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Is superhero movie fatigue a real thing? The term is certainly thrown around a lot, as few superhero movies have performed the same way they did in the late 2010s. But one person who doesn’t believe in superhero fatigue is DC Studios co-head Peter Safran. That’s the one who’s not James Gunn. Speaking to the AP (via IGN), Safran said that superhero fatigue, saying instead that what the movie industry currently has is “mediocre movie fatigue.” Here’s what he said in full, and how it relates to DC Studios’ upcoming slate, particularly Supergirl:

I never felt that there was superhero fatigue. I felt it was mediocre movie fatigue. You gotta try something new. You have to change the game a little bit. The essential story on which Supergirl is based is something cool and original and we haven’t seen before.

Which superhero movies over the past few years did Peter Safran deem as mediocre? We don’t know, but we know that between 2020 and 2024, both Marvel and DC were equally guilty when it came to releasing forgettable projects. But overall, Safran isn’t wrong. Movies need to dive into more offbeat and interesting source material, especially after 25 years of nonstop superhero action. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is one such project. And although it’s a supervillain movie more than a superhero movie, we think Clayface counts as another one. Especially as it’s essentially based around an episode of Batman: The Animated Series.

DC Studios

Overall, we’d say superhero fatigue is just one symptom of an overall blockbuster movie fatigue. 2019 was an insane year for the box office, and the very next year, the pandemic happened. And for the most part, box office levels have never gone back to pre-pandemic levels. Very few films have hit more than $500 million at the domestic box office since the start of the decade. And that was once something that happened every year.

Even very well-received movies like Project Hail Mary will come up short of hitting that benchmark. Overall, we just think everyone needs to adjust what counts as success in this new landscape. And that includes superhero movies, too.

The post DC’s Peter Safran Says Fans Are Tired of ‘Mediocre Movies,’ Not Superheroes appeared first on Nerdist.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin appeared on Fox News Friday to whine about how the GOP-driven partial government shutdown has made things difficult for him, claiming “almost a third of the workforce is no longer with us.” “It takes about four months to onboard people,” he told host Dana Perino. “People say, ‘Well, but they’re getting paid.’ We had [the] State…

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A cartoon by Clay Bennett. Related | Transportation chief wants AI to manage your air travel safety…

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Attorneys General around the country, as well as many politicians, have discussed mounting a legal challenge to Paramount Skydance’s mega purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery. Thus far none of them have done anything to actually stop it. But some normal, unelected people have. Five Paramount+ subscribers have filed a federal antitrust lawsuit in California to halt the sale. Yes, the people are suing to stop this Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount merger.Paramount/Warner Bros. Discovery

This week, five plaintiffs—Pamela Faust, Len Marazzo, Lisa Mccarthy, Deborah Rubinsohn, and Gary Talewsky—filed a “private antitrust” lawsuit in California’s Northern District federal court. (A case we first heard about at Forbes.) They are seeking an “injunctive relief” to stop Paramount Skydance’s $110 billion dollar purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery. The suit cites a violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act.” And while we’re not lawyers, their reasoning certainly sounds like a fact. Here’s the suit’s first claim about the harm posed by this merger:

“…it may substantially lessen competition by eliminating a significant rival. Plaintiffs are threatened with loss or damage due to increased prices, reduced production, reduced quality, and reduced consumer choice.”

Yup. The suit also specifically mentions the company’s acquisition of CNN and why it was such a major reason for the sale. The lawsuit posits “political considerations and horse trading over a major national news outlet” was a big reason behind the sale, proving it should be invalidated.

Again, we’re not lawyers, but…..

Universal Pictures

Paramount Skydance responded to the filing, saying it is “without merit.” The company also said the merger “will create a stronger competitor that is well positioned to serve as a champion for creative talent and consumer choice.”

Does this suit have a chance? Honestly, who knows anymore? But we know it’s never (not once) been great for consumers and artists alike when there’s less competition, which is exactly what this sale guarantees. And as people who love both movies and a free press, we wish these five Paramount+ subscribers good luck. We also hope those with real political power finally do something, too.

The post Paramount+ Subscribers Sue To Stop Warner Bros. Discovery Sale appeared first on Nerdist.

Emil Michael says agencies are evaluating the cybersecurity model, not deploying it

Pentagon CTO Emil Michael pushed back on reports of a thaw in the department’s relationship with Anthropic: The two are not getting back together, even as Mythos draws interest from government agencies.…

Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ website, Infowars.com, went offline Thursday night, marking a possible end to decades of misinformation, lies, and deception. Currently, upon visiting the website, a single page appears with the message, “Off Air.” Infowars launched in 1999 and has steadily spewed out nonsense nearly every day of its ensuing 27 years of operation.

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On Friday, Nebraska became the first state to enact Medicaid work requirements, mandatory for states with Medicaid expansion due to Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Notably, the state did it seven months before the deadline.

Now, around 70,000 adults below the age of 65 in Nebraska who have Medicaid through its expansion could risk having their health insurance ripped away from them.

Medicaid work requirements do not increase employment. Instead, the administrative burden of work requirements only serves to kick people off this governmental health insurance. Additionally, a majority of people on Medicaid, who are not on Supplemental Security Income, work full or part-time jobs. This underlines how rhetoric around work requirements is just false.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities also highlighted that there is not enough time to implement what could be considered less cruel systems for Medicaid work requirements. The center called for work requirements to be pulled, “but short of that, states need more time to ensure their policies, systems, and staffing plans are in place to minimize the number of eligible people whose health care is taken away.” This also highlights the cruelty of Nebraska’s implementation of work requirements before the January 1, 2027 deadline.

Especially because an interim rule from the Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not even due until June 1. I previously raised concerns about what an interim rule could look like from Kennedy:

A person with debilitating chronic pain, or a serious autoimmune illness, may appear “able-bodied” by the standards RFK Jr. appears poised to implement—even as they face hurdles in qualifying for Social Security disability due to not being considered disabled enough. HHS declined to answer a series of questions for this article, instead offering a general statement that the agency “remains committed to protecting and strengthening Medicaid for those who rely on it…while eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.”

There are some exemptions to Medicaid work requirements, including for people with chronic illnesses and pregnant people. According to Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services’ website, the state will be considering work requirement exemptions during checks every six months. There is a list of conditions for people on Medicaid that qualify for people with exemptions, but understandably, not every serious health issue is on there. Notably absent is Long Covid, a post-infectious disease caused by a Covid infection that can very much impact someone’s ability to work.

“I don’t see how any state could protect people with disabilities from these kinds of cuts,” Georgetown University professor Edwin Park told me last year before Republicans voted to enact Medicaid work requirements and nearly $1 trillion worth of Medicaid cuts.

Now, it’s a waiting game to see how draconian Medicaid work requirements roll out throughout the country.

The deals come as the DOD has doubled down on diversifying its exposure to AI vendors in the wake of its controversial dispute with Anthropic over usage terms of its AI models.

SpaceX and Blue Origin will absolutely be ready in time. Definitely

Amid the sensational NASA budget cut proposals taking place in the US at the moment, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has refined the Artemis III launch date to "late 2027."…

It’s not uncommon for people to wonder about what they want to happen to their bodies when they die. Some people prefer to be buried, others cremated, and others want their ashes scattered about the earth. When it’s time to finally kick the bucket, who wouldn’t want to go out in style? A Brazilian coffin company asked itself the very same question. What they came up with is pretty super. Take a look at these Super Mario-inspired coffins and see if they fit your afterlife goals.

Funerals stand as a celebration of someone’s life. If that person so happened to be a huge Super Mario fan, why not celebrate with a bright pink coffin inspired by Princess Peach? Or a red one with the Mario “M” on the lid? The Brazilian company unveiled the unique coffins on its Instagram page. The post has since sparked a lot of talk online. In the post, the company jokes that when it’s “game over,” you’ll want to be buried in these unique coffins.

On top of Peach and Mario, the coffin line also features designs of Luigi, Toad, and Yoshi. Each design has its own color and wooden plaque to represent each character. For example, Peach’s is pink with a crown, Luigi’s is green with an “L,” and Toad’s is red with a mushroom cap. With the Super Mario Galaxy Movie having come out in April of this year, the timing is pretty perfect.

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People love the designs and are now asking for more fun, character-inspired coffins. Classic characters such as Bowser, Sonic, and others. In honor of the new movie, it would also be cool to see a coffin designed around Rosalina. Unironically, these unique coffins aren’t the first time the company has nerded out with their designs. In the past, they’ve also offered ones for Barbie and The Fairly OddParents.

The post These SUPER MARIO Coffins Will Let You Nerd Out in the Afterlife appeared first on Nerdist.

Most little kids with a great head of hair would hate to shave their heads. But most kids don’t get to play a beloved character from George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire on HBO like young Dexter Sol Ansell. He happily bid farewell to his hair after getting cast as Egg on HBO’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. (In fact, he almost cut it all off for his audition to show how much he wanted the part!) Now that he’s a star, though, would Sol Ansell be just as eager to do it again for season two of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms? This joyful video of him losing his locks more than answers that question.

Maekar’s youngest son, Prince Aegon Targaryen, shared a delightful pre-season video of himself getting ready for “series 2” of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Having to be totally bald might sound like the unfortunate cost of playing such an important character in Westeros’ history. Not for Sol Ansell. Being “back to bald” made him feel “back to normal.”

Have we said how much we love this kid? Oh, not in at least a month? Bad job by us. Real bad. Let’s fix that right now: we love this kid. Perfect Egg.

Dexter Sol Ansell

As for when we’ll get to see Sol Ansell return as Dunk’s diminutive squire, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ second season is currently in production. (HBO had to stop/delay filming in April after a natural disaster.) We won’t see the legendary duo back, in an adaptation of the second Dunk & Egg novella “The Sworn Sword,” until at least 2027.

By then Dexter Sol Ansell’s terrific hair will likely be back to its full glory. And then we can look forward to yet another video of him gleefully getting it all shaved off.

The post Dexter Sol Ansell Happily Shaves Head for A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS Season 2 appeared first on Nerdist.

Both Cupertino and Google are imposing ever stricter limits on their phones – but you have alternatives

As both Apple and Google introduce unwelcome changes in their phone OSes, here's a quick reminder that you do have alternatives to the Gruesome Twosome.…

A group of hacktivists have claimed responsibility for a distributed denial-of-service attack, which has affected several Ubuntu and Canonical websites, and prevented users from updating the Linux-based operating system.

President Donald Trump’s boondoggle of a war in Iran officially hit the 60-day mark on Friday, thus requiring him—by law—to get congressional approval to continue his hostilities. But Trump and his administration came up with a bullshit excuse for why the War Powers Resolution of 1973 doesn’t apply to them in this situation. “We are in a ceasefire right now, which our understanding means…

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Creature Commandos officially kicked off the new DCU, but its story won’t stop at the beginning because Max has announced James Gunn’s animated series is getting a season two, and now, we even have a first look at its script.

DC Studios

Everyone’s new favorite monster squad is keeping the unlikely team together at Max. The streaming service has renewed Creature Commandos from writer, executive producer, and co-chair of the DCU James Gunn. It would be easy to say the show is getting another year because it’s Gunn’s series and he runs the DCU’s creative side. But that wouldn’t be accurate. (Even if it probably didn’t hurt.) The series was a hit with both critics and viewers alike.

Since its renewal early last year, we haven’t heard much from the series. But now writer Dean Lorey has shared some progress, noting, “I promised a “starry little surprise” so here you go, the title page of the first script. Creature Commandos season 2 is becoming something really special with the work of hugely talented creative folks who I’ll spotlight over the next few weeks!”

In a press release at the time of renewal, Amy Gravitt, Executive Vice President, HBO & Max Comedy Programming, talked about why they wanted to do a second season. “Only James Gunn could have conjured this wild band of misfit monsters who tug at your heart and force you to root passionately for them,” she said. “We couldn’t be more delighted to continue their stories with James, Dean Lorey, Peter Safran and our fantastic partners at DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation.”

Max

The series stars Steve Agee as Economos, Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana, Anya Chalotra as Circe, Zoe Chao as Nina Mazursky, Frank Grillo as Rick Flag, Sr., Sean Gunn as GI Robot & Weasel, David Harbour as Frankenstein, Alan Tudyk as Dr. Phosphorus, Indira Varma as The Bride, and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller.

One thing we still don’t know is when season two will arrive. That will be important not because we don’t want to wait, but because the DCU has now properly kicked off. Creature Commandos season one started the DCU, but season two will have a bigger challenge to deal with. It will have to fit into the superhero world that the show launched.

The post CREATURE COMMANDOS Season 2 Shares First Look appeared first on Nerdist.

If software writes software the risk is “systematic failure at scale”. Someone needs to take charge, argues Forrester

Forrester predicts that by decade's end, the rush toward agentic AI will grow so chaotic that CIOs will be forced into a new role as enforcer of order.…

The Russo Brothers and Kevin Feige did more than just reveal new footage of Avengers: Doomsday at this year’s CinemaCon in Las Vegas. They also announced an entirely new way to experience Disney’s biggest movies. The Mouse House is partnering with large-format theaters around the world on Infinity Vision. And it’s kicking off this new, brighter, bolder, more immersive way to watch movies with a re-release of Avengers: Endgame.Disney

Walt Disney Studios says Infinity Vision will let audiences know which theaters “offer the biggest, brightest and most immersive cinematic experiences” by setting “a new benchmark for theatrical presentation, certifying auditoriums that meet rigorous technical standards.” What will that actually mean in practice. Disney described the kinds of upgrades moviegoers can expect from Infinity Vision:

• The largest screens for maximum scale 
• Laser projection for superior brightness and clarity 
• Premium audio formats for fully immersive sound

Marvel Studios

Premium large format (PLF) theaters around the world will get to employ Infinity Vision for the first time this fall. Marvel Studios will re-release Avengers: Endgame in Infinity Vision in September. The Russos and Feige also said this latest theatrical release for the blockbuster film will include brand-new footage. Two months later, Avengers: Doomsday will also be available in Infinity Vision at certified PLFs.

“Disney’s standards for production quality are second to none, with every single detail of a film finely tuned for an immersive experience,” said Andrew Cripps, Head of Theatrical Distribution for The Walt Disney Studios, in a statement. “Infinity Vision certification extends that commitment to the theaters themselves, representing a shared effort between The Walt Disney Studios and the exhibition community to help audiences quickly find the very best screens in their area to experience our films in exactly the way they’re designed to be seen – on a huge screen with the sharpest, clearest color and sound.”

Marvel Studios

Although Disney sounds pretty excited about its new format, IMAX isn’t really that impressed. IMAX CFO Natasha Fernandes says of Infinity Vision, “From our view, we feel it’s a marketing play to try and offset the fact that they don’t have an IMAX platform or brand for Avengers: Doomsday,” Adding that Marvel fans are “among the savvy and most discerning moviegoers out there. And there’s a reason why we’re the undisputed leader in premium cinema worldwide.” Oop. Well, make of that what you will.

We didn’t need much more convincing to see Avengers: Doomsday. We didn’t even need an excuse to see Endgame in theaters again. But it turns out there’s Infinity Vision reasons to do both.

Originally published on April 17, 2026.

The post Disney Launches New ‘Infinity Vision’ Theater Experience With AVENGERS: ENDGAME Re-Release appeared first on Nerdist.

Fresh on the heels of a lackluster Mar-a-Lago “luncheon” party for his struggling $TRUMP meme coin, President Donald Trump appears ready to launch his next crypto-coin-for-exclusive-access project: Trump Coin Club.

In the wake of the Mar-a-Lago bash, the official $TRUMP coin website was updated with a new offer. The details are sparse but apparently meant to be enticing. “MEMBERS ONLY · LIMITED ACCESS,” the site promises. “The Trump Coin Club — invitation-only luxury suites at the biggest sporting events in the world, private dinners, and the most elite and extraordinary experiences.”

There is no information as to what specific “biggest sporting events” that might include. I sent an email to the $TRUMP coin website and the Trump Organization, but no one replied.

The website has a sign-up prompt and what appears to be a mockup of a “leaderboard”—apparently similar to the ranking system used to doll out slots to the top 297 $TRUMP coin holders who were invited to last weekend’s Mar-a-Lago luncheon. Independent crypto researcher Molly White first reported the new Trumpian offer Wednesday evening. While it seems anyone can join can join the Trump Coin Club for free, White writes that the leaderboard “appears designed to rank members by both the amount of the token they hold and the duration they’ve held it.” And the prospect of invitations to “elite” events could be intended to incentivize crypto enthusiasts to hold onto their $TRUMP coins for the long term.

$TRUMP is a meme coin, which means it doesn’t have any inherent use or value—it simply exists as a digital endorsement of Trump, as a concept. If it becomes popular, it can also become useful for financial speculation. But other than a huge spike in price in the hours immediately before and after Trump officially announced the coin’s creation, the price’s trajectory has been almost exclusively downward.

Depending on the crypto exchange you use, the price of the coin was once as high as $74, giving it a $15 billion market cap. But since February, each coin has been worth less than $4. After last weekend’s event at Mar-a-Lago, which Trump attended, the price slipped even further. As of this writing, it is currently hovering below $2.40.

But even with the plunging price, $TRUMP is a great deal for its namesake. The president created the coin out of nothing, so any price is a win for him.

Users have less cash to burn and less patience for AI in new models... now where to get the used stock

Secondhand phones sales are booming - relatively speaking - and the industry has rising inflation, AI bloat, and consumers' growing apathy toward overpriced new handsets to thank for it.…

This post is updated throughout the day to reflect the latest incidents. It was last updated at 7:31 a.m..

Here’s what’s happening on the roads this morning…

▼︎ new incidents

Road incidents as of 7:30 a.m. on May 1

• A lane on westbound SR-152 at Clifford Drive/Ohlone Parkway in Watsonville/Pajaro is closed for asphalt paving. The closure will last until July 3, ending at 5:59 a.m.
   
• A single car crash happened at CRG12 and Pini Rd in Watsonville/Pajaro at 6:48 a.m. today. The car ended up on its passenger side on the curb, but did not roll over. No other cars were involved, and there were no major injuries or damage. The driver left the scene at first but came back. A tow truck was called.
   

Disclosure: Traffic incidents are partially generated by artificial intelligence. We are constantly working to improve the accuracy and quality of our AI-generated content. However, there may still be errors or inaccuracies. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.

The post Friday morning traffic: SR-152 lane closed for paving; minor crash at CRG12 appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.