Author: Trafficblast

Suicide Squad escaped the DC jailhouse in August 2016 but found itself locked in less-than-favorable reviews. Despite the negative critical reception, David Ayer’s movie grossed a worldwide box office total of $746.8 million. With that kind of gross, a new Suicide Squad movie was bound to happen. However, it’s not a sequel. It’s a total reboot, and it’s officially called The Suicide Squad–and newcomer Idris Elba’s role is changing.

According to Comic Book, producer Peter Safran (Aquaman, Shazam) said, “It’s not Suicide Squad 2. It is not a sequel. I will leave that alone but, yes, it’s called The Suicide Squad.” That reiterates what was announced previously.

The return of Gunn has coincided with at least one big casting change. Will Smith, who played Deadshot, has dropped out of The Suicide Squad reportedly due to scheduling issues. In his stead, Idris Elba (Star Trek Beyond, The Dark Tower) will pick up the guns. [Update: Variety now reports that the Deadshot character will instead be dropped, with Elba set to play someone else instead. Just who that will be remains to be seen, though Variety notes this leaves open the door that Smith could return as Deadshot in the future.]

James Gunn (best known for helming the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies), who was fired and rehired to write and direct Guardians 3, will also write and direct The Suicide Squad.

Additionally, as Comic Book reports, Jai Courtney (Alita: Battle Angel, Terminator Genisys), who played Captain Boomerang, and Viola Davis (Fences, Widows), who played Amanda Waller, are expected to reprise their roles. There are currently no other casting announcements. Margie Robbie (I, Tonya, Terminal), who played Harley Quinn, is currently working on the femme fatale’s solo film, Birds of Prey.

The Suicide Squad is scheduled to release on August 6, 2021. This week brought with a trailer for the new Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, as well as the debut of Shazam.

Last month, Niantic hosted Pokemon Go‘s first Legendary Lunch Hour, a new, experimental event intended to give players more opportunities to challenge Raid Battles alongside their colleagues and classmates. The developer has now announced a second Legendary Lunch Hour, which is set for next Wednesday, April 10.

Just as before, the second Legendary Lunch Hour will take place from 12-1 PM local time. During that window, there will be more five-star Raids featuring Giratina in its Origin Forme, which started appearing for the first time in Pokemon Go earlier this week. Unlike Giratina’s Altered Forme, its Origin Forme is serpent-like in appearance and has more attack-oriented stats.

Niantic has said it ultimately plans to turn the Legendary Lunch Hour into a regular weekly event, but for the moment, it appears the developer is still experimenting with and refining the event based on player input. “We are continuing to test this event to make it even better,” Niantic wrote on the Pokemon Go website. “We understand that not every Trainer can participate in every event, but these tests are the first step in creating more events focused on different play styles.”

In the meantime, players still have a few more days to participate in the Bug Out, a Bug Pokemon-focused event running until April 9. Until then, Bug-types like Wurmple, Yanma, and others will appear in the wild more frequently, and you’ll have an opportunity to catch Shiny Scyther. There are also special Field Research tasks focusing on Bug Pokemon to complete, and Incenses will last twice as long as normal and attract even more Pokemon.

Pokemon Go’s next Community Day is set for April 13, with this month’s featured Pokemon being Bagon. Niantic also recently announced it is bringing Pokemon Go Fest back for another year as part of its Summer Tour series of events. This time, the developer will also host Go Fests in Germany and Asia in addition to Chicago.

One of the best games released last year is marked down for a limited time–you can get Monster Hunter World for $32.39 via Fanatical, which sells officially licensed Steam keys for PC games. At nearly 50% off, this is an incredible price, and it won’t last long–Fanatical’s “star deals” last only 48 hours or until stock runs out. You’ll receive the Steam key immediately after purchasing.

Get Monster Hunter World on PC for $32.39 »

This is a great time to pick up Monster Hunter World for PC, as it just received graphical and design improvements yesterday. You can grab the high-resolution texture pack for free now on Steam.

Released January 26, 2018 for Xbox One and PS4 and on August 9 for PC, Monster Hunter World brought a new level of accessibility to the series that has long been a sensation in Japan but not as popular in the United States. Currently the best-selling title in Capcom’s history, Monster Hunter World made GameSpot’s top 10 games list of 2018 and was praised for its excellent single-player campaign, well-paced tutorial, deadly AI, and seamless multiplayer integration in GameSpot’s Monster Hunter World review.

“Ever since the title was first announced, it was clear that Capcom was gunning for something grander than Monster Hunter Generations. It has succeeded, and this is likely the biggest and best that the franchise has ever been,” wrote critic Ginny Woo. “It’s not just the comparative depth of the narrative; it also boasts almost seamless integration between combat systems that were previously incomprehensible for amateurs.”

Although it hasn’t been officially confirmed by Ubisoft, it appears as if the next game in the Assassin’s Creed franchise will take place in a Viking setting. The game is expected to launch in 2020, with 2019 devoted to the release of a remastered edition of Assassin’s Creed III and Odyssey‘s Fate of Atlantis episodic DLC.

Theories that the next mainline Assassin’s Creed game will take place in the era of Vikings sprung up with the discovery of odd posters in The Division 2. YouTuber JorRaptor noticed that the numerous Viking posters located in The Division 2’s Potomac Event Center seemed to feature a Norse god or traveller holding what appears to be an Apple of Eden. Kotaku has since confirmed from two independent sources “familiar with the game” that the next Assassin’s Creed title–codenamed “Kingdom” and scheduled for 2020–stars Vikings.

One of Assassin’s Creed’s Pieces of Eden, the Apple, has been one of the most prominent ties in the Ubisoft franchise, with versions of it appearing in the original game, Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood, Revelations, III, Syndicate, and Origins, as well as many of the comics, novels, and the live action movie. These ancient technologies were developed by a fictional race that lived centuries prior to most of the events of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, and they–along with the other Pieces of Eden–have been repeatedly used as the main source of power for history’s seemingly supernatural or divine figures.

If the next Assassin’s Creed does have a Viking setting, it flies in the face of fans’ repeated requests for a game in Japan, and discounts the 2016 leak that revealed the franchise’s next titles would be a trilogy telling the origin of the Assassin and Templar conflict–set first in Egypt, and then followed by Greece and finally Rome (although getting two out of three settings isn’t that bad).

The Viking Age commonly refers to the period of time in Northern Europe between the ninth and eleventh centuries, which could put this next Assassin’s Creed game anywhere between 100-400 years prior to the events of the very first game. Both Origins and Odyssey have detailed how forgotten members of history discovered the value of killing key figures as opposed to waging wars, giving rise to the Hidden Ones. But the franchise still hasn’t shown how the Hidden Ones become the Assassin Brotherhood seen in the first game, nor how their enemies, The Order of Ancients, become the Assassins’ foes, The Templar Order, also seen in the first game.