Why Marvel’s JJ Abrams Spider-Man Reveal Backfired
Marvel Comics covered the internet in sticky strands of speculation this week by teasing some big Spider-Man news with a countdown written in webbing. The first teaser showed the number four spun in threads from a black spider, and then once per day following came the three, two, one -- culminating with the news: JJ Abrams is co-writing a new Spider-Man mini-series... with his son, 21 year-old Henry Abrams.
Regardless of how you feel about the news itself, the way Marvel teed it up struck a bad chord with fans, earning the publisher instant resentment online. It all stems from that first teaser: the number four written in webbing. Barring a Spider-Man and Fantastic Four crossover, the only other natural conclusion was that Marvel was hinting at a comic book adaptation of Sam Raimi’s canceled Spider-Man 4 movie.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Script Made Keri Russell Cry
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker brought actress Keri Russell to tears.
Speaking to The Associated Press, Russell shared her first reactions to reading the script for The Rise of Skywalker given to her by director J.J. Abrams.
“When I read his script that he wrote I cried,” Russell said. “I mean who knows what it will turn out to be and I hope it remains true to what he originally wanted.”
Abrams co-wrote the script with Chris Terrio, a script that Russell believes will satisfy Star Wars fans' expectations.
"He's not trying to change it to be something else," Russell said. "He really respects what it is."
Darksiders Genesis Preview: What if Darksiders Met Diablo?
I’ll bet you weren’t expecting a new Darksiders game to be a Diablo-style, isometric-camera action-RPG, were you? I was pretty surprised myself. But the fact that Airship Syndicate, not Gunfire Games, is the developer of Darksiders Genesis, it makes a bit more sense – particularly when you find out that Airship employs original Darksiders comic book creator Joe Madureira.
I played a small slice of Genesis, and I was impressed at how well it translated to the Diablo formula. Being able to switch on the fly between the ranged attacks of Strife and the melee focus of War seems like a smart design decision; the two complement each other nicely, and if you’re not playing solo, you’re able to roll through this campaign in two-player co-op. Both characters can build up a special attack meter that, when activated, temporarily turns them into the same giant fire monster capable of wreaking significant havoc.
Monster Hunter World Getting New Dynamic Difficulty, Even Without Iceborne
During Capcom's E3 Monster Hunter World: Iceborne developer showcase, we learned about quite a few new features, including the Steamworks minigame, a view mode camera, and most importantly, dynamic difficulty settings. This brand new feature for the Monster Hunter series will be added to the base Monster Hunter World without requiring the Iceborne expansion.
This new dynamic difficulty setting includes two brand new features. For the first time ever, a third difficulty setting is introduced for two-player hunting parties. Not only that, but now if players leave or are disconnected during a hunt, Monster Hunter World will automatically scale the difficulty down to the appropriate level. No more dealing with a multiplayer-scaled monster if you get disconnected, and no worries if you can't fill out a large party. Though three-player parties are still stuck in the broader multiplayer difficulty category, and palicos still won't re-spawn, this is still great news.
Valve’s Newest Game Beat Artifact’s Peak Player Count in Under 2 Hours
Dota Underlords, Valve’s newest game, entered open beta on PC and mobile at noon PT today, and in less than two hours it passed the peak concurrent player count on Steam of Valve’s last game, Artifact.
As of 2pm PT, Dota Underlords had reached a concurrent player count of 62,946, while Artifact’s all time high stopped at 60,740. The big caveat here, of course, is that Dota Underlords is entirely free-to-play, while Artifact costs $20. It had also been in a closed beta open only to select players and those who owned Dota 2's Battle Pass since last week, but the flood gates are now officially open.
Rumor: Microsoft Focusing on One Next-Gen Console, Not Two
Though reports over the course of the last year indicated Microsoft was working on two next generation consoles, a new interview and rumors suggest the company has decided to make its next console, codenamed Project Scarlett, a single device.
In an interview with Business Insider, Xbox head Phil Spencer responded to a question about him referring to the next generation of Xbox as multiple consoles during E3 2018, saying “Last year we said consoles, and we’ve shipped a console and we’ve now detailed another console. I think that’s plural.”
The console Microsoft released within the last year is the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, which is really just a slightly less-expensive Xbox One S without a disc drive. “Technically that is plural,” Spencer said jokingly after this was brought up. “Right now... we’re focused on Project Scarlett and what we put on stage.”
Does Toy Story 4 Have a Post Credits Scene?
If you're wondering whether Toy Story 4 has a post-credits scene at the end, then you're in the right place.
But if you somehow wound up here by mistake, be warned: Spoilers follow regarding whether or not the new Toy Story movie has a post-credits scene...
Right, still here? O.K., the answer is that yes, Toy Story 4 does have post-credits material.
Without giving away too much here, suffice to say there are several mid-credits scenes that play and are lots of fun. And then, after the credits have run completely, there is one last little bit that's also quite cute.
Halloween 2 With Jamie Lee Curtis Reportedly In the Works
Halloween 2, a sequel to 2018’s Halloween, is reportedly set to film in the fall for an October 2020 release date with franchise star Jamie Lee Curtis likely to return.
According to Collider, Curtis along with Judy Greer and Andi Matichak aren't signed on yet but are "expected" to return as the Strode family in Halloween 2. David Gordon Green is said to have already written the script after co-writing the last film and will probably come back as director.
Skipping E3 Didn’t Hurt PlayStation, It Hurt E3
E3 2019 was full of crazy surprises and great announcements, but arguably one of the biggest stories from the show came not last week, but last year. In November of 2018, Sony announced that it would not be attending E3 2019, meaning we’d get no update on the upcoming PS5 or several major first-party PS4 games. So now, with E3 2019 over, the big question is: did that decision hurt Sony?
Well... if that choice hurt anyone, it did the most damage to E3 itself, and not PlayStation.
Watch the video above for our specific conversation about Sony deciding to skip E3, and if you enjoyed that, watch the full episode of our weekly PlayStation show Beyond! below.