Could Sony Be Teasing Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse 2?

Sony could be teasing a sequel to its stylish animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

A tweet from the official Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse twitter account shows a picture of Spider-Man peering into what looks like the collider from the movie. This Spider-Man doesn’t have the black and red colour scheme of Miles Morales and looks more like a Peter Parker-style spidey. It’s accompanied by text which reads “See you in another dimension” followed by the peace fingers and spider emoji.

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EA to Change Development and Release Strategy in Wake of Anthem Troubles

After Anthem, EA’s latest big release that failed to live up to expectations, the company is planning to make changes to its development and release strategy.

PC Gamer reports that EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson talked about some of the problems faced in the industry when it comes to developing huge games like Anthem during the company’s latest financial results conference call.

“The reality is, it’s not just an EA challenge, it’s an industry-wide challenge,” said Wilson. “You’re moving from what was initially a BioWare game which would be somewhere between 40 and 80 hours of offline play to 40 to 80 hours of offline play plus 100 or 200, 300 hours of elder game that happens with millions of other players at scale, online.”

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Samurai Jack Makes a Welcome Return

There’s just something about the Samurai Jack series that lends itself well to comics. Animation may be Jack’s true home, but many of IDW’s recent spinoffs have done a terrific job of replicating that tone and style on the printed page. Samurai Jack: Lost Worlds continues that trend. This first issue is a fun read for fans of the series, though the ending may leave you scratching your head.

This latest spinoff pairs writer Paul Allor (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and artist Adam Bryce Thomas (Sonic the Hedgehog) for a new adventure that has Jack battling one of his fiercest enemies yet – himself. Jack emerges from his hermetic existence to find a town ruled by his own doppelganger – a man determined to school an entire populace in the ways of the samurai and preach a message of noble self-sacrifice. It isn’t long before these two Jacks clash and the true nature of this doppelganger is revealed.

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Everything We Learned About The MCU On Disney+ – GS Universe News Update

With Disney+ launching on November 12, Marvel Studios’ own Kevin Feige talked about various shows coming to the streaming service. Falcon & Winter Soldier, WandaVision, Hawkeye, Marvel 616, What If, Heroes Project and Loki have all been confirmed. Recently released Avengers: Endgame will also arrive to Disney+ in December along with other MCU movies such as: Captain Marvel, Thor: Ragnarok, and Black Panther.

Mel Gibson To Play A “Rowdy, Unorthodox” Santa Claus In New Movie

Oscar winner Mel Gibson will play a “rowdy, unorthodox” Santa Claus in a new film called “Fatman,” according to Variety. According to the report, the movie will begin filming in Canada in early 2020. There is no word as of yet about who will star alongside Gibson in the film.

Variety’s description of the plot states that that Gibson will play a version of Santa Claus who is “fighting his business decline, while a neglected and precocious 12-year-old hires a hitman to kill Santa after receiving a lump of coal in his stocking.”

Fatman will be directed by brothers Ian and Eshom Nelms, working off a script they wrote. They previously worked on Waffle Street, Lost on Purpose, and Small Town Crime.

Gibson is just the latest big-name actor to play Santa. Tim Allen portrayed the character in The Santa Clause series, while Richard Attenborough played him in 1994’s Miracle on 34th Street. More recently, Kurt Russell played Santa in the popular Netflix movie The Christmas Chronicles.

Gibson is a two-time Oscar winner who earned his awards for for 1995’s Braveheart.

It: Pennywise Actor Had “Strange And Vivid” Dreams After Filming The Stephen King Movie

Bill Skarsgard was praised for his performance as Pennywise the killer clown in the 2017 Stephen King movie It, and he’s returning to play a more sinister version of the clown in this year’s sequel. In a new interview, Skarsgard talks about how playing the clown affected him personally.

He told Entertainment Weekly that he went home after wrapping up It: Chapter II, and at night, he was visited by Pennywise. “I was home, done with the movie, and I started having very strange and vivid Pennywise dreams. Every night, he came and visited,” he said.

Just like in the films, Pennywise assumed different forms when he visited Skarsgard in his dreams. “It was in the shape of either me dealing with him, sort of Pennywise as a separate entity of me, and then also me as Pennywise in circumstances that I didn’t appreciate,” he said.

Even though Skarsgard says he was visited by Pennywise in his dreams, the actor said it was like an exorcism to finish Chapter II. “Him exiting my body and getting rid of the Pennywise toxins,” Skarsgard said.

Also in the interview, Skarsgard said Pennywise–having been “defeated” in the 2017 film–returns 27 years later in the sequel as more terrifying and bloodthirsty. “He’s inflicted fear on his prey, and he’s very focused on fear, but he’s never experienced it himself,” he said. “Now he’s experienced something that he has been inflicting on others and … there’s a shift leading into the second movie.”

The actor teased that Pennywise is not bound by continuity in the sense that a traditional character would be, and this allows him to go to some horrifying places. “We can explore his unpredictability now that we’ve established the character for the audience. We can still sort of shock them,” he said.

The first trailer for It: Chapter Two will be released on Thursday morning, so keep checking back with GameSpot for more.

Chapter Two picks up 27 years after the events of the first movie. The kids are now adults, and Pennywise the Clown is back to terrorise them once more.

The cast is full of big names. James McAvoy plays Bill and Jessica Chastain portrays Beverly, while Bill Hader stars as Richie, Jay Ryan as Ben, James Ransone as Eddie, Andy Bean as Stanley, and Isaiah Mustafa as Mike. Bill Skarsgard returns to play Pennywise. The children who played the child characters from the original movie will return as well in flashback scenes.

Andy Muschietti, who directed the original, is back as well for the sequel. It: Chapter Two hits theatres on September 6.

The 2017 movie It made more than $700 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing horror movie in the history of cinema.

Bethesda Investigating Plagiarism Allegations From D&D Authors

Bethesda has announced that they’re investigating claims of plagiarism related to a marketing initiative for the upcoming ESO expansion Elsweyr.

In an effort to promote the new Elder Scrolls Online update, Bethesda’s Netherlands studio published an unnamed ESO-themed tabletop RPG adventure based on the rules for the fifth edition of Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons & Dragons. However, it was more than just some basic rules that the studio appeared to copy – it was almost an entire adventure from 2016.

Character sheets from the ESO "adventure scenario". Character sheets from the ESO “adventure scenario”.

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Why We Think HBO’s Watchmen Is a Sequel

HBO has finally debuted the first teaser trailer for the upcoming Watchmen series. Showrunner Damon Lindelof has often described this series as a “remix” of the original Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons comic, making it unclear if the series is meant to be a continuation of that story or a complete reboot and re-imagining. The new trailer seems to answer some of the biggest questions fans have about the series, while also confirming the return of one major Watchmen character.

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Loot Boxes May Become Illegal In US If New Bill Passes

US Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) announced he is introducing a bill that would potentially bar the sale of loot boxes in certain video games. If enacted, Hawley’s bill, called The Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act, would ban loot boxes and “pay-to-win” microtransactions in titles targeted at or popular among minors, likening the business model to addiction.

“Social media and video games prey on user addiction, siphoning our kids’ attention from the real world and extracting profits from fostering compulsive habits,” Senator Hawley said in a statement. “No matter this business model’s advantages to the tech industry, one thing is clear: there is no excuse for exploiting children through such practices. When a game is designed for kids, game developers shouldn’t be allowed to monetize addiction. Game developers who knowingly exploit children should face legal consequences.”

Hawley cites the popular mobile title Candy Crush Saga as an example, as it allows players to purchase a $150 “Luscious Bundle” to make the game easier, though it is certainly far from the only title to offer these kinds of spending options. A large number of mobile games are designed to encourage microtransactions, and many of today’s most popular PC and console games, including PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Rocket League, and Overwatch, give players the option to purchase loot boxes that contain a randomized assortment of cosmetic items.

Hawley’s bill will first need to pass the Senate and then the House of Representatives before potentially becoming a law, but this isn’t the first time US lawmakers have taken aim at the practice. Last February, Hawaii state representative Chris Lee put forward a bill seeking to limit the sale of video games with “gambling-like mechanisms” to people under the age of 21. Other countries have also undertaken investigations into whether or not loot boxes constituted gambling.

Follow Hawley’s announcement, the Entertainment Software Association released a statement in response to the proposed legislation. “Numerous countries, including Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, determined that loot boxes do not constitute gambling. We look forward to sharing with the senator the tools and information the industry already provides that keeps the control of in-game spending in parents’ hands. Parents already have the ability to limit or prohibit in-game purchases with easy to use parental controls.”

Loot boxes have been a point of controversy in the industry for many years. 2017’s Star Wars Battlefront II, for instance, garnered a lot of criticism and backlash for the way it initially incorporated microtransactions, effectively tying them to your progression. In response, publisher EA removed all loot boxes from the game just prior to launch, but that didn’t help stem the push for anti-loot box legislation.

John Wick Game Confirmed, PC Edition Exclusive To Epic Games Store

Thomas Was Alone and Volume developer Mike Bithell has announced his studio Bithell Games’ next game, and it’s a “fast-paced, action-oriented” strategy game based on the John Wick movie series. John Wick Hex is coming to unspecified consoles as well as PC; it’ll be exclusive to the Epic Games Store on PC and Mac at launch.

John Wick Hex is described as “fight-choreographed chess brought to life as a video game.” The game, which was developed in cooperation with the minds behind the film series, aims to “captur[e] the series’ signature gun-fu style while expanding its story universe.”

Here is more from the game’s official description: “Players must choose every action and attack they make, while considering their immediate cost and consequences. Every move in John Wick Hex feels like a scene from the movies, and every fight contributes to your progress on the job and requires precise strategic thinking.”

Hex features an original story separate from the film series. As players progress they will unlock more weapons, as well as new suits for John Wick and more locations to explore. Regarding the gunplay, a press release mentions that players will need to strategically consider the weapon they use for the specific battle in front of them. Not only that, “ammo is finite and realistically simulated, so time your reloads and make the most of weapons you scavenge on the job,” the developers say.

Regarding the art style, Hex aims to offer a “unique graphic noir art design.” The game also features the voices of John Wick actors Ian McShane and Lance Reddick; more cast members will be announced later. It’s unclear if Keanu Reeves, who plays Wick in the movies, will be involved.

Check out the Hex announcement trailer embedded above to see the first gameplay and more. No release date was announced.

The announcement of Hex comes just days before the third John Wick movie, John Wick: Parabellum, comes to theatres on May 15. This is not the first John Wick game, as a VR game–John Wick Chronicles–was released last year. It also doesn’t mark the only expansion of the universe, as we know a John Wick TV series is in the works, with Reeves onboard as executive producer.