io9Television

In 1992, Bob Newhart Made a TV Show About Superheroes Becoming Too Dark and Gritty

In 1992, Bob Newhart was a comedy god. He’d starred in two mega-popular sitcoms, The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, and then he decided to star in a show about a superhero comics artist. The resulting show, BOB!, was a bizarre, high-concept romp about how superheroes were changing in the post-Frank Miller “grim-and-gritty” era. And … Continued

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So What Was This Season of Agent Carter About, After All?

Season one of Agent Carter had a pretty tight storyline—Peggy’s colleagues understimate her, and meanwhile she’s having to lie to them as she works to clear Howard Stark’s name. But season two had a lot of moving parts, and a bunch of detours. What was the point of it, in the end? Spoilers ahead… Judging … Continued

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The 9 Most Unforgettable Moments in Last Night’s Supergirl

Last night’s episode of Supergirl was a weird mixture of hacker hijinks that even CSI: Cyber would have been ashamed of, with actual great character drama. This show is often incredibly silly, but it’s always a fun time. We rounded up the nine most unforgettable moments. 1) Here’s the episode’s setup, where an alien supercomputer … Continued

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Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About the Failed 2004 Batman Vs. Superman Movie

We’re just one month away from seeing Batman v. Superman, the long-awaited smackdown between the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel. But if things had turned out differently, we could have seen Batman fight Superman back in 2004. Here’s everything we know about Batman vs. Superman: Asylum, and how it would have been different … Continued

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Here’s the Moment From Last Night’s Agent Carter That Gave Me Goosebumps

Last night’s two episodes of Agent Carter had their ups and downs—but their emotional spine came from Edwin Jarvis, whose wife Ana has narrowly survived a gunshot wound. But the most magical moment comes here, when Edwin finally pushes Peggy Carter too far. Spoilers ahead… The little moment of collecting herself, the hair flip, and … Continued

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5 Utterly Bizarre Real-Life Crimes That Were Predicted by Science Fiction

People talk all the time about whether science fiction accurately predicted the technology and science of the 21st century—but what about crime? It turns out, science fiction is great at predicting (or inspiring) some truly odd crimes. Here are five real-life crimes that happened first in science fiction! 1) Clown criminals When pressured by the … Continued

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How Agent Carter Created One of the Most Fascinating Villains on Television

Agent Carter has given us one of the most fascinating villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whitney Frost is a classic femme fatale, who’s also a science genius, with extradimensional death powers. We spoke to Wynn Everett, who plays Whitney Frost, about playing a villain with real vulnerability. Spoilers ahead, for people who aren’t caught … Continued

io9Books & Comics

Umberto Eco Asked the Hard Questions About the Myths We Can’t Help Believing In

Most people know Umberto Eco as the author of The Name of the Rose (pictured above), a Medieval detective story that caused a sensation. But the postmodern author, who died today, published a slew of novels that questioned the nature of belief and truth. Eco wasn’t really known as a science fiction author, although he … Continued

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Agent Carter Has Become One of the Most Unique Stories in the Marvel Universe

Agent Carter is a show all about sexism, and particularly all about the notion that after World War II, women who had made a material contribution to the war effort were told to go back to their old subordinate roles. But whereas the show’s first season was a fairly simple story, season two is delving … Continued

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The R-Rated Superhero Movie That Kicked Our Asses Long Before Deadpool

Now that Deadpool has become a monster hit, there are a billion articles about how ground-breaking this R-rated, raunchy, fourth-wall-smashing superhero movie really is. And no mistake, Deadpool is hilarious. But there’s one film, starring an insane hero in a red suit, that never gets enough credit for how far it pushed the superhero genre: … Continued

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The Makers of Deadpool Had to Slash $7 Million From the Budget at the Last Minute

If you think it’s tough being the scarred, wise-cracking Deadpool in the world of superheroes and villains, you haven’t heard what writers Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and the film’s other creators had to go through to make his movie a reality. Mere days before the film was set to get an official green light, the … Continued

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Deadpool Is Brutal in the Best Possible Way

All decent, right-thinking people love action movies with a high body count. But few movies pack the combination of insane violence and ludicrous self-mockery that you’ll find in Deadpool, in theaters today. This is a celebration of slaughter that gets so silly, it actually feels sort of joyful. Vague spoilers ahead! Deadpool is the long-awaited … Continued

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Marvel’s Agent Carter Has Become One of the Best Comedies on Television

Agent Carter’s first season was a terrific blend of humor and darkness, as a sexist establishment crushed Peggy’s spirit. But season two is shaping up to be much more of a comedy, while still keeping the same themes. And holy crap, is it more fun than a bathtub full of silly string. See for yourself—the … Continued

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Who’s the Weakest Supervillain of All Time?

We’re finally getting superhero movies and TV shows that live up to the wonder and thrill of comics. But despite a few really great bad guys, supervillains still aren’t getting their due. A lot of baddies are just kind of… there. But who’s the weakest supervillain of all time? Please include a picture, comics panel, … Continued

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Apparently Agent Carter Suffered a Severe Head Injury in 1940 and Fell in Love with a Dunce

I’m still loving this season of Agent Carter in general—last week’s episode was just non-stop awesome. Unfortunately, last night’s episode tried to give us flashbacks for both Peggy Carter and her nemesis, Whitney Frost, and the result was rushed and messy. Spoilers… Apparently back in 1940, Peggy was in love with a total wet blanket, … Continued

io9Television

13 Superhero TV Shows That It’s Hard To Believe Somebody Greenlit

We’re living in the Golden Age of superheroes on television. But capes and superpowers have lived on the small screen for decades—and there have been some truly bizarre ideas for how to translate them from comics. Here are 13 superhero shows it’s hard to believe someone thought were a good idea. 1) Captain Caveman Always … Continued

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Legends of Tomorrow Is the Most Comic Book TV Show I’ve Ever Seen

Legends of Tomorrow is unlike anything DC or the CW have tried to make for live-action television. Where Arrow and The Flash were focused character studies of Oliver Queen and Barry Allen, both of which slowly bloomed into team shows over many episodes, Legends of Tomorrow corrals all the B-players from its popular CW duo, … Continued

io9Television

Agent Carter May Be Facing the One Enemy She Can Never Defeat

Last night’s two-hour Agent Carter season premiere was a lot of fun. But it also gave us two other ambitious women who are foils for Peggy Carter—one of whom we’ve seen before. And it introduced us to a brand new shadowy organization. Looks like Peggy’s going to have her hands full. Spoilers ahead! A lot … Continued

io9Television

Supergirl Had the Best ‘Be My Girlfriend or I’ll Become a Supervillain’ Speech

Last night’s Supergirl was all about making the lovestruck nerd Winn into a sympathetic character, by showing us his psycho supervillain dad. And it worked… until Winn tried to use Supergirl’s sympathy to steal a kiss. And then he gave this weird speech. Seriously. WTF? The gist of Winn’s speech is, “My dad became a … Continued

io9Books & Comics

These 3D Trading Cards of Mike Allred’s Madman Are The Superhero Pop Art You Secretly Desire!

Madman is one of the coolest comics characters to emerge in the past 25 years. A riff on Frankenstein in a cool costume, Madman blended Mike Allred’s clean pop-art sensibility with a uniquely weird and colorful set of characters. Now writer and pop culture historian Christopher Irving has put out a set of 3-D collectible … Continued