Brian VanHooker-Contributor

Brian VanHooker

December, 2025
He was Senior Features Writer at Cracked and a Staff Writer at MEL. He has written for Inverse, Inside Hook, Maxim, Men's Health, Fatherly, SFGate etc
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About Brian VanHooker

Brian VanHooker is a Pop Culture Writer specializing in Celebrity Interviews and In-Depth Oral Histories in the areas of Comedy, TV, Film, Cartoons, Comic Books, 80s/90s Nostalgia, Fatherhood, Retro Games and Food (especially Pizza). He was the Senior Features Writer at Cracked and a Staff Writer at MEL. He has written for Inverse, Inside Hook, Maxim, Men's Health, Fatherly, SFGate and more. He's the co-creator of the comic book/cartoon Barnum & Elwood and The Tramp, an award-winning comedy pilot starring John O’Hurley. He also hosts a TMNT interview podcast called Turtle Tracks and was once called a “Good Guy” by Mr. T.

Latest

A red-faced demon tauntingly scowls over the shoulder of Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) in James Wan’s Insidious
15 years later, the make-up artist behind Insidious looks back: 'It's black within blackness'

Makeup effects artist Justin Raleigh details the making of an instantly classic horror villain

Avengers_ Doomsday _ X-Men
Avengers: Doomsday may release earlier as Marvel appears spooked by ‘Dunesday’

Is Marvel backing down from a box office brawl?

7
David-Duchovny-and-Gillian-Anderson-in-The-X-Files-Season-11
2 seemingly innocent words in the official description for Ryan Coogler’s X-Files really have me worried
TV

I want to believe this reboot can be good

8
The animatronic Olaf from Disneyland Paris
Disney Parks’ new AI Olaf robot suffers its hilarious first malfunction

Better than a warm hug

2
Nobody (Bob Odenkirk) lighting up a lighter in Nobody 2
5 Mr. Show sketches where Bob Odenkirk is a bigger badass than he is in Nobody

Happy 5th anniversary to Nobody

Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, raises an open bloodied hand toward a young Maya Lopez, aka Echo, in a still from the first trailer for Marvel Studios’ Echo TV series.
Daredevil: Born Again season 2 is repeating a critically acclaimed plotline from the Marvel comics

Kingpin has been New York's mayor before. Here's how it went down in the comic book version.

Daredevil Born Again
Is Daredevil: Born Again setting Bullseye up as a hero?

He’s kinda-sorta-almost-not-really been a hero before

2
daredevil born again season 2
Daredevil: Born Again season 2 is Marvel’s most political show ever

The story's political overtones are impossible to ignore — and impossible to understand

23
Conan O'Brien pulls a lever
An oral history of Conan O’Brien’s Walker, Texas Ranger Lever: the Late Night gag that made Chuck Norris a meme

Late Night with Conan O’Brien writers Michael Koman and Andrew Weinberg pay homage to Chuck Norris the only way they know how

Jonah Hill, left, and Channing Tatum in 21 Jump Street
Revisiting the 2012 Channing Tatum classic that explains Project Hail Mary's secret sauce

The seeds of Project Hail Mary were not planted in Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's hit comedies from the 2010’s

1
Tokka and Rahzar
35 years later, the villains of TMNT II look back: ‘This is better than Disney'
Q&A

The secrets behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze

1
Jon Bernthal stands bloody-handed and glowering in Netflix’s The Punisher.
10 years ago, Marvel finally found its Punisher

Jon Bernthal has been the definitive Frank Castle for a decade and counting

10
The jackalope gives advice to the sad, shorn lamb in the desert
The inside story of Boundin', the only Pixar project directed by one of the studio's greatest animators

Current and former Pixar employees pay tribute to late artist Bud Luckey, his long career, his unique personality, and his singular short

5
Nick Frost and Simon Pegg pose for a picture in front of the UFO in Paul
15 years later, Paul remains Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s underappreciated gift to sci-fi fans

Turns out Pegg and Frost without Edgar Wright behind the camera is still pretty good

3
The Ninja Turtles read a magazine
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze is still the most fun to be had in a TMNT movie

'Go ninja, go ninja go!'

5
George Lucas talks with Robert Duvall on the set of THX 1138
THX 1138 is still one of George Lucas’ most intriguing worlds

55 years later, the sci-fi cult classic remains a must for Star Wars fans

4
The villain in The Funhouse
45 years later, Tobe Hooper's underrated slasher deserves another look

The director of Texas Chainsaw Massacre delivered plenty of scares with this follow-up film

Michelle stands in front of a windowed door that Howard creepily looks through
10 years later, the original writers of 10 Cloverfield Lane look back: 'A lot of stuff changed'
Q&A

Josh Campbell and Matt Stuecken reveal what changed when their little spec script became a Cloverfield sequel

5
Elon Musk Holds Town Hall Ahead Hotly Contested Wisconsin State Supreme Court Election
Gore Verbinski, the director of 2026's best anti-AI movie, lets loose on Elon Musk: 'He's a traitor'

Verbinski's movie and Musk's social media platform have been squabbling online. Now, the director is weighing in.

3
MUPPETS FROM SPACE, Kermit the Frog, Ray Liotta, Pepe the Prawn, Miss Piggy, 1999
30 years of Pepé the King Prawn: 'He's kind of like a male Miss Piggy'

The Muppeteer behind Pepé looks back on three decades of movies and memes

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