Rob Bricken, Author at Gizmodo

Marvel Wants You to Choose the Next (Third-String) Member of the X-Men!

Following in the footsteps of DC Comics’ fateful decision to let readers decide the fate of Jason Todd—footsteps last 33 years, right?—Marvel has given its X-fans the power to determine the final mutant member of the first X-Men team of the post-House of X“Krakoan Age”! The choices, however… hmm… well, let’s just say Wolverine’s fate…

Books & Comics Rob Bricken Jan 26

Raya and the Last Dragon‘s New Trailer Is Simply Outstanding

Last October, Disney revealed the first trailer for Raya and the Last Dragon, and it looked pretty swell. What was revealed was an Asian-inspired fantasy movie felt very Avatar: The Last Airbender, minus bending but plus dragons. This new trailer, however, takes Raya out of Avatar’s shadow to reveal what makes it special, and there’s…

Trailers Rob Bricken Jan 26

Read the Script for Pixar’s Soul Like You’re Some Hollywood Big Shot or Something

One of the neat things about being a member of the Writer’s Guild of America is that sometimes you get screeners of movies being submitted for the Oscars. One of the less neat things is that you also often get sent book galleys containing a movie’s script, because unless you’re judging the Best Screenplay category…

Movies Rob Bricken Jan 25

Hulu’s Time Loop Comedy Palm Springs Gets a Commentary Track, Let the Age of Streaming Extras Begin

Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti’s Palm Springs might have been our favorite new movie of 2020. That could partially be because it didn’t have a ton of competition in that area, but also because it’s a nerdier, more adorable, and somehow less cynical Groundhog Day tale, one that was a delight to escape into while…

Movies Rob Bricken Jan 25

That New Dragonlance Trilogy From the Series’ Classic Authors Is Coming After All

Well, that didn’t take long. Two weeks after Dragonlance co-creators and authors of its most famous novels, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, voluntarily dismissed their $10 million lawsuit against Wizards of the Coast for messing with their plans to write a new book trilogy set in the beloved Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting, the duo…

Books & Comics Rob Bricken Jan 25

Johnny Mnemonic‘s Cyber-Dolphin Is Still the Apex of Cyberpunk

It’s hard to make the cyberpunk genre feel fresh nowadays. Its tried-and-true tenets of a dystopian future overrun by corporations and technology have, after all, been true for a while. Of course, cybernetic implants aren’t de rigeur in the real world so we can’t have secret chainsaws in our hands, but we already have plenty…

Movies Rob Bricken Jan 18

Oh My God, I Think I Finally Hate He-Man

Having done Worst Episode Ever for the better part of a decade, I have come to realize one unassailable truth: If a cartoon has an episode about a circus, it sucks on toast. We’ve seen (well, I’ve seen, hopefully none of you have ever watched this garbage) the circus roll into GoBots and Jayceandthe Wheeled…

io9 Rob Bricken Jan 14

Dungeons & Dragons & Novels: Revisiting The Legend of Huma

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s original Dragonlance novels aren’t just considered some of the finest Dungeons & Dragons books ever written, but are some of the most beloved fantasy stories of all time. Richard A. Knaak’s The Legend of Huma is also a Dragonlance novel, but the similarities stop there. Written in 1988, The Legend…

Books & Comics Rob Bricken Jan 5

Robotech‘s Christmas Episode Is the Perfect Holiday Special for 2020

You don’t need to have seasonal affective disorder to be depressed this holiday season. There’s plenty to be bummed out about, first and foremost that most of us won’t be able to spend time with our friends and family thanks to the pandemic, but then there’s also [gestures at everything]. It sucks, but most Christmas…

io9 Rob Bricken Dec 21

In the Super Mario Cartoon’s Holiday Episode, the Greatest Gift Is Attempted Murder

Happy holidays, everybody! Now with that out of the way, I need to talk to you about this “Worst Episode Ever” featuring the Super Mario Bros. Normally I take something dumb or weird out of the cartoon and try to put it in the weirdest, funniest, and most extreme light. But in the Christmas episode…

io9 Rob Bricken Dec 15

Photo: MGM, Legendary, Warner Bros., Sony

The Best Blockbuster Movies of 2020 (in a Parallel Universe)

Something strange is afoot on io9. [Editor’s note: This is absolutely not io9’s Best Movies of 2020 list. That’s still to come in our year in review series. This is a list of big-budget films that were supposed to come out in 2020 but were delayed by the pandemic. It was sent to me from…

io9 Rob Bricken Dec 11

Dungeons & Dragons & Novels: Revisiting Vampire of the Mists

Welcome to Ravenloft, boils and ghouls! Where it’s always a dark and stormy night, where monsters are always under your bed, and your blood always curdles in horror—right before a vampire sucks it out. So what the hell is a gold elf from the Forgotten Realms doing here? Short answer: Not having a particularly fun…

Books & Comics Rob Bricken Dec 2

DuckTales Has Blown My Dang Mind

Disney’s shockingly excellent reboot of DuckTales has given us countless joys: The introduction of Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s mother Della; David Tennant voicing Scrooge McDuck; and the origin of Chip and Dale and the Rescue Rangers, just to name a few. But the series has also given me a scene that changed everything I thought…

io9 Rob Bricken Nov 17

Even the Perfect Batman Cartoon Was Bullshit Once in a While

Batman: The Animated Series, and, hell, the entire DC Animated Universe of shows spearheaded by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, are so beloved that in all my years doing Worst Episode Ever I never touched them. After all, I figured even the worst B: TAS episode would probably still be miles above most of the…

Books & Comics Rob Bricken Nov 11

Dungeons & Dragons & Novels: Revisiting Streams of Silver

The famous Drow ranger Drizzt Do’Urden returns for his second adventure in the Icewind Dale trilogy! Is it better than The Crystal Shard? Is the premise directly lifted from The Hobbit? Will Drizzt continue being the greatest badass in the Forgotten Realms? Will a female character appear for more than four pages and do literally…

Books & Comics Rob Bricken Nov 4

Tim Curry’s Gloriously Bad Halloween Song From The Worst Witch: A Scholarly Analysis

As Halloween approaches, it is paramount that we all take a moment to remember—or discover—Tim Curry’s “Halloween Song” from The Worst Witch. Since HBO aired its extremely low-budget, TV movie adaptation of Jill Murphy’s children’s books in 1986, it has remained one of the most wonderful, terrible, bizarre videos of all time, thanks to its…

io9 Rob Bricken Oct 28

Ancient Mummies Exhumed, Forced to Chaperone School Field Trip

Mummies aren’t scary. In fact, they’re some of the least scary monsters around, thanks to becoming generic CG action flick villains in movies like The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy (2017). But the decline of the creatures in pop culture began earlier than that, thanks to a TV series titled Mummies Alive, one of the…

io9 Rob Bricken Oct 21

The Walking Dead Semi-Finale Threw Out the Old to Make Way for the New (Craziness)

When we last saw The Walking Dead, our survivors were holed up in an assortment of buildings surrounded by the insane Beta, his remaining Whisperer minions, and approximately four kazillion zombies. How can Daryl, Carol, Judith, and the others survive such an overwhelming onslaught? I’ll give you a two-word hint: Talking Heads. It’s been more…

Books & Comics Rob Bricken Oct 4

Dungeon & Dragons & Novels: Revisiting Spellfire

In 1987, Ed Greenwood, creator of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, released his first novel in the giant, fantastical world he’d wrought (and his first published fiction, period). It’s hard to say what was more enticing to me back then: the amazing Clyde Caldwell cover art of a furious dracolich on the cover or its…

Books & Comics Rob Bricken Sep 30

Venom: The Retro FAQ

Do you have lingering questions about Sony’s first foray into the Spider-Man-But-Without-Spider-Man-In-It Cinematic Universe? Lord, I hope so, because it’s time for another Retro FAQ, this time tackling the dumb, superhero-adjacent, surprise hit of 2018: Venom. Let’s start with the biggie. Why did Sony, which owns the cinematic rights to Spider-Man, make a movie about…

Movies Rob Bricken Sep 23

Rob Bricken

Marvel Wants You to Choose the Next (Third-String) Member of the X-Men!

Raya and the Last Dragon‘s New Trailer Is Simply Outstanding

Read the Script for Pixar’s Soul Like You’re Some Hollywood Big Shot or Something

Hulu’s Time Loop Comedy Palm Springs Gets a Commentary Track, Let the Age of Streaming Extras Begin

That New Dragonlance Trilogy From the Series’ Classic Authors Is Coming After All

Johnny Mnemonic‘s Cyber-Dolphin Is Still the Apex of Cyberpunk

Oh My God, I Think I Finally Hate He-Man

Dungeons & Dragons & Novels: Revisiting The Legend of Huma

Robotech‘s Christmas Episode Is the Perfect Holiday Special for 2020

In the Super Mario Cartoon’s Holiday Episode, the Greatest Gift Is Attempted Murder

The Best Blockbuster Movies of 2020 (in a Parallel Universe)

Dungeons & Dragons & Novels: Revisiting Vampire of the Mists

DuckTales Has Blown My Dang Mind

Even the Perfect Batman Cartoon Was Bullshit Once in a While

Dungeons & Dragons & Novels: Revisiting Streams of Silver

Tim Curry’s Gloriously Bad Halloween Song From The Worst Witch: A Scholarly Analysis

Ancient Mummies Exhumed, Forced to Chaperone School Field Trip

The Walking Dead Semi-Finale Threw Out the Old to Make Way for the New (Craziness)

Dungeon & Dragons & Novels: Revisiting Spellfire

Venom: The Retro FAQ

Ryan Coogler Is Shifting ‘Animorphs’ Into a Disney+ Show

No Fooling, ‘Spaceballs 2’ Will Hit Theaters April 2027

I Regret to Inform You That the Artemis II Astronauts Are Having Lots of Screen Time

The First ‘Maul: Shadow Lord’ Reactions Are Most Solid

‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 3 Is Doing What You Hoped

Wearables Are Getting Very Messy

Trump Wants to Start Privatizing TSA in Latest Budget Proposal

Lost Warship From Battle of Copenhagen Found After 225 Years

These One-of-a-Kind Objects Are in the Wrong Museums

Two Songs We Really Wish Were the Anime Outros for ‘Steel Ball Run’

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life