Latest news with #KateeSackhoff
Gizmodo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
‘Star Wars' From Darth Maul's Perspective Sounds Fascinating
When Obi-Wan Kenobi cut Darth Maul in half over 25 years ago, most of us thought that was it. Maul was clearly one of the coolest and most interesting Star Wars characters ever, but George Lucas chose to kill him. However, as fate would have it, the character has now come back time and time again, in large part due to Lucas's protégé Dave Filoni, and soon, we're gonna get way more of him than we ever thought possible. Maul: Shadow Lord, a new animated series, was announced at Star Wars Celebration Japan last month and it'll bring the former Sith Lord back to the forefront in a big, big way. Speaking with fellow Star Wars star Katee Sackhoff, voice of Maul Sam Witwer revealed a few broad clues about what we can expect from the show, including how Maul perceives the plan formulated by his former master, Darth Sidious. 'This is a guy who knew that the Empire was coming, and he was part of that,' Witwer said on The Sackhoff Show. 'He was supposed to be part of the Clone Wars. He was supposed to work with his master, and they were going to bring about the destruction of the Republic and the destruction of his hated enemy, the Jedi Order. He was raised to hate them. He trained his whole life to destroy them. Well, now we have a show where, OK, all of that was done, but Maul, yeah, you killed a bunch of Jedi during the Clone Wars, but you did not work with Sidious. You didn't know the whole plan. And in fact, you got so scared about his plan that you tried to stop it at the last second.' 'Now the Empire's here, which Maul would have known that that was his master's intent,' he continues. 'But now that he's seeing it, he's like, 'Is this what he had in mind? Because this isn't what I thought it would be…' Maul comes from a time of swords and sorcery and magic and knights and now all of that color is being sucked out of the universe by this mechanized empire. And Maul's like, 'Is this right? Is this the universe that we were trying to build?'' That's fascinating, is it not? Seeing the grand plans of Emperor Palpatine through the eyes of someone who worked with him before Darth Vader. Before Count Dooku. Before Grand Moff Tarkin or Grand Admiral Thrawn. Someone who was there at the beginning and is now confused about what he thought the plan was, and what it ended up being. But, as Witwer explains, that's kind of the aim of Maul: Shadow Lord. 'It truly is a show about bad guys versus worse guys,' he said. 'And our bad guys are still bad guys. This isn't going to be a show where you go, oh, you find out Maul is just a real teddy bear, man. He's just misunderstood… But the idea is, in fact, that even though he's a bad guy, is he as bad as Sidious or Vader? And the answer is actually no. From the Sith perspective, this guy has flaws. And these flaws are… the humanity that seeps in at various points. And some of this is humanity he did not have maybe early in Clone Wars. But because of things that happened to him, he's rethought a lot of things.' Rethinking things is part of what is making Maul: Shadow Lord work too. Witwer explained that, as he was working with Filoni on Clone Wars and Rebels, they'd come up with ideas for Maul that they loved, but couldn't fit in the show. Now, all those ideas are coming back. 'There were ideas that I had back in Clone Wars that I would present to Dave, or even in Rebels,' Witwer said. 'And I also know things that Dave wanted to do. And Dave would go, 'We're going to cut this part out of the script that I have that I like so much because this isn't Maul's show.' Or I'd say, 'Dave, what if this happens?' And he goes, 'It's not Maul's show. You can't go into that little level of detail. We're seeing this from Ezra's perspective or Ahsoka's perspective.' And every time he said, 'This isn't Maul's show,' it never occurred to me that Maul could have a show. So I just took those ideas and I'm like, well, I guess we'll never see that. And now he's like, well, it's Maul's show.'' You can watch the full clip below and keep an eye out for Maul: Shadow Lord in 2026.
Geek Tyrant
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
VISION QUEST Showrunner Confirms Show's Timeline in the MCU and Reveals Writers' Room Lineup — GeekTyrant
Marvel Studios' Vision Quest series is finally coming into focus, and now we know exactly when it's taking place in the MCU timeline. We've also learned about the writing talent who's helping shape the story behind the scenes. Showrunner Terry Matalas, best known for his work on 12 Monkeys and the final season of Star Trek: Picard , recently sat down with Katee Sackhoff and shared new details about Vision Quest 's creative direction. While he stayed vague, he did say: "There was a kind of logline that was very specific. Kinda like 'It's this, this, and this.' But there were a thousand ways to do exactly that. 'I'm trying to figure out how to vaguely respond to you, but it was an opportunity to be like, 'Okay, if you want to do this, then you kinda also want to do this, this, and this.' And it became this very collaborative experience that's just been really wonderful." He went on to describe the experience of working with Marvel as creatively liberating, and a bit terrifying: "And it doesn't have to be with the biggest, most successful studios of all time. It's been a really wonderful creative experience, and I think we are making something really special. 'It's also scary because they are like, 'Go do that crazy thing you wanna do.' And I'm, like, 'Oh, wow, it's a big stage to take a big swing on.' But I think we're in a really good place." As for when this all takes place? Matalas confirmed what most fans had assumed: Vision Quest picks up directly after WandaVision's ending, following White Vision as he tries to piece himself back together — mentally, emotionally, and maybe even spiritually. "The timeline is definitely navigated. At the end of WandaVision, the original Vision was rebuilt and weaponized, and then had a moment of discovery and acceptance of who he was. Then [he] flew off. [Vision Quest] is following that character, and that character's journey." The series will move forward with a Vision who remembers everything… but feels nothing. This is a fascinating setup, especially with rumors of Ultron, Jocasta, and Tommy Maximoff playing major roles. As for the writing team behind Vision Quest, according to the Writers Guild of America West, here's the confirmed lineup: Michael Taylor ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Battlestar Galactica ) Chris Monfette ( 12 Monkeys, Star Trek: Picard ) Cindy Appel ( Star Trek: Picard ) Matt Okumura ( Star Trek: Picard, Interior Chinatown ) Terry Matalas ( 12 Monkeys, Star Trek: Picard ) The writting team is filled with sci-fi veterans who know how to balance brainy concepts with emotional storytelling. Vision Quest is set to debut on Disney+ sometime in 2026. You can check out the full interview with Matalas below.
Forbes
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Fight Or Flight' Reviews: Does Josh Hartnett's Film Fly With Critics?
Josh Hartnett in "Fight or Flight." Fight or Flight — Josh Hartnett's high-flying airplane action thriller — is new in theaters. What do critics think about the film? Rated R, Fight or Flight opens in theaters nationwide on Friday. The official summary for the film reads, 'Exiled American agent Lucas Reyes (Hartnett) is given one last chance to redeem himself - the assignment is to track down and identify a mysterious, international high-value asset known only as The Ghost on a flight from Bangkok to San Francisco. 'Complicating matters, the plane is filled with assassins from around the world who are assigned to kill them both. The pair must work together in a fight for their lives. At 37,000 feet, the stakes have never been higher.' Directed by James Madigan, Fight or Flight also stars Katee Sackhoff, Charithra Chandran and Julian Kostov. As of Thursday, Fight or Flight has earned a 79% 'fresh' rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics based on 47 reviews. The RT Critics Consensus for Fight or Flight reads, 'Josh Hartnett's go-for-broke performance gives Fight of Flight wings, sustaining this daffy action-comedy at an entertaining cruising altitude that refreshingly doesn't wear out its welcome.' The film's Popcornmeter score on RT is still pending. Nick Schager of The Daily Beast is among the top critics on RT who gives Fight or Flight a 'fresh' rating, writing, 'Amusing, energetic, and just clever enough to sustain its brief runtime, it serves up a boisterous and bruising brand of B-movie bedlam.' Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter also categorizes Fight or Flight as a B-movie, but still gives it a 'fresh' review, writing on RT, '[Josh Hartnett's] charisma and surprising flair for physical comedy elevate this B-movie into something approaching A-level status, even if it's ultimately undercut by its low-budget limitations and awkward tonal shifts.' The B-movie label was also on the mind of John Nugent of Empire Magazine, who pens in his review on RT, 'A solid bit of high-concept B-movie fun, establishing Josh Hartnett as a credible action hero, and James Madigan as a genre director to watch.' On the flip side, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle gives Fight or Flight a 'rotten' rating, writing on RT, writing, 'The violence gets cranked up to 11 after about 30 minutes, before we have anything resembling a rooting interest, and the violence stays there for most of the remaining hour. None of it has impact.' Also giving the film a 'rotten' rating on RT is AV Club's Chloe Walker, who notes, 'Fight or Flight has Josh Hartnett and endless splattery fights on an enclosed mode of public transport, but that's all it has.' Justin Clark of Slant Magazine also splats Fight or Flight with a 'rotten' rating on RT, writing, "Dramatic moments create tonal stutters that prevent the film from becoming the unhinged Looney Tune that it wants to be.' Fight or Flight opens in theaters nationwide on Friday.
New York Times
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Fight or Flight' Review: Conned Air
In 'Fight or Flight,' Josh Hartnett plays Lucas Reyes, an alcoholic bleached-blonde mercenary who is living in exile in Thailand. Desperate to recapture his old life, Lucas accepts a job from a mysterious company led by his ex-girlfriend, Katherine (Katee Sackhoff). He needs to board a flight heading from Bangkok to San Francisco and, while midair, apprehend an assassin named the Ghost. Like 'Bullet Train,' the bad guys in 'Fight or Flight' are a bevy of assassins who are keen to collect the bounty on the Ghost's head. Reyes's only help comes from Isha (Charithra Chandran), a young, virtuous flight attendant. Because the action takes place mostly inside the plane, the staging can be repetitive. The only surprises are the tools used for bloodshed, such as a chain saw or a climbing ax, which an invigorated Hartnett wields in the film's climactic acid trip freakout sequence. The director, James Madigan, doesn't fully commit to the single location: He often cuts back to Katherine's comedic bickering with her sniveling co-worker (Julian Kostov) and even positions the film's stakes as the cessation of child labor. Hartnett and Chandran's laid back chemistry steady the film's turbulent tonal shifts, adding a punch that the shakily choreographed action lacks. Hartnett and Chandran are so good together, Madigan's last-second setup for a possible sequel doesn't sound like such a bad idea.
