When I heard the trailer for the third season of Marvel's What If? dropped, I thought I was ready for anything it might throw at me. That notion vanished after the Avengers embraced their inner Super Sentai and came ??together to form what I can only describe as the "Avengezoid."

A reality where the Avengers battle their foes from the driver's seats of giant robots is just one of the many exciting universes What if? Season 3 will explore when it arrives on Disney+ on De?cember 22, 2024.

What If? Season 3 will bring us to the craziest corners of Marvel's multiverse

What If? Season 3's trailer wastes no time ??confirming that this will be the last installment of Marvel's animated multiversal anthology and that it's been saving its best-cracked mirror scenarios for last. The first two seasons of What If? gave us plenty of exciting character-situation combos, but Season ??3 proves its batting for the trees beyond the fences in a two-minute and twenty-second montage.

Some highlights from the trailer include the aforementioned Gundam-inspired Avengers standing togeth??er to defend Wakanda, Teyonah Parris' Monica Rambeu suiting up in some Captain America-inspired armor to fight Ultron Sentinels, and Simu Liu's Shang Li ??kicking butt in an Old West saloon. However, as is often the case, the trailer saved its biggest surprise for last.

What If's Goddess of Thunder brings the X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Right before everything cuts to black for the last time, What If Season 3's trailer introduces a Mljonir-wielding variant of the X-Men's Storm, who proudly declares herself the Goddess of the Storm as she reels back to inflict divine wrath on some poor tentacled shmuck. Alison Sealy-Smith, who voiced the tempest-taming X-Men in X-Men '97, will also be lending her voice to What If?'s Storm

Marvel fans have been waiting for the X-Men to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Disney gobbled up Twentieth Century Fox in 2019. Having one of the X-Men's most iconic members debut in What If? is an unusual choic??e, but it could help ease them into the mix before their inevitable, more formal introduction in a live-ac??tion film or television series.

Introducing a character as powerful and franchise-changing as Storm also reinforces that What If? Season 3 will be the end of the series. By introducing one of Marvel's most iconic teams, What If? will finally leave its mark on the greater MCU.

The post Marvel’s What-If Season 3 trailer goes full Power Rangers appeared first on Destructoid.

For the past few years, video game adaptations have had a pretty solid run. The Last of Us made waves on television, The Super Mario Bros. Movie redeemed itself decades after its abysmal 1993 predecessor, and the Sonic the Hedgehog series has thrived on screens big and small. Unfortunately, not all of these attempts can be success stories, and it seems like the upcoming Minecraft movie, simply called A Minecraft Movie, will take movie goers back to a time not so long? ago. A time when adapting gaming favorites to the big screen was something that Hollywood just couldn't quite figure out.

At the time of this writing, the Minecraft trailer has been out for a minute, allowing those on the internet to collect themselves, take a deep breath, and let the minds behind it know just how much they dislike it. From the live-action elements to the dialogue to the bizarre casting of Jack Black as Steve, there have been loads of critiques levied against this film that won't even hit the cinema until next year. For?? as much of a misfire as it might seem, at least some surface level attempts were made to resemble the iconic source material. By that, I mean the trailer is full of mobs.

Strange live-action characters aside, the inaugural Minecraft trailer showcases a few hyper-realistic animals, monsters, and creatures that have roamed to the games landscapes for ages. Here are all the ones included in some form or another througho?ut.

Sheep

As our human cast enters the world of Minecraft, they have a lot to take in. Everything is suddenly blocky, vibrant in color, and very much resembles a warped version of the world they know. Of course, that's just talking about the angular clouds and brick-like ground. Then they come across their first living creature in this odd new world, that being a pink sheep, which bleats in their direction with its opposite-facing eyes, uncanny body p??roportions, and enlarged?? teeth.

If you've played Minecraft at virtually any point since its 2009 introduction, odds are you've stumbled across the odd sheep. These docile farm animals have been an integral part of the game's DNA nearly since the day it launched. They come in a variety of colors, supply wool to help make vital items like beds, and they can be used as a food source, commonly dropping raw mutton when killed. Hopefully, for the sake of the kids in the audience, A Minecraft Movie won't depict such a scene.

Piglin

Stepping into the world of Minecraft is daunting for the movie's ?human characters. Though we don't know the circumstances of their arrival yet, their bewilderment and the twinge of fear in their eyes once they arrive indicates they have no reason nor desire to be there. Making the situation worse, they're quickly shown how hostile this place can be as a group of Piglin arrive with likely evil intentions in their minds, armor on their bodies, and weapons of all kinds in hand.

Not to be confused with pigs or Zombie Pigmen, Piglin are bipedal, human-like pig creatures found in the Nether. Though they're typically pretty neutral in-game, they're often found holding weapons, and they're not afraid to use them if provoked. They can also be found in another variety, the Piglin Brute. Not only are these Piglin far stronger than their contemporaries, but they're considerably more hostile. Based on the trailer, it seems that ?the filmmakers are electing to make all Piglin generic evil henchmen.

Ghast

Not only do the Piglin feature pretty prevalently in the first Minecraft trailer, but there are some anomalies about them that fans couldn't help but notice. As mentioned, all varieties seem equally disgruntled and dangerous, but going a bit further, they're shown to be traveling outs?ide the Nether for an unknown reason. What's more, they're shown attacking by air via makeshift hot air balloons. Only, there aren't any balloons involved??, but rather Ghasts.

Much like the Piglin, Ghasts are residents of the Nether, and like most things there, these creatures are not very nice. They have no qualms about attacking with fireballs, and the fact that they fly can make them a difficult enemy to retaliate against. Strangely, in the film, they seem to be depicted as large, fleshy, jellyfish-like creatures, where in the game, it has been established that they are actually a form of ghost. This change was likely made so they could be used to carry the Piglin around, which is also something not present in Minecraft without mods.

Wolf

It's no shock that the Minecraft trailer doesn't shy away from showing off the game's arguable most beloved neutral mob. In a brief clip, a rectangular dog creature is shown from a side profile howling at the moon. As anyone could likely guess, this is a wolf. They have been a part of the game since 2011, and in that time, they have become adored by Minecraft players everywhere. Why? It's simple, because who doesn't want a dog at their side a??s they explore the unexplored?

Sadly, for those hoping to see more out of wolves in the Minecraft trailer, all we receive is the small snippet confirming that they are in fact in the film. One has to imagine that the feature will include them prominently, possibly with one of the live-action characters domesticating one during their perilous journey. We can only hope that the movie version of the Minecraft wolf doesn't ??turn out as uncanny as the Sheep appe??ars to have.

Creeper

When you think of Minecraft, a few associated mental images likely spring to mind. Steve, of course, maybe a pickaxe of some kind, or, if you're of a certain age and have spent a certain amount of time on the Internet, some problematic YouTube stars. In truth, I think we all know that there is one singular image that has come to define Minecraft more so than any other. That is the green frowning face of the games most famous enemy, the ??Creeper.

There's truly no denying the Creeper's place in Minecraft lore. The explosive mob has been the bane of gamers' existence since the game's first year, ruining homes, farms, mines, and so much more with a brief hiss and a boom. The Minecraft trailer simply wouldn't have been complete without the appearance of one, and it delivered. For a brief moment, we see a very fuzzy-looking Creeper, well, creep up behind Jason Momoa's character in the middle of the night,?? likely intending to do what it does best based on Momoa's terrified?? expression.

Llama

Toward the end of the Minecraft trailer, we get the big reveal that Jack Black is ??indeed Steve, blue t-shirt and all. While this may seem like a good point to end the trailer on, those who put i??t together opted for a different stinger. It focuses on a llama chewing on some grass when an arrow flies out of the sky and sticks into the ground next to it, with a crowd of Piglin then running past. The animal stands there in shock and stops chewing before going back to its meal.

Similarly to sheep, llamas don't really do a whole lot in Minecraft. They stand around, chew on gr??ass, and are occasionally found on leashes alongside Wandering Traders or grazing freely with a handful of other llamas. If you're interested, and feel particularly motivated to do so, you can actually domesticate llamas. All you have to do is continually attempt to ride them and be bucked off until they let you stay on. Surely this mechanic won't be a source of comedy in the movie.

Enderman...maybe?

For the most part, we get a decent look at all of the aforementioned mobs in the Minecraft trailer. Some of them don't get a lot of time to shine, nor are their designs fully revealed, but they still get even the briefest spotlight. Meanwhile, there's potentially one more iconic mob hiding in the Minecraft teaser. At the center of the frame, way in the background of the ??shot with all of the Piglin together in the Nether, there's a foreboding ?set of what could be purple eyes.

While this could be a trick of the lights and it's merely just another Piglin, it could be an Enderman. These unsettling mobs are defined by their long, slender silhouette, magical aura, and purple eyes. They've been a part of Minecraft for years, walking around ominously picking up blocks, and viciously attacking those who provoke them by hitting them or staring them directly in the face. They are known to appear in the Nether, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that one does appear in the Minecraft trailer way in the background.

Odds are we've only seen but a small sampling of the mobs A Minecraft Movie has to offer so far. We'll have to see which others made the cut, and if the whole production is?? as rough as the trailer makes it seem, when the movie arrives on April 4, 2025.

The post Every mob shown in the Minecraft movie trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

Video game-based movie adaptations often prove disastrous, but Sonic the Hedgehog managed to avoid joining that club. T??he rather unsightly first looks at the titular Blue Blur broke the Internet, but Sonic (Ben Schwartz) was redesigned, his live-action blockbuster debut turned out to be a massive hit, and now, his beloved video game series has become the basis for an entire franchise.

Following up both Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and the Paramount+ streaming series Knuckles is Sonic the Hedgehog 3. This time around, Shadow the Hedgehog (Keanu Reeves) stands as the central antagonist, giving Sonic, Tails (Colleen O'Shaughnessey), and Knuckles (Idris Elba) a run for their m?oney. Thus, they're left little choice but to form an uneasy alliance with their longtime enemy, Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey), who's also set to go on quite a journey of his own.

As revealed in the Sonic 3 trailer, Robotnik will come face to face with his equally scientifically-inclined grandfather, Gerald Robotnik (Carrey). If you're not too familiar with the extensive and sometimes complicated lore of the Sonic video game franchise, but want to learn a bit about Gerald ahead of Sonic 3, you've come to the right place.

Gerald's video game history

Though his brief appearance in the inaugural Sonic 3 trailer may indicate that Gerald Robotnik is a bit of a goof, much like his grandson, that's not quite the case. Since making his debut in the 2001 platformer Sonic Adventure 2, it has consistently been shown that Gerald is a brilliant scientific mind. He was specifically sought out to lead the secretive research program Project Shadow under the direction of the United Federation. He accepts, ultimately doing so to unlock the secret to immortality. With ??trial and error, he eventually creates Shadow the Hedgehog himself.

Unfortunately, his time as one of the leading minds of Project Shadow comes to a swift end. As he completes Shadow, the government gets cold feet and deems his work a danger to humanity. This? eventually leads to him being sequestered on Prison Island, where he's left with no choice but to continue his research under the government's close watchful eye. Shadow, now completed, i?nitially escapes custody but is soon brought to Prison Island and kept in suspended animation. Dr Robotnik later releases him from this imprisonment long after Gerald loses his mind and is executed.

Maria Robotnik and the future of the Sonic film franchise

Seeing as the movies don't follow the exact canon of the games, Gerald Robotnik could be up to all sorts of things in in Sonic 3. Surprisin??gly, there's a good chance that his story in the film could be similar to that of his video game counterpart.

In addition to potentially aiding in the creation of Shadow the Hedgehog, the plot may hint at the tragic fate of another character: his granddaughter Maria Robotnik (Alyla Browne), who ??has been confirmed to appear in the threequel in some capacity. She's the main motivating factor behind Gerald's decision to join Project Shadow and, unintentionally, his descent into madness.

When he signs up, she's terminally ill, and he wants to use his research to save her life. Sadly, h??is involvement in the program leads to the exact opposite. With Project Shadow crumbling, troops from the Guardian Units of Nations, or G.U.N., are sent to the Space Colony ARK, where Gerald is conducting his research. With armed personnel swarming, Maria?? and her friend Shadow are forced to flee.

Shadow makes it out, but Maria is shot and killed by an ARK soldier, which sends Gerald into a tailspin and manifests?? in his plan to destroy the world using Shadow. It's entirely possible he could seek revenge for her death in the film and use Shadow as the means to do so, or she has yet to be killed and will be over the course of the film, setting up a fourth movie.

All in all, Gerald Robotnik, despite not being the most well-known character in the Sonic canon, remains one of its most vital. It will be interesting to see how he's used on the big screen when Sonic the Hedgehog 3 premieres on December 20, 2024.

The post Sonic the Hedgehog 3: Who is Gerald Robotnik? appeared first on Destructoid.

It was over 35 years ago that Michael Keaton's Beetlejuice first terrorized cinemas across the globe. Now all these years later, the Ghost with the Most is back on the big screen. Director Tim Burton's Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is nearly here, and even as many grow tired of the seemingly endless stream of ??legacy sequels that no one asked for, among many in the general audience and, naturally, longtime ??fans of the 1988 original, anticipation is high for this pre-Halloween spooky theatrical endeavor. Based on promotional material, there seems to be a great amount of new in this long-awaited continuation of the horror comedy classic.

Now decades beyond the events of the first Beetlejuice film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice focuses on a grown-up Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), who now has a daughter of her own, Astrid (Jenna Ortega). Within the walls of the Deetz family home, the two are pulled into a paranormal adventure full of frights, Sandworms, and blasts from the past, chiefly The Juice himself. Unfortunately, for those hoping for an overload of Beetlejuice nostalgia in the form of returning main characters,?????????????????????????? to some extent, your needs may? not be entirely met.

For Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, there are several key characters from its predecessor that will?? not feature in its narrative. Here's what we know about their absences.

Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin as Barbara and Adam Maitland

Even though their names aren't in the title, the Maitlands, Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara (Geena Davis), are situated squarely at the center of Beetlejuice. The loving couple dies in a car accident, and the two are forced to live eternally in their house as specters, watching as the Deetz family moves In and turns their happily ever after into a nightmare. The two are responsible for the presence of Beetlejuice in the story as they try to scare off the Deetzs and reclaim the house that was all theirs before their untimely passing. All of that is to say the Maitlands are incredibly important to the story of Beetlejuice, so why, as far as we know, are they ?not in the long-awaited sequel?

As it happens, Geena Davis has spoken on the potential reason for Barbara's exclusion from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. She told Entertainment Tonight her theory that ghosts don't age, so it would be hard to bring the Maitlands back as she and Baldwin have aged as humans do since the first film. Since Davis brought her hypothesis forward, Burton himself has given his reasoning for leaving the Maitlands out this time around. "I didn't want to just tick any boxes. So even though they were such an amazing integral part of the first one, I was focusing on something else,�he told People, explaining that it was? a deliberate creative decision.

Glenn Shadix as Otho Fenlock

She's brash, abrasive, and set in her ways, not to mention has quite the unique (for lack of a better term) sense of interior design. Delia Deetz (Catherine O'Hara) is the perfect foil for the Maitlands, but she doesn't play secondary antagonist alone. Alongside her throughout the film is her judgmental and arrogant friend and one-time paranormal researcher, Otho Fenlock (Glenn Shadix), who not only helps her decorate her new home but aids in her attempt to turn the ghosts living within it into an attraction. This all makes him quite the important presence throughout Beetlejuice, at least up until his fear sends him packing.

By the end of the 1988 favorite, Otho's dark dreary outfit is transformed into a bright and cheery one by Beetlejuice, leaving him to embarrassedly run and scream all the way home. Sadly, this is the last moviegoers will ever get to see of Glenn Shadix's Otho. The character actor passed away on September 7, 2010, at age 58, having fallen while at home and sustained fatal blunt trauma to the head. His final live-action role was that of Monsieur Vollard in the 2010 movie Finding Gauguin. Seeing ??as Shadix and Burton were frequent collaborators, chances are the director did not elect to recast the Otho role for the upcoming movie.

Jeffrey Jones as Charles Deetz

As his wife Delia tears apart their dwelling, setting up her art projects and running around ghost hunting with Otho, Charles Deetz (Jeffrey Jones) takes a vastly different approach to settling in. He spends time in his?? study, which he's very adamant is to remain untouched by his wife and her friend, bird watching, and doing everything to enjoy the serenity of their rural abode. Unfortunately, he does get caught up in Beetlejuice-related shenanigans, but by the time the credits roll, he's once again able to kick b?ack and relax, comfortable in the knowledge that only kind ghosts populate his residence.

Throughout advertising for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, fans have seen clips of a funeral, with Lydia and Delia wearing black as a coffin is lowered into a burial plot. One can assume that this is Charles being lowered into his final resting place. If this is the case, it's likely a response to the real-life legal issues of Jeffrey Jones. Not only was he arrested for the possession an?d solicitat??ion of sexually explicit photographs of a minor, but he was later arrested twice for failing to update his sex offender status. Considering the heinous nature of these crimes, it's no surprise that Jones was not asked to return as Charles for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Sylvia Sidney as Juno

Once the Maitlands come to terms with the fact that they are indeed dead, they have to come up with a plan to get their house back from the Deetzs. They study up on The Handbook for the Recently Deceased and reach out to? those with a bit more experi??ence in the whole afterlife thing for help. On one end, there's the malicious and scheming Beetlejuice, and on the other is his former boss, the afterlife caseworker Juno (Sylvia Sidney). She does her best to guide the couple along and dissuade them from working with the supposed "Leading Bio-Exorcist," all while working on other high-stress cases.

With the Deetz fa?mily once again having to traverse the paranormal world, Juno seems like the kind of presence they could use on their side. She's knowledgeable, and she has first-hand experience with Beetlejuice. Based on its marketing, however, it doesn't appear that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will feature Juno in any capacity. The actor behind her, Sylvia Sidney, passed away on July 1, 1999, at the age of 88, with her cause of death listed as esophageal cancer. Though there's a slim chance that Juno could be recast, considering the snappiness and attitude Sidney expertly brought to the role, it just wouldn't be right to bring the character back without her.

With its stacked cast of a few returning favorites and newcomers to the franchise in tow, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice hits the silver screen on September 6.

The post Which main characters from the o??riginal are missing from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice? appeared first on Destructoid.

August 16 marked the return of the Alien saga to the big screen after a seven-year absence. Director Fede Álvarez's Alien: Romulus sprung into theaters everywhere and has since made waves in both ways good and bad. While it has drawn critique for its perceived over-reliance on franchise hallmarks and callbacks, others have showered the film with praise. Numerous critics and moviegoers alike were intrigued by the story, satisfied with the frights and overall content to call it a solid entry in the Alien canon.

Despite plenty of people out there believing it to be one of the film's greatest weaknesses, countless Alien die-hards were happy to see so many references and allusions to previous installments. After all, Romulus is an indirect sequel to director Ridley Scott's 1979 classic, Alien, which started ??it all. In fact, the USCSS Nostromo, where Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and her companions are ambushed by the Xenomorph in said film, is a principal location in Romulus. At the same time, Alien isn't the only project in the series that informed Álvar?e??z's terrifying feature.

According to the director himself, the horror video game favorite Alien: Isolation played a pivotal role in the crafting of Romulus in more ways than one.

Isolation kickstarted Álvarez's interest in making an Alien movie

Released on October 7, 2014, and set 15 years after the events of Alien, Alien: Isolation follows the daughter of Ellen Ripley, Amanda (Andrea Deck), who is trying to pinpoint her mother's whereabouts following her disappearance. She doesn't get very far, however, before she encounters Xenomorphs, facehuggers, and more dangers. All in all, Isolation is an excellent survival horror title that has grown especially adored by Alien fans and gamers who are up for a spooky challenge. Evidently, Fede Álvarez is quite a fan as well, hence why he put so much of it into the DNA of Alien: Romulus.

Álvarez revealed as much during a conversation on the Inside Total Film podcast (via Games Radar), where he explained that the entire foundation of his film was created thanks to Isolation. â€?em>Alien: Isolation was kind of what made me see that Alien could truly be terrifying and done well [today],â€?he explained, noting that he first picked Isolation up around the time his 2016 film Don't Breathe was coming together. As he played, he began yearning to tell an Alien story at the movies. Thankfully for him, it didn't take long for such an opportunity to arise. Once it did, he not only made it a priority to capture the tense, chilling tone of Isolation, reigniting the horror that made Alien such a hit 45 years ago, but to honor the game in the form of a fun yet meaningful East??er egg.

Continuing, Álvarez explained that emergency phones, which act as checkpoints in Isolation to save your game, are prevalent throughout Romulus. As it turns out, though, he didn't merely want to toss them in as a fun nod to the almost decade-old game. “The movie is set up in a way [that] every time something bad is about to happen, you will see a phone,â€?he said, warning those that haven't seen Romulus that they should "brace for impact" every time a phone appears on screen, just as they would while using one in the game. In Isolation, they take time to use, le?aving Amanda vulnerable to Xenomorph attacks as the save completes.

Isolation took inspiration from Alien

For the most part, much like Alien: Romulus, Alien: Isolation does try to blaze its own trail. It takes the established lore of the Alien series and builds on it while simultaneously honoring what came before. Interestingly, the folks behind the game did the inverse of what Fede Álvarez did by looking to an existing movie to create a video game. Speaking to PC Gamer in January 2015, a few months after the game was released, Isolation creative lead Alistair Hope revealed that he and the team pulled heavily from the original Alien movie, emul?ating what made it and continues to make it such a pop culture sensation.

â€?em>Alien is unmistakably Fox’s property, but from the moment we pitched the original concept to them, they’ve been completely behind us. I think because we were trying to stay true in spirit to the original, they felt like it was in safe hands," Hope told the publication, touching on the relationship between Isolation's development house, Creative Assembly, and the now-Walt Disney Company-owned 20th Century Fox. This positive collaboration led Fox to share key assets, from costumes to props to miscellaneous production material, with Creative Assembly to make Isolation as true to th??e trend-setting science fiction feature a?s possible.

Romulus is effectively a movie inspired by movies and a video game, which is also inspired by a movie. Perhaps the chain will continue, and we'll someday get a new Alien gam??e with elements attributed to Álvarez's eme??????????????????????????rgency phone-laden creation.

The post How Alien: Isolation inspired Alien: Romulus appeared first on Destructoid.

With the release of director Fede Álvarez's Alien: Romulus on August 16, the longstanding Alien franchise has been launched back into the spotlight. Fans hadn't seen a new film since 2017's Alien: Covenant from legendary director Ridley Scott. Thus, there has been plenty of buzz surrounding the entire series as of late. This renewed interest isn't limited solely to the franchise's cinematic installments. Naturally, all-things Alien have made their way back into the mainstream, includ?ing one video game set to celebrate a landmark an?niversary in a few months.

On October 7, 2024, Alien: Isolation (which Romulus drove home is indeed canon) will turn 10 years old. The survival horror game, developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega, fills in the gaps between the events of 1979's Alien and it's 1986 sequel, Aliens. Ellen Ripley's (Sigourney Weaver) daughter, Amanda Ripley (Andrea Deck), sits at the core of the narrative, as she tries to figure out what became of her mother and her allies. Being an Alien story, it only makes sense that she and her companions are soon ambushed by the dreaded Xenomorph, throwing players into a fight for survival against one of the most iconic and terrifying science fiction monsters i?n history.

10 years is a long time. Society, popular culture, and entertainment as a whole can and have changed drastically in that time. So with a decade behind it, how does Alien: Isolation hold up in the modern gaming lan?dscape? How has the perception of it changed over the years?

Despite its shortcomings, Isolation has aged quite well

When I first gave Alien: Isolation a try shortly after it released, I was just a teenager who loved the Alien movies and wanted to further explore the franchise, as well as the entire horror video game genre. To say that the game delivered for me on those fronts would be an understatement. I appreciated the game's connections to the films and was equally intrigued by its deviations. The visuals absolutely blew me away, the gameplay kept me engaged, and, admittedly, the Xenomorph gave me a few good frights here and there, but that only made me want to play more. Sure, the game wasn't perfect, with some sections stumping me (or boring me) and the Xenomorph itself unexpectedly glitching out on occassion, but on the whole, I couldn't complain too much. After finishing Isolation, I set it down for quite a long time.

In the years since Isolation arrived and I completed it, I've only played it a handful of times, most recently doing so to reassess its legacy at a decade old. Surprisingly, now in my twenties, I feel much the same about Isolation as I did in my teens. The graphics, while still strong, do show their age in places. I can recognize that Amanda's story has some imperfections and weak points, but it still draws me in. Also, even as I've become less adept at stealth, the gameplay mechanics still suffice. Of course, there were still a couple spots where the Xenomorph caught me off guard, and some areas I was swiftly reminded are a slog to get through. Nevertheless, to say that Isolation holds up would be an understatement. It may not be the best in its class, but f?or 10 years old, it's still an excellent sci-fi horror title.

I'll even go a step further. Considering how well Isolation has aged ov?er the past 10 year?s and its lasting legacy, dare I say it deserves a place in the conversation of all-time horror game classics.

Isolation earned praise then, but what about now?

When Alien: Isolation dropped, I was far from the only one singing its praises. Upon release, most major gaming and entertainment publications awarded it high marks. In fact, at the time, Destructoid's own Chris Carter was quite pleased with what it had to offer, ultimately awarding the game a commendable 8.5 out of 10. Simultaneously, when it came to horror games, the Alien franchise, and general video game fans, the positive remarks they made about it far outweighed the negative ones. That's all well and good, but that was then and this is now, so what is the legacy of Isolation among today's video game-playing masses? Well, it's fair to say that it has remained an overw?helming fan favorite, and its fanbase c??ontinues to expand.

With its 10th anniversary rapidly approaching, Isolation is still gaining new players. Thanks to the release of Alien: Romulus and the hype surrounding it, Isolation saw an ast??ounding 320% player count rise on Steam. Even without the aid of Romulus, though, the positive word of mouth coupled with the enduring love for the Alien saga has kept Isolation on the minds and tongues of gamers everywhere. Not only is there an active Isolation subreddit with around 28,000 members, but Reddit as a whole is full of Isolation-related chatter. Some threads are newcomers to the game debating giving it a go, others are mini-reviews applauding it. Evidently, the fandom that has rallied behind Isolation is extremely?? passionate, hence why the title remains so prevalent in the horror?? gaming world a decade on.

Of the numerous Alien-based video games to come out since Ridley Scott's Alien premiered a staggering 45 years ago, none are quite like Isolation. It's scary, vis??ually stunning, and pays homage to the films it's based on while carving out its own niche. Seeing as it's still widely played and adored after a full decade, clearly, these e??lements and more comprised the recipe for success. Here's to another 10 years.

The post 10 years on, does Alien: Isolation hold up? appeared first on Destructoid.

Alien: Romulus is finally out, and you know it's a true Alien sequel be?cause it immediately weirded out fans and moviegoers ?alike.

Even though it's currently sitting at 81% on Rotten Tomatoes, many are criticizing the movie for its supposed blatant lack of originality. This is the first Alien movie to come out since Disney's acquisition of FOX, so the accusation that Romulus is the Force Awakens of the series seems fitting.

A large part of the new film feels old, like a wacky collage of small higher-budgeted remakes of the best moments in the entire series, but I think that one moment specifically is actually a ripoff of an Alien-unrelated property.

Spoilers for the final act of Alien: Romulus below:

Bloodborne: In space (?)

If you're a fan of the Alien series, you might reach the final act, look at the movie's new main baddie, and gasp, "I've been fooled into watching Alien Resurrection again?!" I wouldn't blame you, as the creature �and its origin story �seems to mimic that film's "Newborn," a Xenomorph that somehow features more human DNA than tho??se that come out of a human being's chest.

They both even die in a similar way, as the acid that runs t??hrough their veins ends up proving their undoing.

Still, gamers might spot the parallels between this new type of Xenomorph and the Orphan Of Kos from the masterful Bloodborne The Old Hunters DLC.

Now, I sadly cannot yet provide you with an image of the final monster from Alien: Romulus, I can ask you to picture a much taller and skinnier version of the Engineers from Prometheus:

They look very similar �down to those haunting b?lack eyes �but they're even more similar on a thematic level. This new lifeform, even though it's born out of a human womb, remains a Xenomorph. Orphan of Kos isn't born out of a human being but looks like one.

The world of Bloodborne is in constant need of cyclical cleansing because humans keep messing with and consuming something called "old blood." That's alien blood that will make its consumers feel great but ultimately turn them into monsters. If many monsters in Bloodborne resemble humans, that's because they were humans at some point. Orphan of Kos, howe?ver, is an old one that was born ou??t of a hideous fish-like old one that didn't look human at all, but Orphan of Kos itself has a human-like figure.

Orphan, just like the final beast from Alien: Romulus, could only have come to be because someone messed with the wrong chemical. That' makes sense's another parallel, as where Bloodborne features the aforementioned "old blood," the Alien series features the "black goo", a mysterious pathogen introduced in Prometheus that will "improve" any living thing's? DNA to the point of turning it into a monstrous killing machine.

I'm not going to say that director Fede Alvarez sneakily copied both the looks and the themes of his biggest addition to the franchise, but we all know he's a big video game fan, so...

The post How Alien: Romulus brings Bloodborne’s creepiest boss to the big screen appeared first on Destructoid.

To say that Deadpool & Wolverine has been a success so far is a major understatement. It has made well over $800 million at the worldwide box office as of publication and has left critics and general audiences alike thoroughly entertained.

At the same time, it has reignited many Marvel Cinematic Universe fans' love for the franchise after a tumultuous few years. Surprisingly, it has also managed to get Marvel movie enthusiasts in their feelings over some non-MCU endeavors, including some that have spent d??ecades either overlooked by the mainstream or downright lambasted by it.

One of the most shocking moments of Deadpool & Wolverine features the titular heroes encountering some familiar (and one not-so-familiar) multiversal faces. Chris Evans heats up as Human Torch, Wesley Snipes returns as B??lade, Jennifer Garner reprises Elektra Natchios, Dafne Keene makes an X-23 comeback, and, after years of being signed to the role under the 20th Century Fox banner, Channing Tatum finally gets to play the Ragin' Cajun himself, Remy "Gambit" LeBeau.

Did the Fantastic Four duology somewhat miss the mark? Was the last Blade film a bust? Were Daredevil and Elektra not great? Correct on all counts,? but there's something undeniably special about seeing these legacy actors return to roles no one thought they'd ever get to play again, much less team up and get full-on action sequences. As I sat in the theater and took it all in, my childhood suddenly reviving itself in the form of a ragtag band of multiverse heroes right before my eyes, I couldn't help but be reminded of one of Marvel?'s greatest video game franchises.

What makes Deadpool & Wolverine's Multiverse team-up so special is the same secret sauce that makes the long-running Marvel Ultimate Alliance series so fun.

Unique, wild team-ups are at the core of the Ultimate Alliance series

Released in 2006, 2009, and 2019, respectively, Ultimate Alliance, Ultimate Alliance 2, and Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order are the perfect games for any Marvel fan. Much like how Deadpool & Wolverine is a loving tribute to the pre-MCU era of Marvel films, the Ultimate Alliance saga is a love letter to Marvel Comics history. Throughout each game, players battle legendary villains, vi??sit iconic locales, and interact with beloved supporting characters, all while embarking on appropriately comic-booky missions. Then there's the true pièce d?e rÊsistance of the series, the team building.

Throughout the Ultimate Alliance games, players are encouraged to make their own unique hero teams. Sure, they can go for the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four, but the expansive rosters encourage creativity. Wanna have Daredevil (Brian Bloom), Penance (Ben Diskin), Songbird (Susan Spano), and Spider-Man (Diskin) all on one team? What about Doctor Strange (James Horan), Iron Man (John Cygan), Spider-Woman (Tasia Valenza), and Colossus (Nolan North)? Go for it. In fact, in Ultimate Alliance and Ultimate Alliance 3, you can even put Blade (Khary Payton, Imari Williams), Elektra (Gabrielle Carteris, Kat Carissa), Wolverine (Steve Blum), and Deadpool (John Kassir, Nolan North) on the same team to go off on some Deadpool & Wolverine-inspired adventures.

Further incentivizing the team-building element, the games feature hidden Team Bonuses, which grant buffs based on specific hero configur??ations. For instance, in the first game, the Blade, Elektra, Wolverine, and Deadpool combo was called Assassins and granted players +60 S.H.I.E.L.D. credit drops. The group can be formed under Anti-Heroes or Cutting Edge in the third installment, both coming with strength stat buffs.

Could Ultimate Alliance be the key to the Multiverse Saga's future?

Blade, Elektra, X-23, Gambit, Deadpool, and Wolverine united on the big screen was truly like an Ultimate Alliance team come to life. A group of heroes who largely have no business working together doing so to take down a common enemy is what those games are built on. The joy of crafting those wild teams is why I and so many others have such a fondness for the franchise, and evidently, that concept went a long way in boosting the already incredible hype behind Deadpool & Wolverine. Thus, one can only hope that the minds behind the MCU's Multiverse Saga take noti?ce.

Similarly to the Ultimate Alliance series, the Multiverse Saga has been about the unexpected, universe-threatening enemies and unlikely alliances created to save the day. Deadpool & Wolverine takes these elements to the next level, and so should future Multiverse Saga entries. Based on reactions to the film and its multiversal inclusions, audiences yearn for more ??bonkers team-ups in MCU st??ories.

The Marvel roster is vast with countless characters still ripe for adaptation, and there are still loads of film favorites yet to return to the big screen for one more run. Marvel Studios should look to the Ultimate Alliance series for inspiration, maintaining that throughline of team-up fun going forward. Perhaps more niche Ultimate Alliance teams will even make their live-actio??n debuts down the road.

With presumably Multiverse-heavy features like Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars on their way down the production pipeline, it shouldn't be long before more Multiverse teams like those in Deadpool & Wolverine will come to fruition. In the meantime, the Ultimate Alliance trilogy is more than worth playing. Not only are they fun and engaging for Marvel fans of all levels,?? but their team-building element could very well hold the ?key to the Multiverse Saga's future.

The post Deadpool & Wolverine channels the most exciting part of Marvel’s best video games appeared first on Destructoid.

This article includes spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine, in theaters now.

With much anticipation and speculation behind it, Deadpool & Wolverine has finally made it to the movies. The third Deadpool feature has absolutely blown away audiences and critics alike, putting up strong numbers on Rotten Tomatoes and making a nice chunk of change at the global box office to kick off its run.

A lot of components have come together to make this possible, from the litany of huge surpris??e appearances and the triumphant return of Hugh Jackman to the role of Wolverine. However, let's not forget the person who serves as the film's crown jewel.

Ryan Reynolds is excellent as Wade "Deadpool" Wilson, bringing comedy, action, and a bit of heart to the Marvel Comics favorite. He clearly has fun with the material, especially that which takes aim at 20th Century Fox, Disney, and the Marvel Studios machine, and provides a performance worthy of the Merc with a Mouth's Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. All of that is to say that he has further solidified himself as the Deadpool actor, maki??ng it even more difficult to remember that it's not his first Marvel movie role.

No, we're not talking about that awful Deadpool from X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Instead, we're shining a spotlight on Reynolds' real first Marvel character: Hannibal King from 2004's Blade: Trinity. Here's the rundown on this oft-??forgotten Marvel comic and film supporting player.

Who is King in Marvel Comics lore?

Though he makes his big screen debut in the aforementioned Blade: Trinity, King's existence in Marvel Comics dates back decades before. The character, created by Gene Colan and Marv Wolfman, is introduced in Tomb of Dracula #25 in 1974, going on to appear as a supporting character in numerous stories in the following years. Turned into a vampire by Deacon Frost at a young age, he vows to never feed on the living nor use his vampiric abilities in battle, relying on his le??arned abilities and arsenal of weapons instead.

All in all, King is far from a main Marvel character, but he boasts and impressive resume all the same. He has worked extensively with Blade, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange, featured on teams such as the Nightstalkers, the Defenders, and the Midnight Suns, and battled such foes as the Darkholders, Dracula, and Lilith. With all of that in mind, he sounds like a pretty awesome character. Unfortunate??ly, there are a few big reasons why his film equivalent isn't looked upon with such reverence.

Reynolds' King doesn't much resemble his print counterpart

All of that cool information about King can go right out the window when it comes to Blade: Trinity. While Reynolds' King did become a vampire, he was ultimately cured by the Nightstalkers before joining the team. He grows especially close with Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel), the daughter of Blade's (Wesley Snipes) mentor, Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), who joins him in breaking Blade out of custody and recruiting him to th??eir cause. From here, K?ing pretty much becomes a generic quippy action guy.

While Blade is cool and Abigail is efficient, King provides a bit of comic relief while blasting away at vampires. His past as a member of the House of Talos, led by the film's main villain and the vampire who turned him, Danica Talos (Parker Posey), is touched on here and there, but it doesn't get much room to breathe. Like most Marvel Comics adaptations of the era, Blade: Trinity misse?s the mark in the comic-accuracy department and fails to justify its source m??aterial changes, with its version of King exemplifying that perfectly.

Could Hannibal King join the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

In one of the most stunning moments of Deadpool & Wolverine, the titular mutants encounter a ragtag band of Multiverse heroes while in the Void. Among them is none other than Snipes' Blade, making his return to the silver screen as the Daywalker after 20 years. Not only was it shocking to see him because of that fact, but also because of the supposed previous animosity between Snipes and Reynolds, which stemmed from their time on the Blade: Trinity set. The latter made it known that the Blade actor didn't care for him in an interview with IGN and even made a meta joke about their tension in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Thankfully, it appears Snipes and Reynolds buried the hatchet a long time ago. Snipes went as far as to tell Entertainment Weekly that the two have actually been friends all along. So, with that said, and assuming the character isn't dead or was swallowed up by Alioth, could Reynolds return as King in the MCU down the line? Could fans see him and Blade team up one more time, potentially even with Biel back as Abigail alongside them? If the Multiverse Saga has proven anything, it's that whatever you think is impossible could very well not be. We'll just have to see if Reynolds' King is due for a comeback or if he'll forever be confined to an obscure side character in Blade: Trinity.

Deadpool & Wolverine is now playing exclusively in theaters.

The post Before Deadpool, he was Hannibal King: Ryan Reynolds’ first Marvel role, explained appeared first on Destructoid.

Throughout the 2000s, 2010s, and? 2020s, moviegoers have seen numerous Marvel Comics icons grace the big screen for the first time. Alongside the likes of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire), and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) has had arguably the biggest mainstream pop culture impact of them all. His solo movies have raked over a billion dollars at the box office, he has become an even bigger merchandise juggernaut than he already was, and proven without a doubt that R-rated comedy superhero movies can not?????????????????????????? only work, but thrive.

In hindsight, it's not too surprising that Deadpool turned out to be a successful movie star. In the pages of Marvel Comics, his stories are full of action, comedy, fourth wall breaks, and even heart, which sounds like the perfect list of attributes for a feature film. Not to mention, at one point he's described as a cross between Reynolds ??and a Shar-Pei? in one of his comic adventures, so he was practically cast long before he became a big screen favorite and superhero genre influencer.

However, in reality, it took time, big mistakes, and surprising twists to get the Merc with a Mouth to the cinema. In fact, at times it seemed that he'd never make it there at all, only for him to exceed all expectations and defy countless detractors, studio executives included. What all of these elemen??ts amount to is a fascinating tale of one mutant's journey from print to live action.

This is Wade Wilson's odyssey from comics to the movies, from 20?th Century Fox to Mar??vel Studios.

The origin of Deadpool's cinematic introduction

Deadpool's cinematic journey dates all the way back to 2000, when, as reported by Variety, Artisan Entertainment penned a deal to bring several Marvel characters to the movies. Unfortunately, development on a Deadpool-centric project was slow going. Writer David S. Goyer shared in 2004 that such a film was coming together at New Line Cinema (via IGN), but, as fate would have it, the project didn't make it off the ground within the decade. Simultaneously, other efforts like X-Men, Spider-Man, Hulk, and Ghost Rider took big screen precedent to varying levels of prosperity??.

At the very least, the casting of Deadpool himself was locked in during this stretch of time. Reynolds, who had jumped into the Marvel movie world for the first time in 2004 as Hannibal King in Blade: Trinity, expressed interest to IGN in playing Wade in the future. Sure enough, the actor got his wish, but it came with some caveats. Not only would his first appearance in the role be confined to a movie dedicated to another Marvel legend, but it would deviate quite far from the comic book version? fans had come to love.

The X-Men Origins: Wolverine fiasco

In 2009, Fox was exploring the idea of giving several of their X-Men franchise characters solo movies exploring their origins. Though one for Magneto (Sir Ian McKellen) was planned alongside it, the one centered on Wolverine was the only one to make it down the production pipeline. X-Men Origins: Wolverine opened in the United States on May 1, 2009 to widespread frustration from Marvel fans, casual moviegoers, and critics alike. One of the biggest sources of said disappointment w??as the film's abysmal take on Deadpool, who battles Wolverine and Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber) in the final act.

This take on Deadpool is, well, awful. He's a visual swing-and-a-miss, lacking the character's signature red and black suit and instead opting for sweatpants and no shirt. His ?swords are attached to his hands, he can naturally teleport (comic Deadpool has this ability thanks to technology), and has the ability to fire optic blasts. Worst of all, his mouth is sewn shut, preventing Wade from spitting out one-liners and jokes like ?he does in the comics. All in all, this is a take on the character that Deadpool fans despise that one can't help but feel was created a deep-seeded dislike of the source material.

The leaked test footage that changed it all

Reynolds didn't have much say in the matter of Deadpool's adaptation in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. He shared during a 2016 SiriusXM radio interview that he had no choice but to go with it if he wanted to play Deadpool in his own movie. "It was sort of like, 'Play Deadpool in this movie, or else we'll get someone else to.' And I just said, 'I'll do it, but it's the wrong version,'" the actor said. Despite playing ball, progress was still moving at a snail's pace on Deadpool as creatives came and went. Not to mention, when the Reynolds-led DC film Green Lantern floundered, Fox executives grew apprehensive of the entire thing (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Hopeful the project wouldn't end up scrapped, director Tim Miller went for broke and convinced Fox to fund animated test footage featuring Reynolds as a fresh, new, and comic-accurate take on Deadpool. The idea was to convince the powers that be that the film could be a big win if he and the team got a proper chance. They put the footage together in 2012, and Fox was not convinced. That is, until it was mysteriously leaked online in 2014 to widespread praise and positivity. With that, the folks at Fox quickly changed their tune, and Deadpool was officially slated for a 2016 release.

The monumental success of Deadpool and Deadpool 2

At long last, Deadpool arrived in theaters on February 12, 2016, marking a new era for the character. Long gone are his laser eyes and stitched-up mouth, replaced by a comic-inspired suit, crude jokes, and copious bloody action. He's centerstage for his origin story, as he goes from a terminally-ill former mercenary to a costumed crime-fighter, reuniting with his beloved Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and befriending X-Men Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) in the process. The film received love from all sides and grossed well over $780 million at the worldwide box office.

Unsurprisingly, this financial and critical prosperity led to a sequel, the aptly-titled Deadpool 2, in 2018. This time around, Wade is accompanied by friends old and new alike as he prevents the time-traveling Cable (Josh Brolin) from killing a troubled young mutant named Russell Collins (Julian Dennison). Through time travel antics after the main plot wraps up, he even prevents Ryan Reynolds from taking on Green Lantern and kills off the X-Men Origins Deadpool. Much like its predecessor, the film performed well with fans and critics alike and made over $780 million at the box office.

The studio switch and canceled projects

With the first two Deadpool movies standing as undeniable success stories, it seemed that Fox was primed for a new generation of mutant-centric movies. However, that notion was swiftly dashed in 2019 when Fox was sold to the Walt Disney Company for a staggering $71.3 billion. The studio's Marvel intellectual properties were folded into Marvel Studios and all remaining Marvel features in development were tossed. The Fox X-Men universe ultimately ended with The New Mutants, which finally debuted in 2020. Meanwhile, a Deadpool-focused and ??a Deadpool-adjacent s?tory were left to fade into cinematic obscurity.

Thanks to the Fox-Disney deal, the original plan for Deadpool 3 was canned. According to Reynolds on X, the plan was for a road trip-style movie starring Deadpool and Wolverine akin to 1950's Rashomon. Dopinder actor Karan Soni noted that the film could've seen Deadpool venture to the North Pole to save Christmas. A movie focused on X-Force, the team introduced and almost completely killed off in Deadpool 2, was in progress as well and had been for years prior. It's unknown just how closely tied this film would've been to the Deadpool duology, t?hough Reynolds' Deadpool and Josh Brolin's Cable were said to be involved in some capacity.

Deadpool enters the House of Mouse

Even though Fox's take on a third Deadpool movie didn't come to fruition, it's no surprise that another Deadpool adventure became a viewable reality. From the moment Deadpool and the X-Men became fair game to join Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans began speculating on when they could expect them to arrive. In the years after 2019, mutants slowly started trickling their way into the sprawling franchise, but where was the movie announcement? September 2022 finally brought the news so many had been waiting for, that Deadpool 3 was on?? the way, but the excitement didn't end there.

When Reynolds shared the news of Deadpool 3 being in development at Marvel Studios, he also revealed that Hugh Jackman would reprise the role of Wolverine for the feature, which was later renamed as Deadpool & Wolverine. Jackman previously retired from the character in 2017 via Logan after spending almost two decades within it. Further sweetening the deal, it came to light that, at long last, Jackman would don Wolverine's iconic yellow and blue suit for the film. You'd be hard-pressed to find a better way to cap off the Deadpool trilogy ?and to commemorate both Deadpool and Wolverine's first MCU appearances.

With years worth of ups, downs, trials, and tribulations behind it, Deadpool's third and potentially most highly-anticipated movie, Deadpool & Wolverine, is now playing.

The post Wade’s odyssey: Deadpool’s cinematic journey, from 20th Century Fox to Marvel Studios appeared first on Destructoid.

After years away from the movies, and the sale of his former cinematic home, 20th Century Fox, to the Walt Disney Company, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is back on the big screen. Deadpool & Wolverine has arrived to much excitement and fanfare, bringing both Wade Wilson and Logan (Hugh Jackm??an) to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time. Unsurprisingly, their first MCU adventure is full of foul language, violence, fourth wall breaks, and drama, in addition to s??ome big surprises.

Deadpool & Wolverine makes no bones abou?t the fact that its a Multiverse story, with the presence of the Time Variance Authority and copious multiversal variants present in the film's marketing driving this point home. Among the many versions of the Merc with a Mouth teased in promotional material, one stands out as especially sweet and absolutely adorable. Well, depending on who you ask. Yes, we're here today to shine a deserved spo??tlight on the one and only Dogpool, as portrayed by Peggy, a pug-Chinese crested mix.

Through the cuteness of Peggy and the anticipation for Deadpool & Wolverine, some might be surprised to know that Dogpool's jo??urney to Hollywood has been decently long, and that the character's casting has some fun twists and turns to it. So, in honor of the four-legged mercenary's big screen debut, here's a look back on Dogpool's voyage from print to Hollywoo?d prominence.

Dogpool has existed in the Marvel Comics universe for years

Though the Multiverse has been a present element in Marvel Comics lore for decades, the existence of Dogpool in the multiversal canon is a relatively recent development. Wilson of Earth-103173 debuted in 2010 via Prelude to Deadpool Corps #3, with subsequent comics? explaining where he comes from and how he became his world's Deadpool equivalent. It all started when he was used as an animal test subject for an experimental mascara, Mascara X, which severely disfigured him and granted him a healing factor. Left to wander the streets alone, Wilson is eventually brought into a?? traveling circus due to his unique new ability.

Eventually, the Deadpool of the main Marvel Comics timeline, Earth-616, scoops up Wilson and brings him along to join the Deadpool Corps.: a team of Deadpool variants from across the Multiverse dedicated to combating cosmic threats. Thus, he becomes Dogpool, accompanying his fellow Deadpools on various missions. Sadly, there's one that he doesn't come back from. When the evil Dreadpool forms an evil version of the Deadpool Corps., Dogpool is slain defending the 616 Deadpool from one of the new faction's villainous variants. Thus, the story of Victor Gischler and Phillip Bond's canine merc comes to a sad yet heroic end in the pages of 2013's Deadpool Kills Deadpool #1. Rest in power, Wilson.

The casting of Peggy for Deadpool & Wolverine

In short, Dogpool is a legend. Sure, the character doesn't get a lot to do during his tenure in Marvel Comics, but what's not to love about the combination of Deadpool and a dog? Therefore, when bringing the puppy into live-action for Deadpool & Wolverine, the folks at Marvel Studios had quite a casting challenge ahead of them. Perhaps the biggest casting challenge they'd ever faced. Bigger than Spider-Man, bigger than the Fantastic Four. Surprisingly, finding the proper dog to bring such a monumentally important ??Marvel character to life wasn't too hard. All it took was Reynolds checking out the results of the Britain's Ugliest Dog competition.

With her scattered tufts of hair, wonky yet lovable proportions, and dangling tongue, Peggy won the aforementioned competition in 2023, but her unique look won her more than just that. It got her foot in the door to try out the Dogpool role for Deadpool & Wolverine, which she landed with ease. Reynolds announced her casting in November 2023 on X, even later telling Empire, “T?he reason why I was a huge proponent for her was because she feels like the animal manifestation of Wade Wilson.â€?Based on looks alone, he couldn't be more correct. “It was one of those things where you just keep listening to the movie, and Dogpool became a staple,â€?he said of the evolution of Peggy's role in the story as the movie came together.

Peggy has proved a hit with fans and co-stars alike

Unorthodox look and all, Peggy and her take on Dogpool have absolutely taken the world by storm. From plushies to Funko Pop! vinyls, she has become a major merchandise mover. Also, in preparation for the release of Deadpool & Wolverine, she received her own Instagram account, @dogpool, which has accumulated an impressive 241,000-plus followers as of publication. Her feed is full of joke posts, behind-the-scenes clips and pics from Deadpool & Wolverine, and, of course, loads of comments from the public expressing their adoration for her and her character. Clearly, there's no shortage of love out?? there f?or Peggy as she joins the Marvel Studios family.

This love isn't limited to her thousands of adoring fans, either, as Peggy made a great impression on the Deadpool & Wolverine cast and crew throughout the filming process. As seen on his Instagram, at the feature's London, England premiere, Reynolds introduced her to a sea of onlookers, joking, "She won the ugliest dog in Brita??in, but we're not telling her that because she's a 10 in our hearts, isn't she? And that tongue, by the way, is real, and I have tasted it?. She loves to lick. Loves to get right in there. She is really, truly amazing."

Another individual with loads of love for Peggy is seasoned animal trainer Jules Tottman, who oversaw her Deadpool & Wolverine training. Though she was initially apprehensive of the entire thing, Tottman recalled that, in time, “She absolutely loved it and grew every day with confidence.â€?Of course, it helped that there was plenty of spray cheese on hand to convince her to hit her marks. “She would try to lick everyone’s faces, thinking there would be cheese somewhere around,â€?Tottman added, praising the cast for being so supportive of Peggy along the way (via Best Friends Animal Society).

Marvel fans can see what Peggy gets up to as Dogpool in Deadpool & Wolverine, which is now playing exclusively in theaters.

The post Dogpool: How Deadpool & Wolverine’s cutest variant made it to Hollywood appeared first on Destructoid.

My Hero Academia (MHA) is undoubtedly one of the most popular anime on the planet, and its universe has been expanded further with movies that are canon to the show. However, it can be quite confusing for newcomers to understand where exactly to begin. My Hero Academia release order is ??substantially different from how one would should begin watching the show if they are looking to watch the story unfold chronologically.

Currently, there are seven My Hero Academia seasons for the main anime series. So far, there are three canon movies released for My Hero Academia, with a fourth movie set to release in August 2024 in Japan, and ?arriving in October 2024 in the US.

How to watch My Hero Academia in release order

If you are part of the group who believe that anime and its movies should be watched, as per the original release order, then here’s how to watch My Hero Academia seasons and movies in the release order:

• My Hero Academia Season 1
• My Hero Academia: Hero Notebook
• My Hero Academia: Save! Rescue Training!
• My Hero Academia Season 2
• My Hero Academia: Training of the Dead
• My Hero Academia Season 3
• My Hero Academia: Two Heroes
• My Hero Academia: All Might Rising
• My Hero Academia Season 4
• My Hero Academia Heroes Rising
• My Hero Academia: Make It! Do-or-Die Survival Training
• My Hero Academia Season 5
• My Hero Academia: World Heroesâ€?Mission
• My Hero Academia: Departure
• My Hero Academia: Hero League Baseball
• My Hero Academia: Laugh! As If You Are in Hell
• My Hero Academia Season 6
• My Hero Academia Season 7

How to watch My Hero Academia in chronological order

Fans who have not been watching My Hero Academia since the start of the first season have the option to watch the world build from a different perspective as well. Anime lovers can also choose to watch the show and movies based on the timeline of events, which can help viewers grasp the story as it happens in the My Hero Academia universe. Here’s the chronological order to watch My Hero Academia:

• My Hero Academia: All Might Rising (Two Heroes Special)
• My Hero Academia Season 1
• My Hero Academia: Save! Rescue Training!
• My Hero Academia: Hero Notebook
• My Hero Academia Season 2, Episodes 1-20
• My Hero Academia: Training of the Dead
• My Hero Academia Season 2, Episodes 21-25
• My Hero Academia: Two Heroes
• My Hero Academia Season 3, Episodes 1-14
• My Hero Academia: Make It! Do-or-Die Survival Training
• My Hero Academia Season 3, Episodes 15-25
• My Hero Academia Season 4
• My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising
• My Hero Academia Season 5, Episodes 1-18
• My Hero Academia: Hero League Baseball
• My Hero Academia: Laugh! As If You Are in Hell
• My Hero Academia Season 5, Episodes 19-25
• My Hero Academia: Departure
• My Hero Academia: World Heroesâ€?Mission
• My Hero Academia Season 6
• My Hero Academia Season 7

The post How to watch all My Hero Academia movies and s??easons in order appeared first on Destructoid.

Blumhouse Productions' head Jason Blum recently took to Twitter to post a photo of the script of King Spawn, the? working title of a tentatively upcoming new Spawn film.

The photo naturally emphasizes the title, but it also reveals that the script is being written by Joker and Joker 2's co-scribe Scott Silver, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier's Malcolm Spellman, and Matt Mixon, writer of Yesterday Was Everything.

That's good news, but the title is a possible source of confusion even for fans for reasons that we're about to go into. To help put some doubts to rest, Spawn's creator Todd McFarlane gave Comicbook an interview in which he sh?ared some interesting details?? on the project.

What is King Spawn?

King Spawn is the title associated with the new film project, but also the name of an ongoing series of Spawn comics. This could likely lead fans to think they're looking into an adaptation of the King Spawn comics, but McFarlane told Comicbook that this is probably just the working title:

"It's probably just a working title. I think it's cool. It's strong. The thing is, is that it was a way for us to say that we're not just gonna emulate the past and he felt by just calling it Spawn plain old Spawn that it would sort of go, oh, this is just a reboot and, and repeat. So I don't know if that would be the final title or whatever. You have to clear things and let go and all those other things. But it was just a way to separate it, to just at least for us internally just to say, hey, t?his is our version that is different from the one decades ago."

Todd McFarlane

King Spawn is the first spinoff of the main series. It began its run in 2022 and ?is about to get its fifth volume. The spinoff sees the titular anti-hero fina??lly ascending to the throne of Hell right before realizing he'd been tricked into leaving New York without its protector.

The future of Spawn

McFarlane said that he's currently looking for a director and hopes the release of Deadpool & Wolverine, and Joker: Folie Ă  Deux gets studios hyped for such an R-Rated project.

"We've got to find a director, right? Now we have a script, we also have to find a director. So that would probably be the next move we make is to attach the final piece of this. So we have a lot of the components in place and then we walk into Hollywood and see where their heads at. By next Monday there should be big data out there, with Deadpool & Wolverine, saying that you can do R-rated comic book movies. And then a few months after that, there's gonna be Joker 2, that's gonna give me even more data. So whether we're in their offices just after New York Comic Con, which is when Joker 2 comes out, we'll see it. I know it's frustrating to people but having a script is a gian?t hurdle to get over and we're over (it). The weight of that piece is there now. It's just putting a couple of different pieces together. And let's see what t?he executives in Hollywood think about it."

Todd McFarlane

We had learned about the plans for a Spawn reboot with the attachment of Jamie Foxx as far back as 2017, but the project went dark as Blumhouse ??reportedly encountered severe setbacks that forced the company to heavily rework what they had. This is the first time in a while that we're getting a strong indication that things are once again moving forward.

Spawn was one of the first comic book superheroes to receive the movie adaptation treatment in the modern era, but it failed to meet the success of other late '90s and early '00s superhero flicks like Blade and X-Men. Still, the movie has its fans, and the character has remained popular throughout this entire time. One must wonder why Spawn never got another chance in Hollywood, especially during the heyday of superhero films.

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Deadpool & Wolverine will send the titular duo on an epic journey across time to save Deadpool's?? timeline from a world-ending calamity. That threat goes by the name Cassandra Nova, and she's one of the X-Men's most powerful, dangerous, and disturbing vill??ains.

Cassandra Nova is a twisted reflection of the X-Men's founder, Charles Xavier, and her origin story is a snarled web of revelations that even the most die-hard X-Men fans have trouble keeping track of. So before Deadpool & Wolverine premieres this Friday, let ?me tell you everything you need to know about Cassandra Nova.

Cassandra Nova is an extinction event made flesh

Cassandra Nova debuted in the pages of New X-Men #144, penned by the legendary comic author/artist duo Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly. To cut to the point, Cassandra is a mummudrai, a bodiless parasite from the Astral Plane. Attaching herself to Xavier while he was still in the womb, Cassandra used Xavier’s DNA to create a body, becomi??ng his twin sister.

Murder from the moment of her conception, Cassandra attempted to strangle Xavier with his own umbilical cord. Xavier used his nascent psychic powers to fight back, obl?iterating Cassandra’s body and leaving everyone to assume she’d died in the womb. Unfortunately for everyone, Cassandra survived, using her own psychic powers to build a new body and go into hiding.

Years after her conception, Cassandra made her presence known to her brother and his X-Men in the most horrific way possible. Using an armada of mutant-hunting Sentinel robots, Cassandra launched an all-out assault on the mutant sovereign nation of Genosha. This event, adapted with terrifying accuracy in the fifth episode of X-Men '97, left sixteen million mutants dead and inflicted a scar on the? X-Men that’s never fully healed.

Over the years, Cassandra has clashed with the X-Men multiple times, driven by an all-consuming hatred for the brother she failed to kill. Circu?mstances outside her control have driven Cassandra to join the X-Men occasionally, but her innate bloodlust ??always drives her back to the path of villainy.

Cassandra Nova is a nightmare on the psychic and genetic level

The X-Men villains are some of the most powerful in the Marvel Universe, and Cassandra is no exception. Cassan?dra, benign Xavier’s twin, has all of his abilities. Xavier's psychic powers are among the most powerful in the Marvel Universe, regularly invading the minds of millions of people. The only thing preventing Charles from enslaving or killing everyone?? on Earth is his restraint, a trait Cassandra sorely lacks.

On top of her psychic abilities, Cassandra can also manipulate DNA, allowing her to copy and alter her and others' genes. When she uses it against mutants, she can effectively steal their powers, making her the All-For-One of the Marvel Universe.

Who plays Cassandra in Deadpool and Wolverine?

Cassandra Nova will be the first X-Men villain to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, helping to usher in the MCU’s “Mutant Era.â€?Emma Corrin, who played Princess Diana in the fourth season of The Crown, will play Cassandra in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Based on what we’ve seen in Deadpool & Wolverine’s trailers, Cassandra has taken over “The Void,â€?the cosmic junkyard that Loki’s Time Variance Authority dumps everyone and everything that existed on the countless timelines they’ve “pruned.â€?Commanding an army of mutants, Cassandra has presumably set her sights on escaping the Void and unleashi??ng her unique strain of chaos on the MCU’s main timeline.

The post Who is Deadpool & Wolverine’s psychic villain, Cassandra Nova? appeared first on Destructoid.

Skibidi Toilet could be headed for the silver screen. Paramount Pictures president Adam Goodman recently told Variety about ongoing talks to bring the extremely successful YouTube and TikTok series to TV or the big screen, with Transformers director Michael Bay in the picture.

Though the two are actively pursuing the project, they are yet to get the formal greenlight to begin pre-production on any actual adaptation. In the Variety podcast Strictly Business, Goodman said: “We are absolutely in talks right now, both on the television side and the earliest conversations right now on the film side,â€?said Goodman. “But it’s not a be-all, end-all for us.â€?/p>

On the business side of things, this attempt at expansion might make sense. At over 65 billion cumulative views, Skibidi Toilet is arguably the most successful series in the history of YouTube, a phenomenon big enough to dwarf Baby Shark, Despacito, and Gangnam Style many times over. In a time where brand recognition plays a role of extreme importance, anything Skibidi Toilet-related?? could prove a hit r?ight out of the gate, but it's not that simple.

Adapting Skibidi Toilet might prove tricky

Though Skibidi Toilet tells a mostly very straightforward tale of wacky a war between an army ?of human heads with toilets for bodies and one of human bodies with pieces of tech for heads, a peculiar system of moving pieces exists within.

The toilet heads from Skibidi Toilet have become so popular that they're already an indelible part of Internet imagery. Still, unlike most popular series out there, these designs aren't entirely original. Most of what you see in Skibidi Toilet episodes are pre-existing models from Half-Life 2 that have been made available via Garry's Mod and brought into movie form via Source Filmmaker.

Skibidi Toilet series creator DaFuq!?Boom! gets to make these videos, and serious bucks out of them, because Valve is just really cool about letting other kids play with its toys. That, however, doesn't necessarily translate to the company lending the rights to their intellectual propert?y to a studio or producti??on company that's not even directly adapting Valve's works.

Invisible Narratives, the independent company that Bay runs with Goodman, is already involved with Skibidi Toilet's toyline. On the collaboration, Goodman says: "I will say that Michael and Jeffrey Beecroft, who's his longtime production designer and a colleague of his that's worked with him on all of his movies, have been working very closely with Alexey to really professionalize the kind of back engine of this, to make sure, if we ever decide to go film or television, that this is kind of lifted beyond just the resources that creators have on the internet." That seems to indicate some things are indeed moving, but we're yet to learn of Valve's essential thoughts regarding any sort of Skibidi Toilet adaptation.

If you don't care about the legal implications and just want to learn more about the bizarre story of Skibidi Toilet, I'm happy to let you know that we've even employed the efforts of Half-Life series writ??er Marc Laid?law to look into it all with us.

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When Iron Man came out back in '08, you could see greatness, but few cou?ld have predicted that it would spawn the longest and most successful series of movies ever made.

Whether or not you like the spot the Marvel Cinema??tic Universe is currently in, it's hard to deny that Marvel's film output was so consistently ?awesome for so long that it might never be beaten by any other big studio.

Let's look at the best movies in the MCU.

15. Iron Man 3

Despite being one of its highest-grossing films, Iron Man 3 is one of the most divisive movies in the history of the MCU. The movie falters for a lack of scenes where Iron Man is in action but makes up for it with a lot of Tony Stark-focused drama, action and some of the best comedy in the series. This is less Iron Man 3 and more Tony Stark: The Movie, and that's great, considering who's playing the char??acter.

Don't sleep on this one if you want to see a big blockbuster that's not afraid of taking all sorts of wacky narrative risks.

14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3

GOTG Vol.3 strikes a good balance between the first film's more Star Wars-type action and the second one's more p??ersonal elements. Though i?t's substantial, it never reaches the highest highs of the two previous films in the trilogy. It feels more like a greatest hits compilation, which can make sense thematically but might leave you wanting more. The change in focus from Starlord as the main character to Rocket is jarring, an??d even more so wh?en Rocket is out of the movie for a long time.

James Gunn used to talk about how one of the keys to the series' success was tunes that you wouldn't expect to see in the film. This man says no to predictable hits and begins Vol. 3 with Creep by Ra??diohead, the most overplayed song in the history of movies and movie trailers. It's still a bop, bu?t come on.

13. The Avengers

If Iron Man walked, then The Avengers flew. While the direction of some action sequences felt a bit uninspired, and we spent way too long with Hawkeye and Black Widow, this was easily the best superhero ensemble movie since X-Men 2 and paved the way for even greater things.

Avengers solidified the notion introduced by Iron Man that comedy is the glue that holds these films together and sets the standard for the MCU's ensemble movies from then on. Avengers also proved t??hat The Hulk deserves ??his own movie, but we're still waiting on that.

12. Spider-Man: Far From Home

This movie has one of the most difficult jobs in the history of the MCU, that of passing the torch from Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark to someone else. On top of that, Far From Home continues the MCU's tradition of making things hard for Spider-Man by not having tall buildings for him to swing on, but the movie never fails to create fun and wildly original action sequences. In fact, Far From Home is one of the most inventive films in the history of the MCU, courtesy of how well the?? team's work came together to bring Jake Gyllenhaal's excellent Mysterio to life.

The only thing preventing Far From Home from becoming one of the MCU's top 5 is how it continues to avoid more dramatic personal moments that the first two non-MCU Spider-Man films nailed so well. This one definit??ely isn't far from a home run.

11. Captain America: Civil War

Everybody wanted to see Cap and Iron Man duking it out for a very long time, and boy, did everyone get exactly what they wanted. Civil War picks up on some of the spy thriller threads left from Winter Soldier and works both as a Captain America movie and an Avengers movie.

This is also where the MCU introduced Black Panther and Spider-Man, two characters people were either very excited or very worried about. Civil War successfully planted the seed of greatness that we'd la??ter see in other movies, delivering one of the most personal, emotive, and subdued third acts in the history of the MCU.

10. Iron Man

If you were there in '08 when Iron Man debuted, you were there to witness the birth of the true golden age of comic book movies. Did you know that most of the original Iron Man was shot without an actual script? Yes, all of the great comedy, chemistry, and neve??r-before-seen action sequences of a man in a jet-powered suit are almost a literal miracle.

Iron Man not only succeeded, but it also provided the blueprint for the MCU's success. Rewatch it today?, and you'll like?ly have just as much time as you did the first time.

9. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 is a peculiar sequel because it tones down the scope of the first one a bit instead of ?going?? all out on an even more explosive adventure. The result, however, is great. The shift was made to introduce the character of Star-Lord's father and to give more space to see the crazy dynamics between this cast of characters evolve.

The result is a surprisingly emotio?nal adventure that features some of the most beautiful visuals and somehow still features some of the funniest moments in the series.

8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

On top of being a stellar superhero flick, Winter Soldier doubles a?s a genuinely tense and gripping spy thriller with some of the best fight scenes in the series. Though its bigger set pieces feature a lot of CGI, every scene w??here Cap and the titular Winter Soldier have at it displays some of the best and most gripping choreographed action ever put to film.

Winter Soldier is also a historically important movie for the MCU, considering how it showed Marvel the prowess of the Russo Brothers as directors. Their work on this sand Civil War ultimately led to them helming the franchise's two biggest flicks, Infinity War and Endgame.

7. Black Panther

Black Panther deserves all the love it gets. The late Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa proved ?that Marvel has room for superheroes who are serious and even shy at times.

If Winter Soldier doubles as a great American Spy thriller, Black Panther finds some time to double as a 007 movie, complete with Eric Killmonger, one of the best and scariest villains in the history of the seri?es. While the movie has been criticized for rushed and lackluster CGI, the fight scenes ??are good.

6. Thor: Ragnarok

I don't know how Disney concluded that making another Thor movie after two incredibly subpar entries was a good idea, but we all came ??out as winners after it took this huge risk.

When it comes to straight-up fun, Ragnarok is hard to beat. Thor ?Ragnarok completely ditches the overly serious Thor of the two previous entries and completely reinvents the character to fit the MCU mold. Another great choice made by Ragnarok was bringing The Hulk into the fold, another character that this movie also successfully turned into a great source of laughter. ??Ragnarok isn't just a great Thor movie; it's a great buddy super hero movie that makes me wonder which two unlikely superheroes should team up next.

5. Avengers: Endgame

If you're into CGI mayhem, Endgame is probably the best movie ever made. Even if you're already a tad fatigued by the amount of CGI these movies tend to fill the screen with at all times, Endgame is still one hell of a fun time. The idea of mixing a sci-fi war epic and the Ocean's Eleven series might sound very odd at first, but Endgame more than pulled it off.

Though it might strike some as bloated at some points, Endgame lands a surprisingly complex plot, features m?any emotionally resonant moments, some great action scenes, and is a damn great send-off for the MCU'?s (first?) golden age.

4. Spider-Man: Homecoming

After the awful Amazing Spider-Man 2, pretty much anything Spider-Man-related would've worked for me, but this one was special. Jon Watts' directing isn't the most artistic or thrilling I've ever seen, but the characters and their dynamics are exceptionally well-written and fun. Michael Keaton as the Vulture is one of the most interesting a??nd sympathetic villains in the series, and Tom?? Holland shines as both Spider-Man and Peter Parker.

Homecoming features some surprisingly original and funny action sequences, but I wouldn't call it a blast. I'd call it more of a really comfy, fun and surprising adventure that Spider-Man fans certainly deserved to witness.

3. Guardians Of The Galaxy

Let me be very clear: I don't think anyone outside of the production of this movie believed in this project. I'm pretty sure most people didn't even know that the Guardians Of The Galaxy even existed. Still, ?or perhaps due to that, James Gunn got the chance to experiment with the Super Hero formula. The result is the rare Super Hero film that got the ?chance to introduce the greater public to an effectively fresh batch of heroes.

Though the action is stellar, the greatest strength of this movie relies on the Guardians themselves and the shenanigans they go through to find the strength needed to make their wacky group work together to save the galaxy. Guardians is the most surprising MCU movie and arguably the best Star Wars film to come out in a long while.

2. Spider-Man: No Way Home

If seeing a third entry in a trilogy that outdoes the two films that came before it is a rare event, then seeing a third entry that does that and even serves as a trilogy ender for three different trilogies is a un??ique ??one.

No Way Home is a dream come true as it plays less like a regular Spider-Man film and more like a top-notch Avengers movie where all Avengers are Spider-Men, and all villains are Spider-Man foes. No Way Home breathes new life into what we already loved from the best Spider-Man films and also rehabilitates what we didn't like about the bad ones - and it does all that without it ever feeling just like fan service. There's a r?eal heart beating inside this one, as there should always be when it comes to Spider-Man.

1. Avengers: Infinity War

It was a tough decision, but when it comes to a full package of action, thrills, comedy and even shock, Infinity War is probably the most balanced movie in ?the series - as it should be.

Though the movie deals with never-before-see?n stakes, it does so at an incredible pace, and m?anages to do exposure while it does action and without ever feeling rushed. It features the biggest ensemble cast ever seen in the series, and very few characters feel underused.

It's also one of the most courageous entries in the franchise, as it takes the incredibly bold approach of featuring its villain as the main character. Interestingly, Infinity War ended up so good that its gravitas ended up dwarfing Endgame - the movie it was meant to set up.

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In a move so many hoped would be made, Universal and DreamWorks have announced that a fifth Shrek movie is on its way to theaters. The long-awaited film aims to release on July 1, 2026, giving fans ample time to get dust off their Shrek nostalgia goggles and embrace all things green and swampy. Of course, this means a bunch of Shrek franchise rewatches are likely to unfold in the coming months, but that's not all those deep in the Shrek fandom are up to in preparation for the sequel.

While he's best-known for his big screen adventures, Shrek (Mike Myers) is a multimedia icon. In addition to movies, shorts, and boatloads of merchandise, the ogre is no stranger to the gaming scene. He has appeared in tons of titles over the years, from the video game adaptations of the Shrek movies to more off-beat endeavors like Shrek Smash n' Crash Racing and Shrek Super Party, leaving fans with plenty of play throughs to enjoy between now and the release of Shrek 5.

Speaking of odd, non-movie-related Shrek video games, perhaps none are as fascinating and fun as Shrek SuperSlam. Courtesy of publisher Activision and developer Shaba Games, this 2005 release is a wacky platform brawler featuring numerous Shrek franchise favorite characters, locations new and familiar, and a handful of engaging game modes to take for a spin. Overall, it's an absolutely bonkers game that, unfo?rtunately, many have forgotten as the years have wore on, yet still retains a devoted following.

Thus, not only does Shrek SuperSlam deserve a second look almost 20 years after it hit store shelves, but it's overdue fo?r a remake, and now is as good a time as any to make it happen.

A Shrek SuperSlam remake can capitalize on mounting Shrek nostalgia

Even though the Shrek film franchise came to fruition almost 25 years ago as of publication, and a new big screen entry in the saga hasn't release in almost a decade and a half, Shrek has hardly faded from the public eye. Through memes, streaming services, and the character's enduring marketability, he and his entire supporting cast have remained relevant to some degree. They may not be at the forefront of popular culture currently, but that is about to change in a big way with Shrek 5 on the way.

It stands to reason that Universal and DreamWorks are cooking up all kinds of merchandise and brand deals for Shrek and his companions with their next film in progress. In the 2020s, the movie tie-in game is no longer a thing as it was in the 1990s and into the 2010s, but that's the beauty of a Shrek SuperSlam remake. It doesn't have to directly follow the plot of the new film. It can simply give fans a nostalgia trip as they duke it out with longtime favorites in famous locales. Fans of the original will be intrigued by the idea, and those unfamiliar with the first release might be enticed by the nostalgic nature of Shrek alone.

Additionally, remakes rooted in nostalgia for beloved TV shows and movies have generated all kinds of positivity. Look no further than the critically successful SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated and the excitement surrounding the forthcoming Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake. Considering the responses to these titles and others, Universal and DreamWorks would be foolish to leave the customer goodwill and, of course, money, in a Shrek SuperSlam remake on the table.

Shrek SuperSlam needs a facelift in more ways than one

Of course, the question you're likely asking, dear reader, is why Shrek SuperSlam? Of a??ll the ??Shrek games to remake, why that one specifically?

Well, as established, strict movie adaptation games really aren't all the rage these days, and, truth be told, the bulk of the Shrek games aren't that great. A lot of them are pretty bare bones and not super fun to play. Shrek SuperSlam brings the fun factor, there's gameplay variety, unlockables worth chasing, and it serves as an excellent translation of Shrek's world into video game form. Not to mention, platform brawlers are still adored, as evidenced by the Super Smash Bros. franchise remaining a powerhouse and the likes of MultiVersus and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl finding niche followings.

It should also be said that Shrek SuperSlam is dated, to put it lightly. The game mechanics are clunky, with hit detection and targeting being pretty hit or miss, and the graphics aren't great by modern standards. So, graphical and gameplay overhauls would be nice, especially if the minds behind it studied some of the aforementioned games, determining what works for them and what doesn't. An online mode wouldn't be a bad addition either, as the original ga?me released prior to the popularization of such gaming.

Continuing the improvement wishlist, it would also be wonderful to see inclusions from projects released post-Shrek SuperSlam. Playable characters like Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn), K??itty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), and Jack Horner (John Mulaney) and stages like Worcestershire Academy, Rumpel's Far, Far Away palace, and San Ricardo would be awesome to see join the fray?, and would beckon those on the fence about spending the money to give the remake a try.

The fan demand for a new take on the game is ogrewhelming

As if these reasons weren't compelling enough to build a case for a Shrek SuperSlam remake, to further drive the point home, one can look to the people. Suffice to say, Shrek fans new and old alike harbor a lot of love for this bizarre yet endearing fighting game. For proof of this, look no further than the r/ShrekSuperSlam Reddit community, where thousands of users have come together to share all things related to the game. A scroll through the homepage brings up ev??erything from recent social media posts about the game to tips and tricks for new players to memes.

Not only are Shrek SuperSlam fans eager to chat about the game itself, but some have even taken their interest in it to another level. For example, back in 2021, one fan known simply as Victor took it upon himself to basically single-handedly remaster the game. Despite not having much of a background in game development, his love for Shrek SuperSlam helped him to push through the project, remastering characters, stages, HUDs, menus, and more. “Just like the Shrek movies are a parody of fairy tale movies, Shrek SuperSlam is a parody of fighting games. But even though they are parodies, Shrek is still a great fairy tale movie, and Shrek SuperSlam is still a great fighting game,â€?he told Fanbyte.

Evidently, we're in the perfect storm for a Shrek SuperSlam remake. Love for the Shrek saga is high, as is the love for the 2005 game, and platform brawlers are currently a hot commodity in the gaming world. Time will tell if such a project will become a playable reality, or if fans will have to rely on the existing copies out there as well as other fans updating the original to get their Shrek SuperSlam on.

The post There’s no better time than now for a Shrek SuperSlam remake appeared first on Destructoid.

HBO has published a new trailer for Dune: Prophecy, a prequel to the Dune movies. While the first teaser featured broader strokes about the Bene Gesserit, this new teaser shows the internal politics, scheming for power, and the early days of the Sisterh?ood.

The Dune: Prophecy trailer revealed glimpses of how the Bene Gesserit train, and shows the Sisterhood in its fragile stages. Set 10,000 years ??bef?ore the birth of Paul Atreides from the movies, this series extensively focuses on the journey of the Bene Gesserit to become the revered Sisterhood that we have seen in the movies.

Director Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies featured the Bene Gesserit at a time when their position in the Imperium is firm. The Bene Gesserit essentially act as advisors and counselors to rulers by the time we see the storyline of Paul Atreides unfolding. However, the new teaser reveals?? that the upcoming series is set in a time when their existence and rising power were being questioned.

Emily Watson will be in the lead role, portraying Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen. Mark Strong will play the role of Emperor Javicco Corrino, who seems to be a central part of the story. Popular Indian actress Tabu is also set to be a part of the series and will portray Sister Francesca, and the Dune: Prophecy teaser offered a first look at the actress???? in her new role.

Part of the plot also involves the Sisterhood’s attempts at putting one of the Bene Gesserit on a throne in the Imperium, and it remains to be seen how that attempt pans out. Dune: Prophecy will be ??released in November 2024 on Max, HBO’s streaming service.

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2024 has proven a trim year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with both screens big and small having little to offer from the franchise. Thankfully, the one and only theatrical outing for the year, Deadpool & Wolverine, doesn't appear to ??take that status lightly. As evidenced by the film's promotional material, Marvel fans are in for a wild, profanit?y-laden, Multiverse-exploring adventure with the Merc with a Mouth (Ryan Reynolds) and his not-so-close friend, if you can call him a friend at all, Logan (Hugh Jackman).

Overall, Deadpool & Wolverine contains a lot of moving parts. As noted previously, it's a Multiverse story at its core, meaning that it will likely take audiences across different universes and beyond as the narrative unfolds. It's also more of a formal introduction of the X-Men to the MCU after their existence has merely been hinted at previously. Not to mention, it appears to be a swan song for the 20th Century Fox X-Men franchise.

All of that is to say, for the casual viewer, Deadpool & Wolverine might appear pretty dauntin?g, or even impenetrable at first glance. Luckily for you, true believer, wrapping your head around the upcoming feature isn't nearly as difficult as you might think. All you need to do is check out a small handful of previous Marvel projects to get the most out of the story.

Obviously, you'll want to watch the first two Deadpool movies

Though Deadpool & Wolverine is Deadpool's first outing in the MCU, it's certainly not his first solo movie. His first came in 2016 as the aptly-named Deadpool, with Deadpool 2 premiering two years later. ??Both films are violent, funny, emotional, and love to poke fun at the Marvel movie landscape, all while providing viewers with a pretty comic-accurate take on the lead character. Thus, they're both enjoyable viewi??ngs for new and seasoned Marvel fans alike.

In terms of prep for Deadpool & Wolverine, the two Deadpool movies are essential. They give you a good idea of what to expect from Wade Wilson and his costumed anti-hero antics, and establish his corner of the universe. According to trailers for the movie, the likes of Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), Blind Al (Leslie Uggams), Peter (Rob Delaney), and more will appear and be central to Deadpool's story as he seeks to save his perfect life from a tragic end. Skipping these will only make Deadpool & Wolverine more difficult to be emotionally invested in.

Loki Season 1 and Season 2 are musts for Multiverse knowledge

The MCU-Disney+ initiative has turned out to be a pretty mixed bag since WandaVision kicked it off in 2021. Some shows are widely-criticized, while others are applauded by virtually all MCU fans. A title that falls into the latter category is Loki, where the God of?? Mischief (Tom Hiddleston) himself i??s tasked with not only saving the Multiverse, but coming to terms with the truth of his glorious purpose. It's dramatic, action-packed, a real tear-jerker at times, and evidence that MCU is and can continue to be great going forward.

Multiple projects have dealt with the Multiverse concept throughout the MCU's Multiverse Saga, but not all are necessary viewing to understand it. On the whole, Loki does the best job of explaining it and depicting its many complicated ideas. It puts the spotlight on the Time Variance Authority as well, thoroughly going over their role in the maintenance of the timestream. Seeing as the Multiverse and the TVA have a prominent role in Deadpool & Wolverine, giving the two Loki seasons a watch ahead of the fil?m is in your best interest. As mentioned, too, the show is tremendous and worth binging anyway.

The Wolverine trilogy, maybe

Despite being one of the most popular comic book character movie castings of all time, Jackman's Wolverine doesn't have the greatest trilogy. X-Men Origins: Wolverine from 2009 was a big swing-and-a-miss, turning in a bloated story with poor CGI and misguided attempts at adapting X-Men comic favorites. 2013's The Wolverine stepped things up, but is often overlooked. Then came 2017's Logan, which remains regarded among the greatest comic book movies ever. These movies are only loosely? conn??ected narratively, making the overall trilogy a somewhat disjointed watch.

So, is Wolverine's trilogy a needed watch before Deadpool & Wolverine? On the one hand, yes. It puts Jackman's Wolverine on full display in a range of settings, creating depth and complexity for the character. Some of the movies and moments from them are solid watches to boot. Still, it's unknown if the Wolverine of Deadpool & Wolverine is even from the Fox universe, so in terms of backstory, this trilogy might be entirely useless. It might be best to consider it opti??onal.

What about the X-Men movies?

If it wasn't for Fox's X-Men saga, odds are the MCU wouldn't be what it is today. 2000's X-Men was a game-changer, showing that superheroes could be brought to live-action effectively and find success with general audiences. While subsequent films didn't always maintain that mark of quality, there are enough successes within the franchise for it to be regarded as a triumph. Decades later, nostalgia for these movies has kicked in heavily, hence why Deadpool & Wolverine is giving the Fo?x films and their actors one last chance to ?shine.

Which X-Men movies should you watch ahead of Deadpool & Wolverine though? Considering the presence of Sabretooth (Tyler Mane) and Toad (Ray Park), X-Men is likely a good choice, as are X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand bearing in mind Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu) and Pyro's (Aaron Stanford) inclusions. Azazel (Jason Flemyng) makes an appearance as well, so put X-Men: First Class on the watchlist. Otherwise, the rest might be skippable, at least when taking into account what Deadpool & Wolverine's teasers have shown off. Perhaps we'll be proven?? wrong once the film releases on July 26.

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Dungeons & Dragons is currently at the peak of its popularity and shows no signs of slowing down. The brand isn't merely unstoppable on ?the plane of tabletop RPGs but also doing incredibly well on even the most unl??ikely of entertainment fronts.

Critical Role, a show composed of very long episodes where you watch a party play the classic board game while embodying their characters, is one of the biggest things ever on Twitch. The people behind Stranger Things, one of the most successful TV series ever, don't even bother hiding that they borrow more lore straight out of D&D than they create their own. Baldur's Gate 3 is basically a video game adaptation of the tabletop RPG �well, do I even need to talk about its success?

With all that, I think Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the movie adaptation of the popular brand, exists in an absolutely bizarre place. It sports this hugely popular brand name and was very well-liked â€?if not loved —by most people who saw it. And yet, it still failed to break even at the box office.

Over a year after its release, and in a time when even most great movies can perform ??awfully at the box office, I'm having trouble handling all the hopeful headlines about sequels that we want but that no studio would want to make right now. So, let's look back on this should-be Blockbuster in the beautifully delusional hopes of kickstarting the? wave that will one day turn this tide.

Why Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is special

One of the things that might prevent you from engaging with a work of classic Fantasy is the innate fear of drowning in a sea of overly serious lore. Lord Of The Rings did a service ?to the world of fiction in general, but they aren't for everyone.

Dungeons & Dragons writers John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, and Michael Gilio knew that. They also knew that one of the best things about D&D is how it allows players to use their imagination, which will inevitably bring about hilarity. Despite not being a comedy, Honor Among Thieves is funnier than anything that came out that year??.

Just as impor??tantly, it also understands fantasy. Much of the film's efficacy stems from stellar writing and directing but also from the magic of whatever wizard put this cast together.

Chris Pine's Edgin Darvis is one of the most interesting protagonists I've seen. He's the conventionally handsome protagonist, but he has to make up for his hi??larious lack of combat skills with charm, wits, and pathos. While he's the movie's emotional core, none of the other cast members fall far behind.

You can tell the filmmakers were incredibly confident in their cast and writing. Midway through the movie, they introduce a character who's funnier (and, arguably, hotter) th?an anyone else in the movie, keep him around for a couple of scenes, and then let him go off on his own. Did they do that to flex on the audience? I don't know, but I??'d believe it �and love them for it.

The action is also awesome, courtesy of some spectacular choreography and stunt work that a lesser movie would have ignored in favor of CGI. Honor Among Thieves could've quickly fallen into the fantasy pitfall of making everything C??GI, but it avoids it. The final act felt especially satisfying in how it emplo?ys CGI, dividing its use between a few segments. It manages not to take your attention away from the characters and the journey at hand.

You can see a lot of love was put into this beautiful blend of CGI, nea?t and cozy sets, and impressive puppet and animatronic work. They used every trick in the book to?? make the movie work and keep moviegoers wondering how they achieved many of their special effects.

When all is said and done, the movie's winning formula is simple: equal parts heart and laughter, but we all know damn well just how hard that simple mix is to pull off. The ensemble antics of Honor Among Thieves might have learned some lessons from the original Guardians Of The Galaxy, but I'd argue that it's probably an even better movie than it?s teacher.

I've been careful not to spoil any plot element, but I assure you that the plot of both films plays nothing alike. The influences here are all about the group's dynamic and have nothing to do with the progression of the plot. Even though it's not an entirely original film, it still provides a wildly original and spectacular take on a ?formula many feared cursed �and for a more or less understandable reason.

Honor Among Thieves isn't the first attempt at a Dungeons & Dragons film, and let me tell you, the original one was bad. Is the original D&D movie the reason why people of my age and above steered clear from Honor Among Thieves?

I'll admit it: that original film is the reason I resisted the clear allure of Honor Among Thieves. However, I didn't resist for long, especially not after I realized that Honor Among Thieves has absolutely nothing to do with whatever that thing was.

Perhaps the most significant sign of Honor Among Thieves' quality, though, is that you just read glowing praise about a Dungeons & Dragons movie from someone who's otherwise unable to stand Dungeons & Dragons. Yes, I c?oncede that my predicament is weird and for reasons well beyond the obvious.

I love board games in general. I'm fond of other tabletop RPGs like Vampire: The Masquerade, and I even adore many D&D-based video games, such as Knights Of The Old Republic. There's just something about having to fill out character sheets and come up ?with a backstory that kills any interest I might have, even before the first dice roll. You really don't want me to join your ??party unless you want the company of a Tortle Bard or something even dumber than that.

You can watch Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves on Netflix or Amazon, and you have my blessing to join me on my quest to promote this marvelous movie. You can?? even try to be more annoying than I just was when you bring it up in conversation with your friends today.

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July is officially upon us, meaning that the highly-anticipated release of Deadpool & Wolverine is less than a month away. After seven years away from the big screen, having previously seemed to retire from the role with director James Mangold's Logan, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine is back on an ultra-violent, timeline-hopping adventure. Of course, Ryan Reynolds' Deadpo??ol is right by his side to get in on the fun.

As if this team-up isn't enough to sell you on the film, though, fret not. Marvel Studios is going all-out to make the third film in the Deadpool trilogy a must-see cinematic event. Deadpool & Wolverine looks like it will be all kinds of bonkers. Not only have Multiverse variants of the two titular mutants been teased heavily, but so have appearances from other notable Marvel characters. Pyro is back following his last appearance in 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand, and Cassandra Nova has been?? revealed as the film's central antagonist. However, the confirmed lis??t doesn't stop there.

In a recent teaser for Deadpool & Wolverine, fans were treated to the re-emergence of Sabretooth, portrayed yet again by former pro wrestler Tyler Mane. He last appeared in the role in 2000's X-Men from 20th Century Fox, and he doesn't appear to have aged a day. He also doesn't seem to have forgotten either of his fights with Wolverine in said film. The first ends with him running in retreat, with the second seeing him unceremoniously?? knocked off of the Statue of Liberty by Cyclops' optic blast.

The trailer ends with him and Logan just about to cross claws, fulfilling a rematch fans have wanted for over two decades. In reality, though, Jackman's Wolverine and Mane's Sabretooth have already clashed for a third time in a video game many seem to have forgotten about.

Wolverine vs. Sabretooth III took place in 2006's X-Men: The Official Game

As was the norm in the 2000s, X-Men: The Last Stand received a tie-in video game. Aptly titled X-Men: The Official Game, this game seeks to bridge the narrative gap between X2: X-Men United and The Last Stand. Throughout the game, you'll play as Nightcrawler, Iceman, and, of course, Wolverine. Their levels play into a larger narrative regarding William Stryker's Sentinel program wreaking havoc following his death in X2. To make the story a bit more compelling, each playable character is given a more perso??nal goal.

While Nightcrawler seeks inner peace from visions of Jason Stryker and Iceman tries to find his footing as an X-Man, Logan seeks out the mysteries of his past. In doing so, he's brought face-to-face with two of his old adversaries, Lady Deathstrike and Sabretooth. Unlike Deathstrike, though, you face Sabretooth twice during the Wolverine campaign. First is a simulated rematch at the Statue of Liberty in the Danger Room, and second is a real fight and their official X-Men rematch aboard the Master Mold. Sabretooth loses for the third time, falling from a great height and being impaled by a piece of reb??ar, left to wallow in agony as Wolve?rine walks away.

Is X-Men: The Official Game actually canon?

Both Jackman and Mane reprise their respective X-Men roles for X-Men: The Official Game, beating their Deadpool & Wolverine rematch to the punch by almost 20 years. But is X-Men: The Official Game actually considered canon to the Fox X-Men series? It certainly seems that way. It goes out of its way to connect the second and third X-Men films, introducing concepts like the Danger Room before they made it to the movies and explaining Nightcrawler's disappearance in The Last Stand. It also features a host of actors from the films, even those whose characters are?n't playable.

The game honestly does better than the subsequent X-Men movies in terms of maintaining continuity. Fox notoriously played it fast-and-loose after The Last Stand. Sequences of events don't always line up, the ages of characters change from film to film, and recasts and redesigns are abundant. Even Sabretooth himself falls victim to this practice, being revealed to be Wolverine's brother in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where actor Liev Schreiber would replace Mane.

We'll have to wait and see if Deadpool & Wolverine mentions Wolverine and Sabretooth's Master Mold fight or the X-Men: The Official Game at all when the film premieres on July 26.

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe was born 16 years ago with Iron Man in 2008. Ever since then, the MCU has expanded exponentially, with more movies and shows tha??n one can naturally keep track of. It can actually be quite a task to figure out where to start watching the MCU from, and how to follow the right seq?uence. With Disney and Marvel throwing shows into the mix, it adds another challenge.

We have arranged all MCU movies and shows in chronological order, to help you watch the MCU in the right order and understand its overarching timeline. Marvel Studios has rolled out its movies and shows into Phases, making it easier to collectively refer to the MCU movies. Moreover, the first three Phases of the MCU are collectively known as the Infinity Saga. Currently, the?? MCU is in its Multiverse Saga which consists of Phase Four to Phase Six.

Here are all the M?CU movies and shows, ranked as per their release year:

The Infinity Saga

??The Infinity Saga introduced the Avengers t?o the MCU, and it is known as the Infinity Saga as its primary storyline focused on the Infinity Stones.

Phase One

• Iron Man (2008)
• The Incredible Hulk (2008)
• Iron Man 2 (2010)
• Thor (2011)
• Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
• The Avengers (2012)

Phase Two

• Iron Man 3 (2013)
• Thor: The Dark World (2013)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
• Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
• Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
• Ant-Man (2015)

Phase Three

• Captain America: Civil War (2016)
• Doctor Strange (2016)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
• Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
• Black Panther (2018)
• Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
• Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
• Captain Marvel (2019)
• Avengers: Endgame (2019)
• Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

The Multiverse Saga

Marvel? Cinematic Universe is the ongoing Saga where the MCU has opened itself up to the Multiverse. This?? Saga also includes Disney+ shows that are part of the MCU.

Phase Four

• WandaVision (2021)
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
• Loki Season 1 (2021)
• Black Widow (2021)
• What Ifâ€? Season 1 (2021)
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
• Eternals (2021)
• Hawkeye (2021)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
• Moon Knight (2022)
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
• Ms. Marvel (2022)
• Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
• She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022)
• Werewolf by Night (2022)
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
• The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)

Phase Five

• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
• Secret Invasion (2023)
• Loki Season 2 (2023)
• The Marvels (2023)
• What Ifâ€? (2023)
• Echo (2024)
• Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
• Agatha All Along (2024)
• Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
• Daredevil: Born Again (2025)
• Thunderbolts* (2025)
• Ironheart (2025)

Phase Six

• The Fantastic Four (2025)
• Blade (2025)
• Avengers 5 (2026)
• Vision Quest (2026)
• Avengers: Secret Wars (2027)

Movies an??d? shows from Phase Six are announced, but since they’re a couple of years away from release, their release dates may change by the time MCU enters Phase Six.

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Beetlejuice became a pop culture icon from the moment he appeared in his self-titled 1988 movie. Sure, he's crass, crafty, and a sight for sore eyes, but the afterlife's leading bio-exorcist is undeniably charming and hilarious. Now he's finally returning to the movies with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, along with a host of beloved characters fr?om the previous film.

While this is great for his fans, it shouldn't be the only return he's making in the 21st century. As animated and over-the-top as he is, it's surprising that the colorful and macabre world of Beetlejuice hasn't gotten its own modern video game. After all, not only is anticipation high for his next big screen outing, but the closest thing he's gotten to a modern gaming spotlight, a 2017 LEGO Dimensions expansion pack, ??proved that there's plenty of fun for the character to have in such a format.

Beetlejuice's previous games are incredibly dated

LEGO Dimensions add-on aside, Beetlejuice's gaming appearances are entirely confined to the 1990s. He made his gaming debut in 1990 via Adventures of Beetlejuice: Skeletons in the Closet, a DOS game based on the animated Beetlejuice series. Taking place on a giant checkerboard, you play as Beetlejuice as he defeats various monsters with loogies while Lydia Deetz cleans up their remains. It's a good time-killer and very much evokes the look of the show, but it's hardly a definitive Beetlejuice gaming adventure.

The following year came Beetlejuice for the Nintendo Entertainment System, largely based on the 1988 movie. This title puts Beetlejuice in a platforming environment, where he runs from one fantastical stage to the next, squashing bugs and planning to cause mischief for the Deetz family. This is a pretty standard platformer from the era with little to write home about. With the likes of Super Mario World on the market at the time, this ??one was pretty easy to pass over, and its fortune hasn't improved with age.

1992's Beetlejuice: Horrific Hijinx from the Neitherworld! is a Nintendo Game Boy offering based on the Beetlejuice car??toon, and, unsurprisingly, it woefully misses the mark. It's sluggish, and the limitations of the hardware prevent it from capturing the look and feel of the show. Like its contemporaries, it's entirely unremarkable—another big miss.

For such a popul??ar character, one would think that Beetlejuice would have at least one solid game to his credit already, but no such title has made it to consumers yet. All the more reason for a modern Beetlejuice game to come along, giving the character his gaming due and rectifying his ?past blunders.

Classic horror-comedy properties have worked as modern video games before

One of the great things about gaming as a medium is that there's a little bit of everything out there. Want a serious, character-driven story? How about something light and comedic? Atmospheric? It's all out there, and more often than not, these games find their audience and thrive. One has to imagine that a horror-comedy game adaptation of Beetlejuice would find the same success, especially since similarly-ton?ed properties from decades past have performed well when brought to the form?at.

A prime example is 2009's Ghostbusters: The Video Game from Atari Interactive. The game has players join the original movie's Ghostbusters as the new recruit, embarking on an adventure between the first two films. It's funny, action-packed, and visually impressive for the time, striking just the right chords with Ghostbusters fans. In fact, with the legacy cast at the forefront, many out there long considered it the true Ghostbusters 3 before Ghostbusters: Afterlife came along in 2021, despite its place in the timeline. Dan Aykroyd even referred to it as such in a 2009 interview with SciFiNow.

If Ghostbusters can get a video game continuation long after a series entry last graced the big screen, and hit a home run with franchise fans, gamers, and critics alike in doing so, surely Beetlejuice could do the same.

A new Beetlejuice game could be all kinds of crazy fun

When it comes to Beetlejuice, the name of the game is fun. The film and the cartoon are full of rich colors, wacky environments, and other-worldly characters that fans can't forget. These elements are perfectly suited for a modern video game, with hardware finally available that ??can render such visuals in stunning detail.

Unlike previous Beetlejuice games, voice acting is now very much a thing in video games, too. It's now possible for Beetlejuice and his companions to craft and sell a compelling narrative, build on existing lore, and crack all kinds of jokes ?while you play.

Of course, what are stories and visual elements without s??olid gameplay? Given the character's off-the-wall nature, Beetlejuice can fit into virtually any gaming environment. A goofy platformer could allow for colorful, inventively-designed levels in both the netherworld and the land of the living.

Meanwhile, a more open-world angle can do the same with an emphasis on exploring such fascinating environments and getting acquainted with their residents. Even a linear game could prove enjoyable, putting the main narrative and the characters within it front-and-center. Naturally, any and all of these options could allow Beetlejuice himself to shine with his undead a??bilities weaved into traversal, puzzle-solving, combat, and more.

All in all, Beetlejuice deserves the modern video game treatment. He and his world are tailor-made for it, and if anything, so long as it's done right, such a title would go a long way in washing the taste of his previous games out of gamers' mouths. The only question is, which, if any, developer will step up to once again let the Juice loose o??n the gaming landscape?

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Daniel Radcliffe, known famously for portraying the protagonist in the Harry Potter movies, has shared that he would love to see the final Harry Potter book and the movies being adapted for the upcoming Harry Potter show.

After winning his first Tony award, Radcliffe was asked by People in an interview about which book he’s most excited to see the show adapt. He said, “The l?ast one, I mean, it'll be a while before they get to that, I assume, but that was always one of my favorite of the books and of the films."

For those unfamiliar, the final Harry Potter book was The Deathly Hallows, and its story was split into two movies to end the Harry Potter saga. The reboot series will adapt all seven Harry Potter books from J. K. Rowling. 

Radcliffe is right about the wait, since the show is apparently going to run for 10 years. Moreover, the Harry Potter show adapt??ation will premiere in 2026 on HBO's Max. Taking that release window into account an??d time needed to get there, it would be a while.

As for the fans who are hoping for a Daniel Radcliffe cameo in the show, the actor has shut down the idea twice in the past. He previously told E! Online that he does not think there is a cameo for him in the show since the show has to be a “clean breakâ€? The actor also shared with ComicBook in 2023 that he is "very excited to have that torch passed" and feels that there is no need to "physically pass it"? with a cameo.

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Jon Hamm, best known for his work in the Mad Men series, has now revealed that he has rejected proposals from Warner Bros several times to be a part of their DC movies to play Green Lantern. Instead?, the actor offered himself to Marvel Studios several times to portray a chara?cter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The actor told The Hollywood Reporter that he “definitely didn’t want to doâ€?a Green Lantern role for DC. While Hamm revealed his eagerness to be a part of the MCU instead, he did not ?disclose the character in particular. Hamm recalled asking Marvel Studios if they ?were planning on adopting a certain comic book, and the studio confirmed that they were actually looking into it. The actor is hopeful that the proposal to Marvel Studios might work out.

Jon Hamm also explained that he wants his career to be on the same trajectory as that of Jeff Goldblum, highlighting how he steals the show with his appearances in the Marvel movies. Goldblum has played the role of The Grandmaster in the MCU, who ruled over the planet Sakaar in Thor: Ragnarok.

As for the Green Lantern role, Hamm was referring to the Green Lantern movie that came out in 2011, which eventually starred Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan. However, both DC fans and Reynolds quickly moved on from that movie, with the actor even taking a clever self-dig at his decision to play Green Lantern during the post-credit of Deadpool 2.

Hamm was not a fan of the DC movies back then either. He told GQ back in 2015 that even though the studio came after him “pretty hard for Green Lanternâ€? he only had a “mehâ€?reaction to? offer since he felt that they didn't make the kind of movies he liked to see anymore, apparently.

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The Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel’s release date for Japan has been announced. Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, announced ahead of the Nintendo Direct that the movie will be released on April 26, 2026? in Japan.

The announcement came via a Twitter/X post where Miyamoto added, “We are working with the Illumination team to make it a fun movie, so please continue to look forward to it.â€?/p>

This confirms that the Mario sequel will actually be released in Japan after its release in the US and other regions. Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri revealed back in March that the sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie will be released on April 3, 2026, in the US and other select regions.

It may not come as a surprise, given that The Super Mario Bros. Movie was release?d first in the US on April 5, 2023, before releasing in ?Japan on April 28, 2024.

While plot details are still anyone’s guess, Miyamoto had said back in March that the team is “thinking about broadening Mario's world further, and it'll have a bright and fun story.â€?/p>

The Super Mario Bros. Movie ?sequel will be directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, and the script?? will be written by Matthew Fogel. The movie will be co-produced by Melendandri and Miyamoto. Universal Pictures will be distributing the movie globally.

Nintendo and Illumination’s Mario movie wa?s a blockbuster hit as it grossed $1.36 billion at the global box office, made a $559 million profit, and became the most successful video game movie adapta??tion of all time.

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Uncharted 2 movie is officially in development, as confirmed by Sonyâ€??™s president of international distribution Steven O’Dell, who gave?? the update during the 2024 CineEurope trade show, as reported by Variety.

For those unfamiliar, the first movie and its now-confirmed sequel are video-game adaptations of Sony and Naughty Dog’s Uncharted franchise. The first? movie, released in 2022, starred Tom Holland as protagonist Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan, Drake’s best f??riend, was played by Mark Wahlberg.

Both of?? the characters are expected to reprise their role. Wahlberg’s return seems to be almost confirmed, given that the actor provided an update earlier this year in an interview with Screen Rant. He revealed that the studio asked him to start growing his moustache. The actor also shared that the movie’s script is done.

Wahlberg said that the “audiences really loved the first oneâ€?which is partly a fair assessment. The movie did earn $407 million at the box office, but it didn’t receive the kind of reviews that complement its gross earnings. As it stands, Uncharted has a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 6.3 scor?e on IMDb, and a 45% ??rating on Metacritic.

Regardless, the performance at the box office is strong enough for Sony to greenlight a sequel, and it remains to be seen how Uncharted 2 will perform upon release. However, it is still early to wonder about its reception as the movie is currently under development and with no official confirmation that Tom Holland is returning, it will be some time before Uncharted 2 hits the theatres.

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Steve Carell, the voice of Gru in the Despicable Me movies, has unveiled the "Megaverse". The newly released Despicable Me 4 trailer features Carell introducing the Mega Minions in a planned universe where many movies and shows will expand the lore around the Mega Minions. Through the trailer, Illumination and Carell took a cheeky dig at the superhero franchise model from Marvel Cinematic Universe, which features loads of movies and shows that ?are interconnected and part of a main storyline that goes on for many years?.

Illumination took the joke a step further by revealing an official website where the planned timeline of movie releases and an official synopsis are listed. While the joke began with superhero movies and Marvel in particular, the quips expand to other movies as well, with clever nods to Star Wars, Jerry Maguire, James Bond, Mad Max, and more.

The official movie titles include Mega Minions Legacy, where the movie's plot states that the heroes must return “after the Anti-Villain League’s quarterly earnings dramatically miss estimates.â€?/p>

Another hilarious movie is simply slated as an Untitled Mega Minion Spin-off and its outlined plot su??ggests that the story will be "determined based on rigorous market testing and ad hoc decision-making."

The movie names and the Megaverse announcement are clearly a parody, but it would be interesting to see some o??f these many movie ideas come to fruition.

Despicable Me 4 will have the super-po??w?ered Mega Minions at least, and the movie is slated for a release on July 3, 2024.

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Netflix has officially confirmed that the Peaky Blinders movie is under development. The movie will mark the return of Cillian Murphy as the iconic Thomas Shelby. The streaming service also shared that the? movie will be directed by?? Tom Harper and written by Steven Knight, the same pairing behind the show’s production.

This news was broken by Netflix through a social media post on June 4, 2024, with an image of the movie’s script where Murphy, Knight, and Harper were credited. The post also carried a caption that reads: “It seems like Tommy Shelby wasn’t finished with me…It is very gratifying to be recollaborating with Steven Knight and Tom Harper on the film version of Peaky Blinders. This is one for the fans.â€?The quote is from Cillian Murphy, who has portrayed the charac?ter for ?six seasons.

"I’m genuinely thrilled that this movie is about to happen," Knight said in a statement. He added, "It will be an explosive chapter in the Peaky Blinders story. No holds barred. Full-on Peaky Blinders at war."

Director Tom Harper reminisced about the start of his journey, working on Peaky Blinders. He said, “When I first directed Peaky Blinders over 10 years ago, we didn’t know what the series would become, but we did know that there was something in the alchemy of the cast and the writing that felt explosive.â€?/p>

Peaky Blinders arrived as a TV series all the way back in 2013, with its final season airing in 2022. Netflix’s announcement has not revealed any plot details and while conversations about a movie have been around for years now, it is unclear if the production has already commenced. A report from Deadline claims that the movie will e??nt?er production later this year.

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Jeremy Renner, who played William Brandt in the Mission: Impossible movies, has now revealed why he turned down the opportunity to return to the franchise. Renner was offered a role in Mission: Impossible - Fallout but bowed ?out because he did not agree with the direction his character in the film was heading towards.

Renner was recently on the Happy, Sad, Confused Podcast where he was asked to explain why Brandt was missing in Mission: Impossible - Fallout, which came out back in 2018. He said that he declined to return bec?ause his character was going ?to be killed off in the movie.

“If you’re going to do this, and you’re going to use my character, youâ€?™re going to do it right,â€?he said.

The actor further explained, “I remember they tried to bring me over[seas] for a week so they could kill my character, and I was like, ‘No, you don’t get to do that. You’re not going to drag me over there and just kill my character,â€?like get out of here!â€?/p>

Renner said he yelled at the director, telling him, “Dude, you’re not going to do this to me like that; you’re not going to do me wrong.â€?/p>

The actor ??also ??revealed that he had left the franchise because he wanted to focus on his responsibilities as a father, and it was hard to spend time with the family since the filming took place overseas. 

While this sounds like Renner is not going to make a return to the franchise, al?l hope is not lost. He said during the podcast that he is open to returning as?? William Brandt. However, it is clear that the role must have significance for Renner to consider it.

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