Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland’s hit animated sci-fi sitcom Rick and Morty has struggled with a bit of an identity crisis from the outset. Is it a show about the importance of family or a nihilistic treatise on how nothing matters? Is it a sci-fi epic full of canonical lore that carries over from season to season or a collection of silly, self-contained sci-fi rigamarole adventures? With its brilliant first season, it somehow managed to be both of those things, which is what gave the show a unique identity and made it such an exciting new series....

While one might initially dismiss the notion of Shao Kahn—the hulking, helmeted Emperor of Outworld and signature villain of the overall franchise—being in the reboot as not a big deal, such a notion would be a reversal from Mortal Kombat’s last official synopsis, which refers to Shang Tsung as “Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung.” It’s a potent line that represents a major alteration from the game continuity, and seemingly eliminates Kahn’s presence, at least for this film....

Indeed, it’s doubtful Wario was ever supposed to be little more than Mario’s “Star Trek-esque” evil doppelganger. I mean…just look at the guy. His trademark symbol is essentially an upside-down “M” and the origins of his name roughly translate to “bad Mario.” He initially appears to be little more than the most obvious villain you could think of. Yet, a deeper dive into Wario’s strange history reveals that he might be more than that....

The James Bond franchise has been one of the most important, and certainly among the longest, in film history. Back when it started, Eon Productions (originally helmed by producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Satlzman) were releasing a new Bond movie every year; more recently, we’re lucky if we get the next one every couple of years. Nonetheless, Eon and the James Bond character have remained preternaturally consistent, reliably turning out new adventures, and ever creating new fans from one generation to the next....

One of those is Jurassic World: Dominion, the sixth film overall in the Jurassic Park sequence and the third in the new trilogy that launched back in June 2015 with Jurassic World. That film’s director, Colin Trevorrow, returned for the new entry, which began filming last February, was shut down by COVID-19 for several months, and resumed production last July — only to partially shut down in October for two weeks when several members of the production tested positive for the virus (they later tested negative)....

Anyone familiar with the release strategy for most major Nintendo Switch games should have some idea of when they can expect to start playing Kirby and the Forgotten Land, but everyone else may be a little confused by the somewhat…odd way that first-party Switch games are typically released. According to Nintendo’s website, first-party Switch titles (such as Kirby) are “usually” available to launch starting at 14:00 GMT (15:00 CET) in the UK and Europe....

Well that escalated quickly, didn’t it? A simple post-war survey mission in 1973 turned into Samuel L. Jackson as a cross between Marlon Brando’s Col. Kurtz and a kaiju variation on Captain Ahab chasing his white whale. And then there were the monsters, glorious, glorious monsters fighting for supremacy on a riverbank like every eight-year-old boy’s skewed imagination of what Darwinism is supposed to look like. On the one side you have King Kong, Lord of Skull Island and all-around goodhearted ape with a special affinity for distressed blondes, and on the other you had the paterfamilias Skullcrawler, or as John C....

Legends of Tomorrow Season 7 Episode 5 It was almost impossible for Legends of Tomorrow to follow up the spectacular 100th episode with something that matched it, and while they didn’t hit the same high, they came really close. Could they pull off three all-time classic episodes in a row? Could the best show on television put out a three episode run in season seven that eclipses the rest of the series?...

If looks could kill, they’d be clearing the corpses from Hillside Lane Station with a forklift right now. That whole hour was a filthy stare-a-palooza. Jo to Steve. Steve to Jo. Kate to Buckells when he announced the death of PC Lisa Patel with the emotion of somebody passing on a change to the office recycling policy, not missing a beat between his ‘sad news…tragically… thoughts with her family’ platitudes and a PR-friendly photo op....

Like a plump Christmas stocking, the real treats of series six have worked their way down to where we are now – somewhere around the heel. Having dutifully unwrapped the first couple of episodes and politely smiled at the satsumas and novelty tissues, we’ve reached the really good stuff. Episode four was nothing but single malt miniatures and Hotel Chocolat, both of which, incidentally, would be excellent ways to recover our nerves after all that excitement....

“When Avatar: The Last Airbender, one of the greatest animated series of all time, came to Netflix in May of 2020, the people started asking: What’s up with that new live-action series they were talking about? In 2018, Netflix announced that it would be retelling the story of the Gaang with real people, and fans were immediately piqued. They were also a little worried, and with good reason: M. Night Shyamalan directed a legendarily horrendous live-action film adaptation of the first season of the series back in 2010 that included one memorable scene where a team of powerful earthbenders move a pebble across the screen....

“Andrew Garfield has taken a break from discussing how much effort he put into keeping his Spider-Man: No Way Home role a secret, and has now touched on another big topic of conversation surrounding the movie: the fact that it wasn’t nominated for an Oscar.” Read more at The A.V. Club Christopher Lloyd, most famous for playing the legendary Doc Brown in the Back to the Future franchise, is headed to a galaxy far, far away, but who could he be playing in The Mandalorian?...

“So we have a story about a classic, irredeemable villain who is known for thoroughly enjoying their own wickedness with a laugh … except now it’s an origin story in a ’70s-ish setting where the villain is now a sympathetic nobody who’s beaten down by the people on top, a twist involving their parentage and the main ‘antagonist’ of their story, and a scene/trailer set to ‘Smile’ by Nat King Cole....

“Three years after its debut at the Sundance Film Festival and a short-lived name change to All Rise, Monster has finally landed on Netflix. Based on Walter Dean Myers’ 1999 novel of the same name, the legal drama shoehorns the viewer into a horrifying, yet all-too-familiar, scenario in which a Black teenager named Steve Harmon (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) is facing decades in prison while on trial for a crime that he swears he hasn’t committed....

“The history of animation can be divided into two eras: before Shrek, and after Shrek. Today, it’s difficult to imagine Shrek as anything but an instant hit. After all, the subject of the 1990 children’s book was always destined for Hollywood stardom, says producer and DreamWorks founder John H. Williams.” Read more at Inverse. The actors of Mortal Kombat talk the power of a diverse cast and how that enhances the movie....

Read more at Gizmodo The God of Mischief is coming to Fortnite! Here’s everything you need to know about the game’s latest skin. Read more at Inverse Justice for Han. Sung Kang’s return in F9 embraced the absurdity of the franchise and it’s all the better for it. “Han Lue, a.k.a. Han Seoul-Oh, is a character we met during The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift only to discover that it is, in fact, a movie that takes place in the future, by the time we get to Fast & Furious (the fourth movie in the franchise)....

The Wallace/Dumani empire is overthrown, the investors are pulling strings from behind closed doors, there’s a new gang in town… Welcome to series two of the epic Sky Original drama Gangs of London, which is due to be released later in the year. As part of the London Action Festival, Den of Geek is hosting a special exclusive behind the scenes look at one of the most anticipated shows around and Den of Geek readers are invited – for free!...

Loki Episode 5 “I am Loki. God of Outcasts. They see themselves in me, and I in them. All of us, alone together. It’s why my stories always end with someone trying to put me in a box. And begin with my spectacular escape.” An excerpt there from Daniel Kibblesmith’s Loki #5, and quite a prominent theme of Loki’s story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date. Classic Loki (a spectacular Richard E....

Lost in Space Season 1 Episode 3 Although this third chapter in the Lost in Space saga on Netflix is basically “introductory crisis part two” for the Robinsons, it does an adequate job of delivering back story for Dr. Smith a.k.a. June Harris, digging deeper into Will’s relationship with the robot, and exploring the family dynamic a little more, which is something this show has chosen to dole out bit by bit for better or worse....

During the final episode of Lucifer season 5, “A Chance at a Happy Ending”, Michael (Tom Ellis) arrives at Lux with an offer for Lucifer (also Tom Ellis). The loss of Dan Espinoza (Kevin Alejandro) still fresh in his mind, Lucifer lashes out at Michael when he suggests that Lucifer could get his old job back as the Hell’s king, but having assembled the Flaming Sword and with the angels on his side, it appears that Michael will be victorious in his efforts to rule Heaven....