Disney’s live-action adaptation machine is still chugging along despite low box-office numbers for their latest, Mulan. Peter Pan & Wendy, the upcoming live-action production of–you guessed it–Disney’s Peter Pan and has found its Tinkerbell in Grown-Ish star Yara Shahidi, Deadline reports.
Shahidi will be the first woman of color to star in the role in a blockbuster film, following in the footsteps of Julia Roberts who played the part in 1991’s Hook and Ludivine Sagnier in 2003’s Peter Pan. This is Disney’s second effort to diversify the casting of characters that have formerly been portrayed as white in their animated features, following the casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel for the upcoming live-action Little Mermaid.
In addition to Shahidi as Tinkerbell, Peter Pan & Wendy is also set to feature Jude Law as Captain Hook, Alexander Molony (The Reluctant Landlord) as Peter, and Ever Anderson (Resident Evil: The Final Chapter) as Wendy.
The movie will be written and directed by David Lowery, who previously worked with Disney on Pete’s Dragon back in 2016. Lowery also wrote and directed the upcoming A24 film, The Green Knight, starring Dev Patel in a retelling of the medieval folktale about Sir Gawain, a knight of the round table.
Peter Pan & Wendy currently has no set release date but is expected to premiere in theaters, rather than the Disney+ streaming service, at some point in 2021.
Welcome back to Game Scoop!, IGN’s weekly video game podcast. This week the Omega Cops — Daemon Hatfield, Tina Amini, Sam Claiborn, and Justin Davis — are reeling from the news that Microsoft is buying Bethesda. Xbox Series went up for pre-order this week, and it was a mess just like the PS5 pre-orders. Sam has thoughts on Super Mario 3D All-Stars, while Daemon and Justin are playing Hades. The music in this episode is from the Sega Genesis classic Dynamite Headdy. Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service.
The rumored Mass Effect Trilogy remastered bundle, supposedly known as the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, will launch in early 2021 instead of this October.
This is according to a GamesBeat report that claims “people familiar with the development” said developer BioWare and publisher Electronic Arts are holding off releasing the bundle because of the original game. Mass Effect, according to GamesBeat’s sources, currently doesn’t “live up to the quality of the rest of the package.” They go on to say that based on the graphical and gameplay differences between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, releasing the bundle without paying ample attention to the original game’s mechanics and visuals would “make a poor first impression for new players.”
Neither BioWare nor EA have publicly commented on the matter.
GamesBeat also reports that EA has no plans to include the multiplayer from Mass Effect 3 into this remastered trilogy.
However, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition will reportedly include all the DLC for the three included Mass Effect games, giving new and returning players the full experience of the first three titles.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition was spotted earlier this month via a Portuguese game retailer listing. Though the post has been taken down, it suggested that the remastered trilogy will launch on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The bundle will include remasters of the first three games and excludes the last entry in the Mass Effect franchise, Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Batman can’t seems to catch a moment’s rest without bumping into another of Joker’s fiendish plots this year. The long-awaited Three Jokers is finally dealing with the revelation that there are actually three versions of Batman’s greatest enemy, and the series has also exposed Jason Todd’s darkest secret. We also recently learned Joker has a key part to play in the upcoming Batman/Catwoman, with the Clown Prince of Crime doing his best to ruin that perpetually troubled romance. But perhaps no conflict has been bigger or more destructive than Joker War, a crossover that’s shown us what happens when Joker steals the Wayne fortune and decides he’s finally ready to end his long feud with the Dark Knight.
While it remains to be seen how Batman and Joker’s final showdown will play out in Batman #100 (which wraps up the crossover on October 6), DC is already looking ahead to what’s next for Batman and his battered city. How will the reunification of the Bat-family and the loss of Bruce-ter’s billions affect how Batman wages his war on crime? What new threats will emerge after Joker is gone? To find out, we turned to Batman group editor Ben Abernathy for a taste of what to expect from the series post-Joker War. Check out a preview of the epilogue story in Batman #101 below, and then read on to learn more:
As much as Joker War has been about the latest and greatest clash between Batman and Joker, it’s become clear over the course of the crossover that this story is less about Joker himself than it is Batman’s emotional journey following the death of Alfred Pennyworth. Case in point – Batman #98 largely unfolds within Batman’s drug-addled mind, as the Caped Crusader confronts a hallucination of Alfred and accepts the idea that he hasn’t been the hero Gotham needs him to be.
If the post-Joker War direction for the series is about anything, it’s Bruce’s quest to change his methods, change his outlook and become a better hero. That also means finding a way to protect Gotham that doesn’t involve billion-dollar gadgets and a fleet of Batmobiles. While Batman #101 will reveal exactly what the state of Bruce Wayne’s bank account is, it looks as though our hero is going back to basics in 2021.
“Joker War was a massive wakeup call for Batman on just how much he’d lost focus on what his mission is and the utilization of resources, personnel, etc.” said Abernathy. “Bruce came to realize what his real strengths are and how he needs to evolve to match what Gotham City is becoming…and from that realization we’ll see a real status quo change in the year to come for Batman and the Bat Family… and the Joker.”
Interestingly, Abernathy seems to hint Joker War won’t actually mark the end of Batman and Joker’s long rivalry. We’ll have to wait and see what state Joker is left in by the end of Batman #100, though he certainly has a habit of cheating what seems like certain death.
We were curious how the end of Joker War ties into the conclusion of Tom King’s Batman run. Batman #85 ended with Bruce making a conscious decision to be happy and be Batman at the same time, contradictory as those goals might seem. Bruce has clearly failed in this goal leading up to Joker War, but will he rededicate himself to balancing Bruce Wayne and Batman in 2021?
“We’re going to see Bruce rededicating himself to being Batman again,” said Abernathy. “The Joker War revealed some hard truths about how poorly he managed that ‘balance’ over the last year, how he’d not really dealt with his grief over Alfred or his guilt over what happened to Dick [Grayson], and he pushed himself to be a version of Batman that he wasn’t or shouldn’t be. Bruce will always be working to find and maintain a balance but he’s going to have his work cut-out for him with what we have planned in 2021…mwhaha!”
How the Bat-Family Fits In
Batman has inspired a number of younger heroes to take up his war on crime. Unfortunately, it’s been quite a while since the Bat-family really worked together as a cohesive unit. 2012’s Batman: Death of the Family saw Joker drive a wedge between Bruce and his allies, in the hope of proving that having a family makes Batman weaker. Though these heroes eventually reconciled, it’s never quite been the same, and tragedies like Alfred’s death and Dick Grayson’s amnesia have only further pushed Batman away from his family.
That finally changed in Batman #99, with Batman assembling every member of the Bat-family and vowing to undo the mistakes of the past. Whatever happens in Batman #100, Batman’s victory will only come with a lot of help from Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Batwoman and the rest of the team. And as Abernathy teases, that should pave the way for a more consistent presence from these characters in the future.
“I think one of my favorite sequences in all of The Joker War was the gathering of the Bat Family back together, as that’s been a goal of mine since taking over this position,” he said. “The Bat-Family is really a super hero universe in and of itself and greater connectivity among the titles is the goal for the coming year.”
We asked if DC might finally be reuniting Batman and Robin as a regular duo again, particularly given recent changes in the lives of Tim Drake and Damian Wayne. Abernethy would only say, “A return of Batman and Robin as a duo? Hmm…let me think on that… ”
Abernathy also teased that Batman #101 will reveal exactly what role Catwoman will play in the series going forward, as we see how her romance with Bruce weathers the storm that is Joker War and Selina’s own regretful role in allowing the Wayne fortune to be stolen.
Batman writer James Tynion IV has added several new faces to the Gotham City landscape in recent months, including Joker’s new partner-in-crime Punchline, the deadly vigilante Clownhunter and a black market financier known as the Underbroker. These characters are significant in that they don’t necessarily fall as neatly onto the hero/villain spectrum as the classic Bat-rogues. If anything, they’re a harbinger of a newer generation shaped directly by Batman and his rogues.
“They both really reflect the beast that Gotham City is developing into, a beast that Batman and The Joker have helped shape over the years,” said Abernathy.
The series will continue down this road in the aftermath of Joker War, with Batman #101 introducing a new character named Ghost-Maker. Ghost-Maker is another character whose affiliations and morality are fairly nebulous, though Abernathy does tease a major connection to Bruce’s life before he became Batman.
“Ghost-Maker is a very different animal as he’s a face from the past, a rival that was training during the same years that Bruce was on his journey to become the Dark Knight,” said Abernethy. “The timing of his arrival in Gotham City couldn’t be worse for Batman!”
And if that weren’t enough for Batman to deal with, issue #101 also features the long-awaited return of a fan-favorite Wildstorm character. Grifter is headed to Gotham City and looks to be playing a recurring role in Batman’s world. And if Abernathy has his way, this won’t be the only time a Wildstorm icon resurfaces in the DCU.
“Grifter has always been a favorite character of mine and having him appear in this issue is a dream come true!” said Abernathy. “Cole Cash has a clearly defined ‘role’ in the new Gotham City but there are a lot of on-going internal discussion on the WildStorm characters…however I DO like making my own dreams comes true, so HMMM…”
With Batman one of the few remaining DC titles still shipping twice-monthly, fans have grown used to plenty of artistic turnover. The timetable makes it difficult for any one artist to draw several consecutive issues. But in a refreshing change of pace, all six issues of the Joker War storyline are drawn by artist Jorge Jimenez. Jimenez has delivered characteristically stunning work on this story, with this instantly iconic page from Batman #98 being a particular standout:
Art by Jorge Jimenez. (Image Credit: DC)
Naturally, it would be too much to expect Jimenez to remain on board for this post-Joker War storyline. But Abernethy confirmed Jimenez remains attached to the series and will return soon.
“Jorge did an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G job on Joker War, channeling his inner Super Saiyan on the art,” said Abernethy. “The reality on these double ships, unfortunately, is we need a constant rotation of artists to meet the deadlines, so 100% YES Jorge is coming back on a future arc (in fact, he just sent me the first 3 inked pages from it!).”
Abernethy also gave us a rundown of the artists handling this next story arc. He said, “Starting with #102 we will have the awesome duo of Carlo Pagulayan and Danny Miki back as the lead art team for the story arc, but we’ll also have some additional contributors like Carlos D’Anda and Guillem March.”
Look for Batman #100 to officially wrap up the Joker War crossover on Tuesday, October 6, with Batman #101 following two weeks later on October 20.
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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
Microsoft is bringing its Xbox Remote Play functionality to iOS devices. Though the functionality was recently opened up for Android users, it’s reportedly in testing on Apple devices as well, and the company expects it to come to the App Store soon.
The Verge reports that a hands-on with the app showed it was already working well in beta. Like the Android Xbox app or Sony’s Remote Play app, it connects with your console and runs anything you have loaded onto your console–just using your iPhone or iPad as the screen. The function will also work with the upcoming Xbox Series X or Series S.
This is distinct from the Xbox streaming xCloud platform, which requires no console at all because it streams games directly to your mobile device from a data center. That functionality is on Android devices already, but not iOS ones due to Apple’s restrictive policies. A recent rule change made it theoretically possible for xCloud and Google’s similar streaming service Stadia on Apple devices, but it’s not clear how it would work and Microsoft called it a “bad experience for customers.” Xbox streaming is available with a subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and its library is very similar to the Game Pass library.
Still, the Remote Play functionality provides some form of mobile play for use cases like toilet gaming. And the Xbox app update is part of an overall suite of quality-of-life improvements, which also includes the ability to download a game to your console before you purchase it–saving you the time to download updates.
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This October marks the spookiest season of 2020, as the holiday Halloween closes out the month. And like most streaming services, Amazon Prime Video will have a few selections of horror movies for you to watch from the comfort of your own couch.
On October 1, the bulk of Amazon’s October content drops, and you should already be familiar with most of it. On the horror side of things, you can watch 30 Days of Night, a film about an Alaskan town that gets invaded by vampires during the time of the year where the town doesn’t see the sun for 30 straight days. Speaking of vampires, John Carpenter’s Vampires also arrives that day as well.
As you’ve probably heard, Amazon and Blumhouse are working together on a bunch of movies, and the first four arrive in October. On October 6, Black Box and The Lie both arrive. Then on October 13, Evil Eye and Nocturne premiere. You can check out all the trailers for the Blumhouse films at the links above. Both Evil Eye and Nocturne look exceptionally good, but all four of these movies each have their own flavor and hit different aspects of horror that will appeal to a variety of fans.
If you want something spooky but leaning more towards comedy, then Amazon’s Truth Seekers may be for you. The show follows a supernatural investigator (Nick Frost) and his team who come across actual ghosts. During their adventures, they uncover a deadly conspiracy as well. Truth Seekers launches on October 30, and you can check out the trailer above.
Below, you’ll find everything coming to Amazon for the month of October.
October 2020’s New Amazon Prime Video Releases
October 1
30 Days Of Night (2007)
A Knight’s Tale (2001)
Battlefield Earth (2000)
Blood Ties (2014)
Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
Eight Millimeter (1999)
Funny Girl (1968)
Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Guess Who (2005)
Joe (2014)
John Carpenter’s Vampires (1998)
Killers (2010)
Kindred Spirits (2020)
La Sucursal (2019)
Madea’s Big Happy Family (2011)
Mud (2013)
National Security (2003)
Next Level (2019)
Noose For A Gunman (1960)
Nurse (2014)
Quantum Of Solace (2008)
Raging Bull (1980)
Señorita Justice (2004)
Southside With You (2016)
Spaceballs (1987)
Species (1995)
Thanks For Sharing (2013)
The Big Hit (1998)
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
The Departed (2006)
The Gambler Wore A Gun (1961)
The Grudge 3 (2009)
The Mask Of Zorro (1998)
The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
The Pianist (2003)
The Wedding Planner (2001)
Triumph Of The Spirit (1989)
1992: Berlusconi Rising: Season 1 (Topic)
40 & Single: Season 1 (Urban Movie Channel)
America’s Great Divide: From Obama to Trump: Season 1 (PBS Documentaries)
Cisco Kid: Season (Best Westerns Ever)
Cities of the Underworld: Season 1 (HISTORY Vault)
Cold Case Files Classic: Season 1 (A&E Crime Central)
Get Shorty: Seasons 1-3
Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (Shudder)
Liar: Season 1 (Sundance Now)
Mrs. Wilson: Season 1 (PBS Masterpiece)
Mystery Road: Season 1 (Acorn TV)
PNS Kids: Spooky Stories!: Season 1 (PBS Kids)
Tales of Tomorrow: Season 1 (Best TV Ever)
The Great British Baking Show: Season 1 (PBS Living)
The Loudest Voice: Season 1 (Showtime)
Thou Shalt Not Kill: Season 1 (PBS Masterpiece)
October 2
Bug Diaries Halloween Special – Amazon Original Special
Savage X Fenty Show. Vol. 2 – Amazon Original Special
October 6
Black Box – Amazon Original Movie (2020)
The Lie – Amazon Original Movie (2020)
The Transporter Refueled (2015)
Mr. Robot: Season 4
October 8
Archive (2020)
October 9
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Chasing the Crown: Dreamers to Streamers – Amazon Original Series
October 10
Jack And Jill (2011)
October 13
Evil Eye – Amazon Original Movie (2020)
Nocturne – Amazon Original Movie (2020)
October 14
A Most Beautiful Thing (2020)
October 15
Halal Love Story (2020)
Playing With Fire (2019)
October 16
Time – Amazon Original Movie (2020)
What the Constitution Means to Me – Amazon Original Special
Revealed Friday afternoon on the HasbroPulse YouTube stream, the Razor Crest from Disney+’s The Mandalorian will be the next HasLab crowdfunding campaign. Following the success of last year’s Jabba’s Barge, if this campaign is backed with a minimum of 6,000 backers by November 9, the Razor Crest will go into production.
Pre-orders are open now and collectors can back the project for the Razor Crest at $350 USD. The now famous Mandalorian ship will be one of the largest Vintage Collection vehicles ever produced coming in at 30 inches long by 20 inches wide, and 10.5 inches tall.
Those that back the campaign will also receive a Star Wars: The Vintage Collection 3.75 inch scale The Mandalorian Figure in Beskar armor with a fabric cape–exclusive to this project. In addition, there are plenty of highly-detailed features including a cockpit that opens to reveal a fully detailed interior with three seats that fit 3.75 inch scale figures, detachable engines and removable hull, a weapons locker with show-accurate weapons, a carbon freezing chamber and cargo hold with cargo netting, an opening rear and side doors and lowering ramps, removable landing gear, and lastly a bunk area with space for a figure to “hide.”
The Mandalorian was a runaway success for Disney+, launching a wave of new characters to collect, and there will undoubtedly be more when the second season hits the streaming service in October.
Demon’s Souls was first released for the PlayStation 3 in 2009, and while it has become something of a cult classic, the Dark Souls franchise that followed it has had a massive impact on the gaming landscape ever since. So it’s no surprise that the upcoming remake of Demon’s Souls, bound for the PlayStation 5 later this year, is one of the most anticipated launch titles for the console.
With the original Demon’s Souls being more than a decade old, there are a lot of possible improvements when bringing the game forward into the next generation. We fired up both the original Demon’s Souls to compare it to the PS5 remake, and the results are pretty impressive. Check out the video above to see both games running side by side through cutscenes, combat, and the tutorial boss fight.
We’ve got plenty of coverage of the PS5 and the next generation of consoles and more coming as we approach their launch this holiday season, so stay tuned to GameSpot.
Video game streaming services aren’t as rare as they used to be, but there are still only a handful of companies with the resources and infrastructure to support such an initiative. The latest is Amazon, the online retail giant that has made tech inroads with its Amazon Web Services (AWS).
The company introduced Luna, a cloud gaming platform that will run on a variety of devices. While Luna invites aren’t coming until October, the rollout was suitably impressive and promises some distinctive features like dedicated publisher channels. Early access signups are available now, but Amazon has already shown an impressive lineup of games included with its Luna Plus game channel. It also works with any Bluetooth controller, but Amazon has made its own Luna controller that connects directly to the cloud service, similar to Google Stadia.
GameSpot spoke with product lead Oliver Messenger about the service, its approach with channels, and how long the early access period may last.
GameSpot: Can you walk us through how the game channels work and what your vision is for that overall?
Oliver Messenger: So the game channels allow customers to subscribe to a curated set of content from either their favorite publishers or for a given genre. So, they’re very modular. I can tell you that a section of very high-quality titles in the vein of that offering, whether it be a particular genre or from a particular publisher, and then traditionally unlock additional benefits alongside them.
The [Luna] Plus channel, not only does it include that growing catalog of titles, it also includes access to 4k content, up to 4K content in a second. I think it’s worth mentioning that it is a curated set pulling from different genres to make sure there is something for everyone. And these are things that need to be highly rated on Metacritic to make sure that we put out good games.
Are there going to be bundling options, almost like cable packages?
One of the things that we’re super, super cognizant of is simplicity and seamlessness. And the last thing I think we would want to do is to build combined packages and confuse a lot of people. We really don’t want to complicate it, and have people having to do mental gymnastics.
One big differentiation from other games streaming services is that you’ve got iOS integration working through web apps. Can you go into a little more detail about how it works through the web integration?
Yeah. It’s using standard progressive web app technology. So, the way to think about that is using that set of web technologies, we’re able to essentially have it be treated by iOS as more of an agent application. It’s not fully native for sure, but by nature of it being a progressive web app, it does get access to certain parts of the operating system for [a] seamless experience.
The only new hardware you’re introducing is the dedicated controller. What was the process like for actually making that device?
We actually used our in-house lab team, they built the Fire TVs, Echo devices. We actually did produce a Fire TV Bluetooth game controller. So, they actually already built one before, so there was some expertise. It was an interesting journey. I think we wanted to produce something that was high quality, that resonated well, performed well and felt good, that you could use as your primary gamepad, if you hadn’t already got one. One of the reasons we were adamant about supporting Bluetooth and USB input, in addition to cloud, is that it feels good. It’s not just for cloud gaming.
The announcement also mentioned that the controller is Alexa-enabled. So what does that functionality do for you?
This is all Alexa-enabled, similar to the remotes. And so you’re holding it up on Fire TV and you push down and hold the microphone, the Alexa blue light comes up with this thing and you can find, play, and launch games. You can say, “enable control,” and the beauty of that is you can do that from outside of the actual application itself.
How long are you envisioning the early access period lasting?
We’ll share more on that, I think, in the coming months. The short answer is we don’t want to rush it. I know this sounds a bit like a canned answer but that’s the honest truth. We don’t want to be in early access for multiple years. Like we really want to learn our way in and go, and we certainly on our side make sure we [have what] we feel are the right sort of metrics. And in cases that will tell us what went really well, people are enjoying it, they’re getting exactly what we hoped out of it. And when we have those numbers, our goal is to learn, listen, honestly, I mean, to adapt and then walk down that path. And once we hit those, get out and go.
What do you sort of see as the advantages versus your competition, both Google and Microsoft?
For us, one of the things that we are incredibly bullish on is an incredibly low barrier to entry, low friction. And so that’s why we can push it. It just works with no specific hardware outside of what you already own with an offering that is priced appropriately.
We’re not going after people who are heavily invested, we’re going after the very cool set of people who would love to game; where they hear about these awesome titles beyond mobile gaming, their friends are on TV or they used to game, but they can’t justify the expense.
For pursuing lapsed gamers or new gamers, what have you found to be the major barrier to entry: upfront hardware cost or game prices?
Honestly, it’s all of the above, right? There’s the upfront investment cost and there’s the dedicated hardware, the upfront cost to have a title, that you don’t know how often you’re gonna be able to play or how it’s going to perform. And then there’s this complication or tax around setting everything up, making sure everything works. ‘Do I have enough space? And do I want to play right now? I don’t want to wait for this giant pack to download. I have 20 minutes right now.’ So there’s the core problems that inform the work itself.
Filmmaking duo and brothers Anthony and Joe Russo’s next project will be working on the harrowing drama Cherry for Apple TV+, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film, which will be the first directed by the Russos since Avengers: Endgame became the highest global grossing film of all time, features a shift in tone and focus away from superheroes. Cherry will shine a light on the nation’s opiate crisis through the true story of a US Army veteran. The movie is an adaptation of the 2018 bestselling semi-autobiographical novel by Nico Walker, who is currently serving time in prison for bank robbery.
As Walker’s current status suggests, Cherry is the story of a former military medic in Iraq who starts robbing banks. Along the way, after returning home from service, he is prescribed Oxycontin for an undiagnosed case of PTSD, and then progresses from pills to heroin abuse, before resorting to crime to pay for the habit.
The film stars Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Captain America: Civil War) and Ciara Bravo (NCIS, Agents of SHIELD). It comes from a script by Jessica Goldberg and Angela Russo-Otstot. There is no firm release date yet, but an early 2021 debut is expected.
Apple TV+’s recent big release is the similarly military-themed Greyhound. Also inspired by a true story, Greyhound follows Commander Ernest Krause (Tom Hanks), a naval skipper captain, as he joins other allied boats in a battle with German U-boats during World War II.
