There are a bunch of big Star Wars projects in the works, like the Jon Favreau-directed The Mandalorian & Grogu movie, the confirmation of Ahsoka: Season 2, and a new Star Wars movie starring Ryan Gosling and directed by Deadpool & Wolverine's Shawn Levy. It's clear that there are still plenty of stories to tell in a galaxy far, far away.

From scoundrels to Jedi masters to bounty hunters, we've cooked up a list featuring all the upcoming Star Wars TV shows and movies. While some are locked and others are just industry reports that haven't been confirmed by Disney, one thing's for sure - there are passionate plans in the works to give us a lot more of Star Wars, whether it's a story centered on beloved characters or an entirely new cosmic adventure.

Click right through the scruffy-looking slideshow below to see what's coming, and a couple of "maybes" too...

What Are the Next Star Wars Movies and TV Shows Coming Out? 2026 Release Dates

For those keeping track, here's the full lineup of upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows:

• Jon Favreau's The Mandalorian & Grogu Movie (May 22, 2026)
• Maul: Shadow Lord Series (2026)
• Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi (2026)
• Star Wars: Starfighter (May 28, 2027)
• Star Wars: Ahsoka Season 2 (In Development)
• Taika Waititi's Star Wars Movie (In Development)
• James Mangold's Dawn of the Jedi Movie (In Development)
• Dave Filoni's Mando-Verse New Republic Movie (In Development)
• Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's New Jedi Order Movie (In Development)
• Simon Kinberg's Star Wars Trilogy (In Development)
• Carlton & Nick Cuse's Star Wars Series (In Development)
• Star Wars: Rogue Squadron Movie (Status Unknown)
• The Mandalorian: Season 4 / The Book of Boba Fett: Season 2 (Status Unknown)
• Star Wars: Lando Movie (Status Unknown)
• Star Wars: Rangers of the New Republic TV Series (Presumed Canceled)
• Untitled J.D. Dillard/Matt Owens Movie (Presumed Canceled)
• Rian Johnson's Star Wars Trilogy (Presumed Canceled)
• Kevin Feige's Star Wars Movie (Canceled)
• David Benioff & DB Weiss' Star Wars Movies (Canceled)

Here are the Star Wars projects that are closest to becoming a reality (or at least appear to be) at the moment...

The Mandalorian & Grogu Movie (May 22, 2026)

Lucasfilm turned heads with the announcement of a Mandalorian spinoff movie separate from Filoni's Mando-Verse New Republic crossover film. Dubbed The Mandalorian & Grogu, this film will be helmed by The Mandalorian co-creator Jon Favreau. It's assumed the movie is taking the place of The Mandalorian: Season 4.

Filming wrapped at the end of 2024, meaning this will wind up being the first Star Wars project to hit the big screen since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker. The Mandalorian & Grogu has a May 22, 2026 release date.

Maul: Shadow Lord Series (2026)

The Star Wars franchise will remain in the post-Clone Wars, pre-A New Hope era for its next animated series, which focuses on the former Darth Maul as he seeks to rebuild his criminal empire in the age of the Empire. Lucasfilm teases the series will showcase Maul "plotting to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire." Sam Witwer will reprise his role as Maul. Look for it to debut on Disney+ in 2026.

Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi (2026)

The animated anthology series Star Wars: Visions is getting a miniseries spinoff called Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi. As the title suggests, this series will be a continuation of Production I.G.’s “The Ninth Jedi” shorts from Visions Season 1 and 3. It’s a natural choice, as there’s clearly far more story left to tell in this bleak yet adventurous take on the Star Wars mythos.

Star Wars: Starfighter (May 28, 2027)

The next Star Wars movie hitting theaters after The Mandalorian and Grogu is Star Wars: Starfighter, directed by Deadpool & Wolverine's Shawn Levy and starring the Driver himself, Ryan Gosling. The film is set roughly five years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, putting it further down the Star Wars timeline than any movie or show to date.

There are few details on what the film would be about, but Levy has been developing the project with scripter Jonathan Tropper since 2022. Tropper previously worked with the director on This Is Where I Leave You and The Adam Project. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the prospective movie would be unrelated to the Skywalker Saga and would be a standalone story.

Star Wars: Ahsoka Season 2 (In Development)

When Ahsoka: Season 1 ended on a cliffhanger, it was unclear whether those loose ends would be picked up in a second season or feed directly into Dave Filoni's Mando-verse movie. But Lucasfilm has now confirmed Ahsoka: Season 2. There's no release window yet, though the series likely won't return before late 2025 at the soonest.

Taika Waititi's Star Wars Movie (In Development)

Disney has confirmed that Thor: Ragnarok's Taika Waititi has been tapped to direct a live-action Star Wars movie. Waititi is also co-writing the film alongside 1917's Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Nothing else is known about the film yet, including when it's set in the Star Wars timeline or what release date it'll end up claiming. In 2021 Waititi revealed he's cracked the story for his movie, but the actual script is still in its early stages. In May, 2022, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said that this would be the next Star Wars film released, while in March, 2023, Variety reported that this could be the project that snaps up the currently empty December, 2025, release date on Lucasfilm's slate. In February, 2025, however, Kennedy confirmed that she still hasn't seen a finished script from Waititi, saying “if we ever do get a script from Taika, it’s going to be fantastic.”

James Mangold's Dawn of the Jedi Movie (In Development)

At Star Wars Celebration 2023, we learned that Logan director James Mangold is directing a movie about the very first Jedi Knights. Little is known about the movie, other than that it's set roughly 25,000 years before the other films and will be "biblical" in scope.

Dave Filoni's Mando-Verse New Republic Movie (In Development)

Dave Filoni will make the jump from Star Wars shows to the big screen. Filoni is directing a movie set after the events of Return of the Jedi. The film is said to tie together shows like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's New Jedi Order Movie (In Development)

Ms. Marvel's Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is directing the first Star Wars film set after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. Daisy Ridley will return to reprise the role of Rey Skywalker, with the film focusing on Rey's efforts to rebuild the Jedi after the final battle with Emperor Palpatine. It's expected that other actors from the Sequel Trilogy will also return.

At various points in its development, Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson, and then Steven Knight, were attached to write the film. However, all have since left the project. Still, reports indicate that Rey as a character is still a major priority at Disney. In January, 2025, George Nolfi (The Bourne Ultimatum) was the latest writer hired to script the film.

Simon Kinberg's Star Wars Trilogy (In Development)

Deadline reports that X-Men producer (and Star Wars Rebels co-creator) Simon Kinberg has been tapped to oversee a brand-new trilogy of Star Wars films. Kinberg will write the trilogy and produce alongside Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy. Deadline's sources give conflicting reports as to what the trilogy will actually be about, though. It may be a direct continuation of the Skywalker Saga, effectively making Kinberg the architect of Episodes X through XII. However, others claim the trilogy will focus on a new storyline, coexisting alongside other in-development projects by James Mangold, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, and Dave Filoni. IGN has since confirmed that the latter is the case.

Carlton & Nick Cuse's Star Wars Series (In Development)

Variety reports that Lost co-showrunner Carlton Cuse is developing a streaming Star Wars series with his son, Watchmen and The Leftovers writer Nick Cuse. That's virtually all we know about this mysterious project, as there's no word on the plot, timeline, characters, or other story details yet.

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (Status Unknown)

Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins was given the reins of a Star Wars theatrical film, which was originally slated to hit theaters in Christmas of 2023. Kathleen Kennedy teased, "This story will introduce a new generation of starfighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary-pushing, high-speed thrill ride. The legend of Rogue Squadron has been long beloved by Star Wars fans, and will move us into a future era of the galaxy."

However, as of November 2021 the film was no longer on the production schedule while Jenkins reportedly focused on Wonder Woman 3 (which has since been cancelled). Industry insider Matthew Belloni reported the film was the latest in a long line of Star Wars projects hampered by "creative differences." And in March of 2023, Variety reported that a source has stated that the film is no longer in active development. In April of that year, Kennedy told IGN the following: "Rogue Squadron, that definitely is something that we still talk about. Whether it's a movie, or whether it ends up being in the series space, that's definitely something."

The Mandalorian: Season 4 / The Book of Boba Fett: Season 2 (Status Unknown)

There's currently no word on a fourth season of The Mandalorian or a second season of The Book of Boba Fett. The announcement of The Mandalorian & Grogu may mean the former series has ended its small-screen run, and we're not holding our breath for more The Book of Boba Fett at this point.

Star Wars: Lando Movie (Status Unknown)

While Lucasfilm seems to have no plans for a sequel to 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story, Donald Glover's Lando Calrissian was supposed to get his own live-action series at one point. The project was announced in December 2020, and was being developed by Dear White People's Justin Simien. However, Simien eventually departed the project, with Glover and his brother Stephen Glover taking over as writers. And in the fall of 2023 Stephen revealed that Lando is now expected to take shape as a movie rather than a show.

Amidst a series of major delays at Disney, the release dates for the next two Star Wars movies now stand at May 22, 2026 (The Mandalorian & Grogu) and December 17, 2027 (title unknown). Additionally, a Star Wars title originally planned for December 18, 2026, was replaced by Ice Age 6 in November 2024.

Lucasfilm has also said there are several unannounced films in development. What could they be? Only time... and the Force... will tell.

Which Star Wars project are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments!

Star Wars Movies and TV Shows Released in 2024

• The Bad Batch Season 3 (February 21, 2024)
• Tales of the Empire (May 4, 2024)
• The Acolyte (June 4, 2024)
• Skeleton Crew (December 2, 2024)

Note: This story was updated on 12/23/2025. It was originally posted on 7/29/2021.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

It might be hard to keep Marvel's upcoming movie and TV slate straight -- it's a lot to absorb, we know, but the biggest news in recent memory is surely that Robert Downey, Jr. himself is returning to the MCU. No, not as Tony Stark, but rather as one of the most anticipated Marvel villains -- Doctor Doom!

How the former Iron Man could now be the Fantastic Four's greatest villain remains unclear at the moment, but we do know that he will be the centerpiece of the next Avengers movie: Avengers: Doomsday, which will apparently bring together the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and even the X-Men (plus a bunch of other folks!).

Until we know more, all we can do is watch our newsfeeds and wait, and hope, and speculate about what's next for Marvel. Hey, that's how it works for us nerds! We've done our best to wrangle and rein in all of the many MCU movie and TV shows that are in the works in one easy place for you to reference and learn about what's next. From the movies to the Disney+ shows, here's a quick rundown of everything on the MCU horizon.

Come join us in the Multiverse and click on through the slideshow below for a glimpse (or read on for more)...

Marvel Phase 6 Movies/TV Shows and Beyond: 2026 Release Dates

For those keeping track, here's the full lineup of upcoming Marvel movies and shows:

• Wonder Man (January 27, 2026)
• Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 (March 2026) & Season 3 (Date TBD)
• Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31, 2026)
• X-Men '97: Season 2 (Summer 2026) & Season 3 (Date TBD)
• Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: Season 2 (Fall 2026) & Season 3 (Date TBD)
• Avengers: Doomsday (December 18, 2026)
• Vision Quest TV Series (2026)
• The Punisher Marvel TV Special (2026)
• Avengers: Secret Wars (December 17, 2027)
• Blade (Date TBD)
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 2 (Date TBD)
• Armor Wars (Date TBD)

Here are some of the most definite Marvel movies and shows in the MCU's Multiverse Saga that are currently in the works...

Wonder Man (January 27, 2026)

Destin Daniel Cretton will executive-produce a Wonder Man series for Disney+, with Andrew Guest (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Community, 30 Rock) serving as head writer. Wonder Man's real name is Simon Williams, and he has close ties to the Avengers and Vision in the comics. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman, Watchmen) will play the title character, while Sir Ben Kingsley will reprise his role as Trevor Slattery.

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 (March 2026) & Season 3 (Date TBD)

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 began production in New York City in February, 2025, right before the debut of Season 1. Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio continue their roles as Daredevil/Matt Murodock and Kingpin/Wilson Fisk, respectively, as the Devil of Hell's Kitchen continues to deal with the fallout of Season 1, including a major Daredevil character death and Fisk's ascension to mayor of New York City.

Executive producer Brad Winderbaum confirmed with IGN that Season 3 has also been greenlit. Production on Season 3 will begin in 2026, with the episodes likely hitting Disney+ in either 2027 or 2028. There's no word yet on whether Season 3 will continue the Mayor Fisk storyline or move in a different direction.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31, 2026)

Tom Holland confirmed he's donning the red and blue tights once again for a fourth live-action Spider-Man movie set in the MCU. The sequel will begin filming in Summer 2025 for a July 2026 release. Shang-Chi's Destin Daniel Cretton is directing this time around. We don't know much about the plot of the fourth movie yet, though Holland teased that the latest script "really lit a fire in me."

As for future solo films, during Spider-Man: No Way Home's press tour, producer Amy Pascal said that the thinking is that there will be at least three more Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland. It should be noted, however, that has not yet been confirmed by Sony or Marvel.

X-Men '97: Season 2 (Summer 2026) & Season 3 (Date TBD)

The first season of X-Men '97, the revival of the original X-Men: The Animated Series from the 1990s, continued right where that storyline left off. Original voice actors from the first show returned to their characters, including Wolverine's Cal Dodd, Rogue's Lenore Zann, Beast's George Buza, and more. The show was well-received by fans and will be back for at least two more seasons.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: Season 2 (Fall 2026) & Season 3 (Date TBD)

With Season 1 concluding in February, 2025, after featuring the likes of Charlie Cox's Daredevil, Dr. Octavius, Chameleon, Speed Demon, Scorpion, Butane the Pyromaniac, Harry Osborn, Amadeus Cho, and many other familiar faces, a second and third season of the show have been confirmed to be in the works.

Avengers: Doomsday (December 18, 2026)

The particulars of this film were in flux after Marvel has parted ways with Jonathan Majors in the wake of his being found guilty of assault and harassment. Will his character, Kang the Conqueror, continue to appear in the MCU in some way? It seems unlikely. Originally called Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, we learned at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 that the next Avengers film is now called Avengers: Doomsday, and it will feature the return of Robert Downey, Jr. himself as Doctor Doom (somehow)! Avengers: Secret Wars will bring an end to The Multiverse Saga and Phase 6 of the MCU a year later.

In March 2025, Marvel revealed the full Doomsday cast via a livestream, with surprises including Channing Tatum's Gambit and a number of other fan-favorite X-Men. Following Marvel's latest delay, Avengers 5 will be released in theaters on December 18, 2026.

Vision Quest TV Series (2026)

Deadline reported in October, 2022, that a WandaVision spin-off called Vision Quest was in the works with a writers room opening up. The possibility of Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) showing up on the Vision show was not ruled out in the report. Star Trek: Picard showrunner Terry Matalas will oversee the Paul Bettany-led series, which is now expected to release in 2026.

The Punisher Marvel TV Special (2026)

Jon Bernthal's Punisher has been introduced to the MCU proper as part of Daredevil: Born Again, but that won't be the last time we see him. Marvel is currently developing a standalone special featuring the character, in the vein of the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and Werewolf By Night. Bernthal is writing the special alongside We Own This City's Reinaldo Marcus Green.

Avengers: Secret Wars (December 17, 2027)

Avengers: Secret Wars will mark the end of both Phase 6 of the MCU and the entire Multiverse Saga that encompasses Phases 4, 5, and 6. It will arrive almost exactly a year after Avengers: Doomsday on December 17, 2027. It will also be the big screen adaptation of the beloved Secret Wars comic run that saw the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men team up to stop an unimaginable threat.

Blade (Date TBD)

Blade will be returning to the big screen, starring Mahershala Ali... or at least we hope he will. The thing is, besides a quick voice cameo in Eternals, we have yet to learn anything more about Ali's Blade. Marvel originally revealed a November 3, 2023 release date at SDCC 2022. Since then, however, the film has pushed back to February 14, 2025, as production reportedly halted due to Ali's dissatisfaction with the script and the departure of director Bassam Tariq. The date then shifted to November 7, 2025, and most recently the film was reported to be taken off the release calendar. But Marvel boss Kevin Feige says they're still working on the film, which after some back and forth, will now be set in the modern-day.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 2 (Date TBD)

At one point, Destin Daniel Cretton, who directed the first film, was said to be returning to write and direct Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 2. "We're in very early stages of brainstorming and figuring out what direction we want to go," he told IGN back in 2021. "But yeah, we'll be kind of simultaneously working on a lot of these things from now until we start shooting."

The thing is, the filmmaker eventually got the gig to direct Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which obviously took priority over Shang-Chi. Still, Shang-Chi will appear in Avengers: Doomsday, so another solo film is certainly still possible.

Armor Wars (Date TBD)

Don Cheadle could be back as James Rhodes -- War Machine -- for Armor Wars, which was originally designed to be a TV series on Disney+. The project was initially described as "a classic Marvel story about Tony Stark’s worst fear coming true: what happens when his tech falls into the wrong hands?" However, in September of 2022, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the project was being reshaped into a movie rather than a TV series. We haven't heard much about it since then, so it's possible this is one that winds up never coming together now that Disney and Marvel are easing back on how many MCU films and shows they make.

Marvel Movies and TV Shows Released in 2024

• Echo (January 9, 2024)
• Deadpool & Wolverine (July 26, 2024)
• Agatha All Along (September 18, 2024)
• What If...? Season 3 (December 22, 2024)

Note: This story was updated on 12/23/2025. It was originally posted on 7/29/2021.

With the rise of hybrid and portable consoles like Nintendo Switch 2 and Steam Deck, there has never been more demand from players to take their games wherever they are. While traditional consoles like Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are still as popular as ever, Sony has come out with a portable device in recent years - the PlayStation Portal.

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Paramount has ditched plans for a theatrical release of The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender in favor of an exclusive launch on streaming platform Paramount+.

The much-anticipated animated movie was due out in theaters on October 9, 2026. Paramount has now set Paramount+ as the exclusive home of Avatar Studios content, which means The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender and original series Avatar: Seven Havens are both coming to the platform.

Avatar fans who were looking forward to seeing the movie in theaters next year are already questioning the decision, which comes as a surprise in the context of huge box office success for anime films in 2025. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, for example, has grossed an incredible $774 million at the global box office.

Meanwhile, Taika Waititi, Geraldine Viswanathan, Dee Bradley Baker, Freida Pinto, and Ke Huy Quan join the previously announced cast of The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender, which includes previously announced Dave Bautista (a so-far unannounced villain), Eric Nam (Aang), Jessica Matten (Katara), Dionne Quan (Toph), Román Zaragoza (Sokka), and Steven Yeun. Yeun, of The Walking Dead and Invincible fame, plays Zuko.

Here’s the official blurb on The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender:

Avatar Aang, the world's last Airbender, learns of an ancient power that could save his culture from extinction. With the help of his friends, he embarks on a global quest to find it before it falls into the wrong hands and threatens to upend the peace they sacrificed everything to achieve.

And here’s the official blurb on Avatar: Seven Havens:

Set in a world shattered by a devastating cataclysm, a young Earthbender discovers she's the new Avatar after Korra — but in this dangerous era, that title marks her as humanity's destroyer, not its savior. Hunted by both human and spirit enemies, she and her long-lost twin must uncover their mysterious origins and save the Seven Havens before civilization's last strongholds collapse.

Avatar: Seven Havens consists of Book 1 (13 half-hour episodes) and Book 2 (13 half-hour episodes). Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko serve as co-creators and executive producers. We got our first image of the show at SDCC 2025, where Konietzko confirmed plot and character details.

The Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise is already hugely popular on Paramount+, where The Legend of Korra and Avatar: The Last Airbender are streaming. The original series ranked among Nielsen's Top 100 most-streamed titles during 17 of 139 weeks since its debut on the platform in March 2023.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

It’s no stretch to say I wouldn’t possess the privilege of having this job without Vince Zampella. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare changed the way I played games, interacted with them as part of a community, and made me think deeper about level and mission design than I had up to that point in my life. I was fifteen upon its release in 2007, and, although I had enjoyed playing games throughout my childhood up until then, nothing had a stranglehold on me quite like the rhythmic nature of the original Modern Warfare’s multiplayer. For hours on end, I’d run around the tight hallways of Vacant’s disused office block with a shotgun or sit cowardly waiting at one end of Crossfire, hoping someone ran across my sniper-scoped view. You see, I had also been firmly rooted in single-player until now, growing up on a mixture of point and click adventures and Grand Theft Auto (at far too early an age), but it was COD 4 that opened my eyes to this whole other side of gaming that I have grown to love in the years since. Thousands of hours of my life have now been lost to Call of Duty, Rainbow Six Siege, and Overwatch, and I have Vince Zampella to thank for that.

Of course, no one man makes a game of the scale of Call of Duty by themselves, but there’s no denying the impact that Zampella had on that particular series and the shooter genre in general over the past two decades. Long before Modern Warfare, unbeknownst to me, he had been shaping my video game tastes for years. A lead designer of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, he helmed EA’s signature WW2 shooter at a time when cinematic aspirations were a relatively new idea in the medium. Taking cues from Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, I’ll never forget the first time I played through its phenomenal Normandy landing sequence on Omaha Beach and how it evokes the terror of that scenario to full effect.

That philosophy would then be translated to the series with which Zampella will always be synonymous: Call of Duty (which, in Zampella’s own hilariously blunt words, only exists because “EA were dicks”). Its early entries were fantastic, with 2 being a particular favourite of mine back in 2005. I’d always had a fascination with this period in time, with my dad subjecting me to many, many WW2 films as a child — The Great Escape, The Longest Day, The Dambusters, A Bridge Too Far. I’d sit down in front of all of them on a Sunday afternoon (at, again, likely far too young an age), so it was only natural that once I reached my teens, I’d want to experience these battles and behind-enemy-lines missions for myself.

I’ll admit, then, that I was sceptical about Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in the run-up to its release. I’m someone who is naturally wary of change, and I was hesitant to trade in my trusty M1 Garand for an M16. I couldn’t have been more wrong, though, as it would almost instantly become my favourite shooter campaign I’ve ever played — with Titanfall 2, a later Zampella project, the only one to run it close. The way it took those movie-like aspirations into the present day was stunning, turning its lens from the likes of those films my father showed me to discoveries of my own, such as Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down and Body of Lies. The way it placed you in the action was unlike anything I’d played up until then, with the exhilarating opening to Crew Expendable and the explosive crescendo of Shock and Awe just two of its many highlights.

And then, of course, there’s All Ghillied Up, which turns each of the campaign’s ideas on its head at its halfway point, in what is still to this day one of video gaming’s most iconic levels. It’s no hyperbole to say that this is one of the missions that opened my eyes to what goes into video game design and what is possible when ideas are taken out of the box and given the freedom to be built upon. It’s such a delicate, balanced piece of work that runs like clockwork, even when you try to mess with its systems, that I couldn’t help but think about how it was constructed. The stealthy crawl for a haunting Pripyat is a masterclass in level design, and credit has to go to Zampella, who was Studio Head at developer Infinity Ward at the time, for encouraging and incubating such creativity.

Modern Warfare’s campaign is a landmark in its own right (among many other achievements, it’s also got one of the most memorable blockbuster sequences in gaming history), but when you also add to it, perhaps the most revolutionary multiplayer shooter pre-Fortnite, a package that would set the stage for a series to take over the world, is born. Call of Duty 4’s multiplayer is the first time I can remember engaging with video games online to a great extent. For my sins, I didn’t own an Xbox at the time, so I was late to the Halo party. Instead, Modern Warfare was my gateway into this world, as I began to hoover up anything I could to get better at the game, and watch clips at a skill level I knew in my heart I could never reach. I’d look up meta builds, which felt like a novelty at the time, and engage with wikis and guides on sites like IGN at a time when I had zero aspirations of one day being someone who would pen words there myself. The simple but effective loop of Modern Warfare’s multiplayer opened my eyes to all of this, with its moreish loop of levelling up guns and unlocking attachments, only to prestige and do it all over again, filling most of my after-school evenings. I simply could not stop playing, and didn’t want to, either.

Zampella’s influence on me would ring on long after his time on Call of Duty was done, though. After forming Respawn, his work on Titanfall saw its 2016 sequel reach, and some would argue maybe even eclipse, the heights of Modern Warfare’s campaign. The fluidity of its movement, the destructive joy of piloting its many mechs, and, of course, the level design of the likes of Effect and Cause and Into the Abyss are all-timers when it comes to single-player shooters. From that universe, Apex Legends would form. Still, my battle royale of choice captures that Titanfall mobility and combines it with a punchiness to its arsenal of weapons that few can match. And then there’s Star Wars. 2023’s Jedi: Survivor is one of my favourite games to come out in recent years, and fulfilled the promise of its original to fantastic effect, making me feel like I was playing a new Star Wars film, much like the original trilogy my dad also used to show me as a kid in between those WW2 epics. Incidentally, I had been floating the idea of replaying Survivor around in my head over the Christmas break. I now know, I definitely will be.

As I said earlier, no one person makes a game of the scale Vince Zampella would be a part of creating by themselves. But there is just no denying the impact that the legendary Call of Duty, Battlefield, Medal of Honor, Titanfall, and Star Wars Jedi developer had on video games in the 21st century. Not only a pioneer when it comes to first-person shooters, but his drive to consistently create cinematic experiences is one that has permeated through the medium for decades now. On a personal level, I’m incredibly grateful. Not only because many of these games have been some of my favourites to play throughout my life, but because if it wasn’t for how much more engaged they made me in them, I likely wouldn’t be lucky enough to enjoy writing about them for a living. To Vince, I say thank you. I may never have got to meet you, but I have loved playing the games you helped create greatly, as I know so many millions of others have too.

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.

Christmas is magical, so buy Magic: The Gathering. Sorry, couldn't think of a better way to open up today's Daily Deals, so there you go. Terrible openers aside, there's some cracking bargains to be had on MTG Universes Beyond and proper, and I've compared pricing on a load of sealed products to make sure you're getting the best price. Additionally, you can see the best MTG gift ideas or more of IGN's gift guides for any last-minute shopping needs.

Here are the best gaming and tech deals available now, AKA the day before Christmas Eve!

TL;DR: Best Deals Today

The sweet spot seems to be getting a product on Amazon that is cheapest or at market value, as you're getting a bargain and should get it delivered before Christmas Day. If you are looking to get some MTG by then, I wouldn't wait around, as this is likely the final day to get something delivered before a round man breaks into your home, eats your food, and leaves you something nice under your tree. Let's get into it:

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MTG Cheapest at Amazon

Seeing MTG: Fallout Commander decks for under market value on Amazon right now is kind of surprising, considering Fallout Season 2 has dropped, but here we are. It's a cracking last-minute bundle for you and three loved ones to play a themed game of Commander.

Want to play Commander at a cheaper price point? The Bloomburrow Commander deck bundle is down to $124.98, which is great value.

If you really want to build out your Commander game, the Commander Masters Set and Draft Booster boxes are below market value right now too, at $447.20 and $366.47, respectively.

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MTG at Market Value on Amazon

Avatar: The Last Airbender Play Booster Box has dropped by $15 from its preorder listing and is in line with current secondary market listings on TCGPlayer. Surprisingly, the Collector Booster Box is also at market value on Amazon too, which is an MTG product that is usually well over the odds at the big box retailer.

MTG Cheapest at TCGPlayer

The crown for the overall best pricing on Magic: The Gathering sealed products however goes to TCGPlayer, that includes preorders for Teenage Mutant Turtles Play Booster Box and Lorwyn Eclipsed Play Booster Box.

The Chocobo Bundle is a nice deal at $173.79, which includes a 12-card Chocobo booster pack, a traditional art foil promo card, a borderless Final Fantasy scene card (there's 24 to collect), 32 FF landmark-themed Land cards, click wheel life counter and a Chocobo Edition card box.

Pokémon TCG Price Check

To be fair to Amazon, some of their pricing isn't far off market price, but then again they're being undercut by independent businesses and sellers that will likely have worse rates from distribution than Amazon. Read between the lines there.

So Phantasmal Flames ETB is $79.94 at Amazon, just shy of $4 more than TCGPlayers $76. Mega Evolutions Three Booster Blister is in a similar spot on Amazon right now too, $29.54 compared to $28.93 on TCGPlayer. But if you're after Mega Evolutions Boosters, i'd suggest going on TCGPlayer and buying single sleeved ones for $8.70 each instead.

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A lot is changing for DC's lineup of movies and shows in the years ahead. James Gunn and Peter Safran, co-CEOs of DC Studios, have a strategy for a more cohesive and interconnected lineup of content moving forward. It all starts with Chapter 1, dubbed "Gods and Monsters."

It can be very difficult to keep track of all the big changes at DC these days. And Gunn is always dropping updates and news it seems, including the surprise reveal of his Superman follow-up Man of Tomorrow! That's why we've put together this comprehensive list of everything currently in the works, as well as the major projects that have either been officially canceled or gone dormant.

Come join us in the reborn DC Universe. Click on through the slideshow below for a glimpse or read on for even more details...

What Are the Next DC Movies Coming Out? 2026 Release Dates

For those keeping track, here's the full lineup of upcoming DC movies and TV shows:

• Supergirl (June 26, 2026)
• Clayface (September 11, 2026)
• Man of Tomorrow (July 9, 2027)
• The Batman Part II (October 1, 2027)
• Dynamic Duo (Animated Robin Origin Movie) (June 30, 2028)
• Lanterns TV Series (Early 2026)
• Mister Miracle Animated Series (In Production)
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold (In Development)
• Creature Commandos Season 2 (In Development)
• The Authority (In Development)
• Swamp Thing (In Development)
• Teen Titans Movie (In Development)
• Bane/Deathstroke Movie (In Development)
• Wonder Woman Movie (In Development)
• Waller TV Series (In Development)
• Booster Gold TV Series (In Development)
• Paradise Lost TV Series (In Development)
• Blue Beetle Animated Series (In Development)
• Harley Quinn and Other Animated Titles (In Development)
• Sgt. Rock (In Development)
• V for Vendetta TV Series (In Development)
• DC Crime TV Series (In Development)
• Constantine 2 (Status Unknown)

Here are some of the most notable projects that are currently in the works:

Supergirl (June 26, 2026)

The new DCU will also have a new Supergirl. Supergirl (previously titled Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow) is a movie based on Tom King and Bilquis Evely's comic. This Supergirl is one who spent much of her early life living on a fragment of Krypton that was dislodged in the planet's destruction, what Gunn describes as a "horrible situation where she watched everybody around her die." House of the Dragon's Milly Alcock plays Supergirl, and Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Cruella) directs the film.

Clayface (September 11, 2026)

A Clayface movie scripted by Mike Flanagan is moving fast at DC. Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep, etc.) previously voiced a desire to make a Clayface movie as a "horror/thriller/tragedy." However, due to his various TV commitments, he won't direct the film, with Speak No Evil's James Watkins expected to direct for a Fall, 2026, release. Tom Rhys Harries stars as the titular villain. Safran and Gunn promise a body horror picture that is R-rated as well.

Given Deadline's previous report that Clayface is one of the major villains debuting in The Batman Part II, and the fact that the Clayface movie is being produced by Matt Reeves and Lynn Harris' 6th & Idaho Productions, it had been assumed that this movie would be set in The Batman universe rather than the DCU. But Gunn has since said that it is in fact unrelated to The Batman Epic Crime Saga and is definitely part of the DCU. Presumably, those earlier reports of the character being in The Batman Part II will wind up not panning out at this point.

Man of Tomorrow (July 9, 2027)

We've known for a while that James Gunn is working on his first post-Superman movie in the DCU, but it seems like he won't be venturing too far from the beaten path. Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav revealed on an investor call, "We're thrilled to share that James Gunn is already writing and preparing to direct the next installment within the 'Super-Family.'" Previously, Gunn told EW that his next project isn't exactly Superman 2, saying, "Is it a straight-up Superman sequel? I would not say necessarily."

Gunn surprised DC fans by tweeting out the title and release date of the film. Man of Tomorrow will hit theaters on July 9, 2027, almost exactly two years after Superman's release. The accompanying Jim Lee artwork suggests the film will focus on an alliance between David Corenswet's Man of Steel and Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor, as the two confront a common enemy (Brainiac? General Zod? Doomsday?). We wouldn't be at all surprised if the film also stars Milly Alcock's Supergirl, along with potentially other members of the Superman extended family (Steel? Superboy? Mon-El?).

The Batman Part II (October 1, 2027)

Of course The Batman Part II is in the works with Matt Reeves returning to write and direct and Robert Pattinson putting on the cape, cowl, and eyeliner (!) again as the Dark Knight Detective. The film is confirmed to have survived the recent turmoil at Warner Bros. Discovery, and Reeves has even signed a multi-year first-look deal with the studio. There's no word yet on what it will be about, so begin your Joker speculation now. The release date of the film has been pushed a couple of times now, first from October 2025 to October 2026, and then to October 2027. Filming is expected to begin in Spring 2026.

James Gunn has also confirmed that Pattinson will not be the DCU's version of Batman.

Dynamic Duo (Animated Robin Origin Movie) (June 30, 2028)

According to James Gunn, Dynamic Duo will tell the origin story of not one but two Robins -- Dick Grayson and Jason Todd. The film will be directed by Arthur Mintz, who's making the picture with his new animation studio Swaybox using a mix of animation, puppetry, CGI, and live-action performance. Huh.

Lanterns TV Series (Early 2026)

We're finally getting that oft-promised Green Lantern show. Lanterns is a high-concept detective drama in the vein of True Detective that revolves around Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) has been cast as Hal and Aaron Pierre (The Underground Railroad) has been cast as John.

Mister Miracle Animated Series (In Production)

Mister Miracle is the second animated series to be produced under the DC Studios banner, following 2024's Creature Commandos. The series will be helmed by showrunner and producer Tom King, who previously penned 2017's Mister Miracle comic. The animated series looks to be directly based on that comic, which deals with Scott Free's attempts to make sense of his reality during a destructive war between Apokolips and New Genesis.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold (In Development)

DC has confirmed that we'll have two cinematic versions of Batman going forward, as the DCU will get its own Dark Knight alongside the standalone movies of Matt Reeves' The Batman series. The Brave and the Bold looks to deal with the full Bat-family, centering specifically on Bruce Wayne's 10-year-old son Damian. The movie will draw heavily from Grant Morrison's Batman comics. It is unclear how the film will connect to the events of The Flash movie, if at all (probably not?), but that film's director, Andy Muschietti, was at one point confirmed to be directing The Brave and the Bold.

More recently, it seems that Gunn and Safran have put some distance between the project and Muschietti, with Gunn taking point on it. “Everybody knows I love Batman and it’s important to me so I’m working very closely with the writer on Brave and the Bold,” he told a group of reporters in February, 2025. Once the script is completed (it is not currently known who the writer is), Gunn and Safran said they will take it to Muschietti "and see if it's a fit for him."

Creature Commandos Season 2 (In Development)

James Gunn's latest band of misfit superheroes, the Creature Commandos, kicked off the new DCU with the first season of their animated series on Max, and a Season 2 is already in the planning stages. What the new version of the team will look like remains to be seen, though the Creature Commandos Season 1 finale did give us some hints...

The Authority (In Development)

DC's anti-Justice League were a big part of the initial announcement line-up that Gunn and Safran made back in 2023, but it seems like the project has been a tougher script to crack than they expected. The Authority is a group of powerful heroes who take a far more proactive approach to meting out justice, but Gunn said in February, 2025, that it's been “the one that's been the hardest, both because of the shifting overall story and because of getting it right in a world with The Boys and a world with all the things that The Authority influenced that came out after it.” The project is now on the “back burner,” he says.

Swamp Thing (In Development)

Swamp Thing may not have found much success on the short-lived DC Universe app, but DC was betting big on this lumbering monster for their new cinematic universe when they announced their plans for the new movie slate in 2023. The Swamp Thing movie was to explore the dark origins of Alec Holland's monstrous alter ego, with Logan and Indiana Jones 5 director James Mangold writing the script for the film.

However, more recently Gunn and Safran have said that Swamp Thing hasn't had much movement as Mangold was working on his Bob Dylan movie, A Complete Unknown. "We hope that he'll come back to Swamp Thing when he's ready, because again, that was one of those ones that we love him as a filmmaker, so we're happy to wait for him," said Safran. Gunn added that the main reason they pursued the project was because "James came to us with it, frankly."

Teen Titans Movie (In Development)

The Teen Titans are returning to live-action following the conclusion of Max's Titans series. As reported by THR, a new Teen Titans movie is in the works, with the screenplay being penned by Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow writer Ana Nogueira. It's unknown whether the movie is meant to be part of the DCU or a standalone project.

Bane/Deathstroke Movie (In Development)

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that DC Studios is developing a villain-centric team-up movie featuring Bane and Deathstroke. The film is being written by Matthew Orton (Captain America: Brave New World). It's unclear whether the project is set in James Gunn's DCU, the world of Matt Reeves' The Batman, or an entirely standalone universe a la Joker.

Wonder Woman Movie (In Development)

Gunn recently confirmed to EW that a new Wonder Woman movie is in the works as part of the DCU, saying, "Wonder Woman's being written right now." The movie is a separate project from the previously announced Paradise Lost series. Presumably, Wonder Woman will reboot the franchise with a new lead actress rather than bring back Gal Gadot's Diana.

Waller TV Series (In Development)

This Peacemaker spin-off is intended to feature Viola Davis reprising the Amanda Waller role, with several other Peacemaker alums also returning. However, the series “has had a couple of setbacks" according to Gunn. Safran added that "Waller has been a bumpy road," so it remains unclear where the series stands at the moment.

Booster Gold TV Series (In Development)

The lovably goofy Booster Gold is getting his own series as part of the new DCU. Booster Gold will explore the character's impostor syndrome as he travels back in time and uses the technology of the future to make himself a present-day superhero.

Paradise Lost TV Series (In Development)

While a new Wonder Woman movie isn't on the immediate horizon, DC is moving forward with a TV series set on the island of Themyscira. Paradise Lost will explore the origins and political intrigue of Diana's home. The series is billed as the DC equivalent of Game of Thrones.

Blue Beetle Animated Series (In Development)

A Blue Beetle animated TV show is reportedly in development. Xolo Maridueña, who played the title hero in the live-action movie, says he'll be back to voice Jaime Reyes for the series.

Harley Quinn and Other Animated Titles (In Development)

Warner Bros. has a variety of animated properties in various stages of development as streaming series (in addition to their never-ending DTV animated movie releases). That includes a fifth season of Harley Quinn which debuted in January, 2025, on Max, a possible ninth season of Teen Titans Go!, a third season of Adult Swim/Max's My Adventures With Superman, Season 2 of Amazon Prime's Batman: Caped Crusader (from Bruce Timm, J. J. Abrams, and Matt Reeves), and upcoming series such as Blue Beetle, My Adventures With Green Lantern (featuring the Jessica Cruz Lantern), DC Super Powers, Starfire, and Mister Miracle.

Sgt. Rock (In Development)

After decades in development hell through various studio regimes and stars attached to it, it seemed like Sgt. Rock was finally coming to the big screen. DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran acknowledged the project was in development with Luca Guadagnino directing. Guadagnino (Queer, Call Me By Your Name, Suspiria, Challengers) isn't exactly the first name you'd expect to hear for a Sgt. Rock movie so it made it an even more exciting prospect.

After rumors of Daniel Craig playing the title role in the WWII movie were shot down by Gunn, it was reported that Colin Farrell was cast instead. The project was to shoot in Summer 2025 for a Fall 2026 release but as soon as Sgt. Rock finally came together, the project fell apart. Still, Gunn has said that the film is still in development, though it remains to be seen who would star or direct if it happens.

V for Vendetta TV Series (In Development)

In November of 2025, Variety reported that Pete Jackson (not the Lord of the Rings luminary) is attached to write a TV series adaptation for HBO of Alan Moore and David Lloyd's acclaimed comic about a dystopic near-future where the anarchist known only as V battles the oppresive government. James Gunn and Peter Safran will executive produce the series, among others, if it moves forward beyond the writing stage.

DC Crime TV Series (In Development)

Another potential HBO show that is in early development is this fictional true-crime series which would feature Superman's Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) "hosting." The DC supervillain Gorilla Grodd would be the focus of the first season (yes, the super-smart, talking gorilla). American Vandal mockumentary experts Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault would write, produce, and serve as showrunners if the prospective show gets the greenlight.

Constantine 2 (Status Unknown)

Keanu Reeves was reportedly going to reprise his iconic DC role at one point. A sequel to 2005's Constantine was in the news in 2022, with Reeves set to star and Francis Lawrence returning as director. The screenplay was being written by Akiva Goldsman, and Goldsman was also producing the film alongside Bad Robot’s J.J. Abrams and Hannah Minghella. Lawrence gave IGN an update on the project when we spoke to him in May 2025 for The Long Walk:

"Constantine 2 is a real thing. It is something that we have been working on and trying to crack and figure things out over the years. And with all the various regime changes and things at Warner Brothers and who has rights to DC characters/Vertigo characters and DC Dark and all that, the character of Constantine has kind of changed hands over the years, which became roadblocks for us. We now are past those roadblocks, and so Keanu and Akiva ... who I did Constantine and I Am Legend with, have an idea, and Akiva is actually writing a script. And I'm really excited about the idea, and Keanu is really excited about the idea, but we've all collaborated on it and he is off writing, and so fingers crossed we can really get that going. I think we're all super excited and this is definitely the closest we've been in the 20 years since the movie came out."

DC Movies and TV Shows That Were Released in 2024

• The Penguin (September 19, 2024)
• Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (September 21, 2024)
• Superman & Lois, Season 4 (October 7, 2024)
• Creature Commandos (December 5, 2024)

Note: This story was updated on 12/23/2025 with the latest DC movie news. It was originally posted on 7/29/2021.

Two iconic characters from Star Trek: The Original Series will appear in the final episode of the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which actress Rebecca Romijn revealed had wrapped production this week.

Paramount+ announced Tuesday that Thomas Jane will play Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy and Kai Murakami will play Hikaru Sulu in the series finale.

They join Paul Wesley’s James T. Kirk, Ethan Peck’s Mr. Spock, Celia Rose Gooding’s Nyota Uhura, Jess Bush’s Christine Chapel, and Martin Quinn’s Montgomery “Scotty” Scott as the classic lineup of the USS Enterprise crew from The Original Series.

DeForest Kelley and George Takei originated the roles of Dr. McCoy and Mr. Sulu, respectively, while Karl Urban and John Cho played the beloved characters in the Kelvin Timeline films.

007 First light is delayed two months for “further polish,” developer and publisher IO Interactive has announced.

The James Bond adventure video game was due out March 27, 2026, but will now release on May 27, 2026. In a statement published online, IOI said the delay would ensure it was able to deliver “the strongest possible version at launch.”

It’s worth noting that 007 First Light’s new release date is just a day after Grand Theft Auto 6 was due to be released before its latest delay to November 19, 2026. Essentially, IOI has snapped up the release slot left vacant by Rockstar’s behemoth.

007 First Light was thought to have benefited from the GTA 6 delay, coming out at the time just two months before GTA 6’s prior release date. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz from last month, IOI CEO Hakan Abrak was asked about GTA 6 kindly getting out of 007’s way.

“It would be a lie not to say that obviously spring looks really good,” he replied. “I want to say in the same breath that GTA 6 is a welcome thing for the industry. I do believe a lot of gamers who maybe haven't played for a while will get into things again, and generally for the industry as a whole, I think that will be amazing.”

Clearly, GTA 6’s delay has given IOI even more room to breathe, and it’s snapped that extra time up to give 007 First Light the best chance possible of having a strong launch.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Well, Anaconda must not have buns, because I don't want none of what Sony's funny-first reboot is laying down (the youths know who Sir Mix-a-Lot is, right?). Director Tom Gormican follows his Nicolas Cage in-joke-of-a-movie, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, with another meta-filmmaking comedy—but this one’s a ssstinker. It's concept over execution: a tantalizing idea that never seems to evolve past the thought bubble phase. 1997's Anaconda is beloved for its B-movie antics, practical reptilian effects, and a menacing lean into creature-feature violence. Gormican's spoofier update purposely ditches all that in favor of mainstream yucks, getting stuck in that horror-comedy purgatory where neither subgenre flourishes.

In the film, four Buffalo, New York, jamooks stuck living their best "B+" lives decide on a whim to independently reboot Anaconda. Lifetime background actor Griff (Paul Rudd) claims he's miraculously secured the legal rights, teeing up a golden opportunity. His best friend Doug (Jack Black) is a creatively unfulfilled wedding videographer wasting his talents. Their buddy Kenny (Steve Zahn) could use a distraction to help stay sober. Then there's Griff's hometown fling, Claire (Thandiwe Newton), who's newly divorced and ready for a shakeup. All four embark on the mid-life-crisis of a lifetime, heading into Brazil's Amazonian jungle for a three-week shoot—but they soon find themselves in Anaconda, for real.

Unfortunately, Gormican and co-writer Kevin Etten struggle to weave riverboat survival thrills into a Hollywood satire that roasts an industry obsessed with resurrecting intellectual properties. At the film's core is a wholesome message about creating art with the people you love, but subplots about illegal activities and trigger-happy thugs feel shoehorned in as runtime padding. Daniela Melchior flounders as the boat's sketchy captain, Ana Almeida, given how the film would run smoothly without her added baggage. Griff, Doug, Kenny, and Claire wrestle with enough existential depression about unhappiness and self-loathing to keep the central conflicts afloat, while Ana's eventual "moment" sinks and is immediately forgotten.

Laughs are hard to come by as ridiculous gags frequently impair snake-based tension, but the punchlines aren't all duds. Rudd is unsurprisingly charming as a D-lister who has to pull up his big-boy hero pants, while Black… well, I'm a mark for Jack Black doing Jack Black things, and here he's putting all that chaotic energy into a passion for indie filmmaking (although he’s handcuffed by his character’s straight man trappings). As these knuckleheads treat basic screenwriting tools as epiphanies, patting themselves on the back for adding identifiable themes, shades of King Kong (panicked film crew against monsters) or Ed Wood (low-talent filmmaker hijinx) peek out. Catastrophe strikes all the time on a no-budget film set, and the film's consistently funniest as Griff and Doug play fixer on the spot. When Anaconda is about inexperienced goofballs hoping to become the “white Jordan Peele,” driven by blind optimism and boundless enthusiasm, there’s something (fleeting) to enjoy.

But Gormican doesn't have an eye for terror, nor do his action sensibilities dazzle. That's a problem in an Anaconda reboot that starts with Ana speeding on her dirt bike from armed pursuers—a strange, confusingly vague cold open. It's supposed to serve as an introduction to the snake's ferocity but, between the uninspired computer graphics and choppy editing, serves more as a content warning of what's to come. Gormican reuses the same underwater constriction shots every time someone's killed, rapidly succumbing to the boring reality that Anaconda only has one trick in the horror department. No scene slithers under your skin, nor does any gruesomeness happen on camera to appease the PG-13 masses. Sure, the 1997 Anaconda has a rubbery snake prop, but I'd rather that be used than the lifeless pixelation on display.

Even worse, the stodgy comedy stylings of dopey Americans adrift in the Amazon are oftentimes lazy setups with pillowy payoffs. There isn't much thought put into jokes about Kenny's failed sobriety, Doug and Griff's arguing over who's the best driver, or Sony's desire to cash in on Anaconda. Don't get me wrong, Gormican had me howling at a few nostalgic callbacks (one ruined by trailers), and who doesn't love overt Jurassic Park homages, but the bread and butter humor? It's stale and uninspired, driving an even bigger wedge into an already fractured tonal blunder. Everything's comical for a few seconds, but overstays its welcome: Black running with a thought-to-be-dead warthog on his back, Selton Mello's way too passionate snake handler, bash-your-head-in callbacks to the original, even Rudd doing his patented pouty-faced jealousy routine.

Who is this reboot for, frankly? It strays detrimentally far from 1997's Anaconda, making a mockery of the beloved midnighter. It's also uninspiringly dry, leaning on low-hanging fruit in a script that begs for further development. The concept, "what if bozos trying to make Anaconda found themselves in Anaconda," is achieved at face value but hardly at full potential. For such an out-of-bounds idea, everything reads so generic. The potty humor, the "Back in Black" and "Kickstart My Heart" needledrops, the repurposed Hollywood pyrotechnics à la Tropic Thunder—it's all stock material repackaged anew.

Look, not all games can be great. In fact, many of them are not good, and some even fail to be simply okay. If you’re looking for all things good and great, then check out our list of the best-reviewed games of 2025. But this place, sadly, is not where they live. No, this is where I have the job of reminding you of all of the worst games we played this year. The ones that didn’t quite live up to expectations and received a score of five or below from IGN reviewers. Maybe you did enjoy some of these, and to that I say, all the power to you. Let us know in the comments which games featured on this list you did actually love playing. But before you scroll all the way down there, let’s talk about IGN’s worst-reviewed games of 2025.

5 - Mediocre

What better way to kick this off than with a welcome tour? A Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, to be exact. A collection of minigames and digital museum displays designed to give you a better idea of the tech powering your new Nintendo console, this one just ended up committing a criminal cardinal sin by Nintendo standards — it just wasn’t fun. Our review described this “interactive brochure” as “a muddled collection of quaint tech demos and boring factoids”. Not exactly the best way to get everyone excited about a new generation of hardware, was it? And it didn’t even come packaged with the console. A standalone purchase isn’t exactly the best way to deliver your new spin on a digital manual.

At least the tech being shown off in Welcome Tour is very impressive, though, which sadly couldn’t be said for Kaiserpunk. A city-builder that, unfortunately, suffered from significant performance issues at launch, ranging from “huge, save-killing bugs” to an interface that lacks “fairly basic functionality”, it provided unsolid foundations to build any metropolis on. If a fully-built sci-fi city is more your vibe, then maybe you could be tempted by Steel Seed, an action-platform dripping in neon. But when we tell you that it’s actually a “stealth action game cursed by mediocrity”, then maybe you’ll be less interested. Hence, the five out of ten rating, which stands for “mediocre” here at IGN. Along those lines, if “30 mediocre hours of dodge rolling and sword swinging” sounds appealing, then maybe you want to check out AI Limit. A “soulslike without any soul”, this one just lacked the sort of creativity you’d hope for in what’s become a fairly played-out genre these days.

Speaking of souls, Lost Soul Aside was a hotly anticipated PlayStation console exclusive this summer, which sadly didn’t quite live up to the hype. While it did come packed with some exciting combat, unfortunately, “repetitive story, derivative characters, and bland level design” couldn’t support it. Another game that fell foul of repetition was Full Metal Schoolgirl, which you may not instantly see as a negative when considering it's an action roguelike — a genre grounded in attempting the same objectives over and over again — but when you hear that after “a couple runs, you've pretty much seen it all”, that isn’t ideal.

Feeling like we’d pretty much seen it all before is exactly why we gave the Battlefield 6 campaign a score of five, too. As our shockingly handsome reviewer said, the single-player offering is a “safe, dull reimagining of what Battlefield once was, rather than a bold reinvention of what it could be”, and I, for one, agree with him. It’s a short string of missions that doesn’t embrace the chaos naturally created in Battlefield 6’s multiplayer, instead feeling like a relic of a bygone age of FPSs. We also gave this year’s Call of Duty Black Ops 7 campaign a less-than-shiny score, too, but it narrowly misses out on making this list due to us giving it a 6, because it at least tries to do something new, even if it isn’t very successful.

Now we head into the remaster, reboot, and reimagining section of proceedings. Yooka-Replayee aimed to bring the 2017 original into the modern day with some tweaks, but while improvements were made, we were of the opinion that “none of its changes do enough to bring it close to the 3D platforming standards of today”. Double Dragon Revive attempted to breathe new life into the classic side-scrolling beat ‘em up, but ended up feeling “less a miraculous resurrection and more like exhuming a shambling corpse”. Similar things could be said for Painkiller, a reboot of People Can Fly’s 2004 cult-favourite, which again fell short, instead playing like a “mediocre resurrection of a classic trying to put a new cover on an old book and hoping it still has some relevance 21 years later”. Shadow Labyrinth did at least attempt to take something incredibly old and do something new with it. Unfortunately, this gritty, Metroidvania reinvention of Pac-Man was deemed to be “largely dull,” with crimes ranging from “annoying checkpointing to the one-note combat”.

There is no shortage of checkpoints in racing games. Sorry, that’s the best segue I have for this one. Project Motor Racing is the most recent game we have on our list to score a five or below, as it failed to excite our reviewer, who said that “there are certainly glimpses of a competent racing sim here, but it is drastically unfinished”. On the other end of the racing spectrum was Wreckreation, not in terms of quality, as it also received a five, but in its very “arcadey” approach to action of four wheels. Disappointingly, it just didn’t reach the heights of the likes of its Burnout inspiration. Instead, “overflowing with ambition but ultimately plain and with no style to call its own, Wreckreation feels like a supermarket brand homage to a series of better arcade racers.”

Let’s head into fantasy corner now and take a look at those sword-swinging games that just weren’t quite sharp enough this year. Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade was yet another action roguelite to come out in 2025, but one that didn’t leave much of an impression, thanks to “repetitive levels and a flimsy story”. Blades of Fire took an interesting approach to third-person action by placing an emphasis on creating your own bespoke swords through an involved blacksmithing process, which was admittedly quite good, but its “overly simplistic combat and a mediocre story mean it doesn’t forge a sharp enough edge to put its customizable weapons to good use”. And, finally, rounding out our list of games that received a review score of five from IGN this year, is Game of Thrones: Kingsroad. A microtransaction-riddled interpretation of George R.R. Martin’s world, in which the recreation of HBO’s visual style is admittedly impressively done, it’s unfortunately hampered “by an overly grindy, pay-to-win live service model, and both its combat and homestead management are too tedious to keep things interesting on their own”.

4 - Bad

Heading into the games that got a four, which represents “bad” on the IGN review scale, let’s stick with another beloved piece of fantasy literature that struggles to produce good video game adaptations. Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game was an attempt to “cosify” Tolkien’s world and asked the age-old question, “What if Animal Crossing, but Hobbits?”. The answer, sadly, was a resounding “no”, as we described it as “a promising idea that turned out dreadfully boring and extremely buggy”.

Arguably, no other game arrived with as heavy a thud as MindsEye did in 2025. The brainchild of former GTA dev, Leslie Benzies, this throwback third-person action-adventure was not only incredibly dull, but borderline broken. Sure, it looked like a blockbuster when viewed from a very specific, narrow angle, but on the whole, it failed to live up to any expectations that may have been held for it. “MindsEye’s flashy graphics and cinematics can’t hide its serious lack of substance and major performance problems”, says our review, and that tells you all you need to know.

To round things off, we have a handful of early access games that we gave a score of four to this year. These include Hyper Light Breaker, which we described as a “roguelite that currently feels hyper light on content and the wrong kind of broken”, and La Quimera, an “FPS version of a direct-to-video movie, with dialogue that is both poorly written and badly acted, middling combat, and an unfinished campaign”. Then there was EA’s reboot of Skate, which we called a “faithful facsimile of the incredible feel of the old games, but its mobile game-style progression, dud dialogue, and cutesy art style make its early access debut drastically inferior to the originals in all other ways”. Unfortunately for Hyper Light Breaker, similar responses from both other critics and players eventually led to developer Heart Machine bringing development to a close. As for the other two, they remain developing projects, so let’s hope that these games fix their respective issues and have a better time in 2026 in the run-up to their full launches.

And that’s it, all of the games that we at IGN scored a five or four out of ten this year. Believe it or not, nothing actually scored lower, so I’m glad to say there are no twos or threes to report this year. Did you actually love any of the games listed here? Let us know in the comments. For more, check out the best-reviewed games of 2025, and our game of the year awards.

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.

I don’t know if you’ve heard about this, but some good movies came out this year. Did you see Ryan Coogler’s vampire epic, Sinners? Or Guillermo del Toro’s long-gestating passion project, Frankenstein? Or the hilarious but also heartbreaking afterlife dramedy, Eternity? You probably should have if you haven’t, but that’s not why we’re here. We’re here to talk about the other side of the coin – the 2025 movies that didn’t just fail to make the grade, but made falling on their faces an artform unto itself.

For this list, we’re namechecking movies that received a 2 or 3 on IGN’s review scale. Nothing got a 1 this year (praise be), and although we did see a few 4s, like The Electric State, Deep Cover, and Eddington, we decided to really scrape the bottom of the barrel. So if you want to know what movies to avoid (or perhaps seek out if you’re morbidly curious), let’s dive into IGN’s worst reviewed movies of 2025!

Atrocious Actioners

Jackie Chan is known across the globe as one of the best martial arts stars to ever grace the silver screen, but even legends don’t always bat a thousand. Panda Plan from director Luan Zhang is one of Chan’s worst films; he stars as a fictionalized version of himself who has to commit a heist to save zoo pandas from an army of mercenaries. With terrible VFX and lifeless fight scenes, Panda Plan was described as “little more than a poor imitation” of Chan’s previous films by IGN reviewer Chase Hutchinson.

But he wasn’t the only action star to come up short in 2025, with Jason Statham starring in the woeful David Ayer film, A Working Man. Based on the Levon Cade novel series from Chuck Dixon, A Working Man is a paint-by-numbers affair that doesn’t take advantage of Statham’s charm or physical skills. Reviewer Hanna Ines Flint said that Statham is “surrounded by a cohort of undercooked villains in what amounts to a colossal waste of an action film budget.”

Viola Davis also got in on the action with G20, an Amazon Prime Original from director Patricia Riggen. Starring Davis as United States President Danielle Sutton, G20 is a “terrorists versus the Prez” vehicle in the vein of Air Force One that unfortunately falls into many of the typical made-for-streaming movie traps. Reviewer Jesse Hassenger said that G20 was lacking in “exciting or well-staged action,” instead featuring “thriller cliches and unconvincing political details.”

In the same vein is Shadow Force, a bare-bones Joe Carnahan actioner starring Kerry Washington and Omar Sy that somehow received a theatrical release. This one is hard to describe, because the plot and characters are so thinly sketched that they might as well be composed on table napkins. Reviewer Devan Suber called Shadow Force “a movie as vague as its title,” adding that it “doesn’t give you any real reason to care about anyone or anything that happens onscreen.” Ouch.

Horrendous Horror

COVID-19 themed movies haven’t generally been widely loved, and Don’t Log Off didn’t change that trend. A screenlife movie in the same style as Searching, Don’t Log Off stars Ariel Winter in a story about a group of friends trying to figure out what happened to one of them that disappears from a video call. Reviewer Steven Nguyen Scaife found it repetitive and tiring, writing that “both the COVID-era setting and the computer-screen presentation of Don’t Log Off show flickers of promise, but this horror film has no clever ideas for using either one.”

Another gimmicky horror film came from social media celebrity Kris Collins and Celina Myers; House on Eden is a supernatural found footage movie that’s yet another uninspired knock-off of The Blair Witch Project. Reviewer Matt Donato was profoundly unimpressed, saying the film is “hapless and nonsensical in its structure” and is “built from blocks stolen from better and more accomplished movies.”

Further weak horror films from this year include I Heart Willie, a public domain Mickey Mouse slasher based on the Steamboat Willie animated short that Matt Donato said “flimsily sets up cheap flesh-flaying thrills that never stray far from convention,” and Ick, a sci-fi horror comedy about a science teacher who has to combat a parasitic alien plant that reviewer Shannon Miller said is “not remotely haunting enough to make for a decent horror movie or anywhere near funny enough to be a good comedy.”

I reviewed The Strangers - Chapter 2, the second in a planned trilogy of slasher films from director Renny Harlin. Despite Madelaine Petsch doing what she can in the lead role, the movie is devoid of tension, thrills, or emotional resonance. It might be marginally better than Chapter 1, but I described Chapter 2 as “ultimately just as slapdash as its predecessor.”

The biggest turkey in the horror category this year is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, the latest video game adaptation to be lambasted by critics. The first film wasn’t that great either, but the sequel reaches new lows with a shoddy script penned by series creator Scott Cawthon that’s more concerned with spoon-feeding easter eggs to franchise fans than doing anything dramatically satisfying. It’s a shame, because director Emma Tammi (who returns from the first movie) isn’t an untalented filmmaker; her minimalist horror movie, The Wind, that she directed before becoming the custodian of the FNAF films, is a pretty decent spooky western. But her skills aren’t on display in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, which Matt Donato described as a “bare minimum sequel.”

Star Trek to Nowhere

Holding the ignominious honor of being the only film rated a 2 by IGN this year is Star Trek: Section 31. Originally developed as a spin-off series from Star Trek: Discovery for Michelle Yeoh’s character, Philippa Georgiou, Section 31 was reworked into a movie after production issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ultimately, neither director Olatunde Osunsanmi or screenwriter Craig Sweeny wrangled anything of value out of the film, which is nominally about Georgiou as an evil-emperor-turned-secret-agent who joins a team of whoevers to recover a superweapon before bad guys can use it to destroy the universe… or something. It’s actually kind of hard to follow, but trying isn’t even worth your time, with reviewer Jordan Hoffman describing the film as “nothing but a lousy, uninteresting caper picture” that’s devoid of all the qualities fans expect from the Star Trek franchise.

Did you know this technically counts as the 14th Trek movie? I’m sure by this time next year, nobody but Paramount will even remember that.

What were your picks for the worst movies of the year? Vote in our poll and let's discuss in the comments.

Carlos Morales writes novels, articles, and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Twitter.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is out now on VOD platforms after just three weekends in theaters.

Universal made the shock announcement that Blumhouse’s horror sequel would launch on digital platforms to buy or rent on December 23, 2025, just 18 days after its theatrical debut.

It was thought that Five Nights at Freddy's 2 had secured a box office win despite a critical mauling. In 2023, Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s, which adapts the hugely popular video game series by Scott Cawthon, became the highest-grossing horror film of the year. Two years later, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 earnt a huge $109 million at the global box office during launch weekend. While that wasn’t as big as Five Nights at Freddy’s $160 million box office debut, it was enough to take the number one spot at the domestic box office with an impressive $63 million haul.

During its third weekend, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 grossed a further $8 million to reach $92.9 million domestically — that’s more than M3GAN, Get Out, The Black Phone, 28 Years Later, and Smile 2 managed. The film now has a global box office of $202 million.

Universal Pictures had said it expected continued box office momentum for the film, “fueled by strong social media buzz and word-of-mouth,” which makes today’s VOD launch all the more surprising. Perhaps Blumhouse and Universal are already satisfied with the film’s box office, which reportedly makes the movie profitable, and want to capitalize on holiday movie watching. While Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 remains in theaters for now, its box office is now likely to slow to a crawl.

Here’s the official blurb:

Dive deeper into the world of Freddy Fazbear at home as the dark and mysterious thrill ride now comes jam-packed with revealing cast interviews, a jaw-dropping look behind the scenes at how fan-favorite animatronics like Mangle and Marionette came to life on screen, and an exploration of the Easter eggs dotting nearly every scene of the new movie.

And here are the Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 bonus features when you buy the VOD:

• EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH: THE CAST - Revealing interviews and behind-the-scenes footage highlight how actors develop their roles to fill the FNAF world with new mysteries, thrilling surprises, and fan-pleasing lore.
• BRINGING FREDDY & FRIENDS TO LIFE - Learn how stunt doubles and puppeteers advance animatronic terror to the next level.
• MANGLE MAYHEM - Witness Mangle come to life as a nightmarish, multi-limbed monstrosity.
• HIGH-STRUNG - Cast and crew reveal the multiple methods used to turn the Marionette into an eerie entity whose unique design and haunting movements are unlike any other animatronic.
• SENSORY OVERLOAD: EXPLORING THE SETS - Actors join the artists behind the production design to serve up details on the Easter eggs and game inspirations lurking inside the incredible sets.

Scream star Matthew Lillard, who plays William Afton, has already spoken about his hope that Five Nights at Freddy's 3 gets made. “Our hope is that we get to do three films. That’s always been the plan. Everything is dependent on how the movie does in theaters,” Lillard said.

Lillard was recently in the headlines for responding to an insult from Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill director Quentin Tarantino, saying "it f***ing sucks." With Five Nights at Freddy's 2 out the door, he’s set to reprise his role as Stuart "Stu" Macher in Scream 7, and will play a villain in MCU Disney+ show, Daredevil: Born Again Season 2.

IGN’s Five Nights at Freddy's 2 review returned a 3/10. We said: “Five Nights at Freddy's 2 gives sequels, video game adaptations, and gateway horror movies a bad name.”

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

SteelSeries is behind many of the top gaming headsets. While its high-end Arctis Nova Pro Wireless and Arctis Nova Elite headsets are impressive, they are expensive, even when you manage to score a great discount. For a more affordable alternative, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1 is worth your consideration. Now is the time to buy, too. The headset is cheaper than Black Friday. It’s nearly 40% off, costing you just $36.49. Chances are good you won’t see prices this low again for a long time. Be sure to grab this deal while you still can.

Save 39% on the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1 Gaming Headset

Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games has told fans that the Mark Hamill-fronted single-player space adventure Squadron 42 is still on track for a 2026 release date — and not to expect “a long, drawn-out marketing campaign” beforehand.

Founder and CEO Chris Roberts wrote in a blog post that CIG is focusing on quality and polish as it moves toward an internal beta milestone and, eventually, a full release for Squadron 42 at some point next year.

“We’re confident in the direction the game is headed and are fully focused on delivering,” Roberts said. “We know many of you are eager to play, and we’re looking forward to putting it in your hands. We don’t plan on a long, drawn-out marketing campaign as we’ve already done our share of trailers and gameplay previews. When it’s time, you (and the rest of the gaming world) will hear a lot more from us.”

All chapters are said to be fully playable from beginning to end, and “we’ve been playing through the game ourselves regularly,” Roberts added. “Squadron 42 is a large game, over 40 hours in length, and it’s becoming increasingly clear how special it will be once the remaining polish, optimization, and bug fixing is complete.”

He continued: “a big part of what makes this possible is the technology we’ve built at CIG over many years. The ability to move seamlessly from on foot, into a vehicle you can fly and move around inside, down to a planet or across star systems, all without loading screens, creates a level of immersion that’s very difficult to replicate. That combination of close-up interaction and galactic scale is at the core of what will make Squadron 42 so unique.

“Equally important is the quality of the content itself. From writing and performance capture to characters, environments, ships, lighting, sound, cinematics, and design, the level of care across the entire game is something I’m incredibly proud of. Combined with deeply interactive systems, it creates an experience that pulls you into the world and keeps you there.”

Roberts, known for creating the Wing Commander series also starring Mark Hamill, showed off a Squadron 42 demo back in 2024. It was heavy on flashy cutscenes, with CGI representations of Hollywood stars such as Gillian Anderson, Henry Cavill, Gary Oldman, and Mark Strong mixed with on-rails turret action in a huge space battle. The demo ended with a first-person shooter segment as the alien enemy boarded the player’s ship.

As for Star Citizen itself, Roberts described 2025 as “the Year of Playability” for the space sim.

“It was a year when more people played than ever before and spent more time in the ’verse than at any point in our history,” he said. “That momentum did not happen by chance. It came from a focused effort to improve quality of life, performance, and reliability, and to make the gameplay experience more engaging and rewarding to return to.”

Star Citizen is reportedly set for a full release sometime in 2027 or 2028, or as Roberts has put it, one or two years after the release of Squadron 42. No firm release window was offered in his latest blog post, but he did say next year will see the developer “continue improving stability and depth in Star Citizen while expanding and connecting core systems that shape how you play, from Engineering to Inventory, Crafting, Social Tools, and other foundational features, alongside expanding the playable universe itself.”

Star Citizen is considered one of the most controversial projects in all video games. Over the 13 years since its crowdfunding drive began, Star Citizen has been called many things including a scam by those who wonder whether it will ever properly launch. Its virtual space ships, some of which cost hundreds of dollars, are often the focus of criticism. Roberts is said to have confirmed he's raised just over $1 billion for Star Citizen from players so far.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

A human interest story in cinematic form, Song Sung Blue is more lukewarm than heartwarming despite its talented cast. Starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as a married Neil Diamond nostalgia act, the film – written and directed by Craig Brewer of Hustle & Flow – is based on real events, but picks its moments in puzzling fashion. Alfred Hitchcock once said “drama is life with the dull bits cut out,” but Brewer seems to challenge that notion by doing the opposite, leaving the most intriguing bits of his story far off-screen.

Milwaukee musician Mike “Lightning” Sardina (Jackman), a recovering alcoholic formerly deployed to Vietnam, is middle-aged, divorced, and relegated to doing impressions of better artists on stage. His career stagnates until he meets and falls in love with Patsy Cline impersonator Claire Stingl (Hudson), an upbeat fellow divorcée with whom he soon concocts the Neil Diamond tribute band, Lightning & Thunder. The movie opens and closes with Mike, and follows the couple’s ups and downs through his eyes; however, Song Sung Blue can’t help but feel like it has the wrong protagonist.

When the story begins, many of Mike’s struggles are in his rearview, although he keeps his ongoing health problems close to the chest (no pun intended). Jackman’s performance is – despite his geographically unplaceable accent – incredibly charismatic and heartrending, as a concerned husband, father, and stepfather looking out for his family when things go south for Claire in ways better left unspoiled. However, there’s not much to him as a character beyond what he’s already been through. He’s occasionally cocky, but Claire, along with Mike’s friends and peers – played by a cavalcade of great character actors like Michael Imperioli, Fisher Stevens, and Jim Belushi – are immediately forgiving of his ego. There’s no real tension or drama to anything he does, beyond the tragedies that end up befalling his spouse. Were their genders flipped, he’d be a perfectly serviceable and typical supporting biopic wife.

On the other hand, Hudson’s conception of Claire as a bubbly artist and mother to a teen and middle schooler is far more magnetic. Song Sung Blue is at its most interesting when it’s a story about her expectations, whether or not they can be met, and what happens when life throws violent curve balls her way. Hudson tries to transform all of this into a tale of a woman knocked back down by life until she finds the strength to pick herself up again with her husband’s help. Unfortunately, what remains of this story is mere bullet-point highlights; we often need to be reintroduced to Claire after time has passed and she’s already come to realizations about herself and how to approach the world, including stints in psychiatric wards and physical rehab clinics. To reduce these struggles to mere interludes may as well be dramatic malpractice.

After a series of leaks and a week-long run exclusively in front of Avatar: Fire and Ash in theaters, the Avengers: Doomsday teaser trailer confirming Steve Rogers / Captain America’s return is online.

Marvel officially released the teaser trailer today, December 23, with a Thor teaser trailer set to replace it in theaters this week. (The Thor teaser trailer leaked overnight, as this Captain America trailer had last week.)

December 18, 2026. #AvengersDoomsdaypic.twitter.com/HaForXhq3W

— Avengers (@Avengers) December 23, 2025

As IGN reported last week, the trailer begins with a figure on a motorbike pulling up to a familiar-looking 1950s house, which Marvel fans may recognize from Avengers: Endgame's closing scene. Inside the house, the figure is revealed to be Chris Evans' Steve Rogers, as he folds away his Captain America uniform and picks up a baby, which we assume is his. On-screen text then reads: "Steve Rogers will return in Avengers: Doomsday." We then get the countdown to Avengers: Doomsday's release date in December 2026, alongside a Doctor Doom-themed Avengers logo.

Yes, GTA 6 may still be a while away, but that gives us plenty of time to go back and replay all of those Rockstar games we’ve loved from the past, or even check out some that we may have missed. But which parts of the famed Grand Theft Auto developers’ library should you prioritise first?

Well, we’ve gone ahead and ranked our favourite Rockstar games. From school-yard antics to tragic tales on the American frontier, here are the 10 best Rockstar games.

10. Manhunt

For a studio that’s no stranger to causing controversy due to the contents of its games, arguably none of Rockstar’s negative press surrounding GTA has come close to the furore that followed Manhunt. A stealth-action horror game in which you play as a death row inmate forced into partaking in a series of snuff films for the disembodied voice of a pre-Succession Brian Cox, it maybe shouldn’t have been a surprise that it garnered horrified reactions from the mainstream media, resulting in it being banned in several countries.

But the controversy only tells half of the story, because Manhunt is a good game, and a singular one in Rockstar’s library (although we don’t talk about its inferior sequel). A disturbing satire of the USA’s fascination with violence, it's undeniably gnarly, but smartly psychological in its approach. Linear hallways create a very specific kind of tension that so many of the studio’s other works simply can’t due to their open-world nature. The result is tight, focused, and brutal action that works to horrifying effect. Well over 20 years old now, Manhunt has stuck long in the memory… although maybe that’s mostly due to how its stark box art staring out from store shelves scared the absolute crap out of me as a child.

9. GTA 3

Very few games have charted the future of game development quite like Grand Theft Auto 3. The open world of Liberty City plays host to a twisting story of gang warfare, drug running, and betrayal in the series' first 3D entry. To say it broke new ground is an understatement, and the additional dimension and shift to a street-level camera is only the start of it. The PlayStation 2 had seen nothing of the like in terms of an immersive city sandbox full of opportunity. Its bounty of side missions and minigames blended with a main story that allowed for Rockstar to flex its storytelling chops like never before, telling the tale of Claude’s search for the truth through a cinematic lens and an all-star cast to match the story’s mob movie-inspired ambition (The Sopranos alumni Frank Vincent and Joe Pantoliano included).

GTA 3’s slice of fictional New York may seem like a small map to wander around in these days, but gradually unlocking its three islands, each with its own East Coast flavouring, felt like a miracle at the time. Yes, the repetitive, simplistic mission design and less-than-desirable vehicle handling may not have aged anything close to gracefully since its 2001 launch, but an engaging story and compelling (if archetypal) characters are still there to be seen. It’s still worth playing today to see where the roots of what GTA (and a dozen other open-world games) sprouted from.

8. Bully

Bully has often been described as “GTA, but in a school”, and to an extent, that’s exactly what it is. By substituting shotguns for slingshots and muscle cars for go-karts, it hits the right spot for anyone looking to wreak havoc at a private New England boarding school instead of running drugs across a fictional Miami or Los Angeles. The source of that havoc is Jimmy Hopkins, a troubled 15-year-old with a history of educational expulsions. Tasked with navigating a year at Bullworth Academy, a variety of classroom minigames, various clique quests, and hallway politics all serve to tell Bully’s story – one full of teenage charm and typical Rockstar social commentary.

Skating or cycling around the academy and its suburban surroundings is a delight, with memorable landmarks like a colourful funfair or the looming Happy Volts Asylum filling a sizable map that changes mood with the seasons as the story unfolds. This world is the result of Rockstar adapting the GTA formula for an unfamiliar, unconventional setting – look a little closer, and you’ll see well-worn mechanics twisted to fit school life (for example, attending lessons late risks the fury of teachers and prefects, which is Bully’s version of the Wanted system).

Bully is admittedly a little janky to play today, thanks to a less-than-robust camera and over-reliance on quicktime events, but it's still a very fun time. And maybe if we’re really lucky, when Rockstar is done with GTA 6, we’ll get that sequel we’ve all wanted for almost 20 years now.

7. GTA 4

There’s a strong argument for Niko Bellic being the strongest of all the GTA protagonists – something I’d likely agree with. Whether all of GTA 4 stands as tall around him is up for further debate. 2008’s return to Liberty City took on the surprisingly bleak issues of the American Dream and what it means to be an immigrant in the modern Western world. It’s a story that delivers for the most part, providing a surprising amount of mature depth for a studio whose tales have historically been approached from a more pulpy angle. The city itself was a revelation for the time, packing a varied amount of detailed sights and sounds, even if in hindsight its visuals replicate the brown-grey blur that so many games from the Xbox 360 era suffer from.

It’s in objective design and general gameplay that GTA 4 is let down, though, which, for the most part, is a lot of driving people from A to B and assassinating single targets. Well, aside from the fantastic Three Leaf Clover bank heist mission, that is, which would go on to inspire the central hook of GTA 5. There’s no denying the longevity of Niko as a character, though, and the very real, grounded struggles he battles throughout his story. We certainly understand why he’d really rather go bowling with his cousin…

6. GTA Vice City

There are few video game locations as iconic as Vice City. Its neon-drenched roads, soundtracked by an all-timer collection of ‘80s hits, served as the setting for many people’s core memories of the PS2. Rockstar’s time-traveling trip back to the 1980s is anchored by protagonist Tommy Vercetti, played fantastically by Goodfellas’ Ray Liotta. Released only a year after the game-changing GTA 3, it’s remarkable how much of a step up Vice City achieved in just 12 months, not just in its star-studded cast and characterful storytelling, but also in the way its design injected life into every corner of its proxy Miami.

An engaging story filled with Scarface parallels brought with it a new sense of excess, which lent a blockbuster style to a series that was, in many ways, still finding its feet. Those early days are evident in the relatively shonky controls and dated mission design – during the campaign’s twilight hours, your attempts to wrestle control of businesses and balance money-making plates across the city don’t quite support the more ballistic ambition of the story. That doesn’t take away from Vice City’s overall charm, though; it remains a landmark piece of Rockstar history. And we can’t wait to go back to those beaches and clubs next year in GTA 6.

5. Max Payne 3

Rockstar decided to take Max Payne in-house for its third entry, having published the first two Remedy-developed games. Perhaps unsurprisingly, leaving Max’s Finnish creatives behind resulted in an entirely different tone, but one that is equally as thrilling. Gone are the pulpy comic book panels, melodramatic monologues, and moonlit greys of neo-noir New York, replaced by sensory overload thanks to blinding sunlight, dancefloor bullet ballets, and a now-synonymous soundtrack composed by Health. Building on the bullet-time foundations that propelled the series to success in a post-Matrix world, Max Payne 3 transports the tortured ex-NYPD officer to Brazil in the midst of a gritty gang war that leads to a larger conspiracy that’s bleaker than anything Sam Lake would have cooked up.

The decision to target societal ills reflects the difference between Rockstar and Remedy as developers – the former is always willing to take swipes at nations and their ingrained domestic problems, whereas the latter looks inwards for more cerebral tales of individual struggle. Both are valid, and both work in the world of Max Payne, which means all three entries are fantastic in their own way. They all share one thing in common, however: that unrivalled power trip of triggering that bullet time, leaping backwards through the air, and raining dual Uzi fire down on anyone standing in your way. Delicious.

4. GTA San Andreas

If the jump between GTA 3 and Vice City was big, then the chasm between Vice City and San Andreas requires industrial machinery to measure. In just two years, Rockstar had taken all of its previous Grand Theft Auto learnings, plus several huge swings, and blended them all together to concoct its first version of California. This vast (at least by PS2 standards) state is home to multiple cities that steadily unlock as you progress through its story. The road trip between them conveys a great sense of scale, as does the incredibly varied mission design and extensive cast of characters you meet during your tenures in each metropolis.

It isn’t just the sheer size that’s impressive, but also the gambles Rockstar took when it came to gameplay. San Andreas features elements pilfered from the RPG and life-sim genres, allowing you to sculpt your character and customise their appearance, adjusting their physique depending on how many weights you lift or Cluckin’ Bell buckets you feast on.

And then, of course, there’s CJ himself, a protagonist who lives on beyond the meme that follows him like a shadow. Authentically brought to life by rapper Young Maylay, his story is one of redemption and survival that pits him against some of the series' most memorable adversaries, chief among them being Samuel L. Jackson’s despicable Officer Tenpenny. It all comes together to make one of Rockstar’s greatest games, and the best GTA of the PS2 era.

3. Red Dead Redemption

Rockstar had been displaying cinematic ambitions for many years before Red Dead Redemption’s arrival in 2010, so it was only natural that it would one day tackle one of the most fundamentally filmic of genres: the western. Taking heavy influence from the likes of The Wild Bunch, Red Dead’s cross-continent tale of an outlaw coming to terms with being the last of his kind takes fan-favourite John Marston to Mexico and back as he hunts down his former mentor, Dutch Van Der Linde. It’s a more rural setting than we’d previously come to expect from a Rockstar open-world, allowing for those cinematic flourishes to take hold and present an impressive artistic achievement. Bustling city streets made way for dusty canyons, and a stunning Woody Jackson score filled the space once dominated by constant radio chatter.

Red Dead Redemption’s slower pace allows for the story to play out elegantly, with Marston’s near-invisible foe hanging menacingly in the background, patiently awaiting their memorable snow-covered face-off. Then there’s the ending, which I’d never spoil here for those who’ve never had a chance to witness it, but safe to say it's lived long in the memory as one of video games’ most impactful finales in the 15 years since.

The road to that point is paved by some admittedly fairly routine mission design and a lot of horse riding, but there’s still enough personality in its dead-eye shooting system and endlessly fun minigames (liar’s dice, here’s looking at you) to allow for Red Dead Redemption to age very gracefully. It lives on as one of Rockstar’s three finest achievements.

2. GTA 5

Grand Theft Auto 5 is a blockbuster in every sense of the word. Not just because of the colossal number of copies it’s sold, nor the amount of money it cost to make, but because of every aspect of its design. It wears excess proudly on its sleeve, reflected in the drive for money displayed by each of its three protagonists. This greed – itself Rockstar’s clearest criticism of capitalism and the obnoxious characters it produces – comes to a head in GTA 5’s signature heist missions, each a series of audacious action set pieces battling to upstage one another. These campaign highpoints blend in seamlessly with a Los Santos map bustling with life and teeming with charm – Rockstar’s signature humour oozes out of every sight and sound, from street corner billboards to radio station ramblings.

This sandbox has kept fans entertained ever since its construction in 2013, and thanks to the addition of GTA Online, it has expanded and improved consistently to this day. It’s created a whole new ecosystem for players to live in, take on increasingly complex heists, and even build race tracks that stretch and loop into the sky. It truly is its own ridiculous beast. But while it may be that expansive multiplayer mode that led to GTA 5’s enormous success, it’s Michael, Franklin, and Trevor’s story that has proven to have the most staying power, at least for us. It’s the best that a Grand Theft Auto campaign has ever been, and that has us excited to see how Rockstar will try to top it with GTA 6.

1. Red Dead Redemption 2

The culmination of all Rockstar’s work to date, Red Dead Redemption 2 took living, breathing video game worlds to the next level when it was released in 2018. The level of detail in its sprawling frontier is extraordinary, with every creature, both animal and human, reacting authentically to your every movement. This makes each interaction with these digital personalities feel astonishingly lifelike. This expertly crafted, turn-of-the-century western America is the stage for a whole host of memorable characters, both quirky and dangerous, but none stick in the mind as firmly as protagonist Arthur Morgan.

His journey represents the peak of Rockstar storytelling, displaying a level of complexity and nuance simply not present in any of the studio’s other games. The Van Der Linde gang’s trials and tribulations lead to a memorable set of dangerous missions thanks to the increasing desperation of its leader, Dutch. It’s a tale laden with standout chapters – a turf war between the Gray and Braithwaite families leads up to a manor house siege, a blockbuster bank heist in the major city of Saint Denis leads to an unexpected sojourn to the island of Guarma, and tensions between the native Wapiti Indians and American Army lead to flame-soaked shootouts. It would be hard to pick a single favourite from that list. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a vast, epic tapestry steeped in cinematic style, and the best game Rockstar has given us yet.

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.

Arc Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure in which players scavenge the remnants of a devastated world. The main threat is Arc’s machines and, as developer Embark Studios puts it, “the unpredictable choices of fellow survivors.” But one Arc Raiders player, hell bent on killing relative newcomers, casuals, and those who have next to no loot or even none at all, has gone viral for killing others for sport — sparking a debate about what is and isn’t acceptable PvP behavior in the process.

Let’s start with a brief primer on how Arc Raiders works. You can play solo or in parties up to three, working as a team to progress through the game. However, other players are a constant threat, and while Arc Raiders’ explosive launch has seen a number of wholesome, viral clips of players coming together to help each other out, some players just want to watch the world burn.

Taylor "THump" Humphries, a retired American professional H1Z1 and Apex Legends player, who has taken it upon themselves to hunt down teams of players and kill them for, well, sport. In a clip viewed 4.8 million times so far on Twitter / X, THump kills a group of players, one of whom pleads: “we just started. I have nothing.” THump is then called “scum” and “a piece of s**t.” THump responds to say: “yeah, I killed every single one of you by the way.” He then laughs.

THump‘s post reads: “I love killing grown men that have jobs and children as they are trying to get 5 million credits for the expedition. Killing all teamers in solos, live now.”

I love killing grown men that have jobs and children as they are trying to get 5 million credits for the expedition. Killing all teamers in solos, live now.https://t.co/hiY3uPb3e7 pic.twitter.com/ncHTgNMT1x

— THUMP (@THump) December 18, 2025

The post sparked a strong reaction from a large group of players, some of whom hit out at THump‘s actions, some of whom backed him up. “I come from a place where PvP is not optional,” THump said. “It’s a way of life. You want optional PvP go play WoW.” Then: “couldn’t imagine spending my Friday night getting mad at a random streamer on the internet enough to comment under his tweet because he killed people in a PvP game.”

“Another toxic streamer,” one critic posted. “You should try helping them instead, it might make you feel good about yourself for a change.” Another said THump was demonstrating “psychotic behavior.”

“I think there's something uniquely anti-social about people whose only enjoyment in games is ruining the fun of nice and friendly people,” said X / Twitter user Mizutamari. “There was always a difference between people who trolled guys that were yelling slurs or slamming keyboards and people who only trolled guys that were friendly and seemed to try and keep a happy disposition.”

In the months since Arc Raiders’ release, a sort of PvP etiquette has emerged. If you encounter another player and have no intention to PvP, call out that you’re friendly. It’s considered not cool to say friendly and act friendly then shoot, but of course that does happen. In Arc Raiders, PvP is always on.

In truth, this griefing debate has been around for as long as competitive multiplayer games have existed, but Arc Raiders has certainly brought it back to the forefront. Who cares if you pretend to be friendly then shoot to kill? It’s a video game, right? “Your fellow human who trusted you cares,” suggested redditor ilmk9396.

“It's a video game. You don't die in real life when your character dies,” countered MachinationMachine.

“There's a real person on the other end spending real time and effort playing the game and they trust you not to steal that from them after you say you're friendly,” responded ilmk9396. “They let their guard down and then you take advantage of that like a coward. Be a man and shoot on sight if you want the loot.”

Then, from MachinationMachine: “it's a competitive PvP videogame where you role-play as a ruthless post-apocalyptic raider. How is being honorable good role-playing?”

And so on, and so forth. But isn’t this exactly what Embark Studios had hoped would emerge from Arc Raiders? “In the end, only you decide what kind of Raider you are — and how far you’ll go to prevail,” reads the official blurb. Here, the developer is essentially handing over Arc Raiders to its community. Do what you feel is right, basically. The game is designed for tension. But is it designed for relentless PvP?

“The game is designed for you to work together, as there's typically enough loot in the environment to go around so that everyone can rise up and you can have a good time together, with the occasional PvP,” iNteg suggested. “The second lobbies only become about PvP you lose most of your playerbase who wants to enjoy the other aspects of the game and not just PvP. Going in with a mindset that it's only about PvP takes the charm and fun out of the game completely and also ruins the experience, you lose any sort of potential magic that could have happened because oop, see person must rat and gun them down without an interaction.”

This one isn’t going anywhere, and neither is THump. Undeterred by any potential backlash, he has doubled down on his playstyle, posting a similar clip with the comment: “love loading up Arc Raiders on Saturday night to show the blue-collar workforce of America what a real professional gamer looks like.”

Love loading up Arc Raiders on Saturday night to show the blue-collar workforce of America what a real professional gamer looks like. Live now with more skillhttps://t.co/hiY3uPb3e7 pic.twitter.com/gw4UQDCTqI

— THUMP (@THump) December 21, 2025

And alongside another more recent clip, he posted: "Logging in with a full inventory of trigger nades and killing everyone trying to get re-looted after the expedition is a joy."

Logging in with a full inventory of trigger nades and killing everyone trying to get re-looted after the expedition is a joy. Trigger nades do NOT need a nerf! Livehttps://t.co/hiY3uPb3e7 pic.twitter.com/DuaFRCGlUi

— THUMP (@THump) December 22, 2025

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe leaks appear to be continuing, this time with the second, Thor-focused Avengers: Doomsday trailer allegedly hitting the internet.

A number of Twitter / X accounts published a French-language version of the alleged trailer, although a number of those posts now have removal notices due to copyright claims.

Warning! Potential spoilers for Avengers: Doomsday and its second teaser trailer follow:

The trailer shows Chris Hemsworth once again playing Thor, this time with the short-haired look from the much-loved and hugely successful Thor Ragnarok. It focuses on Thor’s relationship with his adopted child, Love (Gorr the God Butcher's resurrected daughter in Thor: Love and Thunder).

Assuming this leaked trailer is accurate, what we’ve seen so far of Avengers: Doomsday does seem to have a heavy focus on children. The Fantastic Four: First Steps ended with Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom appearing to kidnap Franklin Richards. The Steve Rogers / Captain America teaser for Avengers: Doomsday that emerged last week shows Chris Evans’ character holding a baby, presumably his child with Peggy Carter.

What does this all mean? The leaked trailer shows Love safe and sound at home with Thor, so there’s no suggestion here that Doctor Doom is after her, too. Fans certainly have their theories, one of which is that Marvel Studios is setting up the Next Avengers in some way. But it could just be nothing.

Meanwhile, the prayer Thor delivers in the leaked trailer has of course been translated into English. It suggests Thor is asking his father (Odin, played by Anthony Hopkins in the MCU) for the strength to defeat a new enemy and return to Love. It’s certainly a darker tone than we’ve seen from Thor’s recent MCU appearances, and some are wondering if they should prepare themselves for the character dying.

This isn’t the first time fans have suggested Thor will bite the dust in Avengers: Doomsday. In May, Chris Hemsworth released a Thor tribute video titled ‘Thank You! The Legacy of Thor,’ that included clips of the actor as Thor going as far back as an audition tape right up to his performance in 2022's Thor: Love and Thunder. Some fans took it as a farewell video, or a wave goodbye to Thor. Hemsworth later insisted the video was “a moment of gratitude, and it wasn’t anything else.”

Last year, Hemsworth admitted he "didn't stick the landing" with the divisive Thor: Love and Thunder and said he felt he owed fans another film.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Hemsworth said he became too wacky in Love and Thunder and the film suffered as a result, perhaps especially following Thor: Ragnarok, which became somewhat of a breakout success for the character by adding more comedy elements.

"I got caught up in the improv and the wackiness, and I became a parody of myself," Hemsworth said. "I didn't stick the landing." He can't forgive himself for the performance, Vanity Fair said, so feels he owes fans another film. Could Avengers: Doomsday or Secret Wars count as that film, or would Thor 5 be more appropriate as a goodbye?

Disney reportedly planned four separate trailers to be shown with Avatar 3 over the course of four weeks, in a move designed to encourage repeat viewings and keep audiences entertained with a series of big reveals. The expectation is the Thor trailer will hit theaters later this week, with speculation pointing to a Doctor Doom-themed trailer next week.

Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters December 18, 2026.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Stranger Things co-creator Ross Duffer has confirmed the runtimes for all Season 5 Volume 2 episodes, including the finale.

In a post on Instagram, Duffer confirmed the final runtimes for episodes 5-8, which takes us to the end of the decade-long Netflix series.

Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2 episode runtimes:

• Episode 5, Shock Jock: 1h 8m
• Episode 6, Escape from Camazotz: 1h 15m
• Episode 7, The Bridge: 1h 6m
• Episode 8, The Rightside Up: 2h 8m

That means there’s only five hours and 37 minutes of Stranger Things left and it’s all over.

Ross Duffer has already outlined what to expect from Vol. 2. Episode 5 picks up moments after the end of Sorcerer. Frank Darabont directed this one, although Duffer said Shock Jock is “far darker, and far scarier” than Darabont's previous episode, Turnbow Trap.

Episode 6 was directed by Shawn Levy. “It’s the biggest episode of the three,” Duffer said, “and the performances make us cry every time we watch it.” It sounds like we might get a character death in this one, and based on the name, the episode will revolve around Holly and Max’s attempt to break free from the mind prison created by Vecna.

And finally, Episode 7 is called The Bridge, which the Duffer brothers co-directed with Levy. “Don’t want to say too much, but aside from the finale, it’s probably the most emotional chapter of the season,” Ross Duffer teased. More character deaths, perhaps?

As for the final episode, it will be screened in theaters nationwide at the same time it is shown on Netflix. Ross Duffer has told fans they should only see it in theaters if they’re cool with crying in a crowded room.

"The finale. Theaters. New Year’s Eve," Duffer wrote in a social media post alongside a photo of the drawing Lucas and Max used to ask each other on a date in Season 4. "This is something my brother and I have dreamed about for years. If you don’t mind crying in front of strangers, GO. And if you’re in LA… maybe we’ll see you there."

Earlier this month, the first trailer for Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2 teased shock reveals and answers to questions fans have been asking for years.

Warning! Spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 1 follow:

The trailer picks up in the aftermath of the catastrophic events of Vol. 1 and the awakening of Will’s powers. Will (Noah Schnapp) and his mother, Joyce (Winona Ryder), have a heart to heart in which she reassures him the battle against Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) isn’t over. Meanwhile, Holly (Nell Fisher) and Max (Sadie Sink) are trying to escape Vecna’s 1950s fantasy world, and they’re walking through strange doors to do it. Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), warns: “this whole time, everything we’ve ever assumed about the Upside Down has been dead wrong.”

Dustin and Steve (Joe Keery) are then seen looking at some sort of red, potentially interdimensional mass that is whirling around above them. Whatever this is, it seems key to understanding the true nature of the Upside Down, which Stranger Things co-creators Ross and Matt Duffer have promised to finally explain this season.

Elsewhere, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) calls on Kali/Eight (Linnea Berthelsen), who she rescued from captivity in Vol. 1, to help her find and kill Vecna. We see shots of Vecna / Henry Creel in various states as the central characters become increasingly distressed. Briefly, we see Will use his new powers again, as evidenced by his eyes turning all white as they did at the end of Vol. 1.

Stranger Things Season 5 release dates:

• VOL 1 - November 26, 5pm PT
• VOL 2 - Christmas, 5pm PT
• THE FINALE - New Year’s Eve, 5pm PT

We’ve got plenty more on Stranger Things, including Ross Duffer’s call to arms for fans to turn off “garbage” TV settings before watching Season 5. And be sure to check out our Stranger Things: Season 5, Vol. 1 spoiler review.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Now the debut trailer for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is out in the wild, age-old debates about “historical accuracy” have reemerged.

The Odyssey is officially described as a “mythic action epic,” an adaptation of Homer’s foundational saga, one of the major epics of ancient Greek literature, starring Hollywood heavyweights such as Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya, and Charlize Theron.

Ever since we got our first look at Matt Damon as Odysseus, the heroic king of Ithaca, Nolan’s film has faced questions about its historical accuracy — or inaccuracy, as some have put it. With the debut trailer, below, we have our best look yet at The Odyssey’s adaptation of Homer’s great work, and more points of contention.

GreekReporter was quick to point out various historical inaccuracies — while praising the movie for getting some things right — in not just the armor but the ships we see in the trailer. The website picks through everything from the helmets the Greek soldiers wear to Agamemnon’s imposing, all black suit. As one commenter joked: “Had no idea Ancient Greeks used Batman helmets and sailed in Viking ships. Seriously, how hard is it to look at the picture of what the real thing looked like?”

(Christopher Nolan is of course the director of the much-loved The Dark Knight Trilogy.)

Added another: “I'm not asking for them to make it historically accurate, but it's kind of jarring how it doesn't even look vaguely like something set in ancient Greece. In fact, this looks more like something set in Scandinavia during the viking age. Why is everyone wearing pants? Why are they on viking style long-ships rather than triremes? And why is everyone wearing black armor, like they're Batman or something?”

But does historical accuracy matter in a “mythic action epic?” In the trailer, we see what we believe to be the Cyclops, a giant, one-eyed monster, enter a cave in which Odysseus and his men are trapped. We see the dead rise from the ground to potentially attack Odysseus and his men. We’re expecting the movie to feature the deadly Sirens, enchanting bird-women whose irresistible songs lure sailors to their deaths on rocky shores. The Odyssey is a fantasy story with mythical creatures — it’s right there in the description (“mythic action epic”). Some argue that in this context, of course Nolan can and should take some creative liberties. This is not a documentary, after all.

This debate has moved on somewhat in the hours since the trailer’s release, with some complaining not about the historical accuracy of the armor we see the soldiers wear, but how natural the material looks. Agamemnon, played by Benny Safdie, is the focus of these complaints, with some saying his armor looks “flimsy” and “plastic.” One commenter said: “I think the issue people have isn’t really about historical accuracy and more about the costumes looking boring as s**t.”

this actually rules because agamemnon 100% would turn up to battle in a non-functional but cool looking helmet just to aura farm and then go home https://t.co/cW7ojVq8D3

— martha 𓊝 (@corduroycleric) December 22, 2025

“Nothing says Ancient Greece, quite like wearing black and brown,” said another. “Kinda crazy to wear those dark colors in one of the sunniest places in the world.” "It looks like a bunch of dudes cosplaying ancient Greece in Wales," added one fan. “A little colour wouldn’t hurt you, Nolan,” said another.

The discourse around The Odyssey will no doubt continue up until its July 17, 2026 release date. Each new trailer and promotional shot will fuel fan excitement as well as the ongoing historical accuracy debate. But perhaps there’s a more pertinent question that is getting lost in the wake of the debut trailer’s release: how on earth is Christopher Nolan going to fit the entire story of The Odyssey in just one film?

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

I went in intending to grab one thing and came out mentally justifying half a library refresh. That is usually how these weeks go. If you have ever told yourself you are absolutely done buying games this month, you are among friends here.

Contents

• Retro
• Nintendo
• Xbox
• PlayStation
• PC
• PC Gear
• LEGO

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I'm celebrating the Aussie birthday of a rare and expensive bird, the SNK Neo Geo CD. Released in limited numbers in Oz around the $600 ballpark ($1,299 in '25 bux), this bad boy delivered near-perfect arcade-quality games, though it was a "budget" alternative to the hilari-expensive, cartridge-based Neo Geo AES. Being CD-based marred this unit with lonnng load times, though the gruelling wait for Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, and Fatal Fury was always worth it. Here's a shot of the beast I sold a kidney and a lung for. Laser: still going strong.

Aussie birthdays for notable games.

- Neo Geo CD launch, 1994. eBay

- Kirby & the Amazing Mirror (GBA) 2004. eBay

- WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 (PSP) 2006. eBay

- Harvest Moon DS: Sunshine Islands (DS) 2010. eBay

Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch

• Mario Kart 8 Del. (-25%) A$59 Still the gold standard for pick up and play multiplayer, with immaculate track design and endless replay value thanks to its absurdly polished handling.
• Minecraft (-27%) A$29 A creative sandbox that somehow keeps reinventing itself, whether you are building dream houses or falling into lava five minutes in.
• Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance (-60%) A$40.30 A far stronger version of an already excellent JRPG, with smarter pacing, added story paths, and punishing combat that demands respect.
• Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age (-48%) A$41.30 Political fantasy with MMO inspired systems that still feel fresh, especially if you enjoy tinkering with party roles and gambits.
• No Man's Sky (-60%) A$31.90 A redemption story turned content monster, now packed with systems, expeditions, and space weirdness worth getting lost in.
• Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy (-37%) A$47 Courtroom melodrama at its finest, with absurd cases, great character arcs, and that unbeatable feeling of yelling objection.

Banger Must-owns
Bucketlist stuff

• Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Super Mario Odyssey
• Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Or gift a Nintendo eShop Card.

Back to top

Exciting Bargains for Xbox

• EA Sports FC 26 (-55%) A$44.90 A slick presentation and refined match flow make this an easy recommendation if you play even semi regularly.
• Assassin's Creed Shadows (-57%) A$47 Stealth focused Assassin's Creed with a strong sense of place and some genuinely smart systemic design.
• Mafia: The Old Country (-48%) A$47 A moody crime story that leans into atmosphere over open world bloat, which I appreciate more every year.
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (-61%) A$42.70 Bigger, bolder, and more confident than Fallen Order, with excellent level design and proper Star Wars swagger.
• The Callisto Protocol (-69%) A$31.20 Visceral sci fi horror that looks incredible, even if it occasionally prioritises vibes over mechanical depth.
• Diablo IV (-73%) A$30 The best the series has felt in years, especially now that seasonal updates have smoothed its rough edges.

Xbox One

• Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (-70%) A$34.40 A joyful, heartfelt RPG that balances absurd humour with surprising emotional weight.
• Unravel Two (-85%) A$4.40 A beautiful co op puzzle platformer that communicates warmth without saying a word.
• Dave The Diver (-45%) A$16.40 Part restaurant sim, part deep sea adventure, and entirely impossible to stop playing once it hooks you.

Must Plays to Own
Timeless crown jewels

• Baldur's Gate 3
• Elden Ring
• Persona 5 Royal

Or just invest in an Xbox Card.

Back to top

Pure Scores for PlayStation

• Alan Wake 2 (-70%) A$27.20 A fearless, experimental horror sequel that constantly messes with expectations and absolutely nails its tone.
• Returnal (-43%) A$71.70 Brutal, beautiful, and mechanically sublime, especially if you enjoy roguelikes with AAA polish.
• Octopath Traveler II (-52%) A$40.90 Gorgeous pixel art and refined turn based systems make this a huge step up from the original.
• Hogwarts Legacy (-45%) A$59.90 A love letter to the wizarding world that nails atmosphere, even if you are only casually invested.
• Final Fantasy XVI (-35%) A$54.90 A bold tonal shift for the series, with spectacular boss fights and a confident narrative voice.
• Hitman World Of Assassination (-48%) A$55 One of the best stealth sandboxes ever made, offering near infinite replayability through player creativity.

PS4

• God Of War Ragnarok (-72%) A$30.70 A blockbuster sequel that somehow balances bombast with genuine emotional payoff.
• Mafia: Trilogy (-56%) A$44 Three classic crime stories bundled together, rough edges and all.
• Far Cry 6 (-57%) A$43.10 Familiar open world chaos elevated by a fantastic villain and a stunning tropical setting.

All-Timers Worth Tracking
Not current, but amazing

• Elden Ring
• Baldur's Gate 3
• Astro Bot

Or purchase a PS Store Card.

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Purchase Cheap for PC

• Metaphor: ReFantazio (-55%) A$51.70 Stylish, confident, and packed with personality, this feels like Atlus firing on all cylinders.
• It Takes Two (-80%) A$9.90 One of the smartest cooperative games ever made, designed around communication and shared discovery.
• Detroit: Become Human (-90%) A$5.90 A branching narrative showcase that is still fascinating to dissect, especially with friends watching.
• Octopath Traveler (-60%) A$35.90 A beautiful modern take on classic JRPG structure, with a stunning soundtrack to match.
• Silent Hill 2 (-62%) A$38.90 Psychological horror royalty, still unmatched in how deeply uncomfortable it is willing to be.

Or just get a Steam Wallet Card

Legit LEGO Deals

Just like I did last holiday season, I'm getting festive with the LEGO section. In Mathew Manor, my sons and I are again racing / rating 2025's batch of LEGO Advent Calendars. Basically, we open the City, Harry Potter, Minecraft, and Star Wars ones daily and compare the mini-prizes for "Awesomeness" and "Actual Xmas-ness". 2024's winner was the Lego Marvel one, but, weirdly, there's no 2025 equivalent. So it's anybody's race this year.

Here are the cheapest prices for the four calendars we're using. Score them yourself or just live vicariously through our unboxings.

• LEGO CIty Advent 2025 - A$59.95 $45
• LEGO Harry Potter Advent 2025 - A$59.95 $45
• LEGO Minecraft Advent 2025 - A$59.95 $45
• LEGO Star Wars Advent 2025 - A$59.95 $45

Editor's Note: This article is brought to you Total Wireless.

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