io9: Westerns

Watch how aliens abducted John Wayne's grandson in Cowboys and Aliens

Meredith Woerner — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:30:00 PST

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In this exclusive behind the scenes clip from Cowboys & Aliens, watch John Wayne's grandson cower before the very difficult task of being thrown into the sky off a horse! Thank goodness Olivia Wilde was there. More »

What's the secret of a good genre mashup?

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 17 May 2011 13:00:00 PDT

Lately it seems like a lot of the freshest genre works are mash-ups of well-worn ideas. Whether it's "police procedural with elves" or "superhero movie with Cold War intrigue." But why do some genre mashups rule, while others fail horribly? More »

Star Wars rebooted as a Western, with humanized droids

Meredith Woerner — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 09:49:19 PST

From the creator of Steampunk Star Wars comes a new reimagining: Western Wars. Sillof has re-imagined classic Star Wars characters as gritty Western ranchers. Which means we get R2 and C-3PO in creepy human form. More »

Cowboys & Aliens Trailer: Wrist Cannons and Rough Justice

Meredith Woerner — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:31:53 PST

Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig put some old timey bullets into the alien hide of a mysterious space invader in the first-ever trailer for Cowboys & Aliens. It's a first look at Jon Favreau's alien/western mashup movie. More »

Shatner Vs. Shatner: Star Trek stars' Western roles feel like a lost voyage of the Enterprise

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:30:00 PDT

No, that's not Kirk squaring off against his transporter duplicate: It's a scene from William Shatner's Spaghetti Western, White Comanche. A new DVD set is full of Trek stars' cowboys-and-Indians adventures, which really feel like lost Star Trek episodes. More »

Grant Morrison drops hints about his new Western indie flick, Sinatoro

Cyriaque Lamar — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:20:54 PDT

Did you know All-Star Superman scribe Grant Morrison has written a psychedelic Western inspired in part by Red Dead Redemption? Well, now you do! io9 spoke to Morrison and director Adam Egypt Mortimer about their upcoming film, entitled Sinatoro. More »

Why Do Anti-Heroes Rule Science Fiction?

Charlie Jane Anders — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:54:00 PDT

The first time I ever read the word "anti-hero," it was in an article about science fiction, and it's always seemed a very science fictional type of word — like anti-matter, or anti-gravity. Science fiction has its share of one-dimensional white hats, but the characters who capture our imagination are usually the morally blurred rascals, who have their own best interests at heart. You never quite know what an anti-hero will do next. Here's our guide to the roots of science fiction's greatest anti-heroes. More »