After floating along in development hell for the better part of three years, Lucasfilm's Lando series is back in development--and the actor originally behind the role may be teasing his involvement. Following up on an Instagram post he made earlier this month, Billie Dee Williams shared another similar tease on Monday. Though the actor was playing coy, he teased a "major" announcement involving himself would happen soon.

"I am thrilled to share that something truly magnificent is coming soon," Williams shared on Twitter. "This is a dream come true for me, on all that has sustained and carried me through a lifetime of dreams and adventure, it is my honor to share with you. Make sure to enable notifications for stories and posts to stay in the loop, you don't want to miss this... May the Force be with you all."

pic.twitter.com/P2yw5IJt3y

-- Billy Dee Williams (@realbdw) August 1, 2023

Does this mean Billie Dee Williams is going to be in the new Lando series?

Though it's always possible Williams could be cameoing in the series, it's unlikely the actor will have a major on-screen role given the series will both star and be written by Donald Glover. Glover has been attached to return to the role ever since the series was first announced back in 2020 and only recently, it was revealed he'll also be writing the series after it was presumed dead on arrival.

"I would love to play Lando again. It's a fun time to be him. It just has to be the right, it just needs to be the right way to do it," Glover said in an interview with Deadline earlier this year. "Time is precious. I think everybody's in the past couple of years, this pandemic sh-t, had people experience time in a way where they're like...People kind of realize their time is valuable, you only get so much. So like, I'm not interested in doing anything that's just gonna be like a waste of my time or just a paycheck. I'd much rather like spend time with people that I l enjoy. So it just has to be the right thing, which I think it could be. I mean like Lando is definitely somebody I'd like to hang out with. I mean we're talking about it. That's as much as I can say, you know, without Kathleen Kennedy like, hunting me down."

He added, "He also feels pulpy. The rest of those the whole Skywalker family. You can't really f--k with the cannon. You can have a pulpy, kind of like, sh--ty, Lando novel that feels like outside of the Star Wars universe, but still in it. And I think that's why people like him. He's the most elastic of the characters because you don't know where he is from or who he is or whatever. There's only really those like three little books. So yeah, it was dope to play him. It was really fun."

That said, it's possible Williams could serve as the show's narrator or provide help in a similar way.

Lando has yet to set a release date. The latest series in the Star Wars saga, Ahsoka, is set for release on August 23rd.

The future of the DC Universe is getting brighter, with a lot of new projects in a "revamped" universe being greenlit by DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran. The duo unveiled ten movies and Max-exclusive television shows that will be a part of their "Chapter One: Gods & Monsters" slate, with the promise of more on the horizon. In a recent post on the social media app Threads, Gunn confirmed one surprising detail about those additional projects -- they will include at least one theatrically-released animated movie.

While confirming to a fan that the forthcoming Watchmen and Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths animated movies are not a part of the main DCU slate, and are instead "Elseworlds" stories, Gunn was asked if "we can expect theatrical animated projects" in the future, to which Gunn answered with a simple "Yes." Following the recent success of animated superhero blockbusters like Sony's Spider-Verse franchise, there's no telling how ambitious that hypothetical film could be.

What Are the DCU's Animated Projects?

Back in January, Gunn and Safran confirmed that their new blockbuster relaunch of the DC Universe will include animation, beginning with a Creature Commandos Max-exclusive series.

"Creature Commandos is based on the great team from DC," Gunn explained at the time. "What we're doing with the DCU is, we are having animation tied directly into live action. Television, movies, and games all intertwine within the same universe. We're going to cast actors that are going to be able to play the characters in this as well as in other things, some of which we've already cast. I've written all seven episodes of the show, and it's in production. So that's the first thing, and I love it."

What Is on the DC Universe Slate?

As Gunn and Safran revealed earlier this year, the initial DC Studios slate for "Gods and Monsters" will include movies for Superman: Legacy, The Brave and the Bold, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Swamp Thing, and The Authority. It will include the HBO Max television shows Waller, Booster Gold, Lanterns, Paradise Lost, and an animated Creature Commandos series. Legacy has already been and set for a Summer 2025 release date, with a cast that includes David Corenswet as Clark Kent / Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho.

"We got James Gunn and Peter (Safran) working very hard on DC, which is going to be a very big growth driver for this company," Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav explained earlier this year. "We are very bullish on DC. The Superman script first draft is done. Gunn is on a mission from god. It is a really good moment to prove out on DC what we got and how strong it is globally for long-term sustainable growth."

Are you excited for DC's animated movies and TV shows? What do you hope its theatrically-released animated movie is? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Futurama Season 11 is back with a new episode now streaming on Hulu, and with it has confirmed a new voice actor for Amy's father, Leo Wong. Futurama is back for a second revival following its initial cancellation on Comedy Central ten years ago, and the voice cast from the original run has returned in full for the new episodes. But while the main voice cast provided for many of the characters, there have been some changes behind the scenes for a few of the characters in the new season now streaming on Hulu as evidenced by the newest episode.

Futurama Season 11 Episode 2 has revealed the first of what could be many changes for some of the voices behind the scenes as Leo Wong (who was voiced by Billy West in both the original FOX and Comedy Central runs of the series) is now voiced by Feodor Chin (Overwatch, Uncle From Another World) as confirmed by the episode's end credits. Leo only gets a few lines in the episode itself, but there's plenty of more time for more of the Wong family as Futurama's new season continues!

What Happens in Futurama Season 11 Episode?

Futurama Season 11 Episode 2 is titled "Children of a Lesser Bog," and features the Wongs returning to the series when Kif and Amy's children were finally going to emerge from the swamp last seen during the Season 4 episode, "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch." The Wongs were excited to finally have the grandchildren that they have been asking Amy to provide since the original runs of the series, but quickly changed their tune when actually seeing the kids themselves. Going as far as distancing themselves completely.

With Kif and Amy now having a full family unit by the end of the episode, there are likely still plenty of opportunities to use Amy's parents in future episodes as they will likely need to be involved in their grandkids' lives much more than seen in this episode. With Futurama Season 11 running for ten episodes, and another ten coming after, we'll likely see even more how the new series is changing both on and off-screen.

How do you feel about Futurama's new Leo Wong voice actor? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

Dame Judi Dench earned her eighth Oscar nomination in 2021 and since then, she's been increasingly candid about her ongoing battle with macular degeneration. Though medical professionals say it's rare that people with the condition go completely blind, it's very common for those with the disease to go legally blind--something Dench says she's now nearing. In a recent interview with The Daily Mirror, Dench said she can't see much on a film set anymore.

"I mean I can't see on a film set any more," Dench told the tabloid. "And I can't see to read. So I can't see much. But you know you just deal with it. Get on. It's difficult for me if I have any length of a part. I haven't yet found a way. Because I have so many friends who will teach me the script. But I have a photographic memory."

It's not the first time Dench has spoke about her condition this year, previously revealing on The Graham Norton Show she has had to ask people to read her scripts to her in recent years. She was first diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration in 2012.

"It's become impossible because I can't see now, I can not read or anything," she said on the talk show. "Normally somebody could just teach you the lines, and goodness knows that's happened before, but now I've just found I have a photographic memory."

Dench's latest role came in Apple TV+'s Spirited, appearing as herself alongside Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds. Before that, her films included Allelujah (2022) and Belfast (2021), where she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Dench is set to turn 89 this December.

She has one Oscar win under her belt--for 1998's Shakespeare in Love--and countless other awards.

It looks like Barbie has over-performed yet again, continuing its run as one of the biggest box office success stories in quite some time. After smashing records in its opening weekend, Barbie won the box office for a second time this past weekend. Initial reports, based on the Sunday estimates, indicated that Barbie had earned $93 million at the domestic box office in weekend number two, in addition to $122 million internationally. Well, once all of Sunday's ticket sales were counted, Barbie's international total was even higher than that.

According to Deadline, Barbie actually earned $127 million at the international box office this weekend, coming in $5 million higher than initially reported. That puts Barbie's total after Sunday at a whopping $780 million. It shouldn't take much longer for Greta Gerwig's blockbuster to reach $1 billion.

Barbie is just days away from passing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to become the second-biggest movie of 2023.

Barbie Sequel Possibilities

With this kind of success, there is obviously a lot of conversation about a potential Barbie sequel. Mattel and Warner Bros. will want to go all-in on Barbie after this theatrical showing and Ynon Kreiz, Mattel's CEO, has talked about building out a universe based on the brand.

"Barbie, as a brand, has many different iterations. The product lines of Barbie is a very broad brand. In addition to the main Barbie figure, she has family, she has a lot of elements around in her universe," Kreiz told Variety. "It's a very rich universe... It's a very broad and very elastic brand, in terms of opportunities."

"At the outset, we're not saying, 'Okay, let's think already about movie two and three.' Let's get the first one right and make that a success," he continued. "And if you do that, opportunities open up very quickly, once you establish the first movie as a successful representation of a franchise on the big screen."

Greta Gerwig and Barbie 2

While Mattel and Warner Bros. may be high on a second Barbie movie, director and co-writer Greta Gerwig doesn't have any ideas or plans for a follow-up.

"At this moment, it's all I've got," Gerwig told The New York Times. "I feel like that at the end of every movie, like I'll never have another idea and everything I've ever wanted to do. I wouldn't want to squash anybody else's dreams but for me, at this moment, I'm at totally zero."

In Barbie, to live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you're a Ken. From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig comes Barbie, which hit theaters on July 21st. Barbie stars Oscar-nominees Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, alongside America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. The film also stars Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Dua Lipa and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren. Gerwig directed Barbie from a screenplay by Gerwig & Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach, based on Barbie by Mattel.

Tributes have been pouring in for Angus Cloud, after it was announced on Monday that the fan-favorite actor has suddenly passed away at the age of 25. Cloud was best known for his stint as Fezco "Fez" O'Neill on HBO's hit series Euphoria, a role he played since the show's inception in 2019, and series creator and director Sam Levinson is joining in to memorialize the actor. In a recent statement obtained by Variety, Levinson called Cloud "too special, too talented, and way too young to leave us so soon." The official Euphoria social media account also addressed Cloud's death, writing that "he was immensely talented and a beloved part of the HBO and Euphoria family."

"There was no one quite like Angus. He was too special, too talented and way too young to leave us so soon," Levinson wrote. "He also struggled, like many of us, with addiction and depression. I hope he knew how many hearts he touched. I loved him. I always will. Rest in peace and God Bless his family."

We are incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of Angus Cloud. He was immensely talented and a beloved part of the HBO and Euphoria family. We extend our deepest condolences to his friends and family during this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/PLqkz5Rshc

-- euphoria (@euphoriaHBO) July 31, 2023

The news of Cloud's passing was confirmed in a statement from to TMZ, revealing that the death occurred just days after Cloud's father had passed away. Cloud was perhaps best known for playing Fezco "Fez" O'Neill on HBO's Euphoria, a role he portrayed ever since 2019. The cause of death, which occurred in Oakland, CA on Monday, July 31st, is currently unknown at this time.

Who Are Angus Cloud's Movies and TV Shows?

Cloud was born Conor Angus Cloud Hickey in Oakland, California on July 10, 1998. As a teenager, he sustained a traumatic brain injury, which partially led to his distinct onscreen voice. After attending the School of Production Design at Oakland School for the Arts, he was actually scouted by Euphoria casting director Jennifer Venditti while working in a New York restaurant. Playing Fez in Euphoria would be Cloud's first onscreen, and his portrayal would go on to be one of the most tweeted-about characters of the past decade. Cloud would go on to have appearances in the 2021 movie North Hollywood, as well as the recently-released The Line. He also appeared in a trio of music videos in recent years -- Noah Cyrus' "All Three", Juice WRLD's "Cigarettes", and Becky G & Karol G's "Mamiii".

Just a few months prior to his passing, it was announced that Cloud would be among the cast of a currently-untitled Universal Monsters movie, alongside an ensemble cast that includes Kathryn Newton, Giancarlo Esposito, and Dan Stevens. The film, which is directed by the duo Radio Silence, is currently expected to hit theaters in April of 2024.

What do you think of Sam Levinson's tribute to Euphoria star Angus Cloud? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Our thoughts are with Cloud's family, friends, and fans at this time.

Tekken 8 just wrapped up its Closed Network Test, but unfortunately for developer Bandai Namco, players are still playing it via a cracked version of the game. This comes just after a partial roster for the full release leaked when players used Cheat Engine to inspect the code behind the CNT. This newest development though, is potentially a much bigger issue, as it could lead to a competitive advantage for anyone looking to get into Tekken 8's competitive scene. To that end, Bandai Namco issued a strong statement today, warning players against downloading the cracked version of Tekken 8 on PC.

In the post, Bandai Namco noted that playing the Tekken 8 CNT beyond the official testing period breaches the game's terms of service and goes against the Tekken World Tour code of conduct. They also made it clear that "unauthorized download or distribution of the game is illegal." Further, they announced that anyone who has knowingly played the CNT past the official period "may be deemed ineligible for the upcoming Tekken World Tour and other official tournaments." In short, if you want to play Tekken 8 on a competitive level, it's not a good idea to hop into the cracked CNT despite the fact that it'll give you extra practice time.

An important reminder from the TEKKEN Project and Bandai Namco Esports Team. pic.twitter.com/0Fcke36yU5

-- Bandai Namco Esports (@BNEesports) July 31, 2023

It's also an interesting development in terms of how it will affect future closed tests like this one. Because the PC version of Tekken 8 is the only version that's been cracked like this, we might see Bandai Namco and other competitive game developers go away from offering test periods on PC. After all, they can get much of the same data on consoles with a much lower risk of things like this happening.

That said, it's impossible to say for sure until a developer makes an official stance. Either way, Tekken 8 is seemingly set to launch at some point later this year. Bandai Namco hasn't provided an official Tekken 8 release date just yet, but it should be coming relatively soon now that the CNT is finished. Tekken 8 will come to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC when it launches.

Becky Lynch called out Trish Stratus on this week's Monday Night Raw, demanding that the WWE Hall of Famer give her the match she earned last week by defeating Zoey Stark. Stratus tried to decline the match at first, citing her facial injury and the protective mask she has been forced to wear for weeks. But Adam Pearce suddenly arrived on the scene to declare the match had been made official, forcing Stratus to get in the ring and for the referee to ring the bell.

Unfortunately, Stark then hit the ring mere seconds later and attacked Lynch, forcing a disqualification. This technically gives Stratus and Lynch each one win apiece, though the ensuing brawl after the match made it clear that nothing has been settled. Pearce confronted Stratus and Stark after the commercial break and announced Stratus and Lynch will wrestle in two weeks on an episode of Raw in Winnipeg, Canada and that Stark is barred from ringside.

It's complete pandemonium between @BeckyLynchWWE, @trishstratuscom AND @ZoeyStarkWWE right now on #WWERaw! pic.twitter.com/lo4F03HOH4

-- WWE (@WWE) August 1, 2023

WWE SummerSlam 2023 Card

• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso (Tribal Combat Rules)
• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• SmackDown Women's Championship: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre
• Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
• Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler
• Ricochet vs. Logan Paul
• SummerSlam Battle Royal

Seth Rollins Willing to Work Onscreen With Becky Lynch Again

Seth Rollins revealed in a new interview with CBS Sports' Shakiel Mahjouri this week that he's open to working alongside his wife, Becky Lynch, on WWE TV again. WWE attempted to push the pair as an onscreen power couple in 2019 but it was poorly received by the fans and wrestlers alike.

"For her, her character was in a different place," Rollins said. "She was in a different stratosphere and it was hard for her to manage what her character was on screen as The Man, as this female, badass, Stone Cold Steve Austin type character and then on the flip side of that having a husband and a love interest and all that. That kind of was hard for her to put together on screen. For me, I'm always like, let's go with the flow. I'm not quite as protective as she is in that regard, probably to my own detriment in some cases, but yeah, I mean, it's one of those things where when you take your relationship and you turn it into a story, it becomes difficult because it's hard for our audience occasionally to separate fiction from reality and at the same time, our business is built on blending fiction and reality. So that kind of diametric force that is sort of pulling and pushing all the time can create a bit of a struggle.

"We weren't ready for it. It didn't flush out. Our characters weren't in the right place," he added. "Our heads weren't in the right place. You know, if we did it now or in the future, it might be different, but I'm also fortunate that it's not a thing that we need to go to. We're both just very strong individual characters and can carry stories individually on our own which is lovely. So if we go there again, I'd love to give it a second shot. I think there's a lot to it, but if we don't, we tried it, it didn't work, and we're still very happily married."

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 has reached the final moments of the Gojo Past's saga, and the promo for Episode 5 of the anime is teasing the Premature Death arc that ends it all. Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 kicked off with the Gojo's Past saga from Gege Akutami's original Jujutsu Kaisen manga as the anime adapted a very important mission from Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto's past in Jujutsu Tech. The end of this mission led to two of them going on the respective paths play out in Jujutsu Kaisen 0 and the anime's first season, and the next episode will show how it all falls apart.

Jujutsu Kaisen will be starting the Premature Death arc with Season 2's next episode, and the title of the arc reflects how both Gojo and Geto will be changing their perspectives based on what went down with Riko Amanai during their mission. It's what sparks both of their journeys, and helps to fill in some of the very important gaps that we'll see continue with the Shibuya Incident arc that will be starting after, You can check out the promo for Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 5 below:

How to Watch Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 29

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 5 is titled "Premature Death" and will be premiering with Crunchyroll on Saturday, August, 5th. If you wanted to catch up with the anime as it is so far, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 is now streaming its episodes exclusively with Crunchyroll along with the first season and Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie. They begin to tease the first half of the new season as such, "This is the innocent spring that the two strongest lost forever. Itadori Yuji took Ryomen Sukuna into his own body in June 2018. Okkotsu Yuta freed Orimoto Rika from her curse in December 2017. And now it's spring 2006. Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru, two peerless jujutsu sorcerers from Jujutsu High, have been given two missions by Tengen, an immortal known as the cornerstone of the jujutsu community."

The synopsis continues with, "One mission is the escorting and erasure of the 'Star Plasma Vessel', Amanai Riko, the girl chosen as the best match to merge with Tengen. So the two of them set out on their escort mission in order to keep the jujutsu community going, but an assassin calling himself Fushiguro interferes in an attempt to assassinate the Star Plasma Vessel. The pasts of Gojo and Geto, the ones who would later be known as the most powerful jujutsu sorcerer and the most evil curse user, are about to be revealed..."

What are you hoping to see in Jujutsu Kaisen's next episode? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

Brock Lesnar once again left Cody Rhodes in a heap on this week's Monday Night Raw, marking the final confrontation before the pair have their tiebreaker match at SummerSlam this weekend in Detroit. Unlikely every other encounter they've had throughout this months-long feud, Lesnar was the first to come out and cut a promo, saying it was "Fight Week" and that he'd be getting paid to beat up Rhodes this Saturday. He demanded Rhodes come out and shake his hand, which "The American Nightmare" eventually agreed to.

Rhodes didn't say a word, opting instead to attack Lesnar from behind with a dive after "The Beast" left the ring. Lesnar responded by whacking Rhodes with a set of steel steps, followed by an F-5 inside the ring.

Can @CodyRhodes slay the beast this Saturday at #SummerSlam?

? DETROIT
? https://t.co/8jJD4Qj6gn pic.twitter.com/2iE9cnuT2c

-- WWE (@WWE) August 1, 2023

WWE SummerSlam 2023 Card

• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso (Tribal Combat Rules)
• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• SmackDown Women's Championship: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre
• Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
• Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler
• Ricochet vs. Logan Paul
• SummerSlam Battle Royal

How Cody Rhodes' "Heel" Run in AEW Was Supposed to End

Rhodes' final year in AEW saw him portray a pseudo-heel character where he actively refused to turn heel despite outcry from fans. He explained in a recent interview with ComicBook that the endgame of his heel run would've been a match with Sting, something teased all the way back in December 2020 but never materialized.

"I was going to wrestle Sting," Rhodes confirmed. "I don't think I've ever shared that with anybody and nothing was on paper or anything like that. But I can say I got a tremendous offer from AEW creatively, financially, the full package. You won't hear me say anything bad about AEW or Tony (Khan) or my time there. It was a tremendous offer, but the offer wasn't right for me. What I wanted to get back to was the first goal that I ever had (winning the WWE Championship). But yeah, that probably would've been the endgame. That's what had been discussed, was to get one (match) with one of my heroes, Sting.

"And it's one of those things, you can wrestle one of your heroes or you can work with one of your heroes and he can be the head of creative (Paul Levesque), you can't have it all," he continued. "And I think one thing I do pride myself on as a wrestler is I will make a decision. It might be a left turn, it might be exactly where you think I'm going, but I will make a decision. I will not get stuck because I felt like I'd been stuck early in my career and never want to be that way again."

A24 has another horror hit on its hands, as Talk to Me is finding quick success at the box office. The buzzy Sundance hit was acquired by the indie studio and released into theaters this past weekend, where it scared up $10 million and set A24 up for success. Of course, with box office success comes talks about potential sequels, especially where horror films are concerned. For directors Danny and Michael Philippou, a Talk to Me sequel is absolutely on the table.

The film's conclusion is slightly open-ended, leaving things open for a sequel if one ever happens. While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the Philippou twins shared that it'd be hard to turn down a return to that world.

"Part of me is like, 'Yeah, maybe it is done,'" Danny said. "The other part of me is like, 'Oh, my God. Give me a sequel, please.' I've got these set pieces that I'm like, 'Oh, my God, I so badly want to shoot this. This is the coolest thing ever.' So, if A24 came to me and said, 'You know what? We'd like a sequel.' I wouldn't be able to resist. I'd want to do it so bad."

"I guess a question would be, would you continue the story around Mia and those characters, or do you go to another part of the world? That's a debate," added Michael.

Talk to Me Winning at the Box Office

Talk to Me may not have cost very much to produce, but it's already turning into a money-maker for A24. This weekend, the film debuted on more than 2,300 screens across North America and earned over $10 million. That's enough for the second-biggest opening weekend in A24 history.

The only A24 movie to earn more in its opening weekend was Ari Aster's instant horror classic Hereditary. That film earned $13.6 million in its first weekend. Talk to Me doubled its opening weekend projections and looks to be a smash horror hit for A24, even when going up against the biggest movies of the year.

Talk to Me Cast

Talk to Me stars Sophia Wilde, Joe Bird, Alexandra Jensen, Otis Dhanji, Miranda Otto, Marcus Johnson, Alexandria Steffensen, Zoe Terakes, and Chris Alosio. Danny and Michael Philippou directed the film from a screenplay the former wrote alongside Bill Hinzman.

The logline for Talk to Me reads: "When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces."

Minecraft is one of the most popular games on the planet even after a decade of being on the market. Because of that, it has a massive modding scene, full of additions to the game and maps for players to explore. It also means that certain hackers might see its huge playerbase as a potential community worth infecting simply due to its sheer size. Putting both of those things together, the Minecraft Malware Prevention Alliance (MMPA) has recently noticed a new security vulnerability in the modding scene that has opened many users' PCs and servers up to being hacked through a program it calling the "BleedingPipe."

Now, it's important to note that just because you use mods or play on a multiplayer server, you're not necessarily at risk. That said, the list of mods that have been affected by BleedingPipe is large. It includes at least three dozen mods that many players and servers use, including things like AetherCraft and ttCore. Fortunately, with the MMPA noticing the issue quickly, one user was able to issue a patch that should fix the issues. As demonstrated by Tom's Hardware, you just need to make sure you aren't using a version of a modpack on either 1.7.10 or 1.12.2. Those are the two that seem to be vulnerable to the hack, so updating your modpack with the patch should keep your Minecraft server safe.

As to how this works, BleedingPipe is using a problem with Java to feed code to a server. The code is then "deserialized " and infects the server, which can then be used to infect individual PCs from there. As you can guess, if that code is malicious, it will quickly create both server and client-side issues that could easily result in some very bad things happening to your PC.

Fortunately, the MMPA has players' backs and has already issued a fix. You just need to run a scanning program like JSus or jNeedle to scan your Minecraft mods, and if they're unsafe, you can use the fix to patch up the issues. If you're playing on a server, it might also be worth alerting whoever's in charge of it to this issue and making sure they've done the work to check on the server's files.

Barbie has become nothing short of a cultural phenomenon, with the film on track to earn a billion dollars at the global box office, and its impact on viewers continuing to be felt. The Barbie movie is easily the splashiest project yet for director and co-writer Greta Gerwig, and now that the film is out into the world, there's a lot of eagerness to see what she'll do next. Based on recent comments, it sounds like Gerwig might work on (once the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are over) two films adapting Chronicles of Narnia for Netflix, but there's no telling if and how those will become a reality.

If Gerwig's filmography -- and particularly her work on Barbie -- prove anything, there is another upcoming high-profile project that she would be a great fit for: DC's forthcoming Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow movie.

What Is Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow About?

Woman of Tomorrow, DC's eight-issue comic miniseries from Tom King and Bilquis Evely, takes the status quo of Kara Zor-El / Supergirl into a new territory. Part sword-and-sorcery epic, part interplanetary road trip, the story follows Kara's efforts to protect and avenge a young girl named Ruthye across the cosmos. In the process, Kara comes to terms with her own self-worth and status as a superhero -- something she feels shut out of on Earth, thanks to the prominence of Superman and Superboy.

A Woman of Tomorrow movie was confirmed to be in the works this past January, in the first wave of movies and Max-exclusive shows shepherded by DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran. Details surrounding the film adaptation have been scarce ever since, although King being a part of Gunn and Safran's "writers room" for the DC Universe does hint at the movie potentially being very faithful to its source material.

Why Should Greta Gerwig Direct Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow?

For starters, Gerwig's work on Barbie showcased her ability to oversee something refreshing in this current film world -- over-the-top practical effects. From the impossibly-detailed designs of Barbieland, to the classic Hollywood tactics used for the journeys in and out of the Real World, Barbie set a precedent that Gerwig's future blockbuster work (and honestly, large swaths of the CGI-heavy film industry) can easily follow suit on. While we'll have to wait and see how Gunn's Superman: Legacy establishes the aesthetic for the cosmos of the DCU, Evely's work on the Woman of Tomorrow comics takes things to an even more colorful and fantastical direction. It's easy to imagine Gerwig having an inspired approach to bringing those alien worlds to life onscreen, probably with a fair amount of practical effects to boot.

And when you take one look at Gerwig's filmography -- which, in addition to Barbie, also includes 2017 indie darling Lady Bird and 2019's beloved adaptation of Little Women -- reveals some commonality with Woman of Tomorrow. Each of these three films have become touchstones for their honest representation of womanhood and girlhood, to the point where a passionate third-act monologue on the topic has become a welcomed trope. Regardless of how you personally felt about Barbie, the film provoking a weeks-long conversation about feminism and patriarchy (and helping younger viewers begin to grapple with both concepts) is something notable. In the hands of Gerwig, Woman of Tomorrow could profoundly tackle Kara's personal feelings about her Kryptonian heritage and her role as a superhero -- without softening her or turning her very real anger into a sort of caricature.

While Woman of Tomorrow will be the latest of several live-action takes on the maid of might, Gerwig could have just the right touch to make it something extraordinary -- and she's already expressed a desire to work in the superhero space, depending on the project. Plus, as Gunn, Safran, and Warner Bros. Discovery work to establish this newer, more accessible DCU, having a title card proclaiming one of their projects is from "The Director of Barbie" would definitely be a major flex.

Would you want to see Greta Gerwig direct Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Cocaine Bear was a solid success for Universal early in the year, earning about three times what it cost to produce throughout its theatrical run. Given that it made money, fans of Cocaine Bear have already wondered if the action comedy -- which is shockingly based on a true story -- could get the sequel treatment at some point in the future. While there doesn't seem to be any public traction on that front, director Elizabeth Banks would love to step behind the camera for a second Cocaine Bear movie.

Banks, who directed the film for Universal, recently spoke to Rolling Stone and was asked about the possibility of making another Cocaine Bear. She opened up about how much fun the first one was to make, and how she'd absolutely take the chance to do it again.

"I loved how subversive, crazy, silly and funny it was," Banks said. "I loved surprising people with the cast. I don't think anybody was expecting Margot Martindale, who's 70 years old, to shoot that kid. We had a lot of fun, and if I got the opportunity to surprise the audience and delight myself again, I would take it."

Banks went on to say that Cocaine Bear was a great project for her because, in addition to being a good time, it checked a lot of personal boxes for her.

"I've been very fortunate to work across a lot of genres and things that appeal to me," she added. "Cocaine Bear also came to me during the pandemic. We were all locked away, and I loved the sense of fun inside of it. It was what I wanted to see. And it had this message about mankind's culpability in nature's demise. It spoke to me on a lot of levels."

Cocaine Bear Sets Up a Sequel

There hasn't been any official conversation about a Cocaine Bear sequel just yet, but there is a slight setup for another movie at the end of the film. Speaking to ComicBook.com, W?t? FX supervisor Robin Hollander revealed how Cocaine Bear plants the seeds for a second adventure.

"I do like in the movie how they tease at a sequel when Stache, the guy played by Aaron Holliday, hitchhikes out and he puts the bag in the back with all the sheep," he told us. "I love that bit because the audience is like, 'Oh, okay, okay. I see where there is going.'"

"There was a few little discussion points as they were sort of redesigning the sort of outro scenes in how we could tease a sequel. I have no idea if there is an interest in making a sequel," Hollander added. "Obviously, we'd love to be involved because it was hands-down the funnest project that I've ever we've been involved in. But I think there's a lot of options for animals and drugs and yeah, it's a niche market that needs more exploring, I think."

One Piece is gearing up to enter a new era of the anime with the climax of the Wano Country arc and Gear 5 Luffy's upcoming debut in the next episodes, and Japan's most famous cosplayer is showing the One Piece franchise some love by highlighting the Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock. One Piece's anime has been steadily getting closer to the end of the Wano Country arc with its latest episodes as Luffy is getting ready to attain new levels of strength, and that means that the anime is readying for a brand new era of the series with the Final Saga fast approaching.

The Final Saga throws all sorts of characters back into the thick of the action once Luffy and the others finally leave Wano's shores after the fight with Kaido, and that thankfully includes Boa Hancock. The Pirate Empress is gearing up for a new kind of role in the grand finale along with many of the other players now in flux, and now she's come to life once more with some cool cosplay from Japan's most famous cosplayer (with over two million followers on Twitter) Enako. Check it out below:

154cm???191cm?????????????????????????

???????????Cosplayer2?
?https://t.co/4UmujIiemV pic.twitter.com/jvCDTFImwO

-- ??? (@enako_cos) June 21, 2023

How to Catch Up With One Piece

If you wanted to keep up to date with Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga, the One Piece manga is now currently available to read with Viz Media's digital Shonen Jump library. You can even find the three most recent chapters completely for free. If you wanted to check out the One Piece anime instead, you can now stream it with Crunchyroll together with many of the specials, movies, and more released over the years (including the English dub release of the TV anime series as well).

If you're jumping into the world of One Piece for the first time, Crunchyroll teases the One Piece anime as such, "Monkey. D. Luffy refuses to let anyone or anything stand in the way of his quest to become the king of all pirates. With a course charted for the treacherous waters of the Grand Line and beyond, this is one captain who'll never give up until he's claimed the greatest treasure on Earth: the Legendary One Piece!"

What are some of your favorite Boa Hancock moments in One Piece so far? What are you hoping to see from the Pirate Princess before it all comes to an end? Let us know all of your thoughts about it and everything One Piece in the comments!

World of Warcraft Classic might seem like a relic to some who dismiss it as an "old version" of World of Warcraft, but the community that continues to play on its servers keeps innovating new ways to play WoW. One of the most popular over the last few years has been Hardcore Mode, which requires players to delete their character upon death. This stipulation (and all of the other rules surrounding it) was previously player-imposed because Blizzard Entertainment didn't have an official implementation. Last month, the developer announced that it was finally bringing an official version of the fan mod to the game, and today it revealed the release date. Hardcore Mode is coming to World of Warcraft Classic on August 24.

The news was made official on Blizzard's "This Week in WoW" blog post. There, they announced the release date for the mode is coming right after the 1.14.4 content update goes live, which is focused on fixing the current ranked PvP system. Of course, the full rules for Hardcore Mode were announced back in June, and there's nothing new to report on that end. The basics remain the same in that if you die, your character is deleted.

#WoWClassic Hardcore realms go live August 24!

Best to get your affairs in order...

Read more: https://t.co/HWVPentivj pic.twitter.com/WEFDohubD7

-- World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) July 31, 2023

That's not the only rule to keep in mind if you're looking to make a Hardcore character though. You also won't be able to enter any PvP Battlegrounds and will be restricted to a 24-hour lockout in dungeons until you hit level 60. Plus, the debuff and buff limits are gone and Paladins will no longer be able to use the popular "Bubble Hearth" skill to get away from certain death. There are several other restrictions and changes, but the last big one is that Blizzard has added a new Duel to the Death feature to WoW Classic that lets you put your character's life on the line against an opponent.

All told this official update to World of Warcraft Classic is bringing over just about everything fans love about the original fan mod. With it implemented by Blizzard, it should make the process much smoother. If you want to try it out for yourself, you can log in after August 24 and jump into World of Warcraft Classic on your PC.

SAG-AFTRA has been on strike for a few weeks now, something Stephen Amell now admits he doesn't support. As SAG-AFTRA members hit the picket lines in search of fair wages and better residuals in a new digital-fueled age, the Arrow star says striking is a "reductive tactic" in the union's negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

"I feel like I'm insulated in Hollywood, because that's where I live. I feel like a lot of people in this room aren't aware of the strike," Amell said at Raleigh's GalaxyCon over the weekend. "I support my union, I do, and I stand with them but I do not support striking. I don't. I think that it is a reductive negotiating tactic and I find the entire thing incredibly frustrating. I think that the thinking as it pertains to shows, like this show that I'm on that premiered last night, I think it is myopic and I stand with my union."

#stephenamell support's his union. Let him live. All those popping up with tweets about how he chooses to do what he does,.can go suck an electrical socket. He has a right to his own opinion and how he chooses to move forward. I got his back 100%.
????????????? pic.twitter.com/OqR3N6909D

-- ??Opal Valencia??S?? ???? (@playthetape58) July 30, 2023

Why is the actors' union on strike?

According to SAG-AFTRA officials, negotiators with the AMPTP were hoping to pay actors just a day's salary to use their likeness in perpetuity, being able to digitally recreate their face at a later date without payment or consent.

"This 'groundbreaking' AI proposal that they gave us yesterday: they propose that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day's pay, and their company should own that scan their image, their likeness and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation," SAG-AFTRA's Duncan Crabtree-Ireland revealed earlier this month. "So if you think that's a groundbreaking proposal, I suggest you think again."

The biggest names in Hollywood have spoken out against the technology, with the likes of Christopher Nolan saying studios needed accountability if they were to continue using AI.

"The rise of companies in the last 15 years bandying words like algorithm - not knowing what they mean in any kind of meaningful, mathematical sense - these guys don't know what an algorithm is," Nolan shared. "People in my business talking about it, they just don't want to take responsibility for whatever that algorithm does."

He continued, "Applied to AI, that's a terrifying possibility. Terrifying ... Not least because, AI systems will go into defensive infrastructure ultimately. They'll be in charge of nuclear weapons. To say that that is a separate entity from the person wielding, programming, putting that AI to use, then we're doomed. It has to be about accountability. We have to hold people accountable for what they do with the tools that they have."

Adult Swim has been firing off on all cylinders this year with some new animated series that have made their debut over the course of the year, so here are some of the best shows to watch right now. Warner Bros. Animation has gone through a number of changes over the course of the last few years as Warner Bros. Discovery has announced a greater attention to animated projects, and this has resulted in plenty of fun new releases on Adult Swim. Although Adult Swim has plenty of classics to check out, the new blood has been just as fun to see.

With some of Adult Swim's funniest and most interesting new series hitting this year, it's time to catch back up and see some of the new releases you might have missed out on this year. 2023 is far from over, and Adult Swim still has plenty of new releases planned for the rest of the year, but here are a few of Adult Swim's best new shows you should check out right now.

Adult Swim's 2023 Shows You Should Binge Right Now

YOLO: Silver Destiny

• Info: "Sara and Rachel are set off to pursuit their destinies, as a gardener and a dark Empress."
• Review: Adult Swim kicked off 2023 with a bang with the second season of Michael Cusack's wild animated series, YOLO, which took on more of a serialized narrative as Sarah and Rachel started to drift apart and chase their own respective paths. And they both go to some wild places as a result.
• Where to Watch: You can now check out all episodes of YOLO now streaming on Adult Swim's official website.

Royal Crackers

• Info: "Two brothers struggle to run the family business when their father falls into a coma."
• Review: Royal Crackers is Adult Swim's wild take on Succession as a family begins to try and take their company in a new direction when their patriarch goes into a coma. Each new episode starts to reveal more of the past of the company and things are definitely moving heading into Season 2.
• Where to Watch: You can now find Royal Crackers' first season now streaming on Max.

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal

• Info: "A young girl, unwittingly infused with magical ability, discovers that she is part of a group of eternal heroes destined to fight a supernatural evil throughout time."
• Review: Genndy Tartakovsky returned for a new action animated series this year, and it happens to be the best one from the director yet with a huge and compelling new world, fun characters, and an art style that blends together years worth of effort all into one package.
• Where to Watch: You can now check out all episodes of Unicorn: Warriors Eternal now streaming on Max.

My Adventures with Superman

• Info: "Clark Kent builds his secret Superman identity and embraces his role as the hero of Metropolis, while sharing adventures and falling in love with Lois, a journalist, who also takes Jimmy Olsen under her wing."
• Review: My Adventures with Superman has introduced fans to an anime inspired spin on DC Comics' most iconic superhero, and fans have been loving the fresh energy that's been given to Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen as a result. New versions of DC Comics favorites have been seen with each episode, and it's sparked a whole new wave of fans as a result of this new avenue for these stories.
• Where to Watch: You can now find My Adventures with Superman streaming on Max.

Teenage Euthanasia

• Info: Set in a mildly apocalyptic near-future, Teenage Euthanasia centers around the Fantasy family and their inland Florida funeral home, Tender Endings. The cast of characters includes recently reanimated Trophy Fantasy, her teenage daughter, Euthanasia "Annie" Fantasy, Annie's Uncle Pete and Annie's "old country" immigrant grandmother, Baba. As a teen mom, Trophy ran away from home, leaving her infant daughter to be raised by her Baba and Uncle Pete. Fifteen years later, Trophy finally returns to Tender Endings... as a corpse. But when a bolt of lightning strikes Baba's homemade embalming fluid and one of Annie's tears magically brings Trophy back from the dead, Trophy finds herself a resurrected woman with a second chance at unplanned parenthood and a variety of powers."
• Review: After introducing a dystopian future Florida in the first season, Teenage Euthanasia's shown fans a wild take on a mother and daughter dynamic as a faulted mother gets a second chance to be closer to her teenage daughter after taking her life and being brought back to life.
• Where to Watch: You can now find Teenage Euthanasia's first season and new Season 2 episodes streaming on Max.

What are some of your favorite Adult Swim shows from this year? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments!

Cody Rhodes has had quite the journey over the past few years, and WWE pulls the curtain back on that journey in American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes documentary. The documentary stretches from Rhodes' early life all the way to his sensational return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 and beyond. ComicBook.com had the chance to speak to Rhodes all about the documentary, including what was most important to include, how his daughter changed his life in wrestling, and more. The documentary includes references to Cody's full journey, including All In and his eventual signing with AEW, and that full picture was the most important element of the documentary for Rhodes.

"When I talked to Ben Hauser and Matt Braine, who really are the architects of this documentary, I was just adamant that you don't exclude my time away," Rhodes said. "That you don't just say, 'Cody was gone on a boat ride for six or seven years. Now he's back.' I said, 'I know it's difficult and it's somewhat taboo. We're a different team here.' And I said though, The story, it all has to be in there."

"And again, you could take sections of a documentary and extrapolate on them further and get deep, deep, deep, deep into them, but I just wanted to make sure that things were covered honestly and fairly. The good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly, all those things, and it's in there. So my time away needed to be included," Rhodes said.

The topic of family is a major part of the documentary, especially in regard to Brandi Rhodes and their daughter Liberty. At one point Rhodes says he hopes to make her proud to say that her dad is Cody Rhodes, something any dad can relate to, and during our discussion I asked how she had affected his approach to wrestling and his career overall.

"Well, I'd say the thing that changed most for me career-wise was I no longer had any capacity for any BS. It's not ... I have no capacity for circling, backstabbing, politicking, any of that. If anything, I'll just tell you to your face in the polite way this is how I feel, this is what I should be doing, this is what they should be doing," Rhodes said. "Whatever it might be. I thought that was the best to free me up to just be fully transparent. And in an industry for a long, long time where I had been just like everybody else in a sense that there's weird things you have to navigate in show business."

"And when she was born, it just ... My capacity for BS was that was it. I couldn't deal with it, and that was very helpful, helpful for me because also, not only are you saying, 'Hey, this is what I need for me. This is what I want to be doing'. You also are getting answers back about the level you're at and where you should be, and it's just more honest. If anything, Liberty being born and being a part of my life and having to report back to her, it freed me up to just be a hundred percent honest and not coy, not sly with anything. Here's the deal, let's go," Rhodes said.

American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes is streaming now and WWE SummerSlam streams on August 5th, only on Peacock. You can sign up for Peacock right here.

What did you think of American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads @mattaguilarcb!

If you've ever seen a food advertisement and gotten immeasurably disappointed after ordering the real-life item, you're definitely not alone. In fact, a new class-action lawsuit has been filed against Taco Bell alleging deceptive advertising with two of the chain's most popular items. Filed in a Brooklyn federal court on Monday, New York resident Frank Siragusa accuses the taco joint of misleading advertising regarding its Mexican Pizza and Crunchwrap Supreme line. According to Siragusa, Taco Bell advertisements show a dramatically increased amount of ingredients in its items than what's actually put into the pizza and Crunchwraps in-store.

"Taco Bell materially overstates the amount of beef and/or ingredients contained in its advertisements for the Overstated Menu Items by at least double the amount," the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit seeks $5 million in damages for New Yorkers who've eaten at the chain, only to be misled by its advertising.

"Taco Bell's advertisements for the Overstated Menu Items are unfair and financially damaging to consumers as they are receiving a product that is materially lower in value than what is being promised," the lawsuit adds. "Taco Bell advertises larger portions of food to steer consumers to their restaurants for their meals and away from competitors that more fairly advertise the size of their menu items, unfairly diverting millions of dollars in sales that would have gone to competitors."

Taco Bell has yet to comment on the matter.

Though the Crunchwrap Supreme has been a staple on Taco Bell menus since its inception in 2005, the Mexican Pizza has had a tumultuous run with the national chain. It once found itself as a staple, but was removed from the menu at the height of the pandemic in the name of efficiency. Now, Mexican Pizzas are once again a permanent item after a massive fan campaign to restore it to the menu.

"Our menu is full of fan-favorites, but the Mexican Pizza is at the top of that list," Taco Bell CEO Mark King said in a press release announcing the return last year. "From its flashy introduction to menus in 1985 as 'Pizzazz Pizza' to its inspiration behind the creation of infamous jingles, Mexican Pizza has a long history with the brand and I'm glad we could give fans what they crave and bring our classic Mexican Pizza back home where it belongs."

Tonight's Monday Night Raw will serve as the Red Brand's go-home show for Saturday's SummerSlam premium live event at Detroit's Ford Field. The only matches confirmed for the show are a tag team bout pitting World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn up against The Judgement Day's Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio as well as Maxxine Dupri's singles match debut with Valhalla. Logan Paul has been confirmed to appear on the show, as has Brock Lesnar -- which all but guarantees another confrontation with Cody Rhodes.

As of now, eight matches have been confirmed for Saturday's show. Will any more be added to the card tonight? Tell us your predictions in the comments!

Cody Rhodes on Jey Uso Facing Roman Reigns at SummerSlam

While Cody Rhodes has his hands full with Brock Lesnar this Saturday at SummerSlam, he'll also be keeping an eye on the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match between Jey Uso and Roman Reigns. While Jey was one of the many members of The Bloodline to interfere in Rhodes' match with Reigns back at WrestleMania 39, he wholeheartedly endorsed "Main Event Jey" bringing down "The Tribal Cheif."

"I think whoever is in the position who pins Roman Reigns and leaves with the WWE Undisputed Championship, it's almost a moment that I can't tell you how that will feel or I can't tell you how that will look until we see it, because I think it's just starting to dawn on people how significant it could be," Rhodes told Uproxx.

"If that is Jey Uso, hats off to him, amazing. Not a shred of jealousy in my body," Rhodes continued. "That is as pure and good a man as you can find."

He went on to say, "If it ended up a situation where I was able to get back and it was me, I wouldn't be prepared for that onslaught of feeling. Because fans, we feel. I'm a fan as well, so when I'm watching him and this unbelievable reign that he's put down, it's like this conqueror of old. It's now a time period. Roman has a timeline, essentially. This is the Roman era because of how long he's held on to these things. It will be very significant and, gosh, the man who does it. That man is a special, special person in the record books."

WWE SummerSlam 2023 Card

• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso (Tribal Combat Rules)
• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• SmackDown Women's Championship: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre
• Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
• Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler
• Ricochet vs. Logan Paul
• SummerSlam Battle Royal

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 - The Separation has left the Quincy Bambietta Basterbine on a surprisingly chilling cliffhanger despite her being a major villain out to destroy Soul Society! The newest episodes of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War airing this Summer have kicked off a new slate of battles between the Soul Reapers and the Sternritter forces, and the Soul Reapers have been able to clench some major victories. But each win comes with its own consequences, and it's been made clear with the newest episode that there are major consequences for those on both sides of the fight.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War's newest episode saw Sajin Komamura facing off against Bambietta once more in a rematch following their initial confrontation in the first part, and it ultimately ended with Komamura's victory. But while it was revealed that this had cost Sajin a great deal in exchange for the boost of power necessary to defeat the Sternritter, the cliffhanger that Bambietta was left on made it seem like she was going to suffer a much more chilling fate as a result of how their fight went down:

Bambietta simps hella mad, frothing at the mouth rn wanting to lynch Giselle for what she;about to do to Bambi.

Who's side yall even on?

I still feel some type of way Sajin had to sacrifice himself to Bambi because of that form.

She deserved it!?#BLEACH_anime#BLEACHTYBW pic.twitter.com/aOVOaMf976

-- ?Jill's??Sandwiches? (@SandwichesJill) July 29, 2023

Bleach: What Happens to Bambietta?

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 - The Separation Episode 17 sees Sajin sacrifice the last elements of his humanity for a final boost of power that would allow him to fully defeat Bambietta. Despite the villain using her most powerful ability, Sajin defeated her completely and she was left in the wake of his powerful attack. But as Sajin was facing his own downfall as a result of the fight, it was clear that Bambietta was not going to make it out of this unscathed and even allowed to die on her own terms in the loss.

As Bambietta was laying there suffering over the fact she was the first one out of her group to lose the fight and slowly die, the rest of her group shows up above her as Giselle Gewelle notes that they would be lonely without her. It's unclear what she means by this, but Bambietta starts to cry out and plead with Gigi not to do something as Gigi ominously walks up to her as the episode cuts away.

So it seems like this is far from the end from the quick fan favorite, but it's definitely a chilling final look for now. What did you think of Bambietta's time in Bleach's new anime? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

The discussion surrounding UFOs and UAP (unidentified anomalous phenomena) has never been more prevalent, with the House of Representatives opting to recently host a hearing regarding the matter. Since that hearing, plenty of tidbits have hit the news cycle, including allegations the government has retrieved "non-human biologics" from UFO crash sites.

Given that the topic is still dominating social conversation thanks to TikTok and other viral social platforms, we've got to ask the question...

Did the government really reveal that aliens are real?

Unfortunately for believers everywhere, the answer is a resounding no. What happened earlier this month was a hearing hosted by a subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee. In the hearing, members of the subcommittee heard from three witnesses about their experiences with UFOs and UAP. At no point during the hearing did an elected official confirm the existence of aliens.

Some of the witnesses, on the other hand, went into the personal experiences with UFOs. Retired Air Force Major David Grusch found himself at the root of many of the hearing's revelations, given he was the one that's revealed he's heard stories of alien and UFO retrieval.

"As I've stated publicly already ... biologics came with some of these recoveries, yeah," Grusch said in response to a question from Rep. Nancy Mace (R-NC). When pressed on if those biologics were human or extraterrestrial, the official confirmed "non-human" biologics are what have been recovered from certain UFO crashes.

Other officials claimed members of the United States Armed Forces have more frequent sightings than reported, but few reports are made for fear of being reprimanded.

"These sightings are not rare or isolated, they are routine," Graves said during the hearing. "Military air crew and commercial pilots, trained observers whose lives depend on accurate identification, are frequently witnessing these phenomena. The stigma attached to UAP is real and powerful and challenges national security."

What's next for alien disclosure?

The next steps for Congressional hearings have yet to be officially unveiled, though members of the Senate are hoping to introduce legislation to help move things along. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) revealed earlier this month he plans to introduce legislation that would force the Pentagon to declassify UAP reports after a certain amount of time.

"For decades, many Americans have been fascinated by objects mysterious and unexplained and it's long past time they get some answers," Schumer said in a statement released by his office. "The American public has a right to learn about technologies of unknown origins, non-human intelligence, and unexplainable phenomena."

Schumer's statement continued, "We are not only working to declassify what the government has previously learned about these phenomena but to create a pipeline for future research to be made public. I am honored to carry on the legacy of my mentor and dear friend, Harry Reid and fight for the transparency that the public has long demanded surround these unexplained phenomena."

For additional space and cosmic stories, check out our ComicBook Invasion hub here.

Futurama Season 11 has continued with new episodes in its run on Hulu, and the second episode of the reboot season has finally addressed an unresolved plot between Leela and Kif that has been hanging for over 20 years! One of the big promises made by Futurama's newest season was that it was finally going to revisit the tadpoles that Kif had given birth to back in the Season 4 episode, "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch." With the final tease of that episode revealing that some of the kids had taken on Leela's traits, there has always been a question as to how it would all work out.

Futurama finally returned to this plot with the newest episode of the series as Kif and Amy's kids were finally revealed in full 20 years after their tadpoles were first introduced to the series. With the full reveal of these kids also comes a resolution to the fact that Leela (and hilariously, Scruffy) was also involved in their birth, and Futurama hits this head on as Amy comes to grips with the fact that she's not their biological mother but is the mother of Kif's children anyway.

How Futurama Settles Leela Getting Kif Pregnant

Futurama Season 11 Episode 2, "Children of a Lesser Bog," reveals that Leela somehow forgot that she had gotten Kif pregnant 20 years ago as the series once again explains that Kif's species reproduces by touching hands with their Smizmar (and Kif considered Amy the real mother despite Leela offering genetic material as Amy made his body react in that way in the first place). But with their kids fully introduced, Leela's thrown into the middle of it again as the youngest of them, Newt, keeps calling her "Mommy."

This led to Amy having a crisis over it as their children seemed to prefer Leela more, and this ends up with the Grand Midwife declaring a challenge to Amy's motherhood. Because Amy isn't their genetic parent, she was put through a special trial to keep the children. This ended up being whether or not she actually loved the kids, and because Amy does, she was ultimately declared to be their mother as the happy Kif and Amy family becomes complete as the episode comes to an end.

What did you think of the way Futurama brought this Kif and Leela story full circle with Amy after all these years? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

Marvel just dealt mutants another genocidal blow, as revealed in X-Men: Hellfire Gala (2023). SPOILERS FOLLOW: This year's gala thrown by the mutant nation of Krakoa was set to carry on the annual tradition of selecting and debuting the latest X-Men team roster; instead, the mutant-hating organization ORCHIS crashed the party, finally launching a strike they'd been planning since Krakoa started.

ORCHIS (and old X-Men AI foe, Nimrod) murdered most of the new X-Men team, and either maimed, crippled, or killed quite a few of the most powerful veterans. Professor X was captured and coerced into making nearly all mutants leave Earth - seemingly transporting them to their deaths. ORCHIS's latest has reset the X-Men's status quo to one where a desperate few are fighting to survive - but is it really the change fans needed at this point?

Marvel Loves A Mutant Massacre

The ORCHIS Mutant Massacre isn't the first time Marvel's mutants have faced near-extinction. Going back to the alternate future of "Days of Future Past," where Sentinels hunted down mutants to near-extinction, there have been stories both iconic (Mr. Sinister's Morlock Massacre - the first X-Men crossover event - or M-Day/House of M) and infamous (New X-Men's Genoshan Mutant Massacre) about just how dark times get for mutants, when humanity's (or other enemies') bloodlust surges.

Admittedly, mutant massacres have always been a questionable trope of the X-Men Universe, allowing creators an easy "out," for reducing mutants' presence in the franchise, and then bringing them back in an entirely new status quo. This time it arguably hits very differently, though. The Krakoa Era of X-Men has been one of the longest-lasting creative runs with the characters (four years), not to mention one of the most revolutionary and immersive.

The Krakoa Massacre Hits Different

With "House of X" and "Powers of X," writer Jonathan Hickman introduced an entirely new take on mutant culture, history, and how mutant powers were used. The Krakoa experiment (welcoming both "good" and "evil" mutants into the mutant nation) sparked intrigue as different factions built and schemed around Krakoa's Quiet Council government. The new world order that Hickman built into X-men inspired Marvel Comics creators to revise Hickman's original (shorter) timetable for a three-act plan for Krakoa's rise and fall; just building out the new X-Men Universe and all the characters and stories it touched kept Marvel busy for at least three years.

The point here is that there was clearly a lot of fun to be had with the Krakoa Era of X-Men, and even though the various comics and storylines were a hit-or-miss mix, the high points really resonated with fans - as did certain ideas, characters, and overarching story ideas that Hickman and co. put in place.

That's why a lot of Marvel fans are feeling like this Krakoa Mutant Massacre is something akin to a chess player simply swiping the game pieces off the board in the middle of an intricate game. Granted, the story is still unfolding, but it feels like Hellfire Gala (2023) really did signal the end of the Krakoa Era as we knew it, along with all the deeper and more challenging themes and stories of trying to create, maintain and protect all facets of a sovereign nation, in the midst of a superhero universe, all while trying to avoid and/or change numerous timelines leading to extinction.

The run-and-gun survival stories of the X-Men have their own proud legacies, and the upcoming "Fall of X" could turn out to be another one. But once again taking Earth's mutant population down, the X-Men franchise has lost one of the most intriguing story hooks it's had in years, and a whole lot of originality with it.

X-Men comics are on sale at Marvel.

To quote Pee-wee Herman: "I don't have to see it, Dottie. I lived it." Actor Paul Reubens, who played the childlike Pee-wee Herman in Pee-wee's Playhouse and three feature films, died Sunday after a private bout with cancer. He was 70. Reubens' passing was first announced on his official Facebook page, which shared a posthumous statement from the Pee-wee actor: "Please accept my apology for not going public with what I've been facing the last six years. I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans, and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you."

"Last night we said farewell to Paul Reubens, an iconic American actor, comedian, writer and producer whose beloved character Pee-wee Herman delighted generations of children and adults with his positivity, whimsy and belief in the importance of kindness," reads a statement shared by Reubens' social media pages. "Paul bravely and privately fought cancer for years with his trademark tenacity and wit. A gifted and prolific talent, he will forever live in the comedy pantheon and in our hearts as a treasured friend and man of remarkable character and generosity of spirit."

Below, we've rounded up where to watch Paul Reubens movies and TV shows online, including episodes of Pee-wee's Playhouse and 1985's Pee-wee's Big Adventure, 1988's Big Top Pee-wee, and 2016's Pee-wee's Big Holiday.

Where to Watch Pee-Wee Herman Movies:

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure

"The eccentric and childish Pee-wee Herman embarks on a big adventure when his beloved bicycle is stolen. Armed with information from a fortune-teller and a relentless obsession with his prized possession, Pee-wee encounters a host of odd characters and bizarre situations as he treks across the country to recover his bike."

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure is available to rent digitally on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, the Microsoft Store, Redbox, Vudu, and YouTube. Directed by Tim Burton in his feature debut, the movie is currently not available to stream for free.

Big Top Pee-wee

"Paul Reubens stars as Pee-wee Herman in his second full-length film about a farmer who joins the circus after a storm drops a big tent in his front yard. Pee-wee, along with an outlandish cast of animals and circus performers, puts on the best show ever."

Big Top Pee-wee is currently available to stream on Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video, Fubo TV, and MGM+. It's available for digital download on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, the Microsoft Store, Redbox, Vudu, and YouTube.

Pee-Wee's Big Holiday

"A chance encounter with a mysterious stranger (Joe Manganiello) points Pee-wee toward his destiny -- and his first-ever holiday!"

Pee-Wee's Big Holiday is streaming only on Netflix and Netflix Basic with Ads.

Where to Watch Pee-wee's Playhouse

All 45 episodes across five seasons of Pee-wee's Playhouse are available to watch on the digital service hoopla, which is available for free with a library card via Apple TV+, Android TV, Fire TV, and Roku.

Where to Watch Paul Reubens Movies

1986's Flight of the Navigator, which features Reubens as the voice of Trimaxion Drone Ship nicknamed "Max," is streaming on Disney+.

In a cameo as the Penguin's (Danny DeVito) father, 1992's Batman Returns reunites Reubens with his Pee-wee's Big Adventure director Tim Burton. The Batman sequel is currently available to stream on Max .

Reubens portrayed the vampire acolyte Amilyn in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The film that spawned the TV series of the same name is streaming on Max.

Reubens voiced the devilish Lock in 1993's The Nightmare Before Christmas, which is streaming on Disney+.

1996's Matilda, which paired Reuben with Tracey Walter as FBI Agents Bob and Bill, is available to for digital rental on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, the Microsoft Store, Redbox, Vudu, and YouTube.

Dr. Dolittle, the 1998 film starring Eddie Murphy as the eponymous physician who can talk to animals, featured Reubens as the voice of a raccoon. The hit comedy is currently available to watch on Disney+.

1999's Mystery Men -- the cult classic comedy featuring Reubens as part of an ensemble that includes Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, William H. Macy, Kel Mitchell, and Janeane Garofalo as superhero misfits -- is streaming on Peacock and STARZ.

Reubens voiced the prankster Jokey Smurf in 2011's The Smurfs (streaming on Amazon Freevee) and 2013's The Smurfs 2 (streaming on Netflix).

My Adventures with Superman has been introducing fans to a brand new take on Superman and the world around him, and the Adult Swim animated series has been revealed to have faced "no interference" from James Gunn or Peter Safran's new DC Studios according to the producer behind the show! Gunn and Safran are now leading a new universe full of efforts with DC Studios that will unite its live-action and animated efforts under a single universe with certain "Elseworlds" projects also existing outside of the main canon. This had fans wondering about some of the new animated projects we're starting to see play out now.

My Adventures with Superman is showcasing an anime inspired take on Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen, and producer behind the series Jake Wyatt explained (as reported by The Direct) that the show's ordered two seasons had been in the works before DC Studios was formed and ultimately the new regime has been "very supportive" with "no interference" show for the new anime inspired series and "a lot of approval" over what had been shown to them thus far.

How My Adventures with Superman Exists Under DC Studios

"We started well before any of that took place when we were still with AT&T [previous owners of WarnerMedia]. I've been pleased that the new regime has been very supportive," Wyatt explained to The Direct. "They showed James [Gunn] the opening main titles and he really liked it. So we've been allowed to do our two seasons with no interference and a lot of approval." Wyatt then continued with revealing how the idea for My Adventures with Superman came about during WarnerMedia's time with AT&T.

"I've loved Superman my whole life. We came to making the show out of a conversation Brendan [Clogher, executive producer] and I had while directing at Nickelodeon about superhero fatigue," Wyatt continued. "Who do we still care about with all these movies and properties and newly minted superheroes every day? Superman was still great, and we realized we loved him for the same reasons. We loved the Clark and Lois romance, the awkward Clark Kent, the hope and the optimism, and almost that cringe earnestness of Superman."

So it seems that while Gunn and Safran are united the DC Studios animated efforts with the live-action ones, My Adventures with Superman impressed them so much that its production continued without interference. But what are you thinking of My Adventures with Superman so far? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

via The Direct

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty launched to solid reviews and sales numbers earlier this year, giving Team Ninja another hit in the action role-playing genre. Of course, just like any game, it had its issues at launch, but Team Ninja dropped patches to fix most of that and it is now putting the focus on post-launch content, dropping its latest roadmap earlier today. It includes all kinds of content coming to Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, covering the next five months of releases, which will include two new paid DLC drops. That said, the most notable additions will likely be the upcoming free partnerships with Lies of P and Nioh.

Before players get to either crossover, they'll have a new free update in August that's adding Boss Rush Part 2, giving players a new group of bosses to blaze through. September will see the next batch of paid DLC, which includes a selection of new end-game content, and also brings the Lies of P collab as a free update. Team Ninja isn't yet saying what exactly will be included in this crossover, but it's timed to come out around Lies of P's own release date, so it should be a fun addition for fans of either game.

#WoLongFallenDynasty Director's Letter & Road Map Released

We have released a Director's Letter ?

The letter introduces the road map for the rest of 2023, as well as future adjustments and updates!

Please take a look ?

Details: https://t.co/uvviZFcdMY pic.twitter.com/GWaVm4Cxrk

-- Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty (@WoLongOfficial) July 31, 2023

October seems to be a bit of a light month, as players will only get new "balance adjustments" for Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, but then the Nioh crossover hits in November. Again, Team Ninja isn't giving away much at this point, simply saying that these new crossovers "will be different than what [they] have released for the Naraka: Bladepoint collaboration." The year ends with the third pair DLC, which is being called Upheaval in Jingxiang. Just like the second DLC, it'll add new weapons, missions, a difficulty level, and much more as an end-game addition to Wo Long.

Of course, this roadmap for Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty could change over the coming weeks and months. While the paid DLC and collabs are likely pretty set in stone, things may move around depending on Team Ninja's development progress. Either way, fans of the action RPG will soon have five more months full of new content to dive into.

Angus Cloud, an actor known for his work on Euphoria, The Line, and North Hollywood, has passed away at the age of 25. The news was confirmed in a statement from Cloud's family to TMZ, revealing that the death occurred just days after Cloud's father had passed away. Cloud was perhaps best known for playing Fezco "Fez" O'Neill on HBO's Euphoria, a role he portrayed ever since 2019. The cause of death is currently unknown at this time.

"It is with the heaviest heart that we had to say goodbye to an incredible human today," the statement reads. "As an artist, a friend, a brother and a son, Angus was special to all of us in so many ways. Last week he buried his father and intensely struggled with this loss. The only comfort we have is knowing Angus is now reunited with his dad, who was his best friend. Angus was open about his battle with mental health and we hope that his passing can be a reminder to others that they are not alone and should not fight this on their own in silence. We hope the world remembers him for his humor, laughter and love for everyone. We ask for privacy at this time as we are still processing this devastating loss."

Cloud was born Conor Angus Cloud Hickey in Oakland, California on July 10, 1998. As a teenager, he sustained a traumatic brain injury, which partially led to his distinct onscreen voice. After attending the School of Production Design at Oakland School for the Arts, he was actually scouted by Euphoria casting director Jennifer Venditti while working in a New York restaurant. Playing Fez in Euphoria would be Cloud's first onscreen, and his portrayal would go on to be one of the most tweeted-about characters of the past decade. Cloud would go on to have appearances in 2021's North Hollywood, as well as the recently-released The Line. He also appeared in a trio of music videos in recent years -- Noah Cyrus' "All Three", Juice WRLD's "Cigarettes", and Becky G & Karol G's "Mamiii".

"I hope I did a good job," Cloud explained in a recent interview with Variety. "I ain't tryna be like no one-trick pony. But if I did sh-t, then it is what it is. I don't know how to act. I just do it. I'm in rooms with people that have been acting their whole life, and I'm like, 'Why am I here?' I got impostor-type sh-t."

Just a few months prior to his passing, it was announced that Cloud would be among the cast of a currently-untitled Universal Monsters movie, alongside an ensemble cast that includes Kathryn Newton, Giancarlo Esposito, and Dan Stevens. The film, which is directed by the duo Radio Silence, is currently expected to hit theaters in April of 2024.

Our thoughts are with Cloud's family, friends, and fans at this time.

Jujutsu Kaisen has reached the end of the Hidden Inventory arc with the newest episode of Season 2, and the original creator behind the Jujutsu Kaisen manga has shared their praise for Suguru Geto and Toji Fushiguro's fight in Episode 4! The Hidden Inventory arc from Gege Akutami's original Jujutsu Kaisen manga tackles a very important missions from Geto and Satoru Gojo's past together at Jujutsu Tech, and fans of the anime saw just how bloody of a mission it turned into once Toji got involved in full and started making his move on the young duo and Riko Amanai.

After making his move to take out Gojo and surprisingly kill Riko before the end of the previous episode, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 4 saw Toji fully fight against Geto as the two of them were the only ones left standing at the time. It's this fight that was fleshed out further from how it was in the manga, and Jujutsu Kaisen series creator Gege Akutami actually shared some comments of praise for how this fight turned out in the anime. You can check it out below (as translated by @soukatsu_ on Twitter):

#???? #?????

??????
?4?????????????????!!

??8/3(?)23:56~?2?5??????
??????????????!! pic.twitter.com/3JiVypkyWF

-- ???????? (@jujutsu_PR) July 27, 2023

What Jujutsu Kaisen's Creator Thinks About JJK Season 2 Episode 4

"They somehow expanded the direction and settings of the battle based on my half-ass feedback where I was like 'For the fight inside the Tombs of the Star Corridor, as long as it doesn't make it to the root of the tree, it should be fine!!' Amazing!!," Akutami began when talking up the fight. Mentioning further that, "I somehow get the feeling that the staff really like Rainbow Dragon..." due to the Cursed Spirit's use in the episode, and highlighting Geto using a finger gun with, "Geto somehow learned cooler ways to use his technique compared to in the manga."

Akutami then went on to praise the animation and full production for Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 4 overall too with, "I'm not actually that knowledgeable yet so I tend to talk more about directing style or key animation, but there are many processes and roles involved in animation, like photography, backgrounds, sound, and many more processes done by a ton of people working very hard!! So thaaaank you to everyone!!"

What did you think of Geto and Toji's fight in Jujutsu Kaisen's newest episode? How have you liked the Hidden Inventory arc overall? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

Pop superstar and actress Madonna has provided a major update following her sudden medical emergency in late June. In a post on Madonna's Instagram page, she revealed that she has been doing fine in the month following her hospital stay, which was reported to be due to a "serious bacterial infection." Madonna uses the post to thank her family and friends for their support amid this time, including from her manager, Guy Oseary. Part of the post shows Oseary gifting Madonna a framed Polaroid photo, which was allegedly taken by Andy Warhol and shows Keith Haring wearing a jacket adorned with Michael Jackson's face.

"Love from family and friends is the best medicine," the post reads in part. "One month out of the hospital and I can reflect. As a mother you can really get caught up In the needs of your children and the seemingly endless giving... But when the chips were down my children really showed up for me. I saw a side to them I had never seen before. It made all the difference. So did the love and support from my friends... I sobbed when I opened this gift because I realized how lucky I am to be alive. And how fortunate I am to have known these people and so many others who are also gone. And thank you to all my angels who protected me and let me stay to finish doing my work."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Madonna (@madonna)

What Happened to Madonna?

Late last month, it was confirmed via Page Six that Madonna was recovering from the infection in a New York hospital. While the timeline of events is currently unclear, the report suggests that she was found unresponsive and rushed to the hospital that prior weekend, where she was intubated in the ICU. As a result of the hospitalization, Madonna's Celebration tour has been temporarily posted, just weeks before it was set to kick off in Vancouver.

"On Saturday June 24, Madonna developed a serious bacterial infection which lead to a several day stay in the ICU," Madonna's manager, Guy Oseary, said in an Instagram post shortly after. "Her health is improving, however she is still under medical care. A full recovery is expected... As this time we will need to pause all commitments, which includes the tour. We will share more details with you soon as we have them, including a new start date for the tour and for rescheduled shows."

Is Madonna Directing Her Own Biopic?

In recent years, reports have indicated that Madonna will be adapting her own life into a biopic film, which she would direct for Universal Pictures. The project underwent a grueling audition process, enlisting Ozark and Inventing Anna star Julia Garner to star, only to be put out of development in order to prioritize the Celebration Tour. The currently-untitled film was set to be produced by Amy Pascal, with its narrative ending on the 1990 "Blonde Ambition" tour.

Garner was cast in the role following a series of grueling auditions that reportedly also included Florence Pugh (Black Widow), Alexa Demie (Euphoria), Odessa Young (Mothering Sunday), and Emma Laird (Mayor of Kingstown). According to reports from last year, the audition process included 11-hour choreography sessions with Madonna herself, as well as singing auditions.

"I want to convey the incredible journey that life has taken me on as an artist, a musician, a dancer -- a human being, trying to make her way in this world," Madonna said in a statement when the project was announced. "The focus of this film will always be music. Music has kept me going and art has kept me alive. There are so many untold and inspiring stories and who better to tell it than me. It's essential to share the roller coaster ride of my life with my voice and vision."

"This movie is an absolute labor of love for me," Pascal added. "I have known Madonna since we made 'A League of Their Own' together, and I can't imagine anything more thrilling than collaborating with her and Diablo on bringing her true-life story to the big screen with Donna and our partners at Universal."

What do you think of the latest update on Madonna's recent hospitalization? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

After releasing the latest chapter of Coheed and Cambria's Amory Wars saga in 2022, lead singer Claudio Sanchez is hitting the road as his solo side project, The Prize Fighter Inferno, in 2024. Originally conceived of as a spinoff of The Amory Wars, Sanchez now considered The Prize Fighter Inferno, which is a blend of acoustic and electronic tracks, has become an entirely separate narrative. Tickets are already on sale for the 11-stop "Before They Bury Me Tour," which has shows in Philadelphia, Detroit, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago. Speaking to ComicBook.com at San Diego Comic-Con, Sanchez explained why now, is the right time to bring back The Prize Inferno, after releasing the act's latest album, The City Introvert, in 2021.

"For me, for a long time, I felt guilt, being the figurehead of the band [Coheed and Cambria, and knowing that if I'm going to exercise a project like this, I'm going to take away this time from the others," Sanchez explained. "Whereas I think everybody in the band is growing and have done are starting to do their own thing. So, for me, I feel less guilt about taking the project out."

In addition to feeling like all of the performers in Coheed and Cambria are better occupied these days, Sanchez also mentions that the tour comes shortly after releasing the comic book adaptation of The Prize Fighter Inferno's 2006 debut album, My Brother's Blood Machine, through his publisher/record label, Evil Ink. "We did finally release the comics component of My Brother's Blood Machine just recently," he says, "so, I thought, 'Well, why not? This makes a lot of sense now."

Sanchez made the announcement that he'd be taking The Prize Fighter Inferno on tour in July. "The Before They Bury Me Tour" will follow Coheed and Cambria's "Neverender: No World for a Waking Mind Tour" with Deafheaven later this year (tickets are also available to order for that tour).

"I've spent the last few months reacquainting myself with the early PFI material and I'm sparked with memories that glued triumphs to the tragedies, the spaces in-between, the highlight reel that many don't get to see," Sanchez said in a statement announcing the solo tour. "These intimate performances could inspire something, maybe even birth a whole new avenue of expression for me, and with that, I welcome the experience and hope the audience will too."

The Prize Fighter tour kicks off in February, and tickets are on sale now. The six-issue comic book adaptation of My Brother's Blood Machine is also available now.

WWE attempted to utilize Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch's real-life relationship on its weekly TV programming back in 2019 by having the storylines surrounding Seth Rollins' Universal Championship feud with Baron Corbin and Becky Lynch's Raw Women's Championship program with Lacey Evans intertwine. This months-long storyline culminated in a Winner Take All tag match between the four at Extreme Rules 2019, but by that point, many fans were sick of the storyline and felt it was hurting the momentum of both champions by having their relationship constantly brought up. The two would then publicly pan the booking in interviews in the years that followed and onscreen interactions between the married couple were kept to a minimum.

Fast forward to now where Rollins has reinvented himself as "The Visionary" and currently holds the World Heavyweight Championship, while Lynch's character has evolved to a combination of her "The Man" and "Big Time Becks" personas. In a new interview with CBS Sports' Shakiel Mahjouri, Rollins admitted he wouldn't be opposed to working onscreen with his wife again.

"For her, her character was in a different place," Rollins said (h/t WrestlingNews.co). "She was in a different stratosphere and it was hard for her to manage what her character was on screen as The Man, as this female, badass, Stone Cold Steve Austin type character and then on the flip side of that having a husband and a love interest and all that. That kind of was hard for her to put together on screen. For me, I'm always like, let's go with the flow. I'm not quite as protective as she is in that regard, probably to my own detriment in some cases, but yeah, I mean, it's one of those things where when you take your relationship and you turn it into a story, it becomes difficult because it's hard for our audience occasionally to separate fiction from reality and at the same time, our business is built on blending fiction and reality. So that kind of diametric force that is sort of pulling and pushing all the time can create a bit of a struggle.

"We weren't ready for it. It didn't flush out. Our characters weren't in the right place," he added. "Our heads weren't in the right place. You know, if we did it now or in the future, it might be different, but I'm also fortunate that it's not a thing that we need to go to. We're both just very strong individual characters and can carry stories individually on our own which is lovely. So if we go there again, I'd love to give it a second shot. I think there's a lot to it, but if we don't, we tried it, it didn't work, and we're still very happily married."

WWE SummerSlam 2023 Card

• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso (Tribal Combat Rules)
• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• SmackDown Women's Championship: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre
• Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
• Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler
• Ricochet vs. Logan Paul
• SummerSlam Battle Royal

Earlier this year, anime fans were presented with a truly wild story. A report surfaced that an anime based on Aliens vs Predator was lurking in limbo, and it didn't take long before the news was confirmed. Shinji Aramaki admitted the reports were true as he directed the unreleased Aliens vs Predator series, and now the creator is breaking their silence on the mysterious project.

The update was shared this weekend at Otakon as Aramaki hosted a panel at the event. It was there he showed screenshots and designs from the Aliens vs Predator anime. The art dates back to 2015, and fans were treated to the show's working title Aliens vs Predator: Annihilation.

During his appearance at Otakon, Aramaki told fans the anime series consisted of 10 episodes the last he knew. As for its story, the Aliens vs Predator anime took place on a massive ship used for immigration. Various predator factions were involved with the show's plot, and the aliens we first met under director Ridley Scott played a major role. But when it comes to specifics, Aramaki said he would refrain from spilling the beans should the Aliens vs Predator anime ever see the light of day.

As you can imagine, anime and movie buffs are most definitely eager for this shelved series to drop. Aliens vs Predator: Annihilation would have been spearheaded in some way by 21st Century Fox as the production company oversaw the crossover IP. In 2019, Disney acquired most of the IPs under 21st Century Fox, so we can only hope Mickey Mouse is still sitting on this adaptation. So if The Walt Disney Company wants to spotlight Disney+, it would be smart to release this adaptation ASAP.

As for Aramaki, he is keeping busy with work in Japan. Currently, he and collaborator Hideki Kakinuma are working on a series titled Genesis Breaker. From Ultraman to Ghost in the Shell and Blade Runner: Black Lotus, Aramaki has worked on a ton of top-tier projects. Hopefully, Aliens vs Predator: Annihilation will join the list soon...!

What do you think about this Alien vs Predator anime? Should the project be released or...? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

HT - ANN

Summer blockbuster season is officially back, thanks to Barbie and Oppenheimer making a healthy amount of change at the box office. The movies have had such a great first week, both the films and theaters alike are putting up sales records. Sunday, AMC Theaters announced it tallied its best week in ticket sales over the course of the company's 103-year history. In addition to the entire chain setting a record, 65 AMC locations across the country also set location-specific records.

"The monumental success of Barbie and Oppenheimer has the entire movie and movie theater industry abuzz, with discussions of new records and new benchmarks being realized seemingly wherever you turn," AMC chief Adam Aron said in a press release Sunday night. "These two movies, along with the many others playing on our huge silver screens, continue to rewrite what is possible at the box office. At AMC, we are thrilled to add our own new all-time records into that conversation. Achieving the most admissions revenue in a single week in AMC's storied 103-year history is a testament to the moviegoing audience, who has demonstrated once again that they are ready, willing, and eager to come out to movie theaters in huge numbers. Thank you to our guests for choosing AMC Theatres in the U.S. and Odeon Cinemas abroad."

Through Sunday, Barbie has made a massive $773 million global box office haul while Oppenheimer's $400 million worldwide sum is better-than-great for R-rated films.

Aron continued, "Our appreciation extends to so many of our friends in Hollywood for releasing all the many hit movies that have graced our theaters, especially over the past few months. The gratitude we feel for studios, film makers, cast and crew is heartfelt and genuine. Their creativity and determination to entertain, enlighten, inform and amuse audiences, combined with our industry's commitment to operate first class theaters, is why in our opinion moviegoing, in theaters, will play a central role in the cultural fabric the world over for decades and decades to come."

In Barbie, to live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you're a Ken. From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig comes Barbie, which hit theaters on July 21st. Barbie stars Oscar-nominees Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, alongside America Ferrera , Kate McKinnon , Michael Cera , Ariana Greenblatt , Issa Rae , Rhea Perlman , and Will Ferrell. The film also stars Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey , Hari Nef , Alexandra Shipp , Kingsley Ben-Adir , Simu Liu , Ncuti Gatwa , Scott Evans , Jamie Demetriou , Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya , Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Dua Lipa and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren . Gerwig directed Barbie from a screenplay by Gerwig & Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach , based on Barbie by Mattel .

Both Barbie and Oppenheimer are in theaters now.

Filmmaker Tim Burton is remembering his friend and collaborator Paul Reubens, who died at age 70 Sunday after a private bout with cancer. Reubens starred as the zany Pee-wee Herman in the Pee-wee's Playhouse TV series and 1985's Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Burton's feature film directorial debut. (According to the book Burton on Burton, Reubens and the film's producers picked Burton to direct the feature based on the then-Disney animator's stop-motion animated short Vincent and his 1984 short film Frankenweenie.) After Pee-wee's Big Adventure grossed $41 million off a $7 million budget, Burton went on to direct two more hit films for Warner Bros.: 1988's Beetlejuice and 1989's Batman.

"Shocked and saddened. I'll never forget how Paul helped me at the beginning of my career. It would not have happened without his support," Burton wrote on Instagram alongside an image from the making of Pee-wee's Big Adventure. "He was a great artist. I'll miss him."

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Burton and Reubens would reunite on 1992's Batman Returns, with the Pee-wee Herman actor making a cameo as the father of Danny DeVito's Penguin. Reubens also voiced Lock -- the devilish leader of Oogie's Boys -- in 1993's The Nightmare Before Christmas, director Henry Selick's stop-motion animated adaptation of Burton's original poem.

"Last night we said farewell to Paul Reubens, an iconic American actor, comedian, writer and producer whose beloved character Pee-wee Herman delighted generations of children and adults with his positivity, whimsy and belief in the importance of kindness," reads a statement from the actor's Facebook page published on Monday. "Paul bravely and privately fought cancer for years with his trademark tenacity and wit. A gifted and prolific talent, he will forever live in the comedy pantheon and in our hearts as a treasured friend and man of remarkable character and generosity of spirit."

Accompanying the announcement was a statement from Reubens, reading: "Please accept my apology for not going public with what I've been facing the last six years. I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you."

Reubens' Facebook page asked "that any expressions of sympathy be made in honor of his late parents, Judy and Milton Reubenfeld, to Stand Up to Cancer or organizations involved in Dementia and Alzheimer's care, support and research."

The creator of Wingspan's next game is all about the relationship between fungi and fir trees. AEG has announced Undergrove, a new board game by Wingspan creator Elizabeth Hargrave and Mark Wootton. The new game is described as an "area control and cube conversion" game in which players act as Douglas fir trees trying to establish seedlings and successfully grow them into trees. Douglas firs are a popular home to many species of mushrooms, and it appears that Undergrove will attempt to showcase the symbiotic relationship between trees and fungi via resource management and engine-building mechanics. The player with the best set of seedlings and the most valuable symbiotic relationships at the end of the game wins.

Hargrave and Wootton previously collaborated on Mariposas, a tabletop game about the migration of monarch butterflies. Hargrave is also known for designing Wingspan, the enormously popular engine-building game about drawing different kinds of birds to a nature habitat to score victory points. Wingspan has been a breakout hit since it first debuted back in 2019, selling over 14 million copies, with several expansions adding more species of birds. Wingspan has been cited as the latest complex board to crossover into the mainstream.

Undergrove will launch on Kickstarter later this year, with both a standard and a deluxe edition available as part of the crowdfunding campaign. No price or expected launch date has been announced, but it's likely more details will be revealed around Gen Con, which is due to take place this week in Indianapolis and is the largest board game convention of the year.

After kicking off the Season of the Malignant in Diablo 4, the developers at Blizzard Entertainment have been announcing all kinds of changes to help improve the game after a somewhat lackluster response to the first season. While the game is very much solid, many in the hardcore community want specific changes to bring the game more in line with expectations. To that end, Blizzard held a Campfire Chat ahead of Patch 1.1.1 where it revealed several upcoming character buffs and changes. One thing that wasn't "explicitly" touched on during the discussion is the new change Diablo 4 is making to mounts that essentially turns them into battering rams.

Mounts have been an important addition to Diablo 4 because of how massive its open world is; however, that doesn't mean they don't have their issues. For one, the developers love to erect barricades all over the world, stopping players in their tracks. To get around them, you either need to run around the long way or hop off your mount, smash them to pieces, and then continue on your way. That's all going to be fixed in a future patch as Diablo designer Joe Shely announced on Twitter after the Campfire Chat that the team is changing the mount charge to be usable on barricades. This lets players easily smash through barricades while still mounted, speeding their progress around the open world.

We're going to allow the mount charge to break through barricades. I realized I didn't state this explicitly during the #Diablo4 campfire chat today.

-- Joe Shely (@JoeShely) July 29, 2023

On top of that, Shely revealed later in the replies to the above Tweet that the team is also taking steps to improve the dismount cooldown when players are climbing a ladder or descending a slope. These changes join some of the updates already announced for Patch 1.1.1, including the promise of improved collision detection.

Fortunately, we don't have to wait much longer to see the full patch notes for ourselves. Blizzard recently committed to providing notes about a week before the actual update goes live, which means we'll have the Patch 1.1.1 notes on August 2, with the actual patch dropping in Diablo 4 on August 8. Alongside the mount changes, players can expect big buffs for the Barbarian and Sorcerer, as well as an additional stash tab.

You ever wonder where characters and planets in Star Wars get their names? They come from all sorts of places, depending on who came up with the idea and what was on their mind that day, but one of the most pivotal names in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story actually came from a mistake at a coffee shop. A barista serving director Gareth Edwards coffee didn't hear his name correctly and accidentally named the final planet in the film.

Scarif, the planet that housed the plans for the Death Star, was home to most of the third act of Rogue One. Edwards was tasked with coming up with the planet's name before going out to get a coffee. In an interview with Edwards that was recently posted to social media by Industrial Light & Magic, the filmmaker said that the barista misunderstood his name and wrote "Scarif" on his cup. You can check out the clip from the interview below!

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"When you're a kid and you dream about making a Star Wars film, one of the amazing things that could happen if you got lucky enough to do that would be to name characters or name something in the movie," Edwards said in the interview. "Gary Whitta was writing the draft of the movie. He was really excited about it but after a while, after naming like the 50th thing and trying to come up with a unique name, he was getting a little bit bored and wanted to share this problem, and he was like. 'Gareth you got to start naming some stuff.' And he's like, 'Okay, you've got to name the end planet.' And I was like, 'Okay this is a big deal.'

"I came out and I went and got a coffee. You know, they write your name on the coffee and everything and I must have said when they asked my name, 'It's Gareth.' And what they heard was 'Scarif.' And so I just looked at the coffee cup and it said, 'Scarif.' And I just came back in to Gary and I put it on the table and I went, 'It's called Scarif.' And I feel like the Barista doesn't realize the influence they've had in a galaxy far, far away."

The Creator: Gareth Evans' New Movie

Edwards is returning to the big screen later this year with The Creator, his first film since Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. John David Washington stars in The Creator as an ex-special forces agent named Joshua, who is grieving the disappearance of his wife. In the middle of a war between humans and artificial intelligence, Joshua is hired to hunt down and killed a being known as the Creator, the architect of the AI who has the power to end the war, as well as mankind itself.

In addition to Washington, the film stars Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, and Allison Janney. Edwards wrote the script with Chris Weitz and produced the film alongside Kiri Hart, Jim Spencer, and Arnon Milchan. The executive producers are Yariv Milchan, Michael Schaefer, Natalie Lehmann, Nick Meyer, and Zev Foreman.

The Creator is set to arrive in theaters on September 29th.

Futurama Season 11 has returned to Hulu with a new episode, and it has finally followed up on a 20 year old episode with the full reveal of Kif and Amy's kids after all these years! One of the big promises that Futurama made heading into its second major reboot with Hulu was the fact that they would be using some of these episodes to follow up on unresolved plots left hanging by the original runs of the series. This has already come to pass with the second episode of the new season as it brings back Kif and Amy's tadpoles last seen in Season 4.

Kif and Amy gave birth to tadpoles during the Season 4 episode, "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch," and now 20 years later, Futurama has shifted their status quo by bringing back these tadpoles back into the series in full. After finding a hilarious way to pare down the potential thousands of babies, they ended up with three children at different ages (due to where they spent time in the swamp) with Axl the oldest, Mandy the middle child, and Newt the youngest. Check out Kif and Amy's kids below:

Futurama: Who Are Kif and Amy's Children?

Futurama Season 11 Episode 2, "Children of a Lesser Bog," ends the 20 year wait that Kif had teased Amy about during Season 4 in which each of the tadpoles had grown arms and legs and made their way back to land. They end up with three children as a result, and each of them ended up growing at different rates due to the temperature of the water where they spent most of their time in the swamp. Although Leela was technically the one who provided the genetic material, Amy is the official Smizmar.

This ends up playing a role in the main conflict for the episode as Amy was challenged over her role as their mother, but thankfully the episode comes to an end with Kif and Amy cementing their new family dynamic in place. Now it's just a matter of seeing how Futurama uses these three new characters moving forward in future episodes of the series much like how the other kids in the series have been used so far.

How do you feel about Kif and Amy's children in Futurama's newest episode? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

Blue Lock brought its first season to life last year, and it has put soccer on the map. The sport series has experienced a huge bump in the past year, and the latest FIFA World Cup put Yoichi Isagi on the map. In fact, the anime's rise has even reeled in a number of professional collabs, and now Blue Lock has found another football team to work with.

The update comes courtesy of Kodansha as the publisher confirmed Blue Lock's new pro partner. It seems Inter Milan is now working with the Blue Lock team on special collabs. This deal is the second Blue Lock has struck as the series teamed up with Liverpool FC last year. This original partnership has been expanded according to new reports, so Blue Lock is still bringing in lots of good publicity for football squads.

And of course, that bump is hardly surprising. Blue Lock may be a sports anime, but the genre is pretty huge. Released in 2018, Blue Lock has nearly 30 million copies in circulation, and the anime is faring just as well. In fact, studio Eight Bit has announced Blue Lock season 2 is already in the works, and a movie is on the way with supervision by creators Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura.

If you have not watched Blue Lock, you should know the show is easy to binge right now. All of season 1 is streaming on Crunchyroll. As for the manga, Blue Lock can be read on the K Manga app outside of Japan. So for more details on the thrilling sports series, you can read Blue Lock's official synopsis below:

"After a disastrous defeat at the 2018 World Cup, Japan's team struggles to regroup. But what's missing? An absolute ace striker. The Football Union is hell-bent on creating a striker who hungers for goals and thirsts for victory, so Blue Lock -- a rigorous training ground for 300 of Japan's best and brightest youth players -- is created. To survive this battle royale, the last striker standing will have to out-muscle and out-ego everyone who stands in his way!"

What do you think about this Blue Lock collaboration? Are you caught up on the sports show ahead of season two? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

1990's "Treehouse of Horror" -- the first of the annual, Halloween-themed episodes of The Simpsons -- ended with Marge assuring Homer: "They're just children's stories. They can't hurt you." But they can scare you. In keeping with the yearly "Treehouse" tradition, creator Matt Groening's Bongo Comics launched the "scarifying" first issue of Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror (later retitled The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror with issue #14) in 1995. The horror anthology spanned 23 issues between 1995 and 2017, all of which are being collected across three volumes of The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Ominous Omnibus.

The first volume, titled The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Ominous Omnibus Vol. 1: Scary Tales & Scarier Tentacles, arrived in 2022. And on August 1st, 2023, fans can get their tentacles on The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Ominous Omnibus Vol. 2: Deadtime Stories for Boos & Ghouls. Like the first volume, the over-sized omnibus is packaged in a deluxe, die-cut slipcase that glows in the dark. (A third and final omnibus volume collecting the remaining material from the Treehouse of Horror comics is expected to release in 2024.)

While some issues adapted the TV episodes, most told new stories written and illustrated by some of the biggest names in comics, including Kyle Baker (Why I Hate Saturn), Ian Boothby (Futurama Comics), Dan Brereton (The Nocturnals), Gerry Duggan (Marvel's Deadpool), Pia Guerra (Y: The Last Man), Peter Kuper (Spy vs. Spy), Carol Lay (Way Lay), Nina Matsumoto (Y?kaiden), Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise), Steve Niles (30 Days of Night), Brian Posehn (Deadpool), James Robinson (Starman), Tone Rodriguez (Radioactive Man), Scott Shaw! (Simpsons Comics), and Jim Woodring (Jim and Frank).

"I've been looking at comics since before I could read. I had an older brother, Mark ... who turned me onto all the great comics of the fifties: Mad, when it was still a comic, Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge, Little Lulu, Tales From The Crypt -- all that stuff," Groening recalled in a 1995 issue of Flux magazine. "He and his buddies had a secret clubhouse up in this little room in a garage down the street and you had to climb a ladder and crawl across a beam in order to get in there. That was the comics reading room, so there was definitely a taste of the forbidden just getting to this secret room to read the comics. They wouldn't let in while they were there so I had to wait until they were out shooting slingshots at squirrels until I could sneak in and read all these great comics."

That's the inspiration behind Bart's treehouse, and in turn, Treehouse of Horror.

According to Groening: "Comics are meant to be read in one of two places; either in a treehouse or under the covers late at night with a flashlight in your mouth and a little transistor radio with one of those little plastic earphones."

The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Ominous Omnibus Vol. 2: Deadtime Stories for Boos & Ghouls is out August 1st.

Following yesterday's Poliwag Community Day, Pokemon Go has revealed the next event, which will be held on Sunday, August 13th from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. local time. This time around, Froakie will be taking the spotlight, and players will have an increased chance of finding a Shiny one in the wild! Froakie is the final Kalos starter to have a Community Day event, as Chespin and Fennekin had similar events in January and May, respectively. Froakie is arguably the most popular of the three, so a lot of fans should be excited for this event!

For those unfamiliar with Froakie, the Pokemon evolves into Frogadier, and then Greninja. Players that evolve a Frogadier during the Community Day event will end up with a Greninja that knows the Featured Attack Water Shuriken. Water Shuriken is a Fast Attack that has a power of 6 in Trainer Battles, and 10 in Gyms and Raids. A Froakie themed Special Research story will be available in the game's shop titled "A Bubbly Disposition." The Special Research will cost $1.00, and PokeCoins cannot be used. Players can, however, purchase and gift them to a player that they've become Great Friends with.

As with most Community Day events, this one will have additional bonuses to look forward to. Players will receive double Candy and triple Stardust for catching Pokemon; players over Level 31 will have a doubled chance of getting Candy XL from catches as well. Incense and Lure Modules activated during Community Day hours will also last for three hours. Last but not least, players will be able to make one extra Special Trade during the event, making for a total of three possible.

As has been the case lately, players that don't have the chance to participate during the three-hour span will have something of a second chance. From 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. local time, Frogadier will appear in Four-Star Raids. These can only be taken on locally, and once the Pokemon has been defeated, the area surrounding the Gym will be swarmed by Froakie for 30 minutes after. Players will have the same odds of finding a Shiny Froakie during that time as they would during the event.

Did you participate in yesterday's Poliwag Community Day? Are you happy to see Froakie in the spotlight? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!

During Star Wars Day this past May 4th, Disney launched a 7,500-piece limited edition Cal Kestis lightsaber hilt inspired by EA / Respawn Entertainment's 2019 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order game and the new sequel Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and it sold out in the blink of an eye. Now fans have the chance to pick up this new Cal Kestis lightsaber set that features sound effects and the ability to change the color of the blade between blue, green, purple, yellow, white or red. If you're like most players, white will be your color of choice.

The Cal Kestis Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Color-Changing Legacy Lightsaber Set is a shopDisney exclusive that you can order here for $249.99 while it lasts. A full breakdown of the features and how they're activated can be found below.

• Set includes Cal Kestis (Jedi Survivor) Legacy Lightsaber Hilt, Lightsaber Blade, Display Stand, and Lightsaber Belt Clip
• Hilt includes color-changing feature
• When holding down the hidden button on backside of saber hilt for five seconds, the Lightsaber blades will change in sequence to the following colors: blue, red, green, purple, yellow, white (for a total of six different color options)
• Unique Lightsaber Start Up WAV file plays when slide switch is turned from OFF to ON position
• Constant Lightsaber HUM sound plays when the Lightsaber is on the ON position
• Unique impact sound effects activated when Lightsaber comes into contact with another item
• Unique motion sound effects activated when moving around the Lightsaber in the air without impacting another item
• Battery case in handle
• Includes case with hinged lid with magnetic closure
• Case features graphic detailing, Jedi crest and protective foam interior

"Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a strong sequel that improves on nearly every core element seen in Fallen Order," reads a snippet of our review of the game. "Even in spite of some pacing troubles with its story, Cal Kestis is an even more compelling protagonist this time around and continues to be one of the best new Star Wars characters that has come about in the Disney era. With a little more polish and some trimmed fat, Jedi: Survivor could have been a home run, but Respawn still has a bit more room for growth in a third installment for this potential trilogy." Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is available worldwide, at a price point of $69.99, via PC, PS5, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X. You can keep up with the latest news about the game right here.

Zachery Ty Bryan, an actor best known for starring in the hit sitcom Home Improvement, has been arrested and charged with fourth-degree felony assault. The news was first broken by TMZ on Sunday, before subsequently being confirmed by the police department in Eugene, Oregon, where the incident allegedly occurred. According to a statement from the Eugene Police Department, a physical dispute involving Bryan and an unnamed woman occurred on Friday, July 28th. People.com confirms that Bryan is still is police custody as of Monday.

"At around 6:00 p.m. on July 28, Eugene Police received report of a physical dispute between a male and adult female at a north Eugene residence," the statement reads. "The dispute was reported to have occurred several hours prior and the suspect, identified as Zachery Ty Bryan, age 41, of Laguna Beach, California, had left the location. Eugene Police subsequently contacted Bryan in the area. Bryan was lodged at Lane County Jail on a charge of Assault in the Fourth Degree APA (Abuse Prevention Act)."

This is the second time in three years that Bryan has been arrested on similar charges, after previously pleading guilty to two misdemeanor counts regarding a 2020 incident in which he strangled a woman, later revealed to be his fiancee, Johnnie Faye Cartwright. In 2021, he was subsequently sentenced to 36 months of bench probation, and additional charges, including two Class C felonies, were dropped. Bryan later claimed to The Hollywood Reporter that the event, which was sparked by the fact that he was having an affair with Cartwright while married to his first wife, Carly Matros, was "so blown out of proportion."

"We didn't even really get that physical," Bryan said at the time. "We got really loud. We were screaming and because we were in a townhome that had [thin walls], everybody could hear. Johnnie was, at the time, just really upset about my situation. At the end of the day, [the police] throw a bunch of counts at you because they ultimately want you to plead to something. I could've fought it ... but that's more stress and drama. I got two misdemeanors and called it a day."

Bryan is best known for portraying Brad Taylor, the son of Tim Allen's Tim "The Toolman" Taylor, on the aforementioned sitcom Home Improvement, as well as appearances on The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Smallville, The Game of Their Lives, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Thor: Hammer of the Gods. He most recently lent his voice to the Netflix original animated series The Guardians of Justice.

In addition to these domestic violence charges, Bryan made headlines in June of 2023 for being accused of fraud, in relation to an agriculture-technology startup. The Hollywood Reporter's article reports allegations from four separate sources that Bryan stole anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 from them. Bryan reportedly promised contracts to those who gave him money, but the contracts had no actual value.

Drew McIntyre's WWE presentation has been heavily intertwined with his sword, Angela, over the past few years. "The Scottish Warrior" doesn't tend to use the sword outside of his entrance for fairly obvious reasons, but he did manage to slice through the top rope at WrestleMania 38 after defeating Baron Corbin. McIntyre explained in a recent interview with Cheap Heat that he wanted to incorporate the spot in order to give their match a bit more excitement but also admitted that the stunt wasn't easy to pull off.

"For this WrestleMania, I was frustrated considering I was [challenging for] the title a year prior and I went to Vince [McMahon] and asked him, I was like, 'Hey, that spot we did, I think I can pull it off.' He was like, 'If you can do it, we can work on it but you don't want a WrestleMania moment where you swing a sword at the ropes, what happened last time [when he tried and failed to cut the rope on a scrapped SmackDown segment]? It doesn't work. Millions of people [will] just watch you bounce the sword off the rope, that's not exactly the top babyface to have,'" McIntyre said (h/t Fightful).

How Drew McIntyre Pulled Off His Sword Stunt at WrestleMania

"We got to the day of Mania. I'm backstage practicing with our sword team, they've got a rope tied around the ring post pulling it as tight as they can. I'm trying to hit it, it's not about power, it's about technique and you have to [hit] that rope at the right angle. I was getting about six out of ten and I was getting worried close to the match, [it was] a little concerning," he continued. "It's WrestleMania, tens of millions of people are watching across the world and I'm gonna look like a buffoon. They basically gave me the option to take the risk and [asked me] if I wanted to do this or not, I said, 'Damn right I wanna do it. If not, I'll laugh it off somehow.' Madcap [Moss] was great and did it in a way where I wasn't running and swinging it, I was controlled as possible. He moved out of the way at the last second to give me the perfect positioning for the best chance of success and thank goodness it didn't just go through the top rope, it went through the second rope and almost through the third rope. It looked awesome and it was a great visual, I did the pose afterward."

McIntyre will be in action this Saturday at SummerSlam when he challenges Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship. Despite being a two-time WWE Champion, McIntyre has not held a title since live fans were brought back to WWE events in mid-2021.

WWE SummerSlam 2023 Card

• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso (Tribal Combat Rules)
• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• SmackDown Women's Championship: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre
• Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
• Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler
• Ricochet vs. Logan Paul
• SummerSlam Battle Royal

If you love Demon Slayer, then there is no doubt you know LiSA. The artist is one of the biggest in Japan, and their work on Demon Slayer's first theme song earned them global praise. To this day, "Gurenge" is one of the best anime anthems out there, and LiSA has tons of other hits under her belt. And soon, the Japanese idol will add another to that list with help from South Korea's own Stray Kids.

Yes, that is right! LiSA is creating a single in collaboration with Stray Kids. On September 6th, the two acts will team up to release the single "Social Path", so fans of K-pop and J-pop are eager to hear the blend.

After all, LiSA and Stray Kids have formidable talent on their own. As mentioned, LiSA has been in the headlines since 2005 for their musical talent. LiSA began their career with the band Chucky before moving on to solo work. In 2010, LiSA earned fame as she wrote songs for Angel Beats as part of a duo. And in recent years, LiSA has enjoyed record sales as one of Japan's most prominent singers.

As for Stray Kids, the boy group was founded in 2017 at JYP Entertainment. The group, which features eight members, is one of the top-performing K-pop groups with international fans. With a number of songs having hit the Billboard 200, Stray Kids has sold more than 10 million albums to date and has sold out a number of world tours. So when it comes to international collaborators, LiSA could not have done better.

If you have not heard of LiSA's work on Demon Slayer, you just have to watch the intro to the anime's first season. You can watch the anime on a number of streaming services like Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Hulu. So for more details on Demon Slayer, you can read its official synopsis below:

"In Taisho-era Japan, kindhearted Tanjiro Kamado makes a living selling charcoal. But his peaceful life is shattered when a demon slaughters his entire family. His little sister Nezuko is the only survivor, but she has been transformed into a demon herself! Tanjiro sets out on a dangerous journey to find a way to return his sister to normal and destroy the demon who ruined his life."

What do you think about this LiSA x Stray Kids crossover? Do you want to see more K-pop acts team with J-pop stars? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!