Gina Carano, former star of The Mandalorian, reacts to recent South Park episode slamming Kathleen Kennedy and Disney diversity.

The latest South Park special premiered on Paramount+ on Friday and took aim at Disney’s diversity and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, so you can imagine that Gina Carano had something to say about it.

South Park: Joining the Panderverse finds Cartman fearing that he’s going to be replaced by a diverse woman, and thanks to some multiverse madness, that’s exactly what happens and he’s sent to a universe populated entirely by women of colour. It’s revealed that the multiverse rip was caused by Kathleen Kennedy, who had been using a secret Disney artifact, the Panderstone, in order to remake the same idea over and over again to appeal to the largest audience. In true South Park fashion, the episode also slams the online trolls who have hounded Kathleen Kennedy over every choice she’s made.

“This is the part where [Kathleen Kennedy] demands any YouTubers get censored off of YouTube for sharing and laughing at this hilarious episode, she’ll have YouTube disable the thumbs down option because of the ratio she’ll receive, then she’ll have her publicist ghouls make sure Variety and Hollywood Reporter run hit pieces about the South Park creators and their families smearing their names through every useful idiot she has under her thumb who would sell their soul to work for Lucas film,” Gina Carano wrote about the South Park episode. “She’ll activate her online mob to repeat that the South Park creators are racist, bigot, transphobes, and demand the South Park creators publicly apologize by only using words she approves of and finally she’ll demand they subject themselves to a re-education course of 45 people in the lbgtq community zoom call to sit there and listen of how badly they got their feelings hurt all over a little boop of a South Park episode. But maybe just maybe the jig is up.“

Carano elaborated in a follow-up post on X. “Do you always call a woman crazy just because she has more first hand experience than you & says something you don’t like or understand? Bit misogynistic don’t ya think,” Carano wrote. “If I were the head of one of the most powerful entertainment companies in the world, I would know that haters come with the territory & that maybe the ‘haters’ are expressing their thoughts because they actually care and caring is a good thing because as long as they care well hey, we still have something to work with. Maybe we can win their hearts back eventually & maybe they do have some good things to add to the conversation (which they do & did). And at the very least they are still buying the product… If you are a proper good leader you learn how to embrace & communicate, not dictate & silence & demand your actors & directors unfollow & shame more than half of your fan base & the people who have stuck with the franchise for decades.“

Gina Carano played Rebel shock-trooper Cara Dune in the first two seasons of The Mandalorian, but a series of controversial social-media posts led to Lucasfilm firing the actress. “Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future,” read a Lucasfilm statement. “Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”

Angel Studios (the makers of Sound of Freedom) newest effort delves into the After Life, but does little to convince those skeptical.

PLOT: Based on real near-death experiences, After Death explores the afterlife with the guidance of New York Times bestselling authors, medical experts, scientists, and survivors that shed a light on what awaits us.

REVIEW: Angel Studios’ Sound of Freedom absolutely took the world by storm earlier this year with its take on human trafficking. While there was plenty of controversy surrounding the tactics being used, it clearly resulted in a lot of money. After Death is the next project to come from those producers, and it takes a vastly different approach. This is a documentary that takes a look at various survivors and their near death experiences. More specifically, the moment they died and what happened before they were brought back to life. As you can imagine, this is absolutely geared towards those who are more spiritual.

The survivors mostly have interesting stories that are often harrowing. But the format of “survivor tells their story, with a little bit at the end about a weird experience” is repeated ad nauseam. At a certain point it almost feels like trauma porn as people are reliving these moments with emotional difficulty. And the narrative will jarringly cut from someone before it really feels like their story has concluded. Even still, I appreciated how it was presented, even if some of the people are a tad to performative, breaking the reality of the situation a bit. In particular, I enjoyed the different scientists that were using statistics and empirical evidence to make their point.

On a technical level, After Death is extremely well done. Director of Photography Austin Straub shot an absolutely gorgeous film. This is genuinely one of the better documentaries I can remember from a cinematography standpoint. Given the subject matter, they’re really able to lean into the beautiful, heavenly landscape that earth can provide. But they also appear to use chemical reactions filmed at a microscopic level in order to show fantastical things. Many times it reminded me of Darren Aronofsky‘s The Fountain. It makes for a really fascinating experience.

Maybe the main issue is that I’m not a man of faith so I was often just eye-rolling throughout After Death. I tried to be open minded but I’m a very logical person who has already looked into scientific reasoning behind fantastical events. A lot of these experiences can be blamed on the DMT released by the brain when a person is near death. Yet this phenomenon isn’t even broached. I think the biggest thing these people have in common is the miracle that they had medical personnel that were able to bring them back from death. It seems as though the wrong lessons are being learned here. Although, it’s encouraging that nearly everyone who came back, wanted to be a better person.

Despite not really believing anything going on in the movie, it’s hard not to appreciate the approach they take. The people are constantly saying how they want the viewer to be skeptical. Unfortunately, a lot of this kind of goes down the drain with the whole end credits portion, where the filmmakers are talking to the camera. This is where their agenda becomes very clear and they really start pushing more of the faith narrative. I get it, this is a religious production company, so there’s always going to be a level of that. But the film is at its most interesting when it takes a more scientific approach to the events.

These producers are implementing the same “pay it forward” approach that they took with Sound of Freedom. While I won’t get into the sketchy logistics of that, it’s an approach they seem adamant to return to. Whether it works to the same level of their previous effort remains to be seen but it seems off to a good start. The religious folks that are likely to see After Death, will likely have their faith reaffirmed. But unfortunately there’s just not enough convincing information to turn skeptics. It’s the epitome of “preaching to the choir.”

AFTER DEATH IS PLAYING IN THEATERS ON OCTOBER 27TH, 2023.

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Robert Kirkman’s superhero saga continues with another bloody and bold chapter.

Plot: Still reeling from Nolan’s betrayal in Season One, Mark struggles to rebuild his life as he faces a host of new threats while battling his greatest fear – that he might become his father without even knowing it.  

Review: The first season of Invincible was a pleasant surprise. Few animated series have been able to not only tell a mature story but do so outside of the familiar universes of Marvel or DC. Robert Kirkman’s series, based on his Image Comics series of the same name, introduced the world to a new hero in Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) and his twisted alien hero/villain father, Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons). After the eight-episode first season and a standalone holiday special focused on Atom Eve (Gillian Jacobs), Invincible returns after over two years with a sophomore season with new characters and story arcs pulled right from the comics. Along with some new twists, this is a very faithful take on the source material that balances superhero action, brutal violence, and solid humor while delving into the psychological toll of what it means to live in a world of god-like beings with supernatural powers. Invincible is as good as ever and shows no signs of slowing down.

If you have read the comics, you know what you are in store for this season. Invincible picks up after the fallout of the massive battle between Mark and his father, which saw the city of Chicago decimated. Omni-Man departed Earth, leaving his son physically and mentally scarred. Omni-Man’s rampage not only caused damage to Earth but also to those close to him, including his human wife Debbie (Sandra Oh), whom he referred to as a pet rather than a partner. With villains still active and a void left by Omni-Man, the new Guardians of the Globe team, under the watchful control of Cecil Stedman (Walton Goggins) and the Global Defense Agency, continue to pick up the pieces. This means we will meet some former bad guys from last season, like the Lizard League, Doc Seismic, and The Mauler Twins, but there are also new villains to face, as well as some new heroes like Bulletproof (Jay Pharoah) and Shapesmith (Ben Schwartz).

The biggest new addition to Invincible is Sterling K. Brown, who voices Angstrom Levy. Levy’s introduction in the first episode will not be spoiled here, but it sets up one of the biggest twists from the pages of the comic book. Brown delivers a solid vocal performance that will have fans drawing comparisons to a similar plot thread seen in recent Marvel and DC feature films. Not only does this plot device not feel derivative, but it is key to the main narrative of Invincible. This series has always been different than the two big comic book franchises in that it tackles the expected stories of heroes and villains from a more realistic vantage point. Similarly to Prime Video’s other hit series, The Boys, Invincible pulls no punches when it comes to violence, profanity, or sexual content. Even though it is animated, Invincible feels more realistic than The Boys in how it looks at the impact the decisions the heroes have on the lives around them.

Having seen the four episodes that comprise Part One of Invincible’s second season, I was happy with the consistency kept between the freshman and sophomore seasons. Steven Yeun is still great in the lead role, now flush with nuance as Mark Grayson must contend with the psychological trauma of his father leaving Earth. Yeun balances playing an eighteen-year-old burgeoning hero with the stress of being literally invincible with multiple layers, adding a maturity to this story that would have been lacking in most animated projects. Sandra Oh has a lot more to do this season as she succumbs to her own depression after Omni-Man’s departure. Gillian Jacobs is also good as she explores Eve’s change of heart regarding being a superhero. The additional voice work from everyone is excellent, including Andrew Rannells and Zazie Beetz, who play key roles in this run of episodes. The vast ensemble is just as good with new additions and returning favorites, including Ross Marquand, Jason Mantzoukas, Grey Griffin, Zachary Quinto, Cliff Curtis, Daveed Diggs, Rhea Seahorn, Lea Thompson, and more.

With Robert Kirkman back to shepherd the second season of Invincible, the series is stronger than ever. Unlike the diminishing returns of The Walking Dead as it overstayed its welcome, this series keeps the seasons short, focused, and full of meaningful development. Past the initial origin story phase of the narrative, the season premiere opens fast and never lets up. Like season one, these episodes run over forty minutes, a rarity in animated series, but you easily forget that you are watching a cartoon within minutes. I have not always been a big fan of the anime-inspired look of Invincible. Still, it definitely allows for flexibility in storytelling that live-action could not sustain. There is a scale to this story that brings it above most animated projects, which is also helped by the great soundtrack, including a solid Radiohead track in the first half of the premiere. I also found Invincible’s use of credit and post-credit sequences to be original and keep you glued to the very final moments of each episode.

I liked the first half of Invincible’s second season more than the entire first season. The layered drama and character development throughout these four episodes dwarfs any other animated superhero project besides the Spider-verse movies. Invincible has over one hundred issues of source material to draw from, and that means if they can sustain the quality we have gotten over the first thirteen episodes, we are in for years and years of this series to come. Invincible is definitely not for the squeamish, but if you like your comic book adaptations to be chock full of no-holds-barred action, hilarious comedy, and some of the best character development in the genre, Invincible is for you.

Invincible season two premieres on November 3rd on Prime Video.

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