The movies are cult classics, so if you love ‘em…good news. All 3 seasons of Ash vs. Evil Dead the series is headed to Hulu, just in time for Halloween.
With the Hollywood writers strike seemingly at an end, movie makers can get back to work including the gang working on the whole DCU reboot including The Brave and The Bold..James Gunn’s Batman reboot. Since the strike hit before any sort of script was written not a lot is known about the project but it sound like it will feature Damian Wayne’s first live action appearance plus other members of the Bat Family. Rumors say we may also get Dick Grason’s Nightwing, and Cassandra Cain’s Batgirl…although nothing is official yet. So far, no official release date.
With Loki season 2 just around the corner, some are digging into season one a bit and have found a little something..a Chris Helmsworth Cameo…sort of. In one deleted scene Throg crashed Loki’s coronation. A rough cut of the deleted scene is online and it shows Throg exclaiming “You turned me into a frog” just before smashing Loki in the face with his tiny Mjolnir. If you check out the scene you may recognize the voice…it’s Chris Helmsworth. Loki season 2 should hit Disney + next month.
NEW COMIC BOOKS THIS WEEK
THE AVENGERS #5 - Battle zone: Vatican City. God vs. living godhead as Thor battles Idol Alabaster. Battle zone: Sydney. Witch vs. revenant as the Scarlet Witch wages war upon the Dead. Battle zone: Toronto. Engineer vs. artist as Iron Man clashes with the Citysmith. Assembled, the Avengers are invincible. But separated, how can they triumph?
THE IMMORTAL THOR #2 TORANOS WALKS THE EARTH! An Elder God of the Utgard-Realm had marked Thor for destruction—and a city with him. Yet the only power that could prevail carried its own terrible price. And all the while, Loki waited—Loki, who took no side and played no favorites…even if it be their own kin. This is the story of THE IMMORTAL THOR…and the hour of his greatest trial.
THE FLASH #1 WALLY WEST RACES TOWARDS THE FUTURE WITH A NEW ALL-STAR CREATIVE TEAM! Wally West has never been quicker, more fulfilled, more heroic. His loving family is around him. And yet something is off. Very off. His evolving understanding of his powers has opened Wally to new avenues of sci-fi adventure and attuned his senses to strange new ideas. Something whispers from the dark vibrations beyond the Speed Force, and as Wally experiments with creative new approaches to his powers he encounters new realms, mysterious allies, and mind-shattering terrors. A new era for the Scarlet Speedster begins now from the team of Si Spurrier (Coda, Damn Them All) and Mike Deodato Jr. (Avengers).
The new Shimmering Frontier update that we’re getting from Core Keeper…we get a new crystalline biome to explore, new ore, new tools…equipment…cattle…pets…boss drops…community requests…upgrades and a bunch more. It should all be available starting October 4.
Dragonheir: Silent Gods. It’s an open-world role-playing strategy adventure game that just launched on Windows, Mac, Epic, iOS, and Android. Adventurers who start playing now will get a bunch of rewards and player incentives including tons of great in-game rewards and rare items for participating in Dragonheir's welcome quests.
The upcoming The Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, has a lot of us thinking of revisiting Panem, and it’s looks like you’ll be able to in movie theaters. Fathom Events and Lionsgate Films are bringing The Hunger Games back to theaters for a special two-night engagement on Sunday, October 15, and Wednesday, October 18.
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THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #34 - SPIDER-MAN’S HUNT CONTINUES! Who is Peter’s next victim? The penultimate chapter of a story you’ll never forget!
SUPERMAN #6 - NEW STORY ARC STARTS HERE! FIRST APPEARANCE OF A NEW SUPERMAN VILLAIN! THE CHAINED PART ONE! Following the shocking cliffhanger of Superman #5 and the events of Knight Terrors, Superman has learned that Lex Luthor kept a prisoner beneath Stryker's Island for decades. Who are they and why did Lex lock them up? Can Superman unlock the secrets of the Chained? Featuring guest artist Gleb Melnikov!
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #6 - THE ORIGIN OF GROOTFALL! One year ago, the Guardians were more than a team, they were the galaxy’s SUPER HEROES… Now the Guardians are outlaws, guns for hire roaming the frontier in hopes of stopping one of their own. How did the Guardians fall apart, and what changed Groot into the monster he is now? The untold story is finally revealed!
If the shows, the books, and the video games aren’t enough, soon you’ll be able to grab The Witcher: Path of Destiny the board game. Players assume the roles of Geralt, Ciri, Yennifer, and some others in what they’re calling a dark fantasy story. The crowdfunding campaign for the game launches on October 9th and ends November 7th on Gamefound.
Batman Day is just a few days away (9/16), and with over 80 year’s worth of comics, it can be a little overwhelming for new readers. So here’s a quick list of Batman comics that are good for those new to the Dark Knight comics.
We’re seeing more impacts from the writers and actors strike in Hollywood. Phase 5 of the MCU was supposed to have a few different shows released, including Ironheart, but it looks like the latest shows that Ironheart no longer has a release day on Disney’s schedule. But the impact is a little more with this one, because the shows and movies within the MCU are so closely interconnected, one shakeup is enough to throw off their entire line up.
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The Star Wars universe has always marked time based on when the Rebel Alliance blew up the first Death Star. Anything before was known as BBY…or Before the Battle of Yavin, and ABY…After the Battle of Yavin. Well now with so many shows and upcoming projects set during different times we now have 9 official eras.
Dawn of the Republic
The Old Republic
The High Republic
Fall of the Jedi
Reign of the Empire
Age of Rebellion
The New Republic
Rise of the First Order
New Jedi Order
An just incase you’re wondering…Ahsoka takes place roughly 10 years ABY
New developments in the video game realm are kept pretty hush hush…but every once in a while we get a little nugget of info. Looks like the team working on the upcoming Witcher 4 game (which isn’t actually the title) has grow to around 260 developers. No word on a release date but it looks like we’re still a couple years away.
Daredevil fans got some bad news. The ongoing strike in Hollywood has pushed Daredevil: Born Again’s release date. We were supposed to get the new series in Spring of 2024, but it look like they’ve had to put the whole thing on pause mid-production. Now we’re talking 2025 at the earliest, and that’s best case scenario.
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There can be only one…one of the best sci-fi, but not sci-fi movies ever made..Highlander (just ignore the sequels, cause they’re horrible), may be getting some new life. Chad Stahelski, he’s the guy that directed John Wick is planning a big-screen reboot of Highlander with…drum roll please…Henry Cavill as Connor McLoud. And not just a movie…a whole new franchise.
It’s Batman…day. September 16th is Batman Day and to celebrate, Showcase Cinemas are bringing The Dark Night Trilogy back to the big screen.
I checked, I think the closest one is in Springdale Ohio…road trip…?
So, I haven’t watched episode 3 year, just released last night at 9, but the first 2 episodes of Ahsoka were awesome. We saw a bunch of familiar characters..from the Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels Animated series’, but we also got a peek at some newcomers. So this Imperial Inquisitor Marrok…all we know so far is that he works alongside former Jedi Baylan Skoll and his apprentice Shin Hati, but because of the mask…his true identiy is hidden. The prevailing theory is that Marrok is actually a new version of Galen Marek…Starkiller from the Force Unleashed video game series, who also happened to be an apprentice of Anakin Skywalker…or Darth Vader. Others believe Marrok may be Ezra Bridger turned to the dark side.
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Back in 2014, Wizards of the Coast launched D&D 5E…the 5th edition, with Lost Mine of Phandelver…a little adventure book that came bundled with the D&D 5E Starter Set. Now, almost 10 years later, they’re ready to finish that adventure. Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk arrives September 19th.
Blizzard unveiled Diablo 4 Season 2, which they’re calling Season of Blood. Season 2 adds a Vampire Hunter companion, so you get vampire powers as you track down and face off against a vampire lord. Season 2 also adds 5 new and returning bosses. Season 2, or Season of Blood launches October 17th.
We’re getting closer to the re-launch of the new DC Universe and many are asking how it will compare to the MCU? In a recent interview DC Head Honcho James Gunn said there will be some significant differences. He’s going to lean heavily on secret identities and fantasy settings, something unlike the MCU. He plans on exploring more fictional places like Gotham City and says that creates a much different feeling than using real life places like the MCU does. Fans are anxiously waiting and the whole things gets started with Superman: Legacy in 2025
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Last year during Infinite Frontier Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern, made a return to DC comics, and as part of the New Golden Age they also reintroduced the Red Lantern, Scott’s arch enemy. Red Lantern had been removed from the timeline, but DC confirmed…he’s back. Tim Sheridan is going to pen the new series and we’ll get our first glimpse when Alan Scott: The Green Lantern hits shelves in October.
I’m kind of torn on this one, remakes of cult classic movies usually don’t go very well, but director Malcom Blair is taking a shot. He cast Peter Dinklage in the title role of a remake of The Toxic Avenger. Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Elijah Wood and even Kevin Bacon are in the movie. The movie will open the upcoming 2023 Fantastic Fest in Texas.
And our next big Star Wars series, Ahsoka, hits Disney + in a few weeks. This one is cool because it brings a few of the stories from some of the animated series to live action. Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalkers former padawan, investigates and emerging threat to the universe and she does it with the help of the gang from Star Wars Rebels: Sabine Wren, Hera Syndulla, Baylan Skoll, and Ezra Bridger. The first episodes will hit Disney + on August 23rd.
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Daredevil #14 – THE ENDD! But of what? A life? A love? A marriage? Matt Murdock’s time as Daredevil? Or the latest and greatest run in one of Marvel’s most celebrated sagas? …All of the above?
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #18 – Think you know how Superman and Batman met and became friends? Think again! Read the untold tale of how their worlds first collided—and the stunning, secret loss that nearly destroyed their partnership before it even began!
X-Men: Red #14 - AFTER THE FALL! As the Brotherhood reels from the cataclysmic events of the Hellfire Gala, Genesis takes advantage of the chaos—and declares war! Two vast mutant armies clash, and Arakko’s idols fall…but this is only the beginning of a conflict that will remake the Red Planet. And whatever happened to Isca the Unbeaten?
Apparently one of the illustrators of the upcoming D&D book “Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants” used AI to create artwork for the book and the gang at Hasbro isn’t happy saying they won’t allow any artists to use AI to draw artwork. The book, which is set to release next week, does include the AI artwork, but the company says the artist won’t be allowed to use AI in the future.
There had been talk of different versions of Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse being released in cinemas, versions that include small changes, but now that the movie is available on digital we finally know which scenes are officially canon. In one scene Spider-Man 2099’s assistant Lyla points at Miguel and, in another take on the same scene, takes a selfie with a bunny filter. Looks like the bunnies have it with the selfie making it into the official digital release. In another scene Andy Samberg’s Scarlet Spider grabs Miles in one scene and quips about his "well-defined musculature." In a previous version in cinemas (and not in the official release), he says he has Miles in a sleeper hold. So that appears to be lost to history. There are a bunch more minor changes, too like Gwen’s pained reaction to thinking Miles has been crushed in Mumbattan. The digital release also means it’s Easter egg time, one you may have missed…did you see the Spider-Man from Insomniac’s PlayStation games in The Lobby of the Spider Society. What you may not have seen are the two villains being held prisoner in that same scene: Videoman from 1980s series Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, and the pixelated Green Goblin sprite from 1982’s Spider-Man on the Atari 2600 – the first Spider-Man game ever made.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet has had a tough time since it’s release already getting a major two-part expansion that stabilized the game and gave fans a new area to explore and some new Pokemon to catch. Now, you’re getting more. Two more expansions are coming. The Teal Mask on September 13 and Indigo Disk in the winter. The two parts will come together to tell a story named “The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero.”
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As if fants weren’t already upset with The Witcher showrunners, the final episodes of season three are out, henry cavill’s last. we were told it was going to be some heroic sendoff, and that cavill was going to be honored. have you watched the episodes…yes it is true, mostly, to the books, but heroic? showrunners say the season is about geralt giving up his neutrality and doing everything he can to get to ciri which they call the most heroic. i’ve read the books, i’ve watched the show, and eh…..not the best send off…and not the best season either. if they want to keep their audience they had better wow everyone when season 4 hits with liam helmsworth replacing cavill.
Just the mear mention of a tarrasque is enough to send a group of d&d adventurers running, what could be worse, right? just wait. Wizards of the coast just released a description from Morte’s Planar Parade, a mini beastiary book for the upcoming planescape: Adventurers in the multiverse boxed set. in it we’re going to see planar incarnates, hierarch modrons, and time dragons. if you remember your d&d history, time dragons can breathe and eat time itself, casting time stop, creating a slow aura, an age touched breath weapon and a breath weapon that can literally expell someone from time. while a terrasque has a cr of 30, a time dragon has a cr of 90.
The first trailer for Loki season 2 is out, and if you look close it’s hiding a secret villan, Zaniac. Actor Brad Wolfe becomes linked with a parasitic entity from the dark dimension, the one that is ruled by Dormammu from Doctor Strange. Dormammu sends the entity to earth to possess a human and act as his agent on earth. let’s just say in the comics he’s kind of a jack the ripper kinda guy…Loki season two hits Disney + in early October.
New Comic Books This Week
Witcher fans are anxiously awaiting the 2nd half of this 3rd season, and apprehensively waiting to see what happens with the transition to Henry Cavill and Liam Helmsworth. It sounds like producers may acknowledge the change in-universe. They didn’t want to release any spoilers but they did say the transition would be close to the ideas embedded in the books, especially in book 5.
Team Fortress 2, one of the best multiplayer shooter games of all time just smashed its concurrent player record…16 years after the games launch. Why so popular, game makers recently released a huge update to the game that added 14 new maps and kicked off a summer event that will run thru September 15th.
One of these years I’m going to make to the San Diego Comic Con, this year the first teaser trailer for a Red Sonja reboot us debuting. It’ll be unveiled during a special panel this Friday honoring the 50th anniversary of the character.
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Microsoft just held their latest ID@Xbox showcase highlighting a bunch of games that will be making their way to the platform.
Looks like our new DC lineup is coming together. Last week we heard that David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan will be stepping in as Superman and Lois Lane, and James Gunn’s latest addition to the upcoming Superman Legacy movie is none other than Nathan Fillion, he’ll be stepping in as Guy Gardener’s Green Lantern. To me he’ll always be Captain Malcom Reynolds from Firefly.
We’re getting closer to our next big dose of Star Wars as a new trailer for Ahsoka recently hit the internet. The story follows Anakin Skywalkers former Padawan after the events of Mandalorian and the Book of Boba Fett as she continues her search for Grand Admiral Thrawn.
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Looks like Playstation may be set to release a PlayStation 5 Slim and a handheld version of the PS 5 all later this year.
And thanks to production difficulties, Apple’s not sure they’ll be able to make enough of their Apple Vision Pro reality headset to meet their goal of 1 million sold in 2024. Production issues have also pushed back plans for a cheaper version of the $3,500 headset too.
Someone found the precious. Magic the Gathering added Lord of the Rings to their card lineup a little while ago, and if you remember, we talked about this, but they were only making 1 version of the One Ring card…and someone found it. So far no word on who found it or whether they’re going to sell it, keep it, or destroy it by throwing it back into the fires of Mount Doom from whence it came.
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We finally know who our new Superman will be. DC studios, under James Gunn’s new leadership, just announced that David Corenswet will be the new Man of Steel when they launch the DC reboot in 2025 with Superman Legacy. Rachel Brosnahan is set to play Lois Lane. The movie itself will tell the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. It will hit theaters July 11, 2025.
I’m not ashamed to admit, I love video game walk thru’s. Somebody told me that was cheating but we all do it, right. IGN just posted a System Shock Remake walk thru. Citadel Station, the Junctions Puzzles, Quadrant Layouts, Cyberspace Terminals. Here’s the link if you want to check it out. https://www.ign.com/wikis/system-shock-2023/Walkthrough
Did you catch this year’s Nintendo Direct? We now know what’s headed our way on the Nintendo Switch.
And there was a ton more…and most of them are available for pre-order.
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While everyone’s talking about Marvel’s Secret Invasion, the next biggie from Marvel, Sony snuck in and released a Kraven the Hunter trailer. The movie tells the story of Kraven before his big rivalry with Spider-Man. If you’re not sure who Kraven is…as a child, a near death experience gifted Sergei Kravinoff with the instincts of a predator and a thirst for the hunt. Kraven the Hunter will hit theaters in October of 2023.
Water, Earth, Air and Fire…ages ago, the 4 lived in harmony…then the Fire Nation attacked. Avatar the Last Airbender is headed to live-action and Netflix has released a first look at the cast. The show will release sometime in 2024 and you can click here to take a peek at them.
The next ID@Xbox Showcase is set for July 11. Game trailers, gameplay, reveals, plus a special edition of Unlocked after the showcase that’ll include a deeper dive into some of the games. IGN is going to be streaming the whole thing on their website, YouTube, Twitch…all of them.
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At the recent Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London, Lucasfilm announced three new movies are in the works.
Nothing in confirmed but it looks like the movie following Rey and the New Jedi Order may be the first one we get…sometime in 2025
If you’re a Diablo player of if you are just a video game lover you may have seen this, but one player figured out how to reach the final World Tier 4 by level 3. What he did was tag along with a powerful friend as they completed dungeons, and made sure they died just before getting any experience but will getting the credit for their completion. There’s an article on-line that explains it more:
Star Wars: Villainous is adding three new villains in their first game expansion. Star Wars: Scum and Villainy will be the 2nd installment of the game line and joining Boba Fett and the Inquisitor will be the Seventh Sister and Cad Bane. The game is available for pre-order now and will release at the end of July
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Those of us who play know that creating and maintaining a D&D character can be complicated, especially for anybody new to the game. One fan shared a simplified version that he created in a Reddit post back in May, all to make the character creation process easier and more accessible. It puts everything on one sheet and eliminated a lot of the optional sections. He does admit that the simplified sheet isn’t for everyone but if you know someone new to the game, you may want to give it a look.
Convention season is about to ramp up into high gear, and while everyone is waiting for Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige to make his decision about whether they’re going to be there or not, MCU fans you can make plans. Daredevil: Born Again co-star Vincent D’Onoforio tweeted out that he and Charlie Cox will definitely be at SDCC ’23.
We have a new title for the next Captain America movie as Anthony Mackie’s ‘Sam Wilson’ takes over as the new Captain America. Joining him, Harrison Ford as General Ross. Captain America: New World Order is out….the new title…Captain America: Brave New World will hit theaters May 3, 2024
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Ever since Marvel announced another Fantastic Four reboot fans have been obsession over who..who’s gonna be the new Fantastic Four. Well if insiders are right we have our lineup.
Again, this is all insider reports and none of this is confirmed. But it’s a very believable cast and loads of different insiders have all claimed a similar line-up. The movie is supposed to be in theaters in February of 2025
We love our Witcher. Hugely popular book series, then a video game franchise, then the Netflix show and right now it doesn’t look like that’s slowing down (we’ll see after the next season hits Netflix since it’s Henry Cavill’s last) but The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt just crossed 50 million copies sold making it one of the most successful video games ever. (It was originally released in 2015, then rereleased in 2022.)
I’m starting my Christmas list early this year, and just added two new LEGO sets. The LEGO Endgame Final Battle set is a 360 degree set of Thanos’ final battle with the Avengers. 7 mini figures: Captain Marvel, Okoye, Wanda Maximoff, Shuri, Valkyrie, Thanos, and The Wasp. ($99.99). The second is another 360 degree set featuring Spider-Man’s final battle from No Way Home and yes it comes with a Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland Spider-Man mini. ($109.99)
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Fans are happy. Marvel Studios is bringing back Daredevil with Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin and Jon Bernthal’s Punisher. And this one’s going to be an 18 episode season, twice as long as any other MCU series. Daredevil: Born Again should hit Disney + sometime next year.
Experienced D&D players know that the gear you carry is just as important as having a high initiative so I’ve put together a short list of items not to over look.
The Fantastic Four reboot is one of the biggest movies in the works right now in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and there are so many rumors floating around about cast and story that it’s hard to keep track. The latest though is that Adam Driver, Margot Robbie, and Paul Mescal are in line to star as Reed Richards, Sue Storm, and Johnny Storm. Someone even posted some fan art depicting the three in their roles (check it out here). They’ve got time, the movie isn’t supposed to hit theaters until February of 2025.
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Spider-Man celebrated his 60th anniversary last year after making his debut in Marvel Comics in 1962. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Spider-Man quickly became one of Marvel's most popular and lucrative characters. Spider-Man's influence extends beyond live-action films. In 2018, the animated film "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" introduced Miles Morales to a global audience, further expanding the Spider-Man universe. The gaming arena has also seen the success of Insomniac Games' "Marvel's Spider-Man" (2018) and its sequel "Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales" (2020), with "Marvel's Spider-Man 2" set to continue the story. Marvel recently released a prequel comic book online, providing further context to the upcoming "Spider-Man 2" video game. This prequel delves into a new villain called The Hood and explores their relationship with mystical forces. Fans can access the prequel online to get a taste of what's to come in the highly anticipated game. You can find the “Spider-Man 2” prequel here.
What’s next for Henry Cavill? He lost the Superman gig, he lost the Witcher gig, he’s working on a Warhammer 40,000 series. But that’s not enough for fans. There’s a piece of fan art on the internet that has thrown Cavill fans into a frenzy. It shows Cavill as Wolverine. He’s looking through the claws with a wound on his face that reveals his Adamantium skeleton underneath. When asked about it, Cavill said he’s not interested in playing a character that is already being played by someone else. You can check out the image here.
Here’s every MCU movie and Disney+ show in order coming in 2023.
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I think I said something last week about Disney and Marvel bumping the release date of Loki Season 2 from September to October this year. Rumors say the timing change is all connected to officials making preparation to replace Jonathan Majors as Kang. Right now it looks like Majors will still be in the role but Disney and Marvel are watching the situation closely and haven’t made any final decisions yet. If he remains in the series as Kang word is that his screen time will be cut down.
Where my DM’s at? Creating an entire D&D campaign from scratch can be a monumental task. It takes a lot of thought and work to make it happen, and it all starts with an idea…and where better to look than The Monster Manual. There are a ton of ideas in the book.
It’s no secret, this summer, Harrison Ford will say goodbye to Indiana Jones forever as he’s said The Dial of Destiny will be his final performance. But before Professor Jones goes on one last adventure, we’re going to get a chance to revisit the story that started it all. Raiders of the Lost Ark will be re-released in theaters for 2 days in June…June 4 and June 7.
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Whether you’re a long time player or a newbie to D&D, switching up the core mechanics of the game can introduce new interpretations to your campaign. There are a handful of optional rules in the DM Guide. Healing, resting, initiative, damage, injuries (lingering), even some twists on plot points. So before they issue us a new DM Guide next year, take a deeper look into your 5E DM Guide and try using some of these optional rules to mix up your next encounter or campaign.
With Jonathan Majors future in the MCU up in the air fans are wondering if Kang was supposed to be the next big villain, what’s going to happen. With all the accusations surrounding Majors, rumor says Marvel may be looking at something different at least for a while. And those rumors say they’re shifting their attention to the Fantastic Four reboot with the ultimate villain…Galactus and it looks like they’ve got Antonio Banderas to play the planet eater. Again…at this point, this is all rumor.
Although some of the rumors have new been verified, Mila Kunis just broke the silence saying she’s excited to join the cast of the new Fantastic Four move…not as Sue Storm, but as The Thing. As for Sue Storm…looks like Margot Robbie is on a short list for that role.
And May the 4th Be With You. Star Wars Day is tomorrow and in addition to all the Star Wars Movie Marathons running on a ton of different channels this weekend, the gang from Star Wars and the Simpsons are teaming up again, this time for “The Force Awakens From Its Nap” with Maggie Simpson in “Rogue Not Quite One”. Maggie’s time in the spotlight will debut on Disney + tomorrow.
New Comic Books Today:
The 50TH anniversary of D&D is next year and one of the new things we’re getting is a new – more user friendly =- Dungeon Masters Guide. Some of the upcoming changes include:
They’re stilL in playtesting some of these updates so no specific changes are set in stone yet, and no date for the new book.
Looking to the future of D&D, officials are reaching into the past. They’re bringing back some of the villains from the 80’s cartoon for some new stories, characters like Venger, and War Duke.
We finally got our first glimpse of The Witcher Season 3. Geralt, Ciri, and Yennifer are back, the Wild Hunt seems to be looming, and they’re splitting the season into two parts. The first starting on June 29th, the second July 27th. This first trailer doesn’t give us much, but we do see Yennifer, Ciri, and Geralt searching for eachother in the dark while Geralt says something about an encounter with a monster and it being the first time he truly felt fear.
Dune: Part Two. We have an official name now and it’s Dune: Part Two. And from what we know now, the movie will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against those who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee. Nov. 3, 2023
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Dungeons & Dragons players who want to take their game play off the tabletop on onto a console have a few games to choose from but right now one of them is free. It's a redone version of Icewind Dale, back from 2000. The game that takes players to the frigid region of Dale has been fixed up and rereleased as Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition, and if you've got an Amazon Prime account, it can be yours for free as part of the month's Prime Gaming offerings. This giveaway is only available on the PC platform
Seems like DC has it out for Henry Cavill. Last year he got the boot last year as Superman, but he was supposed to have a little cameo in the upcoming Flash movie…that’s been cut. It’s also rumored that Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman appearance in the new Flash movie will also be cut. If you still want to watch it, The Flash will be released in theaters on April 25 and will be available for streaming on HBO Max later.
Arby’s is bringing back a little something special. Two years ago they released a limited-edition set of Arby’s Dungeons and Dragons dice which sold out within hours. If you didn’t grab a set, here’s your chance. They go on sale Monday at ArbysShop.com at 2 p.m. for $12, while supplies last. A second supply will hit the site on April 21. Each set has seven dice, made from transparent material with a small Arby's hat embedded inside. Gold lettering is used for the numbers and a tiny Arby's logo, which replaces the highest number on each dice.
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Since they had a role in the creation of the game it’s only fitting that the Lord of the Rings novels by J.R.R. Tolkien are formally being adapted into Dungeons and Dragons. Free League Publishing is putting out two new books next month. The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying will be published as a 236-page hardcover book, including six new classes and six new cultures — including the hobbits’ return to D&D. Shire Adventures, a 104-page collection of five lengthy encounters, will also arrive on May 9.
Last week we talked about The Lord of the Rings, Return of the King coming back to theaters to celebrate its anniversary, but the King isn’t the only one returning to the big screen…Disney’s re-releasing Return of the Jedi April 28th to celebrate the movie’s 40th anniversary.
Sony just announced they’re going to stream a brand-new State of Play tomorrow at 5pm. Looks like we’re going to get about 20 minutes of gameplay for Final Fantasy XVI, they really didn’t say what else they’re going to showcase but some are expecting new areas and mechanics. https://t.co/nOULcwLVnQ
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It’s still going to be a while until we find out how The Black Queen a.k.a. Rhaenyra exacts revenge after Vhagar ate her son, mid air…. But when House of the Dragon season two hits HBO it’ll only be 8 episodes instead of the 10 originally planned. Showrunners say though that it’s better for the show. Sharper pacing and storytelling without all the junk that doesn’t really develop characters or move the plot forward. Looks like we’ll finally get to see season two in the summer of 2024
Grab your dice and pick your spells, Dungeons and Dragons is headed to TV. Paramount Pictures is working on a live-action D&D TV series for Paramount +. We don’t know much about a plot yet, but this is an entirely different project and has nothing to do with the Honor Among Thieves movie in theaters now.
Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Aaragon, and the rest of the fellowship are hitting the big screen again this month as officials are re-releasing the extended version of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Looks like dates are April 13th and 19th.
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This year, Marvel Comics is celebrating 60 years of the Avengers and X-Men. We’re getting new comic titles and collections and in August Alex Ross is releasing two new pieces of art that will serve as variant covers on different Avengers and X-Men comics throughout 2023. You can grab the first in August with Uncanny Avengers #1
So now we jump over to the DC Universe. Now that James Gunn has hit the reset button we’ve gotten a little peek at his plans but fans are still in the dark when it comes to ‘who’. Which actors are sticking around and who’s being replaced. We do know that Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck are out (Superman and Batman). Unconfirmed rumors say Jason Momoa’s still on board (Aquaman), and now Gunn has pretty much confirmed that Margo Robbie has made the cut. The new DC Universe’s first offering will be Superman: Legacy in July of 2025.
We’re getting another little nugget of info on the upcoming Deadpool movie. Matthew MacFadyen’s joining the cast now that Succession is wrapping up. No word on who he’s playing…in fact we don’t know much about the move other than it’s #3, and it happens before Logan’s death in Logan.
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The Black Lotus, arguably the most sought after card in Magic: The Gathering just sold at auction again…this time for $540,000. The Black Lotus card has been topping its own record each time it's gone up for auction. In 2019, a Black Lotus sold for $166,000 on eBay, followed by another purchase just two years later in 2021 for $511,100. Now, with the recent auction the Black Lotus cements its position as the most expensive Magic: The Gathering card ever sold…that is until the One Ring is released.
I have to be careful with this one just in case you’re not caught up with the new season of the Mandalorian. Back in The Rise of Skywalker we saw that thru machinery and cloning the sith had basically brought Palpatine back from the dead. It also showed that Snoke was nothing more than a lab creation. So…how did they do all that? Questions are starting to get answered as the Mandalorian explores the history of the empires sinister science program. New episode tonight.
Netflix’s Gears of War movie is a step closer to reality. Jon Spaihts has been tapped to write it. If you’re not sure who Jon Spaihts is..he wrote 2016's Doctor Strange, 2021's Dune, and the upcoming Dune: Part 2, 2012's Prometheus and 2016's Passengers. No word on the cast yet but Dave Bautista has thrown his hat in the ring saying that Marcus Fenix would be a dream role for him. He even posted a video of himself in Gears of War armor, with the text, "I can't make this any easier."
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Fans of Magic the Gathering and Lord of the Rings are getting their first look at the new card set Lord of the Rings Tales of Middle Earth. There will be 1 collector booster in the entire world that contains the card “The One Ring”. They’re also throwing in serialized elven, dwarven and human ring cards. You can jump online now and pre-order
There are a ton of rumor floating around about why Henry Cavil left The Witcher series. But what we’re hearing now is that he had a falling out with showrunner Lauren Hissrich over creative differences. Apparently season three deviates even more from the books than the previous seasons, and Cavill wasn’t happy about it saying it’s not what fans want. Producers and showrunners say they’re excited to explore different stories. As a fan I’d like to see them stick closer to the source material.
It’s been 10 years since LEGO has put out anything Indiana Jones, and that’s about to change. To celebrate the new Indiana Jones Dial of Destiny movie, LEGO’s releasing three new Raiders of the Lost Ark sets. Escape from the Lost Tomb, Temple of the Golden Idol, and Fighter Plane Chase. All three sets will be in stores April 1.
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I know we’re only a couple episodes into the new season of the Mandalorian so I don’t want to do any big recaps or dig in too much just incase you’re not caught up but wow…Mythosaurus. That’s a cool twist. It was said that the Mythosaurus roamed Mandalore tens of thousands of years ago, and has been and still is an important symbol to all Mandalorians. Hopefully we’ll get more with a new episode out today.
After a few missteps in the last few months the gang at Wizards of the Coast have done something cool. They’ve added the characters from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves as NPC’s to D&D Beyond. Stat blocks….everything you need to add then to your campaign. Just log into your D&D Beyond account..all 7 characters from the movie as there and ready to be played.
Fans were excited to see that Charlie Cox is putting the uniform on again and reprising his role as Daredevil for the new series Daredevil: Born Again, and it looks like some other favorites are joining him. Vincent D’Onofrio’S Kingpin is back and they recently announced that Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle…The Punisher has signed on too. The series is set to hit Disney + in 2024
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So many Kangs, so little time. But actually all the time in the universe. If you’ve seen Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania you know what I mean. The time of Kang has come to the MCU filling the void left by Thanos’ death, and while Kang is a little OP (over powered) it’ll take a bunch of him, across many universes and timelines, to give the growing number of Marvel heroes a proper run for their money. Phase Five of the MCU just began and we’ve already met several Kangs.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty won’t come out until May 2025, so that’s plenty of time for even more Kangs!
Now that James Gunn has taken over DC we kind of started looking for a new Superman…Batman, but what we’re getting is very different after Gunn announced he’s doing a movie based on The Authority. So who’s the authority? They fist showed up in comic in the 90’s. They’re a group of superheroes who are a little more hardcore than the justice league. Just like the JLA, there were 7 core members. Apollo and Midnighter were counterparts to Superman and Batman. Swift is winged warrior similar to Hawkgirl. The Doctor is a mystic, and an even trippier version of Dr. Strange. The Engineer is a bit like Iron Man, with a side of the X-Men’s Colossus. Jack Hawksmoor is possibly the one truly unique member, a character who drew his strength and power from the energy of different cities. The team’s leader, Jenny Sparks, is an edgier version of Captain Britain, with electrical powers. But unlike their DC and Marvel Universe counterparts, the Authority really only follow one authority—their own.
FromSoftware has officially announced Shadow of the Erdtree, an upcoming DLC expansion for Elden Ring. They confirmed that the DLC (downloadable content) is currently in development, so as of right now we don’t have a release date.
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Christopher Nolan had two simple rules for The Dark Knight's Batman: "No guns; No killing." Zack Snyder didn't take that same approach, and fans felt this went against Batman's traditional code. One cut scene in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice could have taken that to an entirely new level. In the extended "Save Martha" sequence, Batman was taking fire from a group of henchmen. To protect himself, he grabs one of the henchmen and uses him as a human shield. Though he's not actively killing the man, he's showing clear apathy toward the lives of his enemies. Ultimately, the scene was cut. The studio may have felt it was just a little too controversial. Matt Reeves version played by Robert Pattinson is here to stay in a standalone series, so fans will continue to get their fill of the anti-murderous Dark Knight. But DC Studios recently announced the upcoming Batman movie The Brave and the Bold, complete with a brand new Batman and a brand new moral compass.
So last week, Chris Cocks, CEO of Hasbro spoke and said they may have misfired on changing their OGL regarding Wizards of the Coast and Dungeons and Dragons and that they’re making changes. And in true CEO fashion he didn’t really say what those changes were but he did say that they’re working collaboratively with the D&D community, gathering feedback and have course corrected.
Like it or not Liam Helmsworth will be Geralt of Rivia in season 4 of The Witcher and fans have been wonder what will Helmsworth look like. And now another fan has used DeepFake technology putting Liam’s face over footage of Henry Cavill. If this is what he’s reall gonna look like, I can get behind it. The sticking point for me may be the voice. We’re so used to Henry…who’s voice is similar to Geralt in the videos games.
Take a look at the DeepFake video here: https://youtu.be/ePDMdLLxzDA
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Fans are still unhappy about Netflix’s plans for the Witcher series. We know that Liam Helmsworth will be replacing Henry Cavill in season 4, but there’s a thread going around online about missed opportunities. One of those suggest that Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen would have been a better choice for Geralt, possibly even better than Henry Cavill. Anyway, Witcher fans are still not okay with Netflix choosing Liam Hemsworth saying it’ll turn the series into a "parody of itself," and many have already vowed to boycott Season 3 before it even premieres on Netflix this summer.
In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier we finally saw Sam Wilson accept the role of the new Captain America and now Anthony Mackie is ready to lead the franchise into the future with the MCU’s fourth standalone Captain America film…Captain America: New World Order. Harrison Ford is taking on the role of General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. In fact, that’s President General Ross. So in this film we’ll get a dynamic between Captain America and the president of the United States in a way that is just incredible. And remember, Sam Wilson’s Captain America isn’t a superhero, he doesn’t have a super serum, so his superpower is his humanity. Captain America: New World Order will hit theaters on May 3, 2024.
The first Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 trailer finally dropped, giving us our first look at the High Evolutionary. So who is this guy? We first heard of him in 1966’s Thor #133. With Galactus planning deep space destruction as always, Thor is looking for Jane Foster. It’s on his search that he comes across Mount Wundagore, the High Evolutionary, and his New Men.
His human name was Herbert Edgar Wyndham and he was a successful scientist. As a child Herbert became obsessed with genetics and the possibility of “evolving” creatures. But it wasn’t until he had an encounter with a strange man—who later turned out to be a rogue Inhuman—who showed him how to “crack the genetic code” that Herbert made his dreams a reality. His experiments made him an outcast so he moved to Mount Wundagore where he built his futuristic home and began to evolve animals, creating a series of humanoid beasts known as the New Men.
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It’s not a big secret, it’s been all over social media for a while, but LEGO just posted another teaser of their LEGO Lord of the Rings set…which should be fully revealed soon. In the teaser, on LEGO’s Twitter page, you can see part of the set from the reflection in the one ring that has been dropped by a minifigure.
I mentioned this yesterday, but because the Super Bowl is on Sunday, HBO is going to release the next episode of The Last of Us on Friday, and since we’re talking shows based on video games…One of the best video games every made was Resident Evil 4…and now Leon is back on a mission to rescue Dr. Antonio Taylor from kidnappers, while Chris Redfield is investigating a zombie outbreak in San Francisco. Resident Evil: Death Island is a new CG animated film based on the hugely popular game series and is a sequel to Resident Evil: Vendetta. The film should be released worldwide this coming summer but if you want a sneak peek there is a trailer online.
Nintendo Direct is set for today, 5pm our time. They’ll focus on games launching in the first half of this year. No specific games were mentioned early, but fans are expecting to get a taste of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom which is set to release in May. If you want to watch the whole thing, hit Nintendo’s website for a live broadcast.
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Batman #132 - THE BAT-MAN OF GOTHAM, PART TWO / THE TOY BOX, PART 2. The mean streets of Gotham City have gotten meaner as the likes of Harvey Dent and Killer Croc roam free, brutalizing the population. Where is Batman and why hasn’t he responded to the cries of a city in peril?! Can Bruce Wayne find the answers before the mysterious Red Mask captures him? And in the backup story, Tim Drake's hunt for Batman continues. Will Metropolis's newest Superman, Jon Kent, be able to help the Boy Wonder with this Multiversal mystery, or will they both run afoul of an overpowered Toyman?!
The Flash #792 - THE ONE-MINUTE WAR, PART THREE: IMPULSE BUY. The Flash Family is in dire straits as the Fraction begin their takeover. Looking for a way to push them back, Impulse has an idea…the kind of idea that usually gets people in trouble. It’s up to Kid Flash to keep him company on a daring mission that could help turn the tide against this extraterrestrial threat!
The Amazing Spider-Man #19 - Dark Web is over, but the effects will shake Spider-Man for a long time. To recover, Peter Parker and Felicia Hardy, A.K.A. the Black Cat, escape from the city to an exclusive spa in the Catskills! Surely, trouble won’t follow our Web-Head and ruin his romantic getaway… Join superstar guest creative team Joe Kelly and Terry Dodson for this special two-parter where Spidey and Black Cat take their next step and no one tries to kill them…yet.
Since Henry Cavill made the announcement that he won’t be coming back as Geralt of Rivia in season 4 of The Witcher fans have wondered what his replacement, Liam Helmsworth could look like. Well, there’s a video floating around the internet where they used DeepFake technology to put Helmsworth’s face on Cavill in a scene from the Witcher…and he looks really good. Helmsworth will make his official debut as Geralt in season 4. We still get one more season of Cavill, they filmed season 3 before he left the show.
Amazon has struck up another deal with the gang from Critical Role for a multiyear TV and first-look film deal. We just got season 2 of Vox Machina, their first campaign, on Amazon, but the new deal will start with their 2nd D&D campaign, Mighty Nein which is set to start production soon.
We have a list…James Gunn just announced all the chapter 1 projects in his new DCU.
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Paramount Pictures just released a new trailer for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith…Hugh Grant. They wanted the script to include things D&D fans would appreciate yet tell a story that a newcomer could enjoy too. The movie is scheduled to hit US theaters on March 31 — the same month as Creed III, Scream VI, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and John Wick: Chapter 4.
Now, will all the controversy over Wizards of the Cost and the whole Open Game License controversy that’s going on now effect the movie goers? Who knows. Wizards has backtracked on some of their proposed changes but a huge chunk of the RPG community is still unhappy, condemning Wizards…calling them greedy.
https://www.ign.com/videos/dungeons-and-dragons-honor-among-thieves-official-trailer-2
In just a couple of months, we're going to witness Shazam's next journey in DC’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Zachary Levi back but it’s still unsure whether he’ll continue on in the new DCU under James Gunn. The movie was already moving along when Gunn took the top spot at DC. You look at the first post-credits scene and you have Shazam being recruited into the Justice Society of America. Shazam! Fury of the Gods is set to release in theaters on March 17.
Apparently it's not enough to just watch The Last of Us — viewers want to play, too. As The Last of Us made its debut on HBO, there was a huge jump in sales on PlayStation 4’s and 5’s. In factthe game's 2022 PS5 remake, The Last of Us Part 1, reentered the sales charts at the No. 20 spot after a 238% jump in sales and that’s the physical game. The number of viewers who rushed to play Joel and Ellie's story through PlayStation's digital storefront remain an unknown. Is it a hit? Well the first episode broke records over at HBO, with more than 4.7 million viewers watching the premiere. That makes the video game adaptation HBO's second-best debut in the last decade, only beaten by House of the Dragon.
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Lego is joining in on Dungeons & Dragons’ 50th anniversary celebration with a new set. The fan-made design’s been accepted into the Lego Ideas program, and will now enter into development to become a retail product. No launch date or pricing was included in the announcement. The multi-level, highly vertical scene is playable from 360 degrees and includes a party of five minifigs, a dragon, and a beholder, and according to the designer, landmarks include The Witches Tower, The Tavern, The Dungeon, and The Crypt.
You know that futuristic city we saw in the trailers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Looks like it’s the city of Chronopolis. In the comics, Kang the Conqueror ruled this kingdom which is located outside of time. It appeared mainly in comics published during the ‘90s. Judging from the trailers, the city contains highly advanced technology, likely from Kang’s origin point in the far future and clearly Janet van Dyne is very familiar with it. In the comics Chronopolis first appeared in 1992’s Captain America Annual #11. The the city’s was a circle and inside it’s full of different time periods that Kang had conquered. We first saw hints of Chronopolis in in Ant-Man and the Wasp. It’s hard to make out, but you get a glimpse of the domed city. How’s it all going to play out? We’ll have to wait for the movie.
While some things have changed over the years, D&D has always enjoyed a massive slice of the market, and its 5th edition (now almost a decade old) has seen the largest boom of popularity. Late last year, when Wizards of the Coast announced the follow-up to 5e, titled "One D&D," some fans worried that Wizards would change their approach to licensing third-party D&D content in order to drive more money to parent company Hasbro. Until now third-party companies have been allowed to create modules, monsters, and other unofficial content for D&D without paying a licensing fee, but that may be changing. In the new open game license Wizards has placed new restrictions on third-party content, and required companies to pay Wizards of the Coast 25% royalties on all revenue past the $750,000-per-year mark. As you can imaging creators aren’t happy.
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Out of all the Avengers, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk is the only member we have yet to see a solo film or show about. However, new rumors are bouncing around Mark Ruffalo will be getting his own Hulk film, as well as the return of an old The Incredible Hulk cast member , Liv Tyler as Betty Ross. Rumors says that among the many upcoming Marvel films and TV shows, World War Hulk should be one of them. While there are little to no details yet on the film yet.
Apple’s “mixed reality” headset is set to be unveiled this spring. Apple’s headset will be called Reality Pro, it’ll run on a new operating system, called xrOS and will enable to users do anything from trying on glasses to model furniture purchases in their personal spaces.
HBO’s long-anticipated adaptation of the Last of Us is set to hit HBO in a few days and just like any adaptation producers have taken some liberties with the story. If you’re a fan of the game some things will be pretty close while others completely different. If you’re not familiar The Last of Us takes place in a world where a species of cordyceps fungus mutates and gains the ability to infect human beings. In the game, the infection reaches critical mass on September 26, 2013, a.k.a. “Outbreak Day.” In the show Outbreak Day occurs in 2003. The main events of The Last of Us occur 20 years after Outbreak Day. In the game, things took place in 2033; however, the show changing the outbreak to 2003 means these events will take place in 2023 when the United States is run down with reduced local governments, starvation, and desolation. The Last of Us cinches on hope and possibility with the promise of a cure.
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Evil Dead Rise is just a few months away, and we're getting some fresh looks at the long-awaited sequel. On Twitter, Evil Dead's account showed the new poster for the movie with the tagline, "Mommy Loves You to Death", as Ellie shows off her creepiest smile.
Bruce Campbell shared a quick teaser for the movie. The quick look showed a child walking up to the front door peephole in a house and says "You don't look so good, mom", before we see a very creepy shot of a possessed Ellie. Mommy loves you to death. Evil Dead Rise – in theaters April 21.
While it’s sad that CW's The Flash is coming to an end with its upcoming ninth season, it should be a pretty awesome final season. David Ramsey, Keiynan Lonsdale, and Sendhil Ramamurthy are all coming back as John Diggle/Spartan, Wally West/Kid Flash, and Ramsey Rosso/Bloodwork. So, get ready for a very emotional reunion as John Diggle aka Spartan helps protect Central City alongside Team Flash one, last time. Keiynan showcases a side of Wally West you’ve never seen before, and Ramsey will play a big part in Flash’s final race. Showrunners say everything came together and this will be the Flash’s wildest and most emotional adventures yet.”
For those of you hoping that Sarah Michelle Gellar might pick up the vampire killing stake of Buffy Summers once more….nope. She was doing an interview promoting the series Wolf Pack and told the magazine that fans shouldn’t hold their breath that she would ever return for a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot series or a reunion.
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The Game Awards 2022 handed out their best of the best a little while ago and if you haven’t seen the list yet, there were two that really stood out in 2022.
Take a look at all the winners here.
Doctor Who fans are no strangers to saying goodbye. Time Lords regenerate, their companions move on, but what’s at that timey wimey stuff good for if you can bring back some familiar faces? The Doctor Who 60th anniversary special will not only bring back David Tennant, but word is we’ll reunite with Donna Noble. If you catch the trailer online they also introduce Doctor Who’s latest villain…Neil Patrick Harris and we get to meet a live-action version of Beep the Meep who so far has only appeared in the Doctor Who comics. You have a little while to wait though, the special will air November of 2023.
Dungeons and Dragons came to live in 1974, that means we’re approaching it’s 50th anniversary. What better time to look back at the creation of the franchise. Joe Manganiello is set to co-direct a D&D documentary. Manganiello is the perfect candidate. He’s a D&D ambassador, he runs a D&D game of his own and recently kickstarted the tabletop RPG augmented reality app ARcana. The documentary will air in 2024 to align with the games 50th anniversary.
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It’s been over a year since wecaught up with Mark Grayson and his superpowered allies in Amazon’s Invincible. But thankfully, we don’t have to wait much longer. During a recent interview, Amazon head of television guy Vernon Sanders confirmed that Invincible season 2 will officially debut on the platform sometime in the coming months.
Disney gave us a quick sneak peak at what what we’re looking at in 2023. They released a sizzle reel with scenes from “Loki” season two, “Star Wars: Ahsoka”, and the Marvel’s “Secret Invasion”.
And although it may seem like season one just aired, things are already ramping up on season two of The Rings of Power. The Rings of Power finished season one on a few very dramatic notes, setting the stage for season two. Halbrand revealed himself to be Sauron in disguise, and when we last saw him he was walking into Mordor. Meanwhile, Galadriel, Elrond, and Celebrimbor formed the elven Rings of Power even though they know the idea came from a source of evil. Although we don’t know much about season two, watchers are thinking these two major events will create the driving force for everything to come.
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For fans of Magic the Gathering, Magic’s first set of 2023, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, has been delayed until February 10th with pre-release events the 3rd to the 9th and a digital release on the 7th.
We talked about this a few weeks ago with the less than stellar launch of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Now Nintendo has come out and apologized for the performance issues of the games. If you haven’t downloaded them yet, there are patches available which make a handful of changes along with a handful of bug fixes for the games.
If you haven’t seen it yet, the first teaser trailer for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is out, giving fans an exciting preview of 90s nostalgia and fresh set of characters. This new movie is supposed to be the first installment for a new trilogy inspired by the Transformers: Beast Wars television show. This movie will feature two new factions of Transformers: the Maximals and the Terrorcons. The trailer gets right to it with a shot of Optimus Primal leaping into the scene and beating its chest like King Kong. Though unconfirmed by the trailer, it's likely that the Maximals have come from the future with Primal warning Optimus Prime of impending danger from the past and future.
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Microsoft announced it is raising the price of its major first-party Xbox games built for Xbox Series X|S from $60 to $70 in 2023. Forza Motorsport, Redfall, and Starfield will cost $69.99 when they launch next year. Other video game companies have already raised prices of games to $70, including Sony's PlayStation, Take-Two Interactive, Ubisoft, and others.
It’s no big secret, but the previous Dungeons and Dragons movies haven’t been…great. But this new one, Dungeons & Dragons Honor Among Thieves looks good. A new trailer was released a few days ago. The movie stars Chris Pine, Hugh Grant and Michelle Rodriguez - and the teaser trailer is out now. Featuring Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" behind several battle scenes, the film has the look and feel of a Marvel movie - but is based solidly in the Dungeons & Dragons franchise.
Taking place in the elven Golden Era, 1200 years before the time of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri, The Witcher: Blood Origin tells the story of seven strangers who join together to fight an unstoppable empire. This four-part prequel series premieres on Netflix on December 25.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nhwT1vQS68
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EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX
Here’s everything we know about the upcoming continuation of The Jokes sequel, which also stars Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. The official title for Todd Phillips’ sequel is Joker: Folie à Deux. Which means, in French, “Joker: Shared Madness.” Right now, we don’t know much about plot other than it will feature the Joker and Harley Quinn together. But, we can expect something a little different this time as this film is set to be a musical.. Given that the first film drew inspiration from Martin Scorsese’s early films like Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, with this one being a musical, many think it will reflect Scorsese’s film New York, New York.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition | Next-Gen Update Trailer
The long-awaited PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC next-gen update for The Witcher 3 is almost here. Witcher 3: Wild Hunt updates for free on December 14th.
How to Watch Willow: Episode Release Schedule and Cast
34 years after Willow first hit theaters, Disney is returning to George Lucas's fantastical world for a sequel series starring Warwick Davis as Willow. Ron Howard, who directed the original film, returns as an executive producer. Willow's first two episodes were released on Disney + today. The rest of the episodes will be released weekly through January 11. So, here’s what you get: “The story began with an aspiring magician from a Nelwyn village and an infant girl destined to unite the realms, who together helped destroy an evil queen and banish the forces of darkness. Now, in a magical world where brownies, sorcerers, trolls, and other mystical creatures flourish, the adventure continues, as an unlikely group of heroes set off on a dangerous quest to places far beyond their home, where they must face their inner demons and come together to save their world.”
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So last week we talked about Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the two newest games in the franchise. Which apparently fall short when it comes to game play. The framerate is all over the place, it get excruciatingly low. Everything has a weird blur, Pokémon clip in and out of walls and weird angles, sometimes a glitch will give you a screen full of video gamey void, there’s lag and some have even had the game crash. Word is that these are by far the worst running games ever. And that includes installing the day one patch.
A little sad news in the geek world, Jason Frank, the original Green Power Ranger passed away last weekend. So far no statement about a cause of death. He was only 49
I don’t want to spoil anything, so if you have finished Andor on Disney + yet plug your ears. Did you catch the after credit scene after the finale? Those big things that Cassian and the other prisoners on Narkina 5 were making were parts to the laser array of the Death Star
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The Duffer Brothers recently teased what we can expect from Stranger Things 5. Season Five will be a culmination of all the seasons, so it’s got a little bit from each. Before, each season was distinct…Season 3 had big monsters, Season 4 was the psychological horror. Five will be a culmination of all the seasons. The Duffer Brothers say they’re trying to do go back to the beginning a little bit, in sort of the tone of Season 1. We also know that Season 5 will be shorter than 4 with 8 episodes, and they’ll be returning to where it all began. The whole season will take place in Hawkins.
We’re getting a new Pokemon game just in time for the holidays. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. The new games are set in the region of Paldea, a place that seems to be based on the real-world Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. Unlike other Pokemon games there will be 3 endings to this game that you can choose from, the victory road path which is just like all the other games. Another is the path of legends where you look for items and have to battle titan pokemon to get them, and finally Starfall street, where you battle with the group of bad guys in the game and eventually face off against the big bad boss. Another big change is Terastilizing, it takes the original one or two types of a pokemon and adds a 2nd or 3rd type of your choice.
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Gamers everywhere are digging into God of War Ragnarok today, the follow up to the 2018 reboot of the franchise. But if you’re new to God of War I’ve put together a few spoiler free tips to help you get started.
Hopefully that helps you get started causing chaos thru the 9 realms.
Shawn Levy, you may not know the name, but he’s directed 10 episodes of Stranger Things, he’s done The Adam Project, Free Guy, Night at the Museum, Real Steel and a bunch more. He’s set to direct the new Deadpool movie (Deadpool 3) and when he’s done with that it looks like he’s set to direct a new Star Wars film. We don’t know much yet..plot, timeline, characters, or even a date…but we do know that 2019’s Rise of Skywalker is no longer the last time we’ve seen a galaxy far, far away on the big screen.
It looks like some early Black Friday deals are popping up in the Pokemon world. Cards for the trading card game are being discounted at a bunch of stores including Walmart. Like right now you can get the Darkrai VSTAR Premium Collection Box for $20. That’s a $20 discount. And that’s just one of the deals.
New Comic Books Today
A couple days ago I was in the CFX Morning Research Room, and the talk turned into a debate over the best final bosses in video games. So after some..heated…discussion, this is what we came up with.
Star Wars has returned to Fortnite for Skywalker Week. Luke, Leia, and Han are back. So you can take up Luke’s lightsaber, the landspeeder, stormtrooper blasters. It’ll all be available until the 8th.
So, what’s being billed as one of the best Marvel Movies ever made, Wakanda Forever, come’s out in a week. And if you want to get caught up on all things Black Panther I’ve put together a must read list of Black Panther comics.
That’ll get you a good start on Black Panther before the movie comes out.
New Comic Books This Week:
So, the last episode of House of Dragons, poor luccerys velayron shows up at storms end to gain support from the baratheons. Unfortunately his cousin Aemond beat him to it. There’s talk, a rejection, a goodbye, and a hold on a second when Aemond pulls off his eye patch revealing a sapphire in place of the eye he lost as a kid. Little forshadowing…that sapphire eye looks a lot like the eyes of the Night King from Game of Thrones. So assuming this isn't just an accident, what does it mean? Will there end up being some connection to Aemond and the land beyond the Wall? probably not. We doubt it'll be that literal. If we had to guess, though, we'd say that Aemond's sapphire eye serves two purposes: 1) To emphasise that Aemond is now a cold-hearted monster, capable of terrorising his younger relatives with minimal remorse, and 2) To draw even more attention to the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy that's been hanging over Season 1 like a shadow.
New “Ant Man & The Wasp: Quantumania” Trailer Reveals New Villain - The new trailer for “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” shows off the new head villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he’s not unexpected. After making his appearance in the “Loki” series on Disney+, Jonathan Majors’ Kang is set to be at the center of the trouble for the heroes in Marvel’s Phase 5. The movie sees the return of Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, and Michelle Pfeiffer to their roles from the first two “Ant-Man” movies, and Peyton Reed also returns to direct his third movie in the trilogy. The movie is scheduled to open on February 17th, 2023.
Check out the new trailer for Marvel Studios’ Special Presentation: The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, featuring Star-Lord, Mantis, Drax, Nebula, Kraglin, Cosmo, Rocket, Groot, and Kevin Bacon.
In The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, the Guardians, who are on a mission to make Christmas unforgettable for Quill, head to Earth in search of the perfect present.
Marvel Studios’ Special Presentation: The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will be streaming on November 25 on Disney+.
Anime fans, the English dub of Chainsaw Man will premiere October 25th. If you’re not sure who Chainsaw Man is, he’s a teenage devil hunter who was brought back from the dead…and has chainsaws for hands. This is one of the most anticipated Anime shows of 2022 and is being led by Attack on Titan and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood’s Mike McFarland.
I know we’re going to talk more about it with Emily from the Celebration Cinema on Friday, but the early reviews that I’m seeing for Black Adam aren’t good. Critics are calling it overindulgent. It’s full of underdeveloped characters and an excessive number of repetitive action scenes. Right now it’s sitting at 54% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Big thing in D&D right now is Dragonlance. Have you ordered your bundle yet? The Dragonlance Deluxe Edition Bundle indludes:
I’ve already ordered mine, if you want to take a look here’s the link.
New Comic Books Today:
There are a couple new D&D Adventurers League releases that are available on the DMs Guild for the Dreams of the Red Wizards campaign. Big Problems, The town of Daggerford is in over its head, and needs heroes to solve a really big problem. Things will get worse before they get better, and Watchers of the Trollclaws, Caravan merchants traveling the Winding Water speak of a ruin that has risen from the muck of the Trollclaws. Its walls are covered with carved eyes that glow in the moonlight and weep an unnatural fog during the day. What treasures await you within?
And if you are shopping Amazon’s Prime Early Access sales today, Dungeons and Dragons Campaign Cases are 48% off.
Sony learned their lesson last year and they’ve ramped up PS5 shipments to the U.S. by 400%. Word is it’s in preparation for God of War: Ragnarok’s launch on November 9th, but it’s also good news for anyone with a PS5 on their Christmas list this year.
We’re 5 episodes into House of the Dragon at my house, and I’ll admit…I’m getting into it. In his latest blog, George R.R. Martin said it’ll take 4 seasons to tell the story. Good news is that it’s already been renewed for a 2nd season. Oh, and after seeing episode 8, George R.R. Martin actually contacted Paddy Considine (Viserys Targaryen) and told him that his interpretation of Viserys was better that the one Martin wrote in the books.
New Comic Books this Week:
Kent, you mentioned last week in Who’s Hot in Hollywood that they’re doing another Planet of the Apes movie, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”. Well it looks like Princess Cirilla of Cintra, Freya Allan, has joined the case. No details on her role in the movie yet, but we do know she’ll be playing a human and not and ape. Production starts next month.
Harrison Ford, in the MCU? Maybe. Rumor around the geek world is that Harrison Ford will take over as General Ross in the upcoming Marvel Thunderbolts movie now that William Hurt has passed away. Nothing official has been announced yet but people think that’s because filming probably won’t start until sometime next year and Marvel/Disney didn’t want to take anything away from Ford’s return in the upcoming Indiana Jones 5.
When a TV series is not only a big ratings hit but also a pop culture phenomenon, it's only natural for viewers to seek out similar shows once it ends. So if you’re a big Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon fan and you’re looking for more I’ve put together a list of shows you might like.
New Comic Books Out Today:
This is a travesty! A comic book store in Virginia was broken into and thieves stole a bunch of rare comics worth well over $100,000. They new exactly what they were doing too, they smashed through the front window, went right for the showcase with the rare comics and left…leaving the cash register untouched.
He made the official announcement last week, but after 45 years of voicing one of the most iconic villains ever, 91 year old James Earl Jones has signed over the rights to the voice of Darth Vader. What filmmakers are going to do now is use Respeecher; they’re a company that uses old recordings and fancy computer artificial intelligence to create voices. They’ve already done it with Luke Skywalker’s voice when he showed up in The Book of Boba Fett.
I watched the teaser trailer this morning, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is coming to PC this fall. Miles is adjusting to his new home and following in the footsteps of his mentor, Peter Parker, as a new Spider-Man. But when a fierce power struggle threatens to destroy his new home, the aspiring hero realizes that with great power, also comes great responsibility. To save all of New York, Miles must take up the mantle of Spider-Man and own it.
And it’s official, Deadpool will Join the MCU. Deadpool 3 hits September 6, 2024. and that’s not the biggest news, Ryan Reynolds posted a teaser on his Twitter where he did a little teaser, then Hugh Jackman walks by in the background and he asks if he wants to play Wolverine again, and Jackman says…’yea, sure Ryan’.
New Comics on the Shelf Today:
Detective Comics #1064: Gotham Nocturne Overture, Part 3
Thor #27: Venom of Asgard, Part One
We get our next big Star Wars series on Disney + today…Andor. If you remember, Cassian Andor was one of the heroes in Rogue One who ended up stealing the plans for the Death Star and getting them to Princess Leia which led us into the events of first Star Wars movie, A New Hope. Disney + released the first 3 episodes of Andor today which take place about 5 years before Rogue One. Some are calling it the best live action Star Wars show since The Mandalorian.
Video game makers EA Motive, they’re the guys behind the upcoming Dead Space remake; they’re working on a new single-player action-adventure Iron man game.
Other video game news, the hacker that leaked around 90 videos of Grand Theft Auto 6 is being investigated by the FBI. They think it’s the same person who claimed responsibility for hacking Uber a few days ago.
For the first time ever, the LEGO Star Wars Imperial Star Destroyer 75252 kit is on sale at Amazon. It's normally $699.99, but today you can pick it up for $649. It’s actually one of the few kits that haven’t suffered from LEGO's price hikes earlier in the year, so you're not getting a "false" deal that just happened to bring the price back down to the original. This thing is 42 inches long, 26" wide, and 17" tall, consists of almost 5,000 bricks, and weighs 28 pounds.
New Comics On The Shelf Today
If you’re all caught up on House of the Dragon great, if not…there may be some spoilers, but in episode 3 they kind of rectified George R.R. Martin’s biggest Game of Thrones Regret. So basically Martin said in season 1 when they go hunting, Robert Baratheon goes off in the woods, we get word he’s gored by a boar, they bring him back and he dies. Martin regrets not doing whole royal hunting party thing with hundreds of guys, pavilions, huntsmen, dogs barking, horns blowing…that’s how a king goes hunting. So in episode 3 of House of the Dragon we get a big royal hunt which had everything Martin wanted and more. We even had a wild boar.
Witcher fans get ready. They just finished filming season 3 which apparently has a big scene between Geralt and Vilgefortz and an unexpected encounter with Rience (who’s been recast for season 3). So right now it’s in post-production for a 2023 release while the live-action prequel The Witcher: Blood Origin is looking at a Christmas 2022 release.
We got a lot of cool info out of this year’s D23 Expo, the one thing that I thought was awesome is that we got the lineup for the upcoming Thunderbolts movie. If you’re not a Marvel comic fan, the Thunderbolts are a hero group, like the Avengers, but it’s mostly made up of reformed supervillains. We’re gonna get Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine, Ghost, Red Guardian, Yelena Bolova, Bucky (the Winter Soldier), US Agent, and Taskmaster. The Thunderbolts movie is supposed to close Phase 5 of the MCU with a July 2024 release date.
New Comic Books This Week:
The DC universe is still struggling to find their Kevin Feige (the guy who basically built the MCU). Word is, Dan Lin and Warner Brothers Discovery have decided to not move forward with each other. WB’s looking for someone to give their DC movie universe a reset. Individually the movies have done well, but there’s no real DC Universe…no DC identity like we’ve seen in Marvel. On top of that, they’re still dealing with the fallout of the merger between WB and Discovery which caused them to cancel the Batgirl movie, and a bunch of animated shows. They’re hoping to get a little boost with Black Adam which releases at the end of October.
If you can hold out that long, Dungeons and Dragons is releasing a Deluxe Edition of Dragonlance, Shadow of the Dragon Queen in early December. You get Shadow of the Dragon Queen adventure book with a foil cover, a digital copy of Shadow of the Dragon Queen with two weeks early access on D&D Beyond, and Warriors of Krynn co-op mass-battle game.
I can’t believe I missed this, but I was re-watching last weeks She-Hulk…when Jen was leaving the prison, one of the reporters asked her if she got her super powers from a mob hit gone wrong. That is a reference to her actual comic book origins in 1980 Savage She-Hulk #1. In the comic she’s mortally wounded by mobsters who were trying to get to her client. She gets a blood transfusion from Bruce (Bruce Banner….the Hulk) which saves her life, but also gives her hulk powers in return.
On the Shelf, New Comic Books out Today:
Middle-earth seems to be all around us these days. Amazon’s new show The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power debuts in a few days and last week, Wizards of the Coast announced their newest Magic: The Gathering collection’s Tolkien tie-in. Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth. The card sets will be available next year, but if you want a sneek peek at some of the artwork it’s online and it’s amazing.
Since we’re talking Lord of the Rings I’m going to give you a history lesson before Rings of Power hits Amazon. The land of Middle-Earth is part of a larger world called Arda who’s recorded history is separated into four Ages, each of which spans many hundreds or thousands of years. We get a glimpse into the 2nd age in the Lord of the Rings movies. The 2nd age starts in the aftermath of a war over some mystical jewels and Morgoth’s banishment from Arda. In the 2nd age, Sauron starts consolidating his power and filling the void left by Morgoth’s banishment. He manipulates the elves into creating the rings of power. There’s an invasion of the Undying Lands that ends up cutting them off from the rest of the world forever denying man the chance at immortality. King Elendil creates the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor. He and his sons including Isildur, and the Elven kings including Elrond form the Last Alliance and end up waging war against Sauron, who is defeated but not destroyed, Isildur claims the ring and the 2nd age makes way for the 3rd…which are the movies we know. During Amazon’s Lord of the Rings: the Rings of Power we’ll dig a lot deeper into the 2nd age and all those events that lead up to the creation of the rings and Sauron’s rise to power.
If you’ve already watched the 2nd episode of She-Hulk and you’re wondering about Blonsky’s little haiku book, wonder no more. Marvel has released three of them online including the one that Blonsky started to recite to Jennifer before she cut him off. You can check them out on the officials She-Hulk twitter page @SheHulkOfficial
While Blonsky does seem sorry for his past actions, his little cage match with Wong, a crossover from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings may put a damper on his plans for parole.
New Comic Books This Week:
So we’re about a month away from Andor on Disney +, which will be a prequel to Rogue One following Cassian Andor during the 5 years before the movie. They’ll release the first 3 episodes on September 21st. The rest of the episodes will be released weekly thru November 23rd. A 2nd season is in development that will lead into the events of Rogue One.
Remember that movie Killer Klowns from Outer Space? Came out in 1988… A group alien Klowns came to Earth to eat everyone…well they just announced at GamesCon that they’re making it into a video game. It’ll be a 3v7 multi player format where humans face off against the Killer Klowns and should be out in early 2023.
And if you haven’t seen it yet, the Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power official trailer is all over the internet now. We get to see elven vistas, underground dwarven cities, orcs and goblins tearing through the woods all in a Middle Earth we’ve never seen on screen before. The Rings of Power hits Amazon next week.
Some other TV shows..She Hulk, better than I expected, Sandman on Netflix, actually pretty good except for that weird cat dream bonus episode thing, and House of the Dragon I’m going to give another week or two before chiming in.
New Comic Books This Week:
Back in 2019 there were rumors that Disney was going to make a live action Dragon Ball movie. They had bought Fox which gave them the movie rights for a live action Dragon Ball. So, is it going to happen? Nobody’s saying yes or no at this point but what I found out was that even though they bought Dragon Ball, Disney still needs Akira Toriyama’s approval to make the movie. In the meantime, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero opens in theaters this weekend.
“The Red Ribbon Army was once destroyed by Son Goku. Individuals, who carry on its spirit, have created the ultimate Androids, Gamma 1 and Gamma 2. These two Androids call themselves “Super Heroes”. They start attacking Piccolo and Gohan… What is the New Red Ribbon Army’s objective?”
I watched a trailer/teaser yesterday for God of War Ragnarok yesterday. It combines two of my favorite things, Norse mythology and the God of War game franchise. The game releases November 9th, but you can pre-order right now.
Wizards Presents 2022 goes live online tomorrow at 5. We’ll get a look at what’s to come in 2022 for D&D, Magic the Gathering, and I heard that we may get more details from Universe Beyond which will see crossovers with Lord of the Rings, Warhammer, and a bunch more.
New Comic Books This Week:
Hulu and 20th Century Studios are celebrating. Prey, the Predator prequel, is the most popular Hulu premiere of all time breaking Hulu’s record for the most-watched premiere for a single release. On the other side, fans are questioning the decision to release straight to streaming and bypassing a theatrical release because 1. The movie is now an official entry in the Predator franchise, and 2. Fans are calling it one of the best Predator movies ever made.
DC fans have had a few rough months. The news that Warner Brothers Discovery has shelved the Batgirl movie is just the latest in a series of changes and cancellations involving big DC projects. WBD says their just doing a little house cleaning to help cut costs following their very expensive merger.
Just a couple of the project affected:
Gamers are going to have to wait a little longer for Marvel’s Midnight Suns after being delayed a second time. Officials say the delay is to ensure the teams at Firaxis Games and 2k can deliver the best possible experience for fans, and that the game should arrive later this fiscal year, which means sometime before March of 2023. But that date’s only going to work for PC, PS4 and Xbox Series X and S players. Xbox One and Switch versions will be even later.
New Comic Books This Week:
August 3, 2022
STAR WARS Series "ANDOR" which is going to be "a new perspective from the Star Wars galaxy" by
showing the beginning of the rebellion and how all the planets became involved
Is Going Old School. Massive practical sets have been built so the environment
is real and not made through CGI, other than that we don't know much more about the upcoming series
New Comics on the Shelf Today:
Let’s talk Obi-Wan. Based on hours streamed in an opening weekend, Obi-Wan Kenobi is now the most-watched Disney + original series premiere ever. After just two episodes, the internet is blowing up with fan theories. One of them is that Reva (the Third Sister) is one of the younglings that was attacked in the Jedi temple in the opening scene and that’s why she is so intent on capturing Obi-Wan Kenobi.
If you’re a little confused as to who the Inquisitors are check out the animated series Star Wars Rebels, it’s also on Disney +.
A couple of celeb sightings in the first couple episodes. The mercenary that kidnapped little Princess Leia, Vect Nokru, was none other than Flea…bass guitarist for the Red-Hot Chili Peppers. And the young woman who tried to sell Obi-Wan spice was played by Ewan McGregor’s real-life daughter, Esther-Rose McGregor.
In video game news, Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC on August 30, and if you preorder you can play a spin-off game that’s available right now…Destroy All Humans: Clone Carnage. Clone Carnage is a standalone multiplayer game. Couch co-op with two players or go online with four. The game can be downloaded immediately if you digitally preorder Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed. You can also buy it separately for $12.99
Dig into Stranger Things Season 4 yet. If you’re getting a creepy Freddy Kruger/Nightmare on Elm Street vibe from it, you’re not alone. The internet has lit up with discussions on just that…kids getting tormented in their dreams and subconscious by a horribly disfigured, shadowy foe, whose harm that is done to them in their mind’s manifests on the physical plane as well. Don’t hit me with any spoilers though…I’m only a few episodes in.
New Comics on the Shelf Today:
Looks like production issues have hit the realm of D&D, Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel won’t be available digitally or in stores until July 5th and the new Campaign Case: Terrain has been pushed to August 16. Luckily, the new Campaign Case: Creatures wasn’t affected, that’ll still be available July 19th and the new Spelljammer: Adventures in Space is still set for an august 16 release date.
The new trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder hit yesterday. Now I’ve been waiting for this one because 1) Thor’s my guy and 2) I’ve been dying to see what Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher looks like. Unfortunately, he looks like Christian Bale! In the comics he’s more alien looking, more sinister looking, and scarier. I’m hoping that’s just something they’re hiding that maybe he’ll transform a bit once they introduce his ‘weapon.’
We finally have a date, according to a tweet from the official Call of Duty twitter account, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be released October 28th Early details say it’ll center around U.S. special forces fighting the Columbian Drug Cartel.
New Comics on the Shelf Today:
Obi-Wan Kenobi is about a week away, and now that that is all wrapped up and good to go, crews started production on Ahsoka last week. If you’re not familiar, Ahsoka Tano was Anakin Skywalker’s padawan. She was a HUGE character in the animated Star Wars Clone Wars and the Star Wars Rebels series’ before making the jump to live action in The Mandalorian.
Bethesda has announced that Starfield and Redfall have been delayed to sometime in early 2023. They made the announcement on their Twitter page but didn’t give any real reason other than saying they wanted to ensure the best and most polished versions of the games. They also promised the first gameplay deep dives for both games to be released soon. To mean that means they’re probably going to showcase them at the Xbox/Bethesda Summer Showcase on June 12.
Have you checked out the new LEGO Transformers Optimus Prime set yet? It’s launching on June 1. It’s modeled after the G1 Optimus Prime character and features over 1,500 pieces. It's also one of the few sets that can switch between two different models without needing to rebuild: its robot and alt modes.
The set includes an ion blaster, Energon Axe, Energon Cube, and the Autobot Matrix of Leadership which can be stored in the chest chamber.
New Comics on the Shelf Today:
So, the next big Star Wars series, Obi-Wan Kenobi, hits Disney + on the 27th…hugely anticipated because we’ll finally get a look into what happens to Obi-Wan between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. But one of the bigger issues Star Wars fans are hoping will be resolved is a plot hole involving something Darth Vader said in Return of the Jedi. In Jedi, when Luke turns himself in and is taken to the new Death Star, he has a conversation with Vader and insists that there’s still some good in him, Vader responds with “Obi-Wan once thought as you do. But we’ve never seen Obi-Wan make any inference that there’s anything left of Anakin in Vader. Die hard Star Wars fans are hoping that the ‘interactions’ between Vader and Obi-Wan in this new series will fill that plot hole and put a period on that sentence.
We’re getting a whole slew of new Marvel shows coming to Disney +…
and …. Loki Season 2. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are set to direct (they’re the guys responsible for Moon Knight). No word on any plot lines yet, but production is set to begin next month.
I gotta talk House of the Dragon. The Game of Thrones prequel hits HBO on August 21st and my social media has blown up since the trailers were released. It’s 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and tells the story of the House Targaryen. If you are a GOT fan and haven’t checked out the teasers and trailers online yet…, do it. It’s well worth it.
New Comic Books Today
May 4th, 2022
May the 4th Be With You! And to celebrate Star Wars Day Fortnite is returning to the galaxy far far away for their yearly Star Wars celebration. They’ve added usable lightsabers back into the game, along with the E-11 blaster…the one used by Stormtroopers. There’s also a bunch of new Star Wars quests…all of it’s active in the game until the 17th.
Did you catch Moon Knight’s or Marc Spector’s third personality last week? It was quick, but early in the episode in Dr. Harrow’s office Marc does another little personality switcharoo but this personality has a cut on the bridge of his nose that we haven’t seen before, and if you watch his accent and body language don’t match that of either Marc or Steven. The buzz in the geek world is that was Jake Lockley, a third personality. In the comics, Jake’s a cab driver that gathers info for Marc. Now fast forward a bit to the scene where Marc’s dad is sitting Shiva for his mom…there’s a cab parked behind him which Steven and Marc watch drive away. How Lockley gets involved at this point is still up in the air mainly because I haven’t watched today’s episode yet.
And for my D&D brothers and sisters out there. We’re getting a new Dragonlance trilogy this year. The first one, “Dragonlance: Dragons of Deceit” should hit shelves August 9th, the official word from Margaret Weis, one of the creators, is that we’ll return to old friends while introducing a new heroine.
Big geek day this weekend, Saturday is Free Comic Book Day. Over 2,000 stores across the U.S. will be giving away millions of free comic books. Perfect opportunity to either get started or get back into comics. You can check online to see participating shops near you.
New Comic Books on the Shelf Today:
April 27, 2022
Since we finished our D&D campaign last week, I was feeling a little withdrawal, luckily I was able to check out the first ever D&D Direct; a live online demo of everything new for D&D in 2022. We’re getting “Spelljammer Adventures in Space” where deep space meets deep sea, so basically space pirates…new worlds, cities on asteroids, dead gods floating in the ether. There are 3 new books, 6 new playable races, new monsters, and an all-new adventure set in Wildspace in the Astral Sea.
If you haven’t seen it yet, the “Stranger Things Season 4" trailer is available online. In it we go back to the 1950s, we see that some of the kids are still in Hawkins, some are in new towns and new schools, and we see a new monster…Vecna. When I heard that it rang a bell, I’ve heard that name before. That’s when it hit me…D&D. Vecna was one of the greatest villains in Dungeons & Dragons history. We originally saw him in “World of Greyhawk” back in 1975. Vecna was a super powerful wizard who turned big-bad and went all Litch on everyone (a Litch is a spellcasting undead beastie who was once human [usually] and sought to defy death by unnatural magical means). It makes sense, because in earlier seasons of Stranger Things we see the kids playing Dungeons & Dragons…and for this D&D geek I thought the tie in was pretty cool. In the show Vecna isn’t actually a Litch, but a human who was mutated into a monster due to hanging out too long in the Upside Down. To learn any more we’ll have to wait until May 27, 2022, when season 4 hits Netflix.
My social media blew up earlier this week when the “Thor: Love and Thunder” trailer hit the internet. I am a huge Marvel fan and an even bigger Thor fan, so of course I was all over it. A couple things I thought were cool. In the beginning we see young Thor running through the woods in a Jack Kirby style Thor costume which is AWESOME. Thor first appeared in the comics in “Journey into Mystery” in 1962 which was created by… (wait for it) …Jack Kirby. In the trailer Thor says his superhero days are over and we see him ‘plant’ Stormbreaker in the ground. This is an obvious tribute to Thanos’ ‘scarecrow.’ The shot in Endgame with Thanos’ armor hanging outside like a bizarre scarecrow wasn’t just a cool shot in the movie. That was an homage to the comic books where Thanos hung his armor up symbolizing that fact that his work was done, and he was leaving his old life behind. See the tie in…? I love how Marvel puts these little Easter Eggs in there for us die hard comic fans. At the end of the trailer, we see Mjolnir…reforged…flying through the air and into the hands of none other than Jane Foster the new “Thor”. What we didn’t get to see was Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher, but we did get to see evidence of some of his handiwork. The scene in the trailer where Thor and Korg are looking at a giant creature skeleton from atop a snowy mountain is a perfect recreation from Jason Aaron’s “Thor: God of Thunder #3” where Gorr is first introduced in the comics…and yes, I have that whole comic series sitting on my shelf. “Thor: Love and Thunder” hits movie theaters July 8th, 2022.
A few new comics out today that I’m adding to my collection:
Latest Winner - 09/28/23
Jeanine Mahaffey from Mt Pleasant
Won this week's CLICK TO WIN contest, a $50 Gift Card Waterworks Salon & Spa, Downtown Mt Pleasant