Month: February 2019

While the future of Marvel’s output on Netflix remains uncertain, the studio is still continuing to form relationships with other streaming services. It has been announced that Marvel Television is teaming up with Hulu to produce four new animated shows, all aimed at an adult audience.

The four upcoming shows are M.O.D.O.K, Hit-Monkey, Tigra & Dazzler Show, and Howard The Duck, and all arrive with some impressive creative names attached. The character of M.O.D.O.K. dates back to 1967 and is described by Hulu as “an egomaniacal supervillain with a really big head and a really little body, who struggles to maintain control of his evil organization and his demanding family.” That show will be co-written by comedian and actor Patton Oswalt.

Hit-Monkey is written by Josh Gordon and Will Speck, who are best known for directing movies such as Office Christmas Party and Blade of Glory. The character of Hit-Monkey first appeared in a 2010 issue of Deadpool, and is a “wronged Japanese snow monkey, mentored by the ghost of an American assassin.”

Tigra & Dazzler Show focuses on “two woke superheroes and best friends who fight for recognition among powered people,” and will be written by Erica Rivinoja (Girls Trip, Trolls) and comedian Chelsea Handler. As for Howard the Duck, this show sees director, writer, and comic book icon Kevin Smith attempt to what the 1986 movie could not–namely, produce a decent screen version Howard the Duck.

These four sets of heroes will also come together for a Hulu special titled The Offenders, in which these unlikely heroes are “forced to team up in order to save the world and certain parts of the Universe.” There is currently no premiere date for any of Hulu’s new Marvel shows, but late 2019 or 2020 is likely.

In related news, Marvel will also be an important part of Disney’s upcoming streaming platform, Disney+. A Loki show, starring Tom Hiddleston, has been confirmed, and it has been reported that a series focusing on Vision and Scarlet Witch is also in the works. In addition, an Avengers spin-off centered on Falcon and Winter Soldier has been rumored.

It’s the second week of February, and love is in the air as we approach February 14, aka Valentine’s Day. New TV series and movies are being added to Netflix throughout the week–some about love, and others very much not so. So whether you’re spending time with that special someone, or opting out of the season this year to spend time with yourself, there’s something new to watch.

For Valentine’s Day, you can start watching the reality TV series, Dating Around. This Netflix Original fits into the same style of other reality TV dating shows, so if you love (or love to hate) these types of series, you might enjoy Dating Around. The shtick of this particular show is that a young, available bachelor or bachelorette goes on first dates with five different people. After that, the person picks whomever they enjoyed spending time with the most and then they get a second date with that person.

If reality TV isn’t really your thing, there’s plenty of other new series to watch as well. On February 15, The Umbrella Academy releases on Netflix. This Netflix Original is a live-action show based off of the popular comic book superhero series of the same name. Similar to X-Men, The Umbrella Academy focuses on a group of kids, teens, and young adults–each born with incredible, sometimes dangerous, superpowered abilities–who grow up together in a school run by a famous entrepreneur, known as The Monocle, that acts as a surrogate father and mentor. The students grow apart as time goes on, but come back together upon The Monocle’s death, and reform the team upon realizing one of their own has become a supervillain that might destroy the world.

Also on February 15, the second season of the The Dragon Prince premieres on Netflix. Although we enjoyed it, the first season of this fantasy animated series ended rather abruptly with a cliffhanger, so hopefully this follow-up can answer fans’ questions. The show focuses on two human half-brothers who team up with the elven assassin sent to kill them, in order to stop a war between their respective races. You can catch up on the first season on Netflix right now in preparation for this Friday.

Every TV series and movie coming to Netflix this week is listed below. We’ve also outlined every show and movie coming to and leaving the streaming service in February 2019.

Coming To Netflix February 10-16

Avail. 2/10/19

• Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj: Volume 2 (Streaming Every Sunday)– NETFLIX ORIGINAL

Avail. 2/11/19

• Flavorful Origins: Chaoshan Cuisine– NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• Little Women

Avail. 2/14/19

• Dating Around– NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• Ken Jeong: You Complete Me, Ho– NETFLIX ORIGINAL

Avail. 2/15/19

• Larry Charles’ Dangerous World of Comedy– NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• The Breaker Upperers– NETFLIX FILM
• The Dragon Prince: Season 2– NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• The Umbrella Academy– NETFLIX ORIGINAL
• Yucatan– NETFLIX FILM

Avail. 2/16/19

• Black Sea
• Studio 54
• The 40-Year-Old Virgin

Valentine’s Day is this week, and there are plenty of games you can sit down and play with that special someone. Crackdown 3 has its new multiplayer mode, Far Cry New Dawn supports co-op for the full campaign, and Jump Force will let you settle the score with fan-favorite characters. Metro Exodus is the start of a new adventure for Artyom and his pals, and DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders provides something for the whole family to play.

Crackdown 3 — February 15

Available on: Xbox One, PC

Crackdown fans have been eagerly awaiting the series’ return, and the charge is being led by Commander Jaxon, played by Terry Crews. He’ll have to take back New Providence using a bunch of weapons, vehicles, and other destructive toys. You can also level the city with friends in the new multiplayer mode Wrecking Zone.

Further Reading:

Far Cry New Dawn — February 15

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

New Dawn takes place after the nuclear apocalypse ending of Far Cry 5, which means the world looks totally different from how you remember it. Still, your custom character can make use of human and animal companions as they liberate outposts, upgrade their home base called Prosperity, and craft weapons–including the new Saw Launcher. It’s a new dawn with some new toys.

Further Reading:

DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders — February 15

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch

It might be based on the hit DreamWorks movie franchise, but this game doesn’t have you play as Hiccup and Toothless. Instead, you take the reigns of Patch and his rider Scribbler, who has lost his memory. You’ll get it back as you explore new islands and fight bad guys.

Jump Force — February 15

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Shonen Jump is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and with that comes a new fighting game featuring the magazine’s top characters. Heroes and villains from Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto, My Hero Academia, and more can all throw down in intense 3-on-3 battles.

Further Reading:

Metro Exodus — February 15

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Metro Exodus is a departure for the series–and not just because Artyom and company are literally leaving Moscow. This entry leans into open-world level design: each stop along the train track is full of story missions and side quests to complete, supplies to scavenge, and mutated monsters to fend off.

Further Reading:

We’re through a good chunk of February already, but the month still has some big games to come. Next week, we’ll take another look at Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy and BioWare’s newest adventure, Anthem.

The Monster Hunter movie from the star and creative team of the Resident Evil film franchise now has a release date. The film will land on September 4, 2020, film studio Sony has announced, according to Deadline.

The movie stars Resident Evil’s Mila Jovovich in a lead role, and the film is directed by her husband, Paul W.S. Anderson, who directed the Resident Evil movies. Jovovich plays a monster hunter, Lt. Artemis, who fights together with a mysterious character played by martial arts actor Tony Jaa.

Here is the official description of the untitled film (via Deadline): “Behind our world, there is another–a world of dangerous and powerful monsters that rule their domain with deadly ferocity. When Lt. Artemis (Jovovich) and her loyal soldiers are transported from our world to the new world, the unflappable lieutenant receives the shock of her life. In her desperate battle for survival against enormous enemies with incredible powers and unstoppable, terrifying attacks, Artemis will team up with a mysterious man (Tony Jaa) who has found a way to fight back.”

Sons of Anarchy star Ron Perlman and rapper-turned-actor T.I. Harris also star in the film.

The six Resident Evil movies from Jovovich and Anderson made more than $1 billion at the box office, and the team will surely be looking to replicate that success with the Monster Hunter film.

While Jovovich and Anderson may be finished with Resident Evil movies, a reboot of the franchise is in the works and is said to be a “priority” for development.

As for the Monster Hunter video game series, the latest instalment, Monster Hunter World, recently crossed a massive 11 million copies sold.

Deadpool may be known for its meta-humor but Captain Marvel apparently knows how to poke fun at itself too. A promotional site for the upcoming Marvel cinematic universe film authentically models itself after the terrible websites that populated the earliest days of the World Wide Web.

The Captain Marvel site has it all: star wallpaper, animated gifs, rainbow Comic Sans, barely legible red-on-green font, and a non-functional guestbook. The gag will look familiar to those who saw the Internet stumble awkwardly into its current sleek and polished form. To those youngsters who don’t remember this era: yes, it really was like this.

For all of its silliness, the site does function too. It hosts the trailer, a brief explanation of Captain Marvel and the Kree, and a link to buy tickets. A pop-up image even lets you get in on the fun of punching an old lady.

The 1990s setting and aesthetic serves a functional purpose in the MCU. When Thanos accomplishes his genocidal goal in Avengers: Infinity War, Nick Fury appeared to hit an emergency beacon to call in Captain Marvel–a sort of emergency last resort to face an unprecedented threat. That raises the obvious question of why she hasn’t been around to handle the dozen or so other times life on Earth has been threatened throughout the MCU, and the film will probably answer what she’s been up to all this time. That will set the stage for Avengers: Endgame later in the spring.

The studio also recently released a pair of spiffy Captain Marvel posters, just as promotional material showed off the new costumes for the Avengers. The two movies will be back-to-back blockbusters, with Captain Marvel coming on March 8, followed by Avengers: Endgame on April 26.

One of the most buzzed-about topics in games in recent years has been and continues to be cross-play. Now, one prominent developer has spoken up to talk about the benefits of allowing players on competing systems to play together. Stew Chisam, the CEO of Smite and Paladins developer Hi-Rez, outlined some of the benefits of cross-play in a post on Twitter.

For Paladins, which supports cross-play between Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, Chisam said overall match quality is improved thanks to cross-play. Wait-times for matches is down 30 percent, while the quality of matches is better because the level spread is down 40 percent. In all, Hi-Rez is reportedly seeing an 80 percent reduction in what it calls “bad” matches.

Anyone who has played a ranked multiplayer game knows how frustrating it can be when you’re matched with players who have a much higher skill level, so it’s good to see the statistics seemingly indicate that cross-play helps improve things. Whether or not other games see these results remains to be seen.

Chisam is an outspoken proponent for tearing down the walls between consoles to allow for wider adoption of cross-play. Just recently, Chisam said on Twitter that he wants PlayStation to “stop playing favorites,” and allow cross-play/cross-progression “for everyone.” He added that Smite, Paladins, and the battle royale game Realm Royale, are “ready to go” for cross-play on PS4, so the developer is just waiting for Sony to give the go-ahead.

Microsoft has supported cross-play for a while already between select games, such as Paladins, Rocket League, and Fortnite. But it took Sony a while longer to allow cross-play with PS4, only just recently allowing it for Fortnite and later Rocket League.

Would you like to see more adoption of cross-play in the future? Let us know in the comments below!

Game of Thrones is one of the most popular shows on the planet, so you might be wondering why HBO is deciding to end the show after eight seasons. Actor Liam Cunningham, who plays Davos Seaworth, says in a new interview that it’s good, actually, that the show is ending. Why? Because going on any longer might create the feeling that the show is overstaying its welcome, he said.

“I get asked all the time, ‘What the hell are you guys thinking? You could run Game of Thrones forever.’ If you want to stay cool, and the show is cool, the best way to stay cool is to not overstay your welcome,” Cunningham told IGN.

In fact, Cunningham said it “would be dishonorable to stay on longer than we should.”

He admitted that he will personally “dearly” miss Game of Thrones, adding that he expects to be referred to as “Game of Thrones’ Liam Cunningham” even on his tombstone.

“But it was time to get out and wrap up that story… People deserve the end of that story and to not drag it out just because there’s a book to be made. I think it’s very honorable what they’re doing,” he said.

Author George R.R. Martin said his novels are deep and rich enough to support as many as 13 seasons’ worth of shows. Martin said Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff originally had only seven seasons planned, so Martin and HBO were successful in convincing them to do one more, at least.

Game of Thrones Season 8 premieres in April–you can see new photos here. While the mainline show is ending, a prequel TV series may be on the way, while Martin continues to write the novel series.

Disney has been on a trailer spree today. In addition to the new Aladdin trailer that revealed an unsettling look at Will Smith as the Genie, Disney and its subsidiary Marvel released new spots for Captain Marvel and Dumbo today.

The Captain Marvel TV spot, titled “Ready,” shows more of Brie Larson as Carol Danvers and some of the struggles she faces before becoming Captain Marvel. It looks like viewers are in for quite a journey with Captain Marvel. Check out the spot in the video embed above.

The new Dumbo spot is longer, coming in at around 60 seconds. It provides even more close-ups of the impossibly cute, big-eared Dumbo, as well as the best look so far we’ve gotten of Michael Keaton’s villainous character, who recruits Dumbo for one of his new attractions. Dumbo is directed by Tim Burton, who directed Keaton in Beetlejuice back in 1988.

Captain Marvel hits theatres on March 8, with Dumbo following on March 29. It’s a very busy start to the year for Disney, as Avengers: Endgame from Marvel arrives in April, with the new Aladdin coming in May. Star Wars: Episode IX comes out in December, so Disney is poised for another huge year.