Phantom Blade Zero has spent years looking almost too good to be true, especially coming from a studio that's best known for its mobile games. That’s why it's just about the biggest compliment I can pay it that after 50 hours performing picture-perfect kung fu, it's exactly as fun to play as it looks. This effortlessly smooth action game has some of the most satisfying and well-tuned combat I’ve played in a long time, a surprising number of secrets to discover and quests to complete in each of its beautiful levels, and a neverending supply of clever encounters full of unbelievably awesome moments. Its convoluted story and occasional performance issues may not live up to that incredible action, but it nails just about everything else, and there were only a handful of moments where I wasn’t absolutely thrilled to be slicing my way through the ranks of the Wulin.

Phantom Blade Zero plays like something straight out of a wuxia epic. As a metal-as-hell martial artist of mysterious origins with only 66 days left alive to exact your revenge, you set out on an odyssey across the ruined lands of the Phantom World, facing off against all manner of beast and badass along the way. The story here isn’t Phantom Blade Zero’s strong suit as it tries to do a bit too much, shoving in a whole bunch of mystical jargon, dozens of characters, and a needlessly complex timeline, very little of which ultimately pays off anyway. In the first couple hours alone, so much time is spent toggling back and forth between present day, several years ago, several months ago, and several days ago that I was exhausted by all the exposition before I’d even faced my first real boss fight. That said, there are enough likeable characters along the way, especially your unflappable hero named Soul, that I was usually able to forgive it for occasionally wasting my time with unnecessary flashbacks and lengthy explanations.

Besides, you’ll be spending most of your time exploring the world and squaring off against enemies big and small, and it’s pretty clear that Phantom Blade Zero wants you to spend most of your attention on this part of the adventure. And that’s a good thing, too, because by God is it good. It only took a couple minutes for the precise parry and dodge mechanics to feel natural, and the nuanced but not-overly-complex system of weapons, combos, special abilities, and upgrades are rolled out at an extremely smart pace, all of which are easy enough to slip into like a tailored set of flowing wuxia robes. I’m a complete snob when it comes to the feel and pacing of combat in these types of games, so the fact that this immediately felt like reuniting with an old friend made it instantly compelling, and it’s one of those intangible things that’s very hard to get right.

Even more impressive is that not only does the combat feel good right away, it does so across dozens of weapons, each with their own unique moveset. This game that doesn’t just encourage you to change up your weapon loadout at regular intervals, it actually requires you to mix things up since swapping your active melee weapon is one of the ways you can restore your posture meter with a single button press. And since many enemies, particularly bosses, can instantly drain your posture with certain attacks, you’ll be swapping between different options with regularity, forcing you to commit multiple movesets and special abilities to memory. Conveniently, Phantom Blade Zero makes it extremely easy for you to reclaim and reallocate points invested in leveling up weapons, so there’s rarely any reason to stick with a set loadout anyway – especially since you always seem to find the exact tool you need right before entering an area or encountering a boss where it would come in handy. For example, I noticed that I found a water cannon weapon only a few feet away from an area that led to a fire-based boss. Nice.

Beyond that, you’ll unlock a bunch of additional tools like grappling hooks and bows, which have utility both in combat encounters and outside of them since you can use them to reach certain parts of the map or break through barriers that are otherwise impassable. There are also trinkets that offer interesting buffs, like a significant damage increase when you’re at full health, and a skill tree with perks that let you do things like execute a dodge while in mid-air or increase the number of healing items you can carry. There’s a surprising amount of depth to the things you can upgrade and the ways to customize exactly how your Wulin warrior does his thing, and I spent much more time than I typically do in these kinds of games just testing out different weapons and swapping my equipment around as a result. At the very least, it’s worth doing so just to see the unique execution animations when you finish off trash enemies.

You’ll have plenty of time to try them all out as you get your steps in across Phantom Blade Zero’s eight maps, too. Each one is filled with foes to take down, side quests to complete, chests to loot, and secrets to discover. A surprising amount of the places to go and people to meet are completely missable, including the entirety of a very cool questline that sees you getting trained by none other than Donnie Yen as the mysterious gold-masked man (which is actually one of PBZ’s strongest subplots). While most of the side quests are pretty straightforward missions to go somewhere and collect some stuff for a small reward, they gave me more reasons to spend time exploring every nook and cranny, which I was happy to do. And unlike lots of modern games filled with icons on the screen telling you exactly where to go and what to do, Phantom Blade Zero instead makes use of hand-drawn maps that only give you a vague idea of your location in relation to key landmarks, allowing you to explore and fill in the gaps on your own.

If there’s one thing that consistently mucks up this journey, it’s that Phantom Blade Zero suffers from some pretty bad geometry. Soul gets caught on surfaces all the time, and even the tiniest bumps in the road can stop him dead in his tracks, which is pretty hilarious for a guy who can jump 40 feet in the air while doing 19 backflips. Not only that, there are invisible borders all over the place that make exploration janky at times, especially when platforming sections ask you to get to a specific ledge, only for you to discover there’s an invisible wall and you fall to your death. I died nearly 200 times over the course of my playthrough, and roughly half of those deaths were me falling into a pit or getting caught in the environment until I was able to get myself killed or reload my save file. In one case, I even lost about 20 minutes of progress when my supposed martial master couldn’t escape from some bushes. Oh, and enemies occasionally get stuck in the environment too, which just makes fights where it happens feel so lame.

Despite that, Phantom Blade Zero’s superpower – the magic trick it performs time and time again – is its way of making you feel like you’re the only person in the world badass enough to withstand its utterly insane flurry of swords against godlike monsters like it’s nothing. The truth is that the melee dance of combat encounters is just so finely tuned, with every attack telegraphed just enough to give you exactly the time you need to react, aided by an almost imperceptible musical rhythm that grants you a certain level of precognition for what’s going to happen next. Once I synced up with its tempo, I started anticipating attacks before I consciously registered them, leading me to perfectly block some lightning-quick attack I hadn’t seen before. There’s nothing specifically special about my reaction time or skill with action games – rather it's a testament to how incredibly well-balanced and smartly designed these unbelievably sick fights are. It’s without question the thing Phantom Blade Zero does best, and it’s an illusion I fell for repeatedly, from the opening sequence all the way to the final battle.

Something I admire about Phantom Blade Zero’s difficulty is how consistently it feels exactly right – not too unforgiving, but it rarely lets you feel like you aren’t in danger of getting your butt kicked. I’m typically someone who relishes a challenge from games like this and so played Phantom Blade Zero on its hardest difficulty exclusively, but found myself beating just about every major boss fight in two or three tries, plus a good chunk that I cleared in one go – and I didn’t mind that one bit! It meant that I rarely saw enough of a boss to know every tool in their murder belt, and refreshingly made me feel like the one to be feared rather than the other way around. It’s pretty damn cool to enter a room and watch a 10-foot-tall badass with an eight-pack swing around a blade and think, “oh, man. This guy’s totally screwed.”

Part of the way this Goldilocks level of difficulty is achieved is due to the interesting decision to not make you repeat phases of a boss fight that you’ve already cleared. If you get through a first phase that just makes the bad guy mad and then get killed after he turns into an even more hulked-out psycho, you’ll pick back up at the top of that second phase. I’ve been known to get annoyed at having to replay the first phase of a boss fight a dozen times just to get another run at the more challenging part, to the point where multi-phase boss fights in general can get on my nerves these days. By removing this annoyance entirely, it got rid of a lot of potential friction with some of these encounters

It also allows for more freedom in how these encounters are designed, like moments where a boss uses a cheap move that one-shots you instantly if you get hit by it. Normally, including insta-kill moves like that is a good way to send me into a rage, but because my progress was almost never set back far enough to bother getting mad about, I felt a lot more lenient toward that kind of thing. I mean, let’s face it, that crazy attack where you get impaled on a giant spear, then set on fire and smashed face-first into the floor probably should kill you right away, so it’s pretty neat that Phantom Blade Zero found a way to make a devastating moment like that exciting rather than irritating.

It’s also incredibly impressive that throughout the 50 hours it took me to reach credits, as I fought dozens and dozens of bosses, I was continually surprised by the creative enemies it threw at me. Sure, there’s the occasional big-guy-with-a-big-axe or dude-with-sword-you-swear-you-fought-already, but these are by far the exception, not the rule. At one point I found myself wearing a lion dancer mask, jumping around on poles to collect heads of lettuce to power up my fire blast, and in another section I fought a posse of warriors who worked together as one unit to throw preposterously intricate attacks my way – the main threat to my life there was getting caught with my guard down because I was too busy cackling. The boss fights are so consistently interesting, memorable, and numerous that I felt utterly compelled to seek out each and every one of them, which led me to turn this first playthrough into a full-on completionist run to avoid FOMO.

When I previewed Phantom Blade Zero a little over a month ago, one of my primary concerns was how it would perform, and thankfully the version I played for this review had a far more consistent performance. The framerate was much steadier, with only a few times I can recall ever noticing issues during combat. That said, there’s one map in particular where the framerate was consistently pretty terrible, specifically on a part of the map where something seems to not be working right. This feels like the type of thing that could pretty easily be identified and fixed, so I’d be surprised if a patch doesn’t arrive at or shortly after launch, but it’s worth shouting out since I suspect there are other lingering issues hiding about.

Professor X actor Christopher Abbott said Marvel fans won't see him in Avengers: Doomsday or Secret Wars because he needs to wrap up his time with X-Men before doing any cameos.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe newcomer tried his best not to play coy during a conversation with Rolling Stone. When pressed on whether comic book fans will see his shaved head fighting against Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom at any point in the next year or so, he insisted he doesn't have any additional team-up movies on his plate for now.

"I don't think so," when asked if he'll appear in any cameo roles before X-Men. "I don't even know… See, what's happening? What do you mean?"

Christopher Abbott, who will play Professor X in 2028's ‘X-Men’ reboot, says he will not be in the upcoming Avengers movie.

“I don't think so. Well, I don't even know–what's happening? What do you mean? I don't know what's going on. On no. I'm not in that. I gotta do the ‘X-Men’ movie first before any of that stuff.”

— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) October 25, 2026

When the interviewer clarified, asking if he'll play in Doomsday, he had a quick reply: "No, I'm not in that."

Abbott joined a cast of other would-be mutant heroes when Marvel Studios confirmed he had been picked to play Professor X at D23 earlier this year. The announcement also came with a May 2028 release date, giving him plenty of time to prepare to play the group's leader, and if fans are lucky, show up for a scene or two beforehand.

After all, Doomsday and Secret Wars aren't just your run-of-the-mill superhero flicks. These are saga-ending event films packed to the gills with A-listers and, of course, cameos to keep the MCU going well into the future. With the 2000s versions of the X-Men, including Patrick Stewart's version of Charles Xavier, having already shown up for a few Doomsday trailers, many have wondered if the new X-Men cast would show up on-screen before Marvel's 2027 slate launched. If Abbott is out, though, the chances of an early MCU debut for other X-Men (besides Sadie Sink's Jean Grey) just got a little less likely.

"I gotta do the X-Men movie first before any of that stuff," he continued.

When the interviewer interjected, pointing out that hard launching characters without a cameo is "famously not how Marvel works," Abbott said with a chuckle, "Look, no coyness: I'm not in that movie."

With Doomsday less than two months from its December 18, 2026, release date, it really does sound like Abbott won't show up. However, his answer regarding Secret Wars, the only other movie between now and X-Men, didn't seem quite as definitive. With more than a full year before that film follows come December 17, 2027, and no trailers out yet, who knows? That said, at least as far as this new take on Professor X is concerned, it is still probably best not to get hopes up too high in the meantime.

Set to join Abbott on the team are Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Maya Boyd as Storm, Asa Germann as Angel, and more. We'll at least see the X-Men team unite when the reboot premieres May 5, 2028. Until then, you can get a sneak peek at Navarrette's progress on developing Rogue's accent.

Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images.

Clayface looks set up to be a win for the DCU after securing the top spot at the box office with an estimated global haul of $43 million.

It's a strong start for the low-budget DCU film, split between $24 million domestically and $19 million internationally. The opening weekend total falls toward the higher end of early projections as audiences showed up to see Tom Rhys Harries bring a twisted and often overlooked Batman villain to the big screen.

With brutal body horror elements in a story that sees the birth of its titular character, Clayface follows Matt Hagen as he attempts to rebuild his life after a horrible attack leaves his face scarred. Starring Harries, directed by James Watkins, and written by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, this latest DCU movie took viewers into the darkest corners of James Gunn and Peter Safran's universe they've seen yet, with a pretty hard-R rating.

It's for these reasons that the DCU's foray into a new live-action Gotham City left fans with question marks as they feared how a more adult-oriented story could fit into the same world as something as bubbly and bright as 2025's Superman. So far, at least, it seems to have paid off, at least compared to Supergirl, which landed as a dud in the DCU earlier this year.

The Milly Alcock-led superhero movie was deemed a box office bomb after it premiered in June. That's mostly due to its almost $200 million budget, which towered over the comparatively measly $126.46 million it gathered throughout its run (via Box Office Mojo). Clayface, on the other hand, is starting its time in theaters almost matching the $44 million budget reported by Variety.

Although there is certainly plenty of ground to cover before officially being declared a success, it seems like a strong start. A few factors will help carry Clayface throughout the rest of its run: Firstly, its October release timing means Halloween moviegoers will have something spooky to watch next weekend. Reviews have been pretty solid, too, with Rotten Tomatoes recording a 75% from critics and 94% from audiences.

Gunn, at least, is proud of Matt Hagen's live-action introduction in the DCU. As viewers went to theaters to squirm at Clayface's backstory, movie fan surveyor site CinemaScore polled an "A-" from audiences. It's a feat rarely seen in the horror genre, something the DC Studios co-chairman made sure to note in a post on Threads.

"Really proud of this," Gunn said. "Sinners is the only horror movie to have EVER gotten an A CinemaScore, and only three horror movies have gotten an A- in the last couple years – Obsession, Weapons, and, now, Clayface. As always, all praise goes to James, Mike, Hossein, Tom, Naomi and the whole gang."

Clayface is in good company in the horror world and in its opening weekend. Coming in second, domestically, was Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's Elizabeth Holmes documentary, You Can See Everything. After a limited launch drew rave reviews and positive earnings last weekend, the three-hour movie returned for its second bout with an additional $19.5 million. That's a 25% increase from its debut, driven by wider availability across an additional 1,800 theaters in the market.

Strong word-of-mouth could see the Fielder picture continue to attract viewers in the coming weeks as moviegoers dare to dip their toes into Holmes' world and the story of Theranos. Stop-motion studio Laika, meanwhile, might be in for a rough time. Its latest claymation feature, a fantasy epic directed by Travis Knight called Wildwood, came in third at the domestic box office with $11.77 million. That's above projections for the Coraline moviemaker but still far, far below its reported budget of $100 million.

Though still well above 2019's Missing Link, Wildwood's opening weekend numbers put it toward the lower end of debuts in the studio's history, too. Those who have seen Laika's latest might be surprised to hear it could struggle to recoup costs, as Laika has managed to pull some remarkably strong reviews so far. Rotten Tomatoes shows it with a 100% from critics and 97% from audiences. We here at IGN gave it an 8/10, calling it an "arresting, exciting fantasy epic made all the more impressive by the fact that it's handmade and hand-animated."

Other box office highlights as we approach Halloween are Street Fighter, which brought another $16.8 million worldwide in its second weekend. Alexander Skarsgård and Olivia Colman's Wicker had a domestic total of $5.75 million in its more limited first weekend.

For more on the biggest movies of the weekend, you can read IGN's 7/10 Clayface review. You can also read why we thought You Can See Everything is a 10/10. If you caught the new DCU flick in theaters – or if you didn't becuase you're a bit squeamish – you can see our breakdown of its ending here.

A new weekend has arrived, and today, you can save big on Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Persona 3 Reload, Pikmin 4, The Adventures of Elliot, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Star Wars Zero Company, and more. Check out our top picks for Sunday, October 25, below.

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Additional details about BioWare's canceled Mass Effect game have leaked online, revealing a story that would have taken choices from the Commander Shepard trilogy into account if EA hadn't shut down the studio.

The long-awaited and currently canned follow-up for the sci-fi RPG franchise, which was working under the title Mass Effect: Universe, was built around decisions made in the original games, according to comments shared by former technical director Romain Toutain during a recent livestream (via Kotaku). As more details about the project leak, there's no telling exactly how thorough this system would have been, but he did his best to give fans an idea.

"All the choices made in the first Mass Effect games were taken into account," Toutain said (translation via Bluesky user @loustica-lucia.bsky.social). "One of the reasons why it was called 'Mass Effect: Universe' is that you had so many choices. That you could plug your saves together to create parallel universes, to keep it simple. It's not exactly how it worked. You had different timelines, basically."

Mass Effect fans know how crucial the series' overarching story is, especially when it comes to Commander Shepard's first three installments in his/her fight against the Reapers. Outside of the ill-fated Andromeda follow-up that launched in 2017, players were able to carry major choices from each entry over to the next, resulting in a trilogy of games with a highly personalized story.

Relationships, major character deaths, and even the fate of an entire species are just a few of the ways Shepard can be steered to shape the galaxy, and although whether it was all worth it in the end is still up for debate, it seems Mass Effect: Universe would have offered an opportunity to right some wrongs. Toutain said they had plans for those who just prefer to experiment with the story and its many, many branches, too. He likened the freedom to "generate timelines" to Spike Chunsoft's 2016 video game, Zero Time Dilemma.

"You have no f**king idea just how great it was," he continued. Then, responding to a fan asking whether Mass Effect: Universe would have featured systems similar to what was found in Dragon Age: Inquisition and the series' lore-tailoring Keep application, he said, "kinda, yeah."

"It's more like, you can make decisions that might contradict things you've already done or thing you have to do, and so it would create plot 'points' in the timeline. I mean, that was the theory. It worked, in practice. I'll tell you about the tech one day because it was really exciting.

"We got worked up, f**k. Everything in the game. Everything was stateful, and at any time, you could stop the game – I mean you could pause it – and ask a system that solved logical equations, 'Is this valid?' And if it isn't valid, what conditions must be met for it to be valid?"

The ideas Toutain teased sound ambitious and complex, and unfortunately, they will likely never see the light of day. EA announced last week that it had shuttered the long-running RPG developer and canceled what would likely have been called Mass Effect: Universe, with additional plans for the franchise's future in games on hold, too. Fans have already erected a #SaveMassEffect movement in the aftermath, with a petition garnering an unreal 185,000 signatures at the time of this story's publication.

Other highlights from Toutain's stream include the revelation that the Reaper-like hand featured in recently leaked footage was named Billy, as well as the idea that the developers were hoping to craft a story that gave each player a completely unique experience. More information about what Mass Effect 5 would have been have also leaked in the days after BioWare's demise. Those details include a full trailer, as well as gameplay details that promised missions with "Hitman-style freedom." The Prime Video show, meanwhile, is said to still be in the works.

Manni L. Perez, the actress long rumored to be playing Lucia in GTA 6, has gone viral after dodging a swarm of comments from Grand Theft Auto fans during a recent livestream.

Rockstar Games has refrained from confirming the vast majority of the cast of next month's new GTA game, but as if there was ever any doubt, that hasn't stopped ravenous fans from piecing a list together themselves. Perez is one name theorists have talked about for years, so she took a few minutes to let thousands of viewers get to know her while masterfully dodging a swarm of GTA 6 comments along the way.

Reaching a peak of more than 2,100 viewers on a six-month-old Instagram account with just nine posts, Perez spent her 12-minute livestream just talking about her life growing up in a "small, rural, redneck-y" town. She lives in a studio apartment with a dog, loves to cook, grew up driving trucks, and as far as everyone else is officially concerned, she definitely will not be the star of the so-called biggest video game of all time in a little less than a month.

"But yeah, no, I'm not rich. I'm a regular person," Perez said when responding to fans who assumed she was wealthy. "I live in a small studio apartment, which I love. I have my tiny, little itty-bitty kitchen, and it's just me and my dog. I do everything on my own, and I've done everything on my own for a very long time, and I love it, and I'm very grateful. I have a family that loves me, and I'm just feeling like I'm in a really good place, where I am in my life."

"I want a green truck," she said with a smile while ignoring the horde comments mentioning "Lucia" and "GTA 6." Some responded that, no, actually, she doesn't live alone, because she has Jason to keep her company. Others were subtler, asking if she'll be playing Rockstar's latest or if she's just "ready for next month." Despite the steady flow of responses begging her to confirm her alleged role – which would be guarded under a strict non-disclosure agreement, even if it were real – Perez only acknowledged users commenting about anything else.

Keep in mind that this all comes from years of clues gathered by fans, but Rockstar's lack of confirmation doesn't mean there's nothing to suggest Perez is playing Lucia in GTA 6. As others have highlighted, the actress has a history of live-action and voice roles. She has credits for single episodes of shows like Jessica Jones, The Blacklist, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Funnily enough, she also played a blackjack dealer in Grand Theft Auto Online.

Her place in Rockstar history may be given a bump when GTA 6 launches for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S next month, November 19. If you're wondering who might be playing Lucia's partner in crime, Jason, fans have long speculated that Modern Family and Grey's Anatomy actor Dylan Rourke filled the role, but he, too, has yet to be confirmed.

Who has been confirmed, whether Rockstar and any likely NDAs like it or not, is Stephen Root, who said he will be seen playing drug trafficker Brian Heder. Otherwise, we might need to wait until launch to see the full cast, so don't go sending messages to any actors just yet.

Fans may have tracked down the voice actors behind one of the biggest game launches of all time, but it's par for the course when it comes to Grand Theft Auto players. One fan spent three months charting planetary positions just to try and learn when trailer 3 would premiere (they were wrong). Another fan measured oxygen levels to try and achieve the same feat (they, too, were wrong).

Either way, GTA 6 marketing is continuing to ramp up. While we wait these last few precious weeks, you can see why some fans are expecting a sweep at The Game Awards 2026. You can also learn more about the love and care Rockstar put into its new video game, but don't forget to read up on IGN's interview.

Magic: The Gathering is a fantastic card game, but the Commander format has given it even more legs.

It revolves around a central Commander that helms your deck, giving it a ton of personality as players gravitate towards their favorite legendary creatures to build around.

Wizards of the Coast finally recognized the format in 2011, beginning a deluge of preconstructed decks that are playable right out of the box. We’ve got a full list of them, but for now, we’ve narrowed down our top 12.

These aren’t presented in any real order, but let us know which ones you’ve played!

The Most Powerful Magic: The Gathering Commander Precons

Draconic Domination - Commander 2017

A knife-wielding man was arrested Friday night for threatening crew members on the Brooklyn set of Miami Vice ‘85.

Citing information from the NYPD, TMZ reports that a police officer working security on the set arrested Alex Perez, 23, who has a criminal record.

“Perez can be seen being escorted off the set by a staffer before taking out the large knife from his sweatshirt pocket,” according to TMZ, which also posted a video of the incident.

“A cop on the scene then arrested Perez -- who hurled the n-word at the production staff member while in cuffs -- at 11:17 PM.”

The site reports that Perez has been charged with menacing with a weapon in the 2nd degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the 4th degree.

Miami Vice ‘85 has been filming in New York this week, including scenes featuring Michael B. Jordan and John Leguizamo in that appear to faithfully recreate the opening moments of the original TV series’ pilot.

Director Joseph Kosinski’s film is inspired by the series’ two-part pilot (“Brother’s Keeper”) and the show’s first season in general.

For more on Miami Vice ‘85, check out these first look images of Jordan and Austin Butler in costume as detectives Ricardo Tubbs and Sonny Crockett, respectively.

Miami Vice ‘85 will relocate production to Miami, Florida after hurricane season is over. The film opens in theaters on May 19, 2028.

Marvel dropped a new trailer for Avengers: Doomsday on Saturday, roughly 24 hours after debuting a Major League Baseball crossover promo during the World Series.

This new trailer – which can be seen below – leans heavily on the dynamic between Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), their shared worthiness to wield the enchanted hammer Mjolnir.

Thor appears to be the leader of the Avengers here, at one point rallying the troops to take on Doctor Doom, saying, “Doom will tear this world apart. Team up and stand together.”

Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man once again brings levity to the proceedings in a scene that pokes fun at the multiple men present who have carried the mantle of Captain America (Steve, Sam Wilson, and USAgent, who points out, “I was also Cap for a minute.”).

The new promo comes on the heels of the news that Project Hail Mary’s Sandra Hüller has been cast in Doomsday in an undisclosed role and David Harbour’s insistence that he didn’t spoil the flm in a recent interview.

Meanwhile, Marvel fans think they’ve figured out which character was edited out of the first Doomsday trailer.

Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday opens in theaters on December 18.

DC Studios co-chairman James Gunn has defended the DCU's approach to interconnected stories, saying he doesn't want movies like Clayface to exist just to "set up" crossovers.

Clayface poured into the DCU when it brought the tragic story of Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) to theaters yesterday. A bloody body horror movie with a firm R rating, its October release date makes sense as it molded its way into the comic book movie universe with a more adult story, but not everyone is happy with the film's place in the universe.

Despite solid scores from critics and fans (IGN gave it a 7/10 review), there are DC watchers who have continued to complain that executives like Gunn and co-chairman Peter Safran haven't done a good job of using smaller stories to build toward bigger tie-in projects. For reference, the DCU technically started with animated series Creature Commandos before heading to theaters with Superman. Peacemaker Season 2, Supergirl, Lanterns, and Clayface then followed.

While standalone Wonder Woman and Batman movies are in the cards, projects like The People v. Gorilla Grodd seem to be further along than most, with crossover moments mostly limited so far. So, what gives? Gunn has an easy answer that might leave impatient fans wanting more, but for him, it's a solution that will keep the DCU telling quality stories for years to come.

"I couldn't agree more," he said when replying to a fan defending the cinematic universe on Threads. "DCU is just an alternate universe; we can enter at any location or time and tell THAT story. I dislike the idea that individual stories aren't meaningful unless they lead to something else."

Gunn continued, saying it's "strange" to see "people not understanding this" considering Star Wars has taken a similar approach for decades. He did admit Disney's sci-fi franchise may not have the "tonal variety" of something like the DCU, which has so far ping-ponged between serious drama and action to comedy and, most recently, horror. Still, he wants fans to know that, no matter how different each movie or show may be, there is still connective tissue holding them together.

"The Superman Saga starts with Superman and travels into Man of Tomorrow and onward, and contains many characters we've introduced in other stories," he continued in a follow-up post. "But that doesn't mean those other stories only exist to set up what's happening there. I would love people to be seeing Clayface because it's a great, fun horror movie unto itself, not because of where else Clayface will show up three movies from now."

While not everyone is pleased that DC Studios doesn't want to dive head first into crossover event films, one of the reasons others have actually been excited for Clayface is its promise to weave its way into the universe with a new Gotham City. We won't talk about whether Batman or Bruce Wayne make any appearances here, but with plenty of footage taking viewers through one of DC's most iconic locations, it's clear Gunn and co. are more interested in continuing to lay a worthy foundation rather than speeding into a big team-up movie like the Justice League.

Gunn took his time on social media today to touch base on a few other projects in the works. Creature Commandos Season 2, for example, will arrive after Man of Tomorrow's premiere next year. Speaking of the Superman sequel, a small group of people has now seen director's cuts of the film, with Gunn calling the process "exciting" as he tries "to recut over the week and screen the latest version for a few new eyes every Friday."

Meanwhile, Elseworlds sequel, The Batman Part 2, is still seemingly on track for its February 18, 2028, release date despite recent behind-the-scenes shuffling. For an update on the status of the DCU's Batman, you can click here. Finally, for everything else in the DC movie pipeline, we've got you covered here.

A new weekend has arrived, and today, you can save big on Persona 3 Reload, Pikmin 4, The Adventures of Elliot, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Star Wars Zero Company, and more. Check out our top picks for Saturday, October 24, below.

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Call of Duty movie director Peter Berg has teased more details from his live-action film, promising an adaptation with "a very strong soul" that explores "the cost of war."

The filmmaker behind Skydance-Paramount's upcoming reimagining of Activision's massive first-person shooter series dived into his thoughts on the franchise during an interview with ComicBook. We already know the Call of Duty movie will focus on the Modern Warfare portion of the FPS universe, and it sounds like Berg and writer Taylor Sheridan have already looked to the games it's based on for inspiration.

"So Modern Warfare, if you really look at the missions, and the storylines, and the characters – like Captain Price, and Soap, and Ghost, and Alex – these are complicated humans," Berg said. "These are not – and no disrespect – cartoon characters or comic books. These are very nuanced storylines; like, there's a real soul to the Modern Warfare universe…

"And, yes, there's violence, and there's hardware, and equipment, and there's killing – but underneath it I think the game, and the craters of the game, are really looking at the cost of war, the cost of having to be a warrior who's, for whatever reason, chosen to put himself between real danger and the rest of us, and the burden that these guys carry."

Berg seems to be putting in the work to nail a Modern Warfare story for the big screen, but not every fan is convinced that he's the right guy for the job. That's mostly because he had some not-so-nice things to say about gaming back in 2013. When asked for his take on video games based on war at the time, he said, called them "pathetic," using the term, "keyboard courage."

"I think anyone that sits around playing video games for four hours... It's weak," Berg elaborated at the time. "Get out, do something."

These days he's changed his tune, and judging by his affection for characters like Captain Price and Ghost, he's hoping to do right by Modern Warfare and its fans. His upcoming film, The Mosquito Bowl, is a sports-war film set to premiere later this month. His vision for the Call of Duty movie will start to take shape after that.

"And that’s real stuff," Berg added when talking about Modern Warfare's connection to the real-life cost of war. "This is not just 'Hey, let’s shoot them all up and shoot popcorn!' Like, there’s a soul underneath it, that I understand that Taylor Sheridan understands, and I think probably not quite as graphically violent as Mosquito Bowl, but there will be a very strong soul, and consequence of war within the film, called 'duty.'"

The Modern Warfare universe most recently expanded with the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, which concluded Activision and Infinity Ward's reboot story when it launched yesterday. Its story has been called one of the darker entries the franchise has offered in recent memory.

The Call of Duty movie, meanwhile, is set to come to theaters June 30, 2028. Additional plot details have not been revealed, though fans have already been busy sharing their hopes for who may play familiar (and unconfirmed) characters like Captain Price, Ghost, and more. It's a year that seems set to be big for video game adaptations, with an Elden Ring film also set to release a few months prior. A Battlefield movie is also in the works.

Alex Garland's Elden Ring movie reportedly carries a hefty budget of almost $200 million, making it A24's most expensive movie ever – and it's not close.

Background information on the live-action adaptation of FromSoftware and George R.R. Martin's 2022 RPG was shared in a Wall Street Journal report. The site stated that, according to its sources, Elden Ring's budget is "nearly $200 million."

That makes it far and away the most expensive movie for the arthouse film-focused company, which has built a reputation for delivering memorable projects on more modest budgets for the last 14 years. Should Elden Ring's reported budget prove accurate, it would mean Garland's film falls in line with Marvel movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home ($200 million via Variety) and Jurassic World Rebirth ($180 million via The Hollywood Reporter).

As seen in 2025's Marty Supreme, that's a far cry from A24's usual strategy. The Timothée Chalamet-led, Josh Safdie-directed drama made headlines ahead of its release for being the most expensive film the company had produced at $70 million (via Deadline).

That puts Elden Ring at nearly three times the cost of A24's next-most-expensive picture. Garland's Civil War supposedly cost $50 million before that, according to Variety. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's The Smashing Machine reportedly carried a similar budget. In other words, nothing really comes close to A24's first major swing in the world of video game movie adaptations.

For now, we know little about Elden Ring ahead of its 2028 premiere, so it's hard to say exactly why it costs so much. Earlier this year, the movie studio announced the film had a pretty stacked cast, which includes familiar faces like Kit Connor (X-Men, Warfare), Cailee Spaeny (Alien: Romulus, Civil War), Nick Offerman (The Last of Us, Parks and Recreation), Havana Rose Liu (Tuner, Bottoms), and more. Early production photos then teased faithful recreations of some iconic sets, with more making their way to the internet not long after.

The Elden Ring movie's big budget may not have always been the plan for what's shaping up to, one way or another, be a massive release for A24. Previous reports had the live-action fantasy flick pinned at just more than $100 million, suggesting either that initial rumors were inaccurate or Garland's budget somehow ballooned over the course of production. Filming finally wrapped in July of this year.

The Elden Ring movie was announced in May 2025 and is expected to premiere March 3, 2028. It will probably be a little while longer before we see any official images or a trailer, so in the meantime, you can read about how actor and Dark Souls superfan Peter Serafinowicz landed a role in the film.

Marvel fans say the new Avengers: Doomsday teaser might have revealed who was edited out of its first trailer.

Marvel Studios didn't not reveal more from its December team-up movie when the Doomsday baseball teaser premiered during Game 1 of the 2026 World Series last night. Focusing more on letting Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards throw Joseph Quinn's Johnny Storm a stretchy pitch as MLB players did their best to fit in, the minute-long TV spot felt more like a cute crossover than an opportunity for new footage – but that doesn't mean fans aren't still all over it.

In between the shots of the Fantastic Four's Earth-828 are, occasionally, what amounts to a few precious seconds of new footage from Avengers: Doomsday. With less than two months left to go until the premiere, Marvel really only took the time to highlight some funny interactions between Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and characters like Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth).

Worlds collide ⚾

An exclusive preview of Marvel's new Avengers movie assembles Bryce Harper, Freddie Freeman, Jacob Misiorowski, Junior Caminero and Randy Arozarena 👀

Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters everywhere December 18 https://t.co/WX1YtKjAKt

— MLB (@MLB) October 24, 2026

It's…not much. While you might think Steve taking a jab at Thor while wielding Mjolnir is the standout moment, some eagle-eyed fans think it's the scene the former Captain America shares with Ant-Man that we should be paying attention to.

Let's take a step back. You might remember Marvel fans doing what they do best by looking for clues tucked into the original Doomsday trailer. One shot that caught a lot of attention was an image showing the New Avengers having a meeting with old heroes and the Fantastic Four. A gap between the Earth-828 heroes led many to believe Marvel had, as it's been known to do before, edited out an important character from the scene.

The World Series teaser took viewers back and showed that scene from a new perspective, bringing Steve Rogers along as a plus one. The quick shot of Evans' character showed that he's almost certainly standing next to Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Ben Grimm as he does his best to entertain Scott Lang. With Evans unseen in the previously questionable look at the scene, Marvel fans believe Steve Rogers was the character Marvel was trying to hide all along.

Steve being next to Ben confirms he was edited out of the first trailer. He is next to Ben, Sam and Scott https://t.co/FS8To3Z7nt

— Shaane (@bussdownhendrix) October 24, 2026

"Yup, and Doom is edited out too," another fan said, referencing a theory that Doctor Doom may appear as an ally during the events of the film. "I wonder if they will show it in the trailers, hopefully they do just a tiny bit."

And ta-da: We finally seem to have our answer – but why? Why would Marvel edit out a character that fans are already well aware had a role to play in Doomsday? It's confusing, especially considering Steve does eventually show up later in the trailer he's believed to have been edited out of.

On the other side of things are those still trying to determine if the person we've seen wielding Mjolnir is even Steve Rogers at all. One popular fan theory that has gained more traction as Evans' role is once again put under the microscope is that his character is actually Tom Hiddleston's Loki in disguise. Some also suspect that the original trailer wasn't ever edited in the first place, with this new footage simply showing the same scene but a few seconds before or after that shot of questionable positioning.

Was Marvel playing with its hero positioning just to give its first trailer a bit more punch toward the end, is there more mystery to solve, or are fans maybe looking too much into things? That's the main conversation fans are having in the aftermath of just a few frames of new Doomsday footage.

Holdup https://t.co/A3arrek86n

— Best of Marvel (@BestMarvelU) October 24, 2026

this sounds exactly like something Loki would say to Thor as steve rogers 😭 https://t.co/OUEmvJubQu

— hailey* ౨ৎ (@sentrynation) October 24, 2026

"In the new trailer, I can't be the only one, Steve's face or something looks weird like it kept changing in each scene or something else," one theorist said. "I can't quite put my finger on it but something about him is off."

As ridiculous as some of this might sound, Marvel has absolutely played with pre-release footage to throw fans off the scent of big reveals before. Marketing materials released in the lead-up to Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 provide a few of the most notable examples, with many seemingly important scenes featured in trailers completely cut from the final version of the film. Searching for potential edits with a fine-tooth comb is also something Marvel fans did ahead of the release of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until Avengers: Doomsday comes to theaters december 18, 2026, to find out which theories are correct and which ones didn't quite pan out. In the meantime, you can read about the latest addition to the film's already-stacked cast. You can also see how David Harbour did his best to walk back potentially spoiler-y comments he made earlier this year.

A return to Night City, a legendary blacksmith, and a bizarre race are what you can expect this fall anime season. There's a new season full of anime to check out this Fall like the return of the award-winning Cyberpunk Edgerunners, the hilarious Overgeared, and the highly anticipated continuation of Steel Ball Run JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Across Crunchyroll, HIDIVE, Hulu, and Netflix, as well as others, there are a lot of places to enjoy anime at the moment.

Check out some anticipated series in the video above or the slideshow gallery below, followed by the full list of new Fall season 2026 anime and where to watch them in the U.S. and their respective streaming platforms. Anime listed are available now unless otherwise stated.

Aoashi Season 2 (Crunchyroll)

The highly anticipated sports series Aoashi returns with Season 2! It’s been a few years now since we last saw Ashito and teammates attempt to rise through the ranks of the Tokyo City football club. Now that Ashito has made a good showing, the competition ramps up yet again. TMS Entertainment, known for Dr. Stone and Yowamushi Pedal, takes up the animation production reins this season. Unlike Blue Lock, but similar to Haikyu, Aoashi is much more grounded. So if you’re a fan of sports anime along those lines, now’s the time to get on the pitch and check this out. Aoashi Season 2 is available now on Crunchyroll.

Blue Box Season 2 (Netflix)

Speaking of sports anime, Blue Box is back with its Season 2! This sports anime also has romance, so there’s been quite a bit of drama since we last saw Taiki and the gang navigate their feelings. Electric Circus, a newer studio composed of some former Telecom Animation Film staff, is taking on animation production this season. We can’t wait to see how these relationships progress this fall after leaving us with major decisions last season. If you’re looking to take a break from the many action-packed series out now, this series is worth checking out. Blue Box Season 2 is available now on Netflix.

Firefly Wedding (Crunchyroll)

A new romance series dropping this fall is Firefly Wedding. The series follows Satoko, the daughter of a prestigious family who is navigating marriage proposals while dealing with a secret health issue. After an unfortunate event, she negotiates for her life by proposing marriage to a killer. David Production, known for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Fire Force, is at the helm of this series, so expect some crazy action as these spouses-to-be prepare for an unlikely wedding. Firefly Wedding is available now on Crunchyroll.

Overgeared (Crunchyroll)

Looking for a fun fantasy series this fall? Overgeared is the anime for you this season! The series follows Shin, a player in a popular fantasy VR game which offers opportunities to make money in the real world. He’s been struggling for a while now, but falls upon a once-in-a-lifetime chance to become a legendary blacksmith class. With these newfound abilities, he can turn around his luck even though he isn’t super exceptional in other categories. J.C. Staff, the studio behind The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. and Bakuman, is handling animation production on this series. So far, it’s been a hilarious ride as Shin learns more about his class and how he can use it in this dangerous fantasy game world. If you have time outside the big returning anime this season, check out this new series. Overgeared is available now on Crunchyroll.

The Laid-Off Cheat-Granting Mage Enjoys a Second Lease on Life (Crunchyroll)

Another new fantasy series this season is The Laid-Off Cheat-Granting Mage Enjoys a Second Lease on Life. The series follows Rein, an enchanter who gets laid off from his guild after serving his purpose. Soon after, he takes back all his enchantments and imbues his own plain gear with the same magic, making him a force to be reckoned with. P.A. Works, known for Shirobako and Skip to Loafer, is heading animation on this new series. Seeing Rein dive head first into an adventure without any clue of what he’s doing has been the highlight this early in the season. It’s an especially good time when his newfound ally, Lily, freaks out about all the careless chaos he brings. The Laid-Off Cheat-Granting Mage Enjoys a Second Lease on Life is available now on Crunchyroll.

Psyren (Crunchyroll)

The supernatural 2007 manga Psyren is getting an anime adaptation this fall season. The series follows Ageha, a young student who tries to help a friend and unknowingly gets involved with a mysterious world filled with monsters. Satelight, the studio behind Log Horizon and Macross F, is taking on production for this long-awaited series. If you’re interested in seeing what the fuss is about after all these years, you can check out Psyren, available now on Crunchyroll.

Fool Night (Netflix) - Premieres 11/26

One of the most striking anime this fall season is Fool Night. The series follows Toshiro, a struggling man contemplating difficult choices in a dystopian world trapped in constant darkness. Since there’s no sunlight, society has developed a way to sustain life and oxygen by turning humans into plants. The studios behind Mobile Suit Gundam and March Comes in Like a Lion, Sunrise and Shaft, are joining forces for what looks to be a visually impressive anime. Based on the teasers so far, there is a beautiful emphasis on lights in this dark world. Alongside the body horror of the plant technology, there are some intriguing bits here to get sci-fans excited for the upcoming premiere. Fool Night will be available on Netflix November 26.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 (Netlfix)

Speaking of dystopian worlds, Cyberpunk Edgerunners returns with a Season 2 this fall! The series has a whole new cast of characters this time around, so we may or may not see someone like Lucy this season. Studio Trigger returns yet again to this award-winning series, and it shows in what we’ve seen so far. Between the amazing character designs and the gritty Night City action, Season 2 is looking to impress yet again. Cyberpunk Edgerunners Season 2 is available now on Netflix.

Black Clover Season 2 (Crunchyroll)

The highly anticipated return of Black Clover is finally here with Season 2! It’s been about five years since we last saw Asta and friends, and here they prepare to rescue their beloved captain from the latest big baddie. Studio Pierrot is back again to lead animation production, so expect more of the sleek, action-packed battles we’ve seen before. If you’re interested in the series, there’s a bit of catching up to do, but now’s the time to really get into this popular shonen series. Black Clover Season 2 is available now on Crunchyroll.

Tokyo Revengers: War of the Three Titans Arc (Hulu)

Another long-awaited return this season is Tokyo Revengers with the War of the Three Titans Arc. Last time around with Takemichi and friends, we saw major reveals as his secret got around; there was also a pivotal demise that viewers have been wondering about ever since. LIDENFILMS, the studio behind Call of the Night and Kotaro Lives Alone, is back again to helm this arc as well. It’ll be interesting to see where our protagonist goes from here now that a major player is behind him as he continues his time-traveling investigation. Tokyo Revengers: War of the Three Titans Arc is available now on Hulu.

The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 (Crunchyroll)

The award-winning Apothecary Diaries is back this year with Season 3. Last we saw Maomao and friends, the Imperial Palace faced one of its biggest threats we’ve seen so far regarding a devious plot within its walls. OLM studios, known for Odd Taxi and Berserk, returns to manage animation production. From what we’re seeing so far this early in the season, our eclectic group is out of the frying pan and into the fire with another major problem on the horizon in addition to the fallout of last season. We’re looking forward to seeing how Maomao gets out of these binds this time around as the season progresses. The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 is available now on Crunchyroll.

Steel Ball Run JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 2nd - 3rd Stage (Netflix)

Finally after what felt like forever with the one-episode tease earlier this year, Steel Ball Run JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure returns with the 2nd and 3rd Stage. We just met Johnny Joestar alongside some quirky characters during the first leg of the cross-country race. In typical bizarre fashion, crazy shenanigans between racers will surely ensue in and out of the race. David Production continues where they left off, using the extra time to no doubt knock this series out of the park. If you still haven’t tried out this eccentric series, now is a pretty good time to give it a shot. Steel Ball Run JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 2nd - 3rd Stage is available now on Netflix.

Those are some of our most anticipated new and returning anime available to watch this fall 2026, if you want even more, check out our list of the spring and summer 2026 anime in case you missed the last batch of new series.

All the New Anime Arriving in Fall 2026

Here’s the full list of anime coming out in Fall 2026 that will be available to watch in the US:

Crunchyroll

• #I'm Looking For a Zombie
• A Certain Dark Item
• A Returner's Magic Should be Special Season 2
• A Tale of the Secret Saint
• A Wild Last Boss Appeared! Season 2
• Ace of the Diamond act II -Second Season-
• Aoashi Season 2
• As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I'll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World Season 3
• Battle Spirits [Re] Zekkai No Ku
• Black Clover Season 2
• Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle Part 2
• Dandivine
• Dark Machine The Animation
• Dragon Ball Super: Beerus
• Even Though I'm a Super Timid Noble Girl, I Accepted the Bet From My Cunning Fiancé
• Firefly Wedding
• From Far Away
• Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers
• FX Fighter Kurumi-chan
• Hello, I am a Witch and my Crush Wants me to Make a Love Potion!
• Horror Collector
• Hotel Inhumans Season 2
• Keroro☆
• Magic Knight Rayearth (2026)
• Magic Repo Man: Dumped by My Party, I’ll Cash In With a Cute Support Fairy to Become the Strongest!
• Magical Explorer
• Narumi's Week at Work
• Overgeared
• Psyren
• Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship!
• Romelia War Chronicle
• Sasaki and Peeps Season 2
• So What's Wrong with Getting Reborn as a Goblin?
• Super Psychic Policeman Chojo
• The Apothecary Diaries Season 3
• The Cold Sato-san is Only Sweet to Me
• The Detective Is Already Dead Season 2
• The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World Season 2
• The Laid-Off Cheat-Granting Mage Enjoys a Second Lease on Life
• The Prince of Tennis II U-17 World Cup: Final Member Selection Match
• The Vermilion Mask
• The World's Strongest Witch
• Tougen Anki: Nikko Kegon Falls Arc
• Uncle's Obsession with Cute Things
• Vertex Force

Netflix

• Blue Box Season 2
• Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2
• Dragon Ball Super: Beerus
• Fool Night (11/26)
• My Happy Marriage Special Episodes
• Ranma1/2 (2024) Season 3
• Steel Ball Run JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 2nd - 3rd Stage
• The Ramparts of Ice Season 2

Hulu

• Mission: Yozakura Family Season 2 Part 2
• Tokyo Revengers: War of the Three Titans Arc

HIDIVE

• I'm Dating a Dark Summoner
• Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden
• Reincarnated as a Sword Season 2
• Tetsuryo! Meet With Tetsudou Musume

Amazon Prime

• Devils' Crest (11/6)
• Tank Chair
• The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom

YouTube

• Suikoden: The Anime

What anime are you watching this Fall? Let's discuss in the comments!

Marvel Studios debuted a unique promo for Avengers: Doomsday during Game 1 of the 2026 World Series on Fox tonight between the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays. The ad is an Avengers-MLB crossover set on Earth-828 at Ebbets Field (the former home of the Dodgers when they were in Brooklyn; it was torn down on our Earth in 1960 – the promo is seemingly set in the same time period as The Fantastic Four: First Steps, as you can see New York Giants players in the background).

In it, Mr. Fantastic, sporting a Brooklyn Dodgers cap, takes the mound to throw a stretchy-armed first pitch while The Thing hypes up the players as current, modern MLB players Freddie Freeman, Jacob Misiorowski, Bryce Harper, Randy Arozarena, and Junior Caminero look on from the sidelines. They're interrupted when Dr. Doom attacks from the sky, with clips from the film interspersed throughout the promo.

Worlds collide ⚾An exclusive preview of Marvel's new Avengers movie assembles Bryce Harper, Freddie Freeman, Jacob Misiorowski, Junior Caminero and Randy Arozarena 👀Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters everywhere December 18 https://t.co/WX1YtKjAKt

— MLB (@MLB) October 24, 2026

Live sporting events, such as the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, and World Series remain one of Hollywood's favorite mediums to debut new trailers and promote films, as in the age of streaming and on-demand content, they're one of the few forms of programming that consistently drive a live, tuned-in audience.

Avengers: Doomsday returns Chris Evans as Steve Rogers (which is referenced in a clip from the film used in the MLB promo), while Robert Downey Jr. trades Iron Man's mask for Dr. Doom's and appears to be abducting heroes in the upcoming film (though we will see RDJ as Stark at least one more time, starting in 2028 at Disney California Adventure's upcoming Avengers: Infinity Defense ride). Much of it remains shrouded in mystery, such that even actors in the film don't know what happens.

Audience interest appears to be strong, as ticket pre-sales are outpacing those of this summer's blockbuster hit Spider-Man: Brand New Day. But Marvel recommends you do your homework before heading to the theater for Doomsday.

Spoilers follow for Clayface, which is now playing in theaters.

Three-time Emmy winner Aaron Paul has a blink and you’ll miss it cameo in the new DC movie Clayface. Now, the film’s director, James Watkins, has revealed why the Breaking Bad and Westworld star is in DC’s first R-rated horror movie.

Paul plays Jimmy “One Nut” Hagen, the late abusive father of protagonist Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries). Word of Paul’s casting was first reported by Feature First back in June.

Paul’s cameo occurs during the climactic action sequence set at the Gotham City nightclub Vesuvius where Matt confronts the gangsters who disfigured him. Matt finds the hood who killed his dad and morphs into his father to shock the killer.

Paul originally had a larger supporting role in Clayface, appearing in flashbacks to Matt’s youth, but the filmmakers ultimately cut nearly all of those scenes. Paul’s appearance in the nightclub is all that remains of his role.

“In terms of trying to figure out the character, it was, How much is Matt defined by his past and how much is he an everyman?” Watkins told Entertainment Weekly.

“At one point, we were looking at it and thinking, Is it the ‘sins of the father’? But actually, as we worked on the script, I thought that notion of revenge was more universal and more relatable to all of us. It doesn’t matter whether you’re carrying a trauma or any of that. If we’re slighted, we carry this sense of being wronged and we all want to do something, but generally in life we can’t do anything about it and we’re powerless.”

As EW points out, rather than having Matt haunted by his dad he instead weaponizes the memory of his father against his enemies. “He’s probably also saying, ‘No, I’m not my father,’” said Watkins.

For more on the film, read my Clayface review, our Clayface ending explained, and catch up on everything we know so far about the DCU’s Batman.

Dead by Daylight fans are beside themselves after Behaviour Interactive announced that all Chucky content would no longer be available to purchase starting next month.

The developer behind the popular asymmetrical horror game confirmed plans to pull the Chucky Chapter from sale in posts shared across social media. The message followed rumors that the possessed killer doll would soon be removed from the game, with the official statement promising that those who have purchased related content will be able to use it even after it is removed from shelves starting November 24, 2026.

"We welcomed The Good Guy out of his box and into The Fog nearly three years ago, but it's now time for the Chucky Chapter to leave the shelf," Behaviour said. "On November 24, 2026, the Chapter and its associated content will be removed from in-game and first-party stores. Any content unlocked before that date will remain available to use in-game."

As detailed in an FAQ post shared by the developers, these changes to the Chucky Chapter mean a few things for Dead by Daylight players. Its Killer, known in-game as The Good Guy, will no longer be available to purchase, though bug fixes will still be supported. The collection of outfits and cosmetics he's gained since being added in 2023 will also be made unavailable, and no future add-ons for the character will be added.

In other words, if you're a Chucky fan who's been waiting to pull the trigger, you might want to start thinking about it. To help ease players into the idea of losing one of Dead by Daylight's most unique Killers, Behaviour is holding a sale for all items related to the Chucky Chapter starting Monday, October 26. The "Last Chance" sale runs until his November 24 removal date and slashes prices by 50% across all platforms.

Dead by Daylight and its collection of Killers has often been referred to as 'horror Super Smash Bros.' by fans, but Behaviour has plenty of experience when it comes to pulling Killers. Hellraiser's Pinhead was pulled from digital storefronts in 2025 after first joining in 2021. Halloween's Michael Myers, the first major playable Killer to join Dead by Daylight after its launch in 2016, was removed this past January.

@DeadbyDaylight I THOUGHT WE HAD A NICE LICENSE AGREEMENT!!!!! https://t.co/bOMgT44DQt

— Freaky Nikki For DBD (@Ghostface_4_MK1) October 23, 2026

Although Behaviour refrained from sharing more details about why exactly the Child's Play rep is being removed, fans usually assume licensing issues are to blame. Hellraiser and Halloween both received new game announcements in Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival and Halloween: The Game that just happened to arrive around the time their respective properties were pulled from Dead by Daylight. Friday the 13th's infamous licensing kerfuffle is also allegedly what kept Jason Voorhees out of The Fog for years before he finally joined a few months back. Stranger Things is another example, with its first chapter's Demogorgon content removed before returning in 2023.

Like Chucky, players who purchased pulled content can still use it freely even after it's removed from stores, but that doesn't mean other players can't feel the impact. Content being removed from purchase not only means that players won't be able to buy it in the future; it means that content will likely show up less frequently during matches.

That affects just about everyone who likes having their Survivor matches shaken up by new Killer abilities to keep them on their toes, as a player doesn't need to have purchased a chapter to play against its respective Killer. Considering Michael Myers left Dead by Daylight earlier this year and Pinhead was removed not much longer before that, players are feeling Chucky's pull from sale more than many of the previous Killer removals.

"Hold a license challenge: impossible," one fan said.

"How do you keep losing licenses bro?" another fan speculated. "I thought you had a good relationship. Chucky had many skins WTF :("

goodbye chuckster. i will always love you https://t.co/h6sUaDGrwI

— Demo🌸 (@RatLivers) October 23, 2026

Again, Behaviour has not explicitly stated why new players will not be able to purchase Chucky after that November cutoff date. IGN has reached out to the Dead by Daylight team for comment.

"This makes me so sad," one player on Reddit said. "Chucky is such a huge license and we've lost Michael and Pinhead already within the last two years. Not blaming BHVR for it, I get it's business. It just sucks."

"It's strange though. You'd assume they'd change their contractual agreements after losing Demogorgon the first time to prevent this from happening with recent Killers," another replied. "Michael/Pinhead are a bit understandable since those were older licenses, but I'd assume Chucky would've had a proactive contractual agreement to prevent this from happening?"

Although losing three Killers in the span of a year and a half might sting, Behaviour has continued to add new notable characters and franchises into the mix. After Tokyo Ghoul's Ken Kaneki and Five Nights at Freddy's Springtrap were added last year, the studio brought Stranger Things villain Vecna into The Fog. Jason joined in the summer of this year, and Terrifier's Art the Clown will be added next month. Although the majority of the game's licensed Killers have remained available for years and are still available to this day, how long they will remain available for purchase is unclear.

The Dungeon Crawler Carl series has blown up this year in many ways, but it's the incredibly fast expansion into merchandise has been truly impressive for the franchise. There are T-shirts, graphic novels, action figures, tabletop games, and even a halloween costume available to buy already, but now you can add jigsaw puzzles to that list.

Spotted on Reddit yesterday, there is a new 500-piece DCC puzzle now available at Barnes & Noble Stores. It's called "Meet the Crawlers" and features a full cast of familiar characters from the books, including Carl and Donut.

Marvel has reportedly cast Sandra Hüller in Avengers: Doomsday for a secret cameo role.

Information about the last-minute addition comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which said the Project Hail Mary star will appear on screens when Earth's Mightiest Heroes take on Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom this December. Although much of that cast and their parts in the movie have been confirmed, details about Hüller's role were not shared.

Marvel Studios and directors Joe and Anthony Russo almost certainly have plans for plenty of superhero moments and surprises. How Hüller fits into that plan remains to be seen, but considering fans had already speculated about her involvement in recent days, some of the less patient Marvel Cinematic Universe enjoyers are probably already doing their best to piece together Doomsday's mysteries early.

Hüller is a German actor with a decades-long career on movie and TV screens. She was nominated for Actress in a Leading Role at the 2024 Oscars for her part in Anatomy of a Fall, but is also known for her parts in films like Digger, The Zone of Interest, and Fatherland. If you missed her in any of those movies, there's a good chance you caught her playing Eva Stratt, a role that we called one of the best parts of Ryan Gosling's Project Hail Mary.

As for her Marvel introduction, all we know for now is that she'll appear in a cameo part, meaning she probably won't show up for much of its 2-hour-and-45-minute runtime. Like major stars – including Harry Styles and Charlize Theron – before her, it's possible that we could only see Hüller's character during a stinger moment shown during the film's credits sequence. There's at least little reason to suspect that's not on the table, especially considering Marvel will use Doomsday's plot to set up the release of Avengers: Secret Wars in December 2027.

Doomsday is out in just a few short months, but that clearly hasn't stopped Marvel from revealing new information for what's gearing up to be one of the year's biggest releases. Even more about the movie is expected to be revealed at the MLB World Series, which is just a few hours after this piece's publication. THR noted that the Russo brothers are knee-deep in post-production for the film ahead of its December 18, 2026, premiere.

Avengers: Doomsday will bring the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and more when it arrives in a few months. Until then, you can read what Jeremy Renner had to say about the good guys' chances without Hawkeye. You can also see how David Harbour did his best to walk back what may have been an early spoiler.

Photo by Matt Crossick/Variety via Getty Images.