Disneyland workers could be going on strike. On Tuesday, unions representing 14,000 cast members at Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Downtown Disney, and Disney hotels announced that a strike authorization vote has been scheduled with results expected to be announced by July 20th. The members of the union represents employees ranging from custodians to merchandise clerks, to ride operators and more, according to Deadline.

Back in April, unions representing the cast members entered negotiations with Disney to ask for fair wages, safe parks for both cast members and guests, and a fair attendance policy among other things. Then, in May, cast members filed unfair labor practice charges against Disney for unlawful discipline, intimidation, and surveillance of union members at work. Those charges are currently being investigated by the National Labor Relations Board. According to a statement from the Disney Workers Rising Bargaining Committee, the move to vote for strike authorization comes after efforts to negotiate with Disney have proven unsuccessful.

"Our goal for negotiations has always been to reach an agreement with Disney -- one that provides cast members with wages they need to live in Southern California, the respect they deserve for the years they've dedicated to the company and an attendance policy that works for everyone while keeping park guests safe," the statement reads. "But instead of working with us toward a fair contract, Disney has engaged in multiple instances of conduct we allege are unfair labor practices, including unlawful discipline and intimidation and surveillance of union members exercising their right to wear union buttons at work. We know these actions are only an attempt to stop us from exercising our rights and saddle us with a contract that perpetuates the status quo at Disney."

Disney released their own statement indicating that they will meet with the group after the results of the strike authorization vote. That. meeting. is scheduled for July 22nd.

"With the next meeting scheduled for July 22, we remain committed to continuing discussions and to reaching an agreement with the Master Services Council that focuses on what matters most to our current cast members, helps us attract new cast, and positions Disneyland Resort for growth and the creation of more jobs," the Disney statement read.

This latest labor news involving Disneyland does not include cast members who are character actors. Those workers, along with the hosts, leads, and trainers who work with character performers and dancers, voted to unionize with Actors' Equity Association in May of this year.

The penultimate episode of Star Wars: The Acolyte's first season was released on Disney+ Tuesday night, and many of the big questions about the show's flashback timeline were finally answered. The third episode of the series was set entirely in the past, telling some of the story of the night on Brendok when the Jedi came for Osha and Mae and their entire coven ended up dead. This week's episode offered another account of those same events, revealing the full picture and delivering a big character twist heading into the Season 1 finale. WARNING: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for The Acolyte! Continue reading at your own risk...

Back in the third episode of The Acolyte, there was a scene that featured both Osha and Mae on either side of a collapsing bridge, with Sol on a nearby platform trying to save them. Mae's side of the bridge collapsed, but Sol was able to reach out and save Osha from the same fall (though Mae ultimately survived). In Tuesday's new episode of the series, another perspective on the same sequence painted the events in a different light.

In the penultimate episode, we learned that Sol was actually trying to save both of the twins, using his Force powers to hold up each side of the bridge. But it was clear that he wasn't going to be able to keep that up for very long, potentially risking the lives of both girls. So Sol intentionally let Mae fall, seemingly to her death, so he could save Osha.

Sol had already seen the differing attitudes from the twins when it came to the Jedi and their ways. Osha wanted to be a Jedi, while Mae rebuked them. Sol made a decision to save the one sister who wanted to go about exploring her powers "the right way," in his eyes.

What makes that twist even more impactful is remembering that Osha, his former Padawan, is no longer the sister he's with. Mae took Osha's place on the trip back to Coruscant, which means she's learning the entire truth about Sol's decision to let her die. Of course, Sol already knows he's speaking to Mae, so his honesty might end up winning her over by the time the season wraps up.

Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined.

The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Star Wars: The Acolyte premiered on Disney+ on June 4th.

My Hero Academia's manga is gearing up for its grand finale in just a few more weeks, and the creator opened up about the kind of competition he's sparked with the anime! My Hero Academia has been making its way through a special epilogue arc following the end of the final fights with the villains, and the anime itself has been kicking off these final battles in full. This means both the anime and manga are basically working through the same material for the first time in a while, and even the creator feels the pressure of it all from time to time.

With My Hero Academia's manga coming to an end later this Summer, series creator Kohei Horikoshi opened up about some of the series' highlights in a special interview with Da Vinci magazine (as spotted by @shibuyasmash on X) where he had admitted that he has a sense of competition with the anime because while the team continues to make it better than what was seen in the manga as he instructed, he also explains that he also challenges himself to do something only the manga can instead.

How My Hero Academia's Creator Competes With the Manga

"When I watch the anime, I feel like I don't want to lose to it," Horikoshi begins. "I tell the anime staff that I want them to make the anime even more amazing than the manga, but when they succeed I regret it. I try to compete with the anime in a way, doing stuff it can never do, challenging myself to create something powerful in a way that can only be done with manga. But that means I spend even more time on my drafts and drawing details, and it's gotten more and more difficult."

But there won't be too much competing for too much longer as My Hero Academia's manga will be coming to an end on August 5th in Japan. The anime, meanwhile, will be streaming through the rest of the Summer when Part 2 of Season 7 kicks in just a little under a week from the time of this publication. If you wanted to catch up with My Hero Academia's manga, you can find the latest chapters with Viz Media's digital Shonen Jump magazine or Shueisha's MangaPlus service. For the anime, you can find it streaming with Crunchyroll, Hulu, and more.

Developers Different Tales have announced that their second Werewolf: The Apocalypse game - Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Purgatory - will claw its way to a full release July 23rd across multiple platforms. The single-player narrative experience of course draws inspiration from its predecessor - Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of the Forest - though this time around players step into the shoes of Samira, a child of Gaia teetering on the edge of collapse following life-changing tragedy.

The description for Purgatory reads: "Werewolf: The Apocalypse -- Purgatory invites players to explore the dark side of (in)human nature, uncover supernatural conspiracies, and combat the deadly chaos force known as the Wyrm. Set in the legendary World of Darkness story universe, the game follows Samira, an Afghan werewolf and refugee, as she navigates a world where evil takes both human and supernatural forms."

Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Purgatory blends the fantasy thriller genre with visual novel and tabletop RPG format, bringing a game that is an accessible introduction to the World of Darkness for newcomers while delivering a thrilling new entry for veterans familiar with what the the exciting world has to offer. Additional features listed for the game per its Steam page include:

• UNLEASH THE BEAST
  

Investigate murder, monsters and madness amidst Poland's border crisis. Play as Samira, a refugee werewolf, as her search unearths dark secrets and forces her to confront her own tragedies.

• SHAPE YOUR DESTINY
  

Dive into two investigative paths in the World of Darkness. Help Samira solve a chilling supernatural murder or uncover the secrets of a formidable werewolf pack. Each decision impacts her story, revealing new secrets and leading to different endings. Caught in a Purgatory of fantasy and reality, will your choices end in light... or darkness?

• TABLETOP RPG MECHANICS
  

Navigate through the game using RPG mechanics, by balancing health, willpower, rage, skills, harano and inventory strategically, making every decision critical to your survival and progression.

• LEGENDARY WORLD OF DARKNESS LORE
  

Werewolf: The Apocalypse -- Purgatory adapts the new Fifth Edition corebook mechanics of the legendary tabletop RPG from the World of Darkness universe. Experience a classic role-playing session combined with the exciting new features of Werewolf: The Apocalypse Fifth Edition.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Purgatory will be available on Steam, GOG, the Epic Games Store, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, and in the iOS App Store for for $14.99 USD for PC and consoles and $9.99 in the iOS App Store later this month. Pre-orders for the new game begin on July 16th.

Marvel's X-Men '97 premiered under weird circumstances earlier this year as series showrunner Beau DeMayo parted way with Marvel just days before the first episodes were released on Disney+. No official word was ever revealed about why Marvel and DeMayo went their separate ways, but execs at Marvel continued to speak fondly of him and DeMayo himself continued to talk about the show as episodes were being released. Now a new update has arrived concerning the future of Marvel's X-Men '97, with a report from Deadline revealing that Marvel's What If...? scribe Matthew Chauncey is set to take over as the writer for the series.

According to the trade, Chauncey will succeed Beau DeMayo as the lead writer for the show, but Chauncey will actually be penning the THIRD season of Marvel's X-Men '97. Before parting ways with Marvel Studios, Beau DeMayo had already written both season 1 and season 2 for X-Men '97. The report goes on to note that the scripts for season 2 have been revised, but that Chauncey's work on season 3 is now in active development. He'll work along side X-Men '97 director Jake Castorena and consulting producers Larry Houston and Eric and Julia Lewald (who returned to the Marvel team after working on X-Men: The Animated Series in the 1990s).

Speaking in a previous interview with ComicBook's Phase Zero podcast earlier this year, Jake Castorena opened up about the process of Season 2 of X-Men '97, equating it to baking a cake. He added, "Nobody wants to ruin a cake. I don't want to ruin a cake. Let us bake it," Castorena laughed. "The cake is well underway and being made, being fabricated as we speak. There is no rest for the wicked I guess. To use that phrase. We rolled right into Season 2, while we were on Season 1!"

"I did write a lot of Season 2," DeMayo previously shared about his involvement in season 2 of X-Men '97. "However, unlike Season 1, I will not be heavily involved or leading production, cast records, design, editorial, post, music, etc., nor doing any production rewrites as it relates to the creative vision of the show. This is why I've said I can't really speak to Season 2. But, looking forward to seeing the final product with you all whenever it airs. I have high hopes."

Original X-Men: The Animated Series cast members Cal Dodd (Wolverine), Lenore Zann (Rogue), George Buza (Beast), Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm), Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler), and Christopher Britton (Mister Sinister) reprise their roles from the '90s series while returning cast members Catherine Disher (original Jean Grey), Chris Potter (original Gambit), Alyson Court (original Jubilee), and Lawrence Bayne (original Cable) voice new characters.

The new X-Men '97 cast includes Ray Chase (Cyclops), Jennifer Hale (Jean Grey), JP Karliak (Morph), AJ LoCascio (Gambit), Holly Chou (Jubilee), Isaac Robinson-Smith (Bishop), and Matthew Waterson (Magneto).

X-Men '97 is now streaming on Disney+.

The Mystery Machine Gang might be headed back to television in a whole new way, with a live-action Scooby-Doo series currently in the works for Netflix. The project comes courtesy of Riverdale and Arrowverse veterans Berlanti Productions, which has led fans to wonder exactly what new take on the franchise might be in store. While details surrounding the new Scooby-Doo series have been nonexistent for the better part of the past year, producer Greg Berlanti just provided a new update. In a recent interview with Deadline, Berlanti spoke about his own personal connection to the Scooby-Doo franchise, and teased that the pitch for the series' pilot episode is currently in the works.

"One of my first jobs in this business was as a temp at Hanna-Barbera," Berlanti revealed. "I'd sit with Joe Barbera and Bill Hanna while they autographed animation cels. I would go in the morning and I would retrieve with my boss a bunch of these animation cels. I'd go to Bill Hanna's office first. He was a very stoic guy. His office was very spare. And then came my favorite part of the day, going to see Joe Barbera. He was such a life force. He would sign the cels, but he would stop and regale me with the greatest stories. He was such a raconteur."

"He would tell stories of how Scooby was created and what they were thinking, and how it was the late '60s and kids felt under assault by adults, and they felt overwhelmed and they needed to be empowered," Berlanti continued. "When they pitched it to Bill Paley he was like, you need a dog or something. And that was the birth of Scooby-Doo. Joe was such a special storyteller, and I was so, wow. I'd always loved them as a kid. And again, with any of the properties be they Hanna-Barbera or DC or anything at Warners, you feel lucky to be the historian who helps usher them into a new generation. You just go back to the spirit and the DNA of what makes 'em special. With Scooby-Doo, we went out and heard pitches for a year and a half and finally found one that we really felt really captured it. I just was working on the pitch for it this morning, for the first episode. So we're really pumped."

What Is the Scooby-Doo TV Series About?

While plot details about the Scooby-Doo series remain under wraps, the series is believed to be a one-hour drama. Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg are creating the Scooby-Doo series, and would serve as writers and executive producers if the show becomes a reality. Other executive producers would include Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Leigh London Redman via Berlanti Productions, as well as Andr? Nemec and Jeff Pinkner under Midnight Radio. Jonathan Gabay of Berlanti Productions and Adrienne Erickson would serve as co-executive producers.

Tonight's episode of WWE NXT featured yet another surprise TNA crossover, but this crossover was also a long-awaited reunion for Superstar Wes Lee. Lee went out to the ring to address the crowd and his future in NXT after losing his battle for the North American Championship against Oba Femi at NXT Heatwave. Lee seemed like he was about to leave NXT (much to the crowd's dismay), but then he was interrupted by familiar music, and it was none other than TNA stars Zachary Wentz and Trey Miguel. Wentz actually debuted alongside Lee in NXT as MSK, and before that, they were part of a team with Miguel known as The Rascalz, so this was a reunion on multiple fronts. The trio is sticking around for a while in NXT, and they all shared a hug in the ring before the segment came to a close.

Rascalz Reunion

Wentz and Miguel interrupted Lee's promo as he was about to announce his departure from NXT, and the crowd chanted welcome back as they approached Lee in the ring. "You're about to say something stupid, we don't want to see Wes Lee go," Wentz said. "We have missed you so much. I can't believe we're here." More welcome back chants kicked in, and Lee said, "Just like all of them I have missed you so damn much. And look, I've been watching everything. I am really proud of the men you have become."

Miguel said, "We know", and then Wentz said, "Look, this isn't about us, this is about you. You are the greatest North American Champion ever!" Then Miguel added, "And on top of that, the two of you, are the best tag team to step foot in this very building." Wentz said, "So this is what we came for. We are here in NXT. I think it is time we get MSK back together. And, I think it's time the Rascalz wreck shop around here, what do you think?" Rascalz chants broke out and they all hugged, closing out the segment.

Where Have They Been?

Back in January of 2021, Wentz (going by Nash Carter) and Lee debuted in NXT as MSK, and they would quickly become fan favorites and Championship contenders. They would win the 2021 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and later would go on to become two-time NXT Tag Team Champions, with their last match together being at NXT Stand & Deliver in 2022. They would never get a chance to defend those Titles though, as Wentz was released by WWE shortly after the release of a photo depicting him giving the nazi salute. Wentz would apologize for the photo in a statement (via Wrestling Inc) but didn't return to WWE. Later he joined Impact Wrestling and reunited with Miguel, and now he has returned to NXT.

What did you think of tonight's NXT? You can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb.

Dungeons & Dragons has provided fans with a first look at the new Sorcerer class that will appear in the 2024 Player's Handbook. On Tuesday, Wizards of the Coast released a video showcasing the Sorcerer's new and redesigned class abilities. Sorcerers focus on modifying spells using metamagic and other abilities. While the video didn't focus much on the reworked metamagic options, it did showcase several other new abilities as well as the four subclasses that will appear in the new Player's Handbook.

One notable change to the Sorcerer is that it gains a new ability at 1st level - Innate Sorcery. This ability allows players to spend a bonus action to activate the ability and increase their DC for a spell and gain Advantage on a spell attack roll for one of the Sorcerer's spells. This is a new core ability for the Sorcerer and was described as an equivalent to the Barbarian's Rage ability. At 7th Level, the Sorcerer gains the Sorcery Incarnate that gives the Sorcerer a way to restore Innate Sorcery by spending Sorcery Points and also gives the Sorcerer the ability to use two metamagic options at the same time when Innate Sorcery is active.

The 2024 Player's Handbook will bring the Aberrant Sorcerer and Clockwork Sorcerer from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything with only minor updates, but the Draconic Sorcerer and the Wild Magic Sorcerer have both received significant updates. The Draconic Sorcerer gets an updated list of subclass spells, including the new Dragon Breath spell, which is a reworked version of the Draconic Sorcerer's subclass feature. The Draconic Sorcerer can also use a Summon Dragon spell at higher levels and eventually cast the spell without requiring concentration or a spell slot. Meanwhile, the Wild Magic Sorcerer has seen the Wild Magic table reworked with more "good" options. Additionally, players will generally have more access to the Wild Magic table, including an ability at 18th level that allows players to automatically trigger the Wild Magic table and choose which effect they want.

Because there wasn't an accompanying D&D Beyond article, some new details about the new Sorcerer class weren't immediately made available. However, players will learn more about the reworked metamagic options in the future. More details about Dungeons & Dragons' new 2024 Player's Handbook can be found here.

During last month's Nintendo Direct, a number of surprises were revealed for Nintendo Switch. While most of the spotlight was given to announcements like Mario & Luigi: Brothership and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Nintendo also announced free content for Nintendo Switch Sports. The game already offers a mix of seven different sports, and starting today, players will be able to check out Basketball, as well. The sport features a solo Three-Point Challenge, and players can also locally compete in a Three-Point Contest, or Five-Streak Battle. Last but not least, there are two-on-two matches, which can be enjoyed locally or online.

News of the new addition to Nintendo Switch Sports was surprising to say the least! The game was released more than two years ago, and hadn't gotten any kind of new content since Golf was added in late 2022. It's hard to say why Basketball is coming so long after the fact, or if it means we might see some other sports added to the package down the line. Either way, it's hard to beat something added for free, and it just might convince people to jump back into the game if they haven't played in a while.

Nintendo Switch Sports is meant to be a continuation of the Wii Sports series that started back in 2006. At launch, the game featured a mix of new and returning sports from past games: Tennis, Bowling, Chambara, Soccer, Volleyball, and Badminton. As previously mentioned, that number increased when Golf was added later, and then again today with the arrival of Basketball. If there are plans to continue supporting Nintendo Switch Sports, there are still some notable activities that never made the jump over from Wii Sports, including Boxing and Baseball.

In ComicBook's official review for Nintendo Switch Sports, I awarded the game a score of 3.5 out of 5. At the time, one of my biggest issues was that the package felt a little light for a $50 game. With the additions of Golf later that year and now Basketball, it seems that Nintendo Switch Sports has become a more robust package than it was initially!

Are you planning to check out Basketball in Nintendo Switch Sports? Do you want to see even more sports added to the game? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

Riftweaver have announced their virtual tabletop RPG Tales of Fablecraft will begin its early access period on Steam starting July 23rd. Boasting that Tales of the Fablecraft offers all the fun and excitement of a traditional pen-and-paper tabletop role-playing game, the free-to-play game will eventually allow players to buy additional adventures, dice skins, and player token skins down the road. While Tales of Fablecraft is initially releasing for PC, this is just the beginning...later this year, Riftweaver plans to implement support for Android and iOS tablets with mobile device support to follow in 2025 so even more players can experience the adventure.

The description for the virtual TTRPG per the game's Steam page reads: "Tales of Fablecraft is a cooperative virtual tabletop RPG set in the vibrant, hopeful world of Mythas. Gather your friends and embark on an adventure with integrated video chat, interactive battlemaps, and incredible digital tools perfect for veterans and the RPG-curious alike. "

Tales of Fablecraft Features

• Easy to pick up and play, in-person or remote, no TTRPG experience required
  
• Tailormade digital platform with built-in video, audio, and text chat
  
• Cross-play, (eventual) cross-platform - tablet support will be added later this year, and mobile support lands in 2025
• Ready-to-play adventures are easy for GMs to run, limited-to-no prep required
  
• Full suite of animated artwork, music, interactive battlemaps and combat VFX
  
• Create your own adventures with homebrew tools!
  

Per Tales of Fablecraft's Steam early access Q&A section, PC early access for the game will last approximately three months, though this is of course subject to change should the feedback given to Riftweaver necessitate additional in-depth changes to the game. As for what players can expect to experience in early access, Riftweaver's developers also say that "Early Access will be largely feature complete-players can roll dice, battle monsters, GM epic campaigns, and build unique heroes within the world of Mythas. Fablecraft also boasts various built-in features such as video chat, matchmaking, friends lists, and more! The full version of Fablecraft will be released with a new one-shot adventure written by Felicia Day." Early access for Fablecraft will allow players to experience just one free-to-play adventure that spans five sessions, with the ability to play multiplayer for five players and one GM, tutorials, and assets for homebrew campaigns.

Rick and Morty: The Anime will be making its highly anticipated premiere later this year, and Adult Swim has some big plans to show it off during San Diego Comic-Con 2024 this year! Rick and Morty Season 8 might not be coming our way until some time next year, but thankfully we're still going to get new entries in the franchise with the release of its full anime spin-off series. Telling a whole new kind of story not seen in the original animated series, there are still many questions about what to expect from this major makeover for the Adult Swim hit.

Adult Swim has been steadily revealing clips and smaller promotional materials through the year, but during San Diego Comic-Con they'll be showcasing the best look at the now in the works series yet. Adult Swim has revealed their panel plans for the year, and announced the upcoming "Adult Swim's "Rick And Morty: The Anime" Series First Look" panel taking place on Friday, July 26th at 12PM local time during the convention for fans in attendance with promises of new details with writer/director Takeshi Sano, producers Joseph Chou and Takenari Maeda, and Adult Swim's head of action and anime Jason DeMarco on hand to dish.

Rick and Morty Anime SDCC 2024 Panel Details

Adult Swim teases the upcoming panel as such:

• Adult Swim's "Rick And Morty: The Anime" Series First Look - Go further into the multiverse of Rick and Morty with the new series "Rick and Morty: The Anime" as it lands at San Diego Comic-Con. Writer/director Takashi Sano, producers Joseph Chou and Takenari Maeda, and Adult Swim's head of action and anime Jason DeMarco will share details about the intergalactic adventure and show you the inner workings of the new series on Adult Swim. Friday (7/26) at 12pm, Indigo Ballroom

This won't be the only plans they have for Rick and Morty: The Anime this year, however, as Adult Swim will also be livestreaming a special screening of the series' first episode alongside a few other special premieres later that Friday, July 26th evening with their official YouTube channel. This will also kick off the return of the "Anime-rican" tour featuring the Rickmobile and Mortymobile hitting up nine different cities across the country until getting to Adult Swim's home of Atlanta, GA.

Rick and Morty: The Anime will be releasing this year, but has yet to confirm a release date. The anime is teased as such, "In Rick and Morty: The Anime, a new series from the world of 'Rick and Morty,' Rick relaxes in a pseudo-world between multiverses, Summer helps Space Beth fight the evil Galactic Federation, and Morty falls in love with a mysterious girl who happens to be an atemporal being."

What a Cartoon!, one of the most influential shows in Cartoon Network's history, is coming back to TV as part of Adult Swim's Checkered Past nostalgia block! Checkered Past has been doing very well for Adult Swim as the block has been airing reruns of classic Cartoon Network series such as Ed, Edd n Eddy, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, and more. There have been a few shake ups to the schedule over the last few months, and later this month there are listings for one of the biggest shake ups yet with a grand return on the way.

What a Cartoon! was a special pilot program that Hanna-Barbera produced with the intent of trying to make as many original shows, from as many original creators as possible for the then very young Cartoon Network programming. These pilots went on to become franchises like Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, The Powerpuff Girls, and some of the most successful shows in Cartoon Network's history overall. Now these pilots will be making their way back to TV according to new listings later this July.

What a Cartoon! joins the Checkered Past lineup on July 29th at 6:00 PM! pic.twitter.com/CmiQD4j3CN

-- Swimpedia (@swimpedia) July 9, 2024

What a Cartoon! Returns to Cartoon Network

According to new listings spotted by @Swimpedia on X, What a Cartoon! will be airing with Adult Swim's Checkered Past block on July 29th with the first five pilots from the series beginning at 6:00PM. These listings could change as Cartoon Network or Adult Swim themselves have yet to promote them, but here's the current breakdown for the first few What a Cartoon! comebacks including Larry and Steve, which would eventually form the foundation for Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy.

• 6:00PM ET - Pizza Boy: No Tip - Pizza Boy tries to deliver a pizza to the Arctic Circle in five minutes to get a big tip. He has many problems on the way, like getting thrown out of a plane.
• 6:10PM ET - Help? - After Jof injures his finger while sewing, a trip to the hospital leads him to through a maze of corridors and offices where he encounters all types of quirky doctors and dubious examinations
• 6:20PM ET - Buy One, Get One Free - A man named Reilly gets a cat named Flinch in order to impress a female cat lover named Sofie and threatens the cat that if there is a scratch on anything while he's away, he will send him to the violin factory.
• 6:30PM ET - Yuckie Duck: I'm on My Way - Yuckie Duck works as a paramedic, but does more harm than good to his patients.
• 6:40PM ET - Larry & Steve - Steve, a homeless dog, is adopted by dimwit Larry (the only man to understand dog) and lives disaster after disaster when Larry takes him shopping.

Adult Swim and Cartoon Network have yet to confirm What a Cartoon!'s return as of the time of this publication, but this could be huge if these respective shorts have been restored for modern broadcast.

Two years ago the magical minds that created Baldur's Gate 3 at Larian Studios met to discuss how the team of developers would finish the game. Whatever conversations transpired in the room where this summit took place would ultimately spark the fuse that led to the studio releasing what would end up being the undisputed 2023 Game of the Year - a fact that resonated with each nomination and subsequent win at various gaming awards shows last year. As Larian approaches the implementation of Baldur's Gate 3's final major patch and hands the game off to its fans to create with official modding tools, the studio is ready to focus its attention on its next game - and in order to do so they've returned to the summit room again.

Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke shared an image of the room where both of these summits have taken place on X (formerly Twitter), noting that this time the lead developers at the studio are meeting this time around to "discuss lift off," further indicating that they're ready to dig into development on their next game. Vincke's social media post also mentions that "Spirits are high, morale is good," which further aligns with previous comments from members of the studio's team reflecting their excitement about the new project. As director of animation Greg Lidstone mentioned last month in an interview, whatever Larian is working on is "something that [he's] really excited about, that [he] can't tell [his] wife about."

What is Larian Studios' next game?

It'll likely be a while before this question can be answered with any significant specific details, but thankfully Larian Studios fans have a few details to begin swirling ideas around their brains as we wait to see what the studio is crafting. Circling back to the team's excitement, its a lack-there-of toward ideas for Baldur's Gate 4 that made Larian pass on making a sequel to their 2023 Game of the Year, and ultimately move away from the Dungeons & Dragons IP as a whole.

Larian Studios has also confirmed that the game will be an RPG, and Vincke has also built the early stages excitement for the game by stating, "I don't know if we're going to pull it off, but looking at our narrative, visual and gameplay plans, I think what we're working on now will be our best work ever. I get excited like a kid watching the key imagery, want to show it to everyone now and grumble in frustration at having to wait until it's actually all working. Yes, it's hype but it's hype because it really looks and feels good."

Yusuke Murata, artist behind One-Punch Man, Eyeshield 21 and more, has shared a cool tribute to Attack on Titan in a rather unexpected way! It's been a huge milestone for Murata as while the artist might be more well known for their work translating ONE's original webcomic into the highly successful One-Punch Man manga, Murata is one of the more notable artists that's ever run in the pages of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. A lot of this success began with the release of Eyeshield 21 (written by Dr. Stone writer Riichiro Inagaki) years ago.

Eyeshield 21 first hit the pages of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 2002, and ran for seven years before it wrapped up its run with over 300 chapters. In celebration of the manga's milestone 21st Anniversary, Eyeshield 21 has come back with a special new art book featuring special messages and arts from all sorts of creators. But this also goes the other way as well as Murata has shared a special Attack on Titan tribute combining together with Eyeshield 21 to make for one heck of a football game. Check it out below:

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7/4???#??????21?????????? pic.twitter.com/X0Ozg0jpt7

-- ???????21 BRAINxBRAVE??? 7/4?? (@eyeshield21bxb) July 9, 2024

What Is Eyeshield 21?

Originally written by Riichiro Inagaki (who went on to create Dr. Stone) with art from Yusuke Murata (the artist behind One-Punch Man), Eyeshield 21 is a little tough to check out the manga's run. There are physical volumes of the manga currently available on shelves as licensed by Viz Media, but there's currently no way to legally catch up with it online. Thankfully, you can still check out Eyeshield 21's anime adaptation now streaming with Crunchyroll.

The first volume of the Eyeshield 21 manga is teased as such, "What does a wimpy kid who's been bullied all his life have to depend on but his own two feet? Sena Kobayakawa is about to start his first year in high school and he's vowed not to get picked on anymore. Unfortunately, the sadistic captain of the football team already has his eye on Sena and his lightning-fast speed."

As for One-Punch Man, Season 3 of the anime is now in the works, but has yet to announce a release window or date as of the time of this publication for the new episodes. J.C. Staff will be returning from Season 2 to handle the animation production with Chikashi Kubota returning to design the characters together with Shinjiro Kuroda and Ryosuka Shirakawa, Tomohiro Suzuki will be handling series composition, and Makoto Miyazaki will be composing the music.

Brendan Gleeson is the latest actor to be caught within Nicolas Cage's spider web. The Golden Globe and Oscar-winning star of The Banshees of Inisherin has been cast as the villain of Sony's live-action Spider-Man Noir series for Amazon and MGM+, Variety reports. Gleeson is the latest addition to the still-growing cast that includes Cage as a version of the black-clad private investigator he voiced in 2018's animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and New Girl's Lamorne Morris as Robbie Robertson.

Details about Gleeson's role weren't immediately available, but Marvel's original Spider-Man Noir comic re-imagined many of Spider-Man's classic villains as gangster types in 1930s New York. They included Norman "The Goblin" Osborn, a carnival freak turned crime lord, and his carnie cronies Kraven (a former animal trainer), the Vulture (an animalistic freak show cannibal), and the Chameleon (a master of disguise).

Noir "tells the story of an aging and down on his luck private investigator (Cage) in 1930s New York, who is forced to grapple with his past life as the city's one and only superhero," the official synopsis states.

It has been reported that Cage's character isn't Peter Parker, who was reimagined as an investigative reporter and crusading crime-fighter who took on the mob against the backdrop of the Great Depression in the 2008 Spider-Man Noir series by David Hine, Fabrice Sapolsky, and Carmine Di Giandomenico.

Emmy Award-winning director Harry Bradbeer (Fleabag, Killing Eve) is set to direct and executive produce the first two episodes of the eight-episode series from co-showrunners and executive producers Oren Uziel (The Lost City, 22 Jump Street) and Steve Lightfoot (Marvel's The Punisher, Shantaram). The duo developed the series with Spider-Verse visionaries Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and Sony's Spider-Man movies producer Amy Pascal, with the trio also serving as executive producers.

"No one else could bring such pathos, pain, and heart to this singular character," Katherine Pope, President of Sony Pictures Television Studios, has said of Cage's Noir character. Vernon Sanders, head of television, Amazon MGM Studios, added that the Oscar-winning Leaving Las Vegas actor and Longlegs star "is an ideal choice for our new superhero."

Gleeson has starred in such dramatic fare as The Banshees of Inisherin, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Braveheart, and Gangs of New York. Along with his role as "MadEye" Moody in several Harry Potter movies, Gleeson's credits include the films Mission: Impossible II and 28 Days Later, and the television series Mr. Mercedes, The Comey Rule, and State of the Union.

My Adventures with Superman is now nearing the final episodes of its run for Season 2 with Adult Swim, and a new early preview has been released teasing Lois' struggle within the Black Mercy! Things have taken a turn for Clark as now that he's been captured by Brainiac, the newest episode of the series saw the villain dig deep into Clark's psyche to make him weak enough to have his body taken over. With the villain being successful in this matter, Lois figures her only option is to chase down Clark in his mind and save him somehow.

My Adventures with Superman ended the previous episode with Lois putting on the Black Mercy, and the early preview for Season 2 Episode 9 sees Lois waking up within Clark's mind and losing her memories in the process. But it's clear that this mental version of Clark's father and mother are much different than their real counterparts, and Brainiac is likely going to work hard to somehow erase Lois before she has an impact on Clark's current state. Check out the preview for My Adventures with Superman Season 2 Episode 9 below as released by Adult Swim.

My Adventures with Superman Season 2 Episode 9 Release Date and Time

My Adventures with Superman Season 2 Episode 9 is titled "Pierce the Heavens, Superman!" and the synopsis for the episode teases it as such, "Jimmy and Kara race back to Metropolis to stop Brainiac's invasion of Earth; Lois tries to free Clark from Brainiac's control, only to lose herself in an alternate reality where Superman never left Krypton." My Adventures with Superman Season 2 Episode 9 will be premiering on Adult Swim on Saturday, July 13th at midnight EST. If you wanted to catch up with the first season and Season 2's available episodes so far, My Adventures with Superman can also be found streaming with Max the day after their initial debut.

Adult Swim teases what to expect from My Adventures with Superman Season 2's new episodes as such, "In the latest season, the three best friends face a host of new threats. Powerful foes will emerge from Clark's alien past, Amanda Waller will take aim at Superman, Lois will grapple with the future, and Jimmy Olsen will spend an unbelievable amount of money. Krypton is coming for our young heroes, and its arrival will test their strength, loyalty, and love like never before."

My Adventures with Superman Season 3 is now in the works for a future release with Adult Swim and Max.

Following the cultural phenomenon of Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie, the world of toy-inspired movies does not seem to be slowing down. One project that actually predates Barbie's debut is a Polly Pocket movie, which was announced in early 2022 with Emily in Paris star Lily Collins set to star as the titular doll. The Polly Pocket movie was set to be written and directed by Lena Dunham, but it sounds like that is no longer the case. In a recent profile with The New Yorker, Dunham confirmed that she is no longer attached to the Polly Pocket movie, in part because of the success of Gerwig's Barbie movie. According to Dunham, she would rather dedicate her energy towards an original project, as opposed to something made by a major studio.

"I'm not going to make the Polly Pocket movie," Dunham announced. "I wrote a script, and I was working on it for three years. But I remember someone once said to me about Nancy Meyers: the thing that's the most amazing about her is that the movie she makes or the movie she would be making with or without a studio, with or without notes -- that somehow her taste manages to intersect perfectly with what the world wants. What a f-cking gift that is. And Nora Ephron, too, who was such a mentor to me, but always said, 'Go be weird. Don't kowtow to anyone.'"

"I think Greta [Gerwig] managed this incredible feat [with Barbie], which was to make this thing that was literally candy to so many different kinds of people and was perfectly and divinely Greta," Dunham continued. "And I just -- I felt like, unless I can do it that way, I'm not going to do it. I don't think I have that in me. I feel like the next movie I make needs to feel like a movie that I absolutely have to make. No one but me could make it. And I did think other people could make Polly Pocket."

What Is the Polly Pocket Movie About?

Plot details remain unknown about Polly Pocket, outside of the film being described as "a family comedy." Mattel Films boss Robbie Brenner previously expressed high hopes for the project.

"First of all, they are two of my favorite ladies ever," Brenner previously told Variety. "It's been an amazing collaboration. Lena is so collaborative and rolls up her sleeves and really likes to roll around in notes and listen. She's incredible. Lily is so smart and so specific and so productorial. It's just been an incredible collaboration, so we are thrilled about it. Hopefully, we'll be making that at some point in the future."

Microsoft is about to overhaul its Xbox Game Pass subscription service once again and in the process will be raising the costs associated with the platform. At this point in time, Microsoft has four different Game Pass offerings that subscribers can choose from. Two of these are tied solely to consoles and PC and give members a catalog of games to play, while Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is an all-in-one subscription that extends across Xbox consoles and PC. The fourth option, Xbox Game Pass Core, is the newest of the bunch and is mainly needed to play games online, much like Xbox Live Gold previously was used for. Now, more changes are on the horizon, surely to the dismay of current subscribers.

Reported by Windows Central, details of this latest shift in how Xbox Game Pass operates were provided. To start, Xbox Game Pass is going to see its cost increase to $19.99 per month, which is a $3 price increase from where it's at now. Xbox Game Pass Core will then jump from $59.99 to $74.99 per year, while the monthly cost of this tier will remain at $9.99. Lastly, Game Pass for PC will then rise to $11.99 per month from its current $9.99 value. All of these tiers won't offer anything new but will continue to exist in their current form after the price hike hits on September 12, 2024.

Outside of this shift, Microsoft is going to make Xbox Game Pass for consoles unavailable to new subscribers starting in September. Instead, it will be replaced by a new tier called "Xbox Game Pass Standard" which will cost $14.99. This Standard tier will give subscribers access to all of the games that are part of Game Pass outside of those that are "Day One" additions to the service. So, for example, a title like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 would now be available on Game Pass Standard when it launches in October. Those currently subscribed to Xbox Game Pass for console, however, will be able to continue their membership and retain access to Day One releases.

Lastly, Microsoft has also noted that it will no longer allow Xbox Game Pass subscribers to stack their subscription for multiple years in advance. Previously, when Game Pass has gone on sale, some Xbox users have chosen to purchase many months of the service at once at a lower cost. Instead, Microsoft is set to discontinue this act and will only allow Game Pass to stack to a maximum of 13 months.

When it comes to the reason behind these moves, Microsoft is surely looking to milk more money out of Game Pass, especially in light of subscribers for the service plateauing. As mentioned, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is set to be the biggest Day One game to ever be released on Xbox Game Pass. With this in mind, Microsoft almost certainly wants to raise prices ahead of the launch of Black Ops 6 to ensure that this move is one that nets the company an even larger sum of money.

One Piece officially brought Red-Haired Shanks back to the spotlight this year following the events of the Wano Country arc, and now the anime is readying for his return to action with a special new promo! One Piece: Egghead Arc has been steadily building to be an even more game changing arc than seen with Wano Country because while Luffy and the Straw Hats are in trouble on Dr. Vegapunk's future island laboratory, they are not the only crew that's been going through a massive wave of changes through the arc's events. Next we'll get an update on Kid's crew.

Much like how previous episodes of the arc showed what happened to Law's crew after they left Wano's shores, One Piece revealed that Kid's route took him to the legendary island of Elbaf. It also turns out that Shanks is there as well, and the two crews are in a collision course. To celebrate Shanks' new fight in the anime for quite a long time, One Piece has shared a special promo hyping up what Shanks is about to do in Episode 1112. Check it out in action below:

One Piece Episode 1112 Release Date and Time

One Piece Episode 1112 is titled "Clash! Shanks vs. Eustass Kid" and the promo for the episode teases it as such, "Emperor Red-Haired continues to reign over the seas! Fearlessly confronting him is a man with a bounty of 3 billion berries from the Worst Generation! Both holding fast to their beliefs, the two captains in a deep historical rivalry face off in distant Elbaf!" Premiering in Japan on Sunday, July 14th (and Saturday, July 13th internationally), One Piece Episode 1112 will be streaming with both Crunchyroll and Netflix when it drops.

If you wanted to go back and check out more of the One Piece anime from the very beginning (along with various OVAs, movies, and other specials), you can find the entire back catalog streaming with Crunchyroll with both Japanese and English language dubbed audio. You can also find the newest chapters of the One Piece manga (with the three most recent chapters being available for free) with Viz Media's digital Shonen Jump library or Shueisha's MangaPlus service if you wanted to read ahead to see what's coming next for the Egghead Arc instead.

There's also the live-action One Piece series with Netflix as it's now working on Season 2 for a release in the future, so time to catch up on the first season!

The Magicians author Lev Grossman's latest novel is already headed to television. According to Deadline, Lionsgate Television and 3 Arts Entertainment have acquired the rights to The Bright Sword, Grossman's new novel set to be published on July 16th. The series will be produced by Grossman and Erwin Stoff. A showrunner and executive producer has not yet been found. The new novel is described as "the first major Arthurian epic of the new millennium steeped in tradition, full of duels and quests, battles and tournaments, magic swords and Fisher Kings."

"My ambition with The Bright Sword was to completely reimagine the legend of King Arthur -- to make it fresh, relevant and diverse, while at the same time hanging onto all the classic elements that fans like me love," Grossman said. "I've worked with Erwin before so when he threw his hat in the ring, I knew he was exactly the right person to bring The Bright Sword to the screen. I've seen the incredible integrity, intelligence, and effectiveness he brings to his work -- he has that obsession with great storytelling and great characters that make a project like this sing."

According to the book's synopsis, The Bright Sword follows "a gifted young knight named Collum" who "arrives at Camelot to compete for a spot on the Round Table, only to find that he's too late. The king died two weeks ago at the Battle of Camlann, leaving no heir, and only a handful of the knights of the Round Table survive. They aren't the heroes of legend, like Lancelot or Gawain. They're the oddballs of the Round Table, from the edges of the stories, like Sir Palomides, the Saracen Knight, and Sir Dagonet, Arthur's fool, who was knighted as a joke. They're joined by Nimue, who was Merlin's apprentice until she turned on him and buried him under a hill. Together this ragtag fellowship will set out to rebuild a Camelot in a world that has lost its balance."

"We're thrilled to collaborate with Lev on this epic series," said Stoff, Partner, 3 Arts Entertainment. "He has a proven talent for crafting compelling, imaginative stories that captivate audiences. With The Bright Sword already receiving incredible early reviews, we're excited to bring this eagerly awaited novel to life on screen."

Grossman is best known for his Magicians trilogy -- The Magicians, The Magician King, and The Magician's Land. That series was adapted by SYFY into the television series The Magicians which ran for five seasons on the network, ending in 2020. That series followed a Quentin Coldwater, a student who enrolls at Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy to train as a magician only to discover that the magical world from his favorite childhood books, Fillory, is actually real -- and poses a threat to reality.

It's impossible to deny that anime is becoming a big business in North America. Routinely, big anime films, such as Jujutsu Kaisen 0, hit big at theaters in the West while various streaming services are attempting to carve out their own places in the anime game. Earlier this year, McDonald's teamed up with Naruto/Bleach studio, Studio Pierrot, in creating a promotional campaign, "WcDonald's", that created anime shorts, food items, and even transformed one McDonald's establishment in California for a limited time. Now, the fast food chain has teamed up with none other than Jujutsu Kaisen and we had the chance to visit New York City to learn more about the anime team-up.

The new collaboration primarily focuses on the "Special Grade Garlic Sauce", a new take on the popular "Black Garlic Sauce" in Japan. Along with offering the new sauce for a limited time, McDonald's also created new packaging for said condiments that are all reflective of the heroes and villains of Jujutsu Kaisen fame. Yuji, Megumi, Gojo, Sukuna, Nobara, Nanami, Geto, and Mahito each get their own respective covers, though the sauce remains the same. The sauce itself can only be purchased via the McDonald's App though along with the purchase, anime fans can get a thirty-day free trial of Crunchyroll to catch up on Jujutsu Kaisen's first two movies and feature-length film.

McKaisen

In attendance for the tasting event was Alvin Zhou, a food filmmaker who was quite familiar with the world of curses before walking reporters through how to make some of these items. You can check out a list of the items below that you can make for yourself. You might want to move fast however as the promotion is set to end in one week and you might never get the chance to check out the Special Grade Garlic Sauce. While the collaboration didn't give us Chicken Nuggets shaped like Sukuna's fingers, here's hoping those arrive in a future collab.

McDonald's has had several anime collaborations in the past though most were focused primarily on Japan. Teaming up with shonen franchises like One Piece, it was probably a safe bet that we wouldn't see Jujutsu Kaisen getting a Happy Meal this time around thanks to its adult subject matter. Still, it once again proves how widespread anime continues to grow in North America.

Want to see what other anime franchises team up with the Golden Arches? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for all the latest updates on wild anime crossovers.

Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest has officially kicked off the franchise's return to screens, and the first episode of the sequel anime has debuted its opening theme! Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail manga and anime came to an end a few years ago, but the official story was quietly continuing in the pages of its official sequel, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest. The sequel story kicked off around the time the anime came to an end, and has since been picking up where the original left off as Natsu and the others take on their toughest challenge yet as the strongest members in the Fairy Tail guild.

Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest is likely going to be the biggest returning franchise of the Summer 2024 anime schedule for many fans, and the first episode feels like a full return to form as fans are introduced to a few new faces before getting thrown into the real thick of it as Natsu, Lucy, and the core fighters all return to take on the titular "100 Years Quest," a quest so tough no one has completed it in that time. This all kicks off with the new opening titled "Story" as performed by Da-ice, and it features a tease of all the big battles to come.

FAIRY TAIL 100 YEARS QUEST ANIME OPENING#FairyTail100YearsQuest #FAIRYTAIL pic.twitter.com/7R7xGjqZWj

-- Daily Fairy Tail (@FT__Verse) July 7, 2024

How to Watch Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest

If you wanted to check out Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest as it airs through the Summer, you can now find the sequel anime exclusively streaming with Crunchyroll. They begin to tease the anime as such, "Fairy Tail is a gathering of rowdy wizards renowned as the strongest guild in the Kingdom of Fiore. Its strongest party--comprised of Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Grey, Erza, Wendy, and Carla--is preparing to undertake the legendary '100 Years Quest,' a mission of even higher difficulty than S-Class quests. Natsu's team earned special permission to attempt this quest after overcoming their life-or-death battles against the Black Wizard Zeref and the Black Dragon Acnologia."

The synopsis continues with, "Their destination is the first wizard guild in history, Magia Dragon, located in the far northern continent of Guiltina. However, in the hundred years since Magia Dragon was founded, no one has ever succeeded in completing this particularly brutal quest. Their first visit to Guiltina brings Natsu's team face-to-face with mysterious new towns, enigmatic new gods, and ominous new foes..."

Simone Ashley is the latest name to join Brad Pitt's F1 movie. Variety reports that the Vicountess Bridgerton will join Damson Idris in the sports drama. It's been a busy week for the F1 project after fans got a sneak peek at the film during the British Grand Prix this weekend. Now, the movie has managed to ink a social media favorite to add to that burgeoning cast. With the lengthy waits between the Bridgerton seasons, Ashley should have plenty of time to visit the track with her co-stars. Pitt has been hyping the project quite a bit in interviews. Now, fans are in the stage where something new gets reported about F1 every passing week.

Here's what Apple has to say about the electrifying movie: "Starring Brad Pitt as a former driver who returns to Formula 1(R), alongside Damson Idris as his teammate at APXGP, a fictional team on the grid, F1 has been shot during actual Grand Prix weekends as the team competes against the titans of the sport. Hailing from director Joseph Kosinski, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Plan B Entertainment and seven-time F1(R) world champion Lewis Hamilton's Dawn Apollo Films banner, the film is made in collaboration with Formula 1(R) and the F1(R) community, including the 10 F1(R) teams and their drivers, the FIA and race promoters."

Bridgerton Season 4 Is Going To Be A While

If fans are going to want to see Ashley in Bridgerton next year, they're going to be disappointed. Netflix has at least another year before Season 4 gets underway. However, that long layover doesn't mean the fans won't get together and speculate during their summer. Claudia Jesse is one of the possible protagonists for the next season of Bridgerton. She told Digital Spy that there's been no annoncement and they won't be getting it out of her just yet. But, she had nothing but nice things to say about the romantic leads so far.

"If ever that happens, I've had a good old run up," Jessie began before praising her co-stars. "So I feel like it's the people that have come before that have shown us all how to do it. Phoebe [Dynevor] took it on really beautifully. She did such an incredible job kicking off this show. And Johnny [Jonathan Bailey] and Simone [Ashley] and obviously Reg? [Reg?-Jean Page] from season one as well and then Nicola [Coughlan] and Luke [Newton]."

"More than anything as well, this show is an ensemble piece filled with so many people," the actress added. "So I really feel like each season everyone gets an opportunity to shine anyway. But yeah, I feel grateful for the run-up really, but I won't tell you anything. Because I don't know. I don't actually know the answer."

Are you interested in the F1 movie? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

Rick and Morty: The Anime, Invincible Fight Girl, and more upcoming premieres will be livestreamed during a special screening at San Diego Comic-Con 2024! Adult Swim has announced their slate of plans for San Diego Comic-Con 2024, and with them have revealed they are planning to host a huge pirate themed party featuring their current and upcoming shows. This includes some of the new shows previously announced to release some time later this year, and some that are completely new as well. But we'll soon get to see more of it in action as there will be plans to livestream a screening for each of these big premieres!

Adult Swim has announced they will be hosting "Adult Swim's Night of View," a new screening event featuring the full-length premiere episodes of Common Side Effects, Rick and Morty: The Anime, Invincible Fight Girl, and Women Wearing Shoulder Pads alongside the tease of other never before seen Adult Swim content. While fans in attendance will be able to attend the screening, Adult Swim has also confirmed they will be livestreaming the event in real-time on Adult Swim's YouTube Channel at Friday, July 26th at 7:30pm local time. So mark your calendars!

What's Coming to Adult Swim in 2024?

While Rick and Morty: The Anime was previously confirmed to release some time this year, there's a good chance Common Side Effects will be releasing some time this year as well. But the biggest surprises are the full premieres for Women Wearing Shoulder Pads, the first ever Spanish language series produced for Adult Swim, and Invincible Fight Girl, an animated series that has been in development with Cartoon Network for some time (even thought to be quietly cancelled). If these shows are scheduled to hit through the rest of the year and early 2025, we're in for a great time.

Rick and Morty: The Anime is definitely the biggest draw, however, as that seems the closest to its premiere this year. A concrete release date has yet to be announced, but San Diego Comic-Con 2024 would be a great place to announce one. The anime is teased as such, "In Rick and Morty: The Anime, a new series from the world of 'Rick and Morty,' Rick relaxes in a pseudo-world between multiverses, Summer helps Space Beth fight the evil Galactic Federation, and Morty falls in love with a mysterious girl who happens to be an atemporal being."

After nearly a decade and a half away from the spotlight, Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona are finally preparing for their long-awaited return to the big screen. On Tuesday afternoon, DreamWorks Animation announced that Shrek 5 is officially on the way and will hit theaters in 2026. The new film will reunite Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz for the first time since Shrek Forever After in 2010, but some of Shrek's biggest fans have actually been expecting this news since 2022, when DreamWorks first teased the ogre's return.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish snuck up on people when it was released a couple of years ago. The original Puss in Boots movie, which was a spinoff of the Shrek series, hit theaters in 2011 and didn't exactly leave a major impression on viewers. A decade later, The Last Wish arrived with a brand new, innovative animation style and fantastic story, earning it a ton of critical acclaim and a great showing at the box office. The film reinvigorated the excitement for the entire Shrek franchise, especially when its final scene let fans know that a potential Shrek return was (literally) on the horizon.

At the very end of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, the trio of Puss in Boots, Kitty Softpaws, and Perrito are setting sail together on the high seas. Perrito asks Puss where they're heading, and the titular hero replies, "Off to find some new adventures, and to see some old friends."

When he delivers the "see some old friends" part of the line, the score of the film changes to bring back the instantly recognizable melody from Shrek. As if that wasn't enough, a chunk of land is revealed out in front of the boat, with the enormous "Far Far Away" sign sticking out across the mountain.

It was clear in that scene that Puss in Boots was looking to reunite with Shrek and Donkey, the lifelong pals he made during the events of Shrek 2. What we didn't know at that time, though, was whether or not the tease would amount to anything. It could've just been a nice little nod to say that, after so many adventures, Puss in Boots had never forgotten his old friends.

With the critical and commercial success of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and the eternal interest in the Shrek franchise, we now know the tease was much more than a nice idea. Shrek is officially coming back, and 2026 can't get here soon enough.

The big question now becomes how the Puss in Boots ending will factor into Shrek 5. DreamWorks could use The Last Wish to set up the story of Shrek 5, meaning that Puss and his cohorts are going to be a part of the story. That said, Shrek 5 could also be used to show what Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona have been up to since Shrek Forever After, with those events taking place at the same time as the Puss in Boots films. It wouldn't be a big surprise to see Shrek 5 end with the arrival of Puss in Boots, teeing up another film featuring both sets of characters.

In a sea of unpredictable events and eye-popping gore, Chapter 170 of Chainsaw Man's manga takes the cake in many respects. As Denji continues to fight against both the Chainsaw Man Church and the Japanese government, things have only gone from bad to worse. So shocking were the final pages of the latest chapter that even the North American voice actor for Denji, Ryan Colt Levy, took the opportunity to pipe in. While it might be years before Levy gets the opportunity to re-enact this scene in the manga, it's clear that it has had an effect on the voice actor that might just as long.

Warning. If you have yet to read the latest chapter of Chainsaw Man's manga, Chapter 170, be forewarned that we'll be diving into spoiler territory. Barem Bridge hasn't exactly been the best guy for Denji to be around, as the member of the Chainsaw Man Church wants nothing more than to make sure Denji reclaims his role as the titular devil. Threatening the protagonist with never seeing Nayuta again, Barem takes him and his allies to a sushi restaurant. With the sushi on a conveyor belt, Barem informs Denji that in order to become Chainsaw Man once again, he'll need two key ingredients. Denji will need "everyone's fear" and his own "unhappiness", which Barem helps put into place by revealing the decapitated head of Nayuta.

Ryan Colt Levy Grapples With Chainsaw Man's Recent Events

Levy himself discussed the recent reveal via his social media page, stating that scenes like this are what brought him head first into the series to begin with, "I first found the manga in 2020, It was the wildest, brutal, nuanced, hysterical, deeply layered story I had experienced in a long time. I still can't tell where a page may lead & couldn't be more excited about it. I promise to keep taking care of Denji when it's our turn."

pic.twitter.com/zvOnDinyz7

-- Ryan Colt Levy ??? (@ryancoltlevy) July 2, 2024

Levy will return, most likely, for the first movie of the anime franchise, Chainsaw Man The Movie: The Reze Arc. While the first season of the anime was wild enough on its own, if the upcoming film follows the source material, it will be one of the most unbelievable anime films of all time.

Want to see what happens in the future of Denji and his voice actor? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for all the latest updates on Chainsaw Man.

You don't need to imagine how to stream IF. The family-friendly hit movie -- about a girl (Cailey Fleming) who embarks on a magical journey to reconnect imaginary friends, called "IFs," with their kids -- is now available to watch online at home. John Krasinski (the Quiet Place films) wrote and directed what he imagined as a "live-action Pixar movie," which features a star-studded cast led by Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool & Wolverine) and Steve Carell (Despicable Me 4).

Read on to find out how to watch the IF movie online and everything else you need to know about the movie.

How to Watch IF (2024) Online

As of July 9th, IF is now available to stream exclusively on Paramount+ with SHOWTIME. A subscription is required and the movie is included in both the Paramount+ Essential plan ($5.99/month) and the Paramount+ with SHOWTIME plan ($11.99/mo).

You can watch IF movie free online if you're a new subscriber and sign up for a free Paramount+ trial, which includes access to over 40,000 episodes and movies and your live, local CBS station plus SHOWTIME (for the Paramount Plus with SHOWTIME plan).

What Is the Movie IF About?

Paramount Pictures describes IF as "a heartwarming and hilarious tale about a girl who discovers that she can see everyone's imaginary friends, known as IFs. She embarks on a magical journey to reconnect forgotten IFs with their kids, before they disappear. An adventure you'll need to believe to see, IF is perfect for the whole family."

Watch the IF movie trailer below.

IF Cast and Characters

The cast of human characters includes Cailey Fleming (The Walking Dead) as Bea, Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool & Wolverine) as Bea's friend Cal, John Krasinski (Jack Ryan) as Bea's Dad, Alan Kim (Minari) as Benjamin, Bobby Moynihan (Saturday Night Live) as Jeremy, and Fiona Shaw (the Harry Potter movies) as Grandmother.

Voicing the IFs are Steve Carell (The Office) as the purple-furred Blue, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) as the rubber hose-animated butterfly Blossom, and late Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman) as Lewis, a wise old teddy bear.

IF features a cavalcade of celebrity cameo-voiced IFs, including -- [inhales for deep breath] -- Emily Blunt (The Fall Guy) as Unicorn, George Clooney (Wolfs) as Spaceman, Bradley Cooper (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Ice, Awkwafina (Kung Fu Panda 4) as Bubble, Matt Damon (Oppenheimer) as Flower, Bill Hader (Barry) as Banana, Keegan-Michael Key (Transformers One) as Slime, Jon Stewart (The Daily Show) as Robot, Maya Rudolph (Loot) as plush alligator Ally, Richard Jenkins (Step Brothers) as Art Teacher, Blake Lively (A Simple Favor) as the octopus costume-clad Octocat, Sam Rockwell (Argylle) as dog superhero Guardian Dog, Sebastian Maniscalco (The Super Mario Bros. Movie) as the mini Magician Mouse, Matthew Rhys (Perry Mason) as the crowned Ghost, Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer) as Gummy Bear, and Brad Pitt as the invisible IF Keith.

IF Movie Age Rating

IF is rated PG for "thematic elements and mild language," referring to the use of "hell" and "damn." Here's a handy, spoiler-free guide to help parents determine if the IF movie is too sad or scary for younger kids.

A handful of new games that should be coming to the Game Catalog for PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers have reportedly leaked ahead of an official announcement from Sony. As of this past week, Sony pushed live July 2024's free games for all PS Plus members which included Borderlands 3, NHL 24, and Among Us. Per usual, the new additions to the Game Catalog are expected to drop this coming week and should contain some pretty major titles across PS5 and PS4.

In a new report from Dealabs, a number of games planned to be added to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium for July were divulged. According to this report, July's standout additions to the Game Catalog will be Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion and Remnant 2, both of which have released on PlayStation platforms somewhat recently. Other games that are said to be rolling out this month include Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord, No More Heroes 3, and Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes. Remnant: From the Ashes was also mentioned as one potential arrival on the PS Plus Game Catalog, but this wasn't said to be definite just yet. As for when all of these games would go live, they would become downloadable next week on July 16th.

If this lineup is indeed true, then we shouldn't have to wait much longer to find out. Sony always announces its latest round of PS Plus Game Catalog titles six days before they release, which is always on the third Tuesday of the month. As a result, this reveal should take place tomorrow, July 10th, at which point we'll have a full glimpse of what's bound for PlayStation Plus. When that announcement does take place, we'll be sure to update you here on ComicBook.

Until that time, how do you feel about many of these potential add-ons to PlayStation Plus in July? Is there anything here that you would look to play for yourself if you're a subscriber to PS Plus Extra or Premium? Let me know your own thoughts over on social media at @MooreMan12.

Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom will be the first movie for the long running franchise, and the producer behind it all revealed it will be over two hours long! Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom was announced alongside Season 4 of the TV anime, and with the anime then completed, work in full on the new movie began as it takes on the next major arc from Kugane Maruyama and so-bin's original light novels. Speaking about the upcoming film at a press conference in Japan, producer Kazufumi Kikushima revealed that the team is likely going to be working on it "right up to the very last minute."

Noting that all voice recording is done, and that the animation team wanted to craft their work to the voice performances themselves, Kikushima noted that Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom is over two hours long and what has been previewed already is only the tip of the iceberg. To celebrate this newest update, you can check out the exclusive IMAX poster for its upcoming release below as it gears up to hit theaters across Japan later this Fall.

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IMAX???????????????#overlord_anime #??????? #??? pic.twitter.com/GTkhUNU9xO

-- ???????/????? (@over_lord_anime) July 7, 2024

Overlord Movie Release Date

Directed by Naoyuki Ito for studio Madhouse with character designs from Satoshi Tasaki and music composed by Shuji Katayama, Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom will first be hitting IMAX theaters in Japan on September 13th before hitting other theaters on September 20th. Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment have licensed Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom for a release in the United States in the future but have yet to confirm a release window or date.

They begin to tease the movie as such, "After twelve years of playing his favorite MMORPG game, Momonga logs in for the last time only to find himself transported into its world playing it indefinitely. Throughout his adventures, his avatar ascends to the title of Sorcerer King Ains Ooal Gown. Once prosperous but now on the brink of ruin, The Sacred Kingdom enjoyed years of peace after construction of an enormous wall protecting them from neighboring invasions. But, one day this comes to an end when the Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth arrives with an army of villainous demi-humans."

The synopsis continues with, "Fearing invasion of their own lands, the neighboring territory of the Slane Theocracy is forced to beg their enemies at the Sorcerer Kingdom for help. Heeding the call, Momonga, now known as the Sorcerer King Ains Ooal Gown, rallies the Sorcerer Kingdom and its undead army to join the fight alongside the Sacred Kingdom and the Slane Theocracy in hopes to defeat the Demon Emperor."

via Comic Natalie

A24 has tapped Jennifer Lawrence to headline a new movie based on Paul B. Rainey's graphic novel Why Don't You Love Me?. The movie, which will be adapted by screenwriter Robert Funke (On Becoming a God in Central Florida), centers on a couple whose troubled marriage seems to reflect a general unease about the nature of the universe around them. A24 and Apple Studios recently announced that Lawrence would star in the murder mystery The Wives, which she will also produce. Lawrence will also star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese's new Frank Sinatra biopic.

No one has yet been cast to star as Lawrence's husband. Lawrence will serve as producer for Why Don't You Love Me? alongside Ciarrocchi for Excellent Cadaver, Ari Aster, Lars Knudsen, and Emily Hildner for Square Peg, and A24 (per Deadline, who first announced the deal). Rainey will serve as executive producer.

This is the latest in a series of collaborations between Lawrence and Apple, who also distributed Causeway (with A24) and the documentary Bread & Roses, which Lawrence produced.

Jennifer Lawrence first rose to fame when she was nominated for an Academy Award for Winter's Bone in 2011, and she quickly shot to global movie star status after starring as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games in 2012. Lawrence reprised the role in three more films, and went on to vary her career between big, crowd-pleasing roles and more critically-acclaimed movies like American Hustle and Mother!. She also starred in Fox's revival of the X-Men franchise, appearing as Mystique in four movies between 2011 and 2019.

Here's the official synopsis for No Hard Feelings, now streaming on Netflix, for which Lawrence earned her most recent Golden Globe Award nomination:

"Maddie thinks she's found the answer to her financial troubles when she discovers an intriguing job listing: wealthy helicopter parents looking for someone to "date" their introverted 19-year-old son, Percy, and bring him out of his shell before he leaves for college. But awkward Percy proves to be a real challenge, and time is running out. She has one summer to make him a man or lose it all."

The film is directed by Gene Stupnitsky, who co-wrote the script with John Phillips. Lawrence stars alongside Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Natalie Morales, Scott MacArthur, and Matthew Broderick. Alex Saks, Naomi Odenkirk, Marc Provissiero, Justin Ciarrocch, and Jennifer Lawrence produced the film.

From Me to You: Kimi ni Todoke is one of the major franchises returning for new episodes as part of the new wave of anime hitting this Summer, and the massively popular romantic comedy is coming to Netflix for Season 3 this August! Kimi ni Todoke wrapped up the first two seasons of the anime adaptation taking on Karuho Shiina's original manga back in 2010, and shockingly it was announced over a decade later that the anime would be returning for a third season. Picking up right from where everything left off, fans of the classic anime will be able to finally continue seeing how this romance develops further.

Previously confirming it would be coming to Netflix some time this Summer, Kimi ni Todoke has officially announced that Season 3 will premiere on August 1st. To help celebrate, Netflix has released a new trailer for the new season that offers the best and fullest look at the coming episodes yet. This also features the first bit of the new opening theme for the season titled "et cetera" as performed by iwase. You can check out the trailer for Kimi ni Todoke Season 3 below.

When Is Season 3 of Kimi ni Todoke Coming Out?

Kimi ni Todoke - From Me To You Season 3 will be launching worldwide with Netflix beginning on August 1st. Kenichi Matsuzawa will be directing the new season for Production I.G. Tomoko Konparu returns from the first two seasons to oversee and co-write the scripts together with Michiko Yokote, and S.E.N.S. Project returns to compose the music. Confirmed returning cast includes Mamiko Noto as Sawako Kuronuma, Daisuke Namikawa as Shota Kazehaya, Miyuki Sawashiro as Ayane Yano, Yuko Sanpei as Chizuru Yoshida, Yuichi Nakamura as Ryu Sanada, Mamoru Miyano as Kento Miura, Yuki Ono as Pin, and Aya Hirano as Ume Kurumizawa.

If you wanted to see the first two seasons of the anime, you can find Kimi ni Todoke streaming on Netflix, Hulu, and Crunchyroll. There's also the live-action TV series streaming with Netflix as well. As for what is coming our way in Kimi ni Todoke Season 3, Netflix teases what to expect from the new season as such:

"What do you do once you're a couple? Although she struggles with her blossoming feelings, Sawako comes to terms with herself and tells Kazehaya how she feels about him. Attracted by Sawako's unnoticed efforts and genuine personality, Kazehaya also candidly makes his feelings known. Thus, their new relationship begins. Their first date, their school life together, joy, embarrassment and new struggles -- everything is fresh and new as the couple awkwardly and gradually learns more about one another, all while their friends' love stories begin to take shape as well. This bittersweet and poignant story of young people, woven from their romantic feelings and dear friendships, begins once more."

We're officially returning to the land of Far, Far Away. On Tuesday, DreamWorks Animation officially announced that a fifth Shrek movie has been greenlit, and is currently on track to be released in theaters on July 1, 2026. Shrek 5 will feature a number of returning voice actors from the franchise, including Mike Myers as Shrek, Cameron Diaz as Fiona, and Eddie Murphy as Donkey. This confirmation comes after Murphy recently hinted thaat work on Shrek 5, as well as an untitled Donkey spinoff film, were both in the works.

"I started recording Shrek, I think it's coming out in 2025, and we're doing a Donkey one next," Murphy told Collider.

Not too Far, Far Away... @Shrek 5 is coming to theaters on July 1, 2026 with Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz. pic.twitter.com/3j6ctXpPGu

-- DreamWorks Animation (@Dreamworks) July 9, 2024

Will Shrek 5 Be a Reboot?

Shrek 5 has been in development in one way or another for the better part of a decade, with writer Michael McCullers hinted that it would bring "a pretty big reinvention" to the franchise as a whole. This made some question if the film would be a full-fledged reboot, or just a brand-new story with the original cast. 2022's spinoff film Puss in Boots: The Last Wish briefly hinted that Shrek 5 was in store, teasing that Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) and his friends were headed to reunite with "some old friends" in Far, Far Away.

"I've been with this cat for almost 20 years," Banderas previously teased in a 2022 interview. "The first time I did Puss In Boots, I was working on broadway, so I did my first session there. I've done five movies now. There is probably gonna be another, and Shrek is probably coming back."

Why Is Shrek So Popular?

The film franchise, based on William Steig's children's book of the same name, has been nothing short of a cultural juggernaut, inspiring a Broadway musical, fan-made celebrations, and countless other tributes. As the franchise's original co-director, Vicky Jenson, revealed to ComicBook in 2021, the accidental success of Shrek was nothing short of a surprise.

"It was sort of a parody of these kinds of movies, animated fairy tales, and the only one doing that at the time was Disney over the years," Jenson explained. "The Disney model was still very reverential, and very aspirational, and inspirational and the musicals were composed for the movie, so you would never have this indie influence of existing songs dropped in for score, to set a mood. So no one, as far as I know, had done that in an animated movie and relied on that to hit the key emotional moments in the movie as a live action movie would. And then the tone, the reverential irreverent humor, was also a bit different. Not taking itself too seriously, but at the same time letting real feelings come through. Shrek used humor to keep everybody away, but he had a broken heart and when he revealed it to Donkey, you felt it. So yeah, finding the balance, it was trial and error. That's the benefit of animation."

As mentioned above, Shrek 5 will be released exclusively in theaters on July 1, 2026.

Filmmaker Sam Raimi got his start in the world of horror, and while genre fans will always think of him as a horror filmmaker first and foremost, he would go on to helm massive blockbusters, such as a trilogy of Spider-Man movies starring Tobey Maguire and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. News comes from Deadline today that Raimi has been tapped to direct the horror movie Send Help, which marks his first time directing a horror movie since Drag Me to Hell in 2009. While Raimi has produced horror movies and directed horror TV shows in the last 15 years, this marks his first return to feature-length horror directing in more than a decade.

Deadline describes of the new movie, "According to our sources, the film is described as a two-hander horror thriller set on an island. The story is said to fall somewhere between Rob Reiner's Stephen King adaptation Misery and Robert Zemeckis' classic Castaway."

Send Help was written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, who wrote 2003's Freddy vs. Jason and the 2009 Friday the 13th reboot.

The movie that helped put Raimi on the map was The Evil Dead, which earned a positive endorsement from horror writer Stephen King. Raimi earned enough support from the picture to develop Evil Dead II, which served both as a reboot of the original experience as well as an expansion on the ideas, with he and star Bruce Campbell ultimately concluding the trilogy with Army of Darkness.

Raimi offered up audiences a variety of experiences in the '90s with projects like Darkman, The Quick and the Dead, and The Gift, before entering the world of Marvel with 2002's Spider-Man. DC projects like Superman and Batman dominated the big screen for years, though 2000's X-Men marked a turning point for the Marvel universe. While that movie was a modest hit that generated excitement in other Marvel characters, Raimi's Spider-Man was a massive blockbuster, as were the next two films in the trilogy.

The success of Spider-Man also resulted in a variety of other Marvel figures jumping to the big screen, though Daredevil, Fantastic Four, and Ghost Rider all failed to live up to the critical success of Raimi's films. By the late 2000s, Marvel Studios launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which brought to life characters who weren't owned by Sony or Fox.

While Raimi returned to his horror roots with Drag Me to Hell and also developed the Evil Dead sequel series Ash vs. Evil Dead, he had the full-circle moment of returning to the world of Marvel 20 years after he helped pave the way for the Marvel renaissance when he directed the Doctor Strange sequel in 2022.

Stay tuned for updates on Send Help.

Are you looking forward to the project? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

The heat is back on. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F -- the straight-to-Netflix sequel starring Eddie Murphy in the title role for the first time in three decades -- debuted at No. 1 on the Netflix Top 10 with 41 million views, the streamer announced Tuesday. Since premiering on July 3rd, the long-awaited Beverly Hills Cop 4 has dominated the Films (English) list for the week of July 1st - July 7th with 80.7 million hours viewed.

The premiere topped such Netflix original movies as Adam Sandler sci-fi drama Spaceman (8.8 million views), Zack Snyder's sci-fi epic Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver (21.4 million), Jerry Seinfeld comedy Unfrosted (7.1 million), the Jennifer Lopez sci-fi action movie Atlas (28.2 million), and the Jessica Alba-starring action-thriller Trigger Warning (25.7 million). Axel F is also in Netflix's Top 10 films in 93 countries, including its No. 1 debuts in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, South Korea, and Australia.

A Family Affair, the Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman romcom, came in at No. 2 on the U.S. chart for the same time frame with 31.9 million views in its second week on the Top 10. Trigger Warning ranked No. 3 after adding another 8 million views during its third week on the chart.

Rounding out the Top 10: Paw Patrol: The Movie's (2021) nine-week streak continues at No. 4 with 5.2 million views; Warcraft (2016) at No. 5 (4.1 million); The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) added another 3.7 million views to take No. 6 after 17 weeks in the Top 10; Miraculous World: Shanghai, The Legend of LadyDragon at No. 7 (3.6 million); The Equalizer (2014) at No. 8 (3.5 million); The Hard Way (2019) at No. 9 (3.4 million); and Minions (2015) at No. 10 (3.3 million).

In Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Det. Axel Foley (Murphy) is back on the beat in Beverly Hills. After his estranged daughter Jane's (Taylour Paige) life is threatened, she and Foley team up with a new partner -- Beverly Hills Det. Bobby Abbott (Gordon-Levitt), and Axel's old pals, Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Taggart (John Ashton) -- to turn up the heat and uncover a conspiracy. Bronson Pinchot (1984's Beverly Hills Cop), Paul Reiser (1987's Beverly Hills Cop II), and Kevin Bacon (Footloose) also star.

The Conjuring 4 has finally gotten a release date. Warner Bros. Says that "The Untitled Conjuring Finale" will hit theaters on September 5, 2025. This news comes tethered to an announcement of Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride moving up a month to September 29, 2025 as well. That fall is going to be a busy month for Horror fans. Not only will they be able to see The Bride and another Conjuring movie. But, Universal's Saw XI hits theaters in the later part of the month. As it stands, this is looking like the swan song for James Wan's fan-favorite scary franchise. He's been hinting at this next movie being the end of the road for a while.

In an interview with Collider, the director laid out some thoughts about the final Conjuring film. They're trying to do their best to wrap things up in a satisfying manner. "Yeah, we are working on it right now. With the Conjuring films, we are very precious about [them]," Wan previously said. "And so we kind of want to just take our time to make sure we get it right and to make sure the emotion of the Warren stories that we want to tell, and moving into, and potentially wrapping up, we just want to make sure that it's the right thing, the right story that we're telling."

The Nun II Heralded The End Of The Conjuring

By all indications, this is the final trip to The Conjuring universe. (Barring a potential reboot down the line.) According to our ComicBook critic Kofi Outlaw, the franchises' last experience kind of heralded this development. The Nun II wasn't exactly reinvinteing the wheel during its run. So, our writer argued that it was probably time to close up shop.

"The Nun II is the eighth film in The Conjuring franchise, and it's also the clearest example yet that this franchise is starting to stretch itself thin. The story of the sequel picks up four years after the first film, in 1956," Outlaw says. "Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) has been trying to live a quiet life in a convent in Italy. Meanwhile, Frenchie/Maurice (Jonas Bloquet) has been slowly making his way across Europe, still unaware that the dreaded demon Valak attached itself to him when he save Irene from being possessed in the first film."

He adds, "However, as Valak gets closer and closer to a holy artifact that's been missing for years, its evil begins to manifest in stronger and stronger waves at a boarding school in Tarascon, France. Eventually, the church gets wind that the demon is still alive and active, and Irene is recruited to hunt down and battle the evil entity again."

Are you hyped for the end of the series? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

Following a tease in the Season 11 trailer last month, a new Transformers collaboration event is now live in Overwatch 2. The crossover features skins based on four of the most popular characters in the Transformers franchise. Representing the Autobots are Optimus Prime (Reinhardt), Bumblebee (Bastion), and Arcee (Illari). Just one Decepticon will be featured in the event, and that is, of course, Megatron (Ramattra). The designs are mostly inspired by the classic G1 takes on the characters, rather than their appearances in the Paramount+ EarthSpark series, or the upcoming movie Transformers One. However, all of them have been tweaked just enough to make them fit in well with the world of Overwatch.

A trailer featuring the new Transformers skins from Overwatch 2 can be found below.

Hero bundles for each of these Overwatch 2 characters are now available in the in-game shop. In addition to the skin, buyers will also receive victory poses, player icons, and more. Diehard Transformers fans can get all of the game's collaborative content with the Transformers mega bundle. Each of the individual bundles costs 2,500 Overwatch Coins, while the mega bundle can be obtained for 5,900. For those planning to buy more than two of the bundles, the mega bundle is a much better option!

Out of all the skins revealed today, Reinhardt's Optimus Prime design is probably the best. It genuinely looks like Optimus, and does a great job conveying the character. Sometimes these types of collaborative events don't do the best job evoking the franchise, but Blizzard really captured the most iconic aspects of Prime's design. Unfortunately, the same can't quite be said for Megatron; the color scheme is perfect, but the overall design doesn't really match the Decepticon leader. Still, it's a minor complaint when the others look as strong as they do. Illari's Arcee skin in particular is a great take on the character's appearance in 1986's Transformers: The Movie.

As with all of the skins in Overwatch 2, any Transformers content purchased will unlock across all of the game's platforms, including PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Are you planning to purchase any of these Transformers skins in Overwatch 2? Would you like to have seen any different characters selected? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

For the first time since the original publication in 1954, a new edition of The Lord of the Rings launched in 2021 that includes illustrations, sketches, and maps from author J.R.R Tolkien. This was followed by The Hobbit Illustrated and the Silmarillion Illustrated Editions, all of which have been huge sellers. If you haven't picked them up yet, now would be a great time. All of the books are massively discounted, especially the standard and special editions of LOTR which are currently sitting at all-time low prices thanks to coupon bonuses.

• The Lord of the Rings Illustrated (Standard Edition) / $24.35 after 65% discount and $7 coupon (Prime members only) - See on Amazon
• The Lord of the Rings Illustrated (Special Edition) / $94.66 after 56% discount and $14.31 coupon - See on Amazon
• The Silmarillion Illustrated / $31.66 after 47% discount and $8.42 coupon - See on Amazon
• The Hobbit Illustrated / $40.59 (46% off) and part of an Amazon B2G1 free sale - See on Amazon

Deb Brody, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's vice president and publisher notes that Tolkien was "characteristically modest, dismissive of the obvious and rare artistic talent he possessed despite having had no formal training. This modesty meant that relatively little else of his artwork was known of or seen during his lifetime, and generally only in scholarly books afterwards."

What Is The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 About?

"What I know and what I can say for a fact is that it's going to be darker, and it's going to be edgier and more character-driven," Season 2 director Charlotte Br?ndstr?m shared with MovieZine earlier this year. "I still think that we have some very interesting episodes coming up. I watched all of them over Christmas, just the cuts. I think it's going to be a very good season. We tried to make it more gritty, a little bit more dirty I guess. And not in the image, but to make it as authentic as possible. We have some very surprising twists and turns in it as well."

Stay tuned for updates on Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which is expected to premiere on Prime Video on August 29th.

One of the biggest new anime sequels of the year has been Roze of The Recapture, the surprising return of Code Geass' universe. While the series might take us back to the conflict between Japan (aka Area 11) and the empire known as Britannia, the sequel is following two new protagonists in Rose and Ash. Luckily, the franchise has not forgotten about the one that started it all as it seems that Lelouch's return might be imminent. Needless to say, it appears as though Roze of The Recapture has some big surprises in store as the sequel continues to release new episodes.

Lelouch has often been considered by many anime fans to be one of the greatest examples of an anime protagonist. Brought up in a world wherein he swore revenge against the Britannian Empire, Lelouch would spend a lot of his time conning some of the richest members of the upper class in chess and other games. When Lelouch discovered an experiment that was hidden by the empire, he was given a "Geass", aka a power that allowed him to order one command that anyone who looked in his eyes must obey. While he could only command an individual once, his intuition and genius along with the superpower made him a threat to be reckoned with.

Lelouch's Big Comeback

Lelouch recently appeared before Sakuya Sumeragi, one of the biggest new characters to premiere in the Code Geass sequel. The third episode did have the original protagonist arrive on camera but there are still plenty of questions regarding his return along with what the future of the sequel series is now that Lelouch is in the picture.

My King Lelouch is here ?

Via Code Geass: Roz? of the Recapture pic.twitter.com/t4J5gJvUbf

-- Anime News And Facts (@AniNewsAndFacts) July 5, 2024

If you want to learn more about Roze of The Recapture, here's how the franchise describes the sequel that brings anime fans back into the world of Code Geass, "The story follows two mercenary brothers from what was once Hokkaido in Year 7 of the Kowa era: Ash, the elder with high athletic and Knightmare piloting abilities, and Roz?, the younger with a knack for collecting intelligence and leadership, who embark on a quest to recapture Empress Sakuya from the clutches of the Neo Britannian Empire."

Want to see what Lelouch's return means for Roze of The Recapture's future? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for all the latest updates on Code Geass and its ever-expanding universe.

Make room on your shelf because three new figures are heading to the DC Multiverse McFarlane Collector Edition lineup - an awesome original Red Hood (Detective Comics), Ragman (Shadowpact), and Clock King. Additional details about the figures haven't been revealed, but look for them to be available to pre-order starting on July 12th at 9am PT / 12pm ET.

After the launch, you should be able to get your pre-orders in via the links below. Note that U.S. shipping is free at Entertainment Earth on orders $79+. Direct links will be added after the products drop, so stay tuned for updates. In addition to Red Hood, Ragman, and Clock King, we've also added some details on additional upcoming McFarlane Toys product launches that will be available outside of SDCC 2024, including the first drops in their Marvel collection.

• McFarlane Collector Edition DC Multiverse Red Hood - See at Entertainment Earth / Amazon
• McFarlane Collector Edition DC Multiverse Ragman - See at Entertainment Earth / Amazon
• McFarlane Collector Edition DC Multiverse Clock King - See at Entertainment Earth / Amazon

McFarlane Toys has partnered with Marvel to create 1:6th scale posted figures inspired by Todd McFarlane's iconic artwork featuring Spider-Man and Captain America on the covers of Amazing Spider-Man #301 and The Amazing Spider-Man #323 respectively. Each figure will include an an environmental base, a diorama backdrop, comic book reprint, and an art card. Look for these figures / statues to launch on July 18th at 9am PT / 12pm ET via the retailers listed above.

McFarlane Toys' Marvel collection will also include 1:10th scale posed figures based on cover art by Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, Steve Ditto, John Romita Sr., and Rob Liefeld. Characters featured will include Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Iron Man, and Deadpool. Release dates for these figures haven't been revealed, but they should be available at some point this summer. McFarlane had the following to say to ComicBook about the future of the lineup:

"Well, you know, I sort of got a soft spot for some of the guys I grew up with," McFarlane said. "I'm gonna do a tip of the hat in the first series to Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld because I thought that during that whole era where we came along, we sort of each made our mark in different ways that were there."

"Eventually, I'd like to tip my hat to some of the people that inspired me a ton, George Perez and John Byrne," McFarlane said. "But I also know that there's a whole generation that have come in who those aren't the guys they grew up with, right? It's more of people that they're looking at right now. And whether it's the interior artist and, or the cover artist, I'll be sort of looking at what they're asking for and giving them that."

Finally, look for DC Multiverse Batman/Superman Fusion (World's Finest), Dick Grayson Batman (Batman: Reborn), and Adam West Batman '66 figures to launch in on July 25th at 9am PT / 12pm ET. Once again, they should be available after that time at the retailers listed above.

Godzilla Minus One might be streaming on Netflix but that isn't stopping many kaiju fans from wanting to get their own physical copy of the Academy-Award winning film. Luckily, we have some good news for King of the Monsters' enthusiasts as Toho International is bringing the film to North America on Blu-Ray later this year. We have some exclusive information when it comes to the critically and audience-acclaimed film that took the world by storm.

Toho President Koji Ueda shared a special message regarding the upcoming Godzilla Minus One Blu-Ray set, "We fully recognize a major driving force behind the success of Godzilla Minus One was the way the passionate fan community embraced the film. As the distributor for the North American release, Toho International's goal was to treat the release as seriously as any other, giving it the respect it deserved and that the community who has embraced the franchise for so many years equally deserved." You can order the Blu-Ray set by clicking here.

Godzilla Minus One Exclusive Box Set Details & Images

The original Japanese Blu-Ray Set hit the East on May 1st earlier this year. While Toho didn't reveal a specific release date, they did confirm that it will arrive in September this fall. Here is a breakdown of the features that will make up this city-destroying Blu-Ray Set:

Disc 1: Godzilla Minus One 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
? 125 minutes / 3 layers (100G) / 4K 2160p 16:9 scope size / Dolby Vision
? Audio: (1) Japanese Dolby Atmos (2) Japanese 5.1ch Dolby TrueHD (3)
Japanese 2.0ch Dolby TrueHD (4) Barrier-free Japanese audio guide 2.0ch
Dolby TrueHD
? Subtitles: (1) Barrier-free Japanese subtitles (2) English subtitles

Disc 2: Godzilla Minus One Blu-ray
? 125 minutes / Trailer compilation / 2 layers (BD50G) / 1080p High Definition 16:9
scope size
? Audio: (1) Japanese Dolby Atmos (2) Japanese 5.1ch Dolby TrueHD (3)
Japanese 2.0ch Dolby TrueHD (4) Barrier-free Japanese audio guide 2.0ch
Dolby TrueHD
? Subtitles: Barrier-free Japanese subtitles (2) English subtitles
? Trailer Collection (Japanese language only)
? Special Announcements 1 & 2
? Trailer
? TV Spot
? No. 1 Edition/That's Godzilla Edition/A Glimmer of Hope Edition/The
World Praises Edition/Live and Resist Edition/Against Godzilla Edition
? 6-Second Bumper
? IMAX PR Video
? ScreenX PR Video
? TOHO CINEMAS MOVIE LINE UP
? Cinema Mileage Announcement

Disc 3: Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color Blu-ray
? main feature 125 minutes / Godzilla-1.0/C trailer / 2 layers (BD50G) / 1080p High
Definition 16:9 scope size

Disc 4: Bonus Blu-ray (Japanese language only)
? recording length: 240 minutes / 2 layers (BD50G) / 16:9 / 1080p High Definition
(some 1080i)
? Audio: Japanese 2.0ch Dolby Digital
? Subtitles: NOTE - NO ENGLISH SUBTITLES
? <Contents (Bonus DISC)>
? Making of
? VFX Making of
? Release commemorative special program "Behind the scenes: The
movie "Godzilla-1.0" -No.30-
? Event footage:
? September 4, 2023: Completion report press conference
? October 18, 2023: World premiere red carpet event
? October 23, 2023: Tokyo International Film Festival opening red
carpet
? November 1, 2023: Tokyo International Film Festival closing
screening stage greetings
? November 3, 2023 (National Holiday): Opening day stage
greetings
? November 8-10, 2023: North American premiere
? November 29, 2023: Sapporo event
? Yamazaki Takashi Selection Talk Show
? September 15, 2023: "Yamazaki Takashi Selection
Godzilla Screening" 1st (Guest: Higuchi Shinji)
? Friday, September 29, 2023: "Yamazaki Takashi
Selection Godzilla Screening" Vol. 2 (Guest: Murase
Keizo)
? Friday, October 13, 2023: "Yamazaki Takashi Selection
Godzilla Screening" Vol. 3 (Guest: Kaneko Shusuke)
? October 27, 2023: "Yamazaki Takashi Selection Godzilla
Screening" Vol. 4 (Guest: Anno Hideaki)

? Specifications and Enclosures
? 4-disc Digipack + outer case specifications
? Special booklet (Japanese language only)
? "Special Disaster Response Materials Compilation" Abridged version (Japanese
language only)

Deadpool & Wolverine teased some big changes for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the movie's latest TV spot. On social media, Deadpool & Wolverine showed off more of Matthew MacFadyen's Paradox delivering a speech to Wade Wilson. He calls Deadpool "a hero among heroes," or at least he claims he can become one of them. The Time Variance Authority worker also says that the mercenary has been chosen for a "higher purpose" in saving the multiverse. (That sure does sound similar to another MCU favorite who has tangled with the TVA before...) So, the table is set for Ryan Reynolds' hero to tangle with the big bad of the film, Cassandra Nova. You can check out the new teaser down below for yourself.

Another fun nugget from the trailer is that Cassandra Nova, played by Emma Corrin, actually puts those telepathic powers to work against Deadpool & Wolverine. The previous footage of the duo walking into a town set from earlier trailers appears to end with them being blown an entire city block through the front window display of a store. Corrin's villain is on a different level than some of the bad guys that Deadpool has come across in his own universe. By the looks of things, even having a Wolverine handy might not be enough to stop what's coming. Dogpool is also with Wade and Logan at this point as Hugh Jackman's X-Men insults his friend. The hype continues to build until Deadpool & Wolverine's release in just 3 weeks!

The TVA Teases Big Things For Deadpool & Wolverine

If the words Time Variance Authority made you double-take up above, the might be expected. The TVA appeared in Marvel's Loki series. Despite being one of the more popular Marvel TV shows on the streaming platform, some Deadpool & Wolverine viewers might not have made the trek to see Tom Hiddleston's temporal shenanigans. Never fear tho, it's nothing a quick google search or explainer video won't solve. Also, director Shawn Levy told The Associated Press that there won't be any "Marvel Homework" headed into the movie of the summer.

(That's probably just the normal amount of reference and thinking any modern blockbuster series needs to understand the latest installment. Imagine walking into Fast X Part 2 without any prior knowledge of Vin Diesel's car capers and feeling like it was too much to do a quick Intenet search to refresh what went down in Part 1 at least? Silly.)

"I was a good student in school. I'll do my homework as an adult. But I am definitely not looking to do homework when I go to the movies," Levy said earlier this year about the prospect of studying before hitting the theater. "I very much made this film with certainly a healthy respect and gratitude towards the rabid fan base that has peak fluency in the mythology and lore of these characters and this world. But I didn't want to presume that. This movie is built for entertainment, with no obligation to come prepared with prior research."

Do you think the TVA can be trusted? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

A stellar new sale on the Nintendo Switch Lite console can save purchasers around $100 in total. While it might not have all of the capabilities of the standard Nintendo Switch, the Switch Lite is a fantastic handheld in its own right that many have fallen in love with since its arrival back in 2019. Now, if you happen to be in the market for a Switch Lite yourself, a new deal at one retailer is one of the best that has ever been seen for the hardware.

Over at Walmart, the "Timmy & Tommy's Aloha Edition" Nintendo Switch Lite has been marked down to only $159. This version of the Switch Lite is the one that was released in proximity to Animal Crossing: New Horizons and features iconography on the turquoise handheld that calls back to the game. In addition, this bundle happens to also contain a download code for Animal Crossing: New Horizons that unlocks the full game.

Normally, this Switch Lite bundle would retail for $200, which means that Walmart has slashed the price by a little more than $40. Given that this Switch Lite package includes Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which on its own typically costs $60, it means that the savings here account for roughly $100 when considering how much this all would retail for individually. As a result, this is one of the best offers for the Switch Lite that we've ever seen in the console's existence.

Perhaps the only caveat with this sale is that it's known that Nintendo is gearing up to release a new successor to the Switch at some point in the coming year. While the "Switch 2," as it has been dubbed by fans, hasn't been revealed yet, it has been widely reported that Nintendo is targeting a release for its next console in early 2025. With this in mind, buying a Switch Lite in the final year of the console's run might not be the wisest decision. But when a deal this good comes along, it also makes it pretty hard to pass up.

Fly Me to the Moon represents Scarlett Johansson's third time executive producing a feature film. The veteran actress first dipped into producing when she worked on a 2011 documentary called The Whale alongside Ryan Reynolds. One decade later, Johansson returned to executive producing in her Marvel Cinematic Universe swan song Black Widow. While her EP work on The Whale appeared to be a one-off at the time, Black Widow seems to have officially ushered producing into Johansson's career. Johansson has since launched her own production company, These Pictures, which collectively materialized the spark that would become Fly Me to the Moon.

Johansson fleshed out the concept of a rom-com set on the backdrop of the space race with a conspiratorial twist, eventually handing the reins to screenwriter Rose Gilroy.

"The tone of the script was so great when I read it. I enjoyed reading it so much," Johansson told ComicBook. "Rose Gilroy wrote the script and she is an amazing writer. She comes from an incredible family of amazing creatives and writers."

Gilroy crafted the original character of Kelly Jones to spearhead the story. A Manhattanite marketing maestro, Kelly is tasked with "selling" the moon to the American people at a time when interest in pursuing the cosmos is declining. This particularly clashes with Cole Davis (Channing Tatum), a former Navy pilot who now works as NASA's launch director, as he takes issue with the idea of weaving branding into a mission he sees as already packed with plenty of reason to rally.

Kelly's role takes a sharp turn when shadowy government figure Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson) approaches her to simultaneously coordinate the filming of a faked moon landing in order to provide the government with backup footage in case the legitimate Apollo 11 mission fails.

Fly Me to the Moon was originally intended to solely exist as a producing project for Johansson, but Gilroy's screenplay made her fall in love with the character of Kelly and prompted her to maximize her involvement to the fullest.

"I was not expecting the tone to be so original," Johansson continued. "It just had everything in it. This character was so great that I was like, 'I can't let somebody else play her.' I tried to think of who we would cast for this part, and I was like, 'I have to do it!'"

From here, Johansson's producing future is packed. She is set to star and produce Prime Video's Just Cause limited series and will produce a "top secret" Marvel Studios project, which she confirmed to ComicBook in June 2023.

Fly Me to the Moon soars into theaters on Friday, July 12th.

Apple Arcade is getting some new games in the month of August, and subscribers should have a lot to be excited about. On August 1st, Vampire Survivors+ will be added to the subscription service. Vampire Survivors has been available on Apple devices for some time now, but Vampire Survivors+ is a little bit different from the App Store version. Like the Apple Arcade version of Disney Dreamlight Valley, Vampire Survivors+ includes some of the already released DLC, giving players access to both Legacy of the Moonspell and Tides of the Foscari. Most importantly, this version of the game is also completely ad free.

Naturally, the announcement today has prompted Vampire Survivors fans to beg for more information about the game's previously announced PlayStation version. At this point, PlayStation is the biggest platform Vampire Survivors has not been made available on, and many fans are wondering when it's gonna happen. On X/Twitter, creator Luca Galante told fans that "we're still working on it," but a release date has not been announced.

Vampire Survivors+ is not the only game arriving on Apple Arcade on August 1st. That same day will see Temple Run: Legends made available. The endless runner series has been going strong since 2011, but this is a brand-new entry in the series. At this time, Temple Run: Legends has only been announced for Apple Arcade, though this could be a timed exclusive, as we're starting to see with games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate and Fantasian. Temple Run: Legends is being referred to as "the first level-based runner in the hit franchise," and players can expect to race through more than 500 levels spanning a number of unique locations.

The third and final addition to Apple Arcade is technically a game that's already available on Apple Arcade. Castle Crumble is included with a subscription to the service, but starting on August 29th, a spatial version of the game will also be made available. This version is exclusively playable for Apple Vision Pro owners. On Apple's official website, a video has been revealed showing the unique destruction based gameplay, but with the normal background replaced by a real-world setting. For those with Apple Vision Pro, it looks like a really neat take on the game, but those playing on their iPhone or iPad will still be getting an experience that's mostly the same.

Are you an Apple Arcade subscriber? How do you feel about this batch of games? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

Transformers One is set to roll out at San Diego Comic-Con 2024. The first fully-animated Transformers movie in nearly 40 years is bringing exclusive footage and a starry panel to the fandom confab on July 25th with cast members Chris Hemsworth (Marvel's Avengers franchise), Brian Tyree Henry (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), Keegan-Michael Key (The Super Mario Bros. Movie), director Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4), and series producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts).

Those attending the Transformers One Comic-Con panel will receive an exclusive poster and will be the first to watch new scenes from the CG-animated movie before it hits theaters on September 20th. The panel will take place the first day of Comic-Con -- on Thursday, July 25th -- at 11:45 am PST, according to Deadline, which first reported the news.

Set on Cybertron, Transformers One is the untold origin story of a young Optimus Prime and Megatron. Before they transformed into sworn enemies as the leaders of warring robot factions -- the Autobots and Decepticons -- they were brothers-in-arms Orion Pax (Hemsworth) and D-16 (Henry), who changed the fate of their planet forever. While working waste management in the bowels of Cybertron, Orion and D-16 meet workers B-127 (Key), a.k.a. Bumblebee, and Ariel (Scarlett Johansson), a.k.a. Elita-1, before embarking on a dangerous journey to the planet's surface world.

The star-studded voice cast includes Jon Hamm (Mad Men) as Sentinel Prime, Steve Buscemi (Transformers: The Last Knight) in an undisclosed villain role, and Laurence Fisburne (The Matrix) as Alpha Trion -- sworn protector of Vector Sigma, the mega-computer at the heart of Cybertron -- who unlocks the Transformers' full potential, giving the 'bots the ability to transform. The new movie comes from Paramount Animation (The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run), Hasbro Entertainment (Transformers: EarthSpark), and New Republic Pictures (The Tiger's Apprentice).

"We did our take on the origin, which is still staying true to the lore of Transformers," Cooley told ComicBook of the first-ever CG-animated Transformers movie, adding that Optimus Prime's origin story is "something we've never seen before on screen." "I wouldn't say that this is a direct prequel to anything that's been done with live-action ones," the director added. "But it's definitely its own story as well."

Transformers One opens only in theaters Sept. 20th. Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for the latest news and updates out of San Diego Comic-Con 2024.

Amazon's Spider-Man Noir series has found its Robbie Robertson. Nicolas Cage will play the live-action version of Spider-Man Noir in a Prime Video original series. Fans got to hear Cage voice Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and now will return to the character for his live-action adventures. The series has undergone a few name changes, from Noir to now Spider-Noir, and with that news comes word of a new addition to the streaming show's cast. Deadline reports New Girl star Lamorne Morris has been cast in Spider-Noir as Robbie Robertson.

Fans of the Spider-Man franchise will be very familiar with Robbie Robertson, one of Peter Parker's bosses at the Daily Bugle. While Peter typically has a dicey relationship with J. Jonah Jameson, Robbie Robertson has often been a loyal associate and friend to the wall-crawler. The description of Morris' Robbie Robertson calls him "driven, hard-working, and won't take no for an answer. A dedicated journalist trying to make it with the odds stacked against him as a black professional in 1930s New York, he takes on riskier stories that no one else would touch in order to catch attention and a paycheck. He is willing to do whatever is necessary for his career."

Spider-Man Noir episode count revealed

Nicolas Cage revealed how many episodes the first season of Spider-Noir will consist of. "Forty-five minutes. I mean, it's eight episodes. So it's the equivalent of four movies in five months. And I've got another movie I've gotta prepare for, and then a movie right after it," Cage told The New Yorker.

Eight episodes seem to be the sweet spot when creating TV shows based on comic books. Each season of The Boys has been eight episodes, and Marvel's Disney+ content has been between six and 10 episodes on average.

Photo credit Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images

The Man With No Name is riding back into town. A Fistful of Dollars, the classic Sergio Leone spaghetti western that launched Clint Eastwood to international stardom, is getting a remake from an executive producer of The Departed and the Eastwood-directed 15:17 to Paris. Gianni Nunnari (300) and Simon Horsman's (Magazine Dreams) Euro Gang Entertainment and Enzo Sisti's (The Passion of the Christ) FPC are backing the project with Jolly Film, the Italy-based company behind the original film.

Deadline first reported the news. 1964's A Fistful of Dollars -- the first in Leone's Dollars Trilogy that includes 1965's For a Few Dollars More, and 1966's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly -- introduced Eastwood's legendary antihero: a cigar-chomping, poncho-clad, grizzled gunslinger. In the rework of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, the mysterious gunman arrives in San Miguel, a frontier town torn by war between two rival bands of smugglers terrorizing the border town's impoverished citizens. The quick-drawing "Joe" sets into motion a plan to destroy both the Baxters and the Rojos, pitting one against the other in a series of orchestrated setups, showdowns -- and deadly confrontations.

Details about the reboot are being kept under the poncho, but Deadline notes that the update will likely be English-language. A director, writer, and cast have yet to be revealed.

"I am delighted to partner with Gianni again having just worked with him on Those About to Die, and with Simon on the remake of this classic film, which created a whole new sub-genre in film spawning over 500 European westerns," Sisti said in a statement.

Nunnari and Horsman added: "Enzo is one of the most experienced producers in the film business, and we are fortunate to call him our partner on this incredible project. We are determined to produce a remake that does justice to the great Sergio Leone's classic."

Sisti has served as the Italy line producer on such films as Mission: Impossible III, The American, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and No Time to Die. As producer, his credits include Michael Mann's Ferrari, the Netflix series Ripley, and Roland Emmerich's new gladiator series Those About to Die.