Sept. 11, 2023

Wolverine's 50th Birthday, Bub

Wolverine's 50th Birthday, Bub

Ready for a deep dive into the whimsical world of pop culture? This episode has you covered! We're unwrapping Marvel Studios' latest move that has taken the fan community by storm - a reshuffling of release dates for their much-anticipated TV shows. When Hollywood strikes throw a wrench into the works, how does Marvel keep the momentum going for shows like Loki Season 2, What If?, and more? And did we mention Wolverine is turning 50? We're equally thrilled for Chris Claremont's return to Wolverine: Mad Night Report – a celebration you can't miss!

But that's not all. Warner Bros is making waves too, and we're here to dissect their future plans. With top TV showrunners Greg Berlanti and Ryan Murphy backing their crews amidst the Hollywood work stoppage, we're left wondering - what's up next for the Warner Bros universe? From DC to Harry Potter, there's plenty to speculate about their grand franchise plans. Can they avoid franchise fatigue? Let's get to discussing!

As if that wasn't enough, we've also got some juicy news from Star Trek Online Incursion and the Star Wars universe. Join us as we talk about the latest episode, the solidarity of Hollywood actors and writers on the picket line, new villains in Star Wars, and the resurfacing of a legendary piece of Star Wars history. So buckle up, and get ready for a fun-filled ride through the galaxies of pop culture. Hold onto your seats, this episode promises to be a rollercoaster ride!

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Transcript
Thomas:

Tonight, marvel Studios shuffles dates again. Berlanti steps up, track actors, pick it Dark Jedi Padawan, and remember Smash Mouth's Steve Harwell. All that and more on this edition of Multiverse Tonight Comic books, sci-fi, fantasy and more. If you're looking for a roundup of geeky news, you're in the right place. This is Multiverse Tonight. And here's our host, thomas Townley. Well, hello everyone, and welcome to episode 197 of Multiverse Tonight, recorded on September 11th, my sister's birthday. So happy birthday, margo. And there's not a lot to start the day with. I did spend the weekend. It's a very busy weekend for me. I've been working to, I've been starting work to take the stuff out of a house that I have rented out in the past I'm going to get ready to sell it and yesterday I went to Wichita to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the USS Jennette Maddox. That's the chapter Starfleet International that I am loosely associated with. It was a fun time. So since there's not a lot to start the show with, you know, just to ramble on, let's go on to the Marvel News. And we begin Marvel News with Marvel Studios once again reshuffling the release dates for its slate, this time its television shows. Now, what if? Echo and Agatha, covenant of Chaos, which is now titled Agatha Darkhold Diaries, are among the titles getting new dates. This comes amid the Hollywood strikes as well as a general pushback by Disney+. The writer strike, of course, began May 2nd and the actress won strike on July 14th, which significantly hampers any production or development in Hollywood. At the same time, sources say Marvel wants to focus its efforts to make each title an event for fans and audiences. In other words, you know they keep putting out stuff that's stuff, that's stuff, that's stuff and you can't get numb to it and you cannot want to. You know, give more of yourself, give yourself over to watching it. So you know they thought if they spread it out a little bit more, you know it might. You know just the numbers back up Now. Loki, season 2 will be the only show to hit this fall, a debut on Disney+ on October 6th, and expectations are high that the series, the centers on alternate timelines, will do well, especially with the McDonald's Cross promotion. The season 2 trailer got the biggest digital debut of a trailer for any Disney+ and season 1 still remains the most watched Marvel series on Disney+. The second season of the Emmy-winning anime series, what If, will debut around Christmas Day, although it should be noted that the anime show is not a holiday-themed series like the namesake comic on which its premise is based. Now, what If is an anthology series that looks like key moments in the MCU and how they would look if something was tweaked. Jeffrey Wright, of course, returns as the voice of the Watcher. What If was originally slated for an early 2023 release, so, in other words, it's pretty much been in the can for a while. They've just been holding on to it. Echo, the spin-off from last year's Hawkeye, was originally announced for November 29th and is now shifted to January 2024. The Star Wars, alecquah Cox, as the one-time head of a criminal organization who returns to her hometown in Oklahoma, they come to terms with her past. The series, which stands on the character who is deaf and have Native American descent, is described as having a grittier and more grounded tone than some of the other Marvel series, and will feature appearances by Daredevil and the Kingpin. As previously announced, all episodes will drop at the same time. Next on the schedule will be X-Men 97, the anime series that acts as the continuation of the classic 1990s series aired on Fox Now. This series was first announced back in 2021 and originally was set to debut this fall. However, it will now premiere in early 2024. The show is described by sources who have seen it as a retro love letter to the original. A second season remains in the works Now. Agatha, the WandaVision spin-off that keeps getting a name change, was originally announced for Winter 2023 but has now been pushed back to early fall 2024, where it all is served as a lead-in to Halloween. The show, which was completed before the strikes, was previously titled Agatha, house of Harkness, and then Agatha, covenant of Chaos, before becoming now Agatha Darkhold Diaries, also Ironheart. The show based on genius inventor Riri Williams that was introduced in Black Panther will come to forever, was to have dropped this fall, is now completely off the schedule. It's not a shooting, but its completion is affected by the strikes. Their devil born again. The continuation of the Netflix series, but this time in the MCU, was expected to come out in spring of 2024,. However, it was paused mid-production. Wonder man starring Yaha Abdul-Mahteen II was also paused in mid-production. It's unclear where the calendar on those three series will end up, so your mileage may vary and watch this space. For 50 years it's been the best there is at what he does, and starting in January 2024, marvel Comics proudly celebrates the milestone anniversary of Wolverine with the berserkers rage worth the excitement, including Chris Claremont's return to the character this February with Wolverine Mad Report Nights. Having defined the character for years as legendary work on Unkine X-Men and helming the character's first solo adventures, there's no better critter to kick things off. Claremont will mark the occasion by following up on the events of one of his most beloved Wolverine tales, on Kine X-Men no 268. Featuring the iconic artwork of Jim Lee, this blockbuster issue is a hallmark of 90s X-Men. The saga included Wolverine's earliest meeting with Captain America during World War II as they teamed up to rescue a young Natasha Romanoff and connect it with the present day Wolverine adventure where he fights along Black Widow in Mad Report. It's a one issue masterpiece of epic storytelling and now fans can experience the long-waited sequel to the undisputed classic. The five issue limited series will be drawn by acclaimed artist Edgar Salazar, who got his claws bloody in the recent X-23 Deadly Regenesis series. Together, claremont and Salazar will pick things up where Ocanny X-Men no 268 left off as Captain America joins Wolverine and Black Widow in the ditch streets of Mad Report to hunt down a planet-threatening weapon and the multiple enemies looking to control it. Claremont, cap Widow and Wolverine are together again with a secret weapon bringing Captain America to Mad Report. The trio team up you've been waiting for decades for will finally come to pass as the mission brings Logan and Black Widow into a race against time, against the multitude of foes, including the hand. You've been waiting for this one and you'll never guess where it goes. Claremont shared quote. Hard to believe. Bub, I've known Logan for 50 years and Natasha in the first Marvel story I ever wrote. This trip back to Mad Report reveals hidden truths about two of my favorite characters on the adventure that shaped their lives. Wolverine, mad Report Knights is scheduled to be released in February of 2024. Gerson Lepore, the director, writer and deck producer of Marvel Studios I Am Groot talks about the making of the show. She discussed the challenges of making a CG series and the importance of music and working with Jeffrey Wright. Lepore said one of the biggest challenges of making a CG series is the time it takes. Quote. It's a very slow process. It can take months to create just a few minutes of animation, unquote. Their challenge, she talked about, was making sure that the characters are expressive and engaging quote. We wanted Groot to be expressive and relatable. We worked with a lot of Anmir to make sure that he moved in a way that was both cute and funny unquote. And Lepore also discussed the importance of music in the show, saying quote music is a big part of Groot's personality. He wants to use music to help tell his story and to make him feel like a real character unquote. Finally, lepore talked about working with Jeffrey Wright, who voices Groot in the show quote. Jeffrey is an amazing actor. He brought us so much to the role of Groot. He really helped us understand who Groot is and how he should be portrayed. Unquote. Now I Am Groot is the sixth episode and a series that follows the adventures of Baby Groot, the fan favorite character from Guardians of the Galaxy films. The series is set between events of Guardians of the Galaxy's one and two, or two and three, excuse me. I Am Groot is available to stream on Disney Plus. Now let's go on to the DC Comics News, and we begin DC Comics News with Gary Conway, a prolific comic creator known for his work at Marvel and DC and beyond, who has revealed that he has been recently battling pancreatic cancer. Conway took to Twitter on Thursday to reveal the news showing that he was initially diagnosed with cancer in October of 2022. After undergoing surgery to remove the tumor, he has been cancer-free as of January of 2023, but still enduring health complications in recent months, including being put into a medically induced coma. Conway has been involved in the creation of a number of beloved comic characters, including Marvel's man thing, ms Marvel, the Punisher, werewolf by Night and Ben Riley, and DC's Firestorm, vixen, powergirl and Jason Todd, he said in a statement. Quote Last October I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and I had Whipple surgery to remove the tumor, including my gallbladder, some of which my intestines, and rearrange most of my lower body parts. The good news is, praise Cthulhu, as of January, I'm now cancer-free. The bad news is, praise Cthulhu, there were complications. I've been dealing with those complications since last December and it's been a lot Three hospitalizations, including weeks in the ICU I don't remember because I was in an induced coma and various other issues too fun to discuss here. The reason I bring this up is not to grab for sympathy I received much-need sympathy and support from friends and family at the time but to express my sincere gratitude to the wonderful team at UCLA Ronald Reagan Hospital who saved my bleep life and to publicly express my love, especially to my family, particularly the amazing at Conway Louraby, and to the friends who stood by me, old and new. I don't have a high opinion of my worth. Their generous support was a revelation. Fingers crossed, I believe I'm well on the road to recovery. I've been in a dark place and I've come out. My heart is filled with gratitude. There are ways to go, but still, the bottom line is I'm back, baby, ready to take names and kick ass", and we wish Mr Conway the best of health. These top TV-top showrunners are stepping in to help their crews as the Hollywood work stoppage heads into the fall with still no end in sight, and an email sent today, sent this past week, to people who had worked as support staff or below the line personnel on Burlanti Productions in the last few years, greg Burlanti announced that the company has launched a strike relief fund of half a million dollars for them, saying don't, we will be doing our best to spread these funds amongst as many people as possible, and so they will be in denominations of 500 to $1500. Now, back in May, soon after the WJ strike, burlanti was among the top showrunners who collectively contributed $1.7 million to the entertainment community fund. In this letter to his fellow co-worker Burlanti, whose own Warner Bros TV deal has been suspended amid the strike, revealed that he will be making additional donations of $150,000 to the fund and the same amount to the Motion Picture Intelligent fund. Burlanti continued, quote I will be asking for that money to be earmarked for support staff and below the line workers. I implore other industry workers in an unfortunate situation to give what they can to these organizations. Today, burlanti similarly stepped up to help his staff and others during the pandemic. In one of the biggest individual donations to the relief efforts aimed at people in the industry impacted by the COVID relief production shutdowns, burlanti, in April of 2020, committed a million dollars, including $600K for workers on Burlanti production shows. The gesture was similarly unveiled by Burlanti and the staff email. Now Burlanti went on to re-firm his support for his union and the main goal of the ongoing strike. Quote I'm a proud member of the WGA and I support a fair deal that continues to provide sustainable, lifelong careers for all the incredible talent just entering the business. I also know how vulnerable so many are right now and I want to make sure we are doing all we can to help others while both these strikes continue. Now fellow top showrunner, ryan Murphy also announced a 500K assistance fund targeting cast and crews of his company shows who also have been impacted by the strikes. Warner Brothers Home Entertainment today announced that the Sandman the complete first season is coming to digital on September 18th, followed by disc releases on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and DVD on November 28th. These series, based on the acclaimed comic books by Neil Gaiman and some of the most celebrated artists of the time, including Colleen Durand and Sam Keith, follow Morpheus, also known as Dream, who was captured by an occult ritual in 1960 by Roderick Burgess In prison for 106 years. Morpheus escapes, only to return to find his home, the Dreaming with nightmares having found their way out. The show was certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and already has been renewed for a second season on Netflix. The Sandman the complete first season features an all-star cast including Tom Sturridge as Morpheus the dream, boyd Holbrook as the Corinthian, pat Noiswald as Matthew Raven, vivian Amakpang as Lucian, david Thawalls as John D, jenna Coleman as Joanna Constantine and Gwendolyn Christie as Lucifer Morningstar. Franchises have been the name of the game for Hollywood in the past years, and Warner Brothers has been franchise heavy more than most, between various DC movies, the different conjuring films and whatever else the studio's big franchise pushed for over the last decade. But for current CEO, david Zaslav, the company hasn't been utilizing them enough to his liking. During a recent Goldman Sachs conference, zaslav expressed a desire to expand upon Warner Brothers' biggest franchises. Specifically, things constant such as DC, alongside the likes of Lord of the Rings, have been underused. To him, what makes Warner Brothers stand out from other studios is the great IP that owns, he said quote. But for us, the challenge is we haven't done anything with Harry Potter for more than a decade. We haven't done anything with Lord of the Rings unquote and among those things, dc is in the midst of starting a 10-year plan from James Gunn and Pierce Saffron, with the first official project being Gunn's Superman Legacy in 2025. As for Lord of the Rings, it's known that WB is working on more movies, such as the 2024 anime prequel War of the Rohr-Rahim. In the case of Harry Potter, that's more of a technicality than anything else. Zaslav is specifically referring to films around or on or after the timeline of the original movies, which conveniently distances the Fantastic Beasts movies. The niche is expected to be filled by a TV adaptation of the original books, which he says will run for 10 consecutive years. Zazlove also talked about the company needing to ensure that doesn't overuse the content and risk franchise fatigue. Now, while it's not wrong to have thought to have the bigger issue, maybe some of these franchises have lost their staying power in recent years. Dc can get act together so many times before audiences become selective about what they see and the Potter brand gradually burned out among its goodwill for a variety of reasons, not counting author JK Rowling's transphobic beliefs. Not every brand is built for continued long term success, especially when it's looked as through a financial lens rather than a creative one. Warner Bros CEO David Zazlove wants to expand the studio's biggest franchises and it believes that these franchises have been underutilized and the studio needs to ensure that he doesn't overuse that content. Overall, plans for Warner Bros are said to be ambitious, but remains to be seen when whether they can be successful. Now let's go on to the Star Trek news. Star Trek Voyagers' Harry Cameron's finally getting a promotion Currency of Star Trek Online, a Gearbox publishing and cryptic studios have announced Star Trek Online Incursion. The Star Trek's MMORPG's 30th season. Star Trek Online Incursion will launch on September 12th for PC and November 1st for PlayStation 4 and Xbox Series X. Continuing the multiverse story of the previous season, this season defines Star Base 1 under attack from a new Borg threat. While attempting to fend off the Borg, starfleet receives aid from an unexpected new ally, star Trek Voyagers, garrett Wang, who returns to voice Captain Harry. Kim Keppley Brown also returns to voice Captain Kamarkey. Additionally, players will encounter Captain Kim's new astrophysicist Commander, aaron McDonald, who appeared on Star Trek Prodigy Players. Played by Aaron McDonald, the real-life astrophysicist, astrophysicist, astro Space Engineer, star Trek Science Advisor and host of the YouTube channel, dr Aaron explains the universe. Star Trek Online Incursion brings a new episode to new Task Force operations a pet melanoid slime worm and more to the game. Now here's a rundown of what to expect. A new episode taken by Surprise a Borg invasion force emerges from a reality vortex at Star Base 1,. These Borg are different, stronger, ruthless and more aggressive. Starfleet must use all of their might, alongside some unexpected help, to repel the Borg forces. There is a new Task Force operation the Resistance of Star Base 1. There is also a new Naruto Task Force operation called Gilitine, a T6 ship upgrade expansion from T6X to T6X2, which will unlock a new Starship trait and a universal console slot and device slot. Star Base is a Season 30 event called Borg Tesseract, in which players can win the Peace Adaption Ground Set. You can also claim a free Starfleet Protostar uniform during the event. There's also the new Project Lockbox, as well as the Protostar Class Starship and much more, of course. Play that online at StarTrekOnlinecom. As Hollywood actors and writers continue their strike against major studios, one special picket line honors Star Trek and its many spin-offs. Gasmates from the various generations of the show met on the picket line outside the gates of Paramount Pictures where they once taped episodes. Among them was George D'Key. A stood alongside LeVar Burton and others. Burton had a message for studio executives who they've been on strike against. Quote Y'all are losing profits hand over fist, and I know that there are meetings happening in back rooms all over this town. He added greed isn't good for any of us. So let's get real, let's come back to the table, let's make a fair and equitable deal and let's get back to work, unquote. Now D'Key said actors are struggling to make a living in the changing anti-matter environment industry. Quote we're here to ensure that the young actors coming up building their careers will have the incentive to keep on keeping on rather than giving up and opening up a restaurant or something. We want them to be able to survive on their art of acting. We're here in solidarity to support their careers so that they can enjoy that career that LeVar and I have enjoyed. And also Picketing was Star Trek Next Generation actor Will Wheaton. Will Wheaton, of course, grew up on the next generation and talked about supporting up-and-coming actors who are on strike for higher pay, more residuals and protections from artificial intelligence. Quote Star Trek teaches us that we can create and sustain a world where everyone works together, where everyone has equal access and equal opportunity. I'm out here today to do for the future of my industry what SAG and WGA did for me back in the 60s. I have a pension in healthcare and I was able to receive residual checks during the years that I did not work on camera. They really kept me going, and actors are coming up today, in a world with streaming and AI is really a threat that needs to be looked at and negotiated and managed unquote. Now Star Trek actors and writers are on strike against major studios for higher pay, more residuals and protections from artificial intelligence. The strike, of course, began back on May 2nd. The WGA, of course, is seeking a higher pay for writers, more residuals and protections from artificial intelligence. The studios have said that they are willing to negotiate but have not yet made a counter offer to the WGA or SAG-AFTRA. A lot going on there, so we wish the strike would be over soon, but not until they reach a fair deal. And now let's go on to the Star Wars news. Roger, roger, star Wars news starts off with all anyone can talk about in Star Wars right now, which is a Soka. Now the Soka has introduced a whole host of new Star Wars villains, from the Messing Magistrate Morgan Ellsbeth To the stoic fallen Jedi Balan skull played by the Lake Raid Stevenson. But one of the most intriguing additions is Shin Hadi, the hotheaded, force-wielding apprentice played by Ivana Shakuno. Four episodes in Shin broke out from has, one of Asoka's most fierce standouts, even on a show already packed with memorable villains. With her bleach, blonde bob and almost mid-evil looking costume, the Euromersionary struts around the galski like an intergalactic Junavark, raising her red light, red lightsaber, against anyone who dares stand in her way. Entertainment Weekly spoke to the 25 year old Saknoe before the start of the sag after strike, where she opened up about playing the single-minded Shin. Quote she's very calculated, she's impatient, but she's a seeker. She's only beginning of to find her voice. The Ukrainian actor teased Now Sakkino. Sakknoe is known for her roles in the spy who dumped me and the high fidelity TV series, but Asoka is her biggest project to date. She spent months trained with stunt coordinator Ming Quo to Perfection's brutal lightsaber style. Still, she says her favorite days were when she got on set in the cockpit of Shin's ship unquote. The actual ship and a lot of the aspects of the physical world were built for the show. I do remember seeing inside of my cockpit and really feeling like my younger self as a kid, looking around, all the buttons are working and you feel like it's your childhood dream coming true. You really feel like a pilot in a ship and you do this for a living unquote. Now, asoka creator Dave Filoni also encouraged Sakkinoe to help craft Shin's characterization and backstory, right down to specific hair and wardrobe choices. Sakkinoe added he really cherishes the opinion of every person creating Shin. I felt like my involvement matters because she's a new character and we got to create parts of her from the very beginning With the costume and makeup. I felt like it felt like storytelling unquote. And uh, it's a very interesting character I, you know, recommend that everyone could check her out. A fabled piece of star wars history that has been lost for decades has resurfaced as now the crown jewel of an upcoming auction, an original 20 inch model of an x-wing starfighter used in the climactic space battle in 1977. Star wars. Believed to be the so-called missing x-wing is Part of the collection of the late Oscar nominate model maker Greg Jean. It will be sold at a heritage auction on october 14th and 15th in dallas, texas, and the bidding for the x-wing starts at $400,000. Built by industrial light and magic for star wars episode 4, a new hope, the red leader red one x-wing is one of just four hero filming majors with with articulating, servo controlled wings and lights. According to the auction description, hero models were built for close-ups and used in the final battle, including the trench run. Uh who's? Vfx historian greg kozicki told the hollow, told the hollow reporter, quote. This model has not been displayed or modified since it left ilm. For those of us that grew up in the 80s, and those for us who worked in visual effects, this model is as significant as finding the ruby red slippers or the malty's falcon unquote. It's also notable has it's been part of visual effects folklore because this key noted, noted that there were stories of hero models that were unaccounted for. When ilm moved north to the san francisco bay from california san fernando valley in 1978, kozinski said, quote we never could confirm anything. It became sort of something of a mythical white whale, the missing star wars x-wing. Who was, uh, one of the handful of vfx vets who made discovery while helping gene's family to catalog the late vfx pros collection? Kozicki said that he, alongside alongside ilm, vfx supervisor bill george malmaker and gene, co-worker lose that zoos of rin, and gene's friend rob mcfellin, discovered it in the cardboard box, saying, quote I knew something was probably in the box so I started to scare carefully, scoop out the packaging penis. When the nose of the x-wing showed itself, the four of us knew immediately that was the actual filming model and the magnitude of the discovery started to set in. Now what gene was? Who was Oscar nominated for 1941? And closer counters of the third kind didn't keep any records of what was in his collection. Kozicki went on quote we don't exactly know the circumstances by which he came to the position of this model and as an active trader, slash Collector, he also obtained items simply because he figured that he would trade them for something more in line with what he wanted for himself. The close and carrots of the third kind, the star wars are being made at roughly the same time and an overlapping group of people and at that time no one, not even stevens, bill Burke or George Lucas, could anticipate the the impact of these films would have on the industry. Or quote the cultural zeitgeist unquote you know. You know, if you win the lottery, put it in a bid. That's all I can say. Now let's finish out this show with some good old geek news, and geek news begins with an update on a previous story. A Paul Rubin's cause of death has been revealed months following his death this past July. The late actor died from acute hypoxic respiratory failure. According to the death certificate Obtained by the Hollywood reporter, the condition happens when the respiratory system cannot accurately provide oxygen to the body. Now Rubin, the man behind the iconic character of pb Herman, died in Los Angeles at the age of 70 and had been battling two types of cancer for several years prior to his death, according to his representative. So, uh, there you go, he you know, and uh you know, that was a. That was a big shock back in July and I think we still fondly remember pb Herman. The haunted mansion is ready to spook Disney plus customers this October. Disney's kid-friendly horror comedy, which it was inspired by the classic theme park attraction of the same name, will hit the Disney plus on October 4th. Directed by Justin Simeon, haunted mansion follows single mother Gabby, played by Rosario Dawson, and her nine-year-old son, chase Dylan, who enlists the help of a so-called spiritual experts to exterminate their home of various ghost schools and ghastly creatures. Coming 20 years after Eddie Murphy's the haunted mansion, the new film stars la Keith stanfield, tiffani haddish Dawson, jamie lee curtis, owen wilson, danny devido jadaletto and more, with the Kate dipole ready, who wrote the screenplay. Now, uh, I never saw Eddie Murphy's version of the Hanuman Jinn, so I'm fairly interested to check out Rosario Dawson's version. Now let's finish out the show remembering someone who's gone before and someone who you may remember. Steve Harwell, the musician best known as being the front man for Smash Mouth, has passed away this month. The singer is there in hospice care after battling liver failure and cardiomyopathy for several years. Tmz first reported Harwell's condition, saying the actor had been hospitalized for his illness until he and his family opted to be moved to hospice care at home. In addition to liver failure and cardiomyopathy, harwell had been diagnosed with the Wernicke and this philosophy, the condition that impacted one's motor skills such as speech and memory. Harwell's representative wrote in a statement of vulture when he first entered hospice. Quote he is surrounded by family and friends. My only additional comment is that we would hope that people would respect Steve and his family's privacy during this difficult time. Born in 1967, harwell helped form Smash Mouth in 1994 and served as a part of the band until his retirement in 2021. He and bassist Paul Delisle served as the only two members to serve as members of the band throughout Harwell's departure from the band. Harwell entered the news cycle again just a few short years ago after a video of the singer went viral in which he appeared visibly disoriented during performance and whilst slurring his words. He retired from Smash Mouth shortly after the incident and the band re-paired a year later with the new singer. Harwell's representative said back in 2021, quote Steve had been dealing with long-term maple issues over the last eight years and during his last performance at the big sip stage, he suffered numerous symptoms directly linked with his current maple situation. As of today, steve will be retiring from Smash Mouth to focus on his physical and mental health. He added, despite Steve's best efforts to work through these elements, he is heartbroken to share that it has been impossible for him to continue doing what he loves most performing in front of the bands, millions of fans around the world. Steve Harwell was 56 years old. Of course, smash Mouth is best known for All Star, which is a mainstay in several movies and TV shows. So we'll remember him fondly. And that brings us to the end of the show. Please check us out on social media. We're on Twitter at Multiverse Tom, or also on Facebook and Instagram as well, and of course, you can also find me on threads as well at Multiverse Tonight. If you found value in the show, feel free to contribute. Check out the show notes, visit our T-Public store and so much more at the brand new MultiverseTonightcom. Be free subscriber. Be sure to share this with your friends and if you're brand new to the show, please be sure to subscribe. Leave us with some feedback and let us know how we're doing. Also, thanks to Shane Ivers for the intro music and Lobo Loco for the outro theme music. Thanks for watching this edition of Multiverse Tonight. We'll be back in two weeks with a brand new edition of Comic Book and Sci-Fi News and watch this feed for another edition of the Spinner Wreck coming, you know, whenever I get the chance to sit down and record it again. And now, please exit the universe in an orderly fashion. Good night. Multiverse Tonight is a production of half-fake Jonathan Productions. Copyright 2023, all rights reserved. This podcast is for the Popcos the Culture Podcast Network. Check us out or buy our other podcasts at popcosiculturecom.