The Loki season finale (and thanks to the mid-credits scene we know it’s a “season finale” not a “series finale,” thank Odin) is here, and it’s got bigger ramifications for the Marvel Cinematic Universe than we ever could have imagined. Loki episode 6 may be light on Marvel Comics Easter eggs (and after last week’s egg-fest, don’t get greedy!), but it’s BIG on characters and concepts that we’ll be dealing with and talking about for years to come....

Largely unknown to non-comics readers, Wonder Man is one of Marvel’s most interesting characters; a guy with a convoluted history, even by superhero standards. There are many different types of stories that creators can tell with Wondie, but the recent news that Ben Kingsley will be reprising his role as Trevor Slattery gives us a pretty good idea about the type of show Wonder Man seeks to be. Who Is Wonder Man?...

The return of Marvel comes on the heels of what might be a decisive point for the pop cultural juggernaut. Their latest movie, Thor: Love and Thunder, released to mixed reviews and lower box office receipts (by Marvel standards, at any rate). The MCU series at Disney+ are also proving to be diminishing returns, to the point that even the well-received Ms. Marvel had low viewership. When added to the general lack of enthusiasm after Avengers: Endgame, some observers fear that superhero fatigue has truly set in this time....

Mass Effect wasn’t the first RPG with a romance system, and the first Mass Effect‘s romance options could most generously be described as limited, but the ways that the Mass Effect games compellingly use romance as both a character-building device and a fun diversion has long made them a favorite among those who can’t help but look for love in digital places. Which Mass Effect romance is the best of them all, though?...

Yet for all of Brooks’ frivolity, there was only one time he was desperate to get the approval of his spoof’s subject matter: Alfred Hitchcock. Unlike all the other satires and ribbings in Brooks’ oeuvre, the 1977 film High Anxiety was not a parody of a whole genre or certain commercial trends in filmmaking. Rather it was both a back slap and a blown kiss to one singular storyteller, a man whose style was so distinct that even before “auteur theory” was popularized, the phrase “Hitchcockian” had entered the pop culture lexicon....

Millions of fans agree that Monster Hunter is just better with friends, and it’s hard to argue that the game just feels best when you’ve got a full squad (which, in this case, is four players) by your side. Still, the benefits of Monster Hunter‘s co-op options don’t mean much if you’re not able to access them in the first place. Here’s what you need to know about the various ways you can (and can’t) play Monster Hunter‘s co-op modes with friends....

The depths of despair to which many of the Monsterland episodes take their main characters is what can make them painful to endure, but that pain is necessary context for the featured monsters that appear in each installment. In fact, the supernatural elements of the stories are often merely catalysts to get at the true horror of life on this messed up planet of ours. Almost every principal character is tortured by misfortune on a personal level, and the monsters accentuate, alleviate, or take advantage of the terrible situations their victims find themselves in....

Mr. Robot Season 3 Episode 6 Mr. Robot, what has gotten into you? It’s not that Mr. Robot season 3 has been bad thus far. This is still a show about a paranoid, reclusive hacker taking down the world economy with his imaginary friend/ghostdad after all. But season 3 has been, let’s say, deliberately paced. Hell, one could argue that Mr. Robot, itself, has been deliberately paced since Elliot Alderson was dressed down in a villain monologue from Mr....

In an interview with Den of Geek, Flanagan reveals that his next series, The Fall of the House of Usher, is a big departure from the Gothic horror he’s usually associated with, describing the upcoming series as “kind of our first real swing at giallo.” Giallo horror is a genre of Italian cinema that was developed in the mid-to-late 1960s and features a distinctive visual style that includes vivid colors, disorienting framing, and strong shadows....

While fans wait for news on a third season commission, the 10 great shows below are well worth discovering or (re)discovering. They’re not all teen shows, nor are they all strictly comedies, but somewhere along the line, they share some DNA with Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher’s Never Have I Ever. Add your own additional recommendations below. Fresh Off the Boat Six seasons (2015 – 2020) Since the cruel early cancellation of her show Don’t Trust the B**** in Apt....

Richard Neville and Julie Clarke’s On the Trail of the Serpent: the Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj was first published in 1979 and narrates events from the killer’s childhood until the late 1970s. It became a global bestseller on its initial publication, and in 1989, inspired a television film about Sobhraj’s crimes. Compelling and well-researched, it paints a chilling picture of a scheming yet charismatic individual who took the lives of young travellers, apparently without remorse....

In May 2020, Netflix UK is offering Modern Family and New Girl binging opportunities, as well as old favourites like Labyrinth and The Blues Brothers. Alongside these are new seasons of Dead to Me and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, which is wrapping up on the platform after delivering a glorious run of animated perfection. If you haven’t yet given the rebooted series a shot, now’s the time to get stuck in....

The legacy of Ford’s epic, as well as the real Cynthia, weighs heavily on Paul Greengrass’ News of the World, an unexpectedly tender and affectionate drama about a “rescuer” and the European child he’s discovered some years after she was taken and assimilated into a Kiowa tribe. But whereas Ford’s movie culminates in the rescue—and John Wayne’s choice to spare young Natalie Wood’s life, even as he abandons her to strangers in a strange house—that is only the beginning of News of the World....

The past five years though have seen him kick the crazy into high gear with a string of gloriously inventive movies that have one thing in common: Cage, front and center, losing his shit. Mom and Dad, Mandy, Color Out of Space, and Willy’s Wonderland have been the notable highlights in a recent run of films that have otherwise been consigned to the realm of forgettable direct-to-video releases. The good news is that Prisoners of the Ghostland falls firmly into the former category with Cage delivering the kind of unhinged performance fans have come to expect in what amounts to an enjoyably eclectic slice of gonzo action cinema....

The concept died screaming as it was eviscerated by both the press and Academy members. Within a month it was scrapped, and despite no “Popular Film” category in the next two years’ Academy Awards ceremonies, the blockbuster superhero movies Black Panther and Joker still got nominated for Best Picture—with the latter also picking up a Best Actor Oscar. Nevertheless, some bad ideas die hard, and though the Academy will no longer vote on the “most popular film,” that dubious honor has been given to everyone else on social media via this year’s “Oscars Fan Favorite” award, which allows folks to hand out an award by voting with a Twitter hashtag....

Outlander fans want an immersive experience in the world of the show. However, in the midst of both Droughtlander and a global pandemic, fans of the time-traveling historical romance have fewer options than ever to engage with this rich world. Some fans are satisfied with collecting clothing items or themed gifts, but Cryptozoic’s trading card collections take Outlander fandom to the next level by giving fans the opportunity to collect pieces of screen-used costumes and cast autographs....

Star Trek Picard Season 2 Episode 5 With Star Trek: Picard episode 5, “Fly Me to the Moon,” Star Trek: Picard we’ve reached the midpoint of the season, and well into its third episode set in the year 2024. At this point, our time travel crew is doing their best to stay undercover, but they keep talking about old Star Trek plots nonetheless. Although this run of episodes has dabbled in referencing Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, at this point, the Trek Easter eggs are getting decidedly more obscure....

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a bold new direction for the franchise that borrows cues from open-world titles (as well as other modern experiences). The game cherry-picks its inspirations to provide an adventure that, while not quite as open-world as advertised, has wowed audiences and broken sales records. However, everything comes at a cost. In the case of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, the game loses some of the DNA that made Pokemon games a global phenomenon but gains the seeds of a new, glorious chapter in the franchise....

As is typically the case, the battle against the Elite Four and their Champion is complicated by the fact that you must battle each trainer in a row. That already grueling marathon setup is complicated by the fact that each member of the Elite Four brings wildly different Pokémon to the fights. That means you’ll need to have access to a pretty impressive array of Pokémon in order to survive this challenge....

It almost didn’t end this way. For a brief moment during the climax of Raya and the Last Dragon, it felt like we were a million miles away from any kind of peace. And when Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) marched up the steps of Fang’s parameters in search of Namaari (Gemma Chan), I doubt there was a single viewer who didn’t share her anger—and maybe her thirst for revenge. Minutes before this sequence, Raya had once again extended the olive branch to her rival and former friend, and once again been betrayed....