Dynamite Entertainment has officially opened solicitations for the highly anticipated crossover series between The Powerpuff Girls and Thundercats, set to debut on June 4, 2025. The first issue of this unprecedented pairing will feature a diverse range of collectible variant covers from artists, including Paulina Ganucheau, Coleman Engle, Coran Kizer Stone, Saowee, and Nicoletta Baldari. This unexpected collaboration brings together the Chemical X-powered trio from Townsville with the warriors of Third Earth in what the publisher describes as “the greatest crossover since peanut butter met jelly.” The main storyline follows Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup after they’re trapped in a runaway rocket by Mojo Jojo and transported to a strange planet where their superpowers no longer function, forcing them to ally with the Thundercats against the ancient evil Mumm-Ra.

The crossover represents a significant expansion of Dynamite’s growing catalog of nostalgic properties, with both franchises finding renewed interest among collectors and fans of classic animation. Writer Paulina Ganucheau and artist Coleman Engle, who have been announced as the creative team behind the series, face the unique challenge of merging two dramatically different fictional universes with distinct visual styles and tonal approaches. “After being trapped in a runaway rocket by Mojo Jojo, the titanic trio find themselves on a strange planet where their super-powers don’t work,” states the official synopsis. “Luckily, someone named Snarf is there to provide a situation report and wouldn’t you know it, there’s evil that needs defeating! But without their Chemical X-enhanced abilities, what can Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup do against a foe like Mumm-Ra?”

[RELATED: Yes, The Powerpuff Girls Could Take Omni Man In a Fight]

Prior to the June release of the first full issue, fans will have an opportunity to preview the crossover on Free Comic Book Day, with a special #0 issue scheduled for May 3, 2025. This introductory installment promises to establish the groundwork for the full series while showcasing how the creative team plans to navigate the contrasting dynamics between the elementary school superheroes and the more mature, battle-hardened Thundercats. The Free Comic Book Day special serves as both a marketing tool and a low-barrier entry point for potential new readers who might be familiar with either franchise through their respective animated series but haven’t previously engaged with their comic book adaptations.

The Powerpuff Girls Are Extremely Popular Right Now

The timing of this crossover coincides with a significant resurgence of The Powerpuff Girls. The original series creator, Craig McCracken, is returning to the franchise for an official revival that is currently in development with Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe. While specific details about this project remain limited, Warner Bros. Animation president Sam Register previously called McCracken’s return “an opportunity we could not pass up,” suggesting a significant investment in the property’s future.

Furthermore, on April 12th, the original The Powerpuff Girls animated series will return to television with a regular Saturday morning time slot on Cartoon Network for the first time in years, airing weekly at 10:30 AM as part of a revamped animation block that also includes Steven Universe. This television return comes at a particularly strategic moment as the series will be departing from Netflix’s streaming platform on April 2nd, redirecting viewers toward traditional broadcast options or the HBO Max streaming service, where the complete series remains available.

Finally, footage from the canceled live-action CW The Powerpuff Girls adaptation leaked online earlier this month. The controversial pilot, which reimagined Blossom (Chloe Bennet), Bubbles (Dove Cameron), and Buttercup (Yana Perrault) as disillusioned twentysomethings, generated substantial social media discussion after revealing its satirical take on the source material. The leaked trailer depicted a drastically different interpretation where the adult protagonists had abandoned their crime-fighting responsibilities following a tragic incident involving their nemesis Mojo, portrayed as a human character rather than the anthropomorphic monkey from the cartoon.

Check out all the covers for the Thunderbolts & The Powerpuff Girls. Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

The post The Powerpuff Girls Are Getting the Wildest Comics Crossover This Summer appeared first on ComicBook.com.

XYZ Films has unveiled the first official trailer for the upcoming exorcism horror film The Ritual, starring Al Pacino and Dan Stevens as two priests battling to save a woman from demonic possession. Set for theatrical release in June, the film dramatizes “the most infamous exorcism in American history, the 1928 case of Emma Schmidt. The chilling trailer showcases Pacino as the experienced exorcist Father Theophilus Riesinger alongside Stevens as Father Joseph Steiger, a priest questioning his faith, as they undertake a dangerous 72-hour exorcism ritual in a secluded convent in Earling, Iowa. With ominous visuals of supernatural phenomena and body contortions performed by Abigail Cowen as the possessed Emma Schmidt, the trailer establishes a tone of escalating dread while emphasizing the priests’ determination to battle against demonic forces. It’s no wonder The Ritual is one of the most anticipated horror movies of 2025.

“The Devil will do whatever it takes to foil our plans. We must be resolute… and hold back the darkness,” warns Pacino’s character in the trailer’s voiceover, setting up the film’s central conflict. The footage reveals glimpses of the convent where the exorcism takes place, showing religious imagery corrupted by malevolent forces and the increasingly harrowing physical transformation of Emma Schmidt under demonic influence. Finally, the teaser suggests a narrative that explores both the supernatural elements of possession and the psychological toll on all involved, particularly focusing on the contrasting approaches of the two priests: one a veteran exorcist with a controversial past and the other facing a crisis of faith when confronted with undeniable evil.

[RELATED: The Exorcism Director Reveals They Originally Pitched Biopic About Making of The Exorcist]

Directed by David Midell, who co-wrote the screenplay with Enrico Natale, The Ritual appears to be taking a historically grounded approach to the exorcism subgenre while delivering intense horror sequences. The film’s supporting cast includes Ashley Greene, Maria Camila Giraldo, Meadow Williams, Patrick Fabian, and Patricia Heaton, though their specific roles remain undisclosed in the promotional materials. XYZ Films’ marketing emphasizes the “based on a true story” aspect, with the promotional website theritualmovie.com offering research materials about the historical case that inspired the film.

The True Story Behind Al Pacino’s The Ritual

The historical case depicted in The Ritual revolves around Emma Schmidt, a woman whose exorcism became one of American history’s most thoroughly documented cases of supposed demonic influence. Born in 1882, Schmidt began experiencing symptoms considered consistent with possession during her adolescence, including violent reactions to religious objects and unexplainable afflictions. After years of unsuccessful medical and psychiatric treatments, 46-year-old Schmidt was brought to Earling, Iowa, in 1928 for what would become a months-long ordeal culminating in a marathon 72-hour exorcism.

The real Father Theophilus Riesinger, portrayed by Pacino in the film, was a Capuchin friar born as Francis Xavier Riesinger in Germany in 1868 before immigrating to America. Having previously performed exorcisms, Riesinger was specifically requested by the Bishop of Des Moines to handle Schmidt’s case due to his experience. Father Joseph Steiger, played by Stevens, was the parish priest at St. Joseph’s Church in Earling who permitted the ritual to be performed at a nearby Franciscan convent for privacy.

According to historical accounts, the exorcism was extraordinarily challenging, with witnesses reporting disturbing phenomena, including violent convulsions, speaking in unknown languages, and extreme physical reactions that tested the faith of everyone present. After multiple sessions spanning several months, the exorcism concluded on December 23, 1928, when Schmidt was finally freed from her alleged possession. The case gained significant attention after being documented in a pamphlet titled “Begone Satan” by Reverend Carl Vogl, which was later translated into English in 1935. The case achieved even broader recognition when Time magazine published an article about it in February 1936.

The production of The Ritual marks a significant return to religious horror for Pacino, who famously played Satan himself in the 1997 thriller The Devil’s Advocate opposite Keanu Reeves. The 84-year-old Academy Award winner’s participation lends considerable gravitas to the project, especially in the exorcism subgenre, which has seen numerous entries since the benchmark The Exorcist in 1973. For Dan Stevens, the role continues his versatile career trajectory following mainstream success in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and critical acclaim for smaller projects. The film’s exploration of faith and doubt through Stevens’ character offers potential depth beyond typical horror fare, suggesting The Ritual might balance supernatural scares with substantive character development.

The Ritual begins in theaters on June 6th.

Will you be watching The Ritual in theaters? What did you like the most about the teaser trailer? Let us know in the comments! 

The post The Ritual Trailer: Al Pacino & Dan Stevens Try to Save A Soul appeared first on ComicBook.com.

MLB The Show 25 is here, which means another year of content to dive into in Diamond Dynasty. If you’re looking to earn tons of packs to get your DD squad started, Conquests are among the best places to turn first. The Grapefruit Conquest is here to celebrate the end of preseason baseball. Like the USA maps, this one features several games, which means tons of packs and even more chances to pull great players. Here’s a full rundown on where to find every reward on the GrapefruitConquest Map in MLB The Show 25.

Hidden Rewards on the Grapefruit Map

The Grapefruit Map has a ton of games to play, but you’ll earn solid rewards for doing so. As you can see above, you’ll earn a handful of The Show Packs and a few Headliners packs. The latter can contain solid players, making this Conquest worth finishing. Here’s a full list of everything you’ll earn from hidden rewards:

• 6 The Show Packs
• 2 Headliners Pack

RELATED: MLB The Show 25: All Hidden Rewards for ’25 Map

MLB THE Show 25 Grapefruit Map Goals

In addition to all of the hidden rewards on the Grapefruit map, you’ll also earn several more rewards for completing the map. Unlike some of the Conquest Maps SDS dropped to start the year, the Grapefruit Map doesn’t include any specific players to earn.

That said, the Deluxe Choice Pack you get for finishing the map will give you a guaranteed player from one of the themed programs. Right now, that means a Pipeline card, but if you hold the pack, you might get a better card type in the next few weeks. Here are all of the extra rewards on the Grapefruit Conquest Map:

• Acquire 50M fans – The Show Pack
• Capture any enemy Stronghold – The Show Pack
• Acquire 100M fans – Headliners Pack
• Capture any 5 enemy Strongholds – The Show Pack
• Capture any 10 enemy Strongholds – 5x The Show Packs
• Capture all enemy Strongholds – Ballin’ is a Habit Pack
• Conquer all Territories and complete the Grapefruit Map – Deluxe Choice Pack and 5,000 XP

MLB The Show 25 is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

The post MLB The Show 25: All Hidden Rewards for Grapefruit Map appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Silent Hill f is making big changes, but that’s also earned it a mixed reception from players eyeing up if they’ll want to pre-order it, play it when it’s first released, or wait and see what others say about it before committing to a playthrough. Of course, the change that’s caused the most discourse is the game being set in a fictional Japanese village, which is quite different from the titular town with a heavy western influence that you generally associate with the Silent Hill series. However, it’s not a bad change to shift the setting like this, and it might be the exact change the series needs to revitalize its new games instead of relying too much on remakes to keep it alive.

While information about the story of Silent Hill f has been understandably scarce, it’s confirmed that the game will be different from what you’re used to seeing from the series. It’s not uncommon for long-lived franchises to make that kind of change to keep the game feeling fresh, but it doesn’t always work in their favor. This time, it looks like it’ll be a positive change for Silent Hill as a whole.

Silent Hill Isn’t About a Town

Yes, the series is named after the town in which most of the games take place, and there’s some importance to that location. However, the town itself isn’t the root of the issues that the characters face there. Instead, the problem is the actions of people and the trauma that haunts them, as proven by Laura in Silent Hill 2, because she experiences the town as it is: just an empty town.

So, you could say that Silent Hill is actually a franchise that’s about trauma. The characters who are affected the most by the town are those who carry the most trauma and dark secrets, which means that these games don’t necessarily need to all take place in the exact same town. Resident Evil is the same in that the franchise starts in a residence filled with evil, but it’s about the viruses more than the locations. This helped that series revitalize itself when it decided to scale down the plot in Resident Evil 7, and the same idea with Silent Hill f should help Silent Hill’s future prospects.

It’s actually interesting that Silent Hill f is making a shift like this, and the game’s description says that strange events start occurring when a mysterious fog rolls into the village. With that in mind, the series is pivoting from the town being the source of events to the fog being the source instead, meaning that the developers have more freedom when it comes to the setting of future games in the franchise.

The Potential of New Settings

This change in setting is exactly what the franchise needs. First, there’s not much more that can be said about the original town. You see it often enough that you basically learn the whole history of it and its cults. With a change of setting, the mysteries and history of that location and what made the fog roll in will be unknown. It also opens up the chance to use urban legends and ghost stories from other locations to influence the environment and the monsters you encounter.

Related – Silent Hill f Release Date Is Close Based on New Update

It’s understandable that Silent Hill players are wary about the changes being made by Silent Hill f after waiting so long for a new mainline game to carry on the essence of a series they love. However, a new setting is great for Silent Hill, and it’s exactly what the series needs right now if it wants to survive beyond remakes. Silent Hill f looks like it’s going to be an amazing ride and a unique addition to the series, and it at least deserves a chance to prove itself as a worthy successor to a beloved franchise.

The post Why a New Setting Is Great for Silent Hill f appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is reportedly not coming out as soon as we might have hoped. It has been five long years since Naughty Dog released a brand new game. Its last game was The Last of Us Part 2 and since then, it has re-released both Last of Us games (multiple times if you include the staggered PC releases) and two seasons of The Last of Us. This wasn’t the original plan, of course, Naughty Dog was developing The Last of Us Online which would’ve presumably released by now or be very close to releasing. It was expected to be a big project for the studio, but it was scrapped in 2023.

Naughty Dog’s A-team, led by Neil Druckmann, has been working on a brand new game called Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet since 2020. It’s the first new IP from the studio since 2013 and will be a retrofuture sci-fi story with a big ensemble comprised of talented actors from gaming and TV. Naughty Dog boss Neil Druckmann had previously stated that he doesn’t want to reveal games long before they are ready to be released, which led some to believe Intergalactic may be a 2026 game. That would make sense given how long the studio has been working on it, but that may not be the case at all.

Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet Reportedly Won’t Release Next Year

Over on ResetEra, reputable journalist and Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier stated that Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will not release in 2026. This is pretty disappointing given that means there will be at least a seven year gap between Naughty Dog games if that’s true which could also mean its not even exclusive to the PS5. It’s very possible that Intergalactic is a PS6 game if it’s coming out in 2027, but The Last of Us Part 2 managed to release on PS4 despite the PS5 coming out just five months later.

Of course, it’s also worth noting that Schreier could be wrong. He’s usually pretty on the money as he has well-placed sources across the entire industry and rarely ever misses, but things can shift. Naughty Dog could get ahead of schedule and ship Intergalactic for holiday 2026. However, in a recent interview Neil Druckmann shared some new details about Intergalactic and stated that they still have a ways to go on the game’s development. That could be a sign that it really is still years away from seeing the light of day, unfortunately. As of right now, it’s unclear if we are going to see anything from Intergalactic before the end of the year. A first look at gameplay would be great, but if it’s not releasing next year, that may not be feasible.

As of right now, we don’t know a lot about Intergalactic. It will follow a bounty hunter that’s stuck on desolate planet that was once inhabited by a very passionate religion. However, things went dark long before the events of the game and the protagonist must uncover what happened on the planet in order to escape it. It sounds like a pretty exciting premise and yet another original story for Naughty Dog, so hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to play it.

When do you think Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will release? Let me know in the comments!

The post Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet’s Release Date Is Reportedly Years Away appeared first on ComicBook.com.

2025 has been a rough year for animation as while some great new shows are making their debut, there are just as many that are coming to their respective ends. We may only be a quarter into this year thus far, but there are some big shows that have come to their respective ends and others that have announced their imminently approaching ends as well. But it’s not all doom and gloom for these shows either as while they might have come to an end, they are thankfully still available to watch if you somehow missed them during their initial run.

With so many of these big animated shows coming to an end for the year thus far, now is the time to look back at the major finales and make sure you get to see them now that they are complete. Each of these shows has come to an end for one reason or another, but their entire library is now available for streaming. Read on for a break down of the animated shows that ended this year, and let us know which ones you miss the most in the comments.

RELATED: Jellystone! Creator C. H. Greenblatt Talks Cartoon Network Crossover, Space Ghost and More

Craig of the Creek (Ended January 25th)

Where to Watch: Hulu, Max

Craig of the Creek was the first major ending of the year, and unfortunately it is likely the most permanent on this list overall. The Cartoon Network series came to an end after five seasons, and seven years for its broadcast and even got to have a feature film release to help flesh it out before it was done. This series has a rather satisfying conclusion at the heart of it all as well as the final episode not only is a full reflection of just how far Craig and the others have come since it all started, but it’s also just another day at the creek. You should really watch it now that it’s all in one place at last.

Jellystone! (Ended March 6th)

Where to Watch: Max

Jellystone! has ended its run with Max after three seasons of episodes with the streaming service, and introduced fans to a remixed version of Hanna-Barbera’s classic animated library that brought each of these characters to the modern age. This is one of those endings where production might have wrapped, but there’s still a potential to go on. Speaking to ComicBook, series creator C.H. Greenblatt noted that the final season was “Final for now, but who knows?” Elaborating further, “We all have our fingers crossed. Who knows? If there’s more, we’re ready. Trust me. We’re ready to hit the ground running.”

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (Ended March 8th)

Where to Watch: Disney+

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur unfortunately was cancelled before the second season of the series even got to air its final few episodes, and that ultimately means that the final episodes had more of a lingering cloud overhead for the people who had been watching along. But now that it has come to an end, it really is a good time to go back and check out this animated series to see how unique of a show it really was. Even with the support from fans it seemed like it was cut off at the knees, so perhaps watching with a clear mind would make it stand out all the more.

Win or Lose (Ended March 12th)

Where to Watch: Disney+

Win or Lose is unlike the other animated series on the list as the Pixar Animation Studios only conceived it as a miniseries. It was a project developed to expand on an idea in a whole new way, and was able to do so by the end. Though it did stir up some controversy for what ended up being left on the cutting room table (something Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur was also familiar with), Win or Lose was able to accomplish what it set out to do. It’s a complete experience, and with the release of its final episode, it’s now the best time to go back and check it all out.

Tiny Toons Looniversity (Ended March 22nd)

Where to Watch: Max

Tiny Toons Looniversity was a surprising project as it rebooted the classic Tiny Toon Adventures from the 1990s. The Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation collaboration introduced a new era of fans to these classic toons, but the second season of the series officially aired its final episodes with the Max streaming service as Spring came to an end. It wasn’t outright cancelled, but those behind the production seemed to have moved on to other projects by the time this final batch of episodes finally made its debut. In a time when the Looney Tunes franchise could use as much support as it can get, you should check this one out.

The post Every Major Animated Series That Ended in 2025 So Far (& How to Watch Them) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Daredevil: Born Again opens with a devastating tragedy as Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) murders Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) in front of his friends. In the aftermath of this loss, a grief-stricken Matt crosses a moral line when he throws Bullseye from a rooftop in a rage-fueled attempt to kill him. Though Bullseye survives the fall, Matt’s Catholic faith is profoundly shaken by his willingness to commit murder. Overwhelmed by guilt and moral conflict, Matt makes the difficult decision to hang up his Daredevil horns, focusing solely on his legal career alongside his new partner, Kirsten McDuffie (Nikki M. James). For much of this season of Daredevil: Born Again, Matt struggles with this self-imposed restriction, attempting to pursue justice exclusively through legal channels while the city around him descends into chaos under Mayor Wilson Fisk’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) influence. This internal battle between Matt’s two identities reaches its breaking point in Episode 6, when he finally dons the Daredevil suit again.

WARNING: Spoilers below for Daredevil: Born Again Episode 6

Matt’s path back to vigilantism begins with his defense of Hector Ayala (Kamar De Los Reyes) in Episode 2. The situation escalates when Matt discovers Hector is secretly the White Tiger, another vigilante protecting New York’s streets. This revelation immediately parallels Matt’s abandoned dual identity, forcing him to confront the very lifestyle he’s rejected. When corrupt officers threaten to eliminate Nicky Torres (Nick Jordan), the key witness who could exonerate Hector, Matt physically confronts them in Nicky’s apartment. Though he doesn’t wear the Daredevil suit, this moment marks his first return to vigilante-style violence since Foggy’s death, leaving him with bloodied knuckles that serve as a visual reminder of the violence still within him.

[RELATED: Daredevil: Born Again Fixes Marvel Fan’s Problem With Netflix Punisher]

Despite Matt’s legal victory in securing Hector’s freedom, the White Tiger is executed shortly after resuming his vigilante activities. This devastating turn of events deepens Matt’s internal conflict. He successfully worked within the system to prove Hector’s innocence, only to see him killed. This sense of failure compounds when Angela Del Toro (Camila Rodriguez), Hector’s niece, approaches Matt in Episode 4, seeking help to continue her uncle’s investigation into mysterious disappearances around an abandoned subway line. Matt’s refusal to step outside legal boundaries leaves him unable to offer meaningful assistance, causing Angela to storm out in frustration after pointedly reminding him of her uncle’s belief that sometimes you must take action yourself. 

The breaking point comes in Episode 6 when Matt learns that Angela has disappeared while investigating the tunnels beneath the city. Matt’s first instinct is to place a 911 call, but he knows that the system he’s committed to cannot respond quickly enough to save her from the serial killer Muse. The weight of his accumulated guilt — over Foggy’s death, over Hector’s murder, and now over Angela’s disappearance after he refused to help her — culminates in Matt putting on his Daredevil costume again. As such, his return to the mask isn’t a rejection of his earlier moral stand but a recognition that both parts of his identity are necessary to truly serve justice.

Matt’s Return to Daredevil Represents a Reconciliation of His Dual Identities

Daredevil: Born Again constructs a deliberate pathway of escalating moral challenges that ultimately lead Matt back to the Daredevil suit. First comes Hector’s case, where Matt witnesses firsthand how corrupt officers fabricate evidence and intimidate witnesses, revealing the system’s vulnerabilities. Then Hector’s murder following his legal exoneration drives home that sometimes courtroom justice isn’t enough to protect the innocent. Angela’s subsequent visit forces Matt to confront the consequences of his inaction as she berates him for hiding behind legal protocols while people continue disappearing. The steady accumulation of these experiences creates an inescapable moral calculus: when Angela goes missing and becomes Muse’s latest victim, Matt must acknowledge that adherence to his self-imposed restrictions would make him complicit in her death. 

Because of this gradual approach, Matt Murdock’s decision to reclaim the Daredevil mantle in Episode 6 of Born Again marks a critical evolution in his understanding of his dual identity. Matt becoming Daredevil again isn’t portrayed as a moral compromise but as the necessary integration of the lawyer who believes in the system and the vigilante who acts when that system fails. Unlike his previous approach of compartmentalizing his life, this new integration suggests a more mature acceptance that justice sometimes requires working both within and outside established systems, especially when people in power explore legal loopholes to enact their tyranny. The timing couldn’t be better, as Wilson Fisk keeps abusing his mayoral power to oppress the people of New York City.

New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again premiere on Disney+ every Tuesday.

What do you think about Matt’s journey back to becoming Daredevil? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post Daredevil: Born Again Finally Gives Marvel Fans What They Want (And There’s No Going Back for Matt Murdock) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Stephanie Vaquer had a tall task for tonight’s WWE NXT, as she was going to have to defend both her NXT Women’s Championship and her NXT Women’s North American Championship on the same night. If she defended both successfully, it would be the first time a WWE Champion would have successfully defended both Titles on the same night something stars like Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins haven’t been able to do in the past. For Vaquer, it would be up to her to take down Jaida Parker and Fallon Henley, and though both matches ended up having interference of some kind, Vaquer would still find a way to retain both of her Championships and make WWE history in the process.

Parker came out swinging with big slams to Vaquer, while Vaquer targeted the legs and knees of Parker with a submission. Parker was able to break the hold by getting to the bottom rope, and Vaquer almost got a near fall shortly after. Vaquer almost got a quick pin right after, but Parker was able to kick out before the 3 count.

Parker then locked in a submission and struck Vaquer in the back of the head with big strikes. Vaquer then got countered by Parker in the corner, with Parker swinging the momentum back in a huge way. During the break, Vaquer would make a few comeback attempts, but Parker was still in control until after the break, when Vaquer caught her with an armbar over the ropes.

Vaquer hit a 619 on Parker and then set up for the trademark move that left Parker reeling. Parker was able to hit back and deliver a Falcon Arrow for a near fall, though Vaquer was able to kick out in time. Parker hit a spinebuster soon after and then delivered her signature, but Jordynne Grace was at ringside and distracted Parker a bit, allowing Vaquer to hit the finisher and get the win, retaining her NXT Women’s Championship.

[RELATED: Naomi’s WWE Heel Turn is Already Better Than John Cena’s]

With one down, there was only one left to go, and it would be against the former Women’s North American Champion Fallon Henley. Henley didn’t wait for the main event though, as all of Fatal Influence ambushed Vaquer and attacked her after her win, with Jacy Jayne hitting three sentons on the Champion.

It was finally time for the main event, and Vaquer was looking to make history with a second Title defense, though she was clearly hurt after the earlier attack, with her wincing at just lifting the Championship. Henley went right at Vaquer’s damaged ribs and then went for a pin after a slam, but Vaquer kicked out and came back swinging.

Vaquer kicked out of another pin but Henley got her in the corner and kept targeting the hurt ribs, though Vaquer was able to buy some space with a dropkick. Henley stayed focused on the ribs with stomps and kicks, and managed to dodge a 619 attempt before hitting one of her own. During the commercial break, Henley stayed on Vaquer with more stomps and slams, continuing to damage the hurt ribs.

Vaquer was hurt but kept fighting back, connecting with head butts and then hitting Fallon with a superplex. Vaquer slammed Henley head-first into the turnbuckle a few times before hitting the meteora in the corner. Henley countered Vaquer’s move and slammed her down before hitting a nasty suplex, but Vaquer was able to counter into a near fall.

Out of the ring, Vaquer was attacked by Fatal Influence and Henley then hit a big slam from the top rope, but Vaquer somehow kicked out at 2. Vaquer was able to throw Henley into Nyx and hit an SVB on Henley, winning the match and making history as the only Superstar to successfully defend Two Championships in one night.

Fatal Influence attacked Vaquer but Jordynne Grace made the save, giving some indication as to who Vaquer will battle next. Grace held Vaquer’s Title and wouldn’t give it back until Jaida Parker attacked Grace, and now Ava has a choice to make regarding Vaquer’s next challenger.

Becky Lynch tried to defend both her Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships at Money in the Bank in 2019, and while she was able to retain her Raw Women’s Championship against Lacey Evans, she lost the SmackDown Women’s Championship to Charlotte Flair at the same event. Flair would lose that Title rather quickly though thanks to Bayley cashing in her Money in the Bank briefcase.

Seth Rollins also defended two Championships in 2019, as he was Universal Champion and part of the Raw Tag Team Champions (alongside Braun Strowman) at Clash of Champions. Rollins and Strowman lost the Raw Tag Team Titles to Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler, but was able to retain his Universal Championship later in the night.

What did you think of both matches and who do you want to see Vaquer face next? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things wrestling with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!

The post WWE Champion Makes History (And Even Becky Lynch Couldn’t Do It) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Throughout the early episodes of Daredevil: Born Again, viewers have observed mysterious murals appearing across New York City, all bearing a distinctive signature. The graffiti is the obvious work of Muse, a Marvel supervillain teased in the marketing material of Daredevil: Born Again, but who has remained in the shadows for most of the season. This slow-burn introduction has allowed the series to develop tension around Muse while Mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) uses the public’s growing fear of masked vigilantes to advance his political agenda. In Episode 6 of Daredevil: Born Again though, Muse finally becomes a primary antagonist. However, comic readers familiar with the character from Charles Soule’s Daredevil run might notice the series is taking a different approach with the villain.

WARNING: Spoilers below for Daredevil: Born Again Episode 6

Muse debuted in Daredevil #11 (2016) as a superhuman villain with extraordinary abilities. The Marvel Comics version of the villain possesses enhanced strength and speed, allowing him to physically overpower Daredevil in combat situations. His most distinctive power, however, is his ability to remain completely undetectable to Daredevil’s radar sense — making him effectively “invisible” to Matt Murdock’s heightened perceptions. This unique advantage makes Muse an exceptionally dangerous opponent for Daredevil, who relies heavily on his enhanced senses to compensate for his blindness.

[RELATED: Daredevil: Born Again Fixes Marvel Fan’s Problem With Netflix Punisher]

In Daredevil: Born Again, Muse lacks these supernatural elements. When Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) confronts the villain in Episode 6, the character proves to be a formidable combatant, capable of temporarily standing his ground against the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. Yet, he possesses no superhuman abilities that would make him “invisible” to Daredevil’s senses. Despite this significant change, the series preserves crucial aspects of the character’s methodology from the comics. Specifically, Muse still uses victims’ blood as the medium for his artistic creations, mixing it with an epoxy that makes the murals nearly impossible to remove. Episode 6 also maintains the horrific scale of his crimes, revealing that over 60 people have been murdered to supply blood for his murals across New York. This grounded approach fits with the show’s overall tone while retaining the horror elements that made the character memorable in the comics.

Muse Retains the Villain’s Thematic Purpose in the MCU

Although Daredevil: Born Again significantly alters Muse’s power set, the series maintains the character’s narrative function. The comic book Muse emerged during Mayor Fisk’s administration, with his crimes providing justification for anti-vigilante legislation that hampered Daredevil’s activities. Similarly, the MCU’s Muse creates the perfect opportunity for Mayor Fisk to establish his Anti-Vigilante Task Force, giving him greater control over the city and legal means to target his enemies. This parallel demonstrates how the MCU preserves Muse’s thematic importance while modifying his personal attributes.

In addition, the decision to remove Muse’s supernatural abilities aligns with the established tone of Daredevil in live-action. The original Netflix series rarely ventured into overtly superhuman territory, focusing instead on relatively grounded threats like Wilson Fisk, Bullseye, and various criminal organizations. Even when adapting The Hand, the show downplayed many supernatural elements, ignoring the demonic associations of the ninjas. This approach distinguished the “street-level” corner of the MCU from the cosmic and magical threats faced by other Marvel heroes, establishing Hell’s Kitchen as a more realistic setting despite existing within the same universe as gods and aliens.

New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again premiere on Disney+ every Tuesday.

Are you happy with how Daredevil: Born Again depicts Muse? Or would you prefer the MCU Muse to have his supernatural abilities? Join the discussion in the comments!

The post Daredevil: Born Again Makes Big Changes to Muse’s Comic Book Powers appeared first on ComicBook.com.

What makes a Soulslike game memorable are its challenges and the satisfaction of overcoming them. But what makes FromSoftware’s Soulslikes special is that they deliver above and beyond in everything. Since FromSoftware pioneered the genre, their games are the benchmark for what makes a good Soulslike. However, if you were to fizzle the magic formula down to a few principles, challenge and satisfaction would be at the core of it all. And while that sounds simple on paper, it’s not easy to deliver.

In fact, unlike FromSoftware, not many studios have managed to hit the nail on the head. But for those who have, they have created games that are impossible to put down. So, with that being said, let’s look at the best Soulslike games that come from developers other than FromSoftware.

Nioh 2

Nioh 2 is a difficult game with a steep learning curve. It requires you to strategize before picking a fight because if you’re just a tiny bit careless, even simple mobs can one-shot you. You’re constantly facing new enemy types in each mission and the boss fights are in a league of their own. In fact, most players will find it tougher than FromSoftware’s Dark Souls games. 

Having said that, Nioh 2 is not just anyone’s cup of tea. It has its faults. For starters, the world design is neither a semi-open world like the Dark Souls games, nor an open world like in Elden Ring. Instead, you select missions from a menu screen and are dropped into areas. That’s a massive blow to the immersion. Additionally, Nioh 2 can get complicated at times because of its many combat mechanics. While this can be frustrating at first, if you’re willing to be patient and put in the hours, it’ll be a journey worth looking back on.

Mortal Shell

Made by a team of just 15 people, Mortal Shell is a love letter to the fans of Soulslikes. You select different “Shells”, or characters, each having their unique abilities. The main objective is to roam uncharted lands and slay monsters. Now, what separates Mortal Shell from the rest of its kind is that it puts a new spin on several conventional Soulslike mechanics.

For instance, parrying and blocking are replaced by a hardening mechanic. While hardening does technically function in the same way, you can harden your Shell even during a strike. This gives you more avenues to attack enemies. Given the development team’s size, Mortal Shell is nowhere near as big as FromSoftware’s games. However, its art design and combat are eerily similar to them and will make you feel right at home.

Lies of P

Lies of P puts a dark twist on an iconic children’s fairytale. Unlike the kind puppet from the stories, Lies of P’s Pinocchio is a machine-slaying menace. Set in the steampunk city of Krat, Pinocchio must travel to various districts in search of answers to the petrification disease. 

Krat is a massive semi-open world with many secrets and challenging boss fights. As you upgrade Pinocchio’s body, you unlock Legion Arms, a mechanical implant that gives you abilities like generating lightning from your fingertips. Parrying, deflecting, blocking, and attacking are all the basic mechanics that perfectly complement the combat. Lies of P is simply so good that you’d think it was made by FromSoftware. And that’s the highest honor you could give a Soulslike in this day and age.

Code Vein

Code Vein features an anime art style with a combination of several themes. The characters give off a Legend of Zelda look, while the environment tries for a more realistic feel, mixing post-apocalyptic and gothic worlds. A plethora of character customization options are available and dozens of unique anime-like NPCs appear throughout the story. 

While the environment of Code Vein is unmatched, the combat isn’t as polished as the likes of Bloodborne or Dark Souls. The strikes don’t have weight behind them, which makes the combat less satisfying. However, weapon abilities are there to spice things up. Additionally, what’s fresh is the inclusion of companion NPCs that help you during battle. If you’re willing to look past flaws like repetitiveness and lack of enemy variety, Code Vein will grow on you.

Hollow Knight

Hollow Knight is a platformer where everything is trying to kill you. From environment traps to the 164 unique creepy crawlies, you’re constantly surrounded by threats. Some bosses are so hard that you’ll think Hollow Knight is a survival game. And it doesn’t get any more Soulslike than that. 

As you dash and slash your way across a humongous interconnected map, Hollow Knight throws a variety of puzzles, enemy encounters, and branching pathways at you. The bleak charm of the hand-drawn art gives you a reason to explore every nook and cranny. And while Hollow Knight can’t bewilder you like Elden Ring because of its 2D nature, the fast-paced combat and the environmental storytelling will prove too euphoric to put the controller down.

Nine Sols

If you’re a big Hollow Knight fan or one of those suffering through the excruciating wait for Silksong, Nine Sols is the perfect remedy. Nine Sols is a platformer leaning heavily on a deflection-style gameplay loop like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. While melee and ranged attacks are present, deflection is a mechanic you’ll need to get good at. 

The world features mythological and cyberpunk textures that feel like a breath of fresh air. While most Soulslikes are set in a grim environment, Nine Sols is lively. That said, the main selling point of this game is the boss fights. They are unique, tough, and beating them feels insanely fulfilling. Aside from the linearity of progression, there aren’t many flaws with Nine Sols. It’s a game you can confidently look back on as one of the best non-FromSoftware Soulslikes.

Lords of the Fallen (2023)

Lords of the Fallen adds another layer of complexity to the Souls formula. It does this by introducing two realms that players can shift between at will, the Umbral and Axiom, with each having its unique enemies and dangers. To progress through these worlds, you need to have good puzzle-solving skills in addition to the “git gud” part.

Another thing that makes Lords of the Fallen a great Soulslike is that multiplayer isn’t just limited to PvP, like in Elden Ring. There’s also a co-op mode, so you’re able to play the entire game with a friend. Having said that, while there’s variety in the combat, it is less exciting, and some segments overuse the dual-world mechanic. leading to burnout. That said, while Lords of the Fallen might not stand out in all aspects, it has enough sauce to become one of your favorites.

Demon’s Souls Remake

FromSoftware made the original Demon’s Souls, so there’s not much to prove here. The 2020 remake by Bluepoint is a masterful recreation. It checks all the boxes: better atmosphere, a greater sense of exploration, and tougher readjustments to the boss fights.

Not only does the remake capture what made the original special, but it also adds more to it. Whether that’s in the form of more weapons, armor, or quality of life changes. Bluepoint’s remake breathes new life into the first-ever Souls game. If you played the 2009 version, the remake will wow you with its offerings, making you fall in love with Demon’s Souls all over again. 

Rise of the Ronin

Including Rise of the Ronin in a list of the best Soulslike games might look like a hot take, but it isn’t. Rise of the Ronin is brutal. Its fast-paced sword-gun combat might fool you into thinking it’s an adventure game at first glance, but the truth couldn’t be further from it. The bosses in this game have minimal windows of attack, and at the highest difficulty setting, they give Sekiro’s rogues’ gallery a run for its money.

Several unique weapons, including paired swords, greatswords, rifles, and katanas are available. For those players who do not want to go in headfirst all the time, stealth is available for the majority of the game. Difficulty aside, Rise of the Ronin features an open world. While it is a little generic, the backdrop of 1853 feudal Japan provides a great setting. Its story also revolves around a rogue assassin who’s searching for their partner. It doesn’t have the most bewildering of stories, but overall, Rise of the Ronin is a must-try.

The First Berserker: Khazan

What Neople has accomplished with The First Berserker: Khazan is truly astounding. It has created the closest thing we have to the perfect anime-style Dark Souls game. The visuals are absolute eye candy. No game comes close to nailing the dark metal anime aesthetic in the way Khazan has.

The aesthetic is enough to lure you in. However, once you spend a few hours playing, you’ll realize that the combat is the reason to stay. The First Berserker: Khazan has the most well-put-together combat system out of any game mentioned in this list. It revolves around three unique weapons: a spear, a greatsword, and dual-wield armaments. Each of them possesses a separate skill tree and deals damage to enemies differently.

Khazan’s combat is heavily reliant on chaining attacks and being quick to block/parry enemies. There are hundreds of skills to unlock, and every sword swing feels snappy. Anime games usually have two big problems: they either have a cheesy story or weak combat. That said, The First Berserker: Khazan is the exact opposite, and stands out as a top-tier soulslike.

The post 10 Best Soulslike Games Not Made By FromSoftware appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Assassin’s Creed Twitter page absolutely cooked Elon Musk after he insulted the franchise’s newest game, Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The Assassin’s Creed series is one of the biggest franchises in gaming and it has managed to retain its success after nearly 20 years. The series has had dozens of entries now when counting spin-offs and it shows no signs of slowing down. Assassin’s Creed Shadows is yet successful game in the series and while exact sales figures haven’t been released, it has garnered millions of players after less than a week of being available. It’s pretty impressive and it will likely only continue to grow as word spreads and discounts become available in the future.

With that said, Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been fairly controversial. The game has been a subject of controversy since its reveal due to it featuring Yauske, a black Samurai, as one of the two protagonists in the game. Unlike most Assassin’s Creed protagonists, Yauske was a real figure in history, but that has caused some friction. There are conflicting reports about Yauske’s history and it has created debate over “historical accuracy”, despite this being a series that features historical figures doing things that never happened. Assassin’s Creed isn’t a documentary, it’s historical fiction that takes a lot of creative liberties with its setting.

Ubisoft Claps Back at Elon Musk for Calling Assassin’s Creed Shadows “Terrible”

Nevertheless, that’s just one of many things about Assassin’s Creed Shadows that has ruffled feathers. Although Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been received positively by critics and fans, there was a group of people that already made up their minds about the game long before it released which prompted a lot of heated discourse. Needless to say, everything surrounding this game has been a bit of a headache. Things really got hectic when Elon Musk called out Twitch streamer Hasan Piker for doing a sponsored stream for the game. Musk called Piker a “sell out” for promoting a “terrible” game like Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which drew ire from some fans of the game.

“Hasan is a fraud,” said Musk. “Sell-out would be more accurate. Objectively, he is promoting a terrible game just for the money.”

It wasn’t long before the official Twitter page for Assassin’s Creed stepped in to roast the billionaire. The account responded with the following: “Is that what the guy playing your Path of Exile 2 account told you?”, which is a reference to Elon Musk being exposed for paying people to play Path of Exile 2 for him. The billionaire had previously flaunted and accepted praise for being an elite gamer, known for topping global leaderboards for very tough games. However, it was revealed and confirmed that Musk pays people to play games like Path of Exile 2 for him so he can have the best gear and a high ranking.

The Assassin’s Creed tweet ratioed Twitter owner Elon Musk and led to some claiming they will now play Assassin’s Creed Shadows for making them laugh. Whether it makes any notable dent in sales remains to be seen, but it’s an effective piece of marketing that spreads word of the game and pushes back against some of the hate for the game. ComicBook.com gave Assassin’s Creed Shadows a 3.5 out of 5 in its review and noted that while its story falls short, its a fun action-adventure game that reinvigorates the long running series.

What do you think of Assassin’s Creed Shadows? Let me know in the comments.

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[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again episode 6.] There’s an old proverb: “As one bad apple spoils the others, so you must show no quarter to sin or sinners.” In Tuesday’s episode of Daredevil: Born Again — which saw Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) each react to the graffiti artist/serial killer on the loose by taking the law into their own hands — Matt suited up as a masked vigilante for the first time since Foggy’s murder a year earlier, while Mayor Fisk pressured NYPD Commissioner Gallo (Michael Gaston) into gathering “every bad apple in the barrel” for Fisk’s handpicked Anti-Vigilante Task Force.

Bad apples like Officer Powell (Hamish Allan-Headley), the corrupt cop who had Hector Ayala/White Tiger (Kamar de los Reyes) framed as a cop killer, and the Punisher “fanboy” who shot and killed the vigilante after Matt had him acquitted.

“It appears your officers have a subculture amongst them,” Mayor Fisk tells Gallo of the crooked cops tattooed with the Punisher’s symbol. “People like to use the word ‘gang.’ I prefer motivated individuals.” Due to the extreme nature of Muse’s crimes, Mayor Fisk’s Task Force permits special powers and privileges: Overtime pay. No body cameras. And the use of excessive force.

RELATED: Daredevil: Born Again Pays Homage to a Spider-Man/Daredevil Villain

Fisk’s AVTF recruits Sergeant Cole North (Chicago P.D.‘s Jeremy Isaiah Earl), a Chicago transplant who was top of his class in the academy before making detective in just three years. Fisk instructs North to inform his fellow officers how he “lost it all” and ended up in New York, so he says he was responding to a call of possible drug activity in the park. He saw a drug dealer pushing OxyContin on an 11-year-old, but the dealer denied everything.

North explains, “I encouraged him to tell the truth. Captain didn’t see it that way. There’s a lot of sh-tbags in the world, sir. Now there’s a lot less of them.”

As founding members of the Anti-Vigilante Task Force, Fisk has tasked Officers North and Powell — and another dozen officers with Punisher insignia — with hunting masked killers like Muse. Fisk sought these officers out because of their skills and ability to get results by any means necessary — and as New York’s Finest, Fisk wants them to be seen taking the city back.

In the comics, Detective Cole North debuted in the five-part “Know Fear” arc that ran in issues #1-5 of Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto’s Daredevil run in 2019 (a storyline that has more in common with Born Again than Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s eponymous storyline). Except Cole isn’t a crooked cop.

Law & Order

2019’s Daredevil #1 establishes that Cole, who transferred from Chicago to New York’s 18th Precinct, has a clean-cut, by-the-books attitude that clashes with the local officers.

When we meet him, Cole takes umbrage with two officers attempting to cover up vigilante Daredevil’s involvement in beating up a gunman despite Mayor Fisk officially outlawing the city’s heroes via anti-vigilante legislation: the Powers Act.

“This is not something we turn away from. There is no justice here. No law,” Cole tells the officers, explaining that Daredevil isn’t helping by hurting. Meanwhile, Matt, who had only recently returned to being Daredevil after recuperating from an injury, accidentally causes the death of a low-level crook while sloppily breaking up a liquor store robbery. (The crook, Leo Carraro, hits his head in the scuffle and dies from head trauma.)

As a guilt-ridden Matt investigates what he suspects to be a frame job by Kingpin-turned-Mayor Wilson Fisk, Cole doggedly pursues “New York’s most wanted killer”: Daredevil.

Crime & Punishment

It’s revealed later that Cole takes on the homicide case not to bring Daredevil to justice, but to bring down a criminal. As Cole tells himself, “I don’t care about ‘justice.’ I just want to stop crime.” To that end, he upholds Mayor Fisk’s law targeting vigilantism, but Cole is determined to arrest both Daredevil and the supposedly former Kingpin of Crime.

“I don’t think people should wear masks and dole out their versions of ‘justice,'” Cole tells Fisk in the mayor’s office. “I don’t think anyone should be above the law… Mr. Mayor.”

Meanwhile, Matt learns that Fisk wasn’t involved in setting him up, and it turns out that he killed a man, albeit inadvertently. Daredevil then decides to rededicate himself to helping people and not just hurting people, and being more careful with his violence. But being a masked vigilante who takes the law into his own hands makes him a criminal, so Daredevil has to be held accountable, according to Cole.

Cole eventually cuffs and arrests Daredevil after a brutal street brawl witnessed by his fellow officers. (Half of them are cops Daredevil saved; the other half are dirty and too scared to interfere.) Cole calls out the officers for letting an unlawful vigilante run loose in Hell’s Kitchen, and goes to unmask the apprehended Daredevil before another good cop — considering Daredevil one of their own — stops him.

Blue & Red

Later, when the Governor’s office orders police precincts in Hell’s Kitchen not to respond to crimes, and a gang war breaks out between rival crime families, all hell breaks loose in the Kitchen. Cole still wants to do things by the book, but ultimately teams up with the still-outlawed Daredevil to save Hell’s Kitchen in “Inferno.” When he’s ordered by Mayor Fisk to arrest Daredevil, Cole refuses the order — only for Daredevil to hand himself over to the authorities, because Cole was right: vigilantes need to be accountable.

Cole ends up becoming one of Daredevil’s trusted allies, and as he tells the masked man in Daredevil #11, “We thought we could do better working as part of some system. But the systems infect you, don’t they? Chip away at your compass.”

At least for Cole’s counterpart in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it seems Sgt. North has been corrupted by the system.

New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again air Tuesday nights on Disney+.

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HBO’s Harry Potter TV series has found its Hagrid in a beloved British actor. There are few IPs as recognizable and iconic as Harry Potter. The books were mega hits in their own right, but Warner Bros. really helped take things to another level. Thanks to movies, video games, merchandise, and even theme parks, Harry Potter has remained a pop culture juggernaut despite the books having concluded nearly 20 years ago. The films themselves have been done for nearly 15 years, minus the less acclaimed Fantastic Beast series which was abruptly canceled after the third film failed to impress. Nevertheless, despite those films not being as successful, it didn’t do any major damage to the IP.

After David Zaslav took over WB, it was rumored that the company was interested in making new Harry Potter films, possibly via an adaptation of Rowling’s play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The story follows Harry Potter as an adult along with his kids who are attending Hogwarts. However, it seemingly didn’t happen because actors like Daniel Radcliffe were vocally disinterested in returning to Harry Potter. So, WB is doing the next best thing for itself and starting again with a Harry Potter TV series on Max. The series is expected to adapt one book a season with the aim being to use the longer runtime of a TV season to cover material from the books that the movies could not.

Harry Potter TV Series Casts Nick Frost as Hagrid

As of right now, we’re not quite sure how all of this will look, but the Harry Potter TV series has been assembling a cast for a while. We don’t know who is playing Harry, Hermione, or Ron, but we do know who will be playing some of the key supporting roles. John Lithgow has been taped to play Professor Dumbledore and now, it appears Shaun of the Dead star Nick Frost will be playing Hagrid. Deadline has reported that Frost is in negotiations to play the half-giant and beloved friend to the three young wizards. The article also notes that Frost seemed to be teasing something big on his Instagram on March 20th and is following Lithgow and Severus Snape actor Paapa Essiedu, fueling all kinds of speculation.

As of right now, HBO is remaining tight lipped on the casting and gave a statement to Deadline saying that it will only comment on this kind of news once deals are finalized. Nevertheless, Frost is an inspired choice for Hagrid and will likely be a great fit for the character in the upcoming Harry Potter series. While the films were filled with a strictly British cast, unless a character wasn’t British, it seems like the HBO show isn’t as strict about that. Lithgow is an American actor, so it’s possible other Americans could appear in the Harry Potter series as well. With that said, it does seem like the show will still feature a mostly British cast with actors like Nick Frost.

The Harry Potter TV series is expected to begin filming this summer, so it’s likely pre-production will be ramping up fairly soon with more casting announcements in the coming weeks. Some fans are pretty against the idea of a Harry Potter TV series, believing the movies were pitch perfect and anything else may feel somewhat redundant. However, we’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out.

What do you think of Nick Frost as Hagrid in HBO’s Harry Potter? Let me know in the comments below!

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[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again episode 5.] “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.” Marvel’s Daredevil began with Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) in a confessional booth, recounting something his grandmother, a God-fearing Catholic, used to say: “‘Be careful of the Murdock boys. They got the devil in ’em.'” For his father, boxer “Battlin'” Jack Murdock, that meant he would batter his opponents into the corner of the ring and “let the devil out.” For Matt, that meant battling his demons as the guardian devil of Hell’s Kitchen.

Matt hasn’t let the devil out since Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) shot and killed Foggy (Elden Henson), and a wrathful Daredevil sinned by breaking his no-kill rule. Bullseye survived only because of his Cogmium-reinforced skeleton, but a line was crossed, and Matt still has yet to suit up as Daredevil a year later.

That nearly changed in Tuesday’s “With Interest” episode of Daredevil: Born Again. On St. Patrick’s Day, Matt visits New York Mutual Bank to secure a loan for his law firm, Murdock & McDuffie, which is regretfully turned down by assistant manager Yusuf Khan (guest star Mohan Kapur, reprising his role from Ms. Marvel and The Marvels).

RELATED: Daredevil: Born Again May Have Just Hinted the Biggest Fan Theory Is True

When five armed robbers storm the bank, each wearing a different colored balaclava — Green (Cillian O’Sullivan), Red (John Ford-Dunker), Yellow (John Anthony Gorman), Blue (Cameron Moir), and Purple (Ryan Ward) — Matt feigns the role of an unassuming blind man to embed himself within the group of hostages rounded up by Green (a.k.a. Devlin).

They’re Luca’s (Patrick Murney) men, there to steal a diamond worth the $1.8 million that Luca owes Viktor (Gino Anthony Pesi) as restitution to keep the peace among New York’s Five Families. (Devlin is the gunman who committed a double homicide in a truck hijacking at Red Hook Port back in episode 3.)

He Who Is Without Sin

Wearing a green balaclava and wielding an assault rifle, Devlin’s look resembles Sin-Eater, a short-lived villain who had a run-in with Daredevil and Spider-Man in “The Death of Jean DeWolff,” a four-part storyline spanning 1985’s Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110.

After Spider-Man’s friend, Captain Jean DeWolff, is found murdered in her apartment as the victim of a double-barrelled shotgun blast, the wall-crawler investigates her murder with Detective Stan Carter. But it’s blind defense attorney Matt Murdock who is the first to encounter Sin-Eater in Spectacular Spider-Man #107, when Matt’s radar sense detects the assassin lying in wait in Judge Horace Rosenthal’s chambers.

Matt’s old friend is gunned down as Sin-Eater’s second victim, making him the target of both Daredevil and Spider-Man. Sin-Eater’s next kill is a reverend in a confessional booth, the third victim of the masked murderer proselytizing about his mission to purge “sinners.”

Spider-Man and Daredevil both turn to Wilson Fisk, Kingpin of Crime, for information on the Sin-Eater, who’s next target is The Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson. The Sin-Eater turns up at the Bugle offices with a shotgun and takes hostages, but he’s disarmed by editor Robbie Robertson and an uncostumed Peter Parker. Unmasked as Emil Gregg, Daredevil’s hyper-senses determine that the schizophrenic Emil is a copycat.

Guilty as Sin

In Spectacular #109, Spider-Man and Daredevil discover that Stan Carter is the real Sin-Eater just as he targets the Jameson residence. When he instead finds the Bugle‘s Betty Brant with Marla Jameson, Sin-Eater reveals his reasons for killing: He killed the “sinner” priest for opposing capital punishment, he killed the judge for coddling criminals, and he wanted to kill Jameson for opposing masked vigilantes.

When Daredevil tries to stop an enraged Spider-Man from brutally beating Carter, the two costumed vigilantes come to blows, and Spider-Man nearly leaves Carter at the mercy of mob justice before pulling him out of the crowd. Once the Sin-Eater is exposed as a police sergeant and Carter is back in custody, Spectacular #110 ends with another unmasking: Daredevil deduces that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, so he reveals his secret identity as Matt Murdock.

All My Sins Remembered

Carter was eventually released from a mental hospital, and the voices in his head caused him to resume his Sin-Eater alter-ego (who he came to believe was a separate person). To free himself of the Sin-Eater, he took a young boy hostage and was gunned down by the police in 1987’s The Spectacular Spider-Man #136. It was then revealed that Carter never loaded Sin-Eater’s shotgun.

While other masked men took on the identity of the Sin-Eater, Stan Carter remained dead until 2020’s Amazing Spider-Man: Sins Rising Prelude. It was revealed that Carter was in Hell for his sins, only to be resurrected as a sins-cleansing supervillain by Spider-Man’s demon archvillain Kindred (in the Nick Spencer-penned “Sins Rising” arc in Amazing Spider-Man #45-48).

New episodes of Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again air Tuesday nights on Disney+.

The post Daredevil: Born Again Pays Homage to a Spider-Man/Daredevil Villain appeared first on ComicBook.com.

This year’s schedule for Steam sales and showcases is packed to the brim with plenty of opportunities to save on games. With the Spring Sale wrapped up, Steam has moved along to one of its more niche-themed sales. From now until March 31st, the Steam City Builder & Colony Sim Fest sale features discounts on a ton of sim games with a city-building focus. While plenty of beloved sim games are included, one deal in particular is a can’t-miss for city builder fans. The original Cities: Skylines is an impressive 90% off during the Steam sale, giving gamers a great opportunity to grab the game for just $2.99.

Cities: Skylines is currently celebrating its 10-year anniversary, which means the game just got a few impressive updates. Despite being a decade old, the original Cities: Skylines remains incredibly popular with building sim fans, and for good reason. It offers a sleek, modernized take on the city sim genre, giving players more options to customize and optimize their creations. Plus, with 10 years of expansions, there are endless options to add on content to expand even more, with farm-themed packs like Countryside and Harvest Harmony and beyond.

Cities: Skylines boasts a Very Positive rating on Steam, and the recent 10th Anniversary Free Patch added a ton of new content that you’ll get along with your discounted purchase of the game. Normally, Cities: Skylines costs $29.99 on Steam, but it’s marked down to just $2.99 during the Steam City Builder & Colony Sim Fest sale. The discount lasts until the sale ends on March 31st at 10 AM PDT / 1 PM EDT.

Other Great Building Sims Discounted During the Steam Sale

City: Skylines is by far the most impressive discount for this current Steam Sale. That said, it’s hardly the only game on sale. The more recent Cities: Skylines 2 is also included in the current Steam sale. This newer entry in the series was released in October 2023 to mixed reviews compared to its predecessor. As a newer game, the discount isn’t quite as steep, but you can snag this sequel for 20% off, bringing it from $49.99 down to $39.99 through the end of the sale on March 31st.

RELATED: Civ 7 Update 1.1.1 Patch Notes Reveal Latest Improvements & New Content

Dozens of other popular building sims and colony management games are also featured during the sale. This includes a 10% release discount on alternate history sim Kaiserpunk, as well as 30% off the popular city builder Manor Lords. Early Access survival/crafting game Aska also enters the mix with a 35% discount, with its most recent update arriving just in time for the sale. For cozy gamers, the beloved pixel art town management game Littlewood has an impressive 50% off discount, making it under $10.

If you enjoy city builders and civilization management games, this Steam sale list is well worth a look. And if you haven’t checked out Cities: Skylines yet, the recent anniversary update and impressive 90% off discount make now a great time to dive into what this iconic city-building sim has to offer.

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Dragon Ball Super’s TV anime aired its final episode eight years ago today, and unfortunately this milestone is a reminder that the anime isn’t coming back for new episodes any time soon. Dragon Ball Super was a revelatory new entry for the then dormant Dragon Ball franchise. Following the success of Dragon Ball Z‘s Battle of Gods and Resurrection F feature films, the franchise came back for a much fuller continuation of Dragon Ball Z with a new TV anime series that took Goku and the others to a whole new multiverse of strong foes and abilities unlocking their godly potential.

Dragon Ball Super ran for 131 episodes, and the final episode officially made its debut in Japan on March 25, 2018. It’s been eight years since the TV anime said goodbye Goku and the others, and while we’ve had some new franchise entries in the years since, it’s far from the full continuation of the TV anime that fans have been hoping to see happen since. And as the anime celebrates this milestone, it’s just another reminder that we have yet to see a full return from Dragon Ball Super.

Dragon Ball Super Didn’t Really End With the Anime

Although Dragon Ball Super ended following the Tournament of Power back in 2018, the future of the franchise seemed bright. It was quickly confirmed that the anime would be continuing with a new feature film release so fans weren’t concerned then about the state of the anime franchise. The new film then later turned out to be full of even more surprises when Dragon Ball Super: Broly not only continued the story from the end of the TV anime series, but also introduced famous non-canon movie villain Broly into the official series timeline along with tweaking more of the Saiyans’ origins.

Dragon Ball Super then continued this hot streak with its official manga release. Dragon Ball Super‘s manga ended up releasing two brand new arcs that were not seen in the anime or movie releases, Galactic Patrol Prisoner and Granolah the Survivor. This got fans excited over the prospect of potentially getting more episodes someday, and this excitement grew even further with the release of the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero feature film, which ended up taking place after those arcs. Then the manga took it even further with a massive Frieza cliffhanger that we’ve yet to see followed up on.

RELATED: 7 Times Goku Should’ve Used SSJ4 in Dragon Ball But Didn’t (For Some Reason)

Is Dragon Ball Super Ever Coming Back?

Dragon Ball’s anime franchise has even been active with the release of Dragon Ball Daima, which told a brand new story of its own. This was a big event as it features the final story from series creator Akira Toriyama and changed the Dragon Ball timeline forever, but it’s still not the continuation of Dragon Ball Super that fans had been hoping to see. This might seem an even more daunting task as well as the manga is on hiatus (and still on a cliffhanger) following Toriyama’s passing too.

But with those behind the anime franchise eager to keep it going, it’s highly likely that Dragon Ball Super will return someday. It might not be for even longer than fans might expect as the franchise really needs to end the manga story before continuing the anime. Otherwise, we’d end up in this same boat waiting for the franchise to continue. So it might be a good while before we get to see Dragon Ball Super return, but it’s not impossible. It’s just going to involve more waiting through bummer milestones like this.

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To star in comic book adaptations is to know you’re about to face some big challenges. It’s not always guaranteed that a production will take off, whether it’s because of staying true to the original material or even the depth of the plot on screen. Josh Brolin has become one of the most memorable actors in comic book movies, bringing characters to life across different franchises. Whether it’s playing the ruthless Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the scarred bounty hunter Jonah Hex, he’s always been praised for his versatility when it comes to playing heroes, anti-heroes, and villains in these kinds of adaptations.

But not all of his films have had the same level of quality or success, ranging from massive hits to completely forgettable flops. Each one had its highs and lows, but which one was really the best and worst of his career?

7. Jonah Hex

Anyone who thought Brolin had only been in the MCU is mistaken. An adaptation of the DC comics, Jonah Hex (2010) had Brolin in the titular role. The plot follows the ex-soldier of the same name who becomes a bounty hunter, haunted by his violent past and gifted with supernatural abilities after a near-death experience. The US government soon hires him to stop Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich), a terrorist planning to use a weapon of mass destruction. Although it’s a very good premise for the big screen, when it comes to the script, everything was a mess.

Despite a renowned cast that includes Megan Fox and Michael Fassbender, the film suffered from criticism for its plot and even the shallow development of the characters – behind-the-scenes issues and numerous rewrites contributed to this. With an estimated budget of $47 million, Jonah Hex grossed only about $10.5 million worldwide, making it a box office flop. Many have said that Brolin does his best, but it’s not enough to give the film something to stand for.

Jonah Hex is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

6. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

[RELATED: Josh Brolin Shares Condition for Bringing Back Thanos in Avengers: Secret Wars]

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014) was released as a sequel to the original 2005 film. Here, Josh Brolin played Dwight McCarthy, a private detective who finds himself once again involved with Ava Lord (Eva Green), a woman who manipulates him and drags him into a world of betrayal and violence. However, its success wasn’t great compared to its predecessor, largely because it contained unpublished plots written especially for the sequel and thus didn’t follow the comics’ original material one hundred percent.

Despite bringing together a very stellar cast and maintaining the iconic visual aesthetic, critics pointed out that, although the film was faithful to the tone and visuals, it still lacked more innovation in the narrative. The long gap of nine years between the two films may have contributed to the loss of the initial impact on audiences as well. Besides, Brolin’s role is still quite small, so it’s certainly not one of his most outstanding productions.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is available to stream on Starz.

5. Deadpool 2

Another sequel that Josh Brolin acted in was Deadpool 2 (2018), one of the films that most entertained audiences. Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) faces new challenges after suffering a personal tragedy right at the start of the plot. The story revolves around his attempt to protect the young mutant Russell (Julian Dennison) from the time traveler Cable (Brolin), who seeks to eliminate the boy due to catastrophic future events. This is a high point production for the actor, as, in general, Merc with a Mouth adaptations have always done well.

The film was very well received by critics and audiences, maintaining the usual acid humor and breaking of the fourth wall that characterized the original, as well as adding more emotional layers. The chemistry between Reynolds and Brolin is one of the highlights, with Cable serving as a serious counterpoint to the main character’s irreverence. However, the movie’s proposal ends up being less ambitious in terms of narrative compared to the great epics of the MCU.

Deadpool 2 is available to stream on Disney+.

4. Avengers: Age of Ultron

Of all the incredible four Avengers films, one that gets the least love is Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), even though it is one of the greatest films in the MCU. Here, Brolin only appears in the post-credits scenes as Thanos, but it’s the moment that sets the stage for the chaos and danger that would come later. Bringing together Earth’s greatest heroes, the Avengers must face the threat of Ultron, an AI created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner with the intention of maintaining world peace. However, he ends up interpreting his mission in a distorted way, deciding that humanity is the greatest threat to peace and devising a plan for its destruction.

The production is the first time we’re introduced to characters like Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his sister, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), who would become a fundamental part of the franchise. It grossed more than $1.4 billion at the box office worldwide but also received some mixed reviews, with criticisms such as an overloaded narrative and flaws in the rhythm and cohesion of the story. It’s still a good start to introduce the whole plot of the Mad Titan and the Infinity Stones, though.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is available to stream on Disney+.

3. Guardians of the Galaxy

James Gunn’s trilogy for Marvel is one of the best projects, and certainly the first Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) movie stands out as the best of them. The plot introduces us to Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), a space adventurer who, after stealing a mysterious orb, finds himself the target of Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), a fanatical villain with plans to destroy the universe. To escape, the hero forms an unlikely alliance with four misfits: Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), and Groot (Vin Diesel). Brolin’s role as Thanos is small but significant.

This is another film that explores irreverent humor, charismatic characters, and a nostalgic soundtrack. The production is, to this day, one of the most successful in the MCU and considerably broadened the scope of the studio’s entire universe of superheroes. It’s also very easy to fall in love with characters who, compared to others, were less well known – they became favorites of many through the film. It’s an excellent movie in Brolin’s career, and his presence, although short, fulfills the role of establishing connections that would become very important later on.

Guardians of the Galaxy is available to stream on Disney+.

2. Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame (2019) is the culmination of more than a decade of interconnected narratives in the MCU. The film is the last with the original line-up of Avengers, revolving around a time-travel mission in which the heroes left behind by the Blip return to key moments in their own timelines to collect the Infinity Stones before Thanos does. With a totally impactful and unforgettable plot, Brolin’s participation is essential, especially at the end with the iconic battle between him and a host of heroes.

The movie broke records with over $2.7 billion at the worldwide box office, making history. Applauded for its ability to balance intense action with emotionally profound moments, it’s a satisfying conclusion to a variety of characters developed over the years. However, if you really consider the productions of Brolin’s career, this isn’t exactly what made him shine. Endgame is certainly the climax of an epic saga, but in this particular ranking, putting it second seems like the right thing to do.

Avengers: Endgame is available to stream on Disney+.

1. Avengers: Infinity War

When it comes to Josh Brolin’s best comic book movie, Avengers: Infinity War (2018) certainly takes the prize. This is because the production combines being one of the most relevant and memorable in the MCU with the size of the actor’s role in the narrative. The film is the third in the Avengers franchise and brings together an array of heroes. The story basically begins with Thanos and ends with him. In search of the Infinity Stones, the plot is divided into multiple groups of characters trying to stop him from completing his goal of decimating half the world’s population.

The movie serves as a precursor to its acclaimed sequel and is definitely a milestone in the history of cinema for the shocking success of the villain at the last minute. Brolin’s performance is fundamental in driving the whole story, almost acting as the central engine for everything to be cohesive. Not far from Endgame‘s success, Infinity War also surpassed the $2 billion mark at the box office, proving to be the actor’s best project in terms of adaptation.

Avengers: Infinity War is available to stream on Disney+.

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One of the most high-profile game releases of this March is The First Berserker: Khazan, a brutal fantasy Soulslike with an aggregated score of 80 on Metacritic. For the most part, the narrative and world of The First Berserker: Khazan stand completely on their own. A closer inspection of its Steam page or official website reveals that it is connected to a bigger franchise: Nexon’s Dungeon & Fighter, also known as DNF.

The DNF Universe isn’t as widely known in North America as fantasy series like Final Fantasy, Warcraft, or Dark Souls, but worldwide, DNF is an extremely popular franchise that’s attracted millions of players to its beat ’em up gameplay. Now that The First Berserker: Khazan looks like it will be the most popular DNF game in the West yet, I wanted to give an overview of the DNF series’ history and highlight where it’s going next for those unfamiliar with it.

The DNF franchise began in 2005 with Dungeon Fighter Online. At its core, Dungeon Fighter Online is a beat ’em up like Streets of Rage, although its anime-like fantasy setting feels more similar to Golden Axe or Dragon’s Crown. It found an addictive way to tap into the simple joy of watching big numbers pop up as you beat up hordes of enemies in a video game, and it resonated with people. Dungeon Fighter Online became popular in Korea before expanding to Japan, China, and then North America over the following decade.

Over the past 20 years, DNF is one of the franchises that put Nexon on the map as a game publisher, alongside MapleStory. As such, Nexon has continued to support it through live service updates for the PC game and new titles. Dungeon Fighter Live: Fall of Hendron Myre for Xbox 360 was the first example of that, but it has been delisted for a decade. DNF has also received some mobile games, with the main one supported now being Dungeon & Fighter Mobile.

Once again, those games are most popular in Asia. In 2022, the series got its most prominent Western release yet in DNF Duel, a fighting game based on the franchise by Arc System Works that utilizes visuals that are similarly gorgeous to Dragon Ball FighterZ and Guilty Gear Strive. It was a success but didn’t make DNF that notable outside of the fighting game community.

Don’t let that make you underestimate the size of this franchise, though. In a presentation for investors in February, Nexon confirmed that the franchise has attracted 850 million players across all its different releases and earned over $22 billion in gross revenue. That’s absolutely massive for a franchise you probably haven’t heard of until The First Berserker: Khazan.

That same presentation highlights the importance of The First Berserker: Khazan to Nexon, which plans to focus on “investing in” and “strengthening” DNF as a franchise in 2025. While the efforts with Dungeon Fighter Online and Dungeon & Fighter Mobile seem more focused on China, Nexon calls The First Berserker: Khazan a “strategic first step in a series of vertical extensions of Dungeon & Fighter IP to introduce it to a global audience.” Sifting through that corporate jargon, that essentially means The First Berserker: Khazan is intentionally meant to be an on-ramp to DNF as a franchise.

If you live in North America, Nexon knows you probably haven’t heard of DNF, but it wants to get those players into this massive series through games like The First Berserker: Khazan, which is set 800 years before Dungeon Fighter Online. If you enjoyed that Soulslike and decided to check out Dungeon Fighter Online or Dungeon & Fighter Mobile as a result, Nexon will have succeeded. I’m sure Nexon’s happy that The First Berserker: Khazan is being received warmly by Western audiences.

The First Berserker: Khazan isn’t the only upcoming DNF game, either. Project Overkill is meant to be a 3D adaptation of the classic DNF beat ’em up gameplay, while the Genshin Impact-like Dungeon & Fighter: Arad was announced at The Game Awards 2024. Even if 2D online beat ’em up MMOs aren’t your jam, Nexon has a lot of new DNF games on the way that’ll try to garner your attention.

According to Nexon, both Project Overkill and Dungeon & Fighter: Arad will be released by 2027. The First Berserker: Khazan is out this week on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, though.

The post The First Berserker: Khazan Comes From a Franchise That’s Bigger Than You Think appeared first on ComicBook.com.

King of the Hill is currently in the works on a new revival series for Hulu, so now is the best time to look back on it all with some of the best episodes from the very first season. King of the Hill first debuted with Fox back in 1997 with one of the shortest seasons in the original run. The Mike Judge and Greg Daniels developed animated series introduced fans to the fictional Texas town of Arlen, and the humble and conservative people within it. Offering a more grounded take on its world than seen with hits like The Simpsons, King of the Hill immediately stood out from the pack.

King of the Hill’s first season is also a much quieter affair than fans might have seen in later seasons to come. King of the Hill had a humble origin as Hank Hill navigated his quiet life in his small neighborhood, but the world around him was steadily changing. The series mined its comedy from how Hank needed to change in order to fit the wacky world around him, and the first season truly had some stellar examples of this initial idea.

Read on for five of the best episodes from King of the Hill’s first season, and let us know which are your favorites in the comments!

Square Peg (Season 1, Episode 2)

King of the Hill really started to carve out a unique path early on in its first season with “Square Peg.” Although the series introduced fans to Hank as he was constantly confused by his son, Bobby, the second episode of the series further expanded this dynamic to the rest of the family to showcase just how the rest of the Hill family would be changing with these new times. As Bobby takes sexual education in school, and Peggy is tasked with teaching it, the first of these conservative views is challenged when Peggy starts openly speaking about the subjects that Hank’s generation would rather keep quiet.

It’s a small glimpse into the dynamic that would be explored through the rest of the series, and a great example of their strong characterization early on.

Hank’s Unmentionable Problem (Season 1, Episode 6)

But this idea of Hank being pushed in an uncomfortable situation gets even more exaggerated with a more hilarious, but relatable problem. When Hank gets constipated from all of the meat and beer he consumes, his inability to relieve himself becomes the talk of the neighborhood. Hank is forced to face this embarrassment head on, but it really takes an emotional turn when he realizes that Peggy only wants what’s best for him.

She’s worried that his lifestyle will kill him, and thus has been pushing all of these embarrassing procedures and medications on him just to help. It’s only when Hank’s emotional state rests that he’s allowed to finally use the bathroom, and really makes for one of the best endings in the first season overall.

Keeping Up With Our Joneses (Season 1, Episode 10)

King of the Hill began with the concept of taking a conservative, old school ideology and mining it to the extreme, and that is especially prominent in “Keeping Up With Our Joneses.” This episode reveals that Hank and Peggy used to smoke cigarettes all the time before having Bobby, and the two of them return to the habit when Bobby himself is caught smoking. Bobby ends up hooked to nicotine just as much as the two of them are when a punishment goes awry, and they’re only allowed to resolve all of this when Peggy’s niece Luanne locks them in a room overnight and gets them to quit cold turkey.

It’s an episode that really shows off new sides of the Hills’ personalities, and gives the series a rather fun edge that would continue to be a part of Hank and Peggy’s characterizations in the years to come. This was one of the better examples of the high kinds of drama that could also emerge from the series’ comedy, and it really sticks the landing when it all comes to an end.

King of the Ant Hill (Season 1, Episode 11)

Hank’s friend and neighbor Dale Gribble had been part of the extended crew since the very beginning, and had stood out thanks to his tendency to go on wild conspiracy theory tangents. But this was the first real episode where we got to see just how unhinged Dale could be as he starts a feud with Hank over the fact that Hank won’t let Dale treat his lawn for insects. It’s here that fans get to see just how far Dale is willing to go when he has a vendetta, and it’s not limited to his enemies as he’ll manipulate his friends. All the while, Bobby is hypnotized by the ant queen to do its bidding. It was the first of many truly wacky episodes in King of the Hill, and the start of Dale’s wild future from then on.

Plastic White Female (Season 1, Episode 12)

King of the Hill is just as much Bobby’s show as it is Hank’s. “That boy ain’t right” has become such a catchphrase outside of the series because of how little Hank and Bobby see eye to eye. That comes to a literal head with “Plastic White Female” as Bobby falls in love with the practice mannequin Luanne needs for school. It’s Bobby practicing just how he would approach women (something every boy of that age seems to do at the time) when he gets invited to his first Boy/Girl party. When Hanks finds out, he destroys it.

This ends up with Hank needing to volunteer to serve as the model for Luanne’s school exam, and Bobby needing to go to the party and somehow shake off everything that happened. The end of the episode then sparks the bigger friendship turned romance between Bobby and Connie, and it’s a perfect finale for this debut season as its a sweet tease for the future. And if it would have been the end, it was a sweet end for Bobby. Just great on rewatch.

The post These Are the Best 5 Episodes of King of the Hill Season 1 appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The upcoming second season of the hit Disney+ Star Wars series, Andor, is set to premiere on April 22, giving fans a devastating final chapter with the fan-favorite character. Season two will cover a four year time frame (ranging from 4 BBY (Before Battle of Yavin) to 1 BBY) leading Cassian Andor directly to his final mission in the events of Rogue One. The five years preceding the Battle of Yavin were critical to the Rebellion, as the many separate rebel cells began to organize into one cohesive unit strong enough to make a strike against the Empire. 

Andor Season 1 takes place solely in 5 BBY and is an isolated story about Cassian’s adventures (or misadventures) that lead him to join Luthen Rael’s (Stellan Skarsgard) rebel cell. However, another notable series, Star Wars Rebels, also starts in 5 BBY and also focuses on a small cell of rebels relying on their scant resources to deal as much damage to the Empire as possible. Episode 6 of Andor goes even further in connecting these two series, and you may have completely missed it.

Kessel Plays a Major Role in Both Shows

In Andor Episode 6, “The Axe Forgets,” the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) is grappling with increased rebel activity. Though other ISB agents believe any thefts or assaults at the hands of rebels are independent and uncoordinated, an assistant to ISB supervisor Dedra Meero puts forth another theory, suggesting that the recent uptick in activity is “too random to be random.” The assistant goes on to list out locations that the rebel cells have been active on recently, including Kessel. 

The planet Kessel — known for its spice mines — has appeared in the Star Wars universe multiple times, perhaps most famously with regards to the “Kessel Run” — the smuggling route that Han Solo boasted flying the Millennium Falcon through in 12 parsecs. However, in the exact same time period as Andor, the insurgents in Star Wars Rebels deal a massive blow to Kessel and the workforce in their mines. 

RELATED – Could Andor Season 2 Feature Fan-Favorite Rebels? The Timeline Adds Up

Star Wars Rebels and Andor Happen at the Same Time

In Season 1, Episode 2 of Star Wars Rebels — “Spark of Rebellion: Pt. 2” — the Ghost crew consisting of Hera Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus, Zeb Orrelios, Sabine Wren, Ezra Bridger, and and droid Chopper are tipped off about a group of Wookiee prisoners being transported on an Imperial ship to Kessel to be pressed into slavery in the spice mines. Upon receiving this information, the crew infiltrates the ship to enact a rescue mission. Another ISB agent — Alexsandr Kallus — is obsessed with catching the rebels and learns of the rescue mission, using the opportunity to spring a trap on his foes and capture them. Ultimately, Kallus is unsuccessful and the Ghost crew liberates the Wookiees, bringing them to safety and depriving the Empire of their workforce in the Kessel mines.

The Ghost crew’s blow against the Empire happens at the same time as the events in Andor, meaning that the reference to some sort of rebel strike affecting Kessel is the same rescue mission led by Kanan Jarrus in “Spark of Rebellion: Pt. 2.” This is not the first time a Rebels Easter egg was dropped in Cassian Andor’s world. In Rogue One, while on Yavin-4, General Hera Syndulla is paged over the speakers and her droid, Chopper, can be seen roaming around the base. Hera’s beloved ship, the Ghost, can also be seen on Yavin-4 and fighting in the Battle of Scarif. 

With Andor Season two taking place concurrently with the events in Star Wars: Rebels, it will be interesting to see any characters from Rebels make an appearance. 

Andor Season 2 premieres on Disney+ on April 22.

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WARNING: There are spoilers ahead! Last week’s episode of The Wheel of Time — Season 3, Episode 4, “The Road to the Spear” — was the best the show has seen yet, and everyone from critics and fans to the cast and crew are rightfully celebrating it on social media. However, the greatness of this installment is emblematic of the show’s overall missed potential, and the way studios are holding back the fantasy genre on TV in general. The shortened seasons and longer production times of TV shows had sparked a lot of discussion in recent months, and The Wheel of Time may suffer from this gradual trend more than any other show. Without more episodes, Amazon entirely misses the point of adapting one of the longest fantasy epics ever published.

“The Road to the Spear” is the longest Wheel of Time episode yet, and it uses every minute to great effect. It depicts Rand al’Thor’s visit to the ancient, abandoned city of Rhuidean — a magical ruin in the middle of the Aiel Waste which is sacred to the Aiel people. The episode dedicates its entire runtime to this event, without visiting any of its other characters or storylines, and it pulls out all the stops so that this climactic event will make sense narratively and visually.

Like most viewers (judging by social media), I was enthralled for all 69 minutes of this episode, and elated to see this show reach such a high point. However, the “Inside Episode” segment afterward put the triumph in a new perspective, and served as a bit of a buzzkill. There, showrunner Rafe Judkins, EP and star Rosamund Pike, and star Josha Stradowski talked together about the immense challenge of this episode — not just logistically, but in terms of timing.

[RELATED: The Wheel of Time’s Ayoola Smart on Preparing for Aviendha’s Role and Shipping]

“We only have eight episodes every year, and so, how you use that time is the biggest thing we’re ever up against,” Judkins said, “and this one, we were like, ‘This is a story worth telling.’ It takes a lot of maneuvering right from the beginning stages in the writers’ room, but we felt like, ‘We’re going to move other stuff around so that we can really see this journey that Rand is on, and that Moiraine is on, together,’ because that relationship is so central to this season, and to the entire series. And so, we should give that hour to them and what they’re experiencing.”

Hearing him address the pressure to cram plot points in so plainly can be disheartening, in a way, as it calls to mind all the other Rhuidean-level events that might not make it into this adaptation. Meanwhile, Pike spoke as a producer, saying, “I think it’s a very exciting episode that you wrote — Rafe wrote that one — and then, I think it has the experimental scope that I always craved an wanted for this show right from the word go.”

Return on Investment

Everyone wishes their favorite series had more episodes and more seasons, and many showrunners likely feel the same pressure that Judkins is describing. For The Wheel of Time, however, the length of this meandering tale is really the fundamental point of it all. The original series consists of 15 novels, written almost entirely by Robert Jordan with Brandon Sanderson stepping in to finish the series based on Jordan’s notes after the author passed away. That’s millions of words, thousands of pages, hundreds of hours of audiobook — all spent fully immersed in the Westlands.

Even the most die-hard fans of The Wheel of Time would agree that the series simply didn’t need to be that long to get its story and its themes across. The excessive length is a feature, not a bug — especially for those who picked up the books when they were finished or close to finished. Fans of epic fantasy and sci-fi often seek out these extra-long series because, when done right, they can provide more return on your investment of time and attention. You meet the characters, learn the rules of the magic system, begin to memorize the map, the bestiary, the made-up words, etc., and you want to spend more time in that setting to enjoy your newfound expertise.

This is a big part of the reason why fantasy adaptations work so much better as TV shows than as movies. However, if you stop and think about it, Amazon hasn’t given Pike and Judkins much more time than a movie per book. Season 1 included elements of the first three novels in the series, while Season 2 completed the adaptation of the second and third books. Season 3 is expected to cover the fourth and fifth books in this series in just eight episodes. That’s an average of four hours per book — no more than the Extended Editions of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

Length is This Series’ Strength

That’s a shame, because the novel series really does make the most of its excessive length. The story meanders and takes its characters on seemingly unimportant side quests, which expose their true natures and prepare them for the real trials to come. It gets to explore almost every corner of the fantasy world Jordan has meticulously mapped and cataloged — almost, because systematically exploring it would feel unnatural, as Jordan likely realized.

Despite its length, the series doesn’t get bogged down with overly complicated magical rules, fictional linguistics, or other pitfalls of the genre. It always stays focused on the organic growth of its characters, and that’s what buoys the reader through even the most boring moments in the plot — the fandom affectionately refers to books seven through 10 as “the slog.” A boring day spent with a friend is better than a boring day on your own, and the same is true of a boring chapter spent marching alongside Mat Cauthon and the Band of the Red Hand.

The length of the series is likely one of the main reasons fans responded positively to the last three books, written by a relatively unknown Sanderson after Jordan passed away, with the blessing of Jordan’s wife and collaborator, Harriet McDougal. By the time we got around to the Final Battle, we had been through trials by fire with all these characters multiple times, and we had seen their true grit and determination spelled out on screen. The culmination of the story was certainly cathartic, but it almost didn’t matter after years spent honing these characters into capable heroes.

That’s not to say that The Wheel of Time has no unique points to make or themes to flesh out — only that those themes didn’t require 15 novels. The show has done an excellent job at highlighting the best parts of Jordan’s worldbuilding, while also making it clear that this series was his homage to the likes of Tolkien. Still, I can’t help but feel like someone watching the show would struggle to care about Heron-marked swords and Ter’angreals without plodding through the novels one word at a time, and developing a sense of belonging in this world.

No Solution

The episode count and pacing has been a concern for fans since The Wheel of Time first started — back then, I marveled that the producers weren’t planning at least one season per book, sweet summer child that I was. I bring it up now so that we can discuss it as a high point, rather than at the end of a season. “The Road to the Spear” was so excellent, and in another turning of the Wheel, every episode might have left us feeling that way.

This is especially important for critics to keep in mind, and those on social media prone to assigning “blame” when their favorite shows don’t go the way they’d like. It’s clearer than ever that Judkins, Pike, and everyone else involved are pouring their hearts and souls into this project, and working under immense constraints that they don’t seem to like. They know as well as us that condensing Jordan’s verbose descriptions and character tics down for TV fundamentally changes the tone of the story, but it’s the task Amazon has set them. We should remember that the cast, crew, and creators started as fans of the series, while studios get involved only because franchise name recognition often leads to profit.

we should also acknowledge that it may not be possible for a show like The Wheel of Time to get a lengthy adaptation of this caliber. Prime Video has not disclosed much information on the show’s budget or its viewership results, but it seems safe to assume it is an expensive production, and money is the key limiting factor on its episode count. If Amazon simply can’t afford to give the show more screentime, that’s part of a broader issue with the streaming business model in general.

Meanwhile, the intense labor of the cast and crew are a consideration as well. Fans lashed out hard at the showrunners of Game of Thrones when it ended, noting that HBO had asked them to extend the show but they had declined. However, just last year, star Kit Harington told an interviewer that he wasn’t sure he could have gone on at the show’s breakneck pace. He entered rehab as the final season was ending, and it does seem unfair for these creators to sacrifice their health and their personal lives just so we can get a new season of prestige TV every year.

Thankfully, whatever doesn’t make it onto the TV show will still exist in the books, and it’s there waiting for us anytime. The Wheel of Time Season 3 has four more episodes to go, airing on Thursdays on Prime Video through April 17th. The novels are available in print, digital, and audiobook formats.

The post The Wheel of Time’s Best Episode Also Highlights Its Biggest Weakness appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Star Wars is one of the biggest properties in media across film, TV, and video games. Over the last few years, the franchise has released several hit games, including titles like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Star Wars Outlaws. With that continued success, the team behind the franchise has put several games into active development that will be released over the next few years.

While we don’t have firm launch dates for any of the upcoming Star Wars games, we know that at least four games are being worked on as we speak. Here’s everything we know about every Star Wars game in development as of 2025.

Star Wars: Eclipse – Quantic Dream

In December 2021, Quantic Dream revealed that it was working on an action-adventure game called Star Wars: Eclipse. Thus far, all we know about the game is that it will feature several playable characters and branching narrative paths. That’s on par with what we’d expect from the studio that developed Detroit: Become Human, Heavy Rain, and Beyond: Two Souls but is unique to what Star Wars fans are used to from the video game space.

We also know that Eclipse is set 200 years before the events of The Phantom Menace, giving the developers plenty of room to experiment as they explore the High Republic era. When the game was announced, it was said that we shouldn’t expect it until 2027, so don’t be surprised if we don’t hear anything from the studio this year. That said, Eclipse might reappear at this year’s Game Awards to build hype ahead of its launch date.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – Saber Interactive

The Knights of the Old Republic remake was originally announced in 2021. Developer Aspyr was originally scheduled to handle the remake, but in 2022, it was announced that the team had been replaced by Saber Interactive. To add further intrigue to the story, the original teaser trailer was hidden on YouTube in 2023, causing confusion among the franchise’s fans.

RELATED: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Developer Reveals Small Update on the Remake

Sony quickly announced that it was a music rights issue, quelling some of those concerns. In 2024, Saber Interactive’s parent company Embracer planned to sell off the company, paving the way for Saber to develop the Knights of the Old Republic remake as a private company. Earlier this year, Saber’s CCO Tim Willits announced that everything is still progressing, but the team isn’t ready to announce anything. Hopefully, we’ll hear more about the KOTOR remake later this year.

Star Wars Jedi 3 – Respawn Entertainment

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor‘s director Stig Asmussen left Electronic Ars to start his own company soon after the second game in the series launched. However, EA quickly confirmed that the Star Wars Jedi series is going to be a trilogy.

At this point, all we know is that EA is working on a third game and it will be the final game in the series. Plans could shift and change, but that was the publisher’s plan as of late 2024. Most likely, we’ll be waiting until at least 2027 before the third game is ready. Respawn took four years between the first and second games, and with a new director, it’s likely fans will be waiting for a similar timeframe. That said, there have been hints that it’s coming sooner than expected.

Unannounced Star Wars Tactics Game

The last Star Wars game we know about as of this writing is one that is formally set to be announced soon. Details are light but Lucasfilm Game recently revealed that it will be showing off a new Star Wars turn-based tactics game at the 2025 Star Wars Celebration on April 19th.

Details on the project are scarce, but it is known that Bit Reactor and Respawn are teaming up for development. The former studio is made up of developers who previously worked on tactics franchises like XCOM and Civilization, meaning it has the chops needed for the genre, even if it’s a newer studio. Fortunately, we’ll learn much more about the game shortly.

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Nothing has swept the Internet quite like Walton Goggins‘s wide-eyed, slack-jawed reaction to Sam Rockwell’s stunning monologue in The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 5. It was a perfect storm: most fans of Goggins as an actor haven’t seen him utterly speechless and in a sort of awe in character before; Rockwell’s appearance was a surprise, and it turns out he’s in the rest of the season, so he can’t compete for a guest actor Emmy off that scene alone — he’ll be against Goggins in Supporting Actor. The content of the monologue, of course, is shocking (in a good way): Frank (Rockwell) discloses his path to sobriety, which includes a journey through his unique relationship with gender and sexuality. Rick (Goggins) is less horrified, with his wide eyes, and more just trying to process a whole lot of information all at once.

The White Lotus scene feels unique; a lot of monologues in TV have a tendency to be loud, declamatory speeches, either in an attempt to rally the troops (in a lot of science fiction and fantasy) or to make a wider point as elaborately as possible (most Aaron Sorkin shows — though we love them). Monologues aren’t used a whole lot for a quiet catharsis; they’re usually delivered at the peak of the mountain, not at the bottom of one. Goggins is also an ideal scene partner for this monologue; he is silent, but fully engaged. His face tells us everything we need to know; he doesn’t have to say anything.

Here are 5 other TV monologue scenes that break the mold: not trying to will out a victory or crush other characters into submission, no. These are monologues that come from the soul.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Captain’s (Deleted) Log

Star Trek is known for its speeches, because usually, they’re what saves the day. Jean-Luc Picard would give some diplomatic missive, and Kirk would yell at some species to find their inner humanity somewhere, and by the time the credits rolled, things were peachy.

Deep Space Nine took that idea and broke it open with their season six episode, “In the Pale Moonlight.” It’s a masterclass for Avery Brooks as Sisko, but he’s always good: the key to the episode is the fact that everything that happens, most of it bad, has already happened. The episode is framed around Sisko confessing what are, arguably, war crimes, to his Captain’s Log. The audience is his only scene partner in the traditional sense, but Brooks clearly shows Sisko wrestling with his inner angels and demons (or Prophets and Pah-Wraiths) — this isn’t about the history he’ll make or unmake. This confession is for him, and that’s only solidified when he deletes the log as the final twist of the episode. It was a transgression, in so many ways: captains could delete logs and reshape history, and maybe… they could even live with that.

Succession : Ewan’s Euology

Most of Succession‘s big moments were arguments – or at least involved a lot of interjecting whenever someone else tried to say something lengthy. So, when Ewan Roy (James Cromwell) claims the stage during his little brother Logan’s (Brian Cox) big funeral near the end of the final season, and the Roy siblings actually sit and listen to the person who probably knew their father best tell his actual story… it’s a big deal!

Ewan has a captive audience, sure, but it’s a remarkably still moment for a show that always seemed hopped up on whatever Kendall’s drug of choice was that season. Ewan finally unpacks the truth of his secret shared origin story with Logan, in all its tragic horror; not so much an ‘immigrant makes good’ story as much as a ‘war orphan fights for survival and claws his way to the top.’ But if it was just Ewan getting in one last jab at Logan, this eulogy wouldn’t make this list; instead, Ewan seems genuinely heartbroken to see his baby brother go, but also heartbroken to acknowledge the monster he became in life.

The full text of Ewan’s eulogy to Logan can be found here, and you can watch the scene from “Church and State” in Succession season 4 on Max.

Barry : Sally’s Monologue

When a character scarier than Bill Hader’s Barry appears in the show Barry, it’s a thrill. No, really, it is. Sally (Sarah Goldberg) spends a lot of time vacillating in the early seasons between being a good person and just becoming a creature of ruthless ambition. Sally’s monologue towards the end of Season 2, is delivered to Barry, whose reaction in the hands of Hader is frightening in a millisecond. But the real star here is Goldberg, who makes Sally’s neuroses almost likable and her stakes admirable, until you realize she’s ranting about how much better she is at acting to a literal hitman.

Context is everything, of course: Sally has her own trauma that she deals with (or doesn’t deal with), and the way she seems to self-soothe is to let everything out verbally. Maybe she’s not that different from Rockwell’s White Lotus character – or anyone at the end of a long day or wasted an opportunity who just wants to… vent.

Andor: One Way Out

Okay, fine… this is… technically a rousing speech? It’s not that rousing. It’s more… suicidal, really. (And, ultimately, given Kino Loy’s fate…) Luthen Rael’s quietly furious speech in Andor also gets a lot of play; however, Kino’s monologue starts out slow and halting, and really not all that inspiring, until the dam finally breaks, and that’s what makes it special. Andy Serkis, no makeup, no CGI, just a normal dude, delivering this monologue.

It’s not about going out and claiming a victory; it’s about stealing a tiny shred of dignity back in a cold, unfeeling universe. Loy’s speech feels like an awakening, but it’s also an ending, a reminder that the show we’re watching is a mere prequel to one of Star Wars‘s biggest tragedies.

Interview with the Vampire: Lestat’s Origin Story

In the AMC+ Interview with the Vampire series, Lestat (Sam Reid) is a bit of a peacock. That may be underselling it. Louis (Jacob Anderson) is where most of the tender emotions come from… and Lestat’s retelling of the horror of his vampire origin story isn’t gentle, but it does begin to unpeel the many thick layers of …tacky Victorian wallpaper, almost, that Lestat has wrapped himself in. The origin he gives here is right from Anne Rice’s books; the new Interview with the Vampire can diverge from its given path in more than a few ways, but it stays true to its core characters.

Lestat doesn’t like to be abandoned is the verbatim message he imparts to Claudia and Louis by the end of the scene; the subtext, though, is a quiet despair at how he ended up as he is in the first place. Lestat tends to rejoice in his vampirism; this was another hint that his self-worship might, too, be bravado.

The Daily Show: Post-9/11 Zen

You can’t find Jon Stewart’s first Daily Show monologue after September 11th on YouTube, but you can find it on Comedy Central’s website, which is still a thing. This isn’t a ‘scene’ in the traditional sense, unless you follow me on a really esoteric explanation of what a scene really is. But what it is, is a shaken New Yorker trying to make everyone, including himself, try to feel normal after all that’s happened. Talk show hosts (especially Stewart) can get loud and bombastic most of the time, but he never does here (although he does start crying). He begins the monologue by asking “Are you okay?” — not to a wide audience, but to you, the viewer, and by the end, he offers hope for a brighter tomorrow, not just for you, but also for himself.

The Daily Show was meant to tape on 9/11; they went off the air until September 20th. From that gap, we got, I feel, a moment of vital catharsis. It may not have felt good, but as any of the characters above will attest, it’s such a pleasure to be able to share a feeling at all.

There are a lot of phenomenal monologues in TV history, and this list tries to focus on quieter, cathartic ones. Do you have any favorites along those lines? Let us know in the comments.

The post 5 Best TV Show Monologue Scenes of Our Time appeared first on ComicBook.com.

When one thinks of franchises Indiana Jones could crossover with, Star Wars is probably the first one that comes to mind since they’re both Lucasfilm properties. And while Dr. Jones never officially interacted with any characters from a galaxy far, far away during his adventures, the Indiana Jones films unsurprisingly feature several Star Wars Easter eggs for fans to find. Everyone knows about the R2-D2 and C-3PO hieroglyphic in Raiders of the Lost Ark or Club Obi-Wan in The Temple of Doom. But even the most die-hard Indiana Jones fans are probably unaware there’s a crossover with the popular Harry Potter franchise.

Similar to the Star Wars references in the Indy movies, this isn’t a full-blown crossover where Harry, Ron, and Hermione team up with Dr. Jones and Sallah on a mission. However, both franchises contain stories that center around the same MacGuffin: the philosopher’s (or sorcerer’s) stone.

What is Indiana Jones and the Philosopher’s Stone?

After the original Indiana Jones trilogy wrapped up with 1989’s The Last Crusade, there were attempts to keep the famed archeologist in the forefront of the zeitgeist. A series of novels were published throughout the ’90s by Bantam Books. The ninth of these, written by Max McCoy, is called Indiana Jones and the Philosopher’s Stone. Its story sees Indiana embark on a quest to find an ancient manuscript detailing alchemy secrets concerning immortality and transforming metals into gold. The document is vital to discovering the location of the Philosopher’s Stone. On this adventure, Indy works alongside Alecia, the sister of someone well-versed in the Stone’s history. Sallah also has a role in the book, joining the two when their travels take them to Libya. In typical Indiana Jones fashion, the hero is in a race against fascists to find the Stone.

[RELATED – 10 Indiana Jones Adventures You Didn’t Even Know About]

It’s important to note that Indiana Jones and the Philosopher’s Stone was published in 1995, two years before readers were introduced to the magical Wizarding World. So this isn’t an actual crossover as much as it is a very strange coincidence; for all the differences that exist between the two tales, the two stories do share one notable similarity: the presence of Nicolas Flamel, who is a character in both. Flamel was actually a real-life figure who lived from 1330-1418. Legends say he was an alchemist who created the Philosopher’s Stone and found the secret to immortality. Of course, the accuracy of such claims is up for debate, but the legends made for a fascinating element in fictional stories.

In the Harry Potter version, Flamel is only mentioned by name, but author J.K. Rowling implemented some of the legend into her take. While doing research on the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry and his friends learn that Flamel was an alchemist and wizard who was close to Dumbledore and made the magical object. Indiana Jones follows many of the same beats (minus being a wizard, of course), though in the book, there is a moment when Indy sees the old alchemist with his wife, Perenelle.

Indiana Jones and the Philosopher’s Stone Also Has a Crystal Skull

A retroactive Harry Potter connection isn’t the only surprising coincidence present in Indiana Jones and the Philosopher’s Stone. The book also marks the first appearance of a Crystal Skull in the franchise. The novel’s opening sequence sees Indy tracking down the Crystal Skull of Cozán. In a twist reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark, he finds the artifact but loses it to a rival. A man known as Sarducci, an Italian who serves as the story’s primary antagonist, steals the Skull for himself.

Crystal Skulls, of course, became the titular item in the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in which Indy and the Russians are in pursuit of the Crystal Skull of Akator. The movie does not reference Jones’ previous attempts to locate the Crystal Skull of Cozán, but it’s interesting to see the concept dates so far back prior to the film’s development. Initially, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford didn’t agree with George Lucas’ decision to inject sci-fi elements into the Indiana Jones franchise, but this shows the idea had already been long established. Like the Crystal Skulls in the movie, the one from the books is said to have supernatural powers.

After the box office failure of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, it seems unlikely there will be future Indiana Jones movies. However, the franchise remains active, with the critically acclaimed video game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle gearing up for its debut on PlayStation 5. It’ll be interesting to see if its success paves the way for more Indy stories, and if those will feature any coincidental ties to other popular franchise. Perhaps Indy will track down a Tesseract next.

The post There’s a Surprising Indiana Jones and Harry Potter Crossover That You Didn’t Even Know About appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Digimon has recently crossed over its 25th anniversary milestone, and the franchise is celebrating with a special promo looking back on how far it’s come thus far. Digimon is one of the most influential anime franchises of the last few decades. Although many of a certain generation might equate it to one of the many series that tried their hands at the Pokemon craze in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Digimon really has carved out its own identity in the time since so that it no longer even looks close to whatever Pokemon might be doing at the same time.

Digimon looks much different than it did when it first began its own anime franchise 25 years ago, and now is the perfect time to look back on it all as part of the 25th anniversary celebration. With eyes to the future of where the franchise might be coming next in the pipeline, Digimon has shared a special trailer showing off a fun look at its long past. You can check out the special Digimon “Beyond Evolution” promo in the video above.

Digimon Celebrates 25 Years of the Anime

Digimon might have started out life as a series of virtual pet games with Bandai, but kicked off its anime with the debut of Digimon Adventure back in Japan in 1999, and then grew even further when it officially debuted its English language release in North America and other territories later that year. This first season of the series immediately set it apart from Pokemon as it introduced eight different protagonists, known as the DigiDestined, and their Digimon partners. Unlike Ash in Pokemon, those in Digimon had a single Digimon partner that they traveled and grew with together. It really was a different vibe altogether with an entirely different kind of journey ahead of them.

Digimon Adventure proved to be such a hit that it continued with an official sequel, Digimon Adventure 02, and then new series followed that fully rebooted what had come before. Series such as Digimon Tamers, Digimon Frontier, Digimon Data Squad, Digimon Fusion, Digimon Ghost Game, and even a full rebooted TV series for Digimon Adventure: that brought back the eight original DigiDestined for a brand new take on their original journey through the Digital World. It’s been a long journey for the franchise, and it’s nowhere near over.

RELATED: Digimon x Godzilla Collab Shows Off Wild New Fusions

What’s Next for Digimon?

Digimon has big plans for the anime’s future as it prepares for its next major era. Along wiht the release of this special trailer, and the debut of the Digimon Adventure: Beyond anime short, Toei Animation has also announced the next major anime in the Digimon franchise. Titled Digimon Beatbreak, there is unfortunately little known about what to expect from this new entry in the series outside of the fact that it’s already teasing a dark new Digimon with all sorts of potentially terrifying monsters in store in the episodes to come.

Digimon Beatbreak will be officially releasing some time this October as part of the Fall 2025 anime schedule, but a concrete release date or international release plans have yet to be announced as of the time of this publication. As the anime prepares for its release together with a packed Fall 2025 anime schedule, there is going to be a lot to look forward to for the franchise’s future. Perhaps even 25 more years of anime releases are on deck.

But what are you hoping to see from Digimon‘s future? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments!

The post Digimon Looks Back on 25 Years of Anime With Special Promo appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Assassin’s Creed is one of the biggest video game franchises on the planet. Ubisoft has released numerous entries in the series since its debut in 2007 and it has remained a cash cow for the publisher, even though it has required some reinvention to stay relevant. The series has been around long enough and endured enough revamps that everyone has their personal preference for which era of Assassin’s Creed is the best. Some prefer the smaller-scale games, some adore the big, almost overwhelming RPGs, and some just want a cool pirate game. Nevertheless, it’s a series that has taken many different forms, and with Assassin’s Creed Shadows finally out, we figured it was time to do a ranking.

This Assassin’s Creed ranking won’t include any of the spin-offs or standalone expansions. We’re only focusing on the core mainline games in the series, so don’t expect to see Assassin’s Creed Liberation or any other titles like that on this particular list.

#13 – Assassin’s Creed: Mirage

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage was intended to be more of a throwback to the original games, opting for a smaller-scale experience. On paper, that was a great idea and it had some great usage of things like social stealth in a dense world. However, the story and characters weren’t very compelling, and it sort of felt like a budget Assassin’s Creed game to fill a gap in Ubisoft’s release schedule. The game did initially begin its life as an expansion for Valhalla before expanding into its release, so that’s likely part of the reason.

It’s not a bad game, it’s just one that doesn’t hide its lower production value. I would love to see Ubisoft revisit a more focused Assassin’s Creed game like this in the future but really give it the backing it deserves, especially if that comes in the form of a remake of the first Assassin’s Creed game. It could even build upon some of the ideas in Mirage, but it needs a bit more oomph to it.

#12 – Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

Although Ezio’s story is foundational for this franchise and is brilliantly told, Revelations feels a bit tacked on in the grand scheme of things. Narratively, it’s fulfilling and I give it credit for carefully weaving Ezio and Altair’s story together, but it hardly advanced the gameplay of this series forward. Outside of a tower defense game, this is nothing more than the most refined version of the prior two entries.

Once again, this was a game that started as something much smaller. Revelations was initially conceived as a Nintendo DS game before it blew up into a mainline entry, possibly to buy time for the team on Assassin’s Creed 3 or ride the hype for Ezio. While not a bad game, it is arguably one of the least impressive installments in the long-running series.

#11 – Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate

Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate was the last game in the series before Ubisoft decided to revamp it as a big RPG franchise. The franchise wasn’t really innovating in the ways it should have. In fact, it was regressing in some regards by continuing to move away from naval combat despite pleas for more of it. We did get two protagonists in Syndicate, including a female for the first time in the mainline series, but they didn’t leave much of a lasting impression.

While steampunk London is a fun setting for a game like this, it’s a game that has kind of been forgotten about and gets left out of the conversation when it comes to Assassin’s Creed. It’s not bad, it’s not amazing, it’s just perfectly fine… and there’s nothing wrong with that!

#10 – Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Despite being one of the most commercially successful games in the series to date, I have never been an Assassin’s Creed Valhalla truther. This might be blasphemy to some fans of the series, but it’s a bit too bloated for my liking and the combat lacked the heft that I desire from a Viking protagonist.

The world is beautiful and I can see the appeal for some, but it doesn’t excel in the areas that prior games do, nor does it stack up against its competitors outside of Assassin’s Creed. It tries to be a game for everyone and, in the process, lost sight of being a focused experience. However, it seems to have paid dividends for Ubisoft, financially speaking, so I may be alone on this one.

#9 – Assassin’s Creed

The game that started it all. Assassin’s Creed fundamentally changed gaming and Ubisoft forever. It’s a revolutionary game for its time and was a defining title for the Xbox 360/PS3 era.

However, compared to many of the games that came after it, it has shown its age and could really use a modernized remake/remaster. Nothing will take away from what it did for gaming, but Ubisoft was able to succeed this game with some killer follow-ups that took the formula and story to new heights.

#8 – Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

Like Revelations, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood was developed pretty quickly to capture the hype of Ezio’s beloved story. To Ubisoft’s credit, despite cranking these games out as fast as possible, Ezio’s story still remains the best in the series. While still feeling a bit like Assassin’s Creed 2.5, the developer managed to innovate enough to keep things feeling fresh.

The titular Brotherhood is introduced, allowing Ezio to manage a network of assassins that can help him out in combat and do his bidding elsewhere. It’s an idea that has lasted throughout the entire series, so clearly Brotherhood did a lot right. On top of that, it was great to see more than just a lone assassin and instead focus on what this creed is all about when it’s in its prime.

Brotherhood also releases in the era of tacked-on multiplayer modes, but Ubisoft managed to do something that actually worked fairly well. Assassin’s Creed had a fairly underrated online mode for a while that allowed players to hunt each other in a PvP setting, utilizing social stealth to remain undetected. Although it didn’t take off like some other games, it was a worthy effort from the IP.

#7 – Assassin’s Creed 3

Hot take alert: I really like Assassin’s Creed 3. It felt like a notable leap forward for the series after the Ezio trilogy in terms of its gameplay. Being able to stalk prey from the trees and string them up, parkour through the inside of buildings, and command a ship made Assassin’s Creed 3 feel somewhat next-gen at the time. Ubisoft upped the ante tremendously, which was needed after Revelations failed to deliver any notable innovations.

Although Connor isn’t the most colorful character, the American Revolution setting was an inspired choice for an Assassin’s Creed game and was a nice change of pace from all the European settings in the prior games. There’s something really satisfying about hunting animals in the snowy woods of Colonial America and then taking down redcoats in the streets of New York.

#6 – Assassin’s Creed Unity

Assassin’s Creed Unity was admittedly a disaster upon release and may have crippled Syndicate as a result. It was a buggy mess, but once all of that was patched up, it became clear it was a fantastic and ambitious game. Its ambition was on full display with unreasonably large crowds, a co-op story, and a level of depth and density that hasn’t really been replicated in one of these games since. While Unity’s ambition may have been the source of its bugs, it’s a game that still manages to be utterly captivating to this day.

#5 – Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Assassin’s Creed Shadows finally takes the series to Japan after nearly 20 years. While its story leaves a lot to be desired, Shadows manages to scratch the ninja and samurai itch fans have had for decades now. Naoe and Yauske contrast each other perfectly, giving players the choice to take objectives on with precise, effective stealth or brutal head-on engagements. The combat itself has been radically improved to be more engaging and rhythmic, taking cues from Ghost of Tsushima and the Batman Arkham series. It makes sword fights challenging, thoughtful, and even a bit cinematic when two blades perfectly clash against each other.

Ubisoft also managed to make this behemoth of a game more digestible without compromising on its size. There’s still a ridiculous amount of stuff to see and do, but your map won’t be overpopulated with obnoxious icons. The RPG elements also feel less in-your-face, and you won’t feel over-encumbered by weapon/armor stats or special loot if you don’t want to engage too deeply with that side of the game.

#4 – Assassin’s Creed Origins

Assassin’s Creed Origins brilliantly soft-rebooted the series while taking us back to the very beginning of the story of the assassins. It was a bold new direction for Assassin’s Creed and one that could’ve been a historic fumble that killed the series had it not gone well. However, it saved Assassin’s Creed and gave it the fuel it needed to keep going. The RPG nature of the game was exactly what fans were looking for from Ubisoft and allowed it to evolve in an exciting new way.

On top of that, Egypt is one of the most jaw-dropping settings in the series. It’s a joy to explore and admire, especially for those who have any kind of fascination with that piece of the world and its history.

#3 – Assassin’s Creed 2

Assassin’s Creed 2 is arguably the best story in the series as we learn about Ezio’s tragic beginnings. The game gives birth to one of gaming’s best protagonists, features a tremendous score, and sets the tempo for the series going forward from a gameplay perspective. It’s one of the great sequels in gaming and once again helped define Ubisoft’s future.

#2 – Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Combining Assassin’s Creed with ancient Greece just makes sense and it’s kind of surprising it didn’t happen sooner. Odyssey takes the best parts of Origins and expands upon it in all the right ways, along with a glorious return to naval combat. On top of that, Ubisoft doubled down on the RPG of it all by empowering players to make choices in the story, allowing for a more meaningful and engaging narrative that’s directed by the player.

It is one of the best RPGs Ubisoft has made and is kind of astonishing for an Assassin’s Creed game. With that said, how can you not get swept up by slicing people up as a Spartan warrior?

#1 – Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag

Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag was a huge breath of fresh air. By making it a pirate game, Ubisoft infused new life into the series after five games that were gradually pushing the needle forward. Edward Kenway was a charming character, free of some of the brooding charisma vacuums in some of the past games, and he felt like a welcomed addition to the ongoing saga.

On top of that, being able to explore a massive open world by sea for the first time and get into epic ship battles was a welcomed addition. To this day, I am not sure another Assassin’s Creed game has managed to rival the scope and scale of this one. I’m pretty curious to see how Ubisoft reimagines the game with the rumored remake of Assassin’s Creed 4.

The post Every Assassin’s Creed Game Ranked From Worst to Best (Including Shadows) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

American Dad! has officially come to an end with TBS after over a decade of episodes, and now its future is uncertain as it prepares to potentially return to its original home of the Fox network. American Dad! has been one of Seth MacFarlane’s most successful animated series, and has even found a popularity outside of Family Guy‘s reach. Although the series was meant to serve as a sort of sister series with Family Guy and aired with Fox in the same Sunday evening block, like Family Guy, American Dad! ended up getting shuffled off Fox and found more success elsewhere.

American Dad! has ended with TBS with the final episode of Season 19, “What Great Advancements!” which aired with the network this week. This final episode served not only as a perfect cap to the era, but also a potential finale to the series if it never comes back. After first making its debut with TBS back in 2014, this also marks the end of an 11 year run that has outshined pretty much everything that it did in its original 9 or so year run with Fox. It’s an entirely different show now.

How Does American Dad End?

American Dad! ended its run with TBS with Season 19, Episode 22, “What Great Advancements!” Like many of the best episodes in the series’ history, this finale completely reinvents its world and imagines Stan and the others living in a silent film, black and white era. Stan is an inventor on a failing farm with hopes of making it in the big city, and soon invents a special roach that actually gives everyone the power of speech. It’s then revealed that this world is literally silent and in black and white through the course of the episode.

Stan then soon forgets the reason he came to the big city in the first place, and is so blinded by greed and success that he pushes everyone to the wayside. When he eventually invents a device to give everything color, he’s shot and the device is stolen from him and given to the people. With color throughout the world, Stan is ruined and goes back to his farm life. It’s only then he realizes he had a good life after all (even if he still misses the money). It’s a sweet ending for the series on TBS, but thankfully it seems like the series will indeed continue.

RELATED: 10 Best Roger Personas in American Dad, Ranked

Is American Dad Cancelled?

American Dad! is still one of the most successful animated series as it was the second most binged series on Hulu in 2024 overall, so the uncertainty for the series’ future did not last long. It’s been reported that there are already talks in place to continue American Dad! with its original home on Fox for Season 20 and beyond. It’s yet to be confirmed whether or not this would be the case, but it’s not the first time that Fox has bought back the rights to an original series after its found success elsewhere like they have done with Family Guy and Futurama in the past.

American Dad! found massive success with TBS, and enjoyed a longer run with the network than it did with Fox. The animated series was not only the final scripted TBS original program left with the network, but reruns of the series are still scheduled to air with the network through to 2030 despite them not producing any more episodes. It just goes to show just how big of a program its become in the 11 years time since it left Fox, and hopefully it still has a bright future ahead of it.

The post American Dad Ends Its Run With TBS After 11 Years appeared first on ComicBook.com.

While most fans are eagerly awaiting The Witcher 4, a surprise announcement shows The Witcher series developer CD Projekt RED is pairing with Scopely to create a new project. The Witcher is only one possible focus of this project, however, since the only thing known about this partnership is it will be based on a CD Projekt Red IP, leaving many to speculate what it could be. A majority of the studio is working on The Witcher 4, but some are focused on Project Orion and others on The Witcher Remake. Theories have already hit the internet, with most predicting something either in The Witcher universe or taking place within that of Cyberpunk 2077.

CD Projekt RED and Scopely are both well known in each’s respective field, but CD Projekt Red tends to stick to consoles and PCs. Scopely typically deals with mobile games, however, so if CD Projekt Red is partnering with it, the project will likely involve mobile platforms to some degree.

RELATED: 10 Witcher Characters We Need to See Again in The Witcher 4

While most are familiar with CD Projekt Red based on its games The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, many aren’t as familiar with Scopely. Scopely is the name behind popular mobile games, such as Monopoly GO!, the mobile version of Stumble Guys, Marvel Strike Force, and more. The studio also recently bought out Niantic, known for Pokemon Go.

Fans have already seen one mobile game using The Witcher IP, The Witcher: Monster Slayer. CD Projekt Red was not involved with this title, which still opens up the possibility of a new The Witcher mobile game. GWENT: The Witcher Card Game is also available on mobile, but is based on the game of the same name from The Witcher 3.

The are no official mobile games based on Cyberpunk 2077, though looking at some of the cyberpunk-themed mobile games on the app stores shows the influence of the game. This partnership could lead to an official Cyberpunk 2077 mobile game by CD Projekt Red and Scopely, but it remains to be seen.

With numerous popular hit games, adding Pokemon Go to its roster will launch Scopely even further into success. Fans of the game have expressed worry about its future despite how Niantic and Scopely have communicated with fans. Players note Scopely’s treatment of Marvel Strike Force and how the developer implements massive amounts of content behind a paywall.

While the perception of Scopely varies depending on who you ask, CD Projekt Red is generally looked at favorably. Cyberpunk 2077’s launch was met with harsh criticism, but the developer turned this around with updates and patches to bring the game to its current state. Some fans have faith that CD Projekt RED will ensure this partnership doesn’t take advantage of players, but others fear the influence of Scopely.

With no real information to go with this partnership, there is no telling what CD Projekt Red and Scopely will do with this project. There are plenty of options, but fans can most likely expect Scopely to take the lead considering its specialty in mobile games. With various different types of mobile games, Scopely has plenty of elements to choose from for this mystery project.

The post The Witcher & Cyberpunk Owner Announces Project with Scopely appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Solo Leveling just gave fans the fight they’ve been waiting for all along, and it was nothing short of stunning. In fact, the latest episode featuring the battle between Jinwoo and the Ant King has already become one of the top-rated episodes of Season 2 and is breaking all kinds of streaming records on Crunchyroll. Having said that, while Episode 12 no doubt delivered in every possible way in terms of the animation and the action, the anime did leave out one scene from the manhwa, which, though insignificant at first glance, could end up changing a big upcoming reveal in the anime about Jinwoo’s powers.

Season 2, Episode 12 of Solo Leveling cuts out one specific scene from Chapter 101 of the webtoon, wherein, before the Ant King can return from killing Goto Ryuji, Jinwoo uses his shadow extraction powers on the corpses of the dead ants, adding them to his army. In the webtoon and the novel, this whole scenario is also caught on camera and broadcast live to the entire nation. Though minor, this scene effectively sets up the big reveal that Jinwoo has necromancer powers, which, until that point, had been a secret to the rest of the hunters. The larger implications of the anime cutting out this scene are that Jinwoo may not have the shadow ant troops at all unless the scene is somehow added into the final episode during the big reveal when Jinwoo eventually uses his powers on the Ant King, the Queen, and Byung-gu.

[RELATED: Solo Leveling Season 2 Shares New Look At Season Finale]

Solo Leveling’s Anime Cuts Out Jinwoo Turning the Ants Into His Shadow Soldiers

In the webtoon in Chapter 101, Jinwoo’s arrival is caught on camera, and the director of the broadcast channel immediately decides to go live as soon as he arrives on the scene, not caring for the 10-minute delay. Soon after Jinwoo arrives, he deals with a huge chunk of the ants. Iron then taunts the rest of the ants with his skill, and after killing a few more, Jinwoo uses shadow extraction on the dead ants, and it is only then that he gives the S-rank hunters the healing potions and fights the Ant King or Beru. The cameraman clearly catches Jinwoo using shadow extraction on the ants and confusedly remarks on the ants fighting each other when the broadcasting station asks him to explain what is going on and explicitly states the entire country is watching.

The webnovel makes this fact even clearer than the webtoon, with the cameraman describing the ant soldiers as statues of the ant monsters carved out of black dry ice in Chapter 119. Even Baek Yoonho expresses his shock at seeing the new summons, and the webnovel clearly states that it is with these new ant soldiers added to his army that Jinwoo manages to turn the tides against the remaining ants and finally get the situation under control. However, in the anime, Jinwoo does not use shadow extraction on the dead ants at all, dealing with the swarm of ants with his current number of shadow soldiers alone. Instead, Episode 12 sees Jinwoo consider turning the ants into his shadows, but he quickly decides not to do so because too many people are watching. The episode then directly cuts to Beru’s arrival, and this creates two problems for the anime.

Solo Leveling’s Season 2 Finale Has To Fix a Huge Continuity Error

While the fact that Jinwoo can turn the dead into his soldiers is no secret to readers and viewers, the same can hardly be said of the characters within the story. Until the Jeju Ars most of the S-rank hunters did not even know the vast extent of Jinwoo’s summons much less the fact that he was a necromancer. This fact is explored soon after the battle against the Ant King, and though it is kept secret from the public, seeing Jinwoo resurrect the dead ants prefaces this reveal, which is quite the bombshell for the Korean S-rank hunters. While the fact that Jinwoo manages to initially overwhelm the ants with the current size of his shadow army is somewhat justifiable, the anime will inevitably have to add a scene of Jinwoo using shadow extraction on the ants in the finale or risk having a huge continuity error on its hands.

This is because they are an indispensable faction of his shadow army and play a huge role in helping Jinwoo clear the rest of the dungeon break after defeating the Ant King. However, it is unclear when the anime will get the chance to naturally integrate this scene back into the story. It would have to be before Jinwoo uses shadow extraction on the Ant King and the Queen, as the presence of the ant shadows explains why Jinwoo cannot turn the Queen into one of his shadows as well. All that said, while Solo Leveling’s anime has made many changes from the source material and added many original scenes, the absence of this particular moment could have major consequences for the series. This only goes to prove that, though the latest episode was stunning, Season 2 of Solo Leveling does indeed suffer from pacing issues, and hopefully upcoming seasons will find that pacing sweet spot.

Solo Leveling is available on Crunchyroll.

The post Solo Leveling’s Latest Episode Leaves Out One Key Scene appeared first on ComicBook.com.

NOTE: This article was originally published in 2016 as a review and discussion of Batman v Superman’s Ultimate Edition, when it was originally released. The article below remains as originally published.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will never stop being debated. Director Zack Snyder presented us with an event that many had long waited to see (Batman on the movie screen alongside Superman), but he did so according to his own unique vision – for better or worse. Seemingly the latter though, because since Batman v Superman hit theaters, it’s suffered massive criticism for what is supposedly a convoluted and overly grandiose storyline. The home release of Batman v Superman: The Ultimate Edition sparked that debate all over again.

While Batman v Superman’s Ultimate Edition may not fix all of the problems with Batman v Superman‘s story, it does present a much bigger – and yet, more precise – a thematic arc that arguably takes a gimmicky superhero team-up, and elevates into a socio-political metaphor not only fit for the times, but eerily predictive of where things would soon be headed.

Here’s Why Batman v Superman Is Smarter Than You Think.

True Edition

For the purposes of this discussion, we need to be clear: as far as I’m concerned, Batman v Superman: The Ultimate Edition is the only version of the movie worth discussing. Sure, people often try to argue that a “special edition” or “director’s cut” of a film doesn’t constitute the “real” version of the movie; that only the theatrical cut is considered canon. That may be a fair point, but I’m not here to argue canon. In evaluating Batman v Superman‘s merit as smart cinematic work, I need the whole of Snyder and Co.’s vision, and not (as will be discussed later) what Warner Bros. cut together to sell in theaters.

So, from here on out, this discussion will be in reference to Batman v Superman: The Ultimate Edition. If you have not seen that version of the film, and find the theatrical cut to be so unforgivably bad that you can’t give the film a second look, then there’s nothing for us to discuss: you simply dislike this movie.

For those who have seen both versions, or are at least open to another interpretation of the film they saw, let’s break this down.

The American Now

The first thing to realize about Batman v Superman is that it’s not just a comic book movie. This is not just a parable about how Batman and Superman came to respect another after having clashing ideas of what heroism is; that’s certainly part of the story, but it’s not the major thematic subtext which drives it. To understand the thematic narrative of Batman v Superman, one must first look back at Man of Steel.

Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot was met with just as much controversy as Batman v Superman – particularly for its final act, in which the city of Metropolis is decimated in a battle between Superman and the Kryptonian militants led by General Zod. That “Battle of Metropolis” rattled and angered many viewers, who felt that Superman allowing such an excessive level of destruction in Metropolis was both uncharacteristic of his character and in a larger sense, was a cinematic exploitation of Americans’ post-9/11 fears. It was no surprise, then, to learn early on in Batman v Superman‘s development that the film would use the controversy over The Battle of Metropolis as the catalyst for its Batman vs. Superman conflict.

Many fans are able to discern Snyder’s answer to his critics in BvS‘s story, but writer Chris Terrio’s script is woefully underappreciated for how it takes the Battle of Metropolis 9/11 comparisons and extends them into a full-fledged socio-political commentary, as embodied by two of the biggest icons in Americana mythology. It plays like this:

Batman is the right-wing hawk reaction to 9/11. He represents an America that prefers security over civil liberties; the Bush-era mentality of stopping threats pro-actively before they can threaten close to home; He believes in severe (i.e., morally dubious) punishment of criminals; uses military-grade hardware to casually annihilate enemy combatants; and the movie is none to shy about pointing out that Bruce Wayne belongs to the wealthy elite, while The Batman preys on the poor and destitute of Gotham. In short: Batman is the darker and more militant version of America, as scarred by the tragedy of 9/11. He is, as Alfred clearly states, the cruel end result of unchecked rage and feelings of powerlessness (like many felt after 9/11). Batman’s actions – inspired by those feelings – end up starting as misguided a war as… well, you get it.

Superman, on the other hand, isn’t so much a character in the story as he is a symbol – and that symbol is of the more left-wing, liberal American ideal. Superman represents the classic American ideas of hope, justice, and morality for all people; he believes it is his job to police the world and protect the defenseless, no matter their nationality; and in his Clark Kent guise, he spends most of the film trying to defend the civil liberties of the criminal branded by The Batman – a person who, to Clark, represents the poverty and desperation behind Gotham’s criminals, empathy that he faults Batman for not showing to those he punishes so harshly. Clark is also none to shy about pontificating about the role of media and the civil responsibilities of journalists – a far cry from the “bumbling geek” persona of Christopher Reeve, but a clear metaphor.

As the film demonstrates, none of the ideas Batman and Superman represent are infallible. Batman’s rage and need for retribution have him start the wrong kind of war, allowing greater threats to foster. Superman’s actions, though noble in intent, cause political turmoil on a global level; his (excessive?) empathy and concern with maintaining moral high ground in the eyes of the American public, media, and government prevent him from stopping a horrific terrorist attack; and his obsession with judging the other side of the aisle (Batman) stops both him and his political opponent from seeing the true threat facing them both. By the time both parties finally become aware, the situation has grown into a (literal) monster, and it costs the sacrifice of Superman to slay that monster.

In the aftermath, we see a world and a former political rival all transformed by the loss of the noble ideal (Superman), inspired to do better so that the ideal is not truly lost forever. It’s almost eerie how resoundingly accurate a theme it is for the present moment, and that accuracy extends to the much-hated villain in this thematic opera.

Lex Luthor

Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor was one of the most universally criticized parts of Batman v Superman. But while the character is eccentric and downright weird, his role in the thematic narrative is actually pinpoint on the mark.

If Batman and Superman represent the two clashing political ideologies of a post-9/11 America, Lex Luthor is (clearly) the embodiment of the insidious opportunists who exploited (and still exploit) the turmoil of a post-9/11, war-torn world for personal gain. His criminal empire and machinations may seem vague and confusing narratively, but thematically, Lex’s schemes actually invoke references to so many ugly things that have thrived in the post-9/11 world: arms dealing, human trafficking, an unchecked military-industrial complex, political lobbying, bio-weapons development, corporate corruption – the list goes on.

The real point is: Lex is the businessman opportunist shark looking for personal gain by pitting two political ideologies against one another. Reading that back, Terrio and Snyder deserve a crystal ball and a gig as fortune tellers, more so than ridicule, given where American politics has steered us today (I’ll just leave it there…).

On a more personal level, Lex confesses to a childhood of abuse at the hands of his father, an East German man who felt powerless from having to submit to the will of tyrants. For Lex, Superman is a threatening new socio-political paradigm, in which he, Lex (the top 1%), will experience a profound loss of power and control – something that Lex cannot accept. While criticized for its convolution, there is a sort of intelligent real-world parallel to how this bombastic tycoon manipulates events in foreign nations, in the prison system, politics, and stokes the fears of the public.

Sure, Eisenberg arguably may kill a lot of the smart metaphor to his character with an overly eccentric performance, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s an interesting framework the filmmakers have set up – and one that’s deeper than most people give the film credit for. Batman v Superman is in many ways the story of how America has become violently divided in a post-9/11 world, and (at least on paper) Lex Luthor serving as the unseen hand nurturing that division makes sense both thematically and characteristically. As does the turn that unravels Luthor’s carefully guided plan…

The Martha Moment

Given the thematic framework we’ve identified, let’s talk about Batman v Superman’s much-hated, much-debated climactic turn:

When the violent fight erupts between Batman and Superman (those two halves of American political ideology) all sense of reason and communication has been lost. These two men, heroes, each see “the other” as the symbol of something that must be fought: Batman hates the uncontrollable threat that is Superman, while the Ultimate Edition makes it much clearer that Batman is the intolerant bully that Clark/Superman knows all too well (remember Man of Steel?) – a bully that must be stopped by “a fist.” Batman v Superman tried to add an ambitious level of thematic grandeur to its titular battle, and therefore, a great deal hinges on the resolution of that battle.

Everyone who has seen the film knows “The Martha Moment” by now: Batman is about to impale Superman to death with a Kryptonite spear, but is stopped when Superman utters the phrase “You’re letting him kill Martha!” When Lois Lane elaborates that Martha is Superman’s mother’s name, Batman remembers his own mother, Martha Wayne, and he and Superman become instant pals.

Here’s the thing: The Martha Moment isn’t a bad idea within the thematic framework of the story (it’s even kind of clever since a lot of comic book fans probably never connected the thread between Marthas Kent and Wayne). But even though it’s smart in concept, the moment is executed quite poorly, and the whole thematic payoff nearly collapses as a result of that mishandling.

It’s a problem of dialogue, really: Superman saying lines like “You’re letting him kill Martha,” or “Save… Martha…” are so clunky and false, since no son that I know ever refers to his mother in times of desperation by her first name. There’s enough built into the character of Batman (and his thematic symbolism) that a line like “You’re letting him kill my mother,” would have just as much impact, and, more importantly, thematic resonance (Lois Lane could’ve easily supplied the “Martha Kent” name that sealed the connection).

The whole idea of “The Martha Moment” is that there is common ground these two heroes (i.e., warring political ideologies) find, and it’s something personal, not ideological. That’s the entire thematic payoff of the story – the larger takeaway that we, the audience, are supposed to incorporate into our real lives. Yet, because it’s handled in such a clunky manner – with inauthentic dialogue, and Ben Affleck forced into overly-dramatic gravitas (“Why did you say that name!“) – the most important thematic turn in the film falls painfully flat, no matter which version you are watching.

When it comes to writing and dialogue, the devil is truly in the details. With a slight revision, Batman v Superman may have stuck its thematic landing.

Comic Book Roots

Let’s not forget where this all sprung from: right from the start of BvS’ production, director Zack Snyder let it be known that Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns storyline (in which an older Batman comes out of retirement for a more brutal campaign against crime) would be direct inspiration for Batman v Superman. What is once again underestimated is how much of a socio-political commentary Dark Knight Returns was for its time – and just how well Snyder emulates that in his film.

Dark Knight Returns was written in the Cold War mid-80s era of Reganomics, the War on Drugs, and fear of nuclear winter; Miller used constant “cut scenes” of media news segments (the rise of the 24-hour news cycle), as well as personal anecdotes from third-party citizens, which all help to flesh out the character and phenomenon of The Batman.

Obviously, Batman v Superman exists in a much different world than the one Dark Knight Returns was written for, but the Ultimate Edition makes it clear that Snyder attempted to honor the spirit of Miller’s story, with the multiple asides to other characters, anecdotal stories, and media broadcasts – all of which frame the question of who Superman is in today’s world. Miller’s story was also unapologetically political, and Snyder clearly sets up from the beginning of the Ultimate Edition (in a much longer segment of the Lois Lane incident in Africa) that politics are a definite part of his film, as well (hence the aforementioned political metaphors).

This is all to say: Not only is Batman v Superman a generally smarter film than many give it credit for being, it’s also a pretty smart adaptation of one of the most respected Batman stories out there.

Does BvS Deserve Another Chance?

No.

Yeah, it might seem strange that after 2000 words of arguing otherwise, I would arrive at this conclusion. But here we are.

The bottom line is that I do believe Batman v Superman is a much better movie than people are giving it credit for being, but only in terms of its depth and ambition. As I already said, the execution of those ideas wasn’t the strongest, resulting in major issues like The Martha Moment, or the confusing nature of Lex’s plot. And in all this analysis, there still is the glaringly simple fact that the theatrical version of Batman v Superman takes all this depth and ambitious storytelling described above and mangles to high hell until it’s something unrecognizable.

More to the point: it seems as though Warner Bros. trimmed away the very subplots and characters that helped to convey the more politicized thematic message of the film; purposeful reduction so that audiences wouldn’t have to sit through (or think beyond) anything more than a basic superhero team-up story. And for those viewers who won’t even invest in watching the Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition, the film will likely leave a much more negative impression than it would if they engaged with the full version.

Still, for those few of you on the fence (see what metaphor I’m working here?) maybe this will help tip the scales toward getting to watch (or re-watch) Batman v Superman with a new subtext in mind – one that hopefully improves the viewing experience.

…Or just yell at me on Twitter @KofiOutlaw, asking me what I’m thinking and why I even bothered to write this. I know how it goes.

Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League are now streaming on Max.

The post Why Batman v Superman (Ultimate Edition) Is So Much Smarter Than You Think appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Konosuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World! is coming back for a couple of new episodes later this Spring, and now their international streaming platform has been officially announced ahead of their debut this Spring. The new wave of anime hitting for the Spring 2025 anime schedule is fast approaching, and that means there will be a ton of new series vying for fans’ attention over the coming months. But while there will be many new shows that you will want to check out, Konosuba is also coming back for a couple of new episodes that you will want to see in action too.

Konosuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World! Season 3 was one of the shortest seasons in the TV anime series to date, but luckily that’s going to be remedied in April with a new batch of episodes. Titled Konosuba -God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World 3- BONUS STAGE, this is an OVA featuring two brand new episodes that were in development following the end of the third season back in 2024. As announced during Sakura Con 2025, Crunchyroll has confirmed that they will be exclusively streaming the new episodes when they hit next month.

What Is Konosuba -God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World 3- BONUS STAGE?

Konosuba -God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World 3- BONUS STAGE features two brand new episodes that weren’t seen with the original release of the third season last year, and will be streaming with Crunchyroll some time in April as part of their massive slate of new releases for the Spring 2025 anime schedule. While there is no concrete release date as of the time of this publication, Crunchyroll will be streaming these new episodes for fans in North America, Central America, South America, Europe (excluding Spain, Portugal, Dutch-, and Italian-speaking Europe), Oceania, Middle East, North Africa, Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Featuring a returning staff and cast as seen in the third season, Konosuba‘s new episodes are titled “Red Stream Explosion!” and “Beware of Fakes!” according to their original listings in Japan. They have not been available for too long (as they only got a special screening in Japanese theaters earlier this month, and hit home video in April), so this is a rather quick turnaround for these new episodes for their international streaming release. It’s something that Konosuba fans will really want to see when they hit.

RELATED: 10 Best Isekai Anime To Transport Fans To Another World 

What’s Next for Konosuba?

Konosuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World! has been such a success following the third season that it’s already been announced that a new sequel project is now in the works. It’s yet to be announced as to whether this will be a full Season 4 of the TV anime or maybe even a new feature film instead, but it’s an exciting prospect nonetheless as the franchise is set to continue with new releases in the future. It’s just a matter of waiting for updates on when and what to expect from this future.

If you wanted to catch up with Konosuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World! in the meantime, you can now find all three seasons of the TV anime now streaming exclusively with Crunchyroll. If you want even more of the anime, you can also find the special Megumin focused prequel spinoff series, Konosuba: An Explosion of this Wonderful World!, and its feature film release, Konosuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World! Legend of Crimson, streaming with Crunchyroll as well.

Are you excited to watch more Konosuba soon? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments!

The post Konosuba Locks Down Streaming Home for New Spring 2025 Episodes appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Invincible’s third season is one of the best television seasons to arrive in 2025 but this doesn’t make it flawless. Mark Grayson’s fight against the villainous Conquest, his own dark doppelgangers from other dimensions, and even Cecil Stedman were some of the best animated battles of the year. Throughout the many traversals of the Earth-bound hero, there was one major element that took something of a backseat to what was taking place. Nolan Grayson, aka Omni-Man, is still dealing with the weight of what he did in season one for the Viltrumite empire and we wish we had seen more of Nolan’s struggle.

Invincible’s second season featured Omni-Man’s surprise return, as Nolan was featured in multiple episodes with not just his reunion with Mark but also thanks to the new life he made for himself on an alien world. Once captured by the Viltrumite Empire, Nolan finds himself trapped in their grasp alongside the likes of Allen the Alien and Battle Beast. While the trio are able to give viewers quite the adventure as they fought against their captors, it didn’t give us as much time exploring Nolan’s present state of mind as we would have liked. The road to redemption is a long one and Nolan’s character arc is sure to be an interesting one.

[RELATED: Invincible Fans Defend Cecil’s Controversial Season Three Decision]

Gone But Not Forgotten

While Nolan might not have been featured in as many episodes as the first two Invincible seasons, season three did find ingenious ways to have his shadow touch on Mark’s life. Specifically, the villain known as Powerplex, played by Aaron Paul, made his debut, wanting revenge on Invincible for losing family members in Mark’s fight with his father in season one. It was in this episode specifically where Powerplex makes his debut that we are able to see the differences between Mark and Olliver as the brothers look at what their father did very differently.

Since Olliver wasn’t there to see the carnage firsthand, the half-Viltrumite younger brother to Mark wonders why everyone can’t forgive Omni-Man. On the flip side, Mark finds himself still unable to truly forgive his father for the deaths of so many people when he was a loyal subject of the Viltrumites. While never physically returning to Earth, Nolan’s presence is still felt even when the planet is swarmed with evil Mark Graysons.

Just Like The Comics

To be fair, Nolan’s general absence here plays true to the source material, as Omni-Man was able to escape the clutches of his people thanks to an assist from Allen and Battle Beast. Without diving into spoiler territory, Invincible fans should prepare to see a lot more of Nolan in the future, as well as having some big reunions that no one will be prepared for. With creator Robert Kirkman already confirming that the upcoming fourth season will have a brand new storyline that wasn’t a part of the comics, it will be interesting to see if this underworld tale might give Nolan a chance to return that we hadn’t seen in the Image run.

Luckily, fans won’t have to wait as long for Invincible season four as they had in the past with previous seasons. At present, Kirkman is hoping for the animated series to have around eight seasons to follow all the events that took place in the comics, meaning we should expect a lot more Omni-Man and J.K. Simmons’ portrayal of him in the future.

Want to see when Omni-Man will make a comeback? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on Invincible and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

The post Invincible: Here’s the Big Problem With Season 3 appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The only qualification for inclusion was that the character could have only been in a single episode. Given how long South Park has been running, it’s important to specify just what being a one-off character means. In short, it means they only had a speaking part in one episode. If they spoke in one episode and then appeared as a background character in other episodes (e.g., Bridon Gueermo and his parents from Season 12’s “Elementary School Musical”), that still counts as being a one-off character. That means Nurse Gollum, who spoke in both “Conjoined Fetus Lady” and “Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods,” was excluded.

That said, Nurse Gollum (not to mention Starvin’ Marvin) should come back. Like Dr. Mephisto, she was a perfect addition to the classic South Park roster. The only other excluding factor was a celebrity character. Not so much a character played by a celebrity (you’ll find one of those here), but a South Park representation of a celebrity. Apologies, Jeff from Season 7’s “Cancelled.” Anyway, without further ado, here are the one-off South Park characters who need to come back.

Damien from “Damien” (Season 1, Episode 10)

“Damien” may not be in the top five episodes of Season 1, but it’s still pretty fun. Its title character, Damien Thorn of The Omen fame, is also quite a bit more than one might expect. He’s actually a pretty nice kid, just looking for acceptance.

Damien gets a full arc in his Season 1 episode and even returns to Hell, so it makes some sense that he never came back. That is, right up until one realizes that Satan debuted in “Damien” and he’s come back any number of times. The closest Damien has come is a few background appearances (e.g. in “Gnomes,” “Professor Chaos,” “Smug Alert!,” and “ManBearPig”) and a speaking role in the game South Park: The Stick of Truth.

The Book Mobile Driver from “Chickenlover” (Season 2, Episode 4)

Sure, once it’s revealed the Book Mobile driver is actually the Chickenlover, Officer Barbrady gives him a few good cracks on the head with his nightstick. And, sure, he’s seen laying on the ground bleeding out. But he did, in fact, survive.

The only other times the Book Mobile driver has been seen are in a newspaper article in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and as a background character in the South Park Police Station in “Toilet Paper.” It’s a shame because, like many other early season characters, he had his charm (not including his proclivity for making love to chickens, of course). Who says he couldn’t again attempt to get the boys hooked on “the magic of reading?”

Parallel Universe Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny from “Spookyfish” (Season 2, Episode 15)

The parallel universe versions of Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny from “Spookyfish” are just one element that makes the Season 2 episode such a winner. Stan’s A-plot is fantastic, Sharon Marsh’s attempts to cover for Stan are increasingly hilarious, and the pet store owner’s explanation of why he built his shop on a Native American burial ground is one of the best jokes of the season.

Even still, the best part of “Spookyfish” is the “evil” Eric Cartman. It’s so jarring to see a Cartman who isn’t an awful little monster, and it would have been nice to see him again, if only for him to sing the “You Guys Are My Best Friends” song once more. Perhaps even the core four boys could go to the parallel universe and see what that’s like.

Miss Stevens from “Rainforest Shmainforest” (Season 3, Episode 1)

Arguably the biggest guest star South Park ever got, Jennifer Aniston’s presence in the Season 3 opener, “Rainforest Shmainforest,” helps elevate what is otherwise a fairly middling episode. It’s so clear that Aniston is relishing the opportunity to break away from her network television gig on Friends and drop a few F-bombs.

And, now that those F-bombs wouldn’t be bleeped thanks to streaming, why not have her come back in, say, a Paramount+ special? The only location the former activist wouldn’t be is in the Rainforest, begging the question of just what she’s up to these days. Maybe she’s started a new choir to sing about how dumb (in South Park‘s opinion) other narcissistic, ego-inflating causes are.

Sexual Harassment Panda from “Sexual Harassment Panda” (Season 3, Episode 6)

Another very temporary fixture of early South Park, the educational mascot Sexual Harassment Panda, is one of the goofiest characters to date. He’s just such a random figure, one that seemingly exists without a purpose. Even when it comes to educating young people about sexual harassment, he’s awful at it.

He only truly finds purpose in the final moments when he becomes Peetie the Don’t Sue People Panda. But that’s only after he’s gone to the Island of Misfit Mascots. Speaking of that location, Jimmy the Don’t Hold Onto a Large Magnet While Someone Else Uses a Fan Nearby Falcon needs to come back too. His message is just too important to relegate to a single episode.

[RELATED: 10 Most Controversial South Park Episodes]

The Chinpokomon from “Chinpokomon” (Season 3, Episode 11)

Fine, this one’s a bit of a cheat since the Chinpokomon don’t even speak in their eponymous episode, but the fact remains that the Chinpokomon should come back. Chu-Chu Nezumi, Donkeytron, Fatdactyl, Ferasnarf, Furrycat, the Pikachu-like Lambtron, Monkay, Pengin, Pterdaken, Roo-stor, and, of course, Shoe, are all so perfect.

There have been references to the characters here and there, primarily in the video games South Park: The Fractured But Whole and South Park: Snow Day! but for the most part, these little pocket monsters were nowhere to be seen after their Season 3 episode. Even still, for those who played those aforementioned games, they did get to see Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s newest additions to the Chinpoko-line-up, including the cat/snake hybrid Sna-kat, the roided-out rat Roidrat, and the Justin Bieber-reminiscent Biebersaurus.

Mark Cotswolds from “Hooked on Monkey Fonics” (Season 3, Episode 12)

Mark and Rebecca Cotswolds should have come back not so much because they were great characters, but more because their debut episode definitively set them up as new additions to the South Park Elementary school class. Instead, they never spoke again, though Mark was seen in “Professor Chaos,” “The Death Camp of Tolerance,” “Raisins,” “Wing,” “Smug Alert!,” and the first part of the “Imaginationland” trilogy.

The reason Mark is the only Cotswolds sibling listed in the heading is that Rebecca was the final character to be voiced by Mary Kay Bergman, who took her own life shortly after the episode aired. Rebecca was so uniquely voiced that it wouldn’t make sense to recast, nor would it be particularly respectful to Bergman’s memory to bring the character back.

BSM-471 from “Trapper Keeper” (Season 4, Episode 12)

BSM-471 (using the codename Bill Cosby) is a cyborg from the future sent to the modern day to stop Cartman’s Trapper-keeper before it takes over the world. He’s also a pretty terrific reference to The Terminator.

BSM-471 is a true one-off character. He’s never so much as shown his face again. Odd, considering there have been a number of truly bizarre events in the town of South Park that could have used his interference.

Tad Mikowski & Thumper from “Asspen” (Season 6, Episode 2)

In just a single episode, both Tad Mikowski and Thumper the ski instructor became iconic South Park characters. It figures because Season 6’s “Asspen” is an iconic episode. From the numerous (and eventually successful) attempts by the two agents to sell the boys’ parents a timeshare to Ike’s disastrous descent down the mountain, it all works.

It’s that former point that was an in for Tad and Thumper to come back. Sure, South Park wasn’t bound to continuity at that point in the series’ run, but the parents did buy a timeshare, so why couldn’t they have all come back to “Have a good time” and hear Tad belt out another “Stan Darsh” song? That said, both characters were seen in Season Twenty-Two’s “Buddha Box,” with Buddha Boxes on their heads.

Miss Claridge from “Pre-School” (Season 8, Episode 10)

“Pre-School” is an underrated episode of South Park, but it’s also a dark one. Poor Miss Claridge is just a pre-school teacher who is trying to put out a fire set by Trent Boyett, which the core four boys claim they can put out (with their urine). In the process, she is consumed by flame, has the boys urinate on her to try and put her in the fire, and is ultimately left in a full-body electric wheelchair. To speak, there’s one beep to represent “Yes” and two beeps to represent “No.”

It’s not the only suffering Miss Claridge experiences during the episode, for instance, in the final moments when her electric wheelchair is supercharged by a taser gun. It’s all so grimly funny that one just wonders what else Parker and Stone could think up for her. The closest they’ve come to having her reappear is in “The Death of Eric Cartman,” where the title character gives her a gift basket as an apology.

The post South Park: 10 One-Off Characters Who Deserve to Make A Return appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Sanrio fans and cozy gamers alike got a treat with the release of Hello Kitty Island Adventure, which arrived for PC and Nintendo Switch in January. Previously only available on Apple Arcade, this game gives a Hello Kitty spin to the Animal Crossing gameplay vibe. Though many gamers eagerly grabbed the digital version when it first arrived, others have been waiting for a physical release. Now, the physical version of Hello Kitty Island Adventure has finally arrived in stores as of March 25th, but it might not be exactly what fans expected.

Switch gamers who prefer a physical collection can grab the game at their retailer of choice – but only if they’re willing to pay for the Deluxe Edition. As of now, there is no physical release for the standard edition of Hello Kitty Island Adventure. Although Sunblink did make it clear in preorder campaigns that only the Deluxe Edition would be available as a physical release, gamers who didn’t preorder might have missed the fine print. While it may be worth it for dedicated collectors and major Hello Kitty fans, the Deluxe Edition is $20 more expensive. The standard edition of Hello Kitty Island Adventure costs $39.99 from the Nintendo eShop or via Steam. However, the Deluxe Edition retails for $59.99 for both the digital and physical versions.

Although it might be disappointing for fans who didn’t realize they’d only be able to get a physical copy of the Deluxe Edition, many fans are still excited to see Hello Kitty Island Adventure boxes on shelves at retailers like GameStop and Best Buy. It’s always possible that, depending on how well the game does, we could see a physical standard version of the game for Nintendo Switch sometime in the future. For now, though, gamers hoping to add Hello Kitty Island Adventure to their physical game collections will have to decide if the Deluxe Edition is worth that additional $20.

What’s Included in the Deluxe Edition of Hello Kitty Island Adventure

Since the physical release of the game is only available for the Deluxe Edition, let’s cover what it includes to help you decide whether you need to run to your local GameStop. Here are the items included with the Deluxe Edition physical release for Nintendo Switch:

• Physical copy of Hello Kitty Island Adventure Deluxe Edition
• Physical fold-out map of the entire island
• Deluxe Event bundle with 300+ individual items and rewards
• One year of Legacy Event content with clothing and furniture items
• Deluxe Starter Bundle featuring:
  • 10 Friendship Blossoms
  • 3 Friendship Bouquets
  • 10 Island Bouquets
  • 50 Strawberry Crates
• Deluxe Crafting Bundle featuring:
  • 50 Dye of Each Color
  • 100 Sticks
  • 45 Iron Ores
  • 50 Rubber

RELATED: 7 Sanrio Characters We Want in Hello Kitty Island Adventure

Those extra items will certainly come in handy for gamers who know they’re gearing up to sink hours into befriending the Sanrio characters in Hello Kitty Island Adventure. That said, not every cozy gamer is thrilled with the price tag for this game, which comes in at the higher end compared to genre staples like Stardew Valley. Having the physical copy only available in the Deluxe Edition may price out some budget-conscious fans as a result.

Are you planning to get the Hello Kitty Island Adventure Deluxe Edition as a physical copy? Or is it already on the shelf? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Hello Kitty Island Adventure Physical Release Arrives (But There’s a Catch) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

People all over the world have dreamed about reaching the stars, and that dream becomes a reality in ComiXology Originals’ new graphic novel Major Thomás. Major Thomás is a new YA graphic novel that tells the story of a Mexican-American farmworker named Thomás Mùnoz who achieves the once thought impossible task of becoming humanity’s first hyperspace traveler for NASA, and It’s created by an entirely Latino creative team that includes writer Omar Morales, artists Serg Acuña and Mau Mora, colorists Raúl Angulo and Fabi Marques, letterer Taylor Esposito, and graphic designer Gab Contreras. Major Thomás is available now right here, and you can check out an exclusive preview below.

“I created Major Thomás to inspire young brown people from all over the world to reach for their dreams, no matter the obstacles, no matter their circumstances,” says writer Omar Morales. He continued, “The fictional characters in Major Thomás are inspired by real-life Latino heroes, and put into a fun, sci-fi adventure story.”

Major Thomas features a foreword by real-life astronaut José M. Hernández, who was a former migrant farmworker who went to space in 2009. Hernández’ story inspired the Amazo Original Film A Million Miles Away, and reading Major Thomas brought back a number of memories from his unforgettable journey to space.

“Reading about Major Thomás’ adventures on the mysterious planet Wolf 1061C, alongside an unforgettable cast of aliens and robots, brought back memories of my own journey—from migrant farmworker to NASA astronaut. . . For anyone with a dream, this comic is a testament that anything is possible—no matter where you start or how far you have to go.” – Astronaut José M. Hernández

[RELATED: Papercutz’ Hit OGN is Getting a Sequel in Double Booking Vol. 2 (Exclusive)]

Major Thomas is now available from ComiXology Originals, and the release also features an educator’s guide from Creators Assemble. You can check out the official description for Major Thomas below.

“Thomás Mùnoz was born into poverty with one dream—exploring the cosmos as an astronaut with his best friend, Lisa. While Thomás studies and overcomes many of his circumstances to become Major Thomás, a NASA astronaut, he continues to suffer from anxiety and imposter syndrome.

In the near future, the launch clock to all of Thomás’ dreams counts down, but even after years of elite NASA training, he’s still not ready to let go of Earth. When he ends up lost in space he is stranded far away from our solar system and becomes entangled in a savage intergalactic war. Violent reptoids are hell-bent on destroying Thomás, and the robots he befriends, in their quest to control all of the resources in the star system. Throughout the brutal war, Thomás’ mind remains focused on cultural lessons learned from his mother and now-love interest, Lisa, who is back on Earth, working on a rescue plan with NASA. Will Thomás survive both the intergalactic battle and overcome the war raging inside of him?”

Will you be reading Major Thomas? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things comics with me on Bluesky @Knightofoa!

The post ComiXology Originals Soars into Hyperspace with Major Thomás First Look Preview (Exclusive) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

A cult horror classic got sabotaged by its own promotional campaign, according to one of its stars. Amanda Seyfried recently shared her unfiltered thoughts about 2009’s Jennifer’s Body during a GQ video interview, heaping praise on the film itself while pointing fingers at its marketing strategy for its financial shortcomings. The actress, who portrayed Anita “Needy” Lesnicki opposite Megan Fox’s demonic cheerleader Jennifer Check, didn’t mince words about the disconnect between the film’s actual content and how it was presented to audiences. The supernatural teen horror film has experienced a remarkable resurgence in popularity over the past decade, transforming from a commercial disappointment into a celebrated feminist horror milestone. Seyfried’s recent comments highlight the ongoing conversation about how marketing decisions can significantly impact a film’s initial reception and commercial success, especially when dealing with female-led projects that blend genres and challenge conventional storytelling approaches.

“I can’t critique this movie, it’s, to me, a perfect movie,” Seyfried said, before adding, “If the critics criticize anything, it would be the marketing. The marketing sucked. It just did, and we all agree.”

The horror-comedy, written by Oscar-winner Diablo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama, follows best friends Jennifer and Needy as their relationship transforms after Jennifer becomes possessed by a demon with a hunger for teenage boys. Despite its clever script, feminist undertones, and genre-bending elements, the film’s promotional materials primarily focused on Fox’s sex appeal.

“The marketing team cheapened it, like it was just, you know, a romp,” Seyfried explained. “A gory romp. I think they ruined it.” This approach to selling the movie clearly frustrated the creative team, who had crafted something far more substantive than the advertisements suggested.

[RELATED – Diablo Cody Plans to Bring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried Back for Jennifer’s Body Sequel, Prequel or Musical (Exclusive)]

Seyfried isn’t alone in this assessment. Her co-star Adam Brody previously stated to IndieWire that the marketing “couldn’t have missed the mark harder,” criticizing how it downplayed the female-driven creative team to focus on Fox’s appearance. Screenwriter Diablo Cody has also expressed disappointment, noting that because of the marketing, “people wanted to see the movie as a cheap, trashy, exploitative vehicle for the hot girl from Transformers.”

The film underperformed upon release, earning $31.5 million worldwide against a $16-million budget. However, it has since developed a devoted following that appreciates its layered commentary on female friendship, sexuality, and horror tropes.

Despite these initial setbacks, Seyfried remains enthusiastic about the project and even hinted at future possibilities.

“You know, I’m looking forward to the sequel,” she revealed. “They’re working on it. I already said thumbs-up. I was like, ‘Whenever you’re ready, I’m ready.'”

In her GQ interview, Seyfried also expressed admiration for both the film’s writer and director. She described Cody as “outspoken and beautiful and smart and funny,” noting that together they were “expressing a certain angst in a very, very specific comedic way, in a very specific genre.” About Kusama, she stated, “Karyn is a fierce advocate of women in storytelling. She is able to enhance the relationships between women on film and TV.”

When considering the potential sequel, Seyfried acknowledged the narrative challenge created by Jennifer’s fate at the end of the original film. While Fox’s character dies in the climactic confrontation, Seyfried playfully questioned this apparent obstacle, “She’s kind of dead, right? But is she? I don’t think she is.”

The post Amanda Seyfried Thinks Jennifer’s Body Was Perfect (But Marketing Ruined It) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Game Informer has triumphantly returned after being shut down by GameStop last year. While there are a lot of passionate opinions about games media out there, gaming magazines have always been a big soft spot for gamers. Of course, they’ve dwindled in popularity with the rise of the digital age and it has led to the loss of some great magazines. One of the last big gaming magazines left standing was Game Informer, a magazine that was owned by GameStop and was a tremendous source for gaming news, interviews, and opinions. Those who subscribed to GameStop’s rewards program were given subscriptions to the magazine, keeping customers very informed.

Unfortunately, Game Informer was subjected to a lot of struggles over the last half a decade or so. After many rounds of layoffs and troubles, Game Informer was shut down last summer. After 33 years, one of the best sources for gaming content was killed off in the blink of an eye. It was a sad day and meant that fans could no longer to seeing cover stories for their favorite upcoming games like Grand Theft Auto VI. However, Game Informer has managed to resurrect itself and it doesn’t come with any kind of a negative catch, surprisingly!

Game Informer Returns With 100% of Former Staff

Game Informer announced its return on its own website and via a YouTube video. The entire Game Informer team that was at the company when it shut down last year is returning full-time and it’s all happening under a new owner. Gunzilla has acquired Game Informer from GameStop and will give Game Informer total editorial control, meaning there will be no outside influence on what Game Informer produces. Gunzilla is District 9 director Neill Blomkamp’s video game studio which is also responsible for the battle royale game Off the Grid.

“Game Informer now operates under an entity called Game Informer Inc., and our intent is to continue to focus on highlighting the coolest games, celebrating the history and legacy of the gaming industry, and shining a spotlight on the creators and players who are charting its future,” reads a letter from editor-in-chief Matt Miller. “I am deeply grateful for the trust and enthusiasm from the team at Gunzilla Games; they see the same potential in Game Informer as our team does, and their encouragement to do so ethically and free of outside pressure is laudable.”

Game Informer’s website is currently live with content from years past, but also a backlog of content including reviews that writers did after the company initially shut down. Game Informer’s magazine will also return in the coming weeks with Miller noting that they want to make it bigger and better than before. The company will allow readers to support them with membership options, but details will be provided on that at a later date. In essence, Game Informer is back in all its glory. It seems likely we can expect some cover stories for 2025 games in the coming months as they get reacquainted. Given Game Informer has been quietly preparing content for a few months, it’s possible they’ve already secured some future cover stories for this year.

The post Game Informer Returns After Break Up With GameStop appeared first on ComicBook.com.

There have always been a lot of questions about the 73 years of Hunger Games before Katniss and Peeta were selected as District 12’s tributes. Some answers came in the books that followed The Hunger Games, while others arrived in the form of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. One of the biggest mysteries, however, revolved around the 50th Games, when District 12 mentor Haymitch Abernathy emerged as the lone victor. No one was quite sure how Haymitch actually won, but we did know that he has spent 24 years drinking himself away as the result of what he experienced. Thanks to Suzanne Collins’ latest novel, Sunrise on the Reaping, we now know the details of Haymitch’s victory — and what it ultimately cost him.

WARNING: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Sunrise on the Reaping. Continue reading at your own risk…

Haymitch was reaped into the 50th Hunger Games, otherwise known as the Second Quarter Quell, which featured twice as many tributes from each district. 48 kids and teenagers from the districts were put into the arena, making it the deadliest edition of the Hunger Games in Panem’s history. So how did Haymitch manage to survive it?

Well, we discover in Sunrise on the Reaping that Haymitch had an ulterior motive once the gong sounded and his Hunger Games began. Like many others, Haymitch hated the Capitol, and he had no interest in being part of their narrative. So he was approached by people like Beetee and Plutarch who were secretly planning a new rebellion. His objective was to get beneath the arena and use explosives to blow a hole in a massive water tank, flooding the control center and ruining the Games.

Haymitch knew that President Snow had it out for him, and the President had even made a veiled threat that he would harm everyone Haymitch loved if he didn’t die in the arena. So Haymitch planned on helping one of his allies win after completing his task. But pulling off the explosion caused him to spent most of the early part of the Games on his own.

After the explosion, which didn’t do the damage the Rebels had hoped, Haymitch focused on partnering up with Maysilee, his fellow District 12 tribute who because his very close friend. They worked together as end of the Games drew near, but she was killed by mutts while he wasn’t by her side. Another ally, a young girl from District 6 named Wellie, became Haymitch’s protection mission, but she was ruthlessly killed by a career tribute when there were only three people left.

This left Haymitch no choice but to try and win, and he used the arena against the Gamemakers to try and make a show of things. At the edge of the arena, Haymitch found a cliff, and figured out that there was a force field at the bottom that sent objects right back to where they came from. When the Games came down to just two left, a nasty fight left Haymitch mortally wounded, with his intestines starting to fall out of his stomach. He made it to the edge of the arena and simply dodged and ax throw from his opponent, allowing it to go off the cliff and back up into his rival’s face. Both tributes ended the Hunger Games on their death bed, which Haymitch felt was the best conclusion. He used a final explosive to blow up a generator at the bottom of the cliff as an act of defiance as he died.

[RELATED: Ranking the Saddest Deaths in the Hunger Games]

Except, as we already knew, Haymitch didn’t die on that cliff. The Capitol went to great lengths to keep Haymitch alive in the days and weeks following the Hunger Games. Ultimately, that was likely because Snow wanted to punish Haymitch for his rebellious nature. Haymitch was healed and sent home to District 12, where he returned just in time to see his mother and brother die in a house fire (set by Capitol Peacekeepers). The next day, a trick from the Capitol saw Haymitch’s girlfriend, Lenore Dove, die in his arms.

By winning the Hunger Games, and refusing to play by the Capitol’s rules, Haymitch lost everything he loved. That’s what caused Haymitch to be the grumpy, disconnected-from-the-world alcoholic that we met at the start of the original Hunger Games book. He spent 24 years dealing with the loss that he fought to prevent and the horrible things he saw in the arena. He also used all that time to push away anyone and everyone, hoping that President Snow wouldn’t find anyone else to punish for his actions.

Long story short, Haymitch won the Hunger Games by doing everything he could to not win the Hunger Games. His intention was never to win, but to help end the Capitol’s reign of terror against the districts. By doing that, he was essentially turned into an example to anyone else who wanted to defy President Snow.

Sunrise on the Reaping is available to purchase now. Lionsgate has already set the film adaptation for a theatrical release in 2026.

The post Sunrise on the Reaping Finally Reveals How Haymitch Won His Hunger Games appeared first on ComicBook.com.

There are certain quotes from Star Wars that are synonymous with the films. Whether it is Princess Leia’s, “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope,” or Vader’s iconic, “No, I am your father” moment, certain quotes from the series have become significant in pop culture to the point where one cannot say, read, or hear the quote without knowing exactly when it came from. Another of these lines comes from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Upon noticing that the rebels were duped by the Empire, Admiral Ackbar proclaims, “It’s a trap!” The short line has taken on a life of its own, becoming one of the most widely referenced Star Wars moments in the entire nine-movie series.

However, technically, Admiral Ackbar was not actually the first character in the larger Star Wars franchise to say this, chronologically speaking. In Episode 2 of the new Star Wars Rebels podcast, Pod of Rebellion, host Jon Lee Brody pointed out the real origin of the quote.

Ezra Bridger Was a Trendsetter Years Before Return of the Jedi

Pod of Rebellion is a new podcast hosted by Vanessa Marshall (voice of Hera Syndulla), Tiya Sircar (voice of Sabine Wren), Taylor Gray (voice of Ezra Bridger), and Jon Lee Brody. Each episode relates to a specific episode of Star Wars Rebels, with the voice cast sharing some behind-the-scenes stories from their experience making the show. 

[RELATED: Could Andor Season 2 Feature Fan-Favorite Rebels? The Timeline Adds Up]

In the latest episode of Pod of Rebellion, Brody refers to the Rebels episode of the same title and notes, “There’s a line that Ezra has in this when he warns the Ghost crew. He says ‘It’s a trap.’ Now, that line in particular is associated with Admiral Ackbar, of course, in Return of the Jedi, even though I believe Princess Leia also said it I think two or three times in [Star Wars:] The Empire Strikes Back. But canonically speaking, in the sequential order of things, technically Ezra Bridger said, ‘It’s a trap,’ first, before Leia or Admiral Ackbar.”

In “Spark of Rebellion: Pt. 2” — the second episode of the first season of Star Wars Rebels — the Ghost crew learns about an Imperial ship carrying Wookiee prisoners who were to be sold into slavery. Some of these captives even served in the Clone Wars, which is a soft spot for Kanan, as he too fought in the Clone Wars as a young padawan. Kanan devises a plan to infiltrate the Imperial ship with Sabine and Zeb and free the Wookiees. However, the plan goes awry when Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) agent Alexsandr Kallus and his patrol of stormtroopers appear and board the ship as well. As Kallus is on a mission to capture the rebels, his presence there is not a coincidence at all.

When Hera and Ezra — waiting aboard the Ghost to provide escape — see Kallus’ ship, they have to take quick action to warn their friends. Ezra takes it upon himself to board the Imperial ship, locate his crewmates, and tell them of Kallus’s well-laid plan.

“It’s a trap! We gotta get out of here. It’s a trap! […] It’s not an op, it’s a trap!” Ezra yells, just in time to stop Kanan and Zeb from running into a group of stormtroopers. 

As if Ezra Bridger wasn’t already one of the most important Jedi in the Star Wars universe, he now has the honor of originating a classic quote — three times, in fact — years before Admiral Ackbar.

Taylor Gray, the actor who portrayed Ezra in Rebels, discussed the moment on Pod of Rebellion and jokingly called on Ashley Eckstein — voice of Ahsoka Tano — to put the phrase “Ezra did it first” on a shirt. Eckstein is the founder of the fashion company Her Universe, which is known for its Star Wars collections. Her Universe already has a few Ezra-inspired pieces, but “Ezra did it first” would certainly be a fun addition to the catalog. 

You can listen to Pod of Rebellion anywhere you stream your podcasts. New episodes are released every Tuesday.

The post Everything You Know About This Iconic Star Wars Line Is Wrong appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Normally, the announcement of a new Pokemon TCG set like Destined Rivals would be a cause for celebration, but scalpers have once again made it impossible for true fans to enjoy the hobby. With pre-orders going up, fans are already seeing that Destined Rivals cards are selling out, or they’re having to wait in extremely long queues just for a chance to get these cards. This isn’t the first time a new Pokemon TCG set has been plagued by this issue, and it almost always is due to scalpers buying up stock to resell at ridiculously marked-up prices. Fans are tired of this practice, and many are leaving Pokemon TCG altogether.

Pokemon TCG’s Destined Rivals set is already being bought out by scalpers and it is just one of many sets that have been targeted by resellers. Fans are hopeful that The Pokemon Company will have a restock before the official May 30th release date, but others are giving up on Pokemon TCG instead.

RELATED: Pokemon TCG to Release Must-Have Team Rocket Merch

The Destined Rivals set for Pokemon TCG features numerous cards and a focus on Team Rocket. While fans were excited for Team Rocket’s return in force, they will likely face issues trying to get the set due to scalpers and their practices.

The Pokemon Company has been trying to cut down on scalping with various techniques, one of which being the Pokemon TCG vending machines. These have seen limited success, and the scalping Pokemon card practice remains high.

Some fans are giving up, while others are hopeful that scalping will die down in a few years when the appeal is gone. Pokemon TCG players have pointed out that scalpers typically come in when popularity is high and get out when interest dies down. However, with Pokemon TCG’s popularity among the highest it has ever been, it seems scalpers may be around for a while.

The Pokemon Company offers Pokemon TCG Pocket as an alternative, but while it has the focus of Pokemon TCG, it plays differently and doesn’t have the physical aspect that makes Pokemon TCG such a popular hobby. Still, it is a way for players to connect and play the game they love. The mobile game has caused an increase in Pokemon TCG interest, but this has also seen scalping get worse.

Pokemon TCG’s future remains to be seen, but scalping has certainly made it hard to get into the hobby, at least if you want to get new sets. The Pokemon Company is continuing to battle scalpers, but only time will tell if its practices work and prevent scalpers from being able to buy out new Pokemon TCG sets.

The post Pokemon TCG’s Scalping Problem Has Players Ready to Quit the Hobby appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Shinichirō Watanabe, the famed director of Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and Space Dandy, is about to release his next project, Lazarus, for Adult Swim’s Toonami. The beloved director has made a career in making some of the most stylish anime in the market, earning renown from across the world for his influences and musical taste. While Cowboy Bebop was Watanabe’s first overseas sensation, the animator’s first major work as a lead director was for an entry in a prestige mecha franchise. His work in this entry for this prestige mecha series firmly established his early style and opened doors for him, which led him to work on Cowboy Bebop.

Watanabe made his directorial debut with the Macross Plus OVA series as part of the greater Macross franchise. Macross Plus was the first major follow-up to the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross, excluding the OVA Flash Back 2012 and the much-maligned Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again six-episode OVA series. Plus served to wipe the slate clean for the Macross franchise, giving the franchise a new shot in the arm. Even though Watanabe was a hired hand for the project, Macross Plus featured many stylistic choices that informed Watanabe’s sensibilities as a director, showing off his interests in Western culture and music.

Where Macross Plus Lands in the Franchise’s Timeline

Macross Plus came about at a weird time in the Macross franchise. Although Flash Back 2012 was done under the supervision of the same team that worked on the original Macross show, Macross II was produced without any influence from the original creators. Furthermore, it is the only show in the franchise without any input from the brand’s lead creator, Shoji Kawamori. Macross II left a sour taste in fans and creators’ mouths, and, even though it has developed a small fan following, the original creators decided to start fresh with Macross Plus.

Macross Plus appears to be more of Kawamori’s project than Shinichirō Watanabe’s. Kawamori overseas most of the Macross shows, often serving as either the lead director, writer, designer, story idea, or all of the above. He was the acting co-director of Macross Plus alongside Watanabe. The OVA presents multiple story ideas and aesthetics common in Kawamori’s work, including love triangles, musical concert set pieces, and using music in a sincere form to bring people closer together. The Plus OVA is more serious than other Macross projects, lacking the goofy yet genuine charm shown previously in the franchise. There’s even a serious plot point of sexual assault that doesn’t feel like the other Macross shows would even dare touch at that point. Macross Plus is the franchise’s coming-of-age story, moving into more mature and cerebral storylines. It’s possible the more serious tone in Plus was Watanabe’s influence, as the next entry, Macross 7, returns the series to its more campy tone.

[RELATED – Macross Is Already Huge but Falls Short of Gundam for One Simple Reason]

Macross Plus Reveals Shinichirō Watanabe’s Love of Music and Western Media

Despite Macross always being entwined with Kawamori’s involvement, Macross Plus features plenty of choices that become hallmarks of Shinichirō Watanabe’s future work. Watanabe is infamous for how much music and Western media influence his projects, with Cowboy Bebop being particularly famous for how it infuses jazz with typical anime aesthetics. Macross, from its inception, has always been about music, with songs often presented as the ultimate form of artful expression that can bridge people together.

Macross Plus’s plot centers on an AI songstress, Sharon Apple, with many standout moments taking place in a concert. The climax of the series hinges on the intimacy of music between the two main love interests. While music saving the day is a typical Macross cliche, it’s also very in line with how Watanabe presents the medium in his other anime. Watanabe’s Carole & Tuesday is all about the importance of music, starring teenage girls pursuing a musical career on Mars. The emotional hook of Carole & Tuesday is about using music as a valid artistic expression, not too dissimilar to the themes and messaging presented in Macross. Macross Plus would also be the first time Watanabe would work with Yoko Kanno, who later collaborated with him on Cowboy Bebop and Terror in Resonance. Kanno was responsible for many of the jazz pieces presented in Cowboy Bebop, establishing that show’s unique style.

Watanabe is also known for his obvious influence from Western films and media, with Cowboy Bebop taking clear inspiration from the noir and gangster films from classic cinema. Macross Plus takes direct influence from Top Gun, with the two lead male protagonists being test pilots for a military-sponsored jet program. The two leads are lifelong friends and rivals, and most of the OVA’s runtime is them competing in aircraft tests. The main protagonist, Isamu Alva Dyson, is a loose cannon who feels akin to Tom Cruise’s Maverick in Top Gun. Proceeding Macross shows would put more emphasis on the pop idol aspect of the franchise, whereas Macross Plus still seems more like a jet/mecha series centering on men who want to prove their masculinity, possibly because of Top Gun‘s influence. The OVA is one “Danger Zone” away from being an unofficial sci-fi Top Gun sequel.

With Macross Plus and the rest of the franchise now available on streaming across the globe for the first time, people are experiencing one of Shinichirō Watanabe’s earliest directorial works. After Plus, Watanabe’s next work would be Cowboy Bebop, cementing him as one of the most influential anime directors of the ’90s and 2000s. Despite Macross Plus following the blueprint established by co-director Shoji Kawamori’s other work, the OVA still feels unmistakably Watanabe.

The post Cowboy Bebop & Its Director’s Surprising Legendary Mecha Anime Origins appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Pokemon fans are no strangers to struggling to get ahold of their TCG with the recent shortages for Scarlet & Violet sets. However, it looks like the Digimon Card Game might soon join in the struggle, as Bandai Namco reports increased demand for the latest Digimon TCG release. Though less well-known in the States, the Digimon Card Game is growing in popularity. Now, with its own mobile app on the way and physical cards from competitors impossible to come by, the latest Digimon Card Game release proves this TCG may be having its moment.

The Digimon TCG was reborn in 2020 with an all-new reboot, replacing the former card game for the series. Despite interest from dedicated Digimon fans, this TCG has been harder to come by in stores compared with other TCG like Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh! That said, Bandai continues to release new sets and update the rules with relative frequency, and the game continues to grow as a result. The game has a fairly active subreddit, and, as the most recent release proves, a growing fanbase that’s eager to snap up exciting new card releases as they arrive. As more Pokemon fans grow frustrated with scalpers making it nearly impossible to actually collect new sets, it’s possible that some disgruntled fans might swap to the digital monsters.

So far, Bandai’s approach to unexpected demand looks like another upside for the Digimon Card Game. The official English language account for the Digimon Card Game, @digimon_tcg-EN, recently shared an update about the overwhelming demand for its latest new release. The item in question is the Digimon Card Game Tamer’s Evolution Box – Rise of Digimon, which is set to release in December. Preorders have officially reopened via the Premium Bandai website on March 20th and will be available until April 30th, giving fans more time to buy.

What’s Included in the Digimon Card Game Tamer’s Evolution Box – Rise of Digimon

If you haven’t yet ordered the Tamer’s Evolution Box, let’s cover what’s included so you can make your decision. The set is part of the game’s 5-year anniversary celebration and brings together cards from several previous sets, along with brand-new designs to commemorate the Worldwide Unification of the game. A collector’s item this big doesn’t come cheap, and the market price for the Tamer’s Evolution Box is set at $200 USD. The box does, however, come with quite a few perks to make it worth your while.

RELATED: 5 Best TCG Mobile Games (Besides Pokemon TCG Pocket)

Here’s a look at everything included in this massive Digimon Card Game box:

• 12 Special Cards featuring new designs for Ultra Digimon like Omnimon, ShadowSeraphimon, and more
• A faux leather Digimon-embossed storage box that fits 1000 cards
• Special playmat featuring Digimon Card Game cards and an Omnimon design
• 50 card sleeves with the “courage to move forward” theme
• 5 card sleeves with the Omnimon design motif
• 4 special counter markers with Digimon pixel art

For players who want to start their Digimon Card Game collection off strong or who have already fallen in love with this TCG, this box features some unique items never before released for the 2020 Digimon Card Game reboot. And thanks to the re-opened preorders, you can snag one for yourself from now until April 30th at the Bandai website or check in with your local card shop.

Have you started your Digimon Card Game collection yet? Let us know your favorite cards in the comments below!

The post New Digimon Release Re-Opens Pre-Orders “Due to High Demand” appeared first on ComicBook.com.

After numerous delays, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is finally giving fans a release date window later in 2025. Many had begun to give up hope after it seemed the game was stuck in development hell. Marco Behrmann, the Executive Vice President of World of Darkness, has now sat down to deliver this news to fans, revealing Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is finished and the team is focusing on fixing and polishing the game.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is targeting an October 2025 release, which is fitting considering the theme of the game. This release window was announced in a game update video, which showcased a brief glimpse of gameplay, expanding on the previous gameplay seen during a developer diary.

While many are excited at an actual Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 release window, an almost equal number are reluctant to take this at face value. In all fairness, the title has seen delay after delay and even a development reboot. The last known release date for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 was the first half of 2025, but this has been pushed back to the second half.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 takes place in modern-day Seattle during a power vacuum in the vampire court. Players will take on the role of a recently awakened Elder Vampire thrust into the midst of this potential war. Players must navigate this situation while also maintaining the accords and laws of the Masquerade. Breaking these not only alerts humanity to your presence, but causes consequences from the other Vampires.

Unlike the previous Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, players will play a predefined character instead of the customizable character seen in the first game. However, this is more in line with Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption, in which players followed a story with Christof Romuald.

RELATED: Latest Dev Diary For Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Features Insights Into Bringing Concepts To Life

It remains to be seen whether The Chinese Room and Paradox Interactive stick to this October 2025 release date. If what Behrmann says is true, development is finished and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 simply needs to be touched up to the developer’s standards.

The Vampire: The Masquerade IP is a popular one, featuring an in-depth world controlled largely by different clans of Vampires. With multiple video games, graphic novels, books, and, of course, the tabletop role-playing game, there are numerous ways to enjoy the franchise.

The post Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Finally Receives a Release Window appeared first on ComicBook.com.

When Pokemon Legends: Z-A releases later this year, the game will see the return of the Mega Evolution mechanic. While Mega Evolution is very popular among fans of the series, we haven’t seen any new ones in more than a decade. That sounds like it will be changing later this year. According to recent leaks, 27 new Mega Evolutions will be introduced in Pokemon Legends: Z-A. While actual designs have not leaked just yet, we’re starting to hear about several Pokemon that will be getting Mega Evolutions in the new game. The following have been named thus far:

• Barbaracle
• Chandelure
• Chesnaught
• Clefable
• Delphox
• Dragalge
• Dragonite
• Drampa
• Emboar
• Excadrill
• Falinks
• Feraligatr
• Floette
• Froslass
• Greninja
• Hawlucha
• Meganium
• Pyroar
• Scolipede
• Scrafty
• Skarmory
• Starmie
• Victreebel
• Zeraora
• Zygarde

These leaks are coming from Centro Leaks, Universo Nintendo, and other sources online. As with any leak, readers are advised to take all of this information with a huge grain of salt. It’s possible that all of these leaks are accurate, or that just some of them are. There’s simply no way of knowing for sure, and until we get some kind of confirmation from The Pokemon Company, fans will just have to wait patiently. With any new Pokemon release, there’s always going to be a lot of misinformation that spreads, so readers should keep that in mind. That said, there are some picks that would certainly make sense, most notably Meganium, Emboar, and Feraligatr, as those are the final evolutions of the 3 starters that will appear in Pokemon Legends: Z-A.

As of this writing, Pokemon Legends: Z-A does not have a set release date. The Pokemon Company has confirmed that the game will arrive in “late 2025,” which probably suggests a launch in the month of November, based on what we’ve seen from past games in the series. Regardless, the hype cycle should ramp up within the next few months. That typically means a closer look at gameplay, as well as a glimpse at new Pokemon. If the game really is adding 27 new Mega Evolutions, we might start to see some of the designs revealed ahead of time, either through in-game models or finished art. There’s a lot of anticipation surrounding Pokemon Legends: Z-A, and a slow drip of Mega Evolution designs would be a smart way to build hype around the game.

RELATED: Pokemon Legends: Z-A Has a Chance to End the Nintendo Switch Era on a High Note

At this time of writing, there are 48 total Pokemon Mega Evolutions. While existing Mega Evolutions have appeared in multiple games since, the last time The Pokemon Company actually added to that number was in Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire back in 2014. New Mega Evolutions have been long overdue, and the fan community is pretty excited to see them finally make their return to the franchise. Hopefully the wait will prove worth it!

How do you feel about this list of new Pokemon Mega Evolutions? Do you believe that we’ll see these all in the finished game? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

The post Pokemon Legends: Z-A: Every New Mega Evolution Leaked So Far appeared first on ComicBook.com.

There are few names more iconic in the realm of horror than George A. Romero and John Carpenter, and it will be Carpenter bringing Romero’s famous lost film to life in The Amusement Park Graphic Novel. Storm King Comics has teamed up with Carpenter, writer Jeff Whitehead, and illustrator Ryan Carr to bring the film to life in a brand new format, and we’ve got your exclusive first look ahead of the graphic novel’s June 10th release.

The Amusement Park was thought to be lost for quite some time, but The George A. Romero Foundation restored the film in one of its first projects. The Amusement Park takes aim at ageism and society’s treatment of the elderly, all through Romero’s trademark horror lens, and Whitehead and Carr knew this would be a perfect fit for the graphic novel format. That’s when Sandy King’s Storm King Comics entered the picture, and now the graphic novel is finally becoming a reality.

“George A. Romero’s films are legendary. They already were legendary when I was just a student, and The Amusement Park has a fascinating history. This is a project that’s so important to his legacy as a filmmaker, so I’m glad to lend my name to it,” said John Carpenter.

“John and George often talked about ways they might collaborate, and this project felt like a fantastic opportunity,” King explained. “We’re really happy to come together for this project, which represents George Romero’s vision through and through, filtered through the artistic lens of Ryan and Jeff.”

[RELATED: Hellboy Meets Something is Killing the Children in Mad Cave’s Underworld Crossover Endless Night (Exclusive)]

“The Amusement Park holds a special place in George’s body of work because it tackles such a deeply human issue—ageism—through the lens of horror. Adapting it into a graphic novel allows us to bring his unique vision to a whole new audience. We are thrilled to collaborate with John Carpenter and Storm King Comics on this project, which honors George’s legacy in such a meaningful way,” said Suzanne Desrocher-Romero, founder and president of The GARF.

John Carpenter Presents George A. Romero’s The Amusement Park will land in comic stores on June 10th, and you can find the official description below.

“In John Carpenter Presents George A. Romero’s THE AMUSEMENT PARK, an
impatient businessman in his 20s meets an elderly man who spins a fantastic tale about a long-gone amusement park. As the conversation continues, the younger man is disturbed to learn the story of an elderly man eager to recapture the memories of youth. Instead of pleasant memories, however, this trip to the amusement park becomes a surreal microcosm of aging and its inherent challenges as bodies and minds begin to break down.

The old man finds himself abused, pushed into a horrifying series of attractions that mimic the later stages of life. Increasingly battered both mentally and physically, the man realizes he is trapped in a loop, force to relive the harrowing experience over and over. And the young man, William Lincoln, soon discovers that he and the old man have much more in common than they suspect.”

Are you excited to see The Amusement Park get the graphic novel treatment? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things comics with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!

The post Storm King Reveals First Look Preview of George A. Romero’s Lost Film Graphic Novel The Amusement Park (Exclusive) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Next month, the Gundam universe will expand with an anime series that is nearly impossible to pronounce. Created by the man responsible for Neon Genesis Evangelion, Hideaki Anno, the television series will introduce a wild new chapter to the Bandai Namco franchise. Anime fans who were willing to hit the theaters to check out the new chapter in the mech series have helped the compilation movie hit some major heights. As the theatrical run approaches its conclusion, GQuuuuuuX was able to hit one more milestone which is a good sign for those hoping for this to be the next big thing in the anime universe.

Unsurprisingly, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX didn’t make the top ten box office in Japan for its tenth weekend, as the television premiere preps to make landfall. As of the writing of this article, the compilation film has sold over 2 million tickets in Japan, scoring a box office tally of close to $22 million USD. While the movie only cleared a little over $1 million USD in North America, it goes to show how even a compilation can be a big draw at the box office. Of course, GQuuuuuuX wasn’t the only anime movie that was a hit in theaters this past weekend.

[RELATED: Major Mobile Suit Gundam Series Enters Its Final Arc]

Japan’s Big Anime Weekend

While the new Gundam film might not have made the top ten for its tenth weekend, the anime medium had some major top spots at the Japanese box office. In its third weekend, Doraemon The Movie: Nobita’s Art World Tales once again took the top spot, earning around $2.3 million USD. The future feline film was then followed by films from North America in Wicked and Snow White, newly released in Japan. Hanging in there, the rap battle anime movie, Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle- remained in the top ten in its fifth weekend on the silver screen. Some of these films might not receive a theatrical run in the West like Gundam but we imagine that they will make their way to North America in some form or fashion.

GQuuuuuuX’s Big Twist

At this point, following the long theatrical run and the promotional material released, the latest Gundam’s secret plot is one that might turn a few heads. Rather than introducing anime fans to an entirely new universe, Anno’s new series instead introduces a world that sees the Principality of Zeon winning the original war that started the franchise. While the series mostly focuses on a new cast of characters who are dragged into some serious mech battles, familiar faces are sure to be featured in the alternate reality anime.

Want to see how high Gundam’s latest series will soar? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on the Mobile Suit franchise and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

Via Kogyotsushin

The post Gundam GQuuuuuuX Hits Another Major Milestone As Theatrical Run Nears Its End appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Bully has gotten a surprising new update on select platforms almost 20 years after its initial release. Rockstar Games is one of the most prolific developers out there, best known for Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption. The studio is responsible for crafting rich open worlds that let you live out your wildest fantasies and pull off insane things via their sandbox worlds. Despite being best known for their big, open-world blockbuster, Rockstar has also carefully curated a portfolio of some “smaller” scale games like Max Payne 3, LA Noire, and Bully. The latter title is a game that is held highly among Rockstar fans and led to demands for a sequel since its release.

While Rockstar Games was reportedly working on Bully 2 in the 2010s, it was ultimately shelved in favor of Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA Online. It’s a bit of a bummer and it’s unclear if a sequel will ever happen now that there’s been so much distance from the first game. Rockstar obviously has its hands full with GTA 6, but Bully 2 would be a perfect follow-up after that as it wouldn’t be as big of a game in terms of scope and scale. However, a lot of people who were responsible for Bully no longer work at Rockstar, so it’s unclear how much love the current regime has for that series.

Nevertheless, Rockstar Games hasn’t exactly forgotten that Bully exists. Last year, Rockstar added Bully to its GTA+ subscription service. On top of that, a brand new update for Bully: Anniversary Edition has been released and given the game’s age and lack of recent support, it’s a pretty sizable update. This update only pertains to the iOS and Android version of the game, so console and PC players shouldn’t get too excited. The update fixes a lot of different issues plaguing the mobile port of Bully, adds new features like haptic feedback, and more. It also sounds like this won’t be the last update as Rockstar’s patch notes state that the developer is investigating some other issues with the game. You can view the patch notes below.

Bully: Anniversary Edition iOS and Android Patch Notes

General

• Disabled Friends Challenges while we investigate related game issues
• Enabled Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) on supported Android devices
• Updated the app icon on Android
• Implemented haptic feedback on iOS and Android

This update includes fixes to improve game stability on 64-bit mobile operating systems and supported devices.

Content

• Fixed an issue that resulted in a race condition during the Mission ‘That Bitch’ making Mandy’s locker unpickable
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the Mission ‘Weed Killer’ not progressing if the window is destroyed before passing through progress point
• Fixed an issue with both fighters at the Freak Show dying at the same time resulting in the game getting stuck on a black screen
• Fixed multiple issues that resulted in AI not attacking Jimmy when in combat
• Fixed an issue in the Mission ‘The Rumble’ that resulted in police cars falling through the floor during the police chase
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the broom being unbreakable with the brick or slingshot to open the door in the ‘Help Gary’ Mission
• Fixed an issue in the Mission ‘Save Algie’ that resulted in a crash after taking Algernon to his locker
• Fixed an issue in the Mission ‘Prep Challenge’ that resulted in Rivals not attacking or defending
• Fixed an issue in the Mission ‘The Tenements’ that resulted in Norton not attacking Jimmy
• Fixed an issue in the Missions ‘The Rumble’ and ‘Fighting Johnny Vincent’ that resulted in the police car not spawning in and gameplay not progressing during the chase sequence
• Fixed an issue that resulted in heap overflow in the Mission ‘Nutcrackin’’
• Fixed an issue when throwing toilet paper over the cubicle during the errand that resulted in a crash
• Fixed an issue that resulted in rendering issues during dodgeball gym class
• Fixed multiple issues that resulted in crashes during minigames
• Fixed an issue that resulted in weapons being incorrectly removed
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash due to a problem with vehicle controls
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a framerate drop because of particles generated from car collisions

Game Stability and Performance

• Fixed a race condition that resulted in a crash when starting a new game
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash when manually loading a save from the pause menu
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash when uploading cloud saves
• Fixed an issue that resulted in downloads getting stuck on Android due to Play Asset Delivery
• Fixed multiple issues affecting touch controls and Bluetooth controllers
• Fixed an issue that resulted in footsteps playing the wrong effect sound
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash when attempting to play a speech event
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash when deleting a 2D effect
• Fixed an issue that resulted a black screen during camera transitions
• Fixed an issue with in-game fires that resulted in the game crashing
• Fixed an issue that resulted in camera transitions completing before the world is fully loaded and ready to render
• Fixed an issue that resulted in motion rendering on Mali GPUs causing weapon effects, window glows, graffiti tags, and health bars to invert when a weapon was fired
• Fixed an issue that resulted in snow mound model ignoring Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO)
• Fixed an issue that resulted in incorrect texture compression extension detection on Adreno GPUs
• Fixed an issue that resulted in shadows rendering incorrectly on Adreno GPUs
• Fixed an issue that resulted in memory allocation not aligning on 64-bit CPUs
• Fixed multiple issues that resulted in crashes when objects were accessed before being initialized
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash during OpenGL texture upload
• Fixed an issue that resulted in several crashes due to compiler optimizations of older code
• Fixed an issue that resulted in performance being affected across all supported devices and enabled multicore rendering
• Fixed an issue that resulted in calculations in geography class placing flags in the wrong position
• Fixed an issue with sound coordinate calculations that resulted in floating point errors
• Fixed an issue with memory management code that resulted in crashes
• Fixed multiple issues that resulted in file handle leaks
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash when the game was attempting to delete a persistent entity incorrectly
• Fixed an issue in join constraint code that resulted in a crash
• Reduced the system load of the audio and asset streaming
• Fixed multiple typecasting errors that resulted in crashes
• Fixed several out of bounds issues

The post Bully Gets Surprising New Update Nearly 20 Years After Release appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Despite some initial concerns about some content, Assassin’s Creed Shadows has surpassed expectations with a truly impressive launch. The game has already surpassed almost every other entry in the series in terms of revenue, making it Ubisoft’s biggest day-one launch in the PlayStation store. Less than a week after release, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is getting its first hotfix with updates to help ensure players have the best experience possible as they dive into the latest entry in this iconic franchise. Hotfix #1 for Assassin’s Creed Shadows launches on all platforms today, March 25th, with bug fixes and improvements.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is available on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PC, and Mac. The hotfix update should be live on all platforms as of 2 p.m. ET on March 25th. This is a smaller fix aimed at fixing a few major bugs and improving stabilization for the game in general. Though it may be small, this first title update shows that Ubisoft is listening to player bug reports and acting on them. The main highlight here is that the patch fixes global issues with stabilization, which should improve gameplay across all platforms. There are also a few platform-specific fixes that should cut down on crashes as reported by players.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Update 1.0.1 Patch Notes

For a full look at the download size for today’s update and the hotfix patch notes, see the original notes from the developer below:

Patch Sizes

• Xbox Series X|S: 8.88 GB  
• PlayStation 5: 1.41 GB 
• PC: 7.03 GB 
• MAC: 9 GB 

Bug Fixes & Improvements 

• Stabilization – Fixed some global issues 
• [PS5] Fixed a Photo mode issue that could cause a crash when fetching photos to display on the world map. 
• [PC] Fixed a Photo mode issue that could cause a crash when taking a photo. 

The issues addressed were reported to the developer via the bug reporter. So, if you encounter any additional bugs or crashes while playing Assassin’s Creed Shadows, this is likely the best place to share your concerns so they can be addressed in a future update.

This hotfix is the first post-launch update to receive official patch notes from Ubisoft, though the game did receive a day-one patch to address some concerns about gameplay in real-world temples and shrines. That update primarily adjusted what players could do in certain sacred sites, including removing the ability to destroy large items and attack unarmed civilians. Given the sales success of the game so far, it’s likely we’ll see additional updates for Assassin’s Creed Shadows soon enough.

Have you had a chance to play Assassin’s Creed Shadows yet? Let us know how it’s going in the comments below!

The post Assassin’s Creed Shadows Patch Notes Revealed for First Title Update appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Battlestar Galactica reboot seems to be on hold indefinitely at the time of this writing, though we know it was still in the works at least as recently as July of 2024. With the project seemingly on hold, some of the details on it have started to come out — including a big revelation from one of the previous stars, Tricia Helfer last week. During a discussion on the Sackhoff Show podcast, Helfer revealed that the original series creator, Ron Moore, had set one major rule on the potential remake — it could not portray the Cylons as humanoid life. This would have been a major limitation on the series, but it also would have called back to the original series, and vindicated some of its ideas with new special effects technology.

Helfer joined her former Battlestar Galactica co-star Katee Sackhoff on her podcast last week, along with Sackhoff’s co-host Jeff Porter. Sackhoff had just interviewed Moore the previous week, and was eager to continue discussing Battlestar with a fellow veteran of the franchise. Porter observed that Moore was relatively laid back about the idea of another reboot — not interested in participating, but not opposed to its existence. However, he remembered a previous conversation where Helfer alluded to more negotiations between Moore and Sam Esmail, the producer behind this planned reboot.

He was referencing Battlestar Galacticast, Helfer’s show which has been on hiatus since 2020, when she last interviewed Moore. She couldn’t recall direct quotes from the time, but agreed that Moore had been generally unbothered by the existence of another reboot — especially if it were handled by Esmail. “He had told me — it couldn’t be on the record at the time that I had taped my podcast, so I don’t know if I can say it now — but he had told me he had one stipulation,” she recalled. “He was basically like, ‘ Do what you want to do, but here’s the stipulation that you can’t have.'”

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Noting that Esmail’s reboot seems to be stalled, Helfer grew conspiratorial. “It’s dead in the water at least for now. Maybe I can say it, then? Should I say it?” she said excitedly. With some encouragement, she went on, “What he told me at the time was that he said they couldn’t have humanoid Cylons. They couldn’t have the human-looking Cylons.”

As they marveled at how big of a change this would be, Helfer added that she believed Esmail had originally planned to make his Cylons look human until Moore had asked him not to. However, the trio saw some merit in this idea and how it would change the course of the story.

The original 1978 Battlestar Galactica revolved around human colonies in a distant galaxy, fighting an endless war against robots called Cylons. In that version, the Cylons were created by an enemy alien race that had long since gone extinct. However, in Moore’s reboot continuity beginning in 2000, the Cylons were created by humanity themselves as servants. They gradually evolved to greater intelligence and sentience, while incorporating biological components into their designs. By the time the story started, the Cylons were generally indistinguishable from humans.

It’s disappointing to hear Sackhoff, Helfer, and Porter agree that the reboot series doesn’t seem to be moving forward, especially with this tantalizing hint at how it could have reimagined the original series’ premise. However, the rights to the franchise are still out there and could be scooped up at any time for another journey into deep space. In the meantime, Moore’s Battlestar Galactica is streaming now on Prime Video, while the original series and a number of spinoff titles are available to rent or purchase on PVOD stores.

The post Battlestar Galactica Creator’s Rule for New Reboot Revealed (and It Makes Sense) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer: Kimetso no Yaiba is objectively one of the most popular anime of all time. Based on the manga by Koyoharu Gotouge, the shonen series follows Tanjiro on his mission to save his demon sister Nezuko by joining the Demon Slayer Corp in their fight against Muzan and his demonic army. Even with its divisive later seasons, Demon Slayer is still a massive hit, as fans would tune in each week for the gorgeously animated battles and hilarious antics between Tanjiro, Nezuko, Inosuke, Zenitsu, and the rest of the Hashira. But the anime has one glaring flaw that many fans struggle to overlook.

Most of Demon Slayer focuses on the physical battles between Tanjiro, his comrades, and the demons. Season 1 eased Tanjiro in as he fought unranked and lower-ranked demons. But since the Mugen Train Arc movie, he’s been facing off against the Upper Moon Demons and somehow prevailing. Being the kind soul that he is, Tanjiro tries to comfort the dying demons in their final moments. But, as they share their life stories from before they turned into fiends, audiences can’t help but groan at a poorly used anime trope.

Demon Slayer’s Flashbacks Are Notoriously Frustrating

The anime flashback is a trope that has already been memed into infamy. After a hard-fought battle, a character will lie dying on the floor with everyone around them crying. But before they move on to the next life, the episode takes a 15-minute-long diversion to recount their entire life story. Some anime use flashbacks incredibly well to establish their characters, the history of the world, or to recap past events if a series is particularly confusing. Shows like Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and even Attack on Titan use flashbacks well. Unfortunately, Demon Slayer does not.

While it is a trope for the medium as a whole, Demon Slayer‘s flashbacks have become a formula unto themselves. The trend was most notable in the “Entertainment District Arc,” after the Demon Slayer Corp finally managed to kill Daki and Gyutaro, with each character being given almost an entire episode dedicated to their flashbacks. But even the Hashira get a lengthy flashback when their lives are on the line.

[RELATED – Demon Slayer Reveals Bonus Swag to Hype Infinity Castle’s Release]

Why Demon Slayer‘s Flashbacks Are So Bad

The problem isn’t with flashbacks as a whole. As previously mentioned, some anime make great use of the technique. But, to put it bluntly, Demon Slayer‘s use of flashbacks is lazy and has negative consequences on the rest of the respective season. Fans now know that when a demon is close to dying, the episode will pause from the action to show their backstory. This expectation and the flashback itself drastically kills the frenetic pacing created by the intense battle scene that has likely lasted for the past few episodes. For a show that relies so heavily on the strength of its action, culling the pacing so suddenly for a flashback removes the energy from the fight. So, when we then rejoin the present to see Tanjiro kill the demon, it doesn’t feel as exciting.

Most egregiously, Demon Slayer‘s use of flashbacks is lazy from a writing perspective. Fans love an interesting and sympathetic character. But there are much better ways of making an audience care about an antagonist than info-dumping their backstory into a single flashback right before they die. To many, it feels like a cheap way to elicit sympathy and tears before they are killed. Demon Slayer‘s villains and complex Hashira would be far more interesting if their backstories were hinted at throughout the season, either through smaller, more incremental flashbacks that influence their decisions in the present or even through how they behave in the present.

The series has shown it can do this with Muzan, who has already been shown to be complex through his limited screentime in the past seasons. So, why is it so hard for the show to do with its Upper Moon Demons?

Fans are hoping that the upcoming Infinity Castle movie will move beyond this trend and layer the villains’ and characters’ backstories into the overall story rather than halting the present progress to throw a slow flashback at the audience. We’ll find out for ourselves when Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba The Movie: Infinity Castle releases in US theaters on September 12th, 2025.

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