Warning! Full spoilers ahead for Season 2 of Netflix’s Altered Carbon. Be sure to check out our spoiler-free review of Season 2 right here.
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The thrilling finale of Altered Carbon’s second season, titled “Broken Angels,” features some surprising twists and turns as Takeshi Kovacs sacrifices his Anthony Mackie sleeve (and stack) in order to save the people of Harlan’s World from death by Angelfire, via the Elder orbitals surrounding the planet. A few scenes later, we see a newly repaired Poe (Chris Connor) chatting with Dig 301 (Dina Shihabi) — or Annabel as she prefers to be called now — about a bit of code that happens to house a human DHF.
But what does this all mean for the future of Altered Carbon if the series gets picked up for Season 3 by Netflix? To find out the answers to these questions, we spoke to Season 2 showrunner Alison Schapker to help us break it all down.
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Altered Carbon Season 2: Will Anthony Mackie Return for Season 3?
DHF stands for Digital Human Freight, which is the equivalent of a human soul or consciousness — basically, everything that makes you you. According to Schapker, that particular DHF is Takeshi Kovacs, which Poe is able to write down just before Kovacs’ stack is destroyed by Angelfire. Here’s what Schapker had to say about that final scene and whether or not we’ll see Anthony Mackie again:
“We all loved the end of Season 1, where Kovacs gives the sleeve of [Elias] Ryker back to Ortega and then all you see are these boots walking out of the elevator, and you’re like, ‘I think Kovacs is coming back, but in what sleeve?’” Schapker told IGN. “And we wanted to make that promise to the audience in Season 2. And we also just loved the idea of Poe, who’s been fighting deterioration the whole season, to then have his own moment of nobility where he basically sacrifices himself but manages to copy Kovacs at the same moment. So that’s our promise to the audience, there is his stack, there is Takeshi Kovacs’ consciousness. But in what sleeve… we’ll have to see.”
Another factor to consider is the fact that Joel Kinnaman did not make a Season 2 cameo apart from a few Season 1 flashbacks. While Kinnaman’s absence could be due to a simple scheduling conflict or various other reasons, lead actors typically demand top billing for each episode they appear in. Anthony Mackie reportedly made $475K per episode for his work this season, so any appearance in Season 3 could be costly.
Altered Carbon: Season 2: Will We See More of the Elders in Season 3?
Where Season 1 of Altered Carbon merely hinted at the Elder civilization that made stack technology possible in the first place, Season 2 delves deeper into their mysterious history, and we even get to see one out in the open. But there’s still so much we don’t know about the Elders, so we asked Schapker if we’re going to see more of them in future seasons.
“For me, to be doing a show in space, to only have humans feels also not adequate to what I imagine the future to be,” Schapker explained. “So, whether or not we’re going to see more of the Elders, I think is very much an open question because we certainly now understand them a bit more. And what happens at the end of Season 2 really leaves its mark on Harlan’s World. So you go from having a planet that’s ringed by these Elder orbitals, to having a giant explosion, and now there’s a gaping hole over the planet, so they continue to influence how things are going to happen.”
Altered Carbon Season 2: What’s the Deal With Quell’s Visions of Kovacs?
“We’ve always played with this idea of ghosts and the people you carry around with you,” Schapker said. In the same way that Kovacs saw visions of Quell in Season 1, and then his sister Reileen (Dichen Lachman) in Season 2, Quell is now seeing a version of Kovacs that she’s carrying around in her head. Schapker also pointed out that these ghostly visions are not caused by a technologically embed device, but used as “a poetic device for the show.”
Altered Carbon Season 2: Does Will Yun Lee’s Kovacs Fit Into Future Seasons?
Will Yun Lee’s return to Altered Carbon in Season 2 as a version of Kovacs who never killed his sister and never fell in love with Quell is one of the season’s most interesting storylines. And now that he’s decided to stop working for the Protectorate and help Quell restart the uprising, we’re curious if his story will continue if the series is renewed for a third season.
“I absolutely think that Will leaves Season 2 with a purpose and a mission,” Schapker told IGN. “He’s sending a team to pick up [Quell’s] sleeve, she’s casting off somewhere. She’s not saying where, and he has clearly turned. Now whether or not he’s going to stay that way, where we’re going to find him, how far in the future… But in my mind, yes, I would hope to continue exploring that Kovacs as well.”
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David Griffin still watches DuckTales in his pajamas with a cereal bowl in hand. He’s also the TV Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.
The Silence of the Lambs TV show that will focus on the character Clarice Starling has found its lead. Australian actor Rebecca Breeds (Home And Away, Pretty Little Liars) has been cast as the FBI agent for the show that takes place after The Silence of the Lambs. Only a pilot episode has been ordered at this point, so there is no word yet on if the show will be picked up to series.
Star Trek bosses Alex Kurtzmann and Jenny Lumet are the showrunners for the CBS TV show, which will focus on Clarice’s “untold personal story.” Following the traumatic events of The Silence of the Lambs, Clarice goes back into the field to hunt down other serial killers while also dealing with the politics of Washington D.C. (via The Hollywood Reporter).
Breeds said in a post on Instagram that Clarice is the “role of a lifetime” for her.
Jodie Foster played Clarice in the 1991 Silence of the Lambs movie, and she won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Clarice returned in 2001’s Hannibal movie, though Foster elected to not return; instead, Julianne Moore played Clarice.
The TV network Lifetime announced a Clarice show of its own in 2012, though the project never got off the ground. Additionally, the NBC TV show Hannibal wanted to introduce the character Clarice, but the rights-holders had other plans.
The Australian show Home and Away has served as a launching pad for many famous Australian actors who have since made it big in Hollywood. Other actors who appeared on the long-running soap over the years have included Margot Robbie, Chris Hemsworth, Isla Fisher, Naomi Watts, and Heath Ledger.
Diablo IV is handling enemies a bit differently from before, sorting them into “family” groups that are divided by their feel, look, and combat style. The families will better flesh out the game’s open world, making it feel more cohesive. This is all explained in Blizzard’s new quarterly update for the game, which dives deep into a newly announced family of enemies–the Cannibals.
There are four members of the Cannibal family, all of which, true to their name, delight in eating people–if you spot dead bodies “riddled with bite marks” in-game, the Cannibals are likely nearby. Diablo IV is returning to the series’ dark roots, and the cannibals are certainly creepy. Each member has a unique weapon, as well as a “significantly different silhouette or stance” so that they can easily be told apart.
Two of them are fairly traditional melee enemies, one with a cleaver and the other with a lighter halberd. There’s also a tank-like bruiser with a spiked club that can potentially stun players, and smaller swarmer enemies that attack with incredible speed. The family has no ranged units, but will “spring at the player with supernatural swiftness”. They’re also able to jump over obstacles, including other enemies, which means that if you think you have a large group under control you need to be careful of them slipping through.
Diablo IV is still a while away yet, with no specific release date, but you can look forward to the Cannibals trying to strip the flesh from your bones when the game launches for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
The same update that revealed the Cannibal family also detailed Diablo IV’s UI changes and talked about controller support for the PC version of the game. There’s also, reportedly, a Diablo anime series in the works for Netflix.
My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising is the second movie for the popular superhero shonen anime, and it features several references and Easter eggs to the rest of the series. Our full list is outlined in the following article. That said, if we happened to miss one, please let us know in the comment section below.
As a warning, Heroes Rising takes place several arcs ahead of where the anime currently is and thus makes references to events and character developments that have yet to be seen outside the manga. If you’re all caught up on the manga, then you don’t have to worry about a thing. But if you only watch the anime, you may want to steer clear, as several of the characters and events in Heroes Rising reference back to story beats that likely won’t appear in the anime until Season 5.
Heroes Rising sees Izuku “Deku” Midoriya (Daiki Yamashita/Justin Briner), Katsuki Bakugo (Nobuhiko Okamoto/Clifford Chapin), and the rest of the superhero-in-training Class 1-A temporarily take over a hero agency on an island with a low crime rate. The hope is that the experience will teach the high school class how to behave as heroes without adult supervision. Though the job is fairly easy to handle at first, Class 1-A finds themselves cornered when the island is attacked by a group of powerful supervillains.
As written in GameSpot’s My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising review, “Though the last few moments of Heroes Rising erase the character development between its two leads and deprive the story of concluding on as high of a note as the rest of the movie, the vast majority of Heroes Rising is good. The movie takes the time to contend that being a hero doesn’t always mean beating up bad guys, while also delivering on a satisfying multitude of well-animated fights.”
Endeavor’s Scar
Now father and son match!
At the very start of the movie, the League of Villains happens to run into a team of heroes, which includes Enji “Endeavor” Todoroki (Tetsu Inada/Patrick Seitz). Eagle-eyed fans may have noticed that the Flame Hero has a massive scar across the left side of his face.
This scar is from Endeavor’s battle with High End, a powerful Nomu, during the Pro Hero arc (manga chapters 184-193). This arc will likely conclude My Hero Academia Season 4.
The Identity Of Past One For All Users
Daigoro teaches Midoriya the secrets of One For All.
As seen in Heroes Rising, Midoriya now sees most of the One For All users as who they were instead of as shadowy outlines. Most notable is a bald, Hellboy-looking man: Daigoro Banjo.
First seen in the Joint Training Battle arc (manga chapters 195-216), Daigoro is the one who explains to Midoriya that as One For All has been passed from one person to the next, it’s mutated again and again and inherited the characteristics of every Quirk it’s come in contact with.
The identity of Daigoro is the furthest point in My Hero Academia’s story that Heroes Rising showcases, implying that–at the very least–the movie takes place after the events of the Joint Training Battle arc. This arc will likely be the first part of My Hero Academia Season 5.
Nine’s Nine Quirks
Nine’s (Yoshio Inoue/Johnny Yong Bosch) whole deal is that he can steal and store up to nine different Quirks at once. He himself has one Quirk and then we see a police report say that he’s stolen the Quirks of four heroes. He also steals the Quirk belonging to Katsuma Shimano (Yuka Terasaki/Maxey Whitehead) and Mahoro Shimano’s (Tomoyo Kurosawa/Dani Chambers) dad, putting him at six over the course of the movie’s runtime.
Though Nine can use nine Quirks, we don’t actually ever see him do so.
That said, we only see Nine use five Quirks throughout the whole movie. This makes sense, given that the Quirk he steals from Katsuma and Mahoro’s dad is useless to him–that’s the whole reason he has to steal Katsuma’s Quirk. Katsuma and Mahoro’s dad’s Quirk doesn’t affect type B blood (which Nine has), while Katsuma’s does.
Heroes Rising doesn’t specifically name the five Quirks that Nine uses, but each are distinct enough to differentiate them. The first one he uses is likely Nine’s original Quirk: the ability to tell what type of Quirk someone has by looking at them. We also see Nine use Quirks that allow him to manipulate air (both to create nearly indestructible shields or fire powerful blasts), shoot piercing lasers from his fingertips, control the weather, and produce powerful crystal-like serpents from his body.
The Actual Reason Nine Can’t Steal Midoriya’s Quirk
When trying to steal Midoriya’s Quirk, Nine is unable to. Nine shrugs it off, believing that Midoriya’s Quirk is a mutated composition of multiple Quirks and thus he technically doesn’t have enough room to steal all of them–as he’s already holding six at this point.
This is only half right. Midoriya’s Quirk, One For All, is in fact a mutated composition of multiple Quirks (as many as eight, though only four have been identified). However, during the Vs. Hero Killer arc (manga chapters 45-59, anime episodes 26-33), All Might (Kenta Miyake/Christopher Sabat) explains to Midoriya that One For All can’t actually be stolen by others–it can only be given or forced upon someone.
Air Force Gloves
Midoriya has gloves that you may not recognize if you only watch the anime. The gloves were created by Mei Hatsume (Azu Sakura/Alexis Tipton)–the same pink-haired student that crafted Midoriya’s Iron Soles–during the UA School Festival arc (manga chapters 169-183, the current arc in the anime).
Midoriya’s entire costume will be redesigned by Hatsume at this rate.
Much like the Iron Soles, the Air Force Gloves are designed to augment Midoriya’s Shoot Style by giving him long-range options in combat. The gloves funnel the force created when Midoriya flicks his fingers, allowing him to pull off a concussive wind blast without having to use One For All at 100% and breaking his hand.
Shoot Style: St. Louis Smash
During the UA School Festival arc, Midoriya develops a new super move that he then uses during Heroes Rising. The move is a powerful downwards roundhouse kick–it has a long wind-up, but delivers one of the hardest hits that Midoriya’s Shoot Style can produce.
Recipro Turbo
Midoriya isn’t the only one to show off a super move in Heroes Rising that hasn’t been seen in the anime yet. While fighting Chimera (Shunsuke Takeuchi/Greg Dulcie), Tenya “Ingenium” Iida (Kaito Ishikawa/J. Michael Tatum) uses Recipro Turbo–a super move he first utilizes during the Joint Training Battle arc.
During the arc, Iida learns from his older brother that his family has a trade secret: when the mufflers are removed from their Engine Quirk, their bodies will regrow new ones. The process is extremely painful but it results in a significantly more effective engine that allows for new types of super moves.
As opposed to the 10 seconds of speed granted by Recipro Burst, Recipro Turbo grants 10 minutes of enhanced speed. This is currently Iida’s most powerful super move–though the speed boost is so strong, Iida still struggles to control his movements while Turbo is activated.
Black Fallen Angel
In order to save Mashirao “Tailman” Ojiro (Kosuke Miyoshi/Mike McFarland) from Chimera, Fumikage “Tsukuyomi” Tokoyami (Yoshimasa Hosoya/Josh Grelle) utilizes the super move he learned under the tutelage of Keigo “Hawks” Takami (Yuichi Nakamura/Zeno Robinson) during the Joint Training Battle arc. Called Black Fallen Angel, the move allows Tokoyami to fly–he puts his sentient Quirk, Dark Shadow, beneath his cloak to give it the necessary darkness to spread its wings and carry Tokoyami through the air.
It was under Hawks that Tokoyami grew more accustomed to close-range combat as well, developing the more muscular build seen in Heroes Rising. This combat training is also why he’s able to at least hold his own against Slice (Mio Imada/Lydia Mackay) with support items during the final battle without the need to rely too much on Dark Shadow.
Absolute Zero
While fighting Chimera, Iida uses Recipro Turbo in order to distract the villain and give Shoto Todoroki (Yūki Kaji/David Matranga) the chance to use a new super move of his own. Unlike the moves used by Midoriya, Tokoyami, and Iida, Todoroki’s attack isn’t named–it’s really just a different variation of something he’s done in the manga.
During the Joint Training Battle arc, Todoroki takes some advice from his father and superheats his flames to their limit in order to fight against Tetsutetsu “Real Steel” Tetsutetsu (Kōji Okino/David Wald). In Heroes Rising, Todoroki goes for the opposite effect and lowers the temperature of his ice powers to such an extent that he freezes everything around him–including Chimera.
Chill out Todoroki, it’s just a supervillain.
Explode-A-Pult
When Midoriya’s St. Louis Smash isn’t enough to break through Nine’s defenses in the final battle, he’s sent flying back. Bakugo manages to catch Midoriya, however, and flings him back at Nine with Explode-A-Pult.
As you might surmise, this is yet another super move first seen in the Joint Training Battle arc. Occasionally also shortened to X-Catapult, Bakugo uses this move to grab opponents and then fling them with tremendous force. Because of One For All, Midoriya just so happens to be one of the few people who can withstand the force behind the attack–so Bakugo uses it in Heroes Rising to give Midoriya an extra boost, enhancing the overall force of Midoriya’s next kick.
The Origin Of A Brand-New Hero
In the final battle, there’s a moment where it seems like Class 1-A is no match for Nine and so Mahoro sacrifices herself to save her younger brother, telling him to take the chance to run. Katsuma is clearly terrified–frozen in place and crying as his sister begs him to run.
Before he has a chance to think about it, though, Katsuma runs out in a (stupid) attempt to save his sister. For a brief moment, the music stops and the scenery fades away as the camera cuts down to focus on Katsuma’s feet–the background goes completely white to solely highlight the brief moment that a young boy decided to run towards danger instead of away from it.
If you’ve been following My Hero Academia since the very beginning, the scene is likely familiar to you. It’s almost, shot-for-shot, a direct reflection of the scene of Midoriya trying to save Bakugo from the slime monster at the very beginning of the series. That scene features a scared, crying Midoriya (also stupidly) running towards danger, the shot lingering on his feet while the background fades to all white. Later, All Might tells Midoriya that every great hero throughout history has had a moment like this–a point in their youth where their bodies moved towards saving someone before their mind had a chance to process the danger of the situation.
Might+U
During the final moments of the final battle, the song “Might+U” (by Makayla Phillips) plays. Its somber melody may seem familiar to you if you watch the anime–it’s first played in Season 4, Episode 13 during the scene where Midoirya is trying to reach Eri (Seiran Kobayashi/Emily Neves) so he can save her from Kai “Overhaul” Chisaki (Kenjiro Tsuda/Kellen Goff).
Referencing back to this moment was a wonderful way to end the final battle in Heroes Rising.
Todoroki Lets Endeavor Hug Him
The concluding chapters of the Pro Hero arc mark the beginning of Endeavor’s redemption, which is why in Heroes Rising, the anti-hero isn’t nearly as much of an asshole as he currently is in the anime. In the final moments of the movie, Heroes Rising showcases how Todoroki and his father have become closer, featuring a scene where Endeavor hugs his son and cries with joy that his child is safe-and-sound.
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Microsoft today issued an alert regarding the coronavirus and how its spread has already and will continue to impact the company’s business going forward. In a news release, Microsoft said it expects the More Personal Computing division–which includes Xbox–to make less money during the quarter than previously projected.
Microsoft said in January that it expected the More Personal Computing business unit to make between $10.75 billion and $11.15 billion for the current quarter. However, the company is now telling analysts and investors to expect a number below even the low-end of projections due to the coronavirus.
Microsoft’s supply chain is “returning to normal operations at a slower pace than anticipated,” the company said. Due to this, the company isn’t expecting to make as much money. The Windows OEM and Surface categories were specifically called out as being “more negatively impacted than previously anticipated.”
There was no mention of Xbox in the news release. A spokesperson for Microsoft declined to comment on an earlier inquiry from GameSpot regarding the impact of the coronavirus on the manufacturing and production of Xbox consoles.
“As the conditions evolve, Microsoft will act to ensure the health and safety of our employees, customers, and partners during this difficult period,” Microsoft said in the news release. “We will also continue to partner with local and global health authorities to provide additional assistance. We deeply appreciate the commitment of the people and organizations that have united to address this health emergency; our thoughts are with all those affected across the world.”
Microsoft’s other business units are not expected to be impacted.
The Xbox–and rival PlayStation–are manufactured in China, so it’s understandable that many are wondering if the virus will impact the production of new consoles. That’s a very big question in 2020, as the Xbox Series X and PS5 are both scheduled to launch this year, so production on those consoles would presumably ramp up well ahead of launch.
Earth has captured an asteroid that’s spending time in space acting as a mini-moon, or baby moon, to our planet.
The International Astronomical Union named the asteroid spinning around Earth a temporary captured object and, for the time being, it’s acting like a tinier version of our moon. Astronomers discovered this mini-moon on February 15 using the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona, and ten days later, the IAU filed it as 2020 CD3.
“Orbit integrations…indicate that this object is temporarily bound to the Earth,” the IAU filing reads. “No evidence of perturbations due to solar radiation pressure is seen, and no link to a known artificial object has been found. Further observations and dynamical studies are strongly encouraged.”
You read that right: no link to artificial objects has been found meaning this is likely a straggler space rock hurtling through the solar system, and not a gift from aliens or smugglers in space. We also know it doesn’t belong to Elon Musk because he said so on Twitter shortly after the announcement.
BIG NEWS (thread 1/3). Earth has a new temporarily captured object/Possible mini-moon called 2020 CD3. On the night of Feb. 15, my Catalina Sky Survey teammate Teddy Pruyne and I found a 20th magnitude object. Here are the discovery images. pic.twitter.com/zLkXyGAkZl
Wierzchos expanded on his first tweet, explaining that 2020 CD3 has actually been in Earth’s orbit for three years. The mini-moon has a diameter between 1.9 meters and 3.5 meters based on his assumption that it’s a C-type asteroid albedo.
“But it’s a big deal as out of ~1 million known asteroids, this is just the second asteroid to orbit Earth,” Wierzchos said.
The first asteroid to orbit earth was 2006 RH120. This asteroid completed a few trips around Earth from 2006 to 2007 before it left the planet’s orbit and continued on elsewhere in the solar system. As the discovery is still somewhat new, not much is known of the object, although we imagine astronomers like Wierzchos and NASA will have their eyes glued to while it remains in orbit.
Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN who hates that he has to pick a side in the great Baby Yoda vs. Baby Moon debate. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.
Roblox, an online gaming platform most popular with Gen Z, has raised $150 million in Series G funding, the Wall Street Journal has reported. This comes as Roblox Corporation announced a new milestone of 115 million monthly users, a dramatic increase from the 100 million it gained when it surpassed Minecraft’s player base last August.
While older gamers might not have paid much attention to the cutely stylized gaming hangout, Roblox has seen huge growth in the last few years with younger audiences.
Only last year it was valued at $2.5 billion, with Roblox claiming that half of all American children between the ages of 9 and 12 used its platform. Last year it broke into the top five most watched games on YouTube.
The avatar options for Roblox players are many and varied (and sometimes expensive)
Roblox functions like an online hangout space, like Habbo Hotel once was, where players can interact with their friends, play different games, and customize their avatars to be the coolest kid on the virtual block.
The real siren’s call for investors is Robux, the virtual currency that powers Roblox’s in-game marketplace. Roblox operates as a platform for developers as well as players, allowing them to create and sell games, items and even development assets within Roblox. It’s a big enough online economy that even the IRS has taken note.
Roblox’s updates continue to tap into the way young people play games–offering cross-platform support that allows its players to switch easily between mobile and PC play, for example.
Investors seem to have faith that the company’s massive growth won’t be slowing down any time soon, and that its latest $150 million in funding will only further that growth.
This Sunday’s episode of The Simpsons will be themed around Marvel and The Avengers. A poster for the the episode, “Bart the Bad Guy,” is clearly riffing on The Avengers in many ways.
“Marbel Presents: The Simpsons: Bart the Bad Guy,” reads the poster, which is filled with references to Marvel characters with the art style of The Simpsons. Check it out below.
The episode was written by Dan Vebber who wrote earlier episodes of The Simpsons, as well as Futurama and American Dad. It airs on March 1 on Fox.
Avengers directors Joe and Anthony Russo will voice characters in the episode, while Marvel boss Kevin Feige will voice “Chinnos,” who appears to be a new version of Thanos. Commenters have remarked that Maggie is missing from the poster, and that’s because “she’s a little too young to watch superhero movies,” Fox says.
