By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 11 seconds ago

It was one of the most reliable, successful trilogies of the last decade, and the only time Denzel Washington has starred in a sequel, or a threequel. All three of The Equalizer movies have arrived on HBO Max for your next binge. Even after countless “retired operative living a normal life forced to use his special skills” movies Washington’s take on Robert McCall stands out as among the best.

The Entire Equalizer Trilogy Is Near-Perfect Action

In 2014’s The Equalizer Robert McCall is quietly working at a hardware store by day, and reading books at a diner by night. That’s where he meets a teenage working girl, Teri (Chloe Grace Moretz), befriends her, and then goes on a campaign of revenge against the Russian mob after they beat her up. McCall has no qualms about killing in fun and inventive ways using what he has on hand in any situation leading to a wild third act that pays off the slow burn of his righteous anger. 

The second time around in 2018 McCall goes up against his old unit led by Dave York (the most generic name of any Pedro Pascal character). We learn why McCall is a killing machine and every detail of his tragic backstory as its exploited by York. The Equalizer II isn’t as fun as the first’s rampage of revenge against the Russians but it’s an incredible character study disguised as an action film. 

It all leads up to 2023’s The Equalizer 3. Denzel Washington is noticeably older and slower for this outing as McCall. Set in Italy, it’s a slow-paced story that gives you plenty of time to soak in the sights and sounds of Italy while McCall recovers from a gunshot wound. That doesn’t mean there isn’t the usual dose of violence, it’s there, but it’s expertly deployed for maximum impact. By now, Fuqua and Washington know exactly what they’re doing together. 

The Equalizer 3 is a treat for longtime Washington fans by reuniting him with Dakota Fanning, his Man on Fire co-star. 19 years after their first collaboration, Fanning plays a CIA agent hunting McCall. Given the very different relationship between their characters, and the two decades since they’ve been on screen, you’d think they wouldn’t have the same level of chemistry. Instead, as the entire Equalizer trilogy has, it’s aged like fine wine and each scene is a highlight of the movie.

Pound For Pound The Most Successful Franchise

Denzel Washington isn’t the first Equalizer, that would be Edward Woodward from the hit 80s series, and of course, Queen Latifah stepped in as Robyn McCall in CBS’ 2021 revival series. Both shows lack the violence of the movies, but they’re also good in their own ways. Amazingly, The Equalizer is one of the few franchises out there where every single entry has been a hit. 

Though each show aired for five seasons, there’s no denying that Denzel’s take on Robert McCall has been the best of them all. The movies slow down and become more philosophical as time goes on, but that’s a good thing, not a bad thing. Denzel never dials down the intensity and every single film has one or two moments that will become your new favorite. 

Every Equalizer movie is now streaming on HBO Max.

Queen Latifah’s 2021 series is streaming for free on Tubi.

Lil Wayne is opening up about several personal and professional challenges after a rocky start to his “20 Years of Carter Classics” tour, including revealing that he and his rumored fiancée, Madi Cannon, have called it quits. The rap icon addressed fans in a candid video in which he discussed everything from his recent concert cancellations and health concerns to the status of his relationship with the 23-year-old social media influencer. While engagement rumors had circulated for months, Lil Wayne made it clear that wedding bells were never actually in the cards.

5

For weeks, fans speculated that Wayne and Cannon were engaged after reports surfaced in May 2026 suggesting the couple had taken their relationship to the next level. But according to the rapper, those reports weren’t accurate.

Wayne explained that while he and Cannon shared a meaningful relationship, they were far from planning a walk down the aisle. He described their romance as “a beautiful thing going with an amazing person,” but admitted he ultimately didn’t “want to be such a burden on such an amazing person.”

Neither Wayne nor Cannon has publicly shared additional details about what led to the breakup.

Health Issues Forced Lil Wayne To Miss Tour Opener

5

The split wasn’t the only personal issue Wayne addressed. The rapper also explained why he failed to appear at the opening night of his tour on June 30, leaving disappointed fans waiting for a performance that never happened.

According to Wayne, the cancellation stemmed from a serious health concern tied to his long-documented battle with epilepsy. “I have epilepsy, I have seizures, right? Thank God I haven’t had a seizure in years, but seizures have triggers,” he said. “A trigger for my seizures is bad migraines. I had a fucking migraine that night… it was recommended I don’t get in the air.”

The “Lollipop” rapper’s comments shed new light on the last-minute cancellation, which sparked frustration among concertgoers and fueled criticism online.

Fortunately for fans, the canceled show has since been rescheduled for July 28.

Lil Wayne Has Battled Seizures For Years

5

Wayne’s concerns about traveling while experiencing severe migraines aren’t unfounded. According to Complex, the rapper suffered a seizure during a flight in 2016, forcing an emergency landing. The incident wasn’t an isolated event.

Wayne also reportedly experienced similar in-flight seizures in both 2012 and 2013, prompting ongoing concerns about his health and travel schedule.

Although he told fans he has not suffered a seizure in years, he acknowledged that migraines remain one of his primary triggers, which is why medical professionals advised him not to fly before the Maine concert.

Fans Continue To Question Wayne’s Reliability On Tour

5

While Lil Wayne has since officially launched the tour, some fans remain frustrated after the rapper reportedly arrived late to a show in New Hampshire days later. The criticism has revived discussions about Wayne’s history of missed performances and last-minute cancellations.

In 2024, the rapper canceled a performance in Toronto after fans had already filled the venue. That same year, he was a no-show at a California music festival. And in 2023, Wayne made headlines after walking off stage during a performance in Los Angeles because he felt the crowd wasn’t energetic enough.

His history with canceled appearances stretches back even further. In both 2017 and 2019, Wayne canceled performances after refusing to go through venue security procedures. He also missed multiple scheduled appearances in Minneapolis between 2015 and 2017.

Even his 2019 Bangor waterfront performance was surrounded by cancellation rumors after he abruptly pulled out of another concert in Virginia days earlier.

Lil Wayne Looks To Move Forward

5

Despite the turbulence surrounding Lil Wayne’s personal life and the criticism over recent tour disruptions, Wayne appears focused on moving ahead. The rapper is currently scheduled to perform in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 16 before making up the postponed Maine concert later this month.

For now, fans are hoping the remainder of the “20 Years of Carter Classics” tour will be remembered more for celebrating Lil Wayne’s legendary career than for the challenges that have followed him during its opening weeks.

DC Studios released the Craig Gillespie-directed “Supergirl” on June 26. Not only was the movie marred by negative press that led to its less-than-stellar box-office debut, but it also received mostly unfavorable reviews, despite critics praising Milly Alcock‘s portrayal of the title character.

Now, in its second weekend in theaters, “Supergirl” has suffered a devastating 77% drop, marking one of the biggest declines for a superhero movie.

4

According to Variety, the first estimates for the Fourth of July weekend box office put “Supergirl” at having made only $9.6 million in the United States, landing at number four. As mentioned, this marks a steep 74% drop from its debut weekend box office figures.

However, once the official numbers were released on Monday, it was confirmed that “Supergirl” only made $8.6 million, a 77% drop.

“Supergirl” remained on all 3,602 screens in the US for its second weekend. Unfortunately for DC Studios, the movie struggled from the beginning, earning only $37.1 million in the US during its first weekend in theaters. Including international audiences, “Supergirl” brought in $68 million, still making it among the lowest-performing films in DC Studios’ history.

The Craig Gillespie-Directed Flick Is Poised To Lose DC Studios $100 Million

4

One of the problems with “Supergirl” and other recent superhero films that have failed at the box office is their enormous budgets. Per Variety, it cost DC Studios $170 million to produce the movie and another $120 million to promote it, which means its break-even point is in the $300 million range.

Over the course of its theatrical run, the movie is expected to only make around $200 million, including international audiences. If this estimate holds, DC Studios is set to lose between $100 million and $120 million on the James Gunn-produced movie.

Analyst Jeff Bock of Exhibitor Relations gave some insight into the situation. He told the outlet, “This was always going to be a tough hurdle for DC and Warner Bros. because Supergirl isn’t a character that has ever created an event-level blockbuster.”

He continued, “Audience perception of ‘Supergirl’ was not good. This is just a case of the film wasn’t good enough to become an event.”

DC Fans Are Reacting To The ‘Supergirl’ Second Weekend Drop

The most recent version of “Supergirl” was first announced in 2023, with Alcock cast as the character. Following the initial announcement, there was considerable excitement. However, as the movie neared release, doubts began to surface, especially once the trailers were released.

Now, following the movie’s drastic 74% drop in its second weekend, many fans are highlighting issues with “Supergirl,” including its budget. One person said, “Hollywood really thought a $170M budget for a character nobody asked for would save the DCU? The math isn’t mathing.”

Another person said, “Nowadays audiences won’t tolerate even an OK superhero movie. Unless the movie has good-great reviews or is a nostalgia team-up fest, they will just wait for streaming.”

Someone else criticized Gunn, writing, “Gunn probably thought men (the primary superhero movie audience) would love an edgy drunk vomiting alcoholic Supergirl. We’d think she was relatable and “real” compared to the boyscout Superman.”

Lastly, a different social media user wrote, “Stop blaming the audience for its poor box office performance…”

There Were Creative Differences Behind The Scenes Of ‘Supergirl’

4

The Hollywood Reporter published an exclusive about the behind-the-scenes of “Supergirl” in July 2026. In it, sources told the outlet that there were disagreements in the movie’s post-production process between the director, Gillespie, and Gunn, who was aligned with DC Studios and Peter Safran.

Filming on “Supergirl” wrapped in May 2025, and, per the report, all parties involved knew there were serious problems with the movie. This then led the studio to take over post-production, bringing in writer Jeremy Slater, although it’s unclear how involved he became in the process.

The movie’s screenwriter, Ana Nogueira, was also involved in the attempts to fix “Supergirl.”

There Were Multiple Test Screenings

4

Per The Hollywood Reporter, DC Studios held the first test screening for “Supergirl” in December 2025 before the attempts to fix the movie in post-production. In total, there were reportedly four test screenings, with insiders saying the scores, which capped at 100, only reached 70.

Following the first screening, the movie was called “just okay.” Other test audiences reportedly saw the film in February and March.

By Jonathan Klotz
| Updated 3 seconds ago

Science fiction may have a reputation for being cold and analytical, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Some of the best sci-fi TV of all time happened on shows that were raunchy, over the top, and downright scandalous.  To prove it, we’ve put together a list of sci-fi TV shows ranked, not by how good they are, but by how spicey they got. 

Consider yourself warned because by the time we get to the top entries on this list, things are going to get steamy. These are the sexiest sci-fi TV shows of all time. 

16. Dollhouse 

Before streaming turned every sci-fi show into gray sludge, there was Dollhouse, a series built around one of the wildest concepts network television ever approved. 

Created by Joss Whedon and starring Eliza Dushku, the 2009 Fox series followed human “Actives” who could have their personalities wiped and replaced on demand, turning them into perfect custom-made companions, spies, assassins, or lovers depending on what rich clients wanted that week. 

The show dressed its existential horror in glossy lighting, expensive clothes, and an almost constant undercurrent of sexual tension. 

Dushku spends most of the series playing different fantasy archetypes from episode to episode, which gave Dollhouse a weird energy somewhere between hard sci-fi and late-night cable thriller. Few sci-fi shows have ever been this slick, strange, or openly seductive.

15. Firefly

Chances are you don’t remember, but the early marketing for Firefly made sure to mention that the crew included a prostitute. 

Morena Baccarin’s Inara is actually a companion, and she made sure to explain the difference between the two in “Heart of Gold”, one of two episodes that never aired on Fox. It also happens to be the the episode with the montage of Captain Malcolm Reynolds and the brothel madam having sex set to the Pure Moods soundtrack. Firefly also includes one of the healthiest marriages in sci-fi, between Zoe and Wash, giving hope to nerdy, Hawaiian-shirt wearing guys everywhere, and in a twist, the horniest member of the crew is Kailee, though it has been a while since she’s had anything twixt her nethers. 

When Mad Men debuted and Christina Hendricks blew up, Firefly fans had to explain they’ve known for years she was, and is, one of the hottest women in Hollywood. Both of her appearances as stand out, and while she has plenty of chemistry with Nathan Fillion’s Captain Malcolm Reynolds, let’s be honest, she’s so good, she’d develop chemistry with a ham sandwich. 

For a show with zero nudity, Firefly is one of the sexiest sci-fi shows to ever hit network television. 

14. Battlestar Galactica

It’s hard to look good when humanity is on the brink of extinction. Battlestar Galactica starts with the survivors of the colonies on the run from the cybernetic Cylons, and it never gets much better for them. The show still managed to give sci-fi fans not one, but multiple sex symbols of the 2000s in Katee Sackhoff, Grace Park, Jamie Bamber, and reminded the world that Edward James Olmos has one of the greatest voices in Hollywood. 

Then there was Number Six. Played by Tricia Helfer in the red dress that launched an entire marketing campaign, Six used sex to doom humanity. Her seduction of Baltar set in motion the entire series and even after they destroyed the colonies, she kept toying with him. Over and over and over. Poor Balter. His lobster was too buttery and his steak was too juicy. 

 It takes a lot to overshadow Lucy Lawless, but Tricia Helfer pulled it off, with a performance that inspired both lust (look at her) and revulsion (listen to her). Six was a beautiful Trojan Horse, and the only thing that could possible improve her character would be if, and hear me out, the Cylons actually had a plan. 

13. Farscape

Variety is the spice of life, and when it comes to the cast of Farscape, it seems everyone is a contender for the title of hottest on the show. Ben Browder never looked better as John, Claudia Black as Aeryn Sun launched a thousand fan fictions, Chiana’s there for the furries, Zhaan proves bald is beautiful, Ka D’Argo is for everyone who thought The Beast looked better before the curse was lifted, someone has to like Starke, Jool’s got the red hair, the villainous Scorpius wears a gimp suit in every scene, and you know, even the ship, Moya, has some fans out there. 

Farscape may have been centered on Crichton thanks to the wormhole knowledge locked inside his head, but it’s the colorful cast that made it a success. Unlike more mainstream sci-fi shows, Farscape wasn’t afraid of a little physical affection. Or a lot. Come to think of it, there’s a lot of attractive aliens getting it on. 

Forget your zodiac sign, which Farscape character was your crush? 

12. The 100 

The 100 was The CW’s flagship sci-fi series for seven seasons filled with humanity trying to rebuild after a nuclear apocalypse by sending 100 teens and young adults back down to a broken Earth. Whoever decided this was a great idea never saw Lord of the Flies, or bothered to think what would happen if the group was co-ed. Saving humanity often takes a backseat to love triangles and hookups. 

Since it’s on The CW, there’s a lot of kissing, shirtless guys, and strategically ripped clothing designed not to trip any network censors. It was also a huge hit. For The CW, which measured success in terms of social media and streaming, not the old, antiquated ratings system. The 100 was never going to be a show for the old sci-fi fans raised on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Stargate. And that’s okay. 

The 100 was aimed directly at teens, giving them a sci-fi show of their very own, complete with disappointing later seasons, nonsensical plot twists, one of the worst character deaths in television history, and a contender for the worst series ending since How I Met Your Mother. 

11. Dark Angel

Jessica Alba is known today as a co-founder of The Honest Company, the first big screen Sue Storm, and as Honey from the single greatest dance movie of the 2000’s. But to sci-fi fans, she’ll always be known as Max, the genetically enhanced supersoldier at the center of James Cameron’s series, Dark Angel. In a perfect world, Max would be remembered alongside her contemporaries, Buffy and Xena, but alas, we only had two seasons of Dark Angel before Fox pulled the plug. 

Set in a dystopian….gothic….cyber-punkish Seattle, Dark Angel had a weird mix of tones and vibes. There’s the whole “child soldier” aspect that’s played seriously, and then the cat DNA spliced into Max’s cells acts up in one episode and sends her into heat. She has to do battle against brainwashed child superhumans, and then defeats them by lifting her top as a distraction. 

James Cameron created some of sci-fi’s greatest heroines, including Ellen Ripley, Sarah Conner, and if you give Dark Angel  a chance, you’ll see that Max Guevera had the potential to be right there with the rest of them. 

Not only was Jessica Alba stunning in every frame of Dark Angel, but the show also included a pre-NCIS Michael Weatherly and some guy named Jensen Ackles as Max’s male counterpart. Wonder if he ever went on to do anything. 

10. Weird Science

For nerds of a certain age, their first crush is all the same: Kelly LeBrock from 1985’s Weird Science.

A decade later, and five seasons of Weird Science the series aired on USA, replacing LeBrock with Vanessa Angel. Replacing LeBrock was always going to be difficult, but using Stargate SG-1’s Anise and the future runner-up to the role of Star Trek Voyager’s Seven-Of-Nine was the best choice possible. 

Vanessa Angel’s Lisa is the same wish-granting computer program. No matter how often a wish goes wrong over the show’s five seasons, teen slackers Gary and Wyatt keep using Lisa to try and get ahead without doing any work. It’s a simple premise that managed to stay on the air thanks primarily to Lisa’s outfits. Keep in mind this was 1995 and what was considered hot for a living computer program would end up becoming every episode outfits on The CW’s Riverdale. 

Back then, Vanessa Angel was one of the hottest women on television, and Weird Science was the USA’s network’s second sexiest show. First? Silk Stalkings. If you had to ask, you never watched Monday Night RAW.

9. Altered Carbon

There’s not enough cyberpunk shows out there. Netflix’s Altered Carbon is still one of the best, showing a decadent, depraved city where the rich can constantly be reborn through the act of sleeving, or transferring their consciousness to another body, while the poor get one shot at life. 

Morals and decency have gone out the window, resulting in a dirty, corrupt, neon-tinged city filled with casual nudity. Joel Kinneman, DC’s Rick Flag, is hired to solve a murder, but he has to navigate the seedy criminal underworld to do so. Season 1 of Altered Carbon is one of the best looking sci-fi shows of all time. It’s the live-action cyberpunk neo-noir mystery readers have wanted to experience for decades. 

Then Season 2 happens. Anthony Mackie taking over as the lead was….fine….but the writing, the production, the general cyberpunk feel of it all, took a massive step back as the budget was slashed. If Season 2 was as grim and gritty as Season 1, Altered Carbon would be higher on the list. Season 1 is sexy, Season 2 has Neal McDonough. If you know, you know. 

8. Westworld 

The only limit is your imagination. That’s one of the main selling points of Westworld to its high-end visitors. 

The ability to be dropped into a wild west experience where you can do anything you want leads, naturally, to lots of raunchy activities. Most of it is with robots, but as the guide says to William early on when asked if she’s real, “if you can’t tell, does it matter?” 

The answer of course, is no. It doesn’t matter. William acts as the audience surrogate to Westworld. His initial horror and rejection of the lewd and lascivious park life gives way as his ethically and moral barriers crumble. Is it really any different than the obvious use of holodeck technology? 

Westworld would be higher on the list except, like with Game of Thrones, its front-loaded. Season 1 shows the park in action before everything goes to hell. That means a lot of random skin and a lot of intimacy. By the time Season 3 comes around, the focus is on the changing shape of the world, though with the cast still including Evan Rachel Wood, Luke Hemsworth, and Thandie Newton, the characters are ridiculously good-looking. Westworld – Come for the Hedonism, stay for the Humanism. 

7. Brave New World

Brave New World is science fiction’s lustiest dystopia. In a, ahem, brave new world where everyone is genetically engineered and monogamy is considered to be savage, sex is considered a community event. That means “group parties”. Lots of them. But when that becomes the norm, and having a good old fashioned romance is taboo, it turns the whole notion of love and relationships on its head. 

Intimacy in this dystopia is not for procreation, it’s entire purpose is to feel pleasure. And yet, it lacks real intimacy. The citizens of New London have the time and freedom to indulge in whatever whim suits their fancy, within the strict rules of the caste system of course. It’s a sexy take on a dystopian future, but it’s also one of the oldest. The original novel was published in 1932.

Brave New World aired for a single season on Peacock in 2020 which means you likely missed it. It stars Alden Ehrenreich, making this the closest you’ll get to watching Han Solo get wild. 

6. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

There could be an entire separate list for sexy sci-fi anime. Freed from the constraints of network television and American attitudes towards animation, anime can get as freaky as you can imagine. 

One of the best of the decade, is Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, set in the same world as the hit video game, Cyberpunk 2077, which includes a genital slider in character creation, so you had to have known anything in this world wouldn’t be afraid to let its freak flag fly. 

The series follows David Martinez, a student sucked into the underground world of Night City, because of what else, a woman. Lucy, the smart, capable netrunner, acts as David’s guide, alongside a gang of edgerunners, cybernetically-enhanced mercenaries on the wrong side of the law. There’s bloody shootouts, violent deaths, and lots of ice baths. That’s the best way for a netrunner to perform a deep dive into the network which means every single episode contains nudity. 

It’s not excessive, but it is consistent, and frankly, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is a better story than the video game. Best of all, Netflix announced a second season. There’s no release date yet, but if it’s half as good as the first season, it’ll be one of Netflix’s best shows of the year. 

5. Gillian Anderson

It’s the show that changed sci-fi, and television, forever. The X-Files brought together long-term storytelling, mysterious conspiracies, and monster-of-the-week episodes in one genre-defining package. It also introduced the world to Agent Dana Scully, and more importantly, Gillian Anderson. Can you believe that at the time, Fox wanted to cast someone with more sex appeal than Gillian Anderson? Is that even possible? Even today at almost 60 year sold, she looks incredible. 

The X-Files is, by itself, not a very sexy series, but Gillian Anderson managed to shatter the mold by taking a smart, intelligent, capable character in Dana Scully and showing Hollywood that yes, this is sexy.  Wearing suits and FBI jackets, Gillian Anderson became the sex symbol of the 90s. She was on magazine covers, college dorm posters, and was one of the most downloaded women on AOL for years.  

It’s impossible to imagine anyone else playing Dana Scully. Gillian Anderson was the perfect star at the perfect time. 

4. Sense8

After redefining science fiction movies with The Matrix, The Waschowskis have made it their mission to produce strange, philosophical stories. Cloud Atlas bent time and space to show how everything is connected, but three years later, they teamed up with Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski and unleashed Sense8 on an unsuspecting Netflix audience. 

The series follows eight humans who can share their thoughts, feelings, skills, and language with each other across time and space. It gets very metaphorical, very fast, and the Waschowskis made sure to include countless shirtless scenes and multiple uh… hedonistic gatherings? to show how connected the eight sensates were becoming, figuratively, by showing it, physically. 

Considering the Wachowskis also made Bound, decked everyone out in leather for The Matrix, and gave us the Zion rave scene in the sequel, we should have known they had this type of story in them. Sense8 is all about the human experience, the ups and downs, the longing for connection, and it doesn’t shy away from including physical intimacy. A lot of it. 15 separate scenes spread out over 2 seasons. And 3 uh… group encounters. 

3. Outlander 

Starz knew what it was doing. The network gave the world Banshee, Spartacus, American Gods, and even one of the most successful shows in history: Outlander. When it debuted in 2014, the time-travel historical fantasy became the most popular show on the planet. And all it had to do was subvert the Hollywood playbook and give in to the female gaze. 

Outlander adapts the series of hit romance novels by Diana Gabaldon, brought to life by Ronald D. Moore, yup, the man who reinvented Battlestar Galactica and redefined modern sci-fi also created Outlander. 

The series kicks off when Claire, a nurse in 1945, goes through a mystical circle to 1743, and falls in love with a Highlander…not THE Highlander…an actual highlander, Jamie Fraser. Throwing out all the rules for time travel from Back to the Future, Claire and Jamie have a family together while also battling the British Empire, taking part in the American Revolution, and altering history in the process. 

They also have a lot of sex. Don’t be fooled, there’s a reason romance books are always the highest-selling. The things that authors describe in those pages will blow your mind. Outlander is still the rare case of a time-traveling  historical romance novel making the leap to a successful series. 

2. True Blood 

The technological breakthrough of artificial human blood allows the vampires of the world of True Blood to come out of the shadows and integrate with human society, with, well, mixed results. 

What can’t be argued is the blockbuster success of the series that helped launch HBO to a new level of success, showed more blood, guts, and skin, than any series before it, and I can’t help but think what goes on in the basement of Fangtasia launched the current explosion of dark romance novels on bookshelves everywhere. 

Fans got to see a LOT of Anna Paquin’s Sookie Stackhouse and the rest of the women on the cast, but it was the Viking Vampire Eric Northman and Werewolf Alcide, played by two guys you may have heard of: Alexander Skarsgard and Joe Maniganello, whose careers caught fire. True Blood had something for everyone.

Even fans of vampires in tactical military hardware blowing up a witch’s coven with a rocket launcher. It took no time at all for True Blood to go full crazy, and you know what, we need more shows unafraid to be sexy and campy. 

1. Lexx

Farscape’s weirder, hornier cousin, Lexx is a one-of-a-kind viewing experience. It’s the sexiest sci-fi show of all time, almost by default. No series has been as blatantly hedonistic as Lexx. 

Defacto captain Stanley orders the Lexx, the most powerful weapon in existence, to fly to a planet with loose women, and he’s willing to sell out existence for a chance to be with one. Zev and later, Xev, is obsessed with hookups and willing to sleep with any man (well, almost any, sorry Stanley) thanks to a botched brainwashing procedure that was never completed. 

The Lexx itself is, well, interesting. Like Farscape’s Moya, it’s a bio-organic ship, unlike the Moya, it’s a lot….squishier. The shower controls require pulling and tugging on nodules that look like….well…..it’s uhhh…phallic. Lexx looks and sounds like a Skinemax parody of itself. 

You can’t go a single episode without at least one character getting libidinous, well, the musical episode at least gets close to being a normal episode of any other sci-fi series. And when it’s the musical episode that’s the most normal, that says something. Lexx is a lusty fever dream of a sci-fi show that we’ll never see again. 

What other show can you say includes a robotic loveslave as a main character and a spaceship that eats Holland? 

To be fair, when an action movie is great, it is oftentimes better or, at the very least, more entertaining than the best movies from any other genre. Hence, good action movies are worth celebrating as they showcase the genre at its very best. For adrenaline junkies who can’t get enough of the action, the genre offers a mix of classics and newer films that stifle the urge. Films like Gerard Butler‘s historical epic, 300, and what Ansel Elgort did in Baby Driver, represent some of the best action films, which are intense from start to finish. However, that list would not be complete without an honorary mention of the most intense all-action flick of recent years: John Wick.

The film leans towards the gloomy, grim realities of the criminal underworld, introducing us to Keanu Reeves‘ titular, legendary retired hitman, John Wick, whose retirement is cut short when his puppy is killed, prompting him to seek vengeance. The film arguably revitalized the stale action genre when it arrived on the scene in 2014, as it combined raw, practical stunt-work to deliver what has become recognized as revolutionary gun-fu. While Chad Stahelski directed the film, the script was penned by Derek Kolstad as Wick goes on a ruthless, unstoppable rampage. Now, Kolstad has found his next high-octane action flick to participate in.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kolstad will pen the script for a brand-new original action flick, The Reckoner. The upcoming action thriller will be directed by Kenji Tanigaki, who is coming fresh off his work on The Furious, which has been hailed as one of the best action films of the year. The Reckoner is set to be released by Lionsgate, which was also behind Tanigaki’s The Furious, which was a violent mix of bloody action and revenge. Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage is set to star in the upcoming film following his recent role in the television spin-off series Dexter: Resurrection. Given that Dinklage is not the name that comes to mind first for hard-hitting, bone-crunching action, his involvement with The Reckoner makes it all the more intriguing and exciting.

What Happens in ‘The Reckoner’?

As previously mentioned, Lionsgate had snapped up The Furious after its stellar debut at last year’s Toronto Film Festival, and went on to close a deal for The Reckoner, with Anthony and Joe Russo’s AGBO producing the film. Despite our hopes, plot details unfortunately are being kept under wraps for now, but hopefully, with the influence of John Wick creator Kolstad, we can expect some hardcore action and impressive fight sequences.

Kolstad and Dinklage are also set to produce the feature film, alongside Angela Russo-Otstot, Michael Disco, and Kassee Whiting for AGBO and David Ginsberg under his and Dinklage’s Estuary Films banner. “Derek Kolstad and Peter Dinklage came to us with a world we hadn’t encountered before, original, action-packed, and with genuine soul,” AGBO’s chief creative officer, Russo-Otstot said, sounding excited for what lies ahead.

The Reckoner does not have a release date yet. Stay tuned to Collider for updates.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Release Date

October 24, 2014

Runtime

101 minutes

Advertisement

Writers

Derek Kolstad

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

This list is not about Viggo Mortensen’s most famous roles alone, even though the top is dominated by the fantasy trilogy that turned him into a permanent part of modern movie history. It is about the films where Mortensen’s presence becomes inseparable from the movie’s full power.

Mortensen has never built his career around obvious movie-star vanity. His best performances feel lived-in before the story even starts. He carries history in posture, silence, appetite, exhaustion, violence, humor, and the way a character looks at another person before deciding what kind of truth to give them. All six movies on this list contain the kind of acting that stops feeling like performance and starts feeling like a person being tested in public.

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ (2001)

Image via New Line Cinema

Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) enters The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring like a man who has spent years avoiding the very story everyone else is walking into. He is dirty, watchful, guarded, and physically capable without seeming eager to prove it. That first impression matters enormously. The film already has hobbits, wizards, elves, ancient evil, mythic objects, and a world loaded with history. Aragorn gives that world a human kind of danger and an anchor. He looks like someone who knows exactly how badly courage can end.

Mortensen’s brilliance in the first film is restraint. He makes Aragorn’s nobility feel unwanted, almost burdensome. His protection of Frodo (Elijah Wood), his fear of Isildur’s (Harry Sinclair) weakness, his tenderness with Arwen (Liv Tyler), and his loyalty to Boromir (Sean Bean) all come from a man fighting against inheritance as much as Sauron. The death of Boromir works so strongly because Aragorn’s grief has no decoration. He gives Boromir comfort, accepts the broken sword of brotherhood between them, and then has to keep moving. That is the Aragorn foundation: reluctant king, exhausted soldier, decent man. Mortensen makes all three visible at once.

‘Eastern Promises’ (2007)

Image via Focus Features

Advertisement

Nikolai Luzhin (Viggo Mortensen) is one of Mortensen’s most terrifying characters because he never begs the audience to admire his control. He simply has it. In Eastern Promises, Nikolai moves through London’s Russian criminal underworld as a driver, fixer, enforcer, and silent observer inside the orbit of Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and Kirill (Vincent Cassel). Every gesture feels measured. Every word feels rationed. Even his politeness has threat inside it.

The bathhouse fight is the scene everyone remembers, and rightly so, because Mortensen strips the character of clothing, weapons, and social disguise while somehow making him more frightening. Yet the performance is larger than that one brutal fight. Nikolai’s tattooed body tells a story he refuses to speak aloud. His relationship with Anna (Naomi Watts) introduces moral risk without turning him soft. His handling of Kirill mixes manipulation, contempt, and strange protection. Mortensen makes Nikolai unreadable in a way that feels earned, then lets small flashes of conscience cut through with devastating precision. It’s like David Cronenberg gives him a criminal world built on ritual and rot and Mortensen gives that world its most dangerous secret.

‘Captain Fantastic’ (2016)

Image via Bleeker Street

Advertisement

A brilliant, stubborn father raising his children off the grid, training them in survival, literature, politics, music, combat, and radical self-sufficiency is a role that could easily tip into fantasy-parent worship or smug anti-society sermonizing. Mortensen saves Captain Fantastic from that trap by playing Ben as deeply loving and deeply wrong in ways he cannot fully see. Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen) could have been unbearable in the wrong hands. That’s not the case here.

The movie hurts because Ben’s devotion is real. He does not neglect his children through laziness. He has built an entire life around preparing them to think, question, endure, and resist. Mortensen makes that devotion magnetic, then slowly lets the damage show. The children are extraordinary, but they are also isolated. They can quote philosophy and hunt for food, yet some of them barely understand ordinary social life. The funeral fight over their mother Leslie exposes the limits of Ben’s certainty. He wants to honor her wishes, protect her memory, and defend his family’s way of life, but love has started turning into control. The masterpiece is in watching a father discover that being right is not the same as being good enough.

‘A History of Violence’ (2005)

Image via New Line Cinema

Advertisement

Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is terrifying in A History of Violence. You can realise this before even understanding why. At first, he appears to be a gentle small-town husband and diner owner, a man with a quiet marriage to Edie (Maria Bello), two children, and a life built around ordinary decency. Then violence enters the diner, and Tom kills with a speed and precision that instantly changes the entire movie. The shock is not only that he can do it. The shock is how naturally his body remembers.

Mortensen’s performance is a masterclass in divided identity without theatrical tricks. Tom begins to lose control over the person he has been pretending to be, or maybe the person he has worked brutally hard to become. When Carl Fogarty () starts calling him Joey, the film turns every denial into a test. Mortensen makes Tom’s fear, anger, shame, and buried reflexes fight inside the same stare. The staircase sex with Edie, the confrontation with Richie (William Hurt), and the silent family dinner near the end all expose different wounds.

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ (2002)

Image via New Line Cinema

Advertisement

Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is where he stops feeling like a man hiding from a crown and starts becoming someone others can survive around. Mortensen’s work here is less romantic than in The Fellowship of the Ring and less triumphant than in The Return of the King. That middle position gives the performance its force. He is exhausted, muddy, bruised, and constantly making decisions with incomplete information. He has no throne, no army of his own, and no certainty that the world will last long enough for destiny to matter.

His scenes in Rohan are crucial because Aragorn has to become useful before he becomes kingly. He listens to Théoden (Bernard Hill), challenges him without humiliating him, respects Éowyn (Miranda Otto) without exploiting her feelings, and steadies Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) when fear begins to spread. At Helm’s Deep, Mortensen gives Aragorn command without turning him into a speech machine. He is in the mud with everyone else, shouting orders, pulling bodies, looking at children sent to fight, and understanding exactly how desperate the defense is. The greatness of this film is not just spectacle. It is the sight of a future king earning trust before anyone has the luxury of believing in crowns.

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003)

Image via New Line Cinema

Advertisement

Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the masterpiece that completes him without making him less human. The Return of the King could have turned him into pure myth — heir revealed, sword reforged, army summoned, crown claimed. Mortensen keeps pushing against that simplicity. Even when Aragorn finally accepts who he is, he does not become grand in a hollow way. He becomes clearer. The doubt is still there, but it no longer rules him.

His best moments are not only the obvious heroic ones. The look he gives the dying Théoden (Hill) carries respect and sorrow. His decision to march on the Black Gate is not confidence; it is sacrifice turned into strategy. His speech before the final battle has force because Mortensen plays it as a man asking terrified soldiers to spend their lives buying Frodo a chance they cannot even see. Then comes the coronation, where the entire trilogy’s emotional debt gathers in one simple gesture: Aragorn bowing to the hobbits. Mortensen understands that the king’s highest act is gratitude. That is why this performance remains untouchable. He gives the trilogy its warrior, its doubt, its mercy, and finally its grace.

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 18 seconds ago

The popularity of superheroes has gone up and down over the decades, with different projects touching off years of interest, from the old Max Fleischer Superman serials to Batman ’66, X-Men ’92, and the launch of the MCU. Among the most influential was Kamen Rider, which spawned decades of spin-offs and movies while inspiring another franchise that’s still celebrated today. It isn’t a household name outside of Japan, but in its home country, the masked superhero has been a massive success since debuting in 1971.

Kamen Rider

The hero of Kamen Rider, which translates to “Masked Rider,” is Takeshi Hongo, a college student who loves science and motorcycles, sometimes in that order, who was experimented on by the evil Shocker, an organization trying to conquer Japan, and then, the world. Using a special Henshin Belt, Hongo could transform into the form of a masked superhero, modeled to look like a grasshopper, and use Shocker’s technology against them. In practice, this meant having martial arts fights with men in costumes before finishing them off with a special move, typically the dive kick.

Delightfully Goofy

I’ll admit, the original Kamen Rider should only be watched today by those looking for a goofy, old-school superhero show featuring monsters of the week like Spider-Man (not that one) and Bat-Man (also not that one). The special effects are atrocious, the acting is cheesy, and yet, the series ended up with 37 shows (and counting) over the span of 50 years.

But beyond the massive franchise with dozens of different riders, the series is also responsible for launching the second boom of Tokusatsu shows in Japan, and while most of them would mean nothing to you, this includes Super Sentai, or as it’s known in the West, Power Rangers.

Coming to America

Following the smash success of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Haim Saban brought over other similar shows, including Big Bad Beetleborgs, VR Troopers, and Masked Rider, the last of which adapted the Kamen Rider series, Kamen Rider Black RX, from 1988. The Americanized version of the franchise didn’t catch on like Power Rangers, with some partly blaming it on the series’s focus on a solo hero and not a team, which meant fewer merchandising opportunities.

The second American adaptation, Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, arrived in 2008 and it had more success, even earning an Emmy nomination for the stuntwork.

Two Riders Were Approaching

From the franchise’s beginning, Kamen Rider’s stunt work was on the cutting edge, thanks to the original Masked Rider, Hiroshi Fujioka. The actor was also an accomplished stuntman, able to play the hero and do all of his own stunt work. Unfortunately, Fujioka broke his legs in a motorcycle stunt gone wrong, forcing the producers to bring in a second Masked Rider, the character of Hayato Ichimonji, played by Takeshi Sasaki, to take over for 30 episodes.

It was a strange stroke of good luck, as the concept of more super-powered riders helped expand the world and laid the groundwork for future spin-offs.

Stream Most Of The Franchise For Free

The original Kamen Rider can be streamed right now for free on Tubi if you’re curious as to the start of the Japanese superhero boom, but for something a bit more modern, Kamen Rider Geats, which aired in 2022, brings together all the past riders into one series. While I found the acting incredibly corny, and the special effects are delightfully low-budget, there’s a charm about the original series’ earnestness that’s missing from most low-budget sci-fi today.

Reese Witherspoon’s daughter may still share an unmistakable resemblance with her father, Ryan Phillippe, but insiders claim the most influential father figure in her life became someone else years ago. 

As new details emerge about Ava Phillippe’s relationship with her family, sources say her bond with Witherspoon’s second husband, Jim Toth, grew so strong that he effectively stepped into the role Ryan once occupied, even as the family continues adapting to Reese’s new romance with businessman Oliver Haarmann.

4

Ryan may share Ava Phillippe’s unmistakable features, but insiders claim their relationship has changed dramatically over the years.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, sources close to the family say Jim Toth became an important parental figure for both Reese Witherspoon’s daughter and her younger brother, Deacon.

“Ava was very close with her mom’s ex, Jim. He was around for a lot of the important years she was growing up. He was a really good father figure to her. Jim had a big hand in helping raise Ava,” one insider said.

After the actress filed for divorce from Ryan in 2006, she began dating Toth in 2010 before marrying him the following year.

Their wedding became a family affair, with 11-year-old Ava serving as maid of honor and seven-year-old Deacon acting as ring bearer.

The family expanded once again in 2012 when Witherspoon welcomed son Tennessee James. According to the insider, that chapter brought stability after what had been a challenging period during Ava’s childhood.

Ava Witnessed Difficult Years After Her Parents’ Split

4

The source claimed Reese Witherspoon’s daughter grew up watching tensions between her parents during the years immediately following their divorce.

“Things were tense growing up because it took a really long time for Reese and Ryan to get to an amicable place, especially when it came to co-parenting,” the insider alleged. “She’s really close with her mom, so that couldn’t have been easy to see. But that was years ago. Things have gotten much better [between Witherspoon and Phillippe], but their kids are now adults.”

Even as co-parenting reportedly became easier over time, both Witherspoon and Ryan have offered very different reflections on raising Ava and the challenges they faced during those early years.

Ryan has often reflected on becoming a father with deep affection. Looking back on Ava’s birth, he once wrote that it was the day he “learned what love truly is.”

Recalling rushing from a film set in Utah to be present for her arrival, he tweeted, “I made it to my then wife’s bedside w/ two hours to spare before my baby girl first entered the world. Fifteen years ago I learned what love truly is.”

Witherspoon, however, offered a different perspective during a 2021 podcast appearance, revealing that she didn’t have much support when Ava was born. 

Reese Witherspoon’s Daughter’s Relationship With Ryan Reportedly Changed

4

Despite Ryan frequently celebrating Ava on social media throughout her childhood, insiders say the relationship grew more distant as she entered adulthood.

According to sources, posts featuring Ava became increasingly rare after her nineteenth birthday. Around that same period, Ryan’s former girlfriend, Elsie Hewitt, filed a lawsuit accusing him of assault. 

The 51-year-old actor denied the allegations, expressed support for “women’s rights, feminism and advocacy,” and the lawsuit was settled out of court in 2019 without any admission of wrongdoing.

According to previous reports, the lawsuit allegedly created distance between Ryan and Ava, who has publicly advocated for causes including mental health awareness, body positivity, and LGBTQ+ rights.

However, the “Motorheads” star is looking to fix his fractured relationship with Ava. According to another insider, “Ryan wants to repair his relationship with Ava. He’s made an effort to be a part of her life but it’s not being reciprocated. He would never want to not be a part of her life. It’s a sad situation. Their relationship is not what it used to be.”

Ava Continues Building Her Own Career

4

Although family relationships have reportedly shifted over the years, Reese Witherspoon’s daughter has continued following both of her parents into the entertainment industry.

She has appeared in music videos for Role Model and Ella Langley, as well as landing guest roles on “Doctor Odyssey” and “Ransom Canyon.”

Her first feature film, “Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me,” is currently in development.

The young actress has also expanded into modeling, fronting a campaign for Vince Camuto’s Wonderbloom Bliss fragrance and launching a limited-edition clothing collection with Bloomingdale’s Aqua brand.

Outside of Hollywood, insiders say Ava has grown increasingly attached to life in Nashville.

“Ava has spent many years in the Nashville event and party scene on the down low. She loves it out there, just like her mom, and seems to prefer it to the Hollywood lifestyle,” another source claimed.

After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley in 2022, Ava has reportedly balanced life between Los Angeles and Tennessee while pursuing acting and modeling opportunities.

Reese Witherspoon’s Daughter Has Welcomed Another New Chapter Into The Family

Three years after Witherspoon’s 2023 divorce from Toth, sources say her family has embraced another important person in her life.

The actress has been dating German financier Oliver Haarmann since 2024, and insiders claim her children have welcomed the relationship.

According to one source, “She likes that he’s just a normal guy. She hates the Hollywood life.”

Advertisement

Another insider added, “Oliver seems to get along with everyone in Reese’s inner circle including her kids. They are very protective of their mom and extremely close with her. They are a tight-knit family and really nice kids.”

The family’s closeness was reportedly on display during Deacon’s graduation from New York University, where Witherspoon, Ryan, Jim Toth, Ava, Tennessee, and Deacon all gathered to celebrate together.

Photos from the event showed Witherspoon and Ryan smiling alongside their children, while Toth was also seen chatting with Ryan among the crowd of proud family members.

Advertisement

From Minnesota to New York, it’s Bob Dylan in the building. At just 20 years old, Dylan landed a record deal in 1961 that instantly launched him from a Greenwich Village folk darling into a record-making machine. But like any songwriter, there comes a point when they’re bound to expand their creative repertoire — Dylan included. By 1965, he had begun shedding his folk purist roots for something edgier and more distorted, both in sound and lyricism.

The change didn’t come without criticism, but it was arguably a necessary one, considering how much Dylan had already seen of the music industry. During this period of transition, he wrote a song that was not only criminally underrated, but also showcased just how witty and vigorous his songwriting could be. Rumored to be a commentary on an industry he couldn’t quite get used to, the track is one of the sharpest examples of Dylan’s literary ambition in his craft.

“Ballad of a Thin Man” Shows Bob Dylan’s Mastery of Surrealism and Satire

Dylan’s 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited has plenty of standout moments, not least because it was the first album he recorded entirely with a full rock-and-roll backing band. Released just a month after his notorious electric performance at the Newport Folk Festival ruffled the feathers of folk purists, the album marked a major turning point in his career. But Dylan’s move to electric isn’t its only defining feature. While he’s best known for his protest anthems, he’s just as gifted a storyteller, using surrealism and literary sophistication to explore a world that refuses to make sense.

Who’s Your Perfect Classic Rock Band?

Unlike the grounded, approachable style of his earlier folk songs, “Ballad of a Thin Man” is hauntingly surreal. It follows the increasingly bewildered Mr. Jones, who keeps stumbling into bizarre situations where every question he asks only leaves him more confused. Pencil in hand, he desperately searches for answers, only to be dismissed by the song’s narrator, who mocks him instead. The narrator reminds Mr. Jones that he has “many contacts / Among the lumberjacks” and is “very well read / It’s well known,” yet none of that knowledge helps him understand what’s unfolding around him. The song never explains exactly what Mr. Jones is witnessing, making his confusion — and the listener’s — all the more unsettling.

“Ballad of a Thin Man” Was Originally Rumored to Be a Diss Track About a Journalist

Dylan rarely explains the inspiration behind his songs, but that hasn’t stopped listeners from speculating about the identity of Mr. Jones. One theory suggests the character was inspired by British music journalist Max Jones of Melody Maker. Another claims Mr. Jones was based on Time magazine reporter Jeffrey Owen Jones, who later recalled an awkward encounter with Dylan. According to Jeffrey, Dylan mockingly greeted him by saying, “Mr. Jones! Gettin’ it all down, Mr. Jones?… Time magazine,” before adding with exaggerated enthusiasm, “You going to write a story for Time magazine, Mr. Jones?” The exchange left the reporter feeling like a “village idiot” and “dumbstruck,” fueling speculation that “Ballad of a Thin Man” was Dylan’s pointed critique of intrusive journalists.

It wasn’t until September 1965 that Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and then-New York Post journalist Nora Ephron asked Dylan the now-famous question: “Who’s Mr. Jones?” This time, he finally offered an answer. Although he never mentioned any names, Dylan insisted that Mr. Jones was based on a real person — just not someone who actually went by that name. Dylan described Mr. Jones as an exceptionally meek individual, saying he “puts his eyes in his pocket” and “puts his nose on the ground.” Beyond that, he refused to reveal the man’s identity, joking that the last thing he wanted to do was mention his first name because he’d be sued.

1965 Was Bob Dylan’s Most Experimental Year as a Songwriter

“Ballad of a Thin Man” is just one example of Dylan’s songwriting shift in 1965. On his early 1965 album, Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan first showcased his stream-of-consciousness, unstructured writing style in “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” The song feels like a pastiche of lyrics strung together through similar sounds and rhymes rather than a single, coherent theme. Later that year, on Highway 61 Revisited, “Desolation Row” drew inspiration from the spontaneous rawness of Beat poetry, which makes sense considering Dylan’s friendship with poet Allen Ginsberg.

But for Dylan, surrealism wasn’t just about aesthetics. He used it as a legitimate literary device to address the absurdity of the world. The world doesn’t always make sense, and instead of trying to decode it, the next best thing is simply to become a spectator to the chaos. Dylan finally addressed the song’s true intention during a concert in Japan in 1986, explaining that it was his response to the kind of people who keep asking questions when you’re in a position where you don’t want to answer them. Whether Mr. Jones was actually based on a real person, as Dylan had previously suggested, is another topic of debate. But the sentiment behind the song runs much deeper than simply trying to figure out who Mr. Jones is.

Following one of the strongest debut seasons in Marvel Animation history, X-Men ’97 faced enormous expectations entering Season 2. Fortunately, the first three episodes prove the series hasn’t lost any momentum, delivering another thrilling blend of superhero action, emotional storytelling, and deep comic book lore.

Rather than easing viewers back into the world of the X-Men, Season 2 immediately picks up after the explosive finale of Season 1. With the team scattered across three different time periods, the opening episodes follow multiple storylines simultaneously while laying the groundwork for Apocalypse‘s rise.

It’s an ambitious approach, but one that largely succeeds.

Episode 1 centers on Cyclops, Jean Grey, and the future timeline, adapting elements from The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix. Their reunion with Nathan, better known as Cable, provides some of the strongest emotional moments of the season so far. The episode reminds viewers that beneath all of the time travel and mutant battles, X-Men ’97 continues to thrive because of its characters.

X-Men 97′ Season 2 [credit: Marvel Animation]

Episode 2 shifts gears with a fun, action-packed adventure featuring Cable, Jubilee, Sunspot, and the formation of a new X-Force. While the episode embraces the over-the-top style of the classic ’90s comics, it also explores the moral differences between Cable’s hardened worldview and Jubilee’s optimism. Their dynamic creates one of the season’s most entertaining character pairings.

The third episode may be the strongest of the bunch, taking audiences thousands of years into the past as Magnetoencounters a young En Sabah Nur, the mutant destined to become Apocalypse. Rather than presenting the iconic villain as a one-dimensional conqueror, the episode explores his origins in a surprisingly thoughtful way. The conversations between Magneto and En Sabah Nur are among the most compelling scenes in the series, adding emotional complexity to a character fans thought they already knew.

Visually, X-Men ’97 remains one of Marvel’s most impressive productions. The animation captures the spirit of the original 1990s series while elevating every action sequence with fluid movement, vibrant colors, and cinematic direction. Whether it’s mutant powers colliding on the battlefield or quieter emotional moments between teammates, every frame feels carefully crafted.

The voice cast also continues to shine, bringing authenticity and heart to these beloved characters. Even with multiple storylines unfolding simultaneously, each episode finds time for meaningful character moments that remind viewers why the X-Men have endured for generations.

The biggest criticism of these opening episodes is pacing. Episode 1 in particular moves through a significant amount of story in a short amount of time, and several of the timelines could have benefited from an extra episode to further develop their characters and emotional beats. It’s less a flaw in storytelling than a reminder that there’s simply so much happening at once.

X-Men 97′ Season 2 [credit: Marvel Animation]

Even so, those concerns do little to diminish what has been an outstanding start to Season 2. Marvel Animation has once again found the perfect balance between nostalgia and fresh storytelling, honoring classic comic arcs while keeping longtime fans guessing about what’s coming next.

Three episodes in, X-Men ’97 is already shaping up to be one of the year’s best animated series. If the remaining episodes maintain this level of quality, Season 2 has every chance of surpassing its already exceptional predecessor.

Verdict

X-Men ’97 wastes no time reminding fans why it became one of Marvel’s biggest success stories. While the opening episodes occasionally move too quickly through their ambitious storylines, the outstanding animation, emotional character work, and faithful adaptation of beloved comic arcs make for an exceptional return. After three episodes, Season 2 is firing on all cylinders.