Character crossovers and storyline mash-ups are nothing new. But if the premise has been done before, are the character overlaps and reincarnations worth a watch? Angry Nerd makes the case for metaphysical mash-ups, including Showtime’s new “Penny Dreadful.”

Watch a preview of our new documentary series, Teen Technorati, which follows 40 students under the age of 20 as they compete for a Thiel Fellowship. Created by investor Peter Thiel, the $2 million fund awards $100,000 to 20 winners who will have to drop out of school to further develop their individual medical, technology, and design-based projects. From team challenges to a lightning pitch in front of the judges, see who makes the cut as the next generation of young, innovative entrepreneurs.

20 winners. $100,000 each. The chance to bring an idea to life. We follow 40 student finalists as they compete for a coveted and controversial Thiel Fellowship. Their projects range from cancer research to new app technology, but there's just one catch if they win—they'll have to drop out of school. Meet the 2014 Thiel Fellowship finalists.

The 1990s saw the rise—and fall—of virtual reality. While everyone could imagine a technology that allowed us to be somewhere else, no one was able to make it happen. No one, that is, until an 18-year-old named Palmer Luckey invented the Oculus Rift. We speak with Luckey and other Oculus employees about how they managed to crack one of technology's toughest riddles and make VR feasible for the first time. Music: "Disco Kerosene" Performed By Circa Tapes (http://circatapes.bandcamp.com/)

The lightning pitches are over, but the finalists continue to sweat in the mentor matches. Judges and industry head honchos meet with each of the 40 students to find out more about their projects. Can the fellowship finalists effectively articulate their concepts and business plans, or will the tough questions and high-pressure one-on-ones prove to be too much?

The deliberations are over and the judges are ready to notify the 2014 Thiel Fellowship winners via Skype. Find out which 20 kids will have their lives changed forever as they win a $100,000 grant and drop out of school to pursue their dreams.

After a weekend of activities and final pitches, the 40 students get ready to pack up their things and head back to reality until the 20 fellowships are awarded. In this episode, the students reflect back on what they’ve learned over the past few days, and what they’ll do if chosen as a 2014 Thiel Fellow.

The new sci-fi flick Edge of Tomorrow is basically a sci-fi rip-off of Groundhog Day, but with more Tom Cruise and less Bill Murray. And somehow, it manages to establish itself as one of the best movies about a video game, ever.

She’s double-majoring in computer science and human-computer interaction at Carnegie Mellon. She also just won a $100,000 Thiel Fellowship to develop a platform for customizable education-based games. Get to know teen technorati Lucy Guo.

Seventeen-year-old Catherine Ray just received a $100,000 Thiel Fellowship. Armed with a B.S. in computational physics, the mathematics whiz is planning to fix everything that’s wrong with wheelchairs. Get to know the teen technorati.

At BizCon 2014, Tumblr CEO and co-founder David Karp sat down with WIRED senior writer Steven Levy to talk about why he doesn’t regret the Yahoo! sale, how his platform empowers creators, and the importance of enabling users.

With degrees in mathematics and physics from U.C. Berkeley, 19-year-old Rebecca Jolitz is planning to revolutionize the satellite development industry. Get to know the 2014 Thiel Fellow and find out what first inspired her love of science.

As the 2014 Thiel Fellows prepare to move to San Francisco for the summer, the reality of the fellowship starts to sink in. Having to drop out of school, dealing with parental judgment—is it all really worth it to pursue their ideas and projects in Silicon Valley?

The fellows who’ve moved into the campus house start to settle in—all the while gearing up for orientation. In this episode, the teens hear advice from current and past fellows on the challenges they'll face, including how to make the most of their $100,000 grants.

Eighteen-year-old Darby Schumacher is trying to create a safer and healthier world for newborns. The 2014 Thiel Fellowship finalist is working to develop an alert system that tracks vital signs in babies to help combat Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The Tennessee native explains what prompted her to start the project and why she wants to become an entrepreneur.

Back in San Francisco, fellows Shantanu Bala and Kaushik Tiwari visit the community workshop and prototyping studio TechShop. As they tour the space and check out equipment, Shantanu develops new ideas that he can apply to his project of building new computer interfaces that use a sense of touch to get information.

The Thiel fellows get a dose of Silicon Valley life as they visit Google’s collaborative workspace, The Garage. After a demo of Google Glass, the group gets hands-on with an innovation exercise to hone their creativity and team-building skills.

It’s more than just a prop. Vic Mignogna, who stars as Captain Kirk in “Star Trek Continues,” shows us the famous Captain’s chair and explains how the set designer re-created a replica of the original version, down to the hand-poured control buttons.

Founder and COO of Unruly Media, Sarah Wood, explains the myths, value, and impact of video content in an evolving digital landscape.

In this episode, Thiel fellow Rebecca Jolitz takes us on a tour of the NASA Ames Research Center, where she worked while attending UC Berkeley. The entire group also pays a visit to lunar transportation company Moon Express for lessons on space, technology, and how to turn the impossible into a reality.

Ever wonder what you'd do if a gang of genetically engineered apes took over the planet? Host Quinn Beswick talks to scientists, sociologists, and survivalists for tips on what to do if you find yourself in a real-life Dawn of the Planet of the Apes situation.

At San Diego Comic-Con 2013, WIRED debuted a giant robot mech. This year, a new version of the larger-than-life beast will be revealed at the ultimate fan convention. Watch a preview of what’s in store for the colossal creature, created in collaboration with the Stan Winston School, Legacy Effects, Stratasys, and WIRED. From design to tech and prototype to finished product, see how the ultimate cosplay creation came to life.

It's time to choose a concept for this year's giant creature. The only requirements this time around? It needs to be bigger and better, with even more innovative features. Watch as the team at the Stan Winston School and Legacy Effects choose a final design for the massive monster.

The design phase is over, and now it's time to prove that the 14-foot-tall creature can be built. As the team starts to build the prototype, challenges arise due to the creature's size and scale.

Designer Greg Smith walks us through the process of scaling up the massive beast to see how much volume is needed to create it. After taking photos and videos of the rough frame and superimposing it onto an image of the creature, the team is able to get a better idea of what dimensions they'll need to bring it to life.

Lead systems engineer Jason Lopes walks us through the process of creating a maquette—a 10 to 18-inch 3-D figure—which gives the team a tangible and highly detailed representation of the creature.

Now that the prototype is built, it's time to start constructing the full-scale pieces of the giant creature. In this episode, watch the dragon-like head come to life through an advanced sculpting process, after which it's refined, detailed, and painted for a realistic look.

Catch a first-look at the giant creature in action as the team tests out the mechanics of the frame.

Watch Matt Winston and the crew assemble the giant creature on Hollywood Boulevard before its big reveal on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Plus, watch Kimmel and his sidekick Guillermo take the nearly 14-foot tall, 2,000-pound creature for a ride. Watch the Kimmel segment here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plmBWOL5LBw

How do you transport a 2,000-pound, 14-foot-tall beast? Find out, as the giant creature makes its way from the Stan Winston School facilities to Hollywood for its big debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

San Diego Comic-Con 2014 is underway and it's time for Bodock the Giant Creature to make his public debut. Catch a first-look at his #SDCC2014 reveal.

Bodock the Giant Creature tries to make some new friends at #SDCC2014, but ends up making a few enemies instead. Watch what happens when he faces off against two small dogs who aren't afraid of the colossal beast.

Why drive a regular cop car when you can patrol the streets in a massive beast? Watch what happens when the San Diego police department upgrades their regular vehicle to Bodock the Giant Creature.

Scarlett Johansson stars as the ass-kicking, nearly superhuman protagonist in the new sci-fi action flick Lucy. But while the French—namely the film's writer and director Luc Besson—continue to put out films with strong heroine leads, Marvel and DC seem content to sit on a reservoir of amazing female characters like She-Hulk and Black Widow.

Wonder how Bodock the Giant Creature and his alien sidekick got their voices? In this episode, we take a trip to Anarchy Post to see how the creature's voice came to life with the help of voice actors and Dehumaniser—a real-time vocal processor for monster sound FX.

It's been an eight-week-long marathon to get the Bodock Giant Creature ready for #SDCC2014, and now that the convention is over, it's time to take a look back at the best moments from the event, including the marriage ceremony he officiated.

It took nearly 4,000 hours to grow the Giant Creature pieces that were created using 3-D printing. Find out how Stratasys—the company behind the expert rapid prototypes—managed to create one of the biggest projects they've ever worked on.

It took almost a year to arrange to interview and photograph Edward Snowden in Moscow, where he has sought asylum. Author James Bamford and photographer Platon reflect back on their encounters with the elusive whistleblower.

Dispatched to Moscow, famed portrait photographer Platon captured a never-before-seen side of Edward Snowden for WIRED. In this riveting montage, the elusive whistleblower explains the thinking behind his decision to reveal the extent of domestic surveillance being conducted by US intelligence services.

How do you make a 2,000-pound creature move with fluidity and ease? Find out, as we break down the animatronics and mechanics that control the mobility of the giant beast, including nostril flares, mouth movements, and more.

Just how does a giant creature get its realistic, custom fur? Find out, as we break down the process of fur fabrication for this year's massive beast.

What inspires a 17-year-old to go into cancer research or a 19-year-old to develop an obsession with astrophysics? Find out, as the 2014 Thiel Fellows explain how they first discovered their passions and why they've decided to turn them into careers.

Award-winning author James Bamford spent three days interviewing Edward Snowden in Moscow. He emerged with an indelible portrait of the elusive whistleblower, one that sheds new light on exactly what led Snowden to decide to leak tens of thousands of top-secret documents. Also in this month's issue: A new scientific effort to understand nutrition and health plus a riveting profile of Sin City auteur Frank Miller.

From the final moldings to the last paint job, find out how the design team added character and life to the giant creature in under two weeks.

We go inside the latest addition to a fleet of lighter-than-air vehicles—the most advanced blimp in the air.

Find out how the tech, aviation, and design of Goodyear's new airship stack up to its predecessors.

Blimps have come along way from the Zeppelin days; find out what's in store for the future of Goodyear's new airships.

Erik and Justin from The Indie Machines show you how they built a fast-moving DIY camera rig to capture all of the action from each destruction test.

You know what's not cool? A Batman show that's not about Batman. Yet, that's what we're getting with FOX's upcoming Gotham. The series centers on Bruce Wayne's childhood and features origin stories of the franchise's villains. Sound like a prequel to a prequel? That's because it is.

The new Denzel Washington crime thriller, The Equalizer, is based on the 1980s show of the same name. And while Angry Nerd doesn't really remember much about the show, he does remember the killer opening title sequence.