Entertainment
Nobody's Watching The Best Thing Marvel Has Done
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
The MCU television projects on Disney+ have something of a bad rap among elements of the fandom. Some resent these shows for feeling like homework that you have to watch before you can enjoy the next movie. Others resent these series for playing it safe rather than pushing the creative envelope. However, one blunt reason some fans dislike these shows is that they usually aren’t that good. For every groundbreaking series like WandaVision, it seems like we get ambitious, cinematic failures (like Secret Invasion) or superfluous side quests (like Echo). It’s enough to make you start asking whether the MCU still has the juice or if showrunners are just going through the motions.
Recently, however, something very ironic happened. The Season 2 finale of Daredevil: Born Again ended up with a 9.5 rating on IMDB, meaning that it’s currently tied with the first episode of Loki (“Glorious Purpose”) as the highest-rated television episode of the MCU. Normally, that would be a good sign, one that indicates that Marvel’s writers, directors, and showrunners have learned from past mistakes and know how to give the people what they want. Unfortunately, they learned this lesson too late, as viewership for Daredevil: Born Again has absolutely plummeted from last season.
The Devil Went Down (In Ratings)
The Season 2 finale of Daredevil: Born Again (“The Southern Cross”) was quite the crowd-pleaser. Without getting into spoilers, it involved a shocking showdown as Matt Murdock testified against Wilson Fisk in court. Meanwhile, we got a more traditional showdown when Matt donned the devil horns and teamed up with Jessica Jones to throw down against the various forces of the Kingpin. Audiences loved the whole thing so much that this episode currently has a 9.5 on IMDB, which ties it with the series premiere of Loki. That sounds absolutely great until you take a closer look at some other, very sobering numbers.
As I wrote about before, Daredevil: Born Again had 652,000,000 minutes watched in its first five weeks. That was actually a significant drop from Season 1, which had 1.44 billion minutes watched in the same time frame, indicating that the hit show had lost over 54 percent of hours watched from season to season. However, both seasons pale in comparison to Loki, which had 731 million minutes viewed in the premiere week for Season 1. In other words, Tom Hiddleston’s antihero show had a sizeably larger audience for one episode than Daredevil: Born Again had for more than half of its second season.
Superhero Fatigue No More?
This leads to an obvious conclusion that may spell doom for Marvel. To the audiences who have already tuned out of MCU movies and shows, quality is no longer the issue. Recently, Peter Safran, co-CEO of DC Studios, made the bold claim that superhero fatigue doesn’t exist and that audiences are simply suffering from “mediocre movie fatigue.” It’s a clear swipe at Marvel, one that allows him to imply his rivals have been losing money by simply pumping out crappy content. While that’s obviously true in some cases, the audience drop-off for the highly-rated Born Again (which just gave us the most beloved MCU television episode in years) proves quality doesn’t guarantee clicks.
A big audience drop was expected, but not this big, so what gives? Some fans stopped watching due to the show’s slow-burning pace and the repetitive nature of the constant Kingpin/Daredevil battle. Others are waiting to just binge the season in one go. Of course, some stopped watching the show (legally, at least) because the House of Mouse increased subscription costs right before the new season dropped. The final theory is that superhero fatigue is very real, and the constant glut of new shows and films has made it hard for the average Marvel maniac to care about any one show (no matter its quality).
Hell’s Kitchen Cools Down
Whatever the exact reason, all of this spells trouble for Marvel Studios, which is hoping that Avengers: Doomsday will bring back the halcyon days when each new movie was a critical and commercial smash hit. But we’re living in a post-Endgame world, one in which there’s too much supply and not nearly enough demand. For years now, many have thought as Peter Safran did: that Marvel can regain its former glory by simply making something worth watching. But Daredevil: Born Again’s universally-loved, barely-watched Season 2 is proof that even the best shows and movies may not be enough to restore the most ambitious cinematic universe ever made to its former luster.
a sad twist of fate, or just karma for years of squandered opportunities? That, true believers, is up for you to decide.
Entertainment
Durobos Krono e-reader is the perfect palm-sized e-reader — and a great Kindle and Kobo alternative
Table of Contents
In my hunt for the best e-readers, I’ve been determined to find a great alternative to a Kindle or a Kobo. Don’t get me wrong, I love both of these e-readers and generally think they are the best e-readers you can buy, but I know there’s a hunger for variety in the e-reader community beyond the big two. I’ve tried Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Remarkable e-ink tablets, and Boox e-readers, but none of them have impressed me. But the Durobo Krono caught my eye at CES 2026.
I’ve often called an e-reader a library in your pocket, and the Durobo Krono is more than that. It’s a library, bookstore, notebook, and MP3 player all in one. But that’s a lot of promise in a palm-sized device. Luckily, it totally nails it. Here’s what you need to know about the Durobo Krono and why I named it the best open-source Android e-reader.
Durobo Krono e-reader: Our quick verdict
Have lots of different books on different apps? The Durobo Krono might just be for you.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
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Best for: The person with books in multiple apps — Kindle, Kobo, Audible, Libro.fm, and Libby. Plus, great for the person who likes to listen to audiobooks and read at the same time, and people seeking an on-the-go voice notetaker.
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Key tech: 6.13-inch Carta 1200 e-ink display, 128GB of storage, 6GB RAM, 300 ppi resolution, adjustable warmth and brightness, octa-core processor, and Android 15 OS.
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MSRP: $279.99
Your entire digital library on one device
Access your Kindle library from the Durobo Krono.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
I find myself in a unique conundrum as an e-reader tester: I have collections of books across many different e-reader platforms. While I could just get used to cycling through different e-readers regularly, that’s a lot to keep track of. The dream is to have them all on one device, and the Durobo Krono is that dream realized.
Running Android 15, the Google Play Store comes preinstalled on the Krono, so any app available in the store is available on the e-ink tablet. Suddenly, all the apps I use regularly from Audible, Kindle, Kobo Books, Libby, and Libro.fm are now on my Durobo Krono.
The apps appear on a separate page from Krono’s built-in library, so you will need to navigate between them. A small price to pay for the convenience of accessing them from one device.
Technically, you could get this convenience from a tablet, too. Except an iPad doesn’t have the matte, easy-on-the-eyes e-ink display that the Krono does.
Since it’s an Android device, Apple apps (like Apple Music and Apple Books) aren’t available, so as an Apple Music listener, I couldn’t use the device as a music player.
It’s fast — until it’s not
In my testing, I find open Android e-readers to be too slow, especially compared to Kindles and Kobos, which are zippy e-readers. The Boox Go and Boox Palma 2, similar devices to the Durobo Krono, have both had disappointing performance, even right out of the box. Yet, the Durobo Krono is brilliantly speedy. Even when moving between different books on different apps, I was impressed by how quickly it sped through them.
Its speed is conditional. Too many apps, or more demanding apps, will slow down the device. After a week of use, I added the Substack app to the Krono, which was too demanding for it. Even when I wasn’t using the app, it slowed down the whole device. Once I deleted the app, it sped back up.
Other demanding apps I found were audiobook players like Audible. I especially noticed this when listening to an audiobook while reading an e-book on a separate app. It’s disappointing that two apps geared toward readers slowed down an e-reader device. For the best performance on the Krono, use one app at a time and avoid high-demanding apps.
A perfect palm-sized e-reader
The Durobo Krono is perfectly palm-sized.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
The Durobo Krono has a 6.13-inch screen, slightly bigger than the basic Kindle‘s, but the entire device is narrower than the Kindle. It’s about the same size as my hand and weighs 6.1 ounces. The small size makes it comfortable to hold for hours at a time — especially if you add a PopSockets grip on the back as I did. But that doesn’t make the screen size feel cramped either.
It needs better battery life
When you’re used to the months-long battery life of a Kindle, it’s a hard adjustment to go to an e-reader with significantly less. With a couple of hours of use per day, the Durobo Krono e-readers have about one week of battery life. Compared to a smartphone or tablet, that’s pretty good, but when you’re coming from a Kindle or even a Kobo, the Krono e-reader’s battery life feels too short.
More features to enjoy
Access Durobo AI on the Krono e-reader.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
Easily scroll through articles and apps with the Krono’s smart dial.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
The features on the Krono Durobo are extensive. It has a smart dial on the side that refreshes the screen, starts recording, and scrolls on the device. It has a built-in AI called Spark, which captures voice recordings and produces transcripts and summaries. It’s a lot more than just a standard e-reader, but in the months of use, I never used the Spark AI. The Smart Dial is a fantastic addition for smooth scrolling.
Is the Durobo Krono worth it?
Looking for an alternative to a Kindle or Kobo? Try the Durobo Krono e-reader.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
The Durobo Krono is the best open Android e-reader. If you’re exploring the world of the Boox Palma or the Remarkable Move, the Krono is my preferred pick for its fast processing and support for third-party apps. In a perfect, palm-sized package, it provides access to all your digital libraries. It’s more expensive than other e-readers, but for its extra benefits, it’s worth the extra price.
Entertainment
James Gunn Finally Answers Superman's Biggest Plot Hole, But Fans Aren’t Convinced
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
When James Gunn’s Superman premiered, it leapt fan expectations in a single bound and did the seemingly impossible: made us care about DC movies again. It was perfectly cast, had plenty of action and humor, and generally felt like a fun, lived-in superhero universe. As a result, most audiences loved this film, but it did leave tights-and-flights fans with a seeming plot hole. Namely, if Lex Luthor created a clone of Superman, how the heck did he not know that Clark Kent was secretly the Man of Steel?
Recently, James Gunn took to Bluesky to answer this question. According to the Superman director, Clark Kent uses “Hypno Glasses” to fool those around him, plus Lex Luthor would never assume that a godlike alien spends his time walking among humans in a secret identity. Finally, he claimed that Luthor, like most brilliant people, still has blind spots even his genius might overcome. While these explanations work on paper, some in the fandom are disappointed because Gunn accidentally made Superman unethical and Luthor downright stupid.
Superman Or Super Creep?
What’s wrong, exactly, with James Gunn’s answers here? Let’s start with the Hypno Glasses. Gunn didn’t invent this concept. It’s actually been part of Superman comic lore since the late ‘70s. The glasses don’t give the Man of Steel broad hypnotism powers or anything. Instead, they simply keep people from making the connection that Clark Kent is actually Superman. This helps explain why the award-winning journalists who work with Clark every day and regularly have contact with Superman (like Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, and even Lois Lane at first) can’t figure something so basic out.
However, some fans find the idea of Hypno Glasses to be a bit icky. Superman is always presented as this moral exemplar, but it seems more than a bit unethical for him to constantly hypnotize the people he cares about by using creepy alien technology. It’s even weirder when you consider that he spent a fair amount of time hypnotizing Lois Lane, basically making her fall in love with the man she sees in the glasses and not the real thing. Also, did Lois simply figure out his secret identity on her own? It’s unclear in the film, but if so, that means these glasses are about as effective as they are unethical.
Super Genius Or Super Stupid?
As for Lex Luthor, James Gunn claims that just because the man is a genius doesn’t mean that he can’t “miss basic things,” and that Lex was so worried about an alien trying “to take over the world” that he never considered a human identity. However, this explanation arguably makes the franchise’s genius supervillain look like something of an idiot. He knows how to fight Superman because he has studied him for years, but he can’t figure out that the guy who keeps disappearing for eight hours a day has a job? Also, he can hack the entire Fortress of Solitude, but he can’t figure out some tricked-out alien glasses?
Of course, I’m being a bit hard on James Gunn here. Superman’s titular character is a kind of modern myth, and his secret identity is part of the mythology. The idea that a guy completely obscures his identity with a pair of glasses has never made much sense in a real-world context, and, if we’re being honest, it never will. Unfortunately, Gunn’s attempt at an explanation makes Superman look like a creep, and Lex Luthor look like an idiot. At the rate the bar is lowering, the booze-swilling, party-hearty Supergirl may end up being the real role model of this entire franchise!
Entertainment
The 9 best waterproof Bluetooth speakers, tested poolside
Anglers, boaters, and all-around water lovers who want a sonically powerful and waterproof speaker that’s built like a submarine.
This third-gen release isn’t just an ideal pick for boaters, beachgoers, pool-dippers, and water sports fanatics. The speaker’s impenetrable shell also makes it a practical wireless audio solution for all outdoor activities. Turtlebox’s industrial design is crushproof, dropproof, dustproof, impactproof, and, of course, waterproof. If that isn’t enough, each unit comes with rubber feet and stability features, such as tie-downs, to firmly secure to moving vehicles (e.g., golf carts, jet skis, scooters).
You’ll enjoy up to 100 watts of deep, emphatic sound. The frequency range is well-balanced. Bass commands most tracks, but mids and highs are transparent. Noise reduction is the speaker’s unsung feature. It does an amazing job minimizing open-air noise, specifically wind. We’ve previously tested this feature in breezy climates and heard music loudly and clearly.
Turtlebox claims the speaker will last up to three days on a single charge, but it doesn’t list specifics. A full charge is rated at 25+ hours. High volume and multi-speaker pairing decrease playtime by 5 to 10 hours. Nonetheless, the speaker can last an entire weekend when listening at moderate volume and recharge mobile devices at the same time.
Sure, it’s not the most portable-friendly or stylish waterproof speaker, but most consumers will prefer the remarkable craftsmanship and sound over aesthetic flair.
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Durobos Krono e-reader is the perfect palm-sized e-reader — and a great Kindle and Kobo alternative
