Did you know that Ian McKellen turned down the opportunity to play Dumbledore in the Harry Potter franchise after Richard Harris died because Harris once allegedly called McKellen a “dreadful” actor? George R.R. Martin probably knew that, and then some, this week when he took a moment at the Tolkien premiere to share…

Adora and the forces of Brightmoon have spent the past two seasons of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power making Catra, Shadow Weaver, and all the rest of Hordak’s forces in the Fright Zone look like chumps, but when the show returns for its third season this summer, the legendary warrior’s set to face her most…

Detective Pikachu is the realization of a dream that fans of Nintendo’s Pokémon franchise have had since we first journeyed to Pallet Town and decided which starter would become the first of many partners who’d accompany us on our journey to becoming a Pokémon Master. At some point, we’ve all wondered what it would be…

Swamp Thing’s romance with Abby Arcane is a fascinating aspect of the hero’s mythos in DC’s Comics, and while DC Universe’s upcoming live-action adaptation has an undeniable horror bend to it, the newest teaser suggests that when the series drops later this month, things in the Louisiana swamp are gonna be hot and…

Because real-world time travel back and forth between the past and present is not (yet) possible, and the underlying science behind our working theories as to how it might one day be possible can be difficult to grasp, our ideas about it have largely been shaped by fictional depictions in books, television shows, and…

As impressive as the magnitude and more spectacular elements of Avengers: Endgame are, what really makes the movie shine are those moments when you get to see the Avengers interacting with one another in their downtime as people living in the larger world. Take, for instance, the all-new, all-verbal Hulk, who’s become…

Because Shan Fong, the hero known as Doctor Mirage in Valiant’s comics, can interact with ghosts, she’s known more than her fair share of dead people. The dead have been a constant presence in Shan’s life for as long as she can remember, but all of that is set to change. Check out io9's exclusive preview of Doctor…

Every episode of Cartoon Network’s Craig of the Creek feels like a collection of moments plucked from your greatest childhood memories of endless summers full of possibilities. Previously, you could start watching any episode at random and easily get swept up in Craig, Kelsey, and J.P.’s adventures without knowing all…

Hulk smash. The Hulk has always smashed; it’s his thing and he’s incredibly good at it. But in Avengers: Endgame, the Hulk is given a new emotional depth that allows him to do more than express rage with his irradiated fists.

Game of Thrones has made an incredibly big deal out of how important Daenerys’ dragons, the last ones in existence, have been in Westeros, because of the unique advantage they’ve always afforded the Targaryen family. Over the course of the last two seasons, though, the show’s been trying to tell us something about…

Spider-Man: Far From Home’s first trailer begins with a brief warning from Tom Holland because the film features major spoilers about Avengers: Endgame, a movie that (surprise) brings Peter Parker back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But interestingly, the major shocker the trailer introduces is much, much bigger…

Marvel’s Uncanny X-Men #17, from writer Matthew Rosenberg, artist Carlos Gómez, and colorist Guru-eFX, is meant to be an issue about the kinds of evil and hatred the X-Men have sworn to protect their fellow mutants from. Instead, it’s actually an example of how using mutants as a metaphor for persecuted minorities…

It’s one thing to convince yourself that you want to know the truth about a situation—and another to actually follow through on that desire and seek out revelatory information. There are times when having a fear of the truth is justified, because the consequences of learning it might be devastating. But for the heroes…

The first season of Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power channeled the magic of the classic animated series into a surprisingly poignant, heartfelt, and inclusive story about how powerful emotions can pull people closer together or tear them apart. In the show’s second season, Adora and co.’s tale picks up…

In Avengers: Endgame, Steve Rogers reminds us there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to protect the people he loves, no matter the cost. But the way things play out for Steve in the movie leave open a number of significant questions about the choices he makes and how they might affect the future of the Marvel Cinematic…

At some point in the future, Marvel’s Black Panther sequel will hit theaters and continue the story of the African nation that played a key role in saving the universe from Thanos in Avengers: Endgame. Interestingly, Endgame might feature a few a hints about what’s in store for Wakanda.

Like the left side of a classic Sonic video game stage, the live-action Sonic The Hedgehog movie has been steadily approaching, whether we like it, or not, and the first trailer is here.

A reckoning has always been what American Gods promised us in exchange for our viewership, and with the finale of its second season, it delivered, though perhaps not in ways that one might have expected.

Avengers: Endgame is a celebratory victory lap that brings the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first universe-spanning epic to an end, and establishes a number of beginnings for the franchise’s future. But one moment left much to be desired, especially when you consider the context surrounding it.

To be mortal is to know that one day, no matter how hard you try to run from it or believe that it won’t, death will come for you, and it’s in your best interest to make peace with that fact. For understandable reasons, many people struggle to accept death, but both the heroes and villains in this week’s best new…