Latest news with #KyloRen
Fox Sports
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
MLB All-Star Game Host Curse? Atlanta Braves On Pace To Continue Bizarre History
When an MLB team gets word that it's going to host the All-Star Game, it's met with excitement from the franchise, fan base and greater region. In reality, it should be met with horror — kind of like when an NFL team is told that it's going to be the subject of HBO's "Hard Knocks" or when Kylo Ren told Rey that she was a Palpatine. Anyway, the Atlanta Braves host tonight's 2025 MLB All-Star Game (8 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), and with the team 42-53, they're on pace to become the 12th club in 13 seasons – there was no All-Star Game in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic – to host the Midsummer Classic and miss the playoffs. Here's evidence of the curse. 2012 – Kansas City Royals The 2012 season wasn't a low point or a surprisingly dark year for the Royals, by any means. But it was still one that saw Kansas City post a losing record (72-90) for a ninth consecutive season. 2013 – New York Mets The 2013 season was the fifth of six losing seasons for the Mets. To boot, star third baseman David Wright missed extensive time post-All-Star break due to a hamstring strain, and it ultimately became the beginning of the end for the two-time Gold Glover's status as one of the premier players in the sport, as injuries perpetually got in his way over the next five years. 2014 – Minnesota Twins The 2014 season marked the fourth consecutive year that the Twins finished with a losing record, and long-time manager Ron Gardenhire was shown the door after 13 seasons in the dugout. Minnesota missed the playoffs in each of the next two years, as well. 2015 – Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati made the playoffs in both 2012 and 2013, but it followed those seasons with a 76-86 campaign in 2014 and a mere 64-win 2015, when it last hosted the All-Star Game. The Reds then shipped star right-hander Johnny Cueto to the Royals at the trade deadline, with Cueto then helping Kansas City win the World Series. The Reds then traded third baseman Todd Frazier, a 2014 and 2015 All-Star who won the 2015 Home Run Derby in Cincinnati, to the Chicago White Sox in the offseason. The Reds haven't won a playoff game since 2012. 2016 – San Diego Padres San Diego continued the trend in 2016. Going 68-94, the Padres missed the playoffs for a 10th consecutive season and posted their lowest win total since winning just 63 games in 2008. 2017 – Miami Marlins The Marlins hosted the All-Star Game and finished with 77 wins. Then, they decided to essentially trade every All-Star-caliber player on their roster: Miami dealt 2017 National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton, fellow star outfielders Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna and infielder Dee Gordon the following offseason. One year later, the Marlins traded star catcher J.T. Realmuto. In case you were wondering, the Marlins missed the playoffs in 2018, too. 2018 – Washington Nationals After winning the NL East in four of the past six seasons and making the playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time in franchise history (2016-17), the Nationals missed the playoffs when they hosted the All-Star Game in 2018. Then, homegrown star Bryce Harper bolted D.C. for the NL East rival Philadelphia Phillies in the offseason. Granted, the Nationals won the 2019 World Series. Still, Washington continued the trend by missing the playoffs and lost its then-franchise player before then. 2019 – Cleveland Guardians Cleveland was as good as any team in the sport for three seasons from 2016 through 2018, winning the 2016 AL pennant, an AL-best 102 games in 2017 and claiming the AL Central division title in three consecutive seasons. Then, 2019 happened, and you guessed it: Cleveland missed the playoffs despite winning 93 games. Two offseasons later, the Guardians traded star shortstop Francisco Lindor to the Mets. 2021 – Colorado Rockies The Rockies traded superstar third baseman Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2020-21 offseason and then hosted the 2021 All-Star Game, in what became an otherwise quiet season. Finishing 74-87, Colorado missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season and hasn't appeared in the postseason since 2018. 2022 – Los Angeles Dodgers – The Outlier For the first time since the Arizona Diamondbacks did so in 2011, the team that hosted the MLB All-Star Game made the playoffs in 2022. Los Angeles went on to win 111 games in the regular season, the most by any MLB team since the Seattle Mariners won 116 games in 2001. But guess what happened? The Dodgers lost to the NL West rival Padres — who were playing without Fernando Tatis Jr. the entire season — in the NL Division Series in four games. So, even though the Dodgers made the postseason, they still faced a reckoning after hosting the Midsummer Classic. 2023 – Seattle Mariners In 2022, the Mariners made the playoffs for the first time since their aforementioned 116-win 2001 campaign. While they were swept by the Houston Astros in an eventful series — including a walk-off home run in Game 1 and an 18-inning Game 3 — the 2022 Mariners reinvigorated the Seattle fan base. Then, they missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons and are currently clinging to the third AL wild-card seed for the 2025 playoffs at 51-45. What a coincidence! 2024 – Texas Rangers In another instance of "you can't make this up," the Rangers missed the playoffs for six consecutive seasons, brought in Bruce Bochy to manage the team in 2023 and had an active offseason, which led to them winning the 2023 World Series, the first championship in franchise history. Want to take a wild guess at what happened next? The Rangers missed the playoffs in 2024 and have a losing record in 2025 (48-49). 2025 – Atlanta Braves The Braves have made the playoffs in each of the past seven seasons, highlighted by winning the 2021 World Series. Naturally, they host Tuesday night's All-Star Game, are 9.5 games out of the No. 3 NL wild-card seed and stand in fourth place in the NL East. Furthermore, 16 of the past 19 teams to host the MLB All-Star Game have missed the playoffs. If the Braves right the ship post-All-Star break, then perhaps it's an exorcism at work. Until then, the All-Star Game host curse is alive and well. Denying reality only compounds the difficulty of changing it for the better. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! 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Geek Tyrant
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Coca-Cola's STAR WARS Short Film Is a Joyful Tribute to The Fans — GeekTyrant
Coca-Cola and Disney just dropped a new short film/commercial that feels like a thank you letter to Star Wars fans. Set in a movie theater during a full-on Star Wars marathon. It features Cantina aliens hang out in the lobby of the theater, cosplayers reenact the legendary Vader vs. Obi-Wan duel, and there's even a Force-fueled tug-of-war over a Coke bottle between Rey and Kylo, straight out of The Last Jedi . As you'll see, it unapologetically it celebrates fandom. This is about the passionate fans of the franchise. It's silly, charming, and heartfelt all at once, exactly what you'd want from something aiming to capture what it feels like to love Star Wars this much. The short taps into the reason Star Wars still matters, the fans who keep showing up. And with over 30 character-themed cans out this summer, it's a pretty fun excuse to stock up. Watch the short below, and may your thirst be with you, always.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mark Hamill Discusses His 'Much, Much Darker' Head Canon for Why Luke Skywalker Has Become a 'Suicidal Hermit' in Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Mark Hamill has spoken in detail about the backstory he made up for Luke Skywalker as we see him in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, after moving to clarify his dissatisfaction with Rian Johnson's story. Hamill has made no secret of his disagreement with Luke's on-screen motivations for exiling himself and becoming the hermit Rey meets in 2017's The Last Jedi. As Skywalker explains in the movie, he blames himself for Ben Solo turning to the Dark side of the Force, which drives him to quit the Jedi. When Rey tracks Luke down in a bid to recruit him into the Resistance, he refuses. Now, eight years after that movie came out, Hamill has gone into detail on his head canon for why Luke abandoned the Jedi. Speaking in an interview on Bullseye with Jesse Thorn to promote his new movie, The Life of Chuck, Hamill was asked about how uncomfortable he was when he found out Luke had exiled himself in The Last Jedi. Hamill's response started with him insisting he's a big fan of Rian Johnson, and indeed thinks he made 'a great movie.' 'Here's the thing, and I'd love to clear this up: Rian Johnson is one of the most gifted directors I've ever worked with,' Hamill said. 'He's amiable, he's fun on set, he's smart. He made a great movie. I think the staging of the stand-off between Kylo Ren, Adam Driver and I at the end, is so well staged. The foreshadowing that I'm not really there. Adam wipes the snow away and you see the red planet beneath, I wipe the snow and it's just snow. That's so subtle. I love Knives Out and Brick and Looper. He's one of my favorite directors. 'And the fact that I went public with my dissatisfaction with the motivation for Luke becoming a suicidal hermit might have colored things in a way that, maybe I should have kept that to myself. But I kept saying to Rian, 'This would just make Luke double down even…' and he said, 'Well, your class at the Jedi Academy were wiped out.'' This is in reference to the scene in which a young Ben Solo brings a building down on Luke Skywalker, tears a Jedi temple apart and murders his students before running away to eventually become Kylo Ren. 'I said, 'Rian, I saw entire planets wiped out! If anything, Luke doubles down and hardens his resolve in the face of adversity.' So that's all,' Hamill explained. 'I said, 'Can I make up my own backstory of why he is the way he is? I don't want to just say that I have bumped my head and I have brain damage.' He said, 'Yeah, do whatever you want.' So I made up a much, much darker backstory that I thought could justify him being that way.'Hamill then revealed this backstory, which certainly goes places: 'I thought, what could make someone give up a devotion to what is basically a religious entity, to give up being a Jedi?' Hamill began. 'Well, the love of a woman. So he falls in love with a woman. He gives up being a Jedi. They have a child together. At some point the child, as a toddler, picks up an unattended lightsaber, pushes the button and is killed instantly. The wife is so full of grief, she kills herself.' This head canon, Hamill explained, would have justified Luke's actions and proven an adequate motivation for going into self-imposed exile. 'I thought, that would be… because I hear these horrible stories about these children who find unattended guns and wind up dead,' he continued. 'That resonated with me so deeply that, that could possibly… but he didn't have the time to tell a backstory like that, I'm guessing. He just wanted a brief thing to explain it. And to me, it didn't justify it. 'That said — and I told him [Johnson] this — despite the fact that I disagree with your choices for Luke, I'm going to do everything within my power to make your screenplay work as best as I can. And the only thing unfortunate about that is, I've heard comments from fans who think that I somehow dislike Rian Johnson, and nothing could be further from the truth.' The comments also come hot on the heels of Hamill's confirmation that he will not return to Star Wars in a future movie, insisting: 'There's no way I'm gonna appear as a naked Force ghost.' Rey is set to return to the world of Star Wars in the Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy-directed sequel to the universally panned Star Wars: Episode 9 - The Rise of Skywalker. It will tell the story of Rey as she looks to rebuild the Jedi Order roughly 15 years after the events of that film. In the shorter term, The Mandalorian and Grogu is due out 2026. Star Wars: Starfighter, Shawn Levy's Star Wars movie starring Ryan Gosling, is due out in 2027. Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ or confidentially at wyp100@
Globe and Mail
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
Anime convention in Toronto brings together comics fans and cosplayers
Costume-clad Skylar Spalla stood on the curb at the Toronto Congress Centre on a recent weekend, watching hundreds of fellow cosplayers pass by. His twin brother flitted around him, making sure Spalla's massive suit of armour, which they strapped on using zip ties, held together. Every few minutes, a person approached to ask for a photo with him, from muscle-bound warriors to little kids with their parents. The art student's costume, a recreation of the character Havel from the video game Dark Souls 3, was made of little more than papier mâché, paint and pop tabs. It took him countless hours to make, and showing it at Anime North, an annual fan-run convention celebrating anime, manga and video games, he said, brings him a great sense of pride. Anime North is not only Toronto's biggest anime convention – it is also a fashion show where everyone is a star. Outside of the convention buildings, people gathered in the shade or on the grass near the food trucks to take photos and make friends. One was dressed like Star Wars' Kylo Ren, amplifying their voice with a speaker. Another was costumed as A.B.A., the shy homunculus from the game Guilty Gear with her demon-axe partner Paracelsus (made out of pool noodles and cardboard). One man came to Anime North with a Furby head fashioned with remote-controlled eyes and mouth. For many cosplayers, the annual convention provides a chance to show off their costuming handiwork, and make others happy by bringing beloved characters to life. 'Coming to a convention like this gives me the opportunity to share in the joy that this brings me with so many other people,' said Elijah Kamaras-Garland, a photographer and cosplayer from Toronto who dressed in multiple costumes over the convention weekend as characters from the video game Star Fox. He was accompanied by a friend cosplaying as King K Rool, the malevolent crocodile from the video game Donkey Kong. That costume, made of foam mats, 'had to be built around him by a couple of his friends,' Kamaras-Garland said, because it was so large. Since the late 1980s, Japanese comics (or manga) and cartoons (also known as anime) have found an audience outside of their home country. That popularity has exploded over the past decade, as major television channels such as YTV and streaming services have offered anime shows in English for international audiences. This year's convention (attended by an estimated 36,000 visitors) hosted a variety of panels and workshops where attendees could learn about Japanese culture or their favourite fan pursuit, including a Japanese tea ceremony demonstration, a talk about the philosophy of the series Attack on Titan, a comedic live reading of poorly-written fan fiction and a discussion of accommodating cosplay for people with chronic illnesses. Huge halls were dedicated to artists selling their work. Many vendors were Canadians who said that events like Anime North offer exposure and revenue that keeps small businesses afloat. 'It's a great opportunity to be your own boss, and be able to make a living off of something you actually like' said Vincent Leclerc, an assistant of Savage Mojo, a French-Canadian artist, illustrator and animator who specializes in fan art of fantastical dinosaurs. Conventions like Anime North also provide a real-life space for people to meet fellow hobbyists. While anime fandoms have flourished in online spaces including Reddit and Tumblr, it can be difficult to connect in person with others who share the same interests in shows or games. That community is part of why so many people return to Anime North. It was Maxx Romphf's second time at the convention. 'I've seen every anime you can think of [and] video games,' said the Monster High series cosplayer. 'It's just really nice.' At the end of the convention, visitors headed home in their bright, colourful outfits, many to ready themselves for work the next day. Like the day after Halloween, the costumes go back in the closet and it's back to business as usual. But judging from the smiles on attendees' faces, it was an unforgettable weekend for them.
Gizmodo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
John Boyega Says Finn Still Is Not a Fan of Reylo
Back in 2019, Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker ignited a powderkeg of heated online debates among fans, many of which have laps like waves on the shores of Kef Bir to new discourse discussions about the franchise. Yet, one moment that offered a fleeting sense of satisfaction to a sect of viewers was the emotionally charged kiss between Rey and Kylo Ren–a victory for Reylo shippers that was swiftly undercut when Kylo dissolved into the Force mere seconds after locking lips. Now, six years removed from that silver screen kiss, actor John Boyega reaffirms he's still standing ten toes down on his stance that Finn wasn't a fan of their intimate moment. At C2E2, Boyega sat down with Josh Horowitz and answered a question from a Reylo fan about how Finn and Poe Dameron might have responded to Rey's relationship with Kylo Ren (F.K.A. Ben Solo) had he survived the film's ending. Before delivering his verdict, Boyega took a moment to frame the dynamic of Rey and Kylo through the lens of someone not entrenched in the world of Star Wars before ultimately settling on a firm no. 'I mean look, ladies in the room–straight ladies in the room–when he is pursuing you, him trying to kill you is not a part of the romance, okay. Chasing him and saying, 'We can become something powerful,' I'm there like, 'I wouldn't tell my sisters to do that,'' Boyega said. 'But that kind of reflects off of the spiritual element to Star Wars–the fact that she recognized the good and was fighting for it. But if I was Finn there, Finn should've had a line where he'd say, 'Girl, leave him be. Come home with me.' This isn't the first time Boyega has spoken his piece on Reylo's infamous kiss. Back in 2020, Boyega commented on an Instagram post poking fun at Ben Solo) being no mo, positing that Rey and Finn could get romantically entangled like they were hinted to be in The Force Awakens. Granted, Boyega's joke implied they'd have sex. Still, it was a joke all the same about made-up characters that was refreshingly candid given how restrictive and sanitized actors seem to be whenever they speak about anything Star Wars. Naturally, Boyega's innocuous comment devolved into vitriolic backlash, as Star Wars fans are wont to do (particularly with actors of color), who took the joke to mean he was actually jealous of the made-up character's relationship being endgame, as the kids say. Funnily enough, Boyega's remark comes a year after Rey actor Daisy Ridley shared her thoughts on the Reylo kiss. Speaking on Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast, Ridley revealed the smooch was a part of the film's reshoots. She also characterized the kiss as a fitting farewell for her to the franchise (at the time) that felt well-earned. 'I felt like we all… it felt earned, and what was interesting [was the] intentionality. My feeling in that moment was that it was a goodbye, so that felt earned,' Ridley told Collider. 'Because, I mean, you could call a kiss a thousand things, but I felt like it was a goodbye, and that whole scene felt so emotional. I felt like I was saying goodbye to the job.' Whether you loved or loathed Kylo Ren and Rey's kiss, fans can look forward to Rey Skywalker's grand return to the Star Wars universe in her upcoming film trilogy, where she'll embark on the herculean task of rebuilding the Jedi order. The only thing the Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy-directed film needs is an actual script from its smörgåsbord of writers and plenty of time to cook before we get any meaningful updates on its progress.
