Fans of British crime dramas are eating well at the moment, from new Tudor-set murder mystery Shardlake, which comes adapted from CJ Sansom’s novel series and is available now on Disney+. Shardlake stars Arthur Hughes as the titular lawyer sent to investigate a murder at a monastery that Thomas Cromwell (Sean Bean) is determined to close down.

There’s also the second series of Belfast-set Blue Lights currently airing on BBC One, as well as the second series of Liverpool-set The Responder, starring Martin Freeman and available to stream in full now. And if your Brit TV tastes extend to the stranger side of things, then Alibi has The Red King, an original crime mystery set on a weird island where the new copper played by Anjli Mohindra investigates some Summerisle-style goings on. As well as all that, here’s a big look ahead to the new British drama coming up in 2024.

For gamers, on Prime Video, there’s Fallout, which continues The Last of Us‘ trend of being a video game-to-TV adaptation that’s actually, you know, good. Also on Netflix is moody, intoxicating psychological thriller Ripley, adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr Ripley and starring Andrew Scott.

We’ll update this list of TV highlights weekly with more shows, dates and times as the release announcements arrive. If you’re based in the US, here’s where to look for the relevant info.

The post UK TV Premiere Dates: 2024 Calendar appeared first on Den of Geek.

The best-selling science fiction novel Dark Matter by Blake Crouch has been adapted into an Apple TV+ original series, bolstered by an all-star cast. With Crouch himself staying on as the showrunner and executive producer, Dark Matter unfolds at a brisk pace that leans more into the thriller elements of the source material than the science fiction premise. And while many of the familiar stylistic and thematic tropes in a number of Apple TV+ original thrillers are on display, the performance by the series’ leads elevates the material and helps make Dark Matter stand distinct from its contemporaries on the platform.

Dark Matter follows Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton), a physics teacher at a local university in the suburbs of Chicago who lives a happy, if unassuming, life with his wife Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) and their teenage son Charlie (Oakes Fegley). After reconnecting with an old friend Ryan (Jimmi Simpson), who found greater success in the private field with his physics work, Jason is mugged and incapacitated by a mysterious figure. Regaining his senses, Jason finds himself in an alternate dimension that, while superficially similar to his own, has significant differences. As Jason scrambles for a way to return home, he realizes his doppelganger from his world is now back in his dimension menacing his unsuspecting family.

The most riveting thing about Dark Matter is Joel Edgerton’s dual performance as two very different versions of Jason throughout the series. Though many of the principal actors, most notably Jennifer Connelly and Jimmi Simpson, get to play two different variations on their respective characters, Edgerton gets the widest range between his cross-dimensional roles. Edgerton approaches the primary Jason that we’re first introduced as one fueled by constant desperation as he’s hunted in a world he barely recognizes as his own. However, when Edgerton plays the other Jason, it’s all eyes on him, with Edgerton giving him an unpredictably sinister edge.

Connelly is great to watch as always, with her performance as the prime universe’s Daniela more intriguing than her parallel universe counterpart, managing that tricky balance of being initially oblivious to the grand deception taking place in her own home and being the strong woman that she is. But the real standout from the supporting cast is Jimmi Simpson, who serves as a great foil to Edgerton’s characters, no matter which universe we find ourselves in or version of Ryan that Simpson plays.

In watching Dark Matter, it was hard not to draw comparisons with Apple TV+’s recent thriller series The Changeling and Constellation. The latter series, in particular, focused on a couple affected by parallel universes converging, with variations of characters displaying different dynamics despite their physical similarities. Whereas Constellation poised this premise as an overarching mystery on what exactly was going on, Dark Matter is relatively upfront with the audience in the kind of story it’s telling. This really works to its advantage, both in terms of accessibility and pacing rather than needlessly trying to prolong its telegraphed twist as Constellation had.

The cinematography always echoes closer to a lot of prestige television thrillers these days, with washed out colors in the daylight and interior sequences and constant shadow and warm light during its many nighttime scenes. Visually, Dark Matter is reliable though not especially distinct from many of its contemporaries, staying grounded even with its science fiction premise and core concept of parallel universes. This extends to the sound design, something that had crucially elevated Constellation, with Dark Matter keeping things relatively low-key in its aural presentation.

Apart from the more antagonistic side of Edgerton’s performance, the thing that’ll keep audiences coming back for more with Dark Matter is its sense of pace and well-crafted cliffhangers to most of its eight episodes. Crouch, along with the other writers and directors he’s working with to adapt his novel, fit a lot of story in each episode and know just how to bring each installment to a tantalizing close, daring viewers to tune back in to see how things unfold. It’s here where the narrative sensibilities of the story shine the strongest and, fortunately, it never feels like an episode of Dark Matter overstays its welcome.

Dark Matter is very smartly made and buoyed by its strong ensemble cast, using its sci-fi premise as a springboard into solid thriller territory that Edgerton plays to the hilt. Anyone aware and appreciative of Apple TV+’s growing library of original thrillers will find Dark Matter right in the streaming service’s wheelhouse, albeit with a slight sci-fi twist befitting its best-selling source material. Looking at Apple TV+’s catalogue, Dark Matter stands about on par or slightly above many of its contemporaries, well-executed and well-cast though perhaps overly familiar for those looking for something a bit more thematically distinct.

The first two episodes of Dark Matter are available to stream on Apple TV+ now. New episodes premiere Wednesdays.

The post Dark Matter Review: Apple TV+’s Next Constellation appeared first on Den of Geek.

Thankfully, Netflix has finally provided some information about on season 2 and it’s decidedly more than a morsel. Today, the streamer announced that production on season 2 is officially underway. It did so via a clever video that also just happens to reveal a major casting shakeup. Check it out below:

As the adorable disembodied hand, Thing T. Thing, drops Wednesday season 2 episode 1 scripts (titled “Here We Woe Again” naturally) in front of various actors doors, we get some sneak peeks at who will appear in the new season. Naturally there are familiar names like Bianca (Joy Sunday), Grandmama (Joanna Lumley), Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), Enid (Emma Myers), and the spooky queen herself (Jenna Ortega). But there are also some other big name actors and characters who are new to the series.

Thing introduces us to Steve Buscemi (Fargo, Boardwalk Empire) as Barry Dort, Billie Piper (Doctor Who, I Hate Suzie) as Capri, and Thandiwe Newton (Westworld, Line of Duty) as Dr. Fairburn. While none of these character names have an obvious analog in The Addams Family lore, the actors involved bring some big star power to Wednesday. And they are just three of the 12 new faces joining the show.

Netflix also notes the additions of new series regulars – Evie Templeton (Return to Silent Hill), Owen Painter (The Handmaid’s Tale), and Noah Taylor (Law & Order: Organized Crime) – and many more guest actors: Christopher Lloyd (Addams Family, Back to the Future), Joanna Lumley (Fool Me Once), Frances O’Connor (The Missing), Haley Joel Osment (The Kominsky Method), Heather Matarazzo (The Princess Diaries) and Joonas Suotamo (Star Wars).

The additions are just one part of the casting shakeup, as there have also been three major subtractions as well. Absent from the season 2 announcement are Percy Hynes White as psychic student Xavier Thorpe, Jamie McShane as town sheriff Donovan Galpin, and Naomi J Ogawa as vampire student Yoko Tanaka. Deadline confirmed that the three characters will not be returning as series regulars – though McShane may appear briefly to wrap up his arc.

Of the three departing characters, the only big surprise is Xavier Thorpe, who was one of the series leads and served as a love interest for Wednesday Addams in season 1. When Ortega was added as a producer on Wednesday season 2, she indicated that she was interested in moving the show away from its teen romance angle to focus more on traditional horror. Perhaps that rendered Xavier Thorpe obsolete. Additionally, Hynes White was the subject of sexual assault allegations in early 2023 though the social media posts alleging the assault have since been deleted and Hynes White released a statement denying them.

The post Wednesday Season 2 Undergoes Some Major Casting Changes appeared first on Den of Geek.

It’s no surprise that, since he came back as Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger has talked several times about reducing MCU output. He hasn’t offered much in the way of specifics until now, but that still raises questions about the franchise’s future success.

Bob Iger Reduces Marvel Output

In a quarterly earnings call described by Variety, Iger clarified the company’s Marvel plan moving forward. “We’re slowly going to decrease volume and go to probably about two TV series a year instead of what had become four and reduce our film output from maybe four a year to two, or a maximum of three,” he explained.

Iger pointed out that the franchise has “a couple of good films in [2025] and then we’re heading to more Avengers, which we’re extremely excited about.” However, Iger was less upfront about television series plans, calling many of them “a vestige of basically a desire in the past to increase volume.”

Although he’s talking only about cutting things back, Iger framed the announcement in positive terms. “Overall, I feel great about the slate,” he declared. “It’s something that I’ve committed to spending more and more time on. The team is one that I have tremendous confidence in and the IP that we’re mining, including all the sequels that we’re doing, is second to none.”

Despite Iger’s comments, it’s hard to see how that approach will work for this year and the next. Marvel only has one film on the docket for 2024, the much-anticipated Deadpool & Wolverine coming in July. On the TV side, X-Men ’97 has been a surprise hit, but Echo released to resounding silence earlier this year. Agatha, a Kathryn Hahn-led spin-off of Marvel’s best TV series, WandaVision, still plans to release in 2024, but with the hype of WandaVision long faded and the series’ multiple title changes, it’s hard to see that show succeeding.

Phase 5 and 6 Projects Now in Limbo

The most interesting part of Iger’s comments might involve projects currently in production. If Disney plans to cut back on Marvel output, will less-exciting projects such as Agatha or What If… season three get released anytime soon? What about Ironheart, which finished shooting in 2022, or Wonder Man, which finished shooting last month?

The movies Thunderbolts and Captain America: Brave New World will certainly get released, but Iger doesn’t spend much time talking about them. Instead, he talks about the next Avengers movie, which is still a big question. Originally, Avengers 5 and 6 were intended to be the two-parters Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. But with Jonathan Majors’ off-screen crimes putting an end to his Kang as the new big bad of the MCU, The Kang Dynasty plan seems to have been scrapped. Instead, many (including this writer!) have speculated that the lead-up to Secret Wars will put more attention on Doctor Doom and the Fantastic Four, especially with the new Fantastic Four also looming.

With all of this in mind, it seems that only Marvel’s flagship characters are safe. Sony’s doing everything it can to tank the Spidey brand and Tom Holland is busy doing Shakespeare, but we’ll certainly get a fourth Spider-Man movie, to go alongside Fantastic Four and Avengers. X-Men ’97 has garnered rave reviews, so we’ll at least see more of that series, with a second season already written.

What does that mean for everything else? Marvel won’t scuttle Brave New World or Thunderbolts, but one gets the sense that some of these films will release to little press, outside of the producers throwing the directors under the bus, like they did with The Marvels. Armor Wars and Blade? It feels more and more like there’s no way those will happen, especially after multiple delays. Agatha, Ironheart, and Wonder Man might be far along enough to warrant release, but it may be done in the style of Echo, dropping all episodes at one time and immediately ignored.

So that takes care of the projects in development. But where should the franchise go from there? To find that answer, Marvel should take a cue from its production logo and go back to the comics.

The MCU Needs to Learn a Few Lessons From the Comics

The movie industry is going through its first throes of superhero fatigue, but that’s old hat for the comic book industry. Between wars beginning and ending, speculator markets, and crazed psychologists, the industry has exploded and imploded multiple times. Every time publishers up their production and flood newsstands with new releases, they just as quickly pull back to a few evergreen faves. Although the movie and comic book industries are very different, they’re now both trying to figure out how to keep and expand their audiences, which means the former could learn from the latter.

First of all, Iger’s on the right track by emphasizing the Avengers. Whenever Marvel or DC have to trim production, they always fall back on established franchises: Avengers, Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, etc. These comics focus on the characters that the most people love, and use those stories to introduce new characters or bring back familiar faces. If there’s enough demand for those B- and C-level characters, then they get a shot to carry their own books.

So maybe, instead of forcing Ms. Marvel or Moon Knight to carry their own shows, have those characters show up in an established franchise first. Marvel did this best with Captain America: Civil War, an overstuffed film that somehow still told an emotionally engaging story for Black Panther, clearing space for his excellent first solo movie.

That said, the comics sometimes go in other direction. As soon as a character pops in one series, they’re quickly added to other projects (sometimes too many). When Deadpool gained popularity beyond edgy X-Force fans, he started bothering the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and anyone else who needed a boost. However, the MCU did the exact opposite, scoring a surprise hit with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, only to completely ignore the character in the years since, even as star Simu Liu continues to charm audiences in hits such as Barbie.

Some might point out that fans often complain about all of the homework that comes with Marvel movies, that they want to watch movies that stand on their own. However, no one should confuse this demand with a desire for Wonder Man, Nova, or other characters they don’t know. Rather, fans want to be able to watch a film and feel like they’re getting a full story, with a satisfying beginning, middle, and end. Too often, Marvel movies offer likable characters, but a bland story, with distracting jokes and unconvincing CGI. The post-credit teases are even worse, as if they apologize for the bad movie we just watched and promise to do better the next time.

Again, Civl War serves as a good example. That movie has a satisfying story for Cap and Iron Man and also does a great job setting up Black Panther (less so with Spider-Man, but it was also less necessary). But the most recent Back Panther film does the opposite.

Half of Wakanda Forever serves as an elegy for Chadwick Boseman, and gives space for the wonderful characters that director Ryan Coogler and writer Joe Robert Cole developed in the first film to build. However, it then turns too much space over to Riri Williams and especially Americans Everett K. Ross and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, crowding out favorites M’Baku, Okoye, and Nakia.

If the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to survive, it needs to take a page from the House of Ideas. Fewer releases doesn’t mean that the franchise has to ignore all of the weird and wonderful characters they have in their bullpen. Rather, it means that it needs to be more focused on the basics: strong storytelling and characters people like.

Trimming out the fluff is a step in the right direction. Iger and Kevin Feige might be able to get away with too little Marvel, but fans will never accept too much Marvel.

You can check out the full schedule of upcoming Marvel movies and shows here.

The post Marvel Release Schedule Cuts Reveal a Hard Truth About the MCU’s Phase 5 and 6 Plan appeared first on Den of Geek.

The original Planet of the Apes indeed contains some of the most iconic images in all of sci-fi cinema, and it’s no coincidence that some of those images—along with other references—have been reimagined for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the 10th entry overall in the 56-year-old franchise and the fourth in the rebooted series of films that began in 2011 with Rupert Wyatt’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Director Matt Reeves (The Batman) picked up the torch for the next two entries, 2014’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes.

Reeves’ films completed a trilogy about a chimp named Caesar (played to astonishing motion capture perfection by the great Andy Serkis), his intelligence enhanced by an artificially-created virus; and he leads an ape uprising against humanity as human intelligence and civilization is decimated by the same virus. War for the Planet of the Apes ended with Caesar successfully defeating a surviving human militia and leading his people to a valley they could call home, even as he dies upon their arrival.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set “many generations later,” when a tribe of apes called the Eagle Clan, living peacefully in perhaps the same secluded valley, are attacked and captured by a vicious squad of gorillas who serve a tyrannical leader named Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand). A young Eagle Clan member named Noa (Owen Teague) sets out to rescue his people, learning in the process about the real Caesar—whose legacy has been dimmed by the passage of time—while also discovering that the remnants of human civilization could still pose a threat to the entire ape race.

Going Further Down the Timeline

Ball is adamant that he did not want to pick up the story in the immediate aftermath of the death of Caesar. “The ones that Rupert started [with Rise] and Matt finished with Dawn and War were just fantastic,” the director says. “Perfect closure. I just couldn’t see where that story goes. I couldn’t see where it felt like we would be giving someone something new to see. So really, when we got our distance from it, it unlocked all these new opportunities and new potential. But we didn’t want to lose the connection, so we carry over the idea of Caesar in the movie.”

In its initial development, the story of Kingdom was set even further in the future than it is now. “At first I was thinking it was 1,000 years and I was like, that’s too far,” explains Ball. “I’m not even saying it’s 300 years [note: some of the marketing has suggested this]. We never really fully say. It can be whatever you want, but it’s enough time that there’s this kind of dark ages where enough knowledge has been lost, where Caesar has become this myth and legend, enough time that our world is starting to kind of disappear—what’s left of it anyway. That was to me the key that really unlocked all these other ideas.”

One idea expressed more expansively in the new film is that of different ape clans emerging and clashing with each other. In some ways it’s a concept that has been around on a more individual level throughout the entire history of the franchise, with gorillas frequently representing a more warlike philosophy against more peaceful chimps and cerebral orangutans. But all those conflicts took place within a single ape community in the past; although it was implied in the more recent films, this time we see that other ape colonies have sprung up and may not have the best of intentions toward their neighbors.

“This whole idea came from War and the Bad Ape character,” says Ball. “There are other apes out there that also went through their own journey towards sentience. That was just fascinating to me. There are tons of apes all over the country, all over the world. What are their stories? I thought it was interesting to play with that. There are apes that don’t know anything about Caesar. That lets us play with what happened to Caesar in his stories. So it’s about how those worlds have to collide. This is kind of a weird historical epic—just like in our own history, we have different clans that come together, are at war with each other, come apart, all that stuff.”

Are We Heading Toward the Original Planet of the Apes?

It’s a been a hotly-debated question on the minds of Apes fans since the series was resurrected in 2011 with Rise: is this current continuity going to eventually lead us to a retelling of the original Planet of the Apes, with an astronaut from our era traveling through time to land in a far future ape civilization?

The timelines of the original five movies and the current four are only similar in a superficial sense, with different explanations given for the rise of the apes and the decline of humanity. But the easter eggs are there, and a few are made more explicit in Kingdom. For example, there is a scene in the new film of apes hunting feral humans in the wild that pays direct homage—right down to certain shots and the original Jerry Goldsmith musical cues—to the classic sequence in Planet of the Apes. Other references include a dangerous, unknown land—a Forbidden Zone, if you will—and the naming of Caesar as the “First Elder,” which could be another way of denoting him as the Lawgiver from the original films.

Wes Ball acknowledges that the hunt scene in his film is meant to mirror that in the first Planet of the Apes. “It just seemed like the right idea,” he explains. “It was a way of saying, ‘Hey, we’re making a Planet of the Apes movie here.’” As for whether the subtle incorporation of other Apes lore into the film points the way toward ultimately landing on the original story of astronaut George Taylor’s arrival in the year 3978, Ball seems reluctant to suggest that they’re ready to retell that story…yet.

“The truth is that we have these three Caesar films behind us,” he says. “We’re starting from there. But way off in the distance is that Charlton Heston ’68 version. It’s a long way to get there. There’s plenty more stories to tell before we ever get there, but that is what’s in our sights. But that comes with a lot of opportunities. Like, when did the Statue of Liberty get blown up? Where did the Lawgiver come from? Where do the Sacred Scrolls enter into it? There are so many little things that would be fun to play with as we fit into the lore of this awesome franchise that’s spanned 50+ years.”

Naturally, Ball adds that ideas for the next film are already percolating—if Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes continues the success that the franchise has managed to sustain for nearly six decades. “If we’re lucky enough and people latch on to this thing and want to see more, we’ve got big ideas about where we want to go,” he hints. “We’ve been thinking about it for a long time—it’s been a five-year process for me—so we’ve got some ideas where we want to go with this thing if we’re lucky to make it.”

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is in theaters Friday (May 10).

The post How Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Inches Closer to the Events of the Original Film appeared first on Den of Geek.

Before you know it, you spend the next 90 minutes catching up on a film you already have half committed to memory. It’s a perhaps uniquely dated phenomenon, but a great one for those of us who have entire personal libraries of movies that we may never have seen from beginning to end. I spent years, for example, convinced Con Air started with Nic Cage enunciating, “I said put the bunny back in the box.” Still, some movies invite more repeat viewings than others, and a few are just so good that even if they’re 75 percent over, coming across a frame of them means you’re now pot-committed. Here are the ones too good for us to quit.

My Cousin Vinny (1992)

It was 30 years ago last March when Marisa Tomei won her Oscar for movie-stealing work in My Cousin Vinny. There were dissenters—I hear—at that time about a comedic performance winning a little gold man. But for anyone who grew up with My Cousin Vinny playing seemingly on a loop, those contrarians have long since been discarded to the dustbins of history.

Tomei’s fabulous turn, and fabulously ridiculous Brooklyn accent, not only deserved the award, but deserved being enshrined in the most compulsively watchable “legal thriller” in the canon. See, we must use quotes around the term “thriller,” because even though the movie begins with two young yankees being wrongfully accused of the brutal murder of a stranger—and with nothing less than their lives now being on the line—this is also a movie where Joe Pesci will forever refer to them as “two youts” while wearing an antebellum’s bellboy uniform to court.

A film that trades on stereotypes and stock roles, My Cousin Vinny’s secret is its electric cast, from Pesci as the worst lawyer from the greater five borough area on down to Fred Gwynne as good ol’ boy judge, and Lane Smith as his good ol’ boy attorney. And through it all is, of course, Tomei’s magnificent Mona Lisa Vito whose climactic witness testimony never fails to delight. Wherever you come into the movie, be it for the murder or long after Vinny’s third stint of being held in contempt of court, you know you got to stick with it until you hear Tomei say, “Now I ask ya, would you give a fuck what kind of pants the son of a bitch who shot ya was wearing?!” – David Crow

Goodfellas (1990)

I had to convince David to let Goodfellas be on this list because it was such an obvious choice that it felt like cheating. As our best living director (and may he keep on living forever), Martin Scorsese has helmed many great movies. Which of those movies is his best is up for debate. What’s not up for debate, however, is that Goodfellas is his most entertaining. 

This 1990 classic about Henry Hill’s (Ray Liotta) life in the mafia is among the most compulsively watchable films ever made. Scorsese and his longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker cut this thing together like a thrilling two and a half hour music video. Goodfellas is quite simply always moving with nary a second wasted. It’s a movie that demands you stop and pay attention whenever you come across it while flipping around your cable package. – Alec Bojalad

School of Rock (2003)

Could you switch off School of Rock, the greatest film ever made about either school or rock? Then you’re a stronger man than I am.

Imagine stumbling on Richard Linklater, Mike White, and Jack Black’s 2003 masterpiece on a dusty TV channel. At what point would you click the remote to leave it behind? When Tomika kills it a cappella on Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools?” When Principal Mullins drinks that beer and listens to Stevie Nicks at the bar? At the parent-teacher conference? When fake teacher Dewey does the work of 20 actual teachers by replacing Zack’s bullied anxiety with creativity-born self-esteem? When he proceeds to do that for EVERY KID IN THAT CLASS AND THEY, IN TURN, DO THE SAME FOR HIM AND THEN THEY ALL COME TOGETHER TO PERFORM ONE GREAT ROCK SHOW THAT COULD CHANGE THE WORLD? Exactly. It’s un-switch-offable.

Quite honestly, if you’re prepared to turn your back on Joan Cusack in any form, then you may be beyond help. Thanks to School of Rock’s end credits gags, the only proper time to turn that movie off is after the Motion Picture Association of America logo has rolled.  – Louisa Mellor

Just My Luck (2006)

There are loads of films I leave on if I come across them on the telly, About a Boy, Bring It On, and The Clash of the Titans are but three. But to me these do not count since I would also deliberately put these films on. Just My Luck however, I would never actively choose to watch. No, the Lindsay Lohan/Chris Pine rom-com featuring the band McFly holds some sort of hypnotic power over me. 

In case, UNLIKE ME, you haven’t seen this film multiple times, it stars Lohan as a preternaturally lucky young woman who basically gets everything she wants until one day she bumps into terminally unlucky Chris Pine, and over a kiss their powers swap. He gets a decent break in life; she learns humility; there is romance; there is McFly. It’s no Freaky Friday. But there it is, on the telly, probably on ITV or Channel 5, and there I am, in for the duration.

Perhaps it reminds me of a simpler time when rom-coms with high concepts were all the rage. This is a film by one of the crowned rom-com kings Donald Petrie, he of Miss Congeniality, How To Lose a Guy in Ten Days, and Mystic Pizza. After Just My Luck though, he somewhat disappeared from the scene with his latest being a 2018 rom-com set in Italy about warring pizza restaurants, starring Emma Roberts and Hayden Christensen. Sounds like someone might have kissed the wrong Chris Pine. – Rosie Fletcher

UHF (1984)

Just a few days earlier, Shout Factory announced a 4K release of UHF and I preordered it immediately. This will be the fourth time I purchased UHF, which I’ve also owned on VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray. I think I have some sort of compulsion to always buy the newest edition of UHF, the same way I’m compelled to watch the entirety of the movie whenever it’s on. And I think this compulsion stems from the fact that I first saw UHF in the middle of the night during my 12th birthday party, which is the ideal state in which to watch a movie written by and starring Weird Al Yankovic. 

Of course UHF has much to offer beyond nostalgia. The loose plot involves Weird Al’s George Newman inheriting a failing TV station, which he turns around with some wild ideas and the help of odd-ball personalities (portrayed by Fran Drescher, Michael Richards, Billy Barty, and Emo Philips). Really, it’s just an excuse for Weird Al to do with movies and TV what he does with music: create hilarious and wholesome spoofs (give or take some Looney Tunes violence). It was funny when I was 12, it’s funny today, and it will be funny in 30 years when I buy the 1200K holo-edition to watch at my retirement home.  – Joe George

A Few Good Men (1992)

Looking back, it’s pretty remarkable that I (and, I imagine, many others) first saw A Few Good Men by catching it in the middle of one of its many mid-day cable TV screenings. This twisty and complex courtroom thriller doesn’t seem like the type of movie you can just hop into. It is certainly better to watch it from the start to appreciate the scope of its plot and the many little character moments that lead up to its memorable conclusion. 

Yet, the reason why A Few Good Men turned out to be a somewhat unlikely TV hit is the same reason why it’s so hard to resist repeat viewings of it to this day. For all its intricacies, A Few Good Men is also a star-power-fueled journey comprised of incredible individual scenes. If you’re watching the movie for the first time, the allure of that incredible cast spouting that peak Aaron Sorkin dialogue while Rob Reiner guides the action with a reassuring hand will be more than enough to instantly hook you. Years (and many viewings) later, any of those scenes will beckon you back into this expertly crafted thriller where each nearly perfect sequence ultimately serves as the piece of a puzzle that is infinitely satisfying to watch slowly come together. – Matthew Byrd

Shrek (2001)

Somebody once told me the best comedy of the 21st century wasn’t live-action but animated. Enter Shrek, Dreamworks’ hysterical riff on classic fairy tales (and not-so-subtle jab at Disney). The inaugural winner of the Best Animated Feature award at the Oscars has been immortalized through a flurry of sequels, spinoffs, internet memes, and specialty-themed raves. But like Onions before it, Shrek has layers. 

Imagine winding down from a long day on vacation, turning on your hotel’s cable television to hear Rufus Wainwright serenading you with his illustrious cover of “Hallelujah.” If a plethora of irresistible needle-drops aren’t enough to hook you, perhaps a barrage of iconic quotes, ranging from “I like that boulder, that is a nice boulder” to “Do you think he’s compensating for something?” will tickle your fancy. Even if that somehow hasn’t caught your attention, maybe a genuinely compelling romance between swamp-crossed lovers will.

If all those elements don’t have you shouting, “I’m a believer,” we’re unsure what will. Shrek has weathered the test of time, standing tall over two decades later, cementing its status in the pantheon of cartoon classics. It has even outshone the fairy tale features it once parodied. If you’re thinking of switching off Shrek, you should pick up your knives and pitchforks on the way out. – Lee Parham

Which movies do you have to watch every time you catch them on the telly? Tell us in the comments!

The post The Movies We Never Switch Off When They’re on TV appeared first on Den of Geek.

True, director George Miller and his stunt team did many of the most impressive action sequences in-camera. But he did so with the assistance of computer graphics to erase the safety wires and other rigging. In other words, Miller has no problem using computer effects, provided that they don’t get in the way of the story he’s telling.

For the same reason, Miller chose to recast one of the people most responsible for the brilliance of Fury Road. In the upcoming prequel Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Anya-Taylor Joy smears on the black grease paint of Imperator Furiosa, taking the place of original performer Charlize Theron.

On one hand, the switch makes sense, as Furiosa takes place about two decades before the events of Fury Road, a movie which came out nine years ago. Theron is an outstanding actor, but it’s a tough ask for her to pull off a teen/20-something at this point. Of course, there’s always digital de-aging technology, but not for Miller.

Miller reveals in a new interview that he intended to make Furiosa with Theron back in the lead, but other examples of de-aging gave him pause. “I saw these other movies like The Irishman, where they made people younger and particularly I saw Gemini Man,” he told ComicBook.com. “I was looking at was the technology; I wasn’t looking at performance. I thought, ‘We can’t do it.'”

That’s particularly disappointing given Theron’s key role in making Furiosa happen. “[E]veryone read a [Furiosa] script a few years ago, the concept art and everything, and everyone read the screenplay in order to do Fury Road,” explained Miller. “[Theron] read it 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.”

For Miller, the real culprit in Theron’s absence from Furiosa is not the limitations of computer technology, but rather the studio producing the film. Miller intended to make Furiosa right after Fury Road released in 2015. “But then we’ve now gone through the third parent company of Warner Bros.—there’s about four different regimes,” he pointed out. “That settled down by the time we got to actually do Furiosa, but the best part of a decade had gone by.”

As upsetting and unfair as the loss of Theron certainly is, there is a precedent for recasting in this franchise. Of course, Tom Hardy took over the part of Max Rockatansky from Mel Gibson, who played Max in the first three films of the franchise. Likewise, Australian actor Lacey Hulme plays the younger Immortan Joe in Furiosa, a role originated by the late Hugh Keays-Byrne. Likewise, Keays-Byrne played two different characters within the franchise, both the 1979 Mad Max big bad Toecutter and Immortan Joe.

Will Theron be missed from Furiosa? To be sure. But great actors like Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth will hopefully help make up for her absence, as will Miller’s amazing direction.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga roars into theaters on May 24.

The post The Real Reason Charlize Theron Isn’t in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga appeared first on Den of Geek.

The ending of the film is still one of the all-time great “twists” in cinema history, birthing the first modern science fiction franchise. And it’s never let up since. When Wes Ball’s latest installment in this upside down universe, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, hits big screens this coming weekend, the series will have seen nearly a dozen films released over the span of about 60 years. Some have been good, some have been bad, but almost none of them could ever be accused of being boring.

Nearly each installment in the Planet of the Apes franchise has been wildly different, with various writers and directors using the story of a planet overrun by simians as a metaphor to discuss everything from racism to the ramifications of scientific testing and abuse of animals. In other words, there turns out to be a lot of variety on that damned dirty planet of the apes. And we’re here to test if you’re up-to-date with it all.

In the below quiz, you’ll be asked to test your knowledge of all films bearing the Planet of the Apes moniker, and to find out whether you’re as wise as an orangutan or just a monkey’s uncle.

The post Take Our Bananas Planet of the Apes Quiz! appeared first on Den of Geek.

These stories get told and retold in movies, cartoon shows, and video games, and with good reason. They’re among the best superhero stories ever written. But they’re hardly the only good stories in X-Men history. The team has existed since 1963, and while they didn’t hit their stride until writer Chris Claremont took over in 1974, that still leaves decades worth of complex, complicated issues to unravel.

But it need not be so complicated. If you want to get a bit deeper into Marvel’s merry mutants, but don’t have time or money to read 50 issue storylines, here are the best underrated tales that span only a few issues.

“The Uncanny Threat of…Unus, the Untouchable” (X-Men #8, 1965)

No one counts the first X-Men comics among the best work of creators Stan Lee or Jack Kirby, but that doesn’t mean they’re without their charms. After all Stan and Jack launched the Marvel Universe, and even half-speed puts them ahead of most of their contemporaries. X-Men #8 introduces a classic Silver Age character, Unus the Untouchable.

Beyond his typical alliterative name, Unus the Untouchable also has the type of superpower that could only come from Marvel’s Silver Age. Unus cannot be touched. Every time someone tries, they bounce right off of him. Silly as the power might be, it gives Jack Kirby an excuse to draft some wonderfully kinetic scenes, especially when Beast goes up against Unus. “The Uncanny Threat of… Unus, the Untouchable” is one of the rare X-Men comics that showcases the best of King Kirby.

“The ‘X’-Sanction” (Uncanny X-Men #110, 1978)

When Chris Claremont took over X-Men in 1974, he revitalized the property with complex soap opera style plotting and more legible civil rights metaphors. However, he also cut that dense storytelling with low-stakes moments of the X-Men just hanging around. Claremont established that model in Uncanny X-Men #110, which begins with the X-Men playing a game of baseball.

To be clear, the baseball game only lasts for a few pages before the D-list supervillain Warhawk sneaks into the X-Mansion to trap the team in the Danger Room. And even then, the game itself is pretty raucous: Wolverine pops his claws through his catcher’s mitt and Colossus transforms to steel to steal a base. Guest artist Tony DeZuniga doesn’t have quite the same fluid punch as regular artist at the time Dave Cockrum, but both the baseball and Danger Room scenes prove that, for the X-Men, most accidents happen at home.

“Kitty’s Fairy Tale” (Uncanny X-Men 153, 1982)

It might not be totally accurate to call “Kitty’s Fairy Tale” underrated, as the story is a favorite from the early Claremont era, one frequently referenced in later comics. However, it still deserves attention from anyone looking for a great standalone comic, as it captures the vast possibilities offered by the X-Men.

Written by Claremont and penciled by Cockrum, “Kitty’s Fairy Tale” finds teenage new recruit Kitty Pryde trying to put down Colossus’s kid sister Illyana (then still a little girl and not yet the sexy demon lady Magik). To help Illyana sleep, Kitty tells a fairy tale about a pirate called Kitty and her first mate Colossus going on a quest. Along the way, they encounter Bamf (Nightcrawler), the Fiend With No Name (Wolverine), and the Noble Prince (Cyclops). Kitty’s tale charms on its own, but it also shows how the character makes sense of the X-Men, who she’s still getting to know at that point.

“He’ll Never Make Me Cry…” (Uncanny X-Men #183, 1983)

To be honest, a lot of “He’ll Never Make Me Cry…” looks bad from a modern perspective. The story deals with the fallout of the Secret Wars event, in which Colossus falls in love with an alien lady, despite dating Kitty Pryde back on Earth. But Colossus is a grown man and Kitty a young teen, something strangely common in ’80s comics (I love you Hal Jordan, but…) and obviously not okay now. Furthermore, there’s a paternalistic vibe to Wolverine and Nightcrawler’s response to Colossus dumping Kitty, as they take him to a local bar to read him the riot act.

Still, if one can put those elements aside, “He’ll Never Make Me Cry…” is an utter blast. While Wolvie and Nightcrawler plan to give Colossus a “man up” talk, they get a better idea when they see Cain Marko aka Juggernaut minding his own business at the bar. But when Colossus accidentally spills beer on Juggs, Wolverine decides the best lesson is a beatdown from the unstoppable foe. The result is a delightful beatdown that ultimately makes readers love the characters all the more.

“Slumber Party” (The New Mutants #21, 1984)

The Demon Bear Saga might last just three issues, but it has more horror and intrigue than nearly any other story arc of the original New Mutants comic. So after that tale, in which an evil psychic entity from Mirage’s past threatens her and the other young students at Xavier’s school, it makes sense that the team would need a breather. So the girls of the New Mutants blow off steam in the best way they know how, inviting friends from the Salem Center over to the mansion for slumber party.

A lot of “Slumber Party” lets the New Mutants kids be kids, trading jokes about pop stars and teasing one another about crushes. Although he writes in his usual exaggerated style, Claremont has a clear handle on the character voices, helping them feel like well-rounded figures. However, the pencils come from Bill Sienkiewicz, whose manic line work better suits a horror story. And sure enough, “Slumber Party” becomes just that when a mysterious alien begins stalking the teens.

“Ladies’ Night” (Uncanny X-Men #244, 1989)

Uncanny X-Men #244 is the first appearance of Jubilation Lee, a teen with the ability to shoot fireworks from her hands, who will become one of the most popular characters on the team. Does that mean the X-Men leave the mansion and go to the mall, you ask? Of course they do, I answer. Where else will mall babes eat chili fries?

“Ladies’ Night” takes place shortly after Fall of the Mutants, a pseudo-crossover in which everything went bad for all X-characters. In the case of the X-Men, they appeared to die on live television and were hiding out in the Australian outback, getting around via an Aboriginal mutant teleport called Gateway. If that sounds like a lot, then rest assured, “Ladies’ Night” is not. Realizing that the team needs to blow off steam, Storm has Gateway send her, Psylocke, Dazzler, and Rogue to an L.A. mall, where they shop, flirt, and battle a team of doofus mutant hunters called The M Squad.

“Resurrection and the Flesh” (X-Men #4, 1991)

No, “Resurrection and the Flesh” certainly does not sound like the type of fun, standalone story that has populated this list so far. And, in many ways, it isn’t. Not only does it debut the super-edgy bad guy Omega Red, but “Resurrection and the Flesh” includes a jumble of storylines involving Banshee and Moira MacTaggert having a spat, Shinobi Shaw leading a hip version of the Hellfire Club called the Upstarts, and other regular soap opera stuff.

But weaving throughout these larger storylines is a two-on-two basketball game, with Wolverine and Jubilee going up against Gambit and Rogue. Does Wolverine get mad and pop his claws? Of course! Does Rogue freak out when sweaty, shirtless Gambit tries to sneak a kiss? You know it! The basketball storyline in X-Men #4 is pure ’90s goodness, all delivered courtesy of Jim Lee’s overly-crosshatched art!

“X-Aminations” (X-Factor #87, 1993)

As fun as comics like X-Men #4 were, the ’90s weren’t exactly the high point of X-Men comics. With artists such as Lee and Rob Liefeld calling the shots, writers like Claremont and Louise Simonson were after thoughts at best. Which is why the cool kids knew that the best X-book of the early ’90s wasn’t either of the X-Men titles and certainly wasn’t X-Force. It was X-Factor, written by the brilliant and hilarious Peter David.

X-Factor #87 is the standout of David’s run, despite the incongruously flashy pencils by artist Joe Quesada. Set immediately after the big X-Cutioner’s Song event, “X-Aminations” consists of nothing but the various members in a therapy session with Leonard Samson. That might sound dry, but it shows the depth that David could bring to the characters. In just a few pages, Quicksilver explains the connection between his superspeed and his arrogance, Havok reveals the difficulty of leading a team in the shadow of his brother Cyclops, and more. The Polaris scenes clang a bit today, and the issue’s cliffhanger might confuse readers looking for a single issue read, but otherwise “X-Aminations” remains a classic.

“Silence: Psychic Rescue In Progress” (New X-Men #121, 2001)

The 1990s began with the X-Men at a high point, but years of letting flashy artists run the show began to wear as the decade went on. By the end of the new century, X-Men comics were shallow, self-indulged, and dull. Scottish writer Grant Morrison came in to fix that problem by making mutants hip and weird again. Also by putting the team in black leather, which seemed like a good idea at the time.

Morrison always does best with their fellow Scot Frank Quitely, who isn’t everyone’s favorite. But an issue like New X-Men #121 shows why Quitely is one of the best of the business. An almost entirely silent issue, “Silence: Psychic Rescue In Progress” involves psychics Jean Grey and Emma Frost exploring the confines of Professor X’s mind. The issue leads to a bigger arc involving Xavier’s evil twin Cassandra Nova, but it also works as a stand-alone glimpse of the wonders and terrors inside the good Professor’s brain.

“X-Statix: The Movie” (X-Statix #9, 2003)

Morrison wasn’t the only person pushing the boundaries of the X-Men in the early 2000s. Vertigo Comics mainstay Peter Milligan and indie great Mike Allred teamed to make X-Statix, a team of vain, young mutants who become hyper-violent reality tv stars. Hilariously, X-Statix first launched as X-Force and the first issue of the series saw almost every member of the team die in horrifying ways.

Those two facts speak to the level of irreverence that Milligan and Allred brought to the project, but it’s X-Statix #9 that best captures their approach. As the title suggests, “X-Statix: The Movie” features a movie made about the team. The issue’s filming plot carries on the critique of crass media that ran throughout the series. However, the reactions by the characters reveal a depth not always obvious in the book’s over-the-top tone, making for a complex and compelling story.

X-Men: Season One (2011)

To modern readers, especially those not immersed in Marvel Comics in general, the original five X-Men might seem like dull precursors to the good stuff that came later on. Sure, Iceman and Angel have their fans, but those guys don’t have the same draw as Wolverine. And while the initial stories about the Original Five aren’t terribly impressive, later visions of the early X-Men have made that team much more compelling.

The digest-sized one-shot X-Men: Season One comes from Dennis Hopeless and Jamie McKelvie, the perfect duo to give a modern spin on the ’60s characters. New student Jean Grey serves as the narrator, capturing the discomfort of being thrust into an unfamiliar world and the excitement of becoming an honest-to-goodness superhero. X-Men: Season One manages to be as wholesome as the 60s comics without ever getting hokey. Even better, it shows that the Original Five don’t need a short, hairy Canadian to be cool.

Cyclops #1 (2015)

If you’ve made it this far into the list, then you know that X-Men comics can get convoluted. They got even more messy in the mid-2010s, when Cyclops became a radical mutant liberation fighter. Worried that his old friend has become a terrorist, Beast makes the absurd decision to bring the original five X-Men, just days after Jean came to the school, into the present. So yes, for several years, there were two versions of Cyclops, Beast, Angel, and Iceman running around (Jean was dead. Again.).

Opinions vary on the quality of those stories, but no one can help but love the Cyclops series that came out of it. In the mainline continuity, Scott Summers thought his parents died in a plane crash, and did not learn that his father survived as the sexy space pirate Corsair until he was an adult. Written by Greg Rucka and penciled by Russell Dauterman, Cyclops gives teen Scott Summers a chance to make up for lost time and reconnect with dad. Of course, it doesn’t go as easily as he hopes, but the first issue of the series is a feel-good single issue.

“The End of the Beginning” (Wolverine: Weapon X #16, 2016)

“My best friend is dead,” begins Wolverine: Weapon X #16, written by Jason Aaron and penciled by Davide Gianfelice. The issue takes place shortly after Nightcrawler sacrificed himself, leaving his closest pal Wolverine to ponder the meaning of life. Nightcrawler and Wolverine have one of the best friendships in comics, mostly because of the vast differences between them. The gruff Wolverine tends to be nihilistic, while the devout and charming Nightcrawler keeps the faith.

“The End of the Beginning” finds Wolverine carrying out Nighcrawler’s last request. Ever the jokester, even in death, Nightcrawler charges his best friend with transporting a priceless piano to church at the top of a Venezuelan mountain. What follows is a combination of pathos and humor, as Wolverine recalls everything he loved and hated about his friend. Even if Nightcrawler’s death turned out to be more of a passing phase than eternal rest, the issue still works as a fitting tribute to old pals.

“Lifedeath” (X-Men #7, 2019)

Of course, Nightcrawler comes back to life. Because as much as the X-Men die, they also get resurrected on a regular basis too. So when writer Jonathan Hickman came onboard with a massive relaunch of the X-Men line, in which the mutants form a sovereign nation on the island Krakoa, he also made the mutants’ many returns into a feature instead of a bug. On Krakoa, all mutants can get resurrected in new bodies, which is particularly good news for the thousands of former mutants who lost their powers when the Scarlet Witch wished them away.

“Lifedeath,” a title that pays tribute to a classic set of Storm stories, shows how the de-powered mutants get resurrected with their abilities intact, and it isn’t pretty. The hulking Apocalypse stands in an arena, towering over the depowered wraith Melody Guthrie. As he monologues about worthiness and evolution, Apocalypse battles the tiny Melody, easily mangling her body in the process. Of course, it all leads to her resurrection as the mutant Aero, but the issue also acknowledges the upsetting nature of the ritual.

“Inside the Vault/Out of the Vault” (X-Men #18 – 19, 2021)

As the above description suggests, Hickman gets a lot of credit for his big ideas, and with good reason. But he also deserves credit for his excellent storytelling chops. “Into the Vault” does play like an overwhelming Hickman tale, as it follows a trio of young mutants — Laura Kinney aka Wolverine, Darwin, and Synch — into a vault where time passes differently, in order to investigate the threat posed by the godlike figures inside.

But the emotional core of the two stories comes from the relationship between Wolverine and Synch, who live decades as survivors and freedom fighters inside of the vault. During those years, the two form a bond that becomes deep love and companionship. And yet, when they die at the end of their battle, they get resurrected as teens again on Krakoa, with only a few days past. Worse, Wolverine has no memory of her relationship with Synch. Hickman and artist Mahmud Asrar nail the over-the-top action of the story’s sci-fi premise, but they also nail the smaller elements, including the basic tragedy of an epic romance that no longer exists.

The post The Most Underrated X-Men Stories of All Time appeared first on Den of Geek.

A new chapter in Doctor Who canon history began with the first full episode of the Fifteenth Doctor’s adventures “The Church on Ruby Road.” Series 14 opener “Space Babies” takes the Doctor and Ruby’s travels to the distant future. The adventures that follow will also feature trips to the Swinging ’60s, to the Regency Era, and to faraway planets. 

While there will be moments of dancing, sightseeing, and meeting new people and beings, there will also be moments of danger. Whether from villains upset that their plans for domination are being challenged, or from extremes in the environment, there are plenty of things to trigger the Doctor and Ruby Sunday’s fight-or-flight instinct.

Den of Geek interviewed Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson about their character traits, what the Doctor and companion Ruby are most afraid of this season, and the importance of opening the TARDIS door to everyone.

Millie Gibson describes Ruby as “feisty, optimistic, and hot,” but there’s also something unresolved inside her. “The Church on Ruby Road” revealed that Ruby cannot quite wrap her mind around not being able to find her birth parents, which comes to form a key part of her character arc.

Ruby still has a relationship with her adopted mother and grandma when she decides to hop aboard the TARDIS and that bond is both a comfort and a source of concern for Ruby in the episodes ahead. “I think Ruby is scared of losing her family because they’re her world,” says Gibson. “It’s a beautiful element in the show, that Russell [T Davies, showrunner] has kind of incorporated, that it’s not the family you have, it’s the one you choose, and the family that Ruby has chosen is so special to her.”

There’s some thematic overlap with the Fifteenth Doctor’s character traits, according to Gatwa. “My Doctor is confident, vulnerable, and flirty,” he tells Den of Geek, but like all Doctors, there’s also a point of vulnerability to which the character is reluctant to admit. Fear and facing those fears in various forms is often the bedrock of many a great Doctor Who story. 

The most obvious fear The Doctor carries through the entire series is the death of the current regeneration or losing a companion or friend who can’t regenerate. 

Death isn’t the only way to lose a companion. Freema Agyeman’s Martha Jones chose to step away from the TARDIS and continue with her medical training before her luck with the Tenth Doctor finally ran out. Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill’s Amy and Rory ended up stuck in the past where the Eleventh Doctor could no longer reach them (for timey-wimey reasons) in “The Angels Take in Manhattan.” Billie Piper’s Rose and the Doctor were separated by living in different dimensions at the end of “Doomsday.”

Another foundational form of fear in Doctor Who arises from fear of the unknown or fear of losing control of a situation. This is particularly true in episodes set in outer space. Normal human fears such as heights, the dark, or being chased by a monster are magnified and brought to life in these new environments. So far the Fifteenth Doctor has shown the Goblin King who is the real boss but some future opponents will arise this season that will require more than confidence or on-the-run improvisation to defeat. The Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby will have to overcome their immediate anxiety over their adventures taking a turn for the worse by looking for clues along the way, tapping into their talents, and relying on technology to solve the problem.

While Ruby’s motivation this season will be to keep the connection to her family going, some of the Fifteenth Doctor’s anxiety is based on his growing bond with Ruby. “He’s scared of Ruby,” says Gatwa. “I think he’s nervous about letting people into his life, who are the people that can challenge him. She might not scare him, but certainly he’s like, ‘I can’t mess around with you’ sort-of-thing.” 

The Doctor’s attitudes towards platonic, familial, professional, and in some cases romantic bonds with companions vary widely. The Thirteenth Doctor in her early episodes tried to keep her fam Yaz, Ryan, and Graham (Mandip Gill, Tosin Cole and Bradley Walsh) at a distance emotionally out of fear of losing them, but failed. 

Catherine Tate’s Donna was quick to call out when the Tenth Doctor either underestimated her or the complexity of the villain of the week. Ruby is younger than Donna but she has the potential throughout the new season to point the Doctor in a different direction or offer a second pair of hands to solve the problem.

Fifteen’s hesitation to let Ruby in at first doesn’t at all signal the end of their characters’ development. The Doctor and Ruby as the season progresses will develop “a beautiful, platonic relationship,” Gatwa said. “They’re two best friends, that are both curious, and also have a cheeky streak in them. They’re the two kids that try to help or push the button when there’s a button that says ‘Do not press,’ and they’re like ‘we just have to do it.’ They both have that energy to them. They just can’t help themselves but get into trouble, but they’ve got hearts of gold.”

There is another kind of fear altogether that the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby’s adventures may inspire in some sections of fandom: the fear of change, despite some elements remaining the same. Russell T. Davies is returning as showrunner and yet Disney+ is now in charge of international promotion and distribution. Fans have already seen Jo Martin officially play the first canonically Black Doctor and now Ncuti Gatwa will be the first ever Black male Doctor. 

The series 12 tagline was “Space, For Everyone” and series 14 builds on that theme both in front of and behind the camera. “I certainly wanted to see a lot more diversity in the crew, when I arrived, and so I think we as a production tried to make that happen,” Gatwa said. “This initiative has allowed for new people to enter into the industry which can be a very closed-off place for new people to break into. A lot of this initiative is also coming from Russell in the show and, everyone on the crew wants to take it on. And so you know if you’re going to be in that sphere, that Doctor Who is going to be pushing things forward.”

It’s now up to the fans who might be hesitant about series 14 to give The Doctor and Ruby Sunday’s adventures a chance.

Doctor Who will premiere on Disney+ on May 10th at 7PM ET/4 PM PT and on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK at midnight on May 11th.

The post Doctor Who’s Ncuti Gatwa on Why the Doctor is “Scared of Ruby” appeared first on Den of Geek.