Ads promoting upcoming blockbuster movies are among those scheduled during Super Bowl LX.
An ad for “The Mandalorian and Grogu” included a spoof, or perhaps an homage, of the classic Budweiser ads featuring a team of Clydesdales.
The commercial showed the Mandalorian and Grogu riding a sleigh pulled by a team of tauntauns, the snow-beasts seen in the opening scenes of “The Empire Strikes Back.”
Actor Sam Elliott, who also has voiced past Budweiser ads, provided a voiceover for the commercial, Deadline reported.
The movie is scheduled to premiere May 22.
Budweiser’s own ad scheduled for the Super Bowl will feature a Clydesdale caring for a baby eagle in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, USA Today said.
Other ads scheduled during the game will promote “Toy Story 5,” The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and “Minions 3, NBC News reported.
Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day” and the seventh installment of the Scream franchise, “Scream 7” will also air during Super Bowl LX.
Chris and Andy talk about the news that, among others, Carrie Coon and Parker Posey have been cast in the next season of White Lotus (1:00). Then they talk about the news that there will be a Mandalorian movie and what that means for a potential Season 4 of the show (23:36). Finally, they discuss the newest Marvel TV show, Echo, and how—like many other Marvel shows before it—it struggles to strike the right tone (34:51).
Hosts: Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald Producer: Kaya McMullen
TALLAHASSEE, FL—Saying he was happy to finally bury the hatchet with the major corporation after months of difficult dialogue, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that he had ended his feud with Disney after being given a guest role on The Mandalorian. “I couldn’t be more excited to let bygones be bygones and announce my one-episode stint as Imperial Moff Rego Thalcyon,” DeSantis said of the guest appearance, which consists solely of him delivering the line “Yes, most acceptable” with his arms crossed behind his back as he dispatches an imperial guard to attack a gang of intruders. “Obviously, I never wanted my differences with Disney to spiral out of control like this. So, yeah, it was a blast to spend some time on set, even if it was only for a day. They even let me take a selfie with Pedro [Pascal] and the Grogu puppet. Anyway, check me out on Apr. 19 when the episode airs! And may the force be with you.” At press time, DeSantis was reportedly furious after learning his guest role had been cut for time.
The first season of The Last of Us, the undeniable smash-hit HBO series based on the video game of the same name, has ended. And though the discourse about the controversial ending rages on, people are already looking ahead to season two, which will introduce one of the most infamous characters in the series: Abby Anderson and her incredibly toned arms.
I’d like a little more She-Bulk in my She-Hulk, please.Image: Marvel / Disney
But it’s not just the game industry, as proven time and time again by the dearth of women superheroes built like Victoria’s Secret models. Does Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman look like she can do anything other than strut and make mealy-mouthed comments on the Israeli-Palestine conflict? Is Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow capable of pulling off gymnastic stunts when she’s wearing a SKIMS waist trainer under a leather catsuit?
In an Entertainment Weekly interview, She-Hulk executive producer Kat Coiro responded to rumors that “Marvel requested She-Hulk’s muscles be made smaller,” saying that She-Hulk didn’t need to be all that big, actually.
We honestly talked about strength more than aesthetics. We studied musculature and we studied women athletes who were incredibly strong. We really leaned towards Olympians rather than bodybuilders. That’s where a lot of our body references came from, very strong Olympic athletes. So she doesn’t have a bodybuilder’s physique, but she absolutely has a very strong physique that can justify the actions that she does in the show. I think people expected a bodybuilder and for her to have these big, massive muscles but she looks more like Olympians.
Unfortunately, until recently, one of the few examples of a muscular woman in modern media was MMA-fighter-turned-actor Gina Carano as Cara Dune on The Mandalorian. Her arms were absolutely gigantic, exploding out from her chest armor with purpose. She dwarfed every other person sharing a scene with her. Sadly, Carano came out as a transphobe and a covid pandemic anti-masker, so she got the boot, and I worried I’d never see someone built like her on TV or in movies again.
Mandalorian muscle mommies
This is the way: Cast more muscular femmes in TV shows and movies.Image: Katy O’Brian on Instagram / Kotaku
Thankfully, Katy O’Brian came to the rescue. Though she’s only briefly in The Mandalorian season 2, she returns as a major character in the third season, and yes, we do get to see her arms. In fact, her muscles are so prominent that fans of the series already made an apt comparison, tweeting that O’Brian, an actor and martial artist, should play Abby in The Last of Us season 2.
It’s certainly not a far stretch. Though Abby is voiced by Laura Bailey and has the face of former Naughty Dog dev Jocelyn Mettler, her body double is CrossFit athlete and former collegiate swimmer Colleen Fotsch, who looks like she could pick me (a pretty muscular woman) up with one arm and wield me like a baseball bat. Fotsch, who did not respond to Kotaku’s request for comment, has a litany of YouTube videos showing off workout routines—and considering she’s currently a data analyst by trade, she’s proof that women can be muscle mommies while also living fulfilled NARP (non-athletic regular people) lives.
Casting an actor who is athletically inclined and already ripped up like a bad report card as Abby in The Last of Us season two makes a ton of sense—though I find myself longing to see a wild bulk-up of an actor not already built like a brick shithouse. But also, I just want to see more muscular women in movies and television, guys. I don’t really care how they get there, I just want them there, muscles rippling like coiled snakes under their skin.
