#robert manion

There’s so many Hidgens now and I thought it would be fun to rank each of them based on their performances (As much as I love her too I will not add Mariah Rose Faith to the list, I think it would be unfair as we only saw her in a show within a show for a couple of minutes). Also just a disclaimer this is just in my opinion, if you have any different views I would love to hear them.

1- Iván Fernández González

The best Hidgens in my opinion, I really enjoyed how he interpreted his character. I think he did great at portraying his age while also keeping keeping him as a kooky professor (honestly made me forget he was in his 20s at points). I loved how he played some of the lines, for example when he would drop his voice to be deeper for certain words (eg- “It’s showtime”) and how he sung “and Leighton”. The only critique I have is that his singing could have been a little stronger but other than that he was amazing.

2- Will Branner

Honestly the best singer as Hidgens by far. His dancing and vocals were great, especially in show stopping number. Doing max’s voice for the Working Boys part was really smart and was an awesome throwback. I loved his facial expressions and his animated physicality, to me he almost brought a Doc Brown vibe to him (which is fun since he has experience in BTTF). I do feel like at certain scenes he could have toned it down slightly and had his character more grounded, but other than that he was phenomenal.

3- Jeff Blim

A more unique portrayal of Hidgens compared to the others (which makes sense since this is a film rather than a musical, but I still think it’s cool to point out). I love how he made him a lot more unhinged. He was hilarious at making him completely fed up with how his show was being treated, then towards the end just completely escalated to being insane, his emotional rollercoaster was very smooth and well done. I felt like I was watching a tired drama teacher that just descends into madness. Only critique I have is his vocals, I think in the opening (Made it Work) he strained his voice slightly during the high notes that may have been a little out of his range.

4- Nick Lang

Criminally underrated, I’m surprised nobody ever talks about him. His acting was exaggerated an appropriate amount for his character in a Nightmare Time setting. His facial expressions were so fun and I love how subtly desperate he portrayed made him to get Working Boys published. I do think at some points his accent slipped out into his normal voice though. Ties so close with Jeff but I wish we got to see more of him possibly in other episodes.

5- Robert Manion

His vocals were great and his dancing was really fluid, however I think his acting could have been stronger. To me he came across more as a twink and younger rather than an older professor. He had high energy for the entirety of the show which was great but I think could have been grounded at points. I would like to separate the actor from the character but it’s hard to enjoy the performance without thinking about his actions.

Iván's Hidgens - That's my son. I love him.

Will's Hidgens - I want him carnally.

Jeff's Hidgens - I can't tell if I want him to be my dad or my uncle

Robert's Hidgens - I still like him, just not as much as the others.

Career highlights (newest to oldest) :))

I'm really sick of people acting like Robert Manion doesn't exist, or that he's the god damn devil or something. He did a really shitty thing. He's been kicked out of starkid. It's been years. He's an asshole. I'm sick of the whole r0bert m@ni0n thing. He exists. He's a person in this world. And he is, in my opinion, a very good actor. And he was a large part of starkid for a very long time. Stop acting like he doesn't exist, or censoring him, or acting like he's the evilest person on earth. He really isn't. He's just a dick.

Like, it’s so sweet??? It’s adorable? It would’ve made Ethan’s death 10x more heartbreaking (which is crazy bc it’s already awful)? It’s the perfect representation of his character?

I just need SOMEONE to do a fully produced version of it. Idc who, or how, I just can’t listen to the demo on the stream as the only version we have of it.

The man, the myth, the legend, Ethan Green.

Everyone loves to talk about how much they love him, but you are all forgetting that he is heartbreaking.

So first of all, he loves Lex. Incredibly devoted. And you're thinking, "well obviously he loves his girlfriend?" But I am not exaggerating when I say nearly every decision this man makes is for the sake of making her happy.

He cares about her opinion of him. He cares about how she's feeling. Ethan literally has more emotional intelligence as a 19-20 year old than most grown men do. He was going to propose!

And then his relationship with Hannah. At the ripe old age of 19, Ethan steps into a fatherly role for his girlfriend's kid sister, and he fucking kills it. If he is devoted to Lex, he's protective of Hannah. He dies trying to fight off people that want to hurt her.

The first time we see him in Yellowjacket, he's trying to cheer Hannah up after her shop class accident. On Hannah's birthday, he takes her out to Pizza Pete's even though he doesn't have the money to spare. She is a priority to him. He even wears a little birthday celebration crown.

On top of that, he's a decent guy. Yes, he's not above threatening people or stealing, but his heart is always in the right place when he does it. He puts the effort into his relationship. He is shown apologizing when he fucks up and recognizing his mistakes. He saves Lex and Hannah's life's at the end of Yellowjacket.

Great, right? No. Not great. The narrative is consistently ruining his life.

He dies in Black Friday. Dies in a brutal way while being ambushed for a doll that he didn't have. He actually dies for nothing. And his very last words are "I'll get you to California, Lex. That way you don't gotta cry so much no more." Was Lex in the room? No. He was hallucinating her. Fucking devastating.

And then, his face gets worn by a dark god to torment Hannah. Hannah, one of the people he cared most about, is being toyed with by something wearing Ethan's face. You just know he's watching in the afterlife feeling utterly powerless.

There are timelines where Ethan and Lex accept larger jail sentences so that Hannah isn't left alone. He is not related to Hannah, or Lex. He has no real obligation to do that. He chooses to, for Hannah's sake. And has to spend years in jail.

In Yellowjacket, after all they've been through, after he bought the damn ring, the girls just leave him behind. He gets broken up with via a note while they escape to California. And you know it's for the better, you know it's for his own safety, but it still hurts.

There was even supposed to be a Nightmare Time episode where he comes back from the dead Pet-Cemetery style, murders Hannah, and then is tortured for eternity?? But then the Langs were like "No, actually, everyone would hate this." and thank God because Ethan does not need that on his plate.

Look at this. "We caught you a poki-man." He's too good I miss him so much.