ego of America, but with none of the hatred, persecution, or hubris. They’re cocky and brash, but as a way to inspire and empower everyone – especially the helpless underdogs – not just “true Americans.” They’re an idealist vision of what America can be, stripped of its worst qualities, and it’s fascinating that an anime production would position them as Japan’s greatest chance for hope. It takes an outside voice and point of view — let alone one that’s been decimated by America — to see the country in its purest and most righteous form.

It’s a deeply uplifting perspective that speaks to My Hero Academia’s intense optimism that drives Midoriya and the rest of its heroes forward. It doesn’t admonish America for its past and current sins, but rather turns to them for support and the answer to its problems in a world where everyone needs to work together rather than attack one another. It’s this same ideology that makes Midoriya believe that Tomura Shigaraki can be saved and that destruction isn’t the only option here. My Hero Academia’s seventh season starts strong with its epic Star and Stripe supremacy, but the fight against Shigaraki and All For One rages on. Star and Stripe is presented as a catastrophic superpower who has a whole army behind her. However, it’s unlikely that she’ll actually win this fight and eliminate this evil. The heroes are going to need far more than American patriotism and Plus Ultra platitudes to end this war.

My Hero Academia season 7 streams on Saturdays on Crunchyroll

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 vs. Vol. 2: Which Is Better?

Quentin Tarantino does not view Kill Bill as two separate films. That should be acknowledged upfront as fair. After all, it is this detail which allows Tarantino the ability to claim Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood as his ninth instead of 10th film (thereby delaying any obligatory early retirements). And to be sure, Tarantino shot Kill Bill as one epic vision that was only encouraged to be broken up by, ahem, Harvey Weinstein while Tarantino was finishing up principal photography.

So while the story was released as Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2, they’re two sides of the same tale. Be that as it may, there’s no denying that they’re two incredibly different sides. Whether a creative choice made in post-production after realizing he had hours more of running time to play with, or because the filmmaker was already at his most indulgent when he thought he could compress the material he’d shot into a single commercial running time, the two volumes of Kill Bill feel distinctly separate from one another with separate pacings, rhythms, and even visual aesthetics. Even their diverging genre influences and the color palettes are as separated as East and West.

Hence even if the filmmaker might see one film, most viewers see two decidedly different experiences that compose a greater whole. There is the wild spectacle of Vol. 1 and the emotional violence of Vol. 2. But which one is better? Well, a couple of ronin editors at Den of Geek have agreed to meet on the field of honor to determine that for good and all.

David Crow: Alec, we should first begin by acknowledging that drawing this line between the two volumes is silly and unnecessary. But then again, so much of what occurs in Kill Bill might be described as silly and unnecessary. It doesn’t stop it from being sublimely entertaining. And when I think of being entertained by Tarantino’s most gargantuan feast of images and words, I’m always taken back to the experience’s earliest and best courses: Volume 1.

While there is plenty to love in Volume 2, the iconography that springs to most folks’ minds when they hear “Kill Bill” is of Uma Thurman clad in Bruce Lee’s banana-yellow tracksuit from Game of Death, katana in hand as she stares down the entire might of the Crazy 88. Granted that is just one of many of the slick images in Tarantino’s slickest 111 minutes on celluloid. There is also Lucy Liu assuming the water stance in a snow-strewn garden; Darryl Hannah whistling Bernard Hermann’s otherwise forgotten theme from Twisted Nerve as she stalks the Bride in the greatest De Palma montage that De Palma never made; and just the fact that gore was so spectacularly over the top that large portions of the movie needed to be rendered in black and white to avoid an NC-17 rating. (Seriously, you still laugh when you see the fire hydrant of red corn syrup erupting from Julie Dreyfus’ “wound,” right?)

Kill Bill: Volume 1 might very well be the apex of QT cool… and Volume 2 certainly marked a decline. Sure, the second volume features emotional resonance, but Kill Bill is all about style, and it was never more stylish than in the half that could spare seven minutes for an anime backstory of O-Ren Ishii.

Alec Bojalad: I already feel terrible. David, you did such a great job of setting this up as a respectful disagreement amongst friends and I immediately have to ruin it. Because, for as great as Kill Bill: Vol. 1 is (Tarantino isn’t capable of making anything less than that), I actually don’t think it even needs to exist! Kill Bill: Vol. 2 captures the entirety of the emotional and visual spectrum that a single, unified Kill Bill film would have. And it does so without use of its gorgeous, yet extraneous, first half.

As you said, Vol. 1 contains some undeniably striking imagery. Who among us isn’t delighted to see human beings turned into fleshy blood sprinklers? But when I think back on my favorite moments in either Kill Bill film, I’m inevitably drawn to the quieter moments of Vol 2. Like the best Tarantino efforts, Vol. 2 is such a vibrantly chatty film. Beatr…excuse me, The Bride has a lot more to say to her victims this time around and the conversations are pure pulpy poetry.

It’s also more of a self-contained, at times literally claustrophobic experience. The world of Vol. 1 is vast and chaotic (shout out to O-Ren Ishii’s anime backstory) while significant portions of Vol. 2 take place in a trailer in the middle of nowhere, and with our lead actually buried alive in a coffin. All of this is not even to mention that Vol. 2 has an ending, and Vol. 1, by definition, does not. I agree that Vol. 1 provides more spectacle while Vol. 2 provides more emotional resonance. Perhaps I’m mistaking personal preference by objective analysis (wouldn’t be the first time certainly) but wouldn’t we want emotion over spectacle 10 times out of 10?

David: You know, Alec, you’re right insomuch as we can agree on one thing: you should feel terrible! Suggesting that Kill Bill: Vol. 2 does not need Vol. 1 is akin to arguing that the catharsis felt in Return of the King makes Frodo and Sam stepping out from the Shire in Fellowship of the Ring irrelevant. While Vol. 2 definitely has an ending, like so many Tarantino movies, the point of Kill Bill isn’t the destination but the journey.

I respect that Vol. 1 lacks a true conclusion. However, as wonderfully loquacious as QT’s screenplays are, they are still ultimately blueprints for a bigger mise en scène, and that holds truer in Kill Bill than most. The act of homage and reference has never been stronger in a QT joint, and with Vol. 1 he not only honors the samurai and martial arts flicks of his youth, but appropriates them into his own cadence. The best lines of dialogue in the script are in the first half where Tarantino is practically shaking the audience into smirking (or maybe cringing) at the author’s self-admiration.

“You didn’t think it’d be that easy did you?”
“For a second there, yeah, I kind of did.”

“Silly rabbit, tricks are for kids.”

Beyond the too-cool-for-school vibes though is the actual sound of Kill Bill. Both volumes have killer soundtracks curated and refined by RZA, but Vol. 1 is the undeniably better selection. Whereas Vol. 2 featured Robert Rodriguez bending over backward to make the film sound like a Ennio Morricone Spaghetti Western (even when QT wasn’t sampling Morricone directly), Vol. 1 had a wider, and yes cooler, soundscape to draw on. I already mentioned the use of Hermann’s haunting whistle, but there’s also HOTEI’s “Battle Without Honor” tracking O-Ren and the Crazy 88’s still iconic power walk into that restaurant—a marriage of visual and music that is still (for better and worse) aped and parodied to this day 20 years later. There’s also the fact QT brought the 5, 6, 7, 8’s to the West simply because he heard them in the Tokyo airport and then put them in the movie.

Tarantino is revered for the soundtracks he builds in nearly all his films, and Vol. 1 might contain his aural masterpiece.

Alec: See, you drop something like “silly rabbit, tricks are for kids” expecting to impress me and it’s clear that we’re just coming from different planets on this one. Nothing in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 can stand up against Bill’s (David Carradine) brilliant take on Clark Kent and Superman or Budd’s (Michael Madsen) grim resignation that they’re all probably going to die because “that woman deserves her revenge.”

But yes, a collection of superior lines doesn’t necessarily make for a superior movie. Thankfully, I’d still put Vol. 2’s aesthetic and sense of place well above Vol. 1. In the intro for this piece, you mentioned the East/West divide at the center of the two films. While I agree that Vol. 1 has a distinctly Eastern flair while Vol. 2 is more of a Western, I also think that Vol. 2 combines the best of both worlds.

Mixing Kiddo’s Pai Mei training with gorgeous shots of the American frontier blends Tarantino’s influences beautifully. That’s largely where my “Vol. 2 renders Vol. 1 unnecessary” hersey comes from. And far be it from me to complain about a Quentin Tarantino script being too referential, but Vol. 1 may just be too masturbatory for my tastes. For this piece alone I’ve had to endure you invoking Bruce Lee, Bernard Hermann, and music from a Tokyo airport. It’s too much for my TV-addled brain to take.

I’m happy to give you the soundtrack win, but that’s only because I know I have the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique in my back pocket for the finale.

David: Alec, I hear ya. That Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique is a brilliant way to conclude the biggest rivalry in these flicks. I mean they are called Kill Bill! However, one element we’ve been playing footsie around is that the “kill” in that title promises a certain degree of action. And when it comes to a little fisticuffs showmanship, Vol. 1 still has you beat.

While I respect the more deliberate and elegiac tone of Vol. 2, your aforementioned Budd not only denies The Bride her vengeance, but is killed off pitifully by Darryl Hannah, who in turn doesn’t get the epic duel with Kiddo we were promised way back at the top of Vol. 1. Meanwhile the entire last half hour of Vol. 2 is a goddamn water park show if all the water were dyed fire truck red. The swordplay is glorious, introducing millions of Americans to the wonders of samurai grindhouse cinema, and the duel alone between Beatrice and Gogo Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama) is the stuff of legend. Gogo doesn’t have a lot to do as a character in the narrative, but she arrives big and leaves the same way, with a literal splash of crimson dripping on the floor and those snow white sneakers.
That might sum up the appeal of Kill Bill in a nutshell. Check and mate.

Alec: In the interest of wrapping this thing up (and acknowledging that I might be in over my head here), maybe we can conclude that Vol. 1 has the best Kill and Vol. 2 has the best Bill. And really, I just prefer the latter.

Vol. 2 has a level of substance and completion that Vol. 1 just can’t achieve by virtue of its incomplete status. In the end, all of the blood, anime, and RZA tracks boil down to what is a simple custody dispute between a mother and a father. Vol. 1 lofts the ball up in the air for Vol. 2, which in turn absolutely crushes it. There is an emotional catharsis to Beatrix processing her daughter is alive and—eventually—in her life again that all the katana-swinging in the world will never match.

Psych Was a Darker Show Than You Realized

This article contains spoilers for Psych.

It’s easy to forget sometimes that Psych is a show that often involves murder. The procedural comedy-drama is well known for its running gags, irreverent humor, and the absurd scenarios that faux psychic Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez) and his best friend/crime-solving partner Gus (Dulé Hill) often found themselves in, all of which can overshadow the seriousness of the crimes they’re trying to solve. However, the series proves it’s worthy of the drama genre descriptor more often than we realize when it allows itself to go to darker places than we expect.

The most obvious example of this in the series is the Yin/Yang arc. Shawn and Gus go up against these serial killers several times throughout the series, and often find themselves and those they care about directly in harms’ way. Like many serial killers, Yin (Peter Weller) and Yang (Ally Sheedy) saw Shawn’s rise in status as a “psychic” detective as a challenge. They wanted to see if Shawn could best them, and eventually take him out of the picture entirely.

What makes these two even scarier is that their arc wasn’t a one and done kind of thing. Seasons 3, 4, and 5 all have Yin/Yang-centric episodes as the season finale, each forcing Shawn to race against the clock to save someone he loves. In “An Evening with Mr. Yang” Shawn’s mom Madeline (Cybill Shepherd) is strapped to a bomb at a drive-in movie theater. In “Mr. Yin Presents…” Shawn has to decide between saving Juliet (Maggie Lawson) and his high school crush Abigail (Rachel Leigh Cook). The final showdown against the nefarious killers, “Yang 3 in 2D” sees Shawn and Gus finally come face-to-face with both killers at once, but they both nearly die at the hands of Mr. Yin.

After the season 3 finale proved that the series could handle darker material, season 4 upped the stakes before Yin and Yang even made their second appearance. The episode “Shawn Takes a Shot in the Dark,” which features guest stars Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy) and John Hawkes (True Detective: Night Country) as the bad guys, sees Shawn in real danger because of a case. This episode isn’t the first time that Shawn’s been held at gunpoint nor is it the first time that he’s gotten himself in trouble snooping around, but it is the first time that he’s shot and abducted.

Aside from having to save his mom from a serial killer the season before, this is the most vulnerable that Shawn has ever been while solving a case. It’s up to Gus, Lassiter (Timothy Omundson), Henry (Corbin Bersen), and Juliet to follow the trail that Shawn has been leaving and try to find him before he either bleeds out, or the bad guys decide to finish the job. Shawn can really only hope that the skills his dad taught him as a kid, like kicking out a taillight, will be enough to save him.

When Yin and Yang are both finally out of the picture after season 5, the show decides that it’s the perfect time to put Henry, Shawn’s dad, in danger. The episodes “Santabarbaratown” and “Santabarbaratown 2” sees the reopening of a case that Henry worked on when he was on the force. As new evidence comes to light, Henry realizes that his former partners, including Jerry Carp (Max Gail) were dirty, and involved in covering up this evidence in the first place. When Henry goes to confront Carp, he gets shot by his former partner, and left for dead.

Shawn has to find a way to manage his anger and the fear of losing his father in order to find Carp before he vanishes for good. Even after all of the stuff with Yin and Yang, this might be the angriest we ever see Shawn. With them, it was easier to compartmentalize. They were very clearly criminal masterminds. With Carp, however, it’s harder to stuff those feelings down because this is a man that Henry once trusted. It’s a betrayal that cuts deeper and ups the stakes.

Psych is great when it leans into comedy and pop-culture homages like the Clue episode, the Friday the 13th episode, and the Bachelor-inspired episode, but it’s incredible when it isn’t afraid to go to the darker places of the detective genre. The more serious episodes mentioned above pave the way for some really great character development in the aftermath, and prove that the show can take itself seriously when it wants to. We get to see that Shawn and Gus are more than just goofballs that happen to also be good at solving crimes – they’re damn good detectives.

How the Friends Finale Encapsulated Sitcom Perfection

Not many shows avoided controversy and appeased mass audiences quite like Friends. Thirty years after its premiere, however, our perception of the series has evolved.

Some say that the show used jokes that capitalized on the intolerant views of the 1990s without any regard for actual wit or intelligence. Others claim that the NBC megahit emulated other better programs, such as Living Single, profiting off of superior greatness without ever crediting its inspiration. No matter what anyone thinks of this David Crane and Marta Kauffman-created series, Friends remains the most culturally relevant sitcom of its era.

Its themes and comfy aesthetics continue to engulf young and old viewers alike in a cozy realm of immature banter and authentic bonding, both platonic and romantic. The show gets millions of views monthly in cable syndication and streaming, making it a beloved fixture of the television zeitgeist a quarter into the 21st century. Warner Bros. spent over $400 million when it acquired the show’s streaming rights in 2020.

This timeless adoration for Friends makes it borderline perplexing that it ended 20 years ago this week. “The Last One” aired May 6, 2004 on NBC to a massive audience of over 50 million Americans. Two decades later, no non-football program has been able to garner this type of event-style viewing around the country. The climax lived up to everything fans could have ever dreamed of, concluding the series by tying together romantic threads and supplying a typical dose of goofiness. In a media world where so many series swing and miss in their final at-bat for glory, Friends played into its innate corniness and goodness to craft a series finale that many other sitcoms are still chasing so many years later.

Giving the Fans What They Want

Final episodes are difficult to pull off because every person who watches a TV show wants something different for the characters on the screen. After living with a sitcom for 10 years, audiences have often adopted the characters like family. Ruining the last time people get to live with Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, and Joey would be a television crime!

Creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane wrote their finale to focus on the obvious (Ross and Rachel’s will-they-won’t-they relationship) while fittingly incorporating the other characters. Chandler and Monica finally get the child they’ve dreamed of (and are treated to twins!) while Joey and Phoebe hang out on the outskirts of the group, destined to travel the world solo and let their emotions guide them unhinged from society’s expectations. The episode’s plot fits together like a perfect jigsaw puzzle that everyone at home could solve.

Some TV creators like to live on the edge and shoot for an ending that challenges the expectations of the audience for the sake of ingenuity, but sitcoms differ from dramas in that they are thoroughly rewatchable and endlessly immersive. Some might say sitcoms belong to fans more than dramas do. Trying to do too much within the format feels more disrespectful in the comedy world. Kauffman and Crane appreciated the people who made Friends what it was with a fan-service finale that didn’t miss a beat.

The Iconic Final Scene

Friends’ final scene elevates the episode into the TV Hall of Fame more than anything that happens in the first 40 minutes. Putting the entire ensemble cast in one place and using Monica’s apartment, which was always the comedic hub of the series, to say farewell never fails to produce a tear, even on the 20th rewatch.

Setting is just as much a character as any person, and the friends bidding adieu to the loft symbolizes the story’s undeniable end. No matter what happens to these six people now, the reality that it won’t occur in this place means we may not deserve to be privy to it. Monica’s apartment is an isolated engagement between the people on both sides of the screen. Life will go on for them, but closing the chapter on this location demonstrates a boundless beginning.

The late Matthew Perry getting to speak the final line now represents an eerie television justice. Chandler asking “where” when the group doesn’t know where to hang out is an exquisite last retort that summed up the show’s light-hearted spirit and quest to make people laugh, even when crying or mourning. Perry’s character understanding of irony and line-delivery (the characters obviously knew they were going to the other famous hang-out, the Central Perk coffee shop) heightened the humor of the show into an upper echelon that many detractors choose to ignore.

Friends’ Finale Stayed True to Itself

Many would agree that a finale episode is never a good time to stray from what made a show successful. Experimenting with artsy or unconventional storytelling is a recipe for spoilage. Just like we talked about here at Den of Geek with the Six Feet Under series finale (arguably TV’s best dramatic climax), Friends stayed true to its core values and premises all the way through to the end.

The show wanted to serve as a safe space for people, whether they had real-life friends or were searching for fictional placeholders in media. “The Last One” passes the ultimate vibe check with zany fun (such as Joey’s storyline with giving Chandler and Monica new ducks) and emotional devastation (saying goodbye to the apartment.) Friends’ momentous exit made people want to revisit New York again and again, carrying on a legacy that supersedes stereotypes and haters into eternity!

Friends is available to stream on Max in the U.S. and Netflix in the U.K.

The Responder Series 2 Review: the Opposite of Cosy Crime

‘If you didn’t laugh, you’d cry’ isn’t just the correct British response to any exasperating situation, it must also be Tony Schumacher’s screenwriting mantra. His crime drama The Responder would be unwatchably bleak if it wasn’t also so bloody funny.

Series one put response officer Chris Carson (Martin Freeman) through the wringer so thoroughly that it was a wonder he survived. His childhood pal Carl, a small-time drug dealer who’d been paying him for police intel, didn’t, and in a characteristically heroic/risky attempt to help Carl’s widow, Chris gave her the rucksack of stolen cocaine that had kicked off all this mess. Now it’s six months later and guess what? Chris’ problems are far from over.

Series two of The Responder is just as buzzing with life and wry observation as the first. Chris’ night-time police patrols offer up a parade of lost souls and sad sacks in need of more help than a lift home and a microwave dinner, but the job being what it is, that’s usually all he can offer. He’s threatened with dog shit, takes a dementia-sufferer for a ride, and meets Liverpool’s take on Grey Gardens (a tiny but delightful cameo by Cheshire royalty Sue Johnston). And those are the easy ones.

The hard ones are the local gangsters threatening Chris’ life if he doesn’t follow their orders. From low-level operators to the big cheeses of the criminal world, Chris has to complete their missions like a character in a video game hoping to clear the next level, and the next, just to stay alive. Add that to the severe psychological toll caused by his family troubles and you’ll soon be signing the online petition to get the man some paid leave instead of a third series.

It isn’t just Chris’ life in danger either; remember Casey and Marco, the ‘baghead’ and the ‘scally’ who leapt off the screen in series one thanks to Emily Fairn and Josh Finan’s elemental performances? They’re back and in no less trouble than before. Casey has big and dangerous plans for her future as a high-rolling dealer, while Marco is struggling with the demands of fatherhood. They’re still each other’s best friend and worst enemy, and you still watch their every stupid move with your heart in your mouth.

Fairn continues to make Casey the most exciting TV character of any scene she’s in, and Finan does even more beautiful work as Marco this time around. As well as funny and entertaining, he’s tender and desperate. They’re all desperate, and you would be too in their shoes.

Martin Freeman does an excellent job of putting us in Chris’ shoes. His twitching jaw muscle alone works harder than most actors. Freeman convinced us on the Scouse accent last time, leaving room here to admire everything else he puts into the performance. The swallowing. The turning head. The silent nods to self. And, boy oh boy, the rage. Chris’ anger comes on like a boiler roaring into life. It’s totally convincing and, like the rest of The Responder, hard to watch.

Or at least, it would be hard to watch if it wasn’t accompanied by such humanity and humour. Schumacher’s writing has all the social conscience of Jimmy McGovern’s while also whirring with energy and wit. Some gags, like the one deliberately mixing up Philip Larkin and Andy McNab, or the one about the drive-in takeaway order placed mid-death threat, are old-school craft. More still are folded into the whole mixture, into the pitter-patter of vibrant dialogue that accompanies the action.

Satisfyingly this time, that action devotes more space to Chris’ colleague Rachel (Adelayo Adedayo) than series one. Her story of surviving an abusive relationship is given proper exploration here and not swept cleanly away after the unforgettable scene in which she confronted her sadistic partner at his place of work.

There’s more Rachel, more Chris under extreme pressure, more tension and more humour fizzing out from under the twisted cap of this shaken-up-bottle series. Without being able to speak to the finale, which wasn’t made available to preview, hot on the heels of Blue Lights series two, this one looks like another British crime drama triumph.

The Responder airs on Sundays at 9pm on BBC One. All episodes are available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.

The Responder Series 1 Recap: Chris, Casey & Marco, Rachel, Jodie and Deb Barnes

At the start of The Responder’s first series, written by ex-police officer Tony Schumacher, the cracks were already showing in Martin Freeman’s police officer Chris Carson. He was depressed, angry, and having panic attacks.

A former inspector who’d been demoted to response policing when his squad came under suspicion of corruption, Chris had spent the last three years working night patrols in Liverpool city centre. He was unpopular at work and considered a loose cannon best left alone. His shift pattern meant that he barely saw his wife Kate (MyAnna Buring) and their young daughter Tilly. His wages couldn’t cover the fees at the care home for his dementia-suffering mother (Rita Tushingham). He wanted to be a good bobby, but under-funded public services made him at best, a sticking plaster on the desperate needs of his drug-flooded and impoverished community.

For help, Chris had turned to his childhood friend Carl Sweeney (Ian Hart), a small-time local drug dealer. Illegally, Carl paid Chris for police information, and Chris paid his mum’s care home bills. When addict Casey (Emily Fairn) impulsively stole a rucksack of Carl’s cocaine worth mega money and Chris chose to help her instead of delivering her to Carl for punishment, things got messy.

Casey, Carl and the Cocaine

The drugs Casey had stolen from Carl belonged to gangster Greg Gallagher, who was in prison and over his head in debt to even bigger criminals. When Carl failed to retrieve the drugs (which Casey had ‘returned’ but actually swapped for washing powder and kept), Gallagher’s men stabbed him to death – witnessed by Chris. Now Chris had to retrieve the drugs or face the same punishment.

Initially, Chris planned to hand himself in and confess to his corruption, but wife Kate said that would only punish her and Tilly, and that he had to find another way out. Chris did. He tracked down Casey and her friend Marco (Josh Finan), and saved them from Greg’s henchmen. Chris took the drugs and sent addict Casey and Marco – who’s a small-time crook and absent dad to a young child, but who has a good heart – off to protect them.

Chris told his probationer colleague Rachel (Adelayo Adedayo), who stumbled upon the situation, that he was going to sign the drugs in to the police evidence store anonymously. Instead, Chris stole from work the “yellow pedal” paperwork that accompanied a police seizure, gave it to Greg’s sister Diane (a GP forced to act for her brother while he was inside) so that the gangsters Greg owed would think the drugs had been booked in as police evidence – a regular pitfall of the job – and excuse him their loss. He’d got himself, Casey, Diane and Greg off the hook.

Chris didn’t actually book the drugs in as evidence, but instead gave them to Carl’s widow Jodie Sweeney (Faye McKeever). She and her and Carl’s daughter had been left with nothing after his murder, and she agreed with Chris that he was now square with her.

Chris, Tilly, Kate, and Ray Mullen

In series one, Kate told Chris he had to move out of the family home. He loved her and she loved him and they both loved their daughter Tilly, but their marriage couldn’t survive his rage, her historical affair with his colleague Ray (Warren Brown), or the fact that instead of asking the professionally successful Kate for money when he couldn’t afford his mother’s care home fees, Chris’ macho pride meant he took up drug-dealer Carl Sweeney’s offer instead.

Chris remains a dedicated father and one of the series’ final scenes was of Chris and Tilly reading a book together, but his marriage to Kate may well be over.

Ray Mullen, who had an affair with Kate in the past, certainly wants the marriage to be over and is making a romantic play for Kate. Ray was demoted at the same time as Chris and blames him for his career failure. In an attempt to have Chris fired, Ray lied to Chris’ patrol partner Rachel that he was CID investigating police corruption and that he wanted her to spy on Chris as part of the operation. Ambitious and hoping for promotion, Rachel did so but eventually learned that she’d been lied to and that Ray had no power.

Ray was married with a young son when he and Kate had their affair, but he left series one alone in a flat filled with empty bottles, still holding a grudge against Chris.

Rachel and Steve

Police probationer Rachel was in a dangerous relationship with her abusive live-in boyfriend Steve, a firefighter who physically hurt, threatened and controlled her. When Rachel stood up to Steve, he threatened to kill her and forced her into a cupboard in her flat. Managing to phone Chris, who got her out, Rachel went to Steve’s place of work and publicly confronted him. In front of his colleagues, Rachel gave Steve his belongings, told him to stay away, and listed his treatment of her, outing him as an abuser to the shock of his workmates. Steve was last seen being ordered into his boss’ office.

In the final moments of series one, Rachel went to see a colleague in the domestic violence section, planning to make an official complaint about Steve. While the officer went to make her a cup of tea though, she ran into her boss Deb Barnes (Amaka Okafor) in the corridor. She lied to Deb that she was there for work reasons and asked for some time off due to the stress of the job. Deb told her to take a couple of days to sleep, and Rachel left without completing her complaint against Steve. That night, with no support for the trauma she’d been through at home, Rachel went back out on patrol with Chris.

Deb Barnes

Chris’ old friend Deb Barnes was now his senior officer, and was watching everything from afar. Deb knew that Chris had been taking bribes from Carl Sweeney, and suspected that he was involved with Dr Diane Gallagher in a drug deal. Ray had told Deb that Chris had been in contact with Dr Gallagher, as discovered during his illegal surveillance of him. Deb also knew that Kate had lied to her to cover for Chris, pretending that Gallagher was his medical doctor to explain Chris’ phone call to her from a burner phone.

The Responder series two is streaming now on BBC iPlayer.

Star Wars: The Acolyte Trailer Breakdown: Who is the New Sith Villain?

The dark side clouds everything, including the plot details of the newest Star Wars live-action series, The Acolyte. What we know for sure is that the eight-episode series helmed by Russian Doll creator Leslye Headland is billed as a “mystery thriller” and follows a group of Jedi as they investigate a series of murders 100 years before The Phantom Menace. We also know that the central mystery involves a dangerous warrior named Mae, played by Amandla Stenberg (Bodies Bodies Bodies), and the Sith’s plan to eventually eradicate the Jedi during the Prequel Trilogy era.

While The Acolyte‘s latest trailer, which released on Star Wars Day, doesn’t reveal too much more about the show, it does give us a few new hints about the story. Specifically, it reveals a new Sith Lord who took on the Jedi a century before the rise of Palpatine and the Empire! If you haven’t watched it already, give it a look below:

Okay, now let’s talk about a few things in this trailer and what they mean for the show. Spot anything we missed? Let us know in the comments!

A New Sith Lord for a New Point in the Star Wars Timeline

We have to begin with the biggest reveal: there’s a new Sith lord in town. Since this show takes place 100 years before The Phantom Menace, at the end of the High Republic era, we know this isn’t young Palpatine running around with a helmet that looks a lot like something a Knight of Ren would wear. But could this be Darth Plagueis, Palpatine’s master? Maybe. Or perhaps it’s Darth Tenebrous (first introduced in Legends canon before being re-canonized in The Rise of Skywalker), Plagueis’ own master. If you do the math, Tenebrous would seem to fit the timeline of this show.

But it feels more likely that this is a new character we haven’t actually met yet, a forefather of Palpatine’s plan to destroy the Jedi once and for all. What’s important is that this is the first Sith the Jedi of this era have ever encountered, as evidenced by Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) asking the red lightsaber-wielding villain, “What are you?”

As we know from the High Republic era books and comics, the Jedi were enjoying a bit of a golden age at this point in the timeline. The Sith were thought to be all but extinct after millennia of conflict, although we know that’s anything but true. The villains just spent centuries in hiding, quietly planning and manipulating events from the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike against the Jedi and the Republic, which they eventually did in the Prequel Trilogy. Meanwhile, the Jedi Order let their guard down against their greatest enemy, which is why meeting a Sith lord who can single-handedly take on a whole group of Jedi Knights, including a few masters, is a bit of a shock for Sol and company.

There are so many questions to be answered about this Sith lord, but here’s a key one: is this mystery Sith the master or the apprentice? Either way, Sol should be very, very worried.

Master Sol and Mae’s Connection

While there’s been lots of speculation surrounding the show’s central character, a former-Jedi-padawn-turned-rogue-warrior named Mae, it’s still unclear whether she’s the Sith acolyte of the title. Either way, the trailer makes it clear that she no longer has any love for the Jedi, as she tries to kill several with her dagger, including her former master, Sol. In other words, it looks a lot like Mae is behind the crimes Sol and the other Jedi are investigating. Sol even says in the trailer that he should be the one to bring her in as he trained her in the ways of the Force.

What led to Mae turning against the Jedi—and perhaps even joining the Sith (we’re speculating here)—is still not clear, although a shot of what looks like Mae running through burning woods as Stenberg’s voiceover says to a victim that “it’s time to face the past” seems to have something to do with it.

Does she blame the Jedi for something that happened to her home world or her people? Speaking of her people…

Mae’s Origin, Mother Aniseya, and Force Witches

We learn that Mae was discovered by Sol when she was a young girl, still living with her people, who are actually a coven of Force witches led by Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith). When you think Force witches, your mind might immediately go to the Nightsisters of the Clone Wars and Mandoverse eras, but these aren’t the Witches of Dathomir. They’re a different Force-sensitive coven we’ve not met before. All the Star Wars Databank tells us about this seemingly all-female coven is that they “value their independence and the preservation of their beliefs and powers.”

Interestingly enough, there is also another Force cult introduced in The High Republic books and comics called the Path of the Open Hand, who believe no one should use the Force, especially not the Jedi, as they think it will lead to galactic disaster (which of course it eventually does in most of the Star Wars movies lol). The Open Hand’s leader is also called “Mother.” The Acolyte‘s coven doesn’t seem connected to the Open Hand, but it’s interesting that High Republic stuff continues to delve into other sects of Force users who might not be directly bad guys but aren’t Jedi either.

It remains to be seen how Mae’s coven feels about the Jedi, although we do see them put at least one padawan under some sort of spell. That said, the fact that they let Sol take Mae away to become a Jedi may mean they’re not necessarily enemies, but at some point, Mae had a change of heart and started stabbing people.

Jedi Master Vernestra’s Warning

“I sense this is only a small part of a larger plan, some sort of shift to tip the scales,” says Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh in the trailer. This is a deft bit of foreshadowing that is undoubtedly referring to the Sith machinations that will eventually lead to the fall of the Jedi a century later. It’s also the first time we’ve actually heard Rebecca Henderson (Russian Doll) speak as the Mirialan Jedi who The High Republic book fans first met as a teenage padawan.

Since this show takes place decades after Vernestra’s teen adventures, we meet her in live action as a respected master who the other Jedi look to for wisdom. The extent of her role in the show is still a mystery, but it’s clear she already sees the bigger plot against the Jedi.

Headland teased to Empire that the Vernestra we meet in The Acolyte has already “been through some shit,” which “has resulted in her going from this fun-seeking adventurer character [in the books], to a little bit closer to the [type of] Jedi that we see in The Phantom Menace.” Her race also has a much longer lifespan than most, which means “she’s known Sol since he was a tiny child” and “has been around for so long, she has basically met everyone that has come through the Temple, and seen them all die their natural deaths if they’re living a natural human life.” That’ll definitely change someone’s outlook.

Vernestra also happens to wield a badass purple lightwhip instead of the standard lightsaber, which we really hope we’ll get to see on the show!

Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on June 4 on Disney+.

25 Valuable LEGO Star Wars Sets You Need to Own Today

This article is part of Collector’s Digest, an editorial series powered by:

Twenty-five years ago, the galaxies of LEGO and Star Wars collided for the first time, resulting in one of the most valuable partnerships in merchandising history. With nearly 1,000 total sets produced and over 1,300 different minifigures, LEGO Star Wars is now a mainstay in the world of pop culture collectibles. To celebrate 25 years of LEGO Star Wars, we’re counting down the 25 most valuable retail LEGO Star Wars sets ever produced, all items you can buy for yourself on eBay right now!

10134: Y-wing Attack Starfighter (2004)

One of the most iconic LEGO Star Wars lines is the highly coveted Ultimate Collector Series (UCS). These sets feature bigger versions of beloved ships from the Star Wars universe, with an acute attention to detail. The rugged and mechanical aesthetic of the Y-wing is perfect for this style, with a multitude of pipes, wires, and brackets exposed. At 1,473 pieces, the 2004 rendition of this craft is a striking centerpiece for any LEGO Star Wars display.

7676: Republic Attack Gunship (2008)

In the late summer of 2008, Star Wars branched out into the realm of big-budget animation with the theatrical release of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. LEGO dedicated an entire wave of sets to the film that August, headlined by the Republic Attack Gunship. The only version of this variant of the Republic Gunship ever made, 7676 featured 1,034 pieces and the first-ever appearance of Clone Wars legends in LEGO form, including Jedi Master Plo Koon, the dynamic Asajj Ventress, and the ever-so-reliable Clone Commander Cody (unless you’re Obi-Wan Kenobi during Order 66).

10188: Death Star (2008)

“That’s no moon; it’s a space station.” The Death Star is one of the largest pieces of iconography in Star Wars history (literally). The massive Imperial space station has received the UCS treatment three times, with the superior second one coming in 2008. Built with 3,803 parts and including 24 different minifigures, 10188 captures scenes such as the trash compactor, Luke and Leia’s brave jump over the chasm, and the final duel between Darth Vader and his son from Return of the Jedi.

75222: Betrayal at Cloud City (2018)

The first set under the new Master Builder Series banner was 75222: Betrayal at Cloud City. This 2,812-piece giant recreated many different moments from The Empire Strikes Back, including the titular betrayal by Lando Calrissian, Han Solo frozen in carbonite, Boba Fett’s ship docked on a landing platform, and Darth Vader’s hefty revelation to his son, Luke Skywalker.

75252: Imperial Star Destroyer (2019)

The first shot ever seen in 1977’s Star Wars features the Rebel Blockade Runner Tantive IV being pursued by the much larger Imperial Star Destroyer. The Star Destroyer absolutely eclipses the Rebel ship, so much so that it’s able to swallow it whole as the villainous Darth Vader prepares to board. 75252: Imperial Star Destroyer accurately depicts this scale, with a miniature model of the Tantive IV for reference juxtaposed against one of the longest LEGO sets ever made, a 43-inch Star Destroyer constructed with nearly 5,000 bricks. The newly retired set has already jumped in value significantly, and you can expect that price to skyrocket over the coming years.

7662: Trade Federation MTT (2007)

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace introduced a new set of villains: battle droids. These tan, spindly, squeaky-voiced robots terrorized the planet of Naboo in their Multi-Troop Transports, otherwise known as MTTs. The large, brown tanks could carry dozens of troops at a time, leading to one of the most memorable moments from the film when they were deployed. The 2007 LEGO rendition of the MTT was accompanied by 20 battle droid minifigures and a brick-built droideka. There has never been a more coveted Trade Federation set in LEGO’s history, leading 7662 to have an immense appreciation in value nearly 20 years after release.

75159: Death Star (2016)

The most recent UCS version of the Death Star, 75159 looks almost exactly like the aforementioned 10188 at first glance. However, after further inspection, some small differences arise. Updated parts, including a more accurate hair piece for Han Solo, are included, alongside a plethora of desirable minifigures featuring Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, Death Star troopers, Grand Moff Tarkin, and royal guards.

7181: TIE Interceptor (2000)

The LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series brought us one vehicle from each faction of the original Star Wars trilogy. For the Empire, there was 7181: TIE Interceptor. The sleeker TIE design from Return of the Jedi has appreciated nearly 10x its retail price. Luckily for LEGO Star Wars fans, this set was remade this year, with 75382: TIE Interceptor gracing shelves now.

7261: Clone Turbo Tank (2005)

LEGO experimented with something different in 2005, adding light-up functions to Star Wars minifigures. By simply pressing on their head, the minifigures’ lightsabers would light up, giving the illusion of an ignited blade. The first ever Mace Windu figure was designed in this style. The Jedi Master was included in 7161: Clone Turbo Tank, the biggest set from LEGO’s first wave of Revenge of the Sith products. The set referenced the battle of Kashyyyk on the Wookiee homeworld. Eagle-eyed Star Wars fans, of course, know that Mace Windu didn’t actually appear on Kashyyyk in the movie, but this didn’t stop the set from becoming an all-time classic.

10129: Rebel Snowspeeder (2003)

The Rebel Snowspeeder, a small suborbital craft with only two seats, was responsible for taking down the mammoth AT-ATs in The Empire Strikes Back. The first UCS LEGO version of this ship was released in 2003 with 10129. Equipped with moving engines, a detailed interior, and adjustable flaps, this 1,457-piece model has stood the test of time.

10030: Imperial Star Destroyer (2002)

The original LEGO UCS Imperial Star Destroyer was released in the winter of 2002, and the 2019 version recaptures much of its magic. What separates the 2002 set 10030 from its successor is that the original features only 3,096 pieces, significantly less than the 2019 version, but still delivers a massive brick-built model of the Star Destroyer chasing a comparatively tiny Tantive IV.

10212: Imperial Shuttle (2010)

Released in 2010, the 10212: Imperial Shuttle is the only UCS version of the ship ever made. Standing at nearly two-feet tall, this all-white behemoth is one of the most visually striking LEGO Star Wars builds ever, with a perfectly smooth exterior that mimics the movie version. With UCS sets receiving remakes constantly, it’s not too far-fetched this will receive a new version in the near future, but for right now, fans will have to fork over something close to a thousand dollars to acquire this beauty.

7153: Jango Fett’s Slave I (2002)

One of the most iconic characters in the entire Star Wars universe is Boba Fett, the mysterious bounty hunter who delivered Han Solo to Jabba the Hutt. Boba’s origins were explained in 2002’s Star Wars prequel film Attack of the Clones, revealing he’s the clone-son of Jango Fett. Jango wore the same armor and flew the same ship as Boba, just in different colors. That ship in question, Slave I, was depicted with a navy blue and mint green color scheme. LEGO released their one and only set based on the Episode II version of the vehicle in 2002, which included exclusive minifigures of Jango and his young son Boba. Because another version of Slave I with this color scheme has never been made, the original remains in high demand today.

7163: Republic Gunship (2002)

Despite referencing the legendary conflict in the original Star Wars, George Lucas didn’t actually show us the Clone Wars until Attack of the Clones. The Clone Troopers swoop into action to save the day during the Battle of Geonosis in the Low Altitude Assault Transport (LAAT), often referred to as the Republic Gunship. One of the most unique vehicles in Star Wars, this craft is very reminiscent of real-world attack helicopters with fun science fiction flair. The ship has gone on to garner a bit of a cult following, and LEGO has produced a number of different variations throughout the years, but the original set remains the most expensive to this day. Four Phase 1 Clone Troopers were included, followed by the now-beloved Jedi Bob and an unnamed Jedi Knight with a green lightsaber.

10221: Super Star Destroyer (2011)

In The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas introduced an even bigger version of the Star Destroyer, the aptly named Super Star Destroyer. Also known as the Executor, this miles-long capital ship is one of the most intimidating vehicles in all of Star Wars, making it the perfect candidate for the Ultimate Collector Series treatment from LEGO. The long, skinny design built out of 3,152 pieces flips the concept introduced in set 10030 on its head, making the original Imperial Star Destroyer the miniature model when compared to the immense scale of the Executor.

7191: X-wing Fighter (2000)

The other of the two original UCS sets introduced in 2000 alongside 7181: TIE Interceptor, 7191: X-wing Fighter brought Luke Skywalker’s trusty ship to life. Made out of exactly 1,300 pieces, the rugged aesthetic of the Rebel Alliance’s main starfighter is captured very well, ushering in a new era of extremely detailed LEGO Star Wars models. It’s not a mystery why the original UCS set now fetches a price nearly 10x its retail value.

10175: Vader’s TIE Advanced (2006)

Despite being the signature TIE flown by none other than Darth Vader in the original Star Wars film, the TIE Advanced has received very little attention from LEGO, with only one rendition as a UCS set in 2006. This set is significant for LEGO TIE designs, marking the first time one broke the traditional color scheme of black and blue and swapped in a more accurate light gray and black. With only 1,212 pieces, 10175 remains one of the smaller UCS sets of the last two decades and would benefit from a modern remake.

10019: Rebel Blockade Runner (2001)

After multiple smaller-scale builds of this ship, the Rebel Blockade Runner (Tantive IV) finally gets its due in UCS form. This 1,747-piece set from 2001 beautifully captures the hammerhead shark-like shape of the first vehicle ever seen in Star Wars. Eleven engines made from Mars rover wheels adorn the back, capping off a fabulous model for the ages.

10195: Republic Dropship with AT-OT (2009)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars took the world by storm in 2009, as the animated series wrapped up its first season and transitioned into season two. Clone Troopers were all the rage among LEGO Star Wars collectors, and no set better symbolizes that era than 10195: Republic Dropship with AT-OT. Including two very large vehicles, this product was truly one of a kind. The Dropship had the unique ability to literally lift the AT-OT off the ground, something only ever seen in this single LEGO Star Wars set. A small platoon of Clone Troopers were also included here, and fans who had been building an army of them could deck out their ultimate The Clone Wars set with more soldiers ready for battle.

75188: Resistance Bomber (Finch Dallow version) – (2018)

LEGO Star Wars did something unprecedented with 75188. In 2017, LEGO released set 75188: Resistance Bomber to coincide with the theatrical run of The Last Jedi. A 780-piece model featured a nicely detailed build of the vehicle seen in the movie’s opening action sequence, joined by five minifigures of members of the Resistance. Among those figures is an unnamed Resistance Bomber Pilot, exclusive to only this set. However, a year later, LEGO released an updated version of the product. The set number was the same, as was the piece count, but the Resistance Bomber Pilot was swapped out for the character Finch Dallow. The new figure had an exclusive face print and helmet piece, meaning fans who wanted to collect every minifigure had to repurchase the same set again or buy Dallow from a third-party market. Because of this, and an oddly short run for the new version of 75188, the set has exploded in popularity, making Finch Dallow one of the most valuable LEGO minifigures of all time, fetching prices upwards of $1000.

10026: Special Edition Naboo Starfighter (2002)

10026: Special Edition Naboo Starfighter is by far the smallest UCS set ever created, with a mere 187 pieces. At first glance, the set might look like any ole LEGO N-1, but you’ll soon discover the component that sets this build apart from the rest: a plethora of shiny and chrome elements. These exclusive pieces drive up the price of the set beyond belief. In addition, this product had a very brief shelf-life, only available for purchase for two months at the end of 2002, meaning sealed copies are in short supply today.

10179: Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon (2007)

The biggest LEGO set of all time upon its release in 2007, the first-ever UCS Millennium Falcon immediately became a staple of any LEGO Star Wars fan’s mega collection. Made to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, this 5,197-piece behemoth used to command even double the price it does today, but because of the 2017 remake, it has depreciated over time. Still, the set’s stranglehold over the LEGO Star Wars fandom for over a decade contributed to the idea that these small, plastic bricks are a better investment than gold.

10143: Death Star II (2005)

The third and final UCS Death Star on the list, and the only one specifically dedicated to the second version from Return of the Jedi, 10143 is one of the most beloved LEGO Star Wars sets ever made. Instead of a fully detailed interior with minifigures to populate, this 3,449-piece model is just that: a model. An eye-opening centerpiece of any collection, LEGO masterfully captured the unfinished essence of Death Star II, all while incorporating the space station’s massive laser and a miniature-scale version of the Imperial Star Destroyer.

10018: Darth Maul (2001)

The penultimate set on this countdown might surprise you: a 1,868-piece bust of Darth Maul. In fact, this remains the only bust LEGO has ever made within the Star Wars theme. Despite a lukewarm reception in 2001, the set now enjoys a cult following, with the rarity of the product in its original box propelling it to new heights. The design is also spectacular for the time as well, accurately picturing the Sith Lord’s menacing face and sadistic horns.

10123: Cloud City (2003)

The LEGO Star Wars set to end all LEGO Star Wars sets, 10123: Cloud City has solidified itself as the ultimate piece for any collection. Ironically, it’s not even part of the Ultimate Collector Series, so why is it so popular? For starters, it was the first-ever rendition of anything Cloud City in LEGO form, meaning fans could finally recreate moments such as, “No, I am your father” in the system. Second, Lando Calrissian came as a LEGO minifigure for the first time, and the scoundrel only appeared in that set for the next six years. Finally, a highly-detailed Boba Fett figure with added arm and leg printing was included, way ahead of its time. Boba Fett alone from 10123 is worth more than the majority of sets on this list, often selling for over $2,000. All these factors came together to form the perfect storm of a LEGO Star Wars set, and as the years pass, new copies are becoming increasingly hard to find, yielding the most valuable LEGO Star Wars set of all time.

All of these sets can be purchased on eBay right now.

Den of Geek Hosts a Star Wars Collectibles Charity Auction Exclusively on eBay Live on May the 4th

Presented by:

Ringing in May the 4th in style, Den of Geek is launching an online charity auction broadcast in our New York City studio through eBay Live, celebrating the iconic Star Wars franchise with plenty of cool items to bid on and purchase. The proceeds will go towards Feeding America, who work with food banks, food pantries, and local food programs to bring food to people facing hunger in the United States. Supporting the auction are a number of fan-favorite companies that have donated Star Wars merchandise, including BoxLunch, Loungefly, Bioworld, CGC Comics, and more.

Items up for auction on May 4 range from Star Wars-branded backpacks and tumblers to highly detailed action figures and mint condition-graded trading cards. With an entire galaxy of acclaimed movies and shows, each with their own memorable characters to draw from, there truly is something for every Star Wars fan of all eras of the enduring space opera franchise. Participants in the live auction will support physical bookstores and comic shops around the country as they bid for cool pieces to add to their personal Star Wars collections.

Feeding America is the largest charity working to end hunger in the United States through a nationwide network of food banks, food pantries, and local meal programs. The charity also work with lawmakers to advocate for policies to improve food security for everyone. The Feeding America website also helps people find local food banks that provide free food in their communities. You can also support Feeding America’s work by donating here.

Be sure to log in at 2 p.m. EST on eBay Live for a chance to buy pieces from that galaxy far, far away and for an extremely good cause. For more information about Feeding America, please check their website. In the meantime, get ready to celebrate another year of Star Wars with Den of Geek and eBay Live as we bond over our mutual love of Star Wars and sell some truly stylish Star Wars merchandise from all of its distinct eras for charity.

Star Wars Finally Reveals the Fate of a Lost Prequel Trilogy Jedi

This Star Wars: Tales of the Empire article contains spoilers.

The Clone Wars season five finale, “The Wrong Jedi,” was a turning point for Jedi Knight Barriss Offee. While in 2013 fans of the then-recently-made-non-canon Legends timeline knew Barriss best as a brave and kind Jedi Knight who was a gifted healer, “The Wrong Jedi” revealed Barriss’ darker side. After growing disillusioned with the Jedi’s warring ways during the Clone Wars, Barriss orchestrated a terrorist attack on the Jedi Temple that left several Jedi dead. Although Barriss’ friend, Ahsoka Tano, was blamed for the attack at first, Barriss’ crimes were eventually uncovered and she was excommunicated from the Order, then sent to a Republic prison on Coruscant.

That was the last we heard of this Prequel era Jedi first introduced in Attack of the Clones until this week’s Tales of the Empire, a new series of animated shorts that picks up where Barriss’ story left off (while also revealing the origins of Lady Morgan Elsbeth, the villainous Nightsister from The Mandalorian and Ahsoka). In a three-part story covering different points in Barriss’ life after The Clone Wars, we see what became of the former Jedi, including what may very well be her death years after Order 66.

Barriss Offee, Lyn Rakish, and the Inquisitors

The first chapter of Barriss’ story (episode four of Tales of the Empire) takes place right after Order 66 has wiped out most of the Jedi in the galaxy. In the opening scenes, Barriss’ watches from her cell viewport as plumes of black smoke rise from the faraway Jedi Temple she once called home. When she asks a security guard what’s happening, the trooper simply responds, “Just be glad you’re not a Jedi anymore.” It’s a line that should send shivers down the spine of those who remember just what transpired in Revenge of the Sith.

Later, Barriss is visited by another former Jedi, Lyn Rakish, who has fully embraced the dark side and become an Inquisitor hellbent on hunting down the last of the Jedi. Lyn, who we all first met as the Fourth Sister in Obi-Wan Kenobi, recruits Barriss for the newly-founded Inquisitorius and takes her to meet the Grand Inquisitor. After passing a set of trials, including a fight to the death with another former Jedi, Barriss is knighted as an Inquisitor of the Empire and brought before her new master, Darth Vader.

But we learn quickly that this is actually meant to be a redemption story. During a mission to hunt down a fugitive Jedi in episode five, Barriss witnesses the cruel methods of the Inquisitorius firsthand when Lyn slaughters a village of people trying to protect their prey. When Barriss and Lyn catch up to the Jedi, Lyn cuts him down despite the fact that Barriss was able to get him to surrender peacefully. This is the last straw for Barriss, who turns on Lyn and Force pushes her off a cliff. She decides that she’d rather be a Jedi than a cruel monster for the Empire and goes into hiding like the rest of what remains of her Order.

The Redemption of Barriss Offee and Lyn Rakish

A time jump follows in episode six. Set years later, seemingly after the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi but before Return of the Jedi and the fall of the Empire, we now find an older Barriss living on a remote ice planet. A family running from the Empire bring their Force-sensitive child to Barriss, who is now know only as “The Healer.” Barriss arranges with “an old friend” for the family to travel to a hideout across the galaxy where their child will be safe from the Inquisitors (we can assume that she is referring the Path network introduced in Obi-Wan Kenobi as the hideout in question, although it’s unclear who the old friend is—perhaps Ahsoka herself?).

But just as Barriss’ crew lead the family into a cave that hides the ship that will get them off-world, Lyn arrives at Barriss’ camp. The Fourth Sister is surprised to see Barriss and considers a stroke of luck. Not only has she tracked down the child she’s been after but she can also take down Barriss. Lyn heads into the cave after the family, promising that once she has the child, she’ll return to get her revenge on her former Inquisitor sister.

Despite Barriss’ warnings to not go into the seemingly magical cave because she’ll never find her way out, Lyn rushes in, but it’s too late to catch up to the family, who zip off into space. Now trapped inside, Lyn tries to use the dark side to escape to no avail, with Barriss’ voice telling her that she’s chosen the wrong path (both literally and figuratively). Barriss offers to help an increasingly desperate Lyn, who is beginning to see that her embrace of the dark side is a trap.

Just when Barriss appears in the cave to show Lyn the way out, the Inquisitor’s instincts kick in and she lands a killing blow through Barriss’ abdomen with her lightsaber. The moment seems to shock even Lyn, who realizes how far she’s fallen. Before she falls unconscious (or dies), Barriss tells Lyn that she forgives her and that there’s “a way out” (again, both figuratively and literally) of her predicament despite what the Empire and the dark side wants her to believe.

The final scene ends with Lyn carrying Barriss out of the cave before the screen fades to black.

Is Barriss Offee Dead?

So, is this the true end of Barriss Offee’s story? It’s unclear as the episode ends whether Barriss has really died or if there’s still a chance Lyn could find help for the Jedi. Considering the remote, barren location, that does seem unlikely. Either way, the episode is meant to once and for all redeem Barriss for her actions during the Clone Wars and the early days of the Empire, while also setting Lyn on her own path of redemption. Barriss is essentially trying to pay it forward through her sacrifice, believing that if she can be saved, so can Lyn.

Where Lyn and Barriss go from here is anyone’s guess. It does seem strange for Star Wars to bring back Barriss, a character Clone Wars fans have longed to see again, after 11 years just to kill her off for good, but since several years have passed between the first part of this story and her final breaths in episode six, Lucasfilm could always go back to the character and tell the stories that happened between Barriss’ exit from the Inquisitorius and before she became the Healer. Either way, Tales of the Empire is a strong continuation of her story that reminds us of one of Star Wars‘ most pivotal recurring themes: that light can still pierce through even the thickest of darkness.

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire is streaming now on Disney+.

Only Those Strong in the Force Can Defeat This Star Wars Character Quiz

Another May the 4th has arrived, and with it, the promise of so much Star Wars goodness on the horizon. Today, for example, sees the release of a new animated series called Tales of the Empire, which expands the stories of Lady Morgan Elsbeth, the villainous Nightsister from the Mandoverse, and Barriss Offee, a fallen Jedi whom Clone Wars fans have long wanted to revisit. The show sees both of these characters embrace the dark side for the glory of the Empire. Festive viewing indeed.

That’s only the beginning for the villains of Star Wars. On June 4, fans will get to witness the return of the Sith in the new Disney+ live action series The Acolyte, which stars Amandla Stenberg as an ex-Jedi who’s gone rogue as well as Lee Jung-jae and Dafne Keen as a Jedi Master and apprentice duo investigating a series of mysterious crimes. The show is set at the end of the High Republic era, 100 years before any of the movies, even the Prequels, which means this is the furthest back we’ve ever been on the Star Wars timeline in live action. The new era means The Acolyte can explore characters, places, and lore we’ve never seen on screen before, including how the Sith first launched their plan to take over the Republic and exterminate the Jedi Order.

But it isn’t just all bad vibes in the galaxy far, far away! To celebrate May the 4th, we also have a brand-new Star Wars quiz that will challenge how well you know even the most obscure scum of the Outer Rim just from seeing their names. There may even be a few followers of the dark side in there…

The Best Stunts the James Bond Movies Ever Dared

Show-stopping stunts have long been as important to the James Bond movie formula as gadgets, villains, and the appropriate amount of workday martinis. While the early Connery movies didn’t emphasize such stunts quite as much as future installments did, audiences soon came to expect in the 1970s to see Bond put his life on the line in some incredible stunt sequence for queen, country, and our entertainment.

While other action franchises (most notably, the Mission: Impossible movies) have certainly raised the bar for film stunts since then, there is a charm to the best Bond stunts that can’t easily be replicated. They’re conceptually creative, they’re often done practically, and they have gradually helped shape the considerable mythology of the world’s greatest spy. They’re as stylish as an expertly tailored suit and as dangerous as an assignment from M. These are the best James Bond stunts ever.

10. The Big Dam Bungee Jump – GoldenEye

The first stunt on this list is the one that introduced us to the Pierce Brosnan Bond era. It was the moment when Martin Campbell reached through the screen, put his arms around our shoulders, and assured a legion of fans that Bond was undoubtedly back.

While this stunt is conceptually simple so far as absurdly dangerous bungee jumps go, that simplicity is a virtue in this instance. Campbell and the camera crew trusted the stunt team, including the daredevil who made the jump, Wayne Michaels, to make this thing look good and let it play out in glorious wide shots that are scored only by the sounds of the wind blowing and cables rustling. The temptation to use the classic Bond musical sting at that moment must have been overwhelming, but they were wise to resist. If anything, the more absurd (and often digitally sweetened) Brosnan stunts that followed make this scene all the more impressive.

9. The Circus Train Fight – Octopussy

Octopussy isn’t just a lesser James Bond movie; it’s one of those Bond movies that is so dreadfully dull and irredeemably outdated that people often struggle to remember it. Sadly, that means that this incredible train fight sequence often gets lost in discussions about the best James Bond stunts.

This scene that sees Bond navigate a moving train filled with circus attractions is conceptually fantastic. Watching someone confidentially stroll atop a barreling locomotive while occasionally punching some overly confident goon is a guaranteed good time. What makes this scene special, though, are those shots of Bond hanging off the side of the train and dodging incoming obstacles. That’s stuntman Martin Grace putting his body on the line during those practically shot sequences. Grace was seriously injured during one of those shots when a miscommunication between the coordinators sent him crashing into a concrete post. The timing required to eventually get this scene on film is nothing short of incredible.

8. The Crocodile Run – Live and Let Die

This is one of those stunts that is certainly fun to watch but elevated by the realization that someone actually did it. Yes, that’s stuntman Ross Kananga running across that bridge of crocodiles like he’s Pitfall Harry. Granted, this probably wasn’t a great experience for the crocodiles, but the results speak volumes. The only thing more impressive than the final shot is the outtake footage which shows Kananga’s failed early attempts at pulling this scene off. You can’t fully appreciate how dangerous this was until you’ve seen a man sink into the water and find himself suddenly surrounded by the perturbed and uncooperative crocodiles he just tried to step on.

7. The Truck Chase – Licence to Kill

Even if you’re not a fan of the Timothy Dalton Bond movies (a blasphemous take), it’s hard to deny that Licence to Kill and The Living Daylights include some of the most impressive stunts in the entire Bond franchise. License to Kill‘s existence is arguably justified by the audacity and spectacle of this semi-truck chase sequence.

This chase scene along a cliffside road features all the close calls, explosions, and expert maneuvering any Wages of Fear-loving film fan could ever want. However, it is highlighted by the moment stunt driver Rémy Julienne manages to get an 18-wheeler on nine of its wheels and effectively drive it sideways to avoid an incoming rocket. While there is still some debate about how, exactly, this stunt was pulled off, it has been noted that Julienne was able to pull off this seemingly impossible bit of driving with little (or no) external assistance required.

6. The Cable Car Brawl – Moonraker

How good is this cable car sequence in Moonraker? It’s the arguable highlight of a movie that also features an incredible skydiving scene, a laser gun battle in space, and a pigeon doing a Looney Tunes-style double take. Whatever buried fears you may have had about riding in a cable car are likely brought to life in this stunning scene that sees Bond battle notorious henchman Jaws across two cable cars. Reportedly, stuntman Richard Graydon lost his footing during this scene and was forced to hold on for dear life without the support of any immersion compromising support cables. Having to fist-fight Jaws sounds preferable to enduring that nightmare.

5. The Parkour Chase – Casino Royale

After kicking the Brosnan Bond era off with a bang, director Martin Campbell returned to outdo himself in Casino Royale. Anyone who went to see Casino Royale with bated breath was forced to hold it just a little bit longer as they watched Bond pursue a suspect (played by real-life parkour master, Sébastien Foucan) across a variety of locations that includes a show-stopping walk across a crane.

Though arguably inspired by the action scenes of the Bourne franchise (as much of Casino Royale was), this chase scene sometimes feels closer to a Jackie Chan movie in terms of its scope and execution. The relentless pacing of this chase scene would soon set a standard that only the best Craig stunt sequences came close to equalling. Through it all, we are told everything we need to know about this version of James Bond’s style and unflinching resolve without anyone needing to utter a single word.

4. The Rock Climb (and Fall) – For Your Eyes Only

Both this scene and For Your Eyes Only deserve a lot more love than they tend to get. Granted, this stunt includes a painfully obvious dummy shot that dilutes its intended impact somewhat, but the rest of this scene is as painfully practical as Bond movie stunts come. So when Bond suddenly drops a few hundred feet while climbing a cliff, that’s stuntman Rick Sylvester taking the kind of tumble most of us wouldn’t be brave enough to have a nightmare about. The only thing better than the fall is the glorious wide shot that dares us to take it all in while perfectly preserving this “thanks, but let’s never do that again” moment.

3. The Cargo Net Fight – The Living Daylights

We should all aspire to be as bold as the coordinator who suggested this scene in which two men do battle while holding onto a cargo net suspended some 6500 feet in the air. The scenes of Dalton and Andreas Wisniewski duking it out were shot elsewhere and spliced in, but those incredible aerial wide shots? It turns out they found two stuntmen who were willing to say “yes” to the ultimate “nope” scenario.

Reportedly, this scene was made possible by the presence of a safety coordinator who was ready to jump into the action and deploy specially designed parachutes should either of these stuntmen fall. I’m not entirely sure what that would have looked like and I’m thrilled that those involved seemingly never had to test the validity of that backup plan.

2. The Car Jump – The Man With The Golden Gun

The infamous slide whistle sound effect in this scene is superfluous at best and ruinous at worst. In some ways, though, that inexplicable sound design decision perfectly captures the Roger Moore era of Bond films in which world class stunts and previously unfathomable levels of corniness often traveled hand-in-hand.

For this scene, stunt driver Loren Willert was asked to drive an AMC Hornet across a broken bridge, complete a mid-air spin, and land the car on another twisted bridge on the other side of a river. He not only did it; he reportedly did it on the very first try. The logistics of this stunt instantly earn it a place on this list. The fact they managed to make this thing look so damn smooth makes it one of the most impressive movie stunts ever.

1. The Parachute Ski Jump – The Spy Who Loved Me

As I mentioned in the intro of this article, the best Bond stunts are often as much about their style and how they contribute to the mystique of James Bond as they are about the technical difficulty of the stunt itself. Well, meet one of the stunts that is the nearly perfect example of both those qualities.

Yes, we’ve seen more exciting James Bond skiing sequences that rely less on rear projection cutaway shots. Yes, Bond’s yellow ski suit is a particularly regrettable bit of ‘70s fashion (though I will defend the sex jazz soundtrack to the death). However, all of that is worth it for the climatic moment that sees stuntman Rick Sylvester ski off of a glacier, free fall for a long bit, and then open his Union Jack parachute as the iconic Bond music fills our hearts and souls. Oh, and all of that occurs before we even get to the opening credits song which triumphantly begins with the words “Nobody does it better.”

This isn’t just the best stunt scene in the history of James Bond movies; it’s arguably the definitive James Bond scene. It’s the scene you would put into a time capsule to show some far-off alien civilization why James Bond is an irreplaceable part of cinema history. Nobody does it better, indeed.

I Saw the TV Glow Ending Explained: A24’s Transcendent Trans Cautionary Tale

This article contains I Saw the TV Glow spoilers.

Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow is a unique, neon-colored, melancholic analysis. It’s a complex work determined to show you might find yourself through art and the joys of escapism. Instead of depicting this coming-of-age story with promise, as is often cinema’s wont, Schoenbrun presents a haunting, Kaufman-esque diversion, illustrating the consequences of avoiding one’s embracement of oneself and the repression that bottles throughout the years. Most remarkably, Schoenbrun provides a significant, one-of-a-kind trans allegory; a raw psychedelic vision unlike almost anything previously put on the screen. In fact, the closest comparison I can think of is to say it’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things for non-cis folks.

The setup seems at first straightforward. In 1996, 13-year-old Owen (Ian Foreman) imprinted his soul onto a YA Goosebumps-meets-Buffy-styled horror TV series called The Pink Opaque. The series follows two chosen girls, Tara (Lindsey Jordan) and Isabel (Helena Howard), paired with a pink ghost at the back of their necks that allows them to see and fight supernatural monsters. On an election night voting outing with his mom (Danielle Deadwyler) at his middle school, Owen then spots ninth-grade upperclassman Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) sitting by her lonesome in the gym, reading an episode guide to The Pink Opaque.

They instantly bond to the extent they have a sleepover and watch the series as it airs. Their shared love for the series spiritually connects them more than their relationship with either of their families. But as he enters ninth grade, Owen’s (Justice Smith) inner life begins to crumble as his mom is diagnosed with cancer, and his dad (Fred Durst) barely has a relationship with him. His only solace is The Pink Opaque, which Maddy leaves weekly VHS taped episodes of in various classrooms.

Eventually, Maddy and Owen talk again, leading them to have one more Pink Opaque sleepover. Soon after Maddy disappears without a trace. In her absence, the lines between fiction and reality begin to blur for Owen. It also opens the movie up as a heart-rending metaphor about self-realization… or what happens when the self is denied for a lifetime.

Owen’s Memory Omission and Repression

Throughout I Saw the TV Glow, Owen is positioned as an unreliable narrator. He tells the audience about his upbringing and fixation on The Pink Opaque. Yet Owen omits all the gender-related conversations bridged between Owen’s attachment to Isabel as he recounts his memories. He admits that the series is his escapism; moments between Owen and Maddy’s relationship, illustrating Owen exploring his gender identity, aren’t ever unveiled until Maddy brings it up to him.

Later into the film, as The Pink Opaque stans are in early adulthood, Maddy returns to the suburbs to make Owen remember their past watching the show. Owen selectively recalls the time they shared watching the show. When Maddy describes, however, the truth is revealed as moments locked in the closet of Owen’s hippocampus, hidden from the audience, come out. During their hangouts in adolescence, Owen experiments with his gender identity. We see him donning a pink dress and walking similarly to Isabel, all to Maddy’s accepting approval. The changing perspective of what’s hidden from the viewer as an omission of Owen’s transness and the truth spoken by Maddy adds a subtle layer to the film’s tackling of identity.

Owen’s fear of being authentic with his identity can be traced back to the film’s beginning, where even his young 7th grade self wears a coat of shame on him regarding The Pink Opaque. The fact that it is his source of escape is kept in secrecy—an act of self-denial.

Upon meeting Maddy for the first time, giddy over seeing someone else in real life be into The Pink Opaque as he was in his isolated suburbia, she asks if he watches. He instantly nods but also shakes his head, fearing being judged, let alone seen. The strained parenting he got from where his mom coddled him like a baby well into his high school years while his dad had no real connection with him influenced his reactions and navigation with the outside world.

On a car ride home from the fair, distressed by his mom’s news, Owen asks if he can stay up to watch The Pink Opaque, to which his mom declines because it’s past his bedtime, and his dad inputs, “Isn’t that a show for girls?” That projection of masculinity imbued on him by his father already says enough about the distance Owen has from him. Yet his influence instills his memories, forcing any truth about his inner trans thoughts to disband.

Opening Up Your Innards

Whenever Owen expresses his genuine emotions, they are always directed toward Maddy. Though their conversations are few and far between, their platonic kinship imposed by the series lends them to share deep talks about their lives and fears about themselves. Maddy shares with him that she’s gay, and Owen claims doesn’t know what he likes. His non-defined ace, trans self, responds, “I think I like TV shows.” Owen also shares that he fears having no soul, as if he’s constantly been suffocating; if hypothetically he opened up his innards, there would be nothing of substance.

Those words come into play during a pivotal moment in Owen’s life where, during their adulthood, years after Maddy’s disappearance, she returns in confident, gender-non-conforming clothing, similar to Tara’s in the series. She informs Owen that they are really Tara and Isabel from the show. Their lives have been uprooted by the events of the season 5 finale where their nemesis, Mr. Melancholy (who looks like a cross-breeding between the iconic Man in the Moon face and the nightmarish Mac Tonight from the ’90s McDonald’s ads), poisoned them with Luna Juice. The fiend also buried them alive and cast their souls to the realm they live in now.

During an incredible monologue scene powerfully performed by Brigette Lundy-Paine, Maddy pours their soul into describing the hell they endured to get to and from the realms on the other side of the TV screen. Maddy did this so she can convince Owen that he’s Isabel and their deep conversations about him feeling buried alive was the truth. In a Matrix-like “Red Pill, Blue Pill” scenario, also a hella trans allegory, Owen rebukes Maddy’s hypothesis. He lives out the cursed life permeated by his dad’s projection of masculinity.

The Ending

I Saw the TV Glow’s psychologically horrific finale bridges its trans themes into a profoundly unsettling yet poignant bow. Owen’s obsession with The Pink Opaque and with Maddy helped him find a deep-rooted connection and discover his true self while distracting him from the isolating mundanity and devastation surrounding his family. However, his lack of embracement and trust in Maddy’s reach at every opportunity failed him.

Owen eventually lives out the greatest fear experienced by queer offspring of estranged parents: they become their father. As time passes, Owen explains that he acquired his family home after his dad’s passing, ridding himself of all his childhood belongings, including his beloved Pink Opaque videos Maddy gifted him. Owen’s tastes differ to fit the masculine expectations he sets for himself, upgrading his life to fit into traditional, cisgendered modernity.

Upon watching The Pink Opaque on streaming via his new flatscreen, all his love for the series from his youth and the nostalgic satisfaction of watching an episode during airtime are gone. The enchanted love he once had as a child upon his first obsession vanishes as he watches with discontent, admitting how embarrassed he feels. Considering that his soul is too far gone from embracing any thoughts of his transness, so too does this affect his thoughts toward the show.

As he goes into his elder years, becoming so soulless as a typical, average Joe, an elderly Owen—the makeup effect of making Justice Smith look old is gnarly—on the brink of death, freaks out at his dead-end entertainment center job. Owen’s repression finally found its breaking point. Sadly, it’s in his final years.

In the bathroom, he coughs up Luna Juice, the stuff that Isabel drank in the season 5 finale… and Owen decides to cut himself up as he talked about doing as a metaphor before. Upon looking at himself in the mirror, he sees the TV static live inside his innards, and he seems relieved that there is a semblance of a soul within him; that it was there all along.

I found myself fascinated with the film’s contemplation of queer repression by its finale, with how Schoenbrun shows the bleak consequences of bottling up your inner identity. The climax reminded me of I’m Thinking of Ending Things with the reveal that everything seemed to be Jesse Plemons’ memory. Because we’ve been closely aligned to Justice Smith’s Owen and the tribulations he went through with his family and the show he loved so dearly, the impact of him opening his chest at the end and seeing his true self, but only at an advanced age, is a more impactful ending and a gut punch to the chest than a rainbow-colored road.

It turns the film into something of a trans cautionary tale, emphasizing the thematic lesson of not living up to your true identity. It suggests a sad lifetime where a piece of art you fixate on tells you more about yourself than your lived experience ever did. It’s a perfect message for a new wave of kids of different backgrounds who want to find themselves but don’t have the right resources or community to guide them. All that you need is a TV show.

20 Best Video Game Adaptations Ever

Five years ago, the idea of discussing the best video game adaptations ever felt like a largely joyless task. Inevitably, you would have to lower the bar to allow room for movies and shows that you would never otherwise discuss in a positive light. There were a few genuine highlights even back then, but the perception that the majority of video game adaptations were quite bad was both widespread and largely accurate.

The situation has changed in truly remarkable ways in recent years, though. We now regularly receive video game adaptations that aren’t just good according to the standards of that criteria but are rather genuinely great movies and TV shows. Suddenly, there is a genuinely complicated discussion to be had about the best video game adaptation ever.

Before we dive into that topic, though, keep in mind that we’re limiting ourselves to movies and TV shows based on video games. That means that TV series like The Witcher (which is primarily based on the books) are not eligible. Movies and TV shows that are largely based on tabletop games (most notably, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) are also ineligible. Finally, movies and shows that often reference games (such as Ready Player One, Pixels, and Mythic Quest) but are not specifically based on a game are also ineligible.

20. Twisted Metal (2023)

The bottom of this list is a battle between the “Boldly Bad” and the “Dryly Competent.” Is it better to take a big swing and make a fun flop or produce something that elicits a mild “That was not as bad as I thought it would be” from viewers everywhere?

While Twisted Metal is ultimately a bit closer to the “I expected so much less from this” tier of video game adaptations, it has a few things going for it. The cast is excellent, it’s competent (or better) on a technical level, and while the show’s numerous attempts at “edgy” humor will certainly be an instant turn-off for many, they at least stem from largely good intentions to replicate aspects of the game. This show probably would have been better off embracing the EC Comics style of the original games, but it succeeds in places other adaptations never even bothered to explore.

19. Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix (2023)

Much like Twisted Metal, Captain Laserhawk tries way too hard to be edgy when it would have been better off focusing on more of the things that made its source material so much fun. While I respect that this show is trying to do its own thing, the series doesn’t get nearly as much out of that delightful “Dark ’80s cartoon” vibe as Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon did. The rushed pacing of the series is also especially odd given that it doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to get anywhere.

Still, it’s impressive that Adi Shankar was able to convince Ubisoft to allow so many characters from their various properties (including Rayman) to appear in this bloody tribute to all things excessive. It’s sadly the most fun that many of the characters from those games have gotten to have in a very long time.

18. Gran Turismo (2023)

The concept and production history of this movie are filled with more red flags than checkered flags, but woefully inconsistent director Neill Blomkamp somehow managed to turn the adaptation nobody asked for into a surprisingly entertaining piece of Saturday afternoon movie fun.

No, this story of an avid gamer who becomes a professional racecar driver never rises above the underdog stories it is modeled after. Fortunately, the ridiculousness of that premise is the source of quite a bit of fun. There is a surprising amount of heart and craft to be found in what is effectively the most expensive Gran Turismo commercial ever made.

17. Street Fighter (1994)

Unless you’re willing to explore some bold new interpretations of the word “good,” it’s hard to defend 1994’s Street Fighter as a good movie. However, in a sea of adaptations that are either painful to watch or utterly joyless, there is something to say about this “so bad, it’s good” movie that offers so many guilty pleasures.

Did this need to be a global military conflict action film that is remarkably short on the two things most people associated with the Street Fighter games at that point (streets and fighters)? Certainly not, but the sooner you make peace with what it is, the sooner you can genuinely enjoy the countless moments of unfiltered ‘90s absurdity that flow through this film like the blood in our veins. There should also be an Academy Award called the “Raul Julia” that goes to the best performance in a bad film.

16. Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)

In its opening act, Detective Pikachu comes surprisingly close to being that modern Who Framed Roger Rabbit adventure that it seemingly aspires to be. Ryan Reynold’s enthusiasm is infectious, there is a genuinely interesting mystery to solve, and the film shows us pockets of the Pokémon world the games rarely ever explored. For about an hour or so, it feels like the film might stick the landing and become a family classic.

Unfortunately, things fall apart pretty soon after when Detective Pikachu devolves into the spectacle of mediocre CGI and poorly-planned Pokémon battles that many feared this movie would be from the start. That sudden shift in quality can be brutal to endure, but it’s necessary to at least acknowledge the talent, craft, and ideas that went into this movie and formed its greatest moments.

15. Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

Between the whole pre-release fiasco over Sonic’s design and the generally sorry state of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise in recent years, it’s safe to say that expectations couldn’t have been lower for this film. You probably shouldn’t raise those expectations too much if you want to have a good time with this one, but much of the positive buzz you’ve heard about this movie is true. The Sonic the Hedgehog movie is often pretty good.

Highlighted by Jim Carrey’s scene-stealing (and scene-chewing) portrayal of Dr. Eggman, Sonic The Hedgehog is often just a little funnier, just a little more clever, and just a little more enjoyable than anyone expected it to be. Children and unabashed Sonic fans with nothing left to lose will ultimately get the most out of this one, but the whole thing hovers just far enough above “solid” for long enough to at least earn it a seat at the table.

14. Super Mario Bros. (1993)

It’s historically been difficult to be a genuine fan of the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie. For quite some time, this adaptation was popularly referred to as one of the worst movies ever made. In reality, it’s probably closer to a fascinating failure that will leave you rushing to research its production history in a desperate attempt to comprehend how this whole thing came together.

First off, those who still criticize this movie for not being faithful to the games need to learn a new line. There were only a handful of Super Mario Bros. games available in 1993, and they weren’t exactly overflowing with lore and intricate storylines. This movie instead picks certain pieces of Super Mario iconography and weaves them into a dystopian sci-fi adventure filled with lavish sets, inexplicable casting decisions, and just a little bit of body horror. The whole thing feels like a fever dream, but years of big-budget movies that play it way too safe have elevated this picture from the dredges of cinematic history. Also, Bob Hoskins is the only movie Mario I care to recognize at this time.

13. Silent Hill (2006)

It’s remarkable that we have been…blessed with so many Resident Evil adaptations over the years, and none of them measure up to the first Silent Hill movie as actual works of horror.

Look, anyone who comes into this movie expecting a Silent Hill 2-level work of psychological horror is going to be let down by what is ultimately a mid-2000s horror movie with a lot of mid-2000s horror shortcomings. Still, this movie does a great job of utilizing the looks and sounds of a proper Silent Hill adventure even if it has to sacrifice a lot of that series’ more substantial qualities in the process. It’s one of those hidden gems that is arguably let down most by the expectations and associations of its source material.

12. Mortal Kombat (1995)

In the minds of many, 2021’s Mortal Kombat movie had a pretty low bar to clear. Those who remembered being disappointed by this ‘90s adaptation of the fighting game franchise simply asked for the violence and proper martial arts they felt that this film largely denied them. Yet, when that movie came out and proved to be surprisingly dull despite technically delivering in those two areas, I like to think that people started to look back at this movie in a slightly more favorable light.

There’s a shocking amount of creative energy in this film that is best exemplified by its certified banger of a soundtrack. At a time when adaptations were regularly criticized for being unfaithful to their source material, this movie feels remarkably close to the MK games available at that time. Granted, its violence is tame, but there’s an actual fighting tournament, callbacks to various rivalries and interactions, and a few fights that properly exhibit the unique characteristics of their combatants. Most importantly, it’s a ton of fun.

11. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

At this point, it’s pretty much impossible to take anything away from The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s success or cultural impact. It’s a bonafide blockbuster that has paved the way for bigger and better adaptations to come. However, it often plays things so safe that it often fails to truly honor the creative spirit that has historically elevated the Super Mario Bros. franchise.

There is obvious (box office) value in giving people what they say they want, though, and this movie certainly does that. For years, fans begged for a big-budget animated Super Mario Bros. movie that looked like the games and allowed them to see all the faces and places they loved on the big screen. This movie delivers all of that and gifts us with a great Jack Black performance to boot.

10. Nier: Automata Ver1.1a (2023)

While this Crunchyroll series got lost in the shuffle of the surprisingly excellent video game adaptations we’ve been enjoying recently, I can see someone making the argument that it’s arguably the best of that bunch.

What makes this series work as well as it does is Nier creator Yoko Taro’s commitment to working so closely with the showrunners. Taro wanted to find a way to translate all of the things that made Nier: Automata special into an entirely different medium. Given that so much of what makes that game special is based on the experience of playing (and replaying) it, that was no small task. Yet, Taro and the showrunners ultimately came away with that rare adaptation that works just as well as an introduction to the video game series it is based on as a glowing tribute to it.

9. Werewolves Within (2021)

Yes, this movie is technically based on a video game, though that game is really just a variation on those popular deduction-style party games such as Mafia. While that makes it difficult to rank this above the adaptations that were tasked with tackling bigger properties, Werewolves Within is certainly the best live-action movie on this list.

This film follows the residents of a small town who gradually begin to realize that one of their own is a werewolf. It sounds like the set-up for a Stephen King story, but Werewolves Within is closer to a comedy “Whodunnit?” in the style of Clue or Knives Out. It’s a couple of drafts away from greatness, but the biggest reason you probably never saw this fantastic film is that it was released at a truly unfortunate time for new movies: June 2021.

8. Cuphead (2022)

Much like the Cuphead games, Netflix’s Cuphead show features elements of that 1930s-style animation that helped make the games such a huge hit. Rather than attempt to copy the humor and structure of those cartoons wholesale, though, this Netflix series opts to draw from a variety of influences and eras.

The result is a wonderful show that would have felt right at home during the golden age of ‘90s Nickelodeon cartoons. It’s beautiful, it’s funny, and it finds ways to treat kids like adults and adults like kids in the best ways possible. If this had been released just a few years earlier, it may have widely been considered the best video game adaptation yet.

7. Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (1994)

Growing up, this Street Fighter 2 movie seemed like an urban legend. You’re telling me that there is a mature animated Street Fighter film out there that is filled with violence and nudity that is actually…good? As a kid, it was hard to wrap your head around such things.

Years later, this movie still has the power to invoke such reactions. While it can’t compete with the very best animated movies of its era, Street Fighter 2 is a shockingly great adaptation of some pretty thin source material (at least at that time). When you’re losing yourself in this movie’s beautiful animation and well-done fight scenes, you’ll likely start asking yourself how this film succeeded where so many subsequent adaptations failed. It’s a good question, though the answer is at least partially based on something video game fans have long argued: more video game adaptations should be animated.

6. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022)

In recent years, we’ve been blessed with video game adaptations that do justice to their source material. Well, meet the rare video game adaptation that helped elevate its source material.

When Edgerunners was released on Netflix, Cyberpunk 2077 was still something of a laughing stock amongst those who were burned by its many glitches and broken promises. While that means Edgerunners is at least partially based on Mike Pondsmith’s Cyberpunk universe, this Cyberpunk 2077 prequel really set out to showcase the exceptional lore and world-building ideas that were buried under that game’s many issues. It’s a fantastic series in its own right, but is perhaps best remembered as the work that kicked off the Cyberpunk 2077 revival we’re currently enjoying.

5. Castlevania (2017)

It’s odd to think that Netflix’s Castlevania was released way back in 2017. At that time, the argument over the best video game adaptation was often a rather unenthusiastic battle between largely lackluster candidates. An animated Castlevania adventure written by Warren Ellis sounded like a good idea, but who was naive enough to still believe that great gaming adaptations were possible?

Along with being an excellent series in its own right, Netflix’s Castlevania helped to reshape that narrative. It was, at the time of its release, the rare video game adaptation that felt like it was helmed by creators with a story to tell rather than a studio with an obligation to fill. While the show’s first season was tragically limited to four episodes, subsequent seasons have realized the full potential of this incredible concept.

4. Pokémon (1997)

There are over 1200 episodes in this incredible animated series that is still running to this day. Though I can’t even pretend to vouch for the entirety of this show, this entry is really a nod to that incredible initial run that was released at a time when Pokémon ruled the world.

The most underrated aspect of the Pokémon phenomenon was Nintendo’s commitment to the quality of nearly every Pokémon-related product at that time. They could have filled their pools with money simply by greenlighting a Pokémon series, but they instead chose to approve a series that made young Pokémon fans everywhere lose their damn minds. It’s difficult to imagine playing the Pokémon games at that time and not also losing yourself in this series. It brought the world of Pokémon to life in ways the Game Boy games could not and added elements to the franchise that now feel inseparable from the games.

3. Arcane (2021)

It’s hard to say who was more surprised by Arcane. Longtime League of Legends fans with tempered expectations for this adaptation or those who were only vaguely aware of the League of Legends phenomenon in the first place. Ultimately, both camps were united by their slacked jaws.

Arcane’s beautiful art style welcomes us into its expertly crafted world of nuanced characters with complex personal issues and macro-intrigue. That story of clashing cultures and the people caught in the middle of it all quickly reminded some of Game of Thrones at its best. Yet, there really isn’t much out there like this series that humbly promised to dive into the origins of two League of Legends characters and then delivered something so much greater.

2. Fallout (2024)

After a few false starts and years of fans saying “Wouldn’t Fallout make for a great movie/TV show” in increasingly desperate tones, Amazon finally found a way to turn one of the most compelling sci-fi universes out there into something other than a video game. It went on to be one of the streaming service’s biggest hits. Go figure.

Ok, that’s not fair. Despite being based on source material with so much potential, there were a million ways this show could have gone wrong. It may not be exactly what every longtime Fallout fan wanted, but in its debut season, this show gloriously realizes what many of those fans always knew: there are so many incredible stories to be told in the Fallout universe. We can’t wait to see where this series goes next.

1. The Last of Us (2023)

From the moment The Last of Us was released, it was hailed as not just a triumph in video game storytelling but the kind of video game that often surpassed the movies and TV shows the entire gaming medium was once so often unfavorably compared to. Way back in 2013, millions of gamers felt that The Last of Us had the potential to be turned into that mythical video adaptation that was unquestionably truly great. Even then, nobody back then really could have predicted just how great this HBO series would be.

As a retelling of arguably the best video game story ever, The Last of Us is every bit the powerful portrayal of hope, humanity, and horror that the game was. It’s ultimately a little more than that, though. By knowing when to copy the games pretty much shot for shot and understanding when to use the advantages offered by an entirely new medium, showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann were able to share this story in a way that feels like validation for generations of gamers and a shock to the system of those who never knew such a thing was out there. Both sides were undeniably left rattled by the series’ third episode: an original chapter in this story that ranks among the best TV episodes ever.

25 Years of LEGO Star Wars: Comparing the Classic 1999 Sets to Their Remakes

This article is part of Collector’s Digest, an editorial series powered by:

25 years ago, the world of toys changed forever. LEGO, a privately-owned Danish company commonly known for its in-house, original IPs branched out into the realm of licensed products in spectacular fashion. In late February 1999, LEGO Star Wars was born. Sets based on the Original Trilogy, including an X-wing, Landspeeder, and TIE Advanced were released first, soon followed by a wave of products that tied in directly to the release of the Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace later that spring. Needless to say, LEGO Star Wars was a smashing success, becoming the iconic brand’s biggest theme to date with nearly 1000 different sets produced.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of both these iconic LEGO sets and the movie itself, let’s have a look back at the 13 original LEGO Star Wars sets as well as their modern interpretations, all items you can purchase right now on eBay for yourself!

7110: Landspeeder

The smallest set in that original LEGO Star Wars line, 7110: Landspeeder pictures Luke Skywalker and ole Ben Kenobi hovering above the dunes of Tatooine in an X-34 landspeeder. Made with primarily tan and red bricks, this 49-piece model was a collection starter for many fans back in 1999. The Landspeeder has since become a staple of LEGO Star Wars, with the most recent incarnation (75341) getting the Ultimate Collector’s Series treatment, a significantly bigger and more detailed design with 1890 pieces.

7130: Snowspeeder

First land, now snow; the small and sturdy ship responsible for taking down the infamous AT-ATs in 1980’s classic The Empire Strikes Back is the next on our list. Set 7130: Snowspeeder, a stout, gray build included minifigures of Luke Skywalker in his pilot gear, his gunner Dak Ralter, and a Hoth rebel trooper. In fact, this exact set was remade in 2019 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of LEGO Star Wars with 75259: Snowspeeder – 20th Anniversary Edition, which included a highly coveted special edition figure of Lando Calrissian.

7140: X-wing Fighter

One of the most iconic on-screen spacecrafts ever, the X-wing starfighter was an obvious choice for LEGO right out of the gate. While numerous recent remakes have added extra pieces for increased accuracy, the charm of the original 1999 design, set 7140, still shines through today. An added side build of a vehicle for a technician finishes off the scene, providing fans with the atmosphere of the hangar inside the Rebel base on Yavin IV. Similar to the aforementioned Landspeeder, the most recent rendition of this vehicle was an Ultimate Collector’s Series (75355) set released just last year.

7150: TIE Fighter & Y-wing

Two-pack Star Wars chase scenes have become mainstays for LEGO. 2023 saw multiple such sets released, with 75348: Mandalorian Fang Fighter vs TIE Interceptor, and 75364: New Republic E-wing vs. Shin Hati’s Starfighter. But the godfather of this concept originated all the way back at the beginning, with 7150: TIE Fighter & Y-wing. Oddly enough, the set’s official name isn’t entirely accurate, because Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced is the Imperial vehicle included here, not the traditional TIE Fighter. Canonical inaccuracies aside, this set gave fans the chance to make a display of the Death Star trench run first seen in 1977, pairing perfectly with 7140’s X-wing. In 2022, LEGO made a much more detailed version of this scene, but at a smaller scale as seen with set 75329: Death Star Trench Run Diorama.

7128: Speeder Bikes

Another beloved Star Wars chase, but at a much smaller scale, 7128: Speeder Bikes embodies the memorable Endor action sequence. The set includes two such speeder bikes, two scout troopers to ride them, and a Luke Skywalker minifigure to boot. LEGO even recreates a small piece of the Red Wood forest backdrop of Endor for this set. Luckily, a new version of this scene was made just last year to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi. Set 75353: Endor Speeder Chase Diorama features much taller trees and more detailed terrain, along with a Leia figure the 1999 set didn’t include.

7101: Lightsaber Duel

Fast forward a couple months to April 1999. The hype for the return of Star Wars to the big screen for the first time in 16 years was building. To celebrate the moment, Lucasfilm released a frenzy of product tie-ins for The Phantom Menace, including an impressive wave of 8 different LEGO sets. The smallest of the bunch with only 52 pieces, 7101: Lightsaber Duel, which featured the first encounter between Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn and the mysterious villain Darth Maul. The set has never been remade at such a small scale. However, LEGO included both characters and the speeder with the 2024 set 75383: Darth Maul’s Sith Infiltrator.

7111: Droid Fighter

The only 1999 LEGO Star Wars set with no minifigures, the 7111: Droid Fighter, also known as a Vulture Droid, features the build and only the build. The small, 62-piece set remains the most affordable 1999 product on the market, commanding a price of less than $50 for a new, sealed set. The Droid Fighter was only remade once in this color, featured as part of the two pack 7660: Naboo N-1 Starfighter with Vulture Droid from 2007.

7121: Naboo Swamp

As the anticipation for The Phantom Menace continued to grow, fans began speculating about the new CGI character Jar Jar Binks. Little was known about the tall, gangly, frog-like creature at the time. A few weeks later, Jar Jar Binks became one of the most talked about characters in the famed saga’s history. Jar Jar was featured prominently in their first wave of sets from Episode I. The first set, 7121: Naboo Swamp depicts the scene where Qui-Gon Jinn saves Jar Jar from certain doom at the hands of the Trade Federation, leading to the Gungan pledging his life to the Jedi master. 7121 is one of a kind, never to be remade by LEGO as of 2024.

7131: Anakin’s Podracer

One of the most memorable moments in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was the Boonta Eve Classic Podrace scene. The intergalactic sporting event pitted young Anakin Skywalker in his homemade racer against the devious Dug, Sebulba. While Sebulba’s menacing orange craft is only in a much larger product, Anakin’s Pod received its own standalone set with a pit droid and Padme Amidala. Like 7130: Snowspeeder before it, this set was remade as part of the 2019 20th anniversary collection. That set, 75258: Anakin’s Podracer – 20th Anniversary Edition, featured specialized clear technic pieces to give the illusion that the vehicle is hovering above Tatooine’s Dune Sea.

7141: Naboo Fighter

The most popular new vehicle introduced in The Phantom Menace is the shiny and chrome N-1 starfighters from Naboo. The sleek, yellow spacecraft has been a staple of Prequel Trilogy nostalgia ever since. The vehicle even returned in 2022 as The Mandalorian’s new flagship. The first LEGO version of the ship, 7141: Naboo Fighter, has a more blocky design, while the most recent version, 75325: The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter, modifies the design to fit the version pictured in the Disney+ series.

7151: Sith Infiltrator

Darth Maul’s spaceship, the Sith Infiltrator, also known as the Scimitar, has very little screen time in Episode I. That being said, the vessel has left its mark on the Star Wars community, and LEGO has made it into a minifigure-scale set five times. The original, 7151, takes a few liberties with the color scheme of the ship, but the 2024 remake is much closer to the version of the ship we saw in the movies, even including a replica of set 7101.

7161: Gungan Sub

Star Wars took a deep dive into the unknown in The Phantom Menace, literally. The series, famous for its land campaigns and space battles, ventured into uncharted territory with Episode I: underwater. The Gungan Sub, which eluded the jowls of the goober fish, was immortalized in LEGO form with an impressive 379-piece model, complete with underwater wildlife. LEGO has only remade the submersible once since 1999, in 2012 with 9499: Gungan Sub. The latter has skyrocketed in value, thanks in large part to the exclusive Queen Amidala figure, who commands a price more than double the original sets retail.

7171: Mos Espa Podrace

While we’ve already discussed the concept of two pack sets on this list, the 7171: Mos Espa Podrace takes it up a notch; a three pack. A repeat build of Anakin’s Pod (the same design as 7131) is matched up against Gasgano’s Pod and the infamous Sebulba. A slew of spectators are included as well, including Qui-Gon, Padme, Jar Jar, and R2-D2. This 896-piece beaut was the crowning jewel of LEGO’s first foray into a galaxy far, far away. Of course, since this is one of the most popular scenes in the saga, LEGO made a new version of the Podrace in 2024. The set in question, 75380: Mos Espa Podrace Diorama, takes a much different approach to the scene, with miniature models of the vehicles displayed on a backdrop of Arch Canyon, a location from the course. The newer, smaller set only retails for $10 less than the original set did all the way back in 1999.

LEGO Star Wars has changed throughout the years. The brand has evolved with the times, modifying itself into a luxury toy targeted at adults just as much as kids. However, it’s always important to remember your ancestors, and while the original waves of LEGO Star Wars sets might feature different design philosophies than the modern-day stuff, their uniqueness and charm is undeniable.

All of these sets can be purchased on eBay right now.

The Many Times Ryan Gosling Was Hilarious Beyond Barbie and The Fall Guy

Ryan Gosling is living his best life these days. Or certainly his funniest. After earning an Academy Award nomination purely based on his ability to persuasively turn “Kenergy” into a noun in last summer’s Barbie, he brought that pure, uncut Ken stuff to the Oscar stage. No, not by winning the prize, but by taking home the hearts and minds of the internet with an epic performance of “I’m Just Ken.”

In hindsight, the spectacle of it all might be viewed as a turning point in his career as audiences embrace the guy who seemed so stoic and tortured in the 2010s—with his understated leading roles in Drive, Blade Runner 2049, Blue Valentine, and First Man—as actually a great comedy talent. His next studio vehicle, The Fall Guy, is in theaters now, and we can vouch for it being a breezy, lighthearted entertainment given life by Gosling and co-star Emily Blunt’s wry comic timing.

It seems like a fair amount of audiences are willing to go along with that too if box office tracking holds for The Fall Guy to open in the range $35 to $40 million as a quasi-original property. (It’s technically based on a 1980s television series, but the film is wisely being marketed solely on the appeal of Gosling and Blunt’s comedy chops and, of course, the stunt work.) If that happens, Gosling might officially be recognized as a Hollywood funny man. But if you think that’s a new development, we gotta say… the dude’s always had jokes. Here’s the proof.

The Nice Guys

While for most of the last decade, Gosling earned prestige and awards nominations for his dramatic work, there’s a growing cult of us out there who liked him best when he was doing Lou Costello double takes opposite a beefy Russell Crowe in The Nice Guys. This side-splitting laugher from writer-director Shane Black has aged like barreled whiskey as more folks discover it on streaming… which makes it more’s the pity they didn’t show up in theaters in 2016. If they had, we might’ve gotten a decade’s worth of sequels about the inept detective agency run by Holland March (Gosling) and Jackson Healy (Crowe).

And make no mistake, Gosling’s March is the far more inept of the two. A bumbling alcoholic who cannot even successfully break and enter into a bar without slashing his arm on a pane of glass—sending him directly to the hospital—March is the kind of screw up who is parented by his tween daughter Holly (Angourie Rice). No, seriously, she has to drive him around Los Angeles half the time because he’s either too injured or loaded to function. Yet Gosling imbues him with a haggard hangdog charm that’s pitiful enough to make you root for the schmuck, or at least cackle when he squeals like a prized hog upon Healy breaking his injured arm again.

Crazy Stupid Love

As Gosling’s other mainstream comedy effort before Barbie, Crazy Stupid Love was a big hit in 2011, and yet has fallen a bit off the radar a decade later. This dramedy from directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, and written by future This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman, remains a high point in all of their careers. And a large reason for its success has to do with the casting, including Gosling as a smug happy hour player who takes enough pity on a sad sack, middle aged divorcée (Steve Carell) to help him reinvent his life as a late-blooming ladies man.

The premise is absurd but it works because Gosling plays Jacob with just enough empathy and style to somehow make the setup plausible—at least enough to allow the audience a buy-in before chuckling at the young guy lecturing his elder in the complete nude at a spa. In other words, the film relies almost entirely on Gosling’s charisma to carry it over, which proves a smart bet, as did pairing him with Emma Stone in their first onscreen collaboration. The chemistry elicited by the pair is so amusing that they have (so far) reteamed two more times, including in the first film that won Stone an Oscar, La La Land.

Lars and the Real Girl

There are so many actors who’d decline playing a character like Lars, a small town nice guy and sweetheart to Bianca… his anatomically correct blowup sex doll. There are also many more actors who would fail to make Lars anything other than sketchy and depressing. And to be sure, the concept of Lars and the Real Girl invites that reading, but the peculiar dramedy from Craig Gillespie (future I, Tonya and Cruella director) finds an unfathomably convincing sweetness thanks to Gosling’s first big screen comedic work.

Playing the introverted and hopelessly shy Lars as a bighearted bloke who just happens to be head-over-heels in love with a balloon is a deceptively dangerous high-wire act. Gosling’s pleasantness, which never once betrays the humanity of a character who in other hands would either be just a creep or an SNL sketch, is carefully calibrated. The movie’s “gee golly” aesthetic doesn’t work if you don’t believe Lars—or want to run away from him in terror. Yet the film is somehow life-affirmative affable while providing plenty of laugh lines as all the people around Lars must grapple with the crazy guy’s choice of soulmate. It warmly works and in retrospect suggests Gosling should’ve let his hair down sooner and more often in cinemas.

The Big Short

The Big Short shouldn’t really be a comedy. And by the end of this dramatization of the Wall Street greed that led to the 2008 housing crisis and a wrecked global economy, no one is laughing. Even so, much of it features a glib gallows humor that’s impossible not to cackle along with. That is a testament to Adam McKay’s ever glib humor, which has been consistent from his time at SNL to his 2000s Will Ferrell comedies that were often parodies of the American culture they led. The Big Short loses those pretenses though and goes straight for the capitalist root of American rot in the 21st century.

In this context, Gosling’s Jared Vennett should never be mistaken as a heroic protagonist, even though Gosling gets to narrate much of the movie as a smirking, fourth-wall breaking fortune-seeker of dubious morality. You’d never trust your 401k with this guy, but he makes for a bleakly compelling jester, telling ugly truths with an oblique sneer to the audience. It’s giddy. And hey, technically it marked the first time Gosling worked with Margot Robbie.

Saturday Night Live

While Gosling’s film work has been occasionally punctuated with good vibe giggles over the past decade, the actor has more consistently proven to be a popular recurring host for the perennially long-running TV institution, Saturday Night Live. Since 2015 Gosling has appeared four times on the variety comedy series while hosting three of the episodes. And tellingly, he’s developed his own litany of recurring characters in that time span: whether it’s as straight man to Kate McKinnon’s frequent alien abductee or his recent turn as a Beavis lookalike, which has already been reprised on The Fall Guy red carpet, much to TikTok’s approval.

Still our favorite remains his insistence to play his various digital shorts characters unnervingly straight, which is probably best exemplified by the “Papyrus” skits. Written by Julio Torres, the recurring sketch follows a man so obsessed with the amateurish “Papyrus” font being used in the Avatar logo that he’ll threaten to hold an entire awards auditorium hostage after spending months “undercover.” It’s all done to learn the truth of why… Avatar 2 had the effrontery to use a papyrus font in bold! It’s more esoteric and funnier than it sounds. If you don’t believe us, click the link above.

Young Hercules

When promoting Barbie last year, Margot Robbie gave the following public service announcement: “Did you guys know that Ryan played Young Hercules? … That was a really fun day on set when you revealed that, and I went down a whole rabbit hole and kept screen grabbing. I hope people watching this go back and watch Young Hercules or at the very least google it. Just google ‘Ryan Gosling [and] Young Hercules.’ See what comes up. It’s amazing.”

She’s not wrong. As someone who actually was a kid when that series aired on Fox Kids (Gosling was 18 and 19 during the New Zealand production), vague memories remain of a goofy dude with long locks whipping his hair about and high-kicking Greek gods. But for those who don’t know about it, check out the video above—and hey he still did it better than Kevin Sorbo!

The Movies That Confronted the Scariest Challenges of Space Travel

Space is great. It’s massive, it’s colorful, and you can have big fights with lasers there. It really does have everything you could want. But it also has problems—mainly, like we said, that it’s massive. In fact it’s so massive that if you want to go anywhere in it (apart from a few nearby planets with hardly anyone to shoot lasers at), by the time you get there, you’re dead. Now you might think that if you can just go fast enough, you’ll get there before you die, but there’s a problem.

That problem, as Albert Einstein tells us, is the speed of light. Light, in a vacuum, travels at just short of 300 million meters per second, fast enough to get from Earth to the moon in a little over a second. The thing is if you’re chasing a light beam, and travel behind it at 150 million meters per second, if you clock the light beam’s speed you’ll see it racing away from you at just under 300 million meters per second. But at the same time, an observer watching both of you will see the light beam move away from them at 300 million meters a second. The speed of light remains the same for both of you, but for that to be true, time has to be moving differently.

This has two important consequences. First, you are never going to be as fast as a beam of light. The second is that the closer you get to the speed of light, the more slowly time will pass to compensate.

Most movies get around this massive conundrum with hyperspace, warp drive, quantum jump technology, the improbability drive, or iso-hexagonic dimensional skipping. Alternatively, to keep your hard-sci-fi credentials, your astronauts might simply nap through the years of travel between the stars. But a small number (a really quite surprisingly small number) of films have dared to face Einstein head-on and reap the consequences of approaching the universe’s ultimate speed limit. Here’s how they addressed space travel’s most menacing challenge.

Planet of the Apes (1968)

Perhaps the first film to take on relativistic space travel was Planet of the Apes—although credit is not given to Einstein, but to “Dr. Haslein’s theory of time.” At the very opening of the film, Charlton Heston’s character tells us that, with the speed their spacecraft travels at, time will pass more slowly for the human astronauts than it will for people back on Earth. This sets up the twist that the alien planet they land on—where three recognizable species of ape, as well as homo sapiens, speak the Queen’s English—is in fact Earth in the distant future.

It also demonstrates one of the reasons why relativistic movie space travel is so rare. Travel at 99.9999999 percent of the speed of light is at least theoretically possible, and would reduce travel between the stars in our own neighborhood to the timeframes of sail-powered ocean voyages rather than the rise and fall of civilizations. But it can look like a hat on a hat. Suddenly your space travel story is now also a time travel story. And not a fun one, like where you go back in time and save some humpback whales; it’s a sad one where the people you know age and die in moments and the world you left behind changes beyond all recognition by the time you return to it.

Dark Star (1974)

Directed by John Carpenter and written by Alien’s Dan O’Bannon, this film doesn’t hinge any great plot twists on its time dilation. It is merely mentioned that the crew have aged only three years during their 20-year mission of rogue planet extermination. It takes the negatives of using relativity in space travel and turns them into a positive. The time dilation becomes simply another twist of the knife of isolation and dehumanisation that permeates the film. Not only are these characters removed from their families and homes to do a trivial yet dangerous job for an employer that doesn’t care for them, but those families and homes will be irreparably changed when they do see them again.

Many regard Dark Star as a prototype for Alien. The film even has its own alien lifeform running around the ship, albeit that alien looks like a beach ball with feet. And Alien is an interesting case study of Hollywood’s discomfort around the passage of time during space travel. That film sees its crew start the film waking up from hypersleep. The implication is straightforward—these are low-paid, low-valued workers whose employer thinks nothing of tossing them into space for years at a time travelling at sublight speeds.

But in Aliens, particularly the director’s cut, we learn that Ripley went on this mission expecting to be home by her daughter’s 11th birthday—not a promise you can make with any interstellar travel that doesn’t F the TL. Hollywood gets really uncomfortable with any implication that future technology might change the way people, particularly families, relate to one another, even though that is something that has habitually changed on the regular throughout human history.

Flight of the Navigator (1986)

Flight of the Navigator is all about family relationships changing as a result of relativistic space travel. One of the more successful films to attempt to ride E.T.’s coattails (at this point we all side-eye 1988’s Mac and Me and collectively shudder), Flight of the Navigator sees a young David Freeman abducted by an alien probe and returned years later with no time having passed. Suddenly all his school friends are 20 years old, his little brother is his big brother, his parents have spent eight years grieving for the son they had probably assumed was gruesomely murdered, and pop music is just noise, and boys on telly are wearing makeup.

So once again we are using space travel to fuel a time travel story, and a road movie as David and the alien robot Max fly across America, learning about humanity and friendship. But ultimately, to deliver the happy ending Hollywood demands, Flight of the Navigator has to fudge the science. It is not enough to allow David to adapt to the new time and family he has found himself in. The status quo must be restored, and for that to happen Max must fly David through some scary lightning effects to drop him off back in time at the precise moment he left.

This will be the first of many such fudges.

Interstellar (2014)

Christopher Nolan’s space exploration flick is probably the most famous take on time dilation. It is, it has to be said, a film that has done its homework. Although it uses a wormhole to get our astronauts into outer space, a combination of speed and veering too close to serious gravity wells means that decades pass at home while only a short time passes on board the ship. As well as portraying some of the realities of time dilation, this movie also gave us our most scientifically accurate visualization yet of a black hole.

It also, admirably, does not insist on a magic backward-time-travel fudge to restore a familial status quo at the end. The film ends with Matthew McConaughey reunited with his daughter, who is now an old lady, and there is no question of magically reversing that to let him watch her grow up. But even here, the scientifically accurate black hole allows Matthew McConaughey to send a message backward in time to his daughter’s childhood because of the cosmic power of love, or something, making the entire plot into a bootstrap paradox.

Lightyear (2022)

Despite being a Pixar movie intended to be an imaginary movie that a toy is based on in another Pixar movie, Lightyear gives us a surprisingly realistic take on time dilation at extreme speeds. In this film, Buzz Lightyear is part of a crew forced to build a colony when their ship is stranded on a hostile alien planet. Buzz is used as a test pilot to perfect an engine that could allow the colonists to return home, but because he’s moving at relativistic speeds, each trip to the local star and back sends him months, years and eventually decades forward in time.

If you’re waiting for the fudge, you might be pleasantly surprised to learn that this time Buzz doesn’t find a way to go back in time and put everything back to normal. No, instead his evil alternate timeline twin does that, forcing Buzz to fight evil elderly alternate future Buzz (Zerg’s real identity). But can you make a great movie that acknowledges the crunchy realities of relativity without upsetting scientists with hand-wavy backward time travel? Well, not yet. But people are trying.

The Forever War (TBA)

Probably the best story to handle space travel at relativistic speeds is Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War. Written partially in response to the jingoistic (and a little fascist) Starship Troopers, the novel uses relativistic time dilation as a fantastic metaphor for troops returning home during the Vietnam War. It uses time dilation to portray the feeling of returning home from combat to discover the wide social changes that have taken place at home, but with plenty of space wars. In short, it is perfect movie fodder.

The film rights to the book have been changing hands since 1988. For a long time, Ridley Scott was set to direct with plans to make it a 3D spectacle to rival Avatar (which also featured space travel subject to time dilation, but you would have to read a lot of behind-the-scenes material to find that out). However, in 2015 the rights expired and were quickly bought up by Warner Bros. with the intent to make it a Channing Tatum vehicle. The film is supposedly still in development, but just like on a spaceship moving at close to the speed of light, time moves slowly in development hell.

And the Honorable Mentions

At time of writing MGM have just announced a release date for their adaptation of Project Hail Mary, an extrapolation of a novel by The Martian author Andy Weir, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller sitting in the (double-seated) directors’ chair. The film, starring Ryan Gosling, attempts to offer a hard sci-fi take on an astronaut travelling to a nearby star to find the source of a mysterious space-borne lifeform that is causing our sun to dim.

Unlike The Forever War, time dilation doesn’t make up a huge part of the story other than emphasizing how isolated the hero is, but it is still mentioned in the book and forms a crucial plot point.

Outside of movies, a band of developers who previously worked on the Mass Effect games have now announced the action RPG, Exodus, a seemingly hard-sci-fi take on the space opera where the player will endure time dilation as they travel from system to system while epochs pass behind them. But after a lot of searching, we have found precisely five completed films that make use of time dilation, three of which fudge the science (If you know of any others, please let us know in the comments. This isn’t an attempt to drive engagement, I just want to watch those movies!).

Of course a lot of space travel stories still reach straight for the hyperdrive, but by embracing space travel, you not only open up opportunities to let people see far beyond their years, and show off the ways that spacetime can behave far more weirdly than any science fiction creation; you also drives home just how big our universe really is.

Chris Farnell’s Fermi’s Progress stories do use a faster-than-light spacecraft, but it is one that destroys every planet in its wake.

Angel Was So Much More Than The “Adult Version” of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

What do we want from a spinoff? More time with a favorite supporting character, as with Frasier or Better Call Saul? An expansion of a compelling mythos, as with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine or House of the Dragon? Or perhaps a deeper exploration of some potent themes, as with Rugrats offshoot All Grown Up?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff Angel fulfilled all of those criteria and more.

Premiering in 1999, with its first four seasons running concurrently with Buffy, Angel’s eponymous hero was a reformed vampire, the ex-lover of his parent show’s titular Slayer. The spinoff imported several other characters from Buffy, transplanting them from the small town milieu of Sunnydale to the sinister sprawl of Los Angeles, a darker, more complex setting where demons and vampires rubbed shoulders with high powered lawyers and politicians. It occupied an interesting position in the cultural landscape, airing alongside shows like The Sopranos and The Shield as the more standalone episodic format of syndicated ‘90s TV gave way to the more heavily serialized “prestige TV” era – and like those critically acclaimed shows, it leaned heavily into moral ambiguity.

It’s reductive to call Angel the adult version of Buffy. By the time it reached seasons five and six, Buffy was the adult version of Buffy, and never shied away from complicated issues. But if Buffy’s central metaphor was “high school is hell,” then you could reasonably sum up Angel’s as “leaving high school and making your way alone in the adult world is also hell, but more so.” Which, while less pithy, is unfortunately no less resonant today than it was 20 years ago, when the show’s finale aired.

Feel old yet? That’s ‘cos you are!

What made a weird cult show’s weirder, more cult spin-off such a gem? The key word is “redefinition.”

Taking David Boreanaz’s Angel from Mysterious Heartthrob to Troubled Loner

Angel was not, on paper, the most obvious candidate to headline a spinoff. Not because it was particularly revolutionary to build a show around a handsome, taciturn badass who solved crimes and punched people, but because ever since his debut in Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s very first episode, he was almost entirely defined in relation to Buffy.

Whether as a mysterious potential suitor, tragic on-again off-again boyfriend, or murderous antagonist, Angel (David Boreanaz) was compelling, but in a way that was inextricably tied to the Slayer. Divorced from the high drama of their tumultuous relationship, there was no guarantee that audiences would be on board for his solo journey – not least because “immortal former mass murderer” is a slightly less relatable archetype than “struggling high school student.”

The first step was to redefine Angel as a character, reinventing the mysterious heartthrob as a more existentially troubled loner. The seeds for this journey were sown in Buffy season three, with Angel freshly returned from Hell and pondering his place in the world. Angel’s premiere found him alone in a new city, hanging out in dive bars and killing vampires to atone for his past crimes. He even had a cool car.

But from that very first episode, the writers never quite presented Angel as a straightforward hero. Upon killing his first vampires, he savagely rebuffs the gratitude of the humans he’s just saved, almost overwhelmed with temptation at the smell of their blood – a defender of humanity, but by no means part of it. Later in the episode, he heroically leaps into his vintage open-top Plymouth GTX, ready to chase some villains, only to realize that he’s accidentally jumped into the wrong car – the first of many running jokes at the big strapping hero’s expense, including his terrible singing and dancing, his frequent pettiness, and his out-of-touch, old fogeyish tendencies.

As the series progressed, Angel would continue to evolve in unexpected directions. The brooding loner would become the boss of his own detective agency, with a new-found family of Sunnydale alumni. He would turn evil again. He would become a father to Connor (Vincent Kartheiser). The “Shanshu” prophecy would offer a glimpse of salvation, a chance to regain his humanity after serving his purpose – a heroic destiny that would itself be subverted more than once, with Angel coming to realize the fallacy of imagining some cosmic scoreboard, with a final prize waiting once he’d saved his quota of lives. His character and purpose would be redefined right up until the last moments of the show.

And he wasn’t alone.

Helping the Helpless with Charisma Carpenter, Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker & J. August Richards

Most of Angel’s supporting cast, whether imported from Buffy or newly created for the show, would go through similarly tumultuous journeys. Charles Gunn (J. August Richards), while not always best served by the writers, would grow from a fairly one-note street fighter to a more mature, morally conflicted legal pro. Fred Burkle (Amy Acker) would transition from traumatized, stuttering cave dweller to assertive, world-saving physics genius to time-shifting leather clad elder god. Delightfully camp demon Lorne (Andy Hallett), the life and soul of the party, would end the show jaded and compromised, more noir fixer than karaoke bar proprietor. Faith (Eliza Dushku), the rogue vampire slayer first introduced in Buffy, would begin a compelling journey of redemption after a villainous guest spot in Angel season one. Even Doyle (Glenn Quinn), Angel’s – sadly short-lived – first ally, would evolve from a hard-drinking con man to a more heroic figure (his final episode was fittingly called ‘Hero’).

The Angel character with the most pronounced evolution was arguably Wesley Wyndam-Price (Alexis Denisof). Introduced in Buffy as an ineffectual, pratfalling windbag, mostly there to annoy the Slayer, he would ride into Angel season one claiming to be a ‘rogue demon hunter’, though that façade would quickly slip. Over the seasons, Wesley would wrestle with his crippling lack of self-esteem, strongly hinted to be the legacy of childhood abuse, and become much more sympathetic and capable, though that self-actualization was not always positive (men will literally kidnap their friend’s infant son, cut themselves off from everyone they know, start sleeping with the enemy, keep collapsible swords and guns up their sleeves and imprison women in closets with only a bucket for company, rather than go to therapy). By the end of the show, Wesley was functionally unrecognizable, a character arc that nobody could have predicted based on his first appearance.

Which brings us to Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter). It’s difficult to discuss her character without addressing some unsavory behind-the-scenes details – actress Charisma Carpenter has been open about the poor treatment she endured on the set of Angel, much of it from series creator Joss Whedon. Her much maligned season four arc, built around a mystical pregnancy, takes on an particularly distasteful resonance knowing that Whedon was reportedly furious about Carpenter’s real-life pregnancy, subsequently writing her out of the show in fairly undignified fashion. And even when she came back for a triumphant guest spot in season five, Whedon opted to kill her off, something the actress specifically requested he not do.

All of which leaves an unfortunately sour taste, because Cordelia’s arc remains fascinating, and Carpenter navigated the sometimes problematic writing with aplomb. From the vapid, self-absorbed rich girl of Buffy’s early seasons to the less vapid but still self-absorbed struggling actress of Angel season one, to the capable fighter and selfless hero of later seasons, Cordelia was another (mostly) excellent example of Angel’s capacity for reinvention.

But the show wouldn’t just redefine its characters – it would do the same with the Buffyverse itself.

Wolfram & Hart and the Senior Partners

As Buffy went on, the walls between everyday life and the world of magic became more porous, but Angel delighted in tearing those walls down entirely. Lorne’s karaoke bar catered to humans, vampires, and demons alike, with a protection spell in place to discourage fighting. Demons, who were mostly presented as irredeemable monsters in Buffy, became more nuanced, with many seeming like regular Joes trying to make their way quietly in the city.

And then there was Wolfram & Hart. Introduced in the series premiere as a full service law firm catering specifically to evil and demonic clients, Wolfram & Hart would be a recurring antagonist throughout the show, and the basis of one of its most potent themes – that of institutional evil. In broad daylight, the firm would help rich vampires, extra-dimensional demons, criminal gangs and even elected officials go about their villainous business unimpeded, with Angel nearly driving himself and his team mad trying to defeat them.

But, as recurring W&H flunky Holland Manners (Sam Anderson) memorably stated in season two’s “Reprise:” “Our firm has always been here. In one form or another. The Inquisition. The Khmer Rouge. We were there when the very first cave man clubbed his neighbor … the world doesn’t work in spite of evil, Angel. It works with us. It works because of us.”

How could a lone champion and his ragtag crew go up against such bottomless power? This would become a key existential question for Angel as he continuously weighed up the efficacy of his heroism, and the answer that came in the show’s final season was quietly radical.

Exhilarating Series Finale “Not Fade Away”

At the end of season four, Angel was offered a deal – total control over the LA branch of Wolfram & Hart, with all the money, resources and power that came with it, to do with as he pleased. The main throughline of season five thus became the gang trying to maintain their integrity as cogs in this vast machine, having spent four seasons as scrappy underdogs battling overwhelming odds. Could such ancient, institutional evil be put to good moral use? Could such an instrument of suffering ever be reconfigured to alleviate suffering?

To (perhaps pretentiously) paraphrase Audre Lorde: can the master’s tools ever dismantle the master’s house?

The answer the show eventually came down upon was a resounding no. The machine was too big, too complex, too evil. So after some heavy losses, Angel opted to tear the whole thing down, directly provoking the never seen, vaguely Lovecraftian “Senior Partners,” who responded by unleashing Armageddon. And in the show’s closing moments, backs literally against the wall, Angel stared down the apocalyptic horde, raised his sword and said “let’s go to work.”

Cut to black.

While arguably one of the most exhilarating endings in TV history, it’s also in some ways astoundingly bleak. The machinations of Wolfram & Hart are tied very explicitly to those of capitalism – the firm represents U.S. senators and other very human corporate interests, as well as vampires and demons, and Angel and co are told that they need to keep the business running in order to maintain access to its resources. And the show tells us in no uncertain terms that this system cannot be fixed. It cannot be reformed. People can reform – Angel himself is a case study in that respect, though there are limits there too, as illustrated by the arcs of scheming ex-lawyer Lindsey McDonald (Christian Kane) and Angel’s tragic paramour Darla (Julie Benz).

The system, however, will continue to chew people up and spit them out, either compromised or dead. Redefinition has its limits, and the only option left is to revolt, and very possibly die trying. It’s interesting to compare this to another concurrent show, The West Wing, which invested so heavily in bipartisan compromise as a political solution. For Angel, bipartisan compromise meant death, either through brutal violence, or the slow and steady rotting of the soul.

Throughout Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the gang faced some steep odds. There was grief, there was loss. But good always triumphed eventually. The arc of that show’s moral universe bent towards justice – the final shot of the final episode was a slow zoom on Buffy, surveying the site of her latest, greatest victory, smiling as the sun rises. It was a good ending – cathartic, satisfying, mythic.

But contrast it with Angel’s final shot. Angel, bloodied and soaking wet, in blackest night, with a handful of allies, some of whom could barely stand. Fighting until their last breath, which was more than likely imminent.

Because it was never about victory. You don’t fight the good fight because you expect it to end – but neither do you give up. You continue to fight because that’s the only moral choice.

Because “if nothing we do matters, the only thing that matters is what we do.”

Apple TV+’s Sugar: So, What Is That Big Twist?

This article contains major spoilers for Sugar episode 6.

Virtually every “spoiler-free” Sugar review that ran in advance of the Colin Farrell-starring detective series’ premiere on Apple TV+ mentioned that the project featured a big twist. While one might consider it poor taste to “spoil” that a story even contains an enormous twist, it’s hard to blame the reviewers on this one.

The twist at the center of Sugar is so wild, so out-of-left-field, and so paradigm-shifting, that it’s almost impossible not to acknowledge. It would be like trying to write about Clifford the Big Red Dog while avoiding the fact that it contains a big red dog. The problem with letting the audience know that a big twist was coming, however, is that it took forever for the show to reveal it. Four whole weeks after the two-part April 5 premiere, in fact!

Even without the benefit of the revealing reviews, Sugar‘s audience surely knew that there was something up with Detective John Sugar (Farrell) early on. Episode one teases that Sugar isn’t your average sleuth. He’s a hardboiled detective film junkie who has an uncommon level of philanthropic interest in his fellow man, can’t get drunk, and suffers from intense headaches. There’s more to John Sugar than meets the eye. And yet, viewers don’t get to discover exactly what that is until episode 6 “Go Home,” which just dropped on Apple TV+ on May 3.

So now, without further ado, here is the twist at the center of Apple TV+’s Sugar. The twist is …

ALIENS

As many viewers already correctly predicted, John Sugar is indeed an alien from outer space. We find this out at the very end of “Go Home” when Sugar injects himself with a crystal-like syringe, removing the technological trick that makes him appear human and revealing his appearance to be that of a blue creature that looks like a cross between Drax and Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy.

Using our deductive reasoning, it’s safe to assume that Ruby (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and the rest of Sugar’s peers at the Société Polyglotte Cosmopolitaine are also aliens. A group of multi-lingual aristocrats serves as a good cover for the alien species’ real mission: to observe. We’ve seen how Sugar and company are required to write down their observations from their various jobs in notebooks and pass it along to their superiors.

While every alien in the Société Polyglotte Cosmopolitaine is technically a spy, studying humanity to better understand our ways, they occupy many different roles and positions in society. Sugar, bless him, appears to have gotten the best job of all as a private investigator. At some point Sugar must have developed a real taste for detective movies (perhaps on the spaceship ride to Earth) and his handlers have let him play out his film noir fantasies as part of his research obligations. Unfortunately though, episode 6 reveals that Sugar’s detective cosplay has gone too far.

“They need you to stop looking,” Ruby tells him. “We have to trust that this is for the greater good. Everything is for the mission.”

Now that the twist has finally been revealed on Sugar, it’s time to ask the natural followup question: is it a good one? Ehhhh, kind of.

An alien detective investigating a crime in seedy Hollywood certainly sounds good on paper. The best human detectives already have a little bit of alien in them. We love Peter Falk as Columbo not because he knows everything but because he doesn’t. Like any good alien dropped into a strange land, he merely asks the right questions. Knowing that Sugar is a literal alien makes his curiosity of and empathy for the human race all the more charming in hindsight.

Where Sugar runs into problems, however, is the “hindsight” bit. The show, as created and developed by Mark Protosevich, takes way too long to get to the real point. There are only two episodes to go after this earth-shattering reveal. A version of Sugar that presents the alien moment at the end of the pilot is almost certainly better than the version of Sugar that we actually got.

New episodes of Sugar premiere Fridays on Apple TV+ with the finale premiering May 17.

Young Sheldon: Raegan Revord Reflects on Missy’s Taylor Swift Eras and Her Tearful Finale Reaction

Raegan Revord proved to be the ultimate scene stealer as Missy Cooper in CBS’ Young Sheldon, which is currently airing its seventh and final season.

The prequel spinoff of The Big Bang Theory offered fans the chance to experience Sheldon’s childhood in East Texas with his loving family. May 16 is set to be an emotional goodbye to the Coopers in a two-part series finale that will have you grabbing your nearest box of tissues.

Before that time comes, Den of Geek had the opportunity to speak with Revord about how she felt while reading the last script, if we’ll see her in the upcoming Georgie and Mandy spinoff, on-set traditions, memorable moments, Missy’s own Eras Tour, and more.

Den of Geek: Were you personally satisfied with the ending, and what were your reactions and thoughts when you were reading that final script? I imagine it was a very surreal moment after being on the show for so long.

Raegan Revord: Yeah, reading the very last one was rough because, at the end of a season the last script will say ”end of season.” This time I read the last word and then I saw, “end of series,” and I was like, “Oh god!” I’m gonna be so honest, I cried for so long. Anytime I had to go over my lines, I would avoid that last page like it was the plague.

I’m sure that I’m gonna have the same reaction as you, just sobbing.

They’re gonna be finding tissues on that stage for years to come. That’s gonna be Young Sheldon‘s reputation – its legacy on Warner Bros.’ (studio). God, it’s rough. It’s really sweet. I’m really happy with how it ended and I love it, but it’s very emotional. It’s really good. And it’s really cool because I think a lot of The Big Bang Theory fans are gonna be happy because a certain Jim [Parsons] and Mayim [Bialik] may be reprising their roles, possibly on camera, who knows? You didn’t hear that from me.

I mean, they did technically announce it, so we’re all ready for it. Did you get to talk with them behind the scenes at all? I know Jim has obviously been a huge part of the series from the beginning.

So, I’ve never seen The Big Bang Theory, but I’m pretty sure they ended with 12 seasons. Whenever we started, they were on their 10th season and because their stage is right next door to ours, we saw them a lot. In terms of asking for advice and stuff, that was really Jim going to Iain [Armitage] because obviously, Iain having to play Sheldon was such a specific thing. It’s evolved so much where Iain will say something and I’m like, “Why do you sound like Jim there? What just happened?” It’s honestly a testament to his acting that he has to say these crazy science things and I’m like, I don’t know what that means.

I can’t wait for you to eventually watch the original series and be like, “That’s what that meant!”

There’s been some Easter eggs every once in a while and I’m like, “Guys, what does this mean? I don’t know what this means.” And so, sometimes it’ll say something and I’m like, ”I think this is something from The Big Bang Theory. I don’t understand it, but I hope people like it.”

It has been so much fun to see you grow with Missy. In terms of her evolution, what was your particular favorite stage to play when it came to her arc? I really loved, especially this season, how we saw a different side to her.

Definitely. I think it’s been cool because it’s like each season is almost – I’m a Swiftie, so it’s kind of like Missy’s little “eras.”

Oh, here we go.

Here we go. I found my Swiftie!

Come on, I even have my friendship bracelets on.

I love you, you’re amazing.

Let’s go.

I feel like how Taylor Swift has her “eras,” it’s kind of how each season is a different Missy. In the first one, she’s a bit more opinionated and she’s the sassy one with the good comebacks and everything. Then, in season three, you have the layers peeled back and you can see a different side to her. I’m kind of skipping around here because I don’t want to go through all of the eras, but in season seven, you see her take on responsibility, become like the parent in the house, and fill in Mary’s shoes. Missy’s had her own Eras Tour throughout Young Shelton.

So now I have to ask this question, what song or album do you feel like describes Missy right now?

This is a good question. I feel like it could maybe have a dabble of Reputation in it, that feels very Missy-esque. Maybe also a bit of Folklore or Evermore. It’s actually kind of cool because when my best friend and I went to the Eras Tour together, we were like, “What era are you? What album do you think you are?” My best friend told me that I’m Reputation internally, but Folklore externally and I’m like, “I love this for me. I’m embracing this.”

When people look back at Young Sheldon, what do you hope the legacy is and how do you hope Missy fits into it?

I feel like her legacy could be confidence because throughout the seasons, you kind of see [her] Eras Tour – you see different sides to Missy, but one of the things that stays constant is her confidence. In the beginning of the show, she’s not afraid to tell Sheldon why he’s being annoying or what he’s doing wrong and she just gives it to him as it is. She’s very honest.

Could we see you in the spinoff with Georgie and Mandy?

I would love to be there. I love Montana [Jordan] and Emily [Osment] so much. They’re literally like my brother and my sister-in-law and I will take any chance I can to work with them. They’re some of my favorite people and the whole cast is amazing, and I would be absolutely honored to be there.

You also posted this really sweet thing, which stuck out to me, about this tradition of the growth chart. What other traditions can you tell me about growing up on set?

It’s always fun. With the growth chart, we take a photo of us at our height now and then, we all kind of squat down to the level we were at whenever we started. It’s like, “Whoa, we’ve grown a lot.” When I started the show, I was a little mouse. I was so baby. I was in a car seat when we started and I’m just learning how to drive now. It puts it into perspective how long we’ve been here.

As for other traditions, we have a little area near our stage called “Rose Gardens” and it’s this pretty, grassy area between these small office buildings. It has weeping willows everywhere. Every once in a while we’ll do lunch in the garden. It’s so pretty and so beautiful, and we just hang out and it’s amazing. I love it.

Oh, I thought of another tradition, this is my favorite one! We have a thing called “view and chew.” Basically, once again during lunch, we all will go and watch whatever episode is about to come out. We always have popcorn because you gotta have popcorn when you’re watching a show or a movie. We do Fresh Brothers and then we do another sandwich place, it’s always great. Our crafty is amazing. They’re geniuses. They keep us happy on Young Sheldon.

I really loved how you wrote about the cast, the crew, and the producers being the “most incredible village.” What is one memory you have that, when you look back, it holds a special meaning to you for one reason or another?

This is actually recently, it was maybe the second to the last episode – the 13th [episode]. We were wrapping guest stars and all of them are so dear to our hearts: Rachel Bay Jones, Melissa Peterman, who I love to death, and Reba McEntire, who is the sweetest lady ever. I love her to death, it’s crazy that I know her. We were wrapping them and all of the cast was hanging out, and we pulled a couch off the set onto stage and we had everyone just sitting on the couch. I was sitting in Lance’s [Barber] lap. Iain was kind of sprawled over Miss Annie [Potts]. It was amazing. Half the crew came over and were like “we’ve got to get a photo, guys!” So there are definitely photos. We were like, “Why haven’t we been doing this the whole time?” We all just hung out for two or three hours.

New episodes of Young Sheldon’s final season air Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

Best Xbox Game Pass Games For May 2024

Xbox Game Pass is the lifeblood of the Xbox console family, and it’s not hard to see why. For a monthly fee, gain access to an ever-changing library of titles. As an added bonus, you receive complimentary Xbox Live Gold EA Play subscriptions, as well as discounts on titles that aren’t available through Game Pass. Yes, Xbox Game Pass has gone through several price hikes, but even at its current $17 monthly fee, the service is a steal of a deal because of all the quality titles at your fingertips. Even the cheaper tier, Xbox Game Pass Core, offers a tightly curated list of quality games at only $10 a month.

Xbox Game Pass’ sheer variety of offerings is its main selling point. The subscription offers over 500 games from every Xbox console generation, even the OG Xbox. Plus, many titles are released on Game Pass alongside their physical launches. Quite frankly, they all have something to offer. However, some Xbox Game Pass titles are superior because…well, that’s just how some video games are.

Note: Since Xbox updates Xbox Game Pass each month by adding some games and delisting others, this article will be updated each month to account for those additions/removals.

Arcade Paradise

Available for Consoles and PC

In Arcade Paradise, you must manage your family’s laundromat in order to pursue your true passion: building an arcade in the back of that laundromat. The surprisingly pleasant rhythm of seemingly monotonous tasks like cleaning up gum is amplified by both the stylish gamification of nearly every mechanic and the knowledge that everything brings you one step closer to your dreams.

If nothing else, Arcade Paradise deserves a lot of love for its massive collection of original playable arcade games with built-in achievements. Some of those games would be worth downloading if they were standalone releases. – Matthew Byrd

Assassin’s Creed Origins

Available for Consoles and PC

The debate over the best Assassins’ Creed game will likely never end, but those who prefer the series’ more recent pivot to RPG-like gameplay and character growth should give Origins a shot. It is, after all, the game that put the legendary franchise on that new path of epic adventuring.

Granted, Origins didn’t quite get everything right out of the gate, but there is a charm to its blend of classic AC gameplay and RPG systems that later entries would sand away for better and worse. Its Egypt setting is also one of the series’ best thematic accomplishments. – MB

Banjo-Kazooie

Available for Consoles and PC

In 2002, Microsoft purchased the game studio Rare. This move let Microsoft gain ownership of Rare’s entire catalog, including Banjo-Kazooie. Thankfully, Microsoft and Nintendo are on good terms and have worked out an agreement to offer the Nintendo 64 classic through Nintendo Switch Online and Xbox Game Pass.

Banjo-Kazooie is widely regarded as one of the best platformers ever created, especially in the “collectathon” sub-genre. The game solidified the gameplay loop of exploring numerous expansive and creative levels, unlocking new abilities as players progress, and revisiting old areas with new skills. Moreover, Banjo-Kazooie sports some of the wittiest dialogue and colorful characters to ever grace game consoles. The only title that comes close is its sequel, Banjo-Tooie, which is also available through Xbox Game Pass and is a must-play. – Aaron Greenbaum

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Available for Consoles and PC

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons‘ main “gimmick” is the ability to control both brothers simultaneously using two analog sticks. It’s a unique style of play that enables the kind of puzzles and problem-solving we usually only see in the best co-op games.

More importantly, that control style is the mechanical core of one of the most heartfelt and compelling stories in modern gaming. Brothers is ultimately the story of two young trying to work together to overcome a tragedy. The satisfaction you feel for completing another devious challenge often echoes their triumphs. – MB

Celeste

Available for Consoles, PC, and Game Pass Core

Platformers aren’t known for their stories. Usually, the meat of the experience lies in, well, the platforming. And the aesthetics can also play a role. Celeste, however, demonstrates platformers can tug at heartstrings while also challenging the upper limits of player reflexes and on-the-fly strategizing.

Celeste is a trek up a mountain. In video game fashion, this involves pixel-perfect maneuvering, double jumps, and collectible strawberries. The game is infuriatingly challenging, but it balances this difficulty with design choices such as frequent checkpoints that get players back into the action quickly after each death. The result is a fair experience that tests the upper limits of player reflexes without feeling unfair. If that’s still too difficult, Celeste provides several assistive options to make the game even easier.

While Celeste is a master class in level design, its narrative is the main selling point. Celeste tells the story of Madeline, a girl with anxiety and depression. The higher she climbs, the more introspective her journey becomes. The game’s mountain is as much a physical obstacle as it is a representation of Madeline’s mental state and her internal journey to better herself. – AG

Cities: Skylines

Available for Consoles and PC

Yes, Cities: Skylines is pretty much the SimCity successor that many have long dreamed of. Before you dive into the game with those exact expectations, though, you should know that Skylines is a much deeper game than even those classic SimCity titles. It will likely take you quite a bit of time to wrap your head around some of its more advanced mechanics and 3D interface.

Of course, having the game available via Game Pass makes it that much easier to justify putting all the time in. Learn to love Skylines, and you’ll find that there is little it won’t let you do. It’s one of gaming’s greatest rabbit holes for those who are obsessed with logistics. – MB

Control

Available for Consoles and PC

Arguably developer Remedy Entertainment’s greatest accomplishment (which is saying something), Control is a sci-fi horror tour de force that really has to be played to be believed.

Without diving into spoilers, though, I’ll just say that it’s best to think of Control as a Metroidvania-esque version of The X-Files with the quality third-person shooting combat Remedy was once known for that is amplified by imaginative abilities. It’s truly one of the great sci-fi games of the last several years. – MB

Dead Cells

Available for Consoles and PC

Normally, Metroidvanias and roguelikes couldn’t be more different. One encourages players to explore hand-crafted worlds and revisit previous areas to reveal new locations and rewards. The other forces players to improve by increments while funneling them through procedurally generated lands. Yet, developer Motion Twin found a way to combine the two.

In Dead Cells, players control a blob of…something…that can puppet corpses. Like most roguelikes, gameplay consists of trekking through procedurally-generated levels, dying, and repeating the process all over again. Players can make subsequent runs easier by unlocking new weapons and new traversal abilities that open up new routes. The result is an addictive loop that creates and scratches the “one more try” itch. – AG

Diablo 4

Available for Consoles and PC

Truth be told, Diablo 4 is far from a perfect game. The long-awaited sequel’s promising launch has been compromised by a series of questionable updates that have gradually kept this ARPG from reaching its full potential.

Yet, despite all of its problems, Diablo 4 is a ton of fun. It’s the kind of Game Pass game you’ll download and return to time and time again whenever you feel like tearing through armies of creatures and blasting through dungeons with your custom-built characters. Others will simply start playing this game and never find a reason to put it down. – MB

DOOM (2016)

Available for Consoles and PC

Since Microsoft owns Bethesda Zenimax, Microsoft likewise has the keys to the entire Doom franchise. Every entry in the series is available through Xbox Game Pass (even Doom 64). Quite frankly, if you are an FPS fan, you owe it to yourself to play every Doom game, but if you have to start from somewhere, you should start with the reboot that brought the series back from the brink of forgotten game series hell.

2016’s DOOM is a soft reboot of the franchise. Players still get to kill as many demons as possible with an eclectic roster of weapons, only this time the game is accompanied by a decent story. More impressively, the main character, the Doom Slayer, has more personality than ever before while still remaining the prototypical silent protagonist. In terms of gunplay, DOOM is the complete package. – AG

Fallout: New Vegas

Available for Consoles and PC

As previously stated, Microsoft owns Bethesda Zenimax, which means Microsoft essentially owns the entire Fallout library, much of which is available via Xbox Game Pass. However, if you have to play one Fallout game before your Xbox Game Pass subscription expires, play Fallout New Vegas,

Fallout New Vegas is one of, if not the, best Fallout games. It offers more options to roleplay than any other entry in the series. If someone can think of a solution to a quest, they can probably do it. More importantly, if a player has a ridiculous character build in mind, it is as viable as any other min-max build out there.

While the Fallout franchise is generally praised for its narratives and characters, Fallout New Vegas is easily home to the best of the bunch. Every character and plot twist is well-written, and the game is full of side quests that add to the world and make it feel alive and lived in. At least as lived in as you can get with a desert crawling with radioactive lizards and poisonous insect hybrids. – AG

Forza Horizon 5

Available for Consoles and PC

If you’re like me, you tend to find yourself hopelessly addicted to a great racing game once every few years. Well, if it’s been a while since you’ve fallen for a racing title, give Forza Horizon 5 a spin.

Arguably the best Forza game ever made (which is quite the statement), Forza Horizon 5 combines the depth of modes, a massive roster of cars, and incredible details we expect from the greatest racing games. Yet, it features a wonderfully accessible style of gameplay that just makes it an absolute joy to experience. It’s also stunningly beautiful. – MB

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Available for Consoles and PC

There was a time when the idea of easily accessing updated versions of the bulk of the Halo franchise (online multiplayer included) via a single release felt like an impossible dream. Unfortunately, this collection’s rough launch and some general issues with the Halo franchise in recent years have taken some of the shine off what once seemed like a can’t miss hit.

However, various updates made to the Master Chief Collection have made it easier to see it for what it was always meant to be: a tremendous tribute to some of the best first-person shooter games ever made. For those who grew up with Halo, there is magic in this collection. Even those just coming to these games for the first time may just discover what makes them so special. – MB

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Available for Consoles and PC

Ninja Theory is a well-established third-party studio that has worked for several AAA publishers. So far, the company has self-published only one title, but it is arguably Ninja Theory’s best: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.

Like Ninja Theory’s other prominent titles, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is a hack-and-slash game. Instead of focusing on fast action, though, Senua’s Sacrifice takes it slow. Every swing of the protagonist’s sword feels weighty and deliberate, and when she isn’t fighting, she is exploring beautiful, if linear, levels.

While Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is fun to play, it’s even better to experience thanks to its presentation and story. In a unique twist, the game’s hero, Senua, suffers from psychosis, so players never know if strange in-game events are actual examples of supernatural occurrences or all in her mind. Moreover, Senua’s dialogue is brutally dark and believable, thanks in no small part to consulted neuroscientists, and all of Senua’s animations are the product of top-notch motion capture – not surprising given Ninja Theory’s previous projects. While the sequel, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, isn’t available yet, rest assured it will launch on Xbox Game Pass day one. – AG

Hi-Fi Rush

Available for Consoles and PC

Many video games, especially console exclusives (or limited-time exclusives) receive multi-million dollar marketing campaigns prior to their release, but Hi-Fi Rush dared to be different. The game shadow dropped the day it was announced and sold millions of copies thanks to word of mouth, which speaks volumes of the game’s quality.

Hi-Fi Rush is the glamorous lovechild of Devil May Cry and Guitar Hero. Combat combines the button-mashing combo of the former with the rhythm-based challenge of the latter. Players can smash robots with a music album worth of over-the-top, flashy attacks, which is difficult enough on its own. But to excel in Hi-Fi Rush, players should time their attacks to the game’s different tunes. Nobody needs to, but to get the most out of the combat and skill-earning mechanics, players are encouraged to hit enemies to the beat of every song.

While Hi-Fi Rush’s combat is a masterpiece, the world and writing are in a league of their own. Hi-Fi Rush boats a colorful, anime-inspired setting that bounces to the beat, and every character is as memorable as they are hilarious. Every animation and piece of dialogue exudes charm. While Hi-Fi Rush isn’t long, it packs in more charm and excitement into each hour than most titles have in their entire runtime. – AG

Hollow Knight

Available for Consoles and PC

Team Cherry hit the ground running with its indie Metroidvania title Hollow Knight. Since the game began life as a Kickstarter project, Team Cherry promised many stretch goals, including a mode where players could control one of the bosses. That promise evolved into Hollow Knight Silksong, which is still in development. At least you can still play Hollow Knight while you wait.

Hollow Knight is an atmospheric dive into a world populated by anthropomorphic bugs. Every character, enemy, and level is rendered in a hand-drawn style that exudes personality and even sympathy. Like most Metroidvanias, Hollow Knight encourages players to revisit old levels with new abilities, and these areas change and become far more hostile as time goes on. This design makes the game world feel alive (as alive as an empty husk controlled by a pulsating parasite can be, anyway). – AG

Inside

Available for Consoles, PC, and Game Pass Core

Playdead is an indie studio with only two games to its name: Limbo and Inside. Both games are available through Xbox Game Pass, but if you only have time for one, play Inside.

Inside is a game that thrives on simplicity. Throughout the experience, players control a boy and have to guide him to safety. Who is he? Where did he come from? Why do the people chasing him create an army of mindless homunculi? The game expertly provides environmental storytelling clues that provide hints. The game doesn’t spell out the answer, but the narrative is compelling nonetheless.

Gameplaywise, Inside is just as simple as its plot. Players can only run, jump, and pull objects, which doesn’t sound like much, but the game uses this design to craft memorable levels and fairly novel puzzles. Moreover, since gamers don’t have to memorize a ton of controls, they can spend more of their attention on the gloriously grim world and all of its devious details. And even though Inside is a 2.5D game, its setpiece moments surpass most other titles. – AG

It Takes Two

Available for Consoles and PC

There are quite a few great co-op games on Game Pass, but those looking for the best of the best will have a hard time doing better than It Takes Two.

Much like developer Hazelight Studios’ previous co-op masterpiece, No Way Out, It Takes Two tasks two players with navigating a variety of challenges that can only be overcome by truly learning to work together. It’s a stylish, creative, and unbelievably charming experience that is arguably best played with your partner (even if its surprisingly emotional narrative and trickier sections may test that relationship). – MB

Lies of P

Available for Consoles and PC

Lies of P may have been easy to dismiss as just another Soulslike title, but this is one of the best entries in that constantly evolving genre.

Lies of P’s Bloodborne-like atmosphere lends the experience a necessary burst of style, but it’s the gameplay that will keep you sticking around. Lies of P’s uses its Pinnochio-esque premise to explore some fascinating ideas about character growth and custom weapon creations that really change how you approach its airtight genre-style combat. – MB

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Available for Consoles and PC

BioWare is not the company it used to be. The studio’s two latest games, Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, were financial and critical failures. Many players would rather revisit the games that made BioWare a household name. What’s better than a remaster of one of these titles? How about a compilation that bundles remakes of a whole franchise?

Mass Effect Legendary Edition collects the first three Mass Effect games under one roof and gives them a shiny coat of 4K Ultra HD paint. Every asset has been improved with new models, shaders, and lighting to pop like never before. Even the audio received some remaster love.

Graphics aside, every game in Mass Effect Legendary Edition is more or less unchanged. Each title has all the main missions, weapons, characters, and side quests audiences originally fell in love with. But that’s not all. This collaboration bundles in all of the DLC ever made for the original trilogy, including promo weapons and characters who were locked out of used copies. The only exception to this rule is the original Mass Effect, which isn’t quite as polished as its sequels. To make the experience more cohesive throughout, the developers balanced weapons and improved ally behavior. Even the contentious Mako segments received a spit and polish. – AG

Monster Hunter Rise

Available for Consoles and PC

While the Monster Hunter franchise has been around for 20 years, Monster Hunter World catapulted the series to new heights, thanks in no small part to its release on Xbox. While that game isn’t available through Xbox Game Pass, its worthy successor, Monster Hunter Rise, is

As with all prior Monster Hunter games, Monster Hunter Rise is all about hunting monsters (duh). Its gameplay consists of a simple yet addictive loop where players track down giant destructive creatures, harvest their bodies for parts, use these trophies to construct stronger equipment, and repeat ad nauseum. Rise also adds in quite a few new mechanics, such as wirebugs that let players zip around like Spider-Man and tower defense missions that pit participants against rampaging hordes of monsters.

While Monster Hunter Rise was originally released on the Nintendo Switch, the Xbox version looks and sounds better thanks to the console’s more powerful hardware. Since every Xbox Game Pass subscription comes with multiplayer, gamers can team up with other players to take down Monster Hunter Rise’s most powerful monsters. However, the game’s DLC, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, isn’t included with Game Pass; permission to hunt that expansion’s quarries will cost extra. – AG

Pentiment

Available for Consoles and PC

Developer Obsidian Entertainment is rightfully known for its exceptional RPGs that often emphasize pure role-playing concepts. Yet, those games are also often defined by their incredible stories that rank among the best ever told in video games. While Pentiment may lack some of those more conventional RPG systems from the studio’s previous works, it is most certainly a showcase of Obsidian’s choice-based narrative talents.

The creativity of Pentiment’s medieval art style is bested only by its imaginative premise. You can think of Pentiment as a detective game that sees an unlikely investigator uncover the truth behind separate incidents in a small village, but even that fascinating set-up sells the true nature of the game short. This is one of those rare choice-based titles where right and wrong are truly in the mind of the player. – MB

Psychonauts 2

Available for Consoles and Game Pass Core

Despite its glowing review and numerous award wins, I often find myself referring to Psychonauts 2 as an underrated game. Maybe it was the 16-year gap between entries in this franchise, but I just found that not nearly enough people seemed to give this game the shot it deserved in 2021. Perhaps its shorter runtime and initial Xbox exclusivity kept it from finding that wider audience it deserved.

Regardless, Psychonauts 2 is pretty much the perfect Xbox Game Pass game. Download it, set aside a little time to knock it out one weekend, and allow yourself to enjoy one of the most creative, funny, and thoroughly intelligent games of the last 20+ years. It’s a modern masterpiece. – MB

Remnant 2

Available for Consoles and PC

Do you love the idea of modern action games buoyed by deeper role-playing mechanics but find yourself continuously let down by modern games that never seem to get that combination of concepts right? Remnant 2 may be the game for you.

Remnant 2 wraps its almost Soulsborne-like action mechanics around genuinely deep RPG concepts. Character building is complex, inventory management is engaging, and the sidequests in this game rival some of the best sidequests in many “proper” RPGs. Even better, Remnant 2 is a top-tier multilayer Game Pass title. – MB

Resident Evil 2 Remake

Available for Consoles and PC

Resident Evil 7 revitalized Capcom’s signature survival horror franchise after the underwhelming Resident Evil 6. While RE7 isn’t available through Xbox Game Pass, the first modern remake of retro RE games, Resident Evil 2, is.

In Resident Evil 2, players can revisit the iconic halls of the Raccoon City Police Department and once again fend off zombies and bio-organic weapons of every shape and size. Graphics and audio are, understandably, leagues beyond what the original was capable of on the PlayStation One. Moreover, the remake does away with the tank controls and fixed camera angles for a more organic, more claustrophobic experience.

While Resident Evil 2 improves significantly on the survival horror formula, no aspect is upgraded quite like the scare factor. Not only are the monsters more terrifying than ever before thanks to the upgraded graphics and lighting, but the game adds a new layer of fear with Mr. X. While this nigh-immortal enemy was in the original, in the remake, he has been upgraded to always stalk players. This addition increases the game’s tension well beyond the original Resident Evil 2, if not most other horror games. – AG

Slay the Spire

Available for Consoles, PC, and Game Pass Core

In Slay the Spire, you are tasked with working your way through a series of fights and events that eventually result in you facing off against an indescribable horror. Death restarts your run, and the only way to thrive and survive is to slowly build the best deck possible from action cards you receive along the way.

Arguably one of the best deckbuilding and best roguelite titles out there today, Slay the Spire brilliantly combines two genres known for their low barrier of entries, surprising depth, and dangerous addictiveness. The only thing more difficult than finding consistent success in this game is imagining the force of will it takes to pick up this title and simply be able to walk away from it shortly thereafter. – MB

Stardew Valley

Available for Consoles, PC, and Game Pass Core

There wasn’t much hype surrounding Stardew Valley when it officially launched in 2016. Over time, though, millions of people discovered the sometimes seemingly infinite pleasures of this elaborate love letter to the Harvest Moon franchise. The absolute coziness of this game’s soundtrack, visuals, and general vibes is certainly a draw, but it’s the shocking depth of running your own farm and small-town life that makes Stardew Valley so special.

Best of all, Stardew Valley has been updated since its release and continues to receive love to this day. Between its split-screen co-op play, expansion-like content additions, and ability to lull you into hundreds of hours of gameplay one in-game day at a time…well, do you really need any other Game Pass title? – MB

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

Available for Consoles, PC, and Xbox Game Pass

Nostalgia can be quick to betray you, but there are just some experiences that are truly timeless. If nothing else, Shredder’s Revenge shows that those hours spent with those classic Konami TMNT beat-em-up titles were spent experiencing some of the finest games that genre ever gave us.

While Shredder’s Revenge sticks pretty close to the formula those games established so long ago, it wisely updates those titles in ways both great and small. The result is a nearly perfect example of what happens when the greatness of times gone by is brought into focus with the help of modern niceties and innovations. Cowabunga indeed. – MB

Titanfall 2

Available for Consoles and PC

Respawn Entertainment is responsible for more than a few beloved titles, including Apex Legends and the Star Wars Jedi series. While the company’s first title, Titanfall, isn’t anything special, Respawn turned its luck and reputation around with the sequel, Titanfall 2.

Titanfall 2 is a well-realized FPS that takes place in a futuristic setting where wars are decided by highly mobile Pilots and their giant robots, the titular Titans. The game combines an eclectic armory of hi-tech weapons with a robust movement system that lets players double-jump and wall-run all over the map. On-foot gameplay is a blast since a steady hand is just as important as one’s parkour skills, but the Titan gameplay dials it up several notches. While they aren’t as fast as Pilots, they are still light on their feet (for their size) and come across as awesome lumbering tanks of overwhelming firepower. And yet the game manages to balance the abilities of Pilots and Titans and make neither feel too overpowered.

While Titanfall 2’s multiplayer is still going strong despite the game’s age, the campaign is in a league of its own. Players control the Pilot Jack Cooper and team up with Titan BT-7274 on a quest to…ok the story isn’t that important, but the campaign shines thanks to its characters and dialogue. Titanfall 2 manages to humanize Jack and BT-7274 and make them bond organically. – AG

Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

Available for Consoles and PC

Following a series of shockingly bad releases, the Tomb Raider video game franchise appeared to be truly dead. At the very least, fans braced themselves for years of mediocre Lara Croft adventures fuelled by name recognition rather than new ideas. That is until we got this 2018 masterpiece.

While Tomb Raider borrows a few ideas from more modern games (most notably, the Uncharted series) it either refines those concepts or tweaks them in interesting ways. What we end up with is a bloody, intense, and intelligent approach to the franchise that feels true to the series’ roots while kicking off an incredible new chapter in Lara’s life. – MB

Tunic

Available for Consoles and PC

Most games include tutorials. Some teach players everything about each mechanic, while others only skim over the basics before shoving audiences out the door. Tunic, meanwhile, combines these strategies.

Tunic combines elements of classic Legend of Zelda games with Dark Souls mechanics. Players are given minimal directions and have to use items they pick up to fight through enemies, all while the action unfolds from an isometric perspective. While combat isn’t hair-pullingly difficult, it is challenging and forces players to maintain a stamina bar as well as constantly upgrade stats and weapons.

Tunic’s claim to fame is its in-game manual. Players collect pages as they progress, and each one adds new information, ranging from hints of where to go and how certain controls and mechanics work. However, the manual doesn’t spell things out; it retains an air of mystery because most of the passages are written in untranslatable languages. Players are both told what to do and have to figure things out as they go, which is fairly refreshing. Also, I can’t help but appreciate Tunic for making the manual look like those that came in older video game cases. – AG

The Quarry

Available for Consoles and PC

The Quarry is essentially the spiritual sequel to Supermassive Games’ brilliant Until Dawn. While it’s not quite on the level of those horror masterpieces, The Quarry features all the well-rendered characters, complicated choices, and incredibly effective jump scares that made Until Dawn one of the best PlayStation 4 games.

The Quarry is also one of those games that just feels perfect for Game Pass. It’s fairly short and its replay value is limited to your desire to make different choices, but horror fans will struggle to find a more effortlessly compelling cinematic experience. To borrow an observation I believe I heard someone else mention at some other time, The Quarry offers a unique and irresistible combination of Triple-A production and B-movie charm. – MB

Vampire Survivors

Available for Consoles, PC, and Game Pass Core

If complicated modern games have you feeling down, consider Vampire Survivors. After all, it’s an overhead action title that limits your interactions to eight degrees of moment and the occasional item to pick up or upgrade to pick. If it was a browser game in 2006, it would have been the best browser game of 2006.

Much like those browser titles, you may find yourself spending more time playing Vampire Survivors than any other Triple-A game out there. It’s just so easy to lose yourself in what is essentially a bullet hell game where you are the bullet hell. Despite its relative simplicity, there is just enough skill and chaotic randomness in this game to ensure that none of its 30-minute (or less) runs will ever feel like quite enough. You must do better and press further. – MB

Yakuza 0

Available for Consoles and PC

When Sega announced the latest Yakuza game, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the company surprised audiences across the globe by revealing the game would launch on Xbox One and Series X/S before PlayStation 5. This game would mark the Yakuza franchise’s second glorious revitalization; Yakuza 0 was the first.

As its name suggests, Yakuza 0 is the prequel to the original Yakuza (and its remake, Yakuza Kiwami). From a narrative perspective alone, audiences should play Yakuza 0 before every other entry in the main series (all of which are available through Xbox Game Pass) because it serves as an excellent introduction to series mainstays Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima. That and the narrative is arguably one of the franchise’s best, which is saying something since every Yakuza title has a dramatic story with plenty of twists and turns, as well as humorous side missions.

Gameplay-wise, Yakuza 0 lets players explore a small. yet bustling, city, beat up random thugs and rival gang members, and kill time with a glut of side activities. All these features have their own dedicated mechanics that, when taken together, create a solid experience greater than the sum of its parts. Yakuza 0 served as the blueprint for all subsequent Yakuza games. – AG