Fandom 5

Coming up: one giant Marvel bridge move, one quietly brutal TV story, and one Star Wars update that says a lot about where that franchise thinks it’s going next.

It’s Monday, April 20, 2026. I’m Branden Ushio and this is Fandom 5 where you get 5 fandom news stories in 5 minutes or less, let’s go

Story 1

Joe Russo Teases ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Re-Release At Sands

Deadline • Verified publish date: 2026-04-19T13:45:49Z

Marvel is re-releasing Endgame in September with new footage tied directly to Avengers: Doomsday, which means the studio is officially using one of its biggest old wins as setup for the next event movie.

Story 2

‘Beef’ Creator Lee Sung Jin On The “Real-Life Incident” That Inspired Season 2

Deadline • Verified publish date: 2026-04-19T21:07:12Z

Lee Sung Jin says season 2 grew out of a real overheard argument and his frustration with how class shapes everything. Which is very on-brand for a show that loves turning one ugly moment into an emotional crater.

Story 3

Ahsoka season 2 is dealing with a "higher level" of Star Wars compared to the "ground-level experience" of The Mandalorian and Grogu, Jon Favreau says

GamesRadar • Verified publish date: 2026-04-20T02:00:00Z

Lucasfilm is clearly dividing Star Wars into different lanes now, and Ahsoka sounds like it is being pushed into the bigger mythic branch.

Story 4

‘Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ With $747M+ WW Pushes Franchise To $2B; ‘The Mummy’ Opens to $34M WW

Deadline • Verified publish date: 2026-04-19T16:21:32Z

Mario’s sequel is still running wild worldwide and just pushed the overall movie franchise past $2 billion. Meanwhile, Lee Cronin’s The Mummy posted a solid global opening and looks like a real horror-brand play instead of another monster-universe disaster.

Story 5

Jessica Chastain Says Apple TV Will Finally Release ‘The Savant’

Variety • Verified publish date: 2026-04-19T02:58:23Z

After getting postponed last year, The Savant is finally back on the calendar. Chastain says Apple TV is moving toward a July release, which is a real update for a show that had started to feel lost in the void.

Source Roll

1. Joe Russo Teases ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Re-Release At Sands
2. ‘Beef’ Creator Lee Sung Jin On The “Real-Life Incident” That Inspired Season 2
3. Ahsoka season 2 is dealing with a "higher level" of Star Wars compared to the "ground-level experience" of The Mandalorian and Grogu, Jon Favreau says
4. ‘Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ With $747M+ WW Pushes Franchise To $2B; ‘The Mummy’ Opens to $34M WW
5. Jessica Chastain Says Apple TV Will Finally Release ‘The Savant’

New Avengers: Doomsday trailer sees Thor face off against Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom and gives us the X-Men action we've been waiting for

GamesRadar • Verified publish date: 2026-04-17T00:12:14Z

Marvel finally showed the first full Doomsday trailer, and yes, it is leaning very hard on Doctor Doom as the new giant attention magnet.

Dungeon Crawler Carl RPG Has Already Raised $3 Million on Backerkit

TechRaptor • Verified publish date: 2026-04-14T20:27:49Z

Dungeon Crawler Carl is having exactly the kind of breakout moment LitRPG fans have been waiting to see taken seriously.

New MANDALORIAN AND GROGU Trailer Cranks Up The Classic STAR WARS Energy

GeekTyrant • Verified publish date: 2026-04-16T22:51:00Z

Star Wars is making another serious theatrical push, and this time it’s betting on one of its safest modern-era combinations.

Disney Animation’s ‘Hexed’ Finds Its Cast: Hailee Steinfeld and Rashida Jones

The Hollywood Reporter • Verified publish date: 2026-04-16T23:26:32Z

Hexed gives Disney a chance to prove original animation can still feel like a real event and not just a résumé line.

‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’ Canceled After Five Seasons on NBC, Peacock

The Hollywood Reporter • Verified publish date: 2026-04-16T19:11:15ZEven one of TV’s most durable franchises still cuts loose parts of itself, and fans never enjoy that conversation.

Source Roll

1. New Avengers: Doomsday trailer sees Thor face off against Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom and gives us the X-Men action we've been waiting for
   
2.  Dungeon Crawler Carl RPG Has Already Raised $3 Million on Backerkit
   
3.  New MANDALORIAN AND GROGU Trailer Cranks Up The Classic STAR WARS Energy
   
4.  Disney Animation’s ‘Hexed’ Finds Its Cast: Hailee Steinfeld and Rashida Jones
5.  ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’ Canceled After Five Seasons on NBC, Peacock

Story 1

Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya Face Off as ‘Dune: Part Three’ Debuts Explosive First 7 Minutes

The Hollywood Reporter • Verified publish date: 2026-04-15T02:21:44ZWarner showed off the first seven minutes of Dune: Part Three at CinemaCon, and the early read is that Denis Villeneuve is leaning fully into the darker fallout of Paul Atreides becoming exactly the kind of emperor everyone should fear.

Story 2

‘Legend of Zelda’ Movie’s Team Celebrates as Production Wraps Ahead of 2027 Release

The Hollywood Reporter • Verified publish date: 2026-04-15T04:54:01Z

Sony confirmed that Wes Ball’s live-action Zelda movie has wrapped principal photography, which makes Nintendo’s next giant game-to-screen swing feel a lot more real as the 2027 release date gets closer.

Story 3

Bradley Cooper Confirmed to Write, Direct and Star in Margot Robbie’s ‘Ocean’s’ Prequel

The Hollywood Reporter • Verified publish date: 2026-04-15T02:43:57Z

The long-circling Ocean’s prequel is now official, with Cooper and Robbie leading a 1962 Monaco Grand Prix heist story that could give Warner a very stylish way to reopen one of its slickest franchises

Story 4

‘NCIS’ Franchise Expands to New York, LL Cool J Returning as Sam Hanna

The Hollywood Reporter • Verified publish date: 2026-04-15T20:00:00Z

CBS has ordered NCIS: New York with LL Cool J returning as Sam Hanna and Scott Caan joining the team, a clear sign that the network still sees the NCIS universe as one of its safest and most expandable brands.

Story 5

Dan Stevens Is Wrongly Committed to a Psychiatric Hospital in ‘The Terror’ Season 3 Trailer

The Hollywood Reporter • Verified publish date: 2026-04-15T16:00:00Z

The Terror: Devil in Silver finally has a trailer, and the anthology’s new season looks like a sharp pivot into haunted-institution horror with Dan Stevens stuck in the exact kind of place where nothing gets better.Watch or listen to the show, and if you want the next episode plus the links in your inbox, subscribe to the newsletter.

Source Roll

1. Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya Face Off as ‘Dune: Part Three’ Debuts Explosive First 7 Minutes
2. ‘Legend of Zelda’ Movie’s Team Celebrates as Production Wraps Ahead of 2027 Release
3. Bradley Cooper Confirmed to Write, Direct and Star in Margot Robbie’s ‘Ocean’s’ Prequel
4. ‘NCIS’ Franchise Expands to New York, LL Cool J Returning as Sam Hanna
5. Dan Stevens Is Wrongly Committed to a Psychiatric Hospital in ‘The Terror’ Season 3 Trailer

In this episode we talk about Star Wars, Marvel, Final Fantasy, Inception and Dragons.  Along the way we bring up Fan Fiction, and toxic fandoms.  Let us know what you think!

Sometimes Fandoms are a part of your life from the time you are young and sometimes you connect with something when you are older.  The Random Dude Josh from the Undercover Capes Podcast Network has a little bit of everything in his Fandom 5, but my favorite thing that he said with one of his Fandoms was that one day he just said, "Why Not."  When considering trying a fandom, make sure to just give it a shot.

If you would like to be featured on Fandom 5, reach out to me I would love to talk to you.  [email protected]

Make sure that you subscribe to the show in the podcast catcher of your choice.  

Unitl Next time, May the Fandom Be With You!

This Episode originally Aired on the Legends of Fandom in 2017.

So many of Walt Disney’s movies feature an orphan, and many of the stories came that way originally, but was there a reason for those stories being chosen over others? In this episode, we explore the supposed origins of the Disney Orphan Club and how they are inducting new members even in the modern movies like the character Maui from Moana. 

If you enjoyed this look into the Legends that inspired Maui Head over to LegendsOfFandom.com/support to see how you can support this show. Whether it’s signing up for an audible trial and getting two books for free, giving as little as a dollar a month on Patreon, or even just telling a friend, it would mean the world to me.  

Captain Marvel Review (Spoilers)

This is the Fandom 5 for March 8, 2019 Today I've got a Captain Marvel Spoiler filled review, but first a word from our sponsor. Captain Marvel Spoiler Review Overall Review: This movie was great and If you liked the simpler marvel times when you didn't have to go in with a cheat sheet to remember the other 21 movies then you will love this. If you were a child of the 90's then you will finally get to know what a 70's kid felt when they saw guardians of the Galaxy. If you love strong women characters that are a natural part of the story and not shoe horned in (much like they were in Infinity War), then you will love this. If you like it when tropes are subverted (mostly) without being too on the nose about it (I'm looking at you Luke throwing the lightsaber away) then you will love this. If you demand realism in all of your super hero movies, then maybe this isn't for you and maybe you should go rewatch Civil War, or Batman begins. 

This gets 8 out of 10 mohawks from me, go see it now. I loved this movie, but there were a few times that I was taken out of the movie by a few things that happen. If you've listened this far I really hope that you've seen it because the gloves are definitely coming off. 

The first thing that took me out of the movie was the first scene with the Mohawk Helmet. Don't get me wrong, that is my favorite look for her, but it was her first mission and that was clearly a non standard issue helmet. 

Speaking of first mission's... the Skrull said that they noticed that she had the same energy signature of the tesseract, but I had to think to myself... When? She had never gone on a mission before. Unless they had infiltrated the training area with a spy, then that just doesn't make sense. 

The other thing that took me out of the movie was when we see Korath appear on her first team, which if you do have a cheat sheet you may remember that he was a BAD GUY in the Guardians of the Galaxy, and in case you didn't remember him, they also brought back Lee Pace to play Ronan the Accuser to remind you that the Kree are the bad guys... Curse you and your sudden but inevitable betrayal.

The last thing that took me out of the Movie was when she came into her full power at the very end, and she took out all of the accuser's bomb's and an entire ship. It was an awesome scene but at the end of it I began to wonder, is she too strong? One of the biggest problems with Superman is that many writers have a hard time writing a character so powerful and well, Carol Danvers could probably take Superman in a fight. 

So there you have it, there were a few moments that took me out of the movie, but so many more that had me loving it. I have been told by others that this is a middle of the Road marvel movie, but to them I say, this is a marvel movie that breaks the mold and when people's expectations are subverted many times they miss the art in front of them because they are looking for the art they expected. This does not follow the goofy comedy model that Guardians of the Galaxy laid out and every Marvel film has followed. It is also not the emotional powerhouse that the first 2/3rds of Wonder Woman was. It is its own thing and shouldn't be compared to other super hero movies because it is not like other super hero movies. 

That said, a few Movies that could have inspired Captain Marvel 

Jason Bourne

 This is Fandom 5 where we spend five minutes in fandom, For February 8, 2019. I am your host Branden Ushio and today we are talking about the record that the upcoming Avengers Endgame is going to demolish

Like I mentioned before the Ad, Avengers Endgame is poised to break a Super Hero Movie record, and while it could possibly be the box office sales after that cliff hanger in Infinity War it is WAAAY to early to speculate on that.  No the record that it rumouredly will be breaking is the runtime for a Super Hero Movie.  Clocking in at a possible 3 H

Now That doesn't mean that it will end at 3 H but it will be close

While speaking to the directing duo at Disney about the VFX in Avengers: Infinity War, Collider’s Steve Weintraub got an update on Endgame‘s runtime, which as of right now is still looking like the longest in the MCU’s eleven-year history. “We’re still at the three-hour mark,” Joe Russo said.

And what's the reason for this long runtime?  According to Russo,

“I think the studio is down with what the best story is. Right now, we think the movie is playing well and we’ve had great responses from our test audiences and we’re feeling very good about where it is. We’re still doing work to it. We’re not done with it. Again, this is a culmination film of 22 movies, it’s a lot of storytelling to work into it. Emotion is an intrinsic part of that to us. When you have to tell a really complicated story and you want strong emotional moments with the characters, it just requires a certain amount of real estate. This one, in particular, feels like three hours worth of real estate.”

So then if this is a three hour movie Ordering a Bladder Buster 9000 and a Large Popcorn will cause some issues right?  Well Maybe... Maybe not

Anthony Russo told Collider “We have screened the movie four times for audiences now, For the first three screenings, not a single person got up to go to the bathroom.”

As a side not if anyone knows how to get into one of those exclusive screening let me know, even if I never got to go I would love to know the process. 

Infinity War had a runtime of 2h 40m and Black Panther had a Runtime of 2H and 15m and with the creep of the runtimes it has lead some people to ask the question of if movies are just getting longer than they used to be and the answer is, Yes, but also No.

From 1985 - 2000 the top 25 movies for each year average runtime grew from around 1h50m to 2hours (Conviniently about the length that you could fit on the newly popularized Video Casette Tapes) and film duration continued to go up from there , which makes you think that they are getting longer, but if you expand the scope you see that movies from 1950-1960 were much longer than movies from the 80's on par with what we have today, which some experts think had to do with television giving theaters greater competition.  My hypothesis is that now that we live in the age of Streaming and Bingewatching it is pushing those runtimes back to the multiple hours

After All The 10 Commandments and Lawrence of Arabia both clocked in at over 3 and a half hours. And well, after training for a Daredevil Marathon, Marvel fans all over are quoting the scrawny steve rogers when they say, "I can do this all day."

What do you think about these long movie times?  

Share your opinion in our Facebook Group: The Fandomaniacs

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And May the Fandom Be With you!

Recently the Quentin Tarantino option for a Star Trek Movie has been floated by the CEO of Paramount.  I think this is more bravado trying to drive up stock prices than actual plans.  Listen to this episode to understand the complicated ownership and future of Star Trek.

 if you want longer discussions about fandom be sure to subscribe to the Fandom Podcast a show where three geeks and nerds from across the fandomverse discuss age old Fandom Topics over at FandomPodcast.com

Fandom is important and on this episode I share my story about why it is so personal to me.  I share how we can turn our fandom into life saving connections.