11 Little Things We Learned from the Harry Potter Play
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child debuted on the West End stage last week, at much the same time the play’s script was released as a hardback book. And we’ve been reading that script to find out what’s new in the Harry Potterverse.
So the following are 11 of the most interesting facts we found. We’re avoiding spoilers for the show’s plot, feeling they should be experienced as you watch or read. But if you don’t want to know ANYTHING about what’s happened to Harry, Ron, Hermione and co. in the intervening years, maybe come back when you’ve checked out the Cursed Child.
Which, incidentally, is REALLY good.
Hearthstone Card Reveal: The Awesome Power of Medivh
The next Hearthstone adventure is One Night in Karazhan, a fun, party-themed riff on one of World of Warcraft’s most iconic locations. It takes place when the most powerful mage in Azeroth, Medivh, was in his prime, and so too was his magical tower Karazhan. Things go awry, however - Medivh goes missing and his magic-imbued creations run amok.
The new content will take place across four wings (the first one opens on August 11 in North America, the 12th elsewhere) and by the end you’ll have 45 new cards. We’ve seen about half of them at this point, but get ready to see a very special new one – Medivh himself!
“Medivh, the Guardian” is a neutral legendary that costs eight mana and has a 7/7 body, but it’s the Battlecry “Equip Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian” that shows Medivh’s true power. Atiesh, you see, is a weapon with one attack and three durability with the text “After you cast a spell, summon a random minion of that cost. Lose 1 durability.” Cool, huh?
Star Wars: First Look at Rogue One’s U-Wing Ship
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will feature a brand-new ship called the U-Wing, and a still from Lucasfilms' upcoming movie provides an early glimpse at the spacecraft.
The image was revealed during the latest episode of The Star Wars Show. You can check out a screen shot below, followed by the video (the U-Wing appears at the 1:30 mark)
As noted by io9, the U-Wing was first shown in the form of concept art back at Star Wars Celebration 2015 in Anaheim.
Amazon Competitor Gets Blessing for Drone Delivery Tests
Alphabet, parent company of Google, Boston Dynamics, and a slew of other high-tech companies, has been cleared to test its drone delivery service in the US.
According to CNET, the tests are part of a new initiative from the US National Science Foundation, "which plans to spend $35 million over the next five years" researching unmanned aircraft flight.
Amazon, which itself has hopes to get its delivery service off the ground, literally, initially expected to have Amazon-drones delivering your wares in 2015. However, new drone regulations from the Federal Aviation Administration meant Amazon's plans were blocked from coming to fruition.
Pokemon Go Battery Saver Option to Return in ‘Several Days’
Pokemon Go developer Niantic Labs has revealed new information about when players can expect the game's battery saving option to be reinstated, while also providing an update on the game's continued worldwide rollout.
A new Facebook post reveals why the game's battery saving option on iOS was removed from the app and when players can expect it to be reinstated.
"We had removed this feature as several users were experiencing it to be buggy, but we are fairly confident that a fix for this should roll out within the next several days," the post reads.
The battery saving app allowed players, while leaving the app on, to reduce its drain on the phone battery when the phone was turned and held upside down. The phone would still then vibrate when nearby Pokemon appeared, however, the feature was removed in a recent update.
Powers Canceled by PlayStation Network
The PlayStation Network television series Powers has been canceled.
In a series of posts on Twitter, executive producer and co-creator Brian Michael Bendis confirmed that Season 2 will be the end of the show, saying the series "is sadly, no more." He also thanked the fans for their support and said he will share more details later.
That said, Bendis did tack on the caveat that there's no third season coming "at least for now," and in a later tweet offered a shred of hope to fans that it could one day return, saying, "a Powers episode generated over 4.5 million hits on YouTube alone and people BTS who believe in us. We'll see..."
Suicide Squad Had Competing Cuts
According to a new report, there was a lot of drama behind the scenes during the production of Suicide Squad as director David Ayer and Warner Bros. executives struggled to settle on the tone of the film.
Inside sources told The Hollywood Reporter there were two different cuts of Suicide Squad, as a lighter version was tested against the director's more somber take. Ayer agreed to participate in the studio's process of trying out multiple tones, which added millions of dollars to the film's budget.
After the feedback was received from screening the two different cuts, Ayer and Warners' execs sought to find "a very common-ground place," and the lighter, studio-favored option that brought in more characters early on ultimately won out.
How Suicide Squad Is a More Realistic Justice League
The Suicide Squad movie his later this week, so today DC Comics released Suicide Squad: Rebirth #1, which is a relaunch of the comic featuring Harley Quinn, Deadshot and other unscrupulous characters as part of Amanda Waller's black ops team called Task Force X.
Writer Rob Williams and artist Philip Tan crafted this issue as a jumping-on point that introduces the main players and sets the stage for the proper series beginning in Suicide Squad #1 by Williams and artist Jim Lee.
Being the Co-publisher of DC Entertainment, Lee is quite busy these days, and so it was recently announced that he'll be drawing only 12 pages of each Suicide Squad issue (down from the original 20) and new artists will be brought in to draw eight-page backup stories that put a spotlight on different members.
Thor: Ragnarok’s Mark Ruffalo Wraps Filming
While production on Thor: Ragnarok will likely continue for a few more months, Mark Ruffalo has wrapped filming on Marvel's upcoming movie.
The Hulk/Bruce Banner actor announced his completion on set in a post on Instagram that includes a photo of himself alongside director Taika Waititi, saying he "had such a great good fun time making this movie." In a follow-up post, Ruffalo shared another photo of himself, this time staring into the eyes of Banner's green-skinned alter ego.
via Mark Ruffalo's Instagram
Watch the New Trailer for Syfy’s Incorporated
Syfy's new series Incorporated might be set in the near future, but the cast of the show doesn't think it's depicting a reality far off from our own.
The series is from Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Todd's Pearl Street Films, and is co-created and executive produced by Self/Less's Alex and David Pastor. Alex and showrunner Ted Humphrey joined stars Sean Teale, Julia Ormond and Dennis Haysbert at the 2016 summer TV Critics Association press tour to present a new trailer for the upcoming show and discuss why it is so timely.
Watch the trailer below: