If you were gifted a Nintendo Switch 2 over the holidays, you’ll want to grab all the best Switch 2 accessories for a great playing experience in the new year. While there are tons of products for the gaming handheld, a controller should be near the top of your list. Even with the latest, upgraded Joy-Con, playing in docked mode connected to a great Switch 2 TV will be significantly better with a proper controller. Best of all, you don’t need to break the bank to get one. Right now, you can grab the PowerA Advantage Wired Controller for Nintendo Switch 2 for only $27.30. That’s over 30% savings, and the lowest price we’ve seen since it came out a few months ago.
Save 32% on This Wired Controller for Nintendo Switch 2
Now, this PowerA Advantage controller was designed specifically for the Nintendo Switch 2 and is officially licensed. It comes with a 10-foot USB-C cable for a seamless connection to the console. Plus, given it’s wired, you’ll never need to worry about battery life for endless hours playing Donkey Kong Bonanza or Hades 2. And you’ll be comfortable marathon sessions, as the ergonomics on this controller are on point and far superior to the Joy-Con. In our review of the PowerA Advantage Wired Controller for Switch 2, it even went head-to-head with the Switch 2 Pro Controller, and is especially well-suited for those who prefer a lighter option.
As for actual performance chops, this controller punches far above its price point. It has all the features you’d expect from a top Switch 2 controller, including the new C button and programmable back buttons. All of the buttons and triggers proved to be reliable and responsive during testing, and with Hall Effect sticks, drift shouldn’t be a big worry either.
Of course, given the sub $30 price tag, a few compromises will need to be made, so you won’t find a gyroscope, HD rumble, or Amiibo support. Still, if you want something for cozy winter nights spent in front of the TV, the PowerA Advantage Wired Controller for Nintendo Switch 2 is an awesome, affordable option. Don’t forget to add some of our favorite Nintendo games of 2025 to your library, too.
Danielle is a Tech freelance writer based in Los Angeles who spends her free time creating videos and geeking out over music history.
Happy new year, or almost new year, or just… whatever time it is when you’re reading this. For me, it’s the very tail end of 2025, and what better time to take a look ahead at some of the games coming out in the new year? Here are 2026’s biggest game releases
Before we get into it, just a heads up that this is by no means a 100% comprehensive guide to all the games coming out in 2026, as many of those haven’t even been announced yet. Also, as always, release dates are subject to change - I made something very much like this exactly a year ago in which I told you that GTA would be the biggest game of 2025… assuming it came out in 2025, which it didn’t. So, this is true in our regular monthly game release updates, but it’s especially true when we’re talking about games that are 11 months away, or games that don’t have release dates yet.
January
On January 15, Animal Crossing: New Horizons gets a new lease on life, and also a new mortgage to pay off when the beloved debt, yard work, and interior decoration sim comes to Switch 2 - and if you happen to be one of the 50 million people who bought Animal Crossing on the original Switch, you’ll be happy to hear that you can upgrade to the Switch 2 version for just 5 bucks. Meanwhile, if you’re still playing on Switch 1, you’ll still be getting access to a ton of new features with the 3.0 update, which adds a ton of new features including hotel renovation, and in-game items based on other Nintendo properties, as well as LEGO’s line of Animal Crossing sets.
You can’t spell “Purchase a Game In January” without JRPG, or a lot of other letters, but this is the time of year when fans of that particular genre are bound to be especially busy. Still on the 15th, there’s The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond The Horizon, which is the seventeenth installment in The Legend of Heroes series, or the thirteenth installment in the Trails series, and a direct sequel to 2022’s Legend of Heroes Trails Through Daybreak II. That’s coming to all the Switches, PlayStations, and PC.
On the 22nd, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade comes to Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series as well as Xbox on PC - this includes the base game, all the visual and technical improvements that it got when it was ported to PS5, a whole side story that follows Yuffie, and this latest release will add a new streamlined mode that maxes out your party’s stats and has all attacks do 9,999 damage so you can just blow through the story.
Not quite a JRPG, but JRPG-adjacent, Dynasty Warriors Origins also hits Switch 2 that day, alongside the Visions of Four Heroes DLC expansion, which also comes to the other platforms the game’s already on.
On the 26th, Highguard drops, which is the new PVP raid game from a bunch of ex-Respawn devs who worked on Titanfall and Apex Legends - and while you can see some similar DNA, it’s clearly going a very different direction, and instead of bunch of a bunch of wallrunning dudes and Neil Blomkamp mechs, it’s got more fantasy flair - so if you’ve ever wanted to bear arms while riding a bear, go nuts. That’s free to play on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series.
Finally, rounding out January’s JRPGs, on the 28th there's The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin, an open-world RPG based on the hit anime series for PS5, PC, and mobile. And then on the 30th, there’s Code Vein 2, the sequel to Bandai Namco’s 2019 vampire anime soulslike, which is on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC.
At some point in January, 2XKO will hit PS5 and Xbox series, which is Riot Games’ 2v2 fighting game featuring a roster of characters from League of Legends - that’s been in early access on PC since October.
February
On February 5, Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined hits PS5, Xbox Series, both Switches, and PC. Originally released stateside for PS1 in 2001, and then 3DS 15 years after that, it’s now getting a full modern overhaul. JRPGs aren’t exactly known for being concise, but this one is pretty infamously beefy, and don’t be surprised if you sink 100 hours into this just doing the main quest.
If you’d rather just make a bunch of colorful characters hit each other, My Hero Academia: All’s Justice is a 3v3 arena fighter featuring several dozen characters from the beloved anime series. That’s on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC February 6.
Also on the 6th is Nioh 3, the third installment in Team Ninja’s tough-as-balls soulslike series that is actually its first true sequel, as Nioh 2 took place before the events of the first game - which probably has no bearing whatsoever on the moment to moment combat that’s the main selling point here. That’s on PS5 and PC.
On February 11, Romeo is a Deadman is the latest whackadoo action game from Suda51 and the fine folks at Grasshopper Manufacture, who gave us such cult classics as Killer7 and No More Heroes - this latest one looks to be as stylish, absurd, and over-the-top as we’ve come to expect. That’s on PS5, Xbox series and PC. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing a lot of really interesting people in this job, and Suda is one of my favorites - we did one with him years ago where we asked a bunch of really stupid questions rapid-fire and he didn’t skip a beat. So anyway, I’m happy to see he’s keeping busy making weird cool games.
On the 12th, Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties hits everything but Xbox One. Yakuza 3 was originally released for the PS3 back in 2009, and though it was included with the remastered collection in 2019, that version didn't get any major graphical or gameplay improvements. Kiwami 3, on the other hand, is a full modern overhaul, so this’ll play as great as it looks - and the Dark Ties expansion is a whole new side story.
Still that day on Switch 2 is Mario Tennis Fever, which may sound like a fun casual sports game, but it’s also a very serious medical condition that can be deadly if not treated immediately. If you develop symptoms of Mario Tennis Fever while playing this game, please consult a Dr. Mario.
On the 13th we’re getting High on Life 2, the follow-up to the excellent 2022 first-person metroidvania - and between the first game, its High on Knife DLC, and now this, I gotta give the team at Squanch Games credit for shipping two and a half Metroid Prime-likes in half the time it took Retro to get Metroid Prime 4 out the door. Also, High on Life 2 is the only way you can legally purchase the classic 1991 Wisdom Tree platformer Bible Adventures for current consoles.
On February 20, Ys X: Proud Nordics is the latest Japanese action RPG rooted in Scandinavian folklore - and it’s actually an enhanced re-release of 2023’s Ys X: Nordics, but with enough added abilities, bosses and levels that it’s apparently very proud of itself. That’s coming to PS5, PC, and Switch 2.
On the 24th, Tides of Tomorrow hits PS5, Xbox Series and PC, which is set in a vibrant post-apocalyptic ocean world that’s riddled with microplastics, and where the choices made by other players in their game will affect how the narrative in yours unfolds.
On February 27, Resident Evil: Requiem - or the ninth mainline entry, if you’re keeping count - hits Xbox Series, PS5, PC, and Switch 2. I’m fairly late to the Resident Evil party, but as someone who liked 7, loved 8, and adored the remakes, I’m fairly lukewarm on what I’ve seen of this one so fair - but I’m also willing to give it a shot, since that team has been knocking it out the park with this series.
Any Switch 2 owners looking to play catchup, Resident Evil 7 and 8 - AKA Biohazard and Village - are also coming to the hybrid handheld that day as well. They got cloud-streamed versions on Switch 1, but this is the first time they’ll be playable locally on Nintendo hardware.
March
On March 5, Pokemon Pokopia comes to Switch 2, which sort of looks like Animal Crossing, except you play as a ditto who is masquerading as a human being, something that will never not be totally unsettling.
Hitting PC, Xbox Series and PS5 on March 12, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is a post-apocalyptic co-op FPS that’s been developed by the World War Z team with some input from the legendary horror filmmaker turned grouchy hardcore gamer, and it looks as though it’ll sit well with anyone wishing the Left 4 Dead franchise hadn’t been… abandoned in a seemingly deceased state. That’s on Xbox Series, PS5, and PC.
That same day on PC is Solasta 2, the follow-up to the very well-received 2021 tactical CRPG, which should click with anybody who’s had their fill of Baldur’s Gate 3 and needs to kill some time before Divinity.
Also on March 12, Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Remake hits all the newer consoles and PC, and that’s a modern do-over of the 2003 survival horror game that’s sort of like Pokémon Snap but with scary ghosts instead of cute animals.
If you’d prefer a game about making friends scary animals, on the 13th, there’s Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection for those same platforms, which puts a more conventional turn-based JRPG spin on Capcom’s hit creature clobberer series.
If you’re more into big huge sprawling open-world RPGs with fast-paced realtime combat, on the 19th there’s Crimson Desert, the single player spinoff of Black Desert Online. That’s on Xbox Series, PS5, and PC.
If you’d rather just shoot olde tymie cartoon criminal critters, Mouse: P.I. For Hire looks to like a boomer shooter with Cuphead aesthetics - that’s on everything
On March 26, Screamer hits PS5, Xbox Series, and PS5 - I heard about this game a while ago, and was wondering what was taking so long since the gameplay looked like it was in a pretty good state. The trailer that dropped during The Game Awards answered the hell out of that question: in addition to being a racing game, this is also a cyberpunk anime, and it sure looks like those cutscenes took a while. So, if you’ve ever wished for a cross between Redline and Initial D with playable races, here you go!
April
On April 16, yet another game with literary inspirations is Cthulu: The Cosmic Abyss, a first person thriller mired in the unthinkable cosmic horrors of the works of H.P. Lovecraft, so that should be a nice cheerful jaunt. That’s on Xbox Series, PS5, and PC.
On April 24 arrives Pragmata, which is a totally new sci-fi property from Capcom that pairs third-person shooting with some realtime hacking minigames, which seems cool.
On a similar note, on April 30, the folks who gave us Returnal are back with Saros, a roguelite third-person bullet hell, which stars the wonderful Rahul Kohli and takes place in a sci-fi setting that’s cribbing from Robert W. Chambers' proto-lovecraftian classic, The King in Yellow.
May
On May 8th, Mortal Kombat 2 hits theaters, the first of two very fun-looking fighting game movies. Something I very much appreciated about the first game is they didn’t make use of the whole roster, and saved some big names for round two - namely, Johnny Cage, who looks to be very much the central focus of the sequel, and he’s being played by the ever-delightful Karl Urban. Very excited to watch him do a split and punch someone in the groin.
On May 27, we’ll get high speed chases and every other kind of action in 007 First Light, a game I’m trying not to get too excited about, but which i can’t not - after all, it’s from the team behind Hitman: World of Assassinaiton, which is already basically the best James Bond game to date, except this one’s actually about Ian Fleming’s legendary spy. Anyway that’s coming to all the newer consoles and PC.
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is the closest thing to an Arkham game we’ll be getting anytime soon, and while it might not have quite the massive roster of playable characters as TT Games’ previous LEGO titles, it looks to be making up for it with much tighter combat. That’s on all the newer boxes and also PC on May 29.
September
Illfonic, the studio that gave us asymmetrical multiplayer horror games based on Friday the 13th, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and Predator are giving the granddaddy of all slashers the same treatment with John Carpenter’s original Halloween, which’ll also have a single player mode this time around. That’s coming to Xbox Series, PS5 and PC on September 8.
On September 12, Phantom Blade Zero hits PC and PS5, which looks like a soulslike or a hack and slash action game, and while it is an action RPG with lots of hacking and slashing, it’s apparently doing its own thing that’s somewhere in the middle - whatever the hell it is, buzz on this one is killer.
October
Not a game, but obviously worth including is the newest Street Fighter movie, which looks like an absolute blast and I’ve been hyping this movie up since the first casting announcements trickled out - it’s directed by Kitao Sakurai, who is best known for his work with Eric Andre on the Eric Andre Show and the film Bad Trip, which has involved a lot of people getting injured in entertaining ways in public places as well as a few cars getting destroyed, so I think this movie is going to kick ass. That hits theaters October 16 and I will be there opening night.
November
And of course, the biggest game of 2026, the 2020s as a whole, and possibly all time, assuming it ever comes out, is Grand Theft Auto 6, which is hitting Xbox Series and PS5 on November 19 - a date which basically every other game in development is steering clear of. At this point we’ve been waiting so long for this game that it’s just stopped seeming like something I’ll ever get to play - but someday, I’ll get to actually play it, I think, and I hope it’s this year!
Now, that takes us to the very end of games that currently have release dates - but there a whole lot more that just have vague 2026 releases planned, so here’s what we’ve got right now:
At some point in 2026, Starfield is supposedly coming to PS5, and while Bethesda's dropped a handful of updates post-launch, I feel like players weren’t quite over the moon for this one - but who knows, maybe it’ll get some more tweaks and content alongside its eventual PlayStation version.
Super Meat Boy 3D adds a whole extra dimension to Team Meat’s beloved indie platformer, and that’s coming to PS5, Xbox Series, and PC.
Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is the latest offbeat and extremely cerebral CRPG from the developers of Disco Elysium. This is clearly a spiritual successor, but rather than take cues from detective fiction, Zero Parades is all about the world of espionage - specifically, the nerve-racking deception-based kind, not the sexy hollywood kind. That’s coming to PC and PS5.
If you want a game that takes place inside books, but involves a lot less reading, Chronoscript: The Endless End is an exploration based action-adventure sidescroller - or maybe more accurately, page turner. That’s on PS5 and PC as well.
Thick as Thieves is a PvPvE stealth game from Warren Spector, who was behind the original Deus Ex, and that’s sneaking onto PS5, Xbox Series, and PC at some point in 2026
If you’re sad we haven’t gotten a brand new Metal Gear Solid game in over a decade, you might want to keep an eye on Mudang: Two Hearts, which looks like like a similar blend of stealth, action, tactical military stuff, and over the top sci-fi nonsense, and that’s coming to PS5, Xbox Series, and PC as well.
If you like sequels, don’t worry, they’re still making lots of those: if you want to go on a power trip, you can be a tyrannical dictator in Tropico 7. If you’d rather feel utterly powerless, you can get punched so hard your soul flies out of your body in Mortal Shell 2. Those are both on the big consoles and PC. On Switch 2 and PC, you can go dungeon-crawling through even more bullet hells in Enter the Gungeon 2.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword marks the long-awated return of Capcom’s PS2-era supernatural samurai series, and that’s coming to Xbox Series, PS5, and PC.
If you want to travel through time and fight some ex boyfriends, there’s Scott Pilgrim EX, the long-awaited follow-up to hit beat-em-up based on Bryan Lee O’Malley’s beloved Canadian manga, which is on basically everything.
Speaking of Canadians, Marvel’s fan favorite canucklehead finally slices and dices his way onto PS5 sometime in the fall - Insomniac’s long-awaited Wolverine game is clearly not shying away from an M-rating, but hopefully it’s got as much brains and heart as it does blood and guts.
Two other Marvel games are also in the works expected in 2026 at some point: Skydance’s Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, which features Cap and Black Panther’s grandpa, who is also Black Panther, fighting in World War 2 on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC. And then there’s Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls on PS5 and PC, a fighting game from Arc System Works that looks like it could be a proper spiritual successor to Marvel Vs Capcom - just, without the Capcom.
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is the latest entry in the long running jet pilot sim to try to tempt me into playing it with sequences of stuff happening outside of a jet that are so impressively realistic it makes me forget that I don’t actually enjoy the part where you fly the jet. Don’t get me wrong, I think jets are the coolest thing ever invented and this game looks gorgeous, but aerial dogfighting in video games just never clicks for me. Can I just play the parts where you eat hamburgers and drink beer with your friends on an aircraft carrier? Anyway, that’s on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC
Remedy’s David Lynchian interconnected universe gets a bit bigger with Control: Resonant, which is a continuation of IGN’s 2019 game of the year, but also connects with Alan Wake 2 and FBC Firebreak - and even if you’re not keeping track of what’s going on, this looks like it’ll still be a good time.
I’ve always wondered why nobody’s made any first-person soulslikes, and the trailer for Decrepit answered that question very loudly: because they’d be too fucking scary. Get this shit outta here. Too scary! Just awful! No thank you! That’s on PC for now, so if you play on console, you’re safe from its horrors for the time being. Did you see that spider? Fuck off!
Less scary looking, but from a studio with some major horror chops is Ontos, which is from the folks behind Amnesia and SOMA and takes place in a hotel where a lot of weird stuff is happening, which is to be expected from a hotel that’s on the moon.
If you want something nice and cute in space, there’s the two-player co-op adventure Oribitals on Switch 2 which looks just gorgeous. Lots of games look like anime, but this one specifically looks like a bubble era OVA, which has not just a specific aesthetic, but a certain VHS graininess and poppy sound quality as well, and that’s such a pretentious delineation but as a reformed weeaboo whose formative years were filled with badly dubbed “Japanimation” from Manga Video, I applaud this attention to detail.
Another co-op adventure coming this year is Out of Words, which is all stop-motion featuring handcrafted puppets. I have this theory that Geoff Keighley really loves puppets, and if you make a game with puppets in it, he’s more likely to feature it prominently in one of his shows - Out of Words was one of two puppet-centric games that debuted at Summer Game Fest, the other being Felt That: Boxing, and it showed up again at The Game Awards in between Miss Piggy appearances. Anyway that’s coming to the new consoles and PC.
Star Wars: Galactic Racer is hitting PS5, Xbox Series, and PC at some point in 2026, and I am stoked - like 10 years ago, when it was announced that EA had the Star Wars license, I was like, "Get the people who do Burnout and Need for Speed to do a podracing game." -And well, it took a minute, but we’re getting something even better: a studio founded by a bunch of ex-Criterion devs is making a game like that and EA has nothing to do with it! Also, this isn’t straight podcasting - it’s got a bunch of other speeders and stuff, which reminds me of the criminally underrated 2000 vehicular combat game Star Wars Demolition.
If you thought that was a stupid joke, well, bad news because Stupid Never Dies - which is the name of a video game that’s coming out at some point on PC and PS5. This is a dungeon crawler action game that has some major Lollipop Chainsaw vibes, but it’s actually from a new studio founded by Hiroyuki Kobayashi, who, among other things, worked on Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, and Dragon’s Dogma.
Tankrat is a game where you drive a cool tank around and shoot stuff while also exploring and finding new stuff to make your tank even cooler - and it reminds me of modern version of Blaster Master. You guys remember Blaster Master? No? Well it sort of looked like this except really old. Tankrat is coming to PS5 and PC.
To Be Announced
A whole lot of games just have a vague “TBA” release window, which means that they’ll probably come out someday. And while 2026 seems like a safe bet for most of these, some might even be further down the road, while others might never come out.
If you ever wished they’d do a Star Wars XCOM... well, they’re doing it! Zero Company, or ZCOM for short, is from a studio of ex-Firaxis devs, and looks like a turn-based tactical good time. That’s coming to Xbox, PS5, and PC.
Cinder City is an open-world MMO tactical shooter that looks like it has literally everything in it, and that’s coming to PC at some point - though looking at this game in action, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a 2027 game.
Lords of the Fallen 2 is the sequel to the 2023 soulslike, which was itself the reboot of a game already titled Lords of the Fallen, so this is technically the third Lords of the Fallen game, but who’s keeping track? That’s on the newer non-Nintendo consoles and PC.
All we’ve seen of Road Kings is a cinematic trailer where a dude drives his 18 wheeler straight toward a tornado, but that seems like it was enough to get people hyped. And it’s from Saber, the studio that gave us Mudrunner and Snowrunner and the recent Road Craft, and as a very casual truck game enjoyer, I’m curious to see what their spin on a long-haul trucking sim is like. That’s on PC, Xbox Series, and PS5.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 is the first installment in the fan-fave RTS series in almost a decade, and while it’s not from Relic, the studio that made the first three games, it is from the team behind another well-received RTS, Iron Harvest. That’s coming to PC.
Tomodachi Life might not have quite the same name-brand recognition as Animal Crossing, but the original mii-centric social game released in 2014 was the 11th best-selling 3DS game of all time, so it’s a surprise it’s taken Nintendo this long to make another one. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream will be on Switch.
Somebody put The Elder Scrolls 6 on our list of upcoming game releases, and while that’ll probably come out someday, I would be shocked if it dropped in 2026. However, if you’re after a big pretty fantasy RPG from Xbox Game Studios, Fable seems a lot more likely for a fall release. This one is from Playground Games, the studio that gave us Forza Horizon, so I’m stoked to see how they tackle wizard stuff.
Speaking of Forza Horizon, the sixth entry is expected sometime in 2026, and though there have been rumblings it might launch in the first half of the year, nothing official on that front aside from the fact that it’s set in Japan this time around. Fable and Forza Horizon are both hitting Xbox Series and PC, with PS5 versions probably arriving later on, if recent Xbox release strategy is anything to go on.
Gears of War turns 20 in 2026, and to mark the occasion we’re hopefully getting a brand new installment with E-Day. This is a prequel set 14 years before the first game and will follow Marcus Fenix during the events of Emergence Day, when the big scary guys you’ve been shooting at and chainsawing into pieces in all the other installments first started coming out of holes in the ground. That’ll be on Xbox and PC for sure, and again, maybe PS5 at some point too.
Another major franchise celebrating a big anniversary is Tomb Raider, which turns 30 - To celebrate, we’re getting Legacy of Atlantis, a full ground-up Unreal Engine 5 remake of the original Tomb Raider. It certainly looks pretty, but I’m curious how much it plays like the originals. That’ll be on Xbox Series, PS5, and PC.
If you ever wished for a distant prequel to the Plague Tale games that swapped the medieval European setting for an ancient Greek one, well… you’re in luck! Because that’s exactly what Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is - and that’s coming to Xbox Series, PS5, and PC
The Adventures of Elliott: The Millennium Tales is the latest game from the folks behind Bravely Default and Octopath Traveller, and hopefully you won’t have to wait a thousand years to play - that one’s coming to all the newer consoles and PC.
Usually it’s bad when a game freezes, but sometimes that’s a feature, not a bug - like the bleak frigid survival game Blackfrost: The Long Dark 2, or Frostrail, a survival game that’s also bleak and frigid, but at least you have a train - those are both coming to PC - and there’s also Ikuma: The Frozen Compass, a coming of age story set in the arctic, which seems frigid, but less bleak - which is on PC, as well as Xbox Series and PS5.
If you’d like to try your hand at surviving while submerged in melted ice, ie: water, Subnautica 2 is hitting early access on PC and Xbox any day now. And by “now” I mean at some point in the coming year.
If you’d rather go on adventures above the waves, Sea of Remnants is a bright and colorful ocean-world RPG, which is slated to hit PC and PS5 at some point. If you prefer rails to sails, there’s also Denshattack, which looks like Jet Grind Radio, except you play as a train. Sure why not! That’s on PC as well as Xbox Series and PS5.
At some point The Duskbloods is coming out, which is FromSoftware’s Switch 2 exclusive foray into the world of PvE multiplayer, and I know I’m not the only one who’s disappointed that something that looks so much like Bloodborne isn’t an action RPG. Still, as arcane as this game looks, my intelligence is high enough that I’ll pump a few points into having faith that Hidetaka Miyazaki and company know what they’re doing.
If you ever wished Hotline Miami was about actual animal men and not just men in animal masks, well, get a load of Kusan: City of Wolves - it’s exactly what I just described. That’s coming to PC as well as Switch, Xbox Series and both PlayStations.
The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake has been in development for several dumptrucks worth of hourglass-grade silica powder, but at some point this year, that’s supposedly coming out - and hopefully it’s worth the wait.
Another Ubisoft remake we’ve been hearing about for almost as long is Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, which isn’t even officially announced, but will presumably come to modern consoles and PC if and when it ever gets released.
Valor Mortis is another first-person action soulslike from the studio behind Ghostrunner, which seems like a novel enough idea and hopefully has less spiders than Decrepit - and it’s coming to Xbox Series, PS5, and PC.
Originally slated for a fall 2025 release, Directive 8020: A Dark Pictures Game is the latest cinematic choose-your-own-adventure game from the folks at Supermassive, which is coming to Xbox Series, PS5, and PC.
Dune: Awakening has been going strong on PC for a while now, and at some point in the foreseeable future, it’ll be getting Xbox Series and PS5 versions as well.
And last but not least, 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of the Pokémon series. In addition to Pokopia, we’re also getting the strategy game Pokemon Champions - I have a hunch those aren’t the only two Pokémon games that’ll be dropping this year, but they’re the only two we officially know about right now.
So, there you go! That’s a look ahead at the biggest games coming in 2026 that we know about right now. Some of these might not actually come out in the next 12 months, but a whole lot more that I didn’t mention here that definitely will. If you want regular and slightly more accurate breakdowns of what games are coming on a more timely basis, keep an eye out for our monthly big game release videos - in fact, we should have one about January’s games, including a few that didn’t make it into this video.
I have no doubt in my mind that there’s some big huge obvious game coming out in 2026 that we forgot to mention, so please, whatever we forgot, share it in the comments. But also, and I always say this and very few people pay attention - tell us what the games we left out are about! Why should people care? Sharing a cool recommendation is one of the best feelings in the world, so if there’s a game you’re stoked on, tell us about it!
New year, new you? Yeah OK. Look, if you're going to seriously get yourself in shape in 2026, you might as well do it with the best gear while saving a small fortune on brand tax. Plus, you'll need something cool to watch in the background whilst you work out to keep your mind engaged.
TL;DR: Deals for Today
Well, it's a good job Amazon just dropped massive discounts on a tonne of cult classic 4K + Blu-ray steelbooks and best-selling Peloton bikes, treadmills, and accessories. We're talking about savings of over $600 here, so let's get into it:
4K + Blu-Ray Steelbook Sale
Studio Ghibli fan? This sale is for you, with everything from Howl's Moving Castle to Spirited Away. Transformers: The Movie is here too, and it's the best way to listen to the best movie theme song in the world from Lion (I'll die on that hill).
From newer releases such as Straight Outta Compton to cult classics like The Blues Brothers, there's something for everyone in this sale, with the highlights in the carousel above.
Pelaton + Fitness Sale
It's hard sticking to the gym, especially when you have a family and a full-time job to hold down. Peloton is a popular option for its quality equipment and a membership that gives you smart class recommendations based on your stats. And we've all tried buying cheap exercise bikes at somepoint, and I'm my opinion they ruin the positive start you're looking for on your fitness journey. It's an investment in yourself at the end of the day.
Pelaton bikes and treadmills are pretty much like having a personal trainer inside your workout equipment whenever it suits you. Plus, accessories such as cycling shoes and dumbbells are up to 70% off, so it's a good time to give yourself the healthy kickstart you need for 2026.
Manga Box Set Sale
If you're planning on freeing up the box room to store One Piece manga, box sets one to four are all in the sale. That's volumes 1–90 for a combined $636.26, down from $959.96, saving a massive $323.70. That's a little over $7 per manga, which usual are usually priced at $11.99. If you're a Dragon Ball fan like me, the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z box sets are locked in the sale too for $97.99 and $175.66 respectively. That's a total of $273.65, down from $449.98, for the filler-free best way to experience the series. The way Akira Toriyama presents his panels is ridiculously expressive and a masterclass in what Shonen Jump manga is and should be.
Get 20% Off All eSIM Plans at Roamless
Magnetic Building Blocks (150PCS)
Want to get the kids off Minecraft for a bit but don't have the budget for LEGO Minecraft sets? These magnetic building blocks were perfect for my boy and are more or less playing Minecraft physically. They're not an official product, but they're fantastic for a rainy day indoors.
Hand Warmers
Have you ever tried those one-and-done hand warmers with the metal inside that reacts to a packet of goo that stays warm for a bit? (I'm a writer, not a scientist.) Yeah, they're a waste of money and one more thing to throw away that is likely a pain to recycle. These bad boys are rechargeable, have a temperature gauge screen, and fit snug into your coat pocket so you can keep your hands warm walking the dog or reading your new manga box set on top of a mountain.
Cheapest at Amazon: MTG
Commander Masters is the best set to get into if you love playing Commander, getting you legacy card reprints that are ideal for the format. It's not cheap, but Amazon currently has the best pricing for Set and Draft booster boxes. If you missed out on the Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set when it dropped earlier this year, the game edition of Cloud Strife's Commander Deck, Limit Breaker, is at market value on Amazon right now. That just means you're getting it for a fair price compared to the secondary market, whilst being able to take advantage of that sweet Prime shipping.
Cheapest at TCGPlayer - MTG
TCGPlayer is still holding the top spot for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Play Booster Box preorders. It's a full $20 cheaper from its merchants right now, a saving worth getting over Prime shipping. The same goes for the Lorwyn Eclipsed Play Booster Box, a full $30 cheaper over Amazon's price. Fair enough, Amazon has its preorder price guarantee, but that only counts if they drop the price before release. You can't price match other retailers with this guarantee, so if you see a steep discount on a preorder elsewhere, take your chances.
Get a Free Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2025) With Any Total Wireless Phone Plan
From now until January 7, or while supplies last, a Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2025) can be yours for no cost, and a trade-in isn’t required.
Cheapest at Amazon: Pokémon TCG
It’s great to see popular sets like Surging Sparks and Phantasmal Flames Elite Trainer Boxes crop up for less on Amazon, with the former being below market value alongside the Destined Rivals triple booster.
Cheapest at TCGPlayer: Pokémon TCG
It’s strange to see Silver Tempest sealed product showing up on Amazon right now. Perhaps we’ll see more Sword & Shield-era reprints on store shelves? Regardless, TCGPlayer has the Silver Tempest Elite Trainer Box for far less than Amazon, and the same goes for the Prismatic Evolutions ETB.
TCGPlayer also has the best deal on Destined Rivals Booster Bundles, currently sitting at $52.50. That means you get double the booster packs compared to the three-pack booster deal in the last section for less than double the price. TCGPlayer really has the no-brainer deals right now.
Scream (1996) Limited-Edition Steelbook (4K UHD) Available to Pre-order at 19% Off
Amazon is offering 19% off the Scream 4K UHD pre-order right now, set to release on February 17. A classic!
Skytech Gaming PC Holiday Sale
Considering we’ve just entered a memory chip shortage across the board, with even DDR4 RAM going for silly money, getting an RTX 5060 build with 32GB DDR4 for $1,079 is a great deal. You’ll have solid 1080p gaming with either an Intel i5-14400F or AMD Ryzen 7 5700 processor to boot. Personally, I’d go for the Crystal build. It costs the same and gives you far more room for bigger GPU upgrades down the line.
If you’re looking to go all-in with 4K gaming out of the box for under $3,000, the $2,799.99 Aqua build comes with a gorgeous clear white and blue case, complete with CPU liquid cooling, an RTX 5080, 32GB DDR5, and the absolute beast that is the Ryzen 7 9800X3D.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
Modder ‘MaxStrengthWizard’ has released a new mod for Baldur’s Gate 3 that aims to be the ultimate mod that can restore content that was cut from it. This is a must-have for everyone who still plays Baldur’s Gate 3. So, let’s see what it brings to the table. This mod restores 30 weapons that were … Continue reading Baldur’s Gate 3 Got an Ultimate Cut Content Restoration Mod→
Modder ‘Jaxonic’ has released a new cool mod for The Witcher 3 Next-Gen that aims to overhaul its rain system. This is a mod that will please a lot of people who wanted a bit more realistic rain in TW3. So, let’s take a closer look at it. True Rain completely rebuilds The Witcher 3’s … Continue reading The Witcher 3 Next-Gen Just Got a True Rain Overhaul Mod→
2026 is a huge year for Persona, with the series celebrating its 30th anniversary. If you've yet to catch up on the series, now is the best time to do so. Beyond the standard mainline games, Persona has seen spin-offs here and there, but Persona 5, in particular, has seen a suite of them.
Persona 5 Strikers from Omega Force is actually set after the events of Persona 5, and the recently released Persona 5: The Phantom X brings many new characters into the fold. However, the most interesting spin-off is arguably Persona 5 Tactica, a strategy-based spin-off that is similar to XCOM. If you've yet to check out this game, Best Buy has a great deal to pick up a copy for only $10.
Persona 5 Tactica for $9.99
Persona 5 Tactica falls in line with the story of Persona 5, with the game actually taking place during the base game. One day, the party is transported away to an alternate reality called a Kingdom, and these worlds are where Tactica takes place. DLC was also made available for Persona 5 Tactica, in the form of Repaint Your Heart, which brought back familiar faces Goro Akechi and Kasumi Yoshizawa.
In each Kingdom, you control up to three characters and move them around a grid-based map to take down enemies. Many of Persona 5's unique combat mechanics are implemented here in familiar ways, such as the 1 More mechanic when attacking an enemy and knocking them to the ground.
Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium.
Sony has announced the PlayStation Plus monthly games for January 2026, and the new year kicks off with Need for Speed Unbound, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, and Core Keeper.
As detailed by PlayStation.Blog, these three games will be available to all PlayStation Plus members from January 6 until February 2.
This is also a great time to remind PlayStation Plus members that they also have until January 5 to add December's games to their library, which include Lego Horizon Adventures, Killing Floor 3, The Outlast Trials, Synduality Echo of Ada, and Neon White.
2022's Need for Speed Unbound leads the pack on PS5 and will give racers a chance to try out the latest entry in the beloved franchise. Unbound has separate single and multiplayer campaigns and encourages players to "race against time, outsmart the cops, and take on weekly qualifiers to reach The Grand, Lakeshore's ultimate street racing challenge."
In our Need for Speed Unbound review, we said it "hasn’t strayed very far from the fundamentals of 2019’s Heat, but its bold new animated style impresses."
Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is up next on PS4 and PS5, and it's a gorgeous remake of the 2010 title that first appeared on Nintendo Wii. In this 3D platformer, players become Mickey Mouse and venture to the Wasteland, a realm of forgotten Disney characters. And yes, you do get to encounter Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who was Walt Disney's first big character before Mickey.
In my preview of Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, I said, "what impressed me the most about Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is how much it looks and, perhaps most importantly, feels like a 2024 game."
Rounding out the bunch is Core Keeper on PS4 and PS5, a 1-8 player mining sandbox adventure where you can "harvest relics and resources, craft advanced tools, build your base, and explore a dynamically evolving world waiting to be unearthed."
Core Keeper is getting a big Void & Voltage Update (and a Switch 2 release!) on January 28, 2026, so this is a great time to jump aboard. The update includes a new biome called Breaker's Reach, a new boss named S.A.H.A.B.A.R., an Advanced Automation Table, and much more.
We're in the final hours before a new year. Here at IGN, we're already looking forward to some highly-anticipated video games (looking at you, GTA 6), big movie releases, and plenty of TV shows. In the meantime, though, it's time to defrost from the holiday season and catch up on streaming.
Disney+ will be kicking off the new year with the return of one of the best movie marathons, the continued release of Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2, and a surprisingly fun Venom movie. Without further ado, here’s everything coming to Disney+ in January.
Everything Coming to Disney+ in January
January 1
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
The original Indiana Jones movies were removed from Disney+ in late 2024 after licenses expired with Paramount, but their grand return will kick off 2026. Disney+ will once again stream the first four Indiana Jones movies, which join the most recent release, The Dial of Destiny.
January 2
The Big Year
Cheetahs Up Close with Bertie Gregory
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Tim Burton’s 2016 adaptation of Ransom Rigg’s dark fantasy children’s book, is finding a new streaming home at Disney+. Samantha Ladwig’s review of the movie for IGN highlights, unsurprisingly, the “imaginative visuals.” The 2011 comedy The Big Year will also be returning to Disney+ after it was removed back in 2022.
January 4
Incredible Northern Vets S2
The second season of a documentary series following three Indigenous veterinarians who work across climates and communities in Western Canada.
January 5
I AM BOXER (New Episode)
I AM BOXER, a Korean reality competition series hosted by Don Lee, will stream new episodes every Monday.
January 7
Made in Korea (New Episode)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians S2 (New Episode)
The crime thriller Made in Korea will release new episodes on Disney+ and Hulu every Wednesday, when we’ll also be getting new episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2. Feel free to check out our review of the Season 2 premiere and, if you're curious, the recent debut of the Camp Half-Blood squad in Fortnite.
January 9
The Tale of Silyan
Theme Song Takeover S5
From National Geographic, The Tale of Silyan follows an injured white stork’s journey to recovery with a struggling farmer, taking inspiration from North Macedonian folklore. Disney+ will also get the latest batch of Theme Song Takeovers, Disney Channel shorts where characters “redo” the theme songs from other Disney series.
January 10
The Artful Dodger S1
Marvel’s Spidey and His Amazing Friends S4 (New Episodes)
The Hulu series The Artful Dodger will be making its way to Disney+ before the second season releases in February. I imagine we’ll see more titles moved between these services as the Hulu library gets fully integrated into the Disney+ app.
January 12
I AM BOXER (New Episode)
January 14
Hey A.J.!
Made in Korea (New Episode)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians S2 (New Episode)
Pole to Pole with Will Smith
Hey A.J!, a new children’s series based on the book of the same name, will hit Disney+ the day after premiering live on Disney Jr. The streamer will also get a new iteration of National Geographic’s travel show Pole to Pole, this time featuring Will Smith.
January 16
Agent P, Under C: Shorts
Agent P, otherwise known as Perry the Platypus, is getting a spread of eight new shorts to complement the continued reboot of Phineas & Ferb.
January 17
America's Funniest Home Videos (New Seasons)
Phineas and Ferb S5 (New Episodes)
Speaking of, the first batch of new Phineas & Ferb episodes landed on Disney+ back in June. The second half of the reboot season will arrive in mid-January, along with several more seasons of the pre-Tik Tok classic America’s Funniest Home Videos.
January 19
I AM BOXER (New Episode)
Playdate with Winnie the Pooh: Shorts S3
A new season of Playdate with Winnie the Pooh shorts will premiere simultaneously on Disney+ and Disney Jr. This season introduces a new character, Owl, who has a particular passion for books.
January 21
Percy Jackson and the Olympians S2 (New Episode)
January 22
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
The second Venom movie is making its way to Disney+ after its contracted stint at Starz. Francesca Rivera wrote in her review that “Andy Serkis directs a fun and action-packed sequel that highlights Venom as his own character,” noting that the movie takes itself less seriously than its predecessor. Sony’s Spider-Verse may have reached its end, but I will personally always be grateful we got to witness Tom Hardy having this much fun in a role.
January 23
Minnie’s Bow-Toons: Pet Hotel
January 26
I AM BOXER - (New Episode)
January 27
Wonder Man
One of the only MCU additions this month, Wonder Man was announced back in 2022 and has had quite a development cycle since then. In early 2026, it’s finally happening. The series follows Simon Williams, an aspiring actor who secretly has superpowers. Star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has described the series as a ‘self aware’ superhero flick, suggesting it will take aim at superhero fatigue.
January 28
Disney Jr. Ariel - The Little Mermaid S2
The second season of the animated Ariel series, inspired by both the 1992 and live-action 2023 film, will hit streaming after airing on Disney Jr.
January 30
Pupstruction Construction
In a continued effort to introduce more short-form content, Disney+ will start streaming Pupstruction Construction, spin-off shorts where Phinny explains the real machines behind construction projects.
TBA
Disneyland Handcrafted
While we don’t have a streaming release date, we do know that Lesie Iwerk, the director behind The Imagineering Story, is premiering a new documentary at D23 on January 8 that will likely come to Disney+ soon after. Disneyland Handcrafted covers the year of development that gave rise to Disneyland, featuring never before seen archival footage.
Last Chance to Save on New ESPN Unlimited Bundle
If you’re in the market for a live sports streaming service, keep in mind that Disney+ is offering a discount on its new bundle with ESPN Unlimited until January 5. The discount lasts for the first 12 months of your subscription, getting you access to all of ESPN's linear networks and, if you don’t already happen to have it, Hulu.
Blythe (she/her) is an Audience Development Coordinator at IGN who, when she isn't following streaming news, spends way too much time in character customization screens and tracking down collectibles.
The Xenomorph from the Alien film franchise is one of the coolest, most nefarious movie monsters ever hatched, with its acid blood, mouths-within-mouths, and diabolical claws. It pretty much single-handedly (and multi-teethily) invented the space horror genre and gave an entire generation a new boogeyman to fear. After we got the first Alien TV show with Alien: Earth, you may be wanting to do a full rewatch of the Alien franchise (including the Alien/Predator films, which are set on Earth).
But what's the correct order to watch them in? We've got you covered. Below you'll find full listings for the Alien movies, in both chronological order and by release date.
There are a total of nine movies and one TV series in the Alien franchise — four in the mainline series of films, two Predator crossovers, two prequels from Ridley Scott, and a standalone movie from Fede Álvarez. The newest addition, Alien: Earth, is currently airing its first season.
Alien Movies in Chronological Order
1. AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)
The story of the Xenomorphs begins, time-wise, in the first of the two crossover films for the franchise, AVP. Set in 2004, Alien vs. Predator, from Resident Evil/Event Horizon's Paul W. S. Anderson, brought to life a "battle of the titans" concept that first originated in a 1989 comic. In the film, humans discover that Predators (aka the "Yautja") have been coming to Earth for thousands of years. Old cults worshipping them would sacrifice themselves to a Xenomorph Queen's brood -- the facehuggers -- producing adult Xenomorphs, so the Predators could hunt the "ultimate prey." Sufficed to say, things go badly during the Predators' 2004 hunting trip.
2. Aliens vs Predator: Requiem (2007)
Still set in our modern times, and therefore still happening before everything else in the Alien franchise, crossover sequel Aliens vs Predator: Requiem picks up right where AVP left off. An Alien-Predator hybrid -- the "Predalien" -- is now on the loose in a small Colorado town. A skilled, veteran Predator arrives to help clean up the mess and an ample amount of carnage ensues. This would be the final crossover film of the Alien franchise. You can see our guide to the Predator movies in order for more info.
3. Prometheus (2012)
Oscar-winning director Ridley Scott returned to the franchise he created in 1979 with the star-studded prequel film, Prometheus. Here, in the late 21st Century, Peter Weyland (presumedly a descendant of AVP's Charles Weyland) funds a cosmic trip into the unknown, following a star map left on Earth that might lead the crew of the Prometheus to the beings who created humankind. Sadly, the crew also stumbles across these creators' bio-weapon -- the Xenomorph. Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba, and Charlize Theron star.
Still in prequel mode here, as Alien: Covenant is a sequel to Prometheus, the story picks up 11 years later and follows a colonization ship. The crew gets pulled out of stasis years early and heads to a different target planet, a possible "utopia," to track down a distress signal. The downed ship emitting the message, however, is connected to the previous movie and contains all sorts of sinister things -- ranging from Xenomorphs to androids. The film doesn't exactly take us up to the doorstep of 1979's Alien, as there's room for more story if deemed so, but it does get us close. Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, and a returning Michael Fassbender star.
Alien: Earth premieres tonight, so this description is going to be light on plot details, but one thing we know for sure is how the series fits into the Alien timeline. Alien: Earth takes place just two years before the original Alien movie, in the year 2120. The series follows the survivors of the space vessel Maginot after crash-landing on none other than our very own Earth, where they come face to face with one of the universe's strongest threats.
Space would never feel the same after Ridley Scott's landmark horror film, Alien, which featured the hardscrabble crew of a commercial space tug, the Nostromo, accidentally discovering a moon full of Xenomorph eggs. With no knowledge of what these creatures are or how they cocoon inside humans before bursting out and rapidly growing into killing machines, these underpaid workers -- played by Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, and hero-in-the-making Sigourney Weaver -- find themselves going toe-to-toe with a cosmic nightmare.
The newest Alien movie is a standalone film from Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead) that takes place about 20 years after the events of the first Alien. Rain Carradine (played by Cailee Spaeny) and her brother join a group of young space colonizers' efforts to escape a life of deadly labor on their incredibly isolated home planet. When an abandoned Weyland-Yutani vessel appears in the planet's atmosphere, the group believes their best chance at escape is using the ship's cryo pods. Of course, however, they soon discover the terrifying reason the vessel was abandoned in the first place. Alvarez takes plenty of inspiration from previous Alien movies for his addition to the franchise, as well as Alien video games and even The Last of Us.
Terminator director James Cameron, before creating his own landmark sequel with T2: Judgment Day, gifted us with Aliens, taking the slow-boil brutality of the Ridley Scott original and ramping it up into a full-tilt masterpiece. Sigourney Weaver, returning as Ellen Ripley, would solidify herself as an action hero icon in this thrilling, endlessly-quotable film that would introduce the world to idea of space marines AND space marines getting their asses kicked, pal! Aliens would handily feature more than one Xenomorph (hence the plural title) as well as stars Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen (who would play Charles Weyland decades later in AVP) and Carrie Henn.
9. Alien 3 (1992)
An appreciation for Alien 3 eventually bubbled up over the past 30 years but at the time David Fincher's directorial debut (three years before Se7en) would be deemed thin, grim, and, essentially, disappointing regarding Ripley's story (despite it giving us one of the most iconic images from the franchise, seen above). Alien 3 picks up right where Aliens left off, as the Colonial Marine spaceship, the Sulaco, is destroyed from within by a Xenomorph and an escape pod carries Ripley to a planet housing a penal colony. There, she and the inmates must deal with a rampaging alien before it massacres them all.
10. Alien Resurrection (1997)
The final film in the Ripley Saga, Alien Resurrection, hurls us 200 years beyond the events of Aliens and Alien 3 and into the inner workings of a military project aboard the USM Auriga that uses Ellen Ripley clones (and kidnapped humans) to try and successfully breed Xenomorphs. The City of Lost Children and Amélie's Jean-Pierre Jeunet directs this bizarrely-horrific chapter with cartoonish flare, casting Ron Perlman, Dan Hedaya, J. E. Freeman, Brad Dourif, and Michael Wincott as the story's new space grunts. The film ends with a possible tease of Xenomorphs headed to Earth, though we'd never get that story as a follow up (only in crossover prequel form with AVP).
What's Next for the Alien Franchise?
Ridley Scott recently announced his departure from the franchise in an interview with Screenrant. After the success of last year's Alien: Romulus, there have been talks of a sequel, with director Fede Alvarez revealing that the new film could start shooting this year. An official release date has not been set, but it's a promising update from the latest Alien director.
Beyond the big screen, the first Alien TV series hit FX and Hulu earlier this year with a second season already on the way. While Alien: Earth, is another prequel to the original Alien films, showrunner Noah Hawley isn't too attached to the backstory reveals from Prometheus.
In the early 2000s, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean introduced moviegoers to one of the decade’s most iconic film characters: Johhny Depp’s quick-witted pirate lord, Captain Jack Sparrow. On the back of Depp’s performances, the quintet of swashbuckling adventures earned $4.5 billion USD at the worldwide box office — good for a spot among the most-lucrative film franchises of all time.
Ahead of the planned Pirates of the Caribbean 6, we’ve created a guide to help you navigate the series’ story for all of the movies. Scroll down to find out how to watch the Pirates of the Caribbean films in order, by narrative chronologically or release date.
How Many Pirates of the Caribbean Movies Are There?
There are five feature-length Pirates of the Caribbean movies and one short film. Several other Pirates stories have been told through novels, comics, and video games. However, this list exclusively covers the film series. With only five films, it's a good series to plan a movie marathon for any time of year.
Where to Stream Pirates of the Caribbean
All of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies are streaming on Disney+, which starts at $9.99 as a standalone subscription and can also be bundled with Hulu, HBO Max, or the all-new ESPN Unlimited. If you're not interested in another streaming subscripion, the Pirates movies are also available as physical releases.
Pirates of the Caribbean in Chronological Order
These blurbs contain mild spoilers, including characters, settings, and broad plot points.
1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Tales of the Code – Wedlocked (2011)
Released between the fourth and fifth movies as part of a Pirates Blu-ray/DVD box set, Tales of the Code – Wedlocked is a short film set before The Curse of the Black Pearl. Vanessa Branch and Lauren Maher reprise their roles as Giselle and Scarlett for the short, which centers around the two women both believing themselves to be betrothed to Jack Sparrow. Alas, they were fooled, and the duo becomes the object of a rowdy auction.
It's not essential to the wider chronology, though if you're looking for the complete Pirates experience, it's an easy watch with a 10-minute runtime.
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
From this point on, the release date and narrative chronologies of the Pirates movies align. The Curse of the Black Pearl, the series’ first movie, takes viewers back to the early 18th century during the Golden Age of Piracy. The debut film introduces us to the series' main characters: Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp), Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), and Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush).
A young Will Turner is rescued from a shipwreck with a gold medallion around his neck. The medallion is linked to a curse that afflicts the pirate crew of Jack Sparrow's former ship, the Black Pearl, with tortured immortality. The crew is now led by the mutinous Captain Barbossa.
Will and Jack set aside their differences to rescue Elizabeth Swann, who was taken by Barbossa along with the medallion. Jack’s allegiance flip-flops and then flips again. The trio survives the encounter and ultimately lifts the curse, though the movie ends with Jack wanted for piracy.
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)
Jack, Will, and Elizabeth return for another seafaring adventure in Dead Man’s Chest. The series’ second movie introduces Naomie Harris’s priestess Tia Dalma, Stellan Skarsgard’s Bill Turner (Will’s father), Tom Hollander’s Cutler Beckett, and Bill Nighy’s Davy Jones, captain of the Flying Dutchman ghost ship.
Jack, Will, Elizabeth, and James Norrington (Jack Davenport) all, with different motivations, set out to find the Dead Man’s Chest and Davy Jones’s heart within: Will seeks freedom from the law and for his father; Elizabeth seeks freedom for herself and Will; Jack seeks to escape his debt to Davy Jones; and James seeks to have his status as a navy officer restored.
Swashbuckling and backstabbing once again ensue, and only one escapes with Davy Jones’s heart, granting them control of Jones and therefore the seas. As for Captain Jack, he ends Dead Man’s Chest dragged to the depths of the sea by the Kraken. Tia Dalma, meanwhile, resurrects a familiar foe from Black Pearl to lead the rescue mission for Jack.
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007)
The third Pirates movie is an action-packed adventure that pits the franchise’s heroes against Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman, now controlled by Cutler Beckett. The heroes first team up to rescue Jack from Davy Jones’s Locker and recover the Black Pearl. After doing so, the crew’s varying motivations lead to the usual plotting and backstabbing. Along the way, we discover Tia’s true identity and meet Jack’s father, the pirate captain Edward Teague (Keith Richards).
By the end, Elizabeth comes into power, Will and Jack defeat Davy Jones, and a new captain takes control of the Flying Dutchman. A pregnant Elizabeth and Will part ways, while Jack and the revived Hector Barbossa set out separately to discover the Fountain of Youth.
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
On Stranger Tides is the first Pirates film without Will/Orlando Bloom and Elizabeth/Keira Knightley. Ian McShane and Penelope Cruz stepped into the vacant supporting roles as the father-daughter duo Angelica and Blackbeard — the former being an ex-lover of Jack Sparrow.
The film’s overarching plot is a race to discover the Fountain of Youth between the English, Spanish, and multiple pirate crews. A treasure hunt involving secret maps, Mermaid tears, and the ship of renowned Spanish explorer Ponce de León ultimately leads each party to the Fountain. Barbossa settles an old score with Blackbeard and Jack uses the last of the Fountain’s power to save an ally.
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
The most recent Pirates film sees the return of Jack and Barbossa alongside Henry Turner (the now-grown son of Elizabeth and Will, played by Brenton Thwaites) and a new antagonist in Javier Bardem’s undead pirate-hunter Armando Salazar. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley reprise their respective roles as Will and Elizabeth for cameo appearances.
Dead Men Tell No Tales features another treasure hunt, the object of which is the Trident of Poseidon. Henry seeks the Trident to free his father from a curse and teams up with Jack and newcomer Carina (Kaya Scodelario) to do so. The trio, eventually with the help of Barbossa, must overcome Salazar’s opposition. One of these four heroes dies along the way. Jack takes his rightful place back aboard the Black Pearl and the other surviving heroes enjoy a family reunion.
A post-credits scene then sets up the return of Davy Jones.
There have been two future Pirates of the Caribbean movies in discussion: the sixth mainline movie and a Margot Robbie-led spinoff. Unfortunately, the Margot Robbie project seems to be dead in the water, but a sixth Pirates movie is certainly on the way.
The next mainline movie was expected to be a proper reboot, though franchise star Johnny Depp is once again said to be in the mix, so we'll have to wait and see about the actor's potential involvement and its impact on the film's direction. According to a Variety report published in December, two versions of the script are being developed, "one that could bring Depp back into the fold if the actor and Disney can reconcile."
Franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer seemed to confirm at least some of the returning cast, with Orlando Bloom saying in an interview earlier this month that "I think they're trying to work out what it would all look like... I personally think it'd be great to get the band back together."
Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.
In the early 1980s, filmmaking legends George Lucas and Steven Speilberg created Hollywood’s seminal action-adventure franchise starring Harrison Ford as a thrill-seeking archeologist and college professor named Indiana Jones. The adventures of Indy have now spanned over four decades, culminating in the most recent film, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Scroll down to find out how to watch the Indiana Jones films in order, by narrative chronologically or release date.
The Indiana Jones film saga includes five movies. The franchise’s canon also includes The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, a TV series that ran for two seasons (and four made-for-TV movies) in the ‘90s. If you're curious to know where you can stream all five of the films, we have a breakdown of where to stream every Indiana Jones movie online to point you in the right direction.
Dozens of other Indiana Jones stories have been told through novels, comics, and video games. However, for the sake of this list, we’ve only chronicled the films and TV series.
Indiana Jones Movies in Chronological Order
These blurbs contain mild spoilers, including characters, settings, and broad plot points.
0. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992-1996)
Though nonessential to the Indiana Jones film saga, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is the story’s canonical starting point. It’s optional viewing, but we’ve included it on this list for those interested in the whole story.
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles stars four iterations of the intrepid adventurer: the child (played by Corey Carrier), the teen/young adult (Sean Patrick Flanery), the middle-aged man (played in a single episode by Harrison Ford), and the elder (George Hall).
The series primarily follows Flanery’s teenage/young adult Indy adventuring around the world, encountering and working with real-life historical figures, including former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt, writer Leo Tolstoy, artist Pablo Picasso, infamous gangster Al Capone, famed jazz musician Louis Armstrong, and neurologist Sigmund Freud, among others. The series also explores Indy’s background, notably his relationship with his father.
1. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Temple of Doom is the first Indiana Jones movie chronologically, despite being released after Raiders of the Lost Ark. Set a year before its predecessor, Temple of Doom kicks off with Indy surviving an assassination attempt in Shanghai before parachuting out of a cargo plane into northern India. There, alongside companions Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) and Short Round (Ke Huy Quan), Indy agrees to help the locals locate their missing children and stolen sacred stone.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is considered the series’ “darkest” movie — the film’s dozens of deaths include a man’s heart being ripped from his chest, while a grotesque dinner scene features delicacies such as live snakes, giant beetles, eyeball soup, and monkey brains served fresh within their decapitated heads. Temple of Doom, alongside Gremlins, led to the creation of the MPAA’s PG-13 rating. (The rating system previously consisted of G, PG, M, and X.)
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Over 40 years ago, Raiders of the Lost Ark kicked off the Indiana Jones franchise. Set in 1936, Raiders of the Lost Ark takes Indy on a globetrotting adventure from South America and the U.S. to Africa and Asia. His first on-screen adventure pits Indy against Nazi forces, a recurring antagonist group in the series. The two parties race to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant, a gold-plated chest believed by Adolf Hitler to house divine power capable of aiding the Nazis in world domination.
3. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Indy’s next global adventure featured another quest for an ancient artifact: the Holy Grail, a relic said to hold the power of immortality. Indy’s estranged father, Henry (Sean Connery), spent much of his life researching the Grail, eventually going missing in its pursuit. Guided by his father’s extensive notes, Indy sets off to find both his father and the relic, once again racing against the Nazis. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is the last film before the time jump to newer films.
4. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
After a nearly 20-year hiatus, Indiana Jones returned in 2008 with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The series’ fourth and most recent entry introduced Shia LaBeouf as Mutt Williams, the son of Indy and Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), who returns for the first time since Raiders of the Lost Ark. Cate Blanchett stars as the primary villain, a Soviet agent named Irina Spalko.
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull once again sees Indy and his companions racing against a nefarious entity (this time the Soviets) to obtain another artifact of great power: a telepathic crystal skull with which the Soviets plan to control the masses. In addition to the familiar globetrotting and double-crossing, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull introduces extraterrestrial elements into the series formula.
The next and final Indiana Jones movie is Dial of Destiny – the first Indy movie since Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released 15 years ago. Alongside Harrison Ford and Mads Mikkelsen, Dial of Destiny stars Boyd Holbrook, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, Toby Jones, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Indy’s goddaughter Helena. The story follows the latter's reunion with Indy, as the two of them work together to chase down an ancient artifact with incredible power.
James Mangold (Logan) directed the film, making Dial of Destiny the franchise’s first film not helmed by Steven Spielberg. (Spielberg told Deadline he was “peripherally involved” with the movie.) It's also the first Indiana Jones movie distributed by Disney, following its purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012.
While Dial of Destiny is being called the conclusion to Indiana Jones's story, Disney and Lucasfilm were said to be "actively" pursuing a Disney+ TV series as of November 2022.
Outside of movies/television, Microsoft released Indiana Jones and the Great Circle back in 2024, an original story in the franchise set during "the height of" Indy's career. IGN awarded it a review score of 9, calling the action-adventure game "an irresistible and immersive global treasure hunt, and far and away the best Indy story this century."
Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.
Gaming laptops are always a balance between price, performance, and portability. The Asus ROG Strix G16 manages to find a good balance between all three. Though a few more design updates would be welcome, its RTX 50-series graphics and Ryzen 9 9955HX3D processor form a potent combination that delivers good gaming performance for the money.
Asus ROG Strix G16 - Design and Features
If I asked you to picture a “gaming laptop”, there’s a good chance something like the Asus ROG Strix G16 would come to mind. A lot of its design plays into the stereotypes but falls into the middle with how far it takes them. It isn’t thin or light, measuring 13.94 x 10.39 x 1.2 inches and weighing 5.51 pounds. It has a bright RGB keyboard and front LED strip to paint your desk in colored light. And the style is aggressive with a big ROG eye on the lid and plenty of hard angles and “Republic of Gamers” debossed on the hinge.
The system is beautiful, if a bit too similar to last year’s version. Big design changes are hardly a requirement for a great gaming laptop, but the Intel version of the 2025 Strix G16 has some meaningful upgrades that could influence which may be the best fit. While certainly not shabby, this version offers an improved selection of ports (Thunderbolt 5 and an extra USB Type-A), upgraded WiFi 7 compatibility, wraparound RGB lighting, and includes a larger trackpad.
The AMD system I’m reviewing comes with two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, two Type-C USB 4 ports, a full-size HDMI 2.1 video out, an RJ45 ethernet jack, and a 3.5mm audio combo port. Only one of the USB 4 ports can be used for charging, unlike the Intel version, and both Type-A ports are on the right side, which can get in the way of the mouse with trailing wires or larger dongles.
The AMD version is no slouch, either. Outfitted with a Ryzen 9 9955HX3D processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, it has both the brains and brawn to run the latest AAA games at a high framerate. It comes with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 2TB NVMe SSD for fast load times and speedy multitasking. Both the memory and storage can be upgraded and can be accessed easily by unscrewing and removing the back panel.
The “X3D” in the processor is important and points towards the potential better gaming performance thanks to its 3D V-Cache design. Broadly speaking, you can think of a processor’s cache as its own personal RAM supply, keeping the most important information data available for rapid access. Usually, these memory dies are laid out on a flat plane, but the G16’s Ryzen 9 9955HX3D stacks them vertically, lowering latency for improved performance. Compared to the standard Ryzen 9 9955HX, the 9955X3D also doubles the total amount of L3 cache bringing the total to 128MB. In short, this variant can access more, and more quickly, which directly translates to better gaming performance.
Keeping that hardware cool is one of the most important factors in performance. Unlike the Intel model, which received a new vapor chamber cooler this generation, the AMD version features the same three-fan, heat pipe design as last year. It also uses liquid metal on the graphics card to help keep temperatures low. Air is drawn in through vents on the bottom and through the keyboard and exhausts out the back and sides. When the fans ramp up to full speed, you can definitely feel the heat on your mouse hand, but I didn’t find it uncomfortable.
While it would have been nice to see the same upgrades Team Blue received, the existing system works well enough to avoid thermal throttling. After multiple benchmarks, I recorded a peak CPU temperature of 85C and a peak GPU temperature of 87C in turbo mode. Though the system is capable of running silently at idle, it definitely gets loud enough while gaming that it may bother anyone sitting nearby.
There’s no OLED screen on the G16, which comes as a bit of a surprise given that many of its competitors do (see the Gigabyte Aorus Master 16 and Razer Blade 16). There’s no mini-LED either, so HDR isn’t an option. It still gets plenty bright at around 500-nits and offers vibrant and relatively accurate color reproduction, so everything from games to editing YouTube videos looks reliably good. If you don’t care about gaming in HDR or want to avoid burn-in risk, it’s a solid option and helps the price stay reasonable.
Instead of OLED, the display offers a 1600p resolution and a fast 240Hz refresh rate. This resolution offers a middle ground between clarity and performance. At 16 inches, this translates to 189 pixels per inch (PPI), which appears crisp and detailed in both still images and games. It also doesn’t require an RTX 5090 or low settings to hit 60 FPS or higher in most games. It won’t compete with OLED in responsiveness, but its 240Hz refresh rate is certainly up to the task for competitive play and reduces motion blur and input lag that might give an enemy the advantage.
The keyboard and trackpad are just fine. The keys have good tactility and aren’t mushy, but lack the crispness of competitors like the HP Omen Max 16 or even Asus’s own ROG Zephyrus G16. They do offer programmable lighting and customizable macro buttons along the top row, though.
The trackpad is on the smaller side at 3.4 x 5.1 inches but is still large enough to easily use and allowed me to avoid activating it with my palms. The trackpad also features a built-in number pad option that can be activated by clicking the upper right corner. When pressed, a number pad is illuminated, allowing you to press numbers instead of moving the cursor. This can be convenient but more than once I activated it by accident and had to press multiple times to get it to turn off.
The speakers get relatively loud and avoid distortion at all but the highest level. They also offer a surprising amount of bass, so games and movies sound fuller and more rich than laptops typically are. A gaming headset will still offer a superior experience, especially if you’re trying to hear enemy footsteps, but you could definitely use the built-in speakers and have a good time outside of competitive games.
The system comes with a 1080p webcam, but it’s nothing special and doesn’t support Windows Hello facial recognition. While it’s not a make or break feature, it’s a nice convenience and disappointing to see left out here.
Finally, we come to battery life. The G16 comes with a 90 WHr battery capacity, so you won’t run into any issues taking it on a plane. To test its uptime, I put it through Procyon’s battery life test, which simulates mixed-use for productivity. In this test, it lasts five hours and 12 minutes. Gaming on battery is expectedly far lower, averaging around an hour and ten minutes. The system comes with a 220W power brick, which adds another pound or so to the system’s total weight, but if you’re planning on gaming, you’ll definitely want to carry it with you.
You can also charge the system through one of its USB-C ports at up to 100-watts. I found this to be very inconsistent, however. Even with the RTX 5070 Ti completely disabled, the system set to Silent and Eco GPU mode in Armoury Crate, and Windows set to prioritize battery life, it still wouldn’t charge consistently. After troubleshooting different chargers and cables, it appears that it may be a bug related to battery care settings in the MyAsus application, though I can’t be sure. I am certain that the system shouldn’t have been draining running potato settings with brightness set to minimum, though.
Asus ROG Strix G16 - Software
The G16 relies on a combination of Armoury Crate and MyAsus to customize its different settings. MyAsus is an application included on virtually all modern Asus laptops, even outside of gaming, and is designed to be beginner friendly. It gives you a quick overview of the system’s key stats and offers a number of diagnostics to pinpoint the root cause of different problems that may arise. The software also provides a range of options that are largely doubled-up in Armoury Crate, but are simpler toggles for things like Battery Care and Picture Modes.
Armoury Crate is where the bulk of the G16’s settings reside and it only takes a quick glance between the apps to see that it’s significantly more complex and feature rich. Within, you can see the same diagnostics but significantly expanded to include clock speeds and temperatures. The home page offers all of your most common settings, such as your current performance mode (Windows, Silent, Performance, Turbo, and Manual) and several shortcuts like disabling the Windows keep to get gaming faster. Clicking Manual mode allows you to dial in your own overclock, but like most laptops, there really isn’t much headroom outside of the preset modes.
Clicking through the tabs on the left, however, and you’ll find settings for lighting, remapping keys, configuring the GPU performance mode, changing the picture preset, and more. There’s even a wallpaper tool, a game launcher, and as an update tool so you can always be sure you’re running the latest drivers.
There’s a lot here and it’s not the best presented, but it’s also the exact same we’ve seen on ROG laptops for several years. If you’ve used it before, you’ll know what to expect. If not, prepare to take some time to explore each tab in depth.
Asus ROG Strix G16 - Performance
The Strix G16 has the on-paper specs to offer great gaming performance, but as with any laptop, there’s more at play than simple specs. Temperatures, wattages, clock speeds, and how long it’s able to maintain them all come into play.
To get an idea of what you should actually expect for performance, I ran the system through a battery of synthetic and real-world gaming tests. These tests are run on all of our gaming laptops and each is designed to assess a certain quality, like ray tracing performance with and without DLSS. All tests are performed at Ultra settings unless otherwise noted and are conducted at both native resolution and 1080p or the equivalent for its aspect ratio.
Beginning with synthetics, the G16 performs well, which isn’t surprising given the high its beefy processor. Its RTX 5070 Ti graphics are no slouch either, which is also represented here. Obviously, if you invest in a system with a higher-tier graphics card, you’ll see some gains, but the G16 sits in a sweet spot between price and performance.
Looking at real-world gaming benchmarks, the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D gets to flex its muscle a bit more. While the biggest benefits can be seen at 1200p, the G16 also sees a performance advantage at 1600p. As I’ve tested the system over the last several weeks, I’ve been able to do anecdotal testing with Ready or Not, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Battlefield 6. While I don’t have a standard Ryzen 9 9955HX to test against, the G16 averaged between 7 and 16% FPS higher than the ROG Zephyrus G16 and G14, each with the same GPU, when tested at the same resolutions in these games.
Given the charging issues I experienced, I had to carry the power brick any time I needed the system for more than a few hours without worrying about using power saving options which can lower performance. The weight of the system is already at the line for being too bulky and that pushes it over as a daily carry.
With that aside, the system itself is reliable outside of its middle-of-the-road battery life. The chassis is solid and the hinge is stable. The keyboard is decent enough that it doesn’t stand out negatively and the trackpad, while on the small side, works well. The screen and speakers are definite standouts, and with hardware at the level it offers, there’s little that it cannot do. It’s not a standout in some ways, but if you don’t need features like best-in-class battery life or extra ports, it’s a good pick for maximizing in-game framerates.
Christopher Coke has been a regular contributor to IGN since 2019 and has been covering games and technology since 2013. He has covered tech ranging from gaming controllers to graphics cards, gaming chairs and gaming monitors, headphones, IEMs, and more for sites such as MMORPG.com, Tom’s Hardware, Popular Science, USA Today’s Reviewed, and Popular Mechanics. Find Chris on Twitter @gamebynight.
One thing that's crystal clear as we head into 2026 is the importance of physical media. We've had enough of streaming service price hikes alongside everyone and their dog providing their own digital library. The same goes for music (vinyl is back, kids) and even manga.
TL;DR: Deals for Today
Shonen Jump and VIZ have their own apps, which are quite affordable, but nothing beats the feel and experience of reading physical manga. Well, smashing out a massive box set is up there too, which is why I've picked out some of my favourite series that are in Amazon's manga box set sale. Let's get into it.
Manga Box Set Sale
If you're planning on freeing up the box room to store One Piece manga, box sets one to four are all in the sale. That's volumes 1–90 for a combined $636.26, down from $959.96, saving a massive $323.70. That's a little over $7 per manga, which usual are usually priced at $11.99. If you're a Dragon Ball fan like me, the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z box sets are locked in the sale too for $97.99 and $175.66 respectively. That's a total of $273.65, down from $449.98, for the filler-free best way to experience the series. The way Akira Toriyama presents his panels is ridiculously expressive and a masterclass in what Shonen Jump manga is and should be.
Get 20% Off All eSIM Plans at Roamless
Magnetic Building Blocks (150PCS)
Want to get the kids off Minecraft for a bit but don't have the budget for LEGO Minecraft sets? These magnetic building blocks were perfect for my boy and are more or less playing Minecraft physically. They're not an official product, but they're fantastic for a rainy day indoors.
Hand Warmers
Have you ever tried those one-and-done hand warmers with the metal inside that reacts to a packet of goo that stays warm for a bit? (I'm a writer, not a scientist.) Yeah, they're a waste of money and one more thing to throw away that is likely a pain to recycle. These bad boys are rechargeable, have a temperature gauge screen, and fit snug into your coat pocket so you can keep your hands warm walking the dog or reading your new manga box set on top of a mountain.
Cheapest at Amazon: MTG
Commander Masters is the best set to get into if you love playing Commander, getting you legacy card reprints that are ideal for the format. It's not cheap, but Amazon currently has the best pricing for Set and Draft booster boxes. If you missed out on the Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set when it dropped earlier this year, the game edition of Cloud Strife's Commander Deck, Limit Breaker, is at market value on Amazon right now. That just means you're getting it for a fair price compared to the secondary market, whilst being able to take advantage of that sweet Prime shipping.
Cheapest at TCGPlayer - MTG
TCGPlayer is still holding the top spot for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Play Booster Box preorders. It's a full $20 cheaper from its merchants right now, a saving worth getting over Prime shipping. The same goes for the Lorwyn Eclipsed Play Booster Box, a full $30 cheaper over Amazon's price. Fair enough, Amazon has its preorder price guarantee, but that only counts if they drop the price before release. You can't price match other retailers with this guarantee, so if you see a steep discount on a preorder elsewhere, take your chances.
Get a Free Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2025) With Any Total Wireless Phone Plan
From now until January 7, or while supplies last, a Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2025) can be yours for no cost, and a trade-in isn’t required.
Cheapest at Amazon: Pokémon TCG
It’s great to see popular sets like Surging Sparks and Phantasmal Flames Elite Trainer Boxes crop up for less on Amazon, with the former being below market value alongside the Destined Rivals triple booster.
Cheapest at TCGPlayer: Pokémon TCG
It’s strange to see Silver Tempest sealed product showing up on Amazon right now. Perhaps we’ll see more Sword & Shield-era reprints on store shelves? Regardless, TCGPlayer has the Silver Tempest Elite Trainer Box for far less than Amazon, and the same goes for the Prismatic Evolutions ETB.
TCGPlayer also has the best deal on Destined Rivals Booster Bundles, currently sitting at $52.50. That means you get double the booster packs compared to the three-pack booster deal in the last section for less than double the price. TCGPlayer really has the no-brainer deals right now.
Scream (1996) Limited-Edition Steelbook (4K UHD) Available to Pre-order at 19% Off
Amazon is offering 19% off the Scream 4K UHD pre-order right now, set to release on February 17. A classic!
Skytech Gaming PC Holiday Sale
Considering we’ve just entered a memory chip shortage across the board, with even DDR4 RAM going for silly money, getting an RTX 5060 build with 32GB DDR4 for $1,079 is a great deal. You’ll have solid 1080p gaming with either an Intel i5-14400F or AMD Ryzen 7 5700 processor to boot. Personally, I’d go for the Crystal build. It costs the same and gives you far more room for bigger GPU upgrades down the line.
If you’re looking to go all-in with 4K gaming out of the box for under $3,000, the $2,799.99 Aqua build comes with a gorgeous clear white and blue case, complete with CPU liquid cooling, an RTX 5080, 32GB DDR5, and the absolute beast that is the Ryzen 7 9800X3D.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
2026 is here, so let's look at what Hollywood's got in store for us over the next 12 months, ranging from horror and sci-fi to superheroes and fantasy to whatever Disney and Pixar have planned. The name of the game these days? Sequels. Or prequels. Or remakes. Or basically anything embedded in a franchise or based on an IP. There are only like two or three standalone original films tucked away among the 50 plus movies here, so let's get to it!
The MCU is ready to go supermassive with both Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday while the DCU is landing a bit softer (but still awesomely) with Supergirl and Clayface. Pixar has Hoppers in the chamber but its big shot is Toy Story 5, while Disney rolls the dice with Hexed (while still having a surefire hit with the live-action Moana).
Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Sam Raimi, and M. Night Shyamalan all have new flicks this year, while the horror landscape screams loudly with Primate, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, Evil Dead Burn, Lee Cronin's The Mummy, Zach Cregger's Resident Evil, and Robert Eggers' Werwulf. Animated fare includes The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Coyote vs. Acme (finally!), Minions 3, The Cat in the Hat, and the aforementioned Hexed and Hoppers.
Check out the movies we can't wait to catch in 2026!
January
Greenland 2: Migration
Release Date: January 9, 2026
The Greenland gang is back, baby! Well, most of them, anyhow, as Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin return to the bleak, ruined Earth -- which suffered global catastrophes in the first movie -- to trek across Europe five years later in search of a new safe haven for their family. The cast of Greenland 2: Migration includes Amber Rose Revah (The Punisher), William Abadie (Emily in Paris), and Roman Griffin Davis (Jojo Rabbit), who now plays their son Nathan.
Primate
Release Date: January 9, 2026
A family's adopted chimpanzee suddenly becomes violent due to being bitten by a rabid animal in Primate, a murderous monkey (okay, ape) movie that was all the rage at 2025's Fantastic Fest. So get ready for the most bananas movie since 1990's Shakma.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
Release Date: January 16, 2026
Filmed back-to-back with 28 Years Later, but directed by Nia DaCosta in place of Danny Boyle, The Bone Temple will continue the story of Ralph Fiennes's Dr. Kelson while also diving into the big Jack O'Connell "Jimmy" cliffhanger, featuring Spike (Alfie Williams) meeting the cult leader and his blonde, track-suited, karate squad. If you didn't see 28 Years Later then that part probably sounded very weird. Anyhow, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is back too, as well as (finally!) Cillian Murphy's Jim.
Mercy
Release Date: January 23, 2026
Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson star in Mercy, a dystopian thriller about a detective who has 90 minutes to prove to an AI judge that he's innocent of murdering his wife. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov of Night Watch, Wanted, and, um... also that Ice Cube War of the Worlds movie fame.
Return to Silent Hill
Release Date: January 23, 2026
Writer/director Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf, Silent Hill) is back to helm Return to Silent Hill, based on Konami's Silent Hill 2. Jeremy Irvine plays protagonist James Sunderland while Evie Templeton, who played Laura in the Silent Hill 2 game remake, reprises that role. Do you dare return to the psychological torment of this small town nightmare?
Send Help
Release Date: January 30, 2026
After dipping his toe in the MCU with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, director Sam Raimi is back in the small-scale scares business with Send Help, about a mocked and abused office worker who turns the table on her d-bag boss when they wind up stranded on a deserted island. Starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien, and written by Mark Swift and Damian Shannon (of Freddy vs. Jason and 2009's Friday the 13th fame).
February
Cold Storage
Release Date: February 13, 2026
Liam Neeson, Stranger Things' Joe Keery, and Barbarian's Georgina Campbell star in Cold Storage, about two employees at a self-storage facility, built atop a former military base, who must deal with a spreading government-sealed parasitic fungus. Written by David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, Black Bag).
Crime 101
Release Date: February 13, 2026
With an ensemble featuring Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, and Halle Berry, Crime 101 tells the tale of an elusive jewel thief known as "Davis" (Hemsworth) who follows a strict code of conduct (the titular Crime 101). Based on a Don Winslow novella, the film is written and directed by Bart Layton.
Wuthering Heights
Release Date: February 13, 2026
The latest adaptation of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, which arrives just in time for Valentine's Day, stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as tragic couple Catherine and Heathcliff. Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman, Saltburn) puts her own personal spin on this classic gothic drama, with original songs coming in hot from Charli XCX.
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die
Release Date: February 13, 2026
Gore Verbinski (The Ring, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) directs Sam Rockwell in Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die (review), about a man from the future who recruits patrons at a Los Angeles diner to help combat a rogue artificial intelligence. Also starring Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, Juno Temple, and Haley Lu Richardson.
Psycho Killer
Release Date: February 20, 2026
Se7en's Andrew Kevin Walker pens a new serial killer thriller, Psycho Killer, about a highway patrol officer who's determined to track down a sadistic murderer after her husband is taken from her. Barbarian's Georgina Campbell stars, alongside Logan Miller and Malcolm McDowell.
Scream 7
Release Date: February 27, 2026
Scream 7, written (and directed!) by original series scribe Kevin Williamson, enters the franchise amidst some controversy following the firing of star Melissa Barrera and the loss of co-star Jenna Ortega. With the Carpenter sisters gone, the franchise returns once more to Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott as she faces down a new "But I'm different from the rest" Ghostface(s?). Dead characters are also back in the form of David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, and Scott Foley -- perhaps getting the Force ghost treatment that Skeet Ulrich got in the last two movies. Unless...
March
The Bride!
Release Date: March 6, 2026
Set in 1930s Chicago, Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride! follows Frankenstein's monster (Christian Bale) as he has a companion created for him in the person of Men's Jessie Buckley. Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening, and Penélope Cruz also star in this Bonnie and Clyde-esque take on The Bride of Frankenstein.
Hoppers
Release Date: March 6, 2026
One of Pixar's 2026 offerings -- a few months ahead of Toy Story 5 -- comes from We Bare Bears' Daniel Chong. Hoppers follows a teenager, Mabel (Piper Curda), who uses new technology to embody a robotic beaver and thwart a construction company's plot to destroy the local animal habitat. Other voices include Jon Hamm, Demetri Martin, and SNL alums Bobby Moynihan and Melissa Villaseñor.
Project Hail Mary
Release Date: March 20, 2026
From Cloverfield and Cabin in the Woods' Drew Goddard and directing duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street) comes the story of a teacher-turned-astronaut sent to deep space in order to solve a catastrophic solar event. Ryan Gosling stars in Project Hail Mary, a sci-fi adventure based on Andy Weir's 2021 best-seller. Sandra Hüller, Milana Vayntrub, Ken Leung, and The Bear's Lionel Boyce also star.
April
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Release Date: April 3, 2026
The follow-up to 2023's billion-dollar hit, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie brings Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, and Keegan-Michael Key back for a new cosmic adventure based on 2007's Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii (and possibly other Mario properties as well). Newcomers include Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr. and Brie Larson as Rosalina.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come
Release Date: April 10, 2026
Radio Silence's directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (with EP Chad Villella) have returned to the horror romp that put them on the map (and got them the Scream 5 and 6 gigs) with Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. Samara Weaving is also back as Grace, now joined by Sarah Michelle Gellar as well as Abigail's Kathryn Newton and Kevin Durand. Add to that The Faculty's Shawn Hatosy and Elijah Wood, and director David Cronenberg, and you’re on track for a splattery good time.
The Mummy
Release Date: April 17, 2026
Ahead of The Mummy 4, which will bring back franchise stars Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, Blumhouse and James Wan's latest Universal Monster update (even though this is for New Line) is Lee Cronin's The Mummy, as the Evil Dead Rise director looks to untomb some sinister scares with this classic cursed character. Midsommar's Jack Reynor, Moon Knight's May Calamawy, and The Wheel of Time's Laia Costa star.
Michael
Release Date: April 24, 2026
Antoine Fuqua's much-anticipated Michael Jackson biopic moonwalks into theaters ahead of the summer movie season, with the "King of Pop" being portrayed by Jackson's real nephew, Jaafar Jackson. Written by John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator), Michael also features Colman Domingo as Michael's abusive father Joe, Nia Long as Michael's mother, and Miles Teller as lawyer John Branca.
May
The Devil Wears Prada 2
Release Date: May 1, 2026
Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, and Emily Blunt are back, 20 years later, for The Devil Wears Prada 2 -- based on the novel Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns by Lauren Weisberger. This time they're joined by Kenneth Branagh, Lucy Liu, Justin Theroux, Sydney Sweeney, and Lady Gaga.
Mortal Kombat II
Release Date: May 8, 2026
Originally slated for October of 2025, Mortal Kombat II, featuring The Boys and Star Trek's Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, will flawlessly land on May 8. Cage will join the fight against the rule of Shao Kahn, whose rise threatens the survival of Earthrealm and its defenders. Other new characters include Adeline Rudolph as Kitana, Tati Gabrielle as Jade, Damon Herriman as Quan Chi, Martyn Ford as Shao Kahn, Ana Thu Nguyen as Sindel, and CJ Bloomfield as Baraka.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu
Release Date: May 22, 2026
The first Star Wars film since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker will bring Jon Favreau's Mandalorian to the big screen, but will what worked so well on Disney+ strike box-office gold? And was the seven-year pause better for the brand? Written by Jon Favreau and Lucasfilm chief creative office Dave Filoni, The Mandalorian and Grogu tracks Din Djarin and "Baby Yoda" taking on "legit" contract work for the New Republic. And let's not forget Sigourney Weaver joining the cast, as well as Jeremy Allen White as Jabba the Hutt's son, Rotta.
June
Animal Friends
Release Date: June 5, 2026
Ryan Reynolds, Jason Momoa, Vince Vaughn, and Aubrey Plaza star in this live-action/animation tale about two on-the-run animals (who sure look to be a horse and a bear) being pursued while on an adventure across America.
Masters of the Universe
Release Date: June 5, 2026
At long last, a new live-action He-Man movie. Masters of the Universe follows Nicholas Galitzine's Prince Adam as he returns to Eternia, after two decades away, to wield the Power Sword of Grayskull and battle Jared Leto's Skeletor. Alison Brie will play Evil-Lyn, Idris Elba is Man-At-Arms, Camila Mendes is Teela, and Morena Baccarin is the Sorceress. Will this new version have THE POWER that the '80s iteration lacked?
Disclosure Day
Release Date: June 12, 2026
Icon Steven Spielberg returns to extraterrestrial territory with Disclosure Day. Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, and Wyatt Russell fill out the cast of this UFO thriller. Frequent collaborator David Koepp wrote the script while the legendary John Williams scores.
Scary Movie 6
Release Date: June 12, 2026
It'll have been 13 years since a Scary Movie last made us bust a gut, but now the Wayans brothers have a full decade of horror flicks to lampoon in Scary Movie 6 -- like Heretic, Nope, Get Out, Longlegs, and more. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are even back, reprising their roles from the first four films.
Toy Story 5
Release Date: June 19, 2026
Will post-Toy Story 3 Toy Story movies continue to be diminishing returns or have they finally cracked the code to continuing this franchise? Either way a billion-dollar haul is all but guaranteed as Pixar's Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL-E) takes the reins here, bringing us back into the world of Bonnie, now eight years old, and her obsession with a new toy -- a frog-like tablet named Lilypad (Anna Faris). Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Joan Cusack are all back for Toy Story 5, as well as Tony Hale's Forky.
Supergirl
Release Date: June 26, 2026
July
Minions 3
Release Date: July 1, 2026
After four Despicable Me films and two Minion spinoffs, it's time for Minions 3! And we don't know a damn thing about it except that it was bumped up from its original 2027 release date and that Pierre Coffin will continue to voice those little yellow rascals. No plot yet. No cast yet. Hold firm, everybody.
Moana
Release Date: July 10, 2026
Just a year after Moana 2, we're getting the live-action Moana remake starring Dwayne Johnson as the role he voices in the animated films, Maui. Catherine Laga'aia portrays Moana in a retelling that is sure to rake in a ton of cash (the live-action Lilo & Stitch is the top-grossing American movie of 2025, globally, as of this writing).
The Odyssey
Release Date: July 17, 2026
Christopher Nolan one of the few directors nowadays that can put butts in seats just on his name alone. But how will The Odyssey fare on its own? Unpaired with a tonally opposite film like Barbie? Maybe it should have shared theaters with Moana to create a new "Moadyssey" phenomenon. Regardless, the cast is stacked, with Nolan players Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, and Elliot Page anchoring newcomers to the director's realm like Tom Holland, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, and more. Oh, and the source material is pretty solid too.
Evil Dead Burn
Release Date: July 24, 2026
The Deadites are back to swallow our souls in Evil Dead Burn, from director Sébastien Vaniček. Introducing a French protagonist (Souheila Yacoub) who faces a new, brutal supernatural threat, the main plot of the film is still under wraps. Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Rob Tapert continue to produce, like they've done with all Evil Dead incarnations.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Release Date: July 31, 2026
At one point, briefly, Avengers: Doomsday was releasing before Spider-Man 4, but now things got flipped (and thwipped?). Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton takes over the Spidey saga from Jon Watts as the film (as indicated by the Brand New Day title and how it relates to the comics) deals with Peter Parker's life post-Peter Parker erasure. Jon Bernthal's Punisher joins the mix, as well as actress Sadie Sink, who some fans think is playing Punisher protégé Rachel Cole-Alves. Plus, Mark Ruffalo is back as Hulk, Michael Mando returns as Mac Gargan/Scorpion, and Marvin Jones III will be Tombstone. Oh, and Zendaya and Jacob Batalon are back as MJ and Ned, of course.
August
Untitled Insidious 6
Release Date: August 21, 2026
The sixth Insidious movie -- not counting the spinoff, Jeremy Slater's Thread: An Insidious Tale with Mandy Moore and Kumail Nanjiani, which doesn't have a release date yet -- is poised to pop in August of 2026. It stars Nope's Brandon Perea, Legends of Tomorrow's Maisie Richardson-Sellers, and Insidious franchise powerhouse Lin Shaye.
Coyote vs. Acme
Release Date: August 28, 2026
The live-action/animation hybrid caper that became ground zero in the debate over the nefarious streaming landscape and the contempt for artists and performers in the eyes of greedy CEOs -- after the unceremonious disposal of Batgirl had lit the flame -- will finally have its day in theaters. With a story by Samy Burch, James Gunn, and Jeremy Slater, Coyote vs. Acme follows Wile E. Coyote as he sues the Acme Corporation for repeatedly selling him alleged faulty products. John Cena, Will Forte, Lana Condor, P. J. Byrne, Tone Bell, and Martha Kelly represent the human cast while the full breadth of Looney Tunes characters fills out the rest.
September
Clayface
Release Date: September 11, 2026
A slight detour in the DCU is happening because -- well -- The Haunting of Hill House's Mike Flanagan had an idea for a standalone movie and wrote a Clayface script heavily influenced by the character's portrayal in the Batman: The Animated Series two-part episode "Feat of Clay." Now, Clayface does exist in the DCU already, as he was voiced by Alan Tudyk in Creature Commandos, which not only is canon but is part of James Gunn's experiment of "mostly" casting the same actors in both animated and live-action forms. And we saw Frank Grillo already make that leap as Rick Flag Sr. in Peacemaker: Season 2. (Tom Rhys Harries will play Clayface in the movie though.) Of course, this kind of breaks Gunn's crossover rule (because he did say "mostly") but we also could be dealing with multiple Clayfaces (aka "the Mudpack"). Tudyk also played silly Clayface on the Harley Quinn series, but yeah, that's not the version we're dealing with now. James Watkins (Eden Lake, Speak No Evil) directs.
Resident Evil
Release Date: September 18, 2026
Though he terrified us with both Barbarian and Weapons, writer/director (and sketch comedian) Zach Cregger is a video game addict at heart, loving the Resident Evil series so much that he basically has free reign with this version of it. His take on the storied series comes out in September and stars Austin Abrams, Paul Walter Hauser, Zach Cherry, and Kali Reis. Sure, there are already seven Paul W. S. Anderson Resident Evil movies, and in the last four years there was another movie -- Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City -- AND a Netflix series. But given Cregger's track record, THIS reboot is the one we really want to see.
Practical Magic 2
Release Date: September 18, 2026
Though the original Practical Magic was a dud at the box office, and mostly maligned by critics, it's grown as a Halloween season cult classic over the last couple of decades. Enough so that a full sequel is coming, complete with Owens sisters Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, and their aunts Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest. It looks like Joey King is playing the older Kylie Owens (instead of Evan Rachel Wood, who said they never asked her to come back) while GoT's Maisie Williams will play Alexandra. Lee Pace and Cobra Kai's Xolo Maridueña also star in Practical Magic 2.
October
The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender
Release Date: October 9, 2026
Taking place years after the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender and before The Legend of Korra, The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender will follow the series' main characters -- Aang, Toph, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko (now voiced by Steven Yeun) -- in their young adult years. Dave Bautista will voice the movie's big bad.
The Social Reckoning
Release Date: October 9, 2026
Most films on this list are sequels, or part of a larger franchise, but let it be known than even lauded Oscar-winning movies aren't immune to the errant follow up. Enter... The Social Reckoning, a sequel to David Fincher’s The Social Network, this time written and directed by Aaron Sorkin (who wrote the first film). Succession’s Jeremy Strong takes over the Mark Zuckerberg role, leading an ensemble featuring Jeremy Allen White, Mikey Madison, Bill Burr, Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, Portia Doubleday and more. The story is based on the 2021 Facebook leak by whistleblower Frances Haugen where we learned that the social media giant was aware of harmful societal effects from its platforms, yet did nothing.
Street Fighter
Release Date: October 16, 2026
The third live-action Street Fighter movie (if anyone remembers Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li) has a fun, stacked cast -- with Jason Momoa, 50 Cent, Noah Centineo, WWE stars Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes (as Akuma and Guile, respectively), and David Dastmalchian as M. Bison. Set in 1993, estranged Street Fighters Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Centineo) are thrown back into combat when the mysterious Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits them for the next World Warrior Tournament.
Remain
Release Date: October 23, 2026
M. Night Shyamalan's latest will hit right in time for Halloween, featuring Jake Gyllenhaal as a New York architect who heads to Cape Cod to design a summer home for his best friend, seeking a fresh start after being treated for acute depression. Still mourning his sister's death, he meets Wren (Phoebe Dynevor), a young woman who disrupts his carefully ordered world. Remain is based on an idea Shyamalan conceived with author Nicholas Sparks, who separately wrote the novel version of the same story.
November
The Cat in the Hat
Release Date: November 6, 2026
Bill Hader voices the title character, the classic Dr. Seuss scamp, as he takes on his toughest assignment yet: to cheer up Gabby (Xochitl Gomez) and Sebastian (Tiago Martinez), a pair of siblings struggling with their move to a new town. Giancarlo Esposito, America Ferrera, Bowen Yang, Matt Berry, and Quinta Brunson also star in this new take on The Cat in the Hat.
Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol
Release Date: November 13, 2026
What's director Ti West up to after thrilling us with his X-Pearl-MaXXXine hat trick? Why, he's diving into Dickens and giving Johnny Depp his first major American studio starring role since 2018's Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Depp will play Scrooge, joined by Sir Ian McKellen, Andrea Riseborough, and Severance’s Tramell Tillman (as the Ghost of Christmas Present).
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
Release Date: November 20, 2026
Director Francis Lawrence returns to the Hunger Games-verse (after taking a brief dystopian break with The Long Walk) to adapt Suzanne Collins' prequel novel, Sunrise on the Reaping. This time we learn all about young Haymitch Abernathy's time, and victory, in the the 50th Hunger Games -- the Second Quarter Quell -- which requires double the number of tributes from each district. Joseph Zada plays 16-year-old Haymitch, joined by Mckenna Grace (Ghostbusters: Afterlife) and The Long Walk's Ben Wang. Ralph Fiennes is on hand as a middle-age President Coriolanus Snow while Jesse Plemons plays a young Plutarch Heavensbee, Elle Fanning portrays a young Effie Trinket, and Kieran Culkin embodies a youthful Caesar Flickerman.
Focker In-Law
Release Date: November 25, 2026
Ben Stiller is more of a behind-the-camera guy these days, what with his acclaimed miniseries Escape at Dannemora and Apple TV's Severance, but the comedy legend is returning to one of his biggest focking franchises with the fourth Focker flick, Focker In-Law. Stiller, Robert De Niro, Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner, and Teri Polo are all back for this new comedy of errors, while adding Superman's Skyler Gisondo as son Henry. Ariana Grande, Beanie Feldstein, and Eduardo Franco also star.
Hexed
Release Date: November 25, 2026
Disney's animated entry this year is Hexed, following a teenage oddball and his mom who discover that his "weirdness" is actually hidden magic, transporting them to a world where magic can run free. The cast is unknown at this time but the directors are Josie Trinidad and Jason Hand (Moana 2).
December
Violent Night 2
Release Date: December 4, 2026
David Harbour reprises his role as a rough and tumble, take no shit Santa Claus, this time stranded in a New Jersey mall and cut off from the North Pole while facing down a local crime lord and his goons. Violent Night 2 also stars Jared Harris, Joe Pantoliano, The Suicide Squad's Daniela Melchior, and AEW's MJF, with Kristen Bell onboard as Mrs. Claus.
Untitled Jumanji Sequel
Release Date: December 11, 2026
The next Dwayne Johnson/Kevin Hart Jumanji movie -- from a series which has traditionally cleaned up during the holidays -- is slated for December. We don't know anything about this fifth Jumanji chapter (or fourth, if you're just counting the Rock timeline, or third if you don't include Zathura!) except that Johnson, Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan are all back. AND that it's the final Jumanji film from this quartet.
Avengers: Doomsday
Release Date: December 18, 2026
With the MCU's Kang pivot, Disney backed up a huge truck o' cash and got both Robert Downey Jr. and the Russo Brothers back for an Avengers movie that was once supposed to be called The Kang Dynasty and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. Instead, it's now about our assembled heroes trying to save the world (and the multiverse) from Doctor Doom (who we assume has kidnapped baby Franklin Richards and is using the tot's Power Cosmic to rewrite reality). The cast here is too big to list so just know that everyone's coming back. Everyone. Even the Fox franchise X-Men. Even people that weren't listed on those director's chairs.
Dune: Part Three
Release Date: December 18, 2026
Denis Villeneuve will tackle Frank Herbert's 1969 novel Dune Messiah, essentially ending the director's Dune trilogy. Dune: Part Three will bring in Anya Taylor-Joy fully as Paul's sister, Alia Atreides, as well as introduce Paul's twin children, Leto II and Ghanima. Robert Pattinson is also in the fray now as the villain Scytale. Side note: It's crazy that Avengers and Dune are opening the same day.
Werwulf
Release Date: December 25, 2026
Director Robert Eggers is following up his Nosferatu remake with another creature feature, bringing back Nosferatu players Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe, and Ralph Ineson for a werewolf film, Werwulf. Unlike Nosferatu though, this is not a re-telling of a classic movie but instead a story set in 13th century England (and with all dialogue in Middle English), as a mysterious creature stalks a foggy countryside full of terrifed villagers. Eggers has said of the script that it's the darkst story he's written so far, so... Merry Christmas, y'all!
Streaming Original Movies
Streamers can be pretty coy with announcing their original content but here's what we know, right now, is coming in 2026.
The Rip
Release Date: January 16 (Netflix)
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck star opposite each other (in their twelfth film together!) in Joe Carnahan's (Smokin' Aces, Copshop) The Rip, about Miami cops who discover a stash of millions in cash, leading to distrust and betrayal.
Narnia: The Magician's Nephew
Release Date: Nov. 26 (Netflix)
Writer/director Greta Gerwig's post-Barbie offering is Narnia: The Magician's Nephew, which will get a brief theatrical release prior to streaming. Based on the sixth book in The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (and a prequel to the other five books), the film stars Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan, Daniel Craig, and Denise Gough.
11817
Release Date: TBA (Netflix)
Greta Lee and Wagner Moura star in this sci-fi horror film about a family who become inexplicably trapped inside their home and must work together to survive and figure out what is keeping them confined.
Enola Holmes 3
Release Date: TBA (Netflix)
Stranger Things' Millie Bobby Brown is back as Sherlock Holmes' younger sister in a third adventure. Co-starring Louis Partridge, Himesh Patel, Helena Bonham Carter and Henry Cavill (as Sherlock).
Animals
Release Date: TBA (Netflix)
Ben Affleck directs and stars in Animals, a kidnapping thriller which also features Gillian Anderson, Kerry Washington, Steven Yeun, Adriana Paz, and Ray Fisher.
The Whisper Man
Release Date: TBA (Netflix)
Robert De Niro stars in this crime thriller about a widowed father who, after his own son is abducted, enlists the help of his estranged father, a retired detective, to get him back. Michelle Monaghan, Adam Scott, Michael Keaton, John Carroll Lynch, Hamish Linklater, and Owen Teague also star.
The Dink
Release Date: TBA (Apple TV)
Ben Stiller and Jake Johnson star in this new comedy about an aging tennis pro who must play pickleball to save a local club.
Being Heumann
Release Date: TBA (Apple TV)
This biography of disability rights activist Judith Heumann stars Rith Madeley, Mark Ruffalo, Dylan O'Brien, Rob Delaney, and Ray Fisher.
Outcome
Release Date: TBA (Apple TV)
This dark comedy, directed by Jonah Hill, stars Keanu Reeves as a blackmailed actor who tries to make amends with those who he has wronged in the past in order to figure out who the blackmailer is. Hill, Cameron Diaz, Matt Bomer, David Spade, and Laverne Cox also star.
That's all the biggest stuff coming in 2026. But what are you most looking forward to? Vote in our poll above, and let's talk in the comments!
If you’ve been looking to add to your physical media collection, a whole bunch of Steelbooks are currently discounted on Amazon. Even preorders, including Scream and World War Z, have had their prices slashed ahead of their releases over the next couple of months. A few titles are also hitting their lowest prices ever for some last-day-of-the-year savings.
Check out some of my favorite Steelbook deals below:
Steelbooks are special editions of popular movies and shows that come with the standard Blu-ray disc you get with traditional 4K UHD offerings. However, what puts them a notch above your typical Blu-ray is the sturdy case, hence the name, plus often exclusive artwork, bonus features, and other extras. That does usually mean a higher price tag, but Steelbooks are ideal for physical media collectors looking to own the best editions of their favorite titles.
When seeking out the best deals, I was most excited to see the Tommy Boy Steelbook down to its lowest price ever, costing just $18.99. This 30th Anniversary release gives the 90s comedy classic the 4K treatment, and it's an awesome edition to any collection, bringing an instant serotonin boost as soon as you hit play. Sticking with the 90s, my favorite slasher film, Scream, is getting a limited-edition Steelbook, and it’s 20% off if you pre-order now. And of course, no collection would be complete without Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. The limited-edition Steelbook contains a 4K remaster of the film, special artwork, and a variety of extras for under $30.
Moving into this millennium, a number of limited-edition steelbooks are on sale. If you’re anxiously awaiting Nolan’s The Odyssey, you can revisit another one of his iconic films, Interstellar. This limited Steelbook reprint features a 4K UHD remaster of the film, and is 33% off. World War Z is another sci-fi flick getting a Steelbook, and its pre-order is discounted ahead of its release at the end of January. But if you need something a little lighter, the Renfield Steelbook 4K UHD is now at its lowest price ever. It’s hard not to love this Dracula retelling, and it is a fun addition to any collection.
Those are just a sampling of the many Steelbooks discounted. Be sure to grab them while you can, as these deals won’t last forever.
Danielle is a Tech freelance writer based in Los Angeles who spends her free time creating videos and geeking out over music history.
The Fallout TV show is packed full of characters, factions, locations, and items familiar to any who has played the beloved RPGs. There are so many easter eggs to spot that we found 111 video game details in Season 1 alone. With season two heading to a fan-favourite part of the Fallout universe, New Vegas, naturally, a whole new flood of iconography is set to make its way from the games into the Prime Video series. So, we’ll be digging into each and every episode and picking out everything we’ve noticed that relates to the source material.
You can check out everything we found in episode two, but here, we’ll be taking a look at every video game easter egg and details we spotted in episode three of Fallout Season 2.
Characters and Factions
1. Early in the episode we’re introduced to Caesar’s Legion, the Roman-themed faction from New Vegas. The group escorting Lucy into their camp is made up of a number of enemy types from the game: leading the group is a Centurion, backed up by a couple of Vexilliarii. Bringing up the rear are some Praetorian Guards.
2. Moments later, we see a Frumentarius scout in the background, identified by their wolf skin headpiece. Another can be seen a few seconds later, pulling teeth from a victim.
3. A Recruit Decanus can be seen as Lucy is escorted across the camp, identified by their black and red headpiece and masked face.
4. Macaulay Culkin’s character is a Legate, the Legion’s second in command. As with everyone in the show’s version of the Legion, he’s not a character we’ve met before – his name is Lacerta, and the Legates we encountered in New Vegas were Lanius and Malpais.
5. Leading the Legion is Caesar. While he wears the same black feathered cloak and a similar golden pin broach to the Caesar we met in the New Vegas game, this is not the same person. This is a new leader, who inherits the title Caesar.
6. The Caesar we know from the game, Edward Sallow, can be seen later… Well, his corpse can, at least.
7. Quintus mentions Roger Maxson during his explanation of the Brotherhood of Steel’s founding. Formerly a captain in the US military, Maxson mutinied upon discovery of human experiments. He went on to found the Brotherhood and became its High Elder. Maxson has never been seen in any of the Fallout games, but has been mentioned in almost all of them.
8. The Ghoul meets with Victor, a Securitron who during the events of New Vegas was working directly for Robert House. He used to be a remote scout who observed the town of Goodprings for his master. Technically speaking, Victor is an AI that can hop between robot bodies, so this particular Securitron seen in the show may not be one we’ve encountered in the game.
9. An NCR Ranger holds The Ghoul at gunpoint. He wears the same brown trench coat, helmet, and respirator mask as the ranger famously featured on Fallout: New Vegas’ box art.
Locations
10. The Ghoul meets with Victor at the House Resort and Country Club, the large estate that’s part of the Camp Golf location in New Vegas. During the game’s timeline, it’s occupied by the NCR, and we see the remains of their camp outside. Pre-war, it was owned by Robert House, hence the building’s name.
11. During his chat with the remains of the NCR rangers, you can see behind The Ghoul the faint shape of the El Diablo roller coaster from New Vegas in the background. It’s recognisable by its sweeping high point and the shape of the Bison Steve Hotel sign.
12. Thaddeus and his gang of children have taken over what appears to be the Sunset Sarsaparillaheadquarters bottling plant. This factory produces Fallout’s second most famous soft drink, after Nuka Cola, and bottles of it can be found all over the wasteland.
Items and Iconography
13. The children are removing the bottle caps, which are used as the standard currency of the wasteland. While each cap removed increases Thaddeus' wealth, the operation may also be searching for Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle caps, which feature a luminouis blue star on the bottom. These are featured as part of the Legend of the Star side quest in Fallout: New Vegas, in which you could trade 50 of them for a prize at the Sunset Sarsaparilla headquarters.
14. Lacerta wears a metal, bearded mask. This is the same mask worn by Lanius in New Vegas, and is the identifying headpiece of the Legion’s Legate rank.
15. Lucy is tied to a wooden cross by the Legion. Crucifixion is a punishment used by the group in New Vegas, and numerous instances of it can be seen around The Fort and the Legate’s camp, among other areas.
16. During the pre-war flashback we see the United States stars and stripes flag, but it’s not the same one we know from our reality. The "13-star" flag was, in Fallout’s alternative history, adopted in 1969 when America introduced the Commonwealths system. The stars represent the number of commonwealths.
17. The NCR Rangers can be seen using Hunting Rifles, which are weapons commonly used by the NCR in Fallout: New Vegas.
18. The robot that Maximus and Paladin Harkness fight is a House Industries Mark II Securitron, indicated by both the soldier face displayed on its screen and its use of both a machine gun and grenade launcher weapon systems.
19. Maximus and Harkness both wear the T-60 series power armor, which saw extensive use in the first season.
20. Maximus also wields the Brotherhood’s standard issue assault rifle. Both the armor and the rifle are modelled after their Fallout 4 equivalents.
21. Harkness has a more esoteric weapon: the Super Sledge. There have been a number of these improvised hammers across the Fallout games, but this rocket-powered version is taken from Fallout 4.
Music
22. This episode features three songs that, while in-keeping with the retro style of music typically featured on Fallout’s radio stations, are not actually in any of the games. The first is “Chain Gang” by Sam Cooke, recorded in 1960, which plays as Thaddeus’ gang of children collect bottle caps in the Sunset Sarsaparilla factory.
23. During the pre-war flashback to Charlie Whiteknife’s award ceremony, “The Yellow Roses of Texas” by Mitch Miller can be heard. Recorded in 1955, it’s a rework of a famous American Civil War song dating back to the 1850s.
24. The song played over the end credits is “Hot Dog Buddy Buddy,” a 1956 record by Bill Haley and His Comets.
And that’s everything we spotted in the third episode of season two of the Fallout TV show. Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments. For more Fallout, check out our review of this episode, and stay tuned next week for all of episode four’s easter eggs.
Matt Purslow is IGN's Executive Editor of Features.
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