This article appears in the new issue of DEN OF GEEK magazine. You can read all of our magazine stories here. How can somebody sound like they’re running if they don’t breathe? This is the sort of question Lupita Nyong’o had to ask as she was recording the voice of Rozzum unit 7134, the titular wild robot in The Wild Robot. “We did a scene where Roz was running through a field, and I realized, “Oh my God, Roz doesn’t have breath! So how do I perform her running with no breath, which would have been the default if I was performing a…

A case can be made that in the 21st century Bumblebee has become the most popular Transformer. He’s certainly the most loved Autobot after the big red fire truck we call Optimus Prime. This is in large part due to his starring role in the first live-action Transformers movie of 2007. Despite having almost no lines of dialogue—the poor robot lost his voice!—Bumblebee found novel ways of communicating with Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky: he used music and created the sensation of your first car as a teenager being your best mate. It’s a trick that was expanded on in the…

This article is the best at what it does, but what it does is spoil Deadpool & Wolverine. When it comes to the big screen, there’s only one Wolverine and his name is Hugh Jackman. After Dougray Scott stuck shooting Mission: Impossible II for longer than anticipated and had to drop out of playing Logan in 2000’s X-Men, Jackman has owned the part. Not even a noble and beloved death in Logan can put a stop to Jackman’s reign as cinema’s premiere Canucklehead, as he dons the goofy mask and yellow duds in full for Deadpool & Wolverine. But while…

This article has Deadpool & Wolverine spoilers galore. Going into Deadpool & Wolverine, conventional wisdom held that the film would be a definitive end to the X-Men movies produced by 20th Century Fox. After all, even if Kevin Feige had a hand in crafting that universe, serving as a producer on X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand, he didn’t enjoy the full control that he has now as head of Marvel Studios. And given the multiple wrong turns, not to mention more than a few bad men who have been involved with the franchise, it might be nice…

From his very first appearance in 1940’s Batman #1, the Joker has been an evil genius, a man whose madness allowed him to concoct plans that no one could anticipate. But the most recent Oscar-winning version of the character (and it’s weird to realize there’s more than one!) couldn’t be more different from that idea. Todd Phillips, director and writer (with Scott Silver) of 2019’s Joker, and maestro of the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux, recently went so far as to explain the difference between Arthur Fleck, the character he and Joaquin Phoenix have developed for the screen, and the…

Disney+, Hulu, and Max are joining forces and offering subscribers the opportunity to bundle all three streaming services and save a little money in the process. Though this may seem like a somewhat desperate grab by the media companies, which have continually raised prices and added ad-tiers on their bleeding streaming platforms, it nonetheless seems like there will be a benefit to subscribers who want to save a little money while having access to all three streamers. At the current price, the bundle saves subscribers 38 percent of what it normally costs to subscribe to each of these streaming services…

When Chris Hemsworth was presented with the challenge of playing a younger version of Optimus Prime in the animated film Transformers One, he probably thought to himself, “Roll out!” But that famous catchphrase, delivered by Peter Cullen since the original 1984 cartoon show, actually presented a challenge for Hemsworth as well. “I don’t want to follow or mimic what Peter Cullen’s done,” the Australian recalls telling producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura when he was first offered the part. If he was going to step into another iconic character’s, err, wheels, he would need to make it his own. Fortunately, Hemsworth learned,…

Warning: contains spoilers for Time Bandits (1981) & (2024) episodes one & two. “Strong language, self-harm references & violence. This programme isn’t suitable for younger viewers,” is the warning from Channel4.com to anybody currently wishing to stream Terry Gilliam’s 1981 fantasy adventure film Time Bandits in the UK. Despite the film’s “G” (all ages admitted) rating, the streamer asks viewers to confirm that they’re over the age of 16 before it will play. An overreaction, or fair dos, in light of the film’s meaty battle scenes and famously bleak ending? The Original Time Bandits Ending In the film’s final scenes,…

While perhaps not as immediately obvious as a drooling xenomorph with acid-for-blood, one of the many secrets to the Alien franchise’s longevity has been its casting. The original 1979 movie directed by Ridley Scott is rightly celebrated for introducing Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley to the world, yet that whole film’s ensemble is pretty extraordinary. For all intents and purposes, it marked American audiences’ introductions to John Hurt and Ian Holm while also featuring an overall grizzled naturalism, courtesy of actors like Tom Skerritt and Yaphet Kotto. When the folks starring in the series’ latest iteration, Alien: Romulus, think back…

This article appears in the new issue of DEN OF GEEK magazine. You can read all of our magazine stories here. When Hostel director Eli Roth was cast as the Bear Jew in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds (2009), fans were skeptical that he would be up to the task, considering his relative inexperience in front of the camera.  “At the time, people were saying, ‘Why is Tarantino casting Eli? He’s not an actor,’” Roth tells Den of Geek magazine. “And Tarantino is going, ‘Yes, he is. Wait until the movie comes out.’ Fifteen years later, the Bear Jew is a classic character. The…

This article appears in the new issue of DEN OF GEEK magazine. You can read all of our magazine stories here. During the earliest production stages of an animated movie, it is common to begin the process with a series of exploratory paintings. “They are abstract and loose and just delicious paintings,” says Chris Sanders, the director of films such as Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon, and The Croods. But something special happened during the production of Sanders’ latest film, The Wild Robot, while he was sitting in a meeting and being shown some of these conceptual paintings. “Someone pushed…

This article is nothing but non-stop Deadpool & Wolverine spoilers! A key appeal to Marvel movies remains their cameos, as anyone who recognizes Stan Lee’s million-dollar smile will tell you. But Deadpool & Wolverine takes it to another level, as one would expect for Wade Wilson’s first entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe proper. Deadpool doesn’t just drag Wolverine into the fray with him for this one. No, he is bringing the whole Fox X-Men universe along for the ride, or at least as many of the B-listers and off-shoots from thereabouts that only the most hardcore of nerds or…

When Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem opened a year ago, it hit like a mutagen bomb. Despite our fab four characters of Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael being around for decades—this year marks their 40th(!) anniversary—never before had anyone really thought about treating them like… teenagers. In the dizzyingly animated film, the characters were played by real adolescents like Nicolas Cantu (Leo), Micah Abbey (Donnie), Shamon Brown Jr. (Mikey), and Brady Noon (Raph). None of whom were old enough to vote when first stepping into the recording booth—a place where they recorded entirely together and in a style apropos…

This article contains Deadpool & Wolverine Spoilers. It’s something fans have waited 20 years for when it comes to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, even if they didn’t know it. No, not the costume. We always knew we wanted to see Jackman in that little yellow and blue number. And when the mask came on during the third act of Deadpool & Wolverine, the roof of my particular theater strained from the high-decibel cheers. As beautiful as that costume was while watching Wolverine go on a Madonna-scored berserker rage, we have seen Jackman’s most beloved onscreen character up to his knees in…

This post contains massive spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine. We all know how post-credit scenes work, right? Nick Fury shows up and recruits Tony Stark into the Avengers. Thanos grabs the Infinity Gauntlet and promises to do the dirty work himself. The Beast tends to the wounds of Monica Rambeau. These scenes are among the purest translations from the comics that inspired the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Comic books often feature interludes in which a shadowy figure appears in the background and laughs malevolently about their future plans, promising more exciting stories in the future. Even the dumbest post-credit scenes, such…

When Variety recently reported that Michael Bay and Adam Goodman are pursuing the development of TV and film projects based on Skibidi Toilet, you could practically hear the voices of everyone above the age of 25 or so cry out into the night “What is Skibidi Toilet and why is Michael Bay trying to make a movie about it?” It’s a valid question that has often been asked in slightly different forms by parents everywhere as they debate the long-term consequences of letting their kids roam the internet freely vs. the short-term benefits of having a little quiet time to…

This article appears in the new issue of DEN OF GEEK magazine. You can read all of our magazine stories here. Before he ever settled on a pitch to 20th Century Studios, Fede Alvarez invited close friends and colleagues, cinephiles, and horror connoisseurs, into his home. At this point in his career, the Uruguayan director had once already pulled off a magic trick by becoming the first person not named Sam Raimi to helm an Evil Dead movie. Miraculously, he was celebrated for that walk across cinematic holy ground. Now, Alvarez wanted to workshop an even more death-defying stunt. He was going to share…

This article is part of Collector’s Digest, an editorial series powered by: From out of the shadows of indie comic books to the bright lights of Hollywood, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is one of the unlikeliest success stories in modern popular culture. Centered around juvenile ninjutsu masters Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello, plus their many friends and enemies, TMNT has outlived most other franchises from the 1980s. Its cultural dominance of 40 years is asserted across comics, cartoons, big-budget movies, and, of course, collectors’ shelves.  What has given the Ninja Turtles their lasting legs, aside from their intense training, is…

Alien: Romulus stalks the cover of Den of Geek magazine, bundled with a special edition packed with exclusives on Netflix’s Terminator Zero and the streamer’s animation slate Den of Geek to host invite-only parties, including a SpongeBob 25th anniversary bash in Bikini Bottom, a celebrity interview studio, fan meetups, and a live charity auction on eBay Live NEW YORK – JULY 24, 2024 – Den of Geek, the leading entertainment media company for pop culture enthusiasts, returns to San Diego Comic-Con with its biggest slate ever: four full days of parties, events, and activations, a special double issue of its…

The X-Men are dead. Well, the first set of movie X-Men, anyway. After decades of thrilling readers with soapy, intricate stories in the pages of Marvel Comics, the X-Men finally made it to the big screen with 2000’s X-Men. Despite its clear limitations, including unconvincing CGI and black leather instead of comics’ accurate costumes, X-Men set off a long and profitable franchise, one that stretches over 13 movies and 20 years. That run (kind of) came to an end after Disney purchased 20th Century Fox in 2019. While the Mouse was obligated to release a handful of more mutant movies…