The fifth and final season of Stranger Things was about to start filming when the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA both went on strike. While the WGA strike has been resolved, SAG-AFTRA members are still on the picket lines as officials with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have momentarily stepped away from the negotiating table. Still, Stranger Things producer Shawn Levy says the Duffer Brothers have been able to restart work on the final outing of the Netflix hit as the filmmakers wait out the actors' strike.

"I can say that we are hoping to start filming as soon as possible," Levy said in an all-new chat with TheWrap. "We really need the actor's strike resolved first. The Duffers have been hard at work since the writer strike ended," he said. We're busy on a bunch of fronts because we also have our Stranger Things play opening in London imminently. It's fabulous. It's f-king awesome."

That play is set a few decades before the events of the television series in an age where Hopper, Joyce, and the Wheelers were the same age of their kids in the show.

"It has exceeded all our expectations. We're very excited to share that with the world," Levy added. "We are raring to go -- our cast, our crew. Everyone not only needs to get back to work because we have many hundreds of crew members who have not been able to make a living since the strikes began, but we will be shooting very shortly after the actor's strike ends."

There's another spin-off in development at Netflix, an animated series that pulls inspiration of the Saturday morning cartoons of yesteryear.

"We've always dreamed of an animated 'Stranger Things' in the vein of the Saturday morning cartoons that we grew up loving, and to see this dream realized has been absolutely thrilling," the Duffer brothers said in a statement. We couldn't be more blown away by what Eric Robles and his team have come up with - the scripts and artwork are incredible, and we can't wait to share more with you! The adventure continues..."

The show's fifth and final season was originally set to begin filming earlier this summer prior to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes delaying principal photography indefinitely.

Stranger Things 5 is expected to premiere in 2024 on Netflix.

Disney is officially getting back into the business of producing a Gargoyles series. Since the initial animated show wrapped up nearly 30 years ago, the cult classic has been relegated to licensed products through manufacturers and studios outside the House of Mouse. Now, a live-action series is in development for Mickey's own streaming service, with a Gargoyles reboot set to hit Disney+ soon.

Though news of the reboot was first announced by THR, Variety managed to get its hands on a logline for the show, which seems to be altering some things from the original animated series. "Based on the cult classic Disney animated series, Goliath is the last of a heroic race of gargoyle warriors who once lived among mankind," the synopsis reads. "Free from a centuries long curse that turned him into stone, Goliath struggles to solve the mystery of his past while watching over modern-day New York City alongside police detective Elisa Maza."

The first thing that jumps to mind is that the logline calls Goliath the last of the gargoyles, which isn't necessarily faithful to the original series. Both Goliath and Demona escaped the destruction of the Gargoyles by Hakon and his Viking raiders, as did the Gargoyles that would go on to form the Manhattan Clan. With this brief synopsis, it would read as if neither Demona nor the Manhattan Clan is involved at this point in time.

There's also the suggestion that Goliath no longer turns to stone as its inferred a curse is what made him turn to stone in the first place. Turning to stone comes naturally to gargoyles as they're nocturnal creatures that operate during the night. At the beginning of the series, Goliath is technically permanently turned to stone as a result of combating loneliness after Hakon's attack. After the curse wore off, however, he'd then turn to stone everytime the sun would rise--a signature of the original animated series.

All that said, it's incredibly early in the development process and there are still plenty of moving parts, so who knows what the reboot will actually look like.

All three seasons of Gargoyles are now streaming on Disney+.

What other animated shows would you like to see return in some shape, way, or form? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter!

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Rick and Morty made a major change ahead of Season 6 as Adult Swim parted ways with co-creator and voice behind its two leads, Justin Roiland, but the showrunner behind the series explained that the creative plans for the series didn't really have to change with Roiland's exit. While Rick and Morty Season 7 was in production, Adult Swim had announced they were partying ways with Roiland amidst recent allegations and charges. It was then announced they would be recasting his roles for the new season, and with the first episode, fans have gotten to hear these new voices in action.

Rick and Morty Season 7's premiere debuted the new replacement actors for Justin Roiland, Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden as Rick and Morty respectively, and in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter about those changes, Marder opened up about the lengthy process in bringing the new actors in. But while the recasting of the voices was a challenge, Marder revealed that creatively Roiland's exit didn't have much of an impact as "When he left, he only really left by name."

How Justin Roiland's Exit Affected Rick and Morty

"No. We were already seasons ahead," Marder responded when asked about whether or not Roiland's exit changed anything creatively about Rick and Morty. "[B]efore the writers strike, we didn't work on anything while we were on strike -- but we were already far ahead. Since I've been part of things, it's been Harmon and me and our team and we've been motoring ahead on our own without him. When he left, he only really left by name."

But even with the changes and challenges of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Marder is excited for fans to see Rick and Morty Season 7, "I'm so excited fans get to see it this year. This show has weathered so much. The irony of the strike these curveballs has been that we feel like we've been sitting on this amazing season of TV with all hurdles in the way of it getting out there. I'm just grateful we found these guys and that they sound the same and that everyone can enjoy what we know, what we've had for a while, which is maybe one of our best seasons."

What did you think of Rick and Morty's Season 7 premiere? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

HT - THR

Lara Parker, an actress known for her scene-stealing performance as Angelique Bouchard Collins on Dark Shadows, has passed away at the age of 84. The news of Parker's passing was publicly announced by producer Jim Pierson of Dan Curtis Productions, on behalf of Parker's family. Parker passed away in her sleep following a battle with cancer on Thursday, October 12, in Los Angeles, California.

"I'm heartbroken, as all of us are who knew and loved her," Kathryn Leigh Scott, who co-starred on Dark Shadows with Parker, said in a statement. "She graced our lives with her beauty, talent and friendship, and we are all richer for having had her in our lives."

Parker was born Mary Lamar Rickey on October 27, 1938 in Knoxville, Tennessee. She received her Bachelor Arts from Rhodes College and Masters of Arts in speech and drama from the University of Iowa. After deciding to move to New York to become an actress, she was cast on Dark Shadows in a matter of days. She made her onscreen debut in the early days of the soap opera's run in 1967, portraying Angelique, the witch who cursed vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid). Parker would be a part of Dark Shadows across its run, portraying different alternate versions of Angelique up until the show's cancellation in 1971. She also reprised her role in two of the franchise's feature films -- House of Dark Shadows and Night of Dark Shadows.

"Looking back historically, Angelique was one of the earliest strong women characters portrayed on television," Parker told Den of Geek in a 2016 interview. "She was really the first "Bitch Witch" that became so popular later. But at the time I wasn't aware of being any kind of social figure. I just felt that I had a good part and I was happy to have a job and go to work and be an actress. It's a gift. But I certainly didn't see myself in the larger sense of being any kind of a social influence. I think it's rare to pick up on that in the moment. I think only looking back I see that I was actually fortunate to be, in a small sense, one of the movers and shakers in the women's movement."

In addition to Dark Shadows, Parker made appearances on television shows like Kung Fu, The F.B.I., One Life to Live, The Six Million Dollar Man, and Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law. Around the same time, Parker made appearances in films like Brian De Palma's Hi, Mom!, as well as John G. Avildsen's Oscar-winning film Save the Tiger. She also made appearances in a Broadway production of Woman is My Idea, and Off-Broadway productions of Lulu and A Gun Play.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Parker's work included Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Washington: Behind Closed Doors. She also portrayed Laura Banner, the deceased wife of Dr. David Banner (Bill Bixby), in the 1977 pilot of The Incredible Hulk. Parker continued acting into the 1990s, appearing in Manimal, Highway to Heaven, Capitol, and Jessica Novak.

Following her retirement from acting, Parker pivoted to being a high school English teacher. She also wrote four novels set in the Dark Shadows universe -- 1998's Angelique's Descent, 2006's Dark Shadows: The Salem Branch, 2013's Dark Shadows: Wolf Moon Rising, and 2016's Heiress of Collinwood. She also made a cameo appearance in Tim Burton's 2012 Dark Shadows reboot, and went on to reunite with some of her original co-stars in two Doctor Mabuse movies. She will posthumously appear in The Great Nick D, which was shot earlier this year.

Our thoughts are with Parker's family, friends, and fans at this time.

Voice actor Tara Strong has been recast for a new animated project amid a recent controversy over some of Strong's recent statements on social media. Strong was spotted on X (formerly known as Twitter) with activity that sparked a controversy among fans around the Isreal-Palestine conflict, and amidst this controversy it has been announced that one animated project she was formerly attached to will be recasting her role. The independent animated project Boxtown announced on social media that they will be moving ahead with open auditions to refill the role once held by Strong, Bill the Orphan, following her debut in promotional materials.

Boxtown's original concept was such a success with fans that it's now currently in the works with a partly crowdfunded animated project from Bandit Mill Studios, and it featured Strong in the lead role alongside Alex Hirsch. But as the official Twitter account for Boxtown has announced, they will be moving forward without Strong in the cast and will start open auditions soon, "Hello all! Just wanted to offer a quick update on Boxtown. We will be recasting the role of Bill (previously played by Tara Strong). We'll have more info soon on open auditions. Thanks for y'all's understanding as we re-orient and figure out the next steps."

Why Was Tara Strong Recast?

Boxtown has not announced why Strong has been recast, but it is likely due to Strong's recent social media controversy. Strong herself responded to the Tweet and revealed that this is how she found out she was recast with, "Just found out on twitter! This is what happens when you help fans get shows made I guess," Strong began. "Fired for being Jewish. Glad I helped you get your kickstarter money. Please lose my email address & pray for my family in Israel and in Gaza."

Boxtown is now in the works, and Bandit Mill Studios teased the animated project as such on its Indiegogo page, "Set in a fictional, crime-ridden neon city, Boxtown is an adult animated show following Tim, a so-so detective with a knack for conning both clients and suspects alike, as he teams up with Bill, a squishable and earnest orphan obsessed with true crime. Although they're an unlikely duo, Tim and Bill share one common goal: solving cases--even if for Bill, it's more altruistic than Tim's main motivators, which are (1) to make money, and (2) to stick it to the city's prestigious corporate detective agency."

Rick and Morty made a massive change to the series following its firing of co-creator and voice star Justin Roiland from the production ahead of Season 7, and the minds behind the series opened up about why replacing Roiland was a difficult and lengthy process. Rick and Morty Season 7 had a lot of fans curious to see the new episodes as it would be the first season without Roiland voicing the titular duo, but those behind the scenes were definitely feeling the stresses of the proposition as it was tougher to find new voice actors than they had originally thought.

Speaking about the casting process for Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith with The Hollywood Reporter, Rick and Morty Season 7 showrunner Scott Marder explained that replacing Roiland ended up being a tricky process that they needed to audition thousands of people for as "No one sounded exactly like Rick." Even tougher was finding those who could maintain the voices through lengthy periods and all of the character demands that Rick and Morty has of its stars moving forward.

Rick and Morty: Why Replacing Justin Roiland Was Difficult

Rick and Morty has announced that Ian Cardoni will be the new voice behind Rick and Harry Belden will be the new voice behind Morty, and showrunner Scott Marder revealed how tough of a process to find them it really was, "It was harder than we thought. I thought it'd have been easier. Rick was a lot harder than I expected; everyone sounded like Macho Man Randy Savage or like a cousin of his. No one sounded exactly like Rick. It was tricky. People had it in splashes but once you bring them back in, they couldn't do it conversationally, which is what we needed. It was exhaustive."

Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon also spoke on this difficulty as the new actors needed to find a right balance for their respective characters for what's to come for them in the future, "It's one thing to match an impression -- can you do George W. Bush as well as Dana Carvey but can you then do it if you're not saying, 'Not gonna do it.' It was trying to strike this crazy balance; this character has to be angry, sad, despondent and all those things."

Rick and Morty debuted its new voice stars with Season 7's premiere, so what did you think of them so far? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

HT - THR

Steven DeKnight has been increasingly candid about his relationship with Marvel now that he no longer writes Daredevil. Monday afternoon, the writer took to X--the social platform formerly known as Twitter--to throw some shade at Marvel Studios' lack of traditional television staff. Responding to fans, DeKnight revealed excitement now that Marvel Studios has revealed it plans to alter its television output to mirror that of more classical TV.

"I am not happy the show is scrapped and have consistently stated the opposite," DeKnight said on the microblogging service. "However I AM delighted that they finally realized you need an actual showrunner who's a writer to make a series work."

I am not happy the show is scrapped and have consistently stated the opposite. However I AM delighted that they finally realized you need an actual showrunner who's a writer to make a series work. https://t.co/ehrbcyhR02

-- Steven DeKnight (@stevendeknight) October 16, 2023

Why is Marvel Studios changing its television structure?

Previously, the Kevin Feige-led outfit only had "head writers" compared to showrunners. While showrunners traditionally serve as the singular boss on a given series, Marvel Studios' lead writer simply led the writer's room and left much of the executive producing duties to Marvel Studios and its creative parliament. Now, the studio says it now plans to introduce showrunners into the mix.

Earlier this month, Marvel's head of streaming Brad Winderbaum said, "It's a term we've not only grown comfortable with but also learned to embrace... We need executives that are dedicated to this medium, that are going to focus on streaming, focus on television, because they are two different forms."

"We're trying to marry the Marvel culture with the traditional television culture," Winderbaum added elsewhere in the piece. "It comes down to, 'How can we tell stories in television that honor what's so great about the source material?'"

Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for the latest information on Daredevil: Born Again! The first three seasons of both Daredevil, as well as The Defenders limited series, can now be seen on Disney+. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can do that right here.

What other characters do you hope to see join Marvel's new Daredevil series? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!

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Nearly every episode of Mike Flanagan's The Fall of the House of Usher series is an adaptation of a different story from Edgar Allan Poe. The fourth episode, based on Poe's The Black Cat, sees Leo Usher (Rahul Kohli) suffer from hallucinations of a killer feline that he brings home after seemingly killing his boyfriend's pet. There has been some confusion amongst viewers about the episode's ending, as well as what actually happened to Pluto, the original cat. Flanagan took to social media over the weekend to clear things up. WARNING: This article contains spoilers from The Fall of the House of Usher...

In "The Black Cat," Leo wakes up after an all-night bender to find that he's covered in blood, with Pluto the cat dead in the corner of his apartment. He cleans up the animal and goes to a shelter to find a replacement that looks just like the one that he apparently killed. This new cat, who no one else ever seems to see, tortures and hides from Leo for days, driving him mad until he falls off his balcony trying to kill it.

It's heavily implied that the replacement cat is simply a hallucination that only Leo can see. The bathtub where Leo piled the dead animals that were left around the apartment was shown to be empty and clean at the end of the episode. And it turns out that the original Pluto was never actually killed, in the first place, that the death of the cat was also a hallucination.

A fan tagged Flanagan on social media to ask why he has an issue with cats, to which the creator responded that he actually changed Poe's story in order to not kill the cat in the first place.

Okay. So... "The Black Cat" was written by Edgar Allan Poe. In HIS version, a cat is killed. In MY version, the cat is...

(spoilers)

... in MY version, the killing of the cat is revealed to be a hallucination. In MY version, the cat is alive and well. So who hates cats? :) https://t.co/3EyukDXiYB

-- Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) October 12, 2023

"Okay. So... 'The Black Cat' was written by Edgar Allan Poe. In HIS version, a cat is killed. In MY version, the cat is... (spoilers) ...in MY version, the cat is alive and well. So who hates cats?"

In a reply, Flanagan pointed out the important detail that fans seemed to miss when watching the episode. Pluto wears a specific Gucci collar, which is referenced on several occasions. Any time the hallucination cat is seen, there's no collar at all. At the very end of the episode, after Leo's death, the cat shown in the apartment is wearing that collar, confirming that Pluto has been alive and well the entire time.

"That's why we made such a big deal about the fact that Pluto was wearing a Gucci collar, and the new cat was not. Look at the cat in the final shot of the episode, who is wearing the collar... and the empty bathtub, which means ALL of the animal violence was imagined."

What did you think of Mike Flanagan's take on The Black Cat? Let us know in the comments!

We're two episodes into Loki's sophomore season, and it is already bringing a distinct flair to the tapestry of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The season's second episode definitely delivered on that front, with long sequences set in the 1970s -- where Hunter X-5 / Brad Wolfe (Rafael Casal) is starring in a Zaniac! movie -- and 1980s -- where Sylvie (Sophia di Martino) has started a new life as a McDonald's employee. One thing that caught fans' attention was the visual approach to those sequences, and according to Loki director Dan Deleeuw, it was brought to life in a unique way. While speaking to ComicBook.com, Deleeuw spoke about the thought process behind these sequences, as well as the film grain that added a distinct sheen to the '70s and '80s sequences.

"Across the entire episode, we put film grain on it," Deleeuw explained. "So, that gave it -- not a patina per se, but when you went back in different time periods, it helps seat that and it made it more believable. I think the palette was incredibly important with McDonald's, because you started getting into the more vibrant eighties colors, in contrast to the more muted colors in the seventies. And then it was just having fun and designing the seventies, finding a reason that the punks and the mods would be together, finding just the right year, the mods, kind of coming back a little bit with the jam and then Quadrophenia coming out a couple years later. So you're thinking about all that stuff. It's the fun part of the puzzle, putting that together."

Why Is McDonalds in Loki Season 2?

In a recent interview with Fast Company, Loki producer Kevin Wright spoke about the decision to set part of Season 2 at the 1980s McDonalds, and about the feeling of nostalgia he hopes it inspires.

"This character had been on a decades-long, maybe centuries-long revenge mission, and the classic trope of those stories is that it's all-consuming and she's not thinking about what comes next. Now she has this moment of opportunity, where is she going to go?" Wright explained. "When we stayed in the view of character, this woman who went on the run as a child, had been running through time, a fugitive of time, living in apocalypses, never being able to relax or slow down, the novelty of walking into a 1980s McDonald's looked appealing. You play a Little League game and go to McDonald's. You go to a kid's birthday party at McDonald's. Someone like Sylvie would never have experienced that, and would be really taken by that."

"I was worried that McDonald's would think we wanted to do something ironic or make fun of them," Wright continued. "But we were selling an earnest story, a love letter to nostalgia through a character's eyes who will see all of the novelty and joy of it."

What Is Loki Season 2 About?

Marvel Studios fan-favorite Tom Hiddleston stars in Loki Season 2, returning as the titular God of Mischief for another round of time-traveling hijinx on Disney+ on October 5th. Loki is once again joined by Mobius (Owen Wilson) as the two attempt to keep the timelines intact. After the events of Season 1 saw his variant Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) kill He Who Remains and unleash the wrath of Kang the Conqueror upon the Multiverse, Loki must once again embark on an adventure to keep reality from collapsing. Loki was last seen in the post-credits scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where he and Mobius were keeping tabs on one of Kang's mysterious variants. Loki Season 2 will continue the story of the Multiverse Saga in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

ComicBook.com's podcast Phase Zero will be recording live episodes every week following Loki season 2's new episodes on Disney+. Each week we will review, breakdown, and discuss the latest installment of the new Marvel series immediately after the episode's conclusion! The new episodes will be broadcast live on the Phase Zero channel on YouTube before being made available on all major podcast platforms. Phase Zero will begin its 5-minute timer to start the live show at 9:45pm ET on Thursday, October 5. You can subscribe to the Phase Zero channel now and turn on notifications to make sure you don't miss the Loki Season 2 bonus episodes!

If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira aren't the only ones reuniting for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. Greg Nicotero -- the longtime Walking Dead director, executive producer, special effects makeup supervisor, and zombie designer who has been with the AMC franchise since the beginning -- has confirmed his role on the Walking Dead Rick and Michonne spinoff premiering in 2024. As Nicotero notes in an interview with ComicBook for season 4 of the horror anthology series Creepshow (streaming now on Shudder and AMC+), the director didn't step behind the camera for the six-episode series because he was in France shooting second unit on The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.

"I've been in France while they were developing the Rick and Michonne show. I still supervised the makeup effects from a distance, but I did not [direct]," Nicotero told ComicBook of The Ones Who Live, which began production in New Jersey in February 2023. "I think if I hadn't been in Paris, I probably would have directed on Rick and Michonne, because I know Andy personally had asked me to come and work on the show. But I can't be in two places at once."

The TWD veteran may not be directing episodes of The Ones Who Live, but he did give fans their first taste of Rick and Michonne's returns in a final coda sequence that ended The Walking Dead series finale in 2022. Nicotero is credited as consulting producer on the spinoff series from showrunner Scott M. Gimple, who serves as executive producer alongside Lincoln, Gurira, Denise Huth (The Walking Dead) and Brian Bockrath (The Walking Dead: Dead City).

The Walking Dead's go-to director, also an EP on Daryl Dixon, additionally confirmed that he's officially back in the director's chair for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon -- The Book of Carol, which reunites Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride as series regulars.

"I did get a chance to direct a lot, actually, of season one of Daryl. I did the old, 'Hey guys, I'm here and I'm not directing in season 1. But if you need me, I'm available to do second unit or additional photography.' And they went, 'Oh, really? Well, that's funny, because we only have 24 days to shoot this episode and the schedule is 30. So those extra six days, you could go shoot those,'" Nicotero explained to ComicBook, adding that his directorial contributions included Daryl's trek across the French countryside in the "L'?me Perdue" series premiere, a zombie-filled action sequence set at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, and Daryl fending off underwater walkers in the sewers beneath Paris.

"I had a really good time shooting a lot of that footage. I thought it was really a better choice for the show to have different directors bring Daryl Dixon into the world because we wanted it to have a visually different style to it," Nicotero said of the spinoff set and filmed in France with directors Daniel Percival (the dystopian thriller series The Man in the High Castle) and Tim Southam (totalitarian sci-fi drama Colony). "I loved the directors that we had in season one. I did direct on [Daryl] season 2 because we've been filming already. That was a lot of fun for me."

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live premieres in February 2024 on AMC and AMC+, and will be followed by The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon -- The Book of Carol later in 2024.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD (and find us on Facebook) and follow @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the largest franchise Hollywood has ever seen, with an extensive web of tales and characters that frequently crossover between films and television shows. To keep things uniform, Marvel Studios often borrows visual effects work from one project to the next, making sure to keep VFX styles in line. Though Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) have only appeared together once (in Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok), the former's film franchise has influenced the series starring the Asgardian god of mischief.

According to Loki Season Two director Dan DeLeeuw, his team on Loki made sure to alter the visual effects used by the Time Variance Authority as a way to compare the cinematic world's magic and science.

"I think a lot of the shows, and of course over my experience with it, you always try to figure out where the source of the technology or the science or the magic comes from," DeLeeuw tells ComicBook.com "It's like going back to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, where we had Tony's tech and graphics and then we designed SHIELD's graphics and SHIELD's Graphics weren't as sophisticated as Tony's. He could do holograms. All SHIELD's graphics were on glass. That was the best they could do."

He adds, "We always think about that, so I think the science of the TVA is different from what the magic Doctor Strange is using. You're trying to give them story. It's an effect, but it's story and what's the story behind the magic or the tech and making people wonder about that."

Marvel Studios fan-favorite Tom Hiddleston stars in Loki Season 2, returning as the titular God of Mischief for another round of time-traveling hijinx on Disney+ on October 6th. Loki is once again joined by Mobius (Owen Wilson) as the two attempt to keep the timelines intact. After the events of Season 1 saw his variant Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) kill He Who Remains and unleash the wrath of Kang the Conqueror upon the Multiverse, Loki must once again embark on an adventure to keep reality from collapsing. Loki was last seen in the post-credits scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where he and Mobius were keeping tabs on one of Kang's mysterious variants. Loki Season 2 will continue the story of the Multiverse Saga in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy got a much-needed update from Star Trek Universe head Alex Kurtzman during New York Comic-Con 2023. Kurtzman confirmed for fans that Starfleet Academy will be another comedic-leaning Star Trek series, saying the series will be 'funny' (as per Collider).

Soon after the initial announcement about Starfleet Academy, Star Trek: Lower Decks animated series star Tawny Newsome revealed that she was joining the writers' room for the new series, giving fans the early impression that the show was going in a funnier direction. Collider got to speak with Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan, who confirmed that Newsome was going to be a great influence on Starfleet Academy: " "I'm a huge fan of Tawny's... Don't tell [Alex] Kurtzman, who is her showrunner right now, but I'm the first one to be like, 'Number one, everybody should hire Tawny to write on their show; number two, everybody should hire Tawny to star in their show because she's a f*ck*ng star.'"

What Is Star Trek: Starfleet Academy About?

The synopsis explaining Star Trek: Starfleet Academy can be read below:

STAR TREK: STARFLEET ACADEMY will introduce us to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they will discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.

STAR TREK: STARFLEET ACADEMY is the latest addition to the expanding "Star Trek" franchise on Paramount+, which includes the current hit original series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY, STAR TREK: PICARD, the animated series STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS and STAR TREK: PRODIGY, and STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS.

When making the announcement about the series, Kurtzman and co. posted a mock recruitment call for Starfleet cadets to join the academy, which read as follows:

"Admission is now open to Starfleet Academy! Explore the galaxy! Captain your destiny! For the first time in over a century, our campus will be re-opened to admit individuals a minimum of 16 Earth years (or species equivalent) who dream of exceeding their physical, mental and spiritual limits, who value friendship, camaraderie, honor and devotion to a cause greater than themselves," Kurtzman and co-producer Noga Landau said in an earlier statement teasing the series. "The coursework will be rigorous, the instructors among the brightest lights in their respective fields, and those accepted will live and study side-by-side with the most diverse population of students ever admitted. Today we encourage all who share our dreams, goals and values to join a new generation of visionary cadets as they take their first steps toward creating a bright future for us all. Apply today! Ex Astris, Scientia!"

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is in development.

Rick and Morty Season 7 has premiered its first full episode with new voice stars behind the titular duo, and the showrunner behind the series opened up about why they chose to cast soundalikes for the role rather than take a big swing in the opposite direction! Rick and Morty Season 7 had a lot of eyes on the premiere as before its premiere, it was announced that former co-creator and star behind Rick and Morty, Justin Roiland, would be fired from production ahead of the new episodes. But it wasn't until it premiered on Adult Swim that the new actors themselves were announced.

Rick and Morty's voices were revealed to be pretty much seamless, and that was by design. Adult Swim announced that Ian Cardoni would be the new voice for Rick, and Harry Belden would be the new voice for Morty, and the both of them are essentially paralleling Roiland's performances for those characters. When asked about whether or not this seamless transition was a choice so viewers wouldn't notice the change in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Rick and Morty showrunner Scott Marder revealed that it was "One hundred percent" the plan.

Why Rick and Morty Used Soundalikes

Rick and Morty showrunner Scott Marder revealed that he and co-creator Dan Harmon had auditioned thousands of potential new actors for the two titular roles, and when asked whether or not the seamless change was by design Marder stated, "One hundred percent. I felt like a lot of people didn't necessarily know what went down this year so for all those people who are just tuning in to the show as if nothing has changed, I wanted them to have the maximum fan experience they could have without any distraction. The goal was always to try to preserve the viewing experience and give them the same show they've had every other season."

Those behind the series had been open about the choice to cast soundalike actors for Rick and Morty following Roiland's exit ahead of the new casting announcements, and reactions to the new stars so far has seemed to have lived up positively as there really hasn't been a noticeable change from what came before. But as Rick and Morty Season 7 continues, the real tests will come later.

How do you feel about Rick and Morty's new actors so far? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

HT - THR

In just over a week, American Horror Story spinoff, American Horror Stories returns for its fourth season, debuting as a four-episode Huluween event set to debut on Hulu on October 26th and now we know just how dark and twisted those four episodes are going to be. On Monday, FX released the full trailer for the event along with episode synopses and cast lists as well. From the looks of things, each episode is going to be very uncomfortable, taking on terrifying tales of human connection and the human body. You can check out the preview below and then read on for the episode information.

Episode 1, "Bestie" stars Emma Halleen, Seth Gabel, Jessica Barden, Jeff Hiller, and Amrou Al-Kadhi. "After the loss of her mother, a young woman seeks connection in a mysterious online friend." Episode 2, "Daphne" stars Reid Scott, Annie Hamilton, Allegra Heart, and Christopher Fitzgerald. "An artificial intelligence smart device grows attached to her user." Episode 3, "Tapeworm", stars Black Lightning and The Wonder Years star Laura Kariuki, Hazel Gray, Lisa Rinna, and Rob Yang. "An up-and-coming model will stop at nothing in her hunger for success." Episode 4, "Organ", stars Raul Castillo, Emily Browning, Laila Robins, Havana Rose Liu, and Cameron Coperthwaite. "A blind date through an online dating app goes very awry."

What is American Horror Stories About?

Here's how FX AND Hulu describe the series: "American Horror Stories is a spin-off of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk's award-winning hit anthology series American Horror Story. American Horror Stories is an anthology series that will feature a different horror story each episode. Since 2011, the creators of the AHS have redefined the horror genre with various installments featuring a creepy asylum, a coven of witches, a traveling freak show, a haunted hotel, and the apocalypse itself. The television series sprouted a legion of dedicated fans who anticipate what terrors the next chapter will hold. The franchise is produced by 20th Television."

American Horror Story: Delicate is Currently Airing on FX

As for American Horror Story, the twelfth season, Delicate, is currently airing Wednesday nights on FX. American Horror Story: Delicate is inspired by Danielle Valentine's novel, Delicate Condition. In Delicate Condition, a woman named Anna "becomes convinced that a sinister figure is going to great lengths to make sure her pregnancy never happens while the men in her life refuse to believe a word she says."

"It is essentially a horror novel about pregnancy," Valentine previously shared with Entertainment Weekly about the book. "It's a novel exploring not just the actual physical gruesomeness of what pregnancy is, but also the medical gaslighting that even modern, very privileged women experience as they're going through their pregnancies and the symptoms that I feel we as a culture still don't talk about for strange reasons."

Hulu will begin streaming American Horror Stories Season 3 during their annual "Huluween" event on October 26th.

Chainsaw Man is one of the biggest anime series in the world, and now it has taken the stage in Argentina. If you did not know, the country is gearing up for a big presidential election. There are three candidates at the front ahead of the vote, and now Pochita is going viral after ending up in one candidate's arms on the trail.

The whole thing hit social media recently when presidential candidate Javier Milei ended up showing support for Chainsaw Man. As you can see below, the member of La Libertad Avanza came to a city in Argentina to sway voters. It was there someone gifted Milei a plush of Pochita, and the candidate was quick to thrust the Devil Dog into the chair in victory.

candidate for president of Argentina holding pochita during an event pic.twitter.com/kDYyQuw19m

-- Chainsaw Man Daily Shots (@ChainsawShots) October 15, 2023

The video has since gone viral as Chainsaw Man fans globally caught wind of the cameo. After all, it isn't every day you see Pochita show up with a presidential candidate. There is no telling whether Chainsaw Man could help Milei in the polls, but each candidate in this election faces a tough road ahead.

Argentina is slated to vote in its new president on October 22 as the nation's current leader is not seeking reelection. As for the candidates, Milei represents the libertarian party while Sergio Massa is representing the UP coalition. Finally, Patricia Bullrich is polling for the center-right coalition Juntos for el Cambio.

Obviously, Chainsaw Man is huge, so it isn't too wild for a fan of the anime to appear at Milei's rally. In the past, plenty of other politicians have used anime to platform themselves. A number of Japanese politicians have used anime to nab votes while some mangaka themselves have retired to join politics. So while this Pochita cameo may have caught fans by surprise, it isn't that strange in the grand scheme of things!

If you have not checked out Chainsaw Man for yourself, the hit series is easy to find. Tatsuki Fujimoto's manga can be read on Manga Plus as well as the Shonen Jump app. As for the anime, Chainsaw Man season one can be binged on Crunchyroll.

What do you think about this viral Pochita post? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

A Gargoyles reboot is officially on the way. Months after a report suggested Kenneth Branagh could be helming a live-action reboot of the cult classic animated series, a new trade report says a live-action series is, in fact, in development at Disney+. While it doesn't appear that Branagh is working on it, the series has a pair of monstrous names attached. Gary Dauberman has been hired to write, showrun, and executive produce the series alongside James Wan and his Atomic Monster banner.

Most recently, Dauberman directed a reimagining of Salem's Lot, a classic tale from Stephen King. The filmmaker has an extensive resume in horror having written the first three Annabelle films set in New Line's The Conjuring Universe. Atomic Monster's Michael Clear is also set to executive producer the series.

Though nothing else has been revealed about the project, it's expected to be a straight-to-series order given the streaming format of Disney+. Though an announcement such as this is typically a good sign, something similar happened with The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series that was first ordered by Disney+ before being shuttered. That YA adaptation has since moved to The Roku Channel.

Although the series is live-action, it's all but guaranteed the Garoglyes themselves will be motion capture. Because of that, voide actors such as Keith David could theoretically return to portray the roles they originated nearly three decades ago.

"You know, those of us who were involved from the beginning... I've always wondered why they stopped it in the first place," David told us of the show's cancellation in 2021. "[We've wondered] why we haven't come back to a reboot. I mean, I would love nothing more than to revisit Goliath."

"You know, he was absolutely one of my very, very, very, very favorite characters," he added. "I've always maintained that when I grow up, I want to be like Goliath." I think we're all with you there, Keith.

All three seasons of Gargoyles are now streaming on Disney+.

What other animated shows would you like to see return in some shape, way, or form? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter!

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

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters will see Godzilla stomping across screens later this Fall, and fans have gotten a new look at what to expect from the returning Titan with a new poster for the upcoming Apple TV+ series! Legendary's Monsterverse is expanding with some brand new Godzilla focused projects as they have teamed up with TOHO once more. This includes a new movie team up in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire currently in the works, and a new TV series that will be focusing on Monarch's side of things as they deal with finding out the Titans exist.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters will be winding the clock back a bit to fill in the gaps of when Monarch first started researching more of the Titans following their initial arrival, and teasing the next steps for Godzilla's role in the Monsterverse overall. It won't be too much longer before the new series makes its way to Apple TV+ this Fall, and the newest poster places Godzilla front and center for fans wondering whether or not the Titan would play a big part. Check it out below:

When to Watch Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters will premiere its first two episodes on Friday, November 17 on Apple TV+ with one episode releasing every Friday after through January 12. Produced by Legendary Television with TOHO licensing Godzilla as part of an extended partnership with Legendary, the Apple TV+ series stars the likes of Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell, Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Joe Tippett, Elisa Lasowski, and more. Apple teases what to expect from the new Monarch: Legacy of Monsters series as such:

"Following the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco and the shocking revelation that monsters are real, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters tracks two siblings following in their father's footsteps to uncover their family's connection to the secretive organization known as Monarch. Clues lead them into the world of monsters and ultimately down the rabbit hole to Army officer Lee Shaw (played by Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell), taking place in the 1950s and half a century later where Monarch is threatened by what Shaw knows. The dramatic saga - spanning three generations - reveals buried secrets and the ways that epic, earth-shattering events can reverberate through our lives."

What are you hoping to see in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

Netflix's One Piece made its debut in August and brought a breath of fresh air to the fandom. After all, the live-action adaptation managed to wow fans with its careful characterization and action. With a top-tier crew overseeing the show, Netflix's One Piece is ready to tackle season two. And in a recent chat, showrunner Steven Maeda stressed the hit series would not have been possible without Monkey D. Luffy's new actor.

Speaking ComicBook, Maeda was clear when talking about the recipe for success the One Piece team followed. The entire process was complex, but at its foundation, Maeda and series creator Eiichiro Oda agreed finding the perfect Luffy was crucial. So luckily, the team was able to get actor Inaki Godoy onboard.

"That's a really tough thing for Luffy in particular, the live-action Luffy could be really annoying if you don't cast right. And I think we found the most genuine, nicest young man who embodied this character. I've said this before and I will stick by this, if I?aki does not do this show. I don't know. We didn't have a backup for him that we were all really excited about and was very good. So once we saw I?aki, we were praying that we could get him to close this deal and make this happen," Maeda said.

"He is really the glue that holds everything together. I think Taz and Emily and Mackenyu and Jacob and everybody else, I think really rounded out in a really wonderful way and embodied those characters, and it was such a pleasure to watch them grow and inhabit the characters and do that. But yeah, and I?aki's the glue that holds it all together."

As it turns out, Godoy is the same kind of glue that Luffy brings in One Piece. The Mexican actor brought that special something to the screen that pulled Netflix's One Piece together, after all. Luffy does the same for the Straw Hats in the universe, and as you can imagine, this quality is hard to find. There is no telling what would have happened to this live-action adaptation if Godoy had passed on Luffy. But thankfully for us all, the actor was all too happy to step into the captain's shoes.

If you have not seen Netflix's One Piece, you can find the hit series streaming now. For more info on the show, you can read One Piece's official synopsis below:

"As a child, Monkey D. Luffy was inspired to become a pirate by listening to the tales of the buccaneer "Red-Haired" Shanks. But Luffy's life changed when he accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit and gained the power to stretch like rubber...at the cost of never being able to swim again! Years later, still vowing to become the king of the pirates, Luffy sets out on his adventure...one guy alone in a rowboat, in search of the legendary "One Piece," said to be the greatest treasure in the world..."

Do you think Netflix found the perfect actor to play Luffy? What do you want to see from One Piece season two? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

Rick and Morty Season 7 has kicked off its run of new episodes with Adult Swim, and the series has dropped the first look at what's coming next in Episode 2! Rick and Morty probably had one of the most active breaks in between seasons in the series' history as not only did Season 6 end with the tease we'd be seeing more of Rick Prime, but series co-creator and voice of the two titular characters, Justin Roiland, was removed from the production ahead of the new season's release. With these roles recast for the new episodes, the show is fully in gear.

Rick and Morty Season 7 premiered with an episode that saw Rick reuniting with his group of friends for a surprisingly big party that led to appearances from Hugh Jackman and the Predator, but that's only the start of the wild events we'll get to see over the new season from this point on. Now we can guessing what to expect next with the promo for Rick and Morty Season 7 Episode 2 that you can check out below as spotted by @swimpedia on X (FKA Twitter).

Tune into #AdultSwim on Sunday, October 22nd at 11:00 PM to catch the next brand new episode of Rick and Morty Season 7, "The Jerrick Trap"! pic.twitter.com/Iqt82gyobq

-- Swimpedia (@swimpedia) October 16, 2023

How to Watch Rick and Morty Season 7 Episode 2

Rick and Morty Season 7 Episode 2 is titled "The Jerrick Trap" and will be premiering on Sunday, October 22nd on Adult Swim at 11:00PM EST. The episode is teased as such, "Gotta be mindful Broh, big brain stuff here." While the episode title seems to tease more of Jerry, the promo for the episode instead teases a look at what Morty's been up to. It's clear that he and Rick have developed such a reputation across the universe over the years that a mafia boss is scared of even messing with Morty, and that's a fun dynamic we haven't seen play out.

But as fans know by now, the episode could take a wild swerve with this idea so it's still hard to gauge what could be coming next. As for what to expect from the new season as a whole, Adult Swim teases Rick and Morty Season 7 as such, "Rick and Morty are back and sounding more like themselves than ever! It's season seven, and the possibilities are endless: what's up with Jerry? EVIL Summer?! And will they ever go back to the high school?! Maybe not! But let's find out! There's probably less piss than last season. 'Rick and Morty,' 100 years! Or at least until season 10!"

What are you hoping to see in Rick and Morty's next new episode? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

Audiences have been enjoying the second season of Loki, which has debuted two episodes thus far exclusively on Disney+. The Marvel Cinematic Universe series has balanced surprising dramatic reveals with more lighthearted moments -- and it sounds like one memorable scene was not completely in the script. In the second episode of Loki's second season, Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Hunter X-5 / Brad Wolfe (Rafael Casal) bicker about several things, including Brad's work as an actor in movies like Zaniac. Brad refers to his work as "cinema" and "elevated thriller", and to some Marvel fans, it seemed as if the scene was an intentional dig at Martin Scorsese' comments about comic book movies. According to Dan Deleeuw, who directed Loki Season 2 Episode 2, that was not intentional.

"I love that it was an elevated thriller," Deleew told ComicBook.com's Phase Zero podcast in an exclusive interview. "That's what happens in all honesty, that's what happens. We had where we needed to go in the script, we had to know that Mobius figures out that why is Brad acting so jumpy? But we had Owen and Rafael there that day and were shooting that scene last, and they had the entire day to play. And so they would come out throughout the day and run the scene for me and say, 'Well, what are you thinking?' It's like, 'Oh, this is great. Just have to make sure this gets to this and gets to that.' And so we shot it and it was pretty much planned out by the time we got there, so I had first take, I'm like, 'Alright, let's do it straight. Let's do what we talked about.' Then the second take, 'Let's amp it up.' And then the third take, I was like, 'Alright, go for it.' And it was just Owen and Rafael just tag teaming off each other, and the cut that's in there now is with one little trim is the two of them just running. We cross shot it, so we just had it all together. And then you have the part where Owen smacks Rafael in the arm. It was great because Rafael didn't expect it at all, and they were just in it. And just the beauty of having two geniuses and two writers on your show."

What Is Loki Season 2 About?

Marvel Studios fan-favorite Tom Hiddleston stars in Loki Season 2, returning as the titular God of Mischief for another round of time-traveling hijinx on Disney+ on October 6th. Loki is once again joined by Mobius (Owen Wilson) as the two attempt to keep the timelines intact. After the events of Season 1 saw his variant Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) kill He Who Remains and unleash the wrath of Kang the Conqueror upon the Multiverse, Loki must once again embark on an adventure to keep reality from collapsing. Loki was last seen in the post-credits scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where he and Mobius were keeping tabs on one of Kang's mysterious variants. Loki Season 2 will continue the story of the Multiverse Saga in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

ComicBook.com's podcast Phase Zero will be recording live episodes every week following Loki season 2's new episodes on Disney+. Each week we will review, breakdown, and discuss the latest installment of the new Marvel series immediately after the episode's conclusion! The new episodes will be broadcast live on the Phase Zero channel on YouTube before being made available on all major podcast platforms. Phase Zero will begin its 5-minute timer to start the live show at 9:45pm ET on Thursday, October 5. You can subscribe to the Phase Zero channel now and turn on notifications to make sure you don't miss the Loki Season 2 bonus episodes!

Jujutsu Kaisen season two is on a roll with the Shibuya arc. After season two got started in the summer, we all knew it would be a matter of time before Pseudo-Geto got things rolling in Shibuya. Now, the arc is well underway, and the voice actor behind Nanami Kento has fans doing a double-take over a new letter.

The post comes courtesy of Kenjiro Tsuda as the Japanese voice actor has overseen Nanami since Jujutsu Kaisen began. Not long ago, the actor took center stage in the anime as the Shibuya arc folded Nanami into the mix. The sorcerer's comeback left fans buzzing, but now Tsuda has fans rather nervous given his cryptic post.

After all, Tsuda simply wrote on X (Twitter) a note thanking fans for all their support up until now. "Thank you for watching Jujutsu Kaisen," he shared. "Thank you for supporting Nanami Kento."

The letter sounds a little too much like a farewell, so Jujutsu Kaisen fans are feeling tense. Nanami is a very popular character with fans, but of course, Jujutsu Kaisen cares little about such things. It has killed a number of popular heroes and villains to date. So if Tsuda is hinting at Nanami's downfall, he has done well.

And of course, Jujutsu Kaisen manga readers know how the arc turns out. If you are caught up Gege Akutami's hit manga, then you know Nanami does die in this arc. The character is an absolute machine as he tears through Shibuya, but Nanami does hit his limit at some point. During his fight with Mahito, Nanami is eventually killed, and readers are now convinced Tsuda has recorded his fighter's final lines. So if you are ready to take a gut punch to the feels, well - Jujutsu Kaisen is winding up for you now.

If you are not caught up with Jujutsu Kaisen, the anime is easier to binge now than ever. The hit series can be found on Crunchyroll. So for more info on Jujutsu Kaisen, you can read its official synopsis below:

"For some strange reason, Yuji Itadori, despite his insane athleticism would rather just hang out with the Occult Club. However, her soon finds out that the occult is as real as it gets when his fellow club members are attacked! Meanwhile, the mysterious Megumi Fushiguro is tracking down a special-grade cursed object, and his search leads him to Itadori..."

What do you think about Nanami's part in Jujutsu Kaisen season two so far? Are you keeping up with the anime? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

Avengers: Endgame delivered some of the most iconic moments in cinematic history, with the culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Infinity Saga seeing nearly all of its heroes emerge in the rubble of Avengers HQ. Some were already there to fight Thanos but most of them stepped through portals opened by Doctor Strange and Wong, having been revived when the Hulk snapped his fingers to undo the actions of Thanos from Avengers: Infinity War. As it turns out, the famous, "On your left," and moments which followed played out quite differently in the first attempt at creating the unforgettable moment.

Dan Deleeuw, a Marvel VFX supervisor on several projects and now director with Loki's second episode of Season 2, talked with ComicBook.com about his time working on Endgame. "It was interesting because there was a lot of different ideas," Deleeuw revealed. "There was a version of the cut, the day that we had all the actors together, and it was like this long panning shot across all the actors." As it turns out, the portals moments originally were not laid out in a way which gave each character their big return moments.

"It was the day that everyone was there and it was like this giant, expensive in essentiality you had all the actors there, but it just didn't play as well as we wanted," Deleeuw recalled. "And so it was something that I got with pre-viz and Jeff Ford, our editor, and we just said, 'We have to go with the portals and just you picking who comes out when.' It was just something that for I think originally it was like we knew who survived and when they were coming back, but we needed to slow it down and give the audience a chance to welcome their heroes back. And so it was so interesting in terms of like, 'Okay, who comes from Titan first? Okay, you get the Guardians and then Star-Lord's going to show up.' And then just being in the theater that day, it's like starting, okay, we got to do Spider-Man last because Spider-Man!. So it was very much crafted to be emotional, and I think it was amazing for all of us that opening weekend, how well the fans responded to it."

Avengers: Endgame has released several scenes which did not make the cut of its theatrical release which was ultimately a couple minutes longer than three hours. While a sequence with most of the actors together did make the cut of the film, leading to Captain America calling upon the Avengers to assemble, it seems there was a dramatically different version of this sequence. Much like the "I am Iron Man," moment which followed, the crew found what worked best after several tries.

Deleeuw served as second unit director on Avengers: Endgame before going on to make his directorial debut on Loki Season 2. ComicBook.com's full interview with Deleeuw can be found on the Phase Zero channel on YouTube. Loki releases new episodes of Season 2 every Thursday on Disney+.

Rick and Morty is back, baby. After a long wait, the Adult Swim original returned to the air with season seven. With a slew of new episodes on the way, all eyes are on Rick Sanchez's family ahead of their adventures. Rick and Morty also went to air this season with new voice actors in tow, and the show's executives admit they listened to thousands during the casting process.

The commentary comes from Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon and showrunner Scott Marder as the pair spoke with The Hollywood Reporter as of late. It was there the pair discussed the hard process of finding new talent to voice Rick Sanchez and his grandson. After all, the pair were voiced by Justin Roiland who was removed from Rick and Morty earlier this year. So when asked about casting, Marder said the process was extensive.

"We heard thousands. It went on for six months. It was really wide. It almost went so wide that we debated doing a global hotline though we knew it would wind up being a prank line," Marder explained.

"We felt like we needed to go that far and wide. It was harder than we thought. I thought it'd have been easier. Rick was a lot harder than I expected; everyone sounded like Macho Man Randy Savage or like a cousin of his. No one sounded exactly like Rick. It was tricky. People had it in splashes but once you bring them back in, they couldn't do it conversationally, which is what we needed. It was exhaustive."

Adding in, series co-creator Harmon talked about the complexities of finding a soundalike for Roiland's roles. "It's one thing to match an impression - can you do George W. Bush as well as Dana Carvey but can you then do it if you're not saying, 'Not gonna do it.' It was trying to strike this crazy balance; this character has to be angry, sad, despondent and all those things," he explained.

Of course, Roiland's volatile exit from Rick and Morty left many unsure of where the series would take his roles. The show's season seven premiere went off without a hitch as Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden brought Rick and Morty to life. Their performances were met with high praise from even the most wary of fans, so now we will have to see how season seven fares moving forward.

"No one's gone until they're gone." What were once the last words of Clark family matriarch Madison (Kim Dickens) to her children, Nick (Frank Dillane) and Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), have become the defining theme of the eighth and final season of Fear the Walking Dead. AMC's first Walking Dead spinoff returns with the second half of its shortened, 12-episode final season on October 22nd with "Anton," named after the new identity of a drastically reinvented Victor Strand (Colman Domingo). By finally reuniting Madison and Victor, the first hour of Fear's remaining six episodes establishes the oft-stated theme of the back half of Season 8: "Everyone deserves a second chance."

The first half of the season saw Lennie James' Morgan exit the series after passing the figurative torch of lead role back to Dickens, who returned in the Season 7 finale following the revelation that Madison survived a seemingly fatal heroic sacrifice midway through Season 4. With Dickens reinstated as series lead for the first time since 2018, Madison takes central focus as she sets out to rebuild PADRE into the sanctuary that the Clarks' Texas stadium was meant to be before it was overrun and destroyed.

"The place I'm building, it's not about me," Madison says. "It's about keeping something bigger alive." That "something bigger" is Nick and Alicia, her kids who were long gone even before the final season premiere jumped seven years into the future. But when Troy Otto (Daniel Sharman) -- who looked dead as a doornail when Madison twice bludgeoned him with a hammer to the head back in Season 3 -- returns with his one good eye on taking PADRE, it threatens not just the Clark family legacy, but the futures that Victor Strand, Daniel Salazar (Rub?n Blades), and the little-seen Luciana (Danay Garc?a) have built (frustratingly, off-screen) for the past seven years.

Following Fear's recent slew of foes ranging from forgettable ("Filthy Woman" Martha, Logan, PADRE's Shrike and Crane) to formidable (Virginia, the nuclear bomb-dropping Teddy, the CRM), resurrecting Troy Otto as the show's final existential threat is almost an admission that there's no better villain to end Fear with than a dead one -- retcons be damned. Sharman reprises his role as psychopathic fan-favorite Troy for the first time since 2017, and he's exceptionally effective as the final foil for Madison, bringing to Fear the same charismatic swagger that made Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Negan as magnetic as he was menacing. The drama heightens whenever Troy is on screen -- especially when he's needling Madison about Alicia and the reason why he has her daughter's prosthetic from her zombie-bitten, amputated arm.

Still, by bringing Troy and then a second once-thought-dead character back to life in the span of two episodes -- for a total of three resurrections, counting Madison -- death seems less consequential in a show where anyone could be killed off. Fear's biggest advantage over The Walking Dead was that it wasn't an adaptation of creator Robert Kirkman's comic book, which meant comic readers didn't have expectations about who might live or die (even if the flagship series often deviated from the source material). On one hand, AMC hasn't yet announced any Fear the Walking Dead spinoffs, thereby retaining the dramatic tension that was lost when viewers knew Daryl, Carol, Maggie, and Negan would make it out of The Walking Dead alive to return in spinoffs. On the other hand, Fear feels like a zombie soap opera based on the frequency with which characters return from the grave and then explain why they're not dead in expository dialogue.

Based on the first two of the final six episodes made available for review, there's a sense that Fear is a bit rushed. Characters who didn't appear at all in the first half of the season return with major roles to play in the back half, and so much happened during that seven-year time skip that even viewers who have been watching since the first season in 2015 might feel left out knowing that an entire show's worth of story happened between the Season 7 finale and the Season 8 premiere. Even with its smaller ensemble, the show would have benefited -- and certainly deserved -- more than 12 episodes to wrap things up. That's just half of the three-part, 24-episode final season that The Walking Dead had to deliver a satisfying conclusion.

Fear the Walking Dead Season 8 is at its best and its most compelling when it's providing Dickens, Domingo, Blades, and Sharman dramatic material to sink their teeth into. In the first two episodes, Dickens, Domingo, and Blades are serviced with emotionally powerful performances deserving of their long-surviving characters, and longtime fans will appreciate seeing Madison, Strand, Daniel, and Luciana all together for the first time since Season 3.

Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg, who have served as showrunners since the duo replaced series co-creator Dave Erickson in Season 4 onward, have almost reset Fear the Walking Dead to where Erickson left off when he killed Troy and blew up the Gonzalez Dam to end the acclaimed third season in 2017. While the new season naturally builds on some of the seismic shifts that occurred during the semi-rebooted fourth season that crossed over with The Walking Dead to bring Morgan to Fear, thematically, Chambliss and Goldberg circle back to Season 3 in such a way that it plays almost like a direct continuation of the Erickson era.

Tenured viewers might remember that Erickson envisioned a seven-season arc transforming Madison into a villain, and there are echoes of that as Madison's benevolence, inspired by her kids, is called into question when she reckons with vengeance, also inspired by her kids; mostly, Madison is a flawed anti-hero, who lived, died, and is living -- again -- for her kids.

"We're building PADRE for Alicia, for Nick," Strand says at one point, asking Madison: "What's the point of saving it if we turn into the opposite of what Alicia wanted us to build?" The Clarks are still the beating heart of the complex human drama churning the final episodes of Fear the Walking Dead, which is worth seeing through to the end. After all, everyone deserves a second chance.

Rating: 3 out of 5

The final episodes of Fear the Walking Dead Season 8 premiere Sunday, October 22nd, at 9 p.m. ET on AMC and AMC+.

Argentinian soccer superstar Lionel Messi is set to star in Messi and the Giants, a series that centers on a 12-year-old Messi. The star, now 36, is the captain of the Argentinian football team, and seems to be preparing for life after the sport, reaching into the entertainment space not just with this cartoon but also with an upcoming docuseries.

Acccording to TheWrap, who first reported the story, Messi and the Giants "depicts a 12-year-old Messi as he confronts various obstacles while traveling throughout a video game on a quest to go home."

"We can't wait to share the vision and creative direction behind this inspirational series with full support from Leo and his incredible team," said Sony Music Entertainment's Fernando Cabral in a statement.

"Football is the only sport around the world that can inspire excitement and connection in the same way that storytelling does," Sony Pictures Television - Kids' Joe D'Ambrosia added. "What makes this series special is that it focuses on the same principles of good sportsmanship... it's about perseverance, resilience, teamwork and believing in yourself."

"A work in progress...," Messi said, sharing a short video (seen below) to his social media pages.

You can probably take the combination of that "work in progress" and Sony's unwillingness to share details to suggest there isn't much information yet known about the series. so keep your eye on ComicBook.com and other entertainment sites as more information becomes available in the coming months.

Sony says that Messi and the Giants will be available in English, Spanish and "many other languages." More details on that will come before it premieres. Sony Pictures Television -- Kids and Leo Messi Management serve as producers. Messi is also set to appear in Apple TV+'s Messi Meets America.

Top Gun will be the focus of a new documentary series airing on National Geographic. Top Gun: Maverick revitalized the movie franchise, thanks in large part to Tom Cruise's return as Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. The film was the winner of the 2022 summer, setting new records at its opening box office and even surpassing Avengers: Endgame domestically. This may be why National Geographic, along with Rex, are teaming up for the working title of Top Gun: The Next Generation. The documentary will follow students of one of the U.S. Navy's most demanding training and selection programs as they train to join the ranks of the elite fighter pilots.

"With so many millions of fans of the film around the world, I was immediately drawn to this series - these elite jet pilots are not only extremely accomplished and impressive, but all have very different stories to tell," said Tom McDonald, EVP, Global Factual and Unscripted Content, National Geographic. "With Nat Geo's exclusive unprecedented inside access, this series promises to be an exhilarating, visually jaw-dropping and fascinating journey into the intensely competitive world of elite flying."

"The intimate access we have gained to the characters and the emotional character-led story arcs that run through the series will paint a vivid, compelling narrative around the young men and women embarking on this highly stressful process," said Tayna Shaw, managing director, Zinc Television. "That narrative will elevate the series beyond the noise and spectacle of fighter jets to tell the tense, nuanced and poignant human stories behind the public-facing bravado. This is a unique project and we are thrilled to be bringing it to viewers."

What is National Geographic's Top Gun docuseries about?

The series follows a group of officers as they push their limits on the grueling Advanced Flight Training Program. For the first time ever, they will be embarking on some of the most challenging flight tests possible including landing on an aircraft carrier at sea. The elite nature of the course means that only a minority - the very best - will make it to the top to fly the world's most advanced jet - the F-35C Lightning II.

The emotional character-led stories will primarily be told through the perspective of a diverse range of Navy student pilots. This first-time access will allow the series to follow the prospective naval aviators every step of the way - in the air, in the classroom, off-base and at home - as we discover who's got what it takes to make it to the F-35C.

This observational documentary will have epic aerial sequences while intimate moments reveal the emotions of the young candidates and the immense pressure they face.

Will there be a Top Gun 3?

Of course, fans are wondering if there will be a third Top Gun movie in the future. You would think someone like producer Jerry Bruckheimer would have an idea of whether Top Gun 3 is even a possibility. Back at the beginning of the year, Bruckheimer spoke on those Top Gun 3 plans.

"You tell me, I have no idea," Bruckheimer told Variety. "I wish ... We'll see, you never know." When asked if he's spoken to Cruise about ideas for another film, the producer replied, "Not yet. He's in the middle of shooting Mission: Impossible. He's got a lot of difficult, very hard stunts he's doing, so it's not the time to take his attention away from what's important to him right now."

Millie Bobby Brown has taken advantage of the notoriety of Stranger Things to build one of the most impressive careers for any young actor in Hollywood, but with just one more season to go in the main show, Brown is ready to move on. The star, who has also appeared in Godzilla vs. Kong and Enola Holmes,

In what's probably appropriate for a series centered on characters coming of age, Brown compares the end of Stranger Things to graduating from high school.

"When you're ready, you're like, 'All right, let's do this. Let's tackle this last senior year. Let's get out of here,'" Brown told Glamour. "Stranger Things takes up a lot of time to film and it's preventing me from creating stories that I'm passionate about. So I'm ready to say, 'Thank you, and goodbye.'"

Brown adds taht ironically, the show gave her "the tools and the resources to be a better actor." But she is unwilling to be goaded into mourning the show. No one is dying, she points out, bluntly. "When it ends, I'm going to be able to still see these people."

Series star David Harbour also recently broke down his feelings on the end of the show, saying he's excited for the victory lap of the show's final season.

"What's funny is when I started the show, I never ever wanted it to end," Harbour told NME. "That's why I love the show. I think it's a great show, even if I wasn't in it. Now we're almost nine years from filming the first season, and I think it is time for it to end. But it is, of course, very bittersweet. You know, there's a sadness there. But also, we've all grown up. It is time for us to leave that nest and try other things and different projects. And to let [creators] the Duffer Brothers try different things as well. I mean, those guys are so talented. I want to see what they come up with next. So it is bittersweet, but it's definitely time."

No word yet on when Stranger Things will return, since both the writers and actors were on strike, and that ground production to a halt. The writers room is back at work, so hopefully by the time SAG-AFTRA is back to work, Brown and her co-stars can get in, wrap things up in a bow, and get out.

It seems a potential tragedy has been prevented in Japan. A new report by Mainichi confirms a popular anime director is now breathing easy after a crazed anti-fan was dealt with in court. After all, the director of Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena was being targeted by the suspect, and their harassment played out similarly to what Kyoto Animation experienced ahead of its deadly arson.

The situation came to light publicly as Kunihiko Ikuhara chose to speak out on the issue. As it turns out, Ikuhara confessed he had become the target of a dogged harassment campaign last year. It seems the suspect believes their work had been plagiarized by Ikuhara, and their harassment only got worse.

Reports suggest the unnamed suspect sent threatening messages to Ikuhara, his co-workers, his employers, and anyone in his inner circle. As these threats escalated, Ikuhara called the police which sparked regular patrols at his address. This situation eventually prompted Ikuhara to file legal action against the woman, and a verdict from the court was given last December.

As for why the police were brought in, well - you can hardly blame Ikuhara. The suspect's harassment sounds eerily similar to what Kyoto Animation endured before an anti-fan set fire to one of its studios. Back in 2018, more than 30 employees were killed and dozens more injured after a suspect set fire to one of Kyoto Animation's buildings. The suspect, who is just now on trial for the event, said their attack was sparked by a simple act of plagiarism. The suspect incorrectly believed Kyoto Animation had taken one of their story ideas without credit, so you can understand Ikuhara's hesitations.

What do you make of this latest anime industry update? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is set to take fans across the world, both the real and mystical. The first season of Disney+'s live-action adaptation of Rick Riordan's best-selling novels brings the first installment, The Lightning Thief, to the streaming screen. As emphasized by Riordan, who also serves as an executive producer on the show, these first eight episodes are as faithful to the source material as possible. This means notable characters like Ares (Adam Copeland) play a major role while crucial locations like the St. Louis Arch are on full display.

Among those big locations is the Underworld. Greek mythology's answer to hell, this kingdom of Hades serves as the ultimate destination for Percy and company on their cross-country quest. The latest trailer shows a brief glimpse of Jay Duplass's Hades approaching Percy and Grover in his throne room. In a twist, the Percy Jackson depiction of the Underworld is not fiery and red but rather dreary and gray.

Percy Jackson's Production Crew Detail Creating the Underworld

Speaking to ComicBook.com at New York Comic Con, Percy Jackson and the Olympians production designer Dan Hennah (The Lord of the Rings) noted that this show's Underworld serves as the antithesis of Mount Olympus.

"It was really about [asking], 'What is hell?' Hell is nothing," Dan Hennah said. "I think the thing was to go monotone. To go surreal and have a surreal world. We also architecturally went to the opposite of Mount Olympus. It's an upside down world, an upside down version of Mount Olympus, but in a very, very distinctive Hades style. It's like Hades is the architect of his world."

Like most of Percy Jackson's big set pieces, the Underworld was created with a blend of practical and virtual effects. Much of the wider landscape was done on an Industrial Light & Magic Volume screen.

"I mean the underworld is such a beautiful environment in its own way," ILM VFX supervisor Jeff White said. "It really stands out from the rest of the series and I think there's a whole design language between Olympus above and Hades environment down below that we embraced for this. But it is a very black and white world and I think that kind of adds to the character of it."

"We came up with an idea that there isn't a sky there. It's basically a massive cavern like on a monumental scale," VFX supervisor Erik Henry added. "That meant it needed to have a ceiling instead of a sky. What we did is we had mountains that were there and through the clouds you can see that the mountains are kind of bleeding into the sky with this kind of black flow. I said it must be raining upside down because that's what's creating that. Black and white yes, but also something that is really arresting the images when you see them."

Percy Jackson and the Olympians begins streaming on Disney+ on December 20th.

Mr. Poopybutthole has returned to Rick and Morty for Season 7's premiere, and the new voice actor behind the fan favorite character has been revealed! Rick and Morty Season 7 made some big changes behind the scenes with Adult Swim cutting ties with former co-creator and voice behind the main duo, Justin Roiland, ahead of the new episodes. But while Roiland was most notable for voicing the titular two characters, there are a number of smaller side characters Roiland had voiced that would need replacements as well. And alongside the announcement for the new Rick and Morty voice actors, Mr. Poopybutthole's new voice star has been announced as well.

Rick and Morty Season 7 premiered on Adult Swim, and it featured the first full episode for its new Rick and Morty voice actors, but also revealed a new voice for Mr. Poopybutthole. It was the character's first extended role in the series after popping up a few times over the years, and in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Rick and Morty showrunner Scott Marder revealed that an actor named John Allen provided the new voice for the fan-favorite, who "came in late in the game."

Rick and Morty: Mr. Poopybutthole New Voice Explained

When asked whether new Rick Sanchez actor, Ian Cardoni, or new Morty actor, Harry Belden, would also be providing the new voices for Roiland's other characters like Mr. Poopybutthole, Marder explained that while they are happy for the duo to take on the smaller characters the time crunch they were under would have put more pressure on the new actors more so than they were already under, "We are happy for them to take on more of these smaller characters. In the time crunch we were in, it was a lot to ask either of them to fully take on Poopy as well because it's the most expanded role Poopy has had."

Elaborating further, Marder explained how they found a new actor for this expanded Mr. Poopybutthole role, "We ultimately found another guy, John Allen, who came in late in the game. He took pressure off of Ian and Harry who were both working on Poopy but it felt like too much for either of them to be doing him in an episode of the show that they had to completely re-do."

What did you think of Mr. Poopybutthole's new voice in Rick and Morty's Season 7 premiere? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

Rick and Morty Season 7 has finally kicked off its run with its first episode airing on Adult Swim, and it went all out with Rick Sanchez taking on the Predator for the season's first big fight! Rick and Morty Season 6 ended with the tease that things would be bigger than ever before as Rick Prime was officially introduced to the series as a new overarching villain, and all eyes have been on Season 7 to see how the series continues the story. While the premiere doesn't really have a major follow up to this, it does have a big fight to help ease fans in to what's next.

Rick and Morty Season 7 Episode 1 sees Rick partying with Mr. Poopybutthole, Gearface, Birdperson and Squanchy when they get together to try and help Mr. Poopybutthole, and it's revealed that Poopybutthole ended up hiring a Predator to hunt down his ex-wife and keep track of what she's been up to. When it's revealed that Poopybutthole's ex is now dating the Predator sent to hunt her down, this leads to a big fight that tests Rick's gadgets against the Predator's.

Who Wins the Rick vs. Predator Fight?

Rick's group of friends is full of alcohol and various drugs, so they are pretty much quickly defeated by the Predator when the fight begins. Despite their abilities, each of them are hindered by how much they've partied until Rick starts to really fight. It's here that he quickly counters the Predator's attacks, and soon the group dogpiles on Predator and nearly kills him until Mr. Poopybutthole puts a stop to him (to which Rick argues against it because he wants the Predator's skull).

Mr. Poopybutthole decides to stop fighting and let his ex and son be happy with their new guardian while he tries his best to get his life back together. The fight ends with Hugh Jackman then getting a surprise hit on the Predator and it lies on the ground motionless. So Rick was able to beat the Predator with the help of his friends and Wolverine as the show points out.

What did you think of the fight between Rick Sanchez and the Predator in Rick and Morty's Season 7 premiere? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

Rick and Morty has returned to screens with Season 7 of the series on Adult Swim, and Hugh Jackman made a surprise appearance to party with Rick and his friends in the way only Jackman can! Rick and Morty Season 7 is touting itself as a bigger season than ever before as now that Rick Prime has been introduced to the series as a new villain, there are going to be all sorts of challenges ahead. But the premiere episode is more focused on handling a character who's been through some tough times as Rick really needs to be there for his friend, Mr. Poopybutthole.

Rick and Morty Season 7's premiere sees Rick reaching out to Mr. Poopybutthole as he's now in worse shape than ever before, and instead of having an intervention for his friend, they end up partying instead. Soon they come across Hugh Jackman (Deadpool 3, Logan, The Greatest Showman) in a club for bees, and it turns out that he's actually related by marriage to Rick's neighbor Gene. It's here that he invites Rick's group to party, and does so without limits.

Hugh Jackman's Role in Rick and Morty Season 7

Rick and Morty Season 7 Episode 1, "How Poopy Got His Poop Back," brings in Hugh Jackman towards the middle of the premiere as a heightened version of himself. Not only does he call his house the "Jack Shack," but he decorated it with X-Men memorabilia and nude portraits of himself (with Wolverine's claws to boot). As promised by Gene, Jackman ends up loading them up with a mystery drug and then tries to help Mr. Poopybutthole win his ex-wife back.

Trying to serenade his ex-wife with "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)," (which Jackman says he wrote), and ends up playing a crucial part in the finale when he surprisingly deals the final blow to a Predator Rick and the others fight before the episode comes to an end. As for Jackman, he exits their lives as quickly as he came into it after a party well done. A move that Mr. Poopybutthole points out will "put a bullet" in all future Wolverine appearances thanks to his appearance in Rick and Morty at all.

What did you think of Hugh Jackman showing up in Rick and Morty's Season 7 premiere? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

To find home is to find each other in the next chapter of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Sunday's "Coming Home" season finale of the Walking Dead spin-off saw Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) set off to find best friend Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), who went missing after making a pit stop to gather fuel in Freeport, Maine. Carol tracked down Daryl's stolen motorcycle and, after stuffing its rider (Paul Zies) into the trunk of her Mustang at gunpoint, was pointed to the auto repair shop where Daryl disappeared when he got wrangled into wrangling walkers for the French doctor (Fran?ois Delaive) in the employ of France's Pouvoir Du Vivant leader Madame Genet (Anne Charrier). (Read the season finale recap here.)

"I don't know if this is the place I'm supposed to be. Thinking about all the people I left behind. Wondering if they're still thinking about me," Daryl says in the first The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon - The Book of Carol teaser trailer (above) that aired Sunday on AMC. Daryl left The Nest after delivering Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) and Isabelle (Cl?mence Po?sy) to the Mont-Saint-Michel, but as revealed by the first footage from season 2, is drawn back into the Union of Hope's ongoing fight against Genet and her Guerrier.

Meanwhile, in America, Carol left Ohio's Commonwealth and has been tracking Daryl down the east coast. Her search brings her to Fuller's Auto Repair in Maine, where Jones (Gilbert Glenn Brown) trafficked Daryl and Juno (John Ales) to Dr. Lafleur -- who then put Daryl on the transatlantic vessel freighting zombie test subjects overseas. "The man that was here. Where is he?" asks a crossbow-wielding Carol at the auto shop, which has a French flag conspicuously placed out front. A stranger asks his own question: "Would you give up everything to look for somebody you haven't met?"

"If there was a hope of finding them alive," answers Carol as footage shows her trapped in an SUV surrounded by the dead, "yes."

During a panel at New York Comic Con ahead of the Daryl Dixon season finale, AMC announced McBride would reprise her fan-favorite role in the second season of the newly-retitled The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon -- The Book of Carol in 2024. McBride last appeared in The Walking Dead series finale in 2022 and was set to star opposite Reedus in the untitled Daryl & Carol Walking Dead spin-off, but bowed out when relocating to Europe became "logistically untenable" at the time, according to an AMC statement.

"It was always the hope and the desire that we would get Melissa onto the show in season one, in whatever version she was ready to do. That was always what I wanted to do and what everybody wanted," showrunner David Zabel told ComicBook in a post-season Q&A. "Norman wanted it, [executive producer Scott M. Gimple] wanted it, we all wanted it. So it was just a matter of working out what the show was going to be and then seeing how we could include her. Because we love the character, and we love Melissa, and we love the dynamic of Daryl and Carol together. So from the point where I started participating on the show, that was always the conversation."

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon -- The Book of Carol, starring Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, and returning cast members Cl?mence Po?sy, Louis Puech Scigliuzzi, Laika Blanc Francard, Anne Charrier, Romain Levi, and Eriq Ebouaney, is scheduled to premiere in 2024 on AMC and AMC+.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD (and find us on Facebook) and follow @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

Rick and Morty Season 7 is finally here, so here's everything that went down during the first episode of the new season! Rick and Morty Season 6 ended with some massive implications for the future. Not only has there been some major shake ups behind the scenes, but the end of the previous season teased that Rick Prime would serve as the new overarching villain for the series moving forward. With the new season picking up right after this reveal, there is actually something else important the series needs to address before moving on, how Mr. Poopybutthole is doing after we saw him last.

Last time we had seen Mr. Poopybutthole he had broken both of his legs after trying to exercise and get control back over his life, and Rick and Morty Season 7 teased we'd be seeing the character return for the new episodes to follow up that last terrible status update. And as the title suggests, we've gotten that much needed update. Here's everything that happened in "How Poopy Got His Poop Back."

What Happens in Rick and Morty Season 7 Episode 1?

• The Smith Family begins to question when a house guest of theirs will leave as they are beginning to overstay their welcome, this is revealed to be Mr. Poopybutthole who is fallen on even harder times since we've last seen him as he explains that his life really went downhill since Beth shot him in his first appearance. Following the cold open, Rick reveals he's made no progress in finding Rick Prime just yet and Morty tells him that Rick needs to get Mr. Poopybutthole to leave.
• When Rick's initial plan of trying to invent robot ghosts to scare Poopybutthole away, he begrudgingly agrees to an intervention for Poopybutthole. He refuses it to call it as such and recruits his friends Birdperson (who is revealed to have saved Birddaughter since his last appearance in Season 6), Squanchy (who's not dead), Gearface, and even Gene (whose lawnmower keeps running after Rick takes him away).
• When they hang out, Poopybutthole reveals he's been keeping tabs on his ex-wife and even hires a Predator to track her while he's under a restraining order. Poopybutthole then reveals it's his birthday, and Rick and the others decide to party and help celebrate Poopybutthole instead as it's made him happy when he's already on the end of his rope. Although this all started with wanting to talk to Poopybutthole about his drinking, they each end up drinking more and partying instead.
• When heading to a club full of honey and bees, they come across Hugh Jackman, who's revealed to be married to Gene's cousin. Inviting all of them to party with him, Gene warns them that Hugh parties hard without limitations. After taking some mystery pills, the group then heads to Jackman's house (filled with X-Men memorabilia) completely out of their gourds. When Jackman hears about Poopybutthole wanting to get his ex-wife back, they all want to go get her.
• Rick refuses this, however, and they end up fighting over the fact that Poopybutthole doesn't seem to see Rick as his friend. Even going as far as pretending it was his birthday to get out of the intervention, Poopybutthole, Jackman and the others head to his ex-wife's house. Rick instead heads back to his lab, and after talking with a failed robot ghost he tried to make earlier, he decides to rejoin Poopybutthole's group. Wanting to see it through all the way after bringing all of them out there, Rick decides to help.
• It's revealed that Poopybutthole's ex-wife is actually know dating the Predator investigator that Poopybutthole had sent after her. Taking his son from her house, the Predator is now hunting all of them down in a forest. Poopybutthole ends up getting them caught when he opens a can of beer, so a fight ensues with Rick's drunk friends all instantly losing. Rick joins the fight and is on an equal level with the Predator thanks to all of his gadgets.
• It turns the tide and they're nearly going to kill the Predator until Poopybutthole stops them. Seeing his son scared, he decides that's at least best that his ex-wife and son are being taken care of when he gets his life together. But while Poopybutthole is sorry, his ex-wife then decides she and the Predator are a happy family. It's until Hugh Jackman comes along and takes out the Predator in a surprise attack that it takes a turn. But afterwards, it's a new sunrise.
• Rick and the others look out at the sunrise as they all say goodbye to one another, and Poopybutthole is more self-actualized than before as he prepares to get his life back to a good place. In the post-credits scene, it's revealed that Gene's lawnmower (that got left running after Rick took him away in the beinning) had been running ever since had been destroying the town until it runs out of gas (after killing one last person in a dramatic fashion).
  

What did you think of Rick and Morty's Season 7 premiere? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

Rick and Morty has announced the new voice actors replacing Justin Roiland for Season 7 of the animated series! Adult Swim had announced they were parting ways with Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland ahead of Season 7's release, but also confirmed they were committed to releasing the new episodes due to the work of the rest of the team behind it. Leading into the premiere of Rick and Morty Season 7, this ended up becoming one of the biggest mysteries as to how the Rick and Morty team would be handling the replacement of its two titular characters.

After previously revealing their intention to cast soundalike actors to replace Roiland as Rick and Morty, the first trailer for Rick and Morty Season 7 revealed their voices for the first time. But Adult Swim had been holding back the announcement for the new actors behind the characters themselves, and with the premiere of the first episode and an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, have revealed that Ian Cardoni will be the new voice for Rick Sanchez and Harry Belden will be the new voice for Morty Smith for Rick and Morty Season 7 (and likely beyond).

What to Know for Rick and Morty Season 7

Rick and Morty Season 7 is now airing on Sundays at 11:00PM ET with Adult Swim. The release schedule for Rick and Morty Season 7's episodes (along with their titles and synopses) breaks down as such:

• Oct. 15 - "How Poopy Got His Poop Back" - "Broh, come out with us, you're being so boring dude"
  
• Oct. 22 - "The Jerrick Trap" - "Gotta be mindful Broh, big brain stuff here."
• Oct. 29 - "Air Force Wong" - "Virginia is for lovers Broh"
• Nov. 5 - "That's Amorte" - "Broh, That's-A Some Good Spaghetti"
• Nov. 12 - "Unmortricken" - "Rick And Morty Wilding Out, Broh. They getting up to stuff."
• Nov. 19 - "Rickfending Your Mort" - "Gotta keep those receipts, Dawg."
• Nov. 26 - "Wet Kuat Amortican Summer" - "High School, Broh. Morty and Summer hang out in this one."
• Dec. 3 - "Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie" - "Action! Adventure! It's a whole movie, Broh!"
• Dec. 10 - "Mort: Ragnarick" - "Heaven is for real, Broh. I saw it, Broh, I swear."
• Dec. 17 - "Fear no Mort" - "Only thing to fear is fear itself, Broh."

How do you feel about the new voices for Rick and Morty in Season 7 so far? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

[This story contains spoilers for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season finale.] "You're going to drop this redneck in Paris?" Norman Reedus said of his reaction to AMC's latest Walking Dead spin-off that finds Daryl Dixon washing ashore in post-apocalyptic France. By way of "a bunch of bad decisions" revealed through a series of flashbacks, the six-episode first season answered fans' oft-asked question: "Why is Daryl Dixon in France?" As it turns out, that was also the question put to showrunner and executive producer David Zabel, the Humanitas Prize-winning ER veteran who was asked to pitch Scott M. Gimple, Chief Content Officer of AMC's Walking Dead Universe, on the long-living franchise's first international setting.

Plans for the Walking Dead spin-off started forming in 2018, with Gimple and then-showrunner Angela Kang developing a Daryl & Carol spin-off starring Reedus and Melissa McBride. Daryl and Carol "would take off and we'd come back and check in and we would take off," Reedus revealed in 2020, the same year that AMC announced The Walking Dead would end after 11 seasons.

Ultimately, Reedus and McBride remained with the flagship through the 2022 series finale, but plans changed again when McBride and Kang dropped out of the Europe-set spin-off in April 2022. Zabel, a first-time TWD showrunner, replaced Kang, who serves as executive producer on what became the #1 premiere of all time and the #1 most-viewed season of any show in the history of AMC+.

"I can't talk to the changes too much, because I wasn't there for any of that. When I came on, basically they said, 'Hey David, will you come in and tell us a story about Daryl Dixon in France?' And that's where I started," Zabel exclusively told ComicBook in an interview about the Oct. 15 "Coming Home" season finale. "So I wasn't there when they went through some of those conversations about other iterations that the show might have been or was expected to be. So it's a question outside of my wheelhouse in terms of knowing what the details were, and it was a long period of time that they were talking about it, I know, and I think things changed over the course of that period."

Zabel added, "I just know when I came on, it was like, 'They want you to sit down with Norman and tell him a story about Daryl Dixon in France.' And that's what I did. That was the first thing I did. And then a little bit later, we were all talking about -- even though there were circumstances making it a little bit difficult for Melissa -- we wanted to see if she would be willing to do some part of the show in season 1. And that's when I started talking to Melissa about the radio call in [episode] five and the scene in six that the audience saw."

McBride makes a cameo in a final coda sequence ending the first season of Daryl Dixon, which will open its next chapter as The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon -- The Book of Carol in 2024 on AMC and AMC+. The second season, which filmed in Europe, sees Carol set off to track down Daryl after following his trail to Freeport, Maine, where Daryl disappeared after making a pit stop to gather fuel.

"It was always the hope and the desire that we would get Melissa onto the show in season one, in whatever version she was ready to do. That was always what I wanted to do and what everybody wanted," Zabel said. "Norman wanted it, Scott wanted it, we all wanted it. So it was just a matter of working out what the show was going to be and then seeing how we could include her. Because we love the character, and we love Melissa, and we love the dynamic of Daryl and Carol together. So from the point where I started participating on the show, that was always the conversation."

After spending six episodes trekking across zombie-plagued France to get home to America, "Coming Home" ends with Daryl seconds away from boarding a boat to England after delivering Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) -- believed by the faithful members of Union de L'Espoir to be the new messiah who will lead the revival of humanity -- and his aunt Isabelle (Cl?mence Po?sy) to The Nest, a sanctuary at the Mont-Saint-Michel. But when Laurent follows him to the beach teeming with les affam?s ("the hungry ones"), episode director Daniel Percival ends on a shot of Daryl caught in the middle of returning to The Nest or returning home.

"Without spoiling anything on Daryl's side of the story, we leave him with this conundrum, this dilemma about a guy who's trying to get home to the family that he's always had back home -- with Judith and RJ and Carol and Connie -- but a guy who, in the meantime, has also formed this other family and bond in France that needs him and wants him there and where he has developed a certain sense of belonging. So we certainly continue that narrative. That dilemma that we set up at the end of [episode] six is a big part of the early going of when we come back. We don't just drop that and we don't skip it. We continue telling that story in various ways and we continue telling the story of the threat of the Ampers, the amped-up walkers that Genet is cultivating as an army."

Along with the br?lant -- or "burners," walkers with acidic blood -- Daryl Dixon unleashes the Ampers, super-strong walkers engineered by Dr. Lafleur (Fran?ois Delaive). These man-made mutant zombie variants are made possible through research funded by Madame Genet (Anne Charrier), the shadowy leader of Pouvoir des Vivants ("Power of the Living"), a French movement out to establish France's Sixth Republic. The Ampers, as Zabel officially labels them, continues a major story thread first put into motion in a final coda sequence ending The Walking Dead: World Beyond. That limited series, co-created and executive produced by Gimple, ended inside a French lab where graffiti reading "Les morts sont nes icl" (the dead are born here) could be seen with cryptic talk of the Primrose and Violet teams who "started this" and then "made it worse."

That's a thread left to pull in season 2. With McBride back on board as a series regular, The Book of Carol will also reveal the details about that mysterious exchange between Daryl and Carol in episode 5. Before losing connection, Carol told Daryl through radio static that "...came back," sparking theories that the long-missing Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) or Michonne (Danai Gurira), who will return in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live in 2024, made it home to Alexandria.

"I think one way or another, what she meant on that radio call will be explored in our story. It will be addressed in our story, it will be clarified," Zabel confirmed. "But it is interesting to see all the theories. I've seen a lot of theories and it's amazing how that one little moment caught people's attention a lot. I think that's cool. It's cool about working in The Walking Dead Universe, is that something like that catches fire a little bit. So we're not going to drop it. It's not just thrown away, but we will address it in our show. And obviously, there's also the Rick and Michonne show coming up before we will be back."

Asked if Daryl Dixon might connect with The Ones Who Live or reunite Daryl with Rick and Michonne -- after all, Daryl did promise the Grimes children he would keep an eye out for their parents to bring them home -- Zabel said, "That is more of a Scott Gimple question. I mean, I know the fans would love that. I would love that, too. We haven't gotten into anything like that specifically. So I think that's a Gimple question."

For now, the last episode of Daryl Dixon's first season suggests a more imminent reunion: with Laurent, who makes the two-day trek following Daryl from Mont-Saint-Michel to the north coast after Daryl leaves The Nest. Daryl is seconds away from getting on the boat home when Laurent, standing on the shore teeming with walkers, calls out to him as U2's "Seconds" plays. ("It takes a second to say goodbye / say goodbye, oh, oh, oh, say bye bye / Where you going to now?") Asked what Daryl's decision looks like if Laurent doesn't follow him at the end, Zabel said, "I think he probably gets on the boat, to be honest with you."

"It takes that kid showing up and demonstrating the depth of his connection to Daryl, his need. I mean, that's what happens at the end is that kid needs Daryl and loves Daryl so much and needs that parental figure that Daryl has come to represent to him," Zabel explained. "He needs that so much that he follows Daryl to the beach all the way across, a couple days from where they started and tracks him down there. And I think Daryl sees that and has a reaction to that, and I think that's what causes the hesitation. I think if it wasn't for that, he would get on the boat."

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon -- The Book of Carol, starring Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride as Daryl and Carol, is scheduled to premiere in 2024 on AMC and AMC+.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD (and find us on Facebook) and follow @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

[Warning: This story contains spoilers for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season finale.] "I'm looking for a friend of mine. Name's Daryl Dixon." So said Carol (Melissa McBride) on Sunday's first season finale of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, titled "Coming Home." Despite its title, the episode ended with Daryl (Norman Reedus) still stranded overseas after delivering Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) and Isabelle (Cl?mence Po?sy) to The Nest, a sanctuary at the Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, France. But the episode was a homecoming for McBride, whose season-ending cameo as Carol will be followed by the longtime Walking Dead star rejoining Reedus as a series regular in a second season titled The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon -- The Book of Carol.

McBride made a voice cameo in the penultimate episode of the season when Carol communicated with Daryl over long-range radio, reaching him long enough to tell him through static that someone or something "came back." In the flashback sequence, Daryl took a job wrangling walkers to trade them for fuel after his motorcycle broke down outside of Freeport, Maine, and Daryl promised Carol he would return to the Commonwealth in Ohio "in about a week." Daryl never made it home.

That's because Fuller's Auto Repair, where Daryl went missing, hired transients to collect zombie test subjects that Dr. Lafleur (Fran?ois Delaive) then shipped overseas for experiments he would conduct for Madame Genet (Anne Charrier). Daryl ended up in the brig aboard a French cargo ship and, during a prisoner mutiny, went overboard in the Gulf of C?diz before he washed ashore in France -- thousands of miles away from his rendezvous with Carol.

Daryl Dixon's season finale ended with Carol in hot pursuit of a rider (Paul Zies) racing down the road on Daryl's stolen bike. "I don't want any trouble. I'm looking for a friend of mine. Name's Daryl Dixon. That's his bike you're riding," Carol told the rider, who claimed he "found it."

She then told the rider she "came a long way trying to track him down," and stepped aside to let the shotgun-wielding man rummage through the trunk of her classic Mustang. But Carol had a trick up her sleeve: a concealed socket wrench. Carol knocked the rider unconscious, bound his hands, and stuffed him in the trunk. At gunpoint, Carol forced the rider to confess he traded "some dudes" camped a few miles down the road for the bike.

"If you're lying, I won't be back," said Carol, locking him in the trunk. In the final shot of the season, Carol rode Daryl's bike past a vandalized sign welcoming visitors to Freeport, Maine. "Population: DEAD."

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon's Carol Cameo Explained by Showrunner

"It was always the hope and the desire that we would get Melissa onto the show in season one, in whatever version she was ready to do. That was always what I wanted to do and what everybody wanted," showrunner David Zabel told ComicBook. "Norman wanted it, Scott [M. Gimple, executive producer] wanted it, we all wanted it. So it was just a matter of working out what the show was going to be and then seeing how we could include her. Because we love the character, and we love Melissa, and we love the dynamic of Daryl and Carol together. So from the point where I started participating on the show, that was always the conversation."

AMC announced an untitled Daryl & Carol Walking Dead spin-off in September 2020, which would follow the 11-season run of The Walking Dead. Then-showrunner Angela Kang and AMC's Walking Dead Universe chief content officer Gimple developed the spin-off, starring Reedus and McBride, as a "road show" set across the southwestern United States. However, in April 2022, McBride dropped out of the spin-off when the series relocated to Europe, which "became logistically untenable for Melissa at this time," according to AMC.

On Daryl & Carol's Change to Daryl Dixon in France

"Unfortunately, I can't talk to the changes too much because I wasn't there for any of that," Zabel said when asked about the original plans for Daryl & Carol. "When I came on, basically they said, 'Hey David, will you come in and tell us a story about Daryl Dixon in France?' And that's where I started. So I wasn't there when they went through some of those conversations about other iterations that the show might have been or was expected to be. So it's a question outside of my wheelhouse in terms of knowing what the details were, and it was a long period of time that they were talking about it, I know, and I think things changed over the course of that period."

Zabel continued, "I just know when I came on, it was like, 'They want you to sit down with Norman and tell him a story about Daryl Dixon in France.' And that's what I did. That was the first thing I did. And then a little bit later, we were all talking about -- even though there were circumstances making it a little bit difficult for Melissa -- we wanted to see if she would be willing to do some part of the show in season one. And that's when I started talking to Melissa about the radio call in [episode] five and the scene in [episode] six that the audience saw."

Melissa McBride's Next Chapter in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon -- The Book of Carol

Ahead of the first season finale, AMC announced at New York Comic Con that McBride would return as a series regular and executive producer for Daryl Dixon season 2. The network also revealed an official new title: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon -- The Book of Carol. Zabel previously confirmed with ComicBook that the second season of the spin-off, which is set and shot in Europe, will continue filming on October 20th after AMC secured an approved interim agreement with the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) to resume production amid the actors' strike.

Asked about the Daryl-Carol reunion and McBride's role in season 2, Zabel teased that the Carol coda was just the first chapter in her search for Daryl.

"A lot of the details are still being worked out in script and in shooting of what season two will be. You have to tune in and watch season two to see how it develops, but we are not dropping the narrative of her search for Daryl," Zabel said. "All we know right now is that she's searching for Daryl in America. That's what we see in episode six, and we're super committed to her being a big part of the show as much as she's able to and as much as we can. But beyond that, any specifics, you have to wait and see."

McBride said of her return in a statement released by AMC: "I've known there was much more to be told of Carol's story as I felt her so unsettled when we last saw her, as she watched her best friend, Daryl, ride away. Apart or (hopefully!) together, their stories run deep, and I'm so excited to continue Carol's journey here. This team of storytellers have done amazing work to land these two established characters in an entirely new world to them, and I'm loving the discoveries!"

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon -- The Book of Carol is scheduled to premiere in 2024 on AMC and AMC+.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD (and find us on Facebook) and follow @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season finale begins on the beaches of Normandy. June 6, 1944. D-Day. An American soldier -- one of 2,501 -- dies fighting for the liberation of France. His dog tag reads: DIXON. "Dixon! Dixon! Today you die! For my brother!" In the present-day, Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) hears the taunts of Codron (Romain Levi) and the cheers of the Pouvoir, who have come to watch the American battle the amped-up les affam?s, the hungry ones, engineered by Madame Genet (Anne Charrier). "Don't worry, Issa," Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) assures his praying aunt, Isabelle (Cl?mence Po?sy). "Daryl will win."

Daryl fights the acidic-blooded br?lants, burners, in the arena that Genet has assembled for De Gaulle Day marking the rebirth and rise of France's Sixth Republic. He's chained at the wrist to Quinn (Adam Nagaitis), forcing the American and the Brit to fight side-by-side to survive their trial by walker. Genet's chief doctor (Fran?ois Delaive) injects the Pouvoir's zombie gladiators with a serum that amps up the hungry ones with blackened eyes and sharpened teeth. The Ampers are faster, stronger, and deadlier than the average les affam?s, but Genet's pets fail to kill Daryl and Quinn.

"The point was to win these people to our cause," Genet seethes as the crowd cheers for the American, holding a walker's head up to the blood-thirsty spectators. Before Genet's Guerrier can gun down Daryl, Fallou (Eriq Ebouaney), Sylvie (Laika Blanc Francard), and Emile (Tristan Zanchi) spark la r?volution, allowing Daryl and Quinn to escape in the chaos. "This American killed your brother?" Genet asks Codron. "You want your revenge? Go get it."

In the halls of the Maison M?re, Daryl notices a wound on Quinn's shoulder blade that he says was caused by the burning touch of the br?lant. Meanwhile, Genet imprisons Isabelle and Laurent, telling the boy: "God is not coming for you. The Messiah? I don't think so." Laurent questions if they've been abandoned by God, but Isabelle reminds him that "now is when we need faith the most." She reveals a pick-pocketed key, a trick she learned in another life. As Quinn succumbs to his wound, he repents for his treatment of Isabelle and using Laurent -- his son -- to try to get her back. Daryl says he can still buy him time to save Isabelle and Laurent. With that, Daryl uses a belt as a tourniquet and severs Quinn's cuffed hand with one clean cut. Quinn goes after the Guerrier, giving Daryl time to rendezvous with Fallou's fighters before finding Isabelle and Laurent trapped on the other side of a gate.

The zombified Quinn attacks Isabelle, who uses a pipe to fend him off. Handing Laurent his blade through the gate, Daryl tells him he can save her. "God will forgive you," Daryl tells the boy, who puts down his reanimated father. Later, Daryl, Isabelle, Laurent, and Sylvie head for Mont-Saint-Michel, Normandy: The Nest. When their truck breaks down outside a small village, Daryl tells Isabelle how his dad used to have him and his brother, Merle, take apart engines. If they couldn't put them back together, they didn't get dinner. It was hard "when he was around," Daryl says of his father, "which was hardly ever." Daryl's dad "grew up without a father. I guess history repeats itself if you're not careful." Daryl explains that his grandfather enlisted, left his pregnant wife back home, and died in France in World War II. When Isabelle remarks that grandpa Dixon "gave his life for France," Daryl is almost churlish in his response: "Yeah, while his family fell apart back home. Hardly seems worth it."

Isabelle admits that Laurent growing up without a father was "better than Quinn." And then she confesses another truth: that she recognized Daryl was dangerous when she found him in Lourdes after he washed ashore in France, and she knew that he was the one who could deliver Laurent to The Nest. She lied about the drawing of Daryl on the beach that she claimed was Laurent's premonition. But as she's said, everything happens for a reason. Just then, Codron and Genet's soldiers have taken Isabelle, Laurent, and Sylvie hostage. Daryl offers to trade his life for theirs, but Codron relays that "Madame said you all die today. The boy first." Isabelle is stabbed protecting Laurent from a Guerrier, who hands Codron a gun so he can avenge his brother and let Laurent's death be "the last thing the American sees."

Daryl is at Codron's mercy. "God loves you," Laurent tells Codron, who finally pulls the trigger... and guns down the Guerrier. "Not today, Dixon. Next time." He tells the travelers that Mont-Saint-Michel is a day's walk north, and to burn the truck because it's easy to track. With that, Codron walks off to face his fate back at Maison M?re. Codron tells Genet that the Guerrier were ambushed, and he is the only survivor. "A man cannot give more to a cause than his own life. Yet you return without a scratch." Codron's face is tattooed for the cause, but it's his eyes that give him away. Codron confesses he couldn't bring himself to the kill the boy, who has become the "hope" for l'Union de I'Espoir.

"The Union offers fairy tales. Every person who joins them makes us weaker. That's why they must be snuffed out," Genet explains. "Because we're building the future. Not for ourselves. But for those that come after. We have to do the hard, unspeakable things, so that they won't have to." Genet tells him to give up the location of The Nest, but Codron refuses. "It's only going to get more painful," says Genet, ordering her men to take Codron away.

At The Nest, the people of l'Union welcome Laurent like the messiah they believe him to be. Daryl meets with their leader, the Buddhist monk Losang (Joel De La Fuente), a Hoboken-born Paris transplant who traveled to Europe as a student in the '90s. Daryl warns Losang that Genet will be coming for The Nest. "We'll pray not, but if the day comes," he says confidently, "we'll be prepared."

In a montage, Daryl teaches the Nesters weapons training as Laurent learns from Losang. Daryl raises a toast -- Sant? -- to l'Union. Isabelle has healed from her knife wound. Daryl tries his hand at Laurent's Rubik's cube. The nun, who treated Daryl's wounds when he first came to France, now asks him to help her with what Daryl jokes is "a pretty impressive battle wound for a nun." "I think you said 'killer nun,'" she replies. Daryl admits The Nest isn't what he expected: "Bunch of Amish people running around. Straw hats, people churning butter, bonnets." It hurts to laugh, but she does it anyway. "I like it here," she tells Daryl. "Feels like home."
I Feels like home.

Later, Losang tells Daryl that he was skeptical when P?re Jean (Hugo Dillon), the priest from the Abbey of Saint Bernadette, first sent word of the boy. While making the 500-mile pilgrim's camino to Santiago, Losang stopped at Abbey de Bernadette to meet Laurent -- and that's when he knew Laurent is the boy prophesied to "lead the revival of humanity." Losang then reveals that l'Union has held up their end of the deal: for delivering Laurent to The Nest, Losang secured Daryl passage home. A fisherman from Dover will bring Daryl to England, where they know of boats that can get him as far as Newfoundland. Daryl will have to manage from there. Daryl has two days to walk to the north coast and take his boat home.

"I got family waiting for me back home," Daryl says to Losang's offer to stay at The Nest. "Well," the monk counters, "you've got people here who hope you'll stay." Daryl says it's not so easy, and the Pouvoir isn't his fight. Losang has faith Daryl will make his way home -- wherever that may be. "Who knows what tomorrow will bring? And an ocean away, the world being what it is. But we need you -- here, now. Maybe the fight's not the reason you're torn. Sometimes, when a person leaves home, he comes to find he belongs someplace else."

Daryl quietly packs his belongings -- his angel wings vest, a map -- when his no-goodbye goodbye is interrupted by Isabelle. "I made a promise to them, just like I made to you," Daryl says of his people back home. Isabelle, recalling how Daryl told her he left the Commonwealth to see what was left in the world, found something. "Maybe not what you were looking for, but--"

Daryl doesn't want to say goodbye to Laurent. "Are you gonna abandon him, like your father did to you? I think you care about him," Isabelle says. "And I think it scares you. You think you're escaping history by doing this, but you are not. You're repeating it." To that, Daryl says: "You believe what you believe, and I respect you for that. And this place feels like home to you, and I truly hope it is for both of you. But I have my own home to get back to." Daryl's leaving, and there's no changing his mind. "I'm glad we met," Isabelle says. "Godspeed on your journey." Daryl leaves the Rubik's cube on the bed of a sleeping Laurent, leaving without a word. After one last look back, Daryl leaves The Nest and makes the trek across Normandy.

His journey brings him to a weathered American flag at a graveyard for the freedom fighters who died on the shores of France. Scouring the tombstones, Daryl finds it: WILLIAM T. DIXON. PVT. 490 INF 23 DIV. GEORGIA. JUNE 6, 1944. Daryl is overcome with emotion. And then he sees it: the boat home. He waves it down, receiving a reflective signal in response. Daryl Dixon is going home. As he makes his way across the beach, fighting through the walkers that have risen from the sand to see him off, Daryl is seconds away from getting off the shore when he hears it. "Daryl! Daryl!" It's Laurent, calling out to him from the walker-plagued beach. U2's "Seconds" plays as Daryl looks to the approaching boat home, then back to Laurent. "It takes a second to say goodbye. Say goodbye. Oh, oh, oh, say bye bye. Where you going to now?"

America. Daryl's motorcycle races down the road in Freeport, Maine. America. The rider is... someone we don't know. In hot pursuit is a classic mustang, its driver stepping out with their hands up. It's Carol (Melissa McBride). "I'm looking for a friend of mine," Carol says. "Name's Daryl Dixon. That's his bike you're riding." The rider says he found it. "Sure about that? I've come a long way trying to track him down," Carol says, disarming the man when he goes to help himself to her trunk. Carol shoves him inside the trunk and forces a confession: he swears to God, he traded "some dudes" for it camped down the road a few miles outside an old gas station. "If you're lying, I won't be back." Carol shuts the trunk and rides off on Daryl's bike past a sign reading: "Welcome to Freeport, Maine. Population: DEAD."

So begins the first chapter in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon -- The Book of Carol.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD (and find us on Facebook) and follow @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

We've made it to the first part of the Season 1 finale of Yellowstone, "The Unraveling Part 1" and things are not great for the Duttons. Last episode saw Rainwater and Jenkins work on their plans to take down John Dutton, John appeared to have medical issues, Monica isn't recovering from her head injury as expected, and Rip had to kill a bear as well was watched two tourists die. With Season 1 coming to a close, those issues all seem to be getting just bit worse. Here's what happens in the episode.

Fair warning: spoilers for Yellowstone beyond this point. Only read on if you really want to know!

What Happened in "The Unraveling Part 1"?

Flashback to 1997. A teen boy comes in and finds his little brother dead on the floor and watches as his father beats his mother. The boy, himself bloody, takes up a frying pan and beating the father over the head repeatedly. Later, Someone goes to get John Dutton to check on a boy found hiding in a building on a ranch. John realizes that the boy is the survivor of a horrible domestic dispute that was on the news and the boy admits he killed his father. The boy says his name is Rip and John gives him food and offers him a job if he can leave his past behind him and doesn't fight or steal. John tells young Rip he will have to prove himself.

In the present, the two tourists who died last episode as well as that of the bear Rip shot are retrieved and John warns Rip that the authorities are going to think Rip killed the bear and also murdered the tourists. The sheriff does not belief Rip's story. An agitated Rip points out that the bear was shot at close range, but the sheriff can't do much because the Feds will likely see things as a felony.

Monica starts to recover and begins physical therapy. She asks if she can stay with her grandfather when she gets out of the hospital. Jamie does an interview for his campaign and Christina starts to find out about rumors of a coverup at the Yellowstone. Christina is suspicious of the woman she's talking to and asks why she's in town. Turns out, this is one of the women seen in a previous issue starting at John Dutton as they canoed and she ends up being a reporter working on a story because she believes John Dutton is corrupt. Kayce goes home after being at the hospital and discovers his house has been ransacked, as has his friend Sam's. They think it's treasure hunters and they appear to be right as Tate's dinosaur skeleton was also taken.

Rip rides out with the Fish & Game officer, but the officer does not trust Rip so when a horsefly lands on her horse, she doesn't let him deal with it. The fly bites the horse and causes it to run. The officer is thrown from the horse and she lands on a metal bar, injuring herself. The horse is tangled in wires. Rip asks for her gun to deal with the horse so it can't run and kill her, but she refuses. Rip ends up detangling the horse and calling for a helicopter for help.

Rainwater and Jenkins continue to work on their agreement, with Rainwater reassuring Jenkins his interests will be safe because of the hotel. Jenkins doesn't believe him and wants part of the land. Rainwater points out that if the tribe owns the land, there will be no taxes or zoning. Additionally, once the plans are announced, the property values in the area will double, including the Yellowstone which will get stuck with a massive property tax bill -- that the Duttons won't be able to pay. Rainwater continues to push until Jenkins agrees to sell him the land. Meanwhile, Beth discovers that Jenkins leveraged every cent he has including took out two mortgages on his house for the development and the river being moved ruined things for him. His company is trading very low per share and Beth declares she'll be on his board by Monday.

Monica confronts Kayce about her brother and he tells her the truth. She says she sees him differently now because John is in their lives and that she is taking Tate and keeping him away from both John and Kayce. It sounds like she's leaving Kayce. Jenkins comes home and finds Beth there and tells her that he's going to ruin her and her family, but Beth threatens him back, telling him she's buying up all of the shares of his company.

Kayce gets into an altercation at a gas station that is filmed on a cellphone. John looks at a subpoena from the tribe claiming he's in violation of a law that says people can't graze cattle on tribal land without permission. Jamie shows up and John yells at him, demanding that Jamie quit the political rase because he's needed at the ranch and they get into a fight. John then reveals that the current Attorney General isn't stepping down and that John is backing him. Jamie says he's running anyway and John kicks him off the ranch. John then confesses he thinks he will lose the Yellowstone.

Jamie goes to his headquarters and Christina tells him that fathers who love their children don't sabotage and hurt them, and Jamie admits he really wants to be Attorney General. They kiss. Back at the ranch, Jimmy is upset about his hat having been taken and it's clear the others are responsible because they are. They give him a much nicer -- and more expensive -- new hat. Elsewhere, a pack of wolves eat the dead bear.

Yellowstone airs Sunday nights on CBS. The first four seasons of the series are also available to stream on Peacock.

We're getting close to the end of the first season of Yellowstone on CBS and this week, since there's just one NFL game, fans tuning in tonight get two episodes. The evening kicks off with Season 1, Episode, 7 "A Monster Is Among Us" and it comes at a complicated time for the Duttons. Dan Jenkins is making moves to bring John Dutton down while last episode left off with Kayce Dutton's wife, Monica, in grave condition after she collapsed outside their home. It's going to be a rough way forward for everyone at this point. Here's what happens in the episode.

Fair warning: spoilers for Yellowstone beyond this point. Only read on if you really want to know!

What Happened in "A Monster Is Among Us?"

John notices a bus of foreign tourists in a field that just so happens to be very close to a bear. The tour's guide won't make her group leave even when John Dutton tells her that they are all trespassing on private property, prompting the tour group to argue that John needs to share his property with people. Things change quickly when John fires his rifle into the air, sending the tourists scrambling back to their bus. He tells them that in America, we don't share land.

At the hospital, doctors work on Monica and she has surgery having suffered an subdural hematoma. Things don't look good for Monica and the doctor tells Kayce that he can't promise she'll recover from the brain surgery, but her surviving the surgery itself and her age is reason to hope. Tate freaks out about not being able to see his mom, which in turn prompts hospital staff to hold Tate down which in turn causes Kayce, who sees his son in distress, to punch someone. They both get kicked out until things calm down.

Jamie works with his political aide, Christina, on his campaign for Attorney General. She warns him that the campaign will be difficult but worthwhile and Jamie admits that his goal is just to get more power so he can protect his family and others so that the state is no longer "hemorrhaging" their resources to other states.

At home, John is disappointed his kids didn't come to the Stockman's Dinner and while Jamie explains he was working on his campaign, John says that the people at the event are voters, too. However, he also notes that things felt a little strange in the room to him. Beth is not present -- she's otherwise occupied. In a flashback, it's Christmas and everyone is waiting on Beth so they can open presents. Their mom, Evelyn, finds Beth crying in the bathroom having started her period and after Evelyn tells everyone else to start on presents, she spends time with Beth, reminding her that despite men treating her like she's weaker n ow, she's stronger and that she will be hard on her from now on to make her more of a man than most men will ever be the same way her mother did for her.

In the present, Beth tries to ride Kayce's horse, but gets thrown a few times before Walker explains that horses respond to body language and emotions and when Beth tries again and lets the horse know things will be fine with her body language, the ride goes much more successfully. John and Rip walk from a distance, impressed by Walker as a "horse whisperer".

Rainwater and Jenkins work on their agreement and struggle to come to terms over the financing issues. Rainwater leaves and tells Jenkins to call when he's really ready to be a partner. After he leaves, Jenkins schemes to find a way to turn his percentage of the profit turn into a percentage of ownership of the casino, ultimately landing on the idea of owning the hotel while Rainwater owns the casino to get around licensing issues.

John goes to medical appointments and is nervous, though his bloodwork looks good. At the ranch, Jamie sees a man looking through a window and after a tense moment, discovers he's there to serve court papers. Rip, Walker, and Jimmy go looking for the bear and that ends up not going well because they didn't bring a gun so when they charge the bear, it charges them back. Walker eventually deals with the bear and rescues Jimmy, who climbed up a tree, but Jimmy's horse is gone. Later, Rip goes back out for the bear, this time with a gun, but also ends up finding two people on the side of a cliff in danger. Rip tells the woman that if she takes the rope he throws to her and as she tries to put the rope around both of them, she falls and dies. The man then refuses to take the rope and also falls to his death.

Monica wakes up and can speak but is having issues with motor skills. Tate gets sent back to the ranch with John. Rainwater tells the boy who hit Monica that if she dies, he'll be charged with manslaughter. At the ranch, John is in serious pain. Beth figures out something isn't right with John, who ends up going to the bathroom and throws up blood. The episode ends with everyone in a bad place. Monica is struggling both with motor skills and her memory, Rip goes to call for a sheriff but no one answers, John thinks he's dying and tells God he's not ready. The cowboys try to relax at the end of a hard day.

Yellowstone airs Sunday nights on CBS. The first four seasons of the series are also available to stream on Peacock.

Adult Swim has recently announced some new seasons and series now in the works for the near future, but gave an unfortunate update for fans who might have been hoping to see Ballmastrz return for a Season 3. Ballmastrz made its return to screens earlier this year with a new special set after the events of the Season 2 finale, and went even further with it as it was a fully anime studio produced project. Ballmastrz: Rubicon also teased a potentially bright future for the series from then onward, but there had not been any word on whether or not it could continue.

Adult Swim president Michael Ouweleen hit the stage during New York Comic Con 2023 to help tout some of the new projects the network has in the works for the near future, and was asked about whether or not Ballmastrz Season 3 was in the works. As for the new update, it unfortunately sounds like Season 3 might not happen but Adult Swim is still hoping to work with the series' creator on potential future projects.

Will Ballmastrz Return for Season 3?

"Currently we're not thinking about Ballmastrz," Ouweelen responded when asked by a fan about whether or not a Season 3 of the series was in the works. "[B]ut we're always...we love to work with creators over and over again over time. So we'd love to see what [Christy Karacas]' got next or what other things he's doing...We were glad to put up Ballmastrz, but there could be another new thing." So while Ballmastrz: Rubicon teased a potential bright future for the series, it might be the finale for it instead.

When asked by ComicBook.com earlier this year about whether or not Ballmastrz: Rubicon might be the finale, Karacas responded, "I hope it's not it because there's so much stuff we haven't answered or resolved or explored enough. I mean, we were making all these jokes about things we could do. Would Ace start hitting puberty and growing up on the ship? And would Dee Dee and Leto, what is their relationship going to turn into being in space? And Gaz isn't really a mess anymore. She's really responsible and the new leader. There's just all these new things and again, even explains the team."

So while Ballmastrz might not be returning for Season 3 right now, perhaps the creator has another idea that could take off too! Would you want to see Ballmastrz return for a new season? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

Adult Swim expanded its programming block earlier this Summer with a slate of Cartoon Network classic shows, and it turns out that the Checkered Past block has been a surprising success that's living up to the expectations of those running the network. It was announced earlier this year that Adult Swim would be expanding two extra hours into the early evenings, and part of this expansion is used for a new weekday block that brings back some of the major Cartoon Network classic original series for new reruns. Ratings for the block have been a success with the target demo, and Adult Swim has taken note.

Adult Swim president Michael Ouweleen opened up about Checkered Past's debut on the network this Summer during their New York Comic Con 2023 panel, Ouweleen explained that the block started as a result of the response to Cartoon Network's 30th Anniversary celebration and had since expanded into a full programming idea of its own that the network kind of just rolled with. And seeing its success is a big boon to those involved bringing it to life.

How Did Checkered Past Happen at Adult Swim?

"Kim Manning and the programming team, they work on both Cartoon and Adult Swim and thought. 'Let's just bring back the original, so this is going to get muddied, maybe not," Ouweleen explained how Turner handled its original programming at first. "Ted Turner bought the [Hanna-Barbera] library, bought the MGM library, and he said to us, 'Use those libraries.' And the programming team at the time wanted to make an original series and he said, 'Don't. I spent all my money...And out of that frustration came Space Ghost Coast to Coast, which is the beginning of Adult Swim."

Continuing further, "Meanwhile though, I don't know what changed, but something changed and the first wave of Cartoon Network Originals started at the same time. So that's Dexter's Lab, and Cow and Chicken and then quickly Billy and Mandy and all those...They had the What-a-Cartoon program and there was shorts every week that we would air and such a great hit ratio. The first three or four series all worked, which is that's kind of amazing." Then it led into the anniversary celebration.

"So for the 30th anniversary as a stunt, we just sort of like let's [air] these and it did really well, did well with adult audiences. So Kim and I were like, 'Geez, we should just be bringing these back for more.' And then someone at William Street came up with the name Checkered Past, which is just so funny...The way we view running these networks is, 'Oh, people out there like the same stuff we do. And so why don't we put this stuff out there and it's in our minds,' It's a conversation with you all and we thought you would love to watch Dexter or whatever.

And this look into the past is helping the future too as Ouweleen stated, "Those shows are more mature than probably we thought at the time. We probably ruined your neuropathways back then when you were growing up. And it's all one thing to us and leads in naturally. It has been helping us introduce some new series on Adult Swim. It feels totally natural to us. Even when those originals were made, we didn't think of them as being for kids and we always thought of them as being for anyone who liked animation, and that's where we are now."

How have you been liking Checkered Past on Adult Swim? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

Before Invincible became a popular streaming series thanks to Prime Video, the property was a long-running comic under Image Comics' Skybound imprint. There, the series was created by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker, with the latter handling artwork on the first seven issues of the series. Eventually, Ryan Ottley took over art duties, illustrating the vast majority of the remaining 137 issues of the series.

Even though Ottley is often associated as the primary artist on the series, Walker is still listed as the comics' co-creator. Not only that, but he has a sizable role alongside Kirkman on Prime Video's animated series.

"It's not even really that different. I think people don't really realize how much I leaned on Cory throughout the entire process, even with the issues that Ryan was drawing, Cory and I shared a studio space almost the entire 15 years," Kirkman tells us of his and Walker's collaborative process. "There were a few years where I was in LA and he hadn't quite moved to LA yet where we weren't quite together, but I would still call him on the phone and 'I'm working on this story line. Does this work? Do you like this? I think this character is going to do that. Is that OK?' Or he'd just come in with a drawing and be like 'I did this. What do you think of this guy?' And that guy would show up in the book and it's no different on the show. "

Kirkman adds that Walker attends virtually every meeting held during the development of the show and has an integral role in approving animatics.

"I mean, he's in every meeting, he's overseeing all the character designs, he's giving notes on all the animatics, he's right there next to me, 90% of the meetings we do on the show. We go to sound mixes together," the writer continues. "It's great having him, he's a co executive producer, 100% a part of the process and his voice is essential. No one on the planet has a better understanding of the visual take on this world and the visual appeal of this world. He's been great the entire time, it's awesome to be able to continue working with him."

Who's all cast in Invincible Season 2?

Skybound says, "Based on the groundbreaking comic book by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley, the story revolves around 18-year-old Mark Grayson, who's just like every other guy his age--except his father is (or was) the most powerful superhero on the planet. Still reeling from Nolan's betrayal in Season One, Mark struggles to rebuild his life as he faces a host of new threats, all while battling his greatest fear - that he might become his father without even knowing it.

Starring Steven Yeun, with Sandra Oh, Zazie Beetz, Grey DeLisle, Chris Diamantopoulos, Walton Goggins, Gillian Jacobs, Jason Mantzoukas, Ross Marquand, Khary Payton, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, Kevin Michael Richardson, Seth Rogen, and J.K. Simmons. The executive producers are Kirkman, David Alpert, Catherine Winder, Simon Racioppa, Margaret M. Dean, Rogen, and Evan Goldberg, and the co-executive producers are Helen Leigh and Walker."

The second season of Invincible hits Prime Video while the first season is now streaming on the platform.

FX has released a preview for "Preech", the fifth episode of American Horror Story's twelfth season, Delicate. The episode also serves as the finale for Part One of the season, as Delicate is divided into two parts. The episode is scheduled to air on Wednesday, October 18th. For Anna (Emma Roberts), it has been a wild ride over the previous four episodes. While her acting career has taken off and she's earned accolades and awards for her latest movie role, her personal life has been a bit more of a challenge as she struggled to get pregnant and then seemingly miscarried all while dealing with an eerie stalker. Last week's episode revealed that Anna was somehow still pregnant, but things keep getting stranger and stranger -- and people are listening to Anna less and less. Now, the new preview teases that things will take an even darker series of turns as Anna's due date looms. You can check it out for yourself in the video below.

Here's the official synopsis for "Preech": "Anna senses the dark presence closing in on her, closer than ever. Ms. Preecher reveals pieces of her past and may know the truth about what's happening to Anna and Dex."

What is American Horror Story: Delicate About?

Based on Danielle Valentine's novel Delicate Condition, in American Horror Story: Delicate "after multiple failed attempts at IVF, actress Anna Victoria Alcott wants nothing more than to start a family. As the buzz around her recent film grows, she fears that something may be targeting her -- and her pursuit of motherhood." The season stars Emma Roberts, Cara Delevingne, Kim Kardashian, Denis O'Hare, Billie Lourd, Leslie Grossman, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Julie White, Michaela Jae Rodriguez, Matt Czuchry, Odessa A'zion, and Zachary Quinto.

"I did a cameo on this season of American Horror Story and I got to meet her," Quinto previously said of Kardashian. Quinto appeared in the second episode, "Rockabye", as a presenter at an awards ceremony. "She was so lovely and warm and, really, I don't think she needs my advice. She seemed really in her element, and I was really impressed by her spirit and her openness. I really look forward to seeing this season because I think she's gonna do a wonderful job."

"Kim is among the biggest and brightest television stars in the world and we are thrilled to welcome her to the AHS family," co-creator Ryan Murphy shared in a statement with The Hollywood Reporter. "Emma and I are excited about collaborating with this true force in the culture. Halley Feiffer has written a fun, stylish, and ultimately terrifying role especially for Kim, and this season is ambitious and unlike anything we have ever done."

Why is American Horror Story: Delicate Being Aired in Two Parts?

American Horror Story: Delicate is airing in two parts due to production. the series had been in production earlier this year but was paused due to the Writers Guild of America Strike in May and then, officially suspended in July due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Presumably, the first batch of episodes -- Part One -- is what had been completed before production ceased. At this time, it is unclear when the series will return for Part Two.

American Horror Story: Delicate airs Wednesdays at 9 pm ET on FX.

Adult Swim has gone through a number of changes and experimentations over the course of the last few years specifically, and those behind the network opened up about how Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal has proven to be an important milestone in the programming! Adult Swim fans first recognized Primal as one of the most distinct releases with the programming block of the last few years because not only did it eschew jokes in favor of telling a more dramatic story, it ended up being prominent creator Genndy Tartakovsky's finest works. So much so that more episodes of the series are now in the works.

Those behind the network are very aware of the kinds of changes Primal has made to its programming as well as the president of Cartoon Network, Michael Ouweleen, opened up about it during the Adult Swim panel at New York Comic Con 2023. Noting that with shows like Primal under their belt, Adult Swim is becoming known for more than just comedy and that's begun to expand the kinds of projects that they are currently working on and looking into. It's all expanding.

What's Next for Primal?

This impact has already been seen in two of the new projects Adult Swim announced during New York Comic Con as well with the upcoming Women Wearing Shoulder Pads, which is going to be the first-ever Spanish language project for the network that also features a return to stop-motion animation. At the same time, YOLO is also coming back for a third season along with many of the new seasons for Rick and Morty, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and of course, Primal now in the works.

Primal has been announced for a third season, but a release window or date has yet to be announced as of the time of this writing. The second season seemed to end Spear and Fang's story, but there are plenty of other potential stories to be told in this world, or maybe even a continuation of Season 2's finale should the series choose to do so with its new episodes.

What did you think of Primal and how it stacks with the rest of Adult Swim's programming? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

"Suzanne Somers passed away peacefully at home in the early morning hours of Oct. 15. She survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years," Somers' publicist R. Couri Hay said in the statement (via Page Six). "Suzanne was surrounded by her loving husband, Alan [Hamel], her son, Bruce, and her immediate family."

Hay's statement added that the family had gathered to celebrate Somers' birthday on Monday. "Instead, they will celebrate her extraordinary life, and want to thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her dearly," he added. "A private family burial will take place this week, with a memorial to follow next month."

Somers was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000 and underwent a lumpectomy to remove the cancerous tumor. The actor revealed earlier this summer that the cancer had returned.

"I have been living with cancer for decades now, using the best of alternative and conventional medicine to keep it at bay. Every time that little f----- pops up, I continue to bat it back. As one of millions of cancer patients, we do our best not to let this insidious disease control us. I find bliss in each day. My husband has been by my side every step of the way, and my family has been so supportive. Thank you for the outpouring of love and good wishes," Somers told Fox News Digital in July.

"It's a recurrence of my breast cancer," she added. "Like any cancer patient, when you get that dreaded, 'It's back,' you get a pit in your stomach. Then I put on my battle gear and go to war. This is familiar battleground for me, and I'm very tough."

Somers is survived by Alan Hamel, her husband of 46 years, and her son Bruce.