Author: Trafficblast

The X-Men have a bit of a reputation for being, well–complicated is probably putting it lightly. Divisive may be a better buzz word. There’s a tendency in fan circles for people to fall into one of two categories: The kind whose eyes light up at the mere mention of a mutant and the kind who instantaneously go gaunt and fearful the moment they realize they’re about to have to engage in an X-Men related conversation. This reputation is certainly well earned–X-Men live-action films pre-date the MCU, their cartoon series is second only to Batman: The Animated Series in terms of Saturday morning nostalgia bombs, and the team’s most famous members are more readily recognized and understood by the general population than most of the Avengers.

It’s just that their comics are also notoriously insurmountable, their stories are the absolute epitome of everything that makes superhero comics seem absurd, and their continuity seems to be in an almost permanent state of flux. Trying to figure out just how and where to engage with X-Men stories can feel like the worst kind of homework, where well-meaning fans will spout off list upon list of classic stories that are required reading, and then follow them up with list upon list of caveats to explain which parts need to be remembered, which parts should be cherry-picked and forgotten, when the dead characters come back, where the time travel kicks in, how Cyclops is the worst, how Cyclops is the best, how Jean Grey’s powers are changed and then changed again–and so on, and so on.

The past several years of Marvel comics publication haven’t really helped the problem. The X-Men status quo has been up in the air, split between multiple color-coded team books with key players like Charles Xavier tabled, time-travel plots bringing duplicate past versions of characters like Jean Grey and Bobby Drake to the present, and mutantkind itself being all but wiped out because of an Inhuman disaster that may or may not have been thanks to some behind-the-scenes movie rights conflicts between Fox and Disney. Thankfully those days are behind us.

It wasn’t that the stories themselves were bad, per se, but trying to find somewhere to start that didn’t leave you feeling like you’d missed a few seasons was all but impossible–especially if you were someone who really just wanted to read a story about your favorite big-screen X-Men without needing to graduate from a college-level course in X-Men history to understand it.

But thankfully, there is a light at the end of that particular tunnel, and it’s coming from an unexpected quarter. Legendary writer Jonathan Hickman, whose work on Avengers provided a ton of the groundwork that went on to inform movies like Avengers: Infinity War, has teamed up with artist Pepe Larraz for an X-Men reboot like no other–one that is intended to completely overhaul the way X-Men stories work for the foreseeable future, and provide the perfect gateway for anyone and everyone to finally start reading X-Men comics.

The plan is relatively simple. Hickman and Larraz are kicking off their effort with two dueling mini-series called House of X and Powers of X with alternate release schedules. House of X #1 hit shelves today while Powers of X #1 will hit shelves next Wednesday, and so on. Then, in the conclusion of each mini-series, a “new era” of X-Men stories will begin in earnest with new ongoing X-Men titles kicking off for monthly consumption, picking up threads laid in HoX and PoX to move the ball forward.

So, in theory, everything you could need to know about the future of mutants in the Marvel universe is contained in these two mini-series, and should you choose to engage, the next twelve weeks will become your one-stop crash course in X-Men.

Senior editor in charge of X-Men comics, Jordan D. White, spoke with GameSpot at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con about what, exactly, HoX and PoX are setting out to do. “House of X is the story of the most eventful month in the history of the X-Men, where the big, huge changes are happening in the present,” White said. “It has to do with Xavier’s master plan–[which] we haven’t heard about until now…Whereas Powers of X is the story of the past, present, and future of mutantkind, all connecting to that master plan. So the two stories really, really are two halves of the same whole. They weave together.”

Though they’re definitely accessible for people who have never picked up an X-Men comic before, White also assured us that they won’t be holding anything back. Anyone who’s read a Hickman comic, or just sat through Infinity War, would know enough about his style to expect a little bit of mind-bending–but don’t let that put you off.

“If you feel overwhelmed, the people who know a lot feel overwhelmed too,” White laughed. “Let me say that. Jonathan likes to throw big ideas out there. If you were reading Avengers for 50 years before he wrote Avengers, you still were going, ‘Whoa!’ And that’s the same with X-Men. So I think everybody is going to be on the same level playing field. You’re going to go in, your mind’s going to be blown, but you’re going to be ready for it.”

White continued, “[The point of these stories is to] reaffirm what is great about the X-Men while making people see them in a new way. It repositions them. I mean, Jonathan’s very big on that. [He understands that] you definitely need to be connected to what came before. You need to give people that feeling that this is all one piece. But at the same time, if you’re not doing something new, you’re not doing your job. Ideally, in a year, you will be reading a completely different kind of X-Men stories than you’ve ever read.”

If you’ve picked up House of X #1 today and are feeling particularly amped–don’t worry. White was also kind enough to give us a list of his favorite classic X-stories for new readers. These aren’t essential to understanding the new stories, of course, but if you’re hungry for some mutants and the week-long wait between issues feels like too much, these are for you.

• Astonishing X-Men vol. 1: Gifted

• New X-Men vol. 1: E is for Extinction

• Days of Future Past

• X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga

• X-Men Schism

House of X #2 hits shelves on August 7, while Powers of X #1 arrives next week on July 31.

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Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is reportedly being turned into a television show for the streaming service Hulu.Deadline is reporting that a television adaptation of the sci-fi comedy series is coming to the streaming service. Carlton Cuse (Lost, Locke & Key) is attached as showrunner and Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman) is a writer on the series.

We reached out to Hulu for verification, but the company declined to comment.

Everything Coming to Disney’s Streaming Service (So Far)

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy began as a radio series on BBC Radio 4, which premiered in 1978. Adams adapted the series into a novel in 1979, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was adapted into many different forms since, including a video game and a 2005 feature film.

The 2005 movie adaptation of the Hitchhiker’s Guide starred Martin Freeman, Sam Rockwell, Mos Def, Zooey Deschannel, Bill Nighy, John Malkovich, Stephen Fry, and Alan Rickman.

Disney owns the IP rights to the Hitchhiker’s Guide, which would explain why the TV series is heading to Hulu. Disney acquired Hulu after purchasing stakes in the service from Fox and Comcast. Furthermore, the adaptation is being developed by ABC Signature, another Disney company.

Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

If you’re a fan of id Software games like Doom, Quake, or Rage, you’re probably aware that QuakeCon 2019 is about to kick off this week. The four-day convention, which will take place July 25-28 in Dallas, is one of the longest-running bring-your-own-computer gaming events in the world, drawing thousands of gamers every year to attend panels, compete in tournaments, and demo upcoming releases.

Naturally, the star of the show this year is Doom Eternal, which releases November 22, and attendees will get a first-hand look at the upcoming FPS and highly anticipated sequel to Doom (2016). But while the event’s 2019 tagline is “The Year of Doom,” there are plenty more games involved with QuakeCon than some people may realize. And for the vast majority of gamers who won’t be at the convention in Dallas this week, there are great deals to be had as retailers celebrate QuakeCon with huge sales on PS4, Xbox One, and PC games.

The QuakeCon sales this week expand to multiple Bethesda franchises, like Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Wolfenstein, and Dishonored, with deals at various retailers like GameStop, Steam, and Fanatical as well as the PlayStation and Xbox stores. Notably, Rage 2 is down to $40 on Xbox One and PS4 ($27 on PC), and Doom Eternal is only $51.59 to pre-order on PC at Fanatical. Plus, Fallout 76 is only $15 at Amazon for both PS4 and Xbox One, and Prime members receive $15 back in reward credit afterward, essentially making the purchase free. The Amazon Prime deal ends after this Friday, July 26.

See more of the best QuakeCon game deals to take advantage of below!

PS4

Xbox One

PC

*PC key is redeemable at Bethesda, not Steam

4. Do the Borg have any weaknesses?

Were you to encounter the Borg, unpredictability would be your friend; the Borg would be susceptible to any tactical strategy they haven’t previously seen.

Starfleet has designed weapons specifically to battle the Borg. The Defiant, for example, was one such starship; its phaser cannons rotated their frequencies so that the Borg could not adapt. But brute strength is not a long-term solution against such vast numbers.

The Borg’s confidence is their undoing. One of the Borg’s quirks is that they do not attack unless they see their targets as imminent threats. Borgs will often board ships or beam down to planets just to survey and scan the technology and biology; they will not appear aggressively hostile at first. And during this small window of opportunity, Starfleet crew members have boarded Borg cubes and walked around unencumbered. This is an excellent opportunity to gain tactical advantage before the fighting inevitably starts.

The Borg are particularly susceptible to tech-based attacks.The most successful ones have come from scenarios where Starfleet captured a drone, established a neural link with it, and compromised the Borg’s defense systems.

There have also been scenarios, suggested or acted upon, where Starfleet used drones or assimilated humans to upload viruses and malignant programs to the collective. These instances have only been possible, however, through a combination of specific circumstance and dumb luck, and they would be nearly impossible to replicate.

To say that Game of Thrones‘ final season was divisive amongst fans is the biggest understatement of 2019, but HBO President Casey Bloys still isn’t sweating the audience backlash. In fact, he says that the response to the events of the final season hasn’t changed the way the network is approaching the upcoming prequel series “at all” — which does make sense, if you consider that the new series has an entirely different creative team.The new series, which may or may not be called The Longest Night, comes from a concept that X-Men: First Class’ Jane Goldman developed with George R.R. Martin. Set 5,000 years before the events of Game of Thrones, the new series doesn’t creatively involve the flagship series’ showrunners David Benioff or D.B. Weiss, or executive producer Bryan Cogman, who is off working on Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series. (Though Cogman was originally conceptualizing a spinoff series, HBO did not move forward with it.)

The Game of Thrones prequel series’ pilot was shooting in Northern Ireland earlier this summer, and Bloys confirmed that “shooting has wrapped” during the HBO executive session at the 2019 summer TV Critics’ Association press tour. The new show stars Naomi Watts as its lead, and the cast includes Josh Whitehouse, Naomi Ackie, Denise Gough, Jamie Campbell Bower, Sheila Atim, Ivanno Jeremiah, Georgie Henley, Alex Sharp, and Toby Regbo. The pilot was directed by S.J. Clarkson.

“It looks really good. The cast was amazing,” said Bloys. “Jane and S.J. are busy in the edit room so I haven’t seen anything yet, but we’re looking forward to it.” The prequel series only got a pilot order, and once the pilot is reviewed HBO will determine if the new show will be picked up to series.

As for the Game of Thrones finale backlash, Bloys said that there was never any actual consideration to reshoot the final season despite almost 1.7 million people signing a Change.org petition to remake it with “competent writers.”

How Game of Thrones’ Main Characters’ Looks Have Changed Over the Seasons

“There are few downsides to having a hugely popular show but one I can think of is when you try to end it, many people have big opinions on how it should end… I think that comes with the territory. The petition shows a lot of passion and enthusiasm for the show, but it wasn’t something we seriously considered,” said Bloys.

HBO’s president of programming also revealed that the network was fairly hands-off with Benioff and Weiss in the final few seasons of Game of Thrones since the producers had hit their stride by that point. “When a show is in the sixth, seventh, eighth season of a highly successful run, there’s usually a rhythm between the network and the showrunners, so there’s minimal back and forth here and there,” he explained. “That’s not just Game of Thrones; that goes for Silicon Valley which is in its final season, they have a really good handle on what they’re doing and how they want to end it … it’s not like we’re all over them.”

As for the other Game of Thrones spinoff series that still are in development, Bloys stayed mum, saying, “The only update I have [on the GoT companion shows] is that we finished shooting the prequel in Belfast, very excited by the footage that we saw and the cast, but we’re editing that.”

For more on the upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series, find out which of the Great Houses it will feature, and which ones you won’t see popping up in Westeros.

Terri Schwartz is Editor-in-Chief of Entertainment at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.

Marvel’s martial artist superhero Shang-Chi is headed to the big screen in 2021. Not only will Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu as the titular hero, but it’ll also finally make good a long-dangling MCU plot threat by introducing Tony Leung as the one, true Mandarin.While it might seem strange to pit Shang-Chi against a villain most commonly associated with Iron Man, this choice backs up a popular theory that the Mandarin will be depicted as Shang-Chi’s father in the MCU. Here’s why we think that theory will come to fruition in the new movie.

Shang-Chi and Fu Manchu

Shang-Chi has fairly complicated origins (which we break down in greater detail in our Shang-Chi Explained feature), some of which create problems for Marvel Studios as the character makes the jump from page to screen. Originally, Shang-Chi was depicted as being the son of Dr. Fu Manchu, a villain created by pulp novelist Sax Rohmer and licensed to Marvel back in the ’70s.

The problems here are two-fold. One, Marvel no longer has the rights to the Fu Manchu character. Not only has this made reprinting the early Master of Kung Fu comics difficult, it’s prevented them from referencing Shang-Chi’s parentage in subsequent comics. Two, Fu Manchu is now widely criticized as a racist caricature and an example of the “Yellow Peril” storytelling trope. Even if Marvel could bring Fu Manchu into the MCU, it’s doubtful they’d actually want to use a villain with such a problematic history.

Marvel Phase 4 Comic Con Panel

In the comics, Marvel’s solution to the Fu Manchu problem has been to essentially replace him with a different character named Zheng Zu. A recent series called Secret Avengers revealed that Fu Manchu was one of several cover identities used by Zheng Zu over the decades. As a mystical, immortal sorcerer, Zu has no trouble impersonating others and keeping his true identity hidden from the outside world.

From Zheng Zu to Mandarin

Marvel Studios could opt to follow the example of the comics and introduce Zheng Zu in place of Fu Manchu. However, Zu isn’t a character with much name cache. He hasn’t appeared much in the comics since that initial Secret Avengers reveal. And given the relatively small mainstream exposure Shang-Chi has outside the comics, it’s in Marvel’s best interests to spruce up the character’s origin story by linking him to a more recognizable Marvel character. That’s why we think Mandarin is being re-imagined for the MCU as a replacement for Fu Manchu/Zheng Zu.

It’s a logical change given the many similarities between Zheng Zu and the Mandarin. Both are immortal men of Asian descent who wield seemingly supernatural powers. Both prefer to lurk in the shadows, manipulate others and keep their existence a secret from the outside world.

Then there’s the fact that the Mandarin is one of the greatest martial artists in the Marvel Universe. While he generally relies on his powerful rings (which grant him control over forces like fire, electricity and radiation), the Mandarin has shown himself capable of battling foes like Iron Man with nothing more than his fighting prowess. It makes sense to reveal that Shang-Chi is descended from that proud lineage. The greatest superhero martial artist in the MCU had to learn his skills from somewhere, right?

Conversely, Marvel may want to give Shang-Chi an upgrade and throw in some superhuman powers to augment his martial arts skills (similar to how Black Panther gained his new energy detonation power in the MCU). If so, it becomes much easier to explain how he acquired powers if his father is The Mandarin.

Asian Superheroes Who Need Their Own Movie or TV Show

The Mandarin Family Legacy

Both Mandarin and Shang-Chi are characters with troubled histories in Marvel’s comic. Not only is Shang-Chi the son of one of the most infamous “Yellow Peril” villains in pop culture, the Mandarin himself is another unfortunate example of that trope. Suffice it to say, those early Mandarin stories in Tales of Suspense don’t exactly stand the test of time.

Much as 2018’s Black Panther dealt with issues of race and social inequality, we’re fully expecting Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to confront issues of representation and Asian American identity. This is Marvel’s first Asian-driven superhero movie. There’s no doubt going to be a concerted effort to acknowledge the troubled history of Shang-Chi and Mandarin and reinvent both characters in a way that makes sense for 21st century audiences. Linking the two characters as father and son is one way to find their shared humanity and ensure that the MCU doesn’t repeat the mistakes of the comics.

Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Nintendo has increased the number of levels you can share online in Super Mario Maker 2. Since the game launched last month, players have only been able to upload a maximum of 32 courses to the online Course World hub, but that limit has now been doubled, and it appears it’ll go up again with a future update.

According to an in-game notification, Nintendo plans to increase the course-upload limit one more time in the future. The company hasn’t announced when the limit will be bumped up again or what the new limit will be, but in the meantime, players can now upload a maximum of 64 courses. As before, however, you’ll need to have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription in order to upload your levels and play those created by other players.

In addition to the course-limit increase, Nintendo has shared the Course ID for a new level created by the Mario Maker 2 development team. This course revolves around the Superball Flower, an obscure power-up from Super Mario Land that can be unlocked as a course part in Mario Maker 2 when you clear the game’s Story mode. You can see the Course ID as well as a clip of the level in the tweet below.

We know of at least one more update still on the way for Super Mario Maker 2. During E3 2019, Nintendo confirmed it is working on an update that will allow players to play online Versus and Co-Op matches with friends. Presently, the game only allows players to play those modes online with strangers. Nintendo hasn’t announced when this update is expected to go live.

Super Mario Maker 2 is available exclusively for Nintendo Switch. The game received a lot of praise from critics, including GameSpot. In our Super Mario Maker 2 review, GameSpot’s Peter Brown wrote, “Whether exploring the full potential of a single element or throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, I’ve got the itch to join the creator’s club. Mario Maker 2 makes the learning process intuitive and enjoyable. Most importantly, it’s enabled designers amateur and professional alike to share their creativity with the world.”

The Xbox One’s Home will get a new look for those enrolled in Microsoft’s Xbox Insiders program. A new console update, available today for those Alpha Skip Ahead Xbox Insiders, will introduce “a streamlined user interface” as well as “further [evolutions]” to voice commands.

An Xbox Wire post reports that the new update will “[deliver] a faster Home experience” and “[evolves] Xbox voice commands to improve the voice experience.” Both features aren’t available to all Xbox Insiders, with the new Home rolling out to the Alpha and Alpha Skip Ahead ring and the voice commands heading to the Alpha Skip Ahead ring. Those not enrolled in Xbox Insiders will have to wait, as there’s no confirmation on when the changes will be made public for everyone.

A Streamlined Home

The new Home will “deliver an easy and seamless experience for you to navigate your console,” Xbox Wire writes. The goal here is to get you into your video games faster and keep your content at the front of the Home experience. The new experimental Home design, below, removes the scrolling options from the top for things like Community, Mixer, and Store for dedicated buttons underneath the selected piece of content on the left side of the screen. Things have also been shifted around a little and the tilesets look a little larger than the system’s current Home design.

The experimental Home design will be available this week to Xbox Insiders part of the Alpha and Alpha Skip Ahead rings.

Evolving Voice Commands

Voice commands are also changing, with the objective being to “further [evolve] commands on Xbox and [move] away from on-console experiences to cloud-based assistant experiences,” according to Xbox Wire. This means Cortana will be inaccessible via headset, instead shifting to “the Xbox Skill for Cortana via the Cortana app on iOS, Android, and Windows or Harmon Kardon Invoke speaker.” However, Cortana is still reachable via Alexa-enabled devices. Due to the changes in voice commands, this console update will disable the virtual keyboard’s dictation on the system, but Microsoft will share what alternative solutions are in development in the near future.

Similar to the experimental Home design, these new voice command changes will arrive this week and are available to the Alpha Skip Ahead ring. Xbox Wire notes that the new voice commands will “fully rollout to all users this fall,” but it’s unclear if that means the Alpha ring or all of the Xbox Insiders.

The classic novel series The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is reportedly being adapted into a series for Hulu. THR reports that the series will be headed up by Carlton Cuse (Lost, Jack Ryan) and Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman). The two will write and executive produce the project.

The show is said to be under the umbrella of ABC Signature, the ABC division that focuses on streaming shows. Disney is also the majority owner of Hulu, and owns the rights to Hitchhiker’s Guide. Cuse has an overall deal with ABC as well.

The HGTTG series of novels from Douglas Adams follows Arthur Dent, a down-on-his-luck British man who goes on a space-hopping adventure after Earth is destroyed to make space for an intergalactic highway. The series is known for its dry wit, with equal parts satirical and absurdist humor. It was previously adapted into a movie in 2005 starring Martin Freeman, Mos Def, and Zooey Deschanel.

Hulu has gained critical attention in recent years for The Handmaid’s Tale. While Disney is the majority owner, it offers a mix of original programming and selections from network and cable TV. Disney’s own streaming service, Disney+, is scheduled to launch this fall for $7 per month.