Across its first season, X-Men '97 has been remixing the Marvel mythos to great effect. That has especially been the case for Magneto (Matthew Waterson), who has had some poignant and surprising moments throughout the episodes thus far. With X-Men '97 existing in its own place in the Marvel multiverse, and occasionally featuring cameos from other animated Marvel characters, fans have wondered if and how certain crossovers could become a reality. In an exclusive interview with ComicBook's Phase Zero podcast, Waterson revealed which Marvel crossovers he would most like to explore with Magneto -- and went so far as to argue that his character probably could have stopped Thanos from snapping his fingers and destroying half the universe in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War.

"I mean, there are the obvious ones. If you're looking in terms of what Marvel has been doing recently, there's fun ones. Magneto might have been an interesting addition into the Thanos thing, because the glove is metal. Magneto might have been able to solve that relatively quickly. I don't know what it was actually made out of. It looked metal. So, there's things like that, where you can have a lot of fun with it, starting to say, 'To what extent does this person's powers actually give them an ability to manipulate whatever that is? What could you do with that, or what can you do with this?' The interactions between Magneto and Wolverine have always been so much fun, because Wolverine has such a 'I don't care' attitude. And then, Magneto is always just looking at him, going, 'I can literally disassemble you, because you're made of what I manipulate.' That's always been a fun interaction, going through the entire first series, and even in the movies, and in comics, and everything like that."

"The person in the X-Men IP that I've always really, really liked, and just found fascinating, is Sebastian Shaw. He's already been in the show a little bit. I think that there's a lot of fun, just because of his personality, and the way his powers work and things like that. I think there's a reason why, in a lot of the comics, he's gone in and out as a major force on both sides. I've always just found that character fascinating. So that's one where, if there was more stuff coming up that interacted with him, yeah."

"Could Magneto have just solved Endgame much more quickly? Obviously, narratively and dramatically, is not as useful, [since] it's like, 'Oh, we're all fighting this thing. There's this one guy who just [uses his powers once] and it's done, negates it. But yeah, there's a lot of fun things that you can go, 'Ooh, how will that work?'"

Is X-Men '97 Renewed for Season 2?

Work has already begun on a sophomore season of X-Men '97, which was already renewed by Marvel Animation prior to the show's premiere.

"We're working on season two. But we haven't started yet. I know a little bit of the storylines and characters," co-composer Taylor Newton Stewart explained in a recent interview. "It's always upping the ante. I mean, it's pretty intense what happens. Yeah, immediately when I was told, I was just like, 'Oh my gosh, what's happening? This is incredible.' So, just as a fan alone, I am very excited."

New episodes of X-Men '97 debut on Wednesdays exclusively on Disney+. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

We're just a few episodes away from the Season 1 finale of X-Men '97, after the Marvel Animation series has delivered plenty of surprises. One of the most grandiose character arcs of the season has been Magneto (Matthew Waterson), whose role as a newfound ally of the X-Men has gone into some complicated territory. That included an epic sequence in X-Men '97's second episode, in which Magneto is put on trial at the United Nations, only to get the upper hand and convey his pro-mutant message to the world. In an exclusive interview with ComicBook's Phase Zero podcast, Waterson shared his insight on Magneto's speech to the U.N., and the key turning point it signifies for the character.

"I can't say enough about the stuff that I've got to do in this whole series," Waterson revealed in our interview. "I mean, Magneto being who he is, gets to talk a decent amount, and gets to make a pretty good argument for his point of view. Initially reading that scene, and reading through that speech, that was one that we tweaked a lot. We went back to that in additional recordings, because they would decide to change just a line or a word. And every single time, we would read it and think, "This is phenomenal, this sounds great." They would come back and change, sometimes just one line, or one word, and you would go, 'Oh, okay. Oh no, that's better. That hits harder. It's more cutting, it's more succinct, it's more emotionally rich.' We kept working on, "How do we get more into it?' Those sorts of things, that was just fun. The whole speech is so good and is so cutting, in that it's not a plea, and it's not a defense. 'This is why this happened, and I'm willing to take responsibility for my part of it, but I'm not letting you off the hook, for the bits of it that are your responsibility.'"

"Going into where that scene goes to, leading to, what I still think, is one of the coldest and most terrifying threats that I've ever heard made is really, really cool," Waterson continued. "To get to do that speech, and then to have it go into that bit, where you see him struggling so much to maintain what he has promised Charles that he would do, and the outlook that he's promised, that he would take. And still going, 'Let's be clear, it's not that I can't do what I've always done. I'm choosing not to. And if you push me far enough, I can change my mind.' And the way that that whole thing was put together, and the way that it was written, and then once I saw what the directors and animators had done, it worked so well. So it was a blast to get to do. And it was really amazing to finally get to see, once it was all realized, what it looked like when everybody else had put their parts into it, and when the Newton Brothers music was in there and everything, it all added to it. It made me look way better, which was great for me."

Waterson also argued that the U.N. scene essentially encapsulates the mission statement of X-Men '97's first season, especially now that mutant-human relations have been complicated by the Genosha massacre.

"They put the overall mission statement of the show in the second episode, coming out of one of the characters when everybody -- not just watching the show, but everybody in the show was focused on it, because this was Magneto on trial at the United Nations," Waterson explained. "Everybody on the planet in the world, at the time, was focused on watching [and wondering] 'How is this going to go?' Because half of them see him as a threat, and half of him see him as a potential savior. What is laid out in that speech is really an ideal distillation of what the show is trying to say. And I am not better with words than the writers, so I can't do better justice than that. But that idea of, 'Like it or not, we all live in the same place, and we don't have a choice about that. So rather than trying to figure out ways to separate ourselves, when we're never going to be able to do that, we need to figure out how to work together. And that doesn't mean ironing out any differences or anything that we don't recognize, or aren't naturally comfortable with. That means everybody is different. Let's figure out how to take people for what they are, and not try and make them fit into our idea, or our model, or our wish for the way the world might be.'"

Is X-Men '97 Renewed for Season 2?

Work has already begun on a sophomore season of X-Men '97, which was already renewed by Marvel Animation prior to the show's premiere.

"We're working on season two. But we haven't started yet. I know a little bit of the storylines and characters," co-composer Taylor Newton Stewart explained in a recent interview. "It's always upping the ante. I mean, it's pretty intense what happens. Yeah, immediately when I was told, I was just like, 'Oh my gosh, what's happening? This is incredible.' So, just as a fan alone, I am very excited."

New episodes of X-Men '97 debut on Wednesdays exclusively on Disney+. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

We're nearing the end of the first season of X-Men '97, but the Marvel Animation series is expected to deliver some bombshells along the way. The series' latest episode, "Tolerance Is Extinction -- Part 1", culminated in Val Cooper (Catherine Disher) freeing Magneto (Matthew Waterson) from his imprisonment in Bastion's (Theo James) evil lair, flat-out admitting that she now realizes "Magneto Is Right." The moment then culminated in Magneto traveling to the North Pole and using his powers to send a shockwave throughout the Earth, which helped the X-Men in their global fight against the Sentinels. In an exclusive interview with ComicBook's Phase Zero podcast, Waterson shared his reaction to that moment, as well as his excitement for how the "Tolerance Is Extinction" arc continues from here.

"One of the really, really nice things has been -- I get the scripts that I'm in, and a lot of the time, I've not necessarily spent a huge amount of time focusing on parts of scripts that are not the bits that I'm responsible for working on, and making come alive," Waterson revealed in our interview. "So one of the really fun things about the show airing has been being able to see the episodes that I didn't even read the scripts for, so I didn't know what was happening, and then being able to see the scripts that I did read actually fully realized. Knowing what it's been building to throughout the first seven episodes, and knowing these last three, how the whole thing comes to a head and wraps up, one of the things that I was really looking forward to was 'Okay, what does it actually look like, once Magneto has found himself in this situation he finds himself in, for the majority of this episode?' And then, 'When he does get loose, what does that choice of his actually, visually, look like? What does it look like when he decides to do that?' Because there are a million ways you can do it. Being able to see how they did it, and how they sort of visually represented it, was really, really cool."

"I don't know if production would describe it this way, but to me, these last three episodes exist almost as a feature, in and of themselves," Waterson continued. "So this first one is like Act One -- you have the big incident that switches you into the second act of the story, and there's a couple of things that are a part of that. But Bastion's activities, and then, Magneto's response, and then, getting everybody finally in the same geographical place. So it's like, 'Okay, all the players are now on the board, and literally on the board. They're not scattered to the four winds. Everybody is in position, now how do we solve this? Because this is going to be a really complicated Rubik's Cube.'"

Is X-Men '97 Renewed for Season 2?

Work has already begun on a sophomore season of X-Men '97, which was already renewed by Marvel Animation prior to the show's premiere.

"We're working on season two. But we haven't started yet. I know a little bit of the storylines and characters," co-composer Taylor Newton Stewart explained in a recent interview. "It's always upping the ante. I mean, it's pretty intense what happens. Yeah, immediately when I was told, I was just like, 'Oh my gosh, what's happening? This is incredible.' So, just as a fan alone, I am very excited."

New episodes of X-Men '97 debut on Wednesdays exclusively on Disney+. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

After starring in Ti West's The House of the Devil in 2009, actor Jocelin Donahue has been a fan-favorite star of a number of genre films, ranging from Insidious: Chapter 2 to Doctor Sleep to Offseason. When genre fans see she's starring in a picture, not only do we know we'll get to see a layered performance from the actor, but we'll also be given an unconventional exploration of a familiar formula. Donahue's latest film, The Last Stop in Yuma County, takes a premise that could tick all the boxes of a neo-noir and still make for an engaging experience, but instead elevates the narrative and takes it into unexpected directions. The Last Stop in Yuma County hits theaters and Digital on May 10th.

The Last Stop in Yuma County is described, "While awaiting the next fuel truck at a middle-of-nowhere Arizona rest stop, a traveling young knife salesman is thrust into a high-stakes hostage situation by the arrival of two similarly stranded bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty -- or cold, hard steel -- to protect their bloodstained, ill-begotten fortune."

ComicBook caught up with Donahue to talk her interest in the project, the challenges of filming in an isolated setting, and the possible future for one of her fan-favorite characters.

ComicBook: When indie, horror, sci-fi, and Western fans, when they see that you're involved in a project, they're excited. We love seeing you in these projects. As a performer, whether it is horror or sci-fi, Western, neo-noir, what is it about genre storytelling that really excites you and offers you opportunities that aren't available in other arenas?

Jocelin Donahue: There's so much. I think it's about the high stakes. It's about the atmosphere. When you're playing in a world where there's a constant threat of violence, those are fun worlds to play in. Whether it is neo-noir or Western, horror, they have something that keeps you guessing the whole time. And so, as a character, when you get to discover this world as the audience is and be an avatar for their fears and vulnerabilities, whatever the genre is, if you get to do that, it's cool for an actor.

This is Francis Galluppi's feature film debut. He's made a few shorts, so this isn't entirely his first rodeo, but as far as features are concerned, it is his first rodeo. What was it about collaborating with Francis, what was it about his vision for this feature that you knew you could put your trust in him as a first-time feature director?

It's so highly impressive what he has accomplished with this and how he executed it. The script, as soon as I read it, it keeps you guessing. It has all these super colorful characters and punchy dialogue and it's funny and it's scary and it's fast-paced. There was so much to love about the script itself. The script is also very visual. You could tell from the set pieces that he was putting together that he had a really strong vision for it, almost in this Hitchcock kind of way where it's ratcheting up the tension the whole time.

Then when you talk to him, he is just so exuberant about films and passionate and knowledgeable, and I loved all his references and we had shared a lot of love for the same types of films. And then it's the team that he put together, because he attracts people that are like that, as well. Just super lovely to be around and also great crafts people.

I just feel like he has this eye for detail and he was very prepared. And I knew, also, he was going to be working with Mac Fisken, who I got to work with on Offseason, our DP, who's just one of the best DPs I've ever worked with. And I also knew that Richard Brake was going to be involved and then Jim Cummings and all of these elements coming together, it was just an easy yes.

With your character, what was it about her that most personally resonated with you that really grounded you in her outlook? Was there any major shift along the way, a suggestion or collaboration that you brought to Francis that impacted how you brought her to life?

You used the word grounded, and that's what Charlotte's role is in this film. She grew up in this diner, it's her family diner. It's basically her home. So when it becomes a hostage situation, it's almost like she needs to defend her homestead. And I just love that she's a salt-of-the-earth-type character. She's probably seen it all, she's been at this road-stop diner her whole life and seen all kinds of characters come in. So she is observant and resourceful, and I think she becomes a really good match for Beau.

We just talked about that, that while she presents as a vulnerable character, that I just wanted to make sure she goes down fighting and that's something that we added. She's looking for ways to alert her husband, the sheriff, played by Michael Abbott Jr. wonderfully. But then I think once she realizes that she's on her own, I was like, "She needs to grab a knife." So yeah, Fran was wonderful and we added a little bit of that, which was great.

You get the distinction of really being one of the only characters who gets to move around in this diner. Speaking just to the contained, pot-boiling sense of the story, you get to physically move around in this location. With it being filmed over the course of three weeks, in one diner, in what I assume was maybe a warm environment, I'm just wondering how that tension, how that contained setting, how that constricted location, how does that impact you as a performer? Does that mean you approach every day on set with awareness of the restrictions on what you can physically do so you can go through it much more quickly or does that take a toll on you negatively or as motivation for your character due to the restrictions of that contained setting?

The setting is huge, the location, it's something you don't even necessarily have to think about because you're just living in it and, like you say, the sweaty claustrophobia and you're just getting backed into a corner the entire film, it just helps so much. It really felt like a stage play. So it was really cool to have the geography of the space, to know where all the characters are, to, yes, have prescribed movements, but all within a tiny location. It just really adds to the pressure-cooker situation, and that was just something I loved immediately, as well. This simple nerve-wracking setup where everyone is held hostage until the gas arrives, which the audience knows it never will.

I know it has been 15 years now since House of the Devil and with Ti doing his trilogy of X movies, which I don't think anyone saw him doing sequential movies, I don't know if you've thought about this before, but I can't help but think back on how we left Sam in House of the Devil. Not that there's ever been any talks to do a sequel to that 15 years later, but what did you see for Sam's future, either just personally over the last 15 years, or actually talking about with Ti? Is that an experience that she ever came out of, or is it just that the open-ended nature of that story is what is so enjoyable and that's just where you leave it?

I guess it could go either way. I mean, I feel like there are good ideas of if she had the baby, then the baby grows up and all of that. Yeah, but I don't know. I don't think he ever really had plans for a sequel for that film. But it's been amazing to watch this trilogy, as a fan of his work. And, of course, he's just so good at playing time traveling and doing these period pieces and really capturing the nostalgia of each era of filmmaking. So yeah, we'll see. But I mean, he has told me that he has had some good ideas for it. So we'll see.

The Last Stop in Yuma County lands in theaters and on Digital on May 10th.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.

Actor Richard Brake has quite an impressive rap sheet when it comes to genre projects he's been a part of. Whether it was as the Night King in Game of Thrones or his many collaborations with Rob Zombie, Brake brings an intensity to any role that is both evocative and menacing. The same can be true of his character in Francis Galluppi's The Last Stop in Yuma County, and while some of Brake's sinister characters are inherently malicious, the intensity he brings to this project is due to his character's desperation. The Last Stop in Yuma County lands in theaters and on Digital on May 10th.

The Last Stop in Yuma County is described, "While awaiting the next fuel truck at a middle-of-nowhere Arizona rest stop, a traveling young knife salesman is thrust into a high-stakes hostage situation by the arrival of two similarly stranded bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty -- or cold, hard steel -- to protect their bloodstained, ill-begotten fortune."

ComicBook caught up with Brake to talk the new project, developing an unexpected take on the character, and future projects.

ComicBook: The Last Stop in Yuma County comes from first-time feature director Francis Galluppi. What was it about his vision for this project that you knew you could put your faith in this first-time feature director?

Richard Brake: The longer I act, the more I realize how important it is to have faith in your director. I really do think it's very, very important, so it's a good question.

I met him early on in his process. I think it was pre-COVID, it was about a month before COVID kicked in and we spoke on the phone. He sent me the script. His producer happened to be somebody who I knew personally, so he got him in touch with me, sent me scripts, sent me a lovely letter, said he'd written this character with me in mind. I read the script and immediately knew this guy knows this stuff. It was an incredible script. And when we spoke, we must've spoken for hours about film. His knowledge of film, his love and passion for film, were so clear that I knew this guy knew what he was doing. Something in my gut told me this is going to work out. And it continued. We took a couple of years to get it finally made and then, right before production, we had some discussions about the character.

We completely changed the character about two weeks before in terms of the direction we were going with it, and that was because both of us had the same idea simultaneously: basically to make the character far more terrifying. We got on a Zoom together and we both had something to tell each other, both thinking that the other person would be disappointed, and it turned out both of us had the same thought, that we wanted this character to be terrifying and to really be controlled and conniving as he is. I knew then, this guy, well, I knew before then, but then I was like, this is incredible we're on the same wavelength like this. The experience of shooting, it was the same. Every moment, I just trusted this kid. To me he was a kid, he's in his 30s, probably. I'm so glad I did because the results have been amazing.

With this character being written for you and you having a long roster of, I would say, some menacing characters in your past, what was it specifically about this character that really appealed to you that you felt that this character really stood apart from some of the other villain characters that you might've been offered?

I think first and foremost was the movie as a whole appealed to me, the script as a whole and the way that it was so unexpected, how I didn't know from moment to moment as I read it, I could think I knew what was going to happen, but then when it came about, I didn't, especially the last 20 pages I did not see it coming. I think that appealed to me more than anything, initially.

And the character, I think as we developed him ... What initially appealed to me, to go back to my other story, was that we were going to make him a lot more out of his depth, that Bo wasn't going to be a controlled killer at all. He was going to be a man that was trying to figure it out moment to moment. That appealed to me. Because Francis was worried that when we'd come both to the conclusion that Bo needed to be terrifying and very much in control, that I wouldn't be wanting to do it.

But the truth was that what then excited me was that his role in the film was to be absolutely terrifying and to be terrifying in a very, very still way. I play a lot of characters that are not still, that are way out there, and it was really lovely to bring this down to as minimalist a performance as I could do, while at the same time, still maintain that terror. It was a real collaboration between the two of us because I have to really trust him when I do that, that he's going to let me know if maybe it's a little too underplayed. And I did, I just trusted him and I'm so glad I did because I'm very, very proud of the film and very, very proud of the performance, if I say so myself. And that's because of Francis, I had trusted Francis.

It's definitely a performance you should be proud of. It's terrifying and very chilling in a way that really helps motivate the overall story with all these characters who seem to be a little bit in over their heads and you seem to be the only one who has a very clear vision of what your goal is in this situation. When the character evolved a little bit in those weeks ahead of shooting, did that have much of an impact on the script or was it really just about tweaking the way you delivered those lines to evoke an entirely different vibe for the story?

It didn't change the script, maybe I cut a line or two, but no, I don't even think so. I think it was more all the preparation that I do. I usually do everything, prepare as much as I can before I go into a film. So it was really more about changing the character, the lines remain the same. It was suddenly realizing that he isn't out of his depth, he's actually completely into his depth. He's in his world and he's in his element. And then once I shifted the character, I completely, obviously, changed everything of all of my thinking. Then the performance changes dramatically. So, luckily, it happened two weeks before we started shooting and not two weeks after we finished shooting, but it worked out.

Also, it helped a lot because Nick Logan, who plays Travis, he was really developing his character in the direction that he went, where he's very much a loose canon, to say the least. The more that I saw, "Oh, Travis is going there, really, if this is Bo and this is Travis, the two of them together are really terrifying." You don't know what Travis is going to do, just so out there, and you know that Bo, he's completely in control here. Those two together really create tension amongst the other characters. That's what's so great about the film is there's so many different characters that are so well performed by the cast. I think that's what makes it a great film.

When you have someone, even just Barbara Crampton as the receptionist, literally everyone in the movie is a heavy hitter, no matter how limited their screen time might be.

She's fantastic. And you know he got her right at the end because he's like, "I want Barbara Crampton." Everybody's like, "You'll never get Barbara." And then she joins it. I know Barbara and she's such a great actor and obviously Jacob's Wife. I was so excited she was in there because we've never been on the same film together. And Michael Abbott, Jr. I know he came in, he just knocks it out of the park. I remember he came in late because his stuff was shot towards the end. He had all of that, the scene where -- I don't want to give anything away, but he had to be very emotional, shall we say, some traumatic things happened to him, his character. He came in and just, I'm in the scene and I was like, "This guy's amazing." And he just came in that day, I think the first time he met everyone.

Gene Jones, it was a masterclass watching Gene and Jim Cummings. Another reason I really wanted to do it is he was talking about Jim Cummings. I love Jim Cummings, just an incredible filmmaker and actor. I'm so glad that Jim did do it. Jim was so very involved in the film, also producing it as well, and just a really important part of the whole production in so many ways. Just an incredible artist himself and an inspiring man. So it was great to work with him and to watch his work. I loved it. It was one of my favorite all-time experiences.

I've really loved your collaborations with Rob Zombie from 31 to 3 From Hell, and The Munsters getting to show some more comedic skills. Since he has a habit of collaborating with people pretty regularly, are there any talks of you two reuniting for any future projects, whether it's something brand new or maybe more of the background of your 3 From Hell character?

That's called fishing for a scoop. No, I'm kidding. I love Rob, obviously, he's my all-time favorite director. I worked with him four times and I absolutely adore him. It's an incredible experience working with him and so inspiring.

I'll never know the answer to that because all I ever get is a text, "Are you busy because I'm doing a film?" I'm like, "Of course I'm not busy, Rob, not for you, at least. That's for sure." So who knows, there's nothing I've heard. I'm just waiting, the little text goes, and then if Rob has something that he feels I'm right for, he'll let me know.

The Last Stop in Yuma County lands in theaters and on Digital on May 10th.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.

By the time Mad Max: Fury Road finally got in front of cameras it was with a new actor in the title role. Tom Hardy took on the part, taking over from Mel Gibson after his time as Max in the original trilogy of features. It wasn't until recently, as the press cycle kicked into full gear for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, that filmmaker and franchise creator George Miller revealed that there's an idea floating around for yet another movie focusing on Mad Max himself that he might just end up making. Would he need to hire yet another actor for the part though?

Speaking at press round table for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, ComicBook asked Miller this very question. It's been over a decade since Mad Max: Fury Road wrapped production, and Tom Hardy's profile as an actor has only gotten bigger, not to mention this planned project is set before the events of Fury Road, so bringing back Gibson seems out of the question (for a litany of reasons). In response to our question, the director replied: "We'll have to see. I'm not even sure we'll be doing it."

As Mad Max fans know, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is arriving nine years after Fury Road, but the script for both movies was completed at the same time and had been in Miller's possession for years prior to production on that movie even starting. Miller revealed that the script for Furiosa was done so long ago that original Furiosa actress Charlize Theron read it before filming began on Fury Road and wanted to make it first.

"Everyone read the screenplay in order to do Fury Road, not just the actors but everybody," Miller said. "And (Charlize) read it I would say about, I'm just guessing about six months before. And she said 'We've got to do this first.' I said, 'Charlize, we've been trying to do this movie for almost a decade and we're all prepared to do this one. We have to do it.' But she was very excited about it. And my intention was that we do it next."

Miller revealed that he intended to keep Charlize Theron in the role after the many changes of the guard that happened at the Warner Bros. parent company, but then he saw several high profile films that de-aged their actors like The Irishman and Gemini Man. After seeing them however he noted that he knew he would after re-cast the part.

"All I was looking at was the technology. I wasn't looking at performance. I thought we can't do it. This is someone who goes from 10 to 18, but I had no idea who, who could play it."

Anya Taylor-Joy steps into the role of Imperator Furiosa for the film, starring in the film alongside Chris Hemsworth as Warlord Dementus. The cast of the film also includes Tom Burke, Lachy Hulme, Nathan Jones, John Howard, Angus Sampson, Charlee Fraser, and Daniel Webber.

In Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers, young Furiosa falls into the hands of a great biker horde led by the warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel, presided over by the Immortan Joe. As the two tyrants fight for dominance, Furiosa soon finds herself in a nonstop battle to make her way home.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga arrives in theaters on May 24th.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe stood still on December 17th, 2021. Since Spider-Man: Far From Home swung into theaters in Summer 2019, speculation ran rampant that the next installment would feature Tom Holland's Spider-Man uniting with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's preceding web-slingers in a multiversal affair. Years of cross-examining stunt doubles and hyper-analyzing set photos were proven true when Spider-Man: No Way Home hit theaters, as Maguire and Garfield's Peter Parkers popped up late into the second act to help Holland's Peter fight off a quintet of villains from the Spider-Man franchise's past.

While the guns were blazing for that third act showdown, Maguire and Garfield's first scene came in a much quieter environment. In an attempt to find his friend, Jacob Batalon's Ned Leeds uses a Doctor Strange sling ring to open a portal for "Peter Parker." Rather than Holland answering the call, the portal instead summons Maguire and Garfield's Peters.

Speaking to ComicBook.com ahead of Reginald the Vampire Season 2's premiere, Batalon reflected on that historic day on the Spider-Man: No Way Home set.

"I think everyone on set knew it was really special. It had never been done before. I feel like everyone understood the gravity of the moment, but we also kept it really light," Batalon said. "At that point in filming, because we were working during the pandemic, we were just all grateful to be there."

Some set photos of Maguire and Garfield slipped through the cracks ahead of the film's release, but nothing from Batalon's scene specifically was seen until the threequel arrived in theaters.

"Working on that scene specifically was such a delight because Andrew and Tobey are super great. I remember thinking that it was probably one of those moments where people will probably be talking about it for a long time," Batalon continued. "It was really fun. I feel like that was probably the time where I kind of got to know them the most."

Batalon's MCU future moving forward is uncertain. Holland has confirmed that there are plans for a Spider-Man 4, but considering how No Way Home ended, it's unclear just how much of the trilogy's ensemble will return for future films.

Batalon stars in Reginald the Vampire Season 2, premiering on May 8th on SyFy.

You can currently catch Rachel Dratch on the small screen in American Home Shield commercials, so ComicBook.com recently caught up with the Saturday Night Live alum in honor of the ads. During the chat, we asked Dratch about her most iconic SNL character, Debbie Downer, and wondered if she had any other characters from her time on the show that she's especially proud of.

"Well, I don't know if I'd say 'proud of,' but there's a character that I like that probably no one even knows about it. He was on like three times, and it was this character named Abe Scheinwald, who was this old Hollywood movie producer," Dratch explained. "He was like 90 years old, bald, giant - those glasses, Hollywood showbiz glasses - and he was very out of touch with how to be PC in today's world."

"He was old school and Seth Meyers was my son, and I kept tanking every deal because I was too antiquated," she continued. "But that was really fun because I had this bald - I mean, I looked just like my grandfather - I had this bald cap, and I got to shovel - I was always eating coleslaw - So anyway, that was super fun ... Probably that, but 'proud?' I don't know if I'd use the word proud, but a deep cut of my characters."

You can watch our interview with Dratch at the top of the page.

Why Didn't Rachel Dratch Make a Debbie Downer Movie?

Dratch has returned to SNL to reprise the role of Debbie Downer over the years, but she's never gotten the opportunity to play the character on the big screen. Many SNL characters have gotten movies, but Dratch has a good reason why Debbie didn't go the way of Wayne's World and Superstar.

"No," Dratch replied when asked if she ever wrote a Debbie Downer script. "I used to get asked that a lot about the Debbie Downer movie, but the thing about Debbie Downer is she's best in small doses, I think. I think with a whole movie - even a sketch, like the first couple were great and then people are on to you after, you know, they know what to expect - So I think a whole movie might not work. I think some things are best in teeny tiny little snippets."

"We never did because she barely could make it the seven minutes sometimes," she added. "So 90 minutes would probably be a snooze fest. But anyway, thank you for bringing it up though."

ComicBook.com's interview with Rachel Dratch was done in support of her American Home Shield commercials. Learn more here or watch the ads here.

Having previously delivered the independent productions Thunder Road, The Wolf of Snow Hollow, and The Beta Test, filmmaker and actor Jim Cummings knows a thing or two about bringing to life a compelling story on a limited budget, both in front of and behind the camera. With his latest film, The Last Stop in Yuma County, Cummings only had to worry about his on-screen contributions to the project, which required him to both honor the more thrilling elements of the narrative but also required him to emphasize the ways in which his character was in over his head to more fully realize writer/director Francis Galluppi's vision. The Last Stop in Yuma County hits theaters and Digital on May 10th.

The Last Stop in Yuma County is described, "While awaiting the next fuel truck at a middle-of-nowhere Arizona rest stop, a traveling young knife salesman is thrust into a high-stakes hostage situation by the arrival of two similarly stranded bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained, ill-begotten fortune."

ComicBook caught up with Cummings to talk preparing for the new film, the challenges of filming, and collaborating with the rest of the acting ensemble.

ComicBook: This is such an interesting movie in that it weaves between these different themes and tones, and sometimes it's more drama, other times more thriller, this neo-noir story. With Francis being a first-time feature director, what was it about his vision that really excited you and really appealed to you?

Jim Cummings: He sent me the script, and I guess his buddy Scott from middle school, his best friend, heard me on a podcast saying that nobody asked me to act in anything. They've probably seen my movies, they have good reason why they don't ask me to act. But Scott reached out to Francis and said, "You should ask him, he'd be very good. I think he'd be very good for this part." So thank you, Scott Holmes. And then Francis reached out and said he wanted me to play the lead. He came over to my house and we talked about it, read the script. It felt, in reading it, it was very dry, there's no comedy to it, you're just reading the script and it felt like a Paul Newman/Jimmy Stewart, bag-of-money-in-the-desert movie. I was like, "Oh man, this would be so much fun. It feels like a throwback, this could be a lot of fun to do." He came over and we just talked about South Park for four hours, and I was like, "Oh, this is going to be a great film. This guy has a great sense of humor."

We talked about Criterion movies, we talked about the history of noirs and Westerns. I'm a cinephile. He's a cinephile. The majority of our time together is spent just talking about the history of movies. I knew I was in good hands, and that was the reason that I signed on. I had seen his short films and even he was like, "I want to do something different. This is going to be its own thing. It's going to be this big, fun feature. I think I'm ready to do it." I've seen that a million times, doing it myself, going from short to feature. And then also we run a lab that helps filmmakers go from short to feature, and I could see this ambition in him, and that was really the thing that got me on board.

Speaking of acting and also comedy, with this being a neo-noir and a thriller, it is tense, but there are some more lighthearted, comedic moments. Your character especially, I feel like really is in a tonally interesting place.

Oh, I'm an idiot. I'm a coward in this movie.

Honestly, that's all I was trying to say. This wasn't even a question.

"You came across like an idiot."

This was me trying to politely say, "By the way, you're a coward."

Thank you, Patrick. Thank you.

How do you find that balance? Do you find that you approach this character organically, the way that you would approach any character, whether it's drama, horror, humor, and then you leave it up to the filmmaker to find that tone? Or do you intentionally heighten your reactions, heighten your befuddlement?

Oh, no, no. When Francis and I were talking, we talk about filmmaking as a whole, a feature film being an equation. It's not just this amalgamation of scenes in a boxcar that gets chopped up. You're on this roller coaster and you have to weave the audience's attention throughout.

I always say, "If you don't make jokes throughout your films, your audiences will." I always grew up with very harsh critics as friends, and we would just make fun of the movies that we were watching, so much so that I would be like, "Oh, my movies need to be bulletproof so that John Silva doesn't make fun of me." And Francis grew up with that experience with me, so really the goal is to make something very austere, like Richard Brake's performance that is very frightening. But then to have me be a coward watching him, the audience is laughing at this very serious thing. You have to tap many lobes of the brain at once through this storytelling.

Tone is very complicated. Bong Joon-ho does a very good job of making all of his films everything; it's a romance, it's a horror, it's a noir, it's a thriller, it's everything. We try to do the same, to be genre-fluid, because I feel like audiences these days are media-literate enough that if you were to see this film ... Just that generic, noir Western, I feel like you'd get bored. We're trying to make movies for audiences that get the jokes so that if Faizon Love is saying the title of the movie and you cut it off halfway through, the audience is ... You should have been there at Fantastic Fest, they were rolling in the aisles. It was such a risk to do that. But that tonal shift is the stuff that I love to see in the cinema anyway.

When it comes to your own career, when I think of something like Wolf of Snow Hollow, where you're acting and you're directing that, there's so much more, I don't want to say you are independently creating that movie, because the cast, the crew all contribute, but you personally have so much more invested in bringing that story to life. And with this, you have all these characters who are in the same room pretty much the entire time. So what was that collaborative effort like? Was it putting complete faith in Francis and just being one of his instruments that he was playing with?

Yeah, Francis is much better at ensemble work than anybody I've ever met, certainly me. When I make a movie, it's like ... Almost all three of my films, the main character's in every scene, and that's not the case with this. In an ensemble, you're pairing off different people, you're seeing how the equation works with these conversations. There's different locations that then add to the story. It really does feel like this wild, thriller ensemble, and Francis had to navigate that constantly. He's a big fan of Hitchcock. You see something like Rope and it's multiple different conversations that take place in the same room, but the tension is escalating constantly, who's in the know, who knew what, when, that stuff. This one was a pleasure to work with because I didn't have to think about that.

Francis was so meticulous that he would measure with our production designer, Charlie Texter, how much coffee was in the pot because he was keeping track of how much Charlotte was pouring for each person, which is crazy. You're watching the film, you're like, "Who cares about that, it doesn't matter at all?" But he was so forensically in the world and thinking about each of the characters and loving each of the characters in a way that I don't. I see characters as like, "So they've got to say something to keep the plot moving," in my movies. They're much simpler, my movies. This one was like a real, can I say clusterf-ck? I can't imagine what it must have been like to write and direct this thing and keep all of these things in the air while making this thing.

Even though we just talked about the collaboration, your role specifically, even compared to some of the other actors, you are sitting at a table by yourself for a majority of the film.

For the majority of the film. He sent me the script and I was like, "You want me to sit in a booth for three-quarters of a month? You want me to sit in a booth for three weeks? All right, great." In the ugliest outfit possible. In the hottest outfit possible. In fact, that was the one improv that I suggested, that I ripped the jacket off at the end of the film because I could not wait to get that suit off of me after a month in the desert.

Well, no, that's a great point. I couldn't help but have sympathy for you as a performer of what that experience is like, is getting to watch Jocelin [Donahue] and Richard have these tense encounters and you're just sitting there. Honestly, every day, is it like you're doing Sudoku just to pretend to be invested? How do you not get wrapped up in these incredible performers doing this film?

Oh, constantly. And jealousy, and you get to see Nick Logan being Bugs Bunny with the gun in his ass and running around. There was so much fun, and, really, it was very easy for me, I just had to track where things were on the table with Kyle, the art director. We had to make sure continuity was perfect, but then I just had to sit and then react to some stuff, so it wasn't that difficult for three weeks. And then things get crazy, the guns come out, and then I'm up on my feet and running.

That was shot interspersed throughout production. I was on my feet for most of it. I didn't really feel lethargic in sitting in this booth for a long time because there was so much tension. You still have to be stressed out if Richard Brake has a gun on you. Really, Francis was like, "Hey, get up and do 50 pushups," and he and I would do pushups against each other so that I would be sweaty in this nervous diner seat being stressed out. We still found ways to keep it tense. I don't know if Hitchcock was doing that to Jimmy Stewart, but it was fun to have little pushup competition throughout.

You had your werewolf movie with Snow Hollow. You were in Halloween Kills, a pretty integral component of the momentum of that overall storyline. Now Francis is jumping into Evil Dead next. As a fan of films and genre films, do you have a favorite franchise of yours that you would like to dip your toes in and experiment with? Whether you're going to be Francis' Ash Williams or if you'd like to stay behind the camera?

I'm honored by the comparison. I really like the Alien movies. My wife Julia is a filmmaker, and we watch those the second they're available. I think that those do a really good job of the roller coaster. I think Ridley [Scott]'s still got it, even the latest one, [Alien:] Covenant, I love more than the last two. Michael Fassbender is so good. Performance-driven horror intention is my favorite.

But no, I really love original work. I think the reason I like Alien is because it was original and the same with Francis. Francis is coming on to helm Evil Dead, but he's perfect for it because he grew up with Evil Dead. He was born with the Necronomicon in his hands, basically. I can say that it is his favorite thing, it would be his dream project, and Sam [Raimi] and Bruce [Campbell] both agreed that he was right for the part. But I don't know, I'm really enjoying being original, creating original content. I think there's real creative value and personal value to that for audiences. So I'm going to do that for a minute, I think.

The Last Stop in Yuma County lands in theaters and on Digital on May 10th.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.

Rachel Dratch is best known for her years as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and she had some beloved characters during her time on the show between 1999 and 2006. However, no character quite matched up to the iconic Debbie Downer, the sad sack woman who first made her debut in 2004. Dratch has even returned to SNL to reprise the role over the years, but she's never gotten the opportunity to play the character on the big screen. Many SNL characters have gotten movies over the years, but Dratch has a pretty good reason why Debbie didn't go the way of Mike Myers and Dana Carvey's Wayne and Garth (Wayne's World), Molly Shannon's Mary Katherine Gallagher (Superstar), and more.

"No," Dratch replied when asked if she ever wrote a Debbie Downer script. "I used to get asked that a lot about the Debbie Downer movie, but the thing about Debbie Downer is she's best in small doses, I think. I think with a whole movie - even a sketch, like the first couple were great and then people are on to you after, you know, they know what to expect - So I think a whole movie might not work. I think some things are best in teeny tiny little snippets."

"We never did because she barely could make it the seven minutes sometimes," she added. "So 90 minutes would probably be a snooze fest. But anyway, thank you for bringing it up though."

You can watch our interview with Dratch at the top of the page.

What Is SNL 1975?

Dratch's time at SNL began 24 years after the series first debuted on NBC, and now a film is being made about the show's early days. It was announced last year that Ghostbusters: Afterlife director Jason Reitman was set to helm a new movie about SNL's first broadcast. It was previously announced that Gabriel LaBelle (The Fabelmans) had been cast as SNL's creator and longtime producer, Lorne Michaels.

The cast also includes Cooper Hoffman as Dick Ebersol, Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster, Dylan O'Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Matt Wood as John Belushi, Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman, Kim Matula as Jane Curtin, Nicholas Braun as Jim Henson, Kaia Gerber as Jacqueline Carlin, J.K. Simmons as Milton Berle, and Finn Wolfhard as an NBC page.

Stay tuned for more updates about the upcoming film.

ComicBook.com's interview with Rachel Dratch was done in support of her American Home Shield commercials. Learn more here or watch the ads here.

Writer/director Francis Galluppi had a handful of shorts under his belt before he found himself with the opportunity to make the jump to feature directing, with The Last Stop in Yuma County becoming that debut. Filmmakers can take a number of approaches to set themselves up for success when it comes to making that jump, and despite the number of challenges that could be presented by developing a neo-noir that unfolds almost entirely within the walls of one diner, Galluppi managed to enlist a talented group of veteran performers to bring his expertly crafted and tense script to life, marking for an impressive first foray into features. The Last Stop in Yuma County hits theaters and Digital on May 10th.

The Last Stop in Yuma County is described, "While awaiting the next fuel truck at a middle-of-nowhere Arizona rest stop, a traveling young knife salesman is thrust into a high-stakes hostage situation by the arrival of two similarly stranded bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty--or cold, hard steel--to protect their bloodstained, ill-begotten fortune."

The film stars Jim Cummings, Jocelin Donahue, Richard Brake, Sierra McCormick, Nicholas Logan, and Michael Abbott Jr.

ComicBook caught up with Galluppi to talk the development of his film, collaborating with his cast, and future projects.

ComicBook: When you have all these shorts in your career, was this project always considered as, "Well, when I do jump to feature directing, this is the movie I want to get made," or was it that you had a few ideas that were out there and it just so happened that this was the first one to come to fruition?

Francis Galluppi: I did the two short films, High Desert Hell and Gemini Project. I don't know, man. It seemed like I never really thought I would be able to make a feature this quickly. I got very lucky when I met [producer] James [Claeys] and stuff, so I didn't have a script for a feature lying around.

It was really about when that opportunity came up, it was like, "Okay, I need to write something really contained." So this was never ... Maybe some ideas that were implemented in the script, I can't say for sure, but they probably were just there in my brain somewhere. But yeah, it was really when it was, "Okay, I have an opportunity to make a feature," this is what I wrote.

You're making the jump to this really interesting genre in that it's a thriller, it's a noir, it's a little bit of a Western, it's a drama. Were there certain filmmakers or certain films that you looked to for inspiration as touchstones of not only wanting to borrow some things from but also how you wanted to deviate from expectations in this genre?

No, nothing that I specifically kept going back to. It was always a film noir in my head, and the past week I've been revisiting a lot of my favorite noirs and I'm like, "Oh, sh-t. Maybe I got that from this movie," or, "Maybe I got that." And not knowing at the time, but re-watching The Killing, Stanley Kubrick's The Killing, and seeing that ending with all the money flying around, I was like, "Oh, maybe that's where I got it from."

I just re-watched Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole, and Kirk Douglas gets stabbed in the stomach at the end and just falls on his face. And I was like, "Maybe that's where I..." I can't say for sure, but it was always a noir in my head. Aesthetically, I talked to my cinematographer, we watched Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and these Don Siegel, Sam Peckinpah, really grimy looking '70s films, and that was, aesthetically, maybe what we were going back to. I mean, we shot digitally, so a lot of it was emulating that look, too.

The cast for this is so good. To sell this material where everything is so contained and so limited to this diner, once you got this cast involved who have so many genre credits to their names, what was that collaboration like? Did that collaboration change much from how it was originally scripted or was it still pretty authentic to that original vision?

It was a lot of meticulous planning, so it was very much what was on the page and what was planned for, but this cast obviously elevated this story. You get actors like that in there and you can't help but just [know] they're going to make it better. And that's with the whole process from beginning to end, right? You write, it's just a complete evolution. You write the script and then you cast, and then things start to change, and then that actor gets in wardrobe and makeup, and then that changes things. And then they get their scene partner and that changes things. And then you get the edit and you start playing with timing and it's all part of the process.

If you looked at the first draft of this script compared to what the movie is, I would say yeah, it was a huge, huge improvement of what they brought to the table. In my head, it was always a dark comedy, as well, but a lot of people didn't see that. But then once you get somebody like Jim Cummings and Nick Logan and Connor Paolo, once you get those types of actors in the movie, it really brings out those comedic elements. So it was like, "Ah, this is the thing that was in my head, and now it's actually happening."

What do you think was the biggest unexpected challenge of this project? Obviously jumping from shorts to a feature, you anticipate, "Okay, these are going to be some big hurdles that I have to get over," but what was the thing that you thought, "Oh, nobody told me it was going to be like this,"?

It was the opposite. Everyone was like, "Oh, it's going to be really hard to direct 15 actors in a room." And I was like, "It was great." I had a blast. Honestly, all the hurdles were the same hurdles that I dealt with on all the short films. Old cars f-cking never work, and so anytime you see a car driving in Yuma, it's somebody pushing it, which happened on High Desert Hell, which happened on Gemini Project. And this time I was like, "I know that's going to happen, so let's get a full-time mechanic on set." It still happened, and we still had to push cars.

And then weather was something that really f-cked things up and slowed us down. It's like, it's supposed to be really hot, and it's pouring rain and windstorms, which is just the typical bullsh-t. It's just like, cars don't work. Weather sucks. But yeah, other than that, when you're working with this caliber of talent, it makes things go a lot smoother.

I think I most appreciated how you get about an hour into this movie, and then it completely shifts gears from what you thought it was going to be. It's something similar, but an entirely new direction for some of the characters. Were there versions in this script or of this story where that shift happened?

No, this was always the idea, was to have this thing happen an hour in. From the beginning, I always thought of it as a film noir, so it's like it really is the knife salesman's story. It was always about getting him to that situation where he has to make that decision: does he take the money and run?

I always knew it was going there. I got a lot of notes saying otherwise, when I was sending the script around, where it was like, "Oh, this should be the end of the movie," or, "This should happen way earlier on," and I didn't listen. It's weird because I try not to read people's reviews and comments. I try to stay out of it, but it's like some people say, "Oh, the movie really falls apart after this part," or whatever. Then some people say, "Oh, no, it gets better." You're not going to ever make everybody happy, and I think, if anything, people do not expect what happens to happen.

Well, lastly here, congratulations on Evil Dead.

Oh, thanks, man. Thank you.

That's got to be insane, and I'm sure super exciting and super overwhelming.

Yeah, it's very insane.

It's funny because I just spoke with S?bastien [Vani?ek] two weeks ago and, even though that movie was probably a little bit more further along, he still couldn't talk about it. I know you can't talk about it, anything that is written down is not something that you can really get into right now, but I still wanted to at least touch upon what is so exciting for you about the Evil Dead franchise. What is it about your entry into this world that you're like, "Okay, well, you've seen the cabin in the woods, we've seen a high-rise," what is the excitement about how you're going to be able to put your own stamp on this franchise that has expanded over the years?

Yeah, all I can really say is how much of a fan I am of Evil Dead and how much I really care about this franchise. It truly is one of the movies that made me want to make movies. I'm not just saying that. I grew up watching Back to the Future and Indiana Jones and these huge spectacles and spent most of my life playing music because making movies seems so unattainable, and there's something about the original Evil Dead that you could just tell that [director] Sam [Raimi] and Bruce [Campbell] were out there having so much fun making the thing they wanted to make. It was so innovative, and that's really the thing that inspired me to go pick up a camera and get my friends together and go out and make a horror short. My office is covered in Evil Dead stuff ... It's just very exciting. I'm really excited. Everyone at Ghost House is just really, they're just great to work with.

Without tipping your hand too much, there's a difference between the original Evil Dead and then Army of Darkness versus Fede ?lvarez's reboot of the property. Do you have a particular favorite entry into the saga?

I like them all. I'm dead serious. I think that it's a perfect ... They have not f-cked up any of the movies. They're all great, and I love them all for my own reasons. Obviously, Army of Darkness came out at a time, a perfect age for me, so I watched that a lot growing up, and Evil Dead had a huge impact on me when I was 18. And I love Fede's. I love Lee [Cronin's Evil Dead Rise]. They're all great. I really can't tell you ... I feel like I always go back to the original Evil Dead. It's just a comfort movie for me. But with that said, I watch them all.

You can't really go wrong with any Evil Dead.

Even the show. The show is great.

The fact that we got three seasons of Bruce Campbell fighting Deadites and people are still like, "Wow, why isn't Bruce coming back?" You've got 15 hours of him fighting these monsters.

Yeah, I know, man. And it's so good. When that show was on, it was like, that was the one show where we always had a f-cking weekly party at my house. And everyone came over and we got pizza, and we all were watching the new episode of Ash vs. Evil Dead, and I miss it.

The Last Stop in Yuma County hits theaters and Digital on May 10th.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.

WWE is getting royal once again. With WWE Backlash in the rear view, all focus is now on WWE King and Queen of the Ring. Barring a WWE Network special in 2015, this is the first time that WWE is hosting a premium live event centered around the royal tournament since 2002. Debuting in 1985, King of the Ring operates as a standard multi-man bracket that concludes with its winner being awarded the titular crown. WWE Hall of Famers like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, and "Macho Man" Randy Savage are among former winners, while current roster members Xavier Woods, Baron Corbin, and Sheamus once called themselves king. WWE added a women's bracket in 2021, the Queen's Crown tournament, which was won by Zelina Vega.

Tiffany Stratton Has Queen of the Ring Gear Ready

While WWE has yet to reveal the full brackets for this year's tournaments, one surging WWE superstar is already making her case for the crown. Speaking to ComicBook, WWE SmackDown's Tiffany Stratton revealed she already has her royal gear ready should she emerge victorious.

"Of course I've got all the pink robes and the pink crowns lined up," Stratton said. "I feel like if I were to win, or rather when I win Queen of the Ring, I feel like I'm going to be the perfect embodiment of being a queen."

Despite only being on the main roster for three months, Stratton has already cemented herself as one of the WWE SmackDown women's division's cornerstones. The former NXT Women's Champion received massive support from the Australian crowd at WWE Elimination Chamber and eliminated former WWE Women's Champion Naomi in the process. She parlayed that momentum into a triple threat WWE Women's Championship match against titleholder Bayley and Naomi this past weekend at WWE Backlash, impressing once again in defeat.

Stratton is expected to be among the WWE SmackDown field of competitors in this year's Queen of the Ring tournament. WWE Monday Night Raw's representatives are Zoey Stark, Ivy Nile, Shayna Baszler, Zelina Vega, Lyra Valkyria, Asuka, Iyo Sky, and Natalya.

King and Queen of the Ring tournament matches kick off tonight on WWE Monday Night Raw, which goes down at 8 PM ET on USA Network. Winners from each bracket will be crowned at WWE King and Queen of the Ring on Saturday, May 25th, streaming on Peacock.

News emerged earlier this year that an all-new Evil Dead spinoff was on the way from filmmaker S?bastien Vani?ek, and while this was exciting enough for fans of the franchise, last month saw the unexpected reveal that filmmaker Francis Galluppi was also developing an adventure for the series. In promotion of his new film The Last Stop in Yuma County, Galluppi addressed his love for the Evil Dead franchise and, while he avoided offering significant details about his new film, he expressed his love for all corners of the franchise and his enthusiasm for the new opportunity. The Last Stop in Yuma County hits theaters and Digital on May 10th.

"All I can really say is how much of a fan I am of Evil Dead and how much I really care about this franchise. It truly is one of the movies that made me want to make movies. I'm not just saying that," Galluppi confirmed with ComicBook. "I grew up watching Back to the Future and Indiana Jones and these huge spectacles and spent most of my life playing music because film, making movies seems so unattainable, and there's something about the original Evil Dead that you could just tell that [director] Sam [Raimi] and Bruce [Campbell] were out there having so much fun making the thing they wanted to make. And it was so innovative, and that's really the thing that inspired me to go pick up a camera and get my friends together and go out and make a horror short. My office is covered in Evil Dead stuff, so I have, it's just very exciting. I'm really excited. Everyone at Ghost House is just really, they're just great to work with."

As far as which entry might influence his own spinoff, he detailed, "I like them all. I'm dead serious. I think that it's a perfect ... they have not f-cked up any of the movies. They're all great, and I love them all for my own reasons. Obviously, Army of Darkness came out in a time, a perfect age for me, so I watched that a lot growing up, and Evil Dead had a huge impact on me when I was 18. And I love Fede [?lvarez's]. I love Lee [Cronin's]. They're all great. I really can't tell you if ... I feel like I always go back to the original Evil Dead. It's just a comfort movie for me. But with that said, I watch them all. Even the show. The show is great."

After the 2013 remake of Evil Dead failed to revive the franchise in a significant way, Raimi and Campbell, along with original producer Rob Tapert, developed the TV series Ash vs. Evil Dead, which continued the events of the original trilogy and ran for three seasons.

"When that show was on, it was like, that was the one show where we always had a f-cking weekly party at my house," Galluppi gushed. "And everyone came over and we got pizza, and we all were watching the new episode of Ash vs. Evil Dead, and I miss it."

The Last Stop in Yuma County is described, "While awaiting the next fuel truck at a middle-of-nowhere Arizona rest stop, a traveling young knife salesman is thrust into a high-stakes hostage situation by the arrival of two similarly stranded bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty--or cold, hard steel--to protect their bloodstained, ill-begotten fortune."

Stay tuned for updates on Galluppi's Evil Dead. The Last Stop in Yuma County hits theaters and Digital on May 10th.

Are you looking forward to the new Evil Dead? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

The Hardy Boyz are nearing the end of their in-ring careers. Matt and Jeff have each been competing inside the squared circle for over three decades now, wrestling alongside, against, and apart from one another in dozens of wrestling promotions. For as successful as they have been together, both Matt and Jeff have enjoyed singles stardom, each having multiple world championship reigns to their r?sum?s. One-on-one matches is what both men find themselves competing in now. Matt exited AEW in April and is currently enjoying an extended run in longtime home TNA. Jeff remains under AEW contract and is awaiting a return to the ring after suffering a concussion in February.

Whenever the time does come for Matt and Jeff to hang it up, the brothers plan on doing it together.

"That would definitely be our goal," Matt told ComicBook. "It is very important to us to finish how we started. We started as two brothers on this journey. Our goal was to win the tag team titles of the world one time, and obviously we did that many times over. We do want to end that way. We've talked and we're both very aware of that. We want to end our careers together as a team."

Few tag teams in wrestling history have achieved even half of the hardware that the Hardys have collected over their three decades together. The brothers have won tag gold in WWE on eight occasions as well as twice in TNA and once in Ring of Honor. Matt and Jeff are also pillars of the modern ladder match, as they helped revolutionize the stipulation alongside The Dudley Boyz and Edge & Christian in the early 2000s.

As for where a final Hardy Boyz bout could take place, all options are on the table. Matt remains in negotiations with AEW despite exiting the company last month, and a return there could size up the brothers to take on Adam Copeland and Christian Cage one last time. Jeff could also hop to TNA after his AEW contract expires, which is reportedly sometime this summer. Matt and Jeff could also both wrap their current commitments and head back to WWE, the company that put both of them on the map.

Until then, Matt can be seen on weekly episodes of TNA iMPACT!. He is expected to challenge Moose for the TNA World Championship later this summer.

The upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the tenth movie in the long-running franchise, and it won't be the last. Director Wes Ball previously teased that the new film was intended to be the start of a new trilogy of movies. As franchise fans will know, movies of this size take time, and the Caesar trilogy all had three years in-between each new chapter. Speaking with ComicBook in a new interview, we asked Ball how quickly the timeline could look for the follow-up to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, with the filmmaker confirming that there's a major hurdle that would keep him from immediately jumping into work on the sequel, and it's something Hollywood could fix all around.

"It'll take as long as it takes," Ball revealed. "Fortunately because this franchise is important to the studio we'll get it right like we did this one, took our time and got it right. Hopefully, people think that...It takes time, the development itself and my big thing is I do not want to go into prep when the script is not done. I've had to do that in the past. Nothing good comes from that. That's one of the biggest things that movies could be doing right now is to stop doing that. We'd save a ton of money... I think on this one that we are in a good, good shape. Fortunately, we were thinking a lot about these questions when we were developing this script, so we have an idea where we wanna go and there's lots of room for great drama. Literally doors have opened at the end of this movie that hopefully reveal a much larger world that we get to explore in this movie, full of drama, full of conflict, all that kind of stuff. Fingers crossed. We'll see."

When asked a follow-up of how many more words can appear ahead of "of the Planet of the Apes" in a film's title, Ball joked, "None...It is hard to come up with these movies. But for anyone out there, there's no of the, of the, of the, it's just two "of the"s or "for the," it's just one word of the planet of the Apes. That's the way the titles work, it has since 19 freaking 70."

Ball then offered the extra anecdote about his first title for the film, adding, "Empire of the Planet of the Apes. That was my original title, we couldn't do it, we just couldn't."

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Cast

The cast for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is anchored by Owen Teague (IT) as Noa, a young chimpanzee. He's joined in the film by Kevin Duran (Locke & Key) as Proximus Caesar, a powerful chieftan that has appropriated human technology; Travis Jeffery as Anaya; Lydia Peckham as Soona, a female chimpanzee and a friend of Noa. Neil Sandilands as Koro; Peter Macon as Raka; and Freya Allan (The Witcher) as Mae, one of the few human characters to appear in the movie

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is directed by Wes Ball and written by Josh Friedman and Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver and Patrick Aison.

Director Wes Ball breathes new life into the global, epic franchise set several generations in the future following Caesar's reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.

Planet of the Apes movie order explained

With the upcoming release of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes there will officially be eleven movies in the Planet of the Apes franchise including:

• Planet of the Apes (1968)
• Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
• Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
• Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
• Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
• Planet of the Apes (2001) - Tim Burton's standalone remake
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
• War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)

Though allusions to the classic movies released in the 1960s and 1970s can be found in all of the modern Planet of the Apes movies, fans eager to dive into the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes likely only need to watch th three movies made in the 2010s ahead of the film's release.

Dead Boy Detectives is currently streaming on Netflix, and The Sandman spinoff is up on Rotten Tomatoes with a 93% critics score and 87% audience score. Fans are hoping the show will be renewed for a second season, and it sounds like the showrunners already have some ideas brewing. ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with Dead Boy Detectives stars Briana Cuoco (Jenny) and Ruth Connell (Night Nurse) about the series. In addition to talking about their characters and the comics, the duo also spoke about their hopes for the show's future. Warning: Season One Spoilers Ahead!

"I didn't think I could be any more frustrated than I already was," Connell joked about the Night Nurse's challenges in Season One. The season ended with her having to go work for the Dead Boy Detectives, which isn't exactly something the character is looking forward to. "I think the levels to reach, just as an actress trying to figure out how I could possibly be - and what many different ways I'm going to be - more frustrated than I already am."

"God willing we get a second season," Cuoco began. "And now that Jenny sort of understands or sees what's going on and is in on the situation, I'm very excited to see how she deals with all of the things that they've been dealing with all season that she had no idea was going on, all the supernatural stuff. I think she would just be f*cking hilarious. And just all of her quips and all of her one-liners and just not having time for any of it."

"How much more sardonic can you be?" Connell asked Cuoco with a laugh.

"How much more snark can we get?" Cuoco replied. "I can't wait."

Do You Need To Watch The Sandman Before Dead Boy Detectives?

ComicBook recently attended a meet and greet with Dead Boy Detective showrunners, Steve Yockey and Beth Schwartz, and we asked if they recommend watching The Sandman or reading the Dead Boy Detectives comics before starting the spinoff series.

"Well, I think that you don't need to do any homework for the show, and I feel like it's more fun," Schwartz explained. "I don't know, everyone's different, but I think it's more fun not to do anything before you see it. So you can be surprised and then you can go back and watch Sandman and read the comics after."

"And we are true to the boys' origins and how they started the detective agency and Crystal's backstory," Yockey added. "But the rest of it is us kind of taking things from the comic books and sort of re-appropriating them, re-imagining them so that people who are familiar with the comic books will get to have those kind of like, 'Oh, I recognize this, moment.' ... But regular people can just watch the show."

Dead Boy Detectives is now streaming on Netflix.

It's been a big week for Star Wars fans as folks around the world celebrated the franchise on May 4th. In addition to the annual "Star Wars Day," Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was rereleased in theaters this weekend in honor of its 25th anniversary. Not only did the movie have a successful little haul at the box office, but some fans were surprised by an appearance from Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi). Turns out, McGregor isn't the only Phantom star who plans to glimpse the movie on the big screen. Yesterday, ComicBook had the chance to interview Ahemd Best (Jar Jar Binks) at the grand opening of Bricks and Minifigs in Pasadena, California. Best was there with Popup Con, a cool event he started a few years ago. During the chat, the actor explained the history of the con, talked about catching the Phantom Menace rerelease in theaters, and addressed the upcoming Star Wars Celebration in Japan.

"It came out yesterday, so I haven't been to theaters yet, but I'm going to go this weekend and see what it's like," Best shared. However, the actor doesn't plan to make his presence known, adding that he will "try to be incognito" to "see how the reception is." Best has had a complicated history with Jar Jar and has opened up in the past about how the backlash to his character was incredibly difficult for him. However, there has been a resurgence of love for the character in addition to the film, and Best is "excited that it's back on the big screen."

"I think something needs to bring people back to these theaters, and for that big screen experience," Best explained. "And Phantom Menace was made for a big screen experience ... George [Lucas] always looked at movies in a 'real estate.' So things are put on the screen for a reason. When he built Phantom Menace, he built it for the dimensions that this screen was supposedly going to take up ... It's about the experience, and he's very specific about that ... He's not only just a wonderful cinephile, but as somebody who is able to craft screen art, he's incredibly detailed and incredibly specific, and he means everything he puts on a screen, every frame has a meaning. And the size of the screen matters just as much as what's on the screen."

What Is Popup Con?

"So Popup Con actually started before the pandemic," Best shared. "I always wanted to do something primarily to look at small niche businesses. When it came to entertainment stuff, I grew up in comic book stores all my life. I grew up in toy stores all my life ... And I always loved the cultures that were around it. Every time I would go to a comic book store when I was a kid, it'd be all the same people ... You'd have all of these people who were so passionate, not just about what was in the store, but the store itself. It's something that I always really loved. And when big box stores came in, that kind of disappeared."

"The big conventions are cool, but sometimes it gets a little much," Best explained. "Sometimes it's very difficult to have the stamina to do all of them, and sometimes it gets kind of transactional, more transactional than I like. I kind of like the fact that you get to talk to people. I like the fact that you get to know people and you get a little bit of time. So I was like, 'Well, what if there was a con that would just pop up in these very niche mom-and-pop stores?' Especially things like comic book stores or video stores or Lego stores or toy stores, and it would be the people affiliated with the store, but you can also spend a little bit more time with people coming through, and that's when Popup Con comes."

We asked Best if his preference for smaller venues meant he wouldn't be going to Star Wars Celebration Japan in 2025, but the actor still isn't sure.

"I don't know yet," Best explained. "It's about scheduling more than anything else. I want to go to Japan. I love Japan so very much."

Stay tuned for more from our interview with Ahmed Best.

The second season of The Last of Us went into production earlier this year, and fans have seen some very small glimpses of the production. The folks involved with the series are being understandably tight-lipped about the new episodes, but some have shared their excitement for the upcoming season. One such person is Ann Foley, the show's costume designer. ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with Foley about her work on The Spiderwick Chronicles, and we asked how far she was into The Last of Us process.

"It's blurred behind me," Foley teased of her background during the Zoom call, indicating that she was in the middle of working on the series. "Oh my God, yes," she added when asked if she was excited for Season 2. "This is great. I am so honored to be part of the show. I was a huge fan of Season One, even before I interviewed for this job. So I couldn't be happier to be part of it. It's a spectacular team. It's a gorgeous show with a wonderful cast. I'm just so happy to be here."

We went on to ask Foley if there were any unsung heroes of the Spiderwick production, and she ended up shouting out her crew from the new Roku series in addition to The Last of Us.

"Well, I mean it actually applies to both shows," she began. "It applies to all shows, but my workroom, who builds the costumes, the breakdown team who does all of the aging and the dying. For example, in Spiderwick, Lucinda's peony dress, that was handmade. Every single one of the petals on that dress was cut from a piece of silk. It was then hand pressed into an old-fashioned flower petal press, and then hand-painted, and then hand sewn on."

"So it took about six weeks and it was a stunningly beautiful dress, and the team just really knocked it out of the park. And the same even with Thimbletack, and his costume, and my workroom, making all of those tiny little shorts that he wears with the tiny little tunic, his little hat. I mean, it's actually kind of difficult to make those small clothes and to make them in a way that doesn't look ... terrible."

"They did such a beautiful job," she continued. "And actually, Jared's hoodie was custom-made in the shop, too. You would never know. So yeah, that's the beauty of the team. And I'm only as good as my team, and thank God I had an amazing team on Spiderwick. I have a lot of them here with me on The Last of Us, and everyone from the assistant costume designers to the set costumers."

"I always say it doesn't matter what I do, it's like it lives and dies once it goes to set," Foley explained. "So the set costumers have to take care of it. They have to make sure it stays exactly the way that it's meant to stay and what the design intent was. So yeah, I had a really wonderful team. Awesome. To be perfectly honest."

The Spiderwick Chronicles is now streaming on The Roku Channel. Stay tuned for updates about The Last of Us.

During the development and the release of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, fans crafted all manner of theories about how the films connected to other corners of the galaxy far, far away, while also speculating about how clues in the films could hint at what was to come for the saga. With today being Star Wars Day, fans around the world are sharing their love of the sci-fi series, with comedian and vocal supporter of Star Wars Josh Gad taking to social media to introduce an all-new theory: that OREO cookies were hidden throughout the franchise as a way for the filmmakers to pay respects to the beloved snack.

In the video below, you can see Gad hilariously point out all the ways in which OREO has influenced the saga, and while some of his theories come across as almost believable, Gad descends into absurdity by claiming R2-D2 even had compartments specifically designed to carry the confectionary.

In honor of Star Wars Day and his new OREO theory, ComicBook.com caught up with Gad to talk his love of Star Wars, OREO cookies, and his real feelings about Baby Yoda.

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ComicBook.com: I think you can get a sense that I'm not one to mess around, I'm not one to pull my punches, so we are going to start off on something controversial and I need to hold you accountable and figure out: are you a regular OREO fan or are you a Double Stuf OREO fan?

Josh Gad: You know what? I'm going to have to go with regular. Look, I was born in the '80s. It's what I grew up with. It's what I know. It may be traditional, but look at me. I'm traditional. I'm a traditionalist.

They each have their merits and I do appreciate you coming clean and owning up to a hot-button issue that has been out there for quite a few years. Along those lines, when it comes to beverages and OREOs, are you a dunker or are you more of a drinker?

I'm a dunker. There's something about -- and it's actually very interesting, the only time I will ever voluntarily consume milk on its own is with an OREO cookie. I have a "no milk" policy. There's something about drinking milk that just makes me feel like I'm six years old and about to be screamed at by a teacher, and so I do it covertly, but I will pour a cold glass of milk and dip my OREO in it and consume it. I like the texture as it's dunked and inserted into my mouth.

That actually is my very next question, so I appreciate you setting me up. When we're talking milk, are we doing dairy milk, are we doing almond milk, or are we doing blue milk?

If I had access to authentic blue milk, I would choose blue milk. Sadly, Whole Foods doesn't yet carry intergalactic milk products, so I'm stuck with more of a whole milk situation. I think that that's not to say it wouldn't work in almond milk, I've never tried it. I've also never tried it in goat's milk or soy milk. There's various opportunities to see different flavor profiles that I feel it could be like the new version of wine pairing. That could be exciting. I just haven't done those yet. I just pour a glass of regular old-fashioned milk from a cow's udder, and I dip my cookie made in a processing plant into my mouth.

It's hard to argue with the classics. They don't go out of style. However, when it comes to new innovations in cookie technology, especially how OREO has been pushing things to new heights and introducing lots of different varietals, outside of the traditional OREO cookie, do you have a favorite varietal? Or do you even have an idea for a varietal that doesn't exist yet?

My friend Adam Shapiro, Shappy, as I call him, has been bringing the flavor variations of OREO to my attention for quite some time now, and so I've dabbled in quite a few of them.

I would love to see a savory OREO. I don't know if that exists. I haven't tried one, but I'd love to see what would happen if we had -- think of a pretzel-infused OREO situation. It may not work, it could even be catastrophic, but again, we won't know until we've at least experimented.

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

That's right.

Plus, even if there has been a savory flavor, I feel like these varietals are on the shelf for a week before it's replaced with whatever the new innovation is.

Do you know what I've never tried that I really want to try? A fried OREO. That's something that I'd really like to try at some point. My doctor does not want me to try that. I think it would be really delicious, though.

Listen, as a temporary representative of OREO, I don't think you're necessarily endorsing that people go out and do this, but you can say, as a human being with wants and needs, let's get you some deep-fried OREOs.

I think so. I think I've earned them.

Well, we've chatted at least a fair bit about OREO--

I don't think we've chatted enough about OREO, actually.

Let's hear about this partnership, you've collaborated with OREO in honor of Star Wars. How did this OREO theory that fans will be learning about, how did this whole opportunity come about?

Well, as anyone who knows me can attest, two of my favorite things -- outside of my children -- are OREOs and Star Wars, and both of them I actually share with my children. Occasionally, I will hold back on OREOs sometimes, but I love both of those things.

It came to my attention that there's more crossover between both of these incredible, fan favorites than one may have noticed until now. When you look deeply enough, you start finding OREOs popping up in all sorts of places in the Star Wars universe. From architecture to face masks to, dare I say, even lightsaber blades. I think that if you look hard enough, you will see that there's no way that the Star Wars films could have been made without OREO cookies.

And that's not meant to be a controversial statement, it's just meant to be a statement of fact. That's just something that is, what's the word? Indisputable. It's very hard to look at the Millennium Falcon and not think to yourself, "That's a flying OREO cookie." It's not impossible, but it's unlikely that wasn't what the filmmakers were attempting.

I remember specifically ahead of the sequel trilogy coming out and things about Snoke and his origins before we learned his true origins in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but as a Star Wars fan, are you one to dive deep into Reddit theories about "does this actually mean this?" and who really was Darth Plagueis? Or are you more just thinking, "You know what, I'm going to let these filmmakers just tell me what's what,"?

If you've ever seen my videos interrogating Daisy Ridley, you'll know that I am not one to settle for just what is readily available. I like to go deep. I'm curious to hear your theory on Darth Plagueis. I think we both think Palpatine killed him, but do we have a motive? Do we have DNA?

I heard that Palpatine killed him. It was actually a dispute that Plagueis was attempting to use bantha milk to dunk some OREOs in, and Palpatine refused to allow such a thing to happen.

Well, I know that Doku was lactose intolerant, so I knew that that was very difficult for him, but I didn't know about this theory. That's interesting.

Because I guess since there's always two, according to the Sith "Rule of Two," it was that Palpatine had heard from Plagueis' doctor that his Midichlorian counts were really out of whack.

Well, you've got to do a physical once a year. You have to check your Midichlorian counts.

I apologize, by the way. I said "Doku" and I meant "Dooku," and now the entire Star Wars fan base is going to come after me with OREO lightsabers and I don't want that. I don't want that headache. I don't need that headache. I want to apologize. Switching that vowel was below me, and I'm very sorry.

I'm glad because I was about to mention that Plagueis' Doctor was actually Dr. Evazan, and then I thought, "Wait, actually, the timeline might not line up."

It might not line up.

Evazan might've been pre-med, so I'm glad that you made such a blunder to prevent me from implicating myself. When it comes to Star Wars Day, how do you and your kids and your family celebrate it? Is it just every day is Star Wars Day in your house?

May the 4th is the one day that's ... It's every other day for me that is Star Wars Day, and that becomes my Sabbath. My day of rest.

No, every year is different. Sometimes there will be a lightsaber battle in my home, other times there will not. So it's really those two variations that play out the most. I'm very excited about May the 4th.

Again, it's the rule of two. It's either there are lightsaber battles, or there are not lightsaber battles.

Or there's not, yeah. There's not much else, I wish I could tell you that my family and I use the Force on each other. We don't. We don't have that genetic attribute.

You love Star Wars, and you've even gotten to contribute to a variety of Star Wars projects over the years, and with the franchise growing, a lot of people are getting opportunities to enter the franchise in ways previously unavailable. For you, if there was the opportunity of, "Josh, we really want you to play a main character in a Star Wars thing," and therefore it would ruin the mystery of Star Wars as a fan, do you think you'd jump at the opportunity to become an official part of the franchise?

Oh, yeah, absolutely. If they were to offer me Donnie the Hutt, like Jabba's nephew or something like that, I would do it in a second.

I will tell you that I have actually been on the flip side of this where I have been invited to numerous Star Wars sets, and have learned things way before the movies came out that I was actually very sad that I knew. I saw Baby Yoda about a year before anybody knew about Baby Yoda, so that was both cool, but also slightly disappointing because then I couldn't be surprised.

And also realizing, "Oh, this is just a puppet on set," as opposed to an actual character.

Yeah, but it was a very cool puppet. I got to play with it.

Stay tuned for updates on the Star Wars franchise.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.

With this week's Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, the galaxy far, far away is once again being expanded upon. The Disney+ miniseries offers a batch of animated episodes about two of the Empire's most surprising antiheroines, including Barriss Offee (Meredith Salenger). Star Wars fans know that Barriss has had quite the unique path over the years, with her story being told throughout animation and other mediums. While speaking with ComicBook about her role in Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, Salenger spoke about the biggest lessons fans can learn from Barriss' story, especially when they take her complicated history into consideration.

"Listen, I think every character is presented with choices that can define their destiny," Salenger explained in our interview, which you can check out above. "I think the show leaves you with this wonderful message that you always have a choice of how you're going to proceed in your life. Where fates take you, where your inner moral code takes you. There is something in Barriss, she has a strength and she has conviction in her beliefs and I think she follows them. I think sometimes you're forced to do you might not want to do, but I still think there is an inherent strength in Barriss that leads her to her choices."

Will Barriss Offee Reunite with Ahsoka?

In the same interview, Salenger addressed the possibility of continuing one of Barriss' most surprising narrative threads -- her dynamic with Ahsoka Tano.

"All I'm gonna say is, this was three episodes, so we don't know what happens," Salenger explained in our interview, which you can check out above. "I hope things happen, I believe she would like to have a reunion with her to hash things out and, perhaps, apologize, I don't know. That's my personal thought but it's all up to Dave [Filoni] and I would love to see Bariss chatting with Ahsoka again. I think they'd have a lot to talk about. "

What Is Star Wars: Tales of the Empire About?

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire is a six-episode journey into the fearsome Galactic Empire through the eyes of two warriors on divergent paths, set during different eras. After losing everything, young Morgan Elsbeth navigates the expanding Imperial world toward a path of vengeance, while former Jedi Barriss Offee does what she must to survive a rapidly changing galaxy. The choices they make will define their destinies.

The voice cast of Star Wars: Tales of the Empire includes Diana Lee Inosanto (Morgan Elsbeth), Meredith Salenger (Barriss Offee), Rya Kihlstedt (Lyn aka Fourth Sister), Wing T. Chao (Wing), Lars Mikkelsen (Thrawn), Jason Isaacs (Grand Inquisitor) and Matthew Wood (General Grievous). Dave Filoni created the series and is the supervising director. He is also an executive producer along with Athena Yvette Portillo and Carrie Beck. Josh Rimes serves as co-executive producer and Alex Spotswood is the senior producer.

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire launches exclusively on Disney+ on Star Wars Day, May 4, with all six episodes. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

Note: If you purchase one of the awesome, independently chosen products featured here, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.

In just a matter of weeks, Prime Video subscribers will be treated to the second season of Outer Range. The genre-bending series definitely subverted audiences' expectations when it first began in 2022, and it has been safe to assume that it will deliver even more drama this time around. At the center of Outer Range is executive producer and showrunner Charles Murray, who comes to the series after working on fan-favorite shows such as Sons of Anarchy and Luke Cage. In a recent interview with ComicBook about his work on Outer Range Season 2, Murray spoke about how the previous parts of his filmography helped influence the new season.

"Sons [of Anarchy] and Third Watch, because both of them, I had to come into and they were already formed and already up and running, and they had multiple characters and dealt with multiple tones," Murray explained in our interview, which you can check out above. "You get so used to that that when you step into a show like this, that has characters scattered and sometimes they come together and sometimes they go further apart, you're not intimidated by it because you've been in it with Ed Bernero and John Wells. You've been in it with Kurt Sutter, and before them, I'm a huge David Milch fan and I got to apprentice with him on his last season of NYPD Blue. Again, another show where's there's multiple layers, multiple characters, multiple tones and you just say, 'Okay, I've seen it done enough that all I've got to do is just follow the tradition of what's been laid in front of me.'"

What Is Outer Range About?

Outer Range centers on Royal Abbott (Josh Brolin), a rancher fighting for his land and family, who discovers an unfathomable phenomenon at the edge of Wyoming's wilderness, in the form of a dark void. The mystery surrounding the enigmatic void on the west pasture of the Abbott family ranch deepens in Season 2, as Royal and his wife Cecelia (Lili Taylor) struggle to keep their family together in the aftermath of their granddaughter's sudden disappearance. The stakes have never been higher for the Abbotts, who now face threats on multiple fronts. Outer Range's second season propels its characters deeper into the void with profound and unforeseen circumstances that could shake the very foundations of time itself.

Led by Oscar-nominee Josh Brolin (Dune: Part Two) -- who makes his directorial debut with Season 2's penultimate episode -- Outer Range features an ensemble cast of award-winning and breakout talent, including Imogen Poots (Baltimore), Lili Taylor (Manhunt), Tamara Podemski (Reservation Dogs), Lewis Pullman (Lessons in Chemistry), Tom Pelphrey (Ozark), Noah Reid (Schitt's Creek), Shaun Sipos (Reacher), Isabel Arraiza (The Little Things), Olive Abercrombie (The Haunting of Hill House), and Will Patton (Horizon: An American Saga). Outer Range comes from executive producers Charles Murray, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Ernest McNealey, Josh Brolin, Tony Krantz, Heather Rae, and Jon Par?.

Outer Range Season 2 premieres on Prime Video on Thursday, May 16th.

The Spiderwick Chronicles is now streaming on The Roku Channel, and the new series has broken records for the streamer. The show is based on Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black's book series of the same name, and follows the Grace family as they move into their ancestral home: the Spiderwick Estate, which is also home to some magical creatures. One such creature is Thimbletack, a brownie who is voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer. ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with costume designer Ann Foley, who spoke about creating Thimbletack's look for the series.

"I was obsessed with Thimbletack's relationship with Lucinda and with Arthur Spiderwick, and 'How did he come into the house?' and 'How did his costume come into being?' And so we had all of this really wonderful back and forth and we started this conversation about Thimbletack as a brownie living in the house," Foley explained of working with DiTerlizzi and Black. "And I mean, he doesn't care about human clothes, so 'Where did these human clothes come from?' And we sort of came upon this idea that Lucinda, as a young child, took clothes off of a doll and she started dressing up Thimbletack, and he loved her so much. He was like, 'Sure, why not? Let's just do it.'"

"And then I took it a step further and I thought, 'What about friendship bracelets?' Because kids of a certain age, they love things like that. So Lucinda decided when she was young, she made friendship bracelets for her and for Thimbletack. And he didn't really know what it was, so he used it as a bandelier ... I was very specific in my color choices. We did pink for kindness, blue for loyalty, green for responsibility. So those are the colors that are in the friendship bracelet. And then he's got that charm bracelet that he wears around his waist ... So he's put that around his waist and he's using it kind of like a tool belt, sort of like Batman in a way."

"And so we just started putting things on it, just little things ... a little tiny thing of super glue that he had found and that was connected to the charm bracelet as well. And one of the things I love so much about that bracelet is it was my mom's bracelet when she was the same age as Lucinda. So that has a little bit of a personal meaning in there as well."

Foley was also the costume designer for She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, so we asked about dressing characters like Thimbletack and She-Hulk, who are CG.

"Well, I mean, it's another extra element for sure, but at the end of the day, it's about creating a character and the costumes have to tell a story about who this character is and they're there to help inform the audience," Foley explained. "So whether it's a CG costume or if it's a real costume, and in She-Hulk, we actually built every single costume ... And then everything was scanned in, so the costumes actually existed. And so our VFX team had those actual pieces there to work with. And same, actually, with Thimbletack. He actually existed, he was built here in Vancouver by this wonderful shop, and he had weight to him, you could hold him in your hands. And he was so cute. We had several of them. There were Thimbletacks all over the shop."

Stay tuned for more from our interview with Ann Foley.

The release of Star Wars: Tales of the Empire is almost here, bringing to life an animated miniseries about some of the galaxy's most formidable antiheroes. This will include Barriss Offee (Meredith Salenger), an Inquisitor who has appeared in a number of Star Wars stories over the years. While speaking to ComicBook about her role on Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, Salenger addressed the possibility of continuing one of Barriss' most surprising narrative threads -- her dynamic with Ahsoka Tano.

"All I'm gonna say is, this was three episodes, so we don't know what happens," Salenger explained in our interview, which you can check out above. "I hope things happen, I believe she would like to have a reunion with her to hash things out and, perhaps, apologize, I don't know. That's my personal thought but it's all up to Dave [Filoni] and I would love to see Bariss chatting with Ahsoka again. I think they'd have a lot to talk about. "

Is Star Wars: Ahsoka Renewed For Season 2?

Earlier this year, with the announcement that a new movie surrounding The Mandalorian and Grogu is officially in the works, Lucasfilm also confirmed that a second season of Star Wars: Ahsoka has been greenlit. A release date for the project has yet to be set, although series creator Dave Filoni has already teased work on it.

"I'm absolutely putting it out into the universe. We're joking about it, but I'm manifesting it because I feel like I helped Dave [Filoni] manifest this role," series star Rosario Dawson previously shared with Empire Magazine about a second season. "So I'm ready. I'm excited. I'm willing. I got my ice-packs ready to go for Season 2 and beyond! I would not be mad at that."

What Is Star Wars: Tales of the Empire About?

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire is a six-episode journey into the fearsome Galactic Empire through the eyes of two warriors on divergent paths, set during different eras. After losing everything, young Morgan Elsbeth navigates the expanding Imperial world toward a path of vengeance, while former Jedi Barriss Offee does what she must to survive a rapidly changing galaxy. The choices they make will define their destinies.

The voice cast of Star Wars: Tales of the Empire includes Diana Lee Inosanto (Morgan Elsbeth), Meredith Salenger (Barriss Offee), Rya Kihlstedt (Lyn aka Fourth Sister), Wing T. Chao (Wing), Lars Mikkelsen (Thrawn), Jason Isaacs (Grand Inquisitor) and Matthew Wood (General Grievous). Dave Filoni created the series and is the supervising director. He is also an executive producer along with Athena Yvette Portillo and Carrie Beck. Josh Rimes serves as co-executive producer and Alex Spotswood is the senior producer.

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire launches exclusively on Disney+ on Star Wars Day, May 4, with all six episodes. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

Note: If you purchase one of the awesome, independently chosen products featured here, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire is hitting Disney+ tomorrow in honor of May 4th AKA Star Wars Day, and the new show is a character-focused animated anthology series that follows Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) and Barriss Offee (Meredith Salenger). Inosanto first played Morgan Elsbeth in live-action in Star Wars: The Mandalorian before playing the villain again in Star Wars: Ahoksa. Recently, ComicBook had the chance to chat with Inosanto about the new series, and she talked about playing the character in animation.

"You know, it's interesting because I was watching Pedro Pascal behind the scenes when he was doing the recordings for Mandalorian, so I go, 'Oh, that's probably gonna be what I would do.' It is. I mean, I don't know how you can arrive in a booth and not do those things to physically prep you, or at least that's my process," Inosanto explained.

"I do all the breathing. I sometimes, if I knew the fight scene was right, I will jump in place," she added with a laugh. "I'm literally in my own actress bubble, pulling creatively from my imagination and seeing in the space and time, whatever is happening in the scene. So, yeah, I don't see that much of a difference, you know, other than I'm in a recording booth."

"I love doing animation. I love it," Inosanto added.

What Is Star Wars: Tales of the Empire About?

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire is a six-episode journey into the fearsome Galactic Empire through the eyes of two warriors on divergent paths, set during different eras. After losing everything, young Morgan Elsbeth navigates the expanding Imperial world toward a path of vengeance, while former Jedi Barriss Offee does what she must to survive a rapidly changing galaxy. The choices they make will define their destinies.

The voice cast of Star Wars: Tales of the Empire includes Diana Lee Inosanto (Morgan Elsbeth), Meredith Salenger (Barriss Offee), Rya Kihlstedt (Lyn aka Fourth Sister), Wing T. Chao (Wing), Lars Mikkelsen (Thrawn), Jason Isaacs (Grand Inquisitor) and Matthew Wood (General Grievous). Dave Filoni created the series and is the supervising director. He is also an executive producer along with Athena Yvette Portillo and Carrie Beck. Josh Rimes serves as co-executive producer and Alex Spotswood is the senior producer.

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire launches exclusively on Disney+ on Star Wars Day, May 4th.

This year's May the 4th festivities are set to bring a lot by way of the Star Wars universe, including the launch of Star Wars: Tales of the Empire. The new animated series is dedicated to exploring the stories of Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) and Barris Offee (Meredith Salenger), two antiheroic women who have had a unique role in the franchise thus far. Morgan Elsbeth's appearance comes after live-action roles in Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Star Wars: Ahsoka, and it sounds like we will get even more of an indication of her dark origin story. While speaking with ComicBook about her role on Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, Inosanto argued that Morgan and Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) represent characters who could have taken very similar paths, but instead mirror each other.

"I have, definitely, more sympathy for Morgan, now that we really have a confirmation of her history on Dathomir," Inosanto said in our interview, which you can check out above. "But I also feel she's a cautionary tale, too. She's a cautionary tale in the sense that, if you look at Ahsoka and her, these are two characters that have both have seen horrible things growing up as children. Yet, you have the Ahsoka character who would take a road of light and be a force for good. And then you have Morgan, who really, for whatever reason, it was her anger that carried her through. Her attitude of revenge, and just remembering her people, and in one way or another, she was gonna make sure that the galaxy was gonna pay back for what had happened. She was gonna keep to her vision of what will happen for her people, hopefully restoring Dathomir, which we see in Ahsoka. But I just love the prequel, and I think what's more fascinating -- and I say this over and over -- is that we get to see too, that she was capable of loving people too. I think that's very important."

Is Star Wars: Ahsoka Renewed For Season 2?

Earlier this year, with the announcement that a new movie surrounding The Mandalorian and Grogu is officially in the works, Lucasfilm also confirmed that a second season of Star Wars: Ahsoka has been greenlit. A release date for the project has yet to be set, although series creator Dave Filoni has already teased work on it.

"I'm absolutely putting it out into the universe. We're joking about it, but I'm manifesting it because I feel like I helped Dave [Filoni] manifest this role," Dawson previously shared with Empire Magazine about a second season. "So I'm ready. I'm excited. I'm willing. I got my ice-packs ready to go for Season 2 and beyond! I would not be mad at that."

What Is Star Wars: Tales of the Empire About?

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire is a six-episode journey into the fearsome Galactic Empire through the eyes of two warriors on divergent paths, set during different eras. After losing everything, young Morgan Elsbeth navigates the expanding Imperial world toward a path of vengeance, while former Jedi Barriss Offee does what she must to survive a rapidly changing galaxy. The choices they make will define their destinies.

The voice cast of Star Wars: Tales of the Empire includes Diana Lee Inosanto (Morgan Elsbeth), Meredith Salenger (Barriss Offee), Rya Kihlstedt (Lyn aka Fourth Sister), Wing T. Chao (Wing), Lars Mikkelsen (Thrawn), Jason Isaacs (Grand Inquisitor) and Matthew Wood (General Grievous). Dave Filoni created the series and is the supervising director. He is also an executive producer along with Athena Yvette Portillo and Carrie Beck. Josh Rimes serves as co-executive producer and Alex Spotswood is the senior producer.

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire launches exclusively on Disney+ on Star Wars Day, May 4, with all six episodes. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

Note: If you purchase one of the awesome, independently chosen products featured here, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.

Not Another Church Movie is heading to theaters next week, and the new comedy was written and directed by Johnny Mack. Following in the footsteps of films such as Not Another Teen Movie and Scary Movie, Not Another Church Movie aims to poke fun at the filmography of Tyler Perry, who is best known for the Madea franchise. The new film stars Kevin Daniels as "Taylor Pharry" and "MaDude Himms" in addition to big names such as Jamie Foxx, Mickey Rourke, Vivica A. Fox, Tisha Campbell, Jasmine Guy, Kyla Pratt, and Lamorne Morris. ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with Daniels, and we asked what he hopes Perry's reaction will be to the film.

"I grew up on these, Not Another Teen Movie, Scary Movie, [Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood]. The Wayans Brothers, they did these spoof movies all the time and I think there's an appetite to see them again, and I haven't seen one with Black films in forever, so I was like, 'Oh, this is a great opportunity. I'd love to be part of that.' And I think [Tyler Perry] will get a kick out of it. He has to have a sense of humor and I also think it'd be really fun to do a movie with MaDude and Madea, and see how that would work out."

What Is Not Another Church Moive Rated?

Since Not Another Teen Movie came up during our chat with Daniels, we mentioned how the 2001 comedy was extremely raunchy, and wondered if fans can expect the same from Not Another Church Movie, which is rated R.

"There's one scene that approaches that level, but it's still kind of like, 'Maybe it crosses the line. Maybe it doesn't.' It is rated R. So there are a couple scenes," Daniels teased.

What Is Not Another Church Movie About?

You can read the official synopsis for the film here: "America's favorite gun-toting, foul-mouthed, and boob-swaying sometimes-attending church-going lady is getting parodied! In the most hilarious display of holy jokes, 'NOT ANOTHER CHURCH MOVIE' out-parodies the wildest moments of pop culture church antics with a no-holds-barred assault on the most popular images and talked-about moments from recent church-themed films and television. It tells the story of how God sends his favorite church-going son, Taylor Pherry, on a mission to tell his family stories and how the devil will have nothing to do with it, but in this hilarious comedy, Taylor does everything but sin as he serves God like no other man ever has."

Not Another Church Movie hits theaters on May 10th.

Matt Hardy is back in Total Nonstop Action. This past April's TNA Rebellion concluded with the former TNA World Heavyweight Champion returning to the promotion that was first home to his Broken Brilliance. Hardy, complete in his "Broken" persona once more, attacked TNA World Champion Moose and held up his title as the premium live event went off the air. While Hardy has emphasized that he has not signed a contract with TNA, he will be part of the company for the foreseeable future.

As mentioned, Hardy's TNA homecoming also represents the first time that he has tapped into his Broken Brilliance since 2020. Speaking to ComicBook.com, Hardy noted that it was a "very easy" decision to resurrect the dormant persona upon his TNA return.

"I feel like it was very easy because TNA is in 'Broken' Matt's DNA," Hardy said. "TNA is the birthplace of 'Broken' Matt. That's where it all started. I've said this many times before, the year when I started doing 'Broken' Matt is the most fun I've ever had in my career, bar none. It was so amazing how TNA allowed such a creative freedom that let us run wild. It became a viral sensation."

While this is resurgence of a popular gimmick, Hardy wants to avoid just playing the hits. Like how he evolved his Broken Brilliance in both WWE and AEW, Hardy teased that this iteration in TNA will be another evolution.

"It's going to be a bit of a new version of 'Broken Matt,'" Hardy added. "It's almost like a scenario with Bruce Banner and The Incredible Hulk. Once Matt Hardy reaches his breaking point, he becomes 'Broken' Matt Hardy, and you have to deal with this animal, this monster. That's kind of where we're at. The white streak in the hair isn't needed quite as much now because I'm fully aware and cognizant that I am both individuals. These next few shows, the next month that I'm going to be doing TNA for certain is going to be really, really compelling stuff."

That monster is unleashing itself on The System, a faction comprised of TNA World Champion Moose, Eddie Edwards, and Brian Myers. "Broken" Matt has made his goal of procuring Moose's world title abundantly apparent, as it is a feat he has technically never achieved.

"One thing I can say is that historically in TNA, Matt Hardy of Hardy Boyz' fame, he was the TNA World Champion. 'Big Money' Matt Hardy, my bad guy persona, he held the world heavyweight title. The Broken Brilliance of Matt Hardy, 'Broken' Matt Hardy, he never officially became the TNA World Champion," Hardy noted. "That is something that is on my bucket list. That's something I want to cross off. It's very important to me."

Hardy wrestles his first TNA match in over seven years when he teams with Speedball Mountain to take on The System tonight at 8 PM ET at TNA Under Siege, which streams on TNA+ and is available for purchase on TrillerTV.

The first season of X-Men '97 is nearly in the books, and the Marvel Animation series has been telling a pretty surprising story. Amid all of the show's various twists and turns, including adaptations of multiple beloved comic arcs, there has been the question of what storylines it might still tell in the future. One prevailing theory has been that X-Men '97 might lead to an animated Avengers vs. X-Men adaptation -- and it sounds like one of the series' stars is on board with the possibility. Speaking exclusively to ComicBook.com's Phase Zero podcast, Professor X voice actor Ross Marquand argued that an Avengers vs. X-Men storyline isn't out of the question, especially after the events of this season.

"You saw what happened in the last episode [with] Rogue and Captain America," Marquand argued. "There's a real chance that that could happen. He can't fly. Captain can't fly. She threw that in the side of a snowy mountain. I'm sure it's lodged in there 50 feet deep. He ain't gonna find that shield. It's not like Mjolnir where you can just like pull it back, it's stuck in that thing. He, he's gonna be pissed at Rogue for a while."

"I say this to my manager all the time," Marquand said of the prospect of continuing to play Professor X. "If this is the last thing I do with my career, I'd die a happy man. I really would."

Is X-Men '97 Renewed for Season 2?

Work has already begun on a sophomore season of X-Men '97, which was already renewed by Marvel Animation prior to the show's premiere.

"We're working on season two. But we haven't started yet. I know a little bit of the storylines and characters," co-composer Taylor Newton Stewart explained in a recent interview. "It's always upping the ante. I mean, it's pretty intense what happens. Yeah, immediately when I was told, I was just like, 'Oh my gosh, what's happening? This is incredible.' So, just as a fan alone, I am very excited."

What Is X-Men '97 About?

Marvel Animation's X-Men '97 revisits the iconic era of the 1990s as The X-Men, a band of mutants who use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them, are challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future.

The voice cast of X-Men '97 includes Ray Chase as Cyclops, Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Cal Dodd as Wolverine, JP Karliak as Morph, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Beast, AJ LoCascio as Gambit, Holly Chou as Jubilee, Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop, Matthew Waterson as Magneto, and Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler. Beau DeMayo served as head writer; episodes are directed by Jake Castorena, Chase Conley and Emi Yonemura, and the series is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso and DeMayo.

New episodes of X-Men '97 debut on Wednesdays exclusively on Disney+. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

Next week, you can catch Frasier's Kevin Daniels starring in Not Another Church Movie, a new parody film from writer/director, Johnny Mack. ComicBook.com recently had the chance to chat with Daniels about the upcoming comedy, and we took the opportunity to ask about Frasier, which was recently renewed for a second season by Paramount+. Not only does Daniels play Tiny in the reboot, but he also appeared in an episode of the original series. He plays Steve in the Season 10 episode, "Farewell, Nervosa." Turns out, Frasier showrunner Joe Cristalli has an idea to make Steve and Tiny's stories connect.

"Don't tell anybody. Nobody needs to know," Daniels joked about his original Fraiser appearance. "Actually, I'm going to play here in LA, it's called Monsters of the American Cinema. It's really fun. But a lot of the cast members from the new reboot came and saw it last night. And our showrunner ... Joe came last night and we were talking about that very thing. He is like, "Well, maybe this season the fans find out that Tiny has a brother in Seattle. And I was like, 'That would be hilarious.' I have a twin brother, one who hates him, and now one who works in the firehouse ... But it's for fans like you, people who watch, they figure it out."

"Well, they had the first table read yesterday," Daniels said when asked about Season 2. "I think I begin in episode two, and then we go, I think we're doing seven or eight episodes. Our little firemen, people, we'll find out."

"Kelsey [Grammer], he's so great to work with and so funny, and Nicholas Hurst, the big BBC comedian, comes in. He's fantastic ... It's just cool to be a part of such an iconic franchise, and we have people see it, and the hope is that it leads to other things."

What Is Not Another Church Movie About?

You can read the official synopsis for the film here: "America's favorite gun-toting, foul-mouthed, and boob-swaying sometimes-attending church-going lady is getting parodied! In the most hilarious display of holy jokes, 'NOT ANOTHER CHURCH MOVIE' out-parodies the wildest moments of pop culture church antics with a no-holds-barred assault on the most popular images and talked-about moments from recent church-themed films and television. It tells the story of how God sends his favorite church-going son, Taylor Pherry, on a mission to tell his family stories and how the devil will have nothing to do with it, but in this hilarious comedy, Taylor does everything but sin as he serves God like no other man ever has."

Not Another Church Movie hits theaters on May 10th. Stay tuned for more from our interview with Kevin Daniels.

Cover image by Aaron Fallon

Dead Boy Detectives is now streaming on Netflix, and the new series is a spinoff of The Sandman. The Dead Boy Detectives were created by writer Neil Gaiman along with artists Matt Wagner and Malcolm Jones III, and made their first comics appearance in The Sandman #25 in 1991 before they got their own series. ComicBook.com recently spoke with George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri, and they talked about reading the comics to prepare for playing the titular detectives. However, there is one actor from the series who chose not to dive into the comics, and for good reasons. We also had the chance to chat with Briana Cuoco, who plays Jenny in the show. For most of the season, Jenny is very clueless about the supernatural goings on around her, so Cuoco thought it best to hold off on reading the comics.

"Well, I did a bunch of research to look into who they were, what the comics were, where it came from, all the things," Cuoco explained. "But I purposely didn't read any of the comics because Jenny has no idea what's going on all season. And I kind of wanted to be surprised by the world, not that it would've totally seeped into my work or anything. I did as much work as I felt was appropriate for Jenny."

"And then I did more work on the butcher side just to get into that mindset," she continued. "But now that it's all out and done, and now that she sort of understands or sees the world, and knows by the end of the series, I think I'm going to go back and start reading everything. Just for fun."

Do You Need To Read Dead Boy Detectives Before Watching the Series?

ComicBook.com recently attended a meet and greet with Dead Boy Detective showrunners, Steve Yockey and Beth Schwartz, and we asked if they recommend watching The Sandman or reading the Dead Boy Detectives comics before starting the spinoff series.

"Well, I think that you don't need to do any homework for the show, and I feel like it's more fun," Schwartz explained. "I don't know, everyone's different, but I think it's more fun not to do anything before you see it. So you can be surprised and then you can go back and watch Sandman and read the comics after."

"And we are true to the boys' origins and how they started the detective agency and Crystal's backstory," Yockey added. "But the rest of it is us kind of taking things from the comic books and sort of re-appropriating them, re-imagining them so that people who are familiar with the comic books will get to have those kind of, 'Oh, I recognize this, moment.' ... But regular people can just watch the show."

Dead Boy Detectives is now streaming on Netflix.

The Lonely Island's body of work has traversed music, movies, and beyond, delivering some delightfully goofy concepts to audiences. Among them is Hot Rod, the 2007 comedy film starring The Lonely Island members Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone. Although Hot Rod was met with a mixed response upon its debut, it has become something of a cult classic -- but apparently, that still might not lead to a follow-up film. In a recent interview with ComicBook.com for his work directing Episode 4 of Paramount+'s Sonic the Hedgehog spinoff series Knuckles, Taccone argued that a potential Hot Rod sequel might not come to fruition, in part because the group's output has been evolving.

"Not really," Taccone revealed. "We haven't, but I mean, that's certainly been brought up to us by fans always. But for us, I think we sort of treat a lot of our work that we did while we were on SNL, it was like you make something and people like it, and then we're always sort of trying to top ourselves or do something different, so I think... And there's outliers to that. Obviously, "Dick in a Box", we did sequels of that. We did sequels of "Laser Cats", but it's always sort of trying to do something different. So I think with film, especially for how much time and energy it takes to do those films... And we're just getting older, dude. I don't know if you want to see a 40-something-year-old Kevin."

What Is Hot Rod About?

In Hot Rod, self-proclaimed stuntman Rod Kimble (Samberg) is preparing for the jump of his life - to clear fifteen buses to raise money for his abusive stepfather Frank's (Ian McShane) life-saving heart operation.

The cast of Hot Rod also included Taccone as Kevin Powell, Bill Hader as Dave McLean, Danny McBride as Rico Brown, Isla Fisher as Denise Harris, and Sissy Spacek as Marie Powell.

What Is Knuckles About?

Set between the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Knuckles follows Knuckles (Idris Elba) on a hilarious and action-packed journey of self-discovery as he agrees to train Wade (Adam Pally) as his prot?g? and teach him the ways of the Echidna warrior.

The cast of Knuckles also includes Stockard Channing (The West Wing), Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones), Scott Mescudi (Don't Look Up), Ellie Taylor (Ted Lasso), Julian Barratt (Mindhorn), Rory McCann (Game of Thrones), Cary Elwes (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Paul Scheer (Black Monday), and Rob Huebel (Childrens Hospital). Ben Schwartz reprises his role as Sonic the Hedgehog, with Colleen O'Shaughnessey also returning as Tails and Tika Sumpter reprising her role as Maddie.

Knuckles is now streaming exclusively on Paramount+.

Not Another Church Movie is an upcoming parody film written and directed by Johnny Mack. The movie pokes fun at the filmography of Tyler Perry and features an exciting line-up of actors. The cast includes Jamie Foxx, Mickey Rourke, Vivica A. Fox, Tisha Campbell, Jasmine Guy, Kyla Pratt, and Lamorne Morris. The film is led by Kevin Daniels (Will Trent, Frasier) who takes on multiple roles. ComicBook.com recently had the chance to chat with Daniels, who spoke about playing "Taylor Pharry" and "MaDude Himms" in addition to working with legends.

"Oh my. So much, so much. They had me running around in wigs, they got me sweating over here, doing that, crack this joke, do all that. It's wonderful," Daniels said about leading the film as multiple characters. "It's a really low-budget movie, so we're trying to do the most we can with the resources, and some days you would like them to say, 'Hey, we're going to shoot all of Taylor's scenes today,' or 'Hey, we're going to shoot all of my MaDude scenes today.' But sometimes it was like, 'Look, we're going to shoot the scene, we're going to shoot and you're going to sit there and you're going to like it."

"That was essentially what it was, but a lot of fun," Daniels continued. "I had a great team behind me, some incredible other actors I got to work with and we just had fun. Johnny Mack, our director, was really great about letting us improv and go and have fun with whatever was being put in front of us. Just kids cracking jokes, paying homage to the great Tyler Perry."

During the chat, Daniels also spoke about being excited to meet his co-stars.

"I was such a little kid, like starstruck," Daniels shared. "I was like, 'Oh, Tisha Campbell from Martin?! She's going to be in the movie? We're going to act against each other? Oh yeah, I'm down.' I saw Jasmine Guy and I was like, 'Oh, A Different World?' That was my program. I used to watch that. I was like, 'Oh wait, will you take a photograph with me?' She was so sweet and everybody just came in, having good fun. There were no egos."

Not Another Church Movie hits theaters on May 10th. Stay tuned for more from our interview with Kevin Daniels.

Blood Free is now streaming on Hulu and one of the series' stars is hoping that the drama can start a dialogue among fans. ComicBook.com managed to sit down with Ju Ji-hoon, who plays bodyguard Woo Chaewoon in the Hulu series. His character is at the center of a scandal involving cultured meat. It's nothing new for science fiction stories and dramas to look at worlds not that different from our own. The star is hoping that Blood Free's tale about convenience and modernity sparks a conversation with families who might be following the mystery plot. These are just his observations and he doesn't want anyone to think this is coming from the directors or creative team though.

"This is just my personal take on it, it has nothing to do with the directors or writers' personal intent," the actor began. "With Blood Free we are using the subject matter of cultured meat. If we think about that being something we can apply to any advanced technology. For example, with phones, they have made our lives so much more convenient, then a lot of things have become less personal. For example we don't see a lot of hand-written letters anymore."

"So, I hope that for people watching Blood Free, maybe you can talk about these things with your friends and family," Ji-hoon added. "You can talk about how technology had changed our lives. What it means to us? And, what it was like before all of that happened. It's just something that I personally hope can take place."

Becoming Woo Chaewoon In Blood Free

This kind of production is not exactly new for Ju Ji-hoon, but it was an interesting time to get his arms around a project for Hulu. He talked about getting on the same page with the director and writers with Blood Free.

"This is my 1st time working with the director and writer and I've worked with the Director of Photography before on a different project. But, all of the crew, the creators and crew, they're very open minded," Ju Ji-hoon explained. "We had a lot of meetings and conversations during the pre-production process. We shared a lot of our thoughts with one another, and all in all, it has it was a very smooth sailing project."

His character, Woo Chaewoon is a cool-customer. We asked about that sort of stoic response and how much of it is drawn from his personal experience. "Well, we all have different characteristics within ourselves and dualities within ourselves. I think for me, if I were to really reach into my personal characteristics, in terms of what I channeled for the character, when I go through something that's really huge or a big event, I tend to become very cool-headed."

He continued, "So for example, if I'm injured, I'm not the type of person who would scream or cry or panic. But, I instantly become very logical, very cold headed, thinking about what's the quickest way to the hospital? What do I do from here? So, I think that side of my personality is something that I tried to sort of maximize for the character."

What Is The Story Of Blood Free?

Blood Free got a brand-new synopsis from Hulu: "Jayu is BF's CEO. She continues to expand her business despite the death threats. As the threats continue, BF hires Chaewoon, a former commissioned officer, to protect her. Oddly enough, Chaewoon easily resolves the problems Jayu faces. Secrets and suspicions soon begin to grow in BF."

Have you checked out this thrilling Hulu drama yet? Check out all the pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

It was announced back in November that the beloved animated series, Harley Quinn, had been renewed by Max. DC fans are eager to see the show's upcoming fifth season, especially after the season four finale featured some exciting shakeups and teases. In the finale, it was revealed that Batgirl had survived Joker's shooting, and is now paralyzed from the waist down. She was still able to help Harley and Poison Ivy take down Lex Luther using her tech skills, and she revealed at the end of the finale that she was leaving the Bat Family to take her skills to another team: the Gotham City Sirens. ComicBook.com recently had the chance to chat with Batgirl voice actor, Briana Cuoco, and we asked if she has read anything for season five.

"I don't know anything," Cuoco admitted. "I just got asked this in another interview and he thought I was being facetious. I actually really don't. I hope that girl's around, obviously I have no control over that. I love her so much. I love how sort of earnest she is and pure and I mean, obviously in this last season she's changed a little bit, but I adore her and I hope I get to go back."

Max Teases Harley Quinn Season 5:

"The talented Harley Quinn team has once again succeeded in delivering a season that builds on everything that has come before while still feeling fresh and inventive," Suzanna Makkos, Executive Vice President, Original Comedy and Adult Animation, Max and Adult Swim said when the show was renewed. "They continue to provide hilarious, heartwarming, and deranged stories with our lovable group of DC misfits, and we couldn't be more excited for the fans to see what they've accomplished in season 5."

Watch Briana Cuoco in Dead Boy Detectives:

You can currently watch Cuoco in Dead Boy Detectives on Netflix. You can read the description of the series here: "Do you have a pesky ghost haunting you? Has a demon stolen your core memories? You may want to ring the Dead Boy Detectives. Meet Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), "the brains" and "the brawn" behind the Dead Boy Detectives agency. Teenagers born decades apart who find each other only in death, Edwin and Charles are best friends and ghosts... who solve mysteries. They will do anything to stick together - including escaping evil witches, Hell and Death herself. With the help of a clairvoyant named Crystal (Kassius Nelson) and her friend Niko (Yuyu Kitamura), they are able to crack some of the mortal realm's most mystifying paranormal cases."

Stay tuned for more from our interview with Cuoco.

The beloved game franchise The Legend of Zelda is being adapted into a live-action movie after decades of existence, and while details have mostly been kept under wraps up to now, director Wes Ball has provided several pieces of information about the movie recently including that he wants "to fulfill people's greatest desires" in making the movie, and how his experience directing Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will carry over into directing Zelda. In an interview with ComicBook, Ball has now addressed whether or not the iconic hero of the franchise, Link, will speak.

After shrugging, Ball gave a bit of an insight into his thought process going into the movie, stating, "A or B or C. I'll just have it like the game - you just have a little dialogue boxes pop up in the movie and you pick which one you want. Link does communicate to villagers all over through the game, you just don't hear his voice."

While it's not a clear yes or no, from this statement alone it would certainly seem that Ball intends to embrace The Legend of Zelda's nature as a game franchise. As for Link speaking, while it's never happened verbally in main game series, he has been shown speaking in the Zelda manga series and the Legend of Zelda cartoon series from 1989. While the dialogue given to Link in the manga was very limited to at least somewhat allow Link to maintain the "actions speak louder than words" vibe we all know and love, the cartoon's dialogue felt gratuitous and notoriously out of character.

Thankfully, it seems this won't be an issue with Ball as the director for the upcoming movie as he himself is a fan of the games, a topic he also addressed in the interview. "I grew up on playing that game since I was a kid. You know, it's super important to me. I mean, that, that was, that transported me to worlds, you know, that occupy my imagination forever. It's part of my DNA, you know what I mean? So I'm a giant fan and so I'm gonna, I'm gonna approach it that way and try to give people what they want but try to make something great, something worthy of the property, you know what I mean? That's kind of all I can do."

Nintendo had previously spent years swearing off any adaptations of their characters, but as video game adaptations have become less negatively received by critics and audiences in recent years as Hollywood begins to create adaptations that meet, and even sometimes exceed, the expectations of fans from the pre-existing video games. Recently Prime Video's Fallout has scored fantastic reviews and viewership numbers, and Nintendo's own 2023 release with Universal Pictures, The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

As for additional details on The Legend of Zelda's movie, we also know it will be produced by long time Spider-Man producer, Avi Arad, and Ball also recently teased the tone for the adaptation.

Are you looking forward to potentially hearing Link speak in the movie?

Space Ghost has had a one-of-a-kind journey in our pop culture landscape, becoming an action-packed cosmic superhero, an irreverent talk show host, and an all-around beloved part of the Hanna-Barbera world. This week, that decades-long history gets a new chapter in the form of a new Space Ghost comic series, which is launching from Dynamite Entertainment as part of their collaboration with Warner Bros. Entertainment. Written by David Pepose (Punisher, Moon Knight: City of the Dead) with art by Jonathan Lau (Red Sonja, Green Hornet), Space Ghost #1 shows fans a previously-unseen part of the franchise -- how Jan, Jace, and their monkey sidekick Blip became Space Ghost's wards.

In celebration of Space Ghost #1 making its debut, ComicBook.com spoke with Pepose via email about this new showcase for the titular hero, threading the needle of Space Ghost's previous eras, and so much more.

ComicBook.com: Prior to working on this series, what was your connection and familiarity to Space Ghost?

David Pepose: Growing up, my first introduction to Space Ghost was with Space Ghost: Coast to Coast -- it wasn't until my first internship in the comics industry that I learned who Alex Toth was, along with Space Ghost's original superheroic roots. It was during that internship that I read Joe Kelly and Ariel Olivetti's Space Ghost miniseries, and all that left me thinking that Space Ghost really did have all the ingredients of an A-list superhero. He's got the killer design, the awesome arsenal of weaponry like his Power Bands and Inviso-Belt, his immediately engaging sidekicks, and his absolutely top-shelf collection of villains. In a lot of ways, though, those elements have been locked in a time capsule for a whole generation of fans -- and that's why I'm so excited to reclaim that legacy for readers in our run on Space Ghost. He's a character that's long deserved a long, epic run harkening back to his superheroic roots -- and our entire creative team is looking to deliver on it.

I saw you mention in another interview that, to prepare, you read every Space Ghost comic you could find. Were there any that particularly stood out to you -- for good or bizarre reasons -- from that experiment?

Mark Evanier and Steve Rude's Space Ghost one-shot for Comico was a brilliant adventure, one that really distilled everything great about Space Ghost and his villains into one jam-packed issue. Rereading Joe Kelly and Ariel Olivetti's Space Ghost miniseries was also really useful for me -- their origin had a real Batman Begins vibe, but I think that series' focus on Space Ghost was particularly instructive for me, in that it pushed me to take a different angle, one that explores how expansive Space Ghost's cast is.

Obviously, the cultural impact of Space Ghost has taken multiple shapes, thanks to things like Coast to Coast. How do you thread the needle of all of those different tones in this new run?

To me, Space Ghost's various incarnations have always been a product of their time -- from the 1966 cartoon echoing the Silver Age energy of Adam West's Batman, to the 1981 revival being in the pantheon of Super-Friends and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, to Coast to Coast embodying the irony of the MTV generation, to Joe Kelly and Ariel Olivetti feeling like a spiritual companion to Batman Begins. So I'm very excited to be reintroducing Space Ghost in this exact same way, this time using the storytelling techniques of today to delve into the various concepts of his universe.

What made you want to reintroduce Jan, Jace, and Blip, and give them an origin story that wasn't necessarily in the original source material?

It was a combination of what interested me the most, and it was also the road not taken. It didn't make sense to me to try to compete with Joe Kelly and Ariel Olivetti's run, especially since we were doing brand-new continuity -- so exploring Space Ghost's adventures through the eyes of two point-of-view characters instead made sense to me, and felt like a way to honor the vision of the original cartoon, which was particularly savvy in having both a young boy and a young girl for viewers to emotionally invest in. But tackling Jan, Jace, and Blip's story also felt like something I needed to wrap my head around for our run to make any sense -- like many elements in Space Ghost's continuity, there was no backstory as to how Jan and Jace wound up in Space Ghost's care. That felt like a really compelling story for me -- how does this found family come into each other's orbit, and how do they learn and grow from each other?

Brak is one of my favorite characters, and you nailed his characterization while making him even more terrifying. How did you approach that?

When I was rewatching all the original episodes of Space Ghost, the thing that stood out to me about Brak is that he's not a world-beater, he's not out there looking to conquer the galaxy -- Brak is almost blue-collar in his aspirations. Similar to somebody like Taskmaster over at Marvel, Brak is a guy just looking for a paycheck, looking to knock over the nearest gold freighter with his brother. For every villain that we're tackling in Space Ghost, I made it a point to really pay attention to the villains in their original cartoon appearances, and figure out what qualities and personality traits stood out most to me, and to figure out new ways to play that up. For Brak and his brother Sisto, it was that opportunistic streak -- and I'm really happy with the ways that we've been able to incorporate that into their characterization.

What has the collaborative process been like with Jonathan Lau?

Jonathan Lau is a truly sensational artist who has been outdoing himself with each and every issue. I looped him in on my general plans for the series the moment he came aboard, and with each script, I tend to preface it with whatever influences or goals I have for each issue. I've been a fan of Jonathan's since his work on Green Hornet with Kevin Smith years ago, and he's delivering the work of his career on Space Ghost. He's able to really masterfully switch gears between this big, bombastic action moments and these incredibly heartfelt character beats -- between the characters you'll fall in love with and the villains whose redesigns will leave you on the edge of your seats, Jonathan is the perfect fit for this book. Combine him with Andrew Dalhouse's energetic colors and Taylor Esposito's beautifully economical lettering, and Space Ghost really does come with a stacked creative team.

What has surprised you the most about the experience of working on this series?

Beyond just the overwhelming response we've received so far since our series was announced? I didn't realize how much I was going to love writing Jan and Jace -- at this point, they're honestly two of my favorite characters I've ever written. There's something really bittersweet about these two orphans and how they each try to preserve this unorthodox found family situation they've found with Space Ghost -- Jan being the feisty, responsible one, because she feels like if she doesn't think things through, she'll lose what she has left; while Jace is the impulsive one always rattling off jokes, because he feels like if he doesn't keep the others laughing, they'll go their separate ways. They're good kids, and wonderful point-of-view characters -- and they play off Space Ghost as the straight man magnificently.

What are you most excited for fans to discover about this series, once it launches?

I'm excited for readers to discover why Space Ghost is the greatest superhero that many of them have never heard of. He's a character with amazing powers, an even more incredible supporting cast, and a deep bench of iconic villains that will lead him on adventures across the galaxy. Space Ghost is a hero who can organically incorporate such a wide variety of genres, tones, and influences, a character who feels like equal parts Batman and Star Wars -- he's a cultural touchstone whose time has finally come, and I couldn't be more excited or honored to be spearheading his relaunch.

Space Ghost #1 is now available wherever comics are sold.

Tiffany Stratton is one pinfall or submission away from immortalizing herself on WWE's main roster. This weekend at WWE Backlash, Stratton challenges for the WWE Women's Championship in her first shot at main roster gold. After leaping from NXT to WWE SmackDown this past February, Stratton has skyrocketed up the card, cementing herself as one of the top superstar's in the blue brand's women's division. This was evident in her performance during WWE Elimination Chamber, one which saw the Australian crowd give the rookie a cherished veteran's reaction. Praise for Stratton has come from within WWE as well, as fellow WWE superstars have often singled her out as a blossoming talent to watch for years to come.

One of those to praise the former NXT Women's Champion is Stratton's opponent at WWE Backlash, WWE Women's Champion Bayley. This past summer, Bayley shined a spotlight on Stratton's ability to showcase "presence," a quality that Bayley admitted she struggled with in her early days.

Speaking to ComicBook.com, Stratton responded to Bayley's kind words.

"I think she's amazing. She's been doing this for I think 14 years now," Stratton said. "She always tells me that I have another 14 years to catch up to her. Frankly, I don't think I need the 14 years. I've been doing this two and a half years and I'm already going toe to toe with her. We'll see what happens this Saturday."

Stratton, Bayley, and Naomi will do battle in a triple threat match for the WWE Women's Championship this Saturday, May 4th at WWE Backlash, which begins at 1 PM ET.

WWE Backlash 2024 Card

• WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. AJ Styles
• WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Damian Priest (c) vs. Jey Uso
• WWE Women's Championship: Bayley (c) vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Naomi
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championships: Asuka and Kairi Sane (c) vs. Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair
• Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga vs. Kevin Owens and Randy Orton

Pete Wentz, the lyricist and bassist for the beloved band Fall Out Boy, is taking his storytelling into a whole new arena. This week, fans can begin to pre-order Dying Inside, a new graphic novel co-written by Wentz and writer-director Hannah Klein with art by Witchblood and Squad's Lisa Sterle. Dying Inside is part of Vault's new Headshell imprint, which is the home of graphic novels inspired by and in collaboration with real-life recording artists. Copies of Dying Inside will feature QR codes that lead readers to a playlist curated by Wentz and Klein, original lyrics and poetry from Wentz, and so much more.

In Dying Inside, today is Ash's big finale. And by finale, she means exiting the stage permanently. Ash is a sixteen-year-old girl with more angst than Ian Curtis and Elliott Smith combined (her two idols). She's apathetic and therefore believes death is the easiest route to relief. But nothing is more embarrassing than a lame death. Unfortunately, her meticulous plans are all ruined when the beautiful knife she buys off a webstore turns out to be charmed with a protection spell. Now, Ash has to track down the witch who transformed her clocking out attempt into the worst gift imaginable: immortality. Turns out, the witch responsible is another sixteen-year-old-girl named (get this) Liv. The two vow to undo the charm together and fight for Ash's death...even as things get increasingly entangled with a strange new antidepressant called Somnia and her mom's gross boyfriend, Greg.

In celebration of Dying Inside now being available to pre-order, ComicBook.com spoke with Wentz, Klein, and Sterle about their one-of-a-kind collaboration.

ComicBook.com: I was so excited to hear that fans can get an early look at Dying Inside on Free Comic Book Day! How does it feel to be a part of such an iconic tradition in the comic world?

Pete Wentz: It's really exciting. I'm psyched for us to be a part of something that is such an integral part of the community. Also, the fastest way to people's hearts is free stuff -- I know this from 7-11 Slurpee day!

Hannah Klein: It's so insanely cool! I've participated in Free Comic Book Day so many times as a consumer, so being represented as a writer for the first time is surreal.

Lisa Sterle: I am absolutely thrilled, this is the first time one of my books will be available as a free comic on Free Comic Book Day! I always have a table at my local shop, Laughing Ogre, so it will be so cool to be able to sign and give out the Dying Inside preview this year.

Pete, as someone who read Fall Out Toy Works, I have to say congrats on your return to the world of comics! What made Dying Inside the perfect story to go back to the medium?

Wentz: Dang, that's cool that you read that. Toy Works was an interesting art project. I'm not sure whether it was a story totally meant for a record or a comic but it was something kind of in between...and in some ways, the chaos of the in between was what made it work (or not if it didn't work for you). Hannah is one of my favorite contemporary writers, and when she had the idea for a graphic novel, I knew we had to get it done... seeing Lisa's drawing really brought it to life for me.

Pete, you and your bandmate Joe Trohman both have comic projects coming out this year, with Joe working on The Holy Roller for Image. Have the two of you chatted about that at all?

Wentz: We haven't gone super in-depth on specific projects, but we have talked about writing in general a lot over the past year. The Holy Roller is sick. Joe has a really distinct perspective and way of writing, and it's been so rad to see it come to life.

How did the initial idea of Dying Inside come about? What was the back-and-forth like of turning it into the concept we ultimately are seeing?

Wentz: Hannah had brought up the basic idea to me years ago. Like all of her other ideas, it's hilarious and morbid and heartfelt and completely sad which is an extremely insane target to hit. When it comes to collaborative art, I am a big believer in doing the job that you do best and not adding colors to the painting unless they are called for... so I think you will hear my voice here and there, but it's just a spice on Hannah's dish.

Klein: Dying Inside was originally a concept I had for a television series, weirdly enough. But throughout talking about it with Pete - I can't remember which one of us said it would be great as a graphic novel - but someone did. And then we collabed from there!

I was really moved by the tone of Dying Inside, and how it navigates its intense subject matter with so much charm and humor. How important was it, both narratively and aesthetically, to strike that balance?

Klein: For me personally, I think making sure there's levity when talking about heavy topics is incredibly important, for a few reasons. One reason being, sugar always helps the medicine go down and a sense of humor welcomes the reader into the world/mindset of our protagonist instead of scaring them away. Another reason is, as a person who has experience dealing with my own mental health struggles, I like to show all sides of the illness. Just because someone is depressed doesn't mean every single day is the worst day of their lives. There's plenty of hope and moments of clarity and happiness so we don't need to be total downers when we make art about it.

Sterle: I have always loved making stories that express the full range of human emotion. there is a lot of beauty to be found in sadness, and humor can absolutely be an important tool to cope with darkness. I think it's those conflicts and contrasts that make for both compelling stories as well as complex characters. Personally, I also deal with depression and anxiety, and even so...I love to dwell in a heartbreaking song on a beautiful sunny day.

Lisa, I have followed (and loved) your art for years, and was blown away by your work on Dying Inside. What was it like working on a project of this scale, with so much room for expression and Easter eggs?

Sterle: Thank you so much! It has been one of my absolute favorite projects to work on, it just really reflects what I'm passionate about. Witchcraft is totally on brand for me, and mixed with teenage angst, Elliot Smith? This is the kind of book emo teen Lisa would have been obsessed with, so it felt like I was making it for her at times. I've definitely snuck in a lot of references to albums, movies, anime, etc that I loved when I was that age. It was also a great opportunity for me to develop an artistic style that's been swirling around in my head for awhile. I'm so happy with it.

The early pitches for Dying Inside have cited its similarities to everything from Fleabag to Jennifer's Body to Wednesday. Are there any specific cultural touchstones, even the more esoteric ones, that you used as inspiration?

Klein: I'd say Jennifer's Body, Scott Pilgrim, and Chekhov are the holy trinity for me in terms of inspiration on this graphic novel. And on most things I write.

Sterle: Artistically, I was inspired a lot by manga: Sailor Moon, Nana, Kimi Ni Todoke. As well as a few other comics: Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, Love and Rockets, Ghost World.

What can you tease about the ways music is utilized in Dying Inside, especially with the partnership with Headshell?

Klein: We've definitely put a TON of thought into accompanying playlists for this project but also there is at least one very special exclusive track by a band Pete and I work with that will be included with the book.

Sterle: Music is definitely a big part of this story, both narratively and aesthetically. I had a blast figuring out all the ways I could sneak it in.

I loved the very small Fall Out Boy Easter egg early on in Lisa's art: what do you think Ash's favorite Fall Out Boy album/song would be?

Wentz: I would just be guessing but I would think it would be something like "It's Not a Side Effect of the Cocaine, I Am Thinking It Must Be Love."

Klein: This is my favorite question anyone has ever asked me and I wish I could be asked this about everything I write. I think Ash's favorite album would be "Infinity on High." I don't know why but it's just what my heart is telling me. The lyrical imagery on that album feels very Ash.

Sterle: Ooo yes, gonna have to agree with Hannah on that one!:

What surprised you the most about the experience of working on Dying Inside?

Klein: I was surprised at how similar it felt to writing screenplays. I've never written for a graphic novel before so I was pretty nervous that I was going to fuck it up (excuse my language) but I found that dialogue is the backbone of graphic novel writing AND my typical screenwriting practice. That was very convenient. Also, I didn't realize how much I would love working in the graphic novel space - Vault is one of the most supportive, lovely teams I've ever had the pleasure of working with. They made the entire process so fun.

Sterle: Honestly, how much it didn't feel like work? Don't get me wrong, I love working on comics. But when you're 120 pages deep into inking a 200+ page story it can feel like a slog at times and you can burnout very easily if you don't take care of yourself. But I think it's a testament to how well this comics was crafted and how much I love the characters that I really enjoyed working on it every day.

What are you most excited to see fans respond to, once Dying Inside is released?

Klein: My biggest hope is that the girls (universal, all female identifying people) feel seen in this story. I really wanted to make an incredibly girl centric graphic novel so that is the collective reaction I'm excited to see.

Sterle: I hope everyone falls in love with Ash and Liv as much as I have! I hope that folks that are older can step onto that space of being an angsty teen again and feel love and compassion for their past selves. I hope that the kids that read this as they might be going through similiar struggles find the heart and humor as a path to make it through.

Without giving away spoilers or trying to guess the ending, it seems like there's a lot that can be explored in the world of Dying Inside. Would you all want to reunite on some sort of sequel or spinoff, if given the opportunity?

Klein: It would only be my greatest pleasure in life...

Sterle: Absolutely!!!

***

Dying Inside is now available to pre-order.

The new horror movie Tarot is already building hype for its home release, thanks to MCU Spider-Man Trilogy star Jacob Batalon.

At the press junket for Tarot, Batalon revealed to ComicBook.com that the director of Tarot, Spenser Cohen, actually shot two endings to the film - one of which was ultimately left on the cutting room floor.

"We filmed a whole different thing for it [the ending], it's really funny. But I think the one that we put in the final piece is perfect, so..."

The reveal sprang from ComicBook.com interviewer Chris Killian comments (with NO SPOILERS) that the ending of Tarot is something unique to see in a horror movie. So, while fans may be fascinated to one day learn about the ending the filmmakers didn't use, they can be equally as intrigued about the ending of the theatrical cut they'll see when Tarot hits theaters on Friday.

What Is Tarot (2024) About?

When a group of friends recklessly violates the sacred rule of Tarot readings - never use someone else's deck - they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards. One by one, they come face to face with fate and end up in a race against death to escape the future foretold in their readings.

Tarot stars Jacob Batalon (Spider-Man Trilogy), Harriet Slater (Pennyworth), Avantika Vandanapu (Senior Year), Wolfgang Novogratz (The Last Summer), Olwen Fou?r? (The Northman), Larsen Thompson (Pearl), Adain Bradley, and Humnberly Gonz?lez.

Will Jacob Batalon Return For Spider-Man 4?

In the MCU Spider-Man "Home" Trilogy, Batalon played Ned Leeds, best friend of Tom Holland's Peter Parker, and Spider-Man official sidekick (or "Guy in the Chair"). Ned was there to watch Peter's back in all three films; however, in Spider-Man: No Way Home Ned (along with Zendaya's MJ) was caught in the spell Doctor Strange cast over Earth, erasing the reveal of Peter Parker's secret identity from the collective memory of the world.

As Holland's Spider-Man enters his next era in the MCU, it'll be interesting to see if the original supporting cast from his films are also brought back - or if Peter Parker/Spider-Man gets taken in a new direction, with a new supporting cast.

"I honestly don't know... what any future holds for any of them in that world [the MCUI]," Batalon told us. "I just feel like if things happen, they happen. I hope so. I definitely hope so. It's sad that he has no friends anymore."

Tarot will be in theaters on Friday.

Daisy Ridley is currently the only star of the Star Wars sequel trilogy who is confirmed to be returning to the galaxy far, far away in a future film, and while Billie Lourd's Lieutenant Connix might not have had to carry the storytelling weight of Ridley's Rey, Lourd confirmed she'd "love" to come back to the franchise in virtually any capacity. Lourd officially joined the franchise in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but as the daughter of Carrie Fisher, she's been connected to the saga her entire life. The actor's passion for the saga runs so deep that, even if she's not reprising her role of Connix, she'd gladly return to the franchise in a new capacity.

While speaking with ComicBook.com about her recent collaboration with eBay and her acting future with Star Wars, Lourd expressed, "Bring back Connix! I would love to bring back Connix. I would love to be involved in the universe in any way possible. I love being an ambassador. I wrote an essay, 'The Keeper of Leia,' and I love playing that role. I'm also obsessed, I'm a fangirl. I would do anything. I'll be a creature, I'll do whatever, run a droid and do the controls from behind the scenes. Anything I can do to be involved in this universe, I would do, because I just adore it so much."

With there being so few story details about what the next big-screen adventure will explore, it's entirely possible that Connix could make an appearance in Rey's upcoming sequel, though with reports claiming that it will focus on the Jedi attempting to rebuild her own Jedi Temple, there might not be an organic opportunity to bring back Connix. As confirmed by Lourd's comments, however, she'd gladly take part in the sequel in any capacity.

Lourd also expressed one of her own favorite pieces of Star Wars memorabilia that she acquired and the prominent spot it takes up in her home.

"My mom was a very generous woman and gave away a lot of her Star Wars collection, and I'm so mad at her about it, in the kindest way," the actor admitted. "But now, I have to collect myself. I mean, I have this amazing poster that's above my mantle. The old Star Wars tagline used to be, 'Have you ever looked up and wondered what was going on?' and so I have that over my mantle."

Stay tuned for updates on Lourd's possible future with the franchise. You can head to eBay to check out the full inventory of the collaboration, including the Light Side Collection and Dark Side Collection. Auctions will end on Saturday, May 4th at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Would you like to see Lourd return to the franchise? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

This Saturday is May 4th, a day that Star Wars fans around the world honor as "Star Wars Day." Not only is actor Billie Lourd a fan of the series after having played Lieutenant Connix in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, but as the daughter of Carrie Fisher, Lourd has been intrinsically connected to the franchise since she was born. In a unique opportunity for the actor, she has collaborated with eBay to curate a selection of both Light Side and Dark Side items, which honor all corners of the galaxy far, far away. You can head to eBay to check out the full inventory of the collaboration, including the Light Side Collection and Dark Side Collection. Auctions will end on Saturday, May 4th at 11:59 p.m. ET.

No matter what you might collect or what character in the Star Wars saga you most connect with, there's something for everyone, whether that be autographed Marvel comic books or Funko Pops, or if you'd prefer to own a piece of cinematic history with items like a screen-used piece of the Death Star from Star Wars: A New Hope or Chewbacca's screen-used bowcaster from the debut movie.

ComicBook.com caught up with Lourd to talk the collaboration with eBay, her own Star Wars fandom, and her future with the franchise.

ComicBook.com: I know you love Star Wars not only just because you're a part of it, but that you are a fan as well. Whether you collected it on your own or whether you inherited it, do you have a most-prized Star Wars item in your collection?

Billie Lourd: I wish I had more. I actually am probably going to be one of the top bidders on this collection because I have become a crazy collector myself. My mom was a very generous woman and gave away a lot of her Star Wars collection, and I'm so mad at her about it, in the kindest way. But now, I have to collect myself. I mean, I have this amazing poster that's above my mantle. The old Star Wars tagline used to be, "Have you ever looked up and wondered what was going on?" and so I have that over my mantle.

I have a few incredible, little, old Leia dolls and little action figures, but I'm so bummed that I don't have all the things that I've curated in this collection. I wish I had endless money and could buy all of it because I want that Leia Funko Pop. I've got a Funko Pop of me, because I'm trying to make my kids like me more, and so it'd be cool to have my mom next to me. Then I wish I had that Topps card. I went to so many Star Wars celebrations with her and so many Comic-Cons and I never thought to grab them, and now I'm going to be sitting on this eBay option. Hopefully, it stays at 54 cents ... It will not stay at 54 cents.

I feel like there might be some promo code that just comes, like you can just show your driver's license to get an automatic 5% off the final bidding fee.

That would be amazing.

How did this whole partnership come about? How did this opportunity arise? And since it's not, "Hey, here's every Star Wars collectible imaginable. Here's these specific items that we're offering," what was your approach to selecting the items?

This has been the most incredible gig I've ever had in my life because I'm A) a Star Wars fanatic, and B) an eBay fanatic. I am constantly on eBay. I'm actually obsessed. And, like I said, I collect Leia stuff now and so all of my best Leia shirts are from eBay, so getting to go through the list of items they sent me was so much fun and weirdly so difficult. There were so many cool things.

It's amazing how eBay is the prime place to go to get Star Wars stuff, even for someone that should have the Star Wars discount like me, but I don't. So it's been absolutely unreal, but having to narrow it down was really, really difficult, but really fun. I wish I could buy everything. If I could have that Luke Skywalker-signed lightsaber, my son might love me forever. I think he'll love me forever anyway because he's my son, but I think he would love me extra if I had that.

There's so many cool items. Not just stuff that's more recent like, let's say, a Funko Pop, but these artifacts from the original movies that have somehow survived 45 years.

The Chewbacca bowcaster, sorry to interrupt, I'm just so stoked about that. Why can't that be on my mantle?

Well, that does make me wonder, you've talked about how you personally might be wanting to bid on some of these items, that if there is one that you're going to be watching like a hawk, is there a specific item that you really, really have your sights set on?

Just because she's family, that 1980 little action figure, the Leia action figure, would be incredible because I have a little section in my house that's all cool Leia stuff and that would be an awesome centerpiece. But also, the lightsaber would be insane. My son is addicted to lightsabers.

We went to Disneyland last week and he made me do that build-your-own lightsaber thing and it was the coolest thing we've ever done. And now, we've been doing lightsaber battles in the living room because it's a little bit dangerous. But if we had the original one, that would just be iconic. But I would never allow him to touch it and he would be really mad at me.

Yeah, might smudge that signature.

Might smudge that Mark Hamill signature.

I feel like you might be able to make a few calls to get Mark to touch up the signature just in case. Similar to that, was there an item that you thought, "How on Earth did this survive?" Because it's not like when they were making Star Wars, they thought, "Oh, this is going to go into a museum someday." Is there a thing that made you think, "How the hell did they find this thing?"

That Chewbacca bowcaster from, what is it, 1977? It's crazy. That is bananas. I don't have anything and it's my mom, so how did that survive? What genius saved that? God, I wish my mom would've saved more.

What has this whole journey been like for you of looking back on the past, reflecting on the past, and introducing it to a new generation? You have your kids that you're introducing to the movies, what has this whole experience, this process of preparing these items for May the Fourth, meant to you?

I mean, it's such a gift. I feel so lucky that I'm able to pass this incredible legacy on to my kids and that my kids genuinely love it as much as I do. My son was looking through this collection with me and he was getting so excited just like I was. What a blessing that I have that, and that he can have that and my daughter can have that. It's the ultimate family tradition, ultimate family heirloom. There are not words to express how lucky I feel to have Star Wars. It's just so special to me.

Especially now that Star Wars is more of a continuum, there's not a definitive ending to it and, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker wrapped up a specific storyline, so do you think you are now in a position where your role is more as an ambassador of Star Wars, like you'd rather just focus on the legacy and spreading it for generations? Or do you think you could see yourself coming back to it, bringing back Connix or being involved in it in some other capacity?

Bring back Connix! I would love to bring back Connix. I just would love to be involved in the universe in any way possible. I love being an ambassador. I wrote an essay called "The Keeper of Leia" and I love playing that role, but I also am obsessed. I'm a fangirl, so I would do anything. I'll be a creature. I'll do whatever. I'll run a droid and do the controls from behind the scenes. Anything I can do to be involved in this universe, I would do because I just adore it so much.

I'd love to see the headlines, "Billie Lourd Makes Triumphant Return to Star Wars," and you're playing one of the members of the Hutt cartel.

I would do it all day.

You're just moving his tail around or providing the laugh for Salacious Crumb.

Yeah, exactly. I will be a tail.

You can head to eBay to check out the full inventory of the collaboration, including the Light Side Collection and Dark Side Collection. Auctions will end on Saturday, May 4th at 11:59 p.m. ET.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.

Mondo has ruled the collectible landscape since its launch in 2004, honoring a number of beloved franchises with its posters, vinyl, and figures. The company's impact has only grown since they were acquired by Funko in 2022, including offering exclusive collectibles at events such as the recent Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo. While at C2E2, the company also unveiled some major details for some projects they have on the horizon, including a collaboration with ThunderCats, which will begin with a Lion-O 1/6 Scale figure later this year.

ComicBook.com recently spoke with Peter Santa Maria, Mondo's Senior Director of Art and Posters, about the ThunderCats line, as well as how the company has grown in its partnership with Funko. Plus, we covered the future of Mondo's X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men '97 figures, as well as potential plans for upcoming Marvel and DC movies.

ComicBook.com: Welcome to C2E2! Having been to your in-person presence at San Diego, it's really cool to see it here. What is it like to bring this to Chicago?

Peter Santa Maria: I mean, the idea is to be able to visit as many cities as possible over time, and we have never been here. I've attended when it was Wizard World over 20 years ago, so I knew the energy was here. I'm excited to come and meet the fans here. We have a lot of people writing us saying 'We're in Chicago, we're going to come see you guys!' So of course, any time you get to come and show stuff in-person and reveal things, it's awesome.

Do you have a favorite of the exclusives that are available this weekend?

It's hard to pick, but I'm a huge fan of our reproductions that we do, and our posters and comic repros. We brought Amazing Fantasy #15 by Jack Kirby and a beautiful Batman foil by Dave Johnson, so being able to show those to people in-person. Normally, when you see a Mondo poster, it's on a screen. You don't get it until you get it. Once people have bought a Mondo poster, they get it and they're in.

And then from the collectible side, we got the Ninja Turtles back in soft vinyl. I've been telling people: if you remember what the original toys felt like in your hand, now that you're an adult, these fit your hand the same way. It's such a strange, tactile, nostalgic feeling, even though they look updated and they're more detailed and all that. It's just something about holding those that blows my mind. So yeah, showing those is great.

It's been almost two years since the acquisition with Funko. How do you think that partnership has kind of evolved so far?

Let me put it this way: it's like gasoline on in an engine. We completely do our own thing and they say, "What do you need?" Obviously being able to show up at a show with Funko is awesome. They have a huge audience presence. But they never try to encroach on what we're doing. They know that we have our own thing. Hector Arce and myself are the Senior Creative Directors at Mondo. They don't tell us what to do. They say, "What are you doing? It looks awesome. Cool. How can we help?" It's been awesome, honestly. Everybody who works at Funko is incredibly kind, enthusiastic, and that's rare. And then also we love Loungefly, so getting to hang out with those people is great.

How excited are you for the ThunderCats collaboration?

I can't wait for people to see that. It's something that people have asked for, time and time again. Masters of the Universe and ThunderCats are kind of like peanut butter and jelly, they just work together. Masters of the Universe fans, who have supported our one six line in a huge way, have been saying, "When are you doing ThunderCats? When are you doing ThunderCats?"

We've been holding the secret for so long, and trying to design what we think is the ultimate lineup. With our Masters of the Universe line, there are so many nods and references to the cartoons, the comics, the original toys, but it's still an original Mondo design. And with ThunderCats, we're doing the exact same thing. So it should feel like Lion-O in every way, and the ThunderCats in every way, but it should just feel like it's turned up to eleven in terms of detail. We've taken a few liberties that we think, as fans, are for the best, and I can't wait to hear the feedback from the people.

Is the collaboration going to just include the figures, or is it going to span into other formats?

In our panel today, we're announcing a beautiful ThunderCats poster from Sanford Green. As much as the fans are enthusiastic, that's how much we want to do with it. We're huge ThunderCats fans. I hope to be able to grow the line.

X-Men '97 is massive right now, and I know you're revealing more information about your next figure at C2E2. Can we expect more collectibles from the show?

100%. In fact, Cyclops, who's our next figure that we'll be showing at the panel, we've revealed him in the past, but he's coming very soon. He takes a little bit more influence from the design in X-Men. But funny enough, there are a lot of parity. There's a lot of parity between the original shows. I think part of what people love, it just feels like the old show reduxed. And so yeah, that figure is going to be perfect way to seamlessly tie them together. People went nuts for Rogue and of course, after Cyclops, we have big plans for the rest of that line. So yeah, all your favorites are coming.

I'm a huge Marvel and DC fan. There are a lot of projects on the horizon that seem to be tailor-made for Mondo, and are very stylistically interesting. I know you can't talk about specifics, but is that collaboration still going to continue?

What do you want to see?

I mean, Fantastic Four. There's the new Superman movie next year.

I can tell you right now that, this year, there'll be something from both. I'm a massive Fantastic Four fan. The second that we can, we're going to be developing. We've done great repros in the past from the comic covers, which, to me, is the best thing you can do. That work is so iconic. If you have those comics, they're [only] this big, they're small. So if we can give the 24" by 36" treatment...

More Dr. Doom stuff, you know what I mean? We did a great Mobius Galactus and Silver Surfer piece. We're huge fans. And then, of course, anything with James Gunn. We're huge fans, so we are all in. We can't wait. We're having talks now and hopefully we get to do some killer stuff for that.

What is your shoot-for-the-moon license, the collaboration you would still like to do?

Oh my goodness. It's crazy, we've done so many of my dream licenses. I love Hellboy, personally. We'd love to do some Ghostbusters one day. And, of course, anything horror. So we're just always chasing... doing the perfect universal launch or collaboration for the fans. Those fans span everything. But yeah, I tell you that we're diehard Ghostbusters fans.

Funko has been a juggernaut in the collectible space for several years now, offering a wide array of items inspired by fans' favorite franchises. Funko's output was recently on display in a major way at Chicago's C2E2 convention, with attendees able to buy exclusive figures surrounding everything from Marvel to The Simpsons to One Piece. On top of plenty of new exclusives and upcoming waves, the past year has also brought Funko's Pop! Yourself program to their website, allowing fans to design and custom order one-of-a-kind Pop! figures inspired by themselves or their loved ones.

While at C2E2, ComicBook.com caught up with Dave Bere, Funko's Vice President of Pop! Yourself & Retail, to discuss the company's biggest presence yet at the convention, as well as plans for future conventions in 2024. We also spoke about the recent expansion of the Pop! Yourself program, the company's ongoing partnership with Mondo, and more.

ComicBook.com: Welcome to C2E2, first and foremost. I was at San Diego Comic-Con a couple of years ago, and everything you did there was amazing. How does it feel to bring something on that level to Chicago?

Dave Bere: Oh, we love it. It's one of our first times here. We've never been here in this meaningful of a way. There's so much good energy. We love our shows in Southern California and New York, but to be here, be where fans are, meet them. We have so many fans in Chicago, we have so many fans in Midwest. We're so excited to be here, and you can feel the energy. We do things a certain way. We want to bring the experience, so whether we're in Southern California or we're here, you're going to get that same Funko experience. And what I hope to see is that we're here again next year. We're trying to identify other shows throughout the country that we can go to and use this as a case study.

Do you have a favorite of the C2E2 exclusives available this weekend?

I love the Freddy, Franny and Proto items. It's Franny's first convention. But I love dogs and Proto is my favorite character, so that's probably my favorite.

I did the Pop! Yourself experience this week, and it exceeded my expectations. It was so much fun. What has the response been like, in expanding it to the mass market?

It's the number one thing fans have asked for. Before, we incubated the brand in our stores. It was successful in our stores and now bringing it online... Not everyone can travel to our store, so it makes it accessible. We did a lot of work on the operation side, to do what you just said, as far as being on a doorstep in five days. Whether you are buying it for yourself or it's a gift, we want it to be reliable. But the response has been incredible. We have so many plans for the brand going forward, so it's awesome.

I can imagine that something like Pop! Yourself evolves over time, as you see what accessories people are selecting and all of that. Are there any trends that you have been noticing and responding to?

There's a few things. One, through our customer service team and our social team, we did a poll in the fall for 'What do you want to see?' And all of that information is going to join our assortment next month, which is going to be pretty awesome. So it came 100% from fans. I think the one thing we're responding to in a positive way, and want to accelerate, is the gift giving behind this. We saw a ton of it during the holidays. It really surprised us, the volume we did, because of it. And then we saw it for Valentine's Day. We're seeing it for Mother's Day. So how we approach the seasons is going to be unique for our entire business portfolio, but we think it can be really good for Pop! Yourself going forward.

It's been nearly two years since the Mondo acquisition. How do you think that partnership has kind of evolved so far?

They're so great. I mean the people first, they're so great to work with. But we love it because they offer pop culture products that are different than Funko, they're different than Loungefly. If you want a vinyl record, you want a poster, or you want a high-end action figure, we're able to meet that need under the same portfolio, and leverage the synergies of relationships that we have. But it's been nothing but awesome.

I'm a huge comic fan, and I love collecting the comic Pops you do for Marvel and DC Comics. I know you can't say specifics, but are there plans on the horizon to do more comic-specific ones for Marvel and DC?

I think the answer is yes because I think I've seen that, but I'm not as exposed to that part of the business. But I do think that that's coming. Yes.

Around the booth this year, you're teasing your convention presence at San Diego Comic-Con and New York Comic Con and CCXP. Can you give any hint as to what fans can expect from there? Is it very similar to this, or is it going to be evolving?

It's going to evolve. But we love the idea of travel. We love the idea that we're selling passports. That's going to be a unique theme. San Diego's obviously different than Chicago, and it's going to have things that are very unique to San Diego, as an example. But we're going to bring the element, so it gives fans a reason to collect the items here. There may be some similarities as we go to San Diego. You can get your passport stamped. Just an additional way to collect and follow us on this journey. You'll see the same thing in New York too.

What is your personal, shoot-for-the-moon license that you would love to collaborate with?

Oh, it's an easy one for me. It's Nintendo. I grew up with that. I love it. I still play the Switch way too much, but that's one that we don't have. There's such great characters. I'd love to see that in our portfolios someday.

While Tom Holland's Peter Parker has completed his trilogy, 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home teased that his first three movies essentially served as a three-part origin story. No Way Home concludes with Holland's Peter effectively becoming a ghost, as he orders Doctor Strange to cast a spell that makes the whole world forget who he is in order to prevent the multiverse from fracturing. This means that everyone, including his Avengers teammates and best friends MJ (Zendaya) and Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), have no memory of their histories with Peter Parker. Holland's Spider-Man is expected to continue in the MCU, but the permanence of the memory spell begs the question of whether his supporting stars will follow.

Jacob Batalon Speaks on MCU Future

The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Spider-Man stars continue to hold their breath.

Speaking to ComicBook.com during the Tarot press junket, actor Jacob Batalon admitted he is in the dark regarding what could be next for him in the Spider-Man franchise.

"I honestly don't know. I don't know what any future holds for any of them in that world," Batalon said. "I just feel like if things happen, they happen. I hope so. I definitely hope so. It's sad that he has no friends anymore."

Batalon made five feature film appearances Ned Leeds, starring opposite Tom Holland and Zendaya in three Spider-Man movies and cameoing as the character in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. He was last seen in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home. That movie notably set the stage for Ned to become a sorcerer, as he was able to operate Doctor Strange's sling ring, opening portals in the process.

Going down the sorcerer route would be a deviation from Ned's path in the comics. On the page, Ned eventually turns to the dark side and becomes the villainous Hobgoblin. As revealed in concept art from Spider-Man: No Way Home, the threequel once had drawn up a scene where Batalon's Ned rides Norman Osborn's glider, nodding to his character's future.

"Who knows?" Batalon responded when asked if there are plans to take the MCU's Ned down the Hobgoblin road. "Maybe. Hopefully."

Batalon can be seen in Tarot, a new horror film from directors Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg, when it hits theaters on Friday, May 3rd.

Genre films have been a staple of the transitional state between being a kid and being an adult, as a number of genre projects use metaphorical storytelling to represent real-world fears. While it might not be a horror movie akin to The Conjuring or a release from Blumhouse Productions, writer/director Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw the TV Glow offers audiences a dream-like experience that not only evokes those feelings of adolescent intrigue in spooky stories, but also grapples with complex themes surrounding gender identity, depression, and loneliness. I Saw the TV Glow opens in limited release on May 3rd and nationwide on May 17th.

Brigette Lundy-Pain stars in the film as Maddy, a teenager whose biggest obsession in life is The Pink Opaque, a supernatural mystery series that serves as a surrogate for the real-world Are You Afraid of the Dark? or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. When Maddy introduces Owen (Justice Smith) to The Pink Opaque, it becomes their only escape from the trauma of the real world, but when the series is unexpectedly cancelled, a mystery ignites that blurs the line between reality and fiction.

ComicBook.com caught up with Schoenbrun and Lundy-Paine to talk about the new film, the process of bringing it to life, and more.

ComicBook.com: Brigette, when you were growing up, what was your Pink Opaque? What was your thing that was your secret handshake with friends, a world that you could immerse yourself in? Also, if you could go back and tell that person growing up who had their Pink Opaque, what advice would you give to them now as an adult?

Brigette Lundy-Paine: Well, it's funny I'm asked this question. I was not a super TV-obsessed kid, but I did, when I was in high school, I watched a couple of shows I loved a lot, and The O.C. was one of them. And I really was obsessed with Seth Cohen, Adam Brody's character.

I think if I was going to go back and talk to myself I'd say, "Turn this off and start being quiet more and thinking, and stop hanging out with all these f-cking losers." Just kidding. I loved my friends, but I also feel like I was really socially conformist, I think, in a way. When I was in high school, I was still super weird, but I was a cheerleader, and I was in leadership, and I think I was playing the social game in a way that, if I could tell my younger self, I'd just be like, "Stop this. You do not need to waste your time on this. Just take testosterone."

Jane, it is clear that this is such a personal film for you, and I know so many audiences are going to connect with it. When you were making this film and you're processing lots of different things, is the most therapeutic part of it the writing of the movie, the shooting of the movie, or releasing the movie and getting to engage with audiences and other viewers in its final form?

Jane Schoenbrun: Definitely not releasing the movie. That part, that's what we have therapy for.

It is wonderful to share the movie and to see people have emotional reactions to the movie, but being in public with it and the promotion aspect of it is ... I think I enjoy it in the sense that it's fun to get on a bunch of calls that'll be written up in public and do some sh-ttalking, but it's definitely, the creative process is over by that point. And so, really, promotion feels like a different thing.

I think, especially for a film this personal, a film that, as an artist, is trying to speak authentically to an experience, it's almost besides the point to try to then re-explain it. Being trans in public in 2024 is a very weird experience that I'll probably make the next trauma thing about, so definitely not that phase.

I think that the writing process is when I'm really digging. Because my creative process that I've found that works for me is one where the thing that I'm writing is exploring, not so much trying to explain, but almost investigating whatever it is that I'm investigating, or working through, or dealing with in my real life. So, for instance, this film was written in the immediate aftermath of beginning transition, as my entire world and everything that I thought of as my home was being called into question while I was also running towards a future that felt exciting to me in a way that I had never done before. The movie is really trying to just, not so much tell you how that feels, but to create an authentic expression from within that experience.

I think it's usually that part of the process that feels most purely, I don't know that I would say therapeutic, but where I am most deeply engaging with the personal in a way that feels transformative. When you make a movie, that's just fun. That's just getting to play, hopefully, in a sandbox with a lot of other cool weirdos. Then when you finish a movie, when you edit it, that's like you return to the first part of the process, but it's much more about imagining how to fine-tune this thing so that the people watching it can have the deepest possible experience with it.

One scene that made me somewhat furious was the scene where you get to see Sloppy Jane and King Woman play in a tiny dive bar and I was furious thinking that I won't get to see that happen anytime soon.

Schoenbrun: King Woman are playing Saint Vitus in a month or two, so come on out.

Well, I guess that leads into the soundtrack of the movie. What was the process of developing that? I know that you curated some playlists or some mix tapes for the artists that you spoke with about this film, and I wondered if those playlists or mix tapes had a common thread or common themes that popped up on everybody's?

Schoenbrun: No, it was very targeted to each individual artist. I think the common thread, if there was one, was maybe working with contemporary artists and pulling origins out of them or something, or trying to find unexpected sounds, usually from the 1990s because that was the era that we were calling to with the soundtrack that could be interesting paths for them to explore, if they wanted to, as artists.

So, for instance, Frances Quinlan from the band Hop Along, writes a new song on the soundtrack. I remember sending her a lot of very trip-hop-influenced stuff. A lot of Portishead or Garbage, because I loved her sound and I thought it would sound really interesting to detour down in that direction a little bit.

But then it was a completely different process when I was on the phone with Drab Majesty and talking about Echo & the Bunnymen's song from Sixteen Candles. I really did try to curate, in a handmade way for each artist, a direction that could be, if they wanted it, generative. I also really believe that the best style of curation, when you're working with a pool of artists, is to create the structure and maybe even the spirit of the thing, and then let them interact with you as much as they want. Because a lot of artists will just want to go and have their process and that's what's going to produce the most personal and best work, so it's always being very present and ready to roll up your sleeves and get involved, but also giving people a lot of space to make the cool things that they know how to make on their own.

In terms of curating and creating the soundtrack in general, it was there from the very beginning for me. It's a movie that, in my opinion, existed in this lineage that felt so indebted to not only music, but also the soundtrack as a piece of media or art. I wanted to make a banger soundtrack. I wanted to make a teen angst soundtrack that could stand toe-to-toe with the best of them, so it was something I pitched A24 on when we were initially pitching A24. I said to them, "I want to make the best soundtrack since Garden State." And, certainly, something that could be as generational a moment as the best soundtracks out there. Then it was just a matter of doing the incredibly fun work of choosing the artists and working with everyone to make the thing feel as -- to imbue the thing with not the energy of a promotional document, but with the love of a mix tape.

Brigette, there are so many very intimate conversations that your character is having with Justice's character, and then you have the powerful monologue toward the end of the movie. Was there a specific scene that you either looked forward to most in an "I can't wait to bring this scene to life because of how much it specifically speaks with me personally" way or even a scene that you just knew, "As long as I nail this encounter, everything else is going to be smooth sailing,"?

Lundy-Paine: Definitely the monologue, because I think that was the second day we filmed. It was right up at the top. But I was happy for that because that was the thing I'd spent the most time preparing and it was bursting out of me. It was right on the brim of my consciousness for so long. Even when we started just walking through, Emma Portner choreographed the movements of it, and when they were walking me through the movements I could already feel it bubbling up. I just wanted to lock it down, because I knew it was about to spill. I knew that the whole movie was going to be in the monologue. I could understand the rest of the arc if I could do that.

Once we finished that, most of it felt really easy. I think I was precious with some of the scenes, like the bleacher scene. I remember feeling really nervous that it wouldn't be right, because it felt like such a specific tone to have to strike. But yeah, I really trusted Jane and they were very generous with their reassurance through the process.

I Saw the TV Glow opens in limited release on May 3rd and nationwide on May 17th.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.

Deborah Ayorinde admits to being surprised that she was the only actor to return for the new installment of Them: The Scare. Created by Little Martin, Them is a Black anthology horror series that debuted on Prime Video in 2021. Ayorinde led the cast of the first season, but with a lot of anthology projects, a whole new cast was brought in for Them: The Scare, making its premiere today on the Amazon streaming service. However, when it came for Martin and the rest of the creatives to cast Them: The Scare's leading actress, they could only see Ayorinde for the role.

ComicBook.com spoke to Deborah Ayorinde ahead of the premiere of Them: The Scare, where she spoke about being the only returning actor for Season 2, and if that was always the plan. "Well, not always. When I did the first installment, I thought that was going to be it," Ayorinde revealed. "LM (Little Martin), in secret, does his magic, created this role. He was thinking of putting another actress in there, but he told me he couldn't stop thinking about seeing my face when he was creating this role. In his mind and the way the art works, where nothing is impossible, he said, 'Why don't we have Deborah do it?'"

She added, "We talked for about an hour and he was like, 'Come to Atlanta. Let's get to work.' I said, 'Okay, say less [laughs].' I'm so honored to be back."

What is Prime Video's Them: The Scare about?

THEM will once again be set in Los Angeles (the first installment, subtitled Covenant, took place in Compton circa 1952 but will move the time frame forward to 1991). The story centers on LAPD Homicide Detective Dawn Reeve, who is assigned to a new case: the gruesome murder of a foster home mother that has left even the most hardened detectives shaken. Navigating a tumultuous time in Los Angeles, with a city on the razor's edge of chaos, Dawn is determined to stop the killer. But as she draws closer to the truth, something ominous and malevolent grips her and her family...

The series cast includes Deborah Ayorinde (Riches, Harriet) as "Detective Dawn Reeve," Pam Grier (Foxy Brown, Bones, Ghost of Mars, Jackie Brown) as "Athena," Grammy-nominated musician and actor Luke James (The Chi, Insecure) as "Edmund Gaines." Rounding out the cast are Joshua J. Williams (Cloak & Dagger, Mudbound), Jeremy Bobb (The Continental, God's Country), Wayne Knight (Seinfeld, Narcos), Carlito Olivero (This Is Me... Now, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions), Charles Brice (Homeland, The Blacklist, Watchmen), and Iman Shumpert (The Chi).

The first episode of Them: The Scare premieres on Prime Video on April 25, 2024.

Little Marvin, the creator behind Them: The Scare, reveals why he chose 1991 as the setting for its second season. The first season of the Prime Video horror anthology series, titled Them: Covenant, took viewers back to Compton in the year 1952, when a Black family from North Carolina relocated to the City of Angels. Them: The Scare is still based in Los Angeles but this time takes place in 1991, which was a tumultuous time for the area when you factor in the Rodney King video surfacing. Some of this played a factor in why Little Marvin chose to explore this time period.

ComicBook.com spoke to Little Marvin ahead of the premiere of Them: The Scare, where he was asked if there was any consideration for other time periods, and why he settled on 1991. "There was a socio-cultural import to it, but there was also an artistic and creative nerd impulse about it," Marvin said. "Socio-culturally, it was a very fraught time in LA history. The Rodney King tape came out to the world and sent shockwaves to the city in the days our show takes place. I thought that would be an interesting journey, to watch a woman and a detective navigate the complexity of the city at that time."

He added, "I would also say that just as a nerd of the '90s and as a kid of that time, I'm obsessed with that time. Just like many people, I'm nostalgic for that time. I love the music, I love the movies. It dawned on me it would be possible in 1991 to go to a theater and see Misery, Silence of the Lambs, Cape Fear... Boys N the Hood, Terminator 2, Edward Scissorhands, Thelma & Louise, it was a litany of bangers that happened in 1991. From an artistic perspective, it fulfilled every dream, frankly."

What is Prime Video's Them: The Scare about?

THEM will once again be set in Los Angeles (the first installment, subtitled Covenant, took place in Compton circa 1952 but will move the time frame forward to 1991). The story centers on LAPD Homicide Detective Dawn Reeve, who is assigned to a new case: the gruesome murder of a foster home mother that has left even the most hardened detectives shaken. Navigating a tumultuous time in Los Angeles, with a city on the razor's edge of chaos, Dawn is determined to stop the killer. But as she draws closer to the truth, something ominous and malevolent grips her and her family...

The series cast includes Deborah Ayorinde (Riches, Harriet) as "Detective Dawn Reeve," Pam Grier (Foxy Brown, Bones, Ghost of Mars, Jackie Brown) as "Athena," Grammy-nominated musician and actor Luke James (The Chi, Insecure) as "Edmund Gaines." Rounding out the cast are Joshua J. Williams (Cloak & Dagger, Mudbound), Jeremy Bobb (The Continental, God's Country), Wayne Knight (Seinfeld, Narcos), Carlito Olivero (This Is Me... Now, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions), Charles Brice (Homeland, The Blacklist, Watchmen), and Iman Shumpert (The Chi).

Them: The Scare is now streaming on Prime Video.

https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/them-the-scare-deborah-ayorinde-only-returning-actor-season-2/#

One heroic hound's story has been immortalized. Lionsgate's Arthur the King chronicled the true story of Mikael Lindnord and his canine companion throughout a 700-kilometer adventure race. Portrayed as Michael Light (Mark Wahlberg), the Simon Cellan Jones-directed picture picks up with the lead adventure racer on his last attempt to complete a course. This last ditch effort is propelled by Arthur, a stray dog that accompanies the four-man team throughout the Dominican Republic (changed from the real life location of Ecuador).

While the film had been in the works for some time, it received a newfound purpose just weeks before going into production. One month ahead of the shoot, the real-life Arthur passed away from a malignant tumor.

"Thank you for asking," Lindnord responded to ComicBook.com's question about how Arthur the King's "why" changed after Arthur's passing. "I think my why for this was that Arthur has a purpose, and now we can see the purpose. I raced for 19 years to meet him. The thing that we see here is that Arthur is a hero for other Arthurs. I think that's the main question of this movie, is that next time you pass an Arthur, maybe that's your Arthur."

The tender, love and care that the creative team put into the project also increased tenfold once it was known that this was going to be a posthumous picture.

"I saw how genuinely affected Mikael was," Jones added. "I mean, it happened shortly before we started shooting. Mikael called me. For a moment he was very destabilized and wondering what the point of everything was, but as he said earlier, his motto is you don't give up. Ever. It renewed his purpose, I think, and therefore I picked that up as well. I think it became even more important to get the film as right as we could."

Arthur The King is available on digital now on Amazon Video and iTunes.

Conan O'Brien ended his Conan talk show back in 2021 and, while he's been offering fans his Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcast since 2018, he's back on TV with the all-new Max series Conan O'Brien Must Go. While O'Brien has pivoted from one format to the next since his tenure in late night began back in 1993, he has a habit of bringing his collaborators along with him for every new adventure, which includes producer Jason Chillemi. Having worked together for nearly 30 years, Chillemi played a key component in helping the comedian develop Conan O'Brien Must Go, with all four episodes of the new series now streaming on Max.

Conan O'Brien Must Go features the Emmy-winning host visiting new friends he's met through his podcast, Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan, where he dives deep with listeners from around the world. Making stops in Norway, Thailand, Argentina, and Ireland, O'Brien surprises some of his most memorable fans while also taking in local culture, cuisine, and sights.

ComicBook.com caught up with Chillemi to discuss the development of the series, collaborating with O'Brien, and what else could be in store for the concept.

ComicBook.com: For anyone who might not be familiar with what you do and what your role is, when it came to this series, what were your responsibilities? How were you involved in bringing this project to life?

Jason Chillemi: Well, I've been with Conan for almost 28 years. I started as an intern back at The Late Night Show, and I've just worked my way up. When I got hired from being an intern, I was in charge of all the location shoots, so I've always been producing those, anything outside of the studio. Just be it out on the sidewalk, it could be in the hallway outside the studio, it could be in Ireland, when he used to go back in those days.

Then when the idea to do Cuba came about for the Conan Without Borders show, I remember the head writer saying, "I think we should try to go to Cuba." My basic job was to find a way in, in the beginning, because I had never done travel shows before. I got in touch with a local producer in Cuba and just began that liaison. And then our ideas came up, and he said, "All right, we can do it here, and this here." And, "Do we need visas? Do we need permits?"

I basically facilitate between me and the local producer getting into the country, making sure we have our crew, a local crew, our transportation, our hotels, and make sure everything goes smoothly in said country. That just continued through all of Conan Without Borders. Then, finally, when this idea came out, we started talking to fans in the podcast, which I also help out on, because we film those now.

And, "Oh, we found Jarle. This is a great fan from Norway. Norway would be a fun place to go to. Let's see if we can get more fans there." Found Kai. "All right, Norway, let's go." And then I immediately just started looking for help in Norway. I tend to be really lucky. I've lucked out every single time. I mean, I go through a process, but I get a good feeling from someone. I'm like, "This is the person that can help us."

As a listener of the podcast, both the celebrity interviews and the fan interactions, I feel like there's a good chunk where Conan ends by saying, "Hey, if I'm ever here, I'll reach out to you," and never really thought he'll actually do that. Now, here he's doing that. How much of it was, "We want to do a travel show and we need a premise, or we need a formula for it," versus Conan really did have a desire of, "I want to go out into the world,"? And, was it specifically these fans or was it destinations were chosen and then the fans were reverse-engineered?

I think it's a little bit of both. He's the best. You get him outside the studio, I don't know anyone better than him. The traveling, he loves, especially doing that in different countries. But it's funny you say that, about noticing the end of the podcast, because a bunch of us noticed the same thing. Like, "Oh, I'm going to come," and it could be just in Connecticut. He was saying it to everybody.

Then I remember having lunch with him one day and we were talking about what's next. And he's like, "I want to get back out there. I want to do travel." He mentioned the same thing, he's like, "This is the perfect way. We have these guys. I'm making these relationships. Then if we add that piece and we just surprise them, that's our new way in."

And it ended up being that, it all came from that. The podcasts created this whole thing and the desire to travel.

Given how long you've been working with Conan, how he had his Late Night Show, his TBS show, all the stuff he's done online, and now the podcast, he is both figuratively and, based on his height, literally is a large figure. What do you think would surprise people most to learn about him? I know it doesn't seem like there's much of a difference between Conan when he's on and when he's "off," because I don't think I've ever seen him "off," so what do you think would surprise audiences to learn?

I think he's funnier off-camera. Like we're out all day filming in Argentina, and then we're back at the hotel and we're going to go get food, and it's like 10 of us in the crew and we're eating, and he's putting a show on for everybody at the table. Waiter comes over, no matter who's involved, he's even funnier. Part of me wants to just film that stuff.

With these four episodes, you go to Norway, you go to Thailand, you're going to these relatively limited locations with these episodes. So what was that selection process like? Was it a logistical matter? Was it based on the fans? How were these four countries specifically determined?

Well, we knew we were going to Norway and Thailand pretty early. We had a nice group, a bunch of fans, and we were starting up in March. The idea was, "If we want to see snow in any of these episodes, we should try to go to Norway as soon as possible." Just on the off chance that, I mean, we're not going to see it the later we go.

We got lucky with Norway. The one thing we learned in Norway is our fans, and again, you can't control it, but the two fans we had were not near each other. So it ended up, there was a lot more inter-country travel, which is awesome. We got to see different parts of the country, but it's also, load up the cameras, load up the gear, and it's a lot of downtime and people on planes and vans. So that part's not ideal.

We learned a little bit more going forward in Thailand. I mean, again, it depends where the fans are. But in Thailand, we stayed in Bangkok. All of our fans were in Bangkok. We know there's more to see in Thailand, but it becomes too much. And, also in Thailand, the weather was record heat, so there's things that are thrown at you. He did kickboxing in 108-degree weather. It was insane.

Then the strike happened, so we didn't know. The writers' strike, we were down for a long time, but we knew we had some fans. We knew there was one Argentina fan and we knew we had Ireland fans. There were Ireland fans he had talked to. We came back once the strike ended and we just went right back into it. It was around Thanksgiving, so we're working about, "He's going to be here for this." Scheduling, in general, is hard. Especially that last end of the year with the holidays and everything.

It's funny, though, that you mentioned Bangkok and the record heat, I just went there two weeks ago.

You went there? We were there in April. We literally were there. We left the day after his birthday, last year.

Knowing that this show was coming out, I demanded to see it, to demand, "I have to make sure if there's something I'm missing," and finding out that I went to two of the same temples that he went to. I went to Chinatown, also.

Oh, that's awesome. Did you go to the floating market?

I didn't get a chance to go to the floating market, unfortunately. But, I guess, where I'm going with that one, is understanding the miserable heat of Bangkok in April, was the fact that he did any physical activity. But also understanding why he had neckerchiefs around him to capture the sweat and stuff. I fully appreciated that.

We loved working. And I just remember coming back each day and walking into the hotel lobby where the air was pumping. It was amazing. It was the best feeling in the world. We all just sat in the lobby. It was just like no one went to their rooms.

Where I'm going with this is that, you have roughly 45-minute episodes, and he hits things relatively efficiently where we get to see a handful of locations in each city that he travels to. So in that regard, are there a lot of deleted scenes? Is there a lot of footage that didn't make it in or was it, every place you're hitting in person is going to end up in the show?

No, there's some things that didn't make it. I mean, we work hard. We're out there at each place, we're in there for like nine days and we hit the ground running and he shoots a lot each time. Things that we shot that you saw in the episode were probably way longer.

But as far as actual segments that didn't make it, some man-in-the-street stuff, obviously every person we talked to didn't make it. Segment-wise was pretty good. It may not have been as long as we thought it was going to be, but we got really lucky. We had some great fans, great people he talked to. But you're right, we shot hours and hours and hours and hours of footage, but we like to edit it down and make it the perfect thing to see.

There was the heat in Bangkok, but when you look back at making this first season, were there any other major challenges that you had to overcome? Whether it was language barriers, cultural barriers, logistic nightmares, were there major, unexpected challenges that you faced bringing these episodes to life?

Not really. In Argentina, it was around the same time as their election, so our entire crew, I remember election day in Argentina, I think it was on a Sunday. They couldn't work that day because the crew had to vote. It was very important that everyone had to vote, so if we were going to work, it had to be a couple of hours in the morning and then we were done for the day, because that was such an important thing to them, to vote in this major election for them, which didn't go their way. I remember just emotions changing from our local crew as it continued on.

But besides that, no. We have such great, local help. Our team that goes is amazing. We're very prepared. The help there on the ground is great. I can throw curveballs and they're like, "Yes, all right, we'll go here, we'll go there." We've been lucky. I don't know if it's just the comedy gods or it's just, we've been doing it for a long time, but we roll with the punches. If something that happens that may not be what we planned, "Let's go that way, then."

Conan Without Borders started almost 10 years ago, now, and then in that time, we've had strikes and the pandemic. So those things caused a few complications with this. Do you think there's any hope of a Season 2 taking shape within the next couple years or do you think this is more, "All right, we did it, we experimented, and now let's move on to the next thing,"?

No, no. I hope so. There's many more countries to see. There's many more fans to see. I would love to keep going. We'll see. I don't know. There's no other plans right now. Right now he's immediately back into podcast mode. He is talking to fans, he's talking to people. So, fingers crossed.

All four episodes of Conan O'Brien Must Go are now streaming on Max.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.