Now that Disney officially owns pretty much every major movie franchise under the sun, many are wondering where exactly the studio’s future is headed. Though they may have suffered a $170 million operating loss after purchasing Fox earlier this year, it looks like Mickey and co. are going to lean into their recent science fiction acquisitions to pick them back up.
By this point in the Pokémon franchise, we know every new generation of games will introduce some design gimmick to differentiate itself from those that came before it. X & Y introduced Mega Evolutions, Sun and Moon introduced Alolan forms, and Sword & Shield looks all set to incorporate Dynamaxing and Gigamaxing into battle. But, as it turns out, those aren’t the only extra additions coming to the latest pair of games, as Nintendo has announced that brand new Galarian forms and evolutions of some classic Pokémon are headed our way as well.
There were a lot of emotional twists and turns jam-packed into the third season of Stranger Things, but arguably none more delightful than Maya Hawke’s Robin coming out as a lesbian. It’s a shocking reveal that few saw coming, especially Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), who thanks to a misunderstanding thought she had a crush on him. Well, turns out the Duffer Brothers actually did intend for the two characters to develop a romantic interest with each other, but this slowly changed as production ensued.
Avengers: Endgame is a showcase of show-stopping scenes; a spectacle built on the foundation of every MCU entry that came before it that pays off nearly a decade worth of story arcs. Ask a room full of a hundred different people what their top moment in the movie was and odds are you’d get nearly a hundred different answers.
I don't envy the filmmakers who attempt to make a prequel to any beloved franchise. On top of having to reverse engineer a story that already has a predetermined end-point, those behind the project run the risk of demystifying fan-favorite characters by telling an origin story that’s often less interesting than the moves that came before it. The often-cited prime example of this is the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, which centered on a young and temperamental Anakin Skywalker before he turned into Darth Vader.
Despite meeting her ultimate fate in this year’s box office titan Avengers: Endgame, it looks like Black Widow has a bright future ahead of her. The one-time Soviet spy-turned-Earth’s Mightiest Hero is set to receive her own standalone film next year, and according to writer Jac Schaeffer, the flick will be unlike any superhero movie that has come before.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters didn’t exactly make a Kaiju-sized splash at the box office, but for many fans, it was still great to see the atomic breathing lizard back on the big screen. Director Michael Dougherty counts himself amongst those fans and tried to fill the sequel with as many hidden Easter eggs for franchise buffs as possible, from lore-inspired characters and weapons, to hidden roles for some of the geekiest celebrities in Hollywood. Now, thanks to a new interview with the filmmaker, we know about quite a few secret performances in one of the movie's biggest actions sequences.
The Incredible Hulk has a deep comic book history that thanks to a critically reviled solo movie and some tricky rights issues with Universal Pictures, has yet to be fully explored within the MCU. However, for a split second, it seemed like Avengers: Endgame co-writer Christopher Markus nearly included an appearance by the fan-favorite Red Hulk in this year’s box office behemoth, but it wouldn't have been exactly in a way you’d expect.
