If you’re a member of T-Mobile’s phone network, you may be experiencing voice and messaging problems. This also means that if you’re on another carrier like AT&T or Verizon, making a call or sending a text to a T-Mobile user will also result in an error.
Earlier today, T-Mobile users (IGN staff included) have experienced issues with placing calls over the network. T-Mobile president of technology Neville Ray confirmed that there are outages across its network for voice and messaging. However, T-Mobile has since worked on the problem enough that data services are available.
Teams continue to work as quickly as possible to fix the voice & messaging problems some are seeing.
Data services are now available & some calls are completing. Alternate services like WhatsApp, Signal, iMessage, Facetime etc. are available. Thanks for your patience. https://t.co/uQiGSAFEAH
That means apps that use wi-fi data like WhatsApp, Signal, iMessage, and more are available to use now. Though there’s still no word on when voice and messaging will resume normal services.
However, the domino effect of T-Mobile’s problems means that services owned by the company like Sprint and Boost Mobile are also experiencing problems.
There’s no word yet on when T-Mobile will fully resolve its network issues. But if you’re a T-Mobile carrier experiencing call problems, the issues have persisted up until the time of 4:25 pm PT.
The Punisher’s iconic skull logo has been adopted by members of the police and military for some time, brandished on their uniforms and vehicles in a variety of ways. But Gerry Conway, co-creator of the Marvel character, has long been an outspoken critic of this appropriation of Frank Castle’s iconography. And now Conway has launched a fundraising effort with the goal, as he puts it, to “claim this symbol for the cause of equal justice and Black Lives Matter.”
Conway has launched a new fundraising drive called Black Lives Matter: Skulls for Justice. Working with a number of artists, Conway has created T-shirts adorned with the Punisher logo and the Black lives Matter slogan, with proceeds going to Black Lives Matter-related charities.
“For too long, symbols associated with a character I co-created have been co-opted by forces of oppression and to intimidate black Americans,” Conway writes on the site. “This character and symbol was never intended as a symbol of oppression. This is a symbol of a systematic failure of equal justice. It’s time to claim this symbol for the cause of equal justice and Black Lives Matter.”
Why is Conway intent on reclaiming the Punisher logo? To answer that, it’s worth taking a step back to examine the origins of the character and how the skull imagery has increasingly been co-opted by a variety of organizations.
The Punisher Is No Superhero
The Punisher was originally created by Conway and artists Ross Andru and John Romita, Sr. Debuting in 1974’s The Amazing Spider-Man #129. Frank Castle was very unlike traditional Marvel heroes such as Spider-Man and very much a product of his cynical, post-Vietnam War era. Conway himself has pointed to Don Pendleton’s book series The Executioner as being one of the main sources of inspiration for The Punisher, and it’s no coincidence the character debuted the same year the Charles Bronson movie Death Wish hit theaters. Vigilante anti-heroes were in vogue at the time.
Most versions of Punisher’s origin story paint him as a decorated war veteran who returns home, only to see his family gunned down in the crossfire of a gang war. Disillusioned by the NYPD’s inability to protect his family or bring their killers to justice, Frank adopts his iconic skull logo and begins a one-man war on crime. In effect, he’s a serial killer who only targets other killers.
Art by John Romita, Sr. (Image Credit: marvel)
As Conway alludes to in his introduction to Skulls for Justice, the Punisher was never intended to be portrayed as a hero or role model, but rather as a tragic example of a man failed by the system, and one who becomes a monster in order to fight other monsters. The character is frequently shown to be at odds with the more morally righteous heroes of the Marvel Universe. In particular, the Punisher has developed an ongoing rivalry with Daredevil. Frank respects Matt Murdock’s commitment to justice, but he certainly doesn’t share Matt’s faith in the system. Their grim showdown in 2000’s The Punisher: Welcome Back, Frank closely inspired the dynamic between Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock and Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle in Netflix’s Daredevil: Season 2.
2006’s Civil War crossover may best illustrate the uneasy relationship between the Punisher and the rest of the Marvel Universe. In that story, Frank briefly joins forces with Captain America’s anti-registration faction, only to be savagely beaten by Cap after murdering two villains attempting to join their ranks. Frank refuses to fight back, revealing WWII veteran Steve Rogers to be the one hero the Punisher truly admires.
Art by Steve McNiven. (Image Credit: Marvel)
Why Is The Punisher So Popular Among the Police and Military?
Despite generally being portrayed as an anti-hero at best and an outright villain at worst, the Punisher developed widespread popularity in the 1980s and ’90s, including among many members of the police and military. While he operates firmly outside the law, Frank’s moral code normally prevents him from killing police officers or soldiers. In 2008’s Punisher MAX: Valley Forge, Valley Forge, writer Garth Ennis and artist Goran Parlov built a conflict specifically around that idea that Frank won’t allow himself to kill his brothers-in-arms. In that story, a group of corrupt generals assemble an elite team to arrest Frank, knowing full well the Punisher won’t use lethal force against them.
Art by Goran Parlov. (Image Credit: Marvel)
That history of respect for cops and soldiers seems to have contributed to an adoration for the Punisher among members of the armed forces. CBR traces that phenomenon as far back as 1988’s The Punisher #8, the first issue to feature a fan letter from an active serviceman. However, as both CBR and Time Magazine explore, the connection between the Punisher’s skull logo and the military seems to have been cemented by the late Chris Kyle. A famous Navy SEAL sniper and author of the autobiography American Sniper (which later inspired by the 2013 film of the same name starring Bradley Cooper), Kyle was known for adorning his equipment with the Punisher emblem and even nicknaming his unit “The Punishers.”
“He righted wrongs. He killed bad guys. He made wrongdoers fear him,” Kyle wrote of Frank Castle. “We spray-painted [the skull logo] on our Hummers and body armor, and our helmets and all our guns. We spray-painted it on every building or wall we could, We wanted people to know, We’re here and we want to f*** with you.”
The idea that Frank Castle is a person who “rights wrongs” certainly isn’t supported by the vast majority of Punisher media, where he’s depicted as a man motivated by an unquenchable thirst for revenge and a love of killing that supersedes even his attachment to his family.
But despite this, many others have come to identify with Kyle’s reading of the character in both the military and police organizations, especially as adaptations like the Netflix series and 2004’s The Punisher movie have boosted the character’s mainstream exposure. In perhaps the most alarming example of real life imitating art, members of the Milwaukee Police Department allegedly spearheaded a rogue vigilante group also dubbed “The Punishers” in 2004, prompting multiple internal investigations.
The Blue Lives Matter movement arose in late 2014 in response to Black Lives Matter, with the group advocating for new laws requiring those convicted of killing members of law enforcement to be sentenced under hate crime statutes. It wasn’t long before the Punisher logo was adopted as a defiant symbol of that camp. For example, a police department in Catlettsburg, Kentucky came under heavy criticism in 2017 for adorning police cruisers with Blue Lives Matter-themed Punisher logos. Another noteworthy incident came in October 2019, when a Dallas police officer was seen wearing a Punisher logo during a contentious community meeting. Conway vehemently condemned this growing association between the Punisher character and police organizations.
One of many Blue Lives Matter-themed Punisher items being sold on Amazon.
The Internet is now rife with Punisher merchandise like T-shirts, flags and pins, much of it apparently unlicensed and adorned with either patriotic colors or the blue, black and white colors of Blue Lives Matter. This merchandise has become increasingly prominent during protests and in the media, with Fox News’ Sean Hannity spotted on more than one occasion wearing one of these pins during his broadcasts. However inappropriately, the Punisher has now become a rallying symbol of right-wing media, Blue Lives Matter and, based on the aforementioned reports about rogue Milwaukee police officers, even violent vigilante groups.
How Has Marvel Responded?
Given the rate at which the far-right and other groups have embraced the imagery of the Punisher, you might be wondering what Marvel Comics and parent company Disney have done to counteract this messaging and distance the Punisher character from these organizations. For all its reputation for being aggressively litigious on matters of copyright, Disney has done surprisingly little to speak out against this misuse of the logo or target the companies selling unlicensed merchandise. The Punisher may be second only to Calvin & Hobbes when it comes to the sheer glut of unlicensed merchandise, but Disney has made little public show of stemming the tide.
Even Conway’s Skulls for Justice fundraiser is purely a personal crusade on Conway’s part. IGN confirmed with Marvel that the fundraiser isn’t officially sanctioned by the publisher or parent company Disney.
CBR’s Brian Cronin speculates that Marvel may be limited in its options when it comes to cops and celebrities wearing bootleg Punisher pins. The company might face an uphill legal battle in arguing that the skull imagery itself is distinct enough to qualify as a protected trademark, and in any case, trademark law focuses more on those attempting to illegally profit from protected IP. That said, this doesn’t explain why Marvel/Disney apparently aren’t targeting the companies actually producing and selling the unlicensed merchandise.
To date, Marvel’s most overt attempt at speaking out against police officers co-opting the Punisher logo came within the pages of 2019’s The Punisher #13. In that comic, from writer Matthew Rosenberg and artist Szymon Kudranski, an injured Frank Castle is approached by two NYPD officers who reveal themselves to be rabid fans. To their surprise, Frank reacts with disgust, telling them, “We’re not the same. You took an oath to uphold the law. I gave all that up a long time ago. You don’t do what I do. Nobody does.”
Art by Szymon Kudranksi. (Image Credit: Marvel)
That scene seems to make Marvel’s stance on the matter pretty clear. Unfortunately, the message may not be reaching the right eyes. According to industry analyst site Comichron, The Punisher #13 only sold 21,727 copies in July 2019, hardly among Marvel’s best-selling titles, and surely a small fraction of the number of people who watched the Netflix series.
Marvel clearly has a Punisher problem that isn’t going away, and simply condemning the misuse and misrepresentation of the character within the comics themselves isn’t enough. That’s why Conway created Skulls for Justice, seemingly with the hope that fundraiser will help spark larger conversations about who Frank Castle is and what he truly represents.
As part of Keanu Reeves’ ongoing philanthropic work, often said to be in response to his sister’s battle with leukemia, he has now donated 15 minutes of his time to be auctioned off to someone who wants “a little one-on-one with Keanu,” as picked up by THR.
The auction will benefit an Idaho-based children’s cancer charity, Camp Rainbow Gold, a foundation that aims to provide “emotionally empowering experiences” for children battling cancer and their families. The fundraising auction, Shine for Camp, is in response to an event postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The auction is live now, and will run until June 22. Also lending their fame to the auction are voice actor Rob Paulsen and musician Ally Brooke, who both promise to show off their talents in a 15-minute Zoom call.
The Zoom call for the eventual winner will take place in the week of July 6, and bids are already up to $4000 at the time of writing. While Shine for Camp has the value of the Zoom date at $10,000, we wouldn’t be surprised if the eventual amount surpasses that number.
Independence Day director Roland Emmerich is currently working on Moonfall, an absurd-sounding film about a crew of folks who need to stop the moon from crashing into Earth. The film will star Josh Gad as unkempt genius KC Houseman, and now some new cast members have been announced.
The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring, Aquaman) is bringing his gravitas to the project. Wilson worked on Emmerich’s previous film, Midway, and clearly made an impression on the director. Wilson will play a former astronaut whose previous mission ended in tragedy, and who now holds the key to saving Earth (yes, it’s that kind of movie).
Halle Berry has also previously been announced as starring in the film, and Charlie Plummer (Looking For Alaska) has also joined the project. Berry will play a former colleague of Wilson’s character, while Plummer will portray his son in the movie.
The movie is currently in pre-production, and has a tentative 2021 release date–although that could move, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In late 2019, Emmerich reflected on his Independence Day sequel, Resurgence, and said that he regretted making it after Will Smith dropped out.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Tony Hawk himself has spoken about the origins of the upcoming Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 remasters and why he thinks the new games will help “turn the tide” of public opinion after the most recent games in the series were poorly received.
Speaking to IGN, Hawk said it was Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick was pitched the idea of the remasters. “We’ve been having talks over the years of the potential of it, and finally, I literally sat down with Bobby Kotick. We were actually talking about other things in regards to my charity, and he just casually threw out, ‘Why don’t we remake THPS?'” Hawk recalled. “And I said, ‘You don’t understand how many people ask me that.’ And he said, ‘Well, you know, we’ve had success with a couple of other remasters, so why don’t we think about it.'”
Also in the interview, Hawk spoke about how excited he was to finally work on remasters of the original Pro Skater games. He said he’s constantly asked about remasters, and he’s over the moon that they’re finally being made. “It was an answer to a call of the hardcore fans,” Hawk said.
“When people think of the first games, they have a certain nostalgic view of it. They don’t really realise how truly low resolution it was. I truly believe that the hardcore fans of our original series are going to be satisfied and probably overwhelmed by how good this is,” he added.
Hawk went on to acknowledge some of the Tony Hawk video game franchise’s shortcomings–Pro Skater 5 comes to mind–adding that he believes the Pro Skater 1 + 2 remasters will “turn the tide” as it relates to how people perceive the skateboarding series. “
“We might have had a few missteps doing games in the past, but I think this will really turn the tide. It does take you back to that time. It does take you back to that feeling. And I hope that people embrace it,” Hawk said.
The Pro Skater 1 + 2 remasters, which are being developed by Vicarious Visions, are due to launch in September for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. For more, check out an opinion piece below from GameSpot’s Michael Higham.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
The writer of Jurassic Park has revealed the unexpected story of Samuel L. Jackson’s “hold onto your butts” line from the 1993 action movie.
David Koepp told CinemeBlend that the origins of the line are connected to the Robert Zemekicks movie Death Becomes Her, which he was writing at the same time as Jurassic Park. The ending to Death Becomes Her was testing very poorly, and there was no time for reshoots. Koepp said he remembers sitting with Zemeckis during this tough time, and Zemeckis said, “Hold onto your butts” in anticipation of a difficult road ahead for Death Becomes Her.
“I happened to be working on the [Jurassic Park script] at that time, and I was like, ‘Oh, I love that.’ I went back and I typed it into the script immediately, and then Sam Jackson said it,” Koepp said. “I don’t think I ever told Zemeckis that, but that’s his line.”
In Jurassic Park, Jackson plays the park’s engineer, Ray Arnold, who is an unabashedly heroic character who helps save many lives while sacrificing his own. He dies a bloody death off-screen, but that wasn’t always the plan. Jackson told The AV Club that he was supposed to fly to Hawaii to film his full death scene, but there was a hurricane that infamously destroyed many of the sets.
The next Jurassic Park movie is Jurassic World: Dominion, which is set to become one of the first major studio movies to start filming again in the UK, according to Deadline.
The PAX Aus team have confirmed that PAX Australia 2020 will not take place as scheduled in the wake of the continuing coronavirus crisis. The expo – the largest of its type in Australia – was set to take place from October 9 to 11, 2020 in Melbourne, Victoria.
“It is with a heavy heart that today we announce the postponement of PAX Australia 2020, due to the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 in Australia and globally,” said a statement published today on the PAX website. “We have been working hard with our partners and exhibitors to explore all viable options but with our desire to bring you the best PAX Aus ever, the next edition of PAX Aus will now take place in 2021.”
Australia’s borders are currently closed. Only Australian citizens, residents, and immediate family members can travel to Australia at this time. There are also varying levels of restrictions on domestic travel.
“While we can’t move forward with PAX Aus 2020 in the way that we normally would, we are finding new and exciting ways to connect you and the PAX community with your favourite content and creators,” continued the statement. “Stay tuned to our social media channels in the coming days as we start to announce more information.”
PAX Aus was the first PAX event hosted outside the US and has been held in Melbourne annually since its inception in 2013.
PAX Australia 2020 will not go forward. Event organizers have confirmed that this October’s gaming and entertainment event in Melbourne has been canceled.
“It is with a heavy heart that today we announce the postponement of PAX Australia 2020, due to the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 in Australia and globally,” the organizers explained in a statement.
Plans were underway with partners and exhibitors to explore “all viable options” to hold PAX Aus this year, but it was not meant to be. As such, the next PAX Aus is scheduled for 2021.
The organizers of PAX teased that, while the physical show won’t happen in 2020, they are exploring “new and exciting ways” to offer … something for fans. More details will be shared in the coming days.
PAX Aus is the first PAX event of 2020 to be canceled. PAX East took place in Boston at the end of February. Numerous companies and attendees pulled out of the event due to concerns around COVID-19, but the show went on.
While PAX Aus in Australia has been canceled, PAX West is still on schedule to be held in Seattle in September this year. After that, PAX Unplugged is slated for November in Philadelphia.
It’s probably safe to say that the latest celebrity Twitter feud isn’t one that we saw coming. Ron Perlman of Hellboy fame has challenged senator Ted Cruz to a wrestling match, and he’ll make a donation of $50,000 to Black Lives Matter if Cruz says yes.
I tell you what teddy boy, since mentioning jim jordan and wrestling is… problematic, why don’t we say fuck him and just make it you & me. I’ll give 50k to Black Lives Matter and you can keep all the tax payer money you were thinking of spending. https://t.co/6QDwCaEkpv
Perlman and Cruz have been arguing on Twitter for a few days now. The Hellboy actor had taken a crack at Republican congressman Jim Jordan a few days ago, prompting Cruz to offer $10,000 to a “non-political charity” of Perlman’s choice if he would take Jordan on in the ring.
One thing led to another, resulting in the latest tweet from Perlman where he offered up a donation so long as Cruz would agree to wrestle him. As reported by Entertainment Weekly, the two are still going at it, with Perlman doubling down on his offer to donate to Black Lives Matter so long as Cruz accepts his challenge.
At this stage, the Republican senator shows no signs of accepting the offer to what would surely be a sellout punch-up, and Jordan himself has yet to weigh in either. However, politicians getting into fights isn’t uncharted territory, considering that Mitt Romney took on Evander Holyfield a few years ago, so who knows what will happen? Maybe if Cruz doesn’t accept, Perlman can still take on Mitch McConnell for a laugh.
GameSpot has officially kicked off Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.
Remothered: Broken Porcelain has revealed some of the horrors we can expect from it in a new trailer, and a release date has also been set. The game, which is a sequel to 2017’s Remothered: Tormented Fathers, will release August 25, 2020. It’s coming to Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
The game, from Italian developer Stormind Games, makes some bold claims in the trailer, which tells viewers that they can “experience the most terrifying, most suspenseful, horror game of the year.” Judging from the trailer, it offers a more traditional survival horror experience than most other recent horror titles.
You can watch the trailer below and gauge whether you’ll be able to handle the scares offered up by Remothered: Broken Porcelain later this year.
The game follows Jen and her friend Linn, two maids at the Ashmann Inn, who have become aware that something is not right in their place of work. It’ll be up to players to help them escape. The game will also directly follow events from the first game, and the search for Celeste Felton will continue.
If you’re hungry for more horror, it’s also worth checking out the trailer for the next Resident Evil title, Resident Evil: Village, which is coming in 2021.
GameSpot has officially kicked off Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.
