In addition to the many live-action Batman films, the Caped Crusader has starred in plenty of animated movies, starting with 1993’s Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Last year, 18 of Batman’s animated movies were compiled in the Batman 80th Anniversary Collection. The Blu-ray box set typically hovers around its regular $75 price, but right now you can snag it for $50 at Amazon, which matches its lowest price since release.
Batman 80th Anniversary Collection includes the following movies on Blu-ray:
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman
Batman: Gotham Knight
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
Superman/Batman: Apocalypse
Batman: Under the Red Hood
Batman: Year One
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2
Batman: Assault on Arkham
Son of Batman
Batman: Bad Blood
Batman: The Killing Joke
Batman vs. Robin
Batman and Harley Quinn
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight
Batman Ninja
The Blu-ray box set also comes with a bunch of special features, including the feature-length documentary Masterpiece: Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, Batman and Me: The Bob Kane Story, multiple featurettes, and more. The Batman 80th Anniversary Collection would make for a great gift this holiday for the Batman fan in your life.
Releasing this November on Steam, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch, Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is a “Japanese-style action RPG” primarily developed by just two people. Two months ahead of the game’s release, IGN Japan got an exclusive hands-on with Sakuna’s fast-paced action and detailed rice farming techniques – check out our video for 13 minutes of gameplay:
IGN Japan asked Naru and Koichi of indie developer Edelweiss for more details on the team’s latest project, which has been more than five years in the making.
“Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin began as a sequel to Fairy Bloom Freesia,” Naru said, referring to an indie action title originally released in 2011, “It was abandoned due to technological and developmental problems at the time. I’ve always wanted to make it since then.” Development of the game has “exceeded five years” but he has been “grateful” that publisher Marvelous “never meddled with the game’s content”.
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is a Japanese game by nature of its creators, but it is also a distinctly “Japanese” Japanese game based on its setting, presentation and character design, featuring divine beings and monsters. “At the time, there weren’t many Japanese-style high-end consumer games, so I thought maybe if we made such a game in 3D, it would be seen as distinct,” Naru said, noting that in the time it took to make his game, big titles like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Ghosts of Tsushima have found mainstream success. “When those games came out I was all, ‘Whoa, these are super incredible!’, but since Sakuna is a Japanese-style anime fantasy, it’s not really competing with those games.”
Even the action has a Japanese flavor thanks to the heroine’s fashion sense: Sakuna wears a special kind of kimono called a hagoromono. “The hagoromono has been around since the beginning of the project,” Naru said. “It pulls enemies closer, or lets her approach them in a flash. It’s also fun for changing directions while in mid-air.” As seen in our exclusive gameplay footage embedded above, the hagoromono is also useful outside of combat as a kind of grappling hook.
Speaking of Japanese flavor, a major element in this game (and in the title) is rice. From plowing the field to planting the rice, then harvesting and washing it, nearly every aspect of growing and preparing rice is included in Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin. “Originally, the game was supposed to incorporate building a village instead of rice cultivation,” Koichi said, “and that’s what was written into the plot.” He noted that a lot of video games at the time already featured that sort of mechanic, including “smartphone and browser games” which they wanted to differentiate their game from, hence the later change.
Rice cultivation isn’t just in the game for show, it’s integral to developing Sakuna as a character. Growing and eating rice helps her level up, a feature that Naru said “aids players who aren’t good at action games”. However, he warned that players cannot spend all their time farming to overlevel as “it gets harder and harder” with each crop. Conversely, players cannot choose to shun the farmwork and build all their strength on the battlefield. “As time goes by, you will definitely grow rice.”
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is the largest game Edelweiss has created; Naru estimated that it takes “about 25 to 35 hours” to clear based on playtesting, even though when the project began “it was supposed to be a game that would end in about 10 hours”. The game will launch on November 10 fully voiced in both Japanese and English. With his parting words, Naru said, “It’s a game that deals with the unfamiliar theme of rice farming, but I hope overseas fans enjoy it.”
Disney Plus rolled out GroupWatch to US subscribers this week, a feature that allows you to watch any show or movie on the service with friends and family, after rolling out to Canada and New Zealand earlier in September.
Disney Plus GroupWatch works a lot like similar features on other services, like Netflix Party and Amazon Prime Video Watch Party. You and up to 6 other people can sync your screens together to watch a show, sending emoji reactions along with the action in real time. Where GroupWatch stands apart is that you don’t need any extra apps to take advantage of it. Any device that can access Disney+, whether it’s through a website on your computer or an app on a phone or streaming device, can join in for a GroupWatch session.
Here’s how it works:
Open up your Disney Plus app or the website and pick out your favorite show. We have lots and lots of suggestions in case you can’t decide.
Next to the Play option, you’ll see an icon with three people on it.
Tap that icon to get a link that you can send to up to 6 fellow Disney Plus subscribers.
Once everyone is in, anyone can start the show.
Right now, interaction is entirely through emoji reactions, though Disney Plus Senior Vice President of Product Management Jerrell B. Jimerson told CNET that a chat option may arrive in the future.
Disney says that GroupWatch will make its way to Europe later this fall.
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Kirby Fighters 2 has somewhat of an adorable identity crisis on its puffy, pink hands. It initially comes across as a gateway fighting game, an entry step even before the widely-loved Super Smash Bros. series. Approachable in both controls and tone, Kirby Fighters 2 is a mostly pleasant brawler bursting with charm. A slender content offering and some bizarre difficult spikes notwithstanding, Kirby’s latest spinoff is a capable combatant.
There are no stage knockouts or lives here, just a scrap until someone gets knocked out. Also, most of the characters are Kirby–well, a variety of Kirbys equipped with different copy abilities, alongside some other familiar characters who aren’t Kirby to round out the roster. Among the pink puffballs of pain are series classics such as the Link-wannabe Sword Kirby, Artist Kirby who draws minions to cause damage, and Bomb Kirby, who does exactly what you think. My personal favourite is Wrestler Kirby, thanks to his stylish little lucha libre-inspired mask and utterly brutal throws.
One of Kirby Fighters 2’s strengths is how easy it is to jump in and start belting the tar out of cute characters. Between jumping, attacking, and inhaling, you’ll only need to get your head around three buttons for attacking and a fourth for blocking. Kirby’s range of identities provide a surprising amount of variety, with characters such as Fighter Kirby suited to close-quarters combat and Yo-Yo Kirby adept at keeping foes at a distance. Each Kirby wields unique combos and attacks and each is relatively simple to learn–most only need a combination of a single button press paired with a directional input.
Compared to other fighting games, everything about Kirby Fighters 2 is compact–the stages are small, fights are quick, and the moment-to-moment gameplay is tightly confined. Each stage conjures up a different obstacle or quirk to navigate, including a runaway train, lava pillars, and enemies who don’t discriminate against who they attack. Because of the tightly crafted nature of these stages, there’s just enough room to dodge obstacles and opponents’ attacks, while always keeping you involved in the combat and reducing any potential lulls in the action. Additionally, Kirby Fighters 2’s revival mechanic means you’re always in with a chance of winning–getting knocked out turns you into a ghost, at which point you can try and land a hit to return to the fight with a sliver of HP–as long as your teammate is still conscious or at least one character is still standing in a free-for-all bout. While you can disable revivals, it’s entertaining and chaotic knowing everyone has a chance to win until all foes are KO’d. Most importantly, in team fights, characters on the same side can smooch to recover HP in battle–just like in real life.
Kirby Fighters 2’s story mode is a more uneven experience. This mode sees you play as a Kirby of your choosing alongside either a second player or a reasonably intelligent AI partner, ascending a tower to lay the smackdown on King Dedede and Meta Knight. Even by Kirby game standards, the plot here is thin, told through slides of text to provide a bare minimum amount of context before fighting floors of enemies. Between each successive battle, upgrades can be equipped before each fight to increase health or attack power, while some enhance the effectiveness of restorative pickups or augment your damage output against bosses. It’s an interesting system that adds a gentle layer of strategy in between fights, but it can lead to frustration during later chapters, namely during boss fights.
The boss fights in Kirby Fighters 2’s remove much of what makes combat so dynamic. When pit against adversaries your own size, fights are more kinetically responsive, as grapples and special moves cause interruptions, while battling the big boss brutes is like hitting a static punching bag with a health bar. They move around and unleash moves that keep you on your feet, but the push-and-pull elements that make combat interesting are significantly reduced here. The difficulty of these bosses is predominantly linked to their exorbitant amount of health and a restrictive time limit to beat them in. Only by having a certain set of upgrades do you stand a chance, something that is significantly less important in all other fights. Having to overcome bosses who act as annoying difficulty spikes is a maddening decision that betrays the happy-go-lucky nature of Kirby games.
The final story mode chapter stands out as Kirby Fighters 2’s most baffling design choice. All previous chapters allow you to retry after any defeat at the cost of some points towards your end score. However, the 50-floor final chapter slaps on a three-retry limit completely out of the blue. This wouldn’t be nearly as frustrating if it had been playing to this rule all along and setting your expectations accordingly. I managed to beat the final chapter in a dramatic last-retry fashion, but I spent most of the last few floors lamenting how I’d have to start from scratch if I made any errors instead of actually enjoying the challenge.
Aside from the story, there aren’t many compelling modes for longer play sessions. The lightweight Single-Handed mode sees you fight to complete waves of battles as quickly as possible. Other than this, you can play up to four-player battles with or against others locally on the same system or via local wireless connection. Unfortunately, not much in the way of interesting customization is available for these modes, just the tweaking of parameters such as items and hazards. Online multiplayer is also barren at the time of writing, with battles against random players restricted to two-on-two, while slightly more flexibility is allowed for online friend battles. I played a few rounds against a friend online and was pleased with how smooth the connection was, but there weren’t any other avenues to mix things up once we were ready to move on. If you’re going to play Kirby Fighters 2’s multiplayer, doing so on the same system is your best bet–at least then you and another person can play story mode together too.
One method Kirby Fighters 2 uses to try and hold interest is the Fighters Rank system. Every battle across all game modes nets you points towards increasing this rank, with rewards tied to each tier. Rewards include extra playable Kirby fighters, additional stages to choose from, more powerful story mode upgrades, and stylish hats to jazz up your Kirby. For a while, it’s nice continually unlocking goodies just for playing, but with a few exceptions, it doesn’t really inspire you to engage with all the game modes in interesting ways. For example, unlocking every playable character happens quickly just by playing story mode, but there’s no incentive to try and improve your performance or replay with different characters. With each subsequent Fighters Rank, the points requirement increases, which makes unlocking later rewards a grind–especially considering the diminishing attractiveness of the upcoming rewards.
Visually, Kirby Fighters 2 is a beautiful game. It perfectly captures the whimsical and kaleidoscopic heart of the Kirby series, bursting with color and personality. Plenty of stages not only pay homage to Kirby’s previous adventures with recreations of iconic settings, but also include additional flourishes to transport you back to that era. These flourishes include mixing 8-bit and 16-bit graphical touches alongside 3D renders on stages such as Butter Building and Gourmet Go Go, where the stylized environment or character sprites pop alongside the modern visuals. Or the likes of Coo’s Forest, which looks like you’re playing in front of a freshly drawn-on easel–there are so many wonderful details to absorb. Even the bold Smash-like menus are adorned with gorgeous artwork at every step. Of course, this is all backed up by an equally delightful soundtrack, and hearing reimagined classics like Gourmet Race and King Dedede’s Theme is always a joy.
Comprehensively adorable and approachable, Kirby Fighters 2 is a solid entry point into the fighting genre. It’s phenomenally beautiful and plays tightly, but the story’s difficulty spikes and limited game modes see Kirby’s latest outing falling short of stardom.
Crystal Dynamics has revealed the next Marvel’s Avengers community challenge, this week’s Priority Missions, and a small patch update. While the latest patch won’t fix several hundred issues that the last big update focused on, it will prevent a rare issue that could cause some players to lose progress. Another patch is being tested currently and it will address ongoing bugs as well as introduce new content and requested features.
The latest community challenge will once again require players to do plenty of smashing. If the global playerbase can take out 7,500,000 Adaptoids, a new Hulk nameplate will be unlocked. The Priority Missions for this week will feature tougher modifiers, such as increased projectile damage from all sources, fire hazards being added to the environment, and more-lethal melee damage.
The rewards on offer for a first successful completion will be more significant than just a mere nameplate, though. Players will be able to earn Epic-level gear, hero-specific items, and a new comic book for their collection that adds a 0.5% Critical Chance to their passive stats. The Mega HIVE challenge will also be active and is a single-player chain of eight missions that features an increased presence of Exos, a significant recharge rate for heroic powers, and no automatic recovery of willpower when critically injured.
Rewards for the Mega Hive mission will start as basic resources and a small chance of cosmetic drops, with item quality increasing with the more missions you complete. Once all eight missions are finished, players will receive exclusive rewards and a significant amount of rare resources.
Priority Missions have modifiers that will challenge even the toughest Super Hero. Your first weekly completion of these missions earns you unique gear you won’t find anywhere else.
In Honor’s Name
Minimum Power Level 25, +3 Power Level Offset.
Modifiers:
Pressure: No automatic recovery of Willpower when critically injured.
Torpedo: Projectile damage from any source is greatly increased.
Snowball: Cryo damage from players is increased.
Guaranteed Reward:Epic Gear
Day of the Remains
Minimum Power Level 120, +5 Power Level Offset.
Modifiers:
Incinerator: Fire hazards are added to the environment. Plasma damage from enemies and the environment is increased.
Torpedo: Projectile damage from any source is greatly increased.
Heavyweight: Enemy stun meters build at an increased rate.
Pressure: No automatic recovery of Willpower when critically injured.
Guaranteed Reward: Polychoron and Hero-Specific Gear
Priority HARM Challenges
Priority HARM Room Challenges have additional modifiers and reward comics that increase your collection and boost your stats.
Weekly First Completion Reward: The Invincible Iron Man (2004) #1 (0.5% Critical Chance).
Minimum Power Level 15 Challenge
Modifiers:
Snowball: Cryo damage from players is increased.
Maelstrom: All heroics charge at a significantly increased rate. Entering critical health drains all Heroic energy.
Minimum Power Level 100 Challenge, +5 Power Level Offset
Modifiers:
Torpedo: Projectile damage from any source is greatly increased.
Clash: Melee damage from any source is greatly increased.
Snowball: Cry damage from players is increased.
Mega Hive
The Mega Hive is a single-player chain of eight missions that tests your team’s might. Each week you’ll have a shot at completing the Mega Hive mission chain. When you defeat all eight missions, the Mega Hive mission chain is removed from the War Table until the next weekly refresh, when you can run it again with new modifiers.
Modifiers:
Pressure: No automatic recovery of Willpower when critically injured.
Maelstrom: All heroics charge at a significantly increased rate. Entering critical health drains all Heroic energy.
Oasis: Regen Packs have increased Willpower benefit.
Goliath: Significantly increased presence of Exos.
The Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War multiplayer beta is coming up very soon, and developer Treyarch has now shared a little more insight about what to expect from it.
Lead game designer Tony Flame said on Twitter that the beta will represent “quite an upgrade” over the alpha that PS4 players got to play in September. “I don’t think anyone quite realizes what this team can do in a short amount of time,” Flame said. “From new features to the core feel, nearly everything has taken leaps forward.”
The Black Ops Cold War Beta is quite an upgrade over the Alpha. I don’t think anyone quite realizes what this team can do in a short amount of time. From new features to the core feel, nearly everything has taken leaps forward. My favorite part tho: the new lobby music kicks it
Flame also pointed out that the Black Ops Cold War beta will be a separate download compared to the alpha, so you can delete it from your PS4.
The Black Ops Cold War beta runs October 8-9 on PS4 for people who preordered the game, while all PS4 users get in October 10-12. The next weekend expands the game to Xbox One and PC, in addition to PS4, and cross-play across systems will also be available.
For more on the Black Ops Cold War beta, check out GameSpot’s rundown of everything you need to know. Treyarch has yet to announce the specifics around maps and modes, but those details should be available soon.
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The Boys got bloody in Season 2’s penultimate episode.
Did The Boys just have its Red Wedding? On one hand, no main characters died during the head-popping orgy at Vought’s congressional hearing. But at the same time, the hearing, which should have been a triumphant event for The Boys Season 2’s penultimate episode, abruptly devolved into a bloodbath. The carnage was completely out of control. And that combined with the lasting impact it’s going to have on the characters and the story makes it comparable in my mind.
That wasn’t all that happened in “Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker” of course. The cold open, which showed a seemingly normal man being radicalized by an onslaught of propaganda, fearmongering, and right-wing memes, was chilling and terrifying. Butcher reunited with his parents, revealing how his younger brother Lenny died. Lamplighter helped Hughie get into Vought tower to rescue Starlight, but chose to kill himself in The Seven’s conference room instead of helping. Kimiko finally started teaching Frenchie her secret sign language. We got a small glimpse of Black Noir’s face. And Homelander and Stormfront disrupted Becca’s life in a major way.
Through it all, there were a ton of hidden Easter eggs and references to moments from the comics. Without further preambling, here are 34 things you might have missed in The Boys Season 2, Episode 7, “Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker.”
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1. Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker
Appropriately, the episode’s title is taken from a chapter of the comics that tells Butcher’s backstory. The phrase comes from the classical nursery rhyme Rub-a-dub-dub: “Rub-a-dub-dub, Three men in a tub, And who do you think they be? The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, And all of them out to sea.”
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2. Soldier Boy
The man in the opening scene is clearly a huge fan of supes. He has The Seven merch everywhere, including Stormfront Funko Pops, action figures, and posters. One poster is for Soldier Boy, a character who will be introduced in Season 3.
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3. Alex Jones
Although it isn’t identified explicitly, the voice of the podcast or radio show the man is listening to throughout this opening resembles the voice of extremist right-wing radio host Alex Jones, whose show InfoWars peddles propaganda and dangerous conspiracy theories.
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4. Comics shout-outs
One of the radicalized man’s posters appears to be a blown-up version of a comics cover. It features the names Avina, Bowland, and Rybant, which are shout-outs to creators involved in The Boys comics: colorer Tony Avina, letterer Simon Bowland, and editor Joseph Rybandt.
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5. Dancing in the rain
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6. Frosted A-Trains
The store where the clerk is murdered by the radicalized man features many The Seven-branded products, including our personal favorite, Frosted A-Trains, glimpsed in the background here.
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7. An unending cycle of brutality
When Mallory remarks that Butcher “would be happy with an unending cycle of brutality,” she’s parroting a similar exchange from the comics. In the 10th volume, from which this episode takes its name, Mallory tells Hughie that Butcher is fighting “a self-sustaining, neverending conflict in which he can mete out the brutality and cruelty that lie at his core: Forever.”
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8. The Sacred Heart cheerleading squad
Congresswoman Neuman remarks that Lamplighter has “f***ed half the Sacred Heart cheerleading squad.” That may not seem like so grave a crime, unless you’re aware that the Sacred Heart to which she refers is likely none other than Convent of the Sacred Heart, “New York City’s oldest independent all-girls school for grades Pre-K-12.” Yikes. When we chatted with actor Shawn Ashmore following Lamplighter’s introduction this season, he let slip that the character has had sex with underage girls–which may relate to what The Boys used to blackmail him in the first place.
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9. White chocolate unicorn frappe
Although Starlight meets her mother at a place called Jitter Bean, the “unicorn frappe” to which she refers is a Starbucks product. Incidentally, Jitter Bean Coffee does appear to be a real place, but the real version’s logo is different, and they don’t have locations in New York.
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10. Serge
Mallory uses Frenchie’s real name here: Serge.
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11. Journey
Hughie’s shirt of the week features the 1970s San Francisco band Journey. You’re no doubt familiar with their iconic hit “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Specifically, the shirt is for the band’s 1981 Japan tour.
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12. Deep Does It in the Blowhole
Lamplighter’s collection of The Seven-themed porn DVDs includes classics such as “Deep Does It in the Blowhole,” “Translucent: The Invisible Cock,” “Queen Maeve: Pleasure Slave,” “Big Black Noir,” and “Starlight Pulls an A-Train,” not to mention the unnamed “Homelander cucks your wife” video they’re actually watching.
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13. Thoughts and prayers
Stormfront and Homelander use the phrase “thoughts and prayers” to condone the convenience store murder. The words have come to symbolize the right-wing tendency to feign empathy, often in the context of gun violence and mass shootings in particular, without actually doing anything; thoughts and prayers aren’t action, legislation, or charity, and they help no one. It’s a deliberate choice to have Stormfront and Homelander using this language here.
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14. One nation under God
The words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance are another loaded issue. Contrary to what right-wing provocateurs like Homelander contend, the words were not originally present in the mantra. President Eisenhower had it added in 1954.
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15. SJWs
Stormfront uses the term “SJW,” which stands for Social Justice Warrior. The term was popularized by the 2010s hate group GamerGate. Another popular GamerGate pejorative, “cuck,” is used throughout the episode in scenes with Hughie and Lamplighter.
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16. Lenny
In the conversation between Butcher and his father (which is itself a mini Easter egg for Lord of the Rings fans, as both actors–Karl Urban and John Noble–were in those movies), we finally learn what happened to Lenny, who was mentioned by Butcher’s aunt in a previous Season 2 episode. It turns out Butcher’s brother killed himself, and Butcher believes it was because of abuse from their father.
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17. SAS
Butcher’s dad mentions that Butcher joined the SAS. The acronym stands for “Special Air Service. They’re a special forces unit division of the British Army.
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18. Two deaths
Frenchie’s truism about dying twice (once when you die, and again when someone says your name for the final time) is a well-known quote. He attributes it to American psychiatrist and Stanford professor Irvin Yalom, who said the following in his 1989 book Love’s Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy: “Some day soon, perhaps in forty years, there will be no one alive who has ever known me. That’s when I will be truly dead–when I exist in no one’s memory. I thought a lot about how someone very old is the last living individual to have known some person or cluster of people. When that person dies, the whole cluster dies,too, vanishes from the living memory. I wonder who that person will be for me. Whose death will make me truly dead?”
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19. Shark head
Deep’s cult wife is wearing an appropriate novelty hat during their photobooth shoot at Alistair’s birthday party.
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20. Toxic personality
Alistair informs The Deep and A-Train that Eagle the Archer, who appeared in episodes earlier this season, is now a “toxic personality” as far as the Church of the Collective is concerned. This is a play on the Scientology concept of a “suppressive person,” which is what Scientologists label anyone who leaves the cult or speaks out against it.
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21. Mister Marathon
Lamplighter says he and Mister Marathon used to “sneak college girls” (“they were applying”) into Vought Tower through this side entrance. Mister Marathon was A-Train’s predecessor in The Seven. This is not the first reference to him this season; maybe he’s another formerly prominent supe who will be popping up in the future?
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22. Comics Maeve
Maeve’s attitude and persona after Elena leaves in this episode match the version of her in the comics, where she’s more jaded and cynical, keeps beefy dudes around in her bed 24/7, and drinks and smokes constantly.
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23. Lego Blindspot
The movie that Ryan recreated using Legos is the 2009 Sandra Bullock movie The Blind Side. He’s also done Dances with Wolves and Terms of Endearment–his mom’s favorites. What a sweet kid! Hope nothing terrible happens to him.
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24. Things that kids are into
Stormfront wonders whether Ryan is “into any things that kids are into,” like NBA 2K (a video game series) or PewDiePie (a gaming influencer who, relevantly, has amplified hateful language in real life).
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25. Homelander movies
This episode gives us the titles of some official Homelander movies (as opposed to, you know, the cuck-porn parodies): Homelander: Origins, Homelander: Rise of a Hero, Homelander: Darkest Day, and Homelander: Brightest Night. During this conversation, Stormfront also mentions Vought Land, an apparent Disneyland parody with The Seven-themed roller coasters (which could make it a combination of Disneyland and Six Flags).
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26. Cuppa char
When Butcher accepts the cup of tea at Vogelbaum’s, he calls it a “cuppa char.” According to Post Magazine, “The word char/cha–as in “a cup of char” (reducible to “a cuppa”)–as this working-class drink was referred to in 19th-century colloquial British English, would have come from Hindustani char, likely introduced by British India servicemen.”
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27. Lamplighter’s statue
Shortly before burning himself to death, Lamplighter laments that Vought took down his statue in The Seven’s conference room. Those who’ve been paying attention might remember the exact moment the statue was altered, in an establishing shot at the start of Season 2.
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28. Black Noir’s face
We get a rare shot of Black Noir’s partially-unmasked face in this episode. He appears to have dark skin, although it’s hard to tell with this lighting. He also appears to have burns or some other type of scar on his face, which may explain why he never takes off his mask. Black Noir is played by actor Nathan Mitchell, who is Black; however, Homelander says in an earlier season 2 episode that Black Noir doesn’t identify as any race (although Homelander’s word can’t exactly be trusted). In addition, these shots of half of Black Noir’s face are going to throw comics fans for a loop, though to say why could be a major spoiler, depending whether and how the show adapts certain elements from the comics.
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29. Almond Joy
The Almond Joy saving Starlight from Black Noir is a callback to earlier in the season, when Starlight and Hughie shared a cute moment on their road trip. Black Noir reaching helplessly for his EpiPen is a nice touch.
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30. That sweaty young man from Believe
The last time Hughie and Starlight’s mother met was the Believe Expo in Season 1 Episode 5.
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31. “I’ll piss on his coffin”31. “I’ll piss on his coffin”
Butcher is not joking–check out this page from the volume of the comics from which this episode takes its name.
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32. Reindeer games
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33. Bye-bye Shockwave
One of the people who gets head-exploded at the hearing is Shockwave, who was to be the new speedster in The Seven. Guess A-Train is back in for sure?
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34. You’ll Never Truly Vanish
The song that plays over the closing credits this week is a repeat–it’s Starlight’s Translucent tribute song from earlier in the season.
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Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company
Warning: The below article features spoilers for both The Boys Season 2 (up through Episode 7) and the comics on which The Boys is based. This is your final warning.
For two seasons, Black Noir has remained the most mysterious character on Amazon’s superhero send-up The Boys. On the surface, the darkness-themed supe with ninja-like powers is a clear parody of Batman, especially given his place in the trifecta of Black Noir, Homelander (Superman), and Queen Maeve (Wonder Woman). But we know virtually nothing about him, besides a vague sense of his powers (standard fare including super strength and an inhuman tolerance for pain) and the fact that he has either a naive soft side, or a sick sense of humor.
So although it didn’t seem like much on the surface, it was a big deal when, during Black Noir’s fight with Starlight at Vought Tower in Episode 7, we finally caught a small glimpse of Noir’s face. It was all thanks to Queen Maeve’s knowledge of Black Noir’s secret kryptonite: an allergy to tree nuts. Maeve pulled up the bottom of Noir’s cowl so she could shove an Almond Joy in his mouth, in the process revealing some things about the supe and throwing some fan expectations into chaos.
Black Noir is played by Nathan Mitchell, a Black actor. That would seem to make sense for the character, despite Homelander at one point this season stating that Noir “doesn’t identify as any particular race.” That said, fans have always assumed that Mitchell’s role could just be a guy in a suit, and that if the show reached the point of revealing Black Noir’s face, the character would look very different from the actor who plays him currently. That’s because of a specific twist in the comics that’s so awesome, fans can’t help but hope that it gets adapted in the show.
The twist
In the comics, Black Noir is a clone of Homelander, created by Vought as a last-ditch safety measure should Homelander need to be put down. He has all the same powers as Homelander, and even looks exactly the same as him, as revealed in the comics’ penultimate volume. In fact, Black Noir is able to pose as Homelander–which he does throughout the comics series, committing heinous atrocities while wearing Homelander’s costume in order to try and speed along his leader’s downfall. Noir has been by Homelander’s side for so long, unable to fulfill his singular purpose in life as long as Homelander stays relatively in line, that it drives him mad.
How does this relate to the show revealing part of his face? Well, it’s simple: If Black Noir is an exact copy of Homelander, then he certainly shouldn’t have dark skin. For those familiar with the twist in the comics, this partial unmasking is rather convincing proof that the show will ultimately take the character in a different direction.
On the other hand, The Boys could very well do what The Boys tends to do, and adapt parts of Black Noir’s comics storyline while changing enough to keep fans guessing. Black Noir could still be a clone of Homelander, or at least contain elements of Homelander’s DNA, but have a different appearance–who knows what Vought’s scientists are capable of?
There have been some other hints throughout Season 2, as well. For example, there’s the fact that Black Noir appears to be Stan Edgar’s personal lapdog–Vought’s CEO sends the sneaky supe on secret missions and watches everything he does through a personal bodycam. Even if Black Noir isn’t a direct clone of Homelander in the show, his purpose–a panic button Vought can hit if they need Homelander eliminated–could still be the same.
Lastly, there’s the scar tissue we glimpsed in this episode. When Maeve pulls Noir’s mask up, if you look closely, you can clearly see that the skin around Noir’s jaw is severely scarred–almost like Deadpool’s in that character’s live-action incarnation. That could mean that Black Noir’s origin story is completely different from the comics, or that something went awry during his creation.
For now, we simply don’t have enough information to guess whether The Boys will entirely or even partially adapt this particular twist from the comic books. We don’t even know if Noir will recover from having almonds shoved into his mouth. Hopefully we find out more in the upcoming Season 2 finale.
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The Boys Season 2 has presented plenty of mysteries, only some of which have been answered as we approach the Season 2 finale. What happened to Butcher’s little brother, Lenny? As we learned in Episode 7, “Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker,” he killed himself due–in Butcher’s estimation, at least–to their father’s abuse. On the other hand, what’s up with the Church of the Collective’s obsession with Fresca? That, we still don’t know.
At the absolute top of the list, though, is just who the heck has been popping people’s heads like bubble gum? It was bad enough when it was just Susan Raynor, who met her end back in the season premiere. But this was not the outcome The Boys had hoped for when they convinced Lamplighter (RIP) and later Vogelbaum to testify in front of Congress. What should have been a triumphant hearing in which Vought was finally exposed turned instead into an absolute bloodbath. The carnage wasn’t limited to one side or the other, and we still have no concrete idea who’s responsible. However, we have some theories.
The Church of the Collective?
One prime suspect for the head-poppings is the Church of the Collective. The Scientology-like cult that The Deep and A-Train have joined consorts with supes–obviously–so they might well have someone in their stable who’s capable of this specific power.
More importantly, do they have a motive? Look back at the conversation between Alistair, the church’s leader, and The Deep/A-Train at Alistair’s birthday party in this episode. According to Alistair, he has a meeting with Stan Edgar soon, and A-Train and The Deep are all but back on The Seven. The Church has a vested interest in Vought staying in business–after all, they’re this close to infiltrating the company’s highest and most public ranks with two high-profile Church members.
At the same time, it benefits the Church to get rid of Shockwave–The Seven only need one speedster, after all, and if the Church gets its way, that speedster will be A-Train. Lo and behold, who’s the only supe whose head got popped at the hearing? None other than Shockwave. Coincidence? Maybe we’ll find out in the Season 2 finale.
Vought?
On the other hand, Occam’s Razor dictates that the most simple explanation is usually the correct one. And who benefits more from thwarting Vogelbaum’s testimony at the hearing than Vought? Come to think of it, who benefitted from cutting off The Boys’ link with the CIA by killing Susan Raynor just as she was beginning to put this puzzle together? Of course, it’s Vought–and more specifically Stan Edgar, a ruthless leader who it seems will do anything to keep turning a profit.
Vought certainly has the means–we’ve seen plenty of other supes in Vought’s employ who aren’t part of The Seven, from Doppelganger to Starlight’s former friend Gecko.
On top of that, they benefit from these killings even more directly than the Church of the Collective does (particularly Raynor’s death, which we have no reason to believe Alistair even knows about). So how does that explain Shockwave’s death, not to mention the likely deaths of many other Vought personnel who were present? Simple: Killing their own people as well gives Vought deniability. Despite being the most obvious suspect given how much they benefit from the hearing not occurring, it makes them look slightly less guilty if they can say, “We’re victims here too.”
That said, Occam’s Razor doesn’t always apply to a show like The Boys, which works to keep viewers on their toes while also surprising fans who have read the comics on which the series is based. Vought is the most obvious answer, which means it could very well be someone else who’s responsible.
Someone else?
So who else might be the head-popper? We have a few ideas.
First there’s Cindy, the experimental supe who escaped from Sage Grove after The Boys visited and encountered Lamplighter. At the end of that episode, we glimpsed Cindy hitchhiking down the highway, so we know she’s out there somewhere, and we’ve yet to see her again since then. In addition, her power of making human bodies, doors, and anything else she wants to turn into a fine mist seems somewhat similar to the exploding heads phenomenon.
On the other hand, the power isn’t an exact match–Cindy seems to cause people and objects to implode, while the head-pops are assuredly explosions.
There’s also Stormfront. The Nazi supe has electricity powers in addition to super strength, flight, and other abilities, and although she tends to lash out with crackling whips of lightning, we can’t really say for sure what she’s capable of. It’s possible that Stormfront can use the electrical signals firing in people’s brains to blow them up without any visual indication of what she’s doing. She could even be doing it without Vought’s knowledge. She did look just as clueless as Homelander during the hearing, but that could simply be acting.
In the end, we just haven’t gotten enough clues yet to guess with 100% certainty who’s been popping people’s heads throughout The Boys Season 2. With one episode left to go, we’re hoping to find out soon. What are your theories? Let us know in the comments below.
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Amazon has finally revealed the new start date for Prime Day, which means buckle up, it’s time for some video game deal speculation. Sure, there will be plenty of tech up for grabs during the Prime Day saga over October 13-14 this year, with a few early deals on Amazon Echo devices already live and ready to order. But, if you’re looking to score some new deals on the latest video games, then Xbox might be able to serve you up a piping hot meal of old stuff.
We kid, but with the likes of the Xbox Series X and S right around the corner, even the best deal on an Xbox One X might fall on hard times considering how much of an appeal the next-gen tech has right now. Still, that doesn’t mean we’re going to see absolutely no Xbox deals during Prime Day. Right now, we can be almost certain that a few Xbox games, accessories, and maybe a few subscription deals like Game Pass will be getting a healthy Prime Day treatment, but no promises.
Will Xbox Consoles be on Sale During Prime Day?
If you’re referring to the Xbox Series X and S, no. The consoles are still in preorder, and super out of stock in most retailers right now. When it comes to the current-gen systems, then you might have a little more luck. As we’ve mentioned, older Xbox consoles might not be the most appealing to the serious gamer at the moment, but if you’re just looking to play Halo Infinite next year and aren’t too worried about super-fast load times or 4K graphics, then an Xbox One S will actually play the game.
The biggest appeal to this is if the older console drops in price significantly during the sale, or if they’re even in stock for this price drop to happen. This has got to be a huge drop as well for it to make any kind of a dent in the already affordable, and new, Xbox Series S. Sure, the 4K Blu-ray drive in the One S is also a factor to consider, but if that’s all your concerned about, then maybe buy a Blu-ray drive on Prime Day instead. In our view, if you’re actually looking for a super cheap way to play the latest Xbox games, with plenty of longevity, your efforts might be better placed just trying to preorder an Xbox Series S when you can.
Hope you didn’t get confused with all the different names, in case you did. Xbox One is current-gen, Xbox Series is next-gen. Amazon may very well discount a few Xbox One S bundles during Prime Day 2020, but whether there will be the best Xbox deal available, is up for debate for now.
Amazon Prime Day Xbox Game Deals: Early Discounts and What to Expect
A great benefit to next-gen gaming is the appeal of backward-compatibility, so if you’re upgrading to a Series X this year, any Xbox One games you might buy on sale will still be in perfect working order with the new consoles.
This leads us to a world of possibilities when it comes to Prime Day then. There are even a few Xbox games available and on sale already at Amazon, many of which will even be getting a free next-gen graphical upgrade such as Assassin’s Creed Valhalla or Cyberpunk 2077.
Amazon Prime Day Xbox Controllers and Accessories Deals
Xbox fans, this could be where some of the meat is during Prime Day, so eat up (unless you’re vegan). It’s been a common theme of the past few years for a number of great Xbox accessories to see some discounts during Prime Day, and eventually Black Friday, sales. Whether this will be a new Xbox controller to add to your collection, or an advanced new headset to help with your online gaming marathons.
Remember any current-gen Xbox controllers will still work with the new consoles launching in November, so you should have no qualms about buying that extra gamepad if it gets an unbelievable discount. This also applies to any of the special edition Xbox One controllers that could see a small discount during the two-day sales.
When it comes to external storage capabilities, we’re also expecting to see a few hard drives go on sale that would be perfect for Xbox One. In case you hadn’t heard, the Xbox Series X and S will use its own licensed SSD storage expansion card from Seagate. It’s 1TB, costs $219.99, and is available to preorder right now. You can still use a regular hard drive with the consoles if you’re so inclined, but you won’t be taking advantage of any of the super-fast load times that are a big seller to those upgrading to next-gen tech.
But, if you are still looking to go down the affordable route, you can always just store all your games on the hard drive, and then transfer them across when you feel it is necessary. This normally takes around 15-20 minutes depending on the game and is a lot quicker when compared to download and install a game again. Yes, it’s all a bit confusing, but you can find more information about Xbox Series X and S storage here.
