Entertainment
Marvel’s Big Comeback Has Already Failed
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is filled with colorful supervillains, but no matter how strong these foes are, our heroes always come out on top. The same can’t be said for the MCU as a whole, though. After the blockbuster success of Avengers: Endgame, Disney+ introduced a firehose of content in the form of one new show after another. This ushered in the one villain the MCU itself could never defeat: superhero fatigue. Revenues went down, some ventures lost money, and fans and execs alike were left asking the same question: Is Marvel ever going to be as popular as it once was?
Last year, there was a glimmer of hope. Daredevil: Born Again brought the fan-favorite Netflix hero back for brand new adventures where he once again clashed with the Kingpin. Hopes rallied around this new show, and Marvel Studios decided to use its second season as a launchpad to bring other beloved characters (like Jessica Jones) back into the fold. Sadly, the comeback has already failed: despite all the hype and all the hope, viewership for Daredevil: Born Again has dropped by more than 50 percent.
It’s Over, Fam

This news comes to us from ComicBook.com. They trawled through Luminate data and discovered some sobering numbers. In its first five weeks, Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 had “4,515,000 season views, 10,867,000 hours watched, and 652,000,000 minutes watched.” That may sound good on paper, but as it turns out, Season 1 had “8,357,000 season views, 24,000,000 hours watched, and 1,440,004,000 minutes watched.” That means that the second season of this hit show had 46 percent fewer total viewers and a decline of more than 54 percent in total hours watched.
The pattern is very consistent, with every episode of Season 2 getting about half of the fan engagement as each corresponding Season 1 episode. That leads to the obvious question: why the sudden drop? Based on other metrics, it doesn’t seem like this is a reaction to fans hating Season 1. That premiere season of Daredevil: Born Again has an 87 percent critical score on Rotten Tomatoes; meanwhile, Season 2 has (so far) an 88 percent critical score. Interestingly, the audience score for Season 1 was 78 percent, but the audience score for Season 2 is, as of this writing, 87 percent.
Daredevil No More?

It’s normal for shows (especially hit shows) to lose some viewers from season to season as more casual fans find newer, shinier shows to glom onto. However, losing over half your audience from season to season is downright catastrophic, and it seems like a seriously bad sign for Daredevil: Born Again. As ComicBook.com points out, the second season failed to break the Nielsen Top 10 for streaming, which is something that both Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law managed to do. If Marvel’s hit new show can’t draw as many viewers as its most controversial ones, the MCU is in serious trouble!
For better or for worse, though, the show will go on. Production has already begun on Daredevil: Born Again Season 3, which will reunite the Defenders from the Netflix-era of Marvel. Meanwhile, Defender and Born Again guest star Krysten Ritter is (according to Marvel Television head Brad Winderbaum) likely going to headline a new project very soon. These future projects may very well get a boost from Avengers: Doomsday, the ambitious blockbuster that is premiering later this year. That movie is Marvel’s biggest, most expensive effort at combating superhero fatigue, and the plan to reignite the fandom is so crazy it just might work.

If it doesn’t work, though? The failure of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 will be seen as the canary in the coal mine for the death of the most ambitious cinematic universe ever created.
Entertainment
Bose introduces the Lifestyle Collection with a new speaker, soundbar, and subwoofer
Table of Contents
On May 5, Bose announced its new Lifestyle Collection, which consists of the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker ($299), the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar ($1,099), and the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer ($899). The line is designed to work together or separately to deliver exceptional sound throughout the home. All three products are packed with proprietary Bose technology to deliver high-quality sound across different environments. They’re available to preorder now, with a May 15 release date.
I was invited to experience the Lifestyle Collection ahead of its release, and I was thoroughly impressed by what I heard and saw. Music on the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker sounded booming and full without muddying vocals, and a clip from Dune literally shook the floors with audio playing from the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar. The soundbar, speaker, and subwoofer, when paired, created room-filling sound sure to wow anyone who takes their Letterboxd account very seriously. And on top of that, the Lifestyle Collection looks sleek and doesn’t scream “tech product.”
Shop the Bose Lifestyle Collection



So, let’s dive into each of these new Bose audio devices.
Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker is available in white smoke, driftwood sand, and black.
Credit: Miller Kern / Mashable
The Lifestyle Ultra Speaker is decently compact while still packing huge sound. It features three drivers — two front-facing and one up-firing — that allow the audio to truly fill a space, so you get powerful, clear sound no matter where you are in the room. It also features CleanBass technology, supported by a proprietary QuietPort acoustic opening, that delivers bass that doesn’t sound echoey or blown-out.
Mashable Light Speed
Two Lifestyle Ultra speakers can be paired for a surround-sound stereo setup. And you can play music to as many Lifestyle speakers as you have directly from your preferred music app — no need to connect via Bluetooth. The Lifestyle Ultra Speaker is compatible with Google Cast, Apple AirPlay, and Spotify Connect, and can be grouped with other compatible smart speakers on your network. Additionally, it features a 3.5mm aux port, which is awesome for connecting a turntable. It’s also the first to market speaker outside of Amazon’s own devices to offer full Alexa+ capabilities.
Price and specs
-
Price: $299 or $349 for driftwood sand color
-
Available speaker configurations: 1.0, 2.0, 7.0.4, 7.1.4
-
Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth 5.3, AUX 3.5mm
-
Dimensions: 4.8 inches W x 7.3 inches H x 6.6 inches D
-
Colors: Black, white smoke, driftwood sand (limited edition)
Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar comes in white smoke or black and has a sleek, low profile.
Credit: Miller Kern / Mashable
This marks the first major soundbar redesign from Bose in over a decade. The Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar features a new acoustic architecture with six full-range drivers (four front-facing and two up-firing), a center tweeter, and two Bose proprietary PhaseGuide drivers. It can play Dolby Atmos content and has SpeechClarity technology that ensures dialogue stands out at any volume, with three adjustable dialogue levels. CustomTune uses your phone’s microphone to analyze the acoustics of your room to optimize audio output performance. Like the speaker, the soundbar features CleanBass technology.
While showing off the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar, a Bose rep toggled on and off the SpeechClarity setting, and I was instantly sold. I sometimes struggle to hear dialogue, but I hate using subtitles, and this technology feels like it was made for me specifically. It pushed the dialogue of a noisy scene without distorting any of the background sound.
The Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar also looks incredibly sleek and sports a tactile dial that allows users to control volume levels without picking up their TV remote or phone.
Price and specs
-
Price: $1,099
-
Available speaker configurations: 5.0.2, 5.1.2, 7.0.4, 7.1.4
-
Connectivity: HDMI Arc and eARC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3
-
Dimensions: 43.54 inches W x 2.64 inches H x 4.96 inches D
-
Weight: 14.8 pounds
-
Colors: Black, white smoke
Bose Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer
When paired with the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker and Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar, the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer pushes the collection into full home theater mode by producing deep, controlled bass and reproducing the lowest frequencies for clearer overall audio. It also features the proprietary CleanBass technology, so you’ll get cinematic bass without distortion.
Price and specs
-
Price: $899
-
Available speaker configurations: 5.1.2, 7.1.4
-
Connectivity: WiFi, 3.5mm wired connection
-
Dimensions: 11.63 inches W × 12.88 inches H × 11.63 inches D
-
Weight: 33.7 pounds
-
Colors: Black, white smoke
Entertainment
Are you ready for an Anthony Bourdain biopic? See the trailer now.
A24 is bringing Anthony Bourdain back to theaters with the coming-of-age drama, Tony.
It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly eight years since the death of Anthony Bourdain. The outspoken American chef made a massive imprint on the world, not only through his love of food but also his work as an author and documentarian. He shared cuisine, curiosity, and culture from all over the world through his rich and riveting docu-series like No Reservations and Parts Unknown.
Beyond that, his life and writing inspired the 2006 TV series Kitchen Confidential, starring Bradley Cooper; the 2015 drama Bone in the Throat; and the 2021 biographical documentary Roadrunner, which sparked controversy for its use of AI. Now, Tony will explore the early days of Bourdain’s career, featuring The Holdovers‘ Dominic Sessa playing the man himself.
Directed by Matt Johnson (Nirvanna: The Band – The Show – The Movie), Tony begins with a 19-year-old Bourdain, spinning out after his ambition to become a writer hits a speed bump. But a job in a kitchen — working under a beguiling Antonio Banderas — will change everything.
Emilia Jones, Dagmara Dominczyk, Rich Sommers, Stavros Halkias, and Leo Woodall co-star in Tony, which will open in theaters this August. But are audiences ready to see someone else play Bourdain this soon after his death?
We’ll see.
Entertainment
Lisa Kudrow shares very blunt take on Ross and Rachels relationship in Friends
The “We were on a break!” argument between Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) has to be one of the most famous moments in Friends — but, now, over two decades on, Lisa Kudrow sees it in a different light.
“He was a bad boyfriend,” she tells Jimmy Fallon in the Tonight Show clip above. “She shouldn’t have gotten back with him because he was horrible. To me it’s like, I don’t care if he slept with three other women or no other women. You had a crisis at work so you weren’t available for a few nights and he flipped out, and you’re like, ‘Wow’.”
Take that, Ross.



