Nerdist in Audio

LANTERNS Is So Good, It Silenced My Inner Comic Nerd Complaints

This opinion piece reflects on how HBO Max's Lanterns — despite initially worrying the author with promotional material reminiscent of the poorly received Titans — turned into a surprise critical hit and one of HBO's highest-rated comic book series, reviving the Green Lantern brand after the disastrous 2011 film. Though the author had hoped for a cosmic, Geoff Johns-style adaptation full of aliens and space opera elements, Lanterns instead takes an Earthbound, "True Detective meets DC Comics" approach with minimal costumes, off-screen aliens, and sparse use of powers. The author acknowledges lingering nerd-specific quibbles (wishing for more comics-accurate visuals and alien characters like Mogo and Ch'p) but ultimately argues that the show's excellent writing, acting (especially from Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart), and thematic depth about age, race, masculinity, and family make those complaints secondary. The piece concludes that great execution can override not getting exactly what fans expected, and credits the show with restoring credibility to the Green Lantern franchise for future, more comics-faithful adaptations.

Visit https://nerdist.com/article/lanterns-is-so-good-it-silenced-my-inner-comic-nerd-complaints/ to read or listen to the article.

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Paramount and State AGs Settle Case, Paving Way for Warner Bros Merger

Paramount and a 12-state coalition of Attorneys General (led by California's Rob Bonta) have reached a settlement in the antitrust case surrounding Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery's $111 billion merger, removing a major legal obstacle without requiring any major divestitures. Terms include a $1.5 billion, five-year commitment to raise U.S. production from 5% to 20%, a requirement to produce 30-32 theatrical releases annually (with 4 independent films and 20% blockbusters), an independent film fund, $9.5M annually for workforce training, and a news editorial independence board for CNN. Major theater chains (AMC, Cinemark, Regal) and trade group Cinema United reversed their opposition to support the settlement, and the WGA separately settled its own related lawsuit for writer-layoff protections at CBS News and $17.5 million. Critics, including advocacy group American Economic Liberties Project, argue state AGs caved to pressure rather than defending consumers, and the author notes the settlement doesn't meaningfully address whether the merger is anti-competitive since no structural remedies were imposed.

Visit  https://nerdist.com/article/paramount-state-ags-reach-settlement-warner-bros-merger/  to read or listen to the article.

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Disney+ Allows Ads Even on 'Ad-Free' Plans

Disney+ has updated its European subscriber agreement to allow ads on all plans — including its premium "ad-free" tier — before and after content playback (though not during it), and no plan allows fast-forwarding through these ads. This mirrors a broader streaming industry trend of eroding "ad-free" as a meaningful term, similar to Netflix's password-sharing crackdowns. The change hasn't reached U.S. subscribers yet, but the article speculates it likely will, following the pattern of other streaming policy changes tested abroad first.

Visit  https://nerdist.com/article/disney-plus-allows-ads-even-on-ad-free-plans/  to read or listen to the article.

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SACRIFICE Trailer Turns Chris Evans Into a Human Offering

Netflix's trailer for Sacrifice, from director Romain Gavras (Athena), shows Anya Taylor-Joy as a radical warrior planning to offer movie star Chris Evans as a sacrifice to an active volcano to save a dying world. The film also stars Vincent Cassel and Salma Hayek-Pinault as a billionaire couple, plus Ambika Mod, Sam Richardson, John Malkovich, and Charli XCX as a wildly costumed Mother Nature. It's set at a star-studded charity gala where Evans' character, amid a personal crisis, is taken hostage during a night that blurs performance and belief, salvation and sacrifice. Sacrifice premieres on Netflix October 16.

Visit  https://nerdist.com/article/anya-taylor-joy-chris-evans-volcano-movie-sacrifice-trailer-netflix/  to read or listen to the article.

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Brad Pitt Rocks '70s Style in THE FURTHER MIS-ADVENTURES OF CLIFF BOOTH Trailer

The new trailer for The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth — David Fincher's surprising sequel to Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, starring a returning Brad Pitt as stuntman/fixer Cliff Booth — shows Cliff pulled into a web of "murder, blackmail, theft, extortion" involving TV megastar Charlie Peters (Scott Caan), his wife (Carla Gugino), talent agent Karen Crosby (Elizabeth Debicki), football star Roderick Harrison (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), and dangerous gangsters the Verdusco brothers. The film releases exclusively in IMAX theaters for two weeks starting November 25, then hits Netflix December 23.

Visit  https://nerdist.com/article/the-further-mis-adventures-of-cliff-booth-brad-pitt-trailer/  to read or listen to the article.

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Tom King's Controversial WONDER WOMAN Run to End in December

After three years and 40 issues, writer Tom King and artist Daniel Sampere will conclude their acclaimed but divisive Wonder Woman run with issue #40 in December, ending short of King's original 100-issue goal due to his other obligations, including showrunning the DCU's animated Mister Miracle series. The run, praised early on but seen as losing steam more recently, introduced major changes like Diana's daughter Trinity (with Steve Trevor) and Steve's death, along with new villains the Sovereign and the Matriarch — changes that proved polarizing among fans. The article hopes future writers build on these additions rather than reset them via reboot. Wonder Woman #40 arrives December 16.

Visit  https://nerdist.com/article/tom-king-controversial-wonder-woman-run-to-end-in-december/  to read or listen to the article.

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Who Is LANTERNS' Carol Ferris? Hal Jordan's Old Flame, Explained

This article covers the comics history of Carol Ferris — who appears in Lanterns episode 6 at Hal Jordan's funeral, played by Amie MacKenzie — tracing her from her 1959 debut as Hal's boss at Ferris Aircraft, through her transformation into the villainous Star Sapphire via the alien Zamarons in 1962, her decades-long on-again/off-again romantic and antagonistic relationship with Hal, a dark period where a male entity called the Predator possessed her and caused her to kill John Stewart's wife Katma Tui, and her eventual 2000s-era redemption as a heroic Star Sapphire and Justice League member. It also notes her live-action history, including being played by Blake Lively in the 2011 Green Lantern film (where she met future husband Ryan Reynolds). The author speculates that a future season of Lanterns could explore more of her comics history, including a possible Star Sapphire arc.

Visit  https://nerdist.com/article/who-is-lanterns-carol-ferris-hal-jordans-old-flame-explained/ to read or listen to the article.

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THE VAMPIRE LESTAT Film Would Have Skipped the Rock Star Angle

Director Neil Jordan revealed to Nerdist details about his never-produced script for The Vampire Lestat, the planned sequel to his 1994 Interview with the Vampire (Tom Cruise ultimately passed on returning). Jordan said he was never interested in portraying Lestat as a David Lee Roth-style rock star; instead, his script focused on Lestat's 18th-century life in France — his vampiric transformation at the Commedia dell'arte in Paris — with flash-forwards to a road trip driving Daniel Molloy (Christian Slater) from New Orleans to Los Angeles. This framing device would have built on the film's ending, where Lestat resurfaces in Molloy's car and the two drive off across the Golden Gate Bridge (an event not in the books and unconnected to the unrelated 2002 Queen of the Damned film).

Visit  https://nerdist.com/article/the-vampire-lestat-film-neil-jordan-skip-rock-star-road-trip/  to read or listen to the article.

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An INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Director's Cut Is Sadly Lost to Time

Ahead of the film's September 22 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release, Neil Jordan told Nerdist he tried to deliver a director's cut but couldn't locate his original theatrical/test-audience cut in Warner Bros.' vaults, nor had he kept a personal copy. Instead, the disc includes surviving deleted scenes, the most notable being a conversation between Louis and Claudia about why she's never allowed to watch him kill, and a scene (from the book) of Louis going to confession and killing the priest. Jordan called these "the best of the deleted scenes," noting most other cut material wasn't worth keeping.

Visit  https://nerdist.com/article/interview-with-the-vampire-directors-cut-lost-to-time/  to read or listen to the article.

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Neil Jordan on INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE'S Immortal Legacy

In this extended Nerdist interview timed to the film's 4K Blu-ray release, Neil Jordan reflects on adapting Anne Rice's novel after its infamous 18-year development odyssey (which once considered Cher as Louis), casting Tom Cruise despite public backlash, working with makeup effects legend Stan Winston (who was inspired by veins on Jordan's newborn son's face), and the media firestorm around the film compared to today's social media age. He also discusses the unsuccessful, unused Paris-set deleted footage of Cruise's Lestat, his admiration for John Boorman's Excalibur as his personal film school, his surprise that Kirsten Dunst wasn't Oscar-nominated, and his limited but positive view of AMC's ongoing TV adaptation. He again describes his unproduced The Vampire Lestat script as skipping the rock star persona in favor of Lestat's 18th-century backstory.

Visit  https://nerdist.com/article/neil-jordan-on-interview-with-the-vampires-30th-anniversary/  to read or listen to the article.

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