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“Bates Motel”: Watch Norman Sneak a Peak at Rihanna’s Marion Crane
A&E’s “Bates Motel” returns for its fifth and final season on February 20th.
The biggest selling point is that R&B artist Rihanna will play the role of Marion Crane, the iconic guest that appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and didn’t exactly meet a happy ending. Crane was originally played by Janet Leigh, the mother of Jamie Lee Curtis. Now, she’s being teased in the following promo and… damn, does she look good!
“We wanted to thrust the iconic role into a contemporary spotlight and redefine it in a meaningful and exciting new way,” Executive producers Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin stated at last year’s Comic-Con. “We also heard Rihanna was a fan of the show, and we were huge fans of hers, so it was the perfect collision of creativity and fate.”
Cuse had also talked with EW and assured them that even though people have seen Psycho, they won’t be able to anticipate what’s coming for their take on Crane. “We are going to meet Marion Crane, but what we don’t want to do is create the impression that we’re redoing the movie because we’re not at all. She’s a very different person in the movie and her story plays out in a different way,” he explained.
This contemporary prequel to the genre-defining film Psycho has provided fans with an intimate look into the unraveling of Norman Bates’ (Freddie Highmore) psyche throughout his teenage years. Fans watched as Norman’s dangerous transformation came full circle when he methodically murdered his beloved mother, Norma (Vera Farmiga), in the final gut-wrenching episodes of Season Four.
Highmore, Nestor Carbonell, and Max Theriot each direct at least one episode in the upcoming season.
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Legendary Grimdark ‘Warhammer 40,000’ Artist John Blanche Has Passed Away at 78
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.



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