Maneater: Truth Questis the first DLC for the shark-based action RPG, Maneater. Developed by Tripwire Interactive and published by Deep Silver, Truth Quest continues in the same gameplay and narrative style as the first game. Players will reprise their role as a baby bull shark who, in the base game, pursued vengeance and genetic manipulation after being violently ripped from her mother. Truth Quest doesn't do anything drastic to shake up the Maneater formula, but fans of the game who wanted a little more will find exactly what they're looking for in the cryptic heart of this DLC.
Truth Quest continues the narrative where players left it, and follows the bull shark protagonist and her narrator Trip Westhaven, wonderfully voiced by Chris Parnell of Archer fame, as they seek to uncover the tangled web of plots enacted by the New World Order. It's never very clear why these plots are being pursued, and Sharky and Trip seem to need very little reason to take on this shadowy organization. It's all an excuse to become an atomic laser shark, which works for the premise. The star of the show is the bits of humour and satire that Trip throws at players every few minutes. As a game that pretty cleverly hid a SpongeBob SquarePants reference in its depths, Maneater: Truth Quest knows what kind of humor to deliver.
Gameplay in Maneaster and Truth Quest is almost exactly the same; The key difference is that Truth Quest acts as post-game content, upping the level cap, introducing new mutations, hunters, and mission types. Ultimately, Maneater can't escape the constraints of its core gameplay loop. Players will find a target, either a single entity or a group of hapless humans, attack them using a mix of bites, tail whips, dodges, and lasers, and keep up the dance until one or the other party is dead.
It's entertaining in it's own way, but Maneater seems to excel when either the player is small and helpless, dodging bigger fish and feeding where possible, or as a gigantic mega shark that can stalk humans before going in for the boat-destroying kill. Being able to spend a good deal of time on land, chasing fleeing humans way further up the beach than reasonable is also worth a chuckle. The horseshark of Truth Quest's viral marketing wasn't so far off.
Unfortunately, the additions don't do very much to extend the life of Maneater's shallow, if initially entertaining, combat system. Now helicopters, some land-based weapons, and irradiated sea creatures will join the long list of entities that want baby shark dead. While it is definitely fun to build into the atomic body set, complete with "freakin' laser beams," there isn't enough new gameplay to make Truth Quest a must buy.
Some of the same issues that plague the original Maneaterare still present in Truth Quest. There simply isn't a great variety of activities to pursue. Standard missions boil down to the same four core activities: Players will eat an absurd amount of humans, tackle especially dangerous marine life, swim races, and destroy beacons. Between all of this are the same set of exploration and collection missions that allow players to expand their sharky arsenal.
To top it off, there are still some annoying bugs like the odd flying boat, items falling through the world, and rarely, crashes. Players who loved Maneater will surely find more to appreciate in Truth Quest, but it doesn't do enough to truly expand on what made Maneater so memorable in the first place. The DLC is an obvious choice for those who simply want more of the world of the base game, but anyone looking for some major leaps in either the gameplay loop or its iterations will be left a little wanting.
Maneater: Truth Questreleases on PC, Playstation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on August 31 2021. A Steam Key was provided to Screen Rant for the purposes of this review.
Lady Luctopus is the first boss that players will come across in Psychonauts 2. Raz is back with a new mind-melting adventure. While he continues his journey from where the first Psychonauts ended, Raz will continue to enter the minds of people who need his help. Inside these brains are colorful levels with platforming challenges, and hidden secrets to discover. One of the first major challenges is Lady Luctopus, who has trapped her foes inside of cards. It is up to Raz to free them.
For starters, Lady Luctopus is the last boss in the Hollis' Hostreak level. The entire level is about gambling and the possible threats that overdoing it can do to the mind. Lady Luctopus herself is a personification of luck as she acts as a Blackjack dealer during this Psychonauts 2 boss fight. With Raz surrounded by playing cards and money chips, he will need to alternate between his dream-altering weapons in order to defeat her. For this battle, in particular, players will need to focus on having Mental Connection and Telekinesis ready to go.
Its colorful neon environments of Psychonauts 2 run much better on Xbox Series X when compared to PS5 but both versions still look fantastic. This fight is broken up into 3 different phases. While the fight itself doesn't change much, each phase comes along with a new move for players to avoid.
Psychonauts' Lady Luctopus will open the fight by sending lightbulbs to hit Raz. Don't try and break them, but rather wait until the floor is covered with lightbulbs. Now, use Raz's Telekinesis to throw a light bulb at the tentacle that is holding the cards. This will cause her to throw out thought bubbles for Raz to use Mental Connection on. There will be enemies to deal with so take them out quickly, and use the PSI Blaster to remove the barrier around her brain. Now, begin to attack the brain to do damage.
The rest of the fight is essentially the same thing, but Raz will need to do it multiple times with more enemies attempting to protect Lady Luctopus. To avoid the shocking floor, jump on the nearby chips. Wait until the move is over and toss the lightbulbs again. Head back to the top of her skull and attack until the final blow is dealt. Players will need to use Psychonauts 2'snew powers to finish the job. Lady Luctopus has been defeated and another mind has been put at peace. This will complete Hollis' Hotstreak.
Candyman (2021) continues and adapts the legend of Candyman from the original 1992 movie, where Nia Dacosta includes the origins, differences, and real meanings behind the six known Candyman figures. Nia DaCosta’s Candyman is a direct sequel to Bernard Rose’s 1992 film of the same name, where she essentially excludes the events from the Candyman franchise sequels Farewell to Flesh (1995) and Day of the Dead (1999). The new Candyman (2021) follows the modern-day story of Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who also happened to play a significant role in the original movie nearly 30 years earlier.
DaCosta’s movie drives home the importance and themes of storytelling and lore, incorporating the events from the original Candyman (1992) and other of the villain’s historical iterations through William Burke’s explanations, Troy’s ghost story at dinner, and visually striking shadow puppetry. Only referenced in passing throughout most of the new film, Tony Todd’s Candyman appears in the final moments after Anthony’s spiritual Candyman transformation to tie the stories together and adjust what the legend means going forward. Instead of focusing on the figure of the 1992 movie, Candyman (2021) tells the tale of what the legend really means within the Black community by including more backgrounds and situations for the figure over the years.
Through Candyman’s (2021) storytelling, DaCosta introduces several new historic iterations of the horror legend over the years, crafting a deeper, more tragic tale beneath the mirror-slaying spirit. The latest Cabrini-Green victim to inexplicably be murdered by white men, Anthony becomes Candyman in the movie’s last moments, but Candyman suggests he won’t be the last. As the world knows, Black people still face injustice and brutality at the hands of the white people who exploit them, meaning the franchise will likely have to accommodate and include new settings for the next inevitable Candyman manifestation.
The first and most well-known Candyman is Daniel Robitaille (Tony Todd), who was notable in Candyman (1992) as the origin of the legend that has been told since 1890. Robitaille was a talented Chicago painter in the 1800s, who was originally the son of a slave who became wealthy after inventing a machine to mass-produce shoes during the Civil War. With such resources, Robitaille’s father sent him to the nicest school in America where he was known to be sophisticated, polite, and an exceptionally talented painter, specializing in portraits.
The Candyman villain's origin says that in 1890, Robitaille was hired by a wealthy white landowner to paint his young daughter, with whom he fell in love and was to have a child out of wedlock. The girl’s father discovered the affair and hired a lynch mob to chase Robitaille in Chicago where they sawed off his hand with a rusty blade and smeared him with honey to be stung to death, where a young boy tasted the honey and the town declared him “Candy Man.” The mob then hanged and burned his body on a pyre. Following his death, a legend arose in Cabrini-Green where if one spoke his name into a mirror five times and immediately turned out the lights, Robitaille would appear and murder both the conjurer and witnesses.
In the ending credits for Candyman, the shadow puppetry is utilized to show the stories of each Candyman manifestation after the original Daniel Robitaille and before Anthony McCoy. One such Candyman is an unnamed young boy who was wrongly accused of assaulting a white woman and thrown in prison, where he was later killed in the electric chair. Although not explicitly revealed, many have surmised this Candyman to be telling the tale of George Stinney, a 14-year-old boy who became the youngest person ever to die by the electric chair in 1944 when he was accused of murdering two young white girls. Stinney was jailed and subsequently “confessed” after police starved and bribed him, whereafter he was wrongly convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to death. The story is also reminiscent of the notable tragic and horrifying tale of young Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy who was falsely accused of harassing a white woman in 1955 and subsequently brutally beaten and lynched by white men in town.
The opening sequence of Candyman (2021) introduces the first new Candyman iteration, taking place back in 1977 when a Cabrini-Green resident named Sherman Fields was wrongly murdered by police. Fields had been known around the neighborhood as “The Candyman” because he carried candies that he gave to children, though the police and many in the larger community believed him to be responsible for razor blades found in wrapped candies, which led to a manhunt for Fields after a white girl found a razor in one her candies. Young William Burke saw Fields in the wall of the Cabrini-Green laundromat, screaming when he appeared but realizing he actually meant no harm too late, as the scream still alerted the white policemen outside. The police swarmed the laundromat and beat the next Candyman Sherman Fields to death, whereafter he was retroactively exonerated for the razor-blade crimes when they were still appearing in children’s candy after he was killed. Thereafter, Fields became the next iteration of the legendary Candyman, being the physical embodiment seen in mirrors and killing those who call his name five times.
At the end of the original Candyman (1992), young white graduate student Helen Lyle takes over the Candyman moniker from Daniel Robitaille. Helen is a graduate student in 1992 Chicago who conducts research on theories about urban legends, discovering the Candyman story along the way. She and a friend jokingly call his name to no avail, whereafter Tony Todd's Candyman reveals himself to Helen, using her as a way to keep his story and image alive in the community. Candyman manipulated Helen to be caught for his murders, causing her to be arrested and institutionalized, finally escaping when she conjured the spirit. She goes to Cabrini-Green to find Candyman and save Anthony, a baby who he wants to use as a sacrifice - who would also grow up to become the new Candyman in 2021. Candyman says he will give up Anthony if Helen sacrifices herself, though he really intends to kill both of them to fuel his legend and fear in the community. Helen saves the baby from the bonfire, though dies from her wounds in the fire alongside Candyman.
After Helen Lyle's death,Candymanshows that she has taken up the same urban legend form, where if her name is called in a mirror five times, she appears and murders the summoners with a hook for a hand. The curious aspect of Helen becoming Candyman is that she’s not Black; she’s never had to deal with such injustices and can’t represent the experience of Black communities, making her tragic death and manifestation an outlier in the Candyman mythology. Turning a middle-class white woman who is continually worried about unintentionally becoming an exploiter of Black people into Candyman seems to be against the message, with her taking over the legend and spotlight from Daniel Robitaille’s Candyman. DaCosta and Peele’s Candyman wisely amends this change by including all other Candyman iterations as Black people, though still acknowledges that Helen was an ally who saved Anthony from being sacrificed.
After Candyman's (2021) ending, one of the shadow puppet stories of all the Candymen seems to depict the brutal lynching of James Byrd, Jr. from 1998. The segment shows a Black man moving into a white neighborhood, whereafter he is dragged to death behind a pickup truck. This story notably corresponds to that of James Byrd, a 49-year-old man who accepted a ride from three white supremacists in Texas who then inhumanely beat him, spray-painted him, and committed countless other atrocities before brutally chaining his legs to their pickup truck and dragging him on an asphalt road for three miles for disposing of his body at a Black church.
For Anthony, Candyman (2021) makes it appear that becoming intertwined with the lore and eventually turning into the spirit himself was always in his destiny. Anthony was first introduced in Candyman (1992) as the baby from Cabrini-Green abducted by Candyman to be killed in a fire to fuel his legend, though was saved at the last minute by Helen Lyle as she sacrificed her own life for his. In the time since Helen’s death and the Candyman (2021) events, Anthony’s mother told him the community vowed to let the legend die and leave behind the tragic events of when he was an infant. In trying to cure his painter’s block, Anthony reconnects with Cabrini-Green, becoming more and more entranced with the lore and his integral connection as he speaks with William Burke and is physically transformed after a bee sting.
Anthony is increasingly hypnotized by the Candyman legend, with William Burke finally devising to turn Anthony into the next Candyman by sawing off his arm, shoving a hook inside, and waiting for him to be gunned down by police, whereafter Candyman becomes a symbol of vengeance instead of fear. Anthony’s girlfriend Brianna arrives and is chased by Burke, who she murders in self-defense before Anthony appears, where he is shot to death by the police. Brianna then conjures Candyman, causing Anthony to reanimate as the Candyman spirit and murder all of the policemen on the scene. Anthony's Candyman then transforms into the face of Daniel Robitaille, who encourages Brianna to “tell everyone.”
Each Candyman represents a manifestation of the brutalities, horrors, and disenfranchisement of Black people that were especially present in their corresponding eras. As each generation of Black people moves into different versions of the same old story, Candyman is reinvented accordingly. As William Burke tells Anthony McCoy in Candyman (2021), “Candyman is the whole damn hive,” meaning he’s not simply one person in a legend, he’s an aggregation of suppressed Black history and the perpetual violence against Black people. “Say My Name” as Candyman’s continual slogan is less inviting people to get themselves killed than encouraging them to tell the story of the systemic racism and brutalities Black people have endured generation after generation. Just as Black history has largely been erased from school curriculums, each Candyman asks his victims and community to keep his name and brutal story alive so as to not forget the injustices faced by Black people in America.
While the new Anthony McCoy Candyman is seeking revenge on the white people that have oppressed Black people for centuries, Tony Todd’s original Candyman was stalking Cabrini-Green’s own Black residents. This may seem like a retcon for what Candyman actually means but, in reality, the Daniel Robitaille Candyman in 1992 was manifesting the manipulated narrative created by white officials, policemen, the media, and the government that Black people were killing themselves at higher rates. By giving Candyman a different face over the years and adjusting each one’s background, the Candyman franchise is explaining that each generation of Black Americans gets their own physical manifestation and legend of the Black experience of their time.
The timeline of The Legend of Zeldaseries has been split on several occasions, due to the events that took place at the end of Ocarina of Time and Age of Calamity. The various Legend of Zelda timelines are used to explain inconsistencies with the lore, as the developers established that the land of Hyrule is the same place in each game, and it's not a Final Fantasy situation, where every game has its own Hyrule.
The idea of there being multiple Legend of Zelda timelines was a fan theory for the longest time. It wasn't until the release of a book called Hyrule Historia that a timeline for the series was laid out. Since then, the Zelda timeline has been amended several times, as new entries of the series have been released. There are also some games whose placement has changed, with Link's Awakening initially happening after the Oracle games. This was later changed to Link's Awakening happening before the Oracle games, suggesting they are its sequels, and that Link survived his uncertain fate after being shipwrecked.
There are some entries in The Legend of Zelda series that take place before the timeline split. As of the time of writing, Skyward Sword is the first entry in the timeline, as it shows the Hylians returning to the surface world and the forging of the Master Sword. It's followed by The Minish Cap, which shows the origins of Link's iconic hat. This is followed by Four Swords, where the wind mage Vaati returns and must be defeated by a version of Link that can split in four. The timeline splits start to happen at the end of Ocarina of Time. It has been confirmed that Breath of the Wild takes place at the end of the timeline, but no one is sure which one, or if it's somehow all of them, and all roads lead to Breath of the Wild.
The first timeline is created from an event where Ganon slays Link at the end of Ocarina of Time, leading to the realm of Hyrule being vulnerable to conquest. Ganon is able to take over the land, facing little opposition until a new version of Link arrives and is able to draw the Master Sword. This timeline contains the original Legend of Zelda game, the Oracle games, A Link to the Past, A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes, Link's Awakening, and Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link.
The devastated version of Hyrule is used as an excuse for how empty the land is in early games, which was due to the limitations of the hardware of the time. In the end, a new version of Link appeared, defeated Ganon, and saved Princess Zelda.
The next two Legend of Zelda timelines are the result of Princess Zelda's actions at the end of Ocarina of Time. Once Link defeats Ganon, Princess Zelda uses the Ocarina of Time to send him back in time, so that he can live out the childhood that he missed the first time around. The only problem is that Ganon eventually returned and there was no hero to stop him, as Link had been sent back in time. The goddesses of Hyrule flooded the realm, leading to the events of Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, and Spirit Tracks.
This version of Hyrule was flooded, but the water eventually dissipated, allowing for the creation of steam engines. Spirit Tracks technically has multiple endings, as Link decides his future career based on how he answers a question from Princess Zelda. Spirit Tracks is currently the last game in its own timeline, so it's unclear if this decision has any ramifications.
The version of Link that was sent back in time by Zelda at the end of Ocarina of Time went on to have his own adventures. This timeline consists of Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, and the Four Swords Adventures games. Ganon is defeated at the beginning of this timeline, but Link's troubles aren't over yet, as he now has to stop the moon from crashing into the land of Termina. Link has some of his most peculiar and darkest adventures in this timeline, with Majora's Mask being seen as one of the strangest video games of all time, while the Twilight Realm from Twilight Princess is one of the most surreal and unsettling locations in the series.
The Age of Calamity timeline split is the most questionable in terms of its canonical status, as it happened in a spin-off game. In Age of Calamity, a Guardian named Terrako from the Breath of the Wild era goes back in time to warn Link and Princess Zelda about the impending arrival of Calamity Ganon. This gives Link, Zelda, and the Champions the time they need to assemble their forces and prepare for the war ahead. They are later joined by other heroes from the future, and together, they manage to defeat Calamity Ganon.
This has created a new timeline, where the events of Breath of the Wild never happened. It's possible the events of Age of Calamity are never mentioned again, and that the story is just a nice bit of fan service. Then again, there's still almost nothing known (including its real title) about the story of Breath of the Wild's sequel, and it's possible it takes place in a new Legend of Zelda timeline.
The final trailer for No Time to Die arrives teasing a villainous plot reveals for the final installment in Daniel Craig's tenure as James Bond. The latest installment in the action franchise picks up five years after the events of Spectre in which Christoph Waltz's Blofeld has been captured and Bond has left active service from MI6. However, he finds himself drawn back in by Jeffrey Wright's CIA field officer Felix Leiter to assist in the search for a missing scientist, which finds Bond on track to a villain who is planning destruction that could result in the death of millions.
Following Spectre, Craig initially expressed hesitance to return to the role of Bond but would ultimately sign on for No Time to Die as his final outing in the franchise. Alongside Craig, the film will feature the returns of Waltz, Wright, Léa Seydoux as Spectre love interest Dr. Madeleine Swann, Ben Whishaw as Quartermaster "Q," Naomi Harris as Moneypenny, Ralph Fiennes as M and Rory Kinnear as Tanner. After a bumpy road in development of multiple directors departing due to creative differences, Cary Joji Fukunaga eventually signed on to rewrite and direct and following multiple COVID-19 delays in its release, the film is finally right around the corner to hit theaters.
With just over a month remaining until the film's long-awaited arrival, the official James BondYouTube channel has shared the final trailer for No Time to Die. The video features more insight into the motives and methods of Malek's mysterious villain Lyutsifer Safin, as well as teases of his connections to Seydoux's Swann and building anticipation for Craig's final outing in the iconic role of Bond. Check out the final trailer below:
While the overall quality of his films has certainly ranged from fantastic to satisfactory, the villains of Craig's bond films have certainly been a solid roster of both intelligent and physically imposing characters and there has been a lot of anticipation for Malek's Safin. With No Time to Die set as Craig's last outing in the series, many are looking to see whether Safin proves to be a formidable final foe for Bond to face and the new trailer does offers some intriguing new insight into the character. Though his backstory is still largely being kept under wraps, his world-threatening plans are looking more expansive and devastating than previously shown and his philosophical speech on legacy pairs well with the lead of the film and what he brought to the franchise.
The final trailer for No Time to Die also builds some anticipation regarding what will come of Bond in the film. While director Fukunaga has confirmed the film will include the traditional "Bond will return" postscript at the end of the credits, the latest trailer's addressing of the film as the "epic conclusion" and the scale of Safin's threat certainly seems to point towards Craig's superspy sacrificing himself by the end of the film. Only time will tell when the film hits theaters on October 8.
During a recollection of their famous battle on Cloud City, Luke Skywalker deals Darth Vader the perfect insult, even though neither of them will ever know it. Taking place after the events of The Empire Strikes Back, Luke kills time in Star Wars #16 while traveling to the planet Jekara by telling his faithful droid R2-D2 about the traumatic experience. Luke reveals why he was so overwhelmed by Vader, but the comparison he chooses is the last one his Sith father would want.
When Luke faces Vader in TheEmpire Strikes Back, he's too inexperienced and unprepared, losing a hand before learning that Darth Vader is his father. Marvel's Star Wars comics pick up after the movie, and see Luke training hard so that he'll be able to hold his own in the inevitable rematch with Vader. While Luke's abilities are steadily growing, he knows he's still no match for the Sith warrior, but the War of the Bounty Hunters is threatening to bring the two back together once again.
In Star Wars #16 by Charles Soule and Ramon Rosanas, Luke is seen traveling through hyperspace to the planet Jekara, hoping he makes it in time to help Princess Leia on her mission to reclaim Han's imprisoned body. Luke kills time by talking to the loyal R2-D2, who also flew and worked alongside his father, and reveals his thoughts about his previous battle with Darth Vader. Having analyzed and obsessed over the series of events, Luke describes going up against Vader as like attempting to fight a storm, "like one of those ripping, tearing gravel storms back on Tatooine, the kind that could strip you down to your bones."
Luke has no way of knowing it, but he's comparing his father to something Anakin Skywalker famously loathed. In Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of the Clones, Anakin has been tasked with protecting his childhood crush Senator Amidala. Laying low on Padme's home planet Naboo, she tells Anakin about her childhood visits at Varykino in the Lake Country, how she'd lay on the sand after swimming. Anakin admits he doesn't like sand, "It's coarse and rough and irritating - and it gets everywhere." While this honesty ended up being another way for Anakin to court Padme despite the rules forbidding Jedi from relationships, this quote from the much-criticized prequel trilogy found a second life as a meme. Anakin's hatred of sand has since been reinterpreted in game show questions, dating advice, and even an It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia-like title card making fun of him.
As Anakin's dislike for sand was not made any better when he returned to Tatooine with Padme in a failed attempt to save his mother, Luke's description ends up landing a blow that no lightsaber could match. Anakin already betrayed everything he was taught and believed in when he became Darth Vader, but it turns out that according to Luke (someone who even grew up on the same planet), the abilities he gained in exchange have no better comparison than a thing he's loathed for his entire life.
James Gunn has revealed which of the many deaths in The Suicide Squadalways makes him cry. Gunn’s revamp of DC’s Suicide Squad sees Task Force X get a makeover. Alongside the returning misfits Harley Quinn, Rick Flag, and Captain Boomerang, the group has new faces like Peacemaker, Bloodsport, and King Shark. The film shows the group embarking on a dangerous mission to Corto Maltese to destroy the mysterious Project Starfish. Unlike the poorly received 2016 Suicide Squad film, Gunn’s take is R-rated, and while it contains plenty of humor, there is no shortage of violence and high-profile character deaths. Gunn himself alluded to this in the film’s promotional tagline,“Don’t get too attached,” prior to its release.
Warner Bros.’ latest DC offering has performed poorly at the box office but has become HBO Max’s most-watched DC movie. In addition to that, The Suicide Squad has received rave reviews from both critics and audiences, with many praising Gunn’s ability to inject a great deal of emotion into the story. One way the director has effectively done this is through the deaths of various characters, most notably Rick Flag. Flag is killed by Peacemaker in one of the more memorable scenes in the film after he tries to “do good.” Gunn previously mentioned that two deaths in the film always make him cry, and during The Suicide Squad’s HBO Max Watch Party, he revealed one of them.
During the livewatch party, Gunn revealed on Twitter that Rick’s death during his fight scene with Peacemaker makes him emotional, writing: “I tear up all the time when watching it.” In addition to being a scene noted for its unique shot that shows the reflection of Peacemaker and Rick fighting in Peacemaker’s helmet, it also features an internal image of Rick’s heart once he is stabbed. Gunn also mentions this shot in the tweet and explains it was because he “wanted people to see very clearly this was actual death.” Read Gunn's full tweet below:
Out of the many deaths in The Suicide Squad, none are more emotional than Rick Flag’s, so it’s easy to see why this particular moment makes Gunn cry. The death carries extra weight considering the moral standing of the two characters, as Peacemaker’s blind and foolish following of Amanda Waller’s orders lead to Flag's demise. Rick’s final words (“Peacemaker, what a joke.”) and Peacemaker’s reaction are also perhaps a precursor for the upcoming Peacemaker series. Gunn has previously alluded to wanting to explore “something below” Peacemaker’s hardened exterior. Interestingly, the director also justifies the heart shot as crucial to the audience's understanding. In a film with so many deaths (and teased deaths), Rick’s hits home even more because showing his damaged heart confirms that he is indeed dead.
Gunn has said he wants to tell more stories about DC’s villains, and has also teased more The Suicide Squad spinoff shows. Given that, it’s possible that Rick Flag could return. For now, HBO Max’s Peacemaker will be Gunn's next DC project, with Cena stating the show “turns up the volume” from what audiences see in The Suicide Squad. Expectant viewers can only assume that means plenty more death scenes to come. Whether or not they have the same emotional impact on Gunn or his fans remains to be seen.
Season 2, episode 7 of Evil is notable not just for its intriguing central plot device, but also for its frequent use of strong language. Despite its TV-14 rating, the "S is for Silence" episode included several prominent uses of the F-word. Normally, this volume of foul language would result in a stricter age rating. However, because of the innovative way in which it is employed in Evil, the show still manages to stick within its parameters.
S is for Silence focuses on the Evil team's adventures in a 130-year-old monastery, inhabited by monks bound by a strict vow of silence. The crew investigates a mysterious case involving a corpse that is failing to decompose before the show's main protagonist, Kirsten, befriends an alcohol-brewing nun. The central trio must also be content with an ominous cabinet that supposedly contains an angry demon that will escape and wreak havoc on the world if a single word is ever uttered in the monastery. It's this central conceit that helps to make the unfolding drama so compelling.
As a result of the vow of silence, characters are unable to communicate as they would do ordinarily. While this poses several problems throughout the episode, it does allow the writers to indulge in some unconventional dialogue. One scene in particular features no less than a dozen different uses of the F-word all condensed into a 25-second period. Ordinarily, this would be considered boundary-pushing for a TV-14 show. However, Evil – which continues to receive positive reviews – is able to get away with it because the swearing happens during an internal monologue, creating a loophole for the writers.
The scene at the center of the F-word controversy is perhaps even more divisive as it takes place during a moment of supposedly quiet and contemplative prayer. After being invited by the monks to ask God for guidance, David struggles to maintain mental focus. His entire internal monologue is captured as an onscreen transcript, before eventually slipping into a long list of F-bombs. Normally, TV-14 shows follow roughly the same guidelines as PG-13 movies, with only one or two F-words allowed during the run time. However, because, David's swearing is written down, isn't spoken out loud and isn't used in an explicitly aggressive or sexual context, Evil is able to include more than the average show.
Interestingly, language remains one of the few clear links between TV-14 and PG-13 rated productions. As Evil, which airs on Paramount+, aptly demonstrates, TV-14 shows typically contain more violence and gore, as well as nudity and scenes of a sexual nature, than their big-screen PG-13 counterparts. Curiously, however, TV-14 series often stick by the PG-13 guideline of one use of explicit or very strong language. Perhaps the S is for Silence episode can be a trendsetter for more unorthodox use of language moving forwards on TV.
Warning: Contains spoilers for Marvel's What If...? episode 3.
With Loki’s successful invasion of Earth in What If…? episode 3, “What If… the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?,” the show inadvertently proved how weak the Ancient One really was. What If…? has expanded the Marvel Cinematic Universe to include examinations of what could have happened in alternate timelines. This device is rife with potential narrative and storytelling pitfalls.
In episode 3 of What If…?Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) seeks vengeance against Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) for the death of his daughter, Hope Van Dyne, by assassinating each member of his planned Avengers initiative before he can properly recruit them. Pym’s self-involved plan has the obvious knock-on effect of leaving the Earth without the original Avengers to defend it. While the episode closes with the implication that Captain Marvel and Captain America could be the start of a new version of the team in this timeline, it is not before catastrophe has struck. A result of Pym’s plan that would have been harder for him to predict is that Thor’s brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) would arrive on Earth with an Asgardian army, and without a team to stop them, Loki easily conquers the planet.
However, the MCU has made it clear that beyond Nick Fury’s Avengers there are other people intent on keeping Earth safe. Doctor Strange set up the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) as Sorcerer Supreme of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, and Avengers: Endgame demonstrated that she was in New York and protecting the Sanctum Sanctorum during the events of The Avengers. During the Chitauri invasion, she presumably did not take a larger part in the battle because she had used the Time Stone and knew the Avengers would succeed. However, during this alternate timeline, they have already diverged from what the TVA called the Sacred Timeline, and yet she allowed Loki to take control of the planet unhindered. After the death of the Ancient One, Thor: Ragnarok shows Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in the role of Sorcerer Supreme and as soon as Loki appears on Earth he addresses the situation as he sees Loki as an obvious and credible threat. The fact that the Ancient One does nothing to confront Loki in What If…? highlights how much weaker she was than Strange is able to become.
This is not the first time that a Disney Plus series has undermined the presumed power and knowledge of the Ancient One. Prior to What If…?, the true laws of time were explored within the TVA in Loki and proved the Ancient One wrong about the Infinity Stones and timelines. While this might feel like the MCU working to retcon the statements made by the Ancient One, it likely is a different problem.
All of this was probably unintentional on Marvel’s part and underlies an issue that the MCU is hitting up against as it becomes so large and interconnected. Whenever they introduce a new powerful character, it raises the question of what they were doing during other catastrophes, leading to them including explanations that sidestep the issue as with The Eternals. Similarly, as happened with Black Widow, when they go back to tell a story earlier in the timeline (which is effectively the whole point of What If…?) they risk forgetting the presence of a powerful character who should have undoubtedly had an effect on the situation.
Spider-Man: No Way Home will explore the multiverse and the chaos it can bring to the Marvel Cinematic Universe a bit deeper, opening the doors to various threats, which has made fans believe Spider-Man will fight the multiverse Sinister Six. The first three phases of the MCU, collectively known as the Infinity Saga, were all about Thanos’ quest to get the Infinity Stones, mount them on the Infinity Gauntlet, and wipe out half of life in the universe, but now that this arc is over, the MCU is moving forward with a different and bigger issue. So far, Phase 4 has established the multiverse and its potential madness as the main theme, and Spider-Man: No Way Home will delve into it.
At the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) framed Peter Parker (Tom Holland) for his murder and revealed his identity to the world. Spider-Man: No Way Home, then, will see Peter dealing with murder charges and with the world knowing who he is, which will lead him to ask Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for help. As seen in the first trailer, Peter will ask Strange to make everyone forget he is Spider-Man, but the spell won’t go as planned and will mess with time and space, making way for the arrival of villains from previous Spider-Man movies, as are Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) and Electro (Jamie Foxx), though they might not be the only ones.
The first trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home confirmed the return of those two characters (though only Doc Ock appears), teased the appearance of the Green Goblin from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, and hinted at the presence of Sandman (played by Thomas Haden Church in Spider-Man 3) and The Amazing Spider-Man’s Lizard. Now, there have been talks of a Sinister Six movie for years now, and movies like The Amazing Spider-Man 2 even teased their arrival, but there hasn’t been anything confirmed about it – but the possible arrival of all the aforementioned characters in Spider-Man: No Way Home has made fans believe Peter will be fighting the multiverse Sinister Six in his third solo movie.
The Sinister Six are a group of supervillains who have battled Spider-Man many times. The original members have already been introduced in different Spider-Man movies with one making his debut in the near future, and as the MCU is opening the gates of the multiverse, it’s now more likely than ever that Holland’s Spider-Man can come face to face with the Sinister Six. The original lineup is formed by Doc Ock, Vulture (played in the MCU by Michael Keaton), Electro, Mysterio, Sandman, and Kraven the Hunter, to be played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Now, Spider-Man: No Way Home has teased five potential members, with the sixth speculated to be either Vulture (who will also appear in Morbius), Shocker (Bokeem Woodbine), Scorpion (Michael Mando), or Mysterio, all villains that Holland’s Peter already knows well. In that case, the Sinister Six would be formed by characters from different universes, thus making way for a multiverse version of the Sinister Six. This also makes way for the highly rumored and anticipated return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as alternate versions of Spider-Man, who could join forces in a multiverse Spider-Man team up to defeat a multiverse threat like the Sinister Six, as the three of them would have already faced some of these characters in their own worlds.
This would not only have consequences in the MCU but also in the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, where other Spider-Man enemies like Venom and soon Kraven the Hunter live. The trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home answered a couple of questions about the plot and confirmed some rumors as well, but it also left many mysteries that fans are trying to solve with a variety of theories. Whether Spider-Man: No Way Home will be the introduction of the multiverse Sinister Six or it’s just a tease remains to be seen, but Peter surely won’t be ready to face all those different threats from different parts of the wide Marvel multiverse.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Titans season 3, episode 5
The flashback narrative in Titans season 3, episode 5, “Lazarus,” makes a Red Hood redemption possible, and in turn makes the show’s portrayal of Scarecrow significantly darker. Previously Red Hood had seemed irredeemably evil while the stoner version of Scarecrow came across as almost goofy in comparison. Episode 5 showed what really lay beneath both of those facades.
After his death at the hands of Joker in Titans season 3, episode 1, the ex-Robin, Jason Todd (Curran Walters), returned from the dead as the villain Red Hood. Episode 5 of the latest season of Titans demonstrated that Scarecrow (Vincent Kartheiser) was behind his resurrection and had used one of Ra’s Al Ghul’s Lazarus Pits to bring him back. Scarecrow is first introduced as a prisoner in Arkham Asylum that is working as a consultant with the Gotham PD. Jonathan Crane seems relatively harmless at first, eager to trade information for drugs and easily getting caught in traps around the cabin that Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites) takes him to, but that depiction takes on a new light when Scarecrow is revealed as the mastermind behind Red Hood’s creation.
Red Hood’s crimes played into the previous depictions of Jason as violent and rage-filled, but it was conceivable that the Titans might forgive him if he showed a genuine change of heart. However, Titans season 3, episode 3, “Hank and Dove” made the character seem irredeemable through his drawn-out murder of the Titan Hank/Hawk (Alan Ritchson) and his lack of remorse for the act. Yet, the depiction of Scarecrow at the beginning of episode 5 demonstrates that he was behind each step of Red Hood’s plan. When Jason shows concern about the plan having killed Hawk he demonstrates a glimmer of good that signals he might be redeemed later. In turn, Scarecrow’s callous disregard responding “who’s Hawk?” and making a joke shows how ruthless and dark the character really is.
The latest episode of Titans spent its flashback to show the human side of Jason Todd, signaling to viewers that he is not beyond redemption with a vision of Donna telling him that he “still has time.” Introducing his longstanding friendship with Molly is instrumental to this, with his quip “you still trying to save me?” and her retort “always” likely to be called back to later in the season. Jason is shown being pushed to his limit by his own fear of failure and a loss of identity in a similar way to the character’s comic book narrative where he learns that Bruce thought that he was a failure as Robin in “Batman R.I.P.” It is key to his potential redemption that his very first action as Red Hood is to complete his mission with Molly of saving Diego Martinez.
It’s in stark contrast to Jason’s potential redemption that Scarecrow’s true colors are shown. Beyond his disregard for Hank’s death, it becomes clear how much he is manipulating Jason by controlling his fear. While Jason originally made a drug to be able to face Joker, Scarecrow presents his own version of the drug that presumably has additional effects and pressures Jason into taking it. This takes Scarecrow’s recreational drug use, which can be seen more positively through its modern legalization in many US states, and twists it to make him an oppressive force.
All of this makes Scarecrow’s goofiness read as unsettling, notably as he dances to “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” in his Arkham hideout and prepares his plan to wreak havoc and terror on all of Gotham. All of this keeps the new spin on the character present while bringing in darker elements that more classically track with the comic book character and the Cillian Murphy portrayal of Scarecrow that many viewers will be familiar with from the Christopher Nolan movies. Titans’ season 3 looked set to use Red Hood as its main villain, but this change makes Scarecrow the more dramatically evil figure, which aligns with the fact that Kartheiser is not expected to return for season 4.
Warning! This article contains spoilers for Batman/Superman: Authority Special #1!
In Batman/Superman: Authority Special #1, Superman is asked by Batman to go on a mission that the Justice League could never be a part of. DC's new special ties directly into the current "Warworld Rising" story arc, along with its conclusion, simply titled "Warworld." By the time that this special arrives, Mongul will have attacked Earth with all of his forces. However, this isn't the only reason why Earth has been turned upside down.
War still rages between Atlantis and the U.S. due to their squabbling. It seems that Superman's attempt at intervention did nothing to break up their conflict. Additionally, it seems that some of Superman's new Kryptonian ally Thao-La's fellow refugees have been murdered. As if that wasn't enough chaos for the DC Universe, topping things off, Superman has also been expelled from the Justice League.
In Batman/Superman: Authority Special #1 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Trevor Hairsine, Jonathan Glapion, and Ben Templesmith, Earth is in absolute chaos after Mongul's sudden attack. Having been exiled from the Justice League, Superman re-forms the Authority with the help of Manchester Black. His goal with the Authority is to liberate Warworld and free all of the other prisoners like Thao-La. Now that Superman is no longer part of the Justice League, Batman takes his chances to recruit him on an unorthodox mission. Take a look at the preview art and solicitation info below:
BATMAN/SUPERMAN: AUTHORITY SPECIAL #1
Written by PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON
Art by TREVOR HAIRSINE, JONATHAN GLAPION and BEN TEMPLESMITH
Cover by RODOLFO MIGLIARI
$5.99 US | 48 PAGES
Variant cover by JEEHYUNG LEE
$6.99 US (Card stock)
ON SALE 11/2/21
Following Mongul's brazen attack on Earth, Superman's world has been turned upside down: conflict between Atlantis and the surface world, the discovery of an immensely powerful new element, dead refugees with mysterious ties to Krypton, and expulsion from the Justice League! When Superman re-forms the experimental, antiestablishment Authority to join him in liberating Warworld, Batman comes to them with a request: join him for one unorthodox, off-the-books mission first, one he could never ask the Justice League to be a part of…and one he doesn't expect everyone to come back from.
What the mission turns out to be remains a mystery, however, it's clearly extremely dangerous and antithetical to the Justice League's code of conduct. Considering that Superman will be taking along the Authority with him, Batman is probably in need of some of their specific skills. The solicitation also mentions that Batman "doesn't expect everyone to come back" from this mission. In perhaps a dark interpretation of coming events, it's likely that Batman is still a Justice League member, so he wouldn't want to risk his teammates' lives when a more expendable team like the Authority is available.
When Superman asked Batman and the Justice League for help in a recent issue of Action Comics, they showed a complete lack of interest. For Batman, his interest will always lie with Earth's problems first. Despite Superman being in big trouble with Mongul, this new, risky mission has more than likely got not much to do with the Warworld attack. Batman/Superman: Authority Special #1 will be available on November 2 in comic book stores and on digital platforms.
Robot-assisted therapy through the use of exoskeletons can be useful in helping rehabilitate stroke victims, researchers at the University of Texas have found. This research is welcome, considering that stroke is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and when a stroke victim survives, it can mean long-lasting physical disability. A stroke victim may face partial or total paralysis over large portions of their body. Using robotics to help patients regain full or partial use of limbs is a field of work that has grown steadily in recent years, and this latest advancement is a great example.
The way researchers at the University of Texas are using robotics to help stroke victims is simple. An exoskeleton provides the user with greater mobility by offering additional support muscles and limbs that have lost dexterity or stability. Published in the Journal of Neural Engineering, the use of the exoskeleton 'Ekso 1.1' showed the potential to correct impaired walking patterns on a weak or paralyzed leg and increase its motor coordination. The promising research showed that with the introduction of a robotics-assisted exoskeleton to help synergize the afflicted leg, participants showed the potential to regain their normal walking ability. The use of the exoskeleton allows for longer training times during rehabilitation.
The researchers drew from a sample of 11 able-bodied participants and 10 stroke victims. The study tasked the participants with walking on a treadmill over 10 to 15 supervised sessions for 50-minute sessions over four weeks. The findings showed the research team how a powered exoskeleton affects the stroke subjects’ neuromuscular coordination walking and demonstrated the potential to use muscle synergy as a result of the exoskeleton's involvement.
This research could be a hopeful, albeit pricey, step towards fighting the long-term impact of a stroke, and it furthers the trend of robotics being used to help patients regain their freedom. While the work is in its infancy, having just been published for peer review, and the exoskeleton itself being a prototype model, it could have a long-term impact in the field of stroke rehabilitation.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the more celebrated RPGs in recent memory, but playing the entirety of its story - especially with all the DLC - could take players a huge number of hours. The explorable area is massive, and the already lengthy main quest is supported by a plethora of side quests, most of which are narratively interesting and worth undertaking. The addition of the game's two DLC expansions made the task of completion even more difficult, with a single playthrough now an even larger time commitment than it used to be.
New and old players alike will have the chance to step into Geralt's revamped boots when the next gen upgrade releases, expected later this year, renewing interest in the game even though The Witcher 3 originally released over six years ago. The Witcher 3 sees protagonist and infamous Witcher Geralt of Rivia reuniting with his lover Yennefer before setting out to find his adopted daughter and former protégé, Ciri. The reunion with Yennefer happens relatively early in the game, but even that can take upwards of a dozen hours if players are determined to see all that the game's first area has to offer, and what follows is a sprawling, intricately woven tale involving many different characters, locations, and monsters.
The play time for a run through of The Witcher 3 has the potential to vary wildly. Outside of the main quest, there are side quests, Witcher contracts, and treasure hunts - with dozens of each across many different areas of the Continent. This doesn't even take into account the many side activities in the game, such as the time-consuming Gwent, which spawned its very own card game. A good source for judging how much time The Witcher 3 will take to finish is HowLongToBeat, which polls different players and their play styles.
HowLongToBeat conveniently breaks its player-sourced data up into different sections, one of which is for those who almost exclusively played through the main story. Out of the players who made a submission for a main story playthrough, the average completion time was over 52 hours. Those looking to dabble in The Witcher 3's side content can safely double that number, with an average play through clocking in at over 105 hours. Completionists - those dedicated to playing through everything the game has to offer - recorded an average time of nearly 180 hours.
These numbers don't even include the expansions. Hearts of Stone can add another 10-20 hours, while the longer Blood and Wine will extend a play through by 15-40 hours. The Witcher 3 is truly massive, and not just in detailed cities like The Witcher 3's Novigrad, or varied wildernesses from the swamps of Velen to the islands of Skellige. A staggering cast of characters with an abundance of quests makes The Witcher 3 a robust package, and anyone looking to play it for the first time should be prepared to spend a large amount of time on the Continent.
Recently, events like the remastered release of Quake have made millennials realise that, yes, it really has been that long since they were young. Something that certainly isn't going to help with this feeling is The Big Con, from developer Mighty Yell.
As recently showcased by publisher Skybound Games in its Steam Next Fest preview, The Big Con is a game about teenage wannabe con artist Ali, who travels across the country on a money-making road trip to try and make enough cash to save her mother's video store. Taking the form of an adventure game, Ali must scam and hustle her way across various areas, meeting the strange denizens of the world along the way.
As a nostalgia piece for the 1990s, The Big Con is extremely successful. Emulating kids cartoons like Pepper Ann and Doug, with a hint of the sardonic, slacker vibes of the likes of Daria, The Big Con has exactly the right tone of offbeat humor to hit the notes that will resonate best with those who remember the pop culture of the era. From its odd and unique characters through to its world-building - such as the ever-present, nebulous foodstuff Horm - The Big Con is wonderful in this regard.
Visually, The Big Con is also strong, with bucket hats, plaid shirts, and pastel patterns aplenty. There's a vibrancy that almost calls back to the likes of the early Toejam and Earl games, helped in part by the not-quite-top-down camera angle, although some of the character animations do feel a little stilted. That said, The Big Con definitely hits the right marks for the time period it is showcasing, supported by a fantastic soundtrack.
The writing is also on point, with lots of knowing humor about the nineties that goes beyond the obvious references to things like the aforementioned video store. The Big Con playfully prods at subjects like anti-drug PSAs thanks to the ever-helpful side character Rad Ghost, who perhaps embodies the 1990s vibe better than anyone else in the game. Meanwhile, this tongue-in-cheek tone carries over into meta commentary about gaming itself, with some whip-smart writing.
When it comes to gameplay, The Big Con is relatively restrictive in its approach. The player will jump into a free roam area with a few quests to complete - generally to earn a specific amount of money - and then move around talking and scamming people, to 'find' useful items around the map in true adventure game fashion. There is also the opportunity to take part in a basic side quest in some areas, by finding unique items to sell to the off-putting owner of a pawn shop.
The limitations here are pretty obvious, although the gameplay is generally a means to an end for the overall nineties pastiche and a chance to chat to more strange characters. It's QTE-heavy, with pickpocketing always controlled via a timed selection bar more at home in a game like Mario Golf, while stealth is a basic one-button system activated in specific locations. It's not the most gripping form of gameplay, although as a direct route to find another mysterious person to gawp at it suits the game just fine.
There are also a few other issues that come up. Alongside the rigid animations NPCs also have the odd pathfinding glitch, walking across buildings or into the middle of fountains, which is at best immersion-breaking and at worst a gameplay hindrance when it happens to a character the player is staking out. Meanwhile, there are also some dialog issues here and there, with characters referencing things that didn't happen due to player choices earlier in the game.
Overall The Big Con is a charming little slice of nineties nostalgia. It's propelled by its strong writing and world-building, a deep understanding of the era it is referencing, and some fantastic characters, and it's certainly a road trip players will enjoy taking. Although its gameplay is limited and there are some technical issues, it's an earnest and compelling journey.
The Big Con releases August 31, 2021 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Screen Rant was provided with a PC download code for the purposes of this review.
The Suicide Squad writer and director James Gunn has taken to Twitter to tease fans that a character from the film may not have actually died in the movie's opening scene. Gunn’s soft-reboot of David Ayer's 2016 Suicide Squad was released earlier this summer to rave reviews, receiving a Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans were treated to a variety of teasers prior to the release, which revealed a colorful array of new characters joining the squad. However, unfortunately, the majority of these characters don’t make it to the credits.
The Suicide Squad sees a group of misfit supervillains, each with their own unique set of skills, sent on a high-stakes mission to the island of Corto Maltese to uncover ‘Project Starfish,’ with the promise of a reduced prison sentence upon completion. While fans may already be familiar with some of the squad members from Ayer's 2016 film, such as Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), the rest of the group are new additions to the line-up. Fans did not have long to get acquainted with some of these new characters, however, as the opening scene showed viewers exactly what they could expect from the rest of the film. After arriving on the beach of Corto Maltese, the Suicide Squad immediately live up to their name as almost all of them are taken out by the military in an explosive and highly impressive opening scene.
However, during a watch party hosted on Twitter by Gunn and some of his The Suicide Squad cast members, Gunn revealed that one of the characters supposedly killed in the brutal scene may still be alive. The director pointed out that if you look closely at the life signals on the screen in the comms hub after the ambush, Nathan Fillion’s character, The Detachable Kid (more commonly referred to as TDK), is not actually dead. Check out Gunn’s tweet below:
The Detachable Kid has the superhuman ability to detach his limbs and then control them while they are independent of his body. While this ability is certainly something to behold, it didn’t serve him too well in the film, as he was swiftly taken out by the Corto Maltese military. Viewers naturally believed he was just one of Gunn’s many, many casualties in the movie. Fillion’s cameo as TDK was well received by fans, who were shocked to see his character gunned down in that dramatic opening scene, but now it appears that this may not be the last fans see of The Detachable Kid.
Gunn is no stranger to revealing easter eggs and fun facts following the release of his movies, and his latest reveal has left fans wondering what became of The Detachable Kid if he did in fact survive the initial attack on the beach. Could this mean that TDK could pop up in future DC projects? The end credit scene of The Suicide Squad set up the release of HBO’s Peacemaker series, after revealing that John Cena’s character Peacemaker had survived his gunshot wound, inflicted by Bloodsport (Idris Elba). Fans are now curious as to whether or not Nathan Fillion could be making a cameo in this new series, perhaps simply as a call back to The Suicide Squad or maybe even with a more involved role to play. As for now, it remains to be seen what the future holds for The Detachable Kid.
A tabletop RPG based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was published in 1985, the year after the mutant foursome made their debut in comics. That game was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness from RPG publisher Palladium Books. The “Other Strangeness” part of the title was well-earned, though not for the reasons fans might have expected. The game included an alignment system with a significant focus on torture, a complex trauma system that dealt with sexuality and drug addiction, and character creation rules in which nearly every element was randomized, leading to some characters who are well-funded and educated government super-soldiers, and others that are wild animals with random mutations.
The TMNT RPG preceded the popular 1987 children’s cartoon series, as well as the 1990 live-action film. The game was among the earliest RPGs from Palladium, a roleplaying game publisher that would later become best known for Rifts. Palladium's games had earlier used largely shared mechanics, a Palladium house system later dubbed the Megaversal system, which functioned similarly to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, with "roll high" d20 rolls for attacks and saving throws, and a "roll low" percentile system for skills, as with D&D Thief skills in AD&D.
The alignment charts and trauma rules were also shared among these Palladium games, with some tweaks made over the course of later revisions to the rules. The TMNT RPG alignment chart noted that Principled and Scrupulous “good-aligned” characters would never resort to torture but detailed the circumstances under which the “selfish and evil” aligned characters would, and which alignments would torture for pleasure. The RPG version of TMNT continued its focus on the macabre with its “Insanity” rules in its earliest print run, noting that characters “witnessing or experiencing a shocking grotesque atrocity,” undergoing torture, and other traumatic events, would roll on a table. Results could include a “sexual deviation,” rolled on separate table, another form or neurosis or phobia, or the roll could cause the character to “become a psychiatrist.” This edition also included strangely in-depth rules relating to alcoholism and drug addiction.
Though the RPG was based on the original TMNT comics, which were certainly darker and grittier than the later cartoon adaptation, the pages of rules dedicated to the subject matter of torture, trauma, and addiction, were out of synch with even the comic book source material. The TMNT comics were in part parodies of popular comics of their era, particularly Frank Miller’s Daredevil comics, with the intentionally bizarre concept of turtle ninjas as the heroes. When the comics juxtaposed outlandish science fiction elements with ninja action and urban violence, it made for an amusing contrast, but the tabletop RPG’s focus on darkness, trauma, and addiction, was more inexplicable.
The character creation itself was just as bizarre, in TMNT and Other Strangeness. Like many other tabletop RPGs of its era, including D&D, character creation was largely randomized, with rolled stats rather than a point buy option. After generating base stats, the player rolls first for the character's animal type, then for the cause of mutation. This could result in a “random mutation,” where the character has the education and resources of a wild animal, or a result of “deliberate experimentation,” where the character begins with a college education and tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of cash and starting equipment. The game then had players spend BIO-Energy points, which differed based on animal type and were required to buy basic mutations including bipedal movement, hands, and human speech. This allowed players to potentially roll up mutant animals that were incapable of speech, though they could instead purchase the psychic power of telepathy to project their thoughts.
Later revisions of Palladium’s TMNT RPG would remove the trauma tables and addiction rules, though the references to torture in the alignment chart would remain. Even omitting the most eyebrow-raising rules, the game remained bizarre, with chart-based character creation rendering a functional party extremely unlikely, and character balance all but impossible. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness was an odd RPG, but it was not Palladium’s only attempt a licensed tabletop game, as they later published a series of games based on the Robotech anime license.
Microsoft has released an updated list of processors that will support its next major OS upgrade, but the company now says systems based on older non-compatible CPUs will also be able to run Windows 11 after all — albeit not through an official method. To recall, the company kicked up a storm when it revealed Windows 11 and laid out a list of hardware requirements for the next iteration of the operating system. The minimum hardware needed for Windows 11 is quite modest, except for a huge list of processors that Microsoft excluded, starting as early as the 8th Gen Intel processors on the baseline.
The list even left machines such as Microsoft’s not-too-old and pricey Surface Studio 2 in the dead zone, alongside PCs packing high-end 7th Gen Intel Core series chips as well as first-gen AMD Ryzen silicon. Over time, Microsoft kept provided minor updates to the list and recently added a few more names which include the Intel Core i7-7820HQ, Core X-series, and Xeon W-series processors. However, what has remained unchanged so far is Microsoft’s stance on systems that will not be able to run Windows 11 if they don’t make it to the processor cut-off list. Well, that’s finally changing.
Microsoft says PCs based on older processors that are not listed on the compatibility database will still be able to install Windows 11, but outside of the official software update system. What this means is these machines won’t get the Windows 11 software update when it is released via the stable channel in the fall season. Instead, users will have to rely on downloading the Windows 11 ISO file and installing the OS manually. However, Microsoft notes that users should do this at their own risk because running Windows 11 on a non-compatible machine will come with issues such as driver compatibility and stability problems like system crashes and apps freezing randomly.
The gist is that Microsoft is no longer enforcing a hard block on installing Windows 11 on a non-compliant PC. Installing the new OS will come at a cost, as it won’t be a part of the official software update cycle, and crucial patches that roll out to supported machines will likely remain absent from unsupported hardware configurations. Another solution is to keep the non-compliant PC into the Windows Insider program for testing Windows 11 preview builds without having to meet the processor requirement. However, Windows 11 will still check for the minimum hardware requirements — a dual-core processor, 4GB RAM, and 64GB storage — before installing Windows 11.
But do keep in mind that this method is primarily for enthusiasts and should not be performed on any computer crucial to daily life or work. To make sure that the point is well communicated, Microsoft shared some test results after running Windows 11 on non-compatible PCs. The company says systems that don’t meet the hardware requirement have a 52 percent higher crash frequency, while compatible systems will offer an almost crash-free experience; 99.8 percent crash-free, to be precise. The message is clear here: Microsoft won’t block millions of non-compatible PCs from running Windows 11, but doing so will come at the cost of a performance hit, system crashes, no official software update cycle, and a less-than-ideal user experience.
