Sonic the Hedgehog has been around for nearly 30 years and there have been a lot of variations on the character in that time. His key characteristics are generally summed up as “runs fast,” “is blue,” and “has attitude.” The Sonic we see in the live-action-meets-CGI Sonic the Hedgehog, thankfully, abandons the emphasis on ’90s buzzwords for something a little more real and vulnerable. Sonic in 2020 is quick with a quip and a pop culture reference, but he’s also just really excited to be here.
Sonic the Hedgehog foregoes pulling much from the video game and cartoon takes that came before it, choosing instead to set up something new for the character. Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) in the film is something of a Superman character: an orphan with incredible power he’s not quite sure how to handle. It’s an interesting setup that the movie should have leveraged more, especially after a very brief opening that shows Sonic being chased from his home planet by a bunch of unknown bad guys for unknown reasons, who never come up again.
That backstory serves to get Sonic out of the video game world and into ours, where he’s been hiding out for years, observing everybody in the small town of Green Hills from afar and wishing he could reveal himself and end his loneliness. In his frustration, Sonic accidentally taps into his latent super-speed-induced powers, and the resulting explosion alerts the US government to his existence. Cue an ET-like story of shady G-men hunting an alien, who then happens across a friendly human–local sheriff Tom (James Marsden), or Donut Lord as Sonic knows him from afar–who helps him evade the men in black and their maniacal, mechanically inclined leader, Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey).
Sonic the Hedgehog is really a buddy comedy about Tom and Sonic, and it’s at its best when it leans into that dynamic. Schwartz is a perfect choice for this version of Sonic, who’s a little irreverent and intensely tuned in to American pop culture somehow, but also earnest and upbeat. Schwartz’s Sonic is more of a Michaelangelo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles than the combination of Bugs Bunny’s mouth and Road Runner’s feet that first hit the small screen in the ’90s. It’s something of an expansion of Schwartz’s Parks and Rec character, the lovably enthusiastic but clueless and entitled Jean Ralphio, with Schwartz keeping the former parts and jettisoning the latter to make Sonic relatable but not annoying.
Marsden, meanwhile, avoids the formulaic position of the put-upon straight man in the comedy duo, instead quickly embracing the absurdity of making friends with a cartoon hedgehog and pretending Sonic is just a regular person in disguise. Marsden brings an easygoing likability to the team-up, selling that Sonic isn’t as exhausting to be around as one might expect, and the two quickly establish a rapport that’s a lot of fun to watch, whether they’re just hanging out or actively fighting off Robotnik’s many ridiculous robotic threats. Schwartz and Marsden are having a good time, so you are, too.
Surprisingly, Sonic the super-fast CGI hedgehog alien feels pretty down-to-earth in comparison to the movie’s villain. Carrey is in full ’90s effect as Robotnik, channeling the kind of intense goofiness that defined his more famously overwrought roles, like Ace Ventura, the Riddler, or the Grinch. It’s hit-and-miss–Robotnik is so far over the top that you wonder why any other human being would put up with him, and he chews so much scenery that you have to wonder if the filmmakers were concerned people would lose interest in Sonic if they weren’t constantly bombarded by Robotnik’s weirdness. Compared to the more effortless humor that develops between Sonic and Tom, Robotnik feels out of sync with the rest of the movie; a bit of a tonal anomaly that’s running at a slightly different speed.
Robotnik does have a few genuinely funny moments, but they’re mostly the surprising ones that play against his established bully personality or show some vulnerability–like when he screams in the face of his assistant, Agent Stone (Lee Majdoub), but is actually giving him a loud and unnecessarily confrontational compliment. For the most part, though, Carrey’s goofball intensity is aimed squarely at the younger kids in the audience, and his biggest moments feel transplanted from a different movie–as well as a bit tiring.
The movie is mostly about Sonic, Tom, and Robotnik, but a few other characters pop up to bring some laughs as well. Though she doesn’t have a big impact on the story, there are some good moments between Tom and his veterinarian wife Maddie (Tika Sumpter), who gets to join in on the adventure toward its end. Maddie’s sister (Natasha Rothwell) acts as pure comic relief in trying to convince Maddie to divorce Tom, and she gets a few of the script’s better lines in her short screentime. It’s a bummer that both characters don’t get to play a bigger part in the story, but what time they do get adds to Sonic and Tom’s dynamic.
Sonic the Hedgehog manages enough genuine humor, likable characters, and well-built action to be a fun ride, even though it is definitely intended more for a younger crowd than the aging fans of the game franchise. A couple of standout setpieces portray Sonic moving at a normal rate through scenes where everything else is stuck at a near-standstill, just like those Quicksilver moments in a couple of recent X-Men movies, and they carry some inventive slapstick gags that go well with the special effects. His one-liners are also deployed just often enough, and with just enough awareness, that they’re funny without beating you over the head with try-hard references.
The movie is also knowingly reverential of the Sonic franchise without being beholden to it. Callbacks to the iconic music of Green Hill Zone or Sonic’s foot-tapping idle animation from the game are enough to raise a smile, but the references avoid being glaring. Sonic the Hedgehog is a movie that knows its fans are in the audience and gives them quite a few nods, but mostly in subtler ways that work in the story, instead of dropping a bunch of pandering, neon-clad reminders that You Are Watching A Sonic Thing.
As video game adaptations go, Sonic the Hedgehog is among the stronger ones. It’s smart enough to stand on its own, making use of longstanding aspects of Sega’s supersonic mascot and his franchise, while making sure that what really shines through are its characters. That restraint goes a long way to making Sonic the Hedgehog a light, funny movie, and while it definitely skews young, longtime Sonic fans should have just as much fun finally seeing the Blue Blur on the big screen.
Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company.
The Sonic the Hedgehog movie is expected to have a strong start at the box office. Variety reports that the CG/live-action film is projected to make between $40 million and $45 million for its opening weekend, which includes the President’s Day holiday in the US on February 17.
Sonic should have no trouble unseating Birds of Prey, which was last weekend’s No. 1 movie with $33.2 million for its first weekend. Sonic goes up against a raft of newcomers this weekend, including the thriller Fantasy Island, the Will Ferrell/Julia Louis-Dreyfus movie Downhill, and the romance The Photograph, all of which are expected to open below Sonic.
The Sonic movie is directed by Oscar-nominated director Jeff Fowler (Gopher Broke). It was originally expected to hit theatres in 2019, but Sony moved the movie to 2020 in response to the social media backlash against the original design of Sonic.
The film reportedly cost $87 million to produce, before marketing expenses are factored in. The movie features the voice of Ben Schwartz as Sonic, with Jim Carrey playing the evil Dr. Robotnik. James Marsden also stars as a police officer who befriends Sonic.
Sonic is gearing up for a big 2020, with Sega planning on announcing Sonic news on the 20th of every month.
Four episodes in, Star Trek: Picard is finally finding its footing, now that Picard is free of Earth and finally has some gravity plating back under his feet. After a slow start in the first three episodes, the captain is on his ship, he assembled most of a crew, and he’s on mission. And while Episode 4, “Absolute Candor,” is still something of a digression as we add more characters to the proceedings, it’s one that reveals more of who Picard is and finally feels like it’s pushing the story to pick up some forward momentum.
Most of “Absolute Candor” continues to fill in the blanks surrounding Picard’s role in the Romulan rescue from 14 years before the show started, with much of the action taking place on Vashti, a world where Picard (Patrick Stewart) helped settle Romulan refugees. Here, we get our first close look at how the Federation’s abandonment of the Romulans affected actual people–the failed rescue left once-prominent and successful people stranded on a dusty, underdeveloped world, where resentment has been left to fester.
A lot of that resentment surrounds Elnor (Evan Evagora), a Romulan orphan Picard helped rescue in the lead-up to the big evacuation and left on Vashti, with the expectation of finding a better home for him later. Fourteen years later, Elnor is all grown up–and angry that Picard abandoned him, and the rest of the Romulan people.
Picard’s visit to Vashti, where he attempts to recruit Elnor to the mission to save Soji (Isa Briones), shows a side of the Romulan situation we haven’t seen yet, in which the legendary captain isn’t viewed with so much reverence. His resignation from Starfleet meant he basically abandoned all the Romulans he had helped to their own devices. Plenty of them now view him as a man who made a lot of empty promises, an embodiment of a Starfleet that showed up to help them when they needed it in order to disarm a proud people who could otherwise have helped themselves.
Those challenges to the image we have of Jean-Luc Picard–as an accomplished leader and diplomat, and incredibly principled man–are the best aspects of the show so far, and Episode 4 leans into them pretty hard. What’s interesting about Star Trek: Picard is less its continuation of the story of a beloved character and more that it is deconstructing him by placing him in a world where he doesn’t fit. Picard’s view of Starfleet didn’t line up with reality, so he abandoned it, and that caused suffering for a lot of people, including people he cared about. Reckoning with those facts is humanizing Picard in new, fascinating ways, and those moments are the ones that make “Absolute Candor” really work.
There’s also a lot of potential in Picard’s relationship with Elnor, who has become a sword-wielding warrior monk in the 14 years since the two last saw each other. Elnor makes yet another member of the crew who’s following Picard but maybe not too happy about it, and while their confrontations are minimal in “Absolute Candor,” it’s exciting to see a group of people following Picard that don’t worship him the way the Enterprise crew did.
Meanwhile, the story with Soji on the Borg Cube gets a little advancement, while avoiding getting lost in the pseudo-technical side of her work. Soji’s development as a person is a lot more interesting, and we’re starting to see a little more humanity out of Narek (Harry Treadaway) that’s helping construct him as a relatable villain and not just the shadowy figure he’s mostly been up until now. The pair’s moment conducting an “ancient Borg ritual” feels like it does more for both of their characters than two episodes’ worth of scenes studying Borg drones managed to accomplish.
Star Trek: Picard is still in its ramping-up phase, and like Episode 3, “Absolute Candor” is another exercise is recruiting members of Picard’s team, rather than actually getting on with their mission. Where it excels, though, is in challenging its characters with their own history, and continuing to develop Jean-Luc and his team in fascinating ways. A lot of what we’ve seen from Star Trek: Picard so far suggests more potential than what it actually shows–but with Episode 4, it feels like the show is gathering momentum in all the areas that make it an interesting addition to the Star Trek franchise.
Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company.
A battle royale mode is all but surely coming to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, as the Season 2 opening cinematic strongly suggested it’s on the way. Now, more evidence for this has emerged. As Charlie Intel reports, multiple players have glitched into the menu for a new mode called “Warzone,” which is presumably the name of the battle royale mode.
Images from the menu show options for Weapons, Operators, and Barracks, while a page for “Drop Kits” that you can edit before matches has also popped up. Additionally, people have claimed to be able to see the new battle royale map by various and unconfirmed means. A video of the entire rumored map has also been posted online.
The Modern Warfare Season 2 update added a new “Classified” page to the game’s title screen; this is believed to be the placeholder for the Warzone battle royale mode. While these latest details seem to be legitimate, Infinity Ward has yet to make any official announcements outside of the teaser. You can re-watch this teaser in the video embed above.
Modern Warfare already has a large-scale mode in the form of Ground War, which supports 64 players. Before launch, Infinity Ward teased that the game could support a 100-player mode at some point, and now it seems it’s happening with a battle royale mode.
There are numerous unsubstantiated rumors about Modern Warfare’s reported battle royale mode floating around now, including that Warzone could be a standalone free-to-play game, but nothing is locked down yet. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.
Reigning UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones made headlines recently when he pondered a future in WWE, once he’s done with MMA. “I think it’s inevitable,” he told Sports Illustrated. “I’ve always respected WWE, and I feel like the sports can be so similar.”
Should that come to pass, it sounds like he will be met with open arms by some within the wrestling company. While promoting the news that Wrestlemania 37 would be coming to the brand new SoFi Stadium in California, WWE superstar Roman Reigns had plenty of say about the potential of Jones becoming a professional wrestler.
“He’s definitely got tools. I mean, there’s no doubt he’s a bad man, no doubt,” Reigns told GameSpot and a small group of other press during the event. “But obviously what we do is a little bit different than the octagon. And it’s going to be a different travel schedule and different demands. But I definitely think he’s got a great name. He’s got a great work ethic. And he had a great, huge career still going in MMA. So I would absolutely say keep your eye on the ball from now, Jon. Don’t worry about WWE. But I definitely think there could be a future for him if he can put in the time and transition and develop the skills that we use.”
Should Jones end up in WWE, though, Reigns knows exactly who he should be matched against: himself. “Someone like Jon Jones, I mean, if you’re going to step in the WWE ring, you’re most likely going to want to be in there with the big dog,” the former WWE Champion teased.
Perhaps Reigns is planting the seeds now for a match at Wrestlemania 37, which will air live on pay-per-view and the WWE Network on March 28, 2021.
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Pokemon Home is live on Nintendo Switch and mobile devices, which means you can now transfer Pokemon from Bank to Sword and Shield (if you have a paid premium plan). While not every old Pokemon can be brought over into the Gen 8 games, a few more non-Galar-native monsters can now be added to your collection, including a handful of Legendaries.
35 Pokemon that weren’t previously obtainable in Sword and Shield can be transferred into the titles from Pokemon Home. These include the other two starters from Pokemon Red and Blue–Bulbasaur and Squirtle–as well as the three starter Pokemon from Sun and Moon: Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio.
On top of that, a few Legendaries and Mythical Pokemon can be brought into Sword and Shield via Pokemon Home, including Mewtwo, Celebi, Jirachi, and Meltan. You can also use Home to bring in regional forms that weren’t previously obtainable in the Gen 8 games, such as Alolan Vulpix and Kantonian Ponyta. You can see the full list of non-Galar Pokemon that can be transferred into Sword and Shield (courtesy of Pokemon fansite Serebii) below.
Another Mythical Pokemon you can bring into Sword and Shield via Home is Mew, but there’s another way to obtain it in the Gen 8 games. The Poke Ball Plus accessory that was released alongside Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee in 2018 comes with a free Mew, and you can use that to transfer the Mythical Pokemon into Sword and Shield (if you haven’t already redeemed it in one of the Let’s Go titles). We explain how to get Mew in Sword and Shield here.
While you can argue that the battle royale craze is reaching its peak, it remains one of the biggest genres in games today. BR games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, and even PUBG are still some of the most-played games out there. And with rumors brewing around Call of Duty: Modern Warfare getting a standalone BR mode, it certainly looks like the genre is here to stay.
But what can we expect from battle royale games in 2020? It’s a new year, and that means there’s gotta be innovations and experiences on the way, right? Whether it’s Activision paving the way with whatever these rumors are around a new CoD battle royale, or a new contender introducing a flurry of new mechanics we didn’t know we wanted until now, 2020 could potentially be another exciting year for BR games. Still, we can’t help but dream and wonder about all the specific things we hope will happen.
Below you can find everything that the GameSpot team wants to see in a new BR game in 2020. We detail what we want to see change about certain aspects of the genre at large, its various modes, and the customization options in between. You’ll notice that some of our points are in opposition to one other, but these are the individual opinions of those on the team and we each share different views on how battle royale should evolve and change. What do you want to see in a new battle royale game in 2020? Don’t hesitate to shout your thoughts and feelings out in the comments section!
Battle Royale Needs Better Storytelling
While battle royale games are all about the combat, there are periods where developers spice things up with in-world events and storylines that play out on the battlefield. With new trailers and ominous blog posts hinting at a growing story, it drives players to jump back into the fray to uncover bits of passive storytelling to piece together a deeper message. It can be a fun exercise in worldbuilding, and seeing more developers take the premise of the nonsensical battle royale set-up seriously is certainly fun. However, there’s a big problem I have with trying to enjoy these moments. This is all happening in a massive deathmatch where EVERYONE is waiting for the chance to snipe opponents who are distracted by static clues left on a wall.
Apex Legends
To put it plainly, the very conceit of battle royale gets in the way of the larger storytelling. While I appreciate the efforts devs make in trying to get their story across–I really do–there needs to be a better way of getting it across in a BR game. I can only imagine the number of kills someone got from distracted players trying to soak up the story, which likely leaves the deceased players frustrated for wasting their time. So far, Fortnite has been the model that games like PUBG and Apex Legends follow. While Epic Games leverages social media and livestreams to draw people into the game, frequently, the payoff can feel diminished when you’re stuck in the blitz of the free-for-all. What I would really like to see is for games to play more with the concept of the BR game type, keeping players more in the moment, while also drawing their eye to the larger story that’s in motion.
I would love to have more dynamic moments of storytelling during a good match of Fortnite or PUBG where the game itself somehow challenges me to question why exactly am I here, and why am I engaging in this brutal combat for ultimately nothing. I haven’t quite felt this sensation yet in a BR game, even when games like Fortnite embrace how self-aware it is with their dimension-hopping antics with guest appearances like Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars. Apex Legends seems to be onto something though with its recent event focusing on Revenant, which didn’t focus too much on static details and more on subverting expectations from what the fans expected. Still, I hope that the storytelling in BR games will see some improvements and innovations in the future now that the genre is here to stay. | Alessandro Fillari, Editor
A Bite-Sized BR Game That Moves Faster
My matches in PUBG often consisted of me perched up on the back of a toilet tank, like some bathroom gargoyle, waiting with sweaty palms and an itchy trigger finger for my next victim to storm in through the door, so I could unload an entire clip of my gun in the small hope they’d meet their demise in a place no human wants to die. Battle royale tends to be a waiting game. A test of patience. Two things I don’t get down with.
Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds
In most cases, after waiting for 20 minutes straight, I’m usually the one found dead in the bathroom–that says more about me as a player and my skills than the game, I know. I then just have to wait in another lobby, drop from a plane, scramble for shelter, and a gun (if I’m lucky), and hope for the best. I see the thrill in this format, and I do like it, but I’d like an alternative. I’d like something smaller, faster, and to the point.
Sure, I could just play a normal deathmatch from any other shooter, right? But I’d be losing out on the excitement of the more roguelike elements of it all. So basically, I want a quick match version of battle royale. Something I could fly into, through a warehouse window, and pick something up and go guns blazing. | Kurt Indovina, Host
Single-Player Practice Rounds And Tutorials
Since battle royale games have gotten big in the last few years, I have yet to play a single one. It sucks to admit, but I’m so intimidated by the high-pressure reflexes and skills they demand. Despite being a fan of competitive shooters, I cannot handle the stress of just dropping onto an island so ill-prepared for the practical situations and firefights BR games want me to excel at–much less the possibility of disappointing my friends or randos during a team match due to my incompetence. So that’s why I’m hoping that the next big BR game that comes along has an in-depth practice mode that lets you play exhibition rounds with AI combatants.
I understand that most of the fun of battle royale comes from its brutal and impulsive challenge with live players. But all I’m asking for is a mode that helps you get comfortable with how they play and the tense moments that organically emerge during a match. And it would be all the better if it could offer in-depth onboarding tutorials too. I’ve had to avoid BR games for years now, but if one can provide a practice mode that goes beyond just a simple firing range, I’d be more than eager to give the genre a shot. Seriously, someone, please do this. | Matt Espineli, Editor
“A Game Within A Game” And A Social Hub (Basically, Sword Art Battle Royale)
Apex Legends proved that a fascinating narrative could live within a battle royale game; its characters with their own backstories and the actual matches tied into the game’s world in a sensible way. The way it’s framed as the “Apex Games” kind of takes the edge off the idea of people killing each other to survive, but that’s more-or-less ancillary to Apex Legends as a whole. What if instead, you have a character who is playing a BR game in their own world, essentially you (the player) being one more step removed from the savagery of the killing fields. Honestly, this is my roundabout way of justifying the call for a battle royale that’s like the Sword Art or Gun Gale Online manga/anime.
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization
Hear me out: this premise could lead towards introducing a hub area to the genre where players can hang out, engage in minigames, customize their avatars, and socialize in between actual matches. Social hubs are key parts of games like Destiny and The Division, which are open-world loot shooters, but integrating that idea into a BR game would be a nice touch. It could help occupy your time between matches as you wait for them to fill up, instead of flipping through menus of gun skins and outfits. If you take me up on this Sword Art/Gun Gale idea, maybe some slice-of-life elements can be added to fill the world outside of battle royale, which could then lead to narrative opportunities that evolve over time or with new seasons of content. And a good anime-inspired art style would seal the deal, thank you. | Michael Higham, Associate Editor
Slow Down!!
I was a PUBG diehard back in its heyday, and I thrived on doing nothing for, like, 20 minutes. Holing up in a shack somewhere with nothing but a SCAR and a dream, waiting to see whose circle luck would hold out and who would have to move, was actually exhilarating. My squad would goof off and chat until, inevitably, one of us would yell at the others to shut up because maybe there was a gunshot from the southeast. It was a lot of fun.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 – Blackout
With Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode, we got PUBG with the kinks ironed out. I absolutely loved Blackout, especially because Call of Duty players are used to going fast as heck, and I got eight kills one round just by sitting in a barn where a care package dropped as everyone rushed it (and went on to win the round with all their loot). This style of battle royale was designed for patience, and that made every victory so much sweeter.
I like Apex Legends, I really do. But everyone I know wants to drop spicy, and that’s just not my thing. It’s a much faster-paced game, and it therefore does not leave me enough time to loot and sit there. And in this go-go-go world, I’d appreciate a game that lets me escape to a place where I can actually rest for a minute–and where getting one kill at the very end is all the effort I need to put forth to feel accomplished. | Kallie Plagge, Reviews Editor
Loadouts Over Looting
It’s battle royale blasphemy to say the looting phase should be scrapped. But no one likes landing with a bunch of opponents, finding nothing but scopes and extended magazines, and getting quickly gunned down by the first person who happened to find a weapon.
If we’re looking at what’s out there now, Apex Legends at least gives you some abilities to use until you can get fully equipped. But what if those Legends also dropped in fully armed? An assault rifle fits nicely in Bangalore’s veteran hands; a Sentinel sniper complements Wraith and Revenant’s stealthy approach. If the characters weren’t assigned specific weapons at the start of a game, perhaps Call of Duty-style loadouts could be implemented. Looting could be reserved for picking up shields and attachments.
Dropping in with weapons could really mean not “dropping in” at all–it would lead to every squad landing in a bunch and immediately shooting each other. To compensate, squads could simply spawn randomly around the map. Perhaps that change also goes against the battle royale spirit, but isn’t that kind of change the exact thing that would spice up the genre? | Tony Wilson, Video Producer
More Than Murders
When Apex Legends launched, it became my new go-to battle royale game–not because the shooting was tight or that the map was well-designed–although both were true–but because of all the other little things it brought to the genre. Much has been made about the excellent ping system that makes communicating with teammates fluid and easy, and the game’s verticality, its introduction of hero characters, and its class roles expanded on the usual BR formula. The thing about Apex Legends is that it just feels like there’s more to do in any given match than just catching opponents and shooting them, and that got me thinking about all the different ways I could play any given match.
Tetris 99
We’ve seen a few interesting ideas come into the genre, but not a lot of them have stuck. The Darwin Project, for instance, impressed me when it hit early access a few years ago because of the inclusion of The Director, a flying camera controlled by a player that both added a viewpoint for spectating and gave viewers a way to affect the match, by voting on in-game events that added obstacles for the contenders. The short-lived reality show-like BR game SOS included mechanics that pushed players not to just be good fighters, but to also be good performers for the people watching–and included ways to win a match by being entertaining instead of just cracking headshots. And honestly, the one BR game I’ve sunk more time into than any other is Tetris 99 because of the way it takes a creative approach to the battle royale idea, putting a lot of the emphasis of the game experience on outlasting other players rather than outflanking them.
Apart from gimmicky seasonal events and the occasional Fortnite concert, battle royale is mostly all the same thing right now, and I’m ready for the genre to introduce new ideas, the same way first- and third-person shooters at large have evolved over time. More options for spectating and streaming would obviously help, and I want to see more interesting thinking about the way you play a BR game that goes beyond figuring out which guns to use in which situations. | Phil Hornshaw, Editor
Actual Character Creation & Customization
Any Destiny players out there know that making your character look fabulous is often half the fun. But in most battle royale games, the cost of looking good is unusually prohibitive–if the option even exists at all. In PUBG, for example, good luck indulging your high fashion sense without dropping tons of cash (and even then, your options are limited). The same goes for Apex, whose customization is prohibited further by the fact that you’re working with existing characters.
Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds
Tying cosmetics to microtransactions is nothing new. But it would be nice for a BR game to feature an actual, robust character creation tool that allowed you to make an avatar that looks the way you want–and then outfit it with swanky gear without breaking the bank. | Mike Rougeau, Entertainment Managing Editor
Billie Eilish is making the title song for the 007 movie No Time To Die, and now the singer has posted a brief teaser for it. The song is called “No Time To Die” after the movie, and it was written and performed by Eilish.
The full track will premiere on February 13 at 4 PM PT, but you can listen to a teaser below. It’s eerie and moody, not unlike many of Eilish’s tracks. Have a listen below:
Eilish wrote the song alongside her brother and frequent collaborator, Finneas. This marks a special occasion for the 007 series as Eilish is the youngest artist in history to write and perform the Bond theme song.
Eilish joins a group of iconic performers to write music for the James Bond series, which includes the likes of Chris Cornell, Paul McCartney, Jack White, Alicia Keys, Sam Smith, Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Adele, Duran Duran, and more. The score for the film will be composed by the legendary Hans Zimmer.
No Time To Die is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective). The film stars Daniel Craig as Bond, Ralph Fiennes as M, Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Miss Moneypenny, and Léa Seydoux as Madeleine Swan. Joining them for the first time will be Rami Malek, Billy Magnussen, and Ana de Armas.
No Time to Die arrives in theater in April 8.
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“So I’m not sure if even in two years I’d be — I don’t know what I’m doing in f***ing two days,” Waititi said to Variety. When asked if that means the film won’t happen, he replied, “I think eventually it will happen. I’m just not sure if I’ll be doing it.”
The filmmaker has a stacked slate ahead of him. He said he’s currently taking his time editing the Michael Fassbender comedy Next Goal Wins, but still hopes to release it by the end of 2020. After that, he’ll direct Thor: Love and Thunder, which is set for release on November 5, 2021. It was reported by Variety that screenwriter Jennifer Kaytin Robinson has been brought on to help with the Thor script before production begins in August. And somewhere during all of this, Waititi will play a role in The Suicide Squad. That film’s director, James Gunn, said on Twitter in early February that filming will be completed in less than a month.
Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN who highly recommends the What We Do in the Shadows TV series that Waititi directs. First season is on Hulu, second season airs on FX in April. But watch the movie first it’s free on Hoopla or Kanopy using your library card or school email. You have no excuse. Also, watch Flight of the Conchords. You know what, just watch everything.
Things are looking up for the X-Men lately. They have a new island nation of their own and have managed to overcome death itself (Thanks, Goldballs!). Still, we can’t help but wonder how things will inevitably go wrong for Professor X and the nation of Krakoa. Thanks to X-Men #7, we may have our answer.
Read on to learn how the X-Men may have just created their worst enemy, but beware of spoilers for X-Men #7!
Marvel’s Dawn of X relaunch has taken a dark turn of late, showing the many moral compromises necessary to keep the nation of Krakoa safe. The very existence of X-Force flies in the face of one of the three fundamental laws of Krakoa – Murder No Man. But perhaps no compromise casts a deeper stain on Xavier and Magneto’s creation than the fate of the precognitive mutant Destiny. And now that mistake may cost them everything.
Destiny played a small but pivotal role in 2019’s House of X and Powers of X. As a mutant with the power to see the future, she alone was able to sense Moira MacTaggert’s unique status in time. When Moira devoted her third life cycle to creating a cure for the mutant gene, it was Destiny who orchestrated Moira’s murder and ordered her to spend the remainder of her lives helping mutants, lest she suffer an even worse fate next time around.
The end of Moira’s third life. Art by Pepe Larraz. (Image Credit: Marvel Comics)
Moira has done as Destiny asked. Now in her tenth life cycle, she’s guided Xavier and Magneto as they’ve built Krakoa and established a better future for the mutant race. However, she’s done so from the shadows. No one else is aware Moira is still alive, much less that she’s died and been reborn in utero nine times.
That arrangement has worked so far, but there’s a big catch. Now that Xavier has the technology to resurrect dead mutants, there’s theoretically no reason he couldn’t bring Destiny back to life. In fact, the prospect of seeing her wife resurrected is the only reason Mystique has been cooperating with Xavier and Magneto. But Destiny’s resurrection is something Moira fears above all else. She refuses to allow any precognitive mutants to live on Krakoa, for fear her secrets will be exposed and a target will be painted on her back. What’s the point of all this hard work if someone can assassinate Moira and reset the X-Men timeline back to square one?
Art by RB Silva. (Image Credit: Marvel Comics)
In order to safeguard Krakoa, Xavier and Magneto have elected to deny Irene Adler her second chance at life. But that hasn’t stopped them from dangling the prospect of Destiny’s resurrection like a carrot on a stick in order to force Mystique to toe the line. X-Men #7 shows Mystique risking her life by returning to Orchis’ orbital space station. There she discovers the X-Men failed in their mission to stop the creation of the futuristic Sentinel Nimrod. Xavier and Magneto order Mystique to return again and assassinate Orchis scientist Dr. Gregor before Nimrod is completed, telling Mystique she has to “earn” Destiny’s resurrection.
After reluctantly agreeing, Mystique reflects back on a conversation she and Destiny shared years before. Destiny warned her wife that an island would be created and Mystique would be offered a new home, only to be denied the one thing she craved most. Destiny urged Mystique to do everything in her power to bring her back. And if that fails, Destiny made one simple request – “Burn that place to the ground.”
Art by Matteo Buffagni. (Image Credit: Marvel Comics)
Mystique may have been confused by that conversation at the time, but now she understands what her wife was trying to tell her. Xavier and Magneto are never going to resurrect Destiny, leaving Mystique with no recourse but to destroy the home they worked so long and hard to build. It’s not as if Mystique doesn’t have a track record of throwing the X-Men under a bus for the sake of her own selfish desires. And in this case, can you really blame her?
X-Men #7 strongly hints Mystique will become one of the major antagonists in Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men run, potentially bringing an end to the new mutant nation. We could even see her defecting to Orchis, as recent chapters of X-Men have shown that organization has found its own pathway to immortality. Maybe they can offer Mystique the one thing Professor Xavier is unwilling to provide.
