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Exclusive interview: Writer/director Tim Brown talks ‘The Retirement Plan’ and collaborating with Nicolas Cage

The prospect of Nicolas Cage playing a retired, washed-up, sun-kissed, and booze-soaked assassin is enough to pique anybody’s interest, which is just as well when writer and director Tim Brown’s The Retirement Plan is on the cusp of releasing in theaters.

The star-studded action comedy also features Ron Perlman, Jackie Earle Haley, Ernie Hudson, and Ashley Benson to name but a few recognizable faces, with Cage’s veteran operative Matt forced to dust off his specific set of skills when his granddaughter shows up announced at his Cayman Islands retreat when her mother becomes caught in the midst of a criminal enterprise that threatens all of their lives.

An old school throwback with just as many one-liners being dropped as there are bodies, The Retirement Plan will appeal to Cage fanatics and genre junkies alike. Ahead of its release in select cinemas tomorrow, We Got This Covered had the chance to speak to Brown about his latest project.

During our chat, we cover his lifelong love of action, collaborating with Cage, marshaling the on-set carnage of shootouts and fistfights, his extensive back catalogue of canine-themed family films, and more which you can check out below.

Image via Joker Films

It’s been a while since you shot, so how does it feel both personally and professionally knowing The Retirement Plan is finally on the cusp of release?

Tim Brown: That’s a great question. Really great question. A little surreal, because, yeah, it’s been a couple of years. So you know, COVID and everything else has certainly delayed a bunch of stuff for many productions. But yeah, it’s been a while. So I’m pretty excited. I hope people enjoy it and they have fun watching it, at least. The intention was always, you know, give people the same feeling they get when they’re on a roller coaster. Not too much to think about, some ups and downs, and laughs, some thrills. So that was always the intention around producing it. But yeah, I’m excited.

There’s a playful, almost irreverent nature to a lot of the more comedic scenes and character dynamics, but then when the action sequences kick into high gear it gets pretty gnarly with blood and bullets flying all over the place, but was that a difficult balance to strike during either the writing, shooting, or post-production process, because it never comes across as jarring even when it happens in the space of the same scene?

Tim Brown: I think that I’ve always been drawn to comedy, in particular action comedy. I think that I like being a little bit unpredictable, if possible. But I think when I started out, it was definitely more of an actual straight-up action picture. And I had in the screenplay, a lot of comic moments written in there. And I know both Jackie Earle Haley and Nic Cage had said to me when they had read it, “I kept laughing out loud.” But they were asking me almost, “Is it okay that I’m laughing out loud, because it feels like I’m laughing in an inappropriate place?”

And I always thought that was really the intention out of the gate, was to sort of be a little bit unpredictable. Irreverent comedy is right up my alley. I like being funny. I like making fun of the action genre itself. There’s lines in there that some people might get, some people might not. But it’s really tongue in cheek, sort of. I grew up through 80s action films, and then later the 90s stuff changed a little bit, but that sort of cliched style of filmmaking, I wanted to make fun of a little bit and at the same time, embrace the genre itself. So it is definitely, “reverent” is a good word for it, I think.

There’s an underlying self-awareness to the movie that’s always lurking in the background, but it never gets too on-the-nose, pronounced or meta. Were you always intent on acknowledging that sort of irreverence throughout, because it definitively places the film in a heightened reality without getting too wink-wink about it?

Tim Brown: That’s good. Yeah, that’s the greatest compliment I could get. Because that was exactly my intention, was exactly that. And that’s really funny, that’s a perfect analysis of it.

Image via Joker Films

It’s one of those movies where there’s a handful of characters that say “Well, we can’t kill this guy and he just keeps killing all of us,” which is a familiar setup that a lot of audience members will be more than familiar with, but was it always in the back of your mind to make a point of not falling into the traps that viewers might be expecting?

Tim Brown: Totally, I wanted to do things that were against genre, you know, not necessarily the hero couldn’t win in the end, but through the film, to have moments in time where what normally would happen at this point in time, I would flip it.

And as well as killing off characters and side stories that people might be frustrated that I had killed off at certain points in time. I always said the sign of a great series, and I think no one did it better than Game of Thrones is that you just, you know, by episode three or four, you just kill every main character in the whole show. And I think doing stuff like that is so jarring.

So I embrace that. I think that’s great. If the character really becomes likable, you would kill them off! And I think it just adds a little more spice to the to the story, I think. So I definitely had an intention of writing that way for sure. Yeah, you’re catching all the little nuances that not many people I don’t think are gonna even notice but that’s great. Yeah, I really appreciate that.

Shootouts and action sequences is relatively new territory for you as a director, but as a self-proclaimed action junkie, was that an arena you’d always wanted to dive into headfirst to cut loose and indulge your preferences on this sort of scale?

Tim Brown: Yeah, I think as a cinephile, as a young kid, I was exposed really lucky. My uncle was a booker at Warner. And he had a 35mm projector in his basement. So on Sundays, we would go to his house. And from the age of zero, I mean, I would have been an infant watching the Marx Brothers and Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. And that evolved to Laurel and Hardy, and Abbott and Costello, and that evolved to Mel Brooks, and that evolved to Peter Sellers. And then I got into action sort of later in life.

But initially, my love of cinema probably came from comedy out of the gate, no question, it would be the biggest influence would have would have been the Marx Brothers for sure. And in particular, Harpo Marx, I thought there was so much power in the ability, not to say anything, but be absolutely hilarious. During the talkies. So I really embrace comedy. And then I think that’s why there’s so much moments in here where there is fun in an action scene, but to prepare to shoot action, I look a to the DP, because doing action films on a very small budget is a really difficult task.

It’s a high bar to try and be somewhat convincing, because the only rehearsal time we had, we had a crew and cameras rolling. So the rehearsal was the first take. So that’s not easy when you’re trying to do set pieces, where guys, multiple fighters, multiple deaths, people going over buildings, and things of that nature that we put in there. So we had to be really strategic, because you know, independent film is really directly related to how much time you have.

Another week of rehearsal, another week of shooting, that gives you the ability to really hone those sequences and prepare them before you even start shooting. So for us to figure it out on the fly, and to have guys like Nic Cage and Ron Perlman be so open with that, and cool with that, I mean, Nic would come in on his days off to help rehearse some stuff if we had to, but really, we didn’t have that ability. So to do action on a number, you really have to be kind of creative in the way you shoot it and work the camera, just because you just don’t have the time and the resources to spend a month shooting a sequence or a fight scene, you have three days.

So you have to figure out, really be prepared before you start the day on exactly where the camera’s gonna go, exactly what the action is, and how you’re going to execute it. Otherwise, you’re sort of dead from the beginning to try and keep up with the schedule. So that was a challenge. But I embraced it. And yeah, I’ve been a fan of every action film known to man from, from the beginning of time onward. So yeah, I’ve always loved action movies.

Image via Joker Films

As one of the best and most unique actors in the business, the logline of “Nic Cage as a son and booze-soaked retired assassin” pretty much sells itself to a lot of people. But does a performer like that require much direction? Or is it more a case of “here are the words I’ve written, this is the way I want to shoot them,” and then there’s the creative collaboration between the two of you to get the best possible version of that?

Tim Brown: I think that working with Nic, the best word is “collaborative.” He is completely collaborative. And all that happens before we start shooting. And it’s really a team effort. I remember Clint Eastwood saying, giving direction to someone who’s asking questions about their character on Unforgiven. And he tried something and he said, “Is that okay If I do this?” and Clint said, “You’re in charge of that department of that character.”

And I liked the idea that you know, Nic Cage’s job was to be in charge of the Matt department. So he came to the table with a ton of ammunition and tools in his toolbox. He referenced a lot of films. He’s a total cinephile above my paygrade, for sure. And so he and I could communicate through past films, and really talk the same language. So once we honed in on the style of film we’re making and honed in on the character, he brings the weight of old films to the forefront. And in this instance, one of the films that he used was a Leslie Howard movie from I think the late 30s, called The Scarlet Pimpernel.

And if anyone doesn’t know that, I didn’t know it. So I watched it. And halfway through the film, I said, “What is he talking about? I don’t see the connection.” And then as I watched the film, I understood his theory that this character, the lead character in The Scarlet Pimpernel that Leslie Howard plays is sort of, we refer to the term peeling back the onion. Because on the surface, he’s a beach bum, and he’s a drunk. But when you peel the layer back, “Oh, he’s a little bit more than that.” And then you peel another layer back. And then you find out until the very end, when you all the layers have been peeled back, we reveal who Matt really is.

And that collaborative effort is done mostly in prep. And then through production, he may improvise a little something, but I refer to it as the “Nic Cage spice,” because it just adds a flavor to your dish that is hard to really put words to. But it makes it so unique, so special, and funny. And it’s very intentional. He’s quite brilliant at adding something so small, but you might not even think is relevant. But the moment he did it, you know, there was a line on the balcony with his daughter saying, “Who are you? I don’t even know who you are. Who are you? How are you doing these things?” And she says, “Are you an assassin? You you kill people.” And he had a reply to that, I can’t remember what I wrote.

But he said, “Instead of replying, what if I just like do ‘haha’,” and he sort of gives this sort of shrug, and he makes a sound. Well, to me, it’s the highlight of the movie. And it’s only that man really could have brought that nuance to that character. Other actors might have said the line and done it differently. But he took away the line and it got so much better. So during production, we would tweak, we would do things.

But regardless of any of that, if I didn’t like anything he was doing, he was 100 percent trusted my vision. So his line to me was, “I’ll give you what you want. Here’s what I want. Here’s what I think,” and we’d discuss. But that again, all done weeks and weeks before a camera rolls, so that when we’re on set, we already know exactly how Matt is going to be through the story.

Other than, like I say, those little little nuances that he might bring during production. But that’s all done in prep. And it’s a lot cheaper in prep to worry about, instead of telling 100 people to hold off when Nic and I try and discuss the situation, which we never had that incident because like I say, totally collaborative, and he trusts my vision, which is you couldn’t ask for a better partner as a director. For me, that was for sure.

TRP_20210601_DAY005_A023_1.2.3.jpg

Nic Cage and Ron Perlman have been friends for a while, but their characters don’t really overlap all that much during the movie, but were you ever tempted to put them in more scenes together to capitalize on that real life chemistry, or would that have come at the expense of the story?

Tim Brown: I think I had to separate the character of Bobo and the kidnapping of Sarah from Matt, because Matt’s whole objective is to get Sara back. So he had to do his own B-story, which was the story of of Bobo and Sarah, which was its own thing. And I think if Nic got involved in that, it would have clouded that, and that’s one of my favorite parts of the film is the story of Bobo and Sarah and their evolution together, where you think he’s going to kill this girl. And through time, things start to change. And the outcome of that might be different than what Bobo initially had thought, well, definitely different with Bobo thought.

But also, earlier you asked about Nic. The other thing is, I wrote a really detailed biography for Matt about five or six pages, where he was born, when he got married, how his life was, what tours he did, who were his friends, like, pretty much his whole life leading up to this point on the beach drunk. Whether or not Nic uses that in his bag of tricks, I have no idea. He said he appreciated it. And, more importantly, for me, I think it helped me understand that character even better as a writer.

So when I would write the screenplay, having that biography, knowing that Matt, if he was abused by his family, or he was adopted, or kicked out of a foster home, or whatever his life was, that helped me make Matt’s decision later on when he comes across something, like “Well, he wouldn’t react like that because he was raised like this.” So that helped guide me a little bit, so that might have helped the character of Matt, and certainly working with Nic a little bit through that, but no, I wasn’t tempted.

I wanted to stay true to the story and they worked well together, that’s for sure. They certainly got along very well when they were on set, but yeah, you’re right. It was only a handful of days that I think, maybe two days, they were there together during shooting, which was the the really the opening beach scene there.

You’ve taken what could be called an unorthodox approach to getting into directing, having come up through the business side of things and been a president, CEO, VP, and sales executive at various points, but was stepping behind the camera eventually always a long-term goal of yours?

Tim Brown: I think it was 1992 when I started working for a company in Toronto, which was, I would sell VHS tapes to video stores door-to-door. And, you know, we have 12/15 new titles a month. And a guy who’s still in the business, Noah Siegel, was the first guy to sort of hire me in this business. And I said, “I really want to be a director.” And he said, “Well, why don’t you come here, understand the business of film. And then you could figure your way out to getting behind the director’s chair through that process, instead of getting a job on set or working your way through that way?”

So I think my first job on set was was director, that was the first time I’d really been on a set. And that was with The Cradle with Lukas Haas. And that was in 2006. So the route, it took me about 15 years to get behind that. I don’t know if it would have been any quicker if I went straight to film school. But I decided to do that route. So I really understand the business side of film pretty well, I’ve sold and produced about 28 films, I ran an international sales company.

So I had a good understanding of how to value an action picture and what that value is in Eastern Europe, what it is in Japan, and what it is in Australia, and how those revenues break down. What a theatrical release means, how much it costs, and ancillary markets followed up in the United States, be it studio, mini-major or an independent. So I know all those relationships, I know all those people. And so being able to understand that is a little different than most directors who can sort of talk about the revenue I expect to earn on the VOD platform, you know, through a two-month stretch in the United States. I can tell you those numbers.

And I also think a lot of distributors might be a bit refreshed, because I’m also not to the point where I’m, “Why isn’t my film being released on 3000 prints. Why is this not this?” And, well, I know, the budget, I know, the cast level, and I sort of know where it fits in a certain slot for the most part. I know it’s not Mission: Impossible, it’s not Barbie, and Oppenheimer. And so it falls into a category in the business sense of where the revenue is earned for the movie. And that I have an innate understanding of, I don’t think it changes how I direct the movie, all I’m trying to do is make it entertaining for people. If they laugh, if they get excited by the action, if they’re shocked by something, I’m just trying to evoke those emotions.

So I don’t know how much my business sense came into play on set, but I remember Nic talking about having a release at Neon for the movie Pig. And I started talking about the company Neon, and the owner of that company, and how I knew him from New York back in the day, blah, blah, blah. And he’s like, “Well, how do you know these people?” And I said, “Well, I came from a different world.” So it was a pretty funny conversation to have with him.

But yeah, it’s was one route, I wouldn’t recommend it, probably. I think if I was ever recommending other people to direct, I would just start shooting immediately. I don’t regret anything I’ve done in my past, that’s for sure. But I’ve had a great time getting to this point. And very, very, very, extremely lucky to say the least, that I was able to do this film with that cast, regardless of through the business, or through the creative process to get here.

Presumably, having that experience on the other side of things gives you an insight into how to build and create a feature in a way that not a lot of other filmmakers have, but does it have a drastic bearing on your process or have you been able to separate the businessman from the director?

Tim Brown: Well, I’ve directed five features. And I think that at the end of the day, every single time I’ve sort of come up with the idea, I’ve been able to get it financed to work with the financiers and then get it produced. No one’s hiring me, so maybe someone will hire me after this, who knows? But right now, I had to do these things to get myself to hire myself as a director.

Because I didn’t think anyone’s going to give me the opportunity. So I’m continuing to do that. I just continue to create the concepts and ideas, and then I try and package as best as I possibly can based on what I think a good pitch is to a studio or mini-major or streamer for that matter – whoever I’m talking to – to try and sell something to convince them that this has value in the marketplace based on budget, based on execution. And ideally I’d find a way to finance the movie, and then I just make another one.

I don’t have an agent, I’m not a member of anything, so basically I’m simply a guy trying to get shows created and content created. So that path continues. Maybe one day I’ll have someone do that job for me. But right now I’m sort of forced into the position. Directing is my ultimate, the ultimate dream. We’re just day to day. That’s all I’m doing.

Image via Joker Films

You made your feature debut on The Cradle and then followed it up with Devil in the Dark, which are both supernaturally-tinged horror/thrillers, but Buckley’s Chance was something completely different genre-wise, and the same can be said of The Retirement Plan, so are you always looking to take on a new challenge when you line up your next movie, or is it more a case of the material speaking to who and where you are at the time you read it?

Tim Brown: Yeah, the latter I’m I’m currently my next project is A Shed, which is a drama that takes place in England about a retired Dickens professor who befriends a young Black man he finds living in his shed. So it’s a very heavy drama about equality in the world and amongst people, and it has a much bigger subtext. It is a more complex story, like nothing I’ve ever done before.

Whether I try and challenge myself from going to watercolor to oil base to photography, I don’t know if I’m doing that consciously. But I have bounced around a couple of genres. I’ve produced a lot of family movies. So I understand the family genre pretty well. That’s why, and Buckley’s Chance was was came from that, and a boy and a grandfather and a dog story was always a good, you know, an Old Yeller-esque type thing, which was for me, the old Walt Disney Sunday night movies of the week.

So it was an homage to that. And then my future one is is a drama that has no base other than I worked with Bill Nighy on Buckley’s Chance, and he reminded me of a Dickens professor. So I started writing this for him. And so that was spawned as a project for Bill, and the character came from him. Anything else that happened just sort of popped into my head some way somehow, and I wrote it down quickly before I forgot about it, or that that creative energy left me

Looking through your credits, and there’s a lot of dog-related stuff in there. You directed Treasure Hounds and produced Vampire Dog, Step Dogs, Bark Ranger, and Pups United as well. That seems like a really niche thing to get into, so how did you end up working on so many canine capers?

Tim Brown: For six years I worked for a guy named Robert Vince, who I would still argue is one of the most successful producers in Canada. Robert made the Air Bud movie, all the following. I mean, there’s probably been 20 sequels these work with Disney, so I ran international for a few years for him, and so I would go to market selling territory by territory, these movies.

And they were very, they hit a specific genre. And the certain customers globally that embraced it, they did really well. France, for instance, Poland, Australia did well with them, England did well with them, these sort of talking dog comic movies, all tongue in cheek stuff. And then so when I left that company, I started my own sales agency. That’s when I started producing, because I basically knew the customer base and said, “Well, why don’t we just come up with their own idea?” And I said, “All right, how about I have a dog that’s a vampire, but it’s a family fun movie, he jello instead of blood?”

And then we just go from there. And we sort of made a fun, fun little story about it. And I was able to reverse engineer basically the story in the creative, and then take the financing that I needed, and then go back and say, if you will, “Poland can give me this, and UK can give me that.” It’s not an easiest way to finance a film, it basically means you have to finance… I think we financed 22 foreign sales contracts, and a US distribution deal. Every single one with a different with a bank, with the same bank.

That’s a lot of documentation. If people aren’t aware of how that works, it’s literally, it’s probably 8000 or 9000 pages of documents and contracts. So it’s an insane amount, and not a good way to do it. It’s much easier to do one deal with someone, but that’s how I started, so I did that out of the fact that I knew how to put those packages together. And then we just… That’s why I produced the majority of them and then I ended up directing Treasure Hounds, because I think we couldn’t get a director. I can’t remember why, I’ll just direct it myself. So yeah, that’s from working for Keystone Entertainment, where I really learned how to work in the kids and family space. And again, Robert Vince was a great, great mentor for me, certainly in my producing world. Super smart guy, learned a ton from him.

Thalia Campbell also starred in Phantom Pups, Ron Perlman was in Fluke about a reincarnated dog, Nicolas Cage starred in Dog Eat Dog, and Ernie Hudson was in Battledogs, so maybe it was fate that you all ended up working on this project together.

Tim Brown: I had no clue that any of those, that’s all news to me! I had no idea that they did any of that stuff! Thalia went to shoot that was I think, I think, yeah, Anna McRoberts directed that movie with Thalia, and that was a Robert Vince production, and they shot on Vancouver Island up here. She did that right after she did this film I’m pretty sure. So that’s the only one that I knew of, that she had worked in the Keystone world. So no, I didn’t. I wasn’t aware that Nic did that. Or Ernie. Or anybody! That’s funny. Or Ron, I just talked to Ron the other day, so I had no idea he did that. That’s funny.

The Retirement Plan releases in select theaters tomorrow, Sept. 15, and you can find your nearest screening here.

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'Not Very Easy to Drop Someone Like Mohammed Shami': India Bowling Paras Mhambrey on Problem of Plenty

Mohammed Shami only managed to find a place in match against Nepal when Jasprit Bumrah was not available for selection.

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10 best Martin Scorsese movies, ranked

Although his movies are most closely associated with two themes – the culture of New York and the trappings of organized crime – Martin Scorsese’s career as a director now spans half a century and over 40 films of all types. Anyone wondering where to start with his voluminous filmography will therefore be spoiled for choice! Here are 10 of his very best.

10. The Departed

The Departed – trailer

The film for which Scorsese finally received an Academy Award for Best Director pitted Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon against one another as police informant and inside man in a Boston organized crime gang. Although it has been criticized for its occasionally on-the-nose direction – some critics scoffed at the final shot, which showed an actual rat traversing a window ledge in a not-so-subtle nod to DiCaprio’s character’s role – The Departed is solid Scorsese fare, with good turns from Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, and Alec Baldwin, and Jack Nicholson’s Whitey Bulger-esque character proving as unpleasant (and violent) as any Mafia main man in Goodfellas.

9. After Hours

After Hours – trailer

New York yuppiedom proved fertile ground for comedy in the 1980s, with the Crocodile Dundee franchise, Big, and others poking fun at the self-obsession and inflated sense of importance that went with the territory. Scorsese duly got in a few blows of his own with this tightly plotted 1985 farce, in which An American Werewolf in London star Griffin Dune’s beta male, Paul, has the worst of nights in New York, involving lost money, the death of an acquaintance, and being chased by punks. Scorsese did better work in the comedy genre, not least 1983’s The King of Comedy, but the laughs stand up today, and Rosanna Arquette is delightful as Paul’s would-be hookup.

8. The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street – trailer

This 2013 adaptation of New York stockbroker-turned-fraudster Jordan Belfort did huge box office, raking in a cool $400 million across all markets, making it by far Scorsese’s most successful movie at the time. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Belfort, but Matthew McConaughey packs just as heavy a punch as his mentor, a broker whose up-and-at-’em approach gives Belfort inspiration, and Jonah Hill makes hay as the originator of a “dump and dump” racket. The general debauchery of the lifestyle described in the memoir is at times painful to watch – it’s not so much the excesses, but the height from which Belfort has to fall that generate the unpleasantness – but discovering precisely how he fell from grace is worth the price of admission, and Margot Robbie is unmissable in her breakout role as his wife.

7. No Direction Home

No Direction Home – trailer

He may have returned to the subject of Bob Dylan’s career in 2019’s Rolling Thunder Review, but Scorsese’s original 2005 documentary about Dylan’s early years as a 1960s Greenwich Village folk singer is the pick of the two, and arguably his finest documentary feature to date. Over three hours in length, Scorsese approaches his subject matter at a leisurely pace, and gathers a remarkable collection of interviewees: Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, and Allen Ginsburg all contributed with memories of Dylan from his emergence in 1961 to his much-criticized adoption of electric instruments in 1966. A must-see for fans of 60s music.

6. Raging Bull

Raging Bull – trailer

Robert De Niro won his second Academy Award for his depiction of boxer Jake LaMotta in this 1980 classic. It is, perhaps, just as well that Scorsese opted to shoot in black and white; some of the fight scenes are nothing short of eviscerating, as a washed-up LaMotta absorbs punch after punch on the ropes, all the while protesting his ability to take punishment from his opponent, Sugar Ray Robinson. But Raging Bull’s more compelling drama can be found out of the ring, as LaMotta’s jealousy sees him accuse his wife Vickie (played here by Cathy Moriarty in an Academy Award-nominated performance) of infidelity. The film also saw De Niro’s first work onscreen with Joe Pesci, who plays LaMotta’s brother and manager Joey in only his second film appearance.

5. The King of Comedy

The King of Comedy – trailer

This 1983 film was one of Scorsese’s rare box office bombs, but amply repays a rewatch. Robert De Niro shows his range as a borderline delusional would-be comedian, Rupert Pupkin, who bumps into an actual famous comedian (Jerry Lewis) and becomes obsessed with him. De Niro has a ball as Pupkin, with his cheap suit and shiny shoes, hatches a preposterous plan to kidnap his quarry and achieve the only sort of fame it seems he is capable of – notoriety. As a critique of the American obsession with celebrity, The King of Comedy can hardly be bettered; in a curious inversion of roles, De Niro would go on to channel Lewis’ character opposite Joaquin Phoenix’s Pupkin-esque Arthur Fleck in 2019’s Joker.

4. Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver – trailer

The movie that brought Scorsese to the attention of the wider public is disturbing and compelling in equal measure, and earned its stars – Robert De Niro and a 14-year-old Jodie Foster – Academy Award nominations. The story traces the life of Travis Bickle (De Niro), a depressed loner who drives a taxi around the streets of New York at night, and predicts, as the famous line has it, that “someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets”. Weaving together a story including a slick political candidate, Foster’s child prostitute character Iris, and her pimp (played by a grimly manipulative Harvey Keitel), it also marks one of the first collaborations between Scorsese and Hollywood’s greatest composers. For Taxi Driver, Scorsese secured the services of Academy Award winner Bernard Herrmann, whose experimental jazz score perfectly complements Travis’s deteriorating mood as the film progresses. Herrmann never lived to see the finished product, or to receive the BAFTA he was awarded for his score, dying of a heart attack the day after the score was recorded.

3. Gangs of New York

Gangs of New York – trailer

There is more than a touch of artifice about this 2002 historical epic, but what it lacks in verisimilitude is more than made up for in stylishness. Scorsese tapped Leonardo DiCaprio for the pair’s first collaboration to play the part of Amsterdam, a young man living in 1850s New York whose father (Liam Neeson) was killed in a brutal gang riot by Bill “The Butcher” (Daniel Day Lewis) years previously. Unaware of Amsterdam’s true identity, Bill allows the young man to join his organization, leaving the viewer to wonder: will Amsterdam get revenge? Supported by a fabulous cast including Cameron Diaz as the pickpocket Jenny, Jim Broadbent as a corrupt Tammany Hall politician, and Brendan Gleeson as a would-be challenger to Bill’s position, Gangs of New York was lent additional poignancy by the lingering final shot of the World Trade Center over the modern-day New York skyline: a commentary on the nature of violence in the Big Apple that landed differently in a post-9/11 world.

2. The Aviator

The Aviator – trailer

This 2004 biopic is a lavish evocation of America between the wars, and fully deserved the five Academy Awards it received. Leonardo DiCaprio is effortless as the legendary filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes, whose obsession with getting his war epic Hell’s Angels into cinemas results in massive budget overruns, a lot of ruffled feathers in Hollywood – and a massive box office hit. Before long, Hughes has drawn the attention of Katherine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett); but the compulsions for which he became infamous were by then already beginning to take their toll, and much of the second half is devoted to an exploration of his declining mental health, all set against the backdrop of his quest to build the world’s biggest plane, the Spruce Goose, and prove its flying capabilities. Look out for pitch-perfect supporting turns from Ian Holm, Alan Alda, and Brent Spiner.

1. Goodfellas

Goodfellas – trailer

Scorsese was overlooked for the Academy Award for Best Director for his impeccable 1990 gangster epic, which relates the rise and fall of Henry Hill and the Mafia mob to which he attaches himself in 1950s New York. Covering a span of 25 years, Goodfellas depicts in lurid fashion both the glamor and grunginess of gangster life, and benefits from career-defining performances from Ray Liotta as Hill, Robert De Niro as Jimmy the Gent, Joe Pesci as Tommy, and Paul Sorvino as Paulie, the Mafia high-up they work for. From Henry’s rapid rise through the ranks to his romancing of his soon-to-be-complicit wife Karen (played first with giddiness and then with bitterness by Lorraine Bracco), Goodfellas shows Scorsese in the form of his life. Shots that might come across as tricksy in the hands of lesser directors, such as the glacially slow dolly zoom in the diner during the final act, or the famous single-camera scene in which Hill leads Karen into a nightclub through the kitchen, are pulled off with adroitness. It’s no wonder that, a third of century after its release, Goodfellas continues to top critics’ list as one of the greatest movies of all-time, and spawned countless imitators.

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World Cup 2023: Naveen-ul-Haq Makes Comeback as Afghanistan Announce 15-Member Squad; Gulbadin Naib in Reserves

Afghanistan have announced their squad for the World Cup and have taken some interesting calls like putting their former skipper, Gulbadin Naib in the reserves.

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Chloe Tryon Makes Return After Leave of Absence to RSA-W's Squad for ODI and T20 Series Against NZ-W

The South African women's team will take on the New Zealand women's team in 3 ODI's and 5 T20I's which is going to be held at home.

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'Delighted For The Lads, But it Hurt,' David Willey Shares Thoughts on Omission From England's World Cup Winning Squad

David Willey was a mainstay in the England squad but the management preferred Jofra Archer over him, leading to his last-minute omission from the England squad which won the World Cup in 2019.

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Asia Cup 2023, Super 4: Dunith Wellalage Takes a Five-for as India Bowled Out for 213 vs Sri Lanka

India vs Sri Lanka, Asia Cup 2023 Super Four: IND were bowled out for 213 with Dunith Wellalage taking a five-wicket haul in Colombo.

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Asia Cup 2023: Gautam Gambhir Picks Kuldeep Yadav as Player-of-the-Match in India vs Pakistan Super 4 Clash

Virat Kohli was the official player of the match but for Gautam Gambhir it was Kuldeep Yadav who took a five-wicket haul.

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Who played Scuttle in ‘The Little Mermaid?’

The star of “The Scuttlebutt” and a breakout character for the live-action version of The Little Mermaid, Scuttle has been everyone’s favorite wise-cracking bird since 1989. Back then, he was voiced by the late Buddy Hackett. In fact, Hackett’s return as Scuttle for The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea marked his final film role before he died of complications from heart disease in 2003.

Twenty years post-Hackett, Scuttle has been reimagined with a new look and a new voice — a female one at that. And who provides that voice? None other than Awkwafina, whose real name is Nora Lum.

Awkwafina rose to prominence in 2012 when her rap song “My Vag” became popular on YouTube. Ever since, she’s made a name for herself in the acting industry, starring in Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon, Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and even the insanely popular comedy-romance Crazy Rich Asians.

Photo via Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

In the 1989 original movie, Scuttle is a seagull. In Rob Marshall’s live-action adaptation, Scuttle’s character design was changed to a Northern gannet, a species of bird that can remain underwater for up to 30 seconds while hunting for prey. The justification for the swap could be the amount of underwater scenes featuring Ariel and Scuttle that wouldn’t be possible for a seagull.

Marshall explains the change to The News International, saying it aligns with Ariel’s story.

“After she sings ‘Part of Your World’ and she goes [to the surface] for the first time, it’s so shocking and so thrilling. It’s better storytelling.

But then I realized, well, Scuttle, how does she know everything that’s up there? We decided to make her a diving bird so that she could come down and Ariel could meet Scuttle in the water and get all that information there, not above.”

Not everyone was sold on Awkwafina’s addition to the cast, but “depending on personal preference, her duet rap song with Daveed Diggs — “The Scuttlebutt” — is undeniably catchy, whether you love it or hate it.

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‘Couldn’t stop their children from watching it at home’: ‘The Little Mermaid’s immense Disney Plus success is the film’s final revenge against racist backlash

The Mouse House’s movies have always taught us that, just when they seem down for the count, Disney princesses will win out in the end, and that’s exactly what’s happened with 2023’s The Little Mermaid. The live-action remake of the beloved 1990 animation was beset with small-minded but loud-mouthed backlash in the run-up to and throughout its theatrical run due to the hiring of the (phenomenally talented and perfectly cast) Halle Bailey as the previously Caucasian Ariel.

While it’s hard to say how much that impacted its slightly underwhelming domestic box office gross, it certainly did internationally, with several Asian markets dismissing the film due to its diverse cast — although that doesn’t include the Philippines where it was a huge hit. Thankfully, The Little Mermaid is having the last laugh as it swims onto streaming around the globe, though. Across its first week on Disney Plus, it managed to accrue 16 million views, which makes it the platform’s largest debut of 2023 and one of its biggest ever.

Clearly, now that it’s able to be watched at home, The Little Mermaid is finding a whole new audience to enchant, likely including a young generation who — for whatever reason — might not have got the chance to see it on the big screen. As one spot-on reaction to the news of its Disney Plus success put it, “The racist parents who didn’t want to take their kids to see The Little Mermaid in [theater], couldn’t stop their children from watching it at home.”

Image via X/Twitter

Unfortunately, due to its enormous $265 million price tag, even earning just shy of $570 million around the world (a recent re-release didn’t quite move the needle as planned) and going down as the seventh highest-grossing of Disney’s remakes to date meant The Little Mermaid‘s theatrical run was something of a disappointment. However, its warm reception on streaming proves that Bailey’s Ariel may have lost the initial battle but she’ll win the war and likely continue to delight audiences for years to come, much like Jodi Benson’s original before her.

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'One of my Favourite Bowlers': Pakistan Legend Praises India's Kuldeep Yadav After Match-winning Display

Kuldeep Yadav was in red-hot form with the ball on Monday as he ran through the Pakistan batting to finish with a five-wicket haul.

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Rohit Sharma Becomes 2nd Quickest to Reach 10,000 Runs in ODI History

India captain Rohit Sharma took 241 innings to get to the milestone which is the second quickest after Virat Kohli.

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IND vs PAK: Virat Kohli Reaches 1000 Runs in International Cricket in 2023 on Reserve Day | WATCH

Virat Kohli achieved another milestone against Pakistan, completing 1000 runs in international cricket in 2023 as he completed his half century in 55 balls

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Dutch Court Sentences 12 Years in Prison For Former Pakistan Cricketer, Khalid Latif

Rashid Latif had offered 18.7 Lakh INR for the head of the Dutch MP, Geert Wilders.

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Finally, a rumored ‘Deadpool 3’ cameo makes total sense as the scene-stealing star of a $619 million X-Men movie is pegged to return

As is par for the course for the Merc with the Mouth, Deadpool 3 looks set to take a no-holds-barred approach to its multiversal cameos, leaving the likes of Doctor Strange 2 and The Flash in the dust. According to what we’ve heard, it could feature as many as a dozen and a half famous faces dropping by, some of whom are logical additions — like legacy stars from Fox’s X-Men films — but others are truly insane — Taylor Swift, anyone?

The latest word on the matter, though, points to a potential cameo that may make the most sense of all, as it’s someone who absolutely blew fans away with their original performance as a beloved comic book character in an acclaimed film, only to never appear as this character again. According to alleged intel from CWGST, Marvel “went into negotiations” with Logan actress Dafne Keen just before the strikes began. Supposedly it’s “not a significant role” and is more akin to “a cameo.”

Image via X/Twitter

At this point, Deadpool 3 seems like that “X has been cast in Spider-Man: No Way Home” meme from back in 2021 brought to life, so take this latest claim how you like. But, again, it’d certainly add up that Keen would be invited to reprise Laura Kinney/X-23, Wolverine’s clone daughter, in the MCU after making such a big impression in Logan. The 18-year-old actress has also recently wrapped up work on fantasy series His Dark Materials so has the time to commit to a major Marvel role if the studio is interested in keeping her around beyond this project. Which it should be if Marvel knows what’s good for it.

Deadpool 3 is currently on course to hit theaters on May 3, 2024, although this may change as production is only half-complete.

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Haris Rauf Not to Bowl Against India on Reserve Day, Pakistan Bowling Coach Morne Morkel Reveals Why

Haris Rauf suffered a little inflammation on his oblique muscle after undergoing scans yesterday and the pacer will not be bowling against India on reserve day

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'He Even Stepped Out to Hit Shaheen Afridi..': Kumble Decodes How Rohit-Gill Nullified Pakistan's Pacers

Anil Kumble highlighted the difference in the attacking approach of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 clash

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'Absolutely Clawed It': CSK Reacts To Mitchell Santner's Stunning Catch Against England - WATCH

New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner plucked off a stunner to dismiss Johnny Bairstow, sending cricket fans into a frenzy.

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'Virat Kohli in The Form He is..': Kaif Gives Verdict on 'Key Matchup' vs Shaheen Afridi on Reserve Day

Mohammad Kaif talked about the 'key matchup' between Virat Kohli and Shaheen Afridi on the reserve day of India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 clash

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Shubman Gill Bosses Over Shaheen Shah Afridi, Becomes First Batter to Hit 6 Boundaries Against Him in an ODI

Shubman Gill smashed Shaheen Shah Afridi for 6 boundaries in his first spell of three overs

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'Never Witnessed Such Response': Mohammad Hafeez Shares Shocking Image of Empty Stadium During IND vs PAK Asia Cup Clash

Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Hafeez shared images of empty stadium during the India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 clash in Colombo

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Ind vs Pak: Fans React to Pakistan's Poor Fielding Efforts As Indian Openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill Give a Good Start

Pakistan who were fielding in the first innings were under pressure as the Indian opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill gave a great start to the side and pressure was on the Pakistan side.

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Asian Games Bound Indian Men's, Women's Teams to Undergo Camp in Bengaluru Next Week: Report

Indian men's and women's teams for the Asian Games will undergo preparation camps in Bengaluru starting from week ahead of the Hangzhou mega event

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'Rohit Sharma Getting a Game at the Moment Because He is Captain': Former Australia Cricketer

Blewett raised questions over Rohit's form and suggested that it might backfire for India once again in the upcoming ODI World Cup.

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IND vs PAK Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 Toss Report: Pakistan Opt to Bowl; KL Rahul Replaces Shreyas Iyer

India vs Pakistan, toss report: Pakistan decide to bowl first. India make a coupel of changes to the playing XI - Jasprit Bumrah retuns while KL Rahul replaces Shreyas Iyer.

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‘Some of those rumors are true, and some of them aren’t’: ‘Deadpool 3’ director refuses to whittle down the 18-strong list of alleged guest stars

The cast members to have been confirmed so far have underlined that Deadpool 3 is a safe haven for familiar faces, but the rumor mill has spiraled so far out of control that an additional 18 names have been touted as potential guest stars in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first-ever R-rated installment.

Along with Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Biranna Hildebrand, Karan Soni, Leslie Uggams, Stefan Kapičić, and Shioli Kutsuna will be returning from the 20th Century Fox duology, with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Jennifer Garner’s Elektra the two highest-profile superheroic additions.

And yet, that doesn’t even scratch the surface of those hailing from the past, present, future, and never was of Marvel to have been linked to the project, but all director Shawn Levy was willing to divulge to Entertainment Weekly is that you should definitely expect at least some of them to swing by.

Photo via Marvel Studios

“I’d rather not weigh in on that, but I’ll say this. The rumors of actors, singers, sports stars who are all apparently in Deadpool 3 are fabulous. If all I read was the internet, I would have the greatest cast ever assembled in the history of cinema, so I’ll simply say that some of those rumors are true, and some of them aren’t.”

For what it’s worth, the list that most recently drew The Adam Project star Walker Scobell’s hypothetical Kidpool into the mix also includes Brian Cox’s William Striker, Halle Berry’s Storm, Famke Jensen’s Jean Grey, Dafne Keen’s X23, Rebecca Romijn’s Mystique, Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, and Ian McKellen’s Magneto from various X-Men stories gone by.

Lewis Tan’s Shatterstar has also been touted, along with MCU veterans Elizabeth Olsen, Owen Wilson, Tom Hiddleston, and Tara Strong as Scarlet Witch, Mobius, Loki, and Miss Minutes, never mind Ben Affleck’s Daredevil and Julian McMahon’s Doctor Doom, or the fan-baiting likes of Taron Egerton’s Wolverine, Channing Tatum’s Gambit, and Taylor Swift’s Dazzler.

That’s a whole lot of cameos, but it’s time to hedge your bets on which ones will actually turn out to be true.

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'Playing Pakistan Was Different': Shubman Gill Opens up on Pressure Playing Against Arch-Rivals

Asia Cup 2023 group stage was the first time Shubman played against Pakistan in senior cricket and he asserted that it was a different experience for him.

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'How We Play Different Situations, Makes it Difficult For Bowlers,' Shubman Gill Shares His Experience Opening With Rohit Sharma

Shubman Gill shares his experience when opening with the Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma and speaks on how their different approaches complement the two.

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'Been on the Receiving end for RCB, Watching Him Score 92..': De Villiers' Advice for IND Batter After WC Snub

Former South Africa batter AB de Villiers lavished praise on the Indian batter after the 28-year-old failed to make the cut for India's ICC ODI World Cup squad

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​India vs Pakistan Probable XIs, Asia Cup Super Four: Check India vs Pakistan Predicted Teams

Ahead of the Asia Cup Super Four match between India and Pakistan, here's how the two teams could line up

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Former England All-Rounder Andrew Flintoff Makes First Public Appearance After His Accident in the Sets of Top-Gear

The legendary English all-rounder made the move to television where he was the presenter for the popular show, Top Gear. He suffered injuries after a high-speed car crash during the shoot.

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SL vs BAN Probable XIs, Asia Cup 2023: Check Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh Predicted Teams

Ahead of the Asia Cup 2023 match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, here's how the two teams could line-up

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'Rishabh Pant Has Confidence in His Game and Backs Himself to Play With Risk': Rohit Sharma Hails Wicketkeeper Batter

Rohit Sharma talked about Rishabh Pant's aggressive batting approach as he wants the southpaw to continue playing with it.

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Asia Cup 2023: India vs Pakistan Super 4 Clash And Tournament Final to Have Reserve Day, Confirms ACC

ACC has added a reserve day for the big match-up between India vs Pakistan after the previous encounter ended up being washed out after the first innings.

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‘The Marvels’ might be skimping on the song and dance numbers, but a Marvel musical could be coming this Christmas

It’s apparently a cast-iron rule now that let a TV universe run long enough and it will eventually spit out a musical episode. Well, apparently the MCU has reached the age where it can no longer be avoided as the latest word indicates that we can perhaps expect a full-on toe-tapping, ear-worming orchestral extravaganza as soon as this Christmas season. Even if The Marvels may have chickened out of being Marvel‘s first musical on the big screen.

Although much of the studio’s Disney Plus slate has been pushed back into 2024, it’s believed that What If…? season two is still coming this year, with the first episode expected to premiere around Christmas Day. Ahead of time, then, some rumored plot details have leaked out. Numerous loglines will be familiar to those who’ve been keeping up to date with all the leaked info, including another Captain Carter episode, a Happy Hogan festive story, and the introduction of the MCU’s first Native American hero.

Image via X/Twitter

A new one that will raise eyebrows, though, is what’s apparently coming in episode seven. In what sounds like a wild revision of WandaVision, the tentative plot summary reads: “What if Wanda had grown up watching musicals instead of sitcoms?” Presumably, then, we can expect a version of the Hex where Westivew’s citizen were not magicked into becoming sitcom characters but to burst into song and dance.

This news may come as a boost to those upset by recent The Marvels rumors. Once upon a time, the Brie Larson sequel was talked up as a full-blown musical, but recently with its runtime apparently being so short, it’s claimed that much of its central musical set piece has been trimmed down considerably. Apparently, Marvel Studios remained committed to getting its groove on somewhere, though, and What If…? looks set to deliver A Very MCU Musical.

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'Rahul Dravid Doesn’t Like Any Communication Gap With Any Player or Support Staff': Rohit Sharma

Talking about his partnership with Dravid, Rohit was in full praise of his coach and said he respects him a lot as a person first then as a cricketer.

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Cameron Green Set to Miss Few Games In Build-Up to the ICC ODI World Cup Due to Concussion Protocol

Cameron Green will be under observation as per concussion protocol for the next eight days after being struck on the head by Kagiso Rabada's bouncer.

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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

Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi hit back at BCCI secretary Jay Shah regarding the latter's 'security concerns' statement about Asia Cup 2023

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