Marvel’s Avengers Line-Up Mirroring the MCU’s a Total Coincidence
The developers behind the upcoming Marvel’s Avengers game claim their Avengers line-up being nearly identical to the MCU’s is a total coincidence.
In an interview conducted by IGN’s Joshua Yehl, he asked Shaun Escayg, writer and creative director of Marvel’s Avengers, why Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, and Captain America are the group who kick off Marvel’s Avengers, specifically inquiring if it’s because that’s the core MCU Avengers line-up (minus Hawkeye), and if they were chosen because that’s who the audience already knows and loves.
"Actually, I don't even think we thought of it that way,” said Escayg. "When we came at this, we're just like, 'What's the most original story we can tell?' Literally. West Coast Avengers... is a comic that we started with. Just getting a premise of how can we tell this, how we can pull out our favorite parts of the Avengers and see where we can create one, the most conflict; two, give us the creative canvas we need to make this the most exciting game possible. So, we didn't really approach it from the movies. We didn't. We actually approached it more from the comics."
Doctor Sleep Can’t Be a True Shining Movie Sequel
Stephen King's iconic horror story The Shining is finally getting a movie sequel. The first trailer for Doctor Sleep has hit the Internet, showing horror fans a glimpse of Ewan McGregor's much older and wearier Danny Torrance. Surprisingly, the trailer goes out of its way to show that Doctor Sleep is a sequel to the 1980 movie version of The Shining. It reuses clips from Stanley Kubrick's film and even recreates one of that film's most iconic images with McGregor in place of Jack Nicholson. But as exciting as the prospect of a direct sequel to one of the most famous horror movies of all time may be, it doesn't actually make a lot of sense for Doctor Sleep to build on Kubrick's The Shining.
Batman Writer Reveals Reason for Early Comic Series Exit
Batman writer Tom King has shed more light on the reasons for his early departure from the series. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly (via CBR), King revealed that his commitments to writing Ava DuVernay's New Gods movie and an unannounced TV project made it difficult to remain on board the twice-monthly Batman series.
News of King's early departure first broke last month, raising concerns that his planned 100-issue run would be cut short. DC later eased concerns by announcing Batman/Catwoman, a 12-issue limited series debuting in 2020 that will allow King and artist Clay Mann to finish that story as intended.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers – First Trailer Revealed for Netflix Animated Series
Today at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France, DreamWorks Animation revealed a first-look teaser trailer and a new image from its upcoming series, Fast & Furious: Spy Racers.
Per DreamWorks Animation, "Fast & Furious: Spy Racers expands the high-octane action in all-new animated series as teenager Tony Toretto follows in the footsteps of his cousin Dom when he and his friends are recruited by a government agency to infiltrate an elite racing league serving as a front for a nefarious crime organization bent on world domination."
Tim Hedrick (Voltron Legendary Defender) and Bret Haaland (All Hail King Julien) will serve as showrunners. Vin Diesel is also an executive producer on the project, but it remains to be seen if he'll make an appearance.
Opinion: The Biggest Loser of E3 2019 is… The Year 2019
Note: we published this last week during E3, and have updated with a video component.
We get excited about E3 every year because we get to see what’s coming next. While developers have always called their shots well in advance, announcing games years before release, much of the action at the show revolves around showing games set to launch sometime between July and next year’s E3.
After spending the last week weighing all the publisher press conferences and the deluge of pre-show trailer drops and leaks, I took a step back and noticed that the second half of 2019 feels... light. Many of the biggest games at the show -- new and returning -- are coming out in the first few months of 2020, or later. And while the cupboard is far from bare -- I doubt many of us will have trouble finding games to buy or put on holiday wish lists come December-- the dearth of high-profile releases is noticeable.
Everything We Know About Elden Ring
Elden Ring is Dark Souls developer FromSoftware's latest game, officially announced at E3 2019 after rumors, hints, and a minor leak. But even with all the buzz, there isn't a ton of information about the upcoming game yet – just what we saw in its reveal trailer and a few tidbits of info here and there from game director Hidetaka Miyazaki and project collaborator George R. R. Martin.
While fans of Miyazaki (and Martin) patiently await more details, we've rounded up the most important things to know about Elden Ring… so far.
Elden Ring: The Rumors
In late December 2018, FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki (noted also for directing Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and the recent Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice) mapped out the studio's product line in an interview with Japanese game site 4Gamer.net. After Déraciné and Sekiro, FromSoftware noted two "unannounced games" in development.
The Batman: Everything We Know So Far
We may have seen the last of Ben Affleck's big screen Batman, but that doesn't mean we won't be seeing plenty of the Dark Knight in the years to come. Not only are we getting a proper origin story for the Clown Prince of Crime in the upcoming Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, but Batman himself is being rebooted once more as well with Robert Pattinson playing the Caped Crusader this time around. And now the cast is growing, with Zoe Kravitz has been cast as Selina Kyle, Jeffrey Wright playing Commissioner Gordon, John Turturro cast as crime boss Carmine Falcone and more big announcements.
DC Reveals Ambition Legion of Super-Heroes Relaunch
The Legion of Super Heroes drought at DC Comics is about to end. Today DC revealed that Superman writer Brian Michael Bendis will be spearheading an ambitious relaunch of the franchise with September's Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium.
LoSH: Millennium is a two-issue miniseries that will set the stage for a new ongoing Legion title from Bendis and artist Ryan Sook. Each issue will feature four vignettes focused on different members of the 31st Century team. The series will be anchored a familiar DC heroine who mysteriously gains immortality as she encounters the Legion in the future. This relaunch will also draw in other futuristic DC heroes, including Batman Beyond, Booster Gold and Kamandi.
Star Wars Celebration Dates Announced for 2020
The official dates of next year's Star Wars Celebration have been announced, taking place in Anaheim from August 27-30, 2020 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Star Wars Celebration is where all of the major news for upcoming announcements from Lucasfilm tend to be revealed, as well as being a place for cosplay, exhibits, panels with special guests, autograph sessions, film screenings, and other interactive activities for attendees to experience in the Star Wars universe.
This past year at Star Wars Celebration Chicago, the final installment in the now titled Skywalker Saga, was announced with Episode IX being revealed as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
E3 2020 Dates Announced
Today is officially the last day of E3 2019, and with little news left to come out of the conference, one of the last big pieces of information left to learn is: when’s E3 2020?
In an exit banner hung above one of the doorways of the LA Convention Center, it’s revealed that the next E3 will take place from June 9-11, 2020.
Photo credit: Chris Reed.
These dates line up logically with past E3 dates, as the show often takes place in the second week of June. Of course, these dates are only for when the show floor is open, and doesn’t include conference dates, most of which take place before E3 officially begins.