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'Andor' Writer Dan Gilroy Knows Why You're Thinking About the Show This Week (and It's Not the Emmys)
Product Reviews

‘Andor’ Writer Dan Gilroy Knows Why You’re Thinking About the Show This Week (and It’s Not the Emmys)

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Though we here at io9 would have preferred Andor win all the Emmys, the Disney+ Star Wars show did pick up a few notable trophies, including Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Dan Gilroy, brother of Andor creator Tony Gilroy, won the honor for season two’s ninth episode, “Welcome to the Rebellion.” You know, the one where Mon Mothma makes her ferocious speech condemning genocide and monstrous leaders from the senate floor.

While remarking on how unfortunately relevant the story of Andor ended up being isn’t new—Tony Gilroy has certainly spoken about it—the themes of the show have become even more potent in the wake of ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! after the talk show host’s comments on the death of Charlie Kirk.

Yesterday, creatives and subscribers called for a boycott of Disney, ABC’s parent company and also the corporate parent of Star Wars. Today, Dan Gilroy published an op-ed in Deadline with a “Welcome to the Rebellion”-style wake-up call.

“As one of the writers on the Disney+ drama Andor, we spent six years thinking about a fascist takeover of a galaxy far, far away,” it begins.

“Six years thinking about ordinary beings as an authoritarian regime comes in for the kill. Many people saw parallels between Andor and the real world. I see them as well, particularly in the events of the last week.”

The essay goes on to condemn Disney’s decision to suspend Kimmel, noting, “I deeply disagree but acknowledge it was a difficult decision.”

Gilroy goes on to address others in the entertainment industry, warning Hollywood it cannot accept this turn of events in our “brave new Trumpian world,” as he puts it, because it’s poised to get worse: “The first thing Putin did after taking power was silence shows that criticized him. Artists are censored first because they fear us most.”

Gilroy finishes by encouraging action. “Their goal is to instill fear, to make you feel helpless, hopeless, to break you down,” he writes. “Don’t let them. Educate yourself. Organize. Speak truth to authority. Because the story’s not written—the pen is in your hand.”

Read the full essay at Deadline; if you haven’t cancelled Disney+, you can still watch Andor there.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.



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The Saja Boys pose at the end of a performance
Game Reviews

KPop Demon Hunters Writer Says He Used AI To Write ‘Soda Pop’

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OpenAI officially has a Korean office. Normally, that wouldn’t be news we would cover here at Kotaku, but KPop Demon Hunters, Netflix’s animated musical phenomenon, was apparently brought up during the generative AI organization’s launch event for its new Korean subsidiary on Monday, September 15. Vince, a prolific K-pop producer who wrote songs performed by the film’s demonic boy band group called the Saja Boys, made an appearance at the Seoul event. That’s annoying in and of itself, but he also apparently dropped the bomb that he used AI to help write the group’s infectious song “Soda Pop.”

OpenAI technical staff member Sherwin Wu said in a since-deleted tweet that Vince said he used ChatGPT to write “Soda Pop,” and that the generative chatbot “gave him ideas to make it sound ‘more bubbly.’” This occurred during an on-stage discussion with Oliver Jay, OpenAI’s Chief Business Officer. Korea Joongang Daily reports that Vince said this was an example of how AI is “already used in K-pop production,” but this is notably not a direct quote, as the original article was written in Korean and “translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools.” The publication’s original Korean article includes mentions of Vince using ChatGPT, but doesn’t call out KPop Demon Hunters or “Soda Pop” by name. We’ve reached out to the outlet for clarification.

At the moment, there doesn’t seem to be footage of Vince’s talk on the internet, but we’ve reached out to Netflix and OpenAI for comment on the situation. Based on these accounts, it sounds like Vince used ChatGPT to help ideate the song that would eventually become “Soda Pop,” but AI was not used to generate the song that appears in the film. Rei Ami, one of the vocalists behind the voices of the fictional girl group Huntr/x, has been very vocal about the real people behind every performance in the film ever since accusations of AI use have sprouted up in the wake of the film’s colossal popularity.

Even if the final song is all produced and sung by real people, fans are feeling burned knowing AI may have played any part in the creation of the film, given its worldwide success and how it’s become a poster child for people advocating for new ideas in the animation industry in the face of never-ending sequel slop. We’ll update this story if we hear back from Netflix or if Vince makes an official statement.



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An argonian walks down an empty street in one of Morrowind's towns
Product Reviews

‘Because no one was paying attention we could just put anything into the game,’ says the writer responsible for sneaking The Lusty Argonian Maid into Morrowind

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The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind – An Oral History from the Game Developers – YouTube

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Filmdeg Miniatures is a YouTube channel run by Tom Evans that is full of interviews with gaming luminaries. I know it mainly for unearthing Warhammer history on topics like the early editions of Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Evans also covers videogames, most recently in an eight-hour oral history of Morrowind in which he lets a host of the classic weird-fantasy RPG’s creators meander up and down memory lane as they discuss how it was made.

One enlightening subject is writer and quest designer Mark Nelson, who was responsible for a chunk of Morrowind’s expansions, Tribunal and Bloodmoon, as well as fleshing out the starter village of Seyda Neen. He’s the guy responsible for Tarhiel, the wizard who memorably falls out of the sky in front of you the moment you leave, for instance.

And he’s also the one to blame for The Lusty Argonian Maid, a tiny joke text that’s become a core part of the Elder Scrolls’ identity. In a game full of serious books about history and theology and philosophy, it’s delightful to stumble across one that’s a silly sex comedy. “I don’t even remember why I wrote it,” Nelson admits in the interview. “It may have been after like a happy hour or something, quite honestly.”


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It may not even have made it to the finished product if Morrowind’s project leader Todd Howard had noticed. “Because no one was paying attention we could just put anything into the game,” Nelson says. “Todd’s rule was always ‘humor has no place in games.’ That’s Todd’s rule. So of course that became ‘humor has no place in games, if Todd doesn’t catch it…’ And that’s where things like The Lusty Argonian Maid came in. I probably was like, I need a break, I’ve been scripting or creating something kind of boring. I’m gonna write a stupid little story.”

While I don’t expect everyone to have eight hours free to watch the entire video, it’s handily timestamped in the description if you want to skip to a specific interview. The picture that emerges from seeing them all side by side is that Morrowind’s existence is even more miraculous than you might already think, especially given how inexperienced the small team was.

“For probably half the people it was their first game,” as Nelson says. “It was insane. That was a passion project. It shouldn’t have gotten made. Like, it’s stupid. It should never have gotten made, it shouldn’t have been a success, but it was a really amazing combination of having the right people at the right time who were just willing to kill themselves to make this game.”



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'Red Hood' Writer Speaks Out on Book's Surprise Cancellation
Product Reviews

‘Red Hood’ Writer Speaks Out on Book’s Surprise Cancellation

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Earlier this week, DC Comics abruptly cancelled its new Red Hood comic from trans writer Gretchen Felker-Martin and artist Jeff Spokes. The decision came after Felker-Martin posted comments and jokes on social media about the assassination of prominent right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, which occurred on the same day—September 10—as the comic’s launch. DC Comics said in a statement that social media posts “that can be viewed as promoting hostility or violence are inconsistent with [our] standards of conduct.”

Now, in a new interview with the Comics Journal, Felker-Martin opened up about her posts and DC’s decision. She argued that DC had had no issue with her outspoken and sometimes incendiary social media presence when it approached her about doing a comic in 2024.

She recalled how she told the publisher at the time that it would “get between five and a hundred of the craziest people you’ve ever met in your life, screaming for my head and yours.” She went on to say that initially DC had given her “no terms or limitations” on her social media; a DC spokesperson reiterated to io9 the company’s previous stance on not abiding by posts that “promote hostility or violence.”

In the weeks leading up to Red Hood’s launch, past social media posts made by Felker-Martin on charged political topics, including the Israel-Gaza war, resurfaced. Felker-Martin told the Comics Journal that it was at this point that she received pushback on her social media activities; a spokesperson for DC confirmed this to the Comics Journal, saying the company requested Felker-Martin be more mindful of her online statements. Felker-Martin claimed she generally abided by that request until the day of Kirk’s murder.

The author said she stood by her comments about Kirk while expressing sympathy for her Red Hood co-creators, which include Spokens, cover artist Taurin Clarke and editors Arianna Turturro and Rob Levin. “I can only put it down to really just a moment of poor impulse control,” she told the Comics Journal. “Had I thought for another second, of course I would’ve known [that it would be a problem for DC], and naturally, as soon as I had said it, I did know.”

Felker-Martin also stressed that she did not want to work with DC Comics in the future: “I have no desire to be part of any organization that wants to pretend that people like Charlie Kirk are decent human beings who deserve respect.”

io9 has also reached out to Felker-Martin and will update this post if and when we hear back.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.



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