Starring as Johnny Cade is Bonale Fambrini (Netflix’s Daredevil), who has evolved the character since his first time portraying him.

“When I was preparing to play Johnny, I was prepared to just play this quiet, timid wallflower, like in the corner,” Fambrini tells Nerd Reactor. “My Johnny has become more alive, if that makes sense. We have a number with all the greasers having fun. It’s literally just us greasers. And I remember that towards the first couple runs of the show, I used to play him as this more timid kid who would limp around, and now he’s been able to grow into this really fun, ‘I don’t have a care in the world.'”

Danya Taymor, the director of the original Broadway and national tour production, helped Fambrini make Johnny his own.

“I think with Danya’s guidance and everything and all this teamwork, I was able to, if anything, look at these existing pieces of context and say, ‘Oh, I like how Ralph Macchio’s Johnny does this,'” Fambrini said. “I love how Sky Lakota-Lynch does his Johnny, and I got to pick and choose and really make my own Johnny and really keep what resonated and was true to myself.”

Getting the role felt like a roller coaster ride for Fambrini when he first auditioned for The Outsiders Off-Broadway.

“I’d seen the movie in seventh grade as well, and then I actually auditioned for The Outsiders before it was even on Broadway,” he said. “I think it was a developing workshop. It was under a different director, same producers. But this was like, I want to say, eight or nine years ago. Made it to the very final round, and then ultimately they were like, ‘Hey, you’re too young.’

“And then now, 2025, it comes across my table again. Made it to the very finals. I’m like, ‘Alright, I’m giving this job everything. I’m like a hundred and ten percent.’ After three, four months of auditions, they ultimately said no again. ‘Damn!’ And ‘No.’ Dude, this destroyed me. Like broken. And then a week later they’re like, ‘Hey, actually, give it one more try.’ I come back in, I do my audition, and now I’m here talking to you, man.”

Tickets for The Outsiders are available online at The Pantages Theatre (September 30 – October 18, 2026) and Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa (October 20 – November 1, 2026).

The post Bonale Fambrini on Making Johnny Cade His Own in The Outsiders Musical appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

The Corn Maze Superdrop arrives October 12, 2026, exclusively through MagicSecretLair.com, giving players and collectors plenty of new cardboard to chase just in time for the spooky season.

And honestly, this might be one of those Secret Lair drops where the hardest part is figuring out which one you want.

Enter the Labyrinth

For me, the biggest surprise in this Superdrop is the Jim Henson’s Labyrinth collaboration.

Secret Lair is giving the beloved 1986 fantasy classic three separate drops: Fear Me, Love Me, Should You Need Us, and Through the Labyrinth. Each one reimagines Magic cards around characters and moments from the film.

Fear Me, Love Me brings Jareth, Goblin King to the table through Muxus, Goblin Grandee, while cards such as Claim the Firstborn become “The Kidnapping of Toby” and Trinisphere becomes “I’ve Brought You a Gift.”

The second drop expands the cast with Sarah, Sir Didymus, Ludo, Hoggle, and the Wiseman. The reversible Lu Xun, Scholar General as Sir Didymus is particularly fun, giving fans a little extra personality to play with.

Then there is Through the Labyrinth, which dives into the actual journey through the maze with cards inspired by the Fireys, the Goblin King’s offer, the Cleaners, the Shaft of Hands, and more.

For anyone who grew up watching Sarah attempt to make her way through that ridiculous, wonderful maze, this feels like a natural fit for Secret Lair.

KPop Demon Hunters Joins the Party

Then things take a hard turn from 1980s fantasy into modern pop culture with Secret Lair x KPop Demon Hunters: How It’s Done.

The drop features seven cards, including Dawn’s Truce, Unbreakable Formation, Freed from the Real, Swan Song, Demonic Counsel, Tempt with Immortality, and Underworld Breach.

It is another example of just how wide Secret Lair’s collaboration net has become. One minute you’re wandering through the Labyrinth with Hoggle, and the next you’re dealing with supernatural K-pop stars.

And somehow, that is exactly what makes these drops so much fun.

Marvel Zombies Are Coming

Marvel fans aren’t being left out either.

Secret Lair x Marvel: Zombies brings six cards into the Superdrop, including Unstoppable Slasher, Zombie Apocalypse, and four cards reimagined as zombie versions of some familiar Marvel heroes.

God-Eternal Bontu becomes Zombie Thor, Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver becomes Zombie Captain America, Varina, Lich Queen becomes Zombie Scarlet Witch, and Vogar, Necropolis Tyrant becomes Zombie Giant-Man.

There is something wonderfully ridiculous about seeing these characters translated into Magic’s undead vocabulary, and I am absolutely here for it.

The Artists Get Their Moment Too

Not everything in the Corn Maze Superdrop is a major pop-culture crossover.

The Artist Series: Veronique Meignaud features four cards, including Bloodsoaked Champion, Voldaren Pariah, Ashnod’s Altar, and Cabal Stronghold. Meanwhile, Manufactured Grounds by See Machine gives five artifact lands new treatments through Ancient Den, Seat of the Synod, Vault of Whispers, Great Furnace, and Tree of Tales.

Then there is Peace, Love, & Treefolk, which gives five Treefolk cards a dedicated collection featuring Dauntless Dourbark, Leaf-Crowned Elder, Timber Protector, Treefolk Harbinger, and Doran, the Siege Tower.

That variety is probably what I appreciate most about this Superdrop. There is no single theme tying everything together, yet each individual drop has a clear identity.

How Much Is It Going to Cost?

Each individual drop is priced at $29.99 for non-foil and $39.99 for foil. Wizards is also offering several bundles for collectors who want to grab multiple drops at once.

The Pumpkin Spiced Non-Foil Bundle comes in at $239.92, while the Full Moon Foil Bundle costs $319.92. For those who want absolutely everything, the A-Maize-Ing Everything Bundle includes both foil and non-foil versions of all eight drops for $539.99.

There is also a fun bonus attached to larger purchases. For every $199 spent, customers will receive a foil Maze of Ith featuring The Labyrinth as the promo, while supplies last. Orders over $99 also qualify for free shipping.

Get Ready for the Maze

The Corn Maze Superdrop goes live October 12 at 9 a.m. PT, exclusively through MagicSecretLair.com. Wizards is also bringing back the pre-queue system, which opens at 8 a.m. PT, one hour before the sale begins.

If you are planning to grab something, Wizards recommends having your account information, payment details, and shipping address ready ahead of time. And remember, putting something into your cart does not reserve it. Your order is only secured once checkout is complete.

Between Labyrinth, KPop Demon Hunters, Marvel Zombies, artist showcases, and a whole lot of Treefolk, the Corn Maze Superdrop is another reminder of just how strange and wonderfully unpredictable Secret Lair has become.

Personally, I’m already looking at that Labyrinth collection and hearing David Bowie’s voice in my head.

Magic players know how this goes. You enter the maze looking for one card. You leave with eight drops.

The post Secret Lair: Corn Maze Superdrop Brings Labyrinth, KPop Demon Hunters, Marvel Zombies, and More to Magic appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

For BoxLunch Under the Big Top, small groups enter the booth that includes a fun mirror, photo booth, and a chance to purchase exclusive items. Each day represents a different theme with exclusive items for fans of Kingdom Hearts, Disney Princesses, and Cars. The exclusive items are decorated on the walls and hanging from the ceiling, adding to the aesthetic of the booth.

One of the key members is Jillian Wendt, BoxLunch’s Vice President of Marketing.

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“I think that we wanted to do something experiential, something that let our community participate in something,” Wendt tells Nerd Reactor. “You know, Disney is the best at that, right? They’ve created this world where the queue is the experience, and we wanted to really honor that.

“And because we had different merchandise every day, we wanted to think about something where different stories could live in one world, and the big top is perfect for that. You have a lion tamer, a trapeze artist, a fortune teller, etc. But it makes sense because it’s under the big top. So it’s a way to let all these worlds live together and still make something fun and interactive.”

Fans who made qualifying purchases are treated with a fortune telling from Zoltar. They are then given a ticket from the booth machine that they can use to receive a surprise gift unveiling that could include Funko Pops and mini backpacks.

D23 took place from August 14 to 16 in Anaheim, CA, the home city of Disneyland.

The post BoxLunch Brought a Circus-Inspired Experience to D23 2026 appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

The tour will continue until September with stops in London, Seattle, and more.

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The concert features music from composer Hayashi Yuki and covers music from the show’s eight seasons with a large screen in the background showcasing the anime.

The anime and manga follow a world where 80% of the world has superpowers called Quirks. Our main protagonist, Deku, was born without one, but that’s not going to stop him from becoming a hero.

For more info, you can visit https://myheroacademiainconcert.com/.

The post My Hero Academia in Concert Brings the Anime’s Music to Life appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

The musical is touring nationwide and is currently playing at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, CA, until September 27. It will head to Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA, from November 10 to 22, 2026.

Portraying the lead, Jacob Jankowski, is Zachary Keller, whose credits include the regional premiere of John Proctor Is the Villain (Studio Theatre), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Signature Theatre), along with And Then There Were None (Drury Lane Theatre). TV credits include Shameless, Law and Order, and Chicago Med.

“It was an interesting experience, and I think you touched on it,” Keller said. “There’s something for everyone in this thing. There are life-size puppets, there are acrobats flying through the air, there are dance numbers, and there’s great music by PigPen Theater Co. And on top of that, it’s really a heartwarming story. The rehearsal process was really interesting because we would all be off in different rooms learning different things.”

With so many moving parts in the show, one of the most intriguing parts of this production is Rosie the elephant.

“It starts off where you just see an ear, because that was the first thing that Jacob remembers noticing about Rosie, and then you see the trunk,” the performer explained. “That was the second thing, like once the trunk hugged Marlena, that was a big step. And then you see the legs once Rosie finally starts being able to understand Jacob, and then you finally see the whole elephant itself.

“So it’s a memory play in that way, and that’s why some of the other puppets, they’re not complete puppets. You have just the tiger head, or you have just the lion head. You have just the zebra head, so you don’t remember the whole thing. That’s kind of how memory is sort of fragmented. You can’t remember all the specific details, but I thought that was a fascinating take.”

Audiences most likely won’t see the same type of show twice thanks to the different rotations of acrobats.

“The show is shifting, and if you come to see the show twice, more than likely you’re going to see a different show, at least in terms of the tricks,” Keller said. “So it’s interesting in that way.”

The post Zachary Keller Talks ‘Water for Elephants,’ Circus Acrobatics and Bringing Rosie the Elephant to Life appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

This year, there will be two new mazes: Inked and Unearthed.

Inked

Inked is inspired by the classic cartoons of old and follows Mortimer Morbid, a 1930s cartoonist and former head of Morbid Studios. When he discovers his imagination becomes real when he uses blood as ink, he unleashes deadly toons that wreak havoc on viewers for one last Halloween special.

Unearthed

Unearthed will bring out the adventurer in you as you go on a dangerous mission to find out what happened to the excavation site that has been attacked. As it turns out, ancient tablets have conjured an evil force. Will you make it out alive?

Returning Mazes

Mazes that are returning to Knott’s Scary Farm include Widows, Eight Fingers Nine: The Boogeyman, Chilling Chambers, Origins: The Curse of Calico, Cinema Slashers, Room 13, The Zoo and Mary: The Haunting of Worth Home.

Scare Zones

An updated Scare Zone includes the CarnEvil (Reimagined). This Boardwalk scare zone features a 1920s aesthetic where Mesmer, a hypnotist from the retired 2025 maze, seizes a circus for nefarious reasons.

Other Scare Zones include Ghost Town Streets and Forsaken Lake.

Shows

Guests can enjoy two new shows: Occultum and Voodoo: Bayou’s Edge.

Occultum: The Magic Castle has brought its dark magic, illusions, and sleight of hand inside the Bird Cage Theatre.

Voodoo: Bayou’s Edge: Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau hosts a musical show at the Calico Mine Stage.

The fan-favorite show, The Hanging, will return, and you can expect to see the Lawman and the Hangman battle pop culture characters to see who is the most deserving of the final hanging.

Tickets are now available at https://www.sixflags.com/knotts.

The post Knott’s Scary Farm 2026: What’s New This Year for Mazes appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

Over time, you pick up on the tricks. You start to spot where a scareactor might be hiding. When you see a dark corner or a strange gap in the wall, you can almost guess when someone will jump out.

But that doesn’t make Halloween Horror Nights any less fun for me. It just means I appreciate the event differently now.

Now, instead of just counting jump scares, I pay more attention to the production design, costumes, effects, and how well Universal pulls me into another world.

In that sense, Halloween Horror Nights 2026 might be one of the best years I’ve had.

This year, Universal Studios Hollywood features eight haunted houses. Some are based on well-known properties like Sinners, Stranger Things, Hellraiser, and Evil Dead Burn, while others are original ideas like KILLceañera: Music by SLASH and Dead, Deader, Deadest.

I went through all eight on opening night, so here’s how I’d rank them.

8. Killer Klowns from Outer Space

I don’t think I’m really the target audience for Killer Klowns from Outer Space.

I haven’t seen the movie, and cheesy 1980s clown horror just isn’t scary to me. So this ended up being the least frightening maze of the night.

Visually, though, I can’t really complain. The maze is much more colorful than almost anything else at Halloween Horror Nights. Universal does a great job bringing the movie’s weird world to life, even for someone like me who isn’t attached to it. The sensory touches, like the smell of cotton candy, are a fun bonus.

The best part comes near the end, when a Klown uses a police officer like a puppet. The scareactor’s timing, lip-syncing, and physical performance really sell the illusion. It’s fun, but since I don’t have nostalgia for the movie or a fear of clowns, this is the maze I’d skip if I came back.

7. Evil Dead Burn

I haven’t seen Evil Dead Burn, and that turned out to be both a good and bad thing for this maze. I could mostly follow what was going on, but I didn’t know enough about the movie to get the context for a lot of the scenes.

That doesn’t mean the house was ineffective. If anything, Evil Dead Burn shows you don’t have to know the movie to enjoy a Halloween Horror Nights maze. The over-the-top kill scenes are fun to watch, and a few even made me want to see the movie.

The bathroom scene stood out to me, and the house gets more violent as you go, so there’s always something to see. But since I’m not familiar with the movie, it mostly felt like walking through a bunch of scenes for fans, instead of one continuous story.

I’d do it again, but only if the line was short.

6. Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness

It’s hard not to smile when you walk into a Halloween Horror Nights maze and suddenly hear “Crazy Train.”

That might also be the main issue with Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness as a horror maze. The house looks amazing and turns Ozzy’s music and style into a wild walk through his songs. Even though I mostly know his music, there was a lot to enjoy.

The giant bat animatronic was my favorite thing to see in the house. And of course, the soundtrack is unbeatable.

But some of the scares don’t really fit with the music. Sometimes scareactors pop out with Ozzy’s famous laugh, but it sounds more like someone having fun than something scary. Instead of thinking, “Something scary is about to happen,” I just thought, “Awesome, it’s Ozzy.” That’s probably not what a haunted house is going for.

But as a celebration of Ozzy Osbourne inside a Halloween Horror Nights maze, it works really well. If you’re a fan of his music, you should definitely check it out.

5. Stranger Things

Stranger Things was the biggest letdown of my night.

That might sound harsh, but the maze actually looks amazing. The set design is an easy 10 out of 10, and as someone who knows the series well, it’s impressive to see places and moments from Stranger Things 5 brought to life. There are even little details to look for, like Eleven’s Dungeons & Dragons stat sheet at the end.

However, in terms of scare factor, the Stranger Things maze is the least scary of them all. Even worse, our walkthrough had some big pacing issues. We had to stop a few times because too many people were ahead of us. Haunted houses really depend on timing, and when that gets thrown off, it’s easier to see the scares coming or to see the same scene over and over again. Sinners made me feel like I was inside the movie; Stranger Things just felt like familiar scenes strung together.

Fans will still find a lot to enjoy. I just wouldn’t wait in a long line to do it again.

4. KILLceañera: Music by SLASH

KILLceañera has something the houses based on big franchises can’t copy: it feels familiar culturally, but you still don’t know exactly what’s coming next. Universal’s original story is about Lola’s quinceañera turning into a deadly revenge plot, keeping HHN Hollywood’s tradition of houses inspired by Latin American culture and myths. SLASH wrote an original score with Spanish guitar, including the song “15 Candles.”

That cultural influence makes the house feel more real than a lot of the other mazes. It was also my pick for the best-looking maze and the best atmosphere at the whole event.

My biggest complaint, which goes for HHN in general but stood out here, is the mannequins.

When a maze mixes real scareactors with fake bodies, you’re supposed to wonder which ones will move. But some of the dummies in KILLceañera looked so fake that the illusion was gone right away.

Still, the atmosphere makes up for those issues, and I’d gladly go through this house again.

3. Dead, Deader, Deadest

This was the big surprise of Halloween Horror Nights 2026. Universal describes Dead, Deader, Deadest as an original haunted house taking guests through an abandoned funeral home where disturbing acts once occurred.

Going in, I didn’t expect much. The name says “dead” three times, so I figured there would be zombies. And yes, there are definitely zombies. The story wasn’t super clear as I walked through, though. I got that it was a funeral home run by a weird owner, with chemicals that brought the dead back to life. But honestly? It didn’t really matter.

Dead, Deader, Deadest had the best scare sequence of my whole night. Near the end, zombies attack from almost every direction. Animatronic bodies move on the floor while live scareactors come at you from other spots, making it feel like an all-out assault on your senses.

For someone used to HHN’s usual jump-scare rhythm, this was one of the few times that actually surprised me. It’s my pick for the scariest maze of 2026, the best original maze, and the biggest surprise of the event.

2. Hellraiser

I didn’t think Hellraiser would end up this high on my list. I know the franchise and have seen the movies that inspired the maze, but I’ve never really been a big Hellraiser fan. However, this maze was really good.

Universal based the house on the original trilogy—Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, and Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth—and sends guests through the Lament Configuration into the world of Pinhead and the Cenobites.

Universal starts building the atmosphere even before you go inside. As you get closer, you see the Lament Configuration, and Pinhead appears outside, talking to people waiting in line. It’s a great way to make you feel like you’re about to leave Universal Studios and step into a freaky, nightmarish world.

Inside, the sets and costumes look amazing. The best moment was when I saw what looked like a Pinhead statue. But it wasn’t actually a statue. A scareactor was perfectly hidden and suddenly revealed himself, giving me one of the best jump scares of the night because it broke the usual HHN pattern.

That’s the kind of thing I want to see more often. Hellraiser didn’t just copy the movie’s look. It actually used those visuals to surprise and scare guests. Even though I didn’t expect much, this is the maze I most want to go through again.

1. Sinners

Nothing else was going to take the top spot. Sinners was the house I was most excited to see before Halloween Horror Nights, and it still lived up to my expectations. I’ve watched Ryan Coogler’s film several times, so I know the characters, locations, and style really well. Universal doesn’t just show you scenes from Sinners. It makes you feel like you’ve stepped into Sinners.

That feeling starts before you even enter the maze. The loading room itself sets up the world, which is something I hadn’t really experienced at HHN in this way before. Once you’re inside, the mix of costumes, sets, lighting, and practical effects is amazing.

My favorite part is the scene where vampires attack Club Juke. Instead of scareactors just popping out from the walls, the attack comes from all sides. Vampires show up above you in the rafters and below you, making it feel much more chaotic. There’s even a part where a vampire comes down on cables.

Another small but effective detail is the glint in the vampires’ eyes. It might seem minor compared to a huge animatronic or fancy room, but those little touches make the illusion work.

Was Sinners the scariest house this year? No. But that’s why I don’t think Halloween Horror Nights should be judged only by scare factor anymore. Sinners was my favorite maze because it shows off everything Universal’s designers do best. The sets, costumes, and effects were amazing. Most importantly, everything worked together to make me feel like I was inside a movie I already knew really well.

If you only have time for one maze at Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood this year, make it Sinners.

Final Thoughts

After years of going to Halloween Horror Nights, I know it’s hard for these mazes to really scare me anymore. There are only so many ways to hide a scareactor around a dark corner before regulars start to notice the pattern.

Jump scares are still fun. Darkness can still get to me, especially when I’m walking through an area without a crowd. And Dead, Deader, Deadest showed that Universal can still surprise me when they mix different effects in new ways.

But fear isn’t really why I keep coming back anymore. I want to see what Universal’s creative teams come up with. I want to see cool practical effects, great costumes, and settings that make me forget I’m just in a theme park for a little while. Plus, I’m eager to see how well they can recreate a movie I’ve watched over and over. By those standards, Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2026 is a great year.

It might not be the scariest year I’ve had. It is, however, one of the best-looking. And honestly, that might matter even more to me now.

The post Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2026 Haunted Houses Ranked: Sinners Steals the Show appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

Marking UGREEN’s entry into the smart home market, the HomeAgent systems features an AI local hub designed to bring local storage, computing, and control together all in one system.

While smart cameras are usually associated with security and catching intruders, UGREEN wants HomeAGent to help capture everyday moments that you want to remember. By having local storage and an AI local hub, it can help families and friends relive fun, everyday moments before they are overwritten.

“The next chapter of the smart home is not simply about connecting more devices. It is about creating a system that can understand, assist, and act while keeping users in control,” said Marshall Mao, Sales Director for North America at UGREEN. “UGREEN HomeAgent brings that intelligence into the home through a local-first architecture designed around privacy, responsiveness, and a more unified experience.”

Enter the UGREEN HomeAgent HA100 Series

UGREEN HomeAgent HA100 combines local AI with storage, security, and device control in one hub. You can talk to Uliya to help control supported devices, check live status or event history such as a package delivery or when a baby is crying.

And since you can keep things local, there are no monthly storage fees. Files, photos, surveillance footage and device activity are stored locally and accessed via the HomeAgent. The AI can search the photos and videos for highlights, adding them to highlights section.

And for security, the local AI can recognize people, vehicles, pets, and packages. It can flag alerts for unusual activities, summarize events, and you can search for keywords across the recorded footage.

With the UGREEN HomeAgent HA100 Pro, it features faster network connectivity and more powerful AI performance. This is great for those who want more out of the HomeAgent with demanding AI tasks, deeper semantic understanding, voice-based rule creation, context-aware device control and advanced recognition.

Pre-orders are available for the UGREEN HomeAgent HA100, HA100 Pro, and UGREEN MasterAgent MA100 at the UGREEN AIoT Official Store. Pre-orders will stop when the Kickstarter campaign launches on October 27, 2026.

Patriots’ Christian Gonazalez Joins UGREEN as Global Brand Ambassador

In addition to the HomeAgent news, UGREEN has partnered with Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez as Global Brand Ambassador. Fan activations will be present at the Patriots home stadium, Gillette Stadium, on December 10, along with the Boston Watch Party.

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We had the chance to chat with Harry Francis, who portrays LeFou, about his character’s dedication to Gaston, preparations for each night’s performance, and what would happen if Gaston was gone from his life.

Check out the full video interview below:

“For me, LeFou only has a place in society in that town if he’s connected to Gaston,” Francis tells Nerd Reactor. “If people are buying drinks and they’re at the tavern, LeFou has people talking to him. He has a social life because of him being next to Gaston, being tied to Gaston. Gaston just loves the fact that he’s got someone for free who will just do whatever he wants for him, and there’s a bit when he sends me off into the woods to do his hunting for him, basically, he knows that no matter what, I will do whatever he says.”

Beauty and the Beast is a story known by many, and that includes the fate of Gaston. However, what happens to LeFou after the end of the tale?

“For me, if I’m attached to him, then people talk to me, then I’ve got some kind of personality because of him, which makes me sad, wondering what LeFou’s life is like after Gaston dies, because I think he would be a very, very lonely. I don’t think anyone would talk to him anymore. I think I think everyone would be done with him.”

About Disney’s Beauty and the Beast: The Musical

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast returns to the stage and brings back members of the original creative team to bring the fairy tale to life.

In the national tour, Belle is played by Kyra Belle Johnson, Fergie L. Philippe as Beast, Stephen Mark Lukas as Gaston, Danny Gardner as Lumiere, Christina Rose Hall as Mrs. Potts, Javier Ignacio as Cogsworth, and Harry Francis as LeFou.

Beauty and the Beast: The Musical is now playing at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles until September 6. It is headed to Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA, from September 22 to October 11, 2026. Tickets are available at beautyandthebeastthemusical.com/tickets.

The post Why LeFou Needs Gaston: Harry Francis on Disney’s Beauty and the Beast appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

We’re looking at robotic arms launching riders through simulated superhero training, rally cars bouncing over tough terrain, huge Audio-Animatronics, enormous physical sets, new coaster features and even a journey right into the Mayan Underworld.

Although Disney has also confirmed that a complete reimagining of Disneyland’s Tomorrowland is underway, the most exciting announcement gave us a much clearer understanding of how Disney intends to make its new attractions stand out.

This was especially clear at Avengers Campus.

Avengers Campus Is Finally Getting Its Big E-Ticket

Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure will finally open in 2028, including two new attractions: Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab.

Infinity Defense is by far the larger of the two. Iman Vellani will reprise her role as Ms. Marvel and will recruit guests to join the fight against King Thanos—a version of Thanos who actually won. Then, they’ll travel across the Multiverse to gather the Avengers to stop King Thanos.

Disney is committing to creating very large physical environments that combine with similarly huge media scenes as guests travel from one place to another, such as from Wakanda to Asgard and to New York City. The ride system will use the same fundamental technology as Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure at Tokyo DisneySea. Thus, Infinity Defense may incorporate motion, physical scenery, and large-scale digital environments.

The event will also see Jeremy Renner reprise his role as Hawkeye, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and, most excitingly for me, Robert Downey Jr. return as Tony Stark.

Guests Take Flight Thanks to Stark Industries

Downey won’t be stopping there; he will also be at the Stark Flight Lab alongside Mackie and Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel.

The kind of attraction seems entirely different since guests will board two-person “gyro-kinetic pods” which travel along a track before being caught by huge robotic arms. The arms will then lift the pods and perform high-speed flight maneuvers reminiscent of those in Iron Man and The Avengers. In fact, Disney has assigned individual personalities to the robotic arms, drawing on the character of DUM-E, Tony Stark’s robotic assistant.

One of the things I’m most looking forward to, as a huge Iron Man fan, is seeing Downey reprise his role as Tony Stark. Avengers Campus takes place in the Marvel Multiverse and has no ties to the main 616 timeline. This allows Disney to place Tony Stark beside Sam Wilson’s Captain America and other heroes who, in fact, could not have coexisted at that stage in the films.

Villains Land Is Going Big

Plans for Disney’s Villains-themed expansion of its Magic Kingdom were first revealed in 2024. Still, it wasn’t until D23 2026 that the official name, Villains Land, was announced, along with its story and a great deal more detailed information about its two main attractions.

This won’t be a minor addition; Disney has compared the size and scale of Villains Land to that of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

The main attraction will be a Maleficent roller coaster, along which riders will race through enchanted briars surrounding her mountain-top fortress, with Disney hinting that the coaster will include elements the Imagineers have never tried before.

The concept art makes the experience feel appropriately intimidating by depicting dragon-inspired coaster trains rushing through Maleficent’s collapsing fortress, green fire burning from the surrounding towers.

The next attraction takes you down into the ground.

Guests will go down into the catacombs under the Evil Queen’s palace, where the Magic Mirror will take them into a supernatural Mirror Realm full of Disney Villains. According to Disney, the experience will combine special effects with physical sets to bring the setting to life, and concept artwork depicts characters such as Cruella de Vil, Jafar, Dr. Facilier, Scar, and Ursula.

Villains Land is so exciting because Disney has never before devoted an entire park area of this size to its villains. It is impossible to determine whether attractions like Monsters Unchained at Universal’s Epic Universe place any extra pressure on Disney. Yet it is clear that competition has raised the expectations regarding what a modern dark-themed attraction can achieve.

The land will be as large as Galaxy’s Edge and include two main rides, indicating that Disney plans to meet those expectations vigorously.

Piston Peak Brings the Cars World into the “Wheelderness”

The idea of having Piston Peak National Park at Magic Kingdom always seemed like an unusual way of getting Cars into Frontierland. However, the new information about the new Cars ride has made the attraction much more interesting.

Instead of building a new version of Radiator Springs Racers, Disney is focusing on off-road rally racing.

Cars Ridge Run Rally has riders speeding over rough ground that is based on America’s national parks, with them climbing Piston Peak, arriving at a frozen mountaintop, going down a camelback drop, and then finally rushing through a field of active geysers before Lightning McQueen and Mater announce the end of the race for the Racing Sports Network. Disney is emphasizing the bouncing and rough terrain as part of the experience, not just scenery riders pass by.

Since I enjoy motor racing, the idea of a rally event appealed to me. Because rally racing is inherently chaotic, fast, and very bumpy, basing the attraction on that physical sensation could make Ridge Run Rally come across as considerably different from Disney’s current Cars attractions.

The ride next to it, Miss Fritter’s Daredevil Spin-Along, is quite different. This family attraction brings the demolition derby from Cars 3 to life using a school-bus-sized Miss Fritter Audio-Animatronic to supervise the chaos.

The secondary attraction also seems to have an enormous physical centerpiece.

Indiana Jones Is Heading Straight to the Underworld

There has always seemed to be a certain appropriateness about this change. Since DINOSAUR and Disneyland’s Indiana Jones Adventure use the same ride technology, it is almost as if we have come full circle, with the former becoming a completely new Indiana Jones experience.

What Disney is doing isn’t just transferring the Indy ride from Disneyland to Florida.

Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent will take place in an ancient Mayan temple close to a cenote. On this site, a local legend holds that a passage leads down to the Mayan Underworld, taking visitors into a situation much like Indiana Jones’. Various difficulties occur, causing the riders to go through a portal and leading them into encounters with monstrous bats, giant scorpions, fire, and the huge serpentine Tsukán. According to Disney, the Imagineers have been seeking advice from archaeologists, anthropologists, and experts on the Mayans while developing the attraction.

The company has also shown off a massive, hand-sculpted Audio-Animatronic replica of the creature, which towers over the Imagineers standing next to it. Harrison Ford is also officially joining the attraction, confirming that the ride will use his likeness on the Indiana Jones Audio-Animatronic. This marks the first time his face has appeared as Indy in a Disney Parks attraction.

Disney Isn’t Finished With Tomorrow

The most unexpected thing about the showcase was also the announcement that gave the least detail.

Finally, Tomorrowland at Disneyland will undergo a complete reimagining.

Disney states that the Imagineers are just at the starting stage of development and therefore there are no final attraction plans. All the company has committed to is a transformation that will include new attractions, more open areas, and a renewed emphasis on the optimism, innovation, and possibility that originally characterized the land. Unfortunately, it’s also been revealed that the Tomorrowland refresh will take precedence over the Avatar Land expansion at Disney’s California Adventure.

If current developments in robotic flight arms, rally racing, giant serpents, vast physical environments, and experimental coaster technology indicate the direction to which Imagineering is moving, what specific plans does the company have when it gets the chance to reinvent Tomorrowland completely?

It is possible that we will not know the answer for a while.

But after what Disney just showed at D23, playing it safe would almost seem out of character.

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