Breaking Down D23 | Chapter 287

[00:00:00] Warning, this chapter of Distance Nerding was recorded live, which means there may be strong language, unsuitable for children, and unusual humor, which may be unsuitable for everyone who claims to be human. Parental discretion is advised. Distance NERDing.

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[00:01:56] So come and check that out, guys. Is that a Mickey shirt? Mickey. Little Vans Mickey shirt. It's D23. It's kind of dope. I like that. It's our D23 episode. All right. Well, ladies and gentlemen, you have now stumbled onto the worst kept secret on all of the internet, and you know what that means. You are now watching Distance Nerding. Let's do this.

[00:02:20] That is right. There we go. So let's get right into all of this. John Mez, tell the lovely folks what we got on deck this week. DC updates. D23 is all ready to unpack.

[00:02:46] We say farewell to a hero, and the X-Men have arrived. It's going to be good. Absolutely. It's going to be a whole hell of a lot of fun. We will be getting down and talking about some crazy news going out. But before we do, ladies and gentlemen, let's talk about our first sponsor of the night. John Mez, who's bringing the show to us tonight? Check out Colossus Girl Entertainment fan-focused Comic-Cons across the West Coast,

[00:03:14] including Beaver State Comic-Con, Metal Art Comic-Con, Anna Medford, Tri-Cities Powerhouse, which was just this last weekend, Silver Age Comic-Con, and Gem State Comic-Con. Comics, cosplay, vendors, artists, celebrity guests, so much more. Visit ColossusGirlENT.com. Planning your next Comic-Con. All right. So there we go. Jumping into that. Let's talk about our first segment of the night. Ladies and gentlemen, we got to get all that Marvel news out of the way, because so much of it happened. That's right.

[00:03:45] It's time for some straight from J. Jonah Jameson. There it be. There you go. Sound effect for you. There's some music. There you go. There's a sound effect for you, James. Easy. You're going to pull a hand me with that. Move along. Hold on. Hold on. All right. Let's do it. The Hulk isn't the only green superhero. Spider-Man Brand New Day has officially become the fastest movie in history to cross $700 million at the domestic box office.

[00:04:14] Holy cow. With its third weekend approaching, the Tom Holland-led Marvel movie reached $704.5 million in North America on Wednesday, continuing a theatrical run that has been absolutely massive since opening on July 31st. I'm so glad I saw this movie. It's such an event movie. Such an event movie. It really is, dude. This movie was really good. I mean, I ran a review on the page. Definitely worth your time.

[00:04:44] If you're still sitting on this and you haven't gone to go see this movie, I don't know. Maybe you don't want to go and contribute to an almost $2 billion movie. But still, go watch it. It is a good movie. It is well worth the watch. I know. $174.5 million domestically. Brand New Day has moved to number seven on the all-time North American box office chart. Oh, my goodness.

[00:05:13] Considering the movie has only been playing for a couple weeks, there's still plenty of runway ahead of it. The international numbers are just as impressive. Check this out. Brand New Day has earned $1.1 billion overseas. Oh, my gosh. Will it pass No Way Home, which was $1.9 billion total? Oh, my gosh. I think it will. $1 billion. $1 billion.

[00:05:41] Honestly, honestly, if all the movies that this is it, that's going to pass $2 billion, it's going to be this movie. Because it only has to do like $0.3 million, and it's only in three weeks. Yeah, it's insane. And again, this film is worth the watch. It is worth all the money that it's making. The question is, does this movie end up being the highest grossing they do? Or does it get outdone by Doomsday in December?

[00:06:11] That's interesting. The one question I have about that, I know we're talking about Infinity Vision and all that stuff, but it's not in every theater yet. That being said, when Doomsday comes out, Dune is going to own IMAX the first, I think, week or two weeks. So, I mean, that's just less showings for Doomsday. It's going to be interesting to see how that whole thing rides out. You know what I mean? Exactly, exactly.

[00:06:40] But Spider-Man is doing so well, so worth it, such a good movie. It is my favorite Spider-Man of all the Spider-Man movies. He's very Peter Parker in this, and it's definitely, it's a massive growth arc, and it's definitely something that we needed through the entire Spider-Man franchise. All right, let's go, because the Spidey sense keeps tingling. Disney revealed the first teaser for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 2 at D23.

[00:07:11] And Peter Parker's next adventure is getting much, much bigger. The footage brings Eddie Brock into the story. Fans get a glimpse of Ghost Spider. It brings back Doc Ock and Daredevil and so many more characters. Marvel Television and Marvel Animation executive Brad Winterbomb has already confirmed that he has a significant factor in Season 2. And the teaser certainly supports that.

[00:07:39] Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 2 premieres on Disney+, January 2027. Have you watched this show? Absolutely. I loved Season 1. Season 1 was so good. The way that they kind of connected Peter with Gwen, with Tombstone, with all the different characters that are in there. I loved the relationship that we got out of all that. Just how friendly the relationships really were.

[00:08:07] I love the Norman Osborn aspect of it. I really do feel like he needs to play Norman in the MCU as well. And yeah, I thought it was great, man. I can't wait for Season 2, knowing that they're going to be getting into the symbiotes. This seems like the route that they're starting to move towards with Spider-Man in general. Because the rumor has it that we're going to be getting symbiotes in Avengers Secret Wars. Yep.

[00:08:37] Starting to happen. Starting to happen. We'll see. I don't see. I still don't think it's going to connect to the Tom Hardy Venom. I don't think that's going to happen. I don't think so either. I don't think Tom Hardy Venom is going to be a part of this. But they did, at the end of No Way Home, they did show that the symbiote survived when his version of Venom went back to his universe. Yeah.

[00:09:06] So there's a portion of the symbiote that got left behind in the MCU. Right. So with that, I feel like that's going to be something significant down the road. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[00:09:46] Real quick. a big, like, just comic nerd that loves Easter eggs. You'll love Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Yep. Okay. Moving on. We're starting to see Marvel's vision for Vision Quest. Eh? Eh? See what I did there? Marvel took the stage at D23 to present us with an awesome new trailer for the series Vision Quest starring Paul Bettany back as Vision.

[00:10:14] And the show will round out the WandaVision trilogy. The eight-episode series, now we know it's eight episodes, will see Vision back in both his android and human form for the first time since WandaVision. Right. Did you watch the trailer for this? I did. Oh, it's so good, man. I love the amount. So we knew we were getting more Ultron. Yeah.

[00:10:42] I was not expecting him to be all over this trailer the way he is. Right. You know. James Spader. How about Peepaw? Yeah. And it's James Spader, full beard, looking like, you know, just like, just, oh my God. I love just the amount of James Spader that we're getting in that trailer and it makes me more excited for the show. Yeah. I thought it was, I thought it was pretty cool. And you know, they really haven't talked that much about Vision Quest.

[00:11:09] It's coming up, but they really haven't been pushing it that much. So it's nice to get this trailer, know that it's coming, know that we have a date, starting to see what's behind the scenes of it all. But I do have some info for you. So some mysterious artwork appeared at Vision Quest display at D23 and longtime Marvel fans quickly spotted what could be a major clue hiding in plain sight.

[00:11:37] The image appears to tease Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch, an android superhero whose Marvel history stretched back to 1939, like back in, you know, like Human Torch, Namor, Captain America. And that was it. Right. That was like the entire gamut of superheroes.

[00:11:58] So if that's really Hammond in the artwork, his arrival could fit perfectly into the strange technological corner of the MCU. Kind of neat that, you know, if any show could have this, Vision Quest has like an Easter egg for the original Human Torch. I kind of dig it. Right. And I feel like that's what it's going to be. I feel like it's just going to be an Easter egg, you know, like one of those if you know, you know kind of things.

[00:12:25] I don't know that they're going to actually be bringing Hammond into the show in general or into the MCU in general. But I think it's just going to be one of those kind of like, you know, here's an Easter egg for those of you who know, you know, the comics and the characters. Exactly. So I mentioned it before, but Vision Quest premieres on Disney Plus October 14th. So we're what, like 10? Oh, no, wait. Two months away. Yeah. Like 10 weeks away.

[00:12:55] Like, yeah, roughly. That's interesting. I like it. Super excited. This next one, it's not from D23, but it kind of spun out of D23. So is Namor doomed to lose his throne? A new rumor surrounding Avengers Doomsday and Avengers Secret Wars suggests that something major could happen to Namor. And the consequences may carry directly into Black Panther 3.

[00:13:22] According to Cosmic Circus, Namor could find himself forced to yield to another ruler while trying to protect his people. Interesting. Remember we saw that scene where it was like the ocean floor is just sand, no water? Yeah. Interesting. So I've talked about this in the past, right? When you kind of talk about what the storylines with Namor, storylines with Black Panther and everything like that.

[00:13:50] And it kind of harkens back to the War of the Two Nations, basically where Doctor Doom pits Wakanda up against. I mean, it was Atlantis in the comics, but I mean, you know, like he pits them up together. Talocan. And it's Talocan in the MCU.

[00:14:11] But it's like if you have the two of them fighting, if you're talking about somebody usurping the throne from Namor, who better than Doctor Doom? Right. Right. You know, and just thinking about it, is that a way to take him off the board? You know what I mean? Like get him out of the fight because he has to protect his people. Right. That's what he cares about the most. So it's like, all right, this is our way to get him to not be a player in this game. Right.

[00:14:40] So I thought that was interesting. And like maybe that's what happens. Why we don't see more of Namor, you know, in some of the visuals that we've gotten. So Avengers Secret Wars is scheduled to arrive on December 17th, 2027, while Black Panther 3 is following roughly a year later, December 15th, 2028. Oh, OK. I was like, wait a minute. Secret Wars. Oh, wait. No, we're talking about Secret Wars.

[00:15:09] And then Black Panther comes out a year later. OK. I was a little hesitant to get in there because I'm like, why do I need to talk about Secret Wars and Black Panther? We haven't even got past, you know, Doomsday yet. But right. Somebody was was posting the rumor. I'm like, that's kind of interesting. I wonder if that could happen. So we're starting to get rumors out of D23. Right. They're trying to build hype already. And I mean, I'm for it. Yeah.

[00:15:36] Speaking of rumors out of D23. So what if Hayley Atwell is returning to the MCU in Avengers Doomsday, but Peggy Carter isn't the Peggy Carter we know? A theory shared by James Mack on X proposes a much darker explanation for Atwell's return.

[00:15:57] Only one of the Latverian witches will show her face and she's disguised as Peggy Carter, the Latverian witch appeared at Marvel's booth during SDCC. And I was like, wait a second. That would be a good way to throw Steve Rogers off his game. Yeah, absolutely. You know, if he sees Peggy and then later on he sees he sees Tony, which is really Victor Von Doom.

[00:16:23] Like if there's a way to throw him off like that, that's a way to throw off Steve Rogers. So is Dr. Doom exploding Steve's connection to Peggy? He might be, man. I feel like if they go that route, they tap into that kind of like emotional, like that guttural emotional kind of instinct of, you know, this is like the one person that Steve was willing to give up the world for.

[00:16:52] Exactly. Yeah. That's totally it. So I don't know. That's that's I know it feels like a little bit of a stretch, but I'm like, if if they just took the mask off for a second and it was Peggy and it just he had to pause and rethink what he was doing. That could just be a way for Doom to like get into Steve's brain. Yeah. So again, Doomsday arrives in theaters December 18th, 2026. All right.

[00:17:21] Oh, this one's a good one. Marvel brought Hall H to D23. Marvel Studios has officially released the latest trailer for Avengers Doomsday following Marvel's D23 presentation, giving everyone a chance to dig into footage that previously played for fans inside Hall H at San Diego Comic Con. Have you? Yeah, we we talked about this. So we covered this. You know, we talked about the rumors and everybody did the kind of play by play.

[00:17:49] So we kind of covered everything we saw at at SDCC in like the recap. So if you need to go check it out, go check it out. It's on YouTube. But yeah, it's kind of nice to like finally see the footage and it all kind of be accurate for what people said was happening at SDCC. Right. The whole thing starting with with Sue Storm narrating the whole thing and then it kind of goes into Doctor Doom and, you know, the Sentinels behind him and all that.

[00:18:19] Like it's it's it's a cool trailer either way. And it's kind of like we're getting more and more of this and it's just kind of building more and more hype for Doomsday in December. Yeah, I dig it. Plus, you get to see a little bit of emotion out of Reed Richards. Yeah. And that's something I didn't get when we kind of read the description of what the trailer was. So seeing Reed kind of break at that point. Like, there you go. Now we're paying Pedro. I like this. That's good. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:18:50] So before Doomsday hits theaters, Avengers Endgame Encore will be released on September 25th, bringing some new footage along with a refresher on where Marvel left its heroes. Then Avengers Doomsday hits December 18th. I brought that up because we're like five weeks away. I know it's getting closer and closer, man. It really is getting just closer to all of this.

[00:19:16] And I mean, I do and I don't want to go see Endgame because it's like the Infinity Vision is not the thing that brings me to it. It's more wanting to know, OK, what are you guys retconning? Exactly. That's what I want to know. I don't even care about the Infinity Vision. You know, like it's going to be there or it's not going to be there. It's not going to make me change which theater I'm going to go see the film at. But I do want to go see Endgame in theaters. Yeah.

[00:19:47] I think between we had San Diego, we had the trailer, then we had San Diego Comic-Con. Now D23. I think once Endgame Encore hits, it's like full bore into Doomsday. Right. The ramp up is there. So, OK, next one. I think it's my last one. This is my last Marvel one. OK, here we go. To me, my new cast of the X-Men.

[00:20:16] Marvel's mutants are officially assembling and the studio just confirmed the cast for X-Men at D23. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige welcomed director Jake Shearer and members of the newly revealed cast to the stage, along with unveiling the movie's logo. Pretty straightforward logo. And the date, May 5th, 2028.

[00:20:38] They announced several cast member additions, including Rogue, Storm, Emma Frost, Professor X, and an interesting one played by Adam Driver. So he's finally confirmed to be in the X-Men. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we're going to talk about the Adam Driver one because, yeah, the minute he said it again, it was really funny the way he did the announcement. But yes, the minute he said it, I knew exactly who it was. That's that's true.

[00:21:08] Let's let's run down who's who's in it and then we'll go from there. So the team will be led, I guess, led by Sadie Sink. So, again, she she is Jean Grey. It's out there now. Like whether you watch Spider-Man or not, she was on stage with the X-Men. Sadie Sink is Jean Grey. Kit Connor confirmed to be Cyclops. Sink recently made her MCU debut as Jean Grey and Spider-Man. They'll be joined by Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles Xavier.

[00:21:37] Samara Weaving as Emma Frost. Abbott, who recently starred in Wolfman, had previously been reported as Marvel's new Professor X, while Weaving had been previously announced for Emma Frost. So all that's kind of leading and leading into the rest of the cast. The only one we didn't get was Beast, but I think that's coming. Anyway, the cast announcements got more interesting with Indy Navarrete officially taking on Rogue.

[00:22:07] I like that. And then I think this is probably the the sleeper out of them all. Maya Boyd lands the role of Storm. That one was kind of the one that was left field, right? Because nobody was expecting Maya Boyd. But Indy Navarrete, for some reason, the Internet is both excited, but also all the fanboys are pissed about it. And I'm like, I don't I don't understand it at all in any way.

[00:22:34] Why anybody would be upset that Indy Navarrete is playing Rogue? Because she is she's killing it and everything she's doing. Mm hmm. And it's like, I think she's great. Yeah, it's like, I think she was a great pick for Rogue. But like, for some reason, people on the like fanboys on the Internet are pissed off about it. And it's like, you guys just are perpetually upset for absolutely no reason. Yeah, I don't I don't get it. Yeah. It's like, how do how do we silence these guys?

[00:23:02] Can we can we put can we put them on a break? Yeah. Like on Facebook, you know, like when you put somebody on a break, can we put them on a break? I want to watch Obsession just because of the clips I've seen with her in Obsession. Yeah. But and I'm not I'm not like a horror guy either. But just seeing how she pulls off the role and the acting, I'm like, oh, I kind of want to see more about you. So we'll see. Anyway, back where were we? Maya Boyd.

[00:23:31] Maya Boyd is the biggest wild card because it's her first film or television role that she's had. It's kind of crazy that they they kind of grab somebody. I guess she's been on stage. So I guess she's had serious stage experience, having made her Broadway debut in Merrily We Roll Along before playing Juliet in the Broadway production of. I think it's and Juliet.

[00:24:01] Juliet is what it's called. Yeah. Yeah. So then this is the one we were talking about. There's Adam Driver. Who will be playing Nathaniel Milbury. That's it. So again, the way he announced it, right? Yeah. He comes on screen. He everybody gets all excited. He goes, I'm here to announce that I'm going to be playing Magneto. And then somebody says something to him. Oh, wait. I wasn't. I'm not Magneto.

[00:24:30] Oh, Nathaniel Milbury. And then that's it. Just ends it like that. Like what? OK, that's funny. I actually, the more I think about it, the more I like him as Sinister. I thought his last name was Essex. So it is Milbury from Nathaniel Milbury is another alias that he went by. Nathaniel Essex is his actual name.

[00:24:56] But I mean, he's gone by like so many different aliases over the course of his lifetime. Why do you why do you have X-Men have so many Nathans and Nathaniels? There's like five different characters named Nathaniel. Right. And it's funny because like Nathaniel Essex is after the father of, you know, Nathaniel Summers. Yeah, it's weird. It's weird.

[00:25:24] Anyway, so that's he got announced. Mr. Sinister, I think he's going to be great. And you know what's what's nice is that you the way you see him on that screen, he looks a little bit more filled out. He looks more like an adult than, you know, kind of scrawny, whining, force wielding. You know, Kylo Ren. The other thing I liked about it, too, was the whole joke about they told me that we were filming and I guess I got the wrong message.

[00:25:53] And he's like in a soundstage in Pinewood. Yeah, nobody around. He's like an empty soundstage with like nothing around. Marvel's getting good at these announcements. Yeah, it's really good. All right. So that's the X-Men cast. I like that it's rounding out again. And the rumor is Beast is going to be in this like a younger, you know, recasted Beast, not like the the Kelsey Grammar version, but a young beast. But they haven't announced it yet.

[00:26:23] So we'll see. X-Men arrives in theaters on May 5th, 2028. All right. I was just looking at the chat and I'm just like, I don't understand what Chris Bradley just said. You don't know Tommy Toughnuckles? Come on, bro. I don't know either. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that is it for our round around Marvel.

[00:26:49] So let's jump into watching the Watchtower because it's time to get into the DC news here, guys. We've got a couple of different small things we're going to talk about here. So let's jump into this. All right. You want me to do it? You want me to do it? No, I got it. I'll take it. Yeah. It'll be you. Nathan Fillion's loudmouth Green Lantern isn't going anywhere. After bringing Guy Gardner and his magnificently questionable haircut into the DCU with Superman,

[00:27:19] Fillion is officially carrying the character into animation for DC Studios' upcoming adult series, Mr. Miracle. Again, very excited about this. Tom King confirmed Fillion's involvement and sounds pretty damn happy about bringing this particular brand of Guy Gardner into Scott Free's increasingly complicated life. We brought Nathan into Mr. Miracle's show and doing that, it's just so wonderful, King tells EW. He brings that energy to every aspect of it.

[00:27:48] The upcoming Mr. Miracle adult animated series for the DCU does not have an exact release date yet, but creator Tom King revealed that it is expected to air sometime in 2027. Tom King dropping all the news. Tom King really dropping it right there. Getting the shine. Fine. Okay. All right. He's living his best lantern life. He's just like, yeah, now I'm going to drop it like it's hot right now. I know. I like it. I love that Tom King is involved. Tom King is such a good writer, man.

[00:28:17] It's just get Tom King anything comic book related and let him cook. That's basically it. Yeah. You know what I like about having Guy Gardner in a few different projects? It feels like the DCU is one thing versus like pockets of things. Right. That maybe will come together, but it just kind of reinforces that it's in one shared universe. And I like that. Right. And I mean, again, with all that, you have a lot of angry fanboys.

[00:28:45] But I mean, I don't I you know what you know what the fanboys, the angry fanboys, all like the ones that are like all hating on DC. You know what they are. If you go back and watch Superman. Yeah. Right. All the monkeys that were sitting there angrily posting on smashing the keyboards. Yeah. All the you know, they were just like angry. Crazy keyboard monkeys. Yeah. That's all. That's all the angry fanboys online.

[00:29:15] They're just a bunch of monkeys that are like pissed off at everybody. Throwing poo at anybody that doesn't think that Zack Snyder should should have the Snyder version. OK, I don't think they're fighting for Zack Snyder, but that's no, that's that's the majority of the DC, the DCU haters, the people who don't like DC is because they're upset that Zack Snyder didn't get to finish his universe. Oh, I thought you meant the monkeys in Superman. No, no, no, no. I'm not saying there.

[00:29:44] There's no hate towards Zack Snyder at all. It's it's the it's the the Snyder bros are the ones that are like throwing poo at people. Yeah, there you go. Hell no, Zack Zack Snyder. I'm sure again, he's friends with James Gunn. I'm sure they sit there and they laugh about this stuff. Agreed. Right. All right. Let's go ahead and move on here in brightest day in blackest night.

[00:30:10] Lantern season two shall now escape my sight. Not escape my sight. You're about to upset me right there, dude. Not escape my sight. I was like, really? Are you because I didn't actually get to. OK, take two. Go take two. I didn't actually get to read this story. So I was like, are you telling me it got canceled already? I'm about to be. No, no, no. In brightest day in blackest night. Lantern season two shall not escape my sight. All right. There. Yeah.

[00:30:41] All right. Keep that one going to the post. While HBO and DC studios haven't officially ordered the second season, co-creator Damon Lindelof says there's plenty of room to keep the story going. If audiences show up for season one, which the way the Internet is showing off right now, pretty sure we're going to get a season two during the lanterns premiere. Lindelof was asked by screen rant about the possibility of another season. And it sounds like the team has started thinking about seriously about what's coming next.

[00:31:11] If it's successful and people love it, there's a lot of runway to launch into future seasons. But I think Chris Mundy has already started a new writer's room figuring out what new stories could be for lanterns. Lanterns has debuted on HBO Max with episodes releasing weekly. Have you watched? Have you watched? I haven't yet. I haven't actually had a chance to watch anything and I really want to watch it. Oh, I so want to spoil it for you just for the fact that you haven't watched it.

[00:31:38] I also haven't finished X-Men 97 yet because I literally with what? Yeah. With everything happening at work. And then on top of that, the podcast and everything that I in this weekend, I didn't have any, any like. You finish House of Dragons. I haven't finished that either. Oh my gosh. No, I took an extra shift for work on Saturday. So I not had time at all this weekend for anything. So I'm so behind on everything. I'm going to try and see if I can catch up.

[00:32:07] But that's also. I'll tell you. I'll tell you this. So I know that everybody was complaining that it's too grounded, not enough like high flying, you know, Green Lantern stuff in it. I get it. I understand where they're coming from because it is a slow burn storytelling. But the way the episode wraps being told over not just two decades, but it's like there's actually a precursor to that.

[00:32:36] So it's actually three different timelines that were that were being told or telling the story, especially John, John Stewart story. It's so good the way it's piecing things together and the way it ends on a cliffhanger. Oh, my God. It's got me excited to watch it. It's got me excited to watch it. I'm going to try and at least see if I can watch it tonight if we've got time. All right. Let's let that's well, that's it for DC News.

[00:33:05] So with all that being said, let's jump into I believe it's time for the next sponsor here. That is correct. All right. Ladies and gentlemen, this show is brought to you by good folks. W is a brand of energy drinks created to help focus concentration reaction time with no jitters or crash. W contains no meltodextrin, no sugars, no fillers, no artificial colors or dyes. Find out more about W at www.w.gg. Use the code nerding 10 and get 10% off your order.

[00:33:35] All right. Well, ladies and gentlemen, let's jump into this. We've got so much to go over. But before we go over all the craziness at D23, we've got a little bit of a little bit of one shots first. A couple small tidbits, although the next story is not small and is very upsetting. All right. By the way, for more news trailers, including all the D23 stuff reactions, go check out

[00:34:02] the Distance Nerdington post on Facebook and let us know what you're nerding out on. All right. Some sad news from Hollywood. Hayden Panettiere, the actress who grew up in front of the audiences before becoming a fan favorite through Remember the Titans, Heroes, Nashville and the Scream franchise, has died at the incredibly young age of 36. Her representative confirmed her death to ABC News.

[00:34:31] A cause of death hasn't been announced. Her acting career stretched back all the way to 1994, where she was only five years old. So she appeared in this is crazy. Once I saw her like IMDb, but she appeared in 27 episodes of One Life to Live and later 45 episodes of Guiding Light. Yeah.

[00:34:56] She also got into voice acting early, playing Dot in A Bug's Life and Suri in Disney's Dinosaur movie. She had a crazy career. Then came Remember the Titans in 2000. Her movie credits include Raising Helen, Racing Stripes, Ice Princess, Bring It On, All or Nothing, Kingdom Hearts. I Love You, Beth Cooper and Alpha and Omega.

[00:35:21] In 2006, Panettiere landed the role of Claire Bennett in NBC's Heroes. Save the cheerleader, save the world. Save the cheerleader, save the world. Suddenly, she was one of the faces of one of the most biggest genre shows on television. I loved Heroes. It was like the show that spoke to me that I didn't know I needed, but I needed it. Save the cheerleader, save the show.

[00:35:46] I mean, what's crazy is, again, the tagline for the entire show was save the cheerleader, save the world. She was the cheerleader. Mm-hmm. So it's like... Mm-hmm. I know, but it's so crazy. Like, her career just keeps going. She found another major television role with Nashville playing country music star Juliet Barnes. Her performance earned her two Golden Globe dominations and became another defining chapter of her career.

[00:36:16] Then, after all that, horror fans, of course, knew her also as Kirby Reed. Panettiere joined Wes Craven's Scream in Scream 4 in 2000. And I think she was like in Scream 7 as well. She came back. Earlier this year, Panettiere told most of her story with a publication of her first memoir, This Is Me, A Reckoning, released in May.

[00:36:40] The book explored her life growing up in Hollywood and the painful experiences that came with it. So I think her brother also passed away, like, within the last year or two. So she's had, like, a tough, tough career of things. But again, like what you said, save the cheerleader. Save the world. Thank you, Hayden. You will be missed.

[00:37:03] There are a lot of ridiculous just rumors and theories and conspiracy theories and stuff of, like, surrounding her death. And it's just kind of like nothing has come out. And you guys are all making things up. I heard something about... Don't even give it that time of day. Yeah. It's the dumbest stuff.

[00:37:30] And it's like, guys, I mean, like, give her family a moment to grieve, man. Like, before you guys start throwing conspiracy theories out there. Like, come on, man. Yeah, it's horrible. She also had a... I think she had a 12-year-old girl. Yeah. So it makes it even more sad, you know? But, yeah. I really enjoyed her work. So it's sad that she's gone. Yeah. Yeah, I know. It's absolutely heartbreaking. All right. Do you want to do this next one? You want me to do... Yeah.

[00:37:59] I can handle the next one here. Just because, again, this is something that is also near and dear here. The boomstick is officially going back on the shelf. Bruce Campbell has confirmed that he's finished playing Ash in the Evil Dead franchise. And this time, his retirement extends beyond live-action appearances. The actor says he has no plans to voice the character in animation either, effectively closing the door on the long-discussed animated continuation of Ash vs. the Evil Dead.

[00:38:29] Campbell has been inseparable from Ash since Sam Raimi unleashed the Evil Dead in 1981. While speaking with Screen Rant about his new dramedy, Ernie and Emma, Campbell made his position clear saying Ash is done. And he isn't leaving an animated loophole open for him. Campbell confirmed he's not going to do any animated voice work as Ash.

[00:38:54] In March, Campbell revealed that he had been diagnosed with a form of cancer that he described as treatable but not curable. He also said he planned to reduce his workload and public appearances while focusing more on his health. Hopefully nobody reads from the Necronomicon anywhere near his retirement home. That's pretty cool, though. He goes out the way he wants to go out and says, like, I'm done. Like, I'm not going to. I'm not going to. I don't need to milk the whole Evil Dead thing. Like, it's been great.

[00:39:24] It's been fun. It's just my time to step away from it. Yeah. That's cool. I mean, it's bittersweet because, I mean, especially with Evil Dead kind of being, you know, in the zeitgeist again and making new movies. Like, I would have loved to see another, like, maybe we get an older Ash in there or something like that. But, you know, it is what it is. You know, we, we, I respect his decision.

[00:39:51] You know, that's the main thing is that, you know, I'm not upset with him. It's more like it's upsetting to know that we're not going to get any more Ash or at least his iteration of Ash unless they decide to, like, you know, do some other story with him and recast. But, you know, I, I, it's, it's his, his decision and I respect it. And if they do go the animation route, they could, I bet they'll try to, like, voice match him somehow. Yeah.

[00:40:19] There's a lot of people that do his voice, so. Yeah. All right. Moving on. The circus is back in town. Sort of. HBO has officially renewed it. Welcome to Derry for season two, bringing Stephen King's prequel series back for another trip into this horrifying history of the most cursed town in Maine. Who would ever want to live there?

[00:40:44] Season two will take the story back to 1935 during the Great Depression and center on the bloody massacre of the Bradley gang. The group of bank robbers stops in Derry to purchase ammunition, robbers purchasing ammunition, only to find themselves caught up in the kind of nightmare that only could happen in this town. That's fun. HBO has not announced any official release date for it.

[00:41:11] It welcomed Derry season two, but production is expected to begin in late 2026, which places the estimated premiere around 2027 or 2028. Okay. Okay. I enjoyed season one. There are a lot of people who didn't like season one. There are a lot of people who, you know, have their issues or have their issues with this iteration of it. I enjoy it. I thought they did.

[00:41:41] I thought they knocked it out of the park. I thought it was really well done. The storyline is very entertaining, very easy to watch. I mean, for a horror film, it's very easy to watch. Mm-hmm. But, yeah, I think it's great. I like that they've kind of telegraphed what they're going to be doing for all the seasons of the show. Yeah, the whole, like, 27 years thing. Mm-hmm.

[00:42:06] Like, the idea that they have, basically in the first season, they kind of announced, like, kind of where, you know, like, the different events that are going to happen that each season is going to circle around. So, I like that because it gives us kind of like an idea of where everything is going to go and can build excitement around, God, I can't wait to see this particular thing that happens in this world. Right. So, let me ask you a question.

[00:42:33] So, seeing it, like, a new version of it with Bill Skarsgård, right, and then watching a show, like, the storytelling, you know, like, movies, short form, hour, two hours, that sort of thing, versus a series, long form storytelling. Now we're getting a second season. What did it, how did it feel? Like, did they feel connected? Well, it was the same writer-director as the movie. Right.

[00:43:01] So, it definitely feels like it's in the same universe. It feels like it's in the same world and everything like that. A lot of it is them kind of following some of the rules that Stephen King has set up within the books. It does kind of, like, veer off on certain things. But, I mean, for the most part, it follows kind of, like, a lot of the rules that Stephen King has set. Which I, it makes, it made it that much more enjoyable for me.

[00:43:31] That and it's very much, like, they very much are building it where it is the connected universe that Stephen King writes. And what makes me more excited is, does that mean that it's eventually that that leads into, that leads into the Dark Tower? And we get, like, a good version of the Dark Tower. All right. Okay. I like it.

[00:43:58] I wonder if they're going to build out more of this universe, more than just Welcome to Derry. Yeah. Like what you're saying with this Stephen King universe, but, like, expanding on it in other shows or other movies, but having it all connect. I hope so. Yeah. It seems like that's what they're doing. Yeah. Okay. Next one. This one kind of sucks.

[00:44:23] This one really sucks, especially, especially knowing, knowing where I'm going in two weeks. Yeah, exactly. It's Morphin' time! We'll have to wait. The planned live action Power Rangers series for Disney Plus has reportedly been scrapped, bringing another attempt to revive the long-running superhero franchise to an early end.

[00:44:46] According to Deadline, Disney has decided not to move forward with the live action Power Rangers series, with budget concerns reportedly playing a major role in the decision. There's another important factor here as well. Disney doesn't own the Power Rangers, technically. Yeah. They have the rights to it, but they don't own it. Right. The franchise belongs to Hasbro, which also controls major properties like Barbie and Masters of the Universe.

[00:45:16] So, let me ask you, what do you think Disney should do with the Power Rangers? The next thing I think, and I've been talking about this with friends, you know, friend of the show, Joe Dekelmeyer, we had a conversation about this a couple days ago, everything like that. Same thing, friend of the show, Jimmy Arias, you know, he's another podcaster in the realm and everything. They need to make an anime. Yeah, that's a good route. Yeah.

[00:45:44] Power Ranger anime would be such a good route for that to go. One, it'd be a new type of property. Two, they could make it as grand and big as they want, but they can make it, like, serious and, like, not feel hokey. You know what I mean? And kind of give you, like, they could up the ante on the action if they did a Power Rangers anime. I think that that would be a really cool route because there's so much you can do with that.

[00:46:13] Make it as adult or, you know, whatever PG level you want it to be. You can just put it there as what you want. Yeah, that'd be a good idea. Say Wong saying, Toei would never let them do that. Never let them make an anime? Never let them make an anime. Because, I mean, like, they've been doing it. It's a live action series.

[00:46:37] They've been doing it for so long with Super Sentai and Gokaijur and kind of, like, all the different franchises that Power Rangers are kind of, like, you know, inspired by. This is something that would be still separate from, you know, like, it's a Power Ranger thing. Because, I mean, like, if you read the comics, if you look at, like, the stuff that they've done in the comics,

[00:47:06] the comics are, like, they have all that action and they have all that kind of, like, it just feels very, like, it fits really well. And I feel like an anime would be, like, the next kind of, like, iteration in there to have something really cool that they could do with that. You know, that's a good point. Like, the comics do well. Yeah. Like, weren't you just talking to, who was it? Matt Hodson?

[00:47:35] Matt Hodson, who wrote Power Rangers Return. With Amy Jo Johnson. Amy Jo Johnson, right. And, like, that story was really cool. Yeah, that would be, like, yeah. It still works. There's still a fan base out there. Why can't we get this to work? And the anime would kind of blend itself or lend itself to that Power Rangers crowd, who probably does watch a ton of anime anyway. Right. I don't know. Yeah, Disney, go make an anime.

[00:48:05] And if not Disney, somebody else make an anime. Yeah. I think someone suggested in the chat, Esteban, let it go. Let Amazon MGM do it. And it's like, that would also be kind of cool to see what Amazon does with that. That's true. But I feel like either Netflix or Disney, because the way that Disney has been handling Star Wars Visions, I feel like that is a good route for them.

[00:48:34] You know, I feel like that is a good, like, they're seeing how successful things like Visions are. Right? So if they're doing successful anime with Visions on Disney+, okay, go the route of, hey, let's do that with Power Rangers. Or if Netflix gets their hands on it, Netflix has so many good original animes, let Netflix do it. You know what I mean?

[00:48:56] Like, there's a lot of good places where you can have a good anime for Power Rangers if they allow them to go that route. Right. Because the thing is, is Power Rangers already is essentially, you know, anime in live action form. Yeah. Pretty much. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:49:16] Plus, you know, seeing like a very stylized anime may give it some new life and may give it just like how what you're saying, the ninth Jedi, you know, Star Wars Visions gave Star Wars like a new perspective, a new way to tell stories. Right. Give me that. Let's see what happens. Eric in the chat saying we need a John Wick Power Rangers crossover. Be insane.

[00:49:46] You always want to cross over that, Eric. That, Eric. So that is it for our quick, you know, one shots here. Jamez, let's talk about our last sponsor, man. Oh, last sponsor. Sure. All right. Distance nerding is part of the Geek Freaks Network. Discover your latest binge. Debate those casting choices or still not over that plot twist. The Geek Freaks Network has got you covered.

[00:50:17] Your fandom, your community, your people geek out your way. Check out Geek Freaks Network at GF pods dot com. Shut up and take my money. You ready for some D23 news? I am. So let's get into the last segment here. And this is going to be a long one, guys. So stick with us here. But time for the headlines. We're basically covering D23.

[00:50:46] So let's let's knock this out, guys. Exactly. From park news to property news to so much more. So we'll get into it. But yesterday's tomorrow today. I didn't even know that was the slogan for tomorrow. Yeah. Disney has announced that Tomorrowland at Disneyland is being reimagined with Walt Disney Imagineering, developing a new vision for one of the park's original lands.

[00:51:13] The plans include new attractions, additional open spaces and fresh experiences designed to get guests dreaming about the future again. Disney says the transformation will honor the legacy of the original Tomorrowland and preserve the elements guests love while introducing new experiences and possibilities.

[00:51:36] Rather than abandoning the history of the land, Imagineers are looking to use it as a foundation for its next era. OK, so no more no more gas powered go karts in Tomorrowland. It's about time. I mean, they can make them all electric. That makes sense. It just it makes me laugh every time we go by like that whole cartopia and it just reeks of gas. And you're like, what are we doing here? Tomorrowland?

[00:52:06] Like, why don't you go get some Teslas outside? Yeah, they're definitely going to do it with Tesla. If they're with the news that that happened with Bob Iger over the weekend. Yeah, they're definitely going to use Tesla. Exactly. All right. The goal to restore optimism, innovation and sense of possibility that inspired Disney when Disneyland first opened. Walt Disney Imagineers are already working on ideas for the project.

[00:52:35] And while Disney hasn't revealed specific rides or detailed concepts yet, the company confirmed that the reimagined Tomorrowland will feature new attractions, more open spaces and new places where guests can think about and experience ideas surrounding the future. That's very futuristic. The future. What does the future of Disneyland look like?

[00:53:01] It's so interesting because we have so many different lands and we'll get into more lands when we talk about DCA, Disney California Adventure. But think about how they expanded Star Wars Galaxy's Edge. Right. You know? And then think about, you know, Tomorrowland has just been sitting there for so long. I think about everything they need to revamp in Tomorrowland and like Star Tours is going to go away.

[00:53:28] The Buzz Lightyear, whatever it's called, is going to go away. Cartopia, stupid ass tiny submarines. Those are all going to go away. I don't know that Star Tours will go away. They just revamped Star Tours. Like, I don't see them getting rid of Star Tours. But if they're going to do a whole new like Tomorrowland, I think it's going to be gone. I think maybe they'll move it. I don't know. But I don't know.

[00:53:53] Like, Star Tours needs to stay and Space Mountain shouldn't go anywhere because Space Mountain is a fucking staple. Honestly, I kind of think about it and Space Mountain is the only thing that I can think of it being anchored. Like, the Buzz Lightyear one, you kind of have a similar ride or similar experience over in DCA. DCA with the Toy Story. Yeah. Exactly. And then Star Tours, I like it.

[00:54:19] But they're kind of doing the same thing with the Millennium Falcon Smuggler's Run ride. You know, like, maybe it's time to sunset those couple rides and then Cartopia needs to go away. Cartopia definitely needs to go away. Stupid submarine where only fits like medium-sized people. It's got to go away. That submarine ride. I mean, they've tried to change it so many times and it's like it just needs to go.

[00:54:45] I mean, I say that, but then also that ride, like the legacy that that ride has with it, though, because that was originally one of the World's Fair rides. I don't care. The submarine one? Is that what you're saying? The submarine one, the train. Small World. I guess the Small World, but I guess the People Mover was one and they got rid of the People Mover a while back. Right. Yeah.

[00:55:15] Submarine's got to go. Or stop selling me so many churros because those two can't equate, you know? You can't keep feeding me all these churros and expect me to fit in the stupid submarine. James is just like, yeah, no. Especially when they give me the cereal-covered churros and, you know, they start giving me the spicy churros. And then they give me the churro that gives me chorro. Okay, let's go. All right.

[00:55:44] All right, let's move on. Let's go across the street. So the Avengers are more than just doomsday. Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure is expanding in a major way. Two new attractions now have a 2028 opening window. And Disney Imagineering is building more Marvel experiences in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

[00:56:08] The biggest news concerns Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab, the two new attractions currently under construction as part of Avengers Campus expansion in DCA. They're getting two new rides. Yeah. It's crazy because I don't know if you've been there yet, but it's not a big footprint. Okay, so I've never been to Avengers Campus, but at the same time, I know where they put Avengers Campus.

[00:56:35] I know the footprint that used to be, and it was not big to begin with. Yeah. It's a bug's life. That was the bug's life place. It was a bug's land, and now it's Avengers Campus. Yeah, that's why I'm like, there's not much room that you can add things. So how are you adding two more rides? But then also, the fact that they're getting the original cast back for all that stuff is kind of fucking badass. It's kind of huge. Let me read a little bit more.

[00:57:03] So the project will double the size of the land and connect Avengers Campus with Cars Land. And both attractions are officially set to open in 2028. The first one we talked about, Avengers Infinity Defense. Sounds like big Marvel event ride fans have been waiting for guests will enter the experience as new recruits and receive their pre-mission briefing from Ms. Marvel, Aman Valani. So you talked about some of the cast members coming in.

[00:57:33] And she'll be returning to play Kamala Khan. The mission is appropriately huge. Guests have to reassemble the Avengers and stop King Thanos before he unleashes destruction across multiple worlds. Disney has also assembled some major MCU talent for the attraction. Jeremy Renner returns as Hawkeye. Anthony Mackie as Captain America. Chris Hemsworth as Thor.

[00:58:01] And Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man coming back. That's kind of a big deal. I don't know if you saw when they did the announcement and you see Robert Downey Jr. back in the Iron Man costume. It's kind of badass to kind of see Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark again in one of these rides. Exactly. It's like when your favorite wrestler turns heel and then he comes back. He gives you a glimmer of being a baby face again.

[00:58:30] Right, right. Exactly that. All right. There's also Stark Flight Lab, which is taking a completely different approach to superhero action. Downey will once again appear as Iron Man with Mackie returning to South America. And Brie Larson reprising her role as Captain Marvel. Disney previously revealed guests will, I don't know, sit inside a two-person gyrokinetic pod. I saw some of the clips of it.

[00:58:59] Makes me dizzy. That travel along a track before arriving in front of a massive robotic arm. From there, riders are put through a simulated flight training exercise featuring high-speed movements inspired by Iron Man and other Avengers. Basically, Tony Stark is letting theme park guests test experimental flight technology. What could possibly go wrong? Nothing at all. There's nothing that could go wrong. So that's just in DCA.

[00:59:30] So there's more coming. A new Avengers pavilion is currently under construction at Hong Kong Disney, where guests will eventually enter Avengers Research Testing Lab. I bet they're doing the same thing where they have a bunch of Avengers meet-and-greet opportunities, experiences. Yeah, yeah. I bet they're doing that right now.

[00:59:49] And then Shanghai Disney is also getting something completely new with the first theme park land in the world devoted entirely to Spider-Man. That's crazy. So Shanghai is getting a version of web. Peter Parker and his friends have created a new collection of Spider-Bots. It's the ride that's in DCA right now. Designed to assist with experiments and, more importantly, help construct brand new Spider-Man coasters.

[01:00:19] Anyone familiar with Spider-Bots can probably guess that everything will go completely according to plan. Right? Yeah. So three different Avengers parks or lands around the world that are in construction right now. So look for Avengers Campus to reassemble with two new rides debuting in 2028. Crazy. Yeah. It's so close.

[01:00:46] It's nuts that they're just coming up with all this new stuff. And, you know, like fans, at least, you know, rich people are going to be able to go to different parks around the world and go see these things. Because Disney already is expensive. Oh, but you want me to go to Shanghai? Okay. That's something that I can do. I know. But, you know, honestly, I think it's Disney, like, trying to grab on to the international market and be like, okay, this is the stuff we do well.

[01:01:14] Well, let's keep bringing it to other areas of the world where we can get more of a foothold and see what happens with, you know, the help out our product. Right. So. All right. Speaking of more rides, let's dive into it. Harrison Ford isn't done with Indiana Jones. He doesn't belong in a museum. This belongs in a museum. Yeah.

[01:01:42] Disney is bringing Indy back for a new massive adventure at Walt Disney World. And Harrison Ford is becoming part of the attraction himself. Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent is the upcoming attraction being built for the tropical America's land at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

[01:02:04] Along with its title and wild new storyline, Ford confirmed he will serve as the model for the attraction's Indiana Jones audio animatronics figure. Okay. So they're actually modeling it based on him. Yeah. Which, you know, I felt like, don't they kind of do that kind of stuff already? But I guess it was a different voice actor that did it.

[01:02:28] Not only that, the so so not only was it a different voice actor, but also the Indiana Jones model at the ride at Disneyland is not based on Harrison Ford. Oh, yeah. If you look at him, dude, like the last time I went to Disneyland, I looked at it and I was like, oh, my God, he's not it's not Harrison Ford. They're very much just trying to, like, you know, do Indiana Jones, but it's very much not him. Yeah.

[01:02:57] So it'll be in the new one. Yeah. So, like, it seems like they're just doing the lightness on the new one. I want to say that they did have somebody come and revoice it to sound more like Harrison Ford on, like, like more recently. I want to say we reported on something about that. But, yeah, no, he's he's not been Harrison Ford for the longest. Yeah. All right. Let me give you some details. And I think you're going to like it.

[01:03:23] So Indiana Jones and the myth of the Jade Serpent will send writers beneath the ruins of an ancient Maya temple where Indy is investigating a mysterious location near a cenote. An underground cave that was once filled with water, according to the legend established for the attraction. A passage near the cenote leads directly into the Maya underworld.

[01:03:47] Unfortunately, for everyone climbing aboard, it's also protected by the Tzukan gigantic serpentine creature. Disney Imagineers are also putting a lot of work into the cultural foundation of the attraction rather than treating Maya civilization as a generic adventure movie decoration. The project is being developed with important with input from archaeologists, anthropologists and Maya experts. Right.

[01:04:17] It's kind of cool. I like it. The ride will explore Maya culture and its connection with the natural world, which gives the Indiana Jones concept a strong thematic connection to animal kingdom. I like that. The attraction is one of the centerpieces projects for tropical America's new 11 acre land coming to Disney's animal kingdom. I think that's kind of nice. I think that they're like, OK, we've got to be conscious about what we're doing.

[01:04:46] We have a brand new land called tropical America's as much as it needs to be fun and exciting and have rides. It also needs to be respectful. OK, OK. And I like that. They're doing bring it in. Indiana Jones. Bring it in. Mixing in. There you go. Indiana Jones and the myth of a jade serpent is scheduled to open in 2027 at Disney's animal kingdom in Walt Disney World, Florida. Yeah. Sorry.

[01:05:16] Esther in the chat. Hora le Mayans. Oh, man. I mean, it is kind of dope. I'm interested in seeing what it ends up becoming. Like, is it just another kind of like another theme for the Indiana Jones ride? Or is it something that is completely different? You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah, we'll see. I bet they'll have churros there. Tell you that much. And then you can have churro when you're there, too.

[01:05:47] OK, here we go. You're Jade Serpentine right here. Serpentine. Serpentine. OK. All right. Disney's villains are getting their own kingdom. Villains land isn't simply going to recreate locations where we've already seen in the movies. Disney has the original fairy tale story that gives the collection of villains a reason to gather in the same place.

[01:06:13] At the heart of that story is a wishing well that has gone horribly wrong. That dark power has attracted Disney villains who have arrived hoping to claim whatever magic remains. They've used the power to conjure enormous fortresses, palaces, and layers designed around their individual personalities. And it's giving us villains land. OK. I kind of like this. I dig this.

[01:06:42] So Disney compared the size and scope of villains land to Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, which should give Imagineers plenty of space to make the environment feel like a complete world. The land would feature two major attractions along with dining and shopping. So one of the themes is a roller coaster based on Maleficent. Guests will race through the enchanted briar surrounding the mistress of all evil's mountaintop fortress.

[01:07:12] After accepting her invitation to enter the other headline. There better be a fucking dragon on that. I'm just saying there better be a fucking dragon on that. You may be riding a dragon. That's the whole thing. The other lands headliner will be a dark ride featuring multiple Disney villains with a magic mirror acting as the host. I kind of like this idea. So guests will encounter the mirror in the catacombs beneath the evil Queen's Palace.

[01:07:40] From there, he'll transport writers into his supernatural mirror realm where they'll come face to face with numerous Disney villains conjured within the strange dimension. I do enjoy that. Like that's some good mentioning. That's so cool. Like going into the mirror realm. That's kind of like one of the I think it's the first time that we're ever seeing that. Yeah, I dig that. I dig that.

[01:08:06] It sucks that we're not getting it here in Disneyland, but Villain's Land is being developed as its own corrupted fairy tale world. And if Disney and Imagineering can pull it off, everything they're describing Villain's Land could easily become a must visit part of Walt Disney World. They got all the land over there. I was going to say it's because they have so much like land land, you know what I mean? Like it's no issues because they don't have any actual like developmental land in Anaheim.

[01:08:36] So they have to do everything at Disney World. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I've been to the Halloween Oogie Boogie's like trick or treat thing in here in Disneyland and in Disney California Adventure. I really enjoy it. One of the highlights that my family and I like is there's like this forest behind the Little Mermaid ride. And that's where they stick a lot of like the the major villains.

[01:09:02] So you get to like wind through the little forest area, but then you get to meet all these different villains. And my kids love it. They're like, oh, my God, I never get to meet this many like, you know, evil witches and queens and stuff like that. And I'm like, yeah, that's pretty cool. Good for you. So I think there is a demand for this. Absolutely. I mean, I've been saying for a while that there needs to be a place where you can just, you know, go and just see the villains.

[01:09:28] I mean, like you see them on Main Street, you know, like the villains will show up on Main Street every now and then. But it's just it feels off and giving them their own kind of like land where they can just go and be just, you know, wonderfully evil. Mm hmm. I feel like that is that is a amazing idea. Yep. And I think adult Disney fans will enjoy this. I think that's huge. Absolutely will.

[01:09:58] So let's go ahead and move on here as much as I want to keep on going. We still have a lot to go over. And I'm excited for this next thing. So I'm going to talk about this here in a second. Let's let's talk about this guy. Sora is back. Seven years after Sora last headlined a new numbered a new numbered adventure. Kingdom Hearts 4 has now an official has has an official release. I can't read right now. Has an official release window.

[01:10:26] And Square Enix also revealed the first new Disney World joining Sora's next reality hopping adventure. The trailer also revealed that Coco will be part of the game, giving us our first confirmed new world for Kingdom Hearts 4. Kingdom Hearts 4 is scheduled to launch in late 2027 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S and Nintendo Switch 2. That's that's going to be fun. Mm hmm.

[01:10:53] People that enjoy Kingdom Hearts love Kingdom Hearts. Yeah. It's like their jam. Yeah. I'm a big Kingdom Hearts player. I play a lot of Kingdom Hearts and I'm so excited for that. Now, I also really like the picture. It's it's like his keyblade is is the the Dia de los Muertos guitar.

[01:11:22] Yeah. And I thought it's pretty cool. Yeah. I like the way they did that. Yeah. Yeah. I like the way they blend these stories with with gameplay. I think it's pretty cool. Right now. Yeah, for sure, man. So, I mean, yeah, again, I'm excited for this. I like seeing that we're going to be getting Coco in in Kingdom Hearts, but staying within the realm Kingdom Hearts. Oh, boy. Watch the mouth flaps. Yes.

[01:11:49] After more than two decades of Keyblades, Heartless and Disney World's Final Fantasy characters and one gloriously complicated story, because it is very complicated. Kingdom Hearts is officially expanding beyond video games. Disney confirmed during D23 that Kingdom Hearts, a Kingdom Hearts TV series is in development exclusively for Disney Plus, giving fans something they've been hoping to see for years. The release date remains under lock and key.

[01:12:16] See, they're doing anime. Why can't they do anime for Power Rangers? I 100% agree. And again, I think part of it is because they're licensed. They don't actually own it. So it's kind of like they can't just do what they want. They actually have to get approval from Toy Animation. Yeah. Interesting. Interesting. What do you think about that? Finally getting a series versus just, you know, the video games. It's connecting the universe.

[01:12:46] It's really one of those things that they can't mess up because if they screw it up, they are going to piss off a lot of fans. Disney's pretty good about doing adaptations. So, I mean, like, I'm not. I don't feel like they're going to, like, drop the ball on this. I think they understand what's expected of them and the level of, like, you know, fandom that's out there.

[01:13:10] Like, if you ruin anything Kingdom Hearts, especially because as complicated as the story is, it is a single story. You can either retell that story or you do something that lives in the world. Like, do, like, a young Sora or something like that. Yeah.

[01:13:30] That would be good versus, like, retelling what the game stories were, you know, instead of just, like, stealing cut scenes and just doing better animation on top of it. Like, tell an adjacent story and I think that would work. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I'm excited for it because, again, it's just – it's going to be interesting to see what they do with the Final Fantasy characters. Like, are we going to get, like, a full-on Sephiroth? Like, it's going to be fucking dope to see a live-action Sephiroth and Cloud Strife.

[01:14:00] You know what I mean? But then also, like, you get this cool kind of, like, Mickey Mouse in action kind of thing because Mickey is, like, the king. So, like, you're actually going to see him, like, fighting and stuff. I noticed we don't have this on here, but they released the gameplay trailer for Kingdom Hearts 4. And this is also the first game where not only do you play as Sora, but they're also giving you control of Goofy and Donald.

[01:14:30] Interesting. Because Goofy and Donald are always your sidekicks in the game. So, you actually get to play as Goofy and Donald in the game when they showed the gameplay. I'm excited for that. I've been waiting for that. I thought they were going to do that in the last game. And they did it in this one. Cool. All right. Let's go ahead and move on. Right there. Pixar is finally stepping into the horror genre.

[01:14:59] Pixar chief creative officer Pete Doctor. Is that really his name? Doctor? Okay. Officially announced a new film they are developing titled Ghost Market at D23. The film marks Pixar's first real plunge into a ghost movie, adding family-friendly horror to a studio that has already played with superheroes, science fiction, monsters, death, souls, and the afterlife.

[01:15:23] Pixar chief creative officer Pete Doctor shared the concept for the movie. Kyle is a fast-talking teenager and content creator from Chicago. Of course, he's a content creator. All right. His life gets turned upside down when his mom forces him to go on vacation to Hawaii. He stumbles into a mysterious hidden market in the middle of nowhere. He realizes his hunt for a late-night snack has turned into something bigger.

[01:15:52] He's discovered the crossroads of the living and the dead. Oh. Ghost Market arrives in theaters in 2028. What are your thoughts on this, man? It sounds different. I like it. It's interesting how they're diving into the horror genre. They've kind of dealt with death and souls and afterlife already. I don't think this one's going to be any different than what we've seen. I wonder if what they're going to do is go darker.

[01:16:22] I mean, they could. Yeah. But it's also in Hawaii, so at least it'll be tropical and fun. It'll be interesting if they do a dark story but centered in Hawaii. Yeah. It'll be interesting. I kind of want to see what they do with this. It looks fun. Pixar, you know, making some differences. Maybe it does have a darker tone and that's what they're alluding to versus, you know, like Coco's Big and Bright or what was the other one?

[01:16:51] Soul, where it just kind of takes place in the real world for the most part. So, yeah, I'm interested. Let's see. Let's do it. Hopefully, you know, they actually put some marketing behind it because kind of like when Disney doesn't 100% believe in something, they just kind of like slack on the marketing. So, yeah, I agree, Elio. Exactly. It's exactly what I was going towards. It's like, yeah, thank you, Elio. All right.

[01:17:21] Disney is cooking up some witchy trouble for Thanksgiving. Disney announced at D23 that Foster and Goggins, as in Jodie Foster and Walton Goggins, have joined the voice cast of Walt Disney Animation's Hexed, the upcoming animated fantasy adventure starring Haley Steinfeld. Hexed centers on an awkward teenage girl and her type A mother who discovers that the things making the teen seem peculiar may actually be magical abilities.

[01:17:51] That revelation completely changes their lives and opens the door to a hidden magical realm. Hexed is set to open on theaters on Wednesday, November 25th, right before Thanksgiving. Speaking of marketing, I haven't heard anything about this until right now. Not since they announced it. Like I had like and the announcement even then because we talked about it on the show. The announcement even then was literally just it just said Hexed and nothing. They did not.

[01:18:21] They have not talked about it since. They have not marketed this since. And apparently the movie's coming out this year. So, like, where is the marketing push on this? Yeah. Three months from now, we're going to get Hexed. They're too busy talking about Avengers Endgame Encore to talk about Hexed. Yeah. Again, I don't know how I feel about this because it's like you guys, like, don't set something up for it to fail. You know what I mean?

[01:18:48] Like, put at least some marketing behind it. Even if you guys don't feel like it's going to be something that is, you know, a winner like some of the other projects that you guys have done. Again, I'm thinking of Elio. Like, at least put some marketing behind it. So, that way it's not just, you know, a Disney film that goes into theaters that nobody even knew existed. Mm-hmm. You know? What's interesting for me, too, is the release date.

[01:19:15] Like, it's in November, so it's the Thanksgiving weekend, which I understand that is, like, an automatic push, like, especially a family-friendly film. But, you know, it's about witches. It's about magic. Isn't this something you'd put, like, before Halloween and kind of lead into Halloween for something like this? But it's a month after Halloween. Yeah.

[01:19:40] I wonder if it's because they're still working on it and they're just like, yeah, it's not going to be done until this date. I don't know. It is weird. I mean, it'll get an automatic push because of Thanksgiving. So, we'll see what happens with it. It'll probably do okay. Yeah. I don't think it's going to do, like, well, well, though. Yeah.

[01:20:03] The hard part is, it's like, if you don't support, like, new IP that Disney's putting out, Disney's just going to be like, okay, in 48, let's see what they're doing, you know, in a retirement home, that kind of thing. So. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. And I've complained about that enough on the show. Like, I don't want to see more of that. Like, oh, yeah, we're going to do Toy Story 17 and Frozen 31. Yeah.

[01:20:33] Frozen taxes. Frozen assets. Frozen assets. Oh, man. All right. Let's move on to the last story in this section. And then we'll start getting into some more movie news here. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is finally getting the spotlight. John Favreau took the stage at D23 and revealed the first look at Oswald. Oswald himself is being created entirely with hand-drawn 2D animation.

[01:21:03] With Disney bringing back a number of animators to help make it happen, the series will take audiences through several locations throughout Disney history, including Walt Disney's actual office. Live action filming took place at Disneyland roughly a year ago, allowing the production to take place to take place. Oswald inside spaces that longtime Disney fans will instantly recognize.

[01:21:26] Walt Disney and UBI works created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in 1927, one year before Mickey Mouse made his debut. After a rights dispute in 1928, Universal ended up with Oswald while Walt lost most of his animators. After spending nearly a century living in Mickey Mouse's enormous shadow, Oswald is finally getting a major adventure of his own.

[01:21:54] Oswald will be a three-part miniseries streaming exclusively on Disney Plus in February of 2027. All right. I like it. I like he's getting some he getting is just to getting his flowers. I do remember John Favreau going into Disneyland and filming and everybody posting like, oh, my God, there's John Favreau posted or filming right there. So it's kind of cool. They actually filmed Walt's office. Yeah, that's awesome.

[01:22:24] Yeah. And then again, if you've taken the tours, you've been to Walt's office. That's pretty cool. So, yeah, I dig that. I wouldn't. I'm kind of happy they're doing this, you know, like we don't know much about Oswald. So giving him something like this, his own feature. Yeah, I'm in. Yeah, absolutely. I'm ready for this. It's going to be fun. Yeah. Especially Jon Favreau behind it. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[01:22:50] No, I'm I'm I'm I'm always willing to give something Favreau does a chance just because he does so well with everything that he does. All right. Let me let me bang through some of these stories because I know there's some good ones coming up. So get it. The Parr family is suiting up again for Incredibles 3. Pixar is coming off the one billion dollar success of Toy Story 5. And the studio is already preparing the return of another one of its biggest franchises.

[01:23:20] During the D23 Disney Entertainment presentation, we got an early glimpse at what Pixar has planned for the superhero sequel, including the introduction of a corporate superhero organization. That sounds like the Incredibles universe's answer to the Avengers or Justice League. All right. A little little parody. I like it.

[01:23:43] The newly revealed concept art shows Mr. Incredible back in action and apparently wearing a version of his original superhero costume. Violet Dash and Jack Jack are expected to have a bigger role in the film. This time Disney also described the film as rounding out the trilogy. Interesting. The Incredibles 3 hits theaters in 2028. What grabbed me the most is saying rounding out the trilogy.

[01:24:12] Yeah, absolutely. Shut up and take my money. So the plan is to make it a trilogy and be done versus like Toy Story 4 or Toy Story 5 or not quite knowing where it's going to end. It sounds like the Incredibles are going to end with a trilogy. But that's what they said about Toy Story 3. And that's the whole thing is that if somebody comes up with a story, they're probably going to try and do more story. Yeah.

[01:24:39] I'm interested, you know, especially with I don't think they're going to age them up at all. I think just like how Incredibles 1 kind of led into Incredibles 2, I think it's going to lead straight into Incredibles 3. So I don't think the ages are going to change much. You know, does that make sense? Yeah. So Jack Jack is still going to be a baby sort of thing. But is Jack going to be a baby? I mean, they said that they're going to age everybody up.

[01:25:09] I said they're not going to age everybody up. Oh. It's just that Violet Dash and Jack Jack are expected to have a bigger role. Okay. In the movie. It's going to be interesting to see kind of like because I want Jack Jack to be at least a little bit older. Like in a way we're like not like have him not be a baby and have him be like a toddler or like he's walking on his own, but he's got like his own powers and everything. Mm hmm. Right.

[01:25:35] But he's still kind of like unpredictable, uncontrollable because he still can't talk. You know what I mean? Maybe he started talking in this new one. We'll see. I want to see Jack Jack teething and like biting something and then setting stuff on fire. I want to see him fight that raccoon again. Oh my God. Jack Jack and the raccoon in the second movie was great. It was so funny. It was so good, man.

[01:26:03] Again, I love Jack Jack as a character and it's kind of like, you know, Violet and Dash are fun, but the real star, especially after the second movie, the real star is Jack Jack. He's ridiculously funny. Well, you know, if you think about it, the first movie is kind of centered around the dad. Second movie is kind of centered around the mom. Third one, I bet it's going to be centered around the three kids and what they're going to do.

[01:26:29] Like maybe it's their, you know, pseudo coming of age as superheroes type of thing. So we'll see. Yeah. Dash is still, you know, putting tax on his teacher's chairs and stuff. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. All right. Keep it going. We're headed back to Zootopia.

[01:26:49] Zootopia 3 is officially in development at Disney following the record-breaking success of Zootopia 2, which pulled in an incredible $1.8 billion worldwide and became Disney's highest grossing animated movie of all time.

[01:27:09] Jennifer Goodwin and Kihuu Kwan announced the news during D23's fan event, confirming the bunny and the snake will be back for the third movie. Disney hasn't hopped on a release date quite yet. How many times did you watch this movie? Was it like 17 times? I saw it a couple of times. I did see it a few times. Think about it this way. Right now, $1.8 billion worldwide. That's what Spider-Man is doing right now. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:27:38] That's the type of push this movie has. I haven't watched this one yet. I just watched Hoppers, and I actually really liked that one. It was pretty funny. Yeah. I need to watch this one, though, because I do like the Zootopia franchise. I mean, I liked the first movie. I watched it many times, so I don't see why I wouldn't like the second one. I just haven't seen it yet. It's good.

[01:28:08] It, there's classes and class levels to Zootopia, and it kind of unravels that. Okay. Okay. That was good. I like it because they, you know, they kind of create a larger world, you know, and it's like a world that you can go and live in for a little bit. I enjoy that kind of storytelling where, like, there's a larger world at play. So. Yep. All right. Next one.

[01:28:37] Can you read this tagline for me? Okay. Hold on. Ohana means family. And sequels! Disney confirmed that fans of the Lilo and Stitch franchise can expect to see Stitch's pink alien counterpart, Angel. No shit. In the upcoming sequel for Lilo and Stitch 2, also known as Experiment 624, Angel is another

[01:29:06] intergalactic alien who becomes Stitch's love interest and was first introduced in Lilo and Stitch, this series. Lilo and Stitch 2 is coming summer 2028. Okay. Two years from now. Um, maybe we need to get on Couchy on this, but, uh, the, the, uh, under over on whether Tara Strong plays, uh, uh, plays Angel again. Ah, interesting.

[01:29:36] Tara Strong played Angel in the show. So that's why I'm like, oh, dude, if like, are we going to get Tara Strong playing Angel? Because they did have the original voice actor who was also the creator and director of, uh. Yeah, he's back. He was on stage announcing this. Right. Like he played, you know, he played, well, he, he, he did. Did he direct the live action movie too? I don't think he directed this one, but he will direct that next one. Oh, nice. Okay.

[01:30:02] So, cause he, he created and directed the, the, the original animated movie. And then he also played Stitch in it. Um, yeah. Yeah. He did the voice for the TV show, but he didn't write or direct those. Um, and then he came back to do the voice for the live action movie. Uh, so it's fun to know that he is going to be directing the second one. Um, but then also that, you know, he's coming back to play Stitch again.

[01:30:29] Uh, and then us getting Angel again, like Tara Strong. It would, it almost doesn't make sense to not get Tara Strong to come and do this character. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And you know, the way he's, he got, you know, asked to do Stitch or Disney said, yeah, do Stitch. And he's directing. It's all the more reason to bring back Tara Strong for Angel. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:30:54] And I mean, Tara Strong to this day, like if you, if you go see her at a con, that's one of the characters she highlights. Like she is, Hey, she had so much fun playing Angel on Lilo and Stitch. Like get her to come back and play the character. But you know how she's Angel is 624 and Stitch is 626. Does that make them like cousins or. Technically. Yeah. Even though she's his love interest, but I mean like technically they're siblings. Okay.

[01:31:23] It's getting a little Game of Thrones in here. Okay. Moving on. We're about to go Poco Loco again. Again, one of the anticipated sequels headed our way is Coco 2. The continuation of the story, which began with the first film in 2017. Actor Benjamin Brett took to the stage at D23 to tell the crowd that he's coming back to play spiritual legendary singer Ernesto de la Cruz.

[01:31:53] Ernesto de la Cruz is back for revenge. Proving that fate has twists. Oh God. This is going to be interesting. It's also revealed this. You're going to like this. It's also revealed the next story. Young Miguel is no longer a boy, but he's a teenager with a fade. With a fade.

[01:32:18] I wonder if they get the voice actor who played him in the original to do it because like he does go to cons and and we'll do like, oh, hey, here's here's Miguel when he when he ages up because I can't do his voice anymore. Oh, my gosh. Right.

[01:32:36] So like, yeah, like it'd be cool to bring him in and like do like because I'm sure he can do like not just a meal, but like a meal going through puberty kind of thing. Like a voice crack. I'd be kind of funny to have him like sing a song, but his voice cracks every now and then. I know. I know you had issues with like Coco's perfect. I don't need to see a sequel to it. Don't ruin it for me.

[01:33:05] Knowing that we're getting Benjamin Bratt back and there's a story connected to De La Cruz and we were getting in older Miguel. How do you feel about this announcement? I'm I'm interested in seeing what they do and kind of like, you know, what what kind of story they tell now a little iffy and it's nothing against Benjamin Bratt, but I'm a little iffy.

[01:33:27] I'm bringing back Ernesto De La Cruz because Ernesto De La Cruz was like basically like finished off in the first movie and it's like, OK, well, what reasoning are you going to use to bring him back? You know what I mean? It's going to be it's just going to feel like kind of weird to have Ernesto De La Cruz come back. But then also I do kind of like that they're going to age him up, that we're going to get a little bit of Miguel when he's a little bit older.

[01:33:55] Like, I'm interested to see, like, do they go with the Disney trope of, oh, but his family still doesn't accept that he's a singer or do they go with the, you know, OK, the whole family is behind him. And, you know, they went from, OK, well, we're a bunch of shoemakers to now Miguel is a is a mariachi and we're going to follow him as a mariachi and we're going to support his dream and everything that he wants.

[01:34:26] I feel like they're going to go that route because the reasoning for why they didn't want him to become a mariachi was like the grandmother who ended up coming on board, you know, towards the end. And I mean that now he has his grandparents. Mama Coco is is in the afterlife, too. You know, one, what is the reasoning for you to go back to the land of the dead? Mm hmm. Right.

[01:34:56] You know, because like that's the whole thing is there. The whole reasoning was like, you know, his grandfather was murdered and wasn't didn't get his just due. And he was unknowingly fixing all of that. Right. So kind of how do you do a story where Ernesto de la Cruz is still the villain and he's coming back for revenge? But like the story needs to be tangible. It needs to be good. You know what I mean?

[01:35:26] Well, it's not like people have forgotten about who de la Cruz is. He's still a famous singer in the real world. So nobody's forgotten who he is. So even though he got done away with in the first one, he's still there. Yeah. But I mean, like him, you're dead, dude. What revenge do you want? You're dead. Exactly. You know, well, I mean, hey, think about it this way. Mama Coco is in the afterlife now.

[01:35:55] Maybe something happens with Mama Coco. I mean, it's de la Cruz. And given it's called Coco 2. Right. And Mama Coco is like part of the reason that he goes on this adventure. OK, well, yeah, it does have to connect to Mama Coco. Because if it doesn't, then it's like, well, you named it Coco 2 because Coco was the first movie. But it has nothing to do with Mama Coco anymore. And we'll see. We'll see. So Coco 2 is buying a 2029 theatrical release.

[01:36:26] All right. All right. Here's the big one. We're headed back to the fjord. Anna and Christoph are getting married. Elsa is poking around another mysterious magical object again. And somewhere beyond Arendelle, a sinister new figure is waiting for them. Disney offered fans an early look at the next chapter at D23's Entertainment Showcase. Frozen 3 is coming.

[01:36:54] And while plenty of secrets remain under wraps, the footage revealed some of the major developments for Anna, Elsa, Christoph, and the rest of the gang. Are you interested at all in Frozen? Have you seen the Frozen movies? I have. I've seen them both. I enjoyed them. You know, I'm not going to say that I didn't enjoy those movies.

[01:37:17] The one thing in this that I am happy about, excited about, all that kind of thing, is Anna and Christoph. That's something that from the first movie is finally paying off all the way to the end. And I am excited for that. Right? Because it's kind of like, yeah, they were the love interest. The second one, they're kind of dating. You know, the third one, they're getting married. Okay. That, you know, is the natural conclusion on everything. Yep.

[01:37:46] Everything else, I mean, it kind of feels a little, it kind of feels a little tropey. Which means that they're kind of reaching in order just to make another movie. Well, let's see what happens with the story. Because I thought the way they linked Frozen 1 and Frozen 2, I love the way they linked that together. And that her mom was, you know, from the north.

[01:38:13] And, like, the way the song opens up at the beginning of Frozen 1 ties into Frozen 2. I'm like, that's some good storytelling. That's a good way to, like, link things together. So, I think they're telling a deeper story here. So, let me get through the rest of this. Kristen Bell took to the stage, confirmed that Anna will officially marry her beloved mountain man, Christoph.

[01:38:38] And Dina Menzel and Dinah Menzema joined Bell at the presentation. And explained that the world of Frozen has gotten a little bit more mysterious since we last visited Arendelle. The trio eventually features or ventures through what looks like a portal where they encounter someone who definitely doesn't seem interested in giving them a friendly tour. Disney kept the character's identity hidden by withholding a clear look at her face.

[01:39:08] But the mysterious newcomer appears to be a woman sporting short black hair and a wicked-looking cape. Josh Gad joined Bell and Menzel on stage for a song centered on Olaf's new one true love, Samantha. Samantha. Okay, so. I love that joke. So, the Samantha joke comes up and all I can think of is Samantha in Dungeon Crawler Carl. I'm sorry. Just.

[01:39:39] Samath? Samath. Yeah. Yeah. All I can think of is Samath and, you know, just this rolling hooker head that is just hanging out with Olaf. I will kill your mother. I will kill your mother. Yeah. Frozen 3 hits theaters on November 24th, Thanksgiving 2027. Okay. Not too far away. All right. All right. All right. Well, let's jump into the last segment here.

[01:40:08] Yeah, we can breeze through some of this stuff, but yeah. Yeah. Let's go through it. Yeah, yeah. So, let's jump into this. We're about to get into this right here. Mando and Grogu are heading back home. After bringing Star Wars back to theaters this summer, the movie earned $345 million worldwide on top of a reportedly $165 million budget. Mandalorian and Grogu will space dock onto Disney Plus on September 2nd. And I can't wait to see all that stop motion action all over again.

[01:40:38] Yeah. That's going to be a good rewatch. I'm excited for that one. Absolutely. So, let's move on already here. Star Wars is going back to the Clone Wars. EA has released the final trailer for Star Wars Zero Company, giving fans a closer look at desperate campaign, dangerous characters, and squad-based combat waiting for the game launches later this month.

[01:41:05] Developed by Bit Reactor, Star Wars Zero Company takes the franchise into turn-based squad tactics for the first time. The Clone Wars setting already feels like a natural fit for this kind of game. The small teams being thrown into battles where positioning abilities and smart decisions can determine who walks away. The new trailer puts some emphasis on the story and its characters while introducing one of the major threats standing in their way. Star Wars Zero Company is available to pre-order now.

[01:41:35] Standard Edition is $49.99 on PC and $59.99 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. The game launches August 27, 2026. You're going to get it? It sounds like a fun game. I need to look into it more. $60 for a turn-based strategy game does not feel right for me. But they also all just recently said that they're raising the prices on all the games.

[01:42:06] Right. So you would probably want something that's like a first-person shooter or something like that versus a turn-based? I prefer turn-based strategy games like that on PC. I feel like those kind of games don't work well on console. I would rather play those on PC or mobile. Sometimes mobile can pick up games like that fairly well. I feel like it's not...

[01:42:36] Mobile stuff is not going to have the graphics for it. So I'm probably going to... I don't know. I might end up still picking it up. Probably not day of, though. Maybe not because I probably want to see some of the reviews first. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Let's go ahead and move on to the next one here. Too broke to go to Galaxy's Edge? I know I am. Hondo Onaka... Yeah, I know, right? Hondo Onaka has found a new way to recruit smugglers.

[01:43:03] And this time, you don't even need to be anywhere near Batuu. Disney has revealed Star Wars Smugglers Gambit, a new Fortnite adventure that connects directly with Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort. The first-of-its-kind crossover allows players to carry parts of their theme park adventure into Fortnite, while Fortnite players can also begin the mission from home.

[01:43:28] Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run Fortnite uses a similar or familiar attraction as the starting point for the larger adventure with Hondo. Guests can collect crates during their smuggling run about the Millennium Falcon, with those crates unlocking rewards that carry over into Fortnite. The digital side of the experience takes place in Smugglers Gambit, a new Fortnite island developed in-house by Disney Games and Digital Entertainment in collaboration with Lucasfilm.

[01:43:57] Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run Fortnite has already launched, along with Star Wars Smugglers Gambit on Fortnite. I'm so out of touch with games. How does this work? How do people go into Galaxy's Edge and get things for the game on Fortnite? How does that even work? I'm going to assume that they're going to have QR codes, or they're going to have... If you link your... You know the Disney app? The in-park Disney app?

[01:44:26] I'm sure you can link that to your Fortnite account or something like that. That all seems like something that they could easily do. That's so interesting. Yeah. Now, I just want to know how it all connects. That's what intrigues me about all this. Yeah. I'm not a massive fan of Fortnite. I don't really play it much, so... But it looks like it has its own island developed in-house by Disney Games and Digital Entertainment in collaboration with Lucasfilm.

[01:44:55] Well, I guess if you really love Star Wars and you're okay with Fortnite, I bet that's a game that would grab your attention. Yeah. Also, my other piece here is... I don't know when I'm actually going to be able to ever go to... Galaxy's Edge. Galaxy's Edge to Disneyland. So, I mean, like... Fortnite is free, right? Fortnite is a free game. You could technically download this game and start playing it and check it out.

[01:45:22] You might not get all the things you get from linking it up at Galaxy's Edge, but you can check out Smuggler's Gambit, right? Yeah. I can definitely at least try the game out or something like that. It's for research. It's for research. For research purposes, right? I'm going to report back for everybody here. All right. Let's go ahead and move on to this last Star Wars story. And this is the whopper. More lightsabers. More space battles. More witches. More swords.

[01:45:52] And enough explosions to keep things properly chaotic. While speaking at D23, Aman Esfandi offered a pretty exciting preview of what Dave Filoni has cooking up for the next chapter of Disney Plus' Star Wars series. And apparently, the first season was only getting warmed up. Esfandi said, there's going to be more lightsabers. A lot more lightsaber action. And there's going to be some space battles and some space action.

[01:46:22] And there's going to be witches and swords and explosions galore. The first trailer for Ahsoka Season 2 was packed with excitement. Grand Admiral Thrawn is making his move against the Rebels, setting the stage for what looks like a much bigger and more dangerous chapter of the Star Wars story. Ahsoka is going to need some help from her old master. Ahsoka Season 2 returns to Disney Plus on January 20th, 2027.

[01:46:52] Did you watch the trailer? Of course I did. Yeah. I watched it. It looks amazing. Oh my god, dude. It's so, so fucking good, man. It is... Oh my god. I was so excited for it. It's all the small Easter eggs that are in the trailer itself. You know what's crazy is Aman Esfandi just did an interview and he was talking about how he had given up on acting.

[01:47:21] Oh yeah? Completely. He was like, okay, yeah, he did Aladdin. He got a lot of praise for it, but then he was just having all kinds of just different problems. And he was like, I'm just going to retire. I'm not going to act anymore. And then he got the role because he had been wanting this role, right? He got Ezra Bridger. And when he said like Ezra Bridger has completely revitalized his love for acting. That's cool. You know?

[01:47:51] And just, again, if you look at the trailer, he looks like he's having so much fun. When you see him at cons too, he has so much fun with fans. Yeah, absolutely does, man. I'm so happy that, you know, he fell back in love with the art of acting. And that it has to do with him within Star Wars. You know what I mean? Like, it's great. And again, the fandom has been so good to him. Yeah, I like it.

[01:48:21] But, you know, going back to the trailer, I think it looks so much fun. There's so many different storylines that I want to know more of. The Thrawn, the battle, you know? I want to know what's happening with Ezra and meeting up with the rest of the Rebels and the Ghost crew. And then what's happening with Ahsoka. What's happening with Balin's skull and the whole Mortis thing? Like, oh my gosh, I want to know it all. Yeah.

[01:48:49] And then what's the droid's name? Oh, I forgot the droid's name. I'll look it up real quick. But yeah. But he, so there's a scene where he, you know, like two more arms come out and he has... Hu Yang. Hu Yang. Where Hu Yang has two more arms pop out and he's got four lightsabers. They confirmed that Hu Yang actually taught General Grievous that art form. Oh, snap.

[01:49:18] That's dope. Yeah. So the reason General Grievous actually knows that art form is because Hu Yang actually taught him how to do that. Way to go, Hu Yang. Hu Yang screwed that up. Yeah. But I mean, like, it's not Hu Yang's fault. Like, you know, Hu Yang was a droid. He's a, he's a, he is a, a combat training droid. And if, you know, if I want to say his Sith name, Lord Tyrannus, Count Dooku.

[01:49:48] If Count Dooku tells Hu Yang, oh yeah, he is, you know, we're teaching him, you know, then, you know, you can have Hu Yang do that. Like teach, teach him how to do that. And Hu Yang's not going to know any different. That's a good point. That's a good point. Yeah. I'm excited for Ahsoka. I'm, I'm a little sad that it's in January, but you know what? It, it'll be here so fast. Like, what is that? Four, four months, four months from now. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's, it is going to be there.

[01:50:18] Like, dude, we're coming up on, on Avengers Doomsday already. And it like, feels like, like it's moving so fast. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. There's so much happening right now. It's, it's weird how we just had San Diego Comic-Con now D23. Now everything's starting to, to really start ramping up now that we're getting back into the fall seasons.

[01:50:44] You know, Lanterns is here and, you know, Reacher is here. As soon as Reacher ends, we're going to get the Neely series. Lioness is back. There's so many, so many shows right now. Yeah. It is, it is insane. The amount of things that we have going on. It is a good year to be a nerd. Yes. So real quick, pulling back, looking at D23, I think Disney did a really good job.

[01:51:12] They saved a ton of their announcements for D23. And it felt like everything got a spotlight. Yeah. No, it's, it's definitely, it was definitely, uh, that they held back the right stuff, you know, because there was so much that they, that they kind of like announced at, um, at, uh, um, SDCC, but like just so much more at D23.

[01:51:40] There was so much, uh, and, and there's so much to be excited for, you know? Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think they did a good job. Like, all right, if we're going to be at San Diego comic-con, let's let Marvel take center stage and give it the, the grandiose that it needed. The hall H, you know, center stage for everything. And then all these other announcements got center stage at D23 and got the love that, that is expected versus getting buried. Yeah.

[01:52:09] So good job, Disney. Absolutely. So, uh, let's jump into, uh, cause that's the end of, uh, of our stories here. Uh, let's, let's kind of move on here. We're going to talk about our schedule. Now, ladies and gentlemen, Tuesdays, the show you're watching right now from six 30 to eight 30, a little bit running a little bit over. It's been a while since we've run over like that, but we had a lot to talk about tonight. Um, but you know, distance learning our main show Thursdays, distance learning interviews this week, we're going to be talking with Angel Rose.

[01:52:38] Uh, Angel Rose is, uh, not only a singer, but a, uh, cosplayer in the cosplay community. Um, good friend of ours. Uh, so it's going to be fun to finally talk to Angel on the show. Uh, and then Friday, the buzzer, uh, looks like we are planning a D and D session this week. So we should, uh, be able to play a little bit of D and D, uh, and get all of you guys. Chris Chipperson, Romeo and Michelle too. Let's go. That's right. They announced Romeo and Michelle too. Um, but yeah.

[01:53:07] No, uh, uh, we are going to be doing our D and D session this week. So six 30 to eight 30, uh, and you know, come and see what chaos, uh, we get into, uh, because yeah, we're, we're, it's a lot of fun. If you haven't checked out our D and D sessions, uh, it is, it is a lot of fun. So we will see you guys at the end of this week for D and D. Uh, but again, Angel Rose on the interview show this week on, uh, Thursday. Uh, yeah.

[01:53:37] So it's going to be fun right there. Oh, real quick. Just real quick. I know there was a lot of weather issues back East. So glad to see that Matt Aguilar in the chat's doing well. Glad to hear that graveyard who messaged us and said, everything's fine with this house that, that they're doing well. So glad everybody's okay. Yeah. And what is it? The Midwest. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, well, uh, cause is, is Matt in Indiana now too? I think so. Yeah.

[01:54:07] Chicago in there. Yeah. So, you know, Indiana had a lot of flooding, uh, it was tornado that, that came through and then a lot of flooding that came through. So, I mean, they've been kind of racked with, uh, with natural disasters. Uh, so yeah, it is good to hear that, um, Matt Aguilar and that, uh, graveyard are both doing okay. Uh, again, we'll see graveyard this week.

[01:54:31] He'll, um, uh, if not on Thursday, he for sure said that he will be, uh, uh, on, on game night on, on Friday. So, um, yeah, you know, just a shout out to you guys again. Uh, we love both of you guys and we're happy to hear that you guys are doing okay. If you guys need to send any of your wrestling figures to a safe home for a time being, I'll send you my address. Exactly. Chris Chipper's in the chat. 10 second skip, Matt. I hope he's good.

[01:55:01] Uh, my bad person. Uh, all right. So with that being said, ladies and gentlemen, uh, if you want to support distance nerding, the best way to do that is to head over to distance nerding.com. Join the taco party. That's what I meant to do. Uh, join the taco party. Ladies and gentlemen, it's the best way to support distance nerding.

[01:55:28] Uh, so that we can continue to do more shows and do more things and have more fun with everybody. Uh, connect with us on all the social media places at distance nerding. If it exists, we are there. And of course you can email us if you want to shoot us an email at distance nerding at aol.com. Uh, shoot us an email. We'll read it on air. Uh, as long as it's something that you write that will make Jamez cry. There you go. Oh, real quick. By the way, there's some stuff coming up. What is it next weekend? You'll be in the Bay area.

[01:55:58] That's right. That's right. Uh, ladies and gentlemen, if you are in the Bay area, this Saturday, uh, at the Santa Clara convention center is brick blast live. If you're a Lego fan, uh, that is going to be a fun show. They're going to have a whole bunch of mock builds there. They're going to have a lot of attractions. There's going to be a couple, uh, master builders from, uh, uh, Lego masters that are going to be there.

[01:56:20] Uh, a couple of, uh, um, uh, Lego community celebrities like Sam's Siri and a couple of different people, Sam builds. Uh, so, you know, it's, it's going to be a lot of fun guys. Uh, make sure that you guys make your way to the Santa Clara convention center. Um, tickets are sold out, but they will have limited amount of tickets at the door as well. Uh, so make sure that you get there, uh, and, and come and hang out guys. Um, next weekend.

[01:56:48] So this weekend we're doing that next weekend is power more for condom Pasadena. So all my power ranger fans, uh, make sure you guys make your way over to Pasadena. And we, uh, we talk some power rangers. Uh, that's going to be fun. We're going to be hosting two panels. Uh, so just make your way there guys. It's going to be a lot of fun. Uh, we're going to be talking with a lot of power rangers. Uh, let's just say, uh, I'm, I'm going to be, I'm going to be talking with a lot of villains and it's going to be a lot of fun.

[01:57:17] There you go. There you go. All right. That's just coming up for this month. There's more coming up next month. We'll get to that later. That's right. Uh, so with that being said, uh, Bruce, buddy, it's time to go to bed. Go to sleep, Bruce. Go to sleep, Bruce. School night. It's, it's, it is a school night. You need to go to bed, buddy. All right, everybody. Thanks and keep nerding together. All right. We'll catch everybody on the next one. Yeah. I saw that too. Later.

[01:57:48] Distance nerding. This was a production of the distance nerding podcast. And time for tacos media. For more content, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok.

[01:58:17] All at distance nerding. If you enjoy our content, please leave us a review on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks and keep nerding together.