Following its release for PS4 and Xbox One in September, 2K’s NBA 2K21 is headed to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X in November. It’s almost here. One thing people want to know is just how much better the next-gen edition looks, and that’s starting to come into focus.
In a new video, we recreated the NBA 2K21 PS5 next-gen gameplay trailer shot-for-shot with the PS4 edition. You could have guessed this, but the PS5 edition certainly looks a lot better.
In particular, the sweat that drips down cover star Zion Williamson’s face is more pronounced, while the animations and overall graphics generally look better and more realistic on PS5. Check out the full video to see more.
NBA 2K21 is a launch title for the PS5 and Xbox Series X, releasing on November 10 for Xbox Series X and November 12 for PS5. Keep checking back with GameSpot for lots more in the days and weeks ahead!
Even though Fortnite is no longer the flashy new gaming trend, it remains one of the most popular games in the world. To call Fortnite a phenomenon would be something of an understatement; it has become a gaming staple much like Super Mario was when Nintendo’s plumber dominated the conversation in the late ’80s and early ’90s. For that reason, if you have kids on your shopping list this holiday season, it’s a pretty safe bet that at least one of them is a Fortnite fanatic.
Fortnite: Battle Royale is a free-to-play game, so all you need to start playing is a console, PC, or smartphone–though recent legal battles between Apple/Google and Epic Games have threatened Fortnite’s playability on mobile devices. But even though the battle royale game is ostensibly free, there are plenty of Fortnite gifts that are sure to make fans happy this holiday season. From safe bets like in-game currency to action figures and Funko Pops to gaming chairs and board games, our Fortnite gift guide covers a lot of ground to help you pick out the best gift possible.
The easiest and best Fortnite gift you can buy is in-game currency. Fortnite V-Bucks can be spent on Battle Passes and cosmetics. Anyone who is a dedicated Fortnite player has probably spent some cash on the free-to-play game. V-Bucks are compatible with every platform, so you can’t go wrong here.
As Fortnite is free-to-play, it may seem odd that there are retail editions of the game, but they serve a purpose for dedicated fans. Fortnite: The Last Laugh is the latest bundle, and it releases November 17 for all major consoles. Though you get a standard game box, it doesn’t come with a disc. Instead, it includes a code that unlocks 1,000 V-Bucks and a bundle of in-game Joker-themed cosmetics, including an outfit back bling, multiple harvesting tools, and much more. Fortnite fans who love Batman will certainly appreciate this bundle.
With people spending more time at home, there’s never been a better time to invest in a quality gaming chair. For Fortnite fans, Respawn has created an ergonomically designed gaming chair with a slick purple and gray color scheme and Fortnite logo imprinted on the headrest. It has an adjustable lumbar pillow, can recline up to 130 degrees, and fully swivels. This is an ideal gift for those who spend a lot of time at their desk either gaming or working.
This Fortnite chair is a bit different than your average gaming chair. As a rocker, it’s designed for the living room rather than your desk. With that in mind, it’s more spacious, with a wider frame and plushier feel. It reclines to roughly 120 degrees, so it’s great for both gaming and lounging.
Nerf has released a number of dart guns based on weapons in Fortnite, including the Sp-R, which comes with a trio of Loot Llama targets to aim at. There’s also the AR-Durrr, a dart gun with Durrr Burger iconography that rapidly shoots 10 darts thanks to its motorized design.
Exclusive to GameStop, the purple variant Skull Trooper Funko Pop looks both menacing and cool. The Skull Trooper skin was first featured in Fortnite’s debut season, so it’s been a staple ever since.
Nothing says Fortnite more than the Loot Llama, which makes this Pop figure the most iconic in Fortnite’s growing lineup of vinyl figures. Instantly recognizable and well-designed, the Loot Llama Funko Pop is a safe gift idea for any fans of Fortnite. It would also make for a great stocking stuffer.
At 12 inches tall, Fortnite Victory Series figures are more like conventional action figures. They are articulated, so you can pose them in different positions. If you order from Best Buy, you’ll get a random Victory Series figure for only $10.
This Fortnite ATK vehicle has sound effects and built-in LED lights. The rubberized wheels help it roll across any surface, and it also comes with a Drift figure and multiple accessories.
This officially licensed Fortnite toy set brings the game’s most inventive mechanic–building structures–into the real world. It comes with 31 faux wood/brick/metal pieces that can be used to create a small structure. It also includes a 4-inch Black Knight action figure with full articulation. Four accessories are included as well: the Pick Squeak, Axecalibur, and two guns.
Similar to the Builder Set, this Mega Fort Set lets kids build makeshift structures and battle it out with the included Blue Squire and Tricera Ops action figures. The set comes with 28 pieces to build your fort. You can either create it from the ground floor yourself or follow the directions to construct one of the three included designs.
The Turbo Builder Set comes with 81 materials (27 of each), which means it has the most versatility out of all of these types of Fortnite toy sets. It comes with Jonesy and Raven 4-inch action figures, each of which is fully articulated. Inside the box, you’ll also find a pair of harvesting tools and four guns.
Since every Fortnite match starts with the drop from the Battle Bus, it’s understandably become one of the most well-known elements of the game. This Battle Bus display set is 13 inches tall and opens up to store figures. It comes with a pair of 2-inch figures: Burnout and Funk Ops.
These Loot Battle Boxes would be an ideal stocking stuffer for Fortnite fans. The randomized containers come with tiny toy weapons, building materials, and back blings that can be used with Fortnite action figures.
Every popular franchise needs its own version of Monopoly, so of course, this is Fortnite’s very own edition of the classic board game. It’s a great gift if you’re looking to play something with the whole family.
Jenga: Fortnite Edition is very similar to the recently released Super Mario Jenga featured in our Nintendo Switch gift guide. The blocks have the look of Fortnite’s three building materials. Each turn, players use a spinner to determine how many blocks they must remove/add, and how many levels their player token gets to climb–first player to the top wins.
Depending on where you live, school backpacks may not be getting a ton of use right about now. But at some point things will get back to normal, and your kids will inevitably ask you for a cool new backpack. Thankfully, these Fortnite backpacks are fairly cheap and good quality. There are four different color schemes to choose from, each with different emotes, logos, and graphics.
If you’re looking to buy a Fortnite plush toy, the Loot Llama plush is softer than a Funko Pop and a perfect way to cuddle up with the Fortnite llama during the holidays.
For the youngster in your life who needs a wallet to store allowance money, these Fortnite tri-fold wallets are sure to be a hit. There are four different designs to choose from, including two that feature the iconic Loot Llama.
Fortnite and Marvel recently collaborated to create a lineup of T-shirts, long-sleeved shirts, and hoodies that feature Marvel heroes in Fortnite stylings. The line includes Wolverine, Iron Man, Thor, Silver Surfer, Groot, and Doom.
For the young Fortnite fan in your life who perhaps hates bedtime, this comforter and pillow sham set might help change that. The twin-sized comforter is reversible and features Fortnite dance poses, the Loot Llama, and more. The matching pillow sham is blue and simply features the game’s title.
This soft throw blanket will have Fortnite fans counting Llamacorns (llama + unicorn) when drifting off to sleep. It features the Loot Llama as a unicorn skipping across a cloud with a rainbow in the background. The blanket is 46 x 60 inches and made of 100% polyester.
Filled with tutorials and helpful tips, the Battle Royale Survival Guide is Epic’s official handbook to everything Fortnite.The Battle Royale Survival Guide is ideal for those who have recently started playing Fortnite and are looking to get some Victory Royales.
Though Fortnite is a multiplayer game without an overarching narrative to speak of, it’s still told a story in its three-plus years of existence. Fortnite: The Chronicle takes players through all of the changes to the map and the big events that beefed up the lore of the game up through Season 9. It’d be a neat gift for those interested in how Fortnite has evolved over the years.
For the artistic Fortnite fan on your list, this guide book has detailed visual instructions that teach players how to draw more than 30 characters, gliders, weapons, and more.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued guidelines for when amusement parks like Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood can reopen. However, Disney has pushed back calling the guidelines “unworkable.”
Gov. Newsome has kept parks like Disneyland closed in California, even after states like Florida opened up their Disney resorts. Disney continued to demand Gov. Newsome to make a call on reopening theme parks in California, and the governor sent a research team to both Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood, as well as each park’s counterparts in Florida to find a viable strategy to reopening.
Following their findings, Gov. Newsome has issued guidelines saying that the two parks can operate when their county’s COVID-19 conditions are under Tier 4 “Yellow” and even then the parks can only operate at 25 percent limited capacity. A reservation system will also need to be in place, and masks will be required in the parks.
California operates on a four-tier COVID-19 system that ranges from Tier 1 Purple (widespread), Tier 2 Red (Substantial), Tier 3 Orange (Moderate), and Tier 1 Yellow (Minimal). For Disneyland to open at below Tier 1, Orange County will need to report a positivity rate of less than 2% or Less than 1 daily new case per 100k.
Currently, Orange County is in Tier 2 Red, while Los Angeles Country is in Tier 1 Purple. Hence why it will likely be some time before either Disneyland or Universal Studios can re-open under the current guidelines.
Disney, already unhappy with the restrictions placed on theme parks, appears less-than-thrilled about the new guidelines. In a statement from Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock, they said:
“We have proven that we can responsibly reopen, with science-based health and safety protocols strictly enforced at our theme park properties around the world. Nevertheless, the State of California continues to ignore this fact, instead mandating arbitrary guidelines that it knows are unworkable and that hold us to a standard vastly different from other reopened businesses and state-operated facilities.”
Potrock added, “Together with our labor unions we want to get people back to work, but these State guidelines will keep us shuttered for the foreseeable future, forcing thousands more people out of work, leading to the inevitable closure of small family-owned businesses, and irreparably devastating the Anaheim/Southern California community.”
Since the pandemic, Disney has laid off about 67% of its workforce, or “approximately 28,000 domestic employees.” Meanwhile, California has battled multiple waves of COVID-19, including a summertime resurgence after an early flattening of the curve.
The ongoing battle over reopening Disneyland will likely keep the company at odds with the California government. Small groups of disgruntled park-goers have started protesting outside Disney demanding the park to reopen, and former Disney CEO Bob Iger recently resigned from Gov. Newsom’s coronavirus economic taskforce.
One of Noita‘s best spells is the ability to summon a torrential downpour from thin air. A heavy, magical cloud bursts open above you, extinguishing damaging flames or washing away toxic poisons. Having this ability on one of my many runs always reassured me that I could be a little more reckless with my navigation through Noita’s dangerous biomes–at least it did, until I discovered that I could just as easily drown myself in many of its narrow and twisting procedurally-generated mazes.
A big part of Noita’s appeal is watching how all its physics-based systems interact with each other. This 2D roguelike’s dynamic world is brought to life with vibrant pixels, each one reactive to the world and circumstances around it. Fires will spread and engulf nearby wooden structures, slowly burning them away. Those wooden structures might support a giant vat of toxic sludge, which will quickly pour through the tunnels of a mine once its supports are gone. This sludge, in turn, can erode enemies, infect life-giving pools of water, and melt away the ground. But it can also just as easily kill you. The simple act of knocking down a lantern creates a deadly domino effect, and part of Noita’s appeal is learning to spin that into an advantage.
Noita doesn’t give you the means to control this chaos, but with a variety of wands and spells you can learn how to nudge it in advantageous directions. It’s easiest to think of wands in Noita as weapons, while spells are the ammunition loaded into them. Each wand features slots for spells, as well as attributes determining casting speeds, delays, and whether spells are shuffled when cast. Spells, on the other hand, determine your overall damage output and effects. This can range from the expected arcane fireballs and small jolts of electricity to the more absurd, such as combining specific spells to summon terrain-consuming black holes that spit out explosives or create magnificent electrical storms that spew out toxins.
Gallery
Experimenting with both wands and the spells you load into them is one of Noita’s most engaging aspects. It’s captivating to stumble upon a combination that sounds absurd on paper, yet synergizes in unexpected and effective ways. Finding a wand with numerous slots invites you to satisfy your curiosity and experiment, letting you craft complex strings of spell commands. Spells are fired in order from left to right of a wand’s queue, letting you assign modifiers to them based on their position. For example, a wand can be configured to fire a large, slow fireball before applying a spread pattern to a wind spell. The wind can be cast directly after the fire, catching the flames as it bursts past and igniting them, creating a wide-reaching attack from an otherwise pointless gust of wind.
You can just as easily craft entirely useless wand and spell combinations, as well as setups that can end up doing more harm to you than to enemies. One of my earliest experiences with this was combining a boomerang perk with a spell that cast bombs, both equipped on a wand with a rapid fire rate. Instead of flying in front and behind me like I expected, the bombs I cast instead travelled briefly ahead before turning to explode in my face, ending my run there and then. Initial instances like this are comical as you sit dumbfounded by what just occurred, but they can quickly morph into frustration as you grapple with trying to understand why they happened so that you can learn from them.
Understanding Noita’s spell crafting is a slow process, predominantly because the game does a poor job of explaining how any of it works. The game’s tutorial is nothing more than an in-game control breakdown at the start of each run, forcing you to figure out its intricacies on your own. Because Noita spent a good amount of time in early access, it’s easy enough now to play with a highly detailed wiki at your side. But without in-game guidance, it can take hours before you discover some of Noita’s key mechanics, such as the strict casting order of spells or the ability to fill potions vials up again with any liquid. It makes the game’s opening hours frustrating because of how limited your options can feel before you come to an understanding of their depth, making the brutally dangerous enemies all the more challenging to overcome.
Death comes quickly in Noita, be it by reckless spellcasting, from the chaotic nature of each biome’s physics, or at the hands of its large roster of enemies. Even the most fortunate runs with the best spells and wands on offer can come to a grinding halt through carelessness, as enemies imbued with elemental attacks can quickly cut you down. Understanding enemies and their weaknesses makes killing them more satisfying, especially when you figure out how particularly difficult foes can be torn apart with the right elemental combinations. But at the same time, their random dispersion throughout each biome can sometimes feel unfair, especially when some of Noita’s most challenging enemies are ready to greet you at a stage’s start.
Randomness is at the heart of most roguelikes, and Noita is no different. It does, however, feature parameters that make consecutive runs so drastically different from one another that it’s difficult to get to grips with its mechanics when you’re constantly brushing up against the new challenges accompanying a new run. For most of my initial hours with Noita, I was hardly making progress, encumbered with trying to understand its combat while also engaging with runs that had no chance of lasting more than a handful of minutes. There’s no overarching progression to lean on for help in Noita; you’re reset to the same point with each new start. As you start coming to an understanding of its systems, Noita’s mechanical depth–and the rush of discovering it–overcomes its initial frustrations. But it’s an abrasive start that is far from welcoming.
Noita’s main hook of experimentation with spells and their effects on the world around you is strong enough to pull you through its uneven start.
It’s a disservice to the game that lies not just underneath the crust of its world, but in all other directions that hold secrets to be uncovered. The core of Noita is about progressing downwards, moving from one area to the next before reaching its final, gold-laden world. But there’s so much else on the periphery that is persistent with each run that invites exploration, often challenging you to become creative with its elements in order to reach their secrets. One early example is a massive pool of lava stretching to the edge of the screen. It’s too large for you to glide over, but you can turn the molten magma into cool rock with a delicate sprinkling of water. You could, alternatively, find a way to boost your gliding time or use directed pushes of air to propel you along. There are numerous ways to tackle many of Noita’s side activities, each of which makes you feel like a genius for reaching them.
Creatively manipulating Noita’s reactive world with an inventive spellcasting system acts as the game’s initial appeal, but it’s also the game’s biggest stumbling block early on. Trying to gain footing in Noita’s dangerous, unstable world is an abrasive task that distracts from its wonderful secrets and challenging puzzles, but its main hook of experimentation with spells and their effects on the world around you is strong enough to pull you through its uneven start. Noita is tough and unforgiving of even the smallest mistakes, but it’s also just a gleeful sandbox of destruction that brings as much joy as it does death.
The new Ghost of Tsushima Legends update is now live, adding multiplayer co-op missions to Sucker Punch’s latest release. We figured that the update seemed as good an excuse as any to jump back into the game.
In the video above, Max Blumenthal channels his inner ghost to pull off some super slick combo kills, aiding his allies from the shadows as the Assassin class. The gameplay should give you a pretty good idea of whether the Assassin is the ideal starter class for you. Don’t fret if you start with a different class though; every class can be unlocked eventually.
Once you’ve downloaded the update for Ghost of Tsushima, accessing Legends is fairly straightforward. You can either talk to Gyozen, a brand-new in-game character who will be added to and marked on your map once the update is downloaded, or you can select “Legends” from the main menu.
Still on the fence about whether to pick up Ghost of Tsushima? In GameSpot’s Ghost of Tsushima review, Edmond Tran wrote, “Ghost of Tsushima’s story hits hard in the game’s third and final act, and ends in spectacular fashion. It left me with the same kinds of strong emotions I felt at the end of all my favourite samurai film epics, and had me eager to watch them all again. The game hits a lot of fantastic cinematic highs, and those ultimately lift it above the trappings of its familiar open-world quest design and all the innate weaknesses that come with it–but those imperfections and dull edges are definitely still there.”
It’s the question on the minds of so many theme park fans: When will Disneyland reopen? While there is still no set date, the state of California has revealed the guidelines that must be met in order for the parks to open. This comes after Disney announced it was laying off 28,000 workers, partially blaming the state for not allowing them to reopen. Don’t get too excited, though, as it may still be some time before the gates open–a possibility Disney is unhappy about.
As announced by California’s Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly, via The Hollywood Reporter, theme parks will be able to open at 25% capacity when the counties they exist in reach Tier 4 (yellow) status in the state’s four-tiered system. The guidelines to achieve Tier 4 status are less than one new daily case per 100,000 people and less than 2% positive tests.
Currently, Orange County–home to Disneyland–is in Tier 2 (red), which means there are 4-7 daily cases per 100,000 people and a 5-8% positive test rate. Universal Studios Hollywood is in Los Angeles County, which is currently Tier 1 (purple) with more than 7 daily cases per 100,000 people and a positive test rate of over 8%.
Once the counties reach Tier 4, they will be allowed to open–but there are some rules being imposed by the state. Once open, in addition to the 25% capacity limit, all ticket reservations must be made in advance. There are to be no day-of ticket sales. Beyond that, masks will be required inside the parks. Currently, the shopping complexes attached to both Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood are open. Both require masks and take guest temperatures.
Shortly after the state revealed its guidelines, Disney responded in a statement. “We have proven that we can responsibly reopen, with science-based health and safety protocols strictly enforced at our theme park properties around the world,” Disneyland Resort president Ken Potrock said. “Nevertheless, the State of California continues to ignore this fact, instead mandating arbitrary guidelines that it knows are unworkable and that hold us to a standard vastly different from other reopened businesses and state-operated facilities. Together with our labor unions we want to get people back to work, but these State guidelines will keep us shuttered for the foreseeable future, forcing thousands more people out of work, leading to the inevitable closure of small family-owned businesses, and irreparably devastating the Anaheim/Southern California community.”
Likewise, Universal Studios Hollywood is not pleased with the new guidelines. In a statement, the park’s president and chief operating officer Karen Irwin commented, “Pushing us into Tier Four behind other businesses that have already reopened makes no sense. It ignores science, reason and the economic devastation this will bring to the thousands of our employees, the indirect businesses that rely on us, and our industry overall.” She continued, “The health and safety of our guests and team members has always been our top priority. We have designed detailed health and safety protocols that allowed us to open our theme parks in Orlando, Osaka, and Singapore. We have collaborated with LA County health and government officials on a comprehensive plan to move forward safely here, and we are prepared and ready to reopen. Our theme parks are controlled primarily outdoor businesses that we have proven we can operate responsibly.”
Ultimately, Irwin said that theme parks should fall under Tier 3. Keeping them in Tier 4, she believes, will mean parks won’t open until sometime in 2021. “Our employees are ready to go back to work and the fact that they won’t be able to do so until well into next year is shameful,” she said.
Disney and Universal’s parks in Florida are open to the public, with restrictions in place. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the state of Florida has also seen a decline in testing. In July, an average of 54,400 daily tests were administered. Now, the state averages less than half that. Thus far, no outbreaks have been traced back to Disney World’s guests or employees, according to the New York Times.
This story has been updated to include a statement from Universal Studios Hollywood.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Netflix has announced that The Office’s Rainn Wilson will be executive producing and narrating a quirky new competition series titled We Are the Champions. The show, which is slated to debut on November 17, will feature “unusual competitions around the world… including cheese rolling, chili eating, fantasy hair styling, yo-yo, dog dancing, and frog jumping,” according to Variety. In other words, the show sounds like an attempt to try to wind 2020 down with a light-hearted salve to what will no doubt be an exhausting final few weeks of the year.
“We Are the Champions’ celebrates weirdness, finds beauty in idiosyncrasies, and demonstrates what it really takes to rise to the top: heart,” Wilson said. “As a self-proclaimed expert on the unconventional, I’m excited to introduce viewers to these small-world competitors with big-world dreams because, in this time, we could all use a hero–be it a dancing dog or the world yo-yo champion.”
Chris Uetwiller, CEO of the show’s production company, Dirty Robber, added, “In a TV landscape that can be rather formulaic at times, We Are the Champions represents something refreshing and different.” He also emphasized that the show is about storytelling that will surprisingly move people, asking, “Who knew people would ever be moved by cheese rolling?”
The show also bookends a year that similarly kicked off with Wilson’s The Office co-star Jim Krasinski starting a new project in March to combat great stress and uncertainty. Krasinski’s YouTube series, called “Some Good News,” had a quick, strange, and somewhat divisive journey from a feel-good one-off to a series that garnered more than 2 million subscribers and netted around 70 million views to then being acquired by GameSpot parent company ViacomCBS for the CBS All Access app. The show has not yet debuted on CBS All Access, but Krasinski announced he would no longer star–and the shift also meant that an adorable once-free show has now been locked behind a streaming paywall.
For now, with Season 3 definitely still a long way off, all we can do is speculate and wish. How long will it take Hughie to realize his new boss is not who he thinks she is? How will Starlight navigate the tension at Vought Tower? Will The Seven ever actually have seven active members again, and will The Boys reunite under Mallory? What role will Soldier Boy play?
We don’t have the answers, but we do have a wish list. Here’s everything we hope to see in The Boys Season 3 when the terrific Amazon show finally returns.
]]>
]]>
1. More of The Boys together
The end of Season 2 saw The Boys–Hughie, Butcher, Frenchie, Kimiko, and Mother’s Milk–largely going their own ways. With their names cleared, Compound V exposed, and Becca dead, they had no reason to keep slumming together under the pawn shop. But Mallory offered Butcher a new deal in the finale: The Boys can keep operating going forward, this time as an official CIA-funded unit. We hope Butcher takes the deal and convinces the other Boys to join him.
]]>
]]>
2. More new characters who aren’t dead or incapacitated by the end of the season
The Boys Season 2 introduced a bunch of new characters, including Lamplighter, Kimiko’s brother Kenji, Alastair Adana (the head of the Church of the Collective), and Stormfront, to name the major ones. And all but one–Victoria Neuman–were dead or “neutralized” (in Stormfront’s case) by the end of the season. We’d like to see more new characters that actually have the power to survive for more than eight episodes.
]]>
]]>
3. A long, drawn-out heel turn for Congresswoman Neuman
Speaking of Congresswoman Victoria Neuman, we’d like for her heel turn from liberal savior to “actually was working for Vought all along and is a mass murderer” to take all season, if not longer. Our hearts broke when we realized she wasn’t actually on The Boys’ side, but she’s too good a villain, and there’s too much potential tension there, to be used up all at once.
]]>
]]>
4. Continue fleshing out Kimiko
The show version of Kimiko is already exponentially more interesting than the comics version (The Female, a nameless, bland killing machine with no personality to speak of). With the various revelations about her background, the storyline involving her brother, and her amusing ‘tude in Season 2, the show has done a much better job fleshing her out. We hope to see that continue in Season 3 and beyond.
]]>
]]>
5. More Hughie and Annie
Hughie and Annie are cute together, OK? We like them as a couple and hope their relationship stays strong through the hardships that are no doubt coming. Is that so much to ask?
]]>
]]>
6. What’s up with Cindy?
The last we saw of Cindy, she was hitchhiking away from the Sage Grove facility. She’s incredibly powerful, and will no doubt pop up again in the show’s future.
]]>
]]>
7. More Stormfront
Stormfront may have had all her limbs burned off in the Season 2 finale, but according to Homelander during Vought’s season-ending press conference, she’s still alive–“neutralized,” but not dead. It would be interesting to have her return in some fashion, even if she’s not the nazi piece of s*** she once was.
]]>
]]>
8. More Maeve
Maeve got a lot of story and character development early on in Season 2, but by the last two episodes she basically served as an emergency rescue button for The Boys and Starlight (Maeve dropped in with a surprise rescue three separate times in the final two episodes). Here’s hoping she figures her s*** out, gets back with Elena, and gets more time to shine in Season 3.
]]>
]]>
9. Character development for A-Train
A-Train didn’t have the largest role to play in Season 2, but he’s currently on an interesting trajectory. He hasn’t rejected Vought by any means, and he’s thrilled to be back on The Seven. But he did betray Vought when it served him, and he’s witnessed firsthand how casually the company will toss him to the side if it serves Vought in the short term. We hope he slowly becomes a better person in future seasons.
]]>
]]>
10. WAY more Terror
Butcher’s dog Terror is one of the best parts of the comics. He was introduced for a single episode in Season 2, and we’re hoping he’ll return.
]]>
]]>
11. Mother’s Milk’s backstory
Season 2 did a great job fleshing out The Boys’ backstories, with flashbacks and diversions throughout that illuminated things like Frenchie’s past life, Kimiko’s and Butcher’s families, and Mother’s Milk’s beef with Vought, inherited from his father. However, The Boys still hasn’t explained why a person with the perfectly good first name “Marvin” instead goes by the extremely weird “Mother’s Milk.” Comics readers know what we’re talking about. Here’s hoping they get into it during Season 3.
]]>
]]>
12. More Grace Mallory
Grace Mallory has been gender-swapped from the comics, and her role has been expanded. But other than that, she’s pretty similar–steel-willed and icy of countenance, no nonsense, gets s*** done, a force to be reckoned with, grippingly portrayed by actor Laila Robins. With Congresswoman Neuman’s flip from good to bad, Mallory is back to being the good guys’ most powerful ally, and we’re hoping to see even more of her going forward.
]]>
]]>
13. The return of Love Sausage
One of the weirdest comics cameos in The Boys Season 2 came during the Sage Grove episode, when Mother’s Milk was attacked by an experimental supe’s massive, writhing, anaconda-like penis. In the original books, the character is known as Vasilii, supe name “Love Sausage,” and he’s actually one of The Boys’ most dependable allies. We’d love to see him return, which showrunner Eric Kripke hinted might happen during the show’s New York Comic Con panel.
]]>
]]>
14. New comics characters
On that note, there are a ton of comic book characters we’d like to see introduced in future The Boys seasons. There are plenty of superhero teams that the show hasn’t adapted yet, from the G-Men to Payback (although there have been references to these as Easter eggs so far). Then there are characters like The Legend, a foulmouthed bizarro-Stan-Lee who feeds The Boys information from his contacts in the world of Vought comic book publishing. We did get Butcher’s dog Terror in Season 2, so anything is possible.
]]>
]]>
15. A lot more supe-on-supe action
Some of the most thrilling scenes in Season 2 were the supe-on-supe fights, like the ones involving Starlight and Black Noir, or when Maeve, Kimiko, and Starlight ganged up on Stormfront in the finale. We’re used to seeing superpowered heroes and villains fight each other in the MCU, the DCEU, and beyond, but The Boys’ fights are comparatively gritty and grounded, and we’d love to see more of them.
]]>
]]>
16. Vought throughout history
Learning about Vought’s history from Stan Edgar and Stormfront throughout Season 2 helped flesh out the villains and made for compelling backstory. But Vought no doubt had a huge role throughout the 20th century, and knowing the company was founded by a bonafide nazi will cast any new revelations in an even more sinister light. With Soldier Boy’s impending introduction in Season 3, we’ll know doubt learn more about Vought’s history.
]]>
]]>
17. One single character in power who isn’t corrupt and is on the right side, for heaven’s sake
Congresswoman Victoria Neuman was a ray of hope throughout Season 2–right up until the point that she wasn’t. It felt refreshing and safe to have a character in power on The Boys who wasn’t corrupt or evil or a sociopath, which made her villainous reveal crushing. The Boys has yet to introduce whoever the president is in the show’s fictional world–whoever they are, maybe they won’t be a massive a**hole. Either way, it would be nice for The Boys to have at least one character in power who’s on the right side of history.
]]>
]]>
18. Simon Pegg’s return
Remember when Simon Pegg was on this show? If you haven’t watched Season 1 in a while, you might have forgotten, because Hughie’s dad didn’t appear in Season 2. Now that The Boys aren’t fugitives anymore, it would make sense for him to return.
]]>
Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company
The Mandalorian, the big-budget Star Wars series on Disney+, is set to return for season two on October 30. The show follows the adventures of a masked bounty hunter and his charge Baby Yoda, the most adorable child in the universe. But just like the first season, watching The Mandalorian season two requires a subscription to Disney+. If you’ve let yours lapse since the season one finale, here’s what you’ll need to watch season two.
Watching any show on the service requires a Disney+ subscription. This costs $6.99 for a one-month subscription or $59.99 for a year. Alternatively, you can get a bundle of Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu for $12.99 per month. Unfortunately, Disney has eliminated the free trial for new subscribers, so you’ll need to pay to watch the show even if you’ve never subscribed before. That said, the service offers plenty of entertainment for the price, including Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, The Simpsons, National Geographic, and more.
When Does The Mandalorian Seasons 2 Air?
The new season of The Mandalorian will “air” in weekly installments each Friday, starting with the October 30 season premier. And while Disney hasn’t specified when the episodes will debut on the service, each episode of the first season appeared right around 12:01 a.m. PT / 3 a.m. ET.
The Mandalorian isn’t the only new thing to watch on Disney+. With a subscription, you can also buy the new live-action version of Mulan for an additional $29.99, or wait for the movie to become free for all Disney+ subscribers on December 4. There’s also the new show The Right Stuff, and a Willow sequel was recently announced. And coming December 25 is the next Pixar animated feature Soul, which is foregoing a theatrical release in favor of the streaming service. And unlike Mulan, it will be free to all Disney+ subscribers right out of the gate.
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
Chris Reed is IGN’s shopping and commerce editor. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.