Before July 2024, the Neil Gaiman subreddit was a relatively chill place by internet discourse standards. “It was a very quiet and almost peaceful community,” says JN, a forum moderator who did not want to be identified for reasons of privacy and safety. r/NeilGaiman, an unofficial outlet for discussing the...
Only Brandon Sanderson could invent a sword that needs therapy
[Ed. note: This article contains major spoilers for Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series, particularly the most recent book, Wind and Truth.]Grappling with mental health issues is a major theme in Brandon Sanderson’s epic fantasy series The Stormlight Archive. As the series’ heroes fight hostile armies and the machinations of a...
After Fortnite’s AI Darth Vader, nothing will be the same in the gaming industry
When Disney initially invested $1.5 billion in Epic Games, a shape for the partnership seemed easy to trace. Surely, Fortnite would get lux branded skins alongside superhero-themed seasonal events, all tied to the release of major Marvel movies. Perhaps we’d see the digital equivalent of a Disney theme park? Nobody...
Looking for Angry Kirby
Angry Kirby was once an unlikely poster child for the difference between Japanese and American sensibilities. When home in Japan, Kirby’s joyful, round face was rarely seen without a welcoming smile. In the U.S., something was different: Kirby, the epitome of kawaii with a puffy pink marshmallow face, had a...
Marvel Snap’s long-awaited, darkly funny Uncle Ben card is finally here
More than two years ago, barely a month after Marvel Snap officially launched, data miners discovered something hidden in the competitive card game’s files. In addition to Marvel superheroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Wolverine, the decidedly not-superpowered Uncle Ben was in Marvel Snap. Uncle Ben’s in-game function was —...
How a NASA simulation inspired Clair Obscur’s character lineup
How do you put the expedition into a game like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? For writer Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, it meant rethinking classic RPG party types like they were the cast of Armageddon — a dynamic she understood on an unexpectedly personal level.“This sounds so random, but I did a brief...
Nosferatu director needed Bill Skarsgård’s vampire to look like a creepy corpse
Count Orlok looms over Nosferatu like the Cloverfield monster. While he is among the first voices we hear, and the first faces we see, the full reveal of Orlok’s form comes much later. When we see him in all his glory — with all the sores, sylphlike limbs, and ponderous...
Murderbot showrunners say they nailed the books’ tricky tone by ignoring it
As a fan of Martha Wells’ award-winning, popular Murderbot Diaries book series, I’ve been dubious about Apple TV Plus’ TV adaptation Murderbot from the beginning. In part, those books are so beloved because they ride such a specific, unusual, entertaining line between straight science fiction and wry but aching comedy...
Inside Paradise’s cataclysmic reveal episode
The final episode of Paradise season 1 has major mysteries left to resolve — a presidential assassin is still out there, somewhere — but after episode 7, at least one big question has been answered: What disaster drove 250,000 Americans into an enormous underground bunker? The answer always had to...
Final Destination: Bloodlines directors say IMAX viewers will get a version no one else will ever see
It’s been nearly 15 years since Final Destination 5, the most recent installment in the horror-movie franchise where someone responds to a premonition about deadly disaster by saving the victims, who death then jealously pursues in the order they should have died, through a series of ridiculous contrivances. The series...