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Few albums in music history have achieved the near-mythical status of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Not because it topped charts or dominated radio waves, but because almost no one has ever heard it. That enigma is at the center of The Disciple, an upcoming documentary making its world premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

Directed by Joanna Natasegara, The Disciple tells the decades-long, stranger-than-fiction story of Dutch Moroccan rapper and producer Cilvaringz, an outsider whose relentless determination earned him an unlikely place inside the inner circle of the Wu-Tang Clan. What begins as fandom evolves into artistic obsession, ultimately culminating in one of the most controversial cultural artifacts of the 21st century.

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is a 31-track double album, housed in an ornate, handcrafted silver box, with only one legal copy in existence. Auctioned in 2015 to the highest bidder, the album was designed as a deliberate provocation and a protest against the devaluation of music in the digital age. Wu-Tang Clan positioned the album not as disposable content, but as fine art, meant to be revered, debated, and withheld from mass consumption.

While the public may not fully experience the album for decades to come, its impact has already rippled across conversations about art, ownership, and technology. The Disciple pulls back the curtain on how that moment came to be, centering Cilvaringz as the connective tissue between Wu-Tang’s legendary mystique and the modern questions surrounding creative labor and value.

Natasegara’s documentary explores how grit, ambition, and belief can collide with genius. Cilvaringz’s journey from devoted fan to trusted collaborator is not just a story about proximity to greatness, but about the risks inherent in pushing artistic boundaries. The film positions Once Upon a Time in Shaolin as both a creative triumph and a lightning rod, igniting debates that continue to resonate in today’s streaming-dominated landscape.

Wu-Tang Clan, of course, is no stranger to telling their story on screen. Hulu’s Wu-Tang: An American Saga offered a dramatized look at the group’s origins, blending real-world figures with creative interpretation for a new generation unfamiliar with the cultural richness of that era. That series provided a valuable lens into the raw, unfiltered talent that cemented Wu-Tang’s legacy, particularly RZA’s deep understanding of music engineering from vinyl to keyboards to studio mixing and mastering.

The Disciple complements that legacy by narrowing its focus on a singular, audacious moment in Wu-Tang history and one that challenges audiences to reconsider what music is worth when stripped of mass accessibility.

Screenings for The Disciple will be available exclusively in person during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, which runs from January 22 through February 1, 2026. For those attending, the film promises an invitation into a conversation about art, scarcity, and the price of cultural impact — one Wu-Tang helped spark, and one the industry is still reckoning with today.

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The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a smash hit in 2023. It took home more than $1.36 billion at the global box office. Plus, you know, this is Super Mario Bros. we’re talking about here. Anything and everything associated with the series comes with a lot of hype. Because of that, the follow-up film, The Super Mario Bros. Galaxy Movie has a lot riding on it. But do we think it won’t be a huge hit? Absolutely not! This thing’ll make a billion dollars, easy. Especially after the first trailer.

Here’s everything we know so far about The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

Title

The movie’s title is The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, an adaptation (presumably) of the 2007 space-themed, gravity-defying Nintendo Wii game and its 2010 sequel.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Plot

We don’t have an official synopsis of the movie yet. However, it appears to pit Mario and Luigi—as well as Princess Peach, Toad, and other heroes—against Bowser Jr. We also know, like the games, the action will take the characters to different planets with specific biomes and meet Princess Rosalina and her starlike subjects, the Lumas.

The game saw the titular plumber traversing the cosmos on a mission to collect enough Power Stars to allow his ship to travel to the center of the universe, where the evil Bowser has imprisoned Princess Peach.

Behind the Scenes

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie comes from directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic. Both directed The Super Mario Bros. Movie along with Illumination animator Pierre Leduc, who will not return to direct the new film. Galaxy works from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel who also wrote the earlier movie.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Cast

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie sees returning cast members Chris Pratt (Mario), Charlie Day (Luigi), Anya Taylor-Joy (Princess Peach), Keegan-Michael Key (Toad), Kevin Michael Richardson (Kamek), and Jack Black (Bowser). Joining the cast this go-around are Oscar-winner Brie Larson as Princess Rosalina and, of all people, acclaimed director Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr. Safdie is going down the Mark Duplass lane, going between broad comedies and dark indie films.

Release Date

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will hit theaters in April 2026.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.

The post Everything We Know About THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE appeared first on Nerdist.

Nearly thirty years since its debut, Buffy the Vampire Slayer remains one of the most influential TV series ever produced. You can see Buffy’s fingerprints over so much pop culture, from the MCU to most of the CW series from the 2010s to Stranger Things. And soon, the saga of the teenage girl chosen to kill the undead in Sunnydale, California, will return in a legacy sequel series for Hulu. So, let’s rank every season of the Sarah Michelle Gellar Buffy series, which also starred Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg, Anthony Stewart Head as Giles, Nicholas Brendan as Xander, and David Boreanaz as Angel.

7. Season 7 (2002-2003)

The seventh and final season of Buffy had some exceptional moments and memorable episodes. But it also struggled to have its main season-long plot not wear thin by the end of its 22 episodes. The season’s “Big Bad,” the entity known as the First Evil, probably sounded good on paper. It can appear as any dead person, including all the dead villains Buffy and her Scoobies had fought. Perfect, right? However, it mostly just appears as an evil Sarah Michelle Gellar playing against herself as Buffy and giving long speeches.

On the subject of inspirational speeches, this season has a lot of them. And they are mainly from Buffy to the next generation of Slayers. There are so many, in fact, that the show itself was making fun of them all by the end. Still, there are some absolutely great episodes in this season, particularly the haunting “Conversations with Dead People” and the iconic series finale “Chosen.” While the entire season is all over the place as a whole, it’s still Buffy and therefore pretty great. It leaves us wanting more, and luckily we are finally getting more in the not-too-distant future.

Best Episodes: “Selfless,” “Conversations with Dead People,” “Storyteller,” “Lies My Parents Told Me,” “Dirty Girls,” “Chosen.”

6. Season 1 (1997)

If you watch season one of BTVS today with no prior knowledge, it’s hard to see what the big deal is. It’s essentially a better, more clever version of the 1992 movie. Or perhaps, one can say it’s Clueless meets The X-Files. But it’s not great by any means; however, all the right ingredients are there from the start. Sarah Michelle Gellar is hilarious and relatable as Buffy Anne Summers, and the entire cast is pitch-perfect from the get-go. Some episodes are actually terrific, like “Angel,” and the season finale, “Prophecy Girl.”

Having said that, some of the most cringe episodes of the whole series are in this season, too. There are episodes like the one that tackles that new-fangled thing we call the internet, “I Robot, You Jane.” And even though he has moments, the season’s main villain, the vampiric Master (Mark Metcalf), is a pretty cliché baddie. He simply can’t compare to most of the Big Bads of the later seasons. That’s a term that we should remind you, BTVS invented for its “Final Boss” bad guy of the season.

Best Episodes: “Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest,” “Angel,” “Out of Mind, Out of Sight,” “Prophecy Girl.”

5. Season 4 (1999-2000)

This season is BTVS’ “odd duck year” and is largely a transitional season. With Buffy and Willow attending Sunnydale University, the “high school is hell” metaphor could no longer be used. And some of the attempts at doing college-centric stories were clunky. It was also the first season without David Boreanaz and Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase, who both left for the spin-off series Angel. So for loyal fans, it was all a bit jarring. It didn’t help that viewers didn’t welcome Buffy’s new “normal guy” boyfriend, Riley Finn (Marc Blucas), with open arms.

Sadly, the series never really had the budget to pull off the underground military operation that was the season’s Big Bad, known as the Initiative. However, season four brought on some of the show’s best individual episodes. Particularly, the nearly all-silent “Hush,” the pair of Buffy and rogue Slayer Faith body swap episodes, and the excellent and surreal season finale “Restless.” Also, the incredible Emma Caulfield became a series regular as ex-demon Anya, as did Amber Benson as the witchy Tara and James Marsters as Spike. All three of those additions have to count as a big positive for the series overall.

Best Episodes: “Something Blue,” “Hush,” “This Year’s Girl,” “Who Are You?” “Superstar,” “Restless.”

4. Season 6 (2001-2002)

This season is very controversial with fans and is a love-it-or-hate-it type of affair. Even Sarah Michelle Gellar has gone on record as not being a big fan. However, we love the big swings this season takes and how it wasn’t afraid to get very dark and ugly at times. Spoilers, but Buffy famously died in the previous season finale and was six feet under when the new season begins. The writers used her resurrection as a metaphor for struggling with deep depression and the toxic lengths people will go to cope with it.

This is the season that the vampire Spike and Buffy enter into an illicit and secret affair, which was met with great controversy from some fans. It was also when a more-powerful-than-ever Willow spectacularly succumbs to her dark side (even if the reasons for this downfall were already cliché and tired in 2002). Yes, this season is a bit messy, but that’s on purpose. We should add that this season contains the spectacular musical episode, “Once More With Feeling,” which is still the best musical episode of any long-running series ever. We’ve mentioned Big Bads a lot in this ranking, but in season six, the Big Bad was just life.

Best Episodes: “Once More, With Feeling,” “Tabula Rasa,” “Smashed,” “Normal Again,” “Villains,” “Grave”

3. Season 2 (1997-1998)

The second season of BTVS is when the show really became the series we know and celebrate today. The first half of the season is just a more confident version of season one, bolstered by the welcome addition of James Marsters as the vampire Spike, and Juliet Landau as his paramour Drusilla, who turned things up a notch. But the show really turned a corner when Buffy and Angel (David Boreanaz) consummated their romance in the mid-season two-part “Surprise” and “Innocence,” which immediately led to Angel becoming evil and the season’s true Big Bad.

The second half of season two brings incredible episodes, as lovers/enemies Buffy and Angel play out a 1950s ghost story in “I Only Have Eyes for You.” And “Passion” delivers one of the most brutal chapters of the series as Angel proves he’s not just full of threatening evil bad guy speeches. He’s the real deal. All of this leads to the show’s most heartbreaking season finale in “Becoming, Parts 1 and 2.” It’s been almost thirty years, and that Sarah McLachlan song from the finale, “Full of Grace,” still makes us tear up. Yes, even more than the ones in all those sad ASPCA commercials.

Best Episodes: “School Hard,” “Halloween,” “Lie to Me,” “Surprise,” “Innocence,” “Passion,” “I Only Have Eyes for You,” “Becoming” (Parts 1 and 2)

2. Season 5 (2000-2001)

The fifth season of most long-running shows is when they usually begin to lose steam. But in many ways, season five was Buffy the Vampire Slayer at its best. The season began with a mysterious new cast addition when the late Michelle Trachtenberg appeared as Buffy’s little sister Dawn, as if she’d always been part of the cast. But wasn’t Buffy an only child? That mystery paid off in spectacular fashion, as did a plotline involving Buffy’s mother facing a serious medical dilemma. It all made Buffy’s life even more chaotic, all while she still had to slay monsters as part of her day job. Well, her night job.

Another high point is “Fool for Love,” which gave us Spike’s unexpected origin story. The episode “The Body,” which deals with the sudden death of a loved one, is better than almost any series ever when dealing with this same heavy subject matter. And it is perhaps this show’s finest hour of all seven seasons. The season finale is also one of the most shocking of this series to date. The Big Bad of the season, the goddess Glory played by Clare Kramer, was occasionally very fun, but also bordered on being too annoying, which ultimately keeps this season in the number two position. But it’s a very close second.

Best Episodes: “Family,” “Fool for Love,” “Crush,” “I Was Made to Love You,” “The Body,” “Forever,” “The Gift.”

1. Season 3 (1998-1999)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was firing on all cylinders by the third season, which was the last year that Whedon and the writing staff had to play with the high school setting and all the juicy metaphors it provided. And so they went for broke, producing one five-star episode after another. Season three had the best season-long arc of the whole series with new Slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku) joining the Scooby gang and later betraying them. And the season’s Big Bad, the evil yet perky Mayor Wilkins (Harry Groener), is the best season-long villain the show ever produced.

Early episodes in the season, like “Band Candy,” “The Wish,” and “Homecoming,” were the perfect BTVS blend of hilarious and heartfelt. And “Amends” remains the best Buffy/Angel romantic angst chapter ever (and it’s a Christmas episode!) But the second half of the season is where things really shine. “The Prom” will forever make our hearts sing, as the Sunnydale High class of ’99 finally acknowledged their champion. Meanwhile, “Graduation Day” is everything one would want from a big season finale. Simply put, Buffy the Vampire Slayer season three is everything great about the show wrapped up into one year, and that’s why it is the best season ever.

Best Episodes: “Homecoming,” “Band Candy,” “Revelations,” “The Wish,” “Amends,” “The Zeppo,” “Bad Girls,” “Consequences,” “Earshot,” “The Prom,” “Graduation Day (Parts 1 and 2)”

All seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are currently streaming on Hulu.

The post All 7 Seasons of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, Ranked appeared first on Nerdist.

Marvel fans are gearing up for a series that looks unlike anything the MCU has delivered before. Wonder Man, set to premiere on Disney+ on January 27, promises to “unlike any Marvel show” according to actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. The series is led by the powerhouse duo of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley.

From the glimpses offered in the recently released trailer, it’s clear this is a two-hander: the series hinges on the chemistry and charisma of Abdul-Mateen and Kingsley. With both actors boasting Emmy and Oscar-winning performances in their careers, holding the audience’s attention is practically guaranteed. But while their star power is undeniable, the series’ real intrigue lies in its mystery: who or what is the villain? The trailer teases an antagonistic presence shadowing these characters, leaving fans wondering just how dangerous the stakes will be for Wonder Man (Abdul-Mateen) or for Trevor Slattery (Kingsley)?

Adding to the series’ playful intrigue is its meta premise. Both characters are actors in the story, auditioning for a role in a movie — Wonder Man himself. Abdul-Mateen’s dual role as both Simon and the titular Wonder Man creates layers of storytelling that are “fresh, tongue-in-cheek, and self-aware,” in the actor’s words, while still grounded in character-driven drama. The dynamic between the aspiring actor and the legendary screen veteran hints at a series that’s as much about Hollywood ambition as it is about superhero feats.

Even in promo materials and trailer teasers, Wonder Man establishes a unique identity: a Marvel series that leans into satire, character work, and a slightly irreverent tone, setting it apart from the rest of the MCU. Fans won’t have long to wait to see where this bold experiment lands.

Mark your calendars. Wonder Man swings into Disney+ on January 27. Get ready for a series that’s equal parts superhero spectacle, Hollywood satire, and pure Marvel fun.

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