In this weekend’s Saturday Night Live, hosted by the Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt, Frozen 2 was the target of parody as everything from Elsa’s sexuality to the franchise’s whitewashing controversy became fair game.
In the sketch — featuring Kate McKinnon as Elsa, Cecily Strong as Anna, Watt as Kristoff, and Kyle Mooney as Olaf — Frozen 2’s “Deleted Scenes” were sampled. Here’s the portion of the sketch that SNL posted to Twitter…
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
Escape From Tarkov is a huge game and it is not afraid to throw you face first into its steep learning curve or punish you for your mistakes.
There are many choices and scenarios that can lead to an untimely death for any player, but much of the time these are a result of them succumbing to one of the 7 sins of Tarkov, be that of the bloodthirsty PMC, the lustful loot chaster, the gluttonous hoarder with an inventory fit to burst or the proud BEAR thinking they can take on the world with nothing but an AK and a vest.
In the video above Dave breaks down all of these sins, which we have no doubt even you dear reader, are guilty of.
Though the GameSpot team is usually busy keeping up with the biggest releases, other times we’re catching up on games we missed, replaying old favorites, experiencing classics for the first time, or just dabbling in odds and ends for a spell.
Below you can see a sampling of the games that folks on the GameSpot team are playing right now, the reasons we’re playing them, and what we love about them so far. But don’t just stop at reading our responses; we’d love to hear from you too! Please tell us what you’re playing in the comments section below.
We’re hoping to make this a more frequent thing, not only for our sanity, but yours too! After all, we know how it is: you’re playing something that resonates with you, but most times, you don’t have anyone to talk to about it, so then you end up retreating into a hole and keeping it to yourself. It can be a real bummer, so we want to help end those moments. Join us in the cathartic release of screaming at the top of our lungs the overwhelming joys we’re experiencing playing video games.
Bloodborne — Tamoor Hussain, Senior Editor & Global Head of News
It’s been five years since I first stepped foot into Yharnam, and my mind has been stuck there ever since. Whether we’re in the thick of a busy release season or amidst the doldrums of a new year, I find comfort in returning to Bloodborne. I can’t stop thinking about it, and I can’t stop playing it.
I’ve braved mobs of maniacal citizens, fended off twisted beasts, and gone toe-to-toe with wayward Hunters more times than I care to admit, and yet I always find myself drawn back in, week after week, month after month. Yharnam satisfies my wanderlust, it evokes nostalgia, and it instills a sense of tranquility. What once was hostile and unwelcoming is now familiar and safe. The baroque architecture envelops me, and although it once felt like pointed knives, it is now a warm blanket. The distant moans of insane citizens and the screeches of their sharpened weapons dragging across the floor have become soothing instead of threatening.
Occasionally, I’ll find myself rejoining the hunt, pulled into a hair-raising, tense battle with a boss or even just a simple enemy patrolling the streets, but more often than not I play Bloodborne just to be in the world, to soak in the ambiance and enjoy the eerie, slightly unsettling atmosphere. There’s nothing quite like walking the cobbled pave stones of Yharnam as it’s draped in a cloak of red and purple light emanating from the Blood Moon hanging ominously in the sky. I’m not trying to wake from the nightmare anymore; I relish it. | Twitter: @tamoorh
Like a lot of people, I’ve been waiting for the fifth and final episode of Kentucky Route Zero for a long time–it’s been four years since Act IV came out, and would you believe Act I was released back in 2013?! Anyway, with the release of the complete package, I’m taking the opportunity to go back and replay it from the very beginning, both so I can remember what happens and so I can reappreciate just how amazing this whole series has been.
And boy, it still manages to pack a punch. It’s a point-and-click narrative adventure at its core, but the execution is downright masterful. Kentucky Route Zero’s themes and writing are beautifully nuanced, its concepts are strikingly surreal, and its locations and setpieces are downright breathtaking. It twists you in such weird and deeply complex ways that I have to hold myself back from yelling “DAMN, THIS BE ART” every 10 minutes to anyone within earshot.
I’d need a lot more words to describe it adequately (though plenty of people have written amazing things about it), but it is absolutely one of the most beautiful (I already said beautiful, but screw it, it is beautiful) and well put-together games I have ever played.
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age — Chris Pereira, Engagement Editor
I started Dragon Quest XI‘s Switch demo last August when it was released, but soon after, I tabled it because of all of the games that began to come out. On a lark, I recently picked it back up to see if I could get into the meat of the game and find out why people liked it; yet, the opening hours were as uninspiring as I was led to believe. After spending about eight hours with it–kudos to Square Enix for putting out such a substantial demo–I saw enough of the game’s potential and immediately picked up the full version, which let me transfer my progress.
I’m now more than a dozen hours in, and with the world opened up to me, I’m having a great time juggling its many systems (like crafting and team-up “Pep Powers” that add consideration to party composition). But more than anything, I’m enjoying Sylvando, the flamboyant but mysterious character with a disturbing technique for winking. It does have some weird quirks–the quest log is miserable, the map isn’t great, and the feature to let NPCs lie to you is undercut by immediately telling you when things are lies. But there’s more than enough here to sink my teeth into, and this feels like the rare lengthy RPG that I’ll be sticking with for the long haul. | Twitter: @TheSmokingManX
Borderlands 3 — Alessandro Fillari, Editor
I have a particular fondness for the Borderlands series. While the vibe it gives off certainly isn’t for everyone, to me, it always succeeds at offering a fast and fun loot-grind with a wealth of ridiculous weapons and skills for the cast of vault hunters. I played a lot of Borderlands 1 and 2 back in the day, and I was looking forward to giving Borderlands 3 the same level of attention. I indeed got what I wanted from the game when it came out last September, yet it still left me wanting after finishing my playthrough with Moze. It didn’t help that, despite its many innovations and worlds to visit, Borderlands 3 feels like it’s about three years late to the party. Soon after I finished the story, I stepped away from the game.
After letting it sit for a couple of months, and seeing what new content and tweaks Gearbox was adding to the game–such as increased vault space, rebalanced skills, and the Halloween event–I gave the game another shot, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Even though it’s undeniably a familiar Borderlands game, there’s just something about getting a new legendary weapon that’s able to tear through waves of enemies with ease that I will never not find satisfying. The recent Moxxi DLC, focusing on a heist at Handsome Jack’s casino, was also a lot of fun, and even has some of the better writing and performances that Borderlands 3 has to offer–which, admittedly, isn’t a high bar. I’ve been playing B3 pretty regularly, and I’m currently working on a playthrough with my third character.
In a lot of ways, Borderlands can be something of an acquired taste. The overall style and tone focuses a lot on abrasive meme humor and iconography borrowed from other sources. Yet I still can’t deny that it scratches a particular itch I’ve been trying to get at for a while. I’m already looking forward to seeing what comes next for the game, which hopefully will include some better locations to explore. | Twitter:@afillari
A Plague Tale: Innocence — Steve Watts, Associate Editor
January is an excellent time to catch up on games I missed or just left unfinished–and with the spate of recent delays, February and March might be too. So I was pleasantly surprised when A Plague Tale: Innocence, one of our picks for the Best Games of 2019, appeared on Game Pass. It’s an insidious little worm of a game, creeping into my thoughts when I’m not playing and keeping me occupied long past my intended playtime when I am. The story keeps pulling me through, always introducing one more layer to the mystery. The dreadful atmosphere peppers in just enough moments of warmth and levity to fully invest in the characters.
It helps that it’s an impressive technical achievement too. I was trying to explain to a friend the merits of what I can only describe as A Plague Tale’s rat swarming tech, and it occurred to me halfway through that I wasn’t sure if I was pitching him on why he should play it or convincing him to never, ever play it. The phrase “tidal waves of rats” might not have been quite the selling point I intended. | Twitter: @sporkyreeve
Stardew Valley — Jenae Sitzes, Commerce Editor
Instead of diving into my enormous backlog, I’ve recently found myself sucked back into a game I first played in 2016: Stardew Valley. The farming sim was an immediate success when it launched on PC nearly four years ago, and since then, it’s been ported to almost every gaming platform.
If you’ve never played or haven’t checked out Stardew Valley in years, there’s truly no better time to dive in. A massive 1.4 update just released in December, adding a slew of improvements to multiplayer mode as well as brand-new content, quality-of-life improvements, better controller support, and much more. There’s a new Four Corners map designed for co-op, and there’s even a new multiplayer mode that has players acquire wealth separately, adding a competitive element to Stardew for the first time.
I never got far in Stardew Valley back in the day–the time limit stressed me out, and I was tired of watering my dang crops–but my relationship with the game was rekindled this past Christmas when, in a moment of boredom, I started up a multiplayer farm with my brother and boyfriend. Tackling Stardew’s challenges together helped me get past some of the game’s early struggles (the mines, daily watering, etc.), and I finally began to see why this game is still so popular, four years later. Once you start to automate your farm and earn real money, you begin to have more choices in how you design your farm and spend your time, and that fuels an increasingly addictive gameplay loop.
I now have a solo farm as well where I’m in Year 3, married with kids, and rolling in money. And despite over 140 hours logged on my Nintendo Switch, I have no plans of stopping anytime soon. RIP, my backlog. | Twitter: @jenaesitzes
Street Fighter Alpha 3 On CPS2 Hardware — Peter Brown, Managing Editor
One of my favorite avenues of my video game hobby is modifying and upgrading old game hardware. In the last year, that involved me dipping into arcade games–the proper hardware that would typically live in the guts of your favorite arcade cabinet. Capcom’s CPS2 platform is a good entry point for anyone interested in trying out arcade gaming at home. Not only is it designed in a somewhat console-like fashion, with a baseboard that interfaces with a separate game board (both encased in plastic for easy handling), but it was the home for several of Capcom’s most beloved games from the ’90s, including one of my favorite games of all time: Street Fighter Alpha 3.
Installing an HDMI mod into my CPS2 setup was the perfect excuse to spend some time with Alpha 3, which I gladly play on occasion on other platforms anyway. Still, there’s something about playing it on the hardware it was designed for, which makes the experience feel that much more special. And no matter how many times I play it, Alpha 3’s roster, graphics, music, and selection of fighting systems make me just as happy today as they did back in 1999. I love a lot of fighting games, but Alpha 3 feels like home to me, insomuch as a game can. It means a lot to give the original version of the game a place in my own home over 20 years after I first fell in love with it. | Twitter: @PCBrown
Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation — Kevin Knezevic, Associate Editor
Despite my fondness for JRPGs, I’ve only played a small handful of Dragon Quest games in my life, and most for only a couple of hours. That said, I’ve always been intrigued by the series thanks to its monolithic status, so seeing Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation on sale on the Switch Eshop last month was the perfect excuse to give the classic a try.
At the moment, I’m about 10 hours into the game, but I think it holds up remarkably well considering its age. Of course, it has all the archaisms inherent in an RPG from the NES era; random battles occur far too frequently, and your progression through the story relies almost entirely on speaking to random NPCs to learn clues about where to go next, which means it’s easy to forget what you need to do to advance if you don’t take frequent notes. Despite these complaints, however, I’ve been greatly enjoying my time with the title so far.
It’s particularly interesting to me to see just how indebted the entire genre is to this game. Dragon Quest has always been regarded as the grandfather of JRPGs, but now that I’ve played Dragon Quest III, its influence can clearly be felt not only in other RPGs, but in subsequent Dragon Quest games as well. I was particularly struck by how similar Dragon Quest IX for the DS (the only other entry I’ve put a considerable amount of time in) is to it, not only in terms of structure, but in how both give you the ability to roll your own party members.
What I especially enjoy about Dragon Quest III is the sense of adventure the game can instill thanks to its vast overworld, which you can more or less explore freely (if you can stomach the high random encounter rate). It feels thrilling to wander around and discover a new town or dungeon. I have a terrible habit of not finishing JRPGs, so it remains to be seen if I’ll see Dragon Quest III through to the end, but right now, I’m eager to play more.
Assassin’s Creed III — Matt Espineli, Editor
As a burgeoning fan of the Assassin’s Creed franchise during 2012, I hated Assassin’s Creed III when I first played it. The game’s slow start, fragmented world design, and broken stealth mechanics left me feeling deeply frustrated. I held a bummer view about the game throughout the years, often voicing how low it sits in my ranking of the series with every passing entry. But that seems to have changed because I’ve been playing it these past few weeks for 30+ hours, and dare I say, I’m actually enjoying it.
I’m honestly shocked that I’ve been turning around on Assassin’s Creed III after all these years. So far, what’s been appealing to me are the questions it asks about the moral conflict between the Assassins and the Templars–something I was unwilling to unpack at the time for some reason or another. Connor’s struggle to maintain loyalty to his people and the Assassin Brotherhood while dealing with the brewing revolution is worlds more compelling to me in my older age. On the other hand, my enjoyment playing Assassin’s Creed III finally clicked after allowing myself to accept what it’s trying to be. What I’ve found is a world that rewards you when you engage with everything it has to offer. While not all of its activities are substantial or meaningful, the rewards you receive feed into the flow of playing the game in a way that’s continuously satisfying.
Assassin’s Creed III remains a bit of a mess in parts, but I’m happy to report that my enjoyment of its accomplishments is finally outweighing the disdain I once had. There’s really something special about being able to reconcile poor feelings about an old game; I feel like a great weight has been lifted. Anyway, please excuse me while I spend the next seven hours collecting treasure chests, sending out convoys, sinking naval warships, and talking to George Washington. | Twitter: @MGespin
Star Wars fans love to rank the various movies, and it seems like no two fans rank them in the same order. That’s probably because, for all the enduring love we have for the series, it’s not exactly consistent in terms of quality. Every trilogy has its weak link movie. As a whole, the prequels were a major step down from the originals. Even within individual movies, you have films like Return of the Jedi and Rogue One where the incredible final act makes up for a relatively weaker opening.
Compare that uneven track record to that of the various Star Wars animated series. Prequel haters and lovers may not agree on much, but both can attest The Clone Wars is one of the best things to come out of that era of the Star Wars timeline. The Clone Wars greatly fleshes out one of the most pivotal conflicts in the series and the various new and familiar characters who played a part. It’s even managed to spin gold out of seemingly ludicrous plot twists like Anakin having a Padawan who never appears in the movies and Darth Maul surviving the events of The Phantom Menace.
Similarly, Star Wars Rebels has struck a real chord with fans. It tells a much more intimate story than The Clone Wars, exploring the struggles of one small band of Rebel freedom fighters in a time before Luke, Han and Leia have rallied the galaxy’s heroes. To many, characters like Kanan Jarrus, Hera Syndulla, and Sabine Wren have become every bit as beloved as the movie icons. Rebels has also added rich new material to the saga, introducing elements like the Sith Inquisitorius and even bringing Grand Admiral Thrawn into the official canon.
Star Wars: Resistance hasn’t necessarily been as well-received as its predecessors, but that’s more a case of the series veering in a very different direction. Resistance is more directly aimed at younger audiences, leaving Rebels fans still hungering for a true successor.
Star Wars Live-Action TV: This Is the Way
For a long time, the idea of a live-action Star Wars series seemed wholly impractical. Even George Lucas himself toyed with the idea. Prior to the Disney purchase, Lucas was developing a spinoff series for ABC called Star Wars: Underworld, which was set in between Episodes III and IV and would have explored Coruscant’s criminal underworld in the era of the Empire. Lucas reportedly commissioned 50 scripts – including some from Battlestar Galactica’s Ronald D. Moore – before ultimately shelving the project. At the time, a live-action Star Wars series (especially one set on one of the most populous and technologically advanced worlds in the galaxy) was considered too expensive to be feasible.
But that’s not really the case anymore. The Mandalorian proves that it’s now possible to craft a live-action series that looks and feels like the movies that inspired it. CGI technology has progressed to the point where showrunner Jon Favreau and his team can conjure entire worlds out of nothing and create a convincing portrait of a galaxy caught between the fall of the Empire and the rise of the New Republic.
Disney has been facing the same struggle so many big studios are right now. There’s a fine line to walk when it comes to selecting directors who have a unique vision but are also willing and able to work under the constraints of a major blockbuster project and a protective studio. That requires a certain temperament and experience not all directors possess. As we’ve seen over the years, a great many of Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy’s director picks haven’t panned out as hoped. Marvel Studios has mostly figured out how to find that balance, but it remains a major hurdle for the Star Wars franchise.
Lucasfilm’s TV projects haven’t been entirely immune to these problems. Recently, Kenobi was reportedly being put on indefinite hold due to script concerns, though McGregor assured us production is still set to begin in early 2021. In general, though, we haven’t seen the sort of major creative shakeups and course-corrections that have plagued the movie side. The animated shows have been steered by Dave Filoni, a storyteller with a clear love for and understanding of Star Wars and a very close relationship with George Lucas himself. Meanwhile, The Mandalorian is overseen by Jon Favreau, a man with plenty of experience working inside a shared cinematic universe.
The Mandalorian also benefits from a talented lineup of directors with franchise experience, including Thor: Ragnarok’s Taika Waititi, Mr. Robot’s Deborah Chow, and Filoni himself. These are all storytellers with a distinct vision who work well inside the studio system. Is it any wonder Lucasfilm has reportedly approached Waititi to direct a Star Wars movie, or that Chow is set to direct the Obi-Wan Kenobi series?
Star Wars Movies vs. TV Shows: The Storytelling Potential
By now we’ve established Star Wars has had a much more consistent track record on television than it has on the big screen over the past couple of decades. But that’s not the only reason Lucasfilm would be wise to pivot to TV. Small screen projects like The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian open up new storytelling possibilities and avenues that aren’t really possible on the big screen.
Star Wars movies tend to follow a fairly predictable pattern. That’s both a blessing and a curse. The movies deal in mythological archetypes and chronicle the hero’s journey of aspiring Jedi Knights like Luke and Rey. The movies “rhyme” with each other as new plot points echo older movies and the whole Skywalker Saga forms a giant, interconnected tapestry. At the same time, that rhyming can also devolve into needless repetition, with both The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker taking flak for their similarities to the original trilogy movies. How many planet-destroying super-weapons does one franchise need?
There’s also the fact that the movies can only cover so much ground. Each of the Star Wars sequels unfolds over the course of a day or two, meaning we only see a handful of battles in the much longer war between the Resistance and First Order. More than 30 years of history in between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens has been left largely unexplored. Or look at Solo, which exhausts itself in the effort to compress every salient detail about Han’s past (how he met Chewbacca and defected from the Empire, his friendship with Lando, winning the Millennium Falcon, the circumstances surrounding the Kessel Run, etc.) into one feature film. Is there any doubt Solo would have worked better as a full season of television rather than a movie?
There’s always going to be a certain degree of familiarity to the Star Wars movies. They’re epic, sweeping stories of space fantasy and mythic heroism that have to remain broad enough to appeal to the widest possible audience. It’s in the TV realm where storytellers have more room to surprise fans and flesh out these Jedi Knights, bounty hunters, and droids. Baby Yoda would no doubt play well anywhere, but would fans have taken as strongly to the enigmatic Din Djarin if The Mandalorian were condensed into a film rather than allowed to unfold over the course of eight episodes? The prequel movies showed us the very beginning and end of the Clone Wars, but it’s only thanks to the animated series that we truly understand how destructive that conflict truly was and the significance of Episode III’s proclamation “there are heroes on both sides.”
As Lucasfilm slowly develops new Star Wars movies, no doubt we’ll come to meet new heroes who live both before and after the time of the Skywalker family. But in the wake of the underwhelming Solo and The Rise of Skywalker, the prospect of new movies isn’t half as exciting as what lies in store on the small screen.
The Mandalorian saga has only just begun. There’s the prospect of a new animated series building on the loose ends from Star Wars Rebels. There’s the hope that we’ll eventually see the sequel trilogy’s answer to The Clone Wars – a show that fleshes out those missing years where Luke built his Jedi Academy, Leia spearheaded a new government, and Ben Solo fell from grace. Maybe we’ll even one day see Rey return in a new series that explores what happens to the galaxy after the First Order is defeated.
It’s not that Lucasfilm needs to stop making Star Wars movies altogether. But given the course of the franchise in recent years, the time has come for a shift in focus. Television is now where Star Wars feels truly at home.
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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
Just when you thought the machine uprising was over, The Matrix franchise is returning to theaters. The Matrix 4 is in the works, and everyone from director Lana Wachowski to star Keanu Reeves is returning for the sequel.
Before you don your shades and trench coat and head to the theater, here’s everything we know about The Matrix 4 so far, from the release date to the confirmed cast to what little has been revealed about the plot.
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The Matrix 4 Cast and Crew
While the first three Matrix movies were directed by the Wachowski sisters, only Lana Wachowski is returning for the latest sequel. She’s also producing the film and co-writing the screenplay alongside David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hemon, her co-writers from the Netflix series Sense8. Other Matrix veterans on the crew include producer Grant Hill and storyboard artists Geof Darrow and Steve Skroce.
Several actors from the original trilogy will return for The Matrix 4. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss will reprise their starring roles as Neo and Trinity, respectively. This is despite the fact that both characters died during the events of The Matrix Revolutions. Jada Pinkett Smith is reportedly in talks to reprise her role as Niobe, and Lambert Wilson has confirmed he’s in talks to again play the villainous Merovingian, schedule permitting.
The Matrix 4 will introduce a number of new actors alongside these returning favorites, though no roles have been confirmed yet. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman) and Jessica Henwick (Marvel’s Iron Fist) have been cast in leading roles, while Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) has also been confirmed to appear. The cast also reportedly includes Jonathan Groff (Mindhunter), Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Quantico) and Sense8 actors Toby Onwumere, Max Riemelt and Eréndira Ibarra.
Earlier rumors pointed to Creed’s Michael B. Jordan starring in a Matrix reboot or a prequel focused on a younger Morpheus. Whether or not there was any truth to those rumors, Jordan doesn’t appear to be involved with The Matrix 4.
Amusingly enough, that happens to be the release date of another action movie sequel starring Keanu Reeves. John Wick: Chapter 4 is debuting the same day, leading many fans to demand May 21 be officially declared Keanu Day. Most likely one or the other of these films will shift release dates before 2021, but it does speak to Reeves’ resurgent popularity lately.
Currently, the fourth Matrix movie has no official title and is being referred to simply as The Matrix 4. We assume Warners will reveal a different title for the sequel down the road. Neither of the previous Matrix sequels relied on numbering (with part 2 being The Matrix Reloaded and part 3 The Matrix Revolutions), so presumably the fourth movie will follow a similar naming scheme. The Matrix Reborn, maybe?
Is There a Matrix 4 Trailer?
There’s currently no trailer or even a teaser poster for The Matrix 4. With filming set to begin in San Francisco in February 2020, it’s likely going to be a while before fans see any official glimpses of the new movie. We’d expect Summer 2020 to be the earliest the studio will release any footage, with a teaser trailer possibly debuting at San Diego Comic-Con or attached to a major summer movie like Wonder Woman 1984 or Tenet.
However, it could just as easily be late 2020 before we get our first look at The Matrix 4. Warners didn’t release the first Wonder Woman 1984 trailer until December 2019, barely half a year before that film’s release date. They may opt to keep The Matrix 4 under wraps for as long as possible.
Very little is known about the plot of The Matrix 4, other than that it takes place after the events of The Matrix Revolutions. Revolutions ended with a fragile new peace being established between humanity and its robot overlords, so presumably The Matrix 4 will reveal whether that peace held or if a new war has broken out between man and machine.
Given that Reeves is back, it’s safe to assume Neo will somehow return despite sacrificing his life to stop Agent Smith’s takeover of the Matrix. The same goes for Moss’ Trinity, who also died shortly before the final battle between Neo and Smith. It could be that Neo and Trinity left their physical bodies behind and now live on solely through The Matrix, with allies like Niobe plugging back into the Matrix to track them down. The fact that Weaving was approached to return as Agent Smith suggests the Agents will continue to serve as antagonists and enforcers of the machine regime.
The absence of Fishburne’s Morpheus raises questions about that character’s fate, particularly in light of rumors about Warner Bros. casting a younger Morpheus. Will the character be killed off between movies, a la Marcus Chong’s Tank? And will the young Morpheus/Neo scenes be flashbacks, or will those characters somehow be rebooted in a new version of the Matrix?
Interestingly, the now defunct MMORPG The Matrix Online previously explored the fallout of Revolutions. Given that the Wachowskis endorsed the game’s storyline, The Matrix 4 could wind up treating The Matrix Online as official series canon. This would explain Morpheus’ absence, as he was assassinated during one of the first major story events in the game. The Matrix Online introduced other plot points that could be used in the new movie, such as fragments of Neo’s code being scattered across the system and a civil war erupting between Zion loyalists and a group of humans aligned with the machines.
It’s been nearly two decades since the original Matrix trilogy wrapped up, and the Internet has been inundated with rumors of reboots, prequels, sequels and spinoffs ever since. We cover the full history of those Matrix rumors here, but here’s a quick breakdown of the news surrounding The Matrix 4 specifically:
February 2015 – Lilly Wachowski vehemently denies rumors of a new trilogy while promoting Jupiter Ascending, calling it “a particularly repelling idea” in an interview with The Times Colonist.
October 2017 – When asked about the sequel rumors during a NYCC panel, Reeves tells the panel, “I don’t know anything about it.“
May 2019 – John Wick 3 director Chad Stahelski stokes rumors the Wachowskis are returning for a fourth movie, though a representative later clarifies Stahelski was referring to “a hypothetical scenario.”
June 2019 – Discussing Film adds to growing rumors about The Matrix 4 with a report claiming both Wachowskis are returning to direct The Matrix 4.
August 2019 – Following a scoop by Variety, The Matrix 4 is confirmed by Warners, with Lana Wachowski directing and Reeves and Moss reprising their roles.
Ever wonder what The Last of Us Part II might look like if it came out in the 90’s on the original PlayStation 1? Ponder no further, as an enterprising “demake” game developer has created just such a thing in Dreams, Media Molecule’s stunningly versatile game creation tool.
Created by Bearly Regal in Dreams.
Created and posted to YouTube by Bearly Regal, who also remade Cyberpunk 2077 as a PS1 game, The Last of Us Part II PS1 demake is an amusingly accurate recreation of game design and graphics from a bygone polygonal era. Even better, Bearly Regal has added a somber guitar soundtrack to the whole thing, and even included the strained cries of the blind clicker zombies, who themselves are now just gangly-looking, pink humanoid blobs.
Check out the video in the tweet below from The Last of Us series creative director Neil Druckmann for a quick glance at the “PS1” version of The Last of Us Part II, or check out the full six-minute video on Bearly Regal’s channel.
The video demonstration shows off a, well, much blockier version of Ellie wandering through the weedy Seattle suburb streets and houses that we’ve seen in previous actual demo footage of the real The Last of Us Part II. There, Ellie is hunted by a group of human scavengers. In this PS1 remake, we simply see Ellie traverse around a couple of homes and streets before a pack of clickers happen upon her, where she then slowly crawls her way to safety.
One similarity we noticed was Ellie’s ability to clamber out onto the porch roof of one house, giving her a higher vantage point over the scene. It’s similar to a sequence from a previous demo, where Ellie manages to shoot one enemy human from afar before firebombing and blasting her way through two others from the porch roof. Appropriately enough, the clickers don’t seem to find Ellie unless she makes too much noise.
Bearly Regal has become known on YouTube for his “remakes” of major games in Media Molecule’s Dreams, including a PS1 “remake” of Death Stranding, as well as various other recreations of games in LEGO Worlds.
Naughty Dog vice president and The Last of Us series creative director Neil Druckmann retweeted Bearly Regal’s trailer, highlighting how much he enjoyed the music the Dreams creator added.
This review contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Season 4, episode 16, “Win Those Kids’ Hearts,” aka episode 79 overall. To refresh your memory of where we left off, check out our review of MHA Season 4, episode 15.
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Until now, Season 4 of My Hero Academia has neglected some of its most endearing protagonists in favour of focusing on the villain Overhaul and the hero duo of Deku and Lemillion. While there is nothing inherently wrong with that, it’s refreshing to finally have the spotlight shine on Todoroki and Bakugo, arguably the two most compelling members of Class 1-A. This excitement makes it all the more disappointing, however, when “Win Those Kids’ Hearts” turns out to be a slow and uneventful mess.
This episode is not without its merits, with themes that are intriguing and worth exploring. Todoroki and Bakugo are on their provisional hero licence training course, with Endeavor and All Might watching over them. A group of delinquent and out-of-control kids have been let loose, untamed by their teacher, and it is up to Todoroki, Bakugo, and a few members of Shiketsu High School to get through to these kids and, as the title explains, win their hearts.
This premise is solid. It leans into what My Hero Academia does best: show the multifaceted aspects of heroism and what it means to be good, to be a worthy and successful hero. Todoroki and Bakugo are both students who struggle with self-expression, with promoting confidence and assurance. They are two very different characters with similar flaws: they might be heroes with noble intentions and aspirations (yes, even Bakugo), but they don’t have a brand; an image. As pro heroes, they would not inspire faith in the citizens they would be duty-bound to protect.
And so, their task of getting through to a class of delinquent, vindictive, and wayward children is an intriguing one that should really lend itself to some interesting hurdles. And getting over those hurdles could lead to some great character growth that will take them one step closer to true heroism. The problem, at least for this episode – since there’s still more to come, is that all we have right now is that premise. It is slowly and clumsily set up, with dialogue and plotting that make it unclear exactly what is happening. And when the episode’s events get properly underway, it suffers from near cringe-inducing pacing issues.
It’s an episode that isn’t particularly eventful. But that shouldn’t be an issue; My Hero Academia often excels at still making its slower and more introspective episodes pack an emotional punch and feel like they’re worth your time. This episode lacks any of that. Instead, it seems to be paranoid about its own uneventfulness, and so relies on constant dizzying cuts that shift the action from character to character for no reason and for fear of having the audience become bored. It also suffers some dreadfully lazy comedy and corner-cutting animation throughout.
“Win Those Kids’ Hearts” is an insecure episode, despite having a really excellent concept that it just fails to execute on. The idea of learning to be a layered and complex hero who must be able to inspire trust in people is a great one. It’s reminiscent of how, in Mockingjay, winning the war proves to be as much about propaganda as it is about actual fighting and strategizing. Being a hero here is about how you tackle ordinary people as well as villains and monsters. It’s a great approach to storytelling that amounts to nothing in its execution. But there is still more to come, so here’s hoping this plot thread finds its groove.
The presence of Endeavor is a stand-out aspect to this episode, however. The theme of hero branding is heavy-handedly but effectively doubled down on in the episode’s crowning moment: a discussion between Endeavor and All Might in which Endeavor admits that, even though he is now in the number one spot and he is stopping an enormous number of crimes, the frequency of criminal acts is still rising because the “symbol of peace” is gone. It’s Endeavor coming to understand that heroism isn’t merely about actions, but also about ideas; about branding and spreading a philosophy that permeates the very culture we live in.
All Might was the number one hero not because he was the strongest but because he was an embodiment of purity, goodwill, honesty, truth, justice – all of the things which the average person respects and admires in a hero. Endeavor coming to understand that at such a late stage in his career is a powerful emotional blow that really lands, and, in many ways, it saves the episode. It reinforces the theme and makes it clear to us what the stakes are for Todoroki and Bakugo. That said, pretty much every other scene in the episode still feels awkward and lazy in its execution.
We don’t know how he’s back, but he’s back, baby! Yes, Han Lue (alias “Han Seoul-Oh”) returned to the Fast and Furious franchise, appearing the final beats of the Fast 9 trailer that recently dropped.
Though there’s a lot to enjoy, and marvel at, with regards to the Fast and Furious franchise — like how it went from an action series about street racing to basically becoming the A-Team franchise that the A-Team movie never manifested to now being such a bonkers cinematic universe that fans easily foresee its heroes venturing into space at some point — Sung Kang’s Han has remained one of the saga’s most endearing, and enduring, characters. Which means a lot when you consider that we all watched him die back in the third film, 2006’s The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
So here’s what all went down. Tokyo Drift — after Vin Diesel had bowed out of 2 Fast 2 Furious, and both Diesel and Paul Walker nixed a third installment — took us over to Japan where we followed Lucas Black’s Sean as he made a fool of himself on the drift racing scene. Overseas, Sean met honorable thief Han (who, through humorous happenstance, might be the same “Han” Sung Kang played in Justin Lin’s 2002’s crime drama Better Luck Tomorrow). During a chase scene through the streets of Tokyo, Han wrecked his 1997 Mazda RX-7 and died in a fiery explosion.
As a way to connect Tokyo Drift more directly to the two previous films however, Universal brought Diesel in for a cameo right at the end (Diesel did this in exchange for getting the rights to do one more Riddick movie) and in that scene it was revealed that Diesel’s Dom Toretto had been good friends with Han before his death.
Then, in one of the most major instances of the Fast franchise being glorious Retcon Royalty, it was decided that the fourth, fifth, and sixth Fast and Furious films — Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Fast & Furious 6 — would take place before Tokyo Drift. With this move, Han could be a part of Dom’s crew. This made Han, who was the most enjoyable part of Tokyo Drift (and to many, the only thing worth salvaging from that story), a full member of the franchise while also oddly placing Tokyo Drift as the movie that takes place last (until the story eventually caught up to it with Han’s death in the tag at the end of 6).
A set of character posters for the F9 cast was revealed a few days ago when the trailer was first teased, and now a new poster featuring Han has been added:
Han then becam a full (past tense) member of Dom’s crew, where he fell in love with Gal Gadot’s Gisele, who made her first appearance in Fast & Furious (the fourth film). The two became a fan favorite pairing and in Fast & Furious 6 they were both considering leaving the criminal world behind for a shot at a peaceful life together. But when she died at the end of that film (Or did she? SHE ONLY FELL 20 FEET! JUSTICE FOR GISELE!), Han sadly and solemnly returned to Japan…where he then met Sean and wound up dead himself.
And in a huge retcon twist, the end of Fast & Furious 6 introduced Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw (brother of the sixth installment’s villainous Owen Shaw, played by Luke Evans) and revealed that HE was the one who killed Han. Yes, Deckard was driving a car that rammed into Han’s Mazda – as revenge against Dom for capturing, and injuring, Owen.
With this move, which set up Statham’s Deckard Shaw as Furious 7’s Big Bad, the franchise’s timeline caught up to Tokyo Drift (which, again, had served as the narrative’s furthest future point for six movies) and was proceeding forward in the true “present.”
Despite the fact that Sung Kang seemed to be just fine bowing out of the franchise at the end of Fast & Furious 6 (see below), fans had a small #JusticeforHan movement going for years. At first because it seemed like a great character had died unceremoniously in service of a much lesser character (Tokyo Drift’s Sean) and then because it was revealed he’d been done in by a villain, Deckard Shaw, that the saga quickly sought to redeem and turn into a good guy.
After Deckard was the main adversary in Furious 7, he lived to become an uneasy ally in The Fate of the Furious (F8) – and was even forgiven by Diesel’s Dom at the end of the film. That’s right. Dom, Han’s best friend in the world, was now totally cool with the dude who murdered Han. The #JusticeforHan hashtag movement was at a fever pitch. Deckard was now getting spun off into his own side franchise, with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Fast and Furious character, Luke Hobbs (who joined the series in Fast Five), and it became super important for the story to find way to basically erase all the awful things Deckard had done in the sixth and seventh movie.
In Hobbs & Shaw, they dug into Deckard’s past and basically told us that everything we’d learned about him was a lie. He hadn’t turned on his own men while part of British special ops. He’d been the one who was turned on. He was a decorated soldier who’d been framed. He wasn’t a nasty villain after all.
But guess what? This m-effer still killed Han. Hobbs and Shaw could tweak Deckard’s dossier all it wanted to, but it couldn’t change the ending of Fast & Furious 6. And nothing in F8 or Hobbs and Shaw (even Deckard’s fight scene on a plane while holding a baby) couldn’t explain why Dom would forgive Deckard.
Justin Lin, who’s now returned to the Fast franchise after directing four films in a row, Tokyo Drift through Fast and Furious 6 (James Wan and F. Gary Grey took the reins for Furious 7 and F8), has now officially brought Han back – the character he created for Tokyo Drift (or maybe Better Luck Tomorrow) and then curated and cared for over the next three films. Talking to EW, Lin said: “When I left after Fast 6, I really thought that was it, like, there’s no more Fast stories I can tell. From then on, I would travel and just meet people and fans of the franchise, and they would tell me why they love the franchise so much and just share their stories. Then two years ago, I woke up with an idea for the new chapter.”
“Along the way,” Lin added, “I hadn’t seen the other two movies, and I was at a Q&A for Better Luck Tomorrow and someone brought up ‘Justice for Han,’ and so all these things were kind of working together.”
“Obviously, I have a very personal connection to the [Han] character,” Lin explained. “To be able to go through that journey with Han…when I left, I felt it was appropriate and I felt like we were putting the character to bed, but it’s because of some of the things that happened that didn’t quite make sense to me, and so I felt like if I was going to come back, I really wanted to explore why. I think it’s really up to us to bring him back and explore it throughout the themes that we’re all used to.”
Now that Han is alive…is Deckard Shaw finally, fully, redeemed?
HOW IS HAN ALIVE?
Han’s alive? How is this possible?
Look, we’re now at a point in the Fast franchise where Han’s return is an easy-peasy explanation. It would be one of the least crazy things this series has done. Even Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty was once killed off and brought back! All they had to do was go back and show us that she’d been pulled from the wreck we thought she’d died in.
The same could happen here, obviously. It could be as simple as showing us Han crawl out of the overturned Mazda before it blows up. Or some new character rescuing him from it. Maybe it was John Cena’s Jakob Toretto, Dom’s young brother (as revealed in the new trailer)?
Or…and this was a theory that popped up after last summer’s spinoff, Hobbs and Shaw…what if Han is now part machine?
Yes, folks, there was a strong #CyborgHan movement after it was revealed in Hobbs and Shaw that the organization Eteon exists. Eteon — run by a mystery character who has some connection to Luke Hobbs (his dad?) — is a terrorist group specializes in “transhumanism.” It’s soldiers are enhanced and improved with cybernetic and mechanical implants. Could Han’s return tie into Eteon? Is Han back as a result of robotic design? Yes, it would mean the core Fast saga would be dabbling in the side story set-up in Hobbs and Shaw, but it could happen!
What are your theories on how Han is back and what this mean for Shaw? Let us know in the comments!
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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
IGN is teaming up with Netflix to bring Locke & Key fans into the action for the long-anticipated show’s premiere in Los Angeles on February 5th. And even better, if you tune in, you’ll get a chance to watch the first 10 minutes of the series premiere days before it debuts on Netflix.
IGN’s Terri Schwartz, Joshua Yehl, and Akeem Lawanson will be interviewing the cast and creative team behind the IDW adaptation, with everyone from showrunners Carlton Cuse and Meredith Averill, to comics creators Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez, to the Locke family themselves – including Darby Stanchfield, Connor Jessup, Emilia Jones, and Jackson Robert Scott – stopping by.
In the spirit of Locke & Key, we have a special unlockable component to this live fan event: Throughout the stream, we’ll be dropping three clues that will help you get early access to the first 10 minutes of the Season 1 premiere. Be sure to tune in live to get more details about how to access the first 10 minutes of the series several days ahead of its Netflix release.
And we want your questions too! This is not your normal red carpet live stream; since loyal comic fans have championed for Locke & Key to be brought to the screen for so many years, we want to make sure you have the chance to participate in the conversation even if you can’t physically make it to the premiere itself. In addition to the ability to watch the first 10 minutes early, here’s how you can have a chance for your question to be asked during IGN’s livestream:
Option 1: Leave a comment addressed to a specific actor or member of the creative team in the comments section of this article up through February 4th at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Option 2: Take part in our live chat on IGN.com on our homepage during the live stream. The pre-show kicks off on February 5th at 6 p.m. PT, and the live show begins at 6:30 p.m. Our producer Nick Limon will be in the chat curating the best questions for hosts Terri Schwartz and Joshua Yehl to ask live on the air.
Here’s the full list of talent we’ll be chatting with, so be sure to think up your best questions for a chance to see them presented to the cast and producers live:
Carlton Cuse – Showrunner/EP
Meredith Averill – Showrunner/EP
Joe Hill – EP/Locke & Key Co-Creator
Gabriel Rodriguez – Locke & Key Co-Creator and Illustrator
Connor Jessup – “Tyler Locke”
Emilia Jones – “Kinsey Locke”
Jackson Robert Scott – “Bode Locke”
Darby Stanchfield – “Nina Locke”
Bill Heck – “Rendell Locke”
Laysla De Oliveira – “Dodge”
Thomas Mitchell Barnet – “Sam”
Sherri Saum – “Ellie Whedon”
Coby Bird – “Rufus Whedon”
Steven Williams – “Joe Ridgeway”
Petrice Jones – “Scot”
Asha Bromfield – “Zadie”
Jesse Camacho – “Doug”
Griffin Gluck – “Gabe”
Hallea Jones – “Eden”
Genevieve Kang – “Jackie”
Kevin Alves – “Javi”
Felix Mallard – “Lucas”
An adaptation of Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s comic book series of the same name, Netflix’s Locke & Key comes from creative team Carlton Cuse (Lost, Bates Motel) and Meredith Averill (The Haunting of Hill House). Set in the aftermath of the mysterious death of their family patriarch, Locke & Key picks up when the three Locke siblings and their mother move into their father’s ancestral home, Keyhouse. But the house — and its hidden secrets — are much more than they appear, as the Lockes begin to uncover when they find mysterious keys with magical powers.
