The year is ending, but the posting never stops. io9 wrote thousands of stories in 2023, from breaking news to analysis and critique of the biggest films, TV shows, comics, and games in our worlds. Here’s a look back at the 100 you, our dear readers, read and shared the most. Thanks for sticking around for another year—and here’s to many more stories in the year to come!
Star Wars canon is fascinated with the homeworld of the Mandalorians—ever since The Clone Wars radically overhauled the status quo of its people, the planet has loomed large, casting a shadow of intrigue across the works of Dave Filoni. When The Mandalorian returns March 1 for its third season, we’ll be heading back there too.
But a lot has changed since we last visited Mandalore in Star Wars Rebels, and chronologically speaking even more since Clone Wars’ final season. Then standing on the precipice of a new hope, the planet and its peoples have been torn apart by conflicts internal and external. Now, it is once more on the potential edge of reunification—but before we see just what will come of Mandalore, here’s a reminder of the generations of conflict that got us to The Mandalorian season three.
It’s the most wonderful and perhaps only acceptable time of the year to be wandering the halls of the Javits Center in New York City: Comic Con is back, and that means, aside from big news and celebrity panels, there’s so much wonderful, wonderful cosplay to take in! Check out a few of our favorites from wandering the show floor on day one.
Why 28? We know that’s what you’re thinking and it’s a valid question. On the surface, 28 movies seems arbitrary. Why not cut down to 25 or add two for 30 to make it cleaner? And the answer is quite simple. When compiling a list of our favorite sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and superhero genre films of 2022, we didn’t want to limit it. This year was so full of great movies, big and small, that we figured it best to highlight all of our favorites, not just some. And when we got to the point on our list where the films were just okay, no longer great, we stopped. And that number was 28.
Mondo has had a huge impact on my life. As far back as I can remember, I always loved movie posters. Growing up, I’d buy posters at Suncoast or take them from my video store, and tack them to my wall. If they ripped, I’d just throw them out and get new ones. Years later, the posters of Mondo made me realize the papers hanging on my wall could be more than just decorations. They could be collectible art too, and that flipped a switch.
Everyone suspects Everything Everywhere All at Once will be taking home the Oscar for Best Picture this Sunday at the 95th Academy Awards. However, I wouldn’t be too sure. Only a few genre movies have ever managed the achievement; it’s much more common for Hollywood to congratulate itself for recognizing them with a nomination, then ignoring them for something more “mature.” Here are 35 Oscar runners-ups from the last 90 years that prove that even if Everything Everywhere loses, it’ll at least be in good company.
Halloween is starting now, and if that thought makes you groan like a zombie, you’ve clearly forgotten how early things begin to sell out at your local Spirit Halloween. Yeah, pretty much as soon as doors open and hordes of horror fiends descend into the aisles.
Secret Invasion released its sixth and final episode today, closing out the latest chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this one featuring Nick Fury and the Skrulls. And while you can read all about the episode itself in io9’s recap, I wanted to add a little more about something I can’t quite shake. And that’s G’iah.
Oh, first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. You were pioneering, delightful, horrifying, and oh so bizarre—and the original, 1977 Monster Manual is a perfect example. A compendium of all the creatures that player-characters might encounter (and fight) during their game, the original book contains the earliest forms of monsters that D&D players are still encountering today… and some they’re not. Like the early Dungeon Master’s Guide, there’s a lot of weirdness in the Monster Manual, whether it be info, an illustration, or the monsters themselves—which you can see for yourself.
Though there are notable exceptions—Jordan Peele’s Get Out is the biggest recent example—the Academy Awards tend to give horror a very wide berth. Horror fans have learned not to care much about what Oscar says, but it still stings, especially when outstanding performances get overlooked.
Here are 10 excellent performances from the last 10 years that were excluded from Hollywood’s biggest awards—ignored by squeamish voters who’re apparently reluctant to recognize performers skilled at blending blood, guts, and emotional nuance and complexity onscreen.
Ten years ago, Hasbro announced something akin to a disturbance in the Force—and Star Wars toy fans’ wallets: The Black Series, a brand new line that would bump the iconic heroes and villains of the galaxy far, far away up to 6″ scale for the first time (and away from the 3.75″ scale Star Wars changed the game with).
Since then, countless characters from movies, games, comics, streaming shows, and more have made their way onto our desks and shelves—classic heroes like Han, Luke, and Leia; all-new ones still unknown when the Black Series began like Rey, Finn, and Poe; cult faves like Thrawn; and more Mandalorians of all sorts and stripes than you can shake a camtono of beskar at. To celebrate a decade since we first saw a glimpse of the Star Wars action figure future, here’s a look down memory lane of some of our personal favorites from the line.
The only thing that’s predictable about the summer movie season is that it’s going to be wholly unpredictable. In the lead-up, it’s easy to pick out what you think are going to be Hollywood’s biggest stories. “Oh, that new Marvel movie is going to kill it.” “Who isn’t going to go see the latest Tom Cruise film?” But when the calendar finally flips to September, it’s extremely rare that even the smartest of experts gets everything right.
So for any of you time travelers out there, here’s your Almanac. We’re going to break down the winners (you already know the biggest one) and losers (lots of surprises) of the 2023 summer movie season.
Anyone else finding themselves filled with weird unbridled excitement at any look we get at Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie’s Barbie film? Yeah, us too.
Let’s warp back into kids and beg the adults in our lives for the incredible dolls Mattel just dropped, featuring the already iconic Barbie and Ken looks from the movie. Oh, wait—we’re the adults in our lives? Our poor wallets.
When Jurassic Park hit theaters in 1993, it was six years before Lego introduced licensed sets with a handful of buildable Star Wars ships. So when the film and its dinos were tearing up the box office, there were no Jurassic Park Lego sets on store shelves: a tragedy that Lego is finally making up for.
My latest book, The Hard Switch, is about the crew of a small cargo ship, comprising Ada, Haika, and Mallic (an extractor, pilot, and engineer, respectively), and as I was thinking about this central trio, I started musing on “crews” in general. What makes a great crew? Which crew would I most happily join (impending disasters aside)?
Star Trek: Picard returns for its third and final season this week, with its titular hero tasked with one last adventure alongside faces old and new. But although the season has made it clear it’s largely operating on a clean break from its predecessors, if you’re hopping on board for The Next Generation nostalgia in season three, here’s what you need to remember coming into it.
The first trailer for George Miller’s Furiosa is finally here and it’s all new, shiny, and chrome. Anya Taylor-Joy stars as a younger version of the character we first met in Mad Max: Fury Road, and she’s joined by Chris Hemsworth as another evil warlord in this vast, post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Now that the trailer is out, it’s time to go through and see what’s in it. What can we tell about the story of the film from all the images? Witness us! We dive deep, right here, right now. Oh, what a lovely day.
It’s that time of year once again, folks, where New York becomes filled with fans and cosplayers due to New York Comic Con. And as io9 likes to do, we’ve got a slideshow featuring some of the coolest-looking cosplay seen on the show floor.
Happy new year! And welcome to io9’s first Nerd’s Watch of 2023. The monthly column where we pare down the enormous lists of new films and television shows arriving on all your favorite streaming services into the sci-fi, fantasy, and horror titles we think you’ll like most.
Today Hasbro lifted the lid on its latest swath of Indiana Jones toys, our second major look at the line after Lucasfilm revealed it was partnering with its Star Wars ally to really get some use out of those Harrison Ford headsculpts. And while there wasn’t much from the new movie shown off, there were a few treasures worthy of belonging in a museum.
We’re just a few months out from The Super Mario Bros. Movie hitting theaters on April 7, which means it’s time for the hype train to officially leave the station and get up to speed. Following an amusing teaser released over the weekend reviving the Mario Rap from the live-action Super Mario Bros. Super Show, we’re now getting our first good look at the first batch of Mario movie toys.
One of the best things about a brand new Star Wars show is brand new Star Wars tech. Blasters, ships, armors and, of course, lightsabers. And when you’re talking about a show like Ahsoka, one that has a lot of Force users in it both good and bad, there are bound to be a lot of new lightsabers. And now you can check them out.
Lucasfilm has several props from the upcoming show on display at San Diego Comic-Con and they’re sure to get cosplayers and saber collectors very excited. There’s Ahsoka’s, obviously, but also Sabine Wren, Marrok, Shin Hati and Baylan Skoll. Check them out here, along with a few other surprises.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Netflix’s animated take on Bryan Lee O’Malley’s seminal graphic novel series, hit the streamer today, and it’s a must-watch for fans of either the comics themselves or Edgar Wright’s 2010 movie adaptation. It’s one of our favorite animated shows of the year, but to find out why… we really need to talk about it.
[Read more here.]
“The man in the hat is back.” After a 15-year absence, Harrison Ford brings back one of his most iconic characters next week when Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny hits theaters. It’s the first Indy film not directed by Steven Spielberg (though he produced it), but in his place is the more than capable James Mangold, who directed Logan, 3:10 to Yuma, and Ford vs. Ferrari.
The Indiana Jones series began over 40 years ago with 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark. And while this is the fifth film, in that time there’s also been a live-action TV show, games, books, you name it. With the movie out next week though, maybe you don’t have time to brush up on all of that. Don’t worry. We’ve got you. Here are 12 crucial Indy things to remember before watching Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Star Wars Celebration brings plenty of news with it from the galaxy far, far away, but it also brings future opportunities to drain your wallet. Hasbro understood this more than anyone else at their panel at the London convention, and they brought out big announcements from Star Wars and Indiana Jones to whet fans appetites.
As we get closer and closer to the arrival of X-Men ‘97, the rallying cry of “To me, my X-Men merchandise!” just gets louder and louder. Earlier this week we saw Lego get in on the X-mania with a new set, but now it’s Hasbro’s turn with its latest wave inspired by the cartoon series.
As the end of Ahsoka season one drew closer, we all had the same thought: “There’s no way this is all being wrapped up this season.” And, now that we’ve seen the finale, that’s certainly a fact. Series writer and creator Dave Filoni’s ending did bring most of his characters to the end of a specific arc, but there is still so much to think about—and here, we’ll break down some of those biggest questions. Some of these have answers and many do not, but this is what we’ll all be thinking about until these characters return. Which brings us to the first question…
Although most people’s thoughts turn towards getting outside and soaking up the sun when June arrives, for Lego fans, it’s just another month to hunker down with a thick instruction book and thousands of plastic bricks. Although June arrives with dozens of new Lego sets in tow, we’ve sifted through the impending arrivals and highlighted the best sets to add to your collection.
After an absolutely incredible teaser trailer for Barbie that aped the “dawn of man” sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey, the hotly anticipated full trailer has been released. Greta Gerwig came onto the production in 2019 and we’ve been paying attention to the hot pink Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling vehicle ever since.
If you thought your wallet would have a break after all the new Lego sets that finally became available today, think again. To help celebrate Disney’s 100th anniversary, Lego announced a handful of new Disney-themed sets enroute in the coming months, including its next series of collectible minifigures.
All of sudden, it seems like luxury clothing brands have fallen head over heels for anime. The brands’ devotion is so profound that, of course, they have to pay homage to their favorite shows via new purses, shoes, capes, and cardigans. The resulting lines are, of course, glorious—too bad they’re so expensive that the only thing I can probably afford is a candle. And only if I decide I don’t want to eat food.
Comic-Con may be more about movies and TV than comics some years, some times it’s more about comics than movies and TV (especially this year). But one thing it always is, thanks to Hasbro: a nightmare on your wallet for Marvel and Star Wars fans.
Next month, Doctor Who turns 60, and it’s celebrating in style between a trio of new episodes and all sorts of retrospective lookbacks—but one of its most intriguing collaborations to mark six decades of adventuring in time and space is bringing the series to the world of Magic: The Gathering, in a series of decks that covers the whole show’s televised adventures.
Every month, the io9 Nerd’s Watch rounds up the best sci-fi, fantasy, and horror titles coming to streamers like Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, Max, Paramount+, Peacock, and Shudder. Shudder’s on the following list of streamers that specialize in more niche and cult offerings, but the rest are all services that venture beyond the mainstream. Seek ‘em out if your tastes run beyond what the big guys have on offer.
Before this month, it had been years since Lego had made any sets based off the Lord of the Rings movies. But the iconic brick maker came to us at the turn of the tide with the latest adult collectors set—a recreation of Rivendell from The Fellowship of the Ring as epic as an extended edition trilogy marathon, and just as satisfying.
Lego provided io9 with access to a copy of the new set, and after a few days of furious building—and cursing of 1×1 tile pieces—we’ve got our extensive impressions of what it’s like building one of the biggest sets the company has ever made.
It’s the dead of summer so we can safely say it’s time for Halloween season to start ramping up. Home Depot—the ghouls who brought the 12-foot skeleton into the world—is fully aware, and is ready to unleash an absolutely gargantuan new Pumpkin King.
Disney is a company that always looks at its past to find its future. It brings back characters, concepts, stories, and more; time and time again, it attempts to transport you back to the way you felt when you were a little kid. That’s always been Disney’s thing. But, for the last 15 years or so, it’s been going a step further and remaking its classic animated movies in live-action, which had been a very controversial, but very lucrative trend.
If you’re a horror fan and you have a Prime Video subscription, your streaming options are vast—especially if you don’t mind ads (via Freevee) or paying a couple bucks to rent the title of your choice. But you also shouldn’t overlook the original films that get distributed through Prime Video—including these 10, a creative, artistically interesting bunch that just so happen to have the power of a massive streaming platform behind them.
If you want a Star Trek or Transformers fix, Paramount+ is your go-to. But once you’ve landed on the streamer, you’ll find plenty of sci-fi options beyond just those big franchises. Here are 10 sci-fi tales to get keep you going after you’ve finished watching Bumblebee or binging Strange New Worlds.
Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast has apparently cancelled an announcement about its updated Open Gaming License for a second time this week. Inside sources at Wizards of the Coast tell io9 that the company is scrambling to formulate a response to backlash against the new OGL that has occurred over the past week, following io9’s story about a leaked draft of the document.
We’ve known for a while that Hasbro’s latest Star Wars crowdfunder—first launched at San Diego Comic-Con this summer—had successfully reached its initial goal to turn the iconic freighter of Rebels and Ahsoka’s Hera Syndulla, the Ghost, into a huge new toy. But now the campaign is over—and we know Hera will be bringing a few friends along the way.
Ahsoka is here at last, and with it, the deluge of Star Wars tie-in merchandise that is customary any time the galaxy far, far away even twitches in the presence of new media. As part of a livestream today Hasbro revealed a ton of new toys and figures based on the series after teasing some at San Diego Comic-Con this summer—and we’ve got a closer look.
The new Dungeons & Dragons Open Gaming License, a document which allows a vast group of independent publishers to use the basic game rules created by D&D owner Wizards of the Coast, significantly restricts the kind of content allowed and requires anyone making money under the license to report their products to Wizards of the Coast directly, according to an analysis of a leaked draft of the document, dated mid-December.
Back in the ‘90s, Marvel released several Swimsuit Specials, mimicking the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues, but for its audience of horny nerds. The results were… well, tragic might be overselling it, but Marvel heroes (including some male ones) were stuffed in the skimpiest costumes imaginable, often contorted into overtly sexual (and frequently impossible) poses. Thirty years later, DC Comics has decided to follow (swim)suit, but the results are much, much better.
San Diego Comic-Con 2023 is officially open and, as usual, it’s filled with all sorts of goodies. The main convention floor is over 2 million square feet and no matter where you look there’s something to catch your eye. io9 hit the floor on preview night and snapped just a handful of the stuff that caught our eyes, from big displays to standout photo-ops, props, cool merchandise and more. But this is barely a scratch of the surface of what’s actually here. Check it out.
When the Star Wars Expanded Universe began to take nascent steps towards building a world beyond the original movie trilogy, it dug into the same questions Disney and Lucasfilm explored decades later in creating the sequel trilogy. What does Star Wars look like in this new time? What parts of its world have evolved? Few ideas perhaps show a better example of both imagining’s divergent paths than a single snubfighter.
This morning we got our first look at The Marvels, and our first inkling of just how Kamala Khan, Monica Rambeau, and Carol Danvers will be thrust together. But this first trailer also gives us some very intriguing hints about the current state of the MCU’s cosmic side—at least, a little closer to home than what we’ll see in Guardians 3 in a few weeks. Here’s everything we spotted.
Marvel Studios is not reacting well, at all, to having its first real box office bomb in 15 years. After years of unprecedented success, including four of the 10 highest-grossing films of all time, the studio’s latest release, The Marvels, is on the opposite end of the spectrum. After about a month in release, the film has begun to taper off its box office run and will be, by far, the lowest-grossing movie in the entire franchise, failing to crack $100 million domestically and only flirting with $200 million worldwide.
It’s a Barbie world at San Diego Comic-Con 2023!
io9 is on the ground at the annual convention in San Diego looking for our favorite cosplays of the day. The makeup, the details, the passion, and looks celebrate the best in pop culture. From Spider-Man: Across the SpiderVerse to G.I. Joe, here’s what we saw on Day 1! Click through the gallery to see who you can spot.
We’ve all seen it on screens—there’s an unhealthy obsession in Hollywood with pitting two friends against each other for someone else’s love. The dreaded, cliched love triangle. There is an easy solution here. Polyamory! All these triangles need to throuple up with healthy, ethical expectations of each other and nothing but love in their hearts. Above we have a shot from The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself, which gives Nathan a boyfriend and a girlfriend and they are all great. This sort of thing should happen more often!
Great news: Lego saw all that sunny summer weather we’ve been having and decided that it’s simply too much chance for heatstroke, so we should all stay inside well-ventilated rooms, hydrate, and build some new Lego sets. Lots of them. Lots and lots and lots of them.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is bringing Godzilla to Apple TV+ this week, and sci-fi fans who show up for Kurt Russell and giant monsters will want to stick around after. The streamer is one of the very best around for original content, particularly of the genre variety. Here are 10 sci-fi (and horror) shows to check out on Apple TV+.
Ever since Marvel Comics’ mutants founded the island nation of Krakoa in the pages of House/Powers of X, they’ve thrown an annual party celebrating their own excellence: the Hellfire Gala. The yearly one-shot is never not eventful for the mutants in some way, whether that’s a change to the core X-Men team, or maybe someone gets murdered, who can say. But before all that, we have to get to the most interesting part of the event: the fashion!
When Lego reveals a new batch of sets it’s usually a test of patience for fans who often have to wait weeks, or sometimes months, to empty their wallets and start building. As February draws to a close, however, March will bring with it around 45 new Lego sets, and more challenges for those trying to be responsible with their spending.
Dune: Part Two released a new trailer today, offering our best look yet at director Denis Villeneuve’s continuation of his 2021 Frank Herbert adaptation. There will be a revolution, there will be assassins, there will be mystical orders of generational witches vying for political power via bloodline manipulation, and I will be seated. I will be ready. I will laugh out loud every single time anyone ever says “desert power” with sincerity, but you know what? This was a good trailer. Let’s break it down.
Usually when we’re talking about a new Hot Toys figure, it’s often to gush about how the company has managed to create another eerily accurate little Hollywood homunculus. This time, the eerie vibes are still there, but perhaps for… other reasons.
There is precisely one joke in Guardians of the Galaxy 3‘s new trailer, so either the movie’s going to be a 2.5 hour fever dream of a depressive episode, or they’re saving the good zingers for the theater. James Gunn’s final Marvel movie certainly has style going for it, so let’s see what else the new head of DC is cooking in his MCU swansong.
Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con had cosplayers out in full force in their pop culture best.
Here are io9’s favorite looks, from Star Wars and Lore Olympus to DC and Marvel comics. The annual convention has been a non-stop celebration of all things fandom, with fans donning their casual to extremely detailed cosplay best.
Hasbro’s movie-based side of Marvel Legends is about to swing into high gear with a brand new wave based on Spider-Man: No Way Home—and if you were patiently waiting through the company’s past releases from the movie expecting certain heroes and villains, your wait is about to pay off… and so is your wallet.
The new Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania trailer dropped last night and we’ve got some theories to unpack, some people to point out, some comic winks to spot, and boy howdy do we have a whole lot of Kang. Like so much Kang. Not too much Kang, the right amount of Kang, but I think he might be the protagonist? I think this might be Kang’s movie, and you know what, I’m ready for it.
Let’s break it down.
The web of life and destiny ties together the fates of many heroes—and while Into the Spider-Verse introduced us and Miles Morales to quite a few, Across the Spider-Verse throws him into the deep end with a whole super group of them. There are plenty of new Spidey heroes in the sequel, but just as many are classic takes on the character from comics, games, and beyond. Here’s who we spotted, from the big heroes to the blink-and-you’ll miss ‘em.
San Diego Comic-Con 2023 is officially in the books and it was a weird one. For the first time in years, Hollywood’s presence didn’t dominate the event, thanks to studios failing to meet the demands of striking writers and actors. And so, when that big shining star goes away, what happens? Does SDCC just die? Or does the light extend to other places and make everything brighter?
Order 66 is one of Star Wars’ most defining moments—even before we knew its name and the intricacies of its machinations, we have known since the very beginning of the saga that there were once thousands of Jedi Knights, only for them to be systemically eradicated by the Empire. But even as Star Wars has detailed this moment more and more, it’s also revealed more and more Jedi that slipped through the Empire’s grip.
Halloween isn’t for another two weeks, but that doesn’t matter when it’s New York Comic-Con. All weekend, we’ve been sharing cool cosplay that we’ve seen on the show floor, and we’ve got one final showcase to close things out.
Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons & Dragons, really wanted to get his money’s worth when it came to the various dice used to play the game. That’s the only possible explanation for the overwhelming number of tables inside the AD&D 1st Edition of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Gygax wanted players to roll for practically everything, from how religious NPCs could be to how often players would most likely run into a dinosaur in specific climates. It’s wild stuff, but these tables are even wilder.
We’ve got some bad news if your New Year’s resolution was to be more fiscally responsible. Not only did January 1 mark the availability of a handful of new sets announced last year, Lego also rang in 2023 by introducing a mountain of new sets, barely giving us enough time to pay off all our Christmas bills.
