We May Soon Finally Know Which Teen Actor Is Playing Spider-Man

The mad dash to cast Spider-Man for Captain America: Civil War (and a slew of films beyond) continues, with a new report stating that producers have narrowed the field from 1,500 hopefuls to a final six. Since Civil War is already in production, we should know soon who emerges victorious from the casting cage match.…

Tonight, Halt and Catch Fire‘s New Season Takes On Computer Gaming

The second season of AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire returns to AMC tonight with a whole new focus: internet gaming. I caught the first season of Halt and Catch Fire when it popped up on Netflix streaming earlier this spring, and was hooked. It follows a trio of broken characters: Joe MacMillan (Lee Pace), Gordon…

Author Paolo Bacigalupi Shares Thoughts On Optimistic Science Fiction

Hugo-Award winning author Paolo Bacigalupi is on tour in support of The Water Knife, and at his event yesterday in Brookline, Mass., he was asked about the disparity between “optimistic” scifi and “pessimistic” scifi. One of his observations: “Science fiction hunts for the techno fix, not the social fix.” The Water Knife, which came out…

Woody Harrelson Is An Ideal Choice To Star In Clowes Adaptation Wilson

If negotiations go as planned, Daniel Clowes (Ghost World) will write the script for the big-screen adaption of his graphic novel Wilson, with Woody Harrelson playing the cranky title character and Laura Dern as his ex-wife. The Hollywood Reporter, which notes the film is scheduled to begin filming next month in Minneapolis, summarizes the plot…

And Now, A Pair Of Dachshunds Dressed As Astro-Dogs

Or would that be cosmo-dogs? Weiner-nauts? All we know is, there was a dachshund parade in St. Petersburg, Russia, today, and these two li’l sausages were helping lead the charge. Here’s a bonus one, for all of you who were fans of a certain outrageously popular YouTube video that was everywhere last year: https://gizmodo.com/behold-the-adorable-horror-of-the-mutant-giant-spider-d-1630703670 AP…

Meet Eris, The Solar System’s Largest Dwarf Planet

Eris is the largest dwarf planet in the Solar System, and the ninth largest body orbiting our Sun. Sometimes referred to as the “tenth planet,” its discovery is responsible for upsetting the traditional count of nine planets in our Solar System, as well as leading the way to the creation of a new astronomical category.…

San Andreas Is A Hit. Which Fault Will Hollywood Target Next?

San Andreas has already raked in more dough than the entire haul of last year’s tornado thriller Into the Storm. Which, in originality-starved Hollywood, means only one thing: MORE EARTHQUAKES! Which fault line will form the backdrop for the next Rock-starring disaster drama? There’s one obvious choice. The Cascadia Subduction Zone, which runs for 680…

For Cartoon Studies Graduates, Even The Diploma Is A Work Of Art

When students attending the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont complete their degree, they are issued a spectacular diploma. Here’s what was given to the Class of 2015: The diploma for this year’s graduating class was illustrated by Eisner Award winning Norwegian cartoonist, Jason, who’s created books such as Meow, Baby!, I…

How Stargate and Star Trek Paved the Way for the Marvel Movie Universe

Since 2009, Disney has dominated summer blockbusters with their Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, their project isn’t the first to play with stories across television and film: television shows such as Star Trek and Stargate helped to pave the way for complicated worlds with multiple ongoing narratives. Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek is arguably one of the…

“The problem — for writers, and for writing itself — is that it’s easier to be a ghost than to be a writer,” observes this long-form Atlantic piece on authors working within the mysterious yet staunchly business-driven world of ghostwritten book series for kids, including The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew.

From Sweden, Cuban Crocodiles Return To Their Parents’ Swampy Birthplace

In the 1970s, cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov was given a couple of crocodiles by Fidel Castro. The pair (named Castro and Hillary) spent time in Moscow before ending up at Stockholm’s Skansen Zoo. This week, ten young descendants of the original crocs returned to Cuba, where they’ll be released back into the wild. As ABC News…

In The Wake Of Tomorrowland‘s Failure, Disney Kills Tron 3

Disney has officially powered down Tron 3. Last night, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that the company has decided to halt preparations for the third film in the cyberpunk franchise. The move comes just a week after Tomorrowland pulled in a disappointing Memorial Day weekend box office. Earlier this year, word broke that Disney…

These Cartoon Animals Are The Most Adorable Mech Pilots In The Universe

Artist Evan Palmer draws a mech-filled future that we just want to cuddle and hug. Adorable cats, dogs, bunnies, and pigs pilot colorful and complicated machines — and engage in the cutest battles we’ve seen. Palmer told us over email that he started his animal mechs as a personal project as he got back into…

This Stretched-Out Wolf’s Pee Smells Like Marijuana

This is a maned wolf. It’s not a wolf. It has ridiculously long legs. And it pees chemicals that smell so much like pot that once the police were called to a zoo to investigate nonexistent pot smokers. The maned wolf is generally a welcome addition to zoos. It’s near-threatened in its native Brazil and…

How Did The Ancient Vikings Make This Super-Strong Sword?

When we look at the history of new technologies, we tend to think of only our most recent past. But more than a thousand years ago, blacksmiths succeeded in making a set of ultra-strong swords — that are tricky to re-create even today. After reading about the technology behind the legendary swords of Damascus, Kinja-user…

A Medical Procedure Has Violent Side Effects In We Ate The Children Last

It’s called Porsicure, a procedure where a person’s digestive organs are replaced with those of a pig. But in this short film, based on a story by Life of Pi author Yann Martel, the breakthrough becomes popular long before the medical community understands the disturbing side effects. Andrew Cividino directed We Ate the Children Last,…

Lumberjanes Is Being Turned Into A Live-Action Movie!

Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, and Brooke Allen’s Lumberjanes was one of our favourite comics of 2014 — and now, it might end up becoming one of our favourite films too. Fox is planning to turn the comic into a movie, and it’s bagged The Munchkin’s Will Widger to write the script. https://gizmodo.com/why-its-the-absolute-best-comics-and-graphic-novels-o-1676118717 Lumberjanes,…

What’s The Worst Science Fiction And Fantasy Date Movie?

It’s almost Friday night, which means it’s date night for many of us! And there’s nothing better than taking your sweetie (or prospective sweetie) out to the movies. But which science fiction or fantasy movie is least likely to result in nookie or happy fun times on a date? Please include a picture, poster, clip…

What The @#$% Is Happening In These Chinese Agents Of SHIELD Coke Ads?

The Agents of SHIELD take on a new mission—shilling Coca-Cola—in these delightfully surreal Chinese commercials. I have absolutely zero idea what’s going on in them. All I know is that if Agent Ward doesn’t take orders from a polar bear in season 3 I’m gonna be seriously disappointed. Here’s a slightly less wacky but still…

Our Closest View Yet Of Ceres’ Pockmarked Surface

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is getting progressively closer to Ceres. And we’re getting some amazing views — this remarkably detailed shot shows the dwarf planet’s cratered surface from a distance of only 3,200 miles (5,100 km). This shot, taken by Dawn’s OpNav9 camera on May 23, shows some previously unseen features, including secondary craters formed by…