Is ‘The Nun II’ based on a true story?

What’s a guaranteed way of making a horror movie scarier? Basing a horror movie on actual real-life events. The Conjuring Universe has certainly found a lot of success in this arena, with James Wan’s baby built around paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren who, as fans of the franchise will know, really existed. In addition to the three Conjuring films, we also have an Annabelle trilogy, The Curse of La Llorona and The Nun, with the 2018 spinoff finally getting is own sequel this summer in the form of The Nun II.

An offshoot of The Conjuring 2, in which the character of the demon Valak — the habit-wearing hell-spawn that serves as the eponymous evil of these movies — first debuted, The Nun II follows on from its predecessor in acting as a prequel to The Conjuring, taking place in 1950s Europe. Even though Taissa Farmiga’s Sister Irene has relocated from Romania to France for the sequel, unfortunately, Valak tracks her down once again.

But does The Nun II take after its parent series in being based on a true story? Well, it’s confession time…

The mythological beginnings of The Nun franchise explained

Image via Warner Bros.

No, The Nun II is not based on a true story. The same thing goes for The Nun. Although The Conjuring 2 was inspired by the real-life poltergeist activity in Enfield, England in 1977, the addition to Valak the demon to the narrative was an invention of Wan and his team, therefore the franchise built entirely around the villain had the freedom to get fully creative and craft a brand-new narrative.

That said, Valak is not a wholesale original creation of The Conjuring Universe as a demon bearing that name exists in occult lore going back centuries. You’ve probably heard about grimoires — books of dark magic — in many a movie and TV show, but they are actually a real thing in antiquity too, and Valak is a frequent presence in several notable tomes. This includes The Lesser Key of Solomon, written in the mid-17th century but drawing from materials dating back hundreds and hundreds of years earlier.

In traditional occult mythology, Valak (also spelled Valac, Ualac, or Volach) does not appear as a nun but as a cherubic winged boy riding a dragon. Needless to say, it’s understandable why Wan and Co. decided to switch that up for something a little less Sistine Chapel meets Game of Thrones. Designated as a president of hell due to its significant powers, Valak is able to seek treasures as well as control serpents, which is where Valak’s alias in the movie, “The Marquis of Snakes,” originates.

So, no, The Nun II is not based on actual events, but who’s to say where these ancient beliefs of a demon called Valak came from? Just something to ponder while you’re tucked up in bed tonight, alone in the dark…

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What if that isn’t Anakin in ‘Ahsoka’ episode 4?

To anyone paying attention to Ahsoka‘s production, Anakin Skywalker’s arrival was a matter of when rather than if. In October 2022, it was widely reported that Hayden Christensen would be appearing in the show, with most assuming it’d be as a Force Ghost or in a flashback to the The Clone Wars era when Ahsoka was his padawan.

The reality has proved to be far more mysterious. Ahsoka appears to have fallen off a cliff and landed in ‘The World Between Worlds’, a mystical dimension outside of linear time. In Rebels, Ahsoka Tano’s life was saved by Ezra using this dimension, with him yanking her out of the timeline as Vader was about to land a killing blow. Now Anakin is here, looking like not a day has passed since Revenge of the Sith.

He seems friendly enough, though the episode closing out with a subtle reprise of John Williams’ Darth Vader theme doesn’t exactly bode well…

Why is Anakin in The World Between Worlds?

Image via Lucasfilm

Before Darth Vader’s battle with Ahsoka in Rebels, it seems Vader had no idea that The World Between Worlds existed. Even after that, it’s unclear whether he realized what had happened to Ahsoka as the moment she was rescued, he fell through the floor as the temple collapsed. That said, Vader’s subsequent actions indicate that he assumed Ahsoka had died there, so we doubt he ever knew about it while alive.

After his death? That’s another story. The rules on where Force Ghosts can go (or even what they are) remain vague, though the timey-wimey dimension seems like the kind of place a spirit might well end up. But it’s interesting that while this Anakin looks somewhat ethereal (this may simply be iffy de-ageing CGI), he doesn’t have the blue glowing outline of other Force Ghosts.

So, if Ahsoka can be saved from her death by Ezra, perhaps it’s possible for someone to save Anakin from his in Revenge of the Sith? That said, Star Wars actually resurrecting Anakin Skywalker would be the moment the franchise jumps the shark, so we doubt he’s a permanent addition to the cast.

If he’s not a Force Ghost or a man, what is he?

It’s possible that someone or something is showing Ahsoka her heart’s desire: her old friend and mentor before being corrupted into Darth Vader. This could be an involuntary psychic manifestation or, in a more sinister twist, perhaps Emperor Palpatine is pulling the strings.

At this point in the Star Wars chronology, Palpatine is still recovering from his apparent death, with his consciousness having been sent into a cloned body prepared for that eventuality. This proved a painful existence as the clones weren’t powerful enough to contain his evil essence, leading to his eventual plan to inhabit Rey’s body.

In Rebels, we saw that Palpatine had been trying to harness The World Between Worlds for his own evil ends, and as he’s now a disembodied spirit, this place may be how he moves between his cloned bodies. After all, Palpatine would know precisely what form to take to throw Ahsoka off guard and manipulate her.

Even if Palpatine isn’t involved, this ‘Anakin’ could still be a direct manifestation of the dark side. In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke ventures into the Dark Side Cave as part of his Jedi training, encountering a spirit that takes the form of Darth Vader. If this can happen to Luke, there’s no reason it can’t happen to Ahsoka.

A darker possibility

Image via Hot Toys

This may be getting too far into speculation, but in episode 4, we learned that Marrok appears to be some kind of spirit, with the current fan theory that he was a dead warrior resurrected using Morgan Elsbeth’s Nightsister magic. The bad guys are now down a man after Marrok’s end, and what better spirit to bring back from the dead to torment Ahsoka than Anakin himself?

Capping off the show with one final battle between Ahsoka and an undead Anakin as she battles to put his soul to rest would be an emotionally fraught finale to the show, though would admittedly also be a smidge far-fetched.

However it shakes out, Anakin is (apparently) back from the dead, in good spirits, and seems happy to see Ahsoka. Let’s hope the writers don’t drop the ball next week.

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'Have Seen Fashion in Which Virat Kohli Batted in T20 WC': Former Cricketers Back India Batters to Overcome Pakistan Pacers

Abhishek Nayar suggested that no team will start favourites in the marquee clash on Thursday.

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'Have No Doubts Mr Jay Shah, Pakistan is Ready': Shahid Afridi's Explosive Reply Amid Asia Cup Security Concerns

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Roelof van der Merwe, Colin Ackermann, and Paul van Meekeren Named in Netherlands' 15-Man-Squad for ODI World Cup

The trio were not able to take part in the World Cup Qualifiers due to their prior commitments to their respective County sides in England.

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‘She’s an extraordinary genius’: Warner Bros. chief bows down to money-making machine Greta Gerwig

Greta Gerwig‘s Barbie has been the hit of the year, finally surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie to take first place as the highest-grossing box office movie of 2023 (so far). Ever since its announcement, the hype around the film had been huge, and it only got bigger upon its release, as audiences flooded theatres around the globe. It’s no surprise then, that Gerwig is being hailed a genius by the studio she made all that money for.

Warner Bros.’ David Zaslav, President and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, showered praise on the director at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology event on Wednesday, presenting her with a bouquet of pink (of course) roses, the least he could do, considering Barbie is now Warner Bros.’ highest grossing movie.

As reported by IndieWire, Zaslav spoke to a Goldman Sachs analyst and when asked what lessons the studio took from the success of Barbie, he responded, “Greta Gerwig gets the most credit. She’s an extraordinary genius.” He went on to praise her involvement with marketing, stating she “worked very effectively” and “right down to the wire” with their marketing team.

Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Warner Bros. really did get behind the director’s vision in every way possible, with Zaslav saying, “Every asset that we have was turned pink.” On the show Inside the NBA he had hosts, Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny “The Jet” Smith, and Ernie Johnson discussing Barbie whilst in other departments pink played a prominent role, “Every cake on Food Network for a month was pink,” Zaslav stated, adding “When we get something we believe in, we can really drive it.”

Barbie has just recently taken over the reigning box office champ of the year, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, having now made $1.38 billion at the box office to date. This also lands it in 15th place on the biggest box office films of all time, just under Avengers: Age of Ultron which made $1.4 billion.

Projections indicate that Gerwig’s creation could reach $1.53 billion, which if correct, would land it in the top 10 highest-grossing movies of all time, beating out Marvel’s Avengers ($1.52 billion). With so much money made for the studio, it’s only fair that Saszlav wax lyrical about the director that brought his company so much dough.

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'Rohit Sharma Subconsciously Thinks he Cannot Play Shaheen Afridi': Pakistan Pace Legend Shoaib Akhtar

Rohit Sharma was dismissed cheaply by Shaheen Afridi during India's Asia Cup 2023 opening match against Pakistan last week.

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Netflix boldly drops first trailer for a new actioner with an identical title and premise to the upcoming spin-off from a billion-dollar franchise

Not to generalize, but if you were told about an upcoming revenge-driven action movie called Ballerina headlined by a protagonist that’s mastered martial arts, swordfighting, gunmanship, and motorcycle riding and promises geysers of blood and bone-crunching brutality, then Ana de Armas’ John Wick spin-off would probably be the first thing that came to mind.

After all, Chapter 4 recently saw the Keanu Reeves franchise fly past a cumulative box office total of a billion dollars, cementing itself as one of the greatest recurring sagas of the modern era that’s seen both critical acclaim and earnings increase with each new installment.

And yet, Netflix has made the bold call to unveil the first trailer for incoming Korean original Ballerina, which releases on Oct. 6 and follows an ex-bodyguard named Ok-joo as she seeks ruthless retribution against those who wronged her.

It’s entirely coincidental, but that doesn’t make it any less fascinating that Netflix is forging ahead with the debut of an in-house exclusive that boasts the exact same title and a near-identical premise to what will be the sixth entry in the John Wick universe by the time it lands in theaters in June of next year, with episodic prequel The Continental filling the gap in between.

If it lives up to the majority of Netflix’s recent Korean ass-kickers in terms of quality, then de Armas might have an unforeseen mountain to climb in order to ensure that her Ballerina ends up being the best of the bunch, because history is most definitely on the streaming service’s side in this instance.

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