Ben Schwartz still gets paid cheques for his voice work on Star Wars
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
17 minutes ago
- USA Today
At his first Comic-Con, George Lucas previews Lucas Museum of Narrative Art
SAN DIEGO – George Lucas has amassed 50 years of cool stuff, and now he's going to have a place to put it. Even better, you can see it, too. Original sketches, paintings and assorted illustrations from the 'Star Wars' creator's personal collection – plus quite a bit representing that galaxy far, far away − will be on display at the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. The building is under construction in Los Angeles' Exposition Park, will open in 2026, and is dedicated to 'cultural fantasy,' Lucas said. The Hollywood icon was joined on Sunday, July 27, at a Comic-Con panel about the museum by 'Star Wars' illustrator and production designer Doug Chiang, Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, and moderator Queen Latifah. It was Lucas' first time at Comic-Con in his legendary career, earning a standing ovation from the 6,500 faithful in Hall H. But instead of waxing nostalgic about "Star Wars" and his movies, Lucas previewed the creation of his passion project. Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox A video narrated by Samuel L. Jackson took the crowd on a tour of what will be in the space, from an exhibit on myths through the ages to displays featuring artists like Norman Rockwell, Frank Frazetta, Jack Kirby and R. Crumb. Some of the works in the museum include the first Flash Gordon character drawing from 1934 ('You can see all the smudges,' Latifah noted), original 'Peanuts' sketches from the 1950s and '60s, and an original drawing of the 'Iron Man' No. 1 cover from 1968. 'Star Wars' fans will find plenty to love, too, including actual vehicles like a Naboo starfighter from Lucas' prequel movies and speeder bikes from 'Return of the Jedi.' And here's another fun fact: The museum architecture contains no right angles, only curves. Lucas, 81, has collected 40,000 pieces of art in the past five decades. 'It occurred to me: What am I going to do with it all?' he said. 'I'm not going to sell it. I could never do that. It's not what art is.' He called the museum a "temple to the people's art" and discussed that art is "a personal thing" to us, "not how much it cost or what celebrity did it or whatever. And I don't think it's anything that anybody else can tell you, 'That's art, that's not art.' It doesn't work that way. If you have an emotional connection, then it's art. "I've discovered just from my experience of making movies and things that other people's opinions don't mean much." Del Toro, a board member for the Lucas museum, appreciates "the pieces we have that celebrate freedom from anarchy," he said. "Comics were the first one to punch Nazis before movies." And with art, "we're not eternal. But what we hold and cherish is." The recent fires made del Toro worry a little about his own large collection. "I draw the line at three houses full of stuff," he said with a laugh. "Now that this museum exists, maybe some of it goes there." And the Lucas museum very much reflects the man whose name is on it, said Chiang, whose own work will be on display. "George leads from the heart, and this museum is him. My hope is that it will inspire the next Norman Rockwell or Frank Frazetta."
Gizmodo
an hour ago
- Gizmodo
The Coolest Hasbro Marvel and ‘Star Wars' Reveals of San Diego Comic-Con 2025
Hasbro always brings out the big guns at Comic-Con, and this year's convention was no exception. Quite literally, in fact, as both Marvel and Star Wars got some reveals that you could ostensibly count as big guns for Marvel Legends, Black Series, and Vintage Collection, and also some reveals that did actually include some actual Big Guns. This year's reveals included a ton of X-Men goodness for Marvel (anchored around a new wave of X-Men '97 figures), as well as the latest made-to-order deluxe figure in the form of everyone's satanic bestie (well, except Spider-Man's), Mephisto. Meanwhile, the galaxy far, far away went on a bit of an exclusives kick, revealing two special two-packs coming later this year, and then a grand finale: the next Haslab project, a 3.75″-figure-scaled Republic Gunship, ready to be filled with oodles of Clone Trooper figures. Check out all the latest Hasbro Marvel and Star Wars reveals below! Except for Qimir. Sorry, we were just so excited about finally getting The Acolyte's enchanting villain in figure form that we had to tell you about him separately. We already showed you Hasbro's other mask reveal of the con, Wolverine's mask from Deadpool & Wolverine, but its other reveal ventured to another arena of the MCU, with a brand-new electronically enhanced replica of Peter's spider-suit mask from Spider-Man: Homecoming. As well as a neck cowl, the 1:1 scaled mask includes moving eye pieces that can be set on either pre-programmed expression reactions, or manually activated with a remote control to express surprise, anger, or even that your spidey senses are tingling! Exclusive to Target, the latest retro-carded Uncanny X-Men figure brings Storm's iconic outfit from the time she led the X-Men as they hid out in the Australian Outback, operating in secret after the world believed them to have died fighting the mysterious Adversary. As well as fists and open hands, Storm also comes with two lightning-blasting hands to replicate her powers. Marvel's premiere marriage-wrecker is back in all his glory with a new figure in Hasbro's 'made-to-order' line of deluxe figures. Available to preorder until August 26, Mephisto includes an alternate head and alternate hands, a sword, and even swappable clothing to give him either a plastic or cloth set of cloak and loincloths—the latter so he can properly sit on his skull-covered throne, also included. We might be waiting a while for X-Men '97 season two, but we'll be waiting in style thanks to a whole host of new figures coming from Hasbro. The toymaker kicked off the '97 reveals with a series of two-packs inspired by key moments from the show: one from the series' opening episodes with Rogue and Gambit, depicting them in their basketball match gear, and two depicting the X-Men's returns to some classic costumes in the back half of the season—Wolverine and Storm in one, in their respective yellow-and-brown and black '80s gear, and Cyclops and Jean Grey in another, depicting them in their original outfits inspired by the season finale. That wasn't all for X-Men '97 though: an entire new wave of figures is on the way too, filling out some key remaining heroes (and anti-heroes) from the show's lineup. The new wave includes Sunspot, Jubilee, Morph, a casual look Logan, Cable, and the White Queen herself, Emma Frost. After lifting the lid on its first Marvel crossover set for Magic: The Gathering, Wizards of the Coast teamed up with Hasbro to reveal that it would release four exclusive variant cards as part of a series of action figures. Agent Anti-Venom, Battle Damaged Spider-Man, and Mary Jane in the Iron Spider suit will all reuse previous figures with upgraded accessories, alongside a surprise new addition in the form of Man-Wolf: the transformed werewolf alter ego of Colonel John Jameson. All four figures will come with an exclusive borderless foil promo card from the Spider-Man set, with new art inspired by their respective figures. Hasbro kicked things off in the galaxy far, far away by revealing two new multipacks that will be its exclusive offerings at upcoming conventions this fall, including New York Comic Con and MCM London. For Black Series, Revenge of the Sith's 20th anniversary gets celebrated with a new two-pack featuring Mace Windu and Darth Sidious, the latter clad in his chancellor robes and including an alternate scarred head depicting his visage after Mace deflects his Force lightning back at him. Meanwhile, the Vintage Collection will get its own version of the Jedi Spirits three-pack already seen in the Black Series a few years ago: ethereal force ghost figures of Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Anakin inspired by the climax of Return of the Jedi. However, in a fun twist, the Vintage Collection set will have one bonus not included in the earlier Black Series version: a swappable head for Anakin that lets you return Sebastian Shaw to the climax of the film, rather than Hayden Christensen's take on the character! Speaking of multipacks, two more are coming to the Black Series. The latest addition to the line's set of Jedi General and Clone Trooper two-packs puts together Anakin Skywalker (inspired by the live-action take on his Clone Wars look from Ahsoka) and Captain Rex in his modified phase-II Clone armor. The second, more elaborate two-pack celebrates the climax of Empire Strikes Back, depicting Luke and Darth Vader's duel on Bespin. Including a base replicating the gangway and platform the two duel on, the set also includes a lightsaber clash VFX piece, and a wired cloth cape on Vader for maximum dramatic effect. I'm sure you can find a way to remove one of Luke's hands, too. A trio of Vintage Collection figures were also revealed at the con, spanning the rise of the Empire era. From Clone Wars and Bad Batch, there's the Imperial Shock Trooper, the red-armored Clones of the Coruscant Guard, and from A New Hope, there are new versions of Han Solo and Chewbacca inspired by their appearances in the movie. Meanwhile, the Black Series went on a bit of a bounty hunter kick for its own reveals. From the fifth season of Clone Wars' iconic Ahsoka on trial arc, a new Asajj Ventress depicting her in her bounty hunter gear is on the way, complete with two lightsabers and a removable helmet (which I'm sure will also go great with the upcoming Bariss Offee figure, for no reason at all…). After getting so many Mandalorian figures between Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian lately, it's only fitting that we go back to Attack of the Clones for a newly updated Jango Fett, complete with a removable helmet. Again, I'm sure you can find a way to remove the rest of his head too to replicate Jango's battle with Mace Windu. Rounding out the Star Wars reveals was the next major addition to Hasbro's 'Haslab' crowdfunding project: a massive LAAT/i Gunship from Attack of the Clones, scaled to 3.75″ action figures. Dwarfing Hasbro's prior gunship toys, the new vehicle is a hefty 28 inches long, 30.9 inches wide, and 10.6 inches tall, and comes with two Phase-1 Clone pilot figures, as well as two different stands to depict the gunship either in flight or hovering above ground as it drops off its troops (which you'll have to grab separately, of course). The gunship itself includes opening front laser battery pods, which can hold a seated clone; opening bay doors to depict a fully detailed interior; options for alternate nose panels depicting art inspired by gunships seen in Clone Wars; and rotating turrets on the nose and back of the ship. Clocking in with a hefty $450 price tag, the Gunship requires 8,000 backers by September 8, 2025, to enter production for a fall 2026 release. Beyond the initial goal, three higher backer tiers will unlock several Jedi action figures to accompany the gunship, making their Vintage Collection debuts: 10,000 backers unlocks Coleman Trebor, 12,000 Saesee Tiin, and 14,000 Agen Kolar. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Big Ten players asked which uniforms were the best and their answer isn't surprising
B1G players share their favorite jerseys:🦆 Dogs or cats? Star Trek or Star Wars? These are the type of questions you might hear at a conference media day. The type of questions that are pertinent to this college football season, and in particular, the Big Ten season. The right answers are cats and Star Trek, by the way. At Big Ten media days in Las Vegas, which was a three-day event, players from around the conference were asked a myriad of questions, and the subject of the best uniforms happened to come up. In a recent mash up of answers that were posted on TicTok, the overwhelming winner was the Ducks. Players had to name a team, other than their own, whose uniforms were the best in the Big Ten. While Oregon's uniforms won out, with 13 players saying the Ducks because of the colors and the number of combinations they can throw at you, it's interesting that UCLA received two votes and USC garnered a couple of votes as well. The three relative newcomers to the league had all the votes, and none went to the more traditional schools such as Michigan or Ohio State. Oregon was the first team to start the uniform craze, and while some have tried to duplicate them, the Ducks are still leading the way. Whether it's the traditional green, the highlighter yellow, or the stormtrooper whites, Oregon always looks sharp on the field, and opponents still notice.
