FIFA Pro Kurt Banned From All EA Games and Services Following Latest Attack

EA FIFA pro player Kurt‘ Kurt0411’ Fenech has been banned from playing all EA games or accessing EA services, the company announced. The unprecedented move comes after a months-long public feud between Fenech and EA which the company says“cross a line of decency into very personal attacks and breach our Terms of Service.”

Fenech tweeted out about his ban by publishing the email EA sent him notifying the permanent closure of his account. In a follow-up Tweet, Fenech wrote “End of the day I have never said anything I shouldn’t have. This is just deeper than anyone thinks. They didn’t want me competing at events cos [sic] they were scared I’d win them, now I’m the 2nd biggest streamer of their game and they’re scared I’ll overtake their golden boy.”

Fenech has been an outspoken critic of EA for the past two years, escalating in a series of social media attacks on the company and antagonizing EA employees. During one livestream Fenech was caught on camera calling an opponent a “son of a b**ch” who “can’t beat me, even on this piece of trash game. F*** you, EA.” He also spat on an EA logo stiched onto a scarf. EA responded to these repeated attacks by permanently banning Fenech from all FIFA esports competitions in 2019 and beyond.

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Following Fenech’s ban, several EA FIFA staff Twitter accounts were hacked as part of a “targeted attack,” according to EA. The hacks were also part of a larger social media attack on EA staff members over criticism of FIFA 20. Fenech seemingly supported these hacks on his social media account.

Fenech has continued to attack EA on his various social media channels and video platforms like YouTube and Twitch. One popular attack on EA by Fenech is to call the company “rats” and even released a diss track titled ‘Little Rats’ with another FIFA esports player Amenyah.

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Despite the ban and repeated warnings from EA, Kurt has seemingly continued to take jabs at the company which has resulted in the permanent ban from EA games and services. You can read EA’s full statement and reasoning for the ban below:

“In November 2019, after a series of Code of Conduct violations as part of the EA SPORTS FIFA Global Series in which he threatened employees and other players, Kurt0411 was banned from competing or attending any EA SPORTS FIFA 20 Global Series events or future competitions. Since that time, Kurt has continued to post abusive and threatening messages and videos about EA employees and competitive players on social media and he has encouraged others to do the same. His messages have crossed a line of decency into very personal attacks and breach our Terms of Service. We will not tolerate threatening behavior. As a result, today Kurt0411’s EA account will be banned from playing our games and accessing our services due to these serious and repeated violations.

We build games and communities for players to have fun. Creating a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone without fear of harassment or abuse is a vital part of that. Our Terms of Service include a Code of Conduct that we ask players to abide by to keep our communities healthy and safe. We have an ongoing focus to create communities where everyone feels safe and respected, including in-game toxicity reporting tools as well as new moderation tools. And, we will continue to add more features.”

In the past, pro gamers have been permanently from games and services but for infractions like cheating. One recent, high-profile permanent ban is the case of Jarvis “FaZe Jarvis” Kaye who was banned for life from Fortnite after it was revealed he used an auto-aim cheat tool in the game.

EA has made building healthy communities a major part of its strategy to remove toxicity from the game community. The company says it encourages players to share constructive criticism on sites like EA’s forums, Trello Boards, and Discord channels, but also says that “When feedback crosses the line to threatening, personal attacks, we will take action to move it out of our communities.”

IGN has reached out to Fenech for comment.

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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

Netflix Adds Top 10 Movies and TV Feature

Netflix announced that it’s adding a new top 10 feature to the popular streaming service.

By clicking on the appropriate tab, you’ll be able to see the 10 most popular movies and television shows in your country. There’s also an overall top 10 list that shows the 10 most popular selections from everything Netflix has to offer.

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Additionally, every show and movie that makes the list will have a “Top 10” badge no matter where you find it on Netflix. The shows and movies featured in the top 10 lists will be updated every single day.

Netflix said it’s been experimenting with top 10 lists in the UK and Mexico since last year. The positive feedback from users made Netflix decide to expand this feature to more territories.

This isn’t the first new feature Netflix has been experimenting with lately. Earlier this month, Netflix finally gave its users the option to turn off the autoplay preview function.

For more, check out everything that’s coming to Netflix in March. Or read about an all-new character coming to Netflix’s The Witcher: Season 2.

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Logan Plant is a news writer for IGN, and the Production Assistant for Nintendo Voice Chat, IGN’s weekly Nintendo show. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.

Controversial Horror Game Devotion Finds A New Home At The Library

It has officially been a year since Red Candle Games was forced to delist its outstanding first-person psychological horror title, Devotion, and there is still no sign that it will ever return. However, Harvard University will be taking steps to ensure that the game and its legacy, will be preserved.

According to a post from Red Candle’s Facebook page, the Harvard-Yenching Library in Cambridge, Massachusetts will be adding both Devotion and its predecessor, harrowing indie horror title Detention, to its collection. The library is home to one of the biggest and most carefully curated collections of historically significant East Asian art in the United States.

Famously, Devotion was pulled due to outrage from Chinese players that the game contained art assets seemingly mocking Chinese president Xi Jinping, and pointing out his resemblance to Winnie the Pooh, a sensitive subject in the country. Devotion’s removal led to Red Candle Games’ publisher pulling all support for it, and its removal from sale on Steam. All videos of Devotion were also removed from the company’s YouTube channel, and Red Candle Games left Weibo, China’s biggest social media platform. However, the inclusion of Detention in the library suggests the games are being inducted less for their controversy but for being legitimately powerful East Asian art. Both games use the actual historical backdrop of Taiwan in the 1970s and 1980s to tell their horror stories. With only ten days on the market, Devotion’s legacy has become much like P.T.’s: a game better known for its tragic cancellation more than the brilliant, thought-provoking horror experience it is.

“It is an incredible honour which belongs to not only Red Candle but also our supporters/players worldwide,” says the statement on Facebook. “As game designers, never have we thought that our works could one day be added to its prestige collection. While we truly appreciate the recognition, we had also taken this opportunity to rethink the possibilities that our games could achieve.” As for when we’ll be able to see what Red Candle achieves next, that’s still, sadly, up in the air, though they are still hopeful. “Although the current status might not be ideal, we are still here and that nothing has changed–we are and will always develop games with the same passion. It’s a tough year for many of us, but we will keep going, and hopefully in the future we could share more works with you all.”

Our original review scored Devotion a 9/10, with Richard Wakeling stating that the game, “evokes P.T.’s terrifying spirit to paint an inventive, thought-provoking, and insidious portrait of family life within the claustrophobic confines of a small Taiwanese apartment.” He goes on to write that, “as much as Devotion is about its characters and the fantastic way their development coalesces with that of the ever-changing apartment–with the increasingly dishevelled rooms acting as a poignant metaphor for the family–it’s also about a specific time and place; delving into the role of women in 1980’s Taiwan, feminine beauty standards, the infancy of mental health research and the stigmas attached to it, and the sometimes dangerous faith desperate people will place in religion. Explorations of Taoism and Buddhism might not completely resonate with a Western audience, but the story is told in such a way that it’s relatively easy to read through the lines and understand the awful, heartbreaking extremes people are willing to go to for those they love.”

Now Playing: Devotion’s Terrifying Gameplay Will Give You Nightmares

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This Week’s Monster Hunter World: Iceborne’s Event Quests

There are some new quests in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne for the week of February 21 to 27. Regal Event Quests have returned–they include The Moon is a Harsh Queen, A Glance of Sliver, and We Three Kings–and additional quest events, like Fired-Up Bruisers, Balloon Fight, Colorful Carnival, and Desert Desserts are also available.

Completing The Moon is a Harsh Queen, A Glance of Sliver, and We Three Kings successfully will earn you bonus rank points and an opportunity to get Gold Rathian materials, Silver Rathalos materials, and Large Elder Dragon Gems, respectively.

In Colorful Carnival, Desert Desserts, Fire up Bruisers, you’ll be rewarded with bonus rank points, as well as Fey Wyvern Gems, ore materials, Monster Slogbones, respectively. Balloon Fight is an item quest and you’ll receive Increased Hard Armor Sphere rewards that are useful for armor upgrades.

In future Monster Hunter updates, two new monsters, Furious Rajang and Raging Brachydios will be added in March. Monster Hunter is also gearing up for the US championships which is taking place on February 29. You can watch the competition on Monster Hunter’s Twitch channel.

Also occurring on February 29, is the Monster Hunter Festa in Boston. Though the developers were originally scheduled to attend, the team will no longer be able to do so. This means there won’t be an autograph session, but a presentation on Monster Hunter news and updates will still occur.

Now Playing: Hunting Rajang, Monster Hunter World: Iceborne’s Next DLC Monster

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GameStop’s Tax Refund Sale Is Live Now: See The Best Deals (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)

It’s officially tax season, folks, and if you’re on top of your game and filed early, there’s a chance you’ve already received (or will soon receive) that sweet tax refund. Many retailers like to offer sales around this time of year as a way of helping you spend that new excess money, and GameStop is getting in on the action with a sale of its own. The Tax Sale is live now until March 7 and includes game deals for PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch as well as discounts on accessories, collectibles, apparel, and more.

Most of the notable game deals are for PS4 and Xbox One, including the GameStop-exclusive Call of Duty: Modern Warfare C.O.D.E. Edition for $38. Control is also available for $30, a very nice price for one of the best games of last year. You’ll also find great discounts on The Division 2, which is just $5; Judgment, which is on sale for $30; and our 2019 game of the year, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which is discounted to $40. Nintendo Switch deals, on the other hand, are lacking, but you can get Just Dance 2020 for $18 and Assassin’s Creed III Remastered for $20.

Xbox One X bundles are majorly discounted these days, and you’ll find those same deals at GameStop. Notably, the Xbox One X special-edition bundle with NBA 2K20, which comes with the GameStop-exclusive Hyperspace-edition console, is available for $300, along with the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order bundle. If you’re looking to play any of this year’s big Xbox One releases, these are excellent deals on what’s currently the most powerful console on the market.

As usual, plenty of collectibles and apparel are discounted during the Tax Sale as well, so be sure to check out everything on offer while the deals are available. You can see the full sale at GameStop and check out more of the best deals on games, accessories, and more below.

GameStop Tax Sale’s best deals

New games

Nintendo Switch

PS4 / Xbox One

*PS4 only

Pre-owned games

If you have a penchant for older-gen games, the Tax Sale includes a buy two, get two free promotion on Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita, Nintendo 3DS, DS, Wii, and Wii U games. To see the discount, add the items to your cart. Unfortunately, most of these games are not discounted separately.

Consoles

As part of the Tax Sale, Xbox One X bundles come with a free Xbox One red wired controller. You’ll also get $15 off three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Accessories

Collectibles

Now Playing: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Finally Won Me Over

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Mission Impossible 7 Production Comes To A Standstill

The next installment in Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible series is in production in Italy. At least, it was until an outbreak of the coronavirus brought it to a screeching halt.

It was revealed by the New York Times that Italy has 150 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and in turn, at least 10 towns are now locked down, and schools in major cities are closed, along with sporting events–including an early end to the Venice carnival. Additionally, this means that the production of Mission Impossible 7 is put on hold for now.

In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, a spokesperson from Paromount Pictures explained why production has stopped. “Out of an abundance of caution for the safety and well-being of our cast and crew, and efforts of the local Venetian government to halt public gatherings in response to the threat of coronavirus, we are altering the production plan for our three-week shoot in Venice, the scheduled first leg of an extensive production for Mission: Impossible 7. During this hiatus, we want to be mindful of the concerns of the crew and are allowing them to return home until production starts. We will continue to monitor this situation, and work alongside health and government officials as it evolves.”

Mission Impossible 7 was going to hit theaters on July 23, 2021. However, with this delay, it is unknown at this time as to if the film’s release will be pushed back. In a surprise, Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) will return to the series. His only other appearance came from the original 1996 film. Nicholas Hoult has signed on for two films, and it’s rumored he will play a villain. Hoult and Czerny will join Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Shea Whigham, Hayley Atwell, and Pom Klementieff for the latest outing. MI7 will be written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie who previously helmed Mission: Impossible – Fallout and Rogue Nation.

The coronavirus has infected 79,000 people worldwide–according to CBS News–killing more than 2,400–nearly all the deaths were in China. There have been 53 cases confirmed in the United States as of February 24. With the spread to Europe, we could see more movie and TV show productions delayed while the virus continues to spread, as it is causing much more than production delays across the world. 007: No Time To Die’s premiere has been canceled, iPhone shortages are expected, Sony has dropped its PAX East showcase, PlayStation canceled its GDC plans, Blizzard has canceled Overwatch events in China, and Switch shipments are being delayed in Japan.

Bill & Ted Face the Music: Everything We Know About The Comedy Sequel

Bill & Ted Face the Music: Everything We Know About The Comedy Sequel – GameSpot

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By | @MondoDan on

Neo, John Wick, and Speed’s Jack Traven might be the characters that define Keanu Reeves as a movie action hero, but it was a comedy role that made him a star. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure hit theaters in 1989, with Reeves and co-star Alex Winter playing a pair of hapless teenage metalheads who embark on a wild time-traveling adventure in an attempt to pass a high school presentation.

Excellent Adventure was a funny and imaginative movie with winning performances, and enough of a box office success to merit a sequel. 1991’s Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey had a higher budget and was every bit as entertaining, with a surreal storyline that featured aliens, God, androids, and an Ingmar Bergman spoof involving the Grim Reaper. It was also accompanied by a high-profile soundtrack featuring many of the era’s big rock and metal bands. Unfortunately, the movie was not as successful as its predecessor, and a third movie didn’t follow.

Until now, that is. In 2010, the first news emerged of a new Bill & Ted film, when Keanu Reeves revealed that he was still in touch with Winter and a new script was being worked on. Occasional updates appeared over the next decade, and in March 2019, Reeves and Winter officially confirmed that Bill & Ted Face the Music had been greenlit and would hit theaters in 2020. So with the release now only a few months away, here’s everything we know about the third Bill & Ted movie. Party on dudes!

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When will it be released?

When will it be released?

Bill & Ted Face the Music hits theaters on August 22, 2020.

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What has been revealed so far?

What has been revealed so far?

The trailer hasn’t been released yet, but with the movie arriving in the summer, it shouldn’t be too much longer before we see some footage. In the meantime, you can check out this poster.

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Who's coming back?

Who’s coming back?

There are several familiar faces returning for the new Bill & Ted movie. Obviously the film wouldn’t exist without Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, and they will be joined by William Sadler, who played Death in the Bogus Journey, plus Hal Landon Jr. as Ted’s authoritarian dad and Amy Stoch as his stepmother Missy (“Missy, I mean, mom!”)

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Who's new?

Who’s new?

Bill & Ted Face the Music features a variety of new cast members, some playing characters we’ve seen before, others entirely new to the series. Bill and Ted’s wives, Princess Joanna and Princess Elizabeth, are now played by Jayma Mays and Erinn Hayes–these roles have now been played by different actors in every movie. Ted’s younger brother Deacon is played by SNL’s Beck Bennett, while Kid Cudi will reportedly appear as himself. In terms of new characters, Bill and Ted now have adult daughters–Billie and Thea–played by Brigette Lundy-Paine and Samara Weaving. The movie’s main villain will be played by Anthony Carrigan, best known as hilarious Chechen gangster NoHo Hank in HBO’s Barry, and it’s been rumored that he might be playing Death’s son.

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What's the story?

What’s the story?

Although we’re yet to see a trailer, we know the basic plot outline. Bill and Ted are middle-aged dads who are still rocking out as Wyld Stallions. A mysterious visitor from the future warns them they have only 78 minutes to write the song that will save the entire universe, sending them on another time-traveling mission.

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Who's the Director?

Who’s the Director?

Bill & Ted Face the Music is directed by Dean Parisot, who has been attached to the movie as far back as 2012. Pasirot is best known for the 1999 sci-fi comedy Galaxy Quest, as well as the Jim Carrey movie Fun with Dick and Jane and the action sequel Red 2.

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Who are the writers?

Who are the writers?

One of the big reasons to be excited for the new Bill & Ted movie is that the script has been written by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. Matheson and Solomon created the series, and wrote the screenplay to the first movie way back in 1987, basing it on a comedy stand-up routine they had performed in college. They returned to write Bogus Journey, and have been involved with Face the Music since the very start. Solomon also wrote the 1999 hit Men in Black, while Matheson is the son of legendary sci-fi and horror author Richard Matheson.

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Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company


Best Picture Winner Parasite Heads To Hulu This Spring

The first-ever South Korean Best Picture winner at this year’s Academy Awards, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, is slated to stream exclusively on Hulu on April 8, the film production company Neon announced in a press release.

Hulu and Neon inked an exclusive multiyear deal in 2017 to bring “all upcoming films and content released” to Hulu.

“Our partnership with Neon marks another big step forward in our commitment to offering a world-class collection of films to our subscribers,” Hulu’s head of content said in 2017. “Neon has already acquired a highly-anticipated slate of films this year and we can’t wait to bring their titles from the theaters to the Hulu audience.”

Since then, Neon has released a variety of films on the streaming platform, including Three Identical Strangers, Ingrid Goes West, The Beach Bum, I, Tonya, Honeyland, and many more.

In addition to snagging the Best Picture award from its competitors–which included Joker, Marriage Story, The Irishman, and more–Parasite took home three more trophies out of the six it was nominated for. This includes the Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and the Best International Feature Film awards. The other two–Best Film Editing and Best Production Design–went to Ford v Ferrari and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, respectively.

GameSpot awarded the film a 9/10 in our Parasite review, saying, “Its pitch-perfect casting, excellent cinematography, and operatic score all result in a tragedy of epic proportions that should scheme, con, and scam its way into many “best of” lists by the end of the year.”

Now Playing: 10 Foreign Language Thrillers You Should Watch After Parasite

Overwatch’s First Experimental Mode Doubles Down On Damage Comp

Last month, Overwatch developer Blizzard announced the impending addition of a new experimental card that allows players to test out possible radical changes to gameplay. Today, director Jeff Kaplan revealed the details behind the first experimental mode that will most likely be released February 25th, “but stuff could go wrong, [and it] may be delayed a little bit.”

Named the Triple Damage, the experimental mode is for damage players. Instead of the standard two tanks, three damage characters, and two supports, this exploratory setting will introduce a new team composition: one tank, three damage characters, and one support player.

It’s a pretty big change, especially for tank mains, and Kaplan assured fans that any setting tested in the experimental card is not one that will be definitely implemented. That is to say: tank players, do not worry about this team composition becoming permanent

The director went on to further explain that the Triple Damage mode was created to address the extra waiting time in the role queue for damage players. By deploying Triple Damage, the development team wants to see if it actually shortens queue time for damage players and whether it will affect other parts of the game service, like Classic Quickplay.

As part of the Triple Damage mode, the characters that the Overwatch community regularly refer to as “Off-tanks,” like Road Hog, Zarya, and D.Va, will receive big balance changes if you choose to play in the experimental card. Players in the experimental mode will still level up and receive loot boxes like normal.

Now Playing: Overwatch: Sigma Origins Trailer

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Black Creators Are Hopeful for a Future Where Black Superheroes Aren’t ‘Niche’

This story originally appeared on GameSpot sister site TV Guide.​

In the 1990s, black storytellers were having a moment in Hollywood. As noted in this now kinda cringey New York Times story, black was “in,” and Hollywood decision-makers were “beginning to recognize that a white audience will spend money to see black movies.” Black filmmakers like Melvin Van Peebles, the Hudlin brothers, and Robert Townsend got resources and support to tell their stories; on TV, shows like Living Single and Moesha became hits and helped then-burgeoning networks Fox and UPN grow their businesses. The era didn’t last. By the 2000s, black film directors found themselves no longer in demand, and on TV, network mergers and increased appetites for reality TV meant pivoting away from majority-black shows in favor of appealing to “mainstream” (read: white) audiences, as outlined in the 2005 book The Sitcom Reader.

Some 30 years later, black storytellers are wondering if history is about to repeat itself, even as they celebrate progress. Today, black superheroes are finally thriving on TV, with shows such as Doom Patrol and The Boys putting black superheroes front and center after decades of being relegated to the sidelines or ignored altogether. Steps forward in representation have been a long time coming, but with characters like Sister Night (Regina King) of Watchmen, and Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) of the upcoming The Falcon and the Winter Soldier dismantling the myth that black heroes can’t appeal to everyone, it sure seems as if we’re only at the beginning of a movement with boundless potential. To hear experts and creators tell it, though, optimism comes with caution.

Marvel
Marvel

“Is it a boon?” Denys Cowan, co-founder of Milestone Media and co-creator of the comic book hero Static, replied when asked how he felt about the sudden increase in black superheroes on TV. “It’s good to see more diversity, but I don’t know if it’s really enough.” Cowan broke down barriers in 2000 with Static Shock, an animated kids series about a black teen hero named Static that ran for four seasons, and recalled going into meetings where white executives told him point-blank that black people didn’t buy comic books. While he loves that stories like Black Lighting and Watchmen are being told now, Cowan said there are so many more to tell. However, there’s a dearth of network executives willing to put faith and dollars into these projects. “It’s still a struggle,” Cowan said.

RELATED: The Rise of Black Superheroes: A Black History Month Celebration

Creators and people in the so-called blerd community live in a state of cognitive dissonance: joy over finally seeing these stories on TV, fear that it could be fleeting, and skepticism about the depth of the portrayals. “There is a kind of paradigm shift,” said Evan Narcisse, who co-wrote Rise of the Black Panther with Ta-Nehisi Coates and contributed to the recent Marvel’s Voices’ #1. On the one hand, Narcisse explained, shows like Luke Cage and Black Lightning represent a turning point, because “not only are the black characters the main focus of these shows, the creative rooms are black as well. Luke Cage didn’t have to explain every little bit of slang or in-group talk to try to please audiences who are not like black.” That said, “there’s an awareness this could disappear tomorrow,” Narcisse explained. “Everyone’s grateful to be getting their chance. But you see someone like Greg Berlanti–and no shade to Greg Berlanti, because what he’s accomplished is impressive–but [Black Lightning executive producer] Salim Akil only gets in because Greg got him in. The fact still remains that white decision-makers still need to be the ones to open the door.”

The CW
The CW

Karama Horne, a contributing editor for SyFy Wire and genre geek known as theblerdgirl, says she’s filled with equal parts excitement and reservation–aware that previous projections of a superhero bust didn’t exactly pan out either. “To a certain extent, I do think the concept of black superheroes might be considered a passing fad. But people said that before Black Panther came out and made a billion dollars. And we’re hearing those same voices saying that again.” Rather than anxious, Horne is more hyped, taking delight in seeing how Black Lightning depicts a black family in fresh ways, or news of the forthcoming Disney+ series Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, which will focus on a 9-year-old girl who’s also the smartest character in the Marvel universe.

RELATED: Eartha Kitt’s Empowering Performance as Catwoman Turned a Short-Lived Role Into a Lasting Legacy

Nonetheless, Black Panther’s release in 2018 did mark a turning point, and the film’s success ironically prompted a somewhat painful, frustrating observation that writer Jameel Salim (South Park, Disenchantment) put succinctly: “Look at how much money Black Panther made. You think there’d be 10 black superheroes movies in development, but there’s not. I think [executives] attribute its success more to Marvel than to the power of the black dollar.” Now working with 50 Cent to bring the animated series Trill League to the new streaming platform Quibi, Salim said it’s these streamers–Amazon with The Boys, Netflix with Raising Dion and Luke Cage–that have opened up opportunities for black superhero stories, some of which likely would never make it to screen were it not for the abundance of platforms looking for content. “[Black stories] are still looked at as a niche market,” he said, noting how streaming feels like less of a risk than a film or primetime show on a major network. “It sucks, but at the same time, I get it. [The system] is run by white people. Even if it’s just subconscious, they tend to lean toward projects they can see themselves in.”

Amazon Prime Video

Even if the number of black superhero characters making it to big and small screens slows down, the experts agree that the breadth and nuance in the stories being told now have changed TV for the better. Post-Watchmen, just about every black creator has signed off on a lifetime invitation to the proverbial cookout for Damon Lindelof, who shepherded an unprecedented story about a black female crime fighter, a black time-traveling god, and the Tulsa Race Massacre to HBO. Many hail Black Lightning for the ways it shows a black family figuring out how to function under incredibly trying circumstances.

“We’ve moved beyond tokenism,” Narcisse said. “Black nerd communities are attuned to the ways we’re represented. [African Americans] can get rendered into mascots easily, so we’re always watching to see if this black person gets to be a [dimensional] person.” Creators hold hope for expanded possibilities in the future when it comes to mining unexplored layers of black identity on-screen. Narcisse, said that he’d like to see more black queer points of view, and more inter-generational conflicts explored within the genre. Horne wants to see more kids’ content; Salim wants to see more young black superheroes who are hip and cool as opposed to the kinda nerdy type, like Miles Morales of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. (Denys Cowan, for the record, would like to remind everyone that Milestone Media, a company he helped create decades ago, featured a diverse range of characters including LGBTQ folks, before such representations started to become more common.) Whatever happens next, creators and fans alike don’t take any of this for granted.

“It’s a good moment,” Narcisse said. “It’s promising. I just hope the oxygen tank doesn’t get turned off anytime soon.”

For Black History Month, TV Guide is celebrating black superheroes in TV and film. As part of The Rise of Black Superheroes, we’re honoring the legacies of pioneers like Luke Cage, War Machine, and actress Eartha Kitt; examining how blackness shapes the identities of characters like Iris West, Black Lightning, and John Diggle; exploring what today’s black heroes mean to kids of color; and celebrating the greatest black superheroes of all time. You can check out more content from The Rise of Black Superheroes here.