Jordan King is, per Editor Nick de Semlyen's official description, Online Writer Dude at Empire, having started freelancing for us back in 2021 before joining the online team on the news beat in 2024. He's been a culture journalist specialising in film, TV, and music for over a decade now, with a specialist interest in Star Wars, animation (which is a medium, not a genre), Doctor Who, and movie musicals — namely Little Shop Of Horrors, his personal shout for the greatest film ever made, and the film which he once spent over three hours collectively talking to Frank Oz and Ellen Greene about.
While by day (or, more specifically, early morning and late evening) Jordan can usually be found penning puns and delivering hot-off-the-press news for EmpireOnline.com, he's also no stranger to a review, a Pilot TV Podcast interview, an off-the-dome opinion piece on the latest Star Wars show or season of The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, or a feature — be it a LAIKA deep-dive, a rundown of the best shows/movies on all your favourite streaming services, or a high-octane barrel roll into the world of crazy Hollywood stunts. He has also on occasion been let off the leash on socials, covering San Diego Comic Con and various Empire Live events at all hours.
Before boarding the good ship Empire, Jordan served as a cinema assistant at both the independent and multiplex end of the spectrum, spending his shifts talking to customers about movies before heading in to watch — and then write about — them himself when he clocked off. Having proudly come from a working class background, seeking refuge, escape, connection, and understanding in the looking glass of the big- and small-screen, Jordan spent his younger years setting up his own film blogs, writing for student publications, and may or may not have on one life-changing occasion blagged his way into the Cannes Film Festival Mr Bean's Holiday style.
Jordan's love of film and TV began with his uncle's stacked-high-and-wide shelves of videos and DVDs that he'd watch religiously as a child. Over many weekend afternoons, he developed an eclectic taste in everything from the works of Laurel & Hardy to the animated canons of Disney, Don Bluth, and Studio Ghibli, and from Stephen King horror adaptations he was definitely way too young for to '80s classics like Transformers: The Movie, The NeverEnding Story, Stand By Me, and basically anything directed by Steven Spielberg and/or scored by John Williams. It was while watching Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith at the cinema back in 2005 however, shouting "No!" as his heroes fought amidst the pyroclastic flow of Mustafar, that Jordan realised movies were his life's great obsession — hence why he went on to watch the film at least another 10 times that summer, and why he still argues Revenge Of The Sith is the best Prequel (and the best Star Wars movie full stop.)
Jordan has a serious, ongoing addiction to physical media, and at most recent count owns over 3,000 films and box sets across VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, 4K, and even PSP UMD (yes, he did watch The Dark Knight for the first time on a PSP — and no, he won't explain himself).
You can press Jordan on his collecting habits — and on all things film and TV — at @JordanMBKing on Twitter, and at @JordanMB98 on Instagram.
