Month: March 2019

It’s hard to imagine a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie without Stan Lee popping up make fans laugh via some kind of cameo. The co-creator of so many Marvel characters, from Spider-Man to Scarlet Witch, has been a regular fixture in the MCU, appearing briefly in each film, along with a handful of non-Marvel Studios titles.

With Lee’s passing in late 2018, though, there was some fear that his cameo in Captain Marvel would be the last. Thankfully, that’s not the case. In an interview with ET Online, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirms that more appearances were filmed before Lee’s death. Warning: The following contains spoilers for Lee’s role in Captain Marvel. If you don’t want to be spoiled, stop reading now.

“We shot a couple of others, so we’re coming up on the last of them, yes,” he said. Feige also confirmed that one of said cameos is for the next MCU movie, Avengers: Endgame. When asked about Spider-Man: Far From Home, he offered, “We’ll see.”

Lee’s role in Captain Marvel actually finds him playing none other than Stan Lee. In a scene set on a train, he can be seen holding the script to Kevin Smith’s 1994 movie Mallrats–in which he plays himself–rehearsing dialogue. For a moment, Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) thinks he’s a Skrull in disguise but instead acknowledges him with a small smile before moving onto the next potential suspect.

As a further tribute to Lee, the film also opens up with a modified version of the Marvel Studios signature, in which all of the MCU’s heroes have been replaced by his cameo appearances from over the years. The introduction is followed with a simple, “Thank you Stan.”

According to Feige, the idea to honor the comics icon this way came to fruition shortly after his passing. “We figured, as we always have, the way to pay honor to him is the way we’ve been trying to do while he was alive, which is the movies. I had always thought in the back of my head, should that day ever come–which as I’ve previously said, I wasn’t sure it would. Like, I envisioned him at 127–that I would want something sort of touching and rousing up front, as opposed to sort of depressing at the end.”

For a look at all of Lee’s cameo contributions to Marvel movies, take a look at our definitive ranking. Also, make sure to check out this behind-the-scenes look at how the Spider-Man co-creator has not just one, but dozens of cameos in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Captain Marvel is the final stop on the Marvel Cinematic Universe space train that’s been hurtling inexorably towards Avengers: Endgame for an entire decade. What Marvel has accomplished with the MCU is basically a miracle, tying disparate franchises with varying tones and dozens of characters together into one masterful tapestry that somehow, against all odds, really works. This has never been done before–or even attempted–which means there’s no set template for how to end it. Marvel had to sit down and decide, at some point, whether they’d make Captain Marvel so integral to the plot of Endgame that this penultimate MCU movie would be essential viewing.

That’s an important question for the more casual MCU fans among us: Is Captain Marvel essential viewing? Do you have to go see Marvel’s first movie starring a female superhero if you want to have any hope of understanding what’s going on in Endgame? The answer, ultimately, is probably not–but at this point, we can’t exactly be 100% certain, considering Endgame is still on the horizon.

Here are the facts: Avengers: Infinity War ended with a pretty killer Captain Marvel tease, as Nick Fury’s final act before disintegrating into cosmic dust was to send a message using what appeared–and indeed turned out–to be a modified 1990s era pager. As the camera zoomed in on that strange, retro plot device, an unmistakable logo appeared: Captain Marvel’s red-and-blue-flanked star.

The Captain Marvel movie had already been announced as Marvel’s first female-led MCU adventure way back in 2014–five years ago!–and Brie Larson was introduced as the actress playing Carol Danvers in 2016. The movie was eventually delayed from a planned 2018 release date into 2019, but other than that, we heard very little about Captain Marvel between 2016 and Infinity War’s release last year. But with the teaser following Thanos’s Snap, it became clear that Carol Danvers will play a part in the finale of the MCU’s first three phases in Avengers: Endgame.

That leads us to the question: Do you need to see Captain Marvel’s standalone movie if you want to understand the hero’s role in Endgame? We say probably not, because whatever her role in the upcoming movie is, Marvel will likely take some time to re-introduce her to audiences in Endgame itself. There’s a perfect opportunity built into the plot, as the rest of the remaining Avengers and other heroes–Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Hulk, Ant Man, Rocket, Nebula, and War Machine–currently have no idea who she is, and they’ll have to meet her at some point. (We have a recap if you want to know what happens in Captain Marvel’s end credits scenes.)

Even if Endgame brushes quickly past this introduction–the movie will no doubt have a lot to jam in when it comes to undoing Thanos’s victory–there will be countless ways to catch up on Captain Marvel’s story before Endgame comes out. If you just can’t bring yourself to head to the theater in the coming weeks and see it for yourself, you can still check out our explainers for everything the movie establishes, from how Captain Marvel got her powers to what it reveals about Nick Fury’s origins and the beginnings of the Avengers Initiative.

All that said: Even if Captain Marvel feels like a somewhat unnecessary narrative cul-de-sac this close to Avengers: Endgame’s release on April 26 (which I argue in my review), it’s still an extremely solid entry in the MCU in its own right. It certainly doesn’t reach the previous heights of movies like Civil War, Winter Soldier, Black Panther, and Infinity War–or even worthy side stories like the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie–but Carol’s origin story is a fun adventure with a strong hero front and center, the great blend of action, drama, and comedy we’ve come to expect from the MCU, and a fun mystery at its core.

If you have the ability to go see Captain Marvel, absolutely do. We can’t be completely sure at this point whether or not Carol’s origin story will be integral to understanding everything that’s about to go down in Avengers: Endgame. But if you’re wondering whether Captain Marvel is absolutely essential viewing in the build-up to the Avengers’ final fight, my money is on “no.”

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Ubisoft’s new loot-driven shooter, The Division 2, is only a few days away. The publisher is taking an Anthem-like approach to the game’s release and offering it several days early depending on where and what edition you pre-order. Regardless of when you can jump into the game, however, you’ll first need to download a hefty day-one update.

As it detailed on its support website, Ubisoft is releasing a big patch alongside The Division 2 that includes “various bug fixes and improvements for the main game.” On Xbox One and PC, the update will weigh in at 48-52 GB “depending on your region and preferred language,” while the PS4 patch will weigh between 88-92 GB.

On top of that, Ubisoft is rolling out Title Update 1.5 beginning March 11. This patch is likewise mandatory but is mercifully much smaller, weighing in around 2 GB depending on your platform and region. Ubisoft says this update “addresses occurrences of audio missing or cutting out experienced by some during Open Beta.”

The Division 2 officially launches on March 15, but some players will have a chance to play the game a little early. Those who pre-order the Gold or Ultimate Editions will get to dive into the title beginning March 12. The game will also go live at different times depending on region; you can see all the listed times here.

Much like the previous game, Ubisoft will continue supporting The Division 2 with a steady stream of free post-launch updates. The publisher recently laid out the game’s Year One roadmap, which will see two new episodes arrive this summer and fall, with a third slated for this winter. Ubisoft is also offering a $40 Year One pass that will grant early access to these episodes and exclusive cosmetics and other perks.

As with May 4 and Star Wars or October 3 and Mean Girls, March 10 is one of those days that has become inextricably linked to an iconic piece of pop culture: Mario. At some point in human history, someone realized that March 10–when stylized as MAR10–has an uncanny resemblance to the name of Nintendo’s heroic plumber, and while Nintendo had no involvement in declaring March 10 as Mario Day, the company has since come to embrace the unofficial day of celebration. This year, many retailers are recognizing Mario Day by offering discounts on select Mario games with the purchase of a Nintendo Switch console. Here’s a full breakdown of all the deals:

Starting Sunday, March 10, you can purchase a Nintendo Switch and one of its Mario games for a combo deal of $330. The five Mario games being offered are:

The Switch sells for $300 and first-party Nintendo games are steadily priced at $60, so this combo deal is about $30 in savings. It may not seem like much, but if you were already planning to buy a Switch, getting one of its best games for 50% off isn’t anything to sneeze at.

GameStop is offering the above deal on March 10 only, while supplies last. However, other retailers are offering this deal all week long, from March 10 through March 16. Those retailers include Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target. This promotion is running both online and in stores.

Already own a Switch? Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target also also offering a digital download code for one of the above Mario games for $40, so if you’ve been waiting to pick up any of those games, now’s a great time to do so.

Shop these Nintendo Switch Mario Day deals:

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is full of mysteries, from the origins of each Infinity Stone to just what the hell the point of that Adam Warlock reveal at the end of Guardians 2 was. With the release of Captain Marvel today, we’ve finally gotten an answer to one of the MCU’s longest running and most mysterious of enigmas: the source of Nick Fury’s eyepatch.

Set in the 1990s, Captain Marvel actually reveals a lot about Nick Fury’s origins and the start of his Avengers initiative. The movie features a de-aged Samuel L. Jackson co-starring alongside Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel–not to mention a de-aged Clark Gregg as the beloved Agent Coulson–during Fury and Coulson’s early days in SHIELD. Besides the uncanny digital effects on these actors’ faces, the most notable thing about Fury’s appearance in Captain Marvel is that he’s lacking that signature, badass, half-pirate-half-super-spy eyepatch. And there’s a good reason for that, as Captain Marvel finally reveals the origin of his mysterious eye injury.

To understand what happened to Nick Fury’s eye, you first have to understand why everyone’s talking about Goose the cat. You see, the cute orange tabby isn’t really a cat at all–it’s a Flerken, a dangerous alien creature that closely resembles a cat, but is far more powerful. Flerkens possess pocket dimensions in their stomachs, which has the incredible effect of allowing them to swallow just about anything–including, say, Infinity Stones. It also has a mouth full of massive, Lovecraftian horror inspired tentacles that erupt from its eldritch maw and swallow Kree whole, which comes in handy during the film.

Most importantly, the Flerken is a mysterious creature that possesses powers unknown. That becomes important late in the movie when Goose scratches Nick Fury in the eye. Unfortunately for him, it turns out to be no normal cat scratch, ultimately resulting in the eye becoming useless. Guess he should have listened to the numerous other characters who told him not to get so close to the thing.

Anyway, that’s it! Nick Fury’s famous eye injury didn’t come from some epic showdown with murderous aliens or a fight against supervillains from across the wide spectrum of MCU characters. It didn’t even come from the car crash early on in Captain Marvel–the bandage Fury sports above his left eye for the rest of the movie turned out to be a red herring. Instead, Fury wears that signature eyepatch thanks to the character’s love of cats and a deceptively adorable Flerken named Goose. Who would have guessed?

Of course, Captain Marvel reveals much more about the MCU’s past and future than simply what happened to Nick Fury’s eye. Go check out what the movie’s major Skrull changes could mean, the full breakdown on Fury’s origin story, and what actually happened in the post-credits scenes. Then, once you’ve brushed up on all your facts and figures, start working on polishing up your Endgame theories.

Digital Extremes has announced a new update that changes how melee combat works in the PC version of Warframe. This update is only the first part of a multi-phase process for transforming melee strikes and how they operate in Warframe.

This first phase of changes mostly addresses how combat in Warframe was previously split between firearm and melee portions. The update allows you to quickly transition between shooting and slicing, which is designed to create a more flow-like state to the game’s combat. “When interrupting a melee combo with gunfire, dodging, bullet jumping, or any parkour, your next melee attack will resume the combo where it left off (within a window),” Digital Extremes live ops & community director Rebb Ford wrote in a forum post. “This simply means taking brief and tactical actions between combo executions is now a valid strategy.”

Ground slams have also been changed. Previously, ground slams interrupted all momentum and aimed straight down. Now, you’ll be able to aim your ground slams, allowing you to also use the move to retreat from a forward jump or extend forward to an enemy. To account for these changes, as well as the aforementioned flow-like state for firearm and melee combat, Warframe’s keybindings have been updated as well. Those changes are outlined below. If you’re looking for more details, you can find them in the forum post that’s linked above.

Warframe Keybinding March Changes

Blocking

• Blocking with a melee weapon is no longer keybound, it is automatic when facing enemies who are dealing damage to you in melee mode.

Channeling

• Channeling is now a toggle set to your alt-fire button when in melee mode.
• Your ‘F’ button now exclusively swaps between Primary and Secondary weapons with a tap.
• Your left mouse button is gun fire, always, instantly.
• Your right mouse button is now aim, always, instantly.

Options

• We are adding a toggle to preserve one aspect of the older melee system. You will be able to toggle an option, allowing you to continue melee attacks with the left mouse button once in melee mode.

In our initial Warframe review, Chris Watters gave the game a 6/10, writing, “Without new challenges for your combat abilities, the excitement soon dries up, leaving you without a compelling reason to keep playing. This free-to-play shooter is still technically in beta, so changes may come that make a substantive difference. But as of now, Warframe’s interesting combat mechanics are too quickly overcome by the grind of repetition.” However, last year we picked Warframe as one of our five favorite evolving multiplayer games in 2018. The game has certainly changed for the better in recent years.

Avengers: Endgame is around the corner, and we want to commemorate the end of the franchise with you. We’ve partnered with TV Guide, TechRepublic, ZDNet, and CNET, searching high and low for the hardcore fans that love Marvel to create a gallery that showcases your favorite Marvel collectibles. You can share a complete set of comics, your favorite Avenger t-shirt, or maybe you even have a Marvel shrine. Anything and everything Marvel is on the table!

Here is my personal collection.

My personal collection consists of some Marvel apparel that I’ve acquired at every SDCC–yes, even the exclusive ones to San Diego Comic-Con. Also a Black Widow Itty Bitty and an autographed art book by Marvel’s artist, Humberto Ramos. Your collection can be big, small, old, new, or just simply important to you.

Share your photos by using the form below. Remember to keep the photos under 3MB and send us horizontal pictures–this will showcase your collection much better! And don’t forget to caption your photo to tell us about what we’re seeing and why it’s special.

And we also have a Captain Marvel inspired giveaway right now that you should check out right after submitting your photos. We can’t wait to see your pictures!

The clues are everywhere.